Cupidrop x Lovue New York Blogger Event

Last month, I received an invitation to check out a new K-Beauty shop opening up in Manhattan from the lovely people over at Cupidrop. Since I love skincare and shopping, and a good trip to New York, I accepted the invite. I took a half day from work, drove to Jersey City and took the Path into Manhattan, and entered KTown for an afternoon of mingling and swatching.

The new shop, Lovue (pronounced love you, so cute!) is right on 5th avenue in Koreatown. It's a block away from the 33rd St. Path station, making it super convenient for those coming from Jersey like me! I was a little early, so I went and got Starbucks (mostly so I could use the bathroom...) and happened upon an Amazon Books store. It was actually pretty neat, there were no listed prices - you just scanned the barcode and see what the price is on Amazon, and that's what you pay! Did some browsing and headed back over to Lovue for the start of the event.

I apologize in advance for the photos, I only had my phone with me!

The storefront! It is so, so cute.

The front of the store is super cute and super inviting! After walking in, I was greeted by a ton of staff and one of the ladies from Beauteers (the genius team behind Cupidrop), Jenny, gave me a name tag. After greeting people, I had time to take in what I had walked into.

The store from the second floor!

My first thought? OVERWHELMING! So many products, K-Pop blasting, giant screens where they played K-Pop videos, it was intense! I must have done 4-5 laps around the store just picking things up and putting them down. The store stretches pretty far back, I was shocked at how large it was! The best part about being able to check out the store the day before opening is that everything is so neat on the shelves, and testers aren't destroyed. The layout of the store is aesthetically pleasing - most of it is done by brand, but then there are walls of sheet masks and areas specific to a certain skincare step. Everything was arranged nicely - I saw a lot of color grouping. They had a large sink in the back for hand washing, and they even had some of the hand soap available for sale to try out at the sink. The store has several large, lighted mirrors as well.

The Great Wall of Cosrx

Sheet and Modeling masks!

Various Cleansers

Sheet mask overload!

Lovue has a ton of brands in stock, I saw the following:

• Cosrx
• Klairs
• Graymelin
• Papa Recipe
• Mizon
• Innisfree
• Thank You Farmer
• Missha
• belif
• Huxley
• Scinic
• JOne
• Benton
• Neogen
• Mediheal
• Elizavecca

...and a bunch more. Some brands only had sheet masks, while other brands had most of the entire line available. Some lines only had certain products - Cosrx had most everything aside from the super new releases, and their sheet masks. I didn't, however see any of the luxury K-Beauty brands like Sulwhasoo in stock. Prices were relatively fair, I think the only super outrageous markup I saw was belif creams going for $56, which outstrip Sephora's prices by a bit. The prices aren't as good as ordering from Korea, but they were definitely doable. Most sheet masks were between $2-$7, and boxes of masks were between $20-$30, all depending on brand. I think it's an okay tradeoff to not have to wait for shipping.

There was a second floor where snacks and drinks were being served. (The bulgogi was soooo good!) The Lovue team and the Beauteers team both thanked everyone for coming. They also whipped out an impressive gift box! The store team also let everyone know that there was 20% off store wide for the length of the event, which got a lot of people (myself included) very excited.

Being on a diet sucks, but I had a few bites!

I must say, the store did get very warm during the event, with 30someodd bloggers and staff hanging out on the second floor. Of course, the first floor was cooler, so I spent a decent amount of time browsing and putting things into my basket. The store staff was super helpful, and they were all very excited to help pick out and suggest products. I definitely did a little bit of damage, but it was 20% off, so it wasn't toooo bad.

A bit sweaty, but enjoying myself!

Now for the best part...the goodie bag and my purchases! I was super stoked about the gift bag, I love trying new products, and the bag was very, very generous!

• Elizavecca hydrogel mask
• Scinic modeling mask
• A. True Spring Green Tea Watery Calming Cream
• Bizoo Daily Sheet Masks
• $50 to Dons Bogam Black

I'm very excited to try both the Bizoo sheet masks and the A. True cream! A. True had some other products that looked good, so I'll have to check them out another time. Clearly the best gift was the $50 IN FREE FOOD!!! I can't wait to check the restaurant out.

