Everyday face routine/what I've been loving.

Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed and Chic, Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 004 Sandstorm, Sonia Kashuk Blush in 09 Melon,

Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara in Very black, Maybelline masterPrecise by Eyestudio Black Eyeliner Pen, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze,

 Trish McEvoy planner page, Dior eyeshadow from Limited Edition Detective Chic palette (beige at bottom left, matte brown at top left), Estee Lauder eyeshadows (in between the Dior ones, from free gift), Lancome eyeshadows at the right (all from free gifts a very long time ago),

Rosebud Perfume Co. Smith's Lip Balm in Minted Rose. 

For everyday I try to keep my makeup pretty simple (just some concealer (not pictured), powder, blush, and bronzer (only when I feel like my face needs some contouring/slimming down)). I  fill in my brows, do some shadow, some liner, and mascara. I usually never wear anything aside from lip balm on my lips. 

The Revlon concealer is the best I've tried (from the drugstore, at least). It matches my skin perfectly, has buildable coverage, doesn't get too cakey, and blends nicely. The only thing that I hate is that when you run out of the stick, you have to scrape out the rest of the product with your nail and then dab it on your face from the back of your hand. They should just make this into a pan/pot concealer. I wish the formula lasted a bit longer throughout the day without getting cakey in oily areas, too.

This is the first time I've tried the Rimmel Stay Matte powder before, and when I run out (you can see I've hit pan), I will definitely be repurchasing. This is the best drugstore powder I have ever used. It doesn't look too powdery, sets my makeup all day, and actually absorbs oil. It's so much better than the Maybelline Dream Matte (which looks so heavy). It's cheaper too, and you get more product. The only thing I hate is the packaging. The lid does not stay on at all. It also crumbles a bit once you've hit pan, but that's not that bad. 

The Sonia Kashuk blush is amazing. I hit pan recently, but I definitely did not think that would ever happen. I feel like I never have to use much of this because it's so pigmented (just tap your brush in once or twice). It's the perfect color for me, too. It's kind of pink/peach/red, and I feel like it could work for anybody. The packaging is amazing, too. Love the magnetic close. 

The Revlon Photoready bronzer in Bronzed and Chic is the only bronzer I've ever used (my first one). I like it, but I have nothing to compare it to. I like how it's matte and how it applies sheerly (less likely to mess up when putting it on). The only thing I don't like is the packaging. The brush it comes with is really bad, and the compact is extra big just to make room for it. No. Also, I wish Revlon would just come out with four different shades of matte bronzer instead of making this four shade one. I only really like the two shades on the right. The ones on the left are either too orangey or too dark. I have medium skin, too, so I can't imagine that this would work for pale people. 

I fill in my brows with an old matte brown Dior shadow from a limited edition palette I depotted, then I put some neutral eyeshadow over my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. I absolutely love this Color Tattoo. It's gorgeous on it's own, but when I put it under shadow, it helps it last all day.I just apply this with my fingers.

I then line my eyes with a Maybelline liner pen, which I really liked at the beginning and still like, but the tip has been dulling and the product has been drying out and getting harder to use.

After lining, I finish with mascara. I've repurchased the Maybelline Full 'n' Soft a few times. It's my favorite from the drugstore. It doesn't flake (sometimes a little, but not badly), smudge (just make sure you powder under your eyes), or clump. I should've thrown this away a while ago, because I'm running out and getting to the four month mark, but I get a free mascara from work, so I'm holding onto this until that gets in.

I then finish with my current lip balm. I've had this forever, and I kind of can't wait to be rid of it even though it's not bad. I just hate putting my fingers in a pot, and I want to use something else. 

Lancome Hypnose Drama... ehhh

So I'm not the biggest fan of splurging on high end mascaras, and I definitely didn't on this one. It was in a sample bag from Sephora. Awesome, right?

I hated this mascara at first. I couldn't figure out how to use the brush for the longest time. As you can see from the picture below, it's pretty weird. Once I got to using it though, I found that the best way to use it was to apply it at a 45 degree angle to get it on the lashes and then go back with the front end of the brush to distribute product. 

As far as formula goes, I was a bit iffy. It's a drier mascara, and it's not the blackest. It lasts all day with minimum smudging (only at the outer corners of the eye), however it flakes like a mofo. I hate that. I'm talking black bits all over your face at the end of the day.

You can see, however, that it gave some pretty dramatic results. Not for the natural-look lover. 

I wasn't too depressed when I ran out of this. I went back to my beloved Full 'n' Soft, which is way cheaper and better (doesn't flake badly, doesn't smudge, lots of volume, but less dramatic). At $26, I think Lancome Hypnose is definitely not worth it for what it does (flakes). 

I'm a horrible person: CVS haul. Again. Also maize and blue nail marbling!!!

