Makeup

Run don’t walk! About-Face is on sale at ulta.com! And you can score some brilliant deals! You know me, I’m going to sound like a broken record recommending some of my favs! The About-Face Cherry Pick Lip Color Butter are a must! They’re $11 this week (originally $16) and so worth a pick up! Pigmented, super glossy, moisturizing, these are ALL that. They also, have a two pack which features two mini shades for $12.60!

About-Face Watermelon Take Cherry Pick Lip Color Butter

About-Face Peach Punisher Cherry Pick Lip Color Butter Swatches (Watermelon Take and Peach Punisher)

About-Face Cherry Pick Lip Color Butter Swatches (Watermelon Take and Peach Punisher)

Wearing Peach Punisher

Another must get is the About-Face Blush Rush Liquid Blush which is nine bucks today (originally $18). This is so long-wearing, super creamy, and crazy pigmented! AND my favorite pick the Fractal Glitter Eye Paint: The Minis! I picked up two of these during the Holidays and have no regrets. They’re $17.50 and come with three mini shades. You can choose from three shade collections which are The Classics (has a stunning red sparkly shade), Midheaven (has a gorgeous icy purple), and The Goddess (perfect for Summer with warm golds and bronzes!).

Enjoy the sale!

Where to buy

Ulta

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Oh Snif you’ve outdone yourself! As you know Snif dropped a new gourmand fragrance that smells like pancakes! Snif Hot Cakes is a new perfume that features notes of warm off the griddle fluffy flapjacks dripping with butter and maple syrup. Along with the perfume Snif launched not one but three brand new Body Mists (Choose from Hazel Split, Extra Whip, or Berry Styles) to compliment the Hot Cakes Perfume. Each of those can be mixed and matched with the fragrance to create a truly unique, gourmand experience. They even went so far as to bundle the body mists and the perfume together into one cute gift set!

Much to my disbelief there are people running around who don’t want to smell edible! Gasp! No but seriously, there are two groups of people in the fragrance world. Some who just want to smell delicious and others who don’t really want to smell like some sort of cupcake or delicious treat. I happen to fall into the “I want to smell edible” group of people. I was excited about this launch but wasn’t sure what to expect. Sometimes brand’s shy away from going completely gourmand because they don’t want to lose the interest of those who just aren’t here for smelling extra sweet or foody. In this case Snif toes the line with Hot Cakes. It’s a gourmand but it’s not a “I smell like I ate at IHOPs” fragrance. They do duplicate the scent of pancakes but they also, added a few notes to this that makes it smell warm, comforting, and sultry without being too foody. I absolutely love it. It does not disappoint. It’s a purchase I don’t regret however, I do wish they’d do this in a larger bottle as the 1.7 oz I can see go very, very fast.

I did purchase a full-size bottle and all three of the body mists. However, this review is just for the Snif Hot Cakes Perfume. I’ll speak more on the body mists in another post and how well they cocktail with Hot Cakes. This was a no brainer pick up for me as a gourmand fan girl. It was a blind purchase and I wasn’t sure what to expect but it didn’t not disappoint. I have a few different very realistic pancake smelling perfumes from a variety of e-tailers and Etsy Creators but this entirely a new experience when it comes to a pancake perfume.

As per Snif this has top notes of buttermilk and melted butter with a heart of pancake accord and maple syrup and a base of berry compote and sugared musk. I can attest that as soon as you spray this you’ll get an instant hit of melted butter and immediately after that a fluffy, warm pancake note with a drizzling of maple syrup but it’s the sugared musk in my opinion that prevents it from being a full on pancake scent. The sugary element creates this beautiful element to the scent that almost mimics amber. It’s warm, comforting, and not too foody-like but has a hit of sophisticated sugar hit. It’s reminiscent of pancakes but not a full on pancake fragrance so if you hate the idea of smelling like pancakes have no fear that’s not what you’re getting. It’s deliciously sultry. One note I did not smell at all was the berry compote. I think all the notes are easy enough to point out but my nose never picked up on anything fruity. But I did buy the Berry Styles Body Mist so that might get me a bit of fruitiness with my stack!

With each time I wore this so far I keep wondering why they didn’t save it for a Fall release. It would be a perfect Fall fragrance as it has that cozy, warm element. I can’t wait to mix it with the “topping” body mists and see how they go together.

All in all, Snif Hot Cakes is a winner for me. This is absolutely beautiful and probably one of my favorite Snif fragrances to date. I hope they’ll consider doing a 3.4 oz in the future. Use code SNIF15 for 15% off your order plus free shipping and try Snif Pancakes for free! Your order comes with a 10ML and a 1.7 oz bottle. Try the 10ML and if you like it keep the bottle! If not, contact Snif for a prepaid label and ship the full bottle back!

