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.

It’s that time again! My Sephora Play! November box has arrived! The Sephora Play! boxes have been steadily improving, at least in my opinion. Here’s a look at November’s box. This month’s theme is “The Exclusives”, meaning products that are exclusive to Sephora. At first glance, some really great things in here! Bite Beauty products are some of my favorites. This is their High Pigment Lip Pencil in Rhubarb, which is an intense dark pink, described as “plum rose”.

For today’s Friday Five: Five products I keep in my purse (well, today). I’m known for hoarding makeup in my purse and carrying it around with me everywhere. Which is crazy because 1. I never really use it, and 2. it makes my bag super heavy. The other day I had a handbag clear out and stripped down to just the on-the-go essentials. Here’s what I kept: First: a rollerball of Balenciaga’s Rosabotanica.

As I mentioned on Monday, I’m in San Diego this week. Which means a few long flights and a week in a hotel. Of course, I brought my usual makeup, most of which will be in my September Favorites soon, but there are other specific bits I make sure I have to make traveling a little easier. Ok, let’s get this out of the way. The R+Co Dry Shampoo Paste. Seriously, Alina, enough.

As you’d expect from a beauty sample hoarder and Sephora fangirl, I signed up for the Play! box as soon as it was available. Let’s take a look at what’s inside: My overall impression: This is a bigger box than you’d expect from Birchbox or Ipsy, with deluxe samples, good variety of color, skin, and hair care, and well-known brands. It’s also a great value for $10. So the first impact is a good one, but looking closer….

I used to work at Birchbox. Which was really cool but also it kind of ruined the experience of getting a Birchbox. I knew way ahead of time what the product assortment was for the month and even what was going to be in my box. The delight was still there, but the surprise was lacking. Since I left back in May it’s been a lot more exciting to get a monthly box.