THANK YOU❣️ Sephora, Bumble and Bumble, Farmacy, Sol de Janeiro and Tata Harper❣️

[PaletteAddict99]

Woo hoo!!! Summer is almost here 😎 and today I received the most perfect Gratis box from Sephora full of the seasons Hot New Launches which I’m thrilled to try out and share my thoughts on. 

Thank you again so much Sephora & @KatieBT, Bumble and Bumble, Farmacy, Sol de Janeiro and Tata Harper I’m so grateful for these wonderful gifts and for this opportunity!!! 💗 

•Bumble and Bumble solid and striped Surf sprays. These salt infused sprays help you achieve beachy, tousled beach waves. They come in two summery scents; Malibu Beach a tropical coconut scent and Montauk Dunes which is a fresh floral scent. They both smell great! I can’t wait to try them out in my hair.

https://m.sephora.com/product/solid-striped-surf-spray-P430849

•Farmacy Clean Bee ultra gentle facial cleanser is a soothing facial cleanser that lifts away excess oil, impurities and make up while infusing moisture with honey and hyaluronic acid. So excited for the honey and  hyaluronic acid!!!

https://m.sephora.com/product/clean-bee-ultra-gentle-facial-cleanser-P431187

•Sol de Janeiro Glow Oil in Copacabana Bronze. the discription I have on the enclosed letter is for the Ipanema Sunset  Champagne glow oil so I think the Copacabana oil is more of a golden toned glow and had the brands’ original scent rather then the new fragrance of pomelo, wild fig and gardenia as discribed.

 https://m.sephora.com/product/glow-oils-P431741?skuId=2071330

•Tata Harper Resurfacing Serum.  This is a starter serum for a daily glow. This Serum has AHAs and BHAs to give your skin a healthy glowing look and it’s loaded with antioxidants to help fight effects of free radicals that can age your skin. This type of serum is a holy grail daily routine product for me!

 https://m.sephora.com/product/resurfacing-serum-P432048

[Mochapj]

Wanted to come back and share some thoughts now that I've been using the Tata Harper Resurfacing serum daily for 4 weeks.

Spoiler

The serum has a light, lemongrass aroma, and reminds me quite a bit of the scent of SR Good Genes. It's a medium weight, lotion texture (not watery) that is opaque and light pink in colour. It's marketed as a 'starter serum' so right away I had concerns about whether I was going to see any significant changes. I'm 37 and I already use a fairly comprehensive skincare routine so it's likely that my starter days have passed. I was curious about the serum though, so I wanted to give it a fair shot.

That said, over the course of the past 4 weeks I did not notice any appreciable difference in terms of radiant, glowing skin like the reviewer mentioned in the Byrdie article (after just 1 week). However, if you're younger and haven't regularly used exfoliating acids, maybe results would be more obvious.

The serum was the only new item I introduced during this period, and after 2 weeks I started noticing some fairly aggressive congestion on my forehead. I wasn't ready to discontinue use though, so I kept on. The congestion had begun within the first few days of use, but was most concentrated during the second week.

Spoiler

I don't ever have issues on my forehead, so I'm confident that this was brought on by serum use. Shortly after the congestion was at its worst, I also finished a face cream I'd been using the past 2 months. I did notice that once the cream was removed from the equation, congestion began clearing up. If I had to guess, the combination of the serum and cream was too rich because I'd been using the cream for over a month without issue prior to starting the serum. 

At the end of 4 weeks the congestion is gone but my skin essentially looks the same as it did before I started. I can't detect any changes in uneven tone, dark spots, pores, etc.  I think it may have improved one of the superficial lines I had on my forehead, but I'm really not certain. I've used 1/3 of the bottle, so I'm thinking it should last around 2.5 - 3 months. I do intend to finish the bottle just to see if there are any benefits from further use.

Spoiler

Overall I don't think this is a product I would purchase, but I'm also probably not the appropriate demographic for it. If you were in your early 20s, you might love this. 

Thank you again to Tata Harper and Sephora for giving me the opportunity to test this out! If I see any further results I'll be sure to come back and share them.

[starsandbucks]

I felt bad that I hadn’t gotten around to finding a better container for the Sol de Janeiro oil. So last night I finally pulled the bottle I was thinking of and filled it with the product. I shaved, exfoliated and moisturized my legs and was excited to finally get a glowy summer tan! Welllll...

I do recommend changing out bottles if you can. But that was where my luck stopped. I rubbed the oil in and about five minutes later my leg (thankfully I only did one to test) started to itch and burn and then hives started popping up all over. 😮 I jumped in the shower and scrubbed the product off and got some allergy pills in me and was ok, but *whew* that was a rough ten minutes! I regularly use the Sol de Janeiro body mist, body cream, shower gel and lip balm with no issues so this was a complete surprise. So, for me, it’s a pass. 

[curlychiquita]

@starsandbucks, oh no!  I'm glad you got it off!

[Samtian]

I was finally able to try the Tata Harper, @Tamara76 @ElleElleG It still had water in it from when I soaked it, so after a few days of sitting it slipped right off! I haven't been able to log in for this last few days. But I can share my update now. 

The directions say to use with an essence, the only one I have is Boscia Cool Blue so I've used it with that. Oh man it smells so good! I'd buy it just for the smell alone. It seems to give me a slight glow, very slight. But when I use it my face gets really really splotchy and red. I'm not sure on this one. 

[curlychiquita]

Thank you for your review, @Samtian! I decided to give it a go with the Wonderskin sample offer to see how it goes.  Then I can see if it affects my skin like yours without paying for it and then wasting a full size product by returning it.