Snif Hot Cakes is available now and Muse Approved.

Where to buy

Snif

The Tocca Luxury Fragrance Wardrobe is 50% off today! Regularly $68 you can snag it for $34 today and it’s an almost complete collection of Tocca’s offerings. You get 0.15 oz of the following scents:
Florence: Bergamot, Pear, Gardenia
Cleopatra: Grapefruit, Jasmine, Vanilla Musk
Stella: Italian Blood Orange, Freesia, Spicy Lily
Giulietta: Green Apple, Pink Tulips
Simone: Watermelon, Ylang Ylang, Frangipani
Colette: Bergamot, Sandalwood, Pink Peppercorn
Liliana: Neroli, Watery Peach, Muguet
Belle: Italian Bergamot, Petit Grain, Freesia
Lucia: Italian Lemon, Fig, Vetiver

This is a great deal! Also, on sale today:
$13 Beekman 1802 Body Care Sets
It Cosmetics Airbrush Soft Focus Blush Brush #113 $13
50% Off KVD Beauty Tattoo Liner Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
50% off Ofra Mini Mix palettes
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream $32
FOREO SUPERCHARGED Serum 2.0 Electrolyte Enriched Activated Treatment $29.50
50% off select Hanskin
Living Proof Triple Bond Complex Leave-In Hair Treatment $22.50
50% off Sebastian Dark Oil
StriVectin Super-C Eye Vitamin C Cream $32.50

Enjoy!

Where to buy

Ulta

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Wakey, wakey friends! I hope you had the best weekend ever! I hope you were the best people I know you are. And I hope, above all else, you’re doing well over there.

Today’s love letter goes out to my weird mentality that if I just put on my mascara with absolutely no other makeup I look good. The other day my sister called me and she was like, “hey, I need you at the office, can you stop by and help me with something”. And I’ve oddly entered this phase in my life where I don’t need to put on a full face of makeup to leave the house. I ended up putting on mascara (which totally smudged on my lower lash because I overused eye cream) and left the house in a bare face. I later regretted this realizing how my puffy eyes were making me crazy insecure. I’m also weirdly convinced that mascara actually makes me look semi-made up. Or even just curling my lashes quickly! Does anyone do this or am I alone? No makeup, just curl the lashes, and go. It’s super liberating to just leave the house without a stitch on but also, there’s that moment where someone talks to you face to face and you’re sort of overthinking things with the though of “oh god they must think I look so tired!” running through your head. Which P.S. is sort of the worst thing to say to someone. You ever have that person that tells you, “Oh you look tired today!” Thanks, a lot now I can really overthink things. I went in for a selfie that day and later I looked at it and realized how silly I was being worried about how badly I looked when in reality I should have been worried about the smudged mascara on my lower lash line haha! Moral of the story is, don’t be scared to walk out of the house without makeup. It sounds cliché but you’re beautiful without makeup! Makeup is fun and it can make us feel more confident but just remind yourself that even without it you’re still stunning! Stop being your biggest critic!

Anyway, let’s not get too mushy around here. What else do I love this week? I said it last week, I’ll say it again this week, Experiment’s new Molecular Mesh is my bestest friend lately. Did you order a tube? New York weather is being odd lately. We’re getting some beautiful Spring days some weeks and others it’s cold and rain. I heard snow this week. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the weather. I do know it’s creating chaos on my face. Molecular Mesh definitely keeps my skin dewy, juicy, and well hydrated. I realized it’s promoted as Barrier Cream but it’s just become my daily moisturizer (and sometimes my nightly one too!). It’s super hydrating with a great texture that doesn’t leave me shiny or greasy looking!

Speaking of moisturizer, can we just get Marcus Chang to stop in for a second and spill his skincare techniques? I’m in my Marcus Chang era because of Lost Romance (Watch it, thank me later! The storyline is chef’s kiss!) and of course, the first thing I do when I’m fangirling out is wonder what everyone is using on their skin. He’s 41 and he looks 18. Like, dude, tell us your anti-aging tricks. Speaking of anti-aging, someone asked me today, “do you use retinol?” and the answer would be yes and no. I’m actually a really late bloomer when it comes to retinol. I absolutely use it but sometimes I’ll have a love affair with it where I’m using it daily and other times I’ll stop start favoring highly moisturizing products instead (especially in the Winter). Do you use it daily or are you in and on again off again relationship with it?

Share your love list with me! What are you loving on this month? Any new skincare? A TV show? Something else? I’d love to hear!

