Tarina Tarantino Dollskin Cheek

I must admit I have been intimidated for a very long time of TARINA TARANTINO. Just look at that name. I never bothered to pick up or look up any TT products because it's scary to read things in all caps. I thought TT was for tough girls. Notice I don't like spelling it out, it just looks mean. In fact I used to not even read the whole name because I saw the alliteration and the long second word and instantly decided it was a foreign language and I didn't want to irritate myself with words I don't know the meaning of, especially when they're yelling at you. It's silly, but I probably would have been interested in TT a long time ago if it weren't for the ALL CAPS TAELKJ TAKADLEKOOI. Intimidating, no? Then one day I chanced the irritation of actually reading it and saw, for the first time, that it actually wasn't an obnoxious word to pronounce. No, just  Tarantino. What a relief.

As I was combing through Sephora's clearance online as I so regularly do I came across some TT blush for $15. Initially I thought it was probably a small size but to get an idea of the size I compared it to NARS and saw that it actually has a teensy bit more than their blush (note: it's okay for NARS to be in all caps because it's short, like a small dog yap. TARINA TARANTINO is long, like a howler (Harry Potter, get nerdy)).

To avoid the shipping charges I just popped into my local Sephora to pick one up. I found the blushes, there were 4 or 5 colors which was fantastic because otherwise I would have taken all day and my husband (who prefers to wait outside Sephora most of the time because he hates it like I hate football) would have wanted to kill me; or worse, not let me buy one.

One of the colors, Parasol, looks very similar to NARS' O.  Yes, O.  I'm sorry, it's just I think my little sister reads this so I don't want to spell it out. If you're a makeup person, you definitely know what color I'm talking about because it's probably about as famous as Luna Lovegood to HP fans (so not the most MOST famous thing, but everyone's at least heard of it). Suffice it to say it's a beautiful coral color with gold flecks in it that looks good on almost any skin. The difference with TT's Parasol is that it doesn't have gold flecks, just a matte coral flush. It's beautiful though and if you're thinking of buying O just save half your money and buy TT Parasol (unless you have your heart set on sparkles). I would have chosen Parasol today except I already own O.  Instead I chose Feather, a milder coral/rose color. Another thing, I like the texture of TT blush more than NARS blush and that's a big deal because NARS... is a big deal. I would venture to say that TT blush is milled a little finer. Smaller particles, yes.

If it looks like I took these pictures with a phone and not a Canon Rebel, it's because I did. Because I don't own a Canon Rebel.

Designed at the Sparkle Factory in Downtown LA? So right between Narnia and Snow White's castle?

One layer

Two layers! Buildable!!

Yay! I love my new blush and I'm glad I finally tried TARINA TARANTINO!

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.