Sephora's 2013 Beauty Insider Birthday Gift

Hey Everyone!

If you're wondering what the 2013 Beauty Insider Birthday Gift is... it is Benefit!

Sephora's 2013 Beauty Insider Birthday Gift

Back of package

The font is a little fuzzy but it says:
Hey Birthday Girl, Today you're #1.....
Treat yourself to the world's #1 mascara and a champagne sheer highlighter that lights up the room.

the items! They're Real! Mascara and Watt's Up! Highlighter

The items inside are a Mascara and a Highlighter. Please note that they are not full-sized but mini versions. Mascara is 3.0g or 0.1oz and expires within 6 months of first use, Highlighter is 2.5g or 0.08 oz but doesn't mention expiration date. Mascara is made in France, while Highlighter is made in Italy.

A close look at the wand

 The full size Mascara is 8.5 g Net wt. (0.3 oz) so its 1/3 the size of a full mascara.

Benefit sells the same item on their site for $8

Full size highlighter is 9.4 g Net wt. (0.33 oz) so its its roughly 1/4 the size of the full size version. Benefit actually sells a deluxe version of the highlighter that is the SAME SIZE as the birthday gift for $8.

Last Year's Sephora Birthday gift was a Fresh Sugar lip treatment mini duo set. Since Benefit sells the highlighter for $8 and the mascara is roughly $7.66 (1/3 of the retail price since is 1/3 of the size), the retail value of this set is $15.66 not including tax. If you want an additional set from eBay, please do not spend more than $20 (including shipping) as these items are not limited edition, otherwise you are not getting a good deal.

If you have never heard of Beauty Insider, its Sephora's Rewards Program which you can sign up either online or in-stores. Sign up is free, and they give you free items depending on points level ($1 equals 1 point, and gift levels are 100 and 500 points). You get a free item as well on your bithday, and this is the item Sephora is providing for all birthday gifts in 2013. If you prefer a "male" version, the gift for 2013 is deluxe size of Jack Black Shaving Cream.

You can also sign up using birthday.sephora.com

xoxo,
Emmy

Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty

Ulta just released their 21 Days of Beauty, which are 21 daily offerings of deep discounted prestige beauty products both online and in stores. I live in NYC so there are no stores around me, but some of the daily offerings look awesome. Too bad the fine print says that you can only order 2 per customer!

As always, Click on images to expand:

The daily events start on March 10th!

xoxo,
Emmy

The Philosophy of Amazing Grace

I finish my body wash of Amazing Grace from Philosophy today and I felt the great urge to take my scissors and cut off the philosophical paragraph written on the bottle. Some days are harder than others but at the end of the day, being humble and helpful are the only things that matter.

Click to Expand

Life is a classroom. We are both student and teacher. Each day is a test. And each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: Grace. Grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on. It's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. Being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest, can't help. Being a humble person can and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude. 

xoxo,
Emmy

How to tell if your Urban Decay Naked is Fake

I love eBay and I have over 300 "stars" to prove it. I get all sorts of things from eBay from my 2 year strong vacuum to tea and more. eBay is also where all the discontinued products from our favorite stores go to be bought. I should have seen this coming but alas I didn't. I spotted a Urban Decay Naked from a seller for just $30 plus free shipping, I figured what could go wrong. But alas, I got burned. As the saying goes, If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

At first quick glace, it looks like I got exactly what I wanted. The scratches on the plastic film are normal since legitimate Nakeds also get scratches.

but if we flip it:

poor printer quality (click to expand)

can't distinguish between the shades? its fake (click to expand)

Look at that lack of printer quality. I have bought a real Naked once where it was overprinted (i.e. too much ink). That's fine for normal naked products, because Urban Decay will let a product pass with a bit too much ink, but fading/bad ink is not acceptable.

What if the Urban Decay Naked you have is really old, well ask yourself "Can you distinguish between the shades?" I can barely tell the difference between darkhorse and hustle, and smog looks like a black blob. Absent are the vibrant colors in the package that POP.

Now Lets open it.

The colors are not uniform when you flash it? Its fake (click to Expand)

Take a photo of your package. Any weird discolorations on the colors? Yeah its, fake.

