Sephora Shopping Suggestions

Sephora‘s Friends & Family sale has been confirmed– it will start 10/22 and end 11/03. The code is FF2010 and it will give you 20% off your purchase. Shipping is still free over $50. Can’t combine it with other codes, and it’s only valid in the U.S. You can use it as many times as you like as far as I know. You can also use it with gift cards.
If you are stuck for ideas on what to check out, read on for my Sephora F&F shopping suggestions.
Makeup

BeneFit Her Name Was Glowla Kit – $36 before discount
Not only is the name of this kit absolutely adorable, everything in it is something I could use, so I’ve had my eye on the kit for a while now. There’s a five shadow palette, and it comes with a mini Coralista blush (and the blush brush), mini High Beam and Moon Beam highlighters, a mini lipgloss, and a mini mascara. They also include a little brush that is fluffy on one side and angled for eyeliner (or even brows!) on the other. This would be a really cute gift, and/or a great way to try out BeneFit cosmetics. The colors are ultra flattering for just about anyone. The kit is also beginner-friendly as it comes with step-by-step instructions!
This little lipstick with a long name is one of my favorites. I’m the first to say that MAC lipsticks are what make up most of my collection/stash, but that doesn’t mean I love these any less. I have two shades, Nude Scene and Premiere, and they’re both gorgeous. These feel so silky and creamy on the lips, and the color payoff is great. The sun protection-conscious will appreciate the SPF as well. There aren’t very many shades to choose from, but all of them would be flattering on a variety of skintones. If you want a no-brainer everyday shade, go for Premiere. I have my eye on It Girl or Ingenue to try next. I’m not quite brave enough for Leading Lady, but it is a drop-dead gorgeous red for the holiday season!
Make Up For Ever – Everything. Really.
If you have not tried anything from MUFE yet, now is the time. Actually, the time has already come a while ago, and you’re a bit late to the party, but we still love you. MUFE is a cult favorite brand among makeup artists that is available exclusively through Sephora online. MUFE is the brand I turn to for my favorite foundation and concealer. High Definition foundation is “the one” and Full Cover concealer is a total lifesaver. Other gems in the line (and it’s very hard to highlight just a few) are Aqua Cream eye shadows and Star Powder eye shadows. Ahhh and you really need to try Smoky Lash mascara, and…well, you get the picture. Try MUFE.
Bobbi Brown – Anything!
Bobbi Brown is an old new brand to Sephora. It used to be carried there, left, and is now back. If you’re a Bobbi fan already, you know this is now a great opportunity to get some goodies for 20% off. If you’re new to the brand, I suggest trying something out. Bobbi’s line is full of very polished, sophisticated color palettes and high performance quality. 
Skin Care

Clarisonic Mia Skin Cleansing System – $145 before discount
Ok this is a big ticket item, I know. But many of you are waiting to get it at a discount. I don’t have the Mia but I have the Pro version. I will say I think the Mia is fine for most users. I got mine before the Mia was out, and I also got a pretty good deal on it so I paid about what the Mia costs. Anyway, I absolutely believe in this skin care tool. It has made a discernible difference in my overall skin tone and the clarity of my pores that I did not get with manual cleansing. If you were on the fence, consider this your little push.
DERMAdoctor Poetry in Lotion – $75 before discount
When it comes to skin care issues such as discoloration, fine lines and wrinkles, or really tough acne, many of us turn to retinol products. However, what I’ve noticed is that usually the more potent your retinol, the more drying and irritating it can be to your skin. If you have had the same problem, you need to try this. I’ve talked about it before, and I’m still loving it. I know the price is hefty, but as also noted in the Sephora reviews, a little goes a long way. I only use this every other night or so, too. I find that’s really all I need to help with my hyperpigmentation (left over from acne, yay!) and fine lines (hooray genetics!). I get all the benefits of retinol without the dry, irritated skin.
Philosophy Purity Made Simple To Go – $10 before discount
Purity Made Simple (or just “Purity”) is a very deep cleanser that is great for removing even stubborn makeup. It’s also an excellent complement to the Clarisonic brush. The smell is a little herbal and a little odd, but it grew on me. I recommend getting the To Go size because it’s still 3 oz, which will last you a long time, and it’ll be only $8, which puts it right at the price of many drugstore cleansers (or even cheaper, in the case of some!). I don’t know about you guys but sometimes I get product ADD and even though I’m using something great, using up a ginormous bottle of facial cleanser can sometimes bore me, so I prefer to get smaller sizes. ;)
Hair

