Skincare,  Subscription Boxes

Sephora Play! February 2017

I know this post is coming to you super late but my review of February’s Sephora Play! box is here finally! I actually got this box over a week ago and have just been so busy I didn’t get a chance to do anything with it yet, but here we are at last. After last month’s was a bit of a dud, I’m happy to say that I’m WAY more excited about the contents of this box.

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As I say in every post: Sephora Play! is a beauty box for $10 a month for 6 products. You can see some of my reviews from past boxes here.

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This month’s theme is “The Soft Side” – not sure what that means exactly. I didn’t really dwell on it much, because I was so excited to open the box and see this beautiful soft pink bag! It’s a really pretty satiny material and perfect for February with a Valentine-y vibe. It kind of looks like a lingerie bag or something haha not sure if that’s what they were going for but here we are

Inside was the usual six products (well – they market it as five products plus a perfume but it’s six products okay). This month I got 3 makeup items and 2 skincare. Here’s everything that was inside:

linedup

mascara

Sephora Collection LashCraft Length & Volume Mascara
$3.42 Value

Some people complain about getting mascaras in these boxes but I love getting them! I find that I don’t usually finish a full mascara before it expires anyway, so I like the small sample size. I would also never spend $$$ on a mascara so I like getting to try different high end brands. This sample is pretty small but the brush itself is big. I tend to prefer brushes that are like the little rubber nibs rather than this kind, but this still does a good job of lengthening and separating. I know I will get use out of it!

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Bite Beauty Multistick in Cashew
$9.88 Value

First of all I forgot to take an individual photo of this one (and a few others…) so please forgive me replacing it with the photo of my face above. I don’t have any products from Bite Beauty yet so I was really thrilled to see this included in the box. This is a “multistick” that’s supposed to be good for use on your lips, cheeks or even eyes. Cashew is a really pretty color (I swatched it in a pic down below) and I’m not sure I’d wear this on my eyes but I won’t rule it out. I wore it as a lip color in the photo above and was pleased with how it looked and felt on my lips too. I really like the idea of these multisticks and will surely be taking a peek next time I go to Sephora!

PS: I’m not wearing foundation OR eyeliner in that photo! so wild

Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake
$4.71 Value

I forgot to take an individual photo for this one also but it’s fine because I hated this lol. I’ve never been a huge fan of lip glosses. This one is supposed to be a plumping gloss, and the color is a kind of weird nude/orange shade with a bit of sparkle. I read about some people getting burning sensation just from swatching it on their hand, which didn’t happen to me…but I did get a very unpleasant feeling when I put it on my lips. I don’t know that I’d describe it as burning or painful, but it was tingling and a little bit sting-y and just not a nice feeling. I wiped it off almost right away. This is the biggest disappointment for me this month.

clinique

Clinique Pep-Start HydroBlur Moisturizer
$4.16 Value

I was excited to get this in the box because I love Clinique skincare. This is a “blurring” moisturizer that feels very similar (to me) to a silicone primer. It’s extremely smooth and creates a nice base, so I think this would be really good to use under makeup as a daytime moisturizer. This is a product I could actually see myself buying again once I run out. Definitely a fan of this one! I swatched it below as well.

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Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream
$10.20 Value

I’m awful and forgot the photo for this one too so please accept this photo of all the items together. This eye cream is another one I was excited about because I just ran out of my current eye cream, so this came at the perfect time. This eye cream (swatched below) is very hydrating and definitely illuminating – on the skin at first it even looks like a liquid highlighter rather than an eye cream. It’s definitely refreshing and I really like how it feels under my eyes. This is another winner for me.

Tom Ford Neroli Portofino
$6.62 Value

This month’s perfume is by Tom Ford, a brand from which I do not own anything because everything is Very Expensive. According to Sephora, the scent is “crisp citrus oils, surprising floral notes, and amber undertones”. According to me, it smells “good and maybe a little spicy?” I don’t know how to describe scents. For the record I do like this scent and think it’s appropriate for February.

Here’s my swatches of everything from the month:

swatches

You can see what I mean about the eye cream having a bit of a glow, and the moisturizer feels very silicone-y like a primer. The Too Faced looks even more orange on my hand but showed up mostly clear on my lips. The Bite Beauty translates to a beautiful rosy nude-y color. It’s not exactly a unique color but I still like it. And of course, the mascara is black.

As I said before, I positively adored this month’s bag. It’s so cute and just “feels” high quality. This is absolutely a bag that I will keep and continue to use – I think it would make a great travel bag for storing undergarments, honestly haha

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And this month of course also came with a card for 50 bonus Beauty Insider points, and a guide for all the products. I am sad to say that last month’s card actually went to waste for me, because I was on a No Buy for February so I didn’t get to go to Sephora to redeem it at all ;( but it’s okay. I’m in need of a new Beauty Blender so I’ll definitely get to use February’s card!

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You can click on the picture to see it bigger:

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Value & Verdict

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This month’s box was a lot more useful and suited to me than last month’s. The value rings in at $38.99 – not much higher than January’s total of $36.33, but still a bit better. I also find more personal value in the products this month than I did in January’s box. I’ve already used the eye cream, moisturizer, multistick and mascara since I got this box last week, and I can see myself actually repurchasing a few of these items once I run out.

That’s all for my review of this month’s Sephora Play! If you’d like to subscribe, the waitlist opens up from time to time here. You can also check out my previous reviews to see what kind of items you might get. Maybe sometime I’ll show you guys my beauty box spreadsheet too…we’ll see if I want to reveal my full craziness haha

hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading! <3 Kaela

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