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!

Bronzed Blush Look

This time I have an actual real reason why I was absent from blogging for so long.
I had final papers due for my summer class and then, the unimaginable happened.
Fitz, my beloved Macbook Pro, was taken from me by Apple for a week and a half to be completely rehauled and repaired.

But now he has been returned. I'm all moved in to my apartment back up at college and I'm ready to buckle down and accomplish a lot of blog posts.

So normally in summer I switch from darker blushes to bright pinks, corals, and even some oranges. However, recently I've become obsessed with the neutral, bronzy cheek look. This is great for the transition from summer to fall. It adds color to my pale complexion without being completely unnatural. There are a few blushes I've been using to achieve this look.

   

This is MAC's powder blush in "Margin". It's a Frost finish, meaning it gives a sheen with no glitter, and it's a fantastic warm toned coppery natural pink. I actually got this as my first MAC blush ever for my senior prom, four years ago might I add (YEARS STOP GOING BY), and it's still going strong. It's necessary to have a light touch with this because it is highly pigmented and also can lean very copper, to the point of looking extremely unnatural. However, if you use a light hand it gives an effortless, bronzey glow to the cheeks with a sheen that I love.

This is the newest addition to my neutral blush collection, MAC's powder blush in "Poised". Now, this does not look all that different from "Margin", however on my skin it comes off much more brown and neutral. The sheen is less since it is a Satin blush. It has been my go to blush for the last month or so, I'm completely obsessed. I am convinced it would work on all skin tones because if it works on me, it will most likely work on you. 

This next beaut is MAC's Mineralize blush in "Warm Soul". This is a gorgeous beige pink with a gold pearl running throughout. It appears as if it would be glittery however it really isn't. It gives a beautiful warmth to my skin that isn't comparable to anything else I own. I wouldn't recommend it if you're extremely warm toned however.

Here's Mac's "Poised" on the cheeks!

Sorry I don't have swatches, I had some but they were lost somewhere between my camera and my computer. Let me know if you want specific looks with these blushes to show how I transition from summer makeup to fall makeup. Also I apologize that they're all MAC but I've really been loving MAC's blushes recently. They're affordable and just gorgeous on the skin.

Sorry this post took forever to post. I will try to be more diligent. Thanks so much for reading you gorgeous humans!

Favorite Winter Lip Products

Hi my name is Kylie and I'm addicted to lip products.

Given this information I decided to share with you guys my favorite lip products for the winter. As we all know, the cold can be brutal on your lips. My best advice is to keep piling on a good lip balm whenever you think of it, it's the only way to avoid the cracked and dry lips that are cute on no one.

With that being said, here are all my favorite lip products that I can't seem to stop reaching for in the winter months.

MAC lipsticks are some of my favorites. On the left is "Russian Red" and on the right is "Rebel". Russian Red is a blue toned dark red matte lipstick which goes great with just about any complexion in my opinion. Rebel is a plum purple color with red undertones that is gorgeous applied as a stain and as a full lipstick. Both are rich in color and are gorgeous, however they can both be a bit drying so definitely use lip balm before applying.

This gorgeous little baby is the NARS Velvet Matte Lipstick in "Damned". It functions as a lip liner and lipstick and is incredibly long lasting. It can be a little drying but again, just apply some lip balm beforehand. The color is a dark fuchsia-magenta that is absolutely gorgeous and it is incredibly easy to apply. The only flaw is that you have to sharpen it, therefore you lose product. Still, it's one of my all time favorites lipsticks.

This is the Tarte LipSurgence Matte Lip Tint in "Fiery". It's a great moisturizing option for a red lip in the winter. It's similar in tone to Russian Red without being quite as opaque or drying. It lasts quite a long time on the lips and has a bit of a shine at the beginning that wears away the longer it is on.

Next is the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain in "Honey". When I first got this it was the summer and I had a bit of a tan. (well, as tan as I can be seeing as I'm Casper the friendly ghost) Now that I've paled out it looks ten times better. It's a very natural brownish pink color that is quite moisturizing. It has a bit of a shine and is perfect for a neutral winter look.

 These two are a recent love of mine. They are the Revlon Lip Butters in "Red Velvet" (left) and "Raspberry Pie" (right). Just like the balm stain I didn't originally like these but I kept finding myself reaching for them. They're the perfect lip product for when you want some color but don't want the drying affect of a lipstick. They aren't as moisturizing as a regular lip balm but they're definitely better than a matte lipstick or any other tinted lip balm I've tried.

Here are all of them swatched! They're in the same order as this post; from left to right, "Russian Red", "Rebel", "Damned", "Fiery", "Honey", "Red Velvet", and "Raspberry Pie".

Happy Friday everyone! So far today I've drank coffee and seen my academic advisor. I'm set to graduate on time in 2014 with both my degrees so it's celebration time! (my celebration includes eating candy and watching "Charmed" by the way).

Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you soon!