Everyday Makeup Routine

Despite some of the bright and crazy looks I do here,

I rarely do them in real life :P

Though i've pretty much always stuck with neutrals for my everyday eye look,

I change the combo often.

I've gone over that some before,

but I want to take it a step further & show you all the products I use for a basic,

fresh, day look!

Here's my current routine:

1. Apply eyeshadow primer on a fresh face.

I use either Too Faced's Shadow Insurance or this one by UD.

2. Apply eyeshadow (all from UD's Vice Palette) with brushes. 

I've listed the order in which I use each brush:

Brush 1 applies 'Anonymous' (third from left on bottom) on brow bone.

Brush 2, 3, & 4 apply 'Nevermind' (first one on left of bottom row) to crease, blending as I go.

Brush 5 applies 'Echo Beach' (to the left of 'Nevermind') to lid.

3. Apply eyeliner to waterline.

Unless I'm doing a look for the blog or a fancier look,

I don't apply eyeliner anywhere other than my waterline.

Just because of the larger almond shape of my eyes,

I feel it looks best fresh above the lashes!

4. Apply mascara/curl lashes with curler.

This is my current go-to mascara :)

5. Apply foundation with brush.

I've posted about UD's foundation & their Optical Blurring Brush before.

Both are fantastic!

I wait to apply foundation until this point so that I may more easily sweep up any fall out from eyeshadow or mascara :)

6. Apply blush.

This baby has been used a ton, thus the faded label.

This is Tarte's Cheek Stain.

It's the ONLY blush I use because it applies easily and stays on throughout my day :)

Though pricey at prestige cosmetic stores,

you can find it the exact same and MUCH cheaper on Amazon and/or Ebay!

I finish off with a setting spray.

This is the routine i've used for my everyday look for at least a month or two (maybe longer) now. It takes me less than 15 minutes and is a great daytime neutral.

The shadows are just barely noticeable, and the mascara/blush give me a young, fresh feeling.

What do you guys think of my routine?

What's yours?? 

Let me know!

*REVIEW* Tarte Brazlilliance Self Tanner

So I know this post is a little late since summer has been upon us for awhile now,

but I'm finally getting around to doing this review :)

If you're looking for a fast/easy/safe way to tan-

look no further.

I present to you Tarte's Brazilliance Face & Body Self Tanner:

*not my picture

Some of it's Claims:

- Creates a "healthy, faux-glow"

- Moisturizes

- Tarte's PUREShield formula creates a pleasant scent

- Skin will look firmer, brighter, and smoother

- Mitt provides an "easy, no-mess, streak-free tan"

Results:

I've quit doing tanning beds altogether because of just HOW FREAKING TERRIBLE they are for you. Girls that tan there a lot and have that deep gorgeous tan may look nice now,

but in ten years when their skin is leather & they look 20 years older than the rest of us,

we'll thank ourselves for taking care of our skin :)

PROS:

- Moisturizes while tanning definitely felt my skin get more smooth

- Dries FAST! Other self tanners i've used (like Jergens) take FOREVER to dry- this bad boy does in about 10 minutes!

- Doesn't stain clothing, sheets, etc :)

- Using the mitt, creates a natural, even tan

- Can often see immediate results, especially on the face

CONS:

- A bit pricey, at $37

- Not really a con, but the revolutionary scent they talk about... didn't seem to be there to me. Though it certainly didn't smell bad, it smelled like other self tanners that i've personally used before. Not bad, though.

- I used it twice a week as directed, but I felt like the tan, though it showed up quickly and was gorgeous, didn't last very long- even though I was supplementing it as directed. So, that kind of sucked.

Verdict:

Despite being $37, you get what you pay for- and this bad boy is definitely worth shelling out a few extra bucks. I saw results fast and it made my skin feel and look great. I LOVE that it dries fast and doesn't stain most of all I think. The mitt is an interesting idea. I used it each time, but it was still possible to get streaks if you weren't realllllly careful. So that's just something to watch out for. I'd still use the mitt over my own hands any day :)

RATING (out of 10): 8

Was this review helpful?

