Ponyo's Sephora F&F and VIB haul

          Today I'm excited to share the first guest post on Cute and Mundane! My good friend Ponyo has sportingly agreed to be a beauty blogger for a day. Ponyo is a long time friend of mine, but only a recent makeup addict. We both share a love for NARS and Sephora by OPI, however you may notice that our color palettes are a bit different. Ponyo is able to wear brightening, shimmery, feminine colors, while I tend towards my moody stormy tones. (It is worth noting that Ponyo is the Queen of Cute).  Isn't it fascinating how personality can manifest in color? Today Ponyo is sharing her recent haul from the Sephora Friends and Family and VIB sales. Enjoy!

Love, Dovey.

"1. Nail Polish: I went a little SOPI crazy during the VIB event this year! I brought a friend, and she pointed out the nail pens which were hidden on the other side of the store, away from the big display of SOPI nail polishes.  Normally I'm a big fan of the shimmery nail polishes, but I envisioned using the white nail pen on solid colors and thought it'd be really cute.  So I picked up the white pen and went on the hunt for a light pink (I ended up choosing Sephora by OPI  True Romantic - I liked the way it looked with my skin tone more than Dear Diary). While I was there, I was also intrigued by all of the glittery new colors - I put Sephora by OPI Chest-Nuts About You on one of my nails and both my friend and I fell in love - and each had to get a bottle!  Then I rounded out my collection with SOPI strengthener, a top coat (the one I had at home was old and getting gross), nail polish remover (mine was also running out so I thought I'd try SOPI's), and the Quick Dry Spray.  P.S. The nail pen didn't work so well for me - it was so difficult to get the color to actually come out.  I actually punctured through some of my nail polish the first few times I tried and had to redo everything.  I exchanged it for another pen to see if I'll have more success; I'll keep my fingers crossed.  The pen's design may just be flawed though, as the reviews on Sephora's website are similar to my experience. :(

3. Eyeshadow: I've been eyeing NARS eyeshadow for a long time, ever since I went a NARS national artist event this past summer and the makeup artist did an awesome smoky eye on me.  She used NARS Coconut Grove, which looked super dark on my eye.  I've been thinking about buying it ever since then.  So, I took advantage of the discount and picked up the Coconut Grove!  I also got a Duo Eyeshadow - I have been craving one of these as well, but there were always SO many beautiful pairs that I couldn't choose.  I finally settled on NARS eyshadow duo in Alhambra, because I wanted some colors that I could use for a daily natural look.  The colors are really beautiful.  Currently, I like the left side (metallic rose mist) more than the right side (golden champagne); the golden champagne isn't as complimentary to my skin tone as the rose is.

4. Brushes: I knew I wanted to get a new gel eyeliner (I chose Bobbi Brown's gel eyeliner in Espresso Ink after Dovey recommended it), and I also wanted to get a good brush to go along with it.  I've had success with Sephora Professional brushes in the past so I picked up their gel eyeliner brush.  It works fantastically.  (As does the eyeliner - I absolutely LOVE it!)  I also picked up a few Sephora Pro brushes for eyeshadow (Medium Eyeshadow Brush #14 and Smudge Brush #11).

5. Bliss: I have been obsessed with Bliss lotion for a few years now, so every time there's a sale, I try to stock up on it.  Lemon + Sage has always been my favorite, although my friend recently gave me a small tube of the high intensity hand cream with macadamia oil + grapeseed extract - and I really like that one too!  It's a perfect size to carry in my purse.  So I picked up a Lemon + Sage tube, and a cute 'winter wonder-hands' pack to hopefully keep my hands moisturized this winter!

                                                                                                                  -Ponyo"