My 2020 Sephora Skincare Birthday Haul 📍

I’ve always been 50/50 about blog posts detailing hauls. If you’re unfamiliar with “hauls” in this sense, it’s just sharing a shopping trip with the internet. Makeup hauls, and thrift store hauls are easy to find and I am divided (50 percent love, 50 percent hate) about hauls because part of me is curious and wants to see photos, and the other half is annoyed with myself for being interested.

So today I am going to join these haulers for a moment. I don’t think this sort of post will become regular (I’m far too poor to become a real beauty blogger), but I’ll share my birthday haul because I love Sephora, I love new skincare, and I love sharing.

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links; I may earn a tiny commission from purchases.

I used to be a monthly Sephora shopper, but stopped when my sample collection clearly exceeded my usage. Now I only shop a few times a year; usually when traveling and needing something specific, or around my birthday. My 2020 birthday visit is detailed in today’s haul, and I am excited to share it!

Be advised that this isn’t a Makeup Haul because I stopped wearing makeup! Luckily that’s a whole different tale that I have already written about here: Why I Stopped Wearing Makeup. So let’s get on to my $55.64 worth of goods.

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I decided to do something that I normally don’t do (which is probably what other people have been doing all along) I am setting aside my favorite products until these brand new ones are used entirely…or for a month – whichever happens first. I use all products sparingly, so I’m curious to see how long these will last me.

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Here is my usual routine with my existing favorites
Wash up with Hada Labo Foaming Cleanser or Yes To Cucumbers Gentle Milk Cleanser
Exfoliate with Corsx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid
Apply Holika Holika Lazy & Easy Master Serum
Moisturize with a Pacifica product day time moisturizer

☞ Here’s a more detailed write-up about my usual products: Five Favorites in my Skincare Routine

And here is my new temporary routine with my birthday haul items
Wash with Tatcha Deep Cleanse
Apply Kiehl’s Vital Skin-Strengthening Super Serum -or- Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench moisturizer
Moisturize face with Tatcha Water Cream
Wear 1 Minute Sephora Face Mask
Moisturize body (post shower) with Sol De Janeiro Coco Cabana Cream (or Brazilian Bum Bum Cream), and Sephora Multi-use Oil
Sleep with Innisfree Green Tea Sleeping Mask
Eat one or two Olly Bedtime Beauty gummies

First impressions
“I love all of these things.”

Really! Of course I bought products that I thought I would like already. I’ve always loved Tatcha products and really loved the cleanser. The product wasn’t always easy to get out of the container, but my face felt *perfectly* clean afterwards. Tatcha Water Cream changes consistency when warmed, so that was fun.

The PTR and Kiehl’s samples were nice as expected. Neither wowed me in particular, but I liked using them.

I’m an established fangirl for Sol de Janeiro, but totally missed the release for Coco Cabana – this quickly became my favorite to use on my elbows and wrists. The scent is so amazingly delicious it nearly keeps me up at night.

Sephora’s multi-use oil was a surprise favorite. I love coconut oil & grapeseed oils, so blending the two was bound to be great. I want to bathe in a vat of this stuff. Mmm.

The 1-Minute masks were my least used – I just don’t wear sheet masks a lot in the summer. These are oddly small, but stretch easily. I liked the speediness because the bad fit around my eyes wasn’t comfortable.

Innisfree’s sleeping mask was wonderful as expected. Great texture, very little scent, and makes my face soft. Sometimes I use this mask on my neck or upper chest if I can sneak in an afternoon nap.

Lastly, I love supplements, so it follows that I would need some beauty gummies. I’ve always been a fan of Olly’s formulations and packaging, but I never bought any until now. These gummies were pleasant, but the timing was a bad match for my intermittent fasting hours (because eating said gummy definitely broke my fast, so I started taking these with dinner instead of before bed).

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Conclusions
Tatcha – I will still swoon at all Tatcha products, but I don’t think I’ll need to buy these full size products anytime soon.
Peter Thomas Roth & Kiehl’s – neither sample changed my life, that’s okay.
Sol de Janeiro – love love! I already bought the Coco Cabana body wash, and the Brazilian Joia shampoo!
Sephora’s multi-use oil – is wonderful, I hope I can buy it for the rest of my long life.
Sephora’s 1-Minute sheet mask – I’ll use mine on other body parts, because it doesn’t fit my face well, but I still like the mask. I’m happy to use these on my feet and neck.
Innisfree – I’ll definitely buy more masks in the future. The packaging won me over because the gel can’t dry out in the tube like other masks that use pots or small jars.
Olly – I will pass on future gummies, but this supplement reminded me that I needed to get back to supplementing collagen – so I bought an unflavored collagen that I can just add to any food or drink.

Just for fun, let’s see if my face looks any different in diffused sunlight in my bathroom!

Before the new products ↓

(Borrowed the above photo from Why I Stopped Wearing Makeup)

After changing my products for 30 days ↓

Q. So how long did the products last?
A. I’m still using them! I use one or more products from this haul daily, but I no longer use them exclusively. I stopped the exclusive use when I ate all of the gummies, because emptying that bottle felt like a mini-milestone for this haul. Just for fun I will try to keep up with the remainder, just to see how long I really do use products (because I already know that I use things far longer than most people).

How long I kept each item until it was used entirely
• Olly Bedtime Beauty vitamins – 30 days
• Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench sample – 40 days
(All others are still being used occasionally and not yet used entirely) 

I can’t wait for next year’s birthday haul – I’m already thinking about bringing home some Sunday Riley!

☞ Related

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