What's your favorite self tanner,

or your view on self tanners?

Let me know!

Neon Nail Mail & April favorites!

Hellooooooo.

First up, you may have already seen me post from yesterday featuring one of these,

but here is my newest, FANTASTIC nail mail:

All of these babies are from Lush Lacquer.

If you haven't tried them out yet or are looking for some new polishes,

now is the time to do LL. They have so many neon glittered polishes that are unique and perfect for summer :)

Now for my favorite products from the month of April-

1. Tarte's Brazilliance self tanner

*pic taken from Tarte's website

So i've pretty much sworn off tanning beds because they are just SO incredibly bad for you.

However, I still like to look tan & don't have a whole of of time to lay out.

So, i entered the shaky world of self tanners.

If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it right with a brand I trust.

Enter- this baby.

It's worked wonderfully!

I'll have a full review on this soon,

so stay tuned for allllll the details! :)

2. Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray

*picture taken from UD's website

Now that its getting warmer, that means humidity & just issues with makeup in general, for some of us. My skin isn't too oily, but for some instances, I like to have some insurance that my makeup will look good and last longer than normal, despite the weather conditions.

Enter- this bad boy :)

ALSO, I will have a full review of THIS soon, so stay tuned!

***This is on sale now on UD's site for $14!!***

3. Maybelline Vivids Lipsticks

*not my picture

Let me just start out by saying that, I HAVE BEEN SO IMPRESSED WITH THESE.

I have reviewed them (see it here), and gave the product a 10 out of 10,

which never happens. There are SO many super bright colors to choose from, theyre a decent price, they're soft, and they have great staying power. PLUS, perfect for summer. 

Cannot recommend these enough!

What do you guys think of these products?

What was your favorite product from this month?

2012 Favorites!! (long post!)

Well, I had planned on posting this the day after new years,
but we are getting NO sun or decent light for me to take pictures in,
and until I can make a decent lightbox- i have to stick with daylight :/

SO, I decided to do my Favorites post based on my favorite products from this past year,
instead of just December.
I've divided them into categories,
and here they are!


Face:

UD Naked Skin Foundation

My favorite foundation EVER.

UD De-Slick Oil Control Makeup Setting Spray

*pic from UD's website

Tarte's Cheek Stain

*pic from Tarte's wesbite

UD's Optical Blurring Brush

PERFECT for applying foundation!

*pic from UD wesbsite

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Primers:

Too Faceds Shadow Insurance

My favorite eye shadow primer!

^taken from Sephora's website

UD's Pore Perfecting Primer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eyes

L'Oreal Million Lashes mascara

Tarte Amazonian clay mascara

Urban Decay's 'Maui Wowie'

UD's 'Echo Beach', 'Black Market', & 'Armor'

(see the link for swatches!)

Sugarpill's 'Love+'

*not my picture

One of the BEST reds out there!

Lime Crime's 'Mirror Mirror'

Lime Crime has discontinued these Magic Dust shadows :((

BUT, you can still find them on sites like eBay, which i've included in the above link.

UD's 'Missionary', 'Bust', 'Sin, & 'Midnight Cowgirl'

These were some of my favorite neutrals this past year :)

SYN Cosmetics' 'Synfused' & 'Passion'

Makeup Geek's 'Burlesque'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nail polish

Butter London 'Yummy Mummy'

China Glaze 'Pure Joy'

ORLY Rage

*not my picture

CG Pink Voltage

Zoya Miley

OPI 'Every Month is Oktoberfest'

NOPI 'One Big Happy Fame-ily'

China Glaze 'Flip Flop Fantasy'

UD's 'Gunmetal' & 'Wrecked'

Well, that's it! Whew.
What do you think about this list?
What was YOUR favorite product from 2012?
Let me know! :)

June favorites!

ahhh, HOW is it already July?

last month flew by so fast, it's unreal.

But alas, it's over- and it's time for my end of June favorites.

First off, let me start by saying THANK YOU to everyone that's already entered my giveaway!!