It was really, really hard not to go wild in the store, they had SO MUCH STUFF! I have a lot of unopened skincare, so I kept myself in check. Here's what I wound up with:

• Peripera Airy Ink Velvet in Elf Light Rose - Everyone raves about these, and three ladies in the shop recommended them. I was glad for the chance to swatch them!
• Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Serum - I wanted a serum or an essence, and this felt the best on my skin from the ten (at least!) I tried.
• Every Helloskin Jumiso mask they had.
• A'pieu falsies - I love East Asian brands of lashes, since I have small eyes and they usually run smaller/more natural.
• Ultru I'm Sorry For My Skin Relaxing and Pore Care jelly masks
• Package foot peel - this was cheaper than my usual TonyMoly so I'm excited to see if it's as good!
• Holika Holika After Working Overtime sheet mask - I actually have a lot of OT scheduled (including this weekend) so this just happened to work out for me.
• SNP Bird's Nest Aqua Ampoule sheet mask - Faceonomics raves about it so I wanted to try it.

I could go back and buy a million more sheet masks. My wishlist grew five miles today! I'm really excited to try all these new masks - some of the ladies at the store suggested a few, and they all had great skin soooo...why not?

Lovue is located at 324 5th Ave in Manhattan. Thank you again to everyone in the store and the crew at Beauteers for inviting me! It was a wonderful time - I will definitely drop in next time I'm in the city!

Sephora VIB Rouge Beauty Before Brunch Event for Beauty Insider Appreciation Week

To kick off "Beauty Insider Appreciation Week," Sephora hosted one of their infamous VIB Rouge closed door shopping events.  If you're VIB Rouge, you may have gotten a paper mailer or an email with the invite earlier last week:

The last Rouge event I went to in Manhattan was actually quite awesome! However, these smaller shopping events usually leave much to be desired. I finally learned from past experiences and didn't show up at 9 in the morning, because really, it's Sunday. I threw on whatever and only put on sunscreen. The main 'draw' of the event was 4x points for Rouge members, and as we all know, Sephora points aren't really good for too much, unlike Ulta's rewards points. Not to mention I really didn't need or want much of anything (can you believe it?!) I figured I'd get something to get the goodie bag and be on my way.

I rolled in at about 10 AM and was greeted at the door, was given a name tag and a shopping basket. I was offered a chance to sign up for skincare or makeup consultations and I declined. I noticed representatives from the following brands at my Sephora - Boscia, Tarte, Benefit, and Stila. There may have been more, but those were the ones that I was able to pick out or that spoke with me. I had never seen a Boscia rep at an event before, so that was pretty cool. 

I had gone in wanting to swatch some of the new Kat von D Metal Crush eyeshadows, but unfortunately, only five of the ten shades were in, and I was interested in none of them. I wandered around and finally settled on the following items:

• Kat von D Ink Liner in Woolf
• Nudestix Clean Up Pencil
• Make Up For Ever Mist and Fix travel size (better price per mL than the big size!)

I opened up the sample bag and what do you know - it contained everything in the photo above. They went heavy on minis and kept it to the one Fresh foil (which I have minis of already!) Kudos to Sephora, I'm actually really pleased with this sample bag. I LOVE L'Occitane hand cream, so the mini is quite welcome, as well as the Formula X polish. Not a Benefit fan and we always seem to get Porefessional shoved at us, but at least they upped it to a mini and not a foil. Really, really pleased with the samples! I'd have just also loved a mini mascara, but hey, can't beat getting what you're shown in the photo!

Although Sephora seemingly did well, there was a drawback. Sephora put up the notice for the event early on their BeautyTalk forums, three days earlier than they sent out emails to all Rouge members. Because of this, some locations were already full when it came time for the general Rouge populace to RSVP for the event. I can see Sephora wanting to reward their forum Rouge members, but it seems a bit unfair to lock out those Rouge members who do not frequent BeautyTalk. We all spend the same baseline amount to make Rouge, so don't you think it should be made as equal as possible when it comes to going to the non-regional events? Just my thoughts on the matter.

Did you hit up the event? Happy with the samples? Miss the chance to RSVP? Tired of Rouge BS in general? Let me know!

