I Spent $300 on Makeup at Sephora and Mecca: Read My Honest Reviews

I had been looking for a blue eye shadow for what seemed like forever when I stumbled upon RMS's version. Dubbed "eye polish" the formula offers a sheer, metallic glow with a coconut-oil base (so it's good for your skin too). At first, the colour payoff was really subtle and didn't look exactly as I wanted it to. But after building and layering, it was the pastel, cotton-candy shade of my dreams. It stayed put pretty well, only creasing slightly throughout the day and fading to a less opaque wash. But I love it anyway. I got so many compliments when I had it on. 

I’m always skeptical about new mascaras. I’m not exactly easy to please. See, my eyes are more watery than most, and even the highest-reviewed mascaras often leave me with below-the-lashline smudges. I swiped on Nars’s new offering, called Climax (pun intended), and was immediately taken with the large, thick-bristle brush. After a few brush strokes, my lashes looked so long. Then after a few more, they looked insanely thick. I couldn’t believe the difference, but the real test came later. Would the mascara stay in place without a smudge? I examined my face after coming home from dinner and was pleasantly surprised. No terrible smudges, no flakes. They don’t call Nars iconic for nothing.

This is Dior's first-ever Sephora-exclusive foundation, and man, it doesn't disappoint. I take my foundation very seriously. My skin is my thing and unless I'm going to look glowy and bright, I'm not having it. This one's a medium-coverage formula (which isn't my usual go-to, but just wait) that feels light, and pretty much like bare skin once it's applied. It blends like a dream. It's so silky and melts into your skin once you hit it with a damp Beautyblender and offers a velveteen-matte finish (healthy, dewy, but not shiny). I applied it without primer and didn't dust powder over top, and it stayed perfectly on my face all day and into the night.

Originally, I thought this product was sort of gimmicky. Why would I need more than one shade? Wrong. According to most makeup artists (and I've talked to a fair share), the most natural-looking brows offer dimension because our hairs aren't all alike. This four-in-one brow tool was specially designed to fill, define, and highlight your eyebrows in one fell swoop. It's a click pen with four settings: two personalised shades, an edge-definer shade, and an arch highlighter. One click is all it takes to switch between them. It's fun to use, first of all, and it made my brows look amazing. The strokes are tiny enough to look like real hairs and various shades blended together to create a bold, yet entirely natural, look.

Kopari's balm offers a glossy, melty shine that isn't sticky in the slightest. It's a blend of coconut oil, vitamin E, and shea butter to keep dryness at bay (no matter the season). I reapply a few times during the day haven't experienced that dry, chapped feeling since I bought it. It feels like a balm but looks like a gloss, the best type of low-key hybrid product I can think of. Plus, it smells like vacation.

I have been obsessed with draping ever since Adam Selman featured the blush-heavy look on his spring 2017 runway. It's both bold and architectural in equal measure. It's everything makeup is supposed to be—beautiful, fun, and experimental. But I hadn't ever tried it. I didn't even own blush because I never entirely understood how to apply it. I decided to go for Urban Decay's palette because the blush tones were slightly neutral and less intimidating. What I realised after trying it out myself (i.e. having our managing editor Lindsey brush it on because she might as well be a professional makeup artist) is that it's shockingly versatile. I've always been wary of blush, especially in such bright colors because my cheeks get pretty red on their own. But I am so enthralled with the way this turned out. I picture wearing it with a neutral palette for a special event or even adding some shimmer to feel more like an '80s video girl.