My July Sephora Play! box arrived late in the afternoon the day before I left for Comic-Con, so I was too busy packing to start playing around with my samples. I did take a couple of them with me to San Diego, though, and now that I’m back home I’ve finally had a chance to use each sample a few times so that I could sneak in my blog post before August!
July’s theme is Beauty Staycation: products you can use to treat yourself even if you don’t have any grand summer travel plans. This month’s samples came inside a pink gingham sack with “Glamp Out” emblazoned on it:
I was pretty thrilled when I opened my sample brochure and found out what Sephora had sent me this month. I had only tried one of these products before, so they sounded much more interesting than my June samples. Two skin care samples (including one mask!), two makeup samples, and one hair care sampleânow that’s a mix of products I can get excited about!
My July beauty samples! (Minus the fragrance sample which I almost never give a crap about.)
I didn’t bother photographing each sample individually because I was pressed for time, and then I never went back to do it because I got lazy. It’s fine, you can see all of the samples in the above pic! Â đ
First up is the Briogeo Rosarco Milk Reparative Leave-In Conditioning Spray (full-size, $20). I’ve seen this brand on Sephora’s website but had never tried any of their products, and a leave-in spray is one of the few types of hair care products I’m actually interested in. Rosarco stands for rosehip, argan, and coconut oils, all of which are meant to hydrate and reduce frizz without weighing hair down. I’ve used this sample a few times now, and it certainly smells nice without being overpowering. I wouldn’t say it’s especially great at fighting frizz, but that might be a losing battle because the humidity is very high here in DC (it’s been a minimum of 60% lately…yuck). I’m pretty ambivalent about this leave-in conditionerâit’s fine, but nothing life-changing for my fine strands.
Next up is the Caudalie Vine[Activ] Glow Activating Anti-Wrinkle Serum (full-size, $52). I wonder how many bloggers actually bother to type out the product name accurately. Why brands choose to use unusual characters when naming products is beyond me; I’m guessing 75% of the time this one will be written incorrectly. Anyway…a serum. Cool. I’m starting to get some wrinkles, but I don’t think this sample holds enough product for me to use it long enough to see any results. And it’s a little expensive. It smells nice and doesn’t irritate my skin, but that’s about all I can say about the product right now.
I was very excited about this next sample: Fresh Rose Face Mask (full-size, $62). I used this mask the morning after returning from Comic-Con. The day prior was a long travel day and we got home late, so in the AM my skin was definitely in need of some refreshment. This mask smells so lovelyâjust like roses, of courseâand actually has bits of rose petals mixed throughout. I smoothed the mask on after washing my face and left it on for ten minutes before washing it off. Afterward, my skin looked a little brighter and felt happier. I probably won’t buy this mask full sized because it’s pretty spendy, but I’ll certainly enjoy using up every bit of my sample!
This next sample went to Comic-Con with me: Bobbi Brown Eye Opening Mascara (full-sized, $30). I do love Bobbi Brown but I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually tried any of her mascaras! This sample came in a chubby tube with an incredibly short wand that had product highly concentrated near the tip (see below image). I would hope that the product would be distributed more evenly along the wand on a full sized tube. The short length of the wand made it a little difficult to apply this mascara, but I managed to get it done. It thickens my lashes pretty well and doesn’t clump much, and it held up well throughout long days of running around Comic-Con. It also wasn’t very hard to remove, which is something I do appreciate. However, I’ve gotten a much more dramatic effect out of drugstore mascaras, so at $30 a tube I say thanks but no thanks.
My final beauty sample this month also made the trip to Comic-Con: tarte Rainforest of the Sea Color Splash Lipstick in Set Sail (full-size, $21). I purchased this product in the color Island Life a few months ago during tarte’s huge 30% off sale, and I haven’t worn it a ton because I didn’t end up loving the color on me. It’s okay, but not great. So I was excited to get the opportunity to try this lipstick in a different colorâSet Sail is described as a dark nude. On me, it veers a bit into brown territory, but not at all in a bad way. I rather like the shade, and I do prefer it over Island Life! The lipstick isn’t as moisturizing as you’d think, but it is non-drying, full coverage, and long lasting. At $21, I’d even consider buying this product in more shades (it comes in 24 colors!).
Here’s a swatch of Set Sail on my arm:
In the below photo, I’m wearing Set Sail and the Bobbi Brown mascara (though I’m not wearing any other makeup because it’s hot out and I didn’t feel like putting a full face of makeup on just to take one photo).
My fragrance sample this month was Clean Reserve Sueded Oud (full-size, $95). As with 99% of my perfume samples, I spritzed it into the air, took a sniff, and tossed it in the garbage.
I’d say I was very happy overall with my July Play! by Sephora box. I got to try products that were mostly new to me, which is always fun. The Fresh Rose Face Mask was definitely my favorite sample this month, but in general all of the products were pretty good. Looking forward to seeing what I get in August (which starts tomorrow, aaaghhhh)!
What samples did you get in your July Play! by Sephora box? Which one was your favorite?
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 youâre a part of that programâwhich I highly recommend signing up for if you ever shop at Sephora. This subscription program also offers subscribers a âPlay! Dateâ each month, which invites you and a friend to attend an in-store meetup to learn how to use the products in that monthâs box (RSVP is required).