GHD Straighteners – $185+ before discount
If you’re really looking for an amazing straightener, GHD is it. These are truly top of the line. If you’re a flat iron addict, you need one that will be high quality and last. GHD is it! I won’t say there aren’t good straighteners at cheaper prices, but if you are going to drop the big bucks, do it on a GHD, and do it during Sephora F&F. Never ever buy one of these on ebay. There are fakes everywhere. 
Living Proof Normal Shampoo – $10-$24 before discount
This is a really nice sulfate & silicone-free shampoo that helps combat frizz and also prevents dirt from sticking to the hair, which actually allows you to go longer between washes. It’s pretty amazing. I didn’t find the conditioner hydrating enough for my taste (I had to use a bunch of leave-in conditioner afterwards), but this shampoo is fantastic.
I actually wanted to recommend one of the products in this set, the Overnight Hair Rescue treatment, but it’s not available yet. I have this kit but that’s the only product I’ve tried in it so far. It’s amazing. I was looking for some seriously hydrating hair care and the Overnight Hair Rescue would be worth the set alone.

ELF Codes

Since I love cheap thrills (ok, I love anything beauty related…cheap is just a bonus), here are some current promos from ELF!

Buy 1 Item, Get 1 50% off
Code: SITESAVE
Applies to any purchase (no minimum/maximum)
Expires 10/4

Free Zit Zapper
Code: ZAPPER
$15 minimum purchase
Expires 10/4

1 New Mineral Brush Free
Code: MINBRU 
$20 minimum purchase
Expires 10/4

Free Bracelets from ShopTheLook.net
Code: ACCESSORIZE
$15 minimum purchase
Expires 10/4

Free Sunglasses
Code: SUNGLASSES
$15 minimum purchase
Expires 10/4

If you aren’t sure what you want to buy to use one of these codes, they just added a ton of brand new items (and new shades of existing items), so it’s worth a look to see if something catches your eye. ;)

Happy hauling! Let me know if you get anything.

Free Stila Palette Today Only!


Purchase one of the five Stila Fashion Week Sets and get a FREE Stila Pro Artist palette! The code is NYPRO. The pro artist palette includes six eyeshadows: Kitten, Prize, Sparkle, Grand, Lucky, and Moxie. The latter three shades are exclusive to the palette!
Moxie is such a gorgeous purple!

These fashion week sets are absolutely gorgeous and fabulous deals. Check ’em out!
Betsey Johnson Look
Jenni Kayne Look
Lela Rose Look
Rebecca Minkoff Look
Whitney Eve Look
Each kit is only $40, plus you get the Pro Artist Palette! Want to get in on this great deal? Shop Stila!

Purely Cosmetics Anniversary Promo

One of my favorite mineral etailers, Purely Cosmetics, is having their anniversary sale promo tomorrow! This promotion is good 9/18 only! It’s a kind of “choose your own adventure” sale. Choose between 15% off your entire order, or free shipping!

Free Shipping – $15 minimum purchase required. Code: ANNIVSHIPFREE.
15% off your order – no minimum purchase necessary. Code: ANNIV15OFF.

These codes will be good until midnight CST. Happy Shopping!

Be sure to check out my posts on Purely Cosmetics Foundation and Diamond Perfect Finish Powder for some ideas on what to grab!

Get a Free Mascara from Stila!

Hey everyone! I just got an email with a great offer from Stila that is good for the whole month of September. Now through September 30th you can get a free Multi-Effect Mascara ($20 value) or Black Diamond Mascara ($24 value) with all orders of $15 or more! You also get to choose your color! There is a different promo code for each freebie:
BLACKM gets you a mutli-effect mascara in Black
BROWNM gets you a multi-effect mascara in Brown
BLACKD gets you black diamond mascara in Black Shimmer
BLUED gets you black diamond mascara in Blue Shimmer
These coupons cannot be combined (no stacking). You do not need to add the mascara to your cart. It will be added automatically when you use one of those codes. 

