Sephora & Ulta - 2017 Free makeup birthday gifts with swatches

I do this post every year, and I'm so excited about the 2017 free makeup birthday gifts! I love getting makeup freebies, plus I have a February birthday so I'm happy to share swatches & my thoughts early in the year. It's snowing like crazy today in Boston, so no outside pics this year.

Sephora 2017

Sephora has three birthday gift choices for the year of 2017. I saw two available in store in the Boston area. The options are:

1. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Paaarty & Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint in Birthday Suit
2. Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum and Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet 
3.  Jack Black Deep Dive Glycolic Facial Cleanser and Clean Break Oil-Free Moisturizer. This one looks like its online only, but let us know if you see it in your local store!  

As always, I did no photo editing so you can see the most accurate color - I only edit to add watermarks and shade labels. The Paaarty blush (why couldn't they just name it Party?!? Tarte makes me feel like a grumbly old lady) is matte and is a peachy nude. A+ for choosing a matte shade, I rarely wear shimmery blushes because they look horrible with pores/skin texture.

For context, I swatched this shade next to some shades you may be familiar with. I threw in Bobbi Brown Pale Pink on the end so you could see it next to an actual cool toned shade for reference. Compared to Tarte Thankful, one of the most basic warm pinks ever, you can see Paaarty is more nude and peachy. NARS Douceur, my favorite nude blush, is more plummy and brown. In case you thought Paaarty was too tan, I swatched NARS Laguna at the other end for reference.

On my fair cool toned skin, Paaarty shows up and looks pretty, but it isn't my favorite. I personally prefer cooler toned pinks, but I could see this shade working well for most fair-light-medium skintones. If you have skin deeper than a medium tan, I doubt this would work at all.

Free makeup birthday gifts 2016 - Sephora, Ulta, Urban Decay

We all love birthday gift freebies, so as someone with an early in the year birthday I wanted to share what I got! Sephora, Ulta, and Urban Decay all have rewards programs that offer birthday perks.

Sephora birthday gift 2016

Sephora offers two choices for your free 2016 birthday gift - a skincare set from Fresh or a makeup set from Marc Jacobs. Normally I choose the Sephora makeup set over the skincare, but this year's Marc Jacobs duo didn't interest me. I prefer thin eyeliner pencils over the thicker gel pencils to get a precise, thin line or to tightline and I prefer tinted lip balm or lip gloss to full on lipstick, so I went for the other option.

I was really excited to try Fresh minis of the rose face mask and soy face cleanser - I have loved everything I have tried from Fresh in the past, especially their lip treatments. I am pleased to report both of these are quite nice and don't irritate my sensitive skin. My favorite of the two is the rose face mask - it smells like real roses! Neither product is a game changer, but I enjoy using them.

I didn't love either one of last year's NARS pencils (Rikugien was fine but nothing special and Cruella was crazy drying on me), so 2016 is a step up.

A guide to Sephora holiday 2015 makeup gift value sets (part 2)

photos of sets are from Sephora.com, compiled by me

Welcome to part 2 of my guide to Sephora holiday makeup value gift sets! Please read part 1 for an explanation of my methodology and the first part of the list.  I suspect this post might will be a tedious read, so please go ahead and skim to the sets you are most interested in.

Going from best to worst value, let's get started!

100% + value makeup sets

ARDENCY INN MODSTER Eyeliner Trio - retail $29

• 3 x 0.04 oz Eyeliners in Black, Coffee, Gold (FS) - $19 value each
• Stated value - $57
• Value - $57 (197%) correct value!

