Where Have I Been?

Long time no blog! A combination of not feeling inspired and travels means I have seriously neglected writing here. This is the longest I've gone without writing, but after having this blog for over two years, I don't want to completely abandon it. I'm not at the point where I'm ready to get back to two posts a week, but I'm hoping to start out with a two-month favorites post soon. What has been happening in the mean time?

*I graduated college! After four years at University of Vermont, I have completed my dual degree in Psychology and Film/Television Studies.

*I went to Israel and Vienna! The day after graduation, I went to Israel for 10 days and Vienna for 4. It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I got to do it with my best friend from school.

A mural in Israel

A palace in Vienna

*I'm officially moving to LA! I bought my plane ticket last week and will be leaving mid-July to start my new life.

All of my travels and walking around led to the development of some major calluses on my feet. Fortunately, I was kindly sent the Emjoi Pedi Callus Remover. It's so relaxing to do. The whirring pumice glides over your calluses and scrubs away dead skin. It's been a life saver.

If you're new to the blog, hopefully you continue to come back for more beauty posts. And if you're a long-time reader hopefully you've enjoyed this update and thank you for bearing with me.

April Favorites

Cue the obligatory "Where did the month go?". In less than a month, I will have graduated college and be on my way to the next chapter of my life! Lately, I've been wondering what that means about the future of my blog--I've been writing almost two years, and although I love it, lately I've been feeling uninspired. That might mean less posts, but I would hate to abandon this all of a sudden. Anyways, before I get too emotional, let's get on to what you're here for--the favorites!

Sephora Collection Dry Clean Instant Brush Spray. When I first saw this, I thought it had to be a gimmick. But after seeing a review on Beautezine, I was sold. I'm super lazy about cleaning my brushes, so this comes in handy. A quick spray (like a dry shampoo for brushes) does a quick little refresh to spot clean brushes, especially if you use the same brush for the same product every day. It extends the time between deep cleans, which I am all about. And it's pretty affordable too.

Estee Edit Pore Vanishing Stick. Earlier this month, Estee Lauder launched a new collection geared towards younger audiences. I was intrigued, but as I'm trying to cut back on buying new makeup, nothing really caught my eye. Until I tried a sample of this and had to get the full size. The concept seems kind of weird--a stick with a tinted core that you can apply before or after makeup to reduce the look of pores. But holy moly, does this stuff shrink my pores like nothing else. Of course, it's temporary, but as someone with drier skin who also suffers from enlarged pores, this makes them disappear under makeup.

L'Oreal Mythic Oil. This stuff smells seriously amazing. Like all the good things about a hair salon. It's a hair oil that I like to apply as the first step when my hair is wet, or on day-two hair when the frizzies are in full force. It's pretty weightless, so my hair doesn't look greasy, but is so so good at adding shine and reducing frizz (plus a whole bunch of other benefits).

Kylie Liquid Lip in Posie. I did a whole review on these a couple of weeks ago, so I won't get too into detail, but this has been my number one lip shade this month. It seriously lasts all day, isn't super drying, smells amazing, and this is a gorgeous rosy pink that makes my makeup look just a little more put-together.
Viseart Theory Palette in Minx. Again, this is another one that I recently reviewed, but just can't stop using. I like it so much that I ordered the last theory palette (Cashmere) that I didn't have. The six shades are so pigmented and stay all day--I keep getting compliments on my "golden eyes". If you don't own any Viseart palettes, or want a new warm-toned palette, add this to your collection.

Books: The Nest by Cynthia Sweeney, All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage, The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter

Music: Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears and God Only Knows by The Beach Boys

I hardly ever post about fashion, but just wanted to give a quick shoutout to this Scala Hat, kindly sent from Lipton Publicity. It's slouchy and lightweight, so perfect for the spring transition we are currently having--it just snowed here two days ago! When will the warm temps be here to stay?

As always, I'd love to know what your April Favorites were! Share below and let me know what you couldn't get enough of.

