After almost a month of procrastinating, I finally had the chance to pick up my free Sephora birthday gift. Like you know the ones they bribe you with to sign up a membership with them even though your birthday isn't relatively close? Yeah, well that always happens to me. My latest mistake was David's Tea, who incessantly sends me annoying emails, please stop! All I wanted was a free gift and now here I am clearing out my inbox. I am such a sucker for free things. Ugh.

This year's gift included two NARS lip pencils:  Rikugien Satin + Cruella Velvet Matte Lip Pencils. To be completely honest with you, none are exactly products I'd choose to buy or wear, but keep in mind, like all free things, it's always a steal. Can't be too picky with that! Read on after the jump to see a couple swatches and a little review on the product!

RIKUGIEN: For starters, the Rikugien pencil seemed ultra convincing to me and based on looks, it was pretty much the colour I wear frequently. Was I right? No. Instead of the matte texture I expected, it had a more sticky, shiny feel and the colour came on quite sheer. Though it wasn't quite what I wanted or expected, the lip pencil did have a nice satin texture that glided right onto my lips, almost like lip balm. It also felt pretty non-existent/heavy on my lips and acted as a built in gloss that looked nice against the light.





CRUELLA: Unlike the Rikugien, the Cruella Velvet Matte lip pencil was more of my taste and something I might actually consider wearing more than once. My initial reaction was that it was quite bright.. almost too bright. But after putting it all on, it grew on me a bit. Most people know that any lip product is pretty unforgiving when it comes to red - one wrong move and it's over. Carefully line your lips before gliding the rest on the inside.. That way, you have a little more room for screw ups and mistakes that can be easily fixed. I absolutely adore the texture given by the matte pencil, it pretty much felt like an actual lipstick. Like Rikugien, it wasn't heavy in texture yet still the perfect matte. It's super smooth on the lips and I didn't expect to really like it as much as I did by the end. You'll most likely be seeing me wear it again sometime in the near future!





All in all, the 2015 Sephora birthday gift is something that you should definitely pick up (come on, it's free. How many times do I have to emphasize that?!) and it's also really something you'd have to try out on yourself in order to really determine if you like it or not!

Like I always say, be bold with yourself and make some sort of statement. It's even written on the box, "ONE YEAR BOLDER". Don't wait an entire year and birthday to encompass yourself into the new. You don't have to.


lj