Smashbox Try It Kit- Primer Authority - retail $28

• 0.25 oz Iconic Photo Finish Foundation Primer - $9 value
• 0.25 oz Hydrating Under Eye Primer - $21.97 value
• 0.14 oz Photo Finish 24-Hour Shadow Primer - $6.83 value
• 1 oz Primer Water - $16 value
• Stated value - $53
• Value - $53.80 value (192%)

Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Studded Kiss Lip Set - retail $42

• 0.10 oz Studded Kiss Lipstick in Gold Blooded (FS) - $21 value
• 7x 0.04 oz Studded Kiss Lipstick in Noble, Halo, Bachelorette, Sexer, Wolvesmouth, Coven, NaYeon - $8.40 value each
• Stated value - $91
• Value - $79.80 (190%)

A guide to Sephora holiday 2015 makeup gift value sets (part 1)

photos of sets are from Sephora.com, compiled by me

I wait every year for holiday gift sets to pick up mini products at a more affordable price. Makeup shoppers know that there are killer deals to be had with holiday value kit releases, but it can be hard to tell which sets are a good deal and which sets feature crappily inflated numbers.

In years past, I have loved Robyn at Brightest Bulb In The Box's value set guides. I wish she would get back to blogging, but in the meantime I decided to pull together the Sephora 2015 holiday makeup value sets and do a Robyn-inspired hard look at the numbers. Not all of these are holiday-specific sets, but they are all available now at Sephora.

I suspect this post might will be a tedious read, so please go ahead and skim to the sets you are most interested in. I have also divided this post into two parts to help with the length- click here to read Part 2!

Methodology:

• Sets currently available at Sephora (many are also available at other retailers like Ulta, Nordstorm, Macys, etc), pulled from the Sephora Makeup Gift Sets section of the website
• Makeup value sets (no palettes, skincare, hair, or nails sets)
• Sets contain items that I can price from products available in the brand's regular line and have the necessary data included in the description
• I don't credit value for freebie mini brushes and makeup bags. I think most makeup addicts have a crap ton of little applicators, double ended brushes, and shedding glitter makeup bags. Feel free to mentally add value for these items if they would add value for you.

Going from best to worst value, let's get started!

300% + value makeup sets

Tarte Lips For Daze LipSurgence Set - retail $34

• 3x 0.10 oz LipSurgence matte lip tints in Haze, Craze, Emblaze (FS) - $24 value each
• 2x 0.10 oz LipSurgence lip tints in Glaze, Praise (FS)- $24 value each
• Annoyingly rhyming names - -$24.00 value (jk)
• Stated value - $120
• Value - $120 (353%) nailed it on the stated value!

Sephora Favorites Superstars - retail $75

• Beautyblender (FS) - $20 value
• 0.1 oz Benefit They're Real Mascara - $8 value
• 0.21 oz Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight (FS) - $22 value
• 0.042 oz Lancome Drama Liqui-pencil Eyeliner in Noir Intense (FS) - $23 value
• 0.06 oz Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Highlight - $9.23 value
• 0.16 oz MUFE Step 1 Skin Equalizer Hydrating Primer - $5.76 value
• 0.05 oz NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Himalia (FS) - $29 value
• 1 oz Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water - $16 value
• 0.016 oz Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Intense Black (FS) - $22 value
• 0.06 oz Tarte the sculptor contouring face slenderizer in park ave princess - $16 value
• 0.035 oz Tarte The slenderizer bamboo contouring brush (FS) - similar brushes retail for $34 (note: I don't give credit to mini freebie brushes, but I am counting this one because it is a full size real brush)
• 0.24 oz Touch in Sol Stretchex Stretch Lash Effect Mascara (FS) - $22 value
• 0.05 oz Urban Decay Eye shadow in Lounge (FS) - $18 value
• Stated value - $207
• Value -  $244.99 (326%) 

Sephora vs. Ulta 2015 birthday gift comparison

I have had the Sephora and Ulta free 2015 makeup gifts for a little while now, so I thought I would do a comparison smackdown post. The 2015 Sephora gift is two NARS lip pencils - Cruella (velvet) and Rikugien (satin).  The 2015 January, February, & March Ulta gift is an Ulta store brand complete eye palette in Indie.

So which one is better? 

 Left: Sephora 2015 birthday gift, Right: Ulta 2015 birthday gift