Tuesday, February 2, 2010

In which coupons are hazardous to my wallet's health...

Despite my promises to shop primarily at Shoppers Drug Mart to buy most high-end makeup, I do occasionally purchase things from the Bay (I have 10$ coupons I can use once a month which is a nice incentive) and even more than occasionally, Sephora. There are still brands that only Sephora carries but mostly I still shop there because of Urban Decay and Kat Von D... and because once-in-a-blue-moon Sephora will send out discount coupons.

This is a large part in my failure to NOT SPEND there. Makeup so rarely goes on sale that when I GET Sephora coupons I 'look' for stuff to buy. So bad. So when I got my Congrats-You're-A-VIB-10% off e-mail I immediately began perusing the site, only to realise like always that [1] Canadians aren't allowed to use their coupons online and [2] By the time the stuff online I wanted came IN the coupon would probably have expired. Luckily (or unluckily?) it turned out that the e-mail had been sent out mistakenly, but I was still allowed to use the discount... and got an extra couple of days to do it.

My devotion/addiction to Dior has been well-documented, I think. Since my last post I've purchased 3 quints, and the most recent one was Extase Pinks which I found (you guessed it) at Sephora. As this quint was a new permanent addition to the line I wasn't in a huge rush to get it (in fact I was planning on waiting until SDM had it and had a bonus points event to buy it), but when I went on the last valid date of the coupon it was the only thing I wanted in the store... I caved. Saving 5.80$ is pretty decent, hey? Plus it gave me enough points to redeem a sample on the e-mail the coupon got sent to, so double bonus. :)

I normally don't post single-item-reviews but I did promise Haru so...


You can't see it in the picture, but the new quads have similar cases to the Designer quads with a silver border on the case. It's lovely :) I'm not sure what the new numbering system means but 804 Extase Pinks is SUPER similar to an iridescent quint (perhaps less shimmery, but not by much). I am a sucker for pinks and I love the dark pewter shade in the upper right; I thought it was a bit similar to Argentic (which I own) but it's a bit darker, so MUCH love for this.

Swatches in Natural Light (but no sunshine):


These were fairly light one-or-two layers of swipes; I find that for most Dior quints they appear much nicer on the eye, and I am very used to putting a good base on (you can see previous posts for this but I always use UDPP+Cream Shadow) before I even put the powders near my eye.

Test EOTD:

UDPP+Flatter Me Creaseless Cream
Purple + Grey shades from Extase Pinks
Besame Shimmer Beige to hilight
K-Palette 24hr Liner in Jet Black
UD 24/7 Liners in Zero and Ransom
Diorshow ICONIC Mascara
Anastasia Espresso Tinted Brow Gel

Full Face, two tries:


As above, with Dior Tinted Moisturizer, NARS Madly Blush, NARS Sex Machine Lip Pencil + Chanel Rouge Lacque Allure in Ming for lips. 

I was actually trying out combinations to wear to a wedding this weekend, so here's my second try with the dress I'll be wearing:



Everything is the same except for the lips, which are now Dior Serum de Rouge in 840 (I think this is the Raspberry one? Could be wrong). Jewellery by the lovely Yasumi :)

I actually think I prefer the light pink lip, looking at it now. I get good wear time with the bases I use (the second pic was taken about 6 hours later, no touch-ups), and I think depending on which of the greys you use the quint is easily adaptable for daytime vs. night-time wear. So I'm happy I purchased it :)

6 comments:

  1. oooh pretty!! you're making me lem this palette i saw this at sephora too the other day...lucky you got the 10% off coupon

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  2. hey justine,
    the palette looks very pretty on you! Thank you for the detailed review, pics and swatches. These are so helpful as I don't think I've seen any other blog review this palette. I just wish Dior wasn't so darn expensive (plus they keep raising their prices, like MAC)!

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  3. hello gorgeous!
    i want to see ur dress!!

    i knmow i am always slow to comment here but u know i stalk u anyway
    <3

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  4. It's really pretty. To get some discount coupons make person so happy as they can purchase some more products with those discount coupons. But this review is very pleasant with all the information with the picture enclosed with.

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  5. i am yet to try the high end brands, but i do love sephora.. as much as possible i don't go in cause i know the damage to my wallet would be intense, lol. i do get coupons in the mail but i still feel it's a bit pricey there.

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