Happy Birthday from Sephora

This post will be short, I just want to make sure everyone knows that if you become a "beauty insider" member with Sephora (which is !FREE!, and you can sign up here or in stores) you get a free birthday present every year which is usually a deluxe sample (a sample that lasts longer than a normal sample).

Last year I missed a Philosophy Bubble Bath because I kept procrastinating but the year before it was eyeshadow and a mini mascara and THIS year it's a sugar lip treatment duo by Fresh (which is, in my opinion, a lovely brand). One of them is a tint in rose (just a tint, it brightens you up but it doesn't look like lipstick... great for indifferent days). The other stick in the duo is a clear lip conditioner and I absolutely love it. Yes, I've tried it because I went to Sephora on January 1st of this year and told them that I missed my birthmonth and they gave me this year's present (so I'll be getting a duplicate on my real birthday in December).

I would like you to note that it is now the end of September and I'm only about halfway through my lip treatments (not that I use them every day...but fairly often), Sephora's birthday gifts are legit. Even if you're not a Sephora person you might as well sign up and get something free in your birthmonth and then if you don't like it, it can become part of your emergency present supply for when that random person gets you a Christmas present and you don't have time to get them something without looking like you didn't get them something.

Anyway, thought I'd share with you all because there's nothing like free things.

Another cool free thing that is totally irrelevant is a free monthly chocolate from Godiva (even without purchase) when you join their customer rewards club, which is also free. So if your mall has one you might as well join it even if you don't like chocolate, because you do know someone that does. 

The Best Primer of All Time/ Parabens & Preservatives

...and it's not even a primer...technically.

Philosophy The Present Clear Makeup. $28/2 oz.

This product is formulated and intended to be a "skin perfecter" which gives it qualities that go above and beyond your everyday primer. It has silicone in it which sounds threatening if you don't know your ingredients, but silicone does amazing things for the skin like:

-improves texture

-helps with dry and flaky skin. So if you're sick of putting on your powder foundation just to look like a gross peeling/chafing/molting monster, try this underneath.

-acts lightly as an occlusive (keeps moisture in, keeps crap out...like a skin shield)

        "But don't silicones suffocate the skin?" Ha! No. You have been misinformed my friends. Silicone products may feel heavy going on but the heaviness evaporates and leaves a smooth and breathable surface, "filling in" your imperfections. But it doesn't actually penetrate into your pores at all, it creates a sort of protective sheath and a perfect canvas for your foundation- liquid or powder. If you're not a makeup person you could wear this product alone and still see an improvement in the texture and tone of your skin. 

Is it paraben free? No, and you're probably thinking like a dumb bucket. If a product doesn't have parabens it almost certainly has another kind of preservative that is just as likely to give you cancer if your water bottles or hairspray doesn't first. So stop wasting your time with caring or abandon all products with preservatives (yeah, have fun with that). How often do you see products that say, "paraben free"... and how often do you see products that say, "preservative free"?  Not as often, but they're out there. Next time you read, "paraben free", revise it in your head to, "I want to take advantage of the fact that you haven't done your research." I'm all for preservative free products, oh yes, but I'm not all for the price tags that they frequently come with.