Sephora

itsfi · ‎08-17-2025

The holiday countdown has begun!! 🎉 Please use this thread to share your advent calendar unboxings. 🎁

Whether you open all the doors to your calendar at once, or you open a box one day at a time and follow the traditional schedule (e.g., 24 day unboxing beginning on 12.1 and 12-day calendar unboxing beginning 12.13 or 12.25), WELCOME!!

For those of us who just can't wait to see what goodies are in our advent calendars, if you will be opening all the doors/boxes at once before the end of the season, please consider hiding your unboxing posts behind a spoiler tab so those who want to be surprised day by day can still do so.

caitbird

Day 16 reveals:

Papier: 3 colored fine liner markers - I am very happy with these, I think they will be quite useful

YesStyle: Skinfood Cica Clear Spot Patch set - I am curious to test these against the COSRX ones I usually use

Bird & Blend: Apple Strudel rooibos tea - yum!

Simon & Schuster: "chonky notes" sticky notes

Side note, I can't believe there are fewer than 10 days left until Christmas - where has the time gone?! 😲

itsfi

Ahhh, Skinfood! Always so good to see that brand pop up @caitbird, and in an advent calendar, too. That brand has been around since the 50s. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the CosRx patches.

Titian06

@caitbird - I'm enjoying your advent calendars. I've been opening a free digital Christmas-themed crochet and knitting pattern advent calendar. One I've been doing for several years. I've downloaded a few cute patterns already. 🧶⛄🎄🎁

CorgiMommy

You picked sone really fun advent calendars @caitbird thanks for posting

caitbird

@CorgiMommy thank you, I have definitely been enjoying them!

itsfi

Typology Day 14

Typology Radiance Mask

This mask claims to refine skin texture and restore radiance in as little as 10 minutes. Active ingredients listed are turmeric extract, yellow clay, mango butter, lemon verbena water, all of which lend themselves to the slightly mustardy-orange-yellow hue of this creamy mask. It's touted as being suitable for all skin types but it was noted in the Q&A section for the product that the mask had not been tested on those with rosacea. My rosacea flareups have been rare of late and are typically mild in nature but I did not want to chance it as my skin overall has been clearing up <<knocks on wood>>, so my first use of this mask after a successful patch test was to apply it to my T-zone. Happy to report that it performed well - my skin felt soft and looked fresh and refreshed in those areas I want to see how it holds up over the course of a week and if there are no adverse reactions, I'll try it on my cheeks as well next week.

caitbird

@itsfi this sounds like a nice mask, just based on the ingredients and claims listed. I hope it works well for you!

caitbird

Day 15 reveals:

Papier: 2 rolls of washi tape

YesStyle: Lilybyred Am9 to Pm9 Survival Penliner in black - this is a felt tip liner, which I don't have any of currently, so I'm happy to have this

Bird & Blend: Gingersnap Green tea

Simon & Schuster: funny little kitty keychain

itsfi

@caitbird, washi tape comes in handy for so many things - journaling, panning projects, gift wrapping, etc.

caitbird

@itsfi yes, I love washi tape! I am planning to use these ones on the holiday card envelopes I will be sending out.

itsfi

Typology Days 10 thru 14

Typology Day 10

Typology Restorative Hair Serum

Well, first off, my face is happy to have a break from having to figure out where to make room for more science projects (i.e., product testing). This plant-based keratin hair serum includes hyaluronic acid and claims to hydrate and strengthen hair. I'll need more time to evaluate the latter claims but I saw how it softened, revitalized or reinfused some hydration/moisture into my strands on just the first use, even on hair that had gone a week since its last wash (the longest stretch I've done and done only for the purpose of this testing).

This serum is meant to be applied to the length of the hair and ends and can be used on wet or dry hair though with the latter, I would start off using just a small amount at a time by section, working the product through the hair and only adding more product as needed. Safe for color-treated, highlighted and bleached hair. Directions say to use 1-2 pipettes daily but I found for my hair (highlighted, color-treated, fine individual strands but a lot of strands), 1 to 1-1/2 pipettes was enough, at least on dry hair.

