Absolutely Adored August 2022 Hauls

[lmaster]

August is near and back to school is in gear 🙌 Happy birthday August babes 🎉🥳 please share your hauls here

 

 

 

[itsfi]

MORE UPDATES: Following up with some folks who expressed interest in feedback on the leave-in conditioner and liquid eyeliner. @faeriegirl @greeneyedgirl107  If I missed someone, I'm so sorry. 

SEPHORA COLLECTION Hydrating Leave In Conditioner 4.73 oz / 140 mL 

Spoiler

I recently went back to coloring / highlighting my hair again and was looking for a leave-in conditioner. I've only used it a couple of times but it's pretty good so far. There's a scent to this one and while it's definitely something you can smell instantly, it's not overwhelming. A bit of a challenge to describe how it actually smells because I couldn't pin point any specific notes / scents I recognized. There's a slight familiarity to the scent and I wish I could call out what exactly it is I'm smelling. At best, to me, the words "floral" and "green" come to mind when I pick up the scent. The floral notes are soft, maybe ever-so-slightly powdery but not too much so. There's also a "green" component to it - green, without being grassy or too herbaceous, but there's something fresh, and subtly herbal-ish or plant-like to it.  

It has a thinner-than-lotion feel to it and does a good job of detangling my hair. I've applied it to both when my hair is damp and also when it's completely dry (though with a light hand) and haven't had a problem with running my fingers or comb through it to distribute the product. My hair feels soft and hydrated afterwards; the ends do look and feel less dry as well. It has been a while since I've used a leave-in conditioner so I don't have too much to compare it to off the top of my head, but so far, so good - no regrets with picking up this leave-in. faeriegirl (and anyone else who may be interested in this one), I plan to keep this in my rotation so if there's something specific about the leave-in you're interested in, don't hesitate to let me know.

SEPHORA COLLECTION Sephora Colorful® Wink-It Felt Tip Liquid Waterproof Eyeliner 03 Army Babe 

Spoiler

I can’t say whether these liquid eyeliners will last for the 24 hours claimed because I didn’t put it to an around-the-clock, overnight test, but this dark green Army Babe liner held up well. On a few days, it performed exceptionally well. 

Based on my experience with this Army Babe shade, the liner is definitely long lasting and hold up under some challenging conditions - 

• Stayed in place for a good 18-hour day that included a bowl of steamy ramen and a round of mini golf on a very warm, humid day. It started to flake a bit around the end of the 18-hour mark.
• It also survived a full day of running errands, a bowl of soup for lunch, a last-minute massage, and 20+ minutes in the steam room.
• It didn’t budge after spending most of the day in the kitchen, including a steam facial courtesy of straining pasta.

I included a photo of what it looks like after vigorously rubbing the liner - I can't think of a situation where anyone should be rubbing their eyes that hard IRL. It took some effort to get the liner to budge. I've been very happy with how this liner has applied and performed, and plan to pick up at least one other color. 👍

[greeneyedgirl107]

@itsfi thanks for all the info and pics.  Love it!!!

[itsfi]

@greeneyedgirl107, you’re welcome. I’m surprised and impressed by the liners. 

[faeriegirl]

Thank you @itsfi!

[itsfi]

You're very welcome @faeriegirl! @CookieGirl1 had some great questions that I answered below ⬇️ if you were interested in more detail about the leave-in.

[CookieGirl1]

@itsfi I was super happy to see your update because I've actually been considering purchasing the leave-in conditioner myself! Do you feel like it weighs your hair down? How many sprays do you typically use? Do you find that it's one of those leave-in conditioners that you can actually spray in your hair without it getting all gloopy or is it better to spray your hands and then use your hands to distribute the product through? Do you think you get better results applying it on wet or dry hair?

[itsfi]

@CookieGirl1, ack! Sorry I didn't tag you. Oooh, good questions, let's see...

Do you feel like it weighs your hair down? No, but I have a particular way I go about using it. Also, I feel like my hair felt even less weighed down when I used this on wet / damp hair. 

