Gird your loins, girls! We are facing a major assault against our finances. Since last month, the holidays have been slowly but surely fielding insidious and malicious attacks against our weaknesses. Our fragile hearts are being exploited. But worry not because I am here to tell you... more about them and encourage you to buy? Hahaha!

Some time before Halloween, Sephora held a major weekend sale with a twist: sales ran up to 60% off but you had to buy 11,200 worth of selected product to qualify. The minimum you could spend was 2,000, at 30% off. I initially didn't intend to buy anything because I assumed it'd be near-expiry, Sephora-brand products, even though the teaser email pointedly included a lot of Kat Von D, Zoeva and Becca, I still thought the sale would be soooo lame - famous last words.

Well I was wrong! The sale was an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity and I would like to thank my parents for birthing me and allowing me to experience this treat, and of course, God, for all His blessings to me.

Here's the loot in order of favorites:

Perhaps I was a little reactionary or twitchy going for Becca Backlight Targeted Colour Corrector in Papaya when they had an Orange corrector that looked suitable, I don't know. I remember immediately having a nervous feeling after checking out my cart- as if I'd suddenly realized I didn't put a negative sign in a crucial equation and fucked up my exam.

It's not recommended for my skintone nor intended purposes, but orange correctors haven't been perfect for me and I needed something more pigmented. Kill Cover, my current fave which I admit is lacking, has a lot of milky tones rather than being truly orange, so I wanted to stay away from that whole 'too light' business this time around. Becca's looks very red on pan, but turns up a purer orange on skin. I've tried it once since getting it and I loved the result, but I'm still planning on testing it out more rigorously - with different products and different moods. I'm waiting for the shopping high to die down because I could be having biases, who knows.

I'd love to sound professional and speak about how this is made of sugar, spice and everything nice; but to be honest the packaging of Burberry Beauty Eye Colour Cream in 96 Sheer Gold and Gold Touch simply spoke to my soul. And while normally that isn't enough to make me give in to luxury brands, the color on these two were truly stunning anyway.

I like Sheer Gold because it's such a nuanced shimmer. It reminds me of a sheerer version of Stila Magnificent Metals, which I ended up not buying because the intensity of the metallic foil seemed unwearable for everyday. This will be great for my current eye shadow go-to: nuanced and layered shimmers.

It comes with a small, angled, synthetic brush which I'm not too sure suits my needs. It smells awful, but I checked the pot and expiry for both products is late 2019. The actual pot is fucking tiny especially against the huge packaging. But what can I do? I am WEAK and I still love it.

I was this close to taking Gold Touch out of my cart.

Yellow is not my highlight shade, but this level of intensity is perfect. Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in Trophy Wife is just too yellow and too intense for me, and this carries the same yellow minus the packed-ness of the glitter.

And being the least-wanted item in my cart, I was shocked upon swatch how gorgeous it was! Imagine, I already had a cart version without it, but I did the math and taking it out would cause me to pay PHP 1002 more on my cart, without Gold Touch to boot! Buying Gold Touch was the best decision of my 22-year-old life because at that point, it was practically free due to the sale.

Zoeva 310 Spot Liner has a tinier head than expected. I'm not down about that, because I really did need something as stiff, short and tight as this brush for my kit! I need it for tightlining, and Filipinos in particular, when we have thin eyelashes, they look bald at the root. I like to add gel or waterproof liner in between the hairs, but pencils tend to leave clumps and my current eyeliner brushes are too big and soft to push in between the lashes. 

I do minimal contouring on myself, and I didn't realize Kat Von D Shade and Light Contour Palette was gigantic! Thankfully, it's a kit investment anyway so I don't mind the excessiveness. I needed some contour products, and Kat Von D's has great reviews. I also love the multiple global shades available. Again, this is unnecessary for a singular person, but is great in a kit.

Powder highlighter scares me, but my whole look is about lightness anyway. Powder reads well for a subtle highlight, and I can't wait to practice using this to get to know how exactly it plays with my looks.

I take issue with how Sephora describes Kat Von D Lockit Foundation in 52's color as 'medium/light complexion with warm beige undertones' when Kat Von D labels this specifically as just 'medium warm.' I am in that alanganin spot in between light and medium, so I often miss the mark based off short descriptions. I was so sure this longass description was my shade, and Temptalia confirmed the same. But I really should have asked the dozens of people in my network because two NC 35s told me they were already at 53/54. I think I was NC25 back in university, when I had more regular sun exposure, but I have been at NC20 these days, now that I think about it.

Fortunately, dark foundation is easy to adjust, as opposed to darkening light foundation, which can be more complicated if you need to deepen yellow, red or blue tones. I'm psyched to try in depth shade adjustment and have just ordered foundation drops! (EDIT: It arrived today! OVERNIGHT! Naunahan pa ako sa paggising. BeautyMNL come throoough!)

That's my Sephora haul, which amounted to PHP 11 438 but where I only ended up paying PHP 4575. All of us who qualified for the 60% sale naturally got discounted (6863 for me) more than what we paid for. It feels as if I just bought the 2 KVD items and received all the rest (Becca corrector, Zoeva brush and Burberry pair) for free. And that gives me joy <3

With the sale just over, I feel unjustly vexed that Sephora has decided to start on boxes. BISH, I AM NOT THE ONE! They've decided to hit me on all fronts: By naming the event Singles' Day. Curating A GODDAMNED BOX. Full of minis!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Arcona Magic Black Ice

-Caudalie Beauty Elixir

-For Beloved One Mandelic Acid Renewal Serum

-Erno Laszlo White Marble Essence Lotion

-Mario Badescu Facial Spray With Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater

-Pixi Glow Tonic

-Alpha-H Balancing Cleanser With Aloe Vera

-Boscia Green Tea Mattifying Hydrogel Mask

-SEPHORA COLLECTION Triple Action -Cleansing Water

-Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base

-BECCA First Light Priming Filter

-theBalm Balm Springs

-Kat Von D Beauty Tattoo Liner in Trooper

-Marc Jacobs Beauty Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara

-Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Quickie Contour Stick

-NUDESTIX Intense Matte Lip + Cheek Pencil in Purity

-SEPHORA COLLECTION Rouge Cream Lipstick

-Sigma Beauty F40 Large Angled Contour Brush

Sephora, hinay-hinay please. Mahina ang kalaban :( Y'all need to hire me so I can afford this shit.