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?

February Favorites

Hi ladies! Today I've got a post on the products I've been loving in February. I can't believe it's March! We all know what that means....soon we'll be getting lovely and warm weather! Hopefully anyways. Spring/Summer are always so gorgeous in London. I love going to the parks and just enjoying the weather and I can't wait to do that again this year.

Eyes:

Nothing too fancy this month, which I feel was my motto for the majority of this month with all my makeup. I did very neutral eyes and often didn't bother with a crease color.

L'oreal Telescopic Mascara: I like mascaras with thinner/smaller brushes (like this one) because of my small eyes because it makes application easier. While the brush is a bit flimsy, which I feel leads to some minor clumping, it's fine when you wiggle it about.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Cottage Cheese: I've been using this in my inner corner to make my eyes pop. I've used it once or twice as a base, but I do prefer using my MAC Bare Study paint pot instead when going for a neutral look.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Eldorado: When I felt like adding some fun to my eye look, I'd line part of my lower lash line with this pencil, in place of a white pencil like the one above.

MAC Satin Taupe: Such a lovely color for all over the lid, and then I work it up into the crease for a really simple look.

MAC Bare Study Paint Pot: I've been using this just about every time I've worn eye makeup. I always put it on over a primer though, just to be safe. I find it adds a bit more of a pop of color to any shadow I put over it, whether it be Satin Taupe or Sin from the Naked Palette.

Lips:

Once again, I've kept it very simple this month with the lips.

MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipglass: I really haven't been wearing much on my lips this month, because anytime I've gone out I've been going out with the idea of stopping to grab a coffee and I haaaate when I get lipstick all over my coffee cup, haha. So instead, when I have worn color, I've just worn this lipglass because it's such a gorgeous color and it's easy enough to wipe off before I sip.

Nivea Milk & Honey Lipbalm: Been using this pretty much daily. The scent has grown on me. I'd still love for it to smell like Lush's Honey I Washed The Kids though...:D

Face:

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup in Buff and Revlon Photo Ready in Vanilla: For the majority of the month, I've been mixing these two foundations and feel it gives me such good coverage. The only con being it can feel a bit heavy, so on days when I don't feel like slapping on so much makeup, I'll only wear the Photo Ready.

Body:

It's Raining Men Shower Gel: MMMMMM is all I need to say, really. Smells amazing and leaves the skin feeling soft. The scent lingers on your skin once you leave the shower as well, which I love in a shower gel.

The Body Shop Love Etc Perfume: I've been favoring this over my DKNY perfume. I can't help it, it just smells sooooo nice. I really do need to get the full size at some point...

What were some of your favorites this month?

*I have a nail polish in the first photo, but then I realized it was one I actually used in January, not February, so I didn't end up including it in the rest of the post. Thanks to my lovely sister for pointing that out!

Stila, Walgreens, and VS Haul!

Hi ladies! Sorry I haven't been posting very much, I still have some things from Christmas to post about! But seeing as my trip here in the US was cut in half, I've been spending loads of time with family and friends. Also, I had a funeral to go to the other day. =( RIP Uncle Randy. I go back to London tomorrow morning, and when I get there, I have to prepare a presentation and finish my dissertation, so I may not be posting much! Although I'm sure I'll find time to post when I take breaks, hehe.

The other day I went shopping with my mummy and sis. We went to JC Penny and my sister discovered this tiny Sephora section in the shop, and it had loads of makeup on clearance. When I saw the Stila travel palette I grabbed it up because it was only $4.99!! It's usually $10, which is a great price as it is, but I couldn't pass it up for only 5 bucks.

Stila Pretty In Paris Travel Palette No.2:

This is so tiny and compact, AND has a mirror, which makes it perfect for travel. It contains 4 eyeshadows and a lip/cheek cream.

Top Row: Crepe and Cherie:

Bottom Row: Jolie and Chocolat:

Rosebud:

Swatches:

Creamy, pigmented, and gooorgeous!

On the lips:

Then we stopped at Walgreens, because I wanted to check out the Wet N Wild makeup, but I was sidetracked by the amazing clearance sales they had going on. We spent ages looking at all the makeup and picking out what we wanted, hehe. They were pretty cleared out, but I'm happy with what I did find!

Maybelline Mineral Power Finishing Veil Powder in Light:

($4.99)

I wanted to try out a new powder to set my foundation with. Just because when I finish up my Bare Minerals I'm not sure I'm going to be willing to shell out the money to re-purchase, just because I'm not entirely convinced it's worth the money. Because this was one of the items on sale, I figured I might as well give it a shot!

It twists out to reveal a sponge applicator and a mirror, which makes this compact great to throw in your purse for touch ups. I've been using it the past couple of days. I do like it, but I'm not sure if it keeps me oil free for as long as Bare Minerals does. I found that I had to touch up with this powder about 2 hours after I applied my foundation/powder because I was already getting oily. Perhaps that's because of the Photo Ready foundation though, not sure, I'm still just testing a lot of these new products out and don't know for sure yet how I feel about them all.

L'oreal H.I.P Kohl Eyeliner in Gold Kohl:

($3.29) I'd seen this used in a tutorial by one of the Fowler sisters awhile ago, and thought it looked nice. I've been really getting into gold/natural eye looks paired with a pink lip lately, so I thought this would be a perfect addition to my gold family.

