Wow…I’m pretty late with this post, but that’s because I moved last week so my life has been a little nuts! Things are finally settling down and I feel ready to get back into the blogging life.

I received my second Play! by Sephora box a couple weeks ago (at least!) and have  managed to get a little time to play around with my samples.

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The February box theme was “The Soft Side,” featuring muted shades and skin perfecting products to make a radiant understatement. The samples were packaged in a satin dusty rose pouch with “Smitten” printed on it. Though the pouch was pretty, I tossed it out because I was in full-on “get rid of shit” mode while packing for our move.

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I opened up the brochure to find information on five beauty samples and one fragrance sample…and they all looked quite exciting!

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Take a peek at my February Play! by Sephora samples:

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I’ll start with the sample that excited me the most: NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Bound (full-sized, $26). Though I haven’t used a ton of NARS products, it’s a great brand with a cult following. I believe this product is a fairly new release from NARS, and I was happy to see this muted mauve-y shade in my box because it looked like a very wearable color. Plus, the mini tube was just so cute! The lip glide is vanilla scented and comes with a soft doe foot applicator, which helps the product truly glide right onto your lips. The formula feels moisturizing, and while it applies a little like a gloss, the finish is semi-matte. I also liked the color on me—it’s subtle, which I always appreciate. Two thumbs up for this sample!

NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Bound | Play! by Sephora
NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Bound

Next up is the second lip product sample: Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake (full-sized, $22). This is one of those lip plumping formulas that has apparently become trendy again—as far as I know, they first gained popularity ten or so years ago (remember DuWop’s Lip Venom?!). Too Faced’s formula contains botanicals to plump and moisturize simultaneously. This gloss is very sticky and shiny, and like Lip Venom, it makes your lips buzz like they’ve had a couple cocktails. Milkshake is a pale nude shade that, on its own, is a little too light for my skin tone, but should work better over a darker lipstick. I haven’t worn this gloss much because with our move, we kicked up a ton of dust and the skin around my lips has gotten irritated to the point where I get little itchy bumps (this happens from time to time, usually when spring allergies kick in). I feel like the bee sting formula would irritate my lips more so I’m going to wait until they get back to normal before using this sample again.

Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake | Play! by Sephora
Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake

Swatch time!

Swatches: NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Bound, Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake
L: NARS Velvet Lip Glide in Bound. R: Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake

My next sample is Sephora LashCraft Length & Volume Mascara (full-sized, $12) in Black. I feel like I’ve received so many mascara samples lately, and none of them have converted me. I’d say the same for this one. It’s pretty good—and the price is right—but I wouldn’t say it’s any better than the usual, excellent drugstore suspects. The flat, paddle-shaped brush is new to me, but it doesn’t do anything spectacular to my lashes. The brand claims that you only need warm water to remove this mascara, but that didn’t work for me. I ended up with black smears under my eyes so I used micellar water to remove the remnants, and even then I still had black flecks around my eyes in the morning. Points for the cute graphic design on the tube, though.

Sephora LashCraft Length & Volume Mascara | Play! by Sephora
Sephora LashCraft Length & Volume Mascara

Next is Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream (full-sized, $30). I’ve somehow managed to get this far in life without using Origins, even though the brand has been around forever. This eye cream is pretty light compared to other eye creams, and it definitely has a pearlescent, luminizing look to it. The cream contains coffee beans, ginseng, and magnolia extract to help wake up the appearance of tired eyes. I think this product is pretty good—it certainly makes my under-eye area look a tad less tired. I would probably not buy this product full-sized though, because $30 is kind of a lot for a small tub of eye cream. I’m not at that point in my life just yet. Maybe someday.  😛

Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream | Play! by Sephora
Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream

My final beauty sample this month is Clinique Pep-Start HydroBlur Moisturizer (full-sized, $29.50). This moisturizer has a matte appearance—it kind of reminds me of the k-beauty “water drop” types of products. This stuff is meant to blur imperfections and prime the skin while moisturizing. Unfortunately, I was not impressed. I didn’t feel like this product moisturized my skin very well, and I found that my SPF didn’t glide on as smoothly over it as it does over other moisturizers. The moisturizer is pretty thick, which forces you to rub a little harder to apply it, and I didn’t see any blurring effect on my skin. This product gets a solid MEH from me.

Clinique Pep-Start HydroBlur Moisturizer | Play! by Sephora
Clinique Pep-Start HydroBlur Moisturizer

Finally, I received a sample of Marc Jacobs Divine Decadence fragrance (full-sized, $72-$122). I don’t usually give a crap about perfume samples, but I was a little more open minded about this one because I wear Marc Jacobs’ original perfume every single day. This particular scent was not really my kind of thing, so it went in the trash along with lots of other stuff before our move.

Overall I was quite pleased with my second Play! by Sephora box. The NARS lip glide sample was definitely my favorite! I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the March box has in store for me.

Read my previous Play! by Sephora reviews.

What is Play! by Sephora?

Play! by Sephora is a $10 per month beauty subscription that includes five deluxe samples plus one fragrance sample; the samples are curated based on your Sephora beauty profile (hair color, eye color, skin tone, skin type, skincare concerns, haircare concerns, etc.). And of course, you can purchase full-sized versions of any samples from Sephora and earn VIB points if you’re a part of that program—which I highly recommend signing up for if you ever shop at Sephora. This subscription program also offers subscribers a “Play! Date” each month, where you and a friend can attend an in-store meetup to learn how to use the products in that month’s box (RSVP is required).

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