What's In My Makeup Bag? #2

Hi ladies! So this past weekend the boyfriend and I went back to his for the weekend to visit with his parents. That and he also needed his dad's help to fix his laptop. Anyways, here's what I brought back with me!

Eyes:

Sleek Storm Palette: This is the ONLY eyeshadow I've been using this month. It's one of the four products in my 4 For The Month challenge, and I've certainly stuck to it! I mostly make use of the top row, but I'll talk more about it at the end of the month. Anyways, I love the neutral colors in this palette and it's excellent for very simple, everyday eye looks.

Urban Decay Primer Potion: Last time I traveled, I didn't bother bringing an eye primer, and I regretted it! So this time I brought along the very travel friendly version of UDPP. It's the primer I've been using the majority of this month and I've fallen back in love with it. Good thing, since I have the professional size of it to get through!

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero: The only pencil I use for my waterline. Stays all day, it's amazing, that's all I have to say.

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara: I definitely prefer this one over the One By One mascara that I picked up along with this one. This one just does an amazing job of lengthening my lashes. I've never used something that made them look so long. But at the same time, it's not clumpy and my lashes don't look spidery. I can see why everyone raved about this one.

MUA Mascara in Shade 1: I just use this to brush and set my brows.

3 brushes: One's from e.l.f and the other 2 are from the Studio Tools line sold in Target. They're cheap, but I find they work well for simple eye looks.

Lips:

NADA! I know, how terrible have I been with the lips lately. I had my Summer Fruits EOS lip balm though!

Face:

L'oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base: Probably the first and last primer I'll ever use. It does such a good job of smoothing out my skin and making my makeup last that I don't see a point in searching for anything else!

Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation in Opal: I'm still not quite ready to review this yet, because I'm still in the process of finding what sets it best and whether it's best used as an all over foundation or a concealer and blah blah blah. But at the moment, I'm using it as an all over foundation and I apply it with my fingers. The color matches me pretty well and it does an excellent job of covering, BUT, I feel like it's almost equal to the coverage I got when I mixed Neutrogena Healthy Skin and Revlon Photo Ready. But then again maybe I'm just not using enough, we'll see!

Garnier Tinted Eye Roll On in Light: I love this for my undereye circles. It just blends in so well and covers amazingly.

Bare Minerals Mineral Veil: I didn't want to use the Bare Minerals foundation to set my foundation, since the Vichy foundation is supposed to be so full coverage. But I found that this just didn't keep me oil free long enough, so I tried setting the Vichy with my Bare Minerals foundation and it worked out much better, but this did well enough at the time.

e.l.f Complexion Brush: Used this to apply the Mineral Veil. It's nice, doesn't put too much product on your face or make you look powdery.

What do you make sure to bring along in your makeup bag when you travel?

NOTD: Models Own Lilac Dream and e.l.f Glitter Glam

Hi ladies! It's March which means we can now hide away our dark polishes and take out our bright and pastel colors! Which is just what I did the other day.

I used Maybelline's base coat, 1-2 coats of Models Own Lilac Dream, and then layered e.l.f's Glitter Glam over the top. While the e.l.f polish can be a bit goopy, it's just so gorgeous over any color that it's worth the goop. ;)

What do you think?

NOTD: Christmas Nails

I did this nail look a little while ago, but it's the look I did for the holiday parties with my boyfriend and his family.

Sorry I didn't photograph the nail polishes I used! But the green I used is China Glaze's Jolly Holly, the red is Ciate's Dangerous Affair, and the glitter is e.l.f's Glitter Glam. I used two coats of the red and green and one coat of the glitter.

I wasn't crazy about the overall look because e.l.f's Glitter Glam isn't really designed to be a top coat, not in my eyes anyways. It's too thick and opaque, so that if you apply it too heavy handedly, you end up not being able to see the color underneath. But anyways, it looked pretty enough and reminded me of Christmas ornaments!

What do you guys think? I'm thinking of painting my nails in a couple minutes. I'm thinking Jolly Holly with Party Hearty over the top. Christmas may technically be over, but it isn't for me! Hehe.

NOTD: Festive Nails

I finally got to use China Glaze Party Hearty today! I used it over e.l.f's Moonlight nail polish. I had to use a good 4 coats of it for it to be completely opaque but I figured just as much.

I love it! I think it's so pretty and festive. Perhaps a bit LOUD but hey, Christmas is next week and I want my nails to have SPIRIT. Hehe.

My flight back to America is tomorrow! I'm all packed (I'll have a post on "What's in my makeup bag?" or something like that when I get home, to show you what I narrowed my collection down to in order to pack light) and just praying the snow doesn't go too insane that my flight gets cancelled. Has anyone else used this color recently??

Forever 21 Cosmetics: e.l.f Knockouts For Higher Prices?