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Guys, call me out if I’m being dumb but is it ok to want the new Sephora Favorites What’s In My Bag: Makeup, Hair and Body Value Set ($54) just for the bag?! Sephora, why can’t you give us one of these free with some kind of purchase? Oh my god! It’s so cute! The new Sephora Favorites What’s in My Bag is a new set featuring products for makeup, hair, and body that all come tucked into a cute striped reusable mini Sephora tote. I suspect this will sell out as fast as the Trader Joe’s Mini Freezer Bags did. Remember that crazy? Mercari Sellers were over there charging $200 dollars for a $3.99 bag!

This set includes 11 deluxe size beauty items as well as 1 full-size (Milk Makeup’s Cooling Water Jelly Tint Lip and Cheek Blush Stain in Chill). What do you get exactly in the Sephora Favorites What’s In My Bag: Makeup, Hair and Body Value Set aside from that cute little tote? Here’s the full list of items inside:

• 1.7 oz Dae, Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream (Deluxe)
• 0.5 oz Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Waterproof Setting Spray (Deluxe)
• 0.84 oz Sol De Janeiro Beija Flor™ Body Collagen-Boosting Elasti-Cream with Vegan Collagen and Bio-Retinol (Deluxe)
• 0.21 oz Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder in Universal (Deluxe)
• 0.14 oz Benefit Cosmetics BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara in Intense Pitch Black (Deluxe)
• 0.17 oz Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tint Lip + Cheek Blush Stain in Chill – red (Full Size)
• 0.15 oz Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze® Gel (Deluxe)
• 0.33 oz Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner (Deluxe)
• 1 oz Salt & Stone Bergamot & Hinoki Extra-Strength Aluminum-Free Deodorant (Deluxe)
• 0.02 oz tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Plump Gloss in Honeysuckle – black cherry (Deluxe)
• 0.11 oz Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Happy – dewy cool pink (Deluxe)
• 0.75 oz Amika Perk Up Talc-Free Dry Shampoo (Deluxe)

These sets tend to sell out fast so I imagine the Sephora Favorites What’s In My Bag set won’t stick around soon! Snag yours for a limited time on Sephora’s website. And it’s ok to want it just because of the cute tote (I’m reassuring myself).

Where to buy

Sephora

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For over 37 years Mary Beth Roe has been a QVC host that has sold us everything from faux diamond necklaces to the latest Bare Minerals launch but on March 21st Mary Beth hug up host cloak and retiredf rom QVC. There was a Retirement Celebration that aired on Friday but I actually didn’t catch it as I was out. I remember the days I’d record episodes of QVC on my Tivo if there was some sort of Today’s Special Value I wanted to purchase. In true, Mary Beth Rose fashion, her last show was a mix of beauty, food, jewelry, and accessories. She attributes part of the reason as retiring because she has four grandkids and was missing out on so much of their lives.

QVC has changed so much over the last several years and I sadly, find myself not shopping there as often as I once did. I miss the amazing Bare Minerals, It Cosmetics, Mally, and Laura Geller Today’s Special Value Sets. They just don’t do sets as good anymore. Regardless, QVC is still a premium source for deals on beauty, clothing, home goods, and more. Mary Beth joins team members like Lisa Robertson who also left QVC a few years ago. I still miss Lisa and I’ll miss Mary Beth as well.

Are you a QVC shopper still? Or do you miss the way it used to be?

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Remember that discussion we had yesterday about shameful makeup purchases? Well, I did a think. I ordered every single shade of the Sephora Colorful Blush and Highlighter Glaze and I regret NOTHING. Nothing, I tell you!

Sephora Colorful Blush and Highlighter Glaze ($14) is a new blush and highlighter hybrid that provides beautiful color and a gorgeous light-reflecting radiant finish in one formula. This new blush features a luminous finish that combines the pigment of a blush with the gorgeous glow of a highlighter and a silky formula that seamlessly applies on skin. Available in five shades this new formula is part of the Sephora Summer 2025 Collection and each shade is $14 each.

“But Muse, the Sephora Spring Savings Event is around the corner and these will be 30% off why didn’t you wait?” True! Sephora’s Spring Savings Event starts the first week of April but I fear these will sell out before that or sell out during the sale never to be seen again. The promo images are looking quite amazing and at $14 each I couldn’t resist. I did overindulge but I find the market is sadly lacking for blush slash highlighter formulas so when I see one I jump on it. I’m a massive fan of the long gone Melt Cosmetics Digital Dust Duos. Those were the perfect combination of a blush and highlighter that lit up cheeks with the most gorgeous glow. I’m always looking for other blushes that will perform exactly like that formula and I have hopes the new Sephora Colorful Blush and Highlighter Glaze might do the trick.