• Wet / Damp Hair: Spritz product from the bottle directly to the length of my hair, avoiding the crown and strands. Work the product quickly throughout the length with my hands to distribute before combing. Also, before combing, I'll take whatever residua product is on my palms / fingers and very gently work that into my ends and then the crown - I do this to ensure I'm not using too much product on the ends and crown and hoping that keeps it from weighing down those parts of my hair. Then I comb through the length. 

• Dry Hair: Spritz product onto my hands and then work it through the length of my hair first, followed by ends. Then comb hair, with a pass or two from mid-length to the ends and then run the comb through my hair at the crown area. Given how the product spurts out - it's not in a lump but it is a little, what's a good word, blobby? lol - I don't want to take chances of it weighing my hair down at the crown so this is how I apply it when my hair is dry. Using it with dry hair, there is a bit of time where I feel the product in my hair but that feeling will eventually fade away.

How many sprays do you typically use? 2 - I section my hair into two parts - one spray (actually, I do to one half and another to the other half. At this rate, this bottle of SEPHORA COLLECTION Hydrating Leave In Conditioner 4.73 oz / 140 mL is going to last me ... forever. 

Do you find that it's one of those leave-in conditioners that you can actually spray in your hair without it getting all gloopy or is it better to spray your hands and then use your hands to distribute the product through? Great question. For me, when my hair is damp, it's fine to spray it directly onto my strands or into my hands, but if I'm using it on dry hair, I prefer to spray the product onto my hands, spreading and warming it in my palms and then applying to my hair. 

Do you think you get better results applying it on wet or dry hair? Applying it on wet hair yields better results for me, but in a pinch. it can work on dry hair, which is how I ended up using it on my dry hair.

If I wasn't clear or if you have more questions, let me know. Out of curiosity, what leave-ins do you like or have you been using?

Edited to add: For reference, my hair is straight (very much so); the strands are on the thin, fine side, but I have a lot of them so it looks like my hair is thicker than it actually is. My scalp tends to get oily. My hair has been recently colored / highlighted and the length falls about 5-6 inches past my shoulders.

[CookieGirl1]

@itsfi that was really helpful!  I may have to try it because I feel like I've tried several leave-ins that didn't actually make my hair softer but instead left it feeling sticky, heavy, etc.  The only similar product that I'm currently using (and I actually do love) is a detangling spray from Unite.  It's marketed to work as a detangler and leave-in conditioner and while it detangles my hair amazingly well WITHOUT weighing it down whatsoever (and it smells amazing!) it surprisingly doesn't actually seem to make my hair softer.

[itsfi]

@CookieGirl1, I think the combo of spritzing the product on your hands first and applying onto wet/damp hair would be best then. My hair doesn't feel weighed down when I apply it to dry hair but it does feel heavier than when I distribute the product on wet / damp hair with my hands. Is there a store near you where you can make you a sample of the product? That might be a nice way to test it out for yourself. Granted, you wouldn't get the benefit of trying the spray but you could see how it applies if you were to apply the product with your hands/fingers.

[CookieGirl1]

@itsfi oooh, that's a good idea about trying to get a sample.  I rarely think to do that for hair products.

[itsfi]

@CookieGirl1, the sample container should give you enough product for a few uses. It also occurred to me that if they are able to get the leave in into one of those sample fragrance vials (that could get messy trying to get it into that vial), you could try out the leave in with a spritzer. 

[itsfi]

Update: SEPHORA COLLECTION Glossed Lip Gloss 20 Witty 

tl;dr: A comfortable, unscented, thin-ish, non-sticky / non-goopy gloss with a sheer, shimmery mauve tone. Longevity isn't bad -  it's no worse than what you'd normally expect from most lip glosses. Witty is a pretty gloss but the wear time isn’t as long and pigment isn’t as pronounced as some other colors in the range. The shade is beautiful on its own or as part of a "no makeup" makeup days for a little of color and a high amount of shine to the lips. It would also make a lovely topper, either over a similar lipstick shade or possibly to add a little pop of mauve atop another color.

