Faces by SAM Beauty Blog

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Ulta Coupon Codes- MAY 2013

Love shopping at Ulta.com? Here is a comprehensive list of all the online coupon codes for May 2013, just in time for some online last minute Mother's Day Gifts! Many are no codes required, just click on the link to activate! Happy Shopping Everyone! :)

Take $3.50 Off any $10 Purchase with code 109117 at Ulta!

Special Offers: Sale Items, Clearance and Free Gifts at ULTA

NEW! Clarisonic Mia 2 Lucy Print plus free bag and brush head with any Clarisonic System purchase of $119 or more!

NEW! Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow plus 2 pc. free gift, deluxe sample of Dandelion Box O Powder and Gloss, with any $25 Benefit product purchase. A $20 value!

Free Philosophy Living Grace Trio with any $35 philosophy purchase!

FREE 2 oz. Coconut Lime Body Butter with any $12 Tree Hut purchase (while supplies last)

Customizable 12 pc Gift by ULTA Free with any $19.50 ULTA Brand purchase. An $88 value!

Buy 2, Get 1 Free: Sexy Hair, TIGI, Chi & many more!

Buy 1, Get 1 50% off Real Techniques at Ulta!

FREE 2pc deluxe sample of Dandelion Box O Powder and Gloss with Benefit purchase of $25 or more (while supplies last)

Hair and Makeup Online Shopping Coupon Codes- May

Who doesn't love a good deal when shopping for makeup online or hair/skincare products on the web? Here are the current coupon codes that I've rounded up this month!

Please note that these are coupon codes that I have accumulated from various avenues such as subscriptions to the company Facebook page, newsletters, referrals from industry friends and fans, as well as internet searches. I do not guarantee that these are all accurate and currently valid, but I will do my best to check codes when possible before posting and update this article at least once a month or when new codes cross my path. For more up to date and faster access, be sure to like my Facebook Page for Faces By SAM Makeup Artistry as I tend to post a link as soon as I hear about new codes, sales, and limited time offers. Thank you for reading!

CrownBrush.com Coupon: 10% off your order {SOCIAL10}
Smashbox.com Coupon:$15 off your order of $75 or more plus Free Shipping {WELCOME2}
Tartecosmetics.com Coupon: Free Shipping on orders of $40 or more everyday; 10% off {GGA}
Stilacosmetics.com Coupon:20% off your order {20OFF}
Sephora.com Coupon: 2 Deluxe Samples {2013}; Get a Mystery Gift with purchase of $25 or more {YOURGIFT}; Free Fresh Sugar Lip Polish Mini with purchase of $35 or more {SUGARLIP}
ULTA Beauty Coupon: Take $3.50 Off any $10 Purchase with code 109117 at Ulta!; NEW! Clarisonic Mia 2 Lucy Print plus free bag and brush head with any Clarisonic System purchase of $119 or more! ; Free tote with fragrance purchase of $30 or more. A $40 value! ; Free Philosophy Living Grace Trio with any $35 philosophy purchase! ; Customizable 12 pc Gift by ULTA Free with any $19.50 ULTA Brand purchase. An $88 value! (Click HERE for all the May Ulta Coupon Codes- there's so many this month it requires a separate post!)
Benefit.com Coupon: 15% off your purchase (expires 7/12/13) {CHIC}
Lancome.com Coupon: Free 5 Pc Sample Set plus Free Shipping {WELCOME10 or WELCOME14}
Clarins.com Coupon: Free Shipping plus 3 Samples (12/31/13) {FSE1}; 10% off your purchase of $35 or more {9NBGT}
Murad Coupon: $25 off purchase of $100 or more (expires 5/14/13) {SAVE25}/ $20 off purchase of $80 or more (expires 6/30/13) {CPNLGY20}; 15% off any purchase (expires 5/9/13) {PERCENT15}
GLOSSYBOX Coupon: Free Nail Polish with your first subscription box {FUN}
e.l.f. Cosmetics - $1 Makeup Coupon: 10% off your purchase (expires 12/31/13) {EGTENAZ}, Free Shipping on purchases of $25 or more {SHIP25}, Free Shipping on purchases of $15 or more {DREAM}
Beauty.com Coupon: $20 off purchases of $100 or more for New Customers Only {47DB18C4}
Perfumania.com Coupon:15% off your purchase plus Free Shipping {BLM15}
Pacifica.com Coupon: Free Pacifica Sea Foam Face Complete Wash sample with every order! Code: seafoam.

