Sephora VIB Sale Haul

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family! We just got back from spending time with my family in California and now we're (slowly) getting back to our normal schedules after a weekend full of relaxing and lots of eating.

I finally got my Sephora VIB sale haul in the mail and I wanted to share it with you all!

1)Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Peel ($16-$148): I've had a lot of problems with hyperpigmentation and scarring recently that I've been trying to solve.  After going through a bunch of other products unsuccessfully, I happened to come across these peels online and wanted to try them.  They can be a little pricey so I decided to wait until the VIB Sale to go for it. I've been using them for 2 weeks at this point (2-3x a week) and I feel like I can see a difference (minor, though). I'm going to continue using these and report back when I'm done!

2) Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer ($43): I've been using Stila "Sheer Color" Tinted Moisturizer for years, ever since I first discovered the world of tinted moisturizers.  Though it's worked for me in the past, I've noticed that my skin wasn't liking it too much since I moved to the South. It had very little durability in the summer, started making my skin super flaky in the winter, and I started noticing breakouts.  Because it's sheer, it also wasn't doing a very good job providing coverage. Everyone online raves about the Nars Tinted Moisturizer so I decided to pick up a sample of it (and Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturizer) at my last visit to Sephora. Nars won, by a long shot. It's a thicker formula than most other tinted moisturizers I've used so that may not be for everyone, but it was exactly what I was looking for -- something heavy enough to cover my blemishes but lighter than foundation. It has fairly long coverage because I've noticed that I don't need to touch up anything when I get home from work.  The one thing I will say is that it's a little hard to apply with a brush/Beauty Blender, and I've started using my fingers to get it to blend more naturally. Definitely check it out if you're in the market for a new tinted moisturizer. It's a little pricey but the bottle is fairly large and a little amount goes a long way. And it comes in a pretty large range of shades (I'm "Finland", for reference).  I am definitely happy with the purchase.

3) Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel ($39): got a small size of this to try out with my Clarisonic Mia 1 and though it's good, I don't think I'll be getting the full size. It's pretty expensive and I don't think I noticed a massive difference in my skin. Will be sticking to my Cetaphil routine until I find something better.

4) Belif The True Cream - Aqua Bomb ($22-$38): I cannot believe I have never heard of this before. I got a small trial size of this and I am obsessed and just went ahead and bought the larger pot.  This. cream. is. AMAZING. My skin does not like the wintery weather and I'm constantly struggling with flaky skin that seems to get worse with makeup. I've noticed a dramatic improvement since I started using this face moisturizer and I refuse to go back to my previous routine.  The only thing is that it's almost a gel-like consistency and it initially feels a little odd when you put it on. A little goes a long way, though, and when it absorbs, you can't tell you applied anything.  Because of this, I try to apply it 5-10 minutes before putting on tinted moisturizer/foundation to allow my skin to absorb the cream and that tends to work best. I don't have any problems with flaking around my mouth or nose anymore.

5) Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer ($29):  Another product that everyone online raves about. I've been trying to make do with my Benefit Erase Paste but it was far too yellow for my skin tone in the Winter. I was between the Nars and the Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer but found the Nars to be more buildable and a better color fit. Similar to the foundation, the Nars' concealer comes in a pretty wide range of shades so it's worth checking out.  It's a little creamier so I'm not sure how great it'd be for undereye concealing (I've heard it can crease) so I've been using the Erase Paste for that.

...that's about it. I caved and bought a few more things because of the $20 for $50 sale Sephora had going on, but I'll share those when they come in.

Let me know what you ended up getting!