Play! By Sephora Unboxing – January 2016
By Alina Avery
The theme for this month’s Play! box is: No Appointment Necessary. The idea is that with these products, you can achieve “salon” results at home. I actually love trips to the salon. A little time to myself to get pampered, relax, and leave looking and feeling my best is always welcome, but at the same time, my schedule and budget doesn’t always allow for frequent facials or blowouts, so an at-home, DIY option is a great alternative.
Inside this box:
Sephora eye mask in green tea – This is the “Relaxing & refreshing” scent. Sheet masks aren’t really my thing. I’ve tried a few and I find them uncomfortable to wear, hard to apply, and not all that effective, but I’m willing to give these eye patches a go. They’re smaller and it seems like they’d fit a wider variation of face shapes.
Living proof prime style extender spray – I’ve tried the extender gel/serum and didn’t really see that it made much of a difference, but I generally prefer sprays like this over creams or gels as they’re easier to distribute through hair evenly. Lately my hair washing and styling schedule has been a little off kilter since I’ve been exercising so much. I’m interested to see if this (combined with a generous amount of dry shampoo) can get me through a workout (or two, don’t judge) without needing to shampoo. I usually throw my hair up into a high workout ponytail, so hopefully this can help prevent that dreaded ridge hairties leave.
dr. brandt needles no more – There are dr. brandt products I love and some that I find just ok. My skin has been in tip top shape lately, due to a number of factors, but one of the products I’ve been LOVING is the ruby crystal retinol hydracrème. I’m hoping that I feel similarly about this product. I don’t really have many wrinkles, but I’ve noticed a few around my eyes. If this works, it’s definitely a game changer.
Clinique chubby stick sculpting highlight – “Strobing” is still a major trend. I like the idea of a stick highlighter, since it can just be thrown into a makeup bag for touchups on the go, and the formula here is great. It blends nicely and the finish is smooth and satiny, but the “illumination” is a little too subtle for my tastes. I like a bold highlight! This might work well to layer under a powder highlight for a dramatic effect. I’m also not 100% sold on the color. It pulls pretty cool on my skin, like a silvery pearl, where I tend to prefer more golden, warm highlight shades.
Dr. Dennis Gross alpha beta peel – I already own, use, and LOVE this product. It’s price-y, but so worth it. It makes my skin super smooth and glowing and it’s a fast and easy treatment. I generally go for the extra strength version and this one is the original formula (there’s also a new gentle formula out!) so I’m wondering if this might be a little more gentle for every day. I typically use the extra strength ones less often since they’re pretty aggressive and I don’t want to over-exfoliate and they’re so expensive!
Finally – Tocca Isabel fragrance – I love the Tocca Stella scent so I’m open to trying other fragrances from the brand. This one is described as “classic floral” with Spanish rose, bergamot and Mediterranean orange. It smells mature and fresh to me. I wish it had a spray nozzle, but I’ll give this one a go as well.
This box was heavy on the skin care, but I don’t mind as I’m definitely trying to be good to my skin this year. I also like that there are newer and higher end products included which is fun to see.
All in all a pretty good box. I’ll use most of the products included, and they’re either new to me or products I already love, so thumbs up all around!
