December Favorites

Ahh I can't believe this is my last post of December. I've had my blog for about 6 months and am incredibly grateful for all of my readers and support. It's been really fun to do and I can't wait for bigger and better things to come in 2015. I do want to do a "2014 Favorites" but since the majority of my makeup is at school, that may be more of a mid-January post. I've tried lots of awesome products this month (actually having good shopping around is super dangerous) and here's what I've been loving.

Chantecaille Brilliant Gloss in Lucky. One of my favorite bloggers Amelia Liana has raved about this lip gloss for ages, so I took the plunge and bought it. It's a gorgeous peachy pink nude with a perfect amount of sparkle. I've been really into nude lips lately so this looks great over lipstick and isn't too sticky.

L'Oreal Super Slim Eyeliner. I never thought I could find an eyeliner I would love as much as my Marc Jacobs one, but this one rivals it. It's incredibly cheap, super long lasting, the perfect matte black shade, and it's really easy to remove. I'll definitely be repurchasing this and I wish it was available in more colors.

GlamGlow Thirsty Mud Hydrating Treatment. If you have dry skin, run to your nearest Sephora and scoop this baby up. I love to leave this on instead of a moisturizer at night and it is so incredibly moisturizing. It doesn't really leave a gross slimy film, although I would recommend actually using this as a removable mask during the day. Plus it smells like coconut, which is a bonus in my book.

Dior Star Fluid Foundation. It's been a while since I've tried a new foundation and this one has been on my wishlist for quite sometime. It has buildable coverage to give you anywhere from a light to heavier coverage and leaves a great, natural finish. It's slightly dewier than matte but not so shiny that you look greasy.

Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector in Light/Medium. My dark circles have been thanking me ever since I got this. You can use it alone or under concealer, and the salmony tone helps to counteract the blueness. It's creamy but doesn't crease and could soon achieve holy-grail status.

Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in East End Snob, Addiction, and Epic. Like I said, I've been loving nude, Kylie Jenner type lips and these babies easily help me achieve that. I either just line or fill in my lips, and these are super creamy and non-drying. I also love MAC lipliners but these are cheaper dupes for the popular ones like Soar, Whirl, and Spice. 

L-R: Rimmel East End Snob, Addiction, Epic, Chantecaille Lucky

Books: Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin, Grace's Guide: The Art of Pretending to Be A Grownup by Grace Helbig, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, You by Caroline Kepnes

Music: Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake, Do You by Spoon, Riptide by Vance Joy

I hope you all have a great New Years and I will talk to you in 2015!

Seven Deadly Sins of Makeup Tag

Well I officially survived the holidays. And I have less than two weeks of being home, with a trip to Disney thrown in next week (surprisingly it's for educational purposes. I swear. I'm taking a class through my school). I can't believe there's only a few days left of December, and I have an awesome set of favorites coming up on Wednesday.

Greed: What’s your most expensive beauty item?

Hmmmm probably one of my perfumes like Flowerbomb. But if we're talking ridiculousness in price, I did once spend $50 on a Tom Ford lipstick.

Wrath: What item do you have a love/hate relationship with? 

I love liquid eyeliner and wear it everyday. When I have more time or for a special occasion, I like to rock a winged look but I'm convinced my eyes are different shapes and it's almost impossible to get an even look.

Gluttony: What brand takes up most of your collection?

I'm gonna go with Charlotte Tilbury--I think I own 95% of all her items.

Sloth: What product do you neglect the most due to laziness?

I am pretty bad about contouring--I like the look it gives and it doesn't take that long. I just always forget it.

Pride: What product gives you the most confidence?

Concealer is definitely on the top of the list because I'm so self-conscious about my dark circles. A nice smoky eye always boosts my confidence too.

Lust: Which item is top of your beauty wish list?

I've been pining for a Tom Ford eyeshadow quad for a while, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much money on one quad right now.

Envy: Which makeup product/look is great on others but not on you?

