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! 

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!

I Got that Super Base...or Do I?

I went for the Nicki Minaj reference. You're welcome.

Painting my nails has become damn near a daily routine. Honestly even if my nervous/bored habit wasn't picking my nail polish off I would still probably have to paint my nails a lot. My job includes a lot of unboxing things and filing, (yay country club summer job), and according to my mother our family has oily nail beds. Needless to say my homemade manicure usually chips in about a day. I refuse to bow down to my job and genetic makeup so yeah, I go through a lot of nail polish. I just like my nails to feel peppy and glossy and refuse to let them look as haggard as I usually feel at work at 8 am.

With all of this established it's clear that this girl needs a base coat. And a good one at that. So with this in mind I headed off in my little car to the bountiful land of Target. I trolled the nail polish section and decided after googling many a review and looking around as if I was shoplifting something, (which I wasn't), on this. It's the Essie "Fill The Gap" Treatment. It's supposed to be anti aging and also a good base coat for your nails which generally helps to prevent staining and extend wear. It is a milky color when it goes on. I usually apply this, two coats of my colored polish, then a shiny top coat.

As you can see it does have a slight color to it. I usually look for this in base coats because it makes my nail polish that much easier to apply and more vibrant. This one doesn't necessarily help my nail polish stay on longer, not much does, but it definitely helps with preventing staining which is honestly my biggest problem. My nails also seem to be growing faster since I started using it. All in all I would buy it again and would recommend it if someone is looking for a protective base coat.

Do you use base coats for your nail polish? If so, what kind do you like? I'm always on the hunt.

Until next time!

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 :)

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. :)

The Holy Grail of Lavender Nail Polishes

As you can see from the title, I have found my holy grail in a particular hue of nail polish, lavender.

Now, it is taking every ounce of my self control not to make a "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" reference here, so I'll abstain. But people, go watch that movie.

Anyway, back to my newest favorite nail polish. This color is from Essie's Spring 2013 collection, and it's entitled, "bond with whomever". What that means, I really couldn't tell you, but I know the polish is pretty spectacular. It's a gorgeous neutral, true lavender color. I have tried just about every lavender color out there from just about every brand that doesn't cost over 9 bucks for a bottle of nail polish, (Butter London you're killing me),and none of them compare to this beauty. Most others lean more pink or purple but this one is right in the middle.

It's a cream finish that is pretty much opaque in two coats, however being the OCD person that I am when it comes to my nails, I put on three for good measure, along with a top coat. The nail polish finishes pretty shiny on it's own, it's no gel polish but it's a nice shiny finish as are most Essie polishes that I have.

I obviously really love this polish, and I may have to go get another one as a backup before it disappears from the shelves. It's limited edition so if you're interested go pick it up!

I hope everyone has a nice week, I should be posting again soon. Thanks for reading!

Face of the Day #3

As the title suggests, this is another face of the day. I know, I know, I've already done a couple of these but I've been bogged down with school work, (Who let me double major? Why did I think this was a good idea? Someone tell me!), and so this is one of the easiest posts that I can make. I've still been pretty slow with posting so I figured it was okay that I show you what I wore the other day on my facial region.

These are the products that I used along with a picture of the whole look.

So as you can see I went for a taupe, shimmery eye look along with one of my favorite Spring lipsticks. For face I did my normal routine which I'll do a post on all by itself soon.

 I started by priming my eyes as always and then applied the shimmering taupey gray color in the bottom left corner, called Sandy Rose, from this palette all over the lid, then applied the matte counterpart, called Hot Stone, from the upper right corner into my crease just for some definition. Then I used the white shade on the top left under my brow and in the inner corner of my eye for a bit of a subtle highlight. I got this palette over a year ago and it's the Bobbi Brown Sand Tortoiseshell Eye Palette. I don't think you can get it any more but you could use any taupe shimmery shade and get the same effect.

To finish off my eyes I used a new mascara that I have, the MAC In Extra Dimension Lash mascara. I hated this mascara at first but now that it's aged a little and dried up a bit I love it so much more. Apparently I'm a dry mascara formula kind of girl.   Unfortunately that means I need to get another new mascara soon. I'm thinking the Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash? Maybe? We'll see.

Moving on to cheeks, I went for a pretty natural and neutral pink blush, Benefit's Hervana Blush.

I truly love this blush and wear it basically every other day. It's the perfect neutral pink that goes with just about any eye and lip combination without ever overpowering either of those things. I also highlighted my face with my Mac Cream Color Base in "Pearl". This baby doesn't look like much in the pot but it's perfect for day to day use. It's a gorgeous cream shade with a pearl that gives my skin a nice dewy glow without any obvious sparkle or chunks of glitter.

Once I was done with all of this jazz I got to my favorite part, the lipstick. I didn't fully appreciate this lipstick when I first got it, but recently I've been reaching for it all the time. It's a great transition color for this time of year, when it's still cold (at least in Michigan, we're still in a deep freeze with no signs of thaw) but you still want to have some more color and brightness to your face. It's Mac's "Speak Louder" lipstick.