VIB Rouge Too Faced Lipstick Mafia Event

So about two weeks ago, I got an email from Sephora about a VIB Rouge event in New York City. Usually I don't pay any attention to these, because they're during the week right after work, and I'm not about to drive into the city after work. However, this one was on a Saturday, and had the words "gift card," in the description. I was instantly 1000 times more intrigued.

This event was a few hours after an open meet and greet with the Too Faced Lipstick Mafia at the Times Square Sephora location. The Rouge event was closed door with free gifts and refreshments, and you needed to RSVP. I immediately called and reserved a spot. 

Sephora "Extraordinary Rewards" Point Perk Release

Extraordinary Rewards Promo

If you're anything like me, you do quite a bit of shopping at Sephora, even though after every mishap (like sales where you feel you deserve more off, or bungled orders, etc) you swear you're going to shop there less. So since you shop there quite a bit, you probably have a few points saved up, since the regular point perks aren't really anything to write home about. About a week or two ago, Sephora sent out the above promo via email, letting everyone know that WORTHWHILE, AMAZING REWARDS ARE COMING! (Brace Yourselves!) The email said that another email would follow letting you know when the rewards would be available for Beauty Insiders to redeem, and they gave vague hints as to what would be available, such as sets from Kat von D and the pictured Urban Decay Naked Vault.

But...that email never came. (At least for me...the emails are technically still rolling out. As of this post, I haven't gotten mine.) The point perks silently went live on May 5th, at 4 AM EST/1 AM PST, and were snatched up within seconds. Canadian customers were barred from the majority of the perks. People waking up at a decent hour logged online to see forums already fuming at the fact that the perks were gone, and then they joined the masses in complaining that they didn't get a chance. I myself called the Rouge hotline and wrote a strongly worded email that I didn't even have a chance to try and redeem my points, because I was asleep like a normal human being.

Sephora, of course, handled this with their usual grace and aplomb no coordination or idea of what to do. Some people heard from Customer Service Representatives that there would be more perks on the way. Others heard that people "hacked" the site to get the rewards, and that their orders would be cancelled. Some people called to voice their complaints and were given points to smooth things over. (I was not offered points on either of my calls.) One of the Representatives I spoke with said they had "No idea what they were going to do about the situation," and that "Some people managed to get access when the perks went live early by mistake." Clearly, Sephora has made a mess of things, as usual, and is scrambling to make a recovery.

Once again, being a VIB Rouge has not paid off whatsoever, since I haven't even gotten the email that states the "extraordinary rewards" are available. As of right now, there is one reward currently left - a Josie Maran set with three products that do not have noted sizes (most likely deluxe minis) and an autographed cookbook by Josie's favorite chef. You can see why this is the last perk left - it's value is not worth the 1000 points it is listed for.

Right now, I am just waiting for Sephora to apologize for royally screwing up (again) and for possibly being offered some sort of token of their appreciation for being their customer through another one of their messes (yeah right.) But the drama sure is making the day go by quickly!

Sephora VIB Rouge Spring Sale Haul!

In all of its splendor, my sale purchases!

I know it's a bit late, but here's my sale haul post from the recent Sephora spring sale! I did some damage, but I had been good so far through the year with only really buying a gift for someone, and then buying a couple of items on my birthday. The first part of the sale clashed with IMATS weekend, so thankfully the sale extended to my next paycheck so I could finish my shopping! I think I got enough to tide myself over til the fall sale... (haha yaok.)

Here's a rundown of what I picked up:

• L'Occitane Almond Hand Cream - I love this hand cream!
• Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel - New item for me, heard it has a good pH so I'm excited to give it a shot!
• YSL Glossy Stain in 20 Rouge Enamel - Hoping this is a great summer color for me!
• Shiseido cottons - Always gotta stock up on these. If you haven't tried them, it's like a cloud for your face
• YSL Teint Touche Eclat in BD 10 - I love this foundation! I may have to exchange for B10, though.
• Shiseido Eyelash Curler - So much better for my eye shape than the Shu Uemura I was using before.
• Too Faced Melted Metal in Peony - SO excited to try this! 
• Giorgio Armani Eye Tint in 11 Rose Ashes - I've heard such great things about these, and my first use was amazing! I can't wait to get my review up.
• Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster - I've been wanting to incorporate a Vitamin C serum into my skincare routine, so I picked this up. It had great reviews and I can see why.
• Sephora Favorites Lash Stash To Go - I love mascara minis, and with this you get to pick your favorite and get a full size!
• Bumble and bumble Thickening Full Form Mousse - My favorite mousse. Makes my hair look full.
• WEN Cleansing Conditioner - Hopping on the co-wash train! This stuff is really great for my hair, but I don't like the price tag.
• Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré - I picked up the small size of this to give it a shot after multiple friends sung its praises. I have a few moisturizers so we'll see how this one fairs!
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin - After destashing my Naked palette, this is the only shade I really missed. It was sold out when Ulta had $9 single shadows, so I snagged it during this sale!
• NARS Audacious lipstick in Audrey - OMFG this swatches so amazingly smooth and I can't wait to wear it!
• Marc Jacobs lipstick in So Sofia - I looked at a few hot pinks before settling on this one. I love the new Marc Jacobs formula. 
• Surratt Smoky Eye Baton in Cendres - I've had Surratt on my wishlist for a while now, and of course Sephora stocks them during the sale! This little thing is tiny, but I can't WAIT to play with it! Hello, simple smoky eyes!
• Kat von D Ink Liner in Baudelaire - I'm not usually a fan of felt tip liquid liners, but I love a good navy wing and I wanted to try the new Kat von D liners out.
• Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in Moonlight - I've been dying for this shade.
• NARS Smudgeproof eye primer - Just stocking up here, move along...
• Marc Jacobs Highligher in Peri(dot) - Of course, new summer shades released during the sale. How strategic. My swatch of this didn't budge!
• Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bauhau5 - Another wishlist item being checked off!
• Giorgio Armani Flash Lacquer in #503 - Total impulse buy, but I'm into glossy lips right now! I've heard great things about the formula.

...and there you have it! You'll slowly be seeing reviews on most of these items soon, as I get a chance to use them! 

IMATS NY Haul

Here's what everyone really cares about, what I bought from IMATS! I didn't take home too much stuff due to the Sephora sale being the next day, but I did take advantage of some of the super awesome discounts that some of the brands had. Hopefully next year I'll be better prepared!

Bdellium and Sigma brushes

I picked up three Bdellium Tools brushes - 781, 780, and 777. These I plan on using for cream eyeshadows like my ColourPop shadows, and my By Terry Ombre Blackstars. I was also given a mini Sigma E70 brush as a freebie at another booth - look how cute! This is my first Sigma brush.

Hakuhodo brushes

The Hakuhodo booth got some serious love from me. These three are for me, but I got about 13 other brushes for friends! I picked up two new eye brushes the J142 and J5522 for crease work, and the B002 for powder. The B002 is so, so soft.

Lit goodie bags

I got these ADORABLE Lit goodie bags tossed into my Lit purchase! I had a few dupes of some shades, so I sent them to friends, but I kept the purple one. They're full Lit kits, just micro sized!

Lit glitters and base

I love me some glitter. I picked up Lit glitters in Cher, Magic Dragon, Rich and Famous, and Cayman. I was also given the Naturally Lit trio to try out! I also was given a mini Waterproof Glitter Base to play around with.

Sugarpill haul

I was so excited to pick up some Sugarpill goodies! I snagged their new nail polish in Celestia, Sinnocent lashes, a tapered blending brush, as well as Chromalush loose eyeshadow in Charmy and Clickbait.

OCC Sebastian pencil and lip tar, and Z Palette

A large Z-palette for some depotting, and a mini Sebastian lip tar, and the matching pencil from OCC!

IMATS New York

Last week I had the pleasure of attending IMATS New York! It was my first time attending the convention, and I was really excited to go. In case you were wondering, tickets were $60 a pop, and no one under the age of 17 was allowed in. They took that rule super seriously, IDs were checked at the door. This convention was a lot less crowded than other conventions I have been to, but it definitely smelled a lot better. I only stuck around for about two hours, I basically bought the things I had come to buy, snapped a few pictures, and was on my way. I wasn't around to witness the YouTube guru drama that went down (somewhat unfortunately...) so I can't shed too much light on what happened with that.

