Tarte Pin Up Girl Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush Palette- Holiday 2014

A few months ago I saw a fellow and much more successful beauty blogger's instagram post which featured what she was wearing that day. Well, she had a beautiful Tarte holiday palette on display. Now, I began hunting it down like a ravaged wolf, however it appeared to be completely out of stock. I had hoped to find it on ebay or something for an exorbitant price which I would have gladly paid but alas, I could not hunt it down. Cue my excitement when I heard rumblings of another holiday blush palette being released by Tarte this year. The second I knew it was in stores I drove to Sephora and snatched it up. (I was actually working that day at Sephora, which I believe is the last time lol whoops sorry I am not cut out for mall work). Anyway, I bought this beauty. And let me tell you, it's freaking gorgeous.

WHY CAN'T I INSERT HEART EYED EMOJIS ON MY MACBOOK.  I would put them right here if I could.

From left to right they are: Breathless (a pinky beige-brown), Embraced (plum rose with shimmer), Whimsy (true pink), Bashful (a rosy peach), and Irreplaceable (a mauve rose).

These blushes are just as gorgeous as the normal Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour Blushes, which is saying something because we all know that oftentimes Holiday releases are sub-par in quality. Well, not this time. The colors are rich, unique, and supremely gorgeous. The only one that isn't matte is the second one from the left, Embraced, and it gives off the most beautiful and subtle glow when applied. Here they are swatched in order:

The only problem I have with this palette is the packaging. It's a chunky, gold, paisely patterned clutch with a ribbon and two bobby pins attached. I'm not even picturing it because it's in my opinion heinous and pretty useless. Luckily for Tarte I can't resist their blushes, especially when new colors are released. They are quite possibly my favorite formulation of blush, especially because of the longevity of wear. They stay on your cheeks pretty much all day, they may dull down but they are always present on my makeup remover wipe at the end of the day.

Overall for 40 or so dollars, I say snatch it up and enjoy. It's quite beautiful and definitely handy to have stuffed in my makeup drawer amongst all the Revlon Lip Crayons I have an about 6 eye makeup palettes which are perfectly arranged. I attribute this skill to years of tetris on my Motorola.

Until next time!

What's in my Makeup Bag

While it's probably not necessary to bring around a bunch of makeup items in a little pouch on a daily basis, I do it. And odds are, you do it too. I'm one of the most nosey people I know and I love youtube videos and blog posts where people show what's in their various bags so  I figured I could show you guys exactly what I tote around with me to attempt to keep my face looking presentable.

First off, this is my makeup bag. It came to me courtesy of my best gal Leanne. She sent it to me as a surprise for my graduation, (THANK YOU LEANNE IT'S STILL TOO MUCH YOU'RE TOO GOOD TO ME). It's a red leather pouch by Jouer Cosmetics and it says "Paint the Town Red!" in gold script. It's roomy and utterly perfect.

So these are the contents of my daily makeup bag. In it I always have a powder and a chapstick. Those are the most important because my lips are often dry from my tendency for matte lipsticks and my face gets shiny, a lot. I hate when my face gets shiny, it's a thing. Currently I have Maybelline Fit Me Powder in the lightest shade for my translucent skin. I also pack my Eco Tools retractable kabuki brush (which is no longer retractable because it broke and I had to hot glue it together), to apply the powder. I have an array of neutral lipglosses and two mini travel sized Tarte Lipsurgence Lip Pencils (also gifted by Leanne like who are you and why are you so nice?). They are travel sized so why not travel with them, amiright? I also have blotting papers (see hatred of personal shine), a Mac Bare Study Paint Pot in case I need an eyeshadow, a mini of Benefit's Boxed Powder in Dandelion, a mascara (Clinique's High Impact), Nyx's eyeshadow pencil in Milk, an old Revlon eyeliner, two perfumes (Marc Jacobs Daisy and an Aerie scent that is apparently nameless), and whatever lipstick I have on that day. Phew. That was exhausting and no, there probably isn't a reason for me to have all of this but hey, at least I'm prepared.

Thanks for reading guys, I'll be back soon! 

Spring 2014 Haul.

I'm currently hiding my head in shame because I bought some new stuff...a lot of new stuff. My only real excuse is that everyone else was off on their fabulous trips to warm locations and I was stuck back in my hometown in 30 degree weather. So yeah, I was bound to take a few trips to Ulta. And here's what I got.