As you can tell this lipstick is a great dark, reddish pink. It's a creamsheen formula, which isn't my favorite most of the time, but in the Spring I do appreciate the extra moisture that this formulation provides. Here's the whole look!





So there you go, my third face of the day! I will be posting more in the next week or so, so keep a look out. Thanks for reading, I hope everyone is enjoying the madness that is March, and Go Green!

The Best Cream Eyeshadow, Ever (REVIEW)

Okay, first of all I'm sorry it's been almost a month since I posted last. After only about a month of being healthy I got really sick again. The combination of three illnesses at once along with being busy with schoolwork kept me out of the blogging game for a while. But I'm on Spring Break now and I actually have the time to breathe and do something I enjoy. Thus, this post.

So I have a real love for cream eyeshadows. They're a super simple and easy way to make it look like you've put a lot of effort into your eye makeup without actually putting in the effort, which is key to me for life in general. Plus, they tend to stay on a lot longer than powder shadows. All these reasons mean that I've tried quite a few cream eyeshadows. Whether I've owned them myself, tested them on my arm at Sephora, or used a bit of one that one of my friends has, I've tried just about every cream shadow out there in search of the best one. I think I've found it.

These are two of my holy grail product, MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Cream Waterproof Cream Color.

I currently have two of the colors, numbers 13 and 15.

Number 13 is a shimmery, champagne color. It has more pink in it than similar products, like Mac's Paint Pot in Bare Study. This is a gorgeous shade that I use all the time, as you can see by the sizable dent I've put into it. It's perfect for every day use, both underneath other shadows and on its own.

Number 15 is a taupey bronze shade. This is perfect for the days that I really want to look like I put a lot of effort into my makeup look but don't have the time to use four shadows from four different palettes. If you put this all over the lid and into the crease it gives great color and dimension that lasts hours.


Here they are swatched. #16 is on top and #13 is below it.

Now that you know what colors I have, here's my rave. These shadows are amazing quality. They are creamy and incredibly easy to blend. They give a subtle shimmer but have no chunks of glitter in them, unlike some of the other cream shadows I've used. They last as long as you want them to and I've never had a problem with them creasing on me. They can be used as bases or as shadows on their own. They are over all a fantastic product.

There are a few bad aspects to this product. First off, the packaging is plastic. This seems like a small detail but for the relatively hefty price tag, about $26, it would be nice if the packaging was glass, a la the Mac Paint Pots. My other qualm with these is the smell. They have quite a strong "cosmetic" smell that while I can't describe, because I'm awful at describing scents, I can surely tell you it isn't pleasant. You can smell it while you're working with the product until it dries on the eyelid. It's not awful but I would have preferred a nice vanilla scent as I usually prefer my makeup to smell almost good enough to eat. (I have an obsession with food, whoops)

Even though there are a few small problems the actual product is amazing. I intend to pick up some more shades at some point in the future.

I hope everyone is enjoying this (slightly) warmer weather that has settled over the midwest. If you're somewhere that is already warm or is always warm, I'm super jealous considering I'm still huddled under my heated blanket. Thanks for reading, gave a great week, and I'll definitely post again soon!

Face of the Day #2

Today I had enough time before class to play around with my makeup and make myself look presentable so I decided to show you guys what I came up with. This is a pretty neutral, peachy toned look that I've recently really enjoyed wearing. Most days I enjoy wearing a full on red or purple or bright fuchsia lip color, but not every day. So this is how I rock a more neutral look.

 First of all, here's an awkward picture of my face and then one of all the products I used!

For my base I just use the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in "Fair" under my eyes then my MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in "NC 15" on my blemishes and any other redness. I finished it off with a dusting of the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder and that was that.

For my eyes  I have the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in "Vintage Selection". I used this as an allover color on my eyelids. This is a new product for me, as in I've owned it three days, and I'm completely in love. It's a gorgeous peachy taupe color that I especially love wearing with a pink or peach lip.

After that was done I used two colors from this Smashbox Photo Op Eye Enhancing Brown Eyes Palette. I used the purplish taupe color from the front left in my crease, then I used the light color right above it as a highlight both on my brow bone and the inner corner.

I finished my eyes off with my MAC In Extra Dimension Lash Mascara. Then I moved on to my cheeks. I decided on a peachy shade that was actually limited edition. It's MAC's blush in "Immortal Flower". It's a nice color but it's really sheer so I built it up quite a bit.

To finish off my look I just wanted a simple lip so I went with my new Maybelline Color Whisper Lip Balm in "Pin Up Peach". If you want to see swatches of this one refer to my most recent post!

So there ya go. This is my version of an easy, neutral, yet polished look. Cue my slightly awkward facial expression.

I hope everyone is having a nice Wednesday!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! To all my fellow single people out there, remember that tomorrow isn't just about romantic love. Just tell your friends and family that you love them and eat a bunch of chocolate, I know that's my plan. Oh and a lot of cuddling with my puppy. 

Talk to you soon! :)