Fall 2025 VIB Sephora Sale

The Sephora VIB Sale is coming up and I figured I would corral a few of my favorite picks from this year's value sets. Usually I use the sale at the earlier time of the year to restock or buy from the permanent selections, but I like to use this later one to take advantage of any of the gift sets for the holidays. I much prefer this fall savings one! 

I've put together five picks in three categories: skincare, perfume, and makeup. Would you be surprised if I said it's the perfume selection this year that excites me the most? The sets are darn good this time around. The best part is that all of these picks are under $70 CAD and you can divvy up the sets to gift multiple people in gifts and stockings, if you're wanting to stretch your budget.

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LAWLESS Forget the Filler Perfecting Cream

The full name is a little longer than the title, but here are my thoughts on the LAWLESS Forget the Filler Skin-Plumping Line-Smoothing Perfecting Cream. See? Way longer, so let's just call it an all-encompassing perfecting cream that operates as a moisturizer and makeup primer. I might just be aligned with the beauty loving part of the universe because while typing out this review, it sold out on the Sephora Canada website. That might give you an idea of where this review is going to go!

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Cheekbone Beauty Complexion Pencil in Fair 1

Coming in today with a quick review of the complexion pencil by Cheekbone Beauty! I grabbed this in my birthday haul when I was getting my free gift from Sephora, so I've had over a month of using it and thought I would pop in here and give a swatch and initial thoughts on it. This is my second Cheekbone Beauty item, the first being a lip gloss. I hope to support them more as an Indigenous woman-owned Canadian brand, but also because I hear good things about their other offerings. So if you have tried them, please let me know what else I should try!

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Birthday Sephora Haul

The minute my birthday gift became available, I made the purchase. Having a July birthday comes in handy when it comes to the Sephora birthday gifts because they always seem to do a small overhaul on the gifts available from the first half of the year. This go-around, they added a new VIB and Rouge offering so I took advantage of that.

So I fired up my Rakuten to get some money back on my purchase, took advantage of the 500 points back offer, got my birthday freebie, and sat back with that post purchase high. 😄 It's not my birthday yet, but I see nothing wrong with starting celebrations a little early. Who does?!

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Nectarine Petal by Clean Reserve

I'd say smell is probably my favorite sense, because I wholeheartedly tether people, occasions, and specific periods of my life to certain scents and smells. It's instant nostalgia. I am lucky to have received this perfume to review a while back. I originally posted about it on my Instagram, but I think it deserves a spot on my blog.

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Monthly Favorites - April 2025

It has been so long since I have done a monthly favorites post and I find myself to be more in my element with bringing them back. Favorites posts have always been something I not only enjoy putting together, but also reading on other blogs.

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My Top 8 Sephora Sale Picks

Sephora's spring VIB sale is upon us. I do not believe I'll be making a purchase this time, but I will share eight of my top picks if you are needing any of these categories filled in your collection. 

I specifically was thinking of spring and summer as I was pulling my recommendations together, which was a feat thinking of warm weather while snow was still falling outside my window during what we call Toronto's "fake spring". Though I hate hot weather, I don't mind spring days where I don't sweat just stepping outside. Cardigan weather is my heaven!

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YSL Loveshine Candy Glow Butter Balms in 1B, 3B, and 44B

Today, I'm talking about these gorgeous Candy Glow Butter Balms by YSL. I have the shades 1B, 3B, and 44B that were provided to me for reviewing purposes.

I've been a fan of butter balms since the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter days. Tell me you remember those because they were phenomenal! Looking back on blog posts, I see the photos in my old review are no longer showing. I'll look into my archive and try to fix that, because those days deserve to live on for nostalgia purposes. 😀 So enter these YSL Candy Glow Tinted Butter Balms and I have one of the most suitable substitutes for those that I've come across! The addition of shea butter is always a win-win for me and make these feel and apply smooth as silk. I don't think they are particularly long-lasting in color and glossiness, but they are lasting in moisturization and hydration.

These retail for $54 CAD at Sephora Canada.

 

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Farmacy Farm to Face Favorites Set - Mini Reviews

As promised, I'm back in action! I thought I might start with a batch of mini skincare reviews and first impressions from a recent set I purchased from Sephora. It's still available, but also the products are all permanent items from Farmacy. I always love sets like these since they are an easy and usually more affordable way to test out new products.

The set online is titled Farm to Face Favorites, but the packaging just says "Farmacy Favorites". It's currently on sale on Sephora Canada's website for $40.50. The box is deceiving because the products only fill about half of it. They could have cut back so much on the outer packaging.

 

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January 2022 Faves

First faves of 2022! I don't know about you, but I feel like this year is already exhausting. I hope that changes, I really do! I'm happy it is Friday and I am hoping to spend this weekend in the most relaxing ways we can. There are some shows to catch up on, a jigsaw puzzle to be finished, and a charcuterie board ready to be put to use for a delicious lunch on one of the days. It's not much and that's exactly what I'm looking for in a world that has proven to feel like too much for me lately. 

Aside from this past month's favorites, I did my annual favorites roundup for 2021 in the post before this. Here's what I reached for in January!

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2021 Beauty Favorites

Time to do a little roundup of some products I loved last year! I change it up a bit each year. In 2020, I included skincare. And honestly, as far as skincare goes, not much has changed aside from a product or two. The products I featured in 2020 are still absolute winners, so much so that a few are repeated this year! With not leaving home much due to the pandemic, these were my "reach fors" practically every outing even if just to feel put together for a moment to pick up curbside orders and when it began to feel like if I don't make some sort of personal effort, that I'll forget what it is like to function among the land of the living and outside of my four walls.