My dear friend told me there was a sale at CVS (Wet 'n' Wild BOGO), so I couldn't resist. I've had my heart set on getting these shadows after trying the Petal Pusher and Comfort Zone palettes. They're so gorgeous and pigmented. My favorite shadows ever. 

I'm Wearing Walking on Eggshells ($2.99) today, and it's so amazing. The colors blend so well and are just beautiful. These are dupes for Mac Shroom, Cork, and Naked Lunch, too. 

The Walking on Eggshells palette was free because I bought the eight-pan Blue Had me at Hello palette. These shadows are insanely pigmented, especially the bottom left Definer shade. It's crazy. I'm in love with the navy blue colors, and the matte black is super nice. Only $4.99 for all eight. :0)

I needed a highlighter, and Physicians formula was spend $10 get 7 Extrabucks. How could I resist? I got the one in Malibu Strip. It looks fine as a highlight, but it's not the greatest thing ever. I'll have to use it a bit more to review it fully though. It's kind of expensive, too ($13.79). 

 I needed some lip color, so I got Wet 'n' Wild (BOGO!). These are the moisturizing formula, so they're pretty slick. I like the shade on the left, and I plan on using it for Halloween (I'm going to be Marla from Fight Club), but the red isn't that great. The color feathers super badly. I would definitely not get it again. They don't taste or smell great. For $2.99 though, not too bad. 

I've been wanting to try these FOREVER. Maybelline was spend $10 get 3 Extrabucks, so that was my excuse to try them (they are kind of expensive at $6.99 each).

Tough as Taupe is a super pretty greige kind of color. It's kind of multidimensional. These apply so nicely with the fingers as well. 

I love Bad to the Bronze. It looks super cool blended out, and it applies so nicely. I'm definitely going to get some more of these. I have my eyes on Bold Gold and Pomegranate Punk.

After trying and falling in love with the Revlon Colorstay Topcoat (I had it over an OPI polish and it lasted for 6 days!!!), I decided to try the nail polish. Revlon was on offer, too, so I didn't feel too guilty about this. I got Pale Cashmere and Velvet Rope. ($7.79 each). They're kind of expensive for Drugstore nail polish, but I got 5 extrabucks at least.

I then marbled my nails for game day today. I used a dark shimmery blue and a gold. 

Here they are!

Go blue! Beat Sparty!!!

SO yeah. I was bad, but I got a lot of coupons out of that and $15 Extrabucks. My next purchase will be free right? :P

Polka Dot nails! and Julep Claire

Y'all will know from my last post that I got some new nail polish from Julep recently. I love it so much so far. It's so opaque and dries really quickly. My favorite color that I got is Claire, a darker sky blue. 

This one needs two coats for full opacity, but one coat still is pretty good...

And it's not electric blue in person. It looks a bit brighter in the photo.

It matched my pencil! Exciting, eh?

I also painted my friend's nails! I used Julep Rose (the red) and alternated with Zoya Pippa (the yellow). The Zoya is super streaky by the way. I needed three coats to make it not look nasty. I only used one coat of Julep Rose. 

I then dotted nail polish (on the diagonal first because it just makes it easier) on with a pencil, because I'm too cheap to get a dotting tool. I kept my blues away from each other (I used Claire again and then Essie Mint Candy Apple, the lighter one). I used Rose dots on a Pippa nail, and Pippa on a Rose one. I used another Julep color, Sasha, on the index fingers.

I finished with my Revlon topcoat, which I love.

So yeah, I'm loving this polka dot look. It's super happy. If you don't want to go the whole way and have dots on every finger, the dots still look cute for one accent nail.

What's your favorite nail design?

New stuff! Yay! (Haul) and Julep Rose

So I went to CVS this week. Also, I subscribed to Julep Maven and my first box just came today. 

Happiness.

We'll start with the Julep stuff. I got five nail polishes for only a penny! I had a code to get my first box, so yeah. $14X5 worth of nail polish, really good nail polish, for $0.01. The color I'm wearing now is Rose (the picture color is true to real life), a coraly/reddy/pink. I only have one coat on, too! This stuff is opaque. I love the way the formula applies, and since it was only one coat, it dried really fast. You can see just the tiniest bit of nail from under, but not enough for me to notice or care to do another coat.

I'm really happy with my first box. Unless I have a code though, I'm probably going to skip most boxes because I'm a poor college kid. The box came with a reusable Julep bag, too. Kinda cool I guess.

I recently hit pan on my Maybelline Dream Matte powder, so I thought I'd get a new one. I got Rimmel Stay Matte in 004 Sandstorm. I've heard good things about this powder, but I haven't tried it yet.

