*~Sephora Watercolors~*

[Julessss14]

Working day-in and day-out on the Sephora site and apps, I am often seeking additional ways to be creative, and have fun, with beauty products. 

I’ve started a series that I dub *~Sephora Watercolors~*, mixing pencil, watercolors, a variety of shiny gelly roll pens and deco markers, and, of course, a healthy assortment of Sephora-sourced lip glosses, sparkly nail polishes, glittery face pigments, and more.

In terms of inspo? It’s a mix of the charming illustrations of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the (precious) watercolors of my grandmother, an artist in her own time, known for her Asian-inspired and tropical tableaus, mixing watercolor with fine pen marks. She also designed and merch’ed up the windows for the historic West Coast department store I. Magnin & Company in Los Angeles, which I think is pretty cool. 

So, without further delay, here is the series. I will post whenever I have a chance, hopefully bi-weekly. I’ll note out the date of creation, link to the products and list out the materials used in the work. 

Can’t wait to hear what you think! 🙂 ❤️💄

Note: Worked with product management @ / contracted for Sephora previously.

***

Left: 

• Sephora product: CHANEL Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Parfum 
• Date of creation: 4/19/23
• Materials: Watercolors, pencil, pink gelly roll pen, gems, rapid tone repair dark spot corrector, Sephora Collection eyeliner, Dior lip gloss, Sephora Collection nail polish

Right: 

• Sephora product: JVN Complete Nourishing Hair Oil Shine Drops 1.7 oz/ 50 mL 
• Date of creation: 4/20/23
• Materials: Watercolors, silver deco marker, gems, gelly roll pen

[Julessss14]

Just a note that I’m going to wind down this thread as life is calling me in other directions. It’s been a joy and a pleasure to share my art with the Sephora community - thank you for the support and kindness ❤️

[curlychiquita]

We’ll miss your beautiful artwork, @Julessss14! Good luck 🍀 

[Titian06]

Too cute, @Julessss14 ! 🥰  I will miss your artwork.  Best wishes to you and Anchovy on your next endeavor! 🍀  (((HUG)))

[happyskincare]

So cute I love Sanrio🥰 on the other note @Julessss14 hope you enjoy where life is calling you❤️ also I have enjoyed this thread so much❤️❤️❤️

[SportyGirly125]

@Julessss14 @So cute 😍. Hope you visit back soon. We love your artwork. Thank you for sharing it with us. 

[Julessss14]

Continuing with the Chinese calligraphy x eyeliner theme, I popped onto the Sephora WeChat and grabbed the "H1" or main slogan. I added a red and gold shimmer streak with some happy blush and a very mini abstract color version of an eyeliner. 

❤️❤️

Basically it says "Sephora" 丝芙兰 "global high-end beauty experience" 全球高端美妆体验

• Sephora product: n/a (Sephora China marketing slogan)
• Date of creation: 2/15/24
• Materials: 
  • SEPHORA COLLECTION Long Lasting Eyeliner High Precision Brush 01 Black 
  • Light Blue Gelly Roll Pen 
  • Urban Decay Moondust Liquid Glitter Eyeliner Glamrock 
  • Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush Happy 
  • r.e.m. beauty Liquid Eyeshadow in Comet

[Titian06]

This is gorgeous, @Julessss14 ! 🥰

[Julessss14]

@Titian06 @Thank you! Or maybe I should say 谢谢 ❤️💖💕

[Julessss14]

❤️

Today, while walking in Silverlake, towards the tippy-top of Micheltorena, I noticed that I was being followed by a butterfly.

They say that happiness is a butterfly (I happen to like this metaphor quite a bit), and that butterflies are symbols of good luck, good fortune and freedom. Of course, Mariah Carey famously is quoted saying that "Butterflies are always following me, everywhere I go." So if it is good with MC, it is good with me.

I was inspired by the notion of the butterfly and also its references in Chinese culture. Specifically, the Taoist notion of the dream of the butterfly. A search in my favorite Chinese dictionary app, Pleco, found this:

This Chinese expression, 庄周梦蝶, is in reference to the classical Taoist text (more here) that essentially involves a human falling asleep and dreaming to be a butterfly. Upon waking, the author is unsure if he is actually human or just a butterfly dreaming to be human, postulating about the nature of reality and waking perception. It is very life is but a dream and also a canonical text influencing the arch of Chinese thought in history. If you think about it, it is actually quite deep. As a nod to this notion of the butterfly, as a symbol of the dream-state and the mercurial elements of existence, I used the SEPHORA COLLECTION Long Lasting Eyeliner High Precision Brush 01 Black as a defacto calligraphy brush (not an expert here but fun to practice) and wrote characters from the 1550 Ming Dynasty painting by Lu Zhi, Butterfly Dream, in the top right corner. Image here. Also a loose reference to the mountain with eyeliner and glitters.