I don't really look good in super bright blushes or lipsticks. If I do buy a brighter color I make sure to still keep it as natural as possible.

The Two Second Eye Makeup Trick

Okay so maybe this eyeshadow look takes a bit more than 2 sec. but it's the easiest thing to do when you're in a rush and still want to add something to your look. I'm a recent eyeshadow stick convert and they're so easy to apply. They're also portable and you don't even need a brush so you can take them on the go! Here are the ones I've been loving lately.

Pixi Fairy Dust in Mocha Magic. I've never seen fairy dust, but I imagine it looks somewhat like this. This is extremely shimmery and glittery, but not so much that you look like a disco ball. There's minimal fall out and this is softly pigmented, so you could layer it on top of other eye colors. It also doubles as a cheek and brow-bone highlighter.

L'Oreal Infalliable Silkissime Powder Eyeliner Pen (not online yet). These just launched in the drugstore last week (I got mine at CVS) so I can't even find them online. As the name suggests, these are a powder eyeshadow that is applied with a spongy tip. The color is very pigmented with a hint of glitter and blending it all over your eye really does create a "smoky" look. Perfect for when you want to touch up your makeup at night and add something special.

Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop Eye Stick in Au Revoir. This is a cream shadow that combines the best of both worlds-- a long lasting, pigmented formula with glitter that doesn't overwhelm you. These are the most long lasting of the bunch and have a nice cooling sensation when applied (don't be scared). The narrow tip also allows you to apply the color as an eyeliner if you want.

*Not pictured but I also love the Charlotte Tilbury Color Chameleon Pencils--check them out in a post here.

L-R: L'Oreal Taupe, L'Oreal Brown, Pixi, Marc Jacobs

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate it and an awesome holiday series regardless of what holiday you celebrate!

New Beauty Launches to Get Excited For

It's not even next year and already spring makeup launches are popping up everywhere! There are a lot of cute new things that are definitely worth saving your holiday money for.

1. Chanel Spring 2015. I only own a couple of Chanel makeup pieces (for the obvious price tag reasons), but the ones I do have are great quality. The limited edition blush has an adorable flower design and seems like a great color to add a natural flush. There are also a couple of limited edition eyeshadow quads, nail polishes, and lip products.

2. Tarte Spring 2015. The big launch of this collection is an all matte eyeshadow palette--although I much prefer glitter shades, I know Tarte does mattes quite well. There's a new blush, eyeliner, lipstick, and re-promote of a lip crayon as well.

3. Too Faced Semi-Sweet Spring 2015. A companion to the milk chocolate eyeshadow palette has just launched, as well as some new melted lipstick colors. I have my eye on the Soul Mates Bronzer and Blush because Too Faced does great bronzers and this design is just too cute!

4. Benefit Puff-Off. Pretty much any new launch from Benefit gets me excited because they have the cutest packaging. This is an eye cream that de-puffs and is slightly colored to counteract blue circles. The applicator is in the shape of an iron (adorable!) and I have high hopes for this product.

5. Urban Decay Naked on the Run Palette. If you only want to treat yourself to one new thing after the holidays, this palette offers a great variety for the price. It has a full-sized Perversion mascara, eyeliner, lipgloss, 5 eyeshadows, highlighter, bronzer, and blush, all in one container! It's great for travel as well.

These are just some of the many launches I'm looking forward to. What are you excited for? Comment below!

New at the Drugstore Haul

There were so many new, exciting looking things at the drugstore that it was hard to narrow down my picks. Thanks to some posts on Nouveau Cheap, I had an eye out for the certain things I wanted. These are just first impression reviews, as I've only used the products once or twice. I got them all at my local CVS, but you may have to ask if they have things in the back, because I snagged the BB cream before the display was even out.