Cherry Culture Back To School Sale

Woohoo! Cherry Culture has 20% off for back to school. Save 20% off your order from now through the 24th at 11:59 CST. Code is B2S20.

Shipping to the U.S. is free on orders over $40. Cherry Culture also ships world-wide (although I understand it’s kind of $$, so you might want to buddy-up, international ladies!).

If you’re not familiar with Cherry Culture, they carry all kinds of awesome brands. Their most popular (I think anyway) being NYX. You might also want to give Sinful Colors, Jordana, Crazy Rumors, and newly added freshMinerals a look-see. I first discovered freshMinerals on my trip to Washington a couple months ago. It looks like they do not yet have the full line on Cherry Culture’s website, but it’s good to have on your radar to check out in the future because their eye colors are to die for. 

Oh yes, and if you like sparkly nail polish, run to the LA Girl Rock Star nail lacquers. OMG. The color Overdose is probably one of my favorite glittery polishes ever. It’s freaking gorgeous. Check it out:

(Yes, I know I have polish all over my cuticles. I couldn’t wait til after I cleaned this up to show everyone on Twitter the amazing sparkles!)

SJP Covet Pure Bloom Fragrance

I was contacted recently by Perfume Center, a site I hadn’t heard of but now have bookmarked. Perfume Center is a designer perfume outlet website. They sell perfumes up to 70% off retail. They offered me the chance to try out a perfume and review it. The perfume I received is Sarah Jessica Parker Covet Pure Bloom. Suggested retail for this perfume is $68. Perfume Center has it for just $27.78!
I know this perfume has been around for a little while as it launched in 2008, but it’s new to me! Hopefully new to you too. ;) The top notes are purple plum, mandarin, and coconut water. Other notes include tuberose, jasmine, royal Indonesian pikake (I have no idea what that is but it sounds exotic!), and a base of amber, musk, and sandalwood. I did not know the notes before trying the fragrance, and I wouldn’t have chosen it if I’d read them lol. I am normally not a huge fan of musk or sandalwood. However in this fragrance they are just fine and do not bother my nose at all because of the rest of it. Tuberose is a favorite of mine (I’m kind of obsessed with BBW Velvet Tuberose). In fact, I don’t detect much of the base notes at all until long after the fragrance has been applied. 
I love the fruity top notes and how they interact with the tuberose and whatever royal Indonesian pikake is. If I had to describe the fragrance in laymen’s terms, the best thing I can come up with is “designer grape jelly”. No, really! Hear me out. I say this as a good thing. To me it smells like a designer perfumer was asked to interpret the scent of classic grape jelly. It’s pleasant, playful, and sweet. 
As far as the quality of the perfume itself, I find the wear to be about average compared to my other perfumes. One thing I will say though (and this is probably true for any perfume, but especially this one) is do not judge it by how it smells right after you spritz it. The drydown is just gorgeous and that’s where the scent shines.
Even if you’re not sold on trying out Covet Pure Bloom (or if you already have it!), definitely check out Perfume Center anyway. They have generously created a 10% off code for Gloss Menagerie readers! For 10% off your purchase enter code “glossmenagerie“. Other perfumes they have that I highly recommend are Marc Jacobs Daisy, Dior J’Adore, Valentino Rock n Rose, and Escada Ocean Lounge. There’s literally hundreds of perfumes to choose from, and a huge selection of men’s cologne (including my very favorite EVER “Weekend” by Burberry) and so much more. :)

Product provided by PerfumeCenter.com!

Save Some Green with Extrabux!

For those of you who have been living under a rock/don’t do much online shopping, there are these magical online shopping rebate sites that literally pay you to shop by offering you a % back of your purchase price if you shop via their affiliate links. You might have heard of this already with a program called Ebates. And until the end of this month, there is Bing Cashback. Bing is closing its doors on the cashback program. Ebates is kind of a pain. I have heard numerous complaints about shoppers not receiving their shopping rebates from Ebates. In fact, I have experienced this myself. 
But never fear, Extrabux is here! Extrabux is the new kid on the block in the online shopping rebate community. Like other programs, they offer a percentage cash back incentive for online shopping. They also have a listing of all the coupon codes currently available from their merchants. I’ve signed up, will you?
Just some of the retailers that caught my eye that participate in Extrabux’s program are…
Vistaprint – Absolutely fabulous company for getting business cards and other promotional materials made. Take note, makeup artists!
The Container Store – tons of great makeup organizing goodies here!
and many, many more!