Whoops.

This is the Too Faced The Chocolate Bar Eye Palette, because all I needed was another neutral palette. Don't pass judgement until you see this beauty. Too Faced have a truly great formulation second only to Urban Decay in my book. They're creamy, blendable, with a great natural sheen/shimmer. This has a great blend of shimmers and mattes that I can't wait to use all summer. And winter. And everything in between. Oh did I mention, IT SMELLS LIKE CHOCOLATE.

This is the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Matte Brown. Much like the other Color Tattoos I own it's creamy, easy to blend, and cheap to boot. I love the matte formulation because it's not common to see matte cream shadows even in higher end lines. This is perfect as a base for a darker eye or on its
own for a simple and understated look. As you can see in the first picture I did pick up three of these Color Tattoos from the Spring 2014 collection as well but I'm not going to talk about them individually because I did an in-depth review here!

This is the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Indianwood. I've had my eye on this for a couple months and I decided to bite the bullet and pick it up on my most recent binge, I mean shopping trip, at Mac. It's very similar to my Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in My Two Cents, but I contend they look different on the lid. This has more of a sheen and is just as blendable as the Benefit shadow, making it an excellent base. I'm especially excited to use this over the summer under my Naked 3 Palette and the previously described Too Faced The Chocolate Bar Eye Palette.



Next up I purchased the MAC More to Love Pro Longwear Lip Pencil. This comes with less product than the regular MAC lip pencils however it is also creamier, easier to blend, and just as easy to use. I was looking for a color to wear under shades like MAC's Girl About Town and I definitely found it.

My last splurge item was Tarte's Amazonian Clay Blush in True Love. I already have a handful of these blushes and have raved about them on my blog before. Overall this is a lovely bright pink shade that is perfect to wear with pink or red lips.

As you can see there was some serious damage done to my savings account and my conscience. From now on I'll be going on a no-buy until I feel like I've used up some products and my bank accounts have recovered. That means no more haul posts but maybe I will shop my stash and show you what I find that I forgot I owned. Until next time!

December 2013 Favorites

I'm addicted to watching other bloggers/vloggers describe their monthly favorites. I think that it's an excellent view into what my favorite beauty "gurus" are using at the moment and it's one of the main places I get recommendations from when I go on Ulta and Sephora buying sprees. Also I mean come on, we all like to snoop at each other's makeup collections. We're only human. So these are my December Favorites!

First off, the C.Booth Egyptian Argan Oil Body Butter. Holy grail product alert! My best gal Leanne bought this for me for Christmas and I'm pretty sure it's going to be in my bathroom for the rest of my life. It's super thick, moisturizing, and quick to soak into the skin. I have very dry skin in the winter and this has been an absolute lifesaver. Plus, it's not too expensive. All in all, I recommend it to anyone who has dry skin. It can be bought at Ulta!

Next, the Naked 3 Palette. Refer to my full review if you want to hear me go on and on about this new favorite item in my collection. It's just repetitive to talk about it more. Just. Yes.

Benefit's Rockateur Blush is my perfect bronzy, glowy, everyday blush. I'm obsessed with wearing it on days I want to liven up my skin. It pairs very well with just about any and every dark lipstick that I throw on my lips. I highly recommend it.

MAC's Warm Soul blush does a lot of what Rockateur does but it is slightly less warm and less shimmery. It has a more plum undertone when paired with certain lipsticks. It definitely still gives a glowing look just not as obvious and is another great blush for winter. Or anytime, let's be real it's an all time favorite.

Rimmel's Lasting Finish lipstick in 10 from the Kate Moss Collection is a newer favorite. It was my go-to red for Christmas. It's just the perfect bright cherry red with a relatively matte finish and is incredibly long lasting for the price.

MAC's lipstick in Diva was my go to shade this December. It's a great dark reddish burgundy matte that I can alter with either a red lip liner or a plum one. I have featured it in face of the day posts before and I'm sure it will pop up again. 

With Diva I loved MAC's lip liner in Currant. I used it with all my dark plum lipsticks and all I can say is that it adds a little something extra to all of them. It adds a lot of wear time like all of MAC's lip liners and I have just really been enjoying it.

Lastly I loved Tarte's Lights, Cameras, Flashes! mascara this month. It was a new purchase and it took me a while to figure out how to use it correctly but there's nothing that has both worked this well on my lashes to lengthen and volumize without irritating my eyes. I'm already planning to repurchase it. 