Sephora VIB Rouge Beauty Before Brunch Event

It's that time of the year again - Sephora spring sale time! If you're a VIB Rouge, you recently received this email or invitation in the post:

The spring Rouge event is a closed door shopping event for VIB Rouge members to kick off the spring sale, which has been referred to as "chic week" in the past. This year, Rouge members get access to their discount four days before VIB members, who get access on the 16th. VIB members also get 15% off their purchases as well. Regular Beauty Insiders will receive 10% off starting on the 17th. (If you are not currently a Beauty Insider, it is free to sign up!)

The event at my store had contouring lessons, mini makeovers, and mini facials. I did not avail myself of any of these, since I had business after the shopping time and I didn't want a red face or an overly warm contoured face. There was coffee, water, fruit, and small pastries available. It looked like the store had its full force of sales associates working, all wearing bright red lipstick to celebrate the Rouge title. I spoke with two vendors, one from Stila, and one from Benefit. The Benefit rep was quite pushy, but I managed to walk away with no product, as I'm not a huge fan of Benefit products.

The Sales Associates were all friendly and helpful, although I was asked about a thousand times if I needed anything. One came over while I was examining swatches and we had a nice chat about which shade would look better on me, and I let her know that no matter which one I got, I'd have a dupe at home - I'm Rouge for a reason! I got a few samples made:

• Josie Maran Argan Milk
• Too Faced Hangover Rx
• Make Up For Ever Smoothing primer
• NARS Tinted Moisturizer in Finland

When I checked out, the Sales Associate thanked me for being a Rouge member. Something I know ALL SAs are supposed to do, but doesn't always happen - I'm sure they were specifically reminded that today was not a day to forget. I got the goodie bag, and here's what it had in it:

• Formula X nail polish in Tornado
• Benefit Puff Off! foil sample
• Nude Omega Treament Milk foil sample
• Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream perfume sample
• Shiseido Ultimune foil sample
• Alterna Caviar Repair Shampoo and Conditioner foil samples
• Buxom Full On Lip Cream mini in Pink Lady

I'm not too thrilled with the nail polish color, and I know other people who got other shades. I have a feeling it was a grab bag of slow moving shades. 

My main gripe with Sephora this time around is the discount. Why, if VIB Rouge is the top tier for rewards, do we get the same discount as VIB, who spend $650 less in a year (to qualify)? Why are we not getting a larger discount? Or at least, some other perk other than a few foil samples and a nail polish? Sephora really does need to step up their top tier rewards. Either up discount for sales so there's some differentiation between the top tiers, allow Rouge to have more than one promo code per order (I can only get the discount but not anything else?) or maybe allow me to have a discount on point perks? I really have to spend 100 points, technically 100 dollars, on a mini mascara?

Unfortunately, since sales on high end brands such as YSL come so rarely, of course I will still buy from there. However, I have not yet requalified for Rouge yet, when I had already requalified and then some at this time last year.

I'll be posting my sale haul at the end of the sale - there's still a week left!

VIB Rouge Holiday Soirée

If you're a makeup addict like me, you probably spend way too much of your disposable income at Sephora. Last year, to accommodate the growing number of makeup addicts looking for better perks in their Beauty Insider rewards program, they instated the top tier 'VIB Rouge' level - spend $1,000 in a calendar year, and you attain this level. Free 3 day shipping, better samples, bonus shopping events. When you're a Rouge member, you begin to see invites like the one below pop into your mailbox during the year, for closed door shopping events.