Edit 7/31/10: I just got word from Extrabux that they have also now launched a referral program! Get bonuses for referring your friends & family. If anyone is planning on signing up and would like to give me credit for a referral, click here.

Some Beautiful Deals…

Hello my beauties…I haven’t done a deals/sales post in a while, but the getting’s good right now so I thought I would share. :)

The Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale is still going strong! There are markdowns up to 50, sometimes 75% off. The SaS is legendary, really. It’s the one sale I can never pass up because there is always something great I can grab. In addition to the amazing deals, you can also get $10 off a purchase of $40 or more with the code SALE40. This is one-time use per person, and also good in stores with their printable coupon. If for some reason you didn’t get the coupon in your email, click here to print it.

More good news…Because the Semi-Annual Sale is also at Victoria’s Secret, all of their Beauty Rush cosmetics are on sale at incredible deals too. ;) I just wish their VS Makeup line would go on sale!

There’s also a huge mark. gift with purchase going on right now! In fact, it’s going for today only! With a $35 purchase you get a silver makeup bag filled with goodies. The set includes: shimmer glossblossom lip tint, 2 i-mark eyeshadows (in a snap to it case), on the edge eyeliner, scandalash mascara, and a just pinched gel blush stick. You also get free shipping on your order. The code for this is MUSTHAVES. It’s only good today! Check out my mark. e-boutique!

For 4 more days you can get free shipping and 15% off all Bliss, Remede, and Elemis purchases at Bliss! Code is JULY10.

And because looking great by the pool or at the beach includes having clothes on for most of us, I thought I would include that Torrid has 25% off select styles of swimwear, and sandals are marked down to $19.99. Shipping is also free on any purchase of $100 or more. Unfortunately it’s not hard to spend $100 there.

Clinique also has a fun GWP going on right now that is kind of cool because you can pick which palette you get. :) Check that out with the banner below.

Clinique Online




Disclaimer: Some of the links/banners in this post lead to affiliate links, Clicking these links earns me a small commission that helps support the costs of running the blog.

Bath & Body Works Orange Sapphire

Orange you glad it’s almost summertime? HA. See what I did there?

I love the scent of oranges. In fact, I love the scent a whole lot more than the taste. One of my favorite scented products ever is Bliss Blood Orange & White Pepper! Blood orange just smells so yummy.

So when I was at the mall on Saturday I ducked in to Bath & Body Works to check out the new Orange Sapphire scent. They had a huge display right at the front of the store and I made a bee line for the tester.

Oh holy hell this is citrus heaven!!!!!!!!!! I’m in love. The top notes are bright citrus– blood orange, tarocco orange, grapefruit, peach, mandarin orange, and more. The middle notes contain some light florals like orange blossom, orchid, and jasmine. The fragrance’s base is made up of musk, vanilla, honey, and cognac to name a few. It’s a very complex fragrance but purposefully so. It has enough depth so that it’s not a cloying, kitchen cleaner-type orange scent. Instead it’s a succulent, summery orange scent that perks up the senses without slapping them in the face (or punching them in the nose, if you will).

If you love citrus you need to check this out. I grabbed mini sizes of the lotion, shower gel, and body mist. They’re normally $5 each, but Bath & Body Works is currently having a promo where the minis are 3/$10. I didn’t know when I purchased them, but B&BW has made improvements to their lotion formula, enriching it with shea butter and jojoba oil. The changes are great; I really do notice an improvement in how silky my skin feels after applying this lotion, even to my most dry parts on my elbows and the tops of my shoulders.

But wait, there’s more! 

If you don’t have a Bath & Body Works near you, shipping is just $1 for the next 2 days on purchases of $25 or more from the website. The code for this offer is APRILSHIP1. Sorry Canadians, this is only valid for U.S. purchases. That is so lame. :( Also worth noting is the signature line is buy 2 get 1 free, and Anti-Bac is on sale 4 for $15 or 6 for $20.