I have a few glosses from this line and have found them to glide across my lips with ease and have a high shine without feeling sticky or goopy. 👍 The color payoff will vary by the finish of the particular gloss and your lips’ natural pigmentation. Witty is described as a shimmering mauve and I think that's fairly accurate as far as how the color looks in the tube. On me, I'd say it's a shimmery light mauve as the intensity of the color is more on the sheer / faint side. That said, it does make a nice gloss on "no makeup" makeup days. The color reminds me of a very sheered out version of Buxom Dolly.

The description on the product page for the Glossed Lip Glosses says that they’re sheer to opaque. Based on my experience with a few of the glosses, there seems to be 3, maybe 4, types of coverage/finishes within the range. To me, the differences are:

💋Glosses described as “clear” are just that - clear base with some having a faint, tinted shimmer to them. #1 Boss is just a clear gloss, no tint, no shimmer/holo effect, no color. The other ones in this category have either a shimmer or holo effect and seem like they would work best as a topper. I have had my eye on a couple but these seem to sell out quickly.

💋  The glosses with “shimmering” in the description of the color have more pigment to them than the “clear” glosses. The color on these are buildable, but for most, not to the point where I’d describe the finish as opaque.

💋  All other glosses - there are several glosses in this line that do not include a “clear” or “shimmering” descriptor before the description of the actual color. I have a few glosses that fall within this category, and from what I’ve gathered, these are opaque with one coat.

The SC glosses wear comfortably and are fairly long lasting, for a gloss. They will gradually wear off throughout the day, but I find that to be typical of lip glosses. I can get through my morning without having to touch up, if I'm just sipping coffee, tea and/or water. With the shimmering shade “Witty” though, I find the color fades a little more quickly than the more opaque glosses in this collection, and could use a reapplication mid-morning, though the sheen / shine remains.

@greeneyedgirl107, these are my general thoughts on the glosses in this line and Witty, in particular. If there was something I missed, feel free to let me know and I'll try to get back to you with my thoughts as soon as possible. btw, I’ll post an update about the eye liner in the next day or so.

[Guessgal]

@itsfi Oooooh, I like the look of Busy in your swatch! Thanks for sharing, now there’s a shade I didn’t know I needed! 🤪 Funny enough, if I had only looked at the product page I would’ve thought Witty suited me more, but it looks too light and shimmery for me based on your swatch.

[itsfi]

@Guessgal, Witty is a pretty color but I am not sure how well the shade would show up on lovelies like yourself with more natural pigment in their lips. Busy, on the other hand, shows up beautifully. Over the weekend, I'll see if I have the shades Booked and #Blessed (I think I have one, if not both of them), and if I do, I'll do a comparison swatch with all 4 and tag you. 

[itsfi]

@Guessgal, here's all the SC Glossed items I have.  #Blessed has more pink to it IRL; it just looks miky brown here for some reason.

SEPHORA COLLECTION Glossed Lip Gloss 20 Witty SEPHORA COLLECTION Glossed Lip Gloss 95 Booked SEPHORA COLLECTION Glossed Lip Gloss 100 Busy SEPHORA COLLECTION Glossed Lip Gloss 110 #Blessed 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@itsfi THANK YOU so much for the detailed info!  You really should be a beauty writer!!!  So helpful!  ❤️

[itsfi]

@greeneyedgirl107, oh, I'm very happy to hear it was helpful. I can go on sometimes. Thank you so much for your kind and flattering compliment. 😊 Very much appreciated.

[lmaster]

@itsfi the Jill Stewart lip trios are so pretty

[itsfi]

@lmaster, thank you. These lippies go on smoothly and wear comfortably. The packaging is also adorable, as to be expected from the brand.

[Loretta55]

Great choices @itsfi.

[itsfi]

@Loretta55, thank you. There’s been quite a few new releases with loads of goodies to pick from. Have to decide what to pick up now and use, and what to hold off (for just a little while) before eventually buying. 😆