Ofra x Manny MUA Liquid Lipsticks

You'd think I'd be sick of the liquid lipstick trend by now, but despite the fact that more and more brands keep bringing them out, I'm on board! Ofra is a lesser-known cosmetics brand that is now on the rise after a collaboration with Kathleen Lights and now one with Manny MUA. I've tried the formula and love it, so knew I would be a fan of these. I actually haven't watched many of Manny's videos, but again, bought into these purely due to social media hype. The lip sets sold out within a couple hours, but should be restocked semi-frequently. There are plenty of 30% off coupons floating around, which makes these reasonably affordable.

The formula of these lipsticks is amazing--it almost has a whipped texture, but it dries down totally matte. The moussey formula keeps it from feeling too drying, and as long as you don't eat or drink right after applying, it should last quite some time. Now on to the three colors! You can buy them individually or all three together (which I did). Aries is my least favorite of the bunch, just because I find these light pink nudes harder to wear. I can see it working on top of a darker lip liner, but on its own I almost look like I have concealer lips. Charmed is my favorite--a MLBB pinky nude for "those who enjoy a more subtle lippy". And I also adore Hypno--a darker vampy shade that leans more burgundy, but isn't so dark that you can't rock it during the day as well as night.

Aries, Charmed, Hypno

Overall, I'm very impressed with the Manny MUA collab and can see myself reaching for these all the time. Did you pick up any of the shades? Share below!

Two New Launches From Hourglass

I've been feeling in kind of a blogging rut lately--maybe because there haven't been many new makeup launches I'm excited about. But these two new products from Hourglass kind of came out of nowhere and pleasantly surprised me. When the Ambient Lighting Blushes launched, I think I got all of them, and I'm also a fan of the Ambient Lighting Powders. So when a new Ambient Lighting PRIMER got released, I was all over it. And a new contouring trio came out as well, so I figured why not. These both arrived just yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to wear them, but these are my love-at-first-swatch impressions.

Ambient Light Correcting Primer in Luminous Light. I'm all about glowy primers, especially ones that double as correctors. I like to use the Luminous Light powder all over my face to add an extra glow, so that shade called to me the most. It's a golden champagne shade that blends so easily into the skin. You can wear it alone, since it's subtle enough that you won't look like a disco ball, but I plan on using it under foundation. I can't speak to how it does underneath makeup, but I'm impressed so far with the swatch. There is a more pink shade, as well as a more natural radiance shade.

Luminous Light

Illume Sheer Color Trio. My first warning about this is that it's expensive--if you're looking for a more affordable cream contour/blush/highlight product, I also love the MUFE one. But these seem to be even creamier and blend out so naturally. Despite the name of "sheer color", these can be pretty pigmented, but are sheerer when applied. The contour is a perfect shade for me and the blush is a traditional just-flushed sort of color. The highlighter was a bit too subtle for my taste, although the whole point of this palette is natural color that you can apply with your fingers.

Illume Sheer Trio

I'm graduating a month from the day this post goes up, which is so insanely hard to believe. Along with graduation, I'll be leaving Vermont and heading to LA at the end of June/beginning of July. Before that, I am heading on a two week trip to Israel and Vienna, so blogging may be sporadic but there will be lots of stories and pictures to come!

Viseart Theory Palettes

Lots of people rave about the Viseart Palettes, but at $80 a pop, I could never bite the bullet. Enter the new Theory Palettes. At $45 for 6 pans, my mind views that as a lot more affordable (although since I bought two, I ended up spending around $80 anyways). I ordered these during the Sephora VIB Rouge Sale, so was able to get them for 15% off, which made them a little more justifiable.

I love the packaging on these. Despite being cardboard, they don't feel cheap at all and are sturdy enough for travel. They're so slim, but the pans are quite large. I wish it had a mirror, but that only really bothers me when I travel with these. Each palette is designed in a different color family--Minx is a warm-toned neutral palette, and Chroma is cooler, perfect for a smoky eye. Upon first swatch, I fell in love. Even the lighter shades swatch so evenly, and the pigmentation is something else. Each palette has three mattes and three shimmer shades. As someone who normally shys away from mattes, I can see myself using every one of these. It's hard to find a creamy matte (contradictory, I know), but these take the cake. 