What’s the shade line up looking like? Pretty nice especially since there are a two peachy, orange corals in the mix!

Shades include:

• Pink Sunset (peachy pink shimmer)
• Morning Blaze (poppy pink shimmer)
• Sunrise (orangey coral shimmer)
• Moon O’Clock (deep plum shimmer)
• Golden Hour (intense tangerine shimmer)

Did I need these? Probably not. Did I want them? Oh yes! I just hope the formula doesn’t disappoint me! We’ll see! Review coming soon! I’ll let you know what I think!

Where to buy

Sephora

RMS Beauty Cashmere Matte Eyelights have arrived and I’m so here for this launch! RMS Beauty bestselling Eyelights Cream Eyeshadow is now available in a brand new finish! Matte! Yes, we are getting eight silky matte cream eyeshadows to play with this Spring.

It’s the same great Eyelights formula you know and love but now in a cashmere-soft, silky matte finish that promises crease-proof wear and easy application in the form of a cream shadow. These shadows have a skincare-infused formula that conains Organic Green Tea and Natural Peptide Quinoa Extract that nourish, smooth, and firm the delicate eyelid. They come in a squeeze tube just like the original but with a new needle nose applicator that releases just the right amount of shadow.

Shades include:

• Canyon Clay (rustic brown red)
• Mossy Stone (earthy saddle brown)
• Mountain Mist (silver gray)
• Tundra Taupe (light desert sand)
• Dusty Trail (tawny caramel brown)
• Desert Rose (vintage pink)
• Mallo Coast (dusty rose mauve)
• Wildflower (delicate pale lavender)

I need a few of these shades ASAP. Canyon Clay, Dusty Trail, and Desert Rose to start should do the trick. I have a feeling I’m going to adore these as I do love the original formula and if this new matte version is just as good I’ll be the happiest girl. There are to few matte cream shadow formulas around so I’m happy to see such a nice selection from RMS Beauty. You can snag 20% off your total at rmsbeauty.com my code ISABELLAM20. Thank you if you use the code as it earns me a small commission which helps to maintain Musings of a Muse and makes it possible to keep the website going.

Let me know if you pick these up!

Where to buy

RMS Beauty

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Have you ever hit submit on some massive makeup purchase? One you can’t even believe you’re buying? Or maybe there was a time where you purchased every single shade of an eyeshadow formula you loved? Did you ever feel a little ashamed and maybe guilty after doing it? I’ve read threads on Reddit where girls are dropping like $2,000 when the Sephora Sales Event happens. Have you ever went that overboard with a purchase?

I sadly, have a lot of shameful makeup purchasing moments. For example, when I started this blog I was buying most of every shade of a new release so I could swatch each shade. Some shades I didn’t even like but I felt obligated to grab them so I could have a concise post featuring all the shade swatches for my readers. I also, feel like occasionally formulas can vary from color to color and I’d grab all the shades to ensure my review was as accurate as possible. Thankfully, this was mostly drugstore purchases but still, it was a bit absurd.

I always felt a bit wasteful doing this and even guilty. In recent years, I’ve stopped doing that. Sure, it isn’t beneficial to you if I don’t have all the shades of a particular color makeup product to swatch. But I do think that I’m being a lot more wasteful by just trying a shade or perhaps two shades versus buying ten of them.

On a personal level I’ve had many shameful makeup purchasing moments here’s my most embarrassing one.

This isn’t even a makeup moment but more a skincare one. I am guilty of dropping money on La Mer The Eye Concentrate as well as Sisley Sisleya L’Integral Anti-Age Eye & Lip Contour Cream. I think the worst part of those purchases is the fact I actually really love the formula however, I feel incredibly guilty splurging on a small eye cream at the price they charge. Thank god for Heimish Marine Care　Algae + Peptide Eye Cream as that totally replaced my need to replenish La Mer’s The Eye Concentrate!

It’s also not makeup but I’m also somewhat ashamed of my candle collection. I won’t even admit to you how many I own but it’s a lot. But thankfully, not as many as some of the people I come across online. There’s one guy on Tiktok who has like twenty each of the same scent and I’m sitting here like, “ok, you’re good girl! You aren’t that insane!”. I mean, sure, I hate to fall in love with a fragrance but I haven’t reached a stage in my life where I have fifty of the same scent hanging around.

One thing, I can’t be remorseful about is my fragrance collection. It’s an area I’m also, an overachiever in. I have A LOT of bottles and I just can’t be sorry about that because I adore them all so much. Do I another perfume? Not for a million lifetimes. Do I continue to buy? Yes. That being said, I have started to be a lot more selective of the fragrances I do add to my collection.

What are some of your more shameful or embarrassing makeup moments?