Also, lots of you have given me some great feedback and suggestions,

and I really appreciate it! :)

Okay, on to my favorites

(and forewarning, they all somehow have to do with smells this month!):

Bath & Body Work's 'Coconut Lime Breeze'

This fragrant mist is one of my top favorite scents for summer.

The coconut gives it that wonderful, beach-y feeling,

and the lime keeps it from smelling too much like tanning lotion.

All in all, it's a great mix that has great staying power.

AND, it's only $11 !

Next up,

Herbal Essence's 'Hello Hydration' products.

I've picked these strictly on how they smell, lol :)

I have pretty long hair (and being that it gets in my own and other's people's faces all the time, though its mostly accidental)- so I want to smell delightful, if I can make it so.

This also has a beach-y smell, as it's made with Hawaiian coconut and orchid extract.

Yummy!

Lastly,

Tarte's 'Celebutante Dry Oil Shimmer Spray'

This spray smells FANTASTIC and gives your body that shimmery, summery glow.

Though it's a product i orgininally used in winter time,

it ALSO smells of coconut (shocker! I think we have a theme here...),

and works perfectly well for summer, too.

This IS a bit pricey, going for about $30 at Sephora or Ulta.

That's it (oddly enough) for my June favorites.

I've had such little time to explore much of anything new last month with my stressful schedule, but July is looking muchhhhh more open ;p

Thanks for reading!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

HEY FRIENDS.

I'm so excited because it's finally giveaway time!

My bestie at GaGa for Nails and I have been wanting to do this for awhile and we both finally conjured up enough moolah and time to do it!

We've got a crap-ton of goodies for one lucky winner!

Here's a sneak peek ;p

Hollaaaaa!

She's a nail guru and my first passion is definitely makeup, so we threw both into the mix.

The makeup/beauty products I chose are really general, but I didn't know if the winner would like some of the crazy shadows, liners, etc that I like :X If I/we do another one, I may get more into the nitty gritty!

This giveaway is not open internationally! :/ Sorry!

It opens today and will last for 2 weeks, closing on June 8.

As I said before, there will be ONE winner.

I hope everyone enters, & good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spring Fling inspired look using SugarPill !

Hello lovelies!

I'm finally moved in enough and well enough to post a makeup look!

It's been too long since i've done one,

but it's just been almost impossible to find the time to do one with everything going on.

Anyway,

I got some WONDERFUL makeup mail yesterday... SugarPill's Sweet Heart Palette!

'Dollipop' (top left), 'Afterparty' (top right), 'Midori' (bottom left), & 'Tako' !!

*not used with a primer here

Yay!

So after getting this palette, I used the lovely colors from my polish in my last post as inspiration for a look :)

So here we go...

WARNING: my camera charger is MIA again so these had to be taken with my phone! :(

*fluorescent light, no flash

*Oooooh girl, look at those atrocious eyebrows! :x

** indoor lighting, with flash

* sorry for the blur, had to use my phone to take these!

* shade, no flash.

Whew. Okay, so there you have it.

This is much more bold than I normally do, but the colors in the Sweet Heart palette are just so vivid, that I couldn't NOT do something like this :P I basically just picked the 3 colors I wanted to use, then played around with them until something worked.

I used:

Too Faced's Shadow Insurance

'Tako' on the inner eyelids

'Dollipop' as a base

'Midori' in the crease and lower lash line

Tarte's Amazonian Clay mascara (great stuff, fyi)

I chose not to use a liquid eyeliner because that's usually a finishing touch to add drama (or at least that's how I use it) and I found this look to be dramatic enough as it is.

These shadows are all matte, and are AMAZING. Fallout was almost zero, much less than I get with Urban Decay products O_o Of course I found the same results with their Burning Heart palette, but it's still an amazing little feat.

I really like this look. I've never worn these colors together, but they completely surprised me. I found them to have a fun, whimsy feel about them :)

What do you guys think?!

ALSO,

for those of you that haven't already,

don't forget to 'like' my fb page!

I'll gladly like yours in return ;)