Those limited edition displays by the exit escalator always get me. I wasn't going to get a blush... but I liked the color and the sturdy feeling packaging, and I'll never be able to get this again right? This is a L'oreal limited edition Project Runway blush in 326 The Muse's Blush. I used it today. It was pretty so-so. Not too pigmented, and the color doesn't show up too well. However, I kind of like not fussy blushes (sometimes when it's too pigmented you have to worry about putting on too much), and this is a nice sheer, natural blush. It has subtle shimmer; you won't look like a disco ball. It does bring a nice color to my face. I might even go back for this berry kind of color they had.

I also needed a new eyeliner. My Maybelline gel one was drying up and flaking all over my face, so I tossed it and got this one. I knew I wanted a pencil I didn't have to sharpen, because I just hate doing that. I was getting sick of having to use a brush for my liner everyday, too. I tried this already, and I'm on the fence. The pigmentation and staying power are great, and I like the way it glides on without me having to feel like I'm tugging on my eyes, but the point wears down and the line gets super thick. It would be okay for the waterline, but I don't line my waterline, so I don't know if it's worth it for me to keep this. I need something that I can use to get into my lash roots, and maybe make a wing from time to time. I might go back and get a liquid eye pen instead.

My Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat was getting low and, therefore, disgusting and gloopy to the point at which I needed to toss it because it was screwing up my manicures. Amarixe was raving about the Revlon Colorstay base and topcoats, so when I saw this I thought I'd give it a go. I love it so far. I just painted this over my new Julep polish, and it applied so nicely, dried quickly, and the brush is amazing! It really fits the contour of the nails perfectly. We'll see how the wear is, but I'm thinking I'm going to like this better than Insta-Dri...

So yeah. That's it. 

Have you gone shopping recently? What did you get?

My nail polish!

So... I'm a bit obsessed with nail polish. I think so at least. I never have my nails bare. This is my nail polish collection so far. It's a lot for some, not a lot for some, but it's prefect for me. I wear all these colors.

This is the one I'm currently wearing: Maybelline Color Show in Auburn Ablaze

I've got six Maybelline colors, and I have to say that I'm not too impressed with the new formulation. While the colors are gorgeous, the polish is very thin and some colors need a few coats or two thick ones. They also take forever to dry. The staying power isn't that great either (around 0.5-2 days and it'll chip). 

Here's Auburn Ablaze again but with Downtown Brown (both limited edition for fall) on the right. It's a green/brown duo chrome. Pretty neat. 

These are Onyx Rush and Porcelain Party (permanent). The black has subtle shimmer to it.

Two more limited edition Fall colors from Color Show: Avante Green and Metal Icon. I love them both.

I have two Sally Hansen Colors. I absolutely love the Insta-Dri formulation. It's pretty thick though, kind of like the top coat. I only need two thins coats. Grape Going! is on the left. Sally Hansen HD in Laser is on the right. You need a lot of coats to reach opacity, but it's super pretty. You can also wear it on top of a lot of polishes. Both of these are blue/purple duo chrome, but the HD is more glittery and thin. The brushes are pretty big, too.

These nail polishes were super cheap and the colors are gorgeous. However, you get what you pay for in this case. The Confetti one (Blue Bombshell) needs many many coats to reach opacity and it takes forever to dry. The Spoiled one in My Saturn Broke Down chips really quickly. It kind of has a jelly-like consistency. Very sheer as well; it's a top coat really. Did I mention the brush is huge? I like that though.

My only OPI ish polishes (I say ish because the one on the left is Sephora by OPI): The Sephora one is called Sparkle Me Silver. It's basically holographic bar glitter. It looks super cool, but it chips almost instantly. The OPI one is called Into the Night from the Spiderman collection. I LOVE this one. It's the perfect blue, my favorite I think, and it wears so well. I kept painting this color on over and over (I'd take it off and put it on again). You need a couple of thick coats, but it dries in good time and paints on easily. I'm obsessed. 

Two Milani Glitter polishes: Gems and Twinkle respectively. Nothing too special. Just the usual glitter top coats, hard to remove and chunky, chippy. Gems reminds me of Deborah Lippmann's Birthday Cake.

I got these Model's Own polishes on sale at Urban Outfitters. I'm so glad I did. They're amazing! The wear time is great, and you only need two coats. The formula applies nicely, too. My only complain is the smell: They smell toxic. They're from the Beetle Juice collection. Purple Blue is just that but more (it has a reddish/pink-orange-purple duo chrome as well as blueish/gray/purple). It's super unique. Aqua violet is a turquoise and purple due chrome. 

My three full-sized Essie polishes (Mint Candy Apple, Wicked, and Mademoiselle). I have issues with Essie. I love the colors, but I find the formulas to be streaky, not that long lasting, and they take forever to dry if they're not metallic. Mint Candy Apple is the perfect Summer color, I love Wicked for Fall, and Mademoiselle is that perfect ballerina pink for when you want the look of your nails but better.