Milani Foil Eyeshadows. I'm really really impressed with the quality of these for drugstore shadows. They're a cream-to-powder formula, so make sure you use a primer before applying as they can crease. Something about the shadows reminds me of Charlotte Tilbury level glitter (Dolce Vita dupe anyone?), although the texture is different. Each swatch was done only once without a primer underneath, so you can build up pigmentation.

L-R: Milan, Rome, Florence

2. Rimmel 16 Hour Provocalips in Make Your Move. These launched in the UK a little while ago and I was super excited when they launched here. It's a duo, with one side of color and one side a clear gloss that locks in the formula. Although it fades to more of a stain throughout the day, it does last quite a while and didn't really seem to dry out my lips.

3. Rimmel BB Cream Radiance in Light. I've tried a few drugstore BB creams and I really, really like this one. It gives quite a bit of coverage and blends seamlessly into my skin. I always look for radiance in a base and this one delivers it's promise. It also claims to moisturize, minimize pores, and more, although the radiance is it's best claim.

4. Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara. I think this has been out for at least a month, but it's new to me. I heard really good things about it so I figured I would pick it up for myself. I have decently long lashes, so I don't really need the extra growth benefits, but it would be cool if it worked. This is great for the price--it lengthens and adds volume without clumping.

What Have I Been Reading Lately? Psychological thrillers are my favorite type of books and movies, and I recently read You by Caroline Kepnes. It's told from the point of view of an obsessive stalker, and it's always interesting to get inside the mind of the "bad guys". I'm currently reading Grace's Guide: The Art of Pretending to be a Grownup by Grace Helbig. I know Grace is a Youtube star but I've never actually watched her videos. I love this book and it's so well written with my kind of humor.

Makeup Shakeup #1

The semester is finally over! It's been an especially rough week but I'm glad it's finally over. I'm home from school for an entire month (it hasn't sunk in yet), which means I'm away from my makeup stash collection. In addition to keeping my travel makeup bag at home (there's a post on it here), I packed another bag of my not-quite-essentials that I still wanted to keep in rotation. I'm sure I'll buy some stuff when I'm home but here are the items I'm going to be primarily using this month.

Aerin Multicolor for Lips and Cheeks

Diorskin Concealer

Charlotte Tilbury Fallen Angel Palette

Chanel Jersey Blush

Bobbi Brown Highlight Powder

Chantecaille Lip Gloss in Lucky

MAC Lip Pencil in Spice and Dervish

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lip Liner

MAC Lipstick in Brave

Clarins Instant Concealer in 01

Clinique Cheek Stick in Peony

YSL Lip Oil in I Rose You

Marc Jacobs Eyeliner in Plumage

Make Up Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara

Chantecaille Tinted Moisturizer in Nude

Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder

I'm excited to be back on my blogging grind this week! I have a few post ideas but let me know what you'd like to see. There's a lot of exciting new products at the drugstore that I want to review, and comment if you want an in-depth review on anything in this post :)

The Week From Hell

I'm so so sorry it's been over a week since I've written a blog post. Last Friday, my computer randomly stopped turning on and I couldn't get anything to work. Nothing in Vermont was open until Monday so I brought it to my school's computer depot and they just returned it to me today. Unfortunately, not all my preferences backed up and I'm on the latest operating system so that will take some getting used to. I'm lucky I finally got it back but going a week without a computer makes you realize how much you rely on it.

Also, it was finals week so not having a computer made it even worse. A few people let me borrow their computers, which was incredibly kind, but still made studying difficult. I'm in the process of restoring everything from my old computer.

I also lost my favorite ring which I've had for over six years so that made things even worse. Anyways, I'm off of school for a month which leaves plenty of time for blogging, so I will be back in action next week!

So You Want To Try A Face Mask...

I love face masks--they not only feel like a mini spa treatment at home, but usually do work wonders for skin. I have dry/combo skin, so my main concerns with masks are usually moisturizing or unclogging pores. Here are the five that I use off and on (most once every week or two), although there are so many good ones on the market.

