Sephora MUFE Haul and New Almay Hydrating Makeup

I went Sephora shopping over the past two days and picked up some Makeup Forever, along with some other items. During trip #1 I got the HD foundation and Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I wanted to try the MUFE HD foundation for the longest time and finally got it in the shade 117. Then trip #2 I returned the Too Faced Shadow Insurance because it was a watery runny mess, see yesterday's rant here. Now correct me if I am wrong, but I am not happy with Sephora's return policy when using a coupon. I purchased the MUFE HD foundation $46CAD, and the TFSI $24, and used a $20 off VIB discount, the way they do that is take a portion of the $20 off each item (I had two). Then when I returned the TFSI I only got $19.37 back instead of the full amount. I tried asking the cashier why, and she agreed with me, but that's how the system does it. If I had used the $20 off on the foundation and then did a separate purchase with the TFSI I would of not run into this problem. Have you encountered this before? I know it's just $5 but it bothers me you know? I am getting penalized for returning it, but the foundation alone was the $40 minimum purchase.

I also picked up the MUFE Face and Body in the shade #20. I really wanted to get the Mat Velvet +, but after reading review after review about how it's not good for dry skin (which I have) I felt it was better to leave it out. The Face and Body comes with a pump which surprised me because the youtube videos that I watched people do, it did not. And despite being very watery and not great coverage, I think it's a good bet for my skin.

I am a Sephora newbie, but I tried my best to get samples today, since on the first day I got nothing, too scared of the staff there. Today I told the girl that I have dry skin and am looking for a hydrating foundation, she suggested Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Smooth, which was no surprise to me since I heard it recommended before by beauty reviewers, she got me samples in the shades Blush Ivory and Warm Ivory. However, I am probably more likely to buy the one that comes in the pump bottle, which is moisturizing too, we shall see how this one works out. Then I got some MUFE HD blush samples, that at point, she staff girl seemed irritated with me, I got the lilac colour and a peachy coral one, not sure of the numbers, I think it's #13 and #6.

I also picked up the Sephora #55 brush (picture above). This was $44, I know a lot but it was on my "to get" list for a long time and despite having a ton of makeup brushes, I thought this one would be sweet to have. Like others have said before, the packaging on this brush is ridiculous, took me like 5 minutes to get it off. The brush is soft, not super dense, but looks like it will be good for liquid foundation.

I also picked up the new Almay Wake up Hydrating Makeup in the colour 020 Buff. I read about this and the Revlon Mineral Makeup on Nouveau Cheap and noticed it was on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart. Both products are pretty much the same I think, marketed to do the same thing, Revlon has coconut water and Almay has cucumber something or other, both look to be good for dry skin. Almay was $13.99 and Revlon was $15.99 (both are around $20 normally!) so after humming over it for a few minutes I grabbed the Almay. First impressions: The brush is nice, but I won't use it, the powder has a sifter so I left the peely thing on in case too much comes out for me. The powder does have shimmer which annoys me (zoom in on 2nd image above to see it), I wonder if the Revlon one does too.

I am loving Toronto living so far. I can take a streetcar to Union station and then two stops and I am at the Eaton Centre, which is crazy good. But I am afraid I won't be seeing Miss Sephora for a while now because I have no moola to spend on her. But I am excited to try out these new beauties.

Have you tried any of these products? And have you encountered that hassle with returns at Sephora too? Le me know your thoughts.