sephora vib rouge sale (and ulta sale too) - tips and recommendations (april 2016)

Every year I look forward to the two VIB sales at Sephora (one is usually in early April (15% off) and the other one is in November (20% off)) to stock up on makeup, skincare and gifts.  Beauty products rarely go on sale so these events are a great way to save money (if you can control yourself)!  

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I'm a VIB Rouge member which means I get slightly early access to the sale.  Last Friday, I got my notice in the mail that the early access sale is scheduled for April 7-13, which means the sale should open up for other VIB members on the 14th.  Sephora used to do cool in-store events for VIB Rouge members and serve coffee and treats and give extra goodies, but they seemed to have stopped doing that last year (boo).  Regardless, I still got excited when I got my notice in the mail and started "planning".  (Ulta sent out their 20% off sale early last week so I was sort of expecting the Sephora sale to start soon since they are usually about a week or so apart.)

Typically I break down my lists as follows:  

my after-christmas shopping plan

It's no secret that I love to shop.  Generally, my two favorite shopping days are (i) the day after Thanksgiving and (ii) the day after Christmas.  I know most people despise the crowds and craziness, but (while I have no love for lines), I do enjoy all the decorations, sales and general excitement.

I normally do not really have a "strategy" for Black Friday shopping since that is driven by where I am spending Thanksgiving and what Christmas presents I have left to buy.  Usually I'm about 75% done with Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving since I shop all year long for Christmas.  However, I have developed somewhat of a strategy for the day after Christmas over the last 10 years or so.

What is my strategy?

best and worst things i did last week (sephora vib sale, jonathan gold's la times event, seven deadly sins, etc.)

(Week of November 2, 2015).

Sadly, these delicious shrimp tacos were not at the Jonathan Gold event...

 Last week started off quite slow.  The "big" event of the week was the Jonathan Gold Los Angeles Times food event on Wednesday in Downtown Los Angeles ... but that turned out to be surprisingly disappointing.  There were only a handful of restaurants and bars, but the variety and amount of food and drink available was quite slim.  In fact, some of the vendors ran out of food hours before the end of the event.  I was hoping to try something new and exciting but alas there were no standouts.  Some general thoughts:

loving my new samantha thavasa deluxe bag (from takayashima in tokyo)

On a rainy day last month I was shopping in the Takayashima Department store in Tokyo (Shinjuku area) and I happened upon the cutest handbags by Samantha Thavasa.  I was not familiar with the brand but a quick google search revealed that it was a popular Japanese brand.  The main collection had  lots of girly pastel bags that were cute but not age-appropriate for me, but then I saw their "deluxe" collection and was immediately sucked in.  

pig stud earrings from henri bendel

Do you ever have a piece of jewelry that just makes you smile every time you wear it because it's just so darn cute?  

I was at Henri Bendel (in the Beverly Center) last week to pick up a gift and I couldn't resist these pig earrings for myself.  They are too cute!  I think they are on sale now for around $34.

At my age, I do usually invest in fine jewelry and I have a few jewelers that I really trust.  However, it's fun to try out new trends with costume jewelry.  I think Henri Bendel has incredibly well made costume jewelry.  I've had some pieces for years and they haven't tarnished or warped at all.  It's my go-to for fun jewelry, and also for 'travel' jewelry when I don't want to wear my real stuff abroad.