1. Philosophy Total Matteness Mask (I can't seem to find the exact one I have anywhere online... they seem to have reformulated it into a cleanser/mask). Clay masks are great for extracting impurities out of your skin and unclogging pores. I leave this on for ten minutes and my skin feels so much better after. This works for all skin types.
2. Freeman Charcoal and Black Sugar Mask. You wouldn't expect something with the word charcoal in the name to smell so good, but the sugar makes it smell divine. Although it's an exfoliator mask, the texture is light and liquidy enough that you could use it as a cleanser. It's great for sloughing away dead skin and is gentle enough for sensitive skin.
3. Freeman Chocolate and Strawberry Clay Mask. Again, another amazing smelling mask for Freeman. These are easily the best drugstore masks out there and they are so cheap! This one is great for dry skin, as it's really moisturizing and toning. I wouldn't recommend this for oily skin, you might want to go for the Philosophy one.
4. Michael Todd Wild Berry Exfoliating Treatment. If you're looking for an intensive skin detox, this is your guy. It really scrubs away at your top layer of dead skin as you leave this on for about ten minutes. It also works to even out skin tone, but if you have extremely sensitive skin, I wouldn't try this as it is a more intensive treatment.
5. Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask. I just mentioned this in my November Favorites, and this is a great mask that you can use a couple of times a week if you want to rejuvenate skin in just two minutes.

What kind of face masks do you like to use? I've heard good things about the First Aid Beauty ones so I might have to check those out soon!

It's crazy that this is my last day of classes of the semester--after next Friday, I only have 3 semesters left of college then I have to enter the real world and that is a terrifying thought.

November Favorites

It's crazy enough that we only have a month left of the year, but even crazier that I have less than two weeks left of the semester! I have a couple of finals and some papers then I'm done next Friday! Due to that, blog posts may be less frequent but will return with creative content over break since I won't have access to my whole makeup collection. Let me know in the comments what sorts of different posts you would want to see for December/January!

1. Liz Earle Brightening Treatment Mask. I love treating my skin to a face mask, but sometimes I don't have ten minutes to leave it on. This one from Liz Earle is great because you only have to leave it on for 2 minutes to get all the benefits. It gives a slight tingling sensation to rejuvenate skin and leave you looking more radiant, which is especially great in the winter months.

2. Charlotte Tilbury Signature Makeup Bag. In case you couldn't tell from the makeup bag I brought home, my Vera Bradley bag is bursting at the seams! I figured I would grab a makeup bag from my favorite lady Charlotte Tilbury and I love the design. It's very lightweight yet roomy, and the maroon and gold look lovely together.

3. Marc Jacobs Twinkle Pop Eye Stick in Three Shakes. I've recently been on an eyeshadow pencil kick, because they're easy to apply in a rush and last forever. This one from Marc Jacobs is no exception--creamy, pigmented, and long lasting. It also has a nice cooling sensation on eyelids.

4. Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Mascara. Just a great all around mascara. It lengthens and volumes without being clumpy, although you may want to layer it with another one if you're looking for a super dramatic look. The formula also claims to hydrate lashes and help them grow as an added bonus.

5. YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in #8 Pink in Confidence. I have a couple other shades of this lipstick, and when I heard this color compared to Chanel Rouge Allure in Boy, I couldn't resist. A great MLBB that's more on the pink side, it's sheer enough to not look like Barbie and makes lips moisturized and shiny.

6. YSL Gloss Volupte in 19. Basically me in a gloss. It's a rosy pink with glitter that's not in-your-face and it looks great alone or over a lipstick (like Pink in Confidence). The formula smells awesome and lasts for a pretty long time.

L-R: Three Shakes Twinkle Pop, Pink in Confidence YSL, YSL Lipgloss in 19

Books: How To Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman, Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes (easily one of my favorite books of the year), Yes Please by Amy Poehler, The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Music: The General by Dispatch, The Start of Something by Voxtrot, Sacrilege by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (also an awesome music video).