No nice ombre on the brush? No bold lettering? Its fake

They still can not get the brush right. If your brush does not match how the brush looks like on the back of the package, then its fake. Its supposed to be ombre going from light to black but if the ombre is not really a ombre but just mostly a whitened tip brush, you have a fake. Your font should also be bold gold lettering, if its just gold lettering but not bold, its fake.

If you decide to apply it, the quality is horrible. Are the eyeshadow highlypigmented? Do you need the brush or feel like your finger is better? If you need to use your finger tip or a sponge tip applicator, its fake. Do your eyeshadows lack glitter? Mines does and yours will too if its fake.

Spotting past fake Nakeds used to be much easier, this is how they used to produce them:

via Don't Stop Buying

Initially they were missing the purple encasing with the primer. You should never buy a Naked whose description says its missing a primer. Those were the initial fake Naked products. (Please note that before the Urban Decay Naked Palette was relaunched, it had dual- ended 24/7 pencil, now it has has the Good Karma Brush. BUT both products still come in the same transparent packaging, and have the travel- sized Primer Potion.)

Mines look more like the original only to show that they are making the fake products better and better. Other signs:



 Fake is printed on (mines is printed on). Real one has a sticker.


Real Ones have serial numbers (mines did not).

 
The right one is real, left one is fake. BUYER BEWARE: mines looked like the right one but when I opened it, it had the purple handle like the fake left.

My fake upgraded version:

My fake "upgraded" primer

Mines had the font like the real right one (note the star in the middle), BUT had the purple handle like the fake one and also lacked a sticker on the bottom)


Circular magnets? Fake. Real ones are square (mines was circular).




Fake says Made in Germany. Real one always say "Assembled in Dominican Republic". Mines says Made in Germany.

Last 5 images (besides my 'upgraded' primer photo are from Zaneta Camuika, which is a must read. Mines is a slightly more "upgraded version" than hers (they made the primer more realistic) but alas its a fake. Fellow beauty bloggers have complained of having the fake primer/actual packaging being switched out for a real one, but actual palette is fake as that is the most expensive piece. This could be the case of a seller buying a real one, running out, then buying a fake one only to realize its fake, and then switching the fake into the real packaging to a unaware bystander.

My biggest mistake?
Don't ever buy Urban Decay Naked from a seller who is selling a high quantity at a low price.
If its one item where it appears the seller is reselling a gift (ie. only item they are selling, maybe from the ex boyfriend), you have a better chance of getting a real one than the seller selling 10+ units of Naked at $35.
Remember that Urban Decay has contracts with stores. These contracts forbids selling the product below $50 unless its a store-exclusive sale (ie Sephora's 20% friends and Family sale). Unless its stolen merchandise, chances are that its fake.

The fake versions are getting even better, too bad its at the cost of the consumer.

xoxo,
Emmy

The Perfect Valentine's Day Nailpolish: Ciate's Strawberry Milkshake vs Butter London Teddy Bear

When I think about Valentine's Day, I think about the clichés: a heart shaped box of chocolates, a dozen red roses from the boyfriend (or quite possibly an admirer). Oh if only most romantic comedies were true!

February 14th is the perfect day to wear an innocent shade of pink; the type of pink that envisions daydreaming and young hopeful love. But what shade of pink perfectly depicts a girly vision of romance?

These are my top two nail varnish shades for Valentine's Day:

 Ciaté: Strawberry Milkshake and Butter London: Teddy Bear

 Ciate: Strawberry Milkshake and Butter London: Teddy Bear (Click to Expand)

I have already reviewed Ciaté: Strawberry Milkshake if you would like to see more swatch photos and a full review. It is a creamy baby pink that is pinker and warmer than Teddy Girl.

Butter London's Teddy Girl is a a pale retro bubblegum pink that is lighter and more cool toned than Strawberry Milkshake.

Both have a crème finish, and I love both shades (Teddy Girl is actually my favorite of the two). While Strawberry Milkshake is more "fun" and girly because its warmer in comparison, I find Teddy Girl more sophisticated because of its blue undertones.

Nonlabeled Swatch (Click to Expand):

 

Which shade do you like best? 
Which pale pink shade in general do you think its the perfect Valentine's Day Shade?

xoxo,
Emmy