In browsing on the Forever 21 website when making my Christmas wishlist, I took a look at their cosmetics section. What I found really interesting was that they were selling items that look EXACTLY like e.l.f products and may even just be e.l.f products but with their own labels on them. ALSO, they're selling them for higher prices. That's the only thing I don't like about it. I'm sure they have permission from e.l.f, but why are they setting higher prices for items that are exactly the same as the e.l.f products that you could get for cheaper?

The Beauty Journal: Glamorous Smoky Eye Palette (this is the same as the e.l.f Beauty Book Smokey Eye Edition)

This is the inside, and I can promise you, it's exactly the same as the e.l.f one:

The only difference? The price.

Forever 21: $6.80

e.l.f: $5.00

Concealer & Highlighter Duo (this is the same as the Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter)

Again, the only difference? Price.

Forever 21: $3.80

e.l.f: $3.00

100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette (exactly the same as the one e.l.f does)

BUT, Forever 21 are charging almost $6 more!!

Forever 21: $15.80

e.l.f: $10.00

This annoys me slightly just because this is a clear case of paying extra for the brand. ANYWAYS, that's a slight rant I guess, but I noticed it and figured I'd share it with you ladies and find out your opinions!

e.l.f Haul

Hi ladies! Today I have a small e.l.f haul for you. I ordered this when a deal was going on, where if you spent at least 10 pounds, everything was 20% off. Normally I order and the next day I get an email saying it's shipped, and then I get it the next day. But sadly, this particular order took a week to process before it shipped out, and then I got it two days after that. So not a crazy amount of time, but a bit longer than usual. I expected it though because I ordered during the snow and when they had loads of deals going on. Also, I can't really complain because they sent me an extra brush on mistake! Tehe. Anyways, onto what I got:

Nail Polish in Moonlight & Glitter Glam: 1.50 each (on sale, so I got them for 1.28 each):

GORGEOUS colors. I bought Glitter Glam as a way to glam up the festive manicures I have planned. I used it in my NOTD that I posted yesterday and I absolutely love it. Moonlight is a gorgeous pearly champagne color and I plan on using China Glaze Party Hearty over it. :D

e.l.f Waterproof Eyeliner Pen: 1.50 (on sale for 1.28)

Since the liquid eyeliner from 17 that I bought has kind of been failing me (the brush just kind of goes weird and I end up making waaay too thick of a line and a mess), I decided to buy a eyeliner pen, thinking that might be the easiest way for me to line my upper lash line. I'm quite impressed! I found it super easy to apply this to my eye. The pen is nice and thin so you can create a thin or thicker line, depending on what you wanna do.

Also, it dries fairly quickly and it's almost impossible to get it to budge, LOL. If you rub it with some water, it does smudge a little, but then again, I didn't buy this because it's Waterproof, but because I liked the pen idea.

Swatches:

Used on my eye:

Quite happy with this product! Especially for such a good price.

Now onto the brushes I got. I ordered the Studio Powder Brush (it gets soo many good reviews) and the Mineral Complexion Brush because I really wanted to try out their new line of brushes. For some reason they also sent me the Studio Complexion brush, so waheyy!

Studio Powder Brush: 3.50 (on sale for 2.98):

I plan on using this for my blush. Very soft!

Mineral Complexion Brush: 5.50 (on sale for 4.68):

I plan on using this for my BareMinerals because the brushes that came with the set are shedding a bit and feeling a bit harsh on my skin. This feels loooovely and soft.

Studio Complexion Brush (free):

I didn't actually plan on receiving this, but I'm happy I did, I plan on using it to apply my highlighter, since the brush I use for that now is pretty crap now.

That's it! I didn't let myself get much, just what I saw as the "essentials" tehe.

NOTD: Wintery Nails!!

Hi girlies! Tonight I've got a very wintery NOTD featuring Model's Own "Feeling Blue" and e.l.f's "Glitter Glam" I've been needing to do my nails for awhile, but I was refusing until my China Glaze "Party Hearty" got here. Unfortunately, delivery is a bit wonky due to the snow we've had, so I'm hoping it comes tomorrow. BUT, my e.l.f order came today, which I'll be doing a post on tomorrow, but one of the items I picked up was the Glitter Glam polish. And I got to thinking how gorgeous it would look over a baby blue, specifically "Feeling Blue"

Isn't it gorgeous!? Haha, I really love them together. I know they look a lil bright in these photos, but don't worry, the overall look is a bit more muted in person.

I still can't wait for Party Hearty to get here, but this will have to do for a festive manicure for the time being! What do you think?? ALSO, thanks for all the entries to my giveaway, and if you haven't entered yet, check out the sidebar and enter!!!!

Holiday Lips

Hey ladies! Today I've got a post on some lipsticks/glosses that I think would work well with a Holiday inspired look. Now normally, I'm all for pink lipsticks, but in this post I tried to pick out some more of my less used lipsticks, aka, reddish ones. I feel like any type of red lip would work well for a Holiday party! Although I've included some more brighter pinks as well, cos I think those work well too. So I'm going to try and expand my horizons and use these lipsticks/glosses more during the holiday season. Even though today I'm wearing Shy Girl by MAC....lol, can you blame me, it's my first MAC lippy!