[Samtian]

@curlychiquita Hope it goes well for you. So far I'm not a fan.

[Mochapj]

I tried the Sol de Janiero Glow Oil this morning. I received the shade Ipanema Sunset, which seems to be the lighter of the two and a champagne sheen.

I'm not much of a glittery body oil person so I was sort of dreading trying this out, however I thought I should at least try it. When I first opened it up, I took what was on the safety seal and smeared it on my arm. If you can imagine the size of the safety seal is about a quarter, this isn't a lot of product but look how glowy it is.

I used that amount for my full arm, and at first I thought, oh, this isn't so bad, it's pretty subtle. In indirect lighting it looks like a soft sheen, healthy and a little glowy but no real glitter.

rubbed inon my palms after

But then, I got into direct artificial lighting. This picture doesn't do it justice - under harsh indoor lighting it is VERY glittery. 

And, despite what the packaging says, it is not transferproof:

black pants

My camera didn't pick up most of it, but everywhere I have rested my arms is covered in a fine coating of sparkles; my pants are literally twinkling all over.

Aside from all that, in the right context and situation I think this could be a nice body oil. If you were on a date or at the pool I think it would make the skin look really soft and touchable and the sheen is quite pretty. The scent, described as gardenia, wild fig and pomelo is pretty generically tropical floral; it's fairly strong and even an hour after applying I can still smell it on my skin.

As others have said, I think if you were to mix a little into a clear body oil, it would provide a beautiful subtle effect and I intend to try that next. I didn't use much at all, so I can only imagine how sparkly you'd be if you used a normal amount as body oil.

[Samtian]

@Mochapj Your review on the product page is cut off. 

[Mochapj]

@Samtian that's weird! When I look at it on my desktop I can see the whole thing but in the app it is cut off :S

[Samtian]

@Mochapj That is weird. I noticed it cut off on my desktop. 

[Samtian]

I retried the Montauk Bumble and bumble spray, and again no change. This time I just got my hair damp, sprayed a lot, and let it air dry. This one again did nothing. Unlike the Malibu. Not sure if this one was a dud or not. 

[quspork]

Chiming in to express my thanks to Sephora, Bumble and Bumble, Tata Harper, Farmacy, and Sol de Janeio for this awesome gratis! I apologize for the tardy post, but we're remodeling some of our house and it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Early thoughts on the Farmacy cleanser: First, the bottle leaked in transit as you can see from the photo. That's something to be aware of if you're interested in ordering it online. Aside from that though, it does emulsify nicely and doesn't dry my skin out at all. In fact my skin feels nice and soft after using this as my second cleanser this week. HOWEVER, the fragrance is so strong and in the end is a deal breaker for me, unfortunately. I'm not usually one to complain about scents, but this one is just overpowering on me and I'm not a fan of it. If you can stand the scent, then I'd recommend giving this a try. I've also tried the B&B Montauk Dunes and did like the fact that I didn't have a problem with crunchiness like I've experienced with Ouai's wave spray. I'll have to play with it more to see if it's worth a re-purchase. Some pictures----

[Tamara76]

Congrats, @quspork!   So sorry for the leak, though! 😞

[PaletteAddict99]

Congratulations! @quspork wow I’m sorry to see that is a really big leak 😞 I hope you enjoy the rest of the products.

[curlychiquita]

Congratulations,  @quspork! But wow, the Farmacy did leak a lot.  That is something the brand will definitely want to fix.

[PrettyPaint]

Congratulations @quspork

[Mochapj]

I tried Malibu Beach Salt Spray this morning just after showering on towel dried hair.

There are coconut notes, but I get more of a red fruitiness from it. In fact, when I first sprayed it I thought it smelled like cherry jolly ranchers. It’s not super strong but every now and then I get a whiff when I toss my hair.

I’m sure at some point I’ve tried a mini of the regular salt spray but it didn’t make much of an impression on me since I’ve never repurchased it. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’ve recently cut off most of my length so beachy waves aren’t really possible. Plus my hair is colour treated so I was a little concerned the saltiness might dry it out.

On the contrary, it gave my hair a bit of texture, volume and fluff, and left it feeling pretty soft. It definitely didn’t have the gritty texture I was expecting. Overall the Malibu Beach salt spray was a pleasant surprise. I’m looking forward to using it more to see if consistent usage has any downsides.

[PrettyPaint]

That sounds really nice @Mochapj. Thanks for the update!

[starsandbucks]

Just thought I’d check in on this thread with a few mini-updates. Still haven’t used the bronzer oil. But now that I’ve located an old bottle with an eye dropper I want to give it a go this coming week. I just need to buy some new blades for my razor and I keep forgetting every time I’m in CVS. That thing is dull and needs a summer refresh! 

Like a few others, the Farmacy cleanser leaves my face tight after using it. It cleanses super well and smells like a beautiful spa and I’m going to continue to use it. I get that tightness from pretty much every cleanser, except oil ones. I’d been using the Erborian oil cleanser for a long time and it’s great and I’ll probably switch between that and the Farmacy until I use up my Farmacy. 

Used the Bumble & Bumble a few times and while I’m still not a huge salt spray convert (only because I just really like straight, straight hair on me) this is a lot better than I remember it being years ago! 

I L-O-V-E the Tata Harper serum. I use Sunday Riley CEO Vitamin C serum in the morning and that Tata Harper Resurfacing Serum at night and, dang, if I’m not the fanciest lady in town. I just love the ritual of doing my skincare and these products make it such a joy, you know?

[Tamara76]

Thanks for sharing the updates, @starsandbucks! ❤️