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!

A Very Rosey Christmas- Makeup Look

 As we near Christmas I keep seeing gorgeous holiday looks being put together by some of my favorite bloggers and youtubers. I felt like I should throw in my current favorite festive makeup look and luckily it includes my newest baby, the Naked 3 Palette. I went for something a little different than the norm because quite frankly I wore a bronzey eye and red lip all summer and that didn't seem festive enough for me personally. I call Christmas the time when everyone else starts wearing red lipstick and I lose my originality. POSERS.

Joking. Sort of.


Here are all the products I used:

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette, (full review here!) Benefit Rockateur Blush, MAC MSF in Soft and Gentle, Tarte Lights Camera Flashes Mascara, MAC Lip Pencil in Brick, Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss Lipstick in 06.

Here's the look!

So for the eyes I used Dust all over the lid, then worked Burnout and Limit into the crease. I built those up and blended them, then added Buzz to the outer corner. I blended them all together with Nooner. I then defined my lashline with Blackheart and highlighted both my brow bone and inner corner with Strange, the lightest shade in the palette. (These are all shades from the Naked 3 Palette). I used my new favorite Tarte mascara (it's a holy grail product) and voila!

For cheeks I buffed on some of Benefit's Rockateur blush, which I am absolutely obsessed with. This gives off a nice sheen but I wanted to add a little more since it's the holiday season and when else do we get to pack sparkles onto our faces and have it be socially acceptable? I highlighted the tops of my cheekbones with MAC's MSF in Soft and Gentle.

For lips I layered up my all time favorite lipliner, MAC's Brick with a new find, a beautiful berry red hue from Rimmel's Kate Moss collection.

Overall I find this look very glowy and I plan on wearing it in different variations throughout the holiday season and most likely after, because let's be real when we figure out an awesome combination we're going to slap it on all the time. Or at least I am.

Here it is again! I hope you guys found this post helpful. I truly hope everyone has a beautiful holiday with their family and friends. This time of year is my favorite not because of anything other than the large amount of time I get to spend with my family. So kick back, drink a glass of wine, and soak in the love. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog and sticking with me. <3

Holiday Manicure

If you know me at all, you know I'm festive as all hell. I'm the freak who after Thanksgiving decides to start singing Cindy Lou-Who's song from How the Grinch Stole Christmas incessantly for the next month. I've been burning Christmas candles and wearing red lipstick so I figured it was time to get my nails in on the fun. Cue my holiday manicure of choice this year.

Simple, yet elegant, no? No probably not. Who am I kidding, I painted my nails red and gold. Creative there Kylie. Real creative. Well guys, I've never claimed to be terribly creative, only promised to show you beautiful readers of mine my beauty choices. So here it is. I painted all of my nails except for my ring fingers with Rimmel's Lasting Finish Pro nail polish in Stiletto Red. Then for my ring fingers as an accent I layered Orly's Luxe with OPI's My Favorite Ornament. You really could go with one or the other but I just love the effect of them both. 

Are you as festive as I am? Do you feel the need to paint your body with red and gold in order to declare that festivity? Either way, happy holidays everyone. I hope you have a magnificent holiday season with your loved ones, whether you have multiple family Christmas celebrations or you go out for Chinese food with your parents.  <3

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

*screaming* GUYS IT'S HEREEEE.

I'm having actual heart palpatations. I ripped open the box so fast I thought I may break it. This, my dears, is the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. I love my other two Naked palettes, (Yes. I have all three. Judge me if you must) but this is the best one in my humble opinion. This may be because I have the complexion of a newborn and the first Naked palette can be too warm and the second can be too cool for my weirdly neutral pale skin. This is a perfectly rosey toned offering that is great for all the fairer skinned gals out there. I'm not sure if I would recommend this for darker skinned girls only because it's quite pink toned. They might not show up as well on darker skin, I would recommend going and checking it out in store and swatching it on your skin. But if you're like me and love anything rosey toned on your eyelids you will be obsessed like I am. 

The quality of these is the same as all other Urban Decay shadows, amazing. There are 12 creamy, long wearing, and blendable beyond belief eyeshadows. The shades are varied in finish, if you want swatches I would hit up Temptalia. We all know she has the best swatches. The palette also came with a dual ended high quality brush and a sample of primer potion. A great deal for $52 I must say. It's all housed in a gorgeous rose gold metal tin case that makes traveling a breeze. 

I ordered this on the first day it released from Urbandecay.com because I am impatient and have an addiction. I was planning on waiting until Sephora got it in so I could rack up some beauty inside points on this rose gold baby but alas, my impatience won out. I'm not mad about it. Looks using this little guy will be coming soon.

Are you going to indulge? I'm still hyperventilating over this new baby.

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.

RiRi Dupe Alert?

My only excuse for being gone so long is that senior year is a mixture of the best and most fun time in my life and also the most stressful. My week day trips to the bar are intermixed with days on end of hunkering down in the library basement stacks looking through old Life magazines. If you've been through it you will understand. If not, you will in due time.

Anyway, back to the purpose of this blog post. This fall I have become utterly OBSESSED with dark berry lip colors. It's actually a little bit weird and unhealthy. My debit card is sad but my lipstick collection has never been happier. My favorite has been RiRi Heaux from Mac, which was limited edition. I went on the hunt to find a dupe because this retro matte formula wears down even quicker than most so I've already used a quarter of my tube. 

I have always stared at the Rimmel Kate Moss collection lipsticks but never took the plunge. If you have read my review on the Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquers you know my hatred for the smell/taste of most Rimmel lip products. However, a good matte dupe is hard to come by so when I found this little baby I had to do it. The possible dupe is the Lasting Finish by Kate lipstick in 107 Rosetto Rouge.

Here are my little babes swatched side by side

It's actually hard to tell which is which but the Mac is on the left and the rimmel is on the right. Now, as far as color goes these are pretty similar. Mac's Riri Heaux is actually a little deeper and richer. The finish is also MUCH more matte and therefore I prefer it. I generally enjoy my lips to look as if I colored them in with a Crayola crayon. The Rimmel gives more of the finish of a Rose Art crayon, so it's a little waxier, a little less color payoff, and much less satisfying.

The Rimmel also has the semi-gross taste of most Rimmel lip products. The lasting power is almost as good as the Mac though, which is a strong feat considering it is about 5 dollars and the Mac version was 15.

All in all I would say this is a respectable dupe. I still prefer my RiRi Heaux but considering how hard it is to get my hands on a second tube I will settle for the Rimmel most days so as to not use my holy grail berry red up in the first season I have it.

I hope to post again soon! Thanks for sticking with me fellow beauty whores. :)

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!