Anyways, here are my favorites from the bunch:

Maybelline Color Sensational in Pink Of Me and L'oreal HIP Jelly Balm in Luscious:

A plummy wine color that I think is great for winter.

No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Waterlily and Bourjois Effet 3D MAX Lipgloss in Rose Eclat:

A brighter/darker rose pink, if that's even possible, that's a great variation on the typical pink lip.

Mary Kay Lipstick in Mauve Elegance:

I know the name says Mauve, but to me it's a bright fuschia!

Swatches:

Then I've included ones that weren't my favorite but that work well too. The top three are from e.l.f and the bottom is a lip liner by No7 which I think works well with all of the lipsticks I've shown.

Which ones are your favorites?

Holiday Eyes: Misc Greens/Blues

Hi girlies! I've got another holiday related post on green and blue eyeshadows. I went through my collection and swatched all of my greens/blues from an array of brands. Following this post, there will be one on greens/blues offered by Sleek!

The three e.l.f eyeshadows are colors from their Beauty Books; The Eye Brights and Smokey Eye Editions. I've been less and less impressed with the Beauty Books as time goes by. I never reach for them anymore because they're such bad quality shadows. They're chalky, have a huge amount of fallout....and are just kind of shit...LOL, sorry to be so blunt. They look okay in these swatches, but trust me, they're a pain to work with.

My favorites:

Maybelline Dream Mousse Eye Color in Heavenly Blue, Wet n Wild Sensual Sage, NYX Atlantic, Models Own Duo in Summers Day.

I think all these colors are great for holiday eyes if you're going for a blue or green look. The turquoise color in the Models Own duo is GORGEOUS. I haven't given it half of the attention it deserves, just because the other purple shadow is disappointing. I think the Maybelline Dream Mousse color would be great as a base to a blue eye look. And if you're going for something a bit more intense or dark, NYX's Atlantic would be a good choice. For a more subtle green look (if you don't want your eyes to scream CHRISTMAS haha) Wet N Wild Sensual Sage is great.

What are your favorite blue or green shadows this holiday season?

Christmas Party Look

Hi girlies! I decided to do a Christmas look the other night for you guys. I think it's a great look for a Christmas party. To me, a Christmas party look should be frosty and shimmery! It's not amazing because I did it at the end of the day so my concealer/foundation was wearing off, and I wiped off my eye makeup from that day then never reapplied eye primer, BUT ANYWAYS, this is just an idea of some products that I think are good for a Christmas Party look:

Eyes:

On the lid, I used Urban Decay's Sin. Then for a pop of color I used Sleek's Good Girl Palette by using Lollipop in the inner lid. I then used Lychee as a highlight/brow bone color. Obviously, if I had used primer the look would of been a bit more intense. I also just used your basic black eyeliner on the waterline and a mascara to make the eyes really pop. You can obviously use whatever you like, but I deffo think shimmery is the way to go!

Face:

Again, SHIMMER! Lol. I used Prestige's bronzer all over my face, because it's very light and just adds a nice shimmer to the whole face. I then used E.l.f's Gotta Glow as a highlight, just over the apples of my cheeks. In terms of blush, I think of rosy cheek when it comes to winter time! So I used my Body Shop Autumn Leaves blusher.

Lips:

What kind of inspired this look was the 17 lipgloss in Star Girl that I picked up earlier in the week. It's so frosty and shimmery and perfect for a Christmas party look. I layered it over Revlon's Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout.

That's it! Hope you guys like it. I have some other Christmas posts coming up (can you tell I'm in the holiday spirit!?) where I show my favorite Christmas eyeshadows. Now I'm off to do another chapter of my dissertation. Waaaah. Lol.

Tis The Season for Holiday Eyes!

Today I felt like doing some Christmas eye looks! I realize tomorrow is Halloween and there's still plenty of time before Christmas, but I always get excited far in advance! So here are two looks I've done with the Christmas theme in mind. When I think of Christmas I think of red, green, and white, but obviously I wasn't putting a red eyeshadow anywhere near my eyes. So I largely used whites and greens:

Eye 1:

Eye 2:

Eye 1 Closed:

Eye 2 Closed:

What I Used:

For Eye 2, I used two colors from the E.L.F Beauty Book: Smokey Eyes Edition. I used the green color on the lid/crease, and the very light frosty blue as a highlight.

For Eye 1, I used two colors from my Kat Von D True Romance Palette in True Love. I used Peanut on the lid/crease and Missy as a highlight.

On both eyes, I used Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara and E.L.F Eyelid Primer.

The key tool in both of these looks is the E.L.F Shimmer Eyeliner Pencils! On Eye 1 I used the E.L.F Shimmer Pencil in Twinkle Teal to line my upper lid and Aveda's Eye Definer in Lily for my lower lid. On Eye 2 I used the E.L.F Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil in Grassy Green to line my upper lid and the Bourjois Khol & Contour Eyeliner for the waterline.

So is everyone else as excited for Christmas as I am?!