Fall Face of the Day

Today was the first day that Michigan felt like fall and so of course, I went all out. I donned my new leather jacket, pulled on a pair of Steve Madden combat boots, and did my makeup the way I love to do it the most. I broke out my Naked 3 palette, layered it over a paint pot, and gave my cheeks some color with a favorite blush. Here's one of my go to looks for fall.

As you can tell I went for a warm, bronzed eye look with a little bit of smoke and a lot of blending. First I put Trick, a beautiful golden peach shade, across the lid, then added Buzz, a darker pink color, to the outside corner. I blended it all together with the two matte shades, mainly Limit in the crease and then Nooner on the outer corner and lightly through the crease. Then I highlighted with Strange on my brow bone and innter tear duct because your girl can't not highlight.

For my face I did my normal concealer/powder routine to perfect my skin. To add color I put Rockateur, Benefit's best boxed powder in my opinion, across the apples of my cheeks and up farther back onto my cheekbones. It's a gorgeous bronzed, pink shade with enough shimmer in it to give a nice natural sheen. to highlight even more I added my all time favorite highlighter, The Balm's Mary LouManizer highlighter, across the top of my cheekbones, on my cupid's bow, and as another highlight on my eyes. This stuff gives the most beautifl gleam to the skin, giving my ever-pale complexion much more depth and life. 

For my signature dark lips, I utilized two Mac products. I lined and filled in my lips with Currant lip liner and then applied Media lipstick. It turns into a gorgeous vampy shade with a bit of shine, which is odd for me as you all know matte is the way to go for me on most occasions.

Here's the look again!

Why yes, that is a lipstick patterned sweatshirt I have on. Fitting, no?

But yes this is a normal fall day's makeup for me. Personally I love a multitude of options for a fall look but it usually boils down to a bold lip and smoked out eye. 

What do you wear for fall? Do you go all out or go for a more natural look?

The Color of my Summer: Hot Pink

Summer 2014: The summer of hot pink, at least for this girl. Last summer I was obsessed with orange toned hues for my lips and cheeks, and I do still love a great orange-red lip, but this summer my favorite tone has been a bright, almost neon, fuschia-pink hybrid. It's brightening, flattering, and always makes me feel a little bit less dead at 7 am when I leave for work. I've found products for my nails, lips, and cheeks in this color and I figured I would share my newest obsession.

First on the docket, one of the only lip glosses I'll use. This is the Revlon Lip Gloss in Pink Pop, and it's actually not a recent purchase. I've re-discovered this beauty from when I picked it up at my homeland of Target a year or so ago. It's glossy, a little sticky, and has a good color payoff, especially for a drugstore gloss. All in all, I would say it's worth a try.

Ahh, the lipstick that sparked the movement, Lorac's Highly Pigmented Cream Lipstick in Vixen. This is a matte, bright fuschia pink that goes on easy and stays on forever. I love this formulation but unfortunately the other colors seem to come off as dull and a little boring. Maybe that's just me though. Overall this is a must have lipstick for me and I've used it a bunch this summer.

Another oldie but goodie, this is Maybelline's Vivid Lipstick in Fuchsia Flash. This color is insanely bright and beautiful. My only problems with it are the smell, that awful Maybelline cheap makeup smell, and also the fact that it's not matte. For brights like this I prefer them to be matte but I usually dab this in after I apply and wear it that way. It gives a nice stain afterwards and I often get compliments on it. If you're looking for a drugstore option, I would give this a try. 

Oh yes, I bought another bright pink lipstick. And this one, is my favorite. Thanks to the beautiful program that is Back2Mac (6 empty products for a lipstick or eyeshadow), I didn't even have to pay for my new favorite lipstick. This is MAC's Pink Pigeon. This was special edition a while ago and I remember being mad that I missed it, but back then I was scared of lipstick and just oogled them from a far. But it was recently re-promoted and released permanently so I'll never be without this gorgeous, matte, bright pink lipstick ever again.

Yes, I did include non-lip products. This is MAC's Beauty Powder Blush in Bred for Beauty. It came out with the Moody Bloom collection so it may be hard to get ahold of, but if you can, do it. It's a bright, reddish pink that comes off on the cheeks as a great natural flush and pairs well with all of the lip products I talked about earlier in the post. I highly recommend it.

My last addition to my bright pink collection is an overpriced but beautiful nail polish by Nails inc. in Sloane Street.It's the same bright pink hue in an acceptable, standard formula. The reason I say it's overpriced is that it does take a few coats and it is a dollar more than an Essie and has less product. However,  when I bought this at Ulta I spent a good 15 minutes taking it around with me and comparing it to all other nail polishes from every brand I could find and I couldn't find another exact dupe. So I bought it, and it's gorgeous.

Here are the lipsticks and blush swatched, starting from left to right it is MAC's blush in Bred for Beauty, the Revlon lipgloss, the Lorac Pro lipstick, the Maybelline Vivid lipstick, and my all time favorite, the MAC lipstick.

What is your favorite color to don this summer? Do you like pink or are you more prone to corals or orange? 

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!

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!

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. :)

The Day my Lips Accidentally Matched my Nails

You may be thinking, this is a random post. And yes, by golly it is. But I found this coincidence too funny not to document it. 

This reddish coral hue has become my favorite color for the awkward time between Winter and Spring. It's not too dark to be considered a Fall or Winter color and it's just bright enough for me to feel like it's sunny outside even when it's 40 degrees and sleeting. (Thanks, Michigan weather) 

The nail polish is OPI's "Red Lights Ahead...Where?". It's a great bright red with a hint of coral. I find OPI to be consistently great as far as consistency and application. It's probably my favorite brand in that aspect and this is no exception.  I have three coats on here but two would have been suffice.(I compulsively over polish) The lipstick is sadly discontinued, but it's one of my absolute favorites; Revlon Matte's "Strawberry Suede". It's the same bright coralish red as the nail polish and lasts for hours on end with minimal re-application required. If you can get your hands on this online snatch it up. I know I'll probably be repurchasing a backup because it may be my all time favorite lipstick.

I hope everyone is having a good week, I know mine has been way too stressful. I can't wait to go home and hang out with my family, whilst also writing my final research paper draft for my hardest class. Ahh, the glamorous life of a college student.

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!

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! :)