Typology Day 11

Typology Mark-Fading Serum

This serum is geared toward treating and improving the appearance of acne scars and post-acne hyperpigmentation. Ummmm, YES!!!! Yeah, I'm your gal for testing how this works. Happy to see that it contains centella asiatica; a smidge nervous about the 14% PHA (for exfoliation). PHA is a more gentle form of exfoliating acid (it's part of the AHA family) but in my experience, it can be very drying on my skin if I use it too often. I feel like that is not so uncommon with my skin; it's just very sensitive to acids. Even the gentlest of them, but it is not the norm for PHAs. I've got a couple of post acne hyperpigmentation spots just waiting for something like this. I'll plan to use it once a week on the spot above my lip and every other night for the spot on my chin, adjusting the frequency depending on how my skin responds. This way I can gauge how potent the serum is on my skin. I'm excited to give this a go.

Typology Day 12

Typology Lip Mask

Do I need another lip mask? Not so much. Am I still looking forward to giving this lip mask a try? Absolutely. Especially since I've had good experiences with the brand's tinted lip oils and their lip peeling serum. So far, so good, but it's only been two nights of testing, with tonight being the third.

Typology Day 13

Typology Lipid-Enriched Cleansing Bar

It's been a while since I've used a cleansing bar on my face - there's nothing wrong with them; I've just found cleansing balms or oils better suited for gently and effectively removing makeup, sunscreen and the day's dirt and grime from my face. There are, however, a few things about this one that look and sound promising to me, including:

Soap-free
Sulfate-free
Fragrance-free
Said to gentle enough for those with eczema and rosacea
9 ingredients including glycerin, shea butter, sweet almond oil, calendula extract, all of which has been soothing and nourishing to my skin in other skincare formulations

I'll be trying out this cleansing bar a few different ways, all on my face, but so far, a patch test on the inner crook of my arm and on my forehead has gone well.

caitbird

@itsfi this seems like a nice mix of products! I will be interested to hear what you think of them once you've had a chance to try them out more - especially the lip mask (I am on the hunt for my new holy grail lip mask, lol). I hope they all work well for you!

itsfi

I'll keep you posted @caitbird; lots of testing going on all over my face 🤣 with the treats from this advent calendar and with some makeup products. Oh, I didn't know you were looking for a lip mask; do you have any frontrunners at the moment? Or, what was/were your go-to(s) before your lip mask hunt began?

caitbird

@itsfi I love Tatcha The Kissu Hydrating & Plumping Lip Mask Original which is probably my favorite so far; but then, I tried SEPHORA COLLECTION Lip Sleeping Mask - Caramel Macchiato 0.5 oz/15 ml and I really liked the tube format - so much easier to apply! So, I guess I am hoping to find something that has a similar consistency/feel to the Tatcha lip mask, but in a tube format. I don't know if that is too specific of an ask, though 😅

itsfi

Having a specific ask will help narrow down or weed out the some lip balms @caitbird, so that could be helpful in your search. The Typology lip mask is more jelly, liquid like thn balm like but it doesn't have that jelly consistency that the Tatcha Kissu does. I wonder if you might be able to transfer the Tatcha Kissu lip mask into a cuticle oil pen dispenser that you can find on amazon and use that to apply the product to your lips. The consistencies are not the same but the mechanism for cuticle oil pen is reminiscent of the Stila plumping lip shine/glazes that are in a similar vessel.

caitbird

Day 14 reveals:

Papier: set of 2 cute mini bullet journals - I have been wanting to try bullet journaling, so these are perfect

YesStyle: 2 Biodance sheet masks - I love sheet masks, and have been curious to try these much-hyped ones, so I'm happy to have these

Bird & Blend: Snowball black tea with chocolate & coconut

Simon & Schuster: magnetic cat paw bookmark - cute! 🐾

itsfi

@caitbird, I like the two lines that those Biossance masks are a part of and they'll be great this time of year; I haven't tried wearing them overnight (yet) but they adhere and perform well. Hope they work out for you. I love mini journals; great for keeping in the handbag and jotting down random thoughts during the day (that I would otherwise completely forget about by the time I get home, lol)

caitbird

@itsfi glad to hear the Biossance masks have worked well for you - I've never tried wearing a sheet mask overnight either, I am not sure how that would go 😅 but looking forward to trying these regardless. Yes to mini journals in a purse - I keep a little Moleskine in mine!