What did you love last year? I'd love to know! While I mentioned there are a few repeats on my list from 2020, I did add a few new things to my collection that lived up to hype or expectation. To make it easy to organize, I've broken it up into categories with six products each. Do we have any in common? If you would like a more in depth review or swatches on anything, let me know and I'll work on getting a post together. 😊

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Sephora Black Friday Sale 2021 Haul

I realize this post is late, but it took this long to get everything in my posession. Long story. I took advantage of a few of the Black Friday deals, one I can't show here because it is a Christmas present for my MIL. I remember back when Black Friday and Boxing Day deals were all $12-16, how times have changed. Usually there is a $15-20 off a $50 purchase around the beginning of December, but I haven't seen that make the rounds either. I wonder how good the Boxing Day/after Christmas deals will be.

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November 2021 Favorites

It's December! Hellllooooo holidays! I've gotten a big chunk of our holiday shopping out of the way and now I'm focusing more on what to put on the menu. This year, my MIL has agreed to quarantine (as will we) for a few days prior to come celebrate and sleep over on Christmas Eve at our place. As stated in a prior post, we all have different comfort zones. It will be nice to have someone over, but to do it cautiously. I have the place fully decked out already and so begins the menu and activity planning!

For November, I found myself already whipping out more festive looks and outfits. Even if it was just to sit in the car while waiting on my Starbucks. My Christmas bag, face masks, sweaters, etc...they have already been in rotation the last few weeks. If it can be made festive, you better believe I will make it so! Haha!😄

Here are my favorites from November. I'd love to know what you have been using and loving! Have you started migrating to holiday looks and outfits or do you bother?

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August 2021 Favorites

August slipped away into a moment in time. Like I wasn't going to quote Taylor Swift! September is here and my favorite time of the year is just around the corner - autumn and the holiday season. Have I already opened my pumpkin coffee syrup? You bet I have! With the weather being below 80F here today, it feels like the perfect way to welcome September.

It doesn't hurt that it's a holiday weekend here. My husband's workplace decided to tack on an extra day off for Labor Day, so we have a nice long weekend to look forward to. He doesn't know it yet, but he's about to be climbing into storage to grab our fall decor. 😂 I wanted to drop in with my favorites post, before we start our time off! As always, feel free to let me know in the comments if we have any of these in common or what you've been loving the last month.

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Collective Birthday Haul - Coach x Peanuts, Torrid, H&M, Old Navy, Shoppers, and Sephora

Hi there! Last week was my birthday and I splurged on a few things, because... hi, my name is Wendy and I can't say no to birthday discounts, apparently. I felt like the best way to share what I got would be to do a collective haul. Some of the things I've already shared on my Instagram. I'll share some of the beauty items in later posts, both on there and here. I purchased all of this within the last two weeks, I'd say, so most of it should still be available if you see something that interests you!

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June 2021 Favorites

It was never my intention of going on a two week break from this little blog of mine, but there's so much going on right now in every other aspect that I guess I just needed it. I've still been updating my Instagram, but some days I just find that easier since I can go into my archives, edit, and post. Things are starting to calm down again, so I'll bounce back into a routine. I still have things to talk about and share!

I'm like a broken record when I say the easiest post back after a break is a favorites post. They just happen to be among my favorite to type up and read on other blogs. I wish more blogs still did them! As always, I'd love to know what you've been loving this past month and if we have any products in common. Now, let me just take a sip of my beloved ice coffee and share what has my love and attention this month!

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May 2021 Favorites

I'm a little late on this month's posts. I've been going through some things and the blog was kind of put on the backburner. I'll get my favorites up today and my blog of the month up this week, as well. Hope you all understand if posts remain a bit sporadic for the time being, because I truly need to not add more pressure on myself. While I view blogging as fun, I still find ways to be a perfectionist and to be my own worst critic.

 To step back into blogging for this month, let's start with the easiest post and always one of my favorites to put together. Monthly favorites! As always, let me know if we share any favorites or what you've been loving. Anything new that needs to be on my radar?! I hope you're all having a great week so far. I'm already waiting for the weekend, but what's new there? 😄

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Fenty Beauty Mattemoiselle Lipstick in Candy Venom

During Sephora's spring sale, I picked this up at a steep discount. I don't know if that means this formula is being discontinued, but there are still a few shades available online and your local store may still have some shades in stock. This is the first time I'm actually dipping my toes into the Fenty Beauty line. Took me long enough! And did you hear that Sephora Canada is pledging to make 25% of their brands be BIPOC-owned by 2026?! Great to see!

Let's get into my thoughts and swatches of the Mattemoiselle formula and the shade Candy Venom!

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March and April 2021 InstaMonth

Wow, I think the last Instamonth was actually January's. So I guess I'll just skip right over February. Oops! 😜 I just have to hope my perfectionism takes a backseat on that one and I can let the oversight go. It's just been a really loooooong year and I'll chalk it up to that.

So here are some highlights from my Instagram (@wendybanner) during March and April. I'm always down to follow back, so let's connect if we haven't. I'm going to keep this short, because it's Friday and I am so ready for the weekend. Just gonna make it more about the pictures and not the captions. I hope you have a great weekend!

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April 2021 Favorites

Hi y'all! I am so happy that it is Friday. I don't know about you, but this week has felt so loooooong. This weekend is busy enough, but it still holds that power of being the weekend. I look forward to taking a few hours to catch up on some TV shows and other things that kind of get pushed aside during the week. How are you handling the balance between work and life? It takes a bit to get a routine down.

Let's get into my April beauty favorites! Let me know if we share any in common or what you've been loving in the comments, if you'd like. I was also testing products out like the mascara and the lip mask, which I suppose with them featured here in my favorites, that you know how well the testing went!

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