Sephora Birthday 2015

If you've been following me for a while, you know that my birthday is coming up in about a week! This year I decided to do a post on the Sephora Beauty Insider Birthday Gift, which seems to only get better and better every year. A few years ago, we received a highlighter and mascara from Benefit, which I loved, then last year we got some products from Make Up For Ever, and this year, it's two deluxe sample sizes of NARS lip pencils!

When I saw what this year's birthday gift was, I was incredibly excited. If you aren't a Beauty Insider yet, you can sign up on Sephora's website. Be sure to input your birthday so that you can receive the free gift every year! Anyways, for those of you who haven't received your birthday gift from Sephora this year, this is what you can look forward to.

In this year's Beauty Insider gift, you'll receive two NARS Lip Pencils, one in the Velvet Matte finish, and one in the Satin finish.

The top shade is the Matte Lip Pencil in "Cruella," which is one of NARS' best selling lip pencils, and one that I have been coveting for as long as I can remember. I'm so happy to finally have a hold of one! This shade is a slightly cool-toned true red -- the kind that looks so classic on every skin tone. The finish of this is matte but not too drying, and it glides on smoothly and opaquely. 

The bottom shade is the Satin Lip Pencil in "Rikugien." I'm not super thrilled with this one, mostly because I don't love the texture. This specific lip pencil seems to almost smear during the application because it is such a moisturizing formula. It's fine for this rosy pink color, giving a shiny "your lips but better" appearance, but I can't imagine the formula working too well with brighter, more vivid colors. However, the shade "Rikugien" is very pretty and perfect for natural days. If your lips are less pigmented than mine, it may show more of a difference on your lips and give you a healthy, pink flush to your lips.

All in all, I am still very excited about this little duo from NARS! With the full sized NARS Lip Pencils costing $26 for 0.086 oz of product, and this duo giving you 0.06 oz of product per pencil, you get more than half the product for free. 

Final Thoughts? Sephora just seems to be getting better and better birthday gifts for their Beauty Insiders, and this year, between the quality of the pencils and the amount of product you get for absolutely no money (you seriously don't even have to spend any money to become a Beauty Insider), you'd be silly not to take advantage of this free gift! 

- D.