So those are my December favorites! If you want me to continue doing this monthly or every once in a while then please let me know. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope your New Year has started off well. Until next time!

Face of the Day: Favorite Fall Makeup

Last week I decided to spend a little extra time playing around with my makeup. This is what I came up with. All day I walked with a little extra swag (yeah I just said that, I can rap JAY Z so I can use that term) because I was so happy with how this turned out so I figured I would share. 

Here are the products I used to create this autumn look!

For the eyes I used my FAVORITE fall palette, the Lorac Unzipped Palette. I used quite a hodgepodge on my eyes but I started off with my Stila Kitten single. The only thing missing from this palette is a true champagne color, but that's okay I have plenty other options. I then put Unbelievable in the crease along with a little bit of Unreal, Unattainable, and Unconditional. Then I put some of Unbridled into the outer corner and blended until it was even and I was happy.

I finished off my eyes with the Tarte Lights, Camera, Flashes! mascara. It gives awesome definition and volume, a definite must try for everyone who likes dramatic lashes.

On my cheeks I put Benefit's newest blush in Rockateur. I'm obsessed so if you want a separate review I will oblige! It's a beautiful rose gold hue that adds a nice healthy sheen that makes you look like you're wide awake even when you feel like a zombie, which is how I feel most days. I also added a little bit of MAC's Cream Color Base in Pearl on my cheekbones for added highlight and definition.

For my lips I used MAC's lipliner in Currant and MAC's lipstick in Diva. I'm obsessed with this combination because it creates the perfect matte dark purple/red lip that I've always imagined wearing. It gives me the goth vibe I like to give off so as to keep annoying people away from me. It's safe to say it's my favorite lip combination for fall considering I've worn it four times in the past week.

Overall this is my favorite fall look. I'll probably be wearing this well into winter although my Naked 3 Palette is en route and I'm dying to test it out. A review for that is forthcoming!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans. Everyone else, happy Monday. Sorry you don't get two days devoted to eating, football, and shopping.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? I know I'm thankful for dark lipstick, good food, football, and my family.

Face of the Night: A Summer Concert!

At the end of June my beautiful big sister took me to the O.A.R. concert for an early birthday present. I took this as an opportunity to doll myself up. Here's what I came up with!

Essentially I did a bronzey eye with a bright red lip. I also attempted to bring a lot of warmth to my skin so that I didn't look too pale in comparison to my arms, which have developed quite the tan for me.

These are the products that I used!

 After my normal face routine I moved on to the eyes. This is the Stila In the Light palette. This has been my go to summer palette this year, I have even used it more than my Naked palette from Urban Decay.  I put down a primer, then placed Bubbly all over the lid. I put Gilded Gold lightly on the outer corner and into my crease, added some Bliss in for good measure and a little bit of Sandstone in the far outer v as well. I highlighted with a mix of Bare and Kitten. I topped it off with some of the last of my Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay mascara and my eyes were complete!

This is the NYC Bronzer in Sunny. This is a great matte bronzer that I can see myself repurchasing for years to come. It's great to add a very natural bronze to your face, even if you're pale like me. For this look I added a healthy amount in the hollows of my cheeks for a bit of contour, then on my temples, down my nose, and on my chin. Oh and by the way this is only $2.99 so holla at your girl. This is my favorite drugstore purchase of all time.

For good measure I decided to go with a neutral blush. This is MAC's Warm Soul Mineralize Blush. It's a warm neutral pink hue with a vein of gold shimmer that adds a gorgeous shine to the skin and eliminates the need for a highlighter. I love it in the summer and winter.

Last for the lips I decided to go hard in the paint and went for my new favorite lipstick ever, MAC's Ruby Woo. I paired it with the Cherry Lip Pencil I hauled a few posts back and whala! A great red lip.

 

So this is my take on a summer concert look. I definitely didn't go for natural beauty but hey, you only get to go out and dance around to one of your favorite bands with your big sis so many times in your life!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, TGIF!

They See Me Haulin', They Hatin, Patrolin'...

And tryin' catch me hauling dirty?

Yeah the pun stopped working after the first line. I just couldn't help myself.

Recently I worked a bunch of extra hours so I was obviously compelled to blow it on makeup. A few were necessities but more were just for kicks. So, here we go!