Mini Essie polishes! I love these because I know I won't use a full bottle. These are amazing sizes. I wish they sold this size for all their polishes. Coat Azure (I like the way this applies and dries actually), French Affair (I don't like this at all. Too bubble-gummy for me. It's not sheer, but it applies super streaky and take forever to dry). Topless and Barefoot is the perfect nude. Nice Is Nice is an okay purple, but I have the same issues with it as I do with French Affair.

These are just some random Japanese nail polishes I got at a Japanese store. I really like them. 

The polish on the left is just holographic glitter. It's cool. I got it at a Chinese store in New York. The Sephora one I got from Sephora when I was in 8th grade. I'm a sophomore in college now. I still love this. It's a sheer white that just makes my nails look amazing.

This is Zoya's Pippa. It's a great yellow. It's just a bit streaky and takes a while to dry.

My favorite nail polish brand! Butter London is amazing. I've done a full review of Knackered (far right). It's a lavender/green duo chrome with holographic glitter. You need a few coats, but I love it. You can layer it, too. The two on the left (Lovely Jubbly and The Black Knight) have the same glitter. I was sad to see this, but before I noticed, it was too late. In hind sight, I wouldn't have gotten the Black Knight, I would've just gotten Lovely Jubbly to layer over black. They're great polishes anyway though. The glitter is just hard to remove.

Chanel Peridot is probably my favorite nail polish. It's a gold/green duo chrome. I wear it all the time, and I always get compliments (from boys, too). I wish OPI would make their dupe of this permanent so that way when I run out of this I have backup, but oh well. 

I got all six of the polishes in a set at Urban Outfitters. (6 for $6!!!) I was a happy camper when I got these. I actually really like the formula. They apply well and don't take too long to dry. If UO ever has another sale I'm going to be all over these.

So there you have it! All my nail polishes. When I get more I'll post about it. I work at a beauty store that sells Butter London, so I expect that collection to grow a bit...

What are you favorite nail polishes?

May Favorites

Sorry this is so late! It's almost time for a June favorites isn't it... I wasn't able to upload this video at my house because my internet's as slow as glass (which is a slow-moving liquid). Wow. I'm smart?

Kirkland angled blush brush


Bare Escentuals Full-coverage Kabuki Brush
 

Covergirl 24 hr lash blast 

Extra-virgin olive oil

CVS Cleansing Wash for sensitive skin

Queen Helene's Mint Julep Mask


St. Ives Green Tea Scrub 

Lush Strawberry Feels Forever massage bar

Lush R&B hair moisturizer 

Kérastase Lait nutri-sculpt

Rosebud strawberry lip balm, minted rose lip balm, and cherry chapstick

Dior eyeshadows

Lush Lust: It’s Raining Men and Happy Hippy shower gels

I’ve only tried three of the Lush shower gels, two of which I’ll be reviewing here. I reviewed Dirty in a review with a bunch of the Dirty products, and the shower jelly I tried has its own review. 

I love Lush shower gels. They last forever, have a great lather, smooth my skin, and smell divine. I’d usually go for soaps, but these are so much more convenient in a dorm, as I find that bar soap gets soggy in a container and is a bit fussy to use in the dorm showers (there's no place to put anything really apart from the ground).

It’s Raining Men is a fantastic product. It smells just like the soap Honey I Washed the Kids, Honey Bee bath bomb, Ma Bar bubble bar, and a couple of the massage bars (Mange Too and Soft Coeur I believe). They brought it out for Valentine’s Day a year ago, but they had to bring it into the permanent collection because it was so well-loved. It’s moisturizing, makes the skin soft and smooth (again, helps with my KP) and nice-smelling. You can also use it in your hair, but it lathers better with a scrubby towel on the skin than in the hair. I used it as my shampoo for a while because I ran out of my regular shampoo, and I found I had to use a ton to get a good lather in my hair. It didn’t hurt my hair though. I found it pretty moisturizing actually. It lasts forever, too. I used up the smallest bottle just at the very end of May, and I had been using it since February or something like that. I just use a nickel sized amount in my scrubby towel and the lather goes a long way. If I got the biggest bottle, I could see me using this for a whole year literally. ($9.95 for 3.3 oz, $17.95 for 8.4, and $$27.95 for 16.9 oz)

I got Happy Hippy as a sample, I loved this stuff as well. It's definitely on my "purchase the full size" list. Happy Hippy is very lovely on the skin, with a great lather and grapefruit scent. It’s not an obnoxious citrus or a bathroom cleaner citrus. Just a very nice zingy citrus that really wakes you up. This really helped my KP, but it did leave me feeling a bit dry when I used it in the winter. I think this is more of a summertime gel. ($9.95 for 3.3 oz, $17.95 for 8.4, and $$27.95 for 16.9 oz)

What's your favorite shower gel? Recommendations are always lovely.