Minx

Chroma

These cute little palettes live up to their illustrious Viseart reputation, and I can see why everyone goes for the splurge. Whether you like warm neutrals or cooler smokey colors, these palettes can suit anyone's need (there's a third one I didn't get with some more cool-toned neutrals). And the best part? The shadows are removable and magnetic if you want to create your own, larger palette! Have you tried anything from Viseart? Comment below!

Kylie Lip Kits

No, you're not experiencing deja vu from Monday's Post about the Kylie Lip Glosses--the lip kits are in a league of their own. I tried to get them a few weeks ago, to no avail, and was able to score Koko K and Posie K. Since I didn't want to wait for another restock, I ordered Kourt K from a third-party seller on Instagram for only a few dollars more, and they all arrived around the same time. Spoiler alert: they're pretty great.

Each lip kit is $29, which includes the liquid lipstick and lipliner. If you think about it, that price isn't horrible, since some liquid lipsticks are around $29 on their own. The lip liners are very creamy and do not budge--my only complaint is I wish they were self-sharpening, but they do sharpen easily in a regular sharpener. Now for the liquid lipsticks. These things seriously do not budge. Despite eating and drinking throughout the day, they were still clinging to my lips. They can feel a bit drying, so I make sure to exfoliate before and sometimes apply lip gloss when some cracks are showing. Posie K is a pinky rose shade that I thought would be a bit garish, but still seems neutral enough that I can wear it everyday. Koko K is the perfect light pink nude that's perfect for those who hate anything brown toned. And despite being the hardest to apply (it took a few layers and wore slightly unevenly), Kourt K is a vampy purple shade that I can pull off surprisingly well. But if you have a paler complexion, you may want to steer clear.

L-R: Posie K, Koko K, Kourt K

As of now, there's no word of another re-stock, but even if you just go for one shade, these are a must for any liquid lipstick lover. There is a dark brown shade, as well as two more bold red shades that I wasn't interested in, but my experience with these so far may change my mind. She also recently teased metallic liquid lipsticks, which I definitely want to try since I don't own anything like them. If you want to see some swatches of other shades, as well as how they wear real-time throughout the day, check out this lovely in-depth review video from Lily Pebbles. Have you tried any of the Kyle Lip Products? Comment below!

Kylie Lip Glosses

Despite claiming I don't keep up with the Kardashians, I admit I have a soft spot for any beauty product they create/endorse. They do look pretty damn good most of the time. Especially when that beauty product is the now infamous Kylie Lip Kits, which have literally broke the internet. I tried a couple of times to get my hands on the liquid lipsticks/liners, and finally got three (expect a review next week when they arrive). But I thought it had to be an April Fools Joke when Kylie was releasing glosses last Friday. I logged on social media at the perfect time to grab all three. The Kylie Lip Glosses are currently sold out, although she seems to restock a couple of times a month. At only $15, they're basically a steal compared to the lip kits, but shipping is steep at $8.95.

The design is basically the same as the lip  kits-- a slim tube with the black paint and Kylie's signature. These are a little bit thicker than the traditional "gloss" and actually quite pigmented, which surprised me. They can feel a bit heavy, so be careful, but they don't look overly tacky on the lips. Of course, they do only last a couple hours as most glosses do, but they also don't disappear right away. So Cute is a light pink that can wash me out if I wear it built up on its own, but looks great over a matte lipstick or liner. Like is my favorite of the bunch--a mauve nude that seems the most Kylie. And Literally is a "warm toned peachy nude".

Like, Literally, So Cute

Are these a must-have for every makeup lover? Not necessarily, but owning something that causes the internet to freak out every couple of weeks (you should see the comments she gets on her Instagram posts, which is how she keeps in contact with her audience). If you're a lip product junkie, or Kylie lover, it may be worth finding out when the next restock is and just happening to be online right around that time.