As you can see, over the course of a few trips to Macy's and a few online orders  being delivered to my doorstep by my angels dressed in brown, aka UPS delivery people, my makeup collection has grown a bit. Here are the beautiful bits that I picked up;

This is MAC's Ruby Woo Lipstick. Because I definitely needed another red lipstick. I don't have enough at ALL. Either way it's matte and cool toned and gorgeous. I'm in love.

After purchasing Ruby Woo I obviously had to go back and get a liner to match and the lovely artist helped me pick out Cherry Lip Pencil. The artists at my closest MAC counter are starting to recognize me and I'm not sure how happy/sad that makes me. I haven't even used this puppy but I'll keep ya posted.

Recently I've been annoyed with how my lipsticks were wearing off since the weather is so hot. Naturally this lead to my purchase of the MAC Prep and Prime Lip Primer. I also haven't tried it since I just got it but I'll surely do a review soon.

Ahh Nars Lip Pencils. You're gorgeous. This is NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Luxembourg. It's a great bright watermelon color. It's gorgeous, I'm in love, and I'll probably end up purchasing multiple colors. It wears well, applies like a dream, but is expensive for the amount of product that you get. Oh well, ya win some ya lose some. I would be that this will be shown in a face of the day soon.

This is my favorite concealer, the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer. I'm obviously the shade Fair. It's full coverage and my Holy Grail concealer. I ran out, tried some others, and had to go back to this baby. There just isn't anything better.

I have a mild obsession with Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes and this is the newest addition to my collection. The color is Blissful. It's a great orangey (surprise) peach color that is a great everyday kind of color. Just like all it's brothers and sisters it is extremely long wearing and highly pigmented. It's love.

When I picked up the other MAC items I also repurchased a favorite, the MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Light. My drugstore powder ran out so I decided to retake the plunge and pick this up. It's a great natural looking powder that I'll probably always repurchase.

This last little baby is something I got for using a code in my Sephora order. It's the first CC Cream I'll try and hopefully it will work out. I've been wanting to give one a try since every BB cream I've tried has been too dark and just made my skin oily. Either way, it was free so I'm good with it.



So that's what I've bought in the last couple weeks! Hopefully I won't be able to do another one of these soon since I should be saving my money...

Oh well. Let me know if you like these kinds of posts! Happy June :)

Mascara for Sensitive Eyes

It's been too long. I could give you a lot of excuses but mainly my reason for not posting recently is that I've been spending my days working and sleeping, and that's about it.

I seem to have finally rested up from the semester so here's a post I've been meaning to make.

I have super sensitive eyes. They're dry, I wear contacts, and I have bad allergies. I pretty much have the holy trinity of eye sensitivity. Most mascaras make my eyes itch so incredibly bad to the point that I can't wear mascara at all. This may sound melodramatic but let me tell you, watery and itchy eyes aren't cute and make you want to sleep all the time. This is not really effective for life so I had to find a solution.

 I decided that this was just silly and that I could find something to work for me. I went on a mission to find good mascaras that don't make me want to pluck my eyes out. I felt like I was searching for Carmen San Diego. That song is now stuck in my head. Anyway, I proved victorious in my search both at the drug store and at Sephora. Here there are...

This is the Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara. Now, I've tried both of Tarte's mascaras and they both work on my eyes. The brand as a whole tries their best to be as natural as possible and in general they are low on irritants. At the moment this is my favorite mascara ever. It's a little bit expensive at around $19 dollars but honestly that's less expensive than many others at Sephora. Plus, it doesn't itch my eyes, so I would pay just about anything for it. In addition to not irritating my eyes it doesn't flake, keeps my lashes curled, separated, and lengthened. Plus it's very build able without getting too clumpy and making my eyelashes look like tarantula's legs, which is never a cute look let's be real here. The wand is pretty standard and the formula isn't very wet but it's also not going to dry up in a hot second. It's a happy medium. All in all it's great for everyone, even if you have the trifecta of ailments to your eyes like me.

This is a great option for the more budget conscious gal or guy. This is the Physician's Formula Fake Out Mascara from their Organics line. This one doesn't bug my eyes at all, however you have to be careful since the wand is quite wide. I often get mascara on my contact when I use this. Granted, my eyes are huge and I am not very graceful or careful with any mascara wand, but I felt I should warn you that it's not idiot proof. The formula is pretty dry. In general this gives a natural yet build able look to the eyelashes. It may flake slightly but only if you rub your eyes excessively like I do because it's a bad habit that I need to stop. It's the best and only drugstore option I've found that works well and doesn't irritate my eyes.