I haven't actually tried using this yet, but I'm not sure how easily it will apply. I mean, look at the fall out that occurred when I swatched it. I can only imagine the mess that would make on your eye! We'll see. It's a gorgeous color though. =)

Wet N Wild Mega Last Lip Color in Mauve Outta Here:

($2.99) This wasn't on sale, but come on, 3 bucks for a lipstick? That's a great deal regardless. I've heard soo much about these lipsticks, all good, and was excited to try one for myself. Extremely pigmented and moisturizing for a drug store lipstick. Not sure it's the type of color I'd find myself reaching for on a daily basis, but I am definitely interested in trying out more from this range.

Wet N Wild Mega Last Long Wear Lip Color in Endless:

($1.09) This isn't the type of product I'd normally pick out (I don't really buy into the whole long lasting lip products because they NEVER do last long. You eat something, you drink something, your lip stick is going to wear off, and I'm not sure how any product could stop that, but I digress), but I grabbed it because of the color and because it was on sale.

On one side is the lip color, and on the other, the glossy lip balm. The packaging doesn't actually tell you how to apply these, but I read online that you apply the lip color, and then put the glossy balm on over it. Can't really say yet if it's long lasting, but maybe I'll do an updated review on it. In terms of pigmentation, I'm not hugely impressed, but it's nice for a subtle lip.

L'oreal Bare Naturale Gentle Lip Conditioner in Soft Bloom:

($2.59) Not something I'd ever pay full price for, but it's a nice tinted lip gloss/balm!

Swatches:

(from left to right: Mauve Outta Here, Endless Lip Color, the gloss balm, and Soft Bloom)

FINALLY, I know I know, long post much? But a few days before the JC Penny / Walgreens trip, my sis and I went to the mall to check out the semi annual sale at Victoria's Secret because she has a gift card. Unfortunately, she couldn't find the bra she was looking for, BUT, there was tooons of boxes full of makeup on sale, and of course I spent most of my time looking through them. She was sweet enough to offer to grab me a few things!

I picked out two of the Beauty Rush Luminous Shadows in Gold School and Plum Passion. I wasn't sure if these were cream shadows or what, but was interested in trying them out anyways.

The applicator:

Swatches:

(from left to right: Gold School and Plum Passion) I wasn't sure how I'd feel about these, but omggg, they're so pretty!!! I used the Gold one the other day and loved it. And here's the best part, they were only $1.75 each!

VS Sheer Gloss Stick in Shy:

($3.00) None of the lip colors that were on sale stood out to me, they were all reds or browns, but I did notice this product. I wore it the night after I got it, and I do rather like it. It's a 'my lip but better' kind of color. Once again, I'd never shell out the full price for this product, but at $3, I think it's really nice.

So that's it!! Has anyone else been taking advantage of the sales recently? Do tell!

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?

ACW Haul

I ordered from All Cosmetics Wholesale a couple weeks ago and I am quite happy with the purchase. For international shipping, it didn't take very long at all, only a few weeks. One of my eyeshadows in the quad I purchased is cracked, but I'm not too concerned. To be honest, I expected it, and it's not the worst crack I've ever seen.

Also, in terms of price, I spent a total of $35.96, which in pounds is 22.35 pounds. It's a pretty good deal, seeing as I would of paid quite a bit more for all those cosmetics if I had gone to Boots or something.

So here's what I got!:

L'oreal HIP Jelly Balms in Plush, Luscious, and Savory ($8.99 for all three)

I'm quite happy with these! They're pretty pigmented for glosses, but don't show up hugely on your lips. But, I expected that, and they're very moisturizing and glossy without being sticky. I plan on using these on their own when I'm too lazy for lipstick, but I also plan on putting them over my lipsticks!

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipsticks in Pink Of Me and So Pearly ($1.99 each)

Let me start off by saying, THAT'S NOT A PINK. Haha. I went by the name, since I couldn't find any swatches online of the color. I mean, when a color is called "Pink Of Me" I expect a pink. But it's far more of a deep dark red/plum. While it's not what I was expecting, it is a very in season color, but not sure I'll be brave enough to wear it much. So Pearly is just a shimmery color and I think it will go well with the glosses I got, since it's not wearable on it's own.

Maybelline Mineral Power Luminous Blush in Classic Mauve ($3.99)

I love this color! I couldn't get a good swatch of it, but I'm wearing it below in the photos. It didn't take much product to add a lovely pop of color to my cheeks. It's shimmery but not too shimmery on the face.

Maybelline Expert Wear Shadow Quad in Bold Blossoms ($3.50)

These are far from the most pigmented eyeshadows I own, but they blend amazingly well and I love the look that can be created with them. I also really like the crease and outer corner colors and will use them on their own as well as with the rest of the shadows in the set.

Completed eye look (using the Bold Blossoms quad, 17 Wild Curls Mascara and 24/7 Urban Decay Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero):

So Pearly:

So Pearly+Plush Jelly Balm:

A lil look using the blush, eyeshadow quad, and the above lip combo:

Classic Mauve blush on my cheeks:

Pink Of Me:

Pink Of Me + Luscious Jelly Balm:

Same lip combo as above:

Savory Jelly Balm:

Overall, I'm really happy with what I got! Has anyone else ordered them ACW before? Here's the website if you're interested:

http://www.allcosmeticswholesale.com/index.html