This year's holiday shopping event was on a Wednesday evening, meaning they actually closed down the store for everyone but Rouge members, which was actually really cool! In the past, Rouge events had been on Sunday mornings at 9 in the morning - meaning the store was opening early, but us Rouge members had to get up early and drag ourselves to the mall when we would normally be in bed - not making us feel very catered to (me, at least...) These events usually promise gifts or samples - this year was a Shashi bracelet and a tote bag. There's always a tote bag, and I really like the tote bags, since they're great as reusable shopping bags, and who doesn't love to have those on hand? However, here is the bracelet that was given out:

...this is a seed bead bracelet on some embroidery floss. I'm not very familiar with Shashi, but a 30% off coupon was also given out, so I'm sure they also offer some better merchandise. I could go to AC Moore and buy the materials to make this myself for less than $5. I've spent well over a grand at Sephora over the past year (I re-qualified for Rouge back in March) and honestly, with a shoddy gift like this, I'm not feeling very appreciated. The usual makeup bag of small samples would have made me feel better than being given this, ESPECIALLY around the holiday season, where I go and dump a lot more of my hard earned money into Sephora in the form of gifts for my friends and family. 

I do think that it was pretty cool of Sephora to shut down their store and re-open it for Rouge members only during regular business hours to giver us some private shopping time - they knew they would make money, as they clearly know we already spend it there! But if you're going to push that we are so special and that you want to show your appreciation with "limited edition status gifts" - don't make them things that we can make for ourselves in our spare time. ...get more of those adorable mini Le Rouge lipsticks, THOSE were fantastic!

Personal By Terry brand consultation from Beautylish!

Ready your wish lists - By Terry is coming to Beautylish on October 22!

I received an email from Beautylish yesterday announcing the availability of By Terry at Beautylish, as well as the opportunity to have a personal consultation via phone with a Beautylish MUA concerning the brand. Father my wonderful experience last week at their Charlotte Tilbury release event, I immediately signed up for a slot. I filled out a form stating I was familiar with the brand, my skin type and concerns, and a photo of myself for reference. 

I received my call today and spoke with Trisha, who was amazingly sweet and helpful. After introducing herself and complimenting the picture I uploaded (so nice of her!) we got down to business. She asked what I knew of the brand, and we immediately started gushing about the Ombré Blackstars, the cream eyeshadow sticks of the line. We both agreed that they offer superior blendability and application to the close yet no cigar Caviar Stick offered by Laura Mercier, and lamented the price tag. 

I brought up the Hydra Powder as a product I had heard a lot about and had been wanting to try, and she let me know it was definitely worth trying. I let her know I had just finished up a jar of Urban Decay Naked Skin loose powder and I liked it, but I was open to something new. Trisha described making the switch to the Hydra Powder as "trading in your Honda, a car you know and love, for a Jag." She went on to explain that during their training, the brand rep had the warm the powder up and apply with their fingers as a different application method, and it really made a difference. I'm definitely going to be giving this a shot. 

I asked a few more questions about Beautylish and what they'd be carrying, and found out the following info:

• They will not be carrying the By Terry brushes. With the recent Wayne Goss line, as well as the Chikuhodo boutique, the buyers are focused on Japanese made brushes for the time being. 
• The entire skincare line from By Terry will not be carried. However, the Baume de Rose will definitely be carried. 
• Future releases from By Terry will come to Beautylish as they are made available to the US, and at the buyer's discretion- Trisha tells me they are trying to curate a collection of the best of the best at Beautylish.

Trisha also talked to me about the Hyaluronic Sheer Rouge lipsticks, which she likened to the Fresh Sugar lip balms in formula, yet a highly pigmented lipstick concerning color. I'll probably end up picking up one of these, as I've heard a few too many horror stories of people having their Rouge Terryblys break when applying it!

I'm really happy I had the opportunity to speak to Trisha about the By Terry release, especially because it felt like I was just gushing to one of my girlfriends about things we were excited to buy! I'm not exactly sure what I've done to get in with Beautylish's good side, but I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunities they've extended to me lately. This customer appreciation paired with their amazing customer service and shipping has really made an impression!

Thank you so much to Trisha and Beautylish! I'm excited to order some By Terry soon!!

Charlotte Tilbury Release Event in NYC - 10.08.14

I was lucky enough to be invited to a private Charlotte Tilbury release party that was hosted by Beautylish! I was able to reserve two tickets, one for myself, and one for my boyfriend. My boyfriend wound up taking my bags (we made our way over right after we left New York Comic Con for the day!) and hanging out in the hotel lobby - not his scene. I was able to sip some complimentary champagne and take some pictures, as well as ask some questions.

I apologize for the so so pictures, it was a dark-ish room, and I was only there with my phone!