So there you have it, a few options for those of us who have eyes that are dry, itch, or require corrective lenses. But remember, these are great mascaras for everyone. I recommend them to all.

TGIF guys, happy payday and happy summer to those of us who are on summer vacation! (I am. mwahahahah) I'll do my best to post more frequently now that all I do is work and sleep, with the occasional dinner out with a friend. Oh and lots of quality time with my dog.

 Talk to you soon!

Face of the Day with the Tarte Palette!

I am in the midst of the hell that is finals week preparation. If you are in the same boat, may the force be with you.

Anyway, like the responsible college Junior that I am, I decided to procrastinate by writing a blog post. So here's a face of makeup I wore the other day that I really loved and felt great in all day.

 I started off with my normal face routine (I'll post later, I promise.) then I moved on to the eyes.

I used the Tarte Aqualillies palette for the majority of the look. If you want a full description and review of it I have a post. I used mainly Barefoot on the lid, with Bikini, Sundeck, and a little bit of Hammock in the crease. Then I used Parasol as a highlight in the inner corner and on the brow bone. It created a great bronzy, gold, brown eye that I really liked.

I used the blush, highlighter, and bronzer from this palette as well. Again, go check out the blog post for swatches and more detailed descriptions.

For my lips I used my new favorite lipstick of all time (it changes a lot), MAC's "Lady Danger". It's a great bright orange red color that's perfect for summertime. The finish is matte so it can be a little drying but as you know, I love a matte lip. It stays on for ages which is always a plus with the weather finally warming up.

And here's the finished look!

It's definitely simple but with enough color that it's perfect for summer. It didn't take my too long but all the products are long lasting so I didn't feel the need to touch up at all during the day, which is always a plus.

Good luck if you're like me and are finishing up your school year. Finals suck but we're all in this together. (Cue me singing High School Musical). Until next time!

Tarte Aqualillies Palette: Review

Recently I decided to go on a bit of a makeup buying binge. I had not purchased any "high end" makeup in a couple months and I needed my fix. (I realize I'm addicted. It's fine. I've accepted it and that's the first step, right?)

Anyway I was surfing the Sephora website looking for a new cheek color and I stumbled on this little beauty. I looked up reviews and was sold. It's the Aqualillies for Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eye and Cheek Palette. Holy wordy title, Batman. 

Here it is in all it's gorgeous, summery beauty. Note the ridiculously pretty and sturdy packaging. I'm in love. Here are the colors swatched.

These are all the eyeshadows.

From left to right they are, Poolside, Sundeck, Parasol, Barefoot, Bikini, and Hammock. 


Now. There have been a few reviews that say some of the colors are slightly chalky with low pigmentation. In my opinion they are pretty solid eyeshadows. They aren't up to the caliber of Urban Decay, however Tarte is a much more natural brand that doesn't use any parabens or sulfates. I think they're pretty great especially considering that fact, plus they are very buildable so you can do a sheer wash or a high intensity color. They're very smooth and are good shadows overall which I enjoy using. I've used them all a ton save for Poolside, which I will have to build up my courage to use this summer, probably just under the eye as a pop of color or lightly in the crease.

The highlighter is "Champagne", the bronzer is "Park Avenue Princess", and the blush is, "Captivating"

These are the real stars of the palette to me. The blush is a gorgeous dark coral pink. The bronzer is known to be one of their best products, it's a nice matte, neutral bronzer that works even on my pale as the moon skin. The highlight is a gorgeous champagne highlighter that offers a nice sheen without sparkle.

Overall I am extremely happy I got this palette. I don't know yet if it's waterproof but I know these products pretty much stay on my face until I take them off with makeup remover at the end of the day. It's a perfect palette for travel and you can pretty much create an entire face of makeup with just this palette and a lipstick. The colors all go great with my pale, neutral toned skin and I think they would look great on pretty much anyone's skin. I've thoroughly enjoyed the palette and would recommend it to anyone. It's a great deal at $38 for all these products.

I hope everyone is having a nice beginning to their Spring. I'm finishing up my Junior year and I'm pretty much drowning in homework so this is probably my last post for a week or so. I'll be sure to post much more regularly in the summer. Talk to you guys later and thanks for reading. :)