I recently hit the Sephora VIB sale and spent entirely too much money.  And really, I could have easily doubled what I spent — that store is like the adult-equivalent of letting a seven-year-old run rampant through The Sweet Factory for me.  (You can try EVERYTHING!  And you have your own money to BUY IT ALL!)

And let’s not even talk about the impulse purchase section by the checkout.  Um, of course I need everything I just bought in travel-size.  Even if each item is like 1oz and $19.

Clearly, I am the obvious target-consumer for Sephora’s marketing campaigns.

Anyhoo, here’s some of the stuff I bought and some of the things I’m currently loving (makeup and otherwise):

1. Blush: I’m obsessed with blush.  Sometime during college I owned up to the fact that I have SPF-100 skin and realized that a healthy-looking flush was necessary to make it look like I wasn’t about to let-loose my fangs and bite someone’s neck.  I’ve tried a lot of different blushes over the years and have finally found my absolute favorite blush brand: Tarte.  Tarte’s Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush is like a freaking feat of nature.  Somehow it gives you the perfect amount of color and stays all day long (those of you who wear blush can back me on the fact that finding a blush with staying power is near-impossible).  I have two colors — I use Blissful (a light, bright peachy-pink) during the spring and summer months and Memorable (a limited-edition darker rosy-pink I got last year) during the fall and winter.  I also got the NARS cheek palette at the Sephora sale — I like it ok so far, but I’m still kind of figuring out the colors.

2. Shimmer Powder: I also purchased Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in luminous light at the Sephora sale.  I’m still kind of on the fence about whether this is worth the purchase price (not cheap!), but I wanted something for the holidays to boost my makeup look (and let’s face it — I grew up in the 90’s, so I pretty much would love to cover my entire face in glitter and call it a day).  I love the idea of a subtle sheen for candlelit date nights and the upcoming holiday parties, so I’m hoping that this powder is just the thing for that.  (I had purchased the Diffused Light version a long time ago, and while I find the color a little chalky for all-over coverage, I like it as a light powder highlighter — if that makes any sense.)

3. Free Gift: Those of you who regularly shop at Sephora know that they have those 100 and 500-point gifts you can redeem at the counter with your beauty points.  I have amassed some ungodly amount of points, but never seem to find anything I want to redeem when I’m shopping there.  This time they had the Clinique Chubby Stick Lip Balm in Strawberry as one of the options, which I decided the try out (despite the fact that I absolutely hate the name “Chubby Stick” — seriously, who are their branding people?)  I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it out — it feels like chapstick (my go-to lip coverage on most days), but gives you just the slightest hint of color.  And awesome perk — it’s so sheer that you can actually put it on without a mirror, without worrying that it will look like some makeup-hungry 6-year-old got their hands on you.  Perfect for everyday wear — I’ve been throwing it into my purse and work bag and wearing it just about daily.  (Another good option which is a little cheaper is the Revlon Colorburst Balm Stain sticks.  They aren’t quite as sheer as the Clinique sticks, but over chapstick they have pretty much the same effect — I’m wearing Romantic in the photo above.)

4. Accessories: Since I’m pregnant, I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on buying a ton of new clothes which are only going to fit me for only a limited period of my life.  So rather than giving into my “OMG I have nothing to wearrrr” complaints, I have been investing in a few accessory pieces instead (since those always fit!  Am I right?)  I got a new statement necklace at Banana Republic recently (so fun for the holidays!) as well as the gold and leather necklace in the photo above (and let’s just ignore my hair up there, ok?  I kind of don’t believe in brushing it anymore.  Lucky KC.) — the necklace isn’t on the website for some reason, which is probably why it was on super sale when I bought it.  I’ve got my eye on these earrings as well — I guess we’ll see if I get into the store while they’re still available!  I also snagged a new pair of booties on super sale at Nordstrom Rack recently (I got the gray leather).  They’re surprisingly comfy despite the fact that they have a bit of a heel (I have the knee and back of a 150-year-old, so I generally opt for flats), and make me feel like I look at least a little bit stylish, even with my baby bump, which these days mostly just makes me look like I’ve been hitting the Halloween candy HARD.

5. Currently Coveting: I’ve been going back and forth over whether or not to purchase a new lipstick — specifically MAC Sin.  I love the look of a deep, dark lip color on some other ladies, but will I look like I’m some sort of goth?  Or like I totally just fell out of 1996?  (Remember the brown lipstick everyone wore with their super-light, powdery makeup back then?  I was obsessed but too young to try it out.)  Maybe I’ll pull the ultimate cheap move and order it from Nordstrom, since their return policy is crazy-amazing.  (Um yeah, I’ve totally returned lipstick there before…)  Oh yeah, and since the world apparently decided that diaper bags should be the ugliest looking accessory ever, I think this tote in chestnut might be just the thing to haul kid-gear for quick outings when le bébé arrives.  (Dear Diaper Bag Designers:  No.  Just no.)

I was going to add in what I’ve currently been using on my skin (both with and without makeup), but I think I’ll save that for another post, cuz it’s kind of long.  (And are you even interested?  I mean, I realize I kinda just post whatever on here and don’t worry too much about who actually reads it, but y’know…)

Hope you’re having a good week so far!  And feel free to post comments if you have any questions. 🙂