To give it a modern twist, of course, the butterfly here is sleeping on a Summer Fridays ShadeDrops Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Mineral Milk Sunscreen 1.7 oz / 50 mL , which was recommended by my friend Ashely. I am not exactly sure why but I have been using it as protection from the sun during some Vitamin D-soaked walks so it was on my vanity table. Gave it a few extra stars for a little moment of flair 🌟

Close-up moment

• Sephora product: Summer Fridays ShadeDrops Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Mineral Milk Sunscreen 1.7 oz / 50 mL 
• Date of creation: 2/15/24
• Materials: 
  • Pencil 
  • Watercolors
  • SEPHORA COLLECTION Sephora Colorful® Waterproof Eyeshadow & Eyeliner Multi-Stick 12 Periwinkle Matte 
  • Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush Happy 
  • Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil for Moisturizing Sheer Coverage Pink Cloud 
  • Urban Decay Moondust Liquid Glitter Eyeliner Glamrock 
  • Recollections Signature Marker in Silver
  • Lemonhead L.A. Spacepaste in Adult Film
  • Lemonhead L.A. Spacepaste in Violet Hour
  • Urban Decay Moondust Liquid Glitter Eyeliner Grind 
  • MAKE UP FOR EVER Mini Step 1 Primer Hydra Booster Hydra Booster 
  • SEPHORA COLLECTION Intense Felt-Tip Liquid Waterproof Eyeliner 05 - Satin Cobalt Blue 
  • r.e.m. beauty Liquid Eyeshadow in Fembot
  • Trixie Cosmetics Stay the Night Shimmer Topper in Love Potion
  • Kimchi Chic Glitter in Cake 
  • Kimchi Chic Glitter in Standing Ovation

[Titian06]

I love the butterfly, @Julessss14 ! 🦋  The Chinese characters are lovely.  The Taoist text about a butterfly is wonderful!  I have dreams sometimes where I wonder if it was a dream or if it really happened. 😄

[Julessss14]

@Titian06 C’est la vie, as they say in France! 💕💝💖 (sorry for any typos my French isn’t very good…) 

[SportyGirly125]

@Julessss14 @Love this one. Your copying of Chinese characters is so pretty. When I write Chinese characters it looks so sloppy. I have been practicing since I was a kid. 

[Julessss14]

@SportyGirly125 ahahaha thank you! Writing Chinese characters is so hard! Thank god for pinyin... I think there is a stroke order you are supposed to follow? Like shu - wan - gou something like that but I totally forgot ... so I just wing it! Maybe the Chinese government will sponsor me with a scholarship to study (glitter) calligraphy in Beijing... LoL 🤣🤣🤣 I would probably accept it at some point in my life... 

Overall, though, I think Chinese characters are really beautiful...  国语/中文 is just an amazing language with a depth that is unmatched... Wish I spoke it better! These days I only practice it at dim sum restaurants or with some friends or posting on WeChat 朋友圈 🇨🇳❤️

[SportyGirly125]

@Julessss14 Yup.  There is an order for the strokes to follow.

[Julessss14]

I think as many people who have been following this thread know that I am a big fan of Trixie Mattel and Trixie Cosmetics. Confession Time - we did met at a party in L.A. on the east side called Hot Dog Sundays at El Cid. Of course, we got around to chatting and I did mention that I thought her products would be great at Sephora since she/he knows SO MUCH about makeup and is an amazing MUA! Obviously, I am not on the merchandising team at Sephora so I framed it very much so as a not my decision / up to the powers that be statement. 

Though I don't accept gifts, I think an occasional marketing material is OK as a GWP. When I ordered a blush from her Horse Girl collection, Trixie/team/et al was nice enough to send me a small collection postcard. Continuing with the Linda Fargo line of inquiry regarding the happenstance of found objects, here we have it embedded in a background of glittering pigments and lipglosses and gaga hy paints. 

Before the collage:

After the collage: 

Loves a mixed media moments! Sliving for this, as Paris Hilton would say. 

• Sephora product: n/a (abstraction with horse girl collection postcard)
• Date of creation: 2/13/24
• Materials: 
  • Lemonhead L.A. Spacepaste in Violet Hour
  • Lemonhead L.A. Spacepaste in Adult Film
  • HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint Citrine Matte 
  • HAUS LABS BY LADY GAGA Hy-Power Eye, Cheek & Lip Pigment Paint Flame Matte 
  • Fashion Nova Lip Gloss in Periodt
  • Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil for Moisturizing Sheer Coverage Pink Cloud 
  • SEPHORA COLLECTION Sephora Colorful® Waterproof Eyeshadow & Eyeliner Multi-Stick 12 Periwinkle Matte 

Ok that's it for today ❤️

[Titian06]

This looks really cool, @Julessss14 ! 😎  I'm glad you got to meet someone you admire!  Maybe we'll see her products at Sephora one day.

[Julessss14]

@Titian06 maybe! I was wearing my "Jules" carrie-bradshaw-esque nameplate necklace from my ex-boyfriend Jacob (a great gift I still cherish to this day) and she told me she had another one that said "skinny" and she thought it was "hilarious" and I told her I didn't think it was funny... we love all body types here...! But, so, like kind of put my foot in my mouth... oops! I'll attribute it to the extra strong drinks and the pregame at my friend Josh's house... LOL 🤠 Though I think I left an overall good impression! Guess I just have a very high standard for what I consider funny... 🤣 But I love her YouTube channel. Best content on the internet, imo! 💗

[Julessss14]

❤️

• Sephora product: n/a
• Date of creation: 2/13/24
• Materials: 
  • ebay marketing materials for lunar new year adidas shoe - authenticity card
  • Gelly Roll Pen in Light Blue 
  • Watercolors 
  • Lemonhead L.A. Spacepaste in Adult Film 
  • Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil for Moisturizing Sheer Coverage Pink Cloud 
  • SEPHORA COLLECTION Intense Felt-Tip Liquid Waterproof Eyeliner 05 - Satin Cobalt Blue 
  • Dior 449 Nail Polish in Dansante (close to my favorite color - 4pm)
  • Lemonhead L.A. Spacepaste in Violet Hour 
  • r.e.m. beauty Liquid Eyeshadow in Fembot

[Titian06]

Ooooo, purple and green with a little bit of blue thrown in, @Julessss14 !  Yea, "authentic without a doubt" for sure! 💜💚💙

[Julessss14]

@Titian06 and a little extra lip gloss never hurt anything... 💜