These sites offer Free Shipping on minimum orders with NO CODE REQUIRED:
Mario Badescu Skin Care Coupon: Minimum Order of $50
Tartecosmetics.com Coupon:Minimum Order of $40

Do you have a coupon code for your favorite makeup brand or hair care brand online that you'd like to share? Post it in the comments section below!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Product Review- Milani Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

For the past few weeks I have been on a quest to find the perfect liquid eyeliner that will last all day long. It's getting into my heavy wedding season (my last spring season! yay!), and I'm often out doing makeup for people as early as 6 or 7 am. Being the Washington, DC area means that I have to contend with heavy traffic, even that early on a Saturday morning. Plus, our company covers such a wide area that without traffic the wedding venue can still be up to two hours away. That means that almost every Saturday April through June this year I'm awake far before the sun, and I'm a night owl so I don't go to be until almost midnight every evening.

What on Earth does this have to do with makeup though you might be asking? A LOT! I need makeup that will stand up to my rigorous schedule. I'd love to be able to just roll on up out of bed that early and do makeup for weddings with no makeup in my yoga pants. But that's just not the way us pros roll. We know that how we appear to our clients leaves a huge impression. Not only do the bridal party and other family members judge us by our appearance, but we're going to be in the background of their wedding photos. We can't just be looking all scruffy. So a properly done face is a must.

I'm usually doing two or three weddings a day, with an hour or more drive time between them, so I barely have time to grab some food at a drive through let alone touch up my makeup. That's why long wearing products don't just make it in my kit, they make it on my face in a big way. Hence my search for the perfect liquid eyeliner. I used to just use a pencil, my favorites being the Smashbox Limitless Eyeliner (in Onyx most of the time) or Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil (in Bourbon for a softer look). But I've really fallen in love with liquid eyeliner since I learned to perfect my "flick". (Check out my YouTube video on how I do it here!)

I've gotten quite a few different liners to test out from the drugstore, to see if any of them can live up to the challenge of all day wear. I've looked for waterproof versions, as I think that this usually lends itself to long wear like I need. Previously, I'd been using the Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Boosting Eyeliner + Serum. It's an awesome liner (and supposedly helps your lash health), but it just wasn't quite cutting it on it's own. It was a lot better when paired over the L'Oreal Infalliable Eyeliner, but I know that with the humidity on the rise it will have creeping issues as the day goes on.

With Flash

Direct Sunlight

Enter- the Milani Eye Tech Extreme Liquid Eye Liner. I wore it for one of my long days a few weeks ago, and it did a fairly decent job of keeping up. The liner over the center of my lids stayed pretty black, but the outside flick did start to fade by late afternoon. All in all, I think I'll keep it around as a back up while I search for that ultimate "perfect" liquid eyeliner. I'm headed back to NYC on Monday for The Makeup Show, and I know that Makeup Forever and Stila will be there. (Stila was all out of their black liquid eyeliner at IBS earlier this month when I was there. Boo!)

Pluses:

Easy to use slim pencil design
Affordable
Nice inky black at the outset
Lasts a decent amount of time
Dries quickly
Long, tapered felt tip applicator for control in the line thickness

Minuses:

You have to really prime the product into the tip or else much doesn't come out and you have to go over the line a few times
Tips of the "wings" started to fade after about 8 hours
Applicator can "skip" sometimes if your lid has some creasing at the lash line
Not really waterproof at all. I can lick a fingertip and wipe right through the dried line

My "flick" disappeared by the end of the day

Overall, I think I rate this a sold 4 out of 5 stars. It's a great liner, but not long wearing enough for my needs.

Do you have a recommendation for the perfect liquid eyeliner for me? I'd love to hear about it! Leave your recommendations in the comments section below!

**Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products. All the opinions expressed in this article are my own. These items were purchased with my own money.