Reconsidered 2012 Favorites

Looking back over my favorites posts I noticed that some items that I listed are really not favorites anymore or I still like BUT I'm not as hype over them as I was when I did the post. For January, February and March I wasn't using my own pics and got freaked out from using ones from the Internet. I took them down and was going to post my own if I still had the product. Hadn't gotten around to it yet. I actually started this post in January but then kind of forgot about it. Whoops! So here they are.

From January
Only one item stuck out from January and it's the Revlon Photo Ready Volume 3D Mascara. At first I loved it and thought it was really good. The more I used it I was like oh no. It flaked something terrible on me. I would look in the mirror and go ekkkkk! So I pitched it and would not repurchase.

A possible try again item is the Ruby Kisses Eyeshadow Primer. I remembered really liking it. Thing is it's hard to find. I know most people find Ruby Kisses items in no name beauty supply stores. I had ordered it online from a beauty supply store. If I see it while I'm out and about I would scoop it up. But I'm not going to order it online just because.

From February
Another mascara that I loved at first was Benefit's They're Real Mascara. The thing that turned me off was that I noticed my lashes coming off when I would remove it. Just a lash or two but it was like that each time I would remove it in the evening. So that kind of freaked me out. I read some reviews on Sephora and others had experienced the same. So I pitched it. Also I'm over mascaras that make my lashes feel hard and this one did. A bunch of people love this mascara but it just isn't for me.

From March
Still loving everything from March :D

From April
All good for April! :D

From May
I'm kind of over Lancome's Hypnose Drama mascara. The brush is different. Not in a bad way but you have to work with it a little more. I think it's good for night time but not really as an everyday mascara. I prefer Lancome's Definicils Precious Cells over Hypnose Drama.

From June
Two more mascaras to mention! The Rimmel Sexy Curve Mascara was just ok. Like I said it the post it only gave me length. Wasn't a big fan. L'Oreal's Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black *sigh* I wanted to like this. It's a cult favorite. For me it seemed too much. To me it was kind of goopy and didn't separate my lashes well. If I were going to try the Voluminous Mascaras again I'd stick with the original.

From July
Nothing from July :D

From August
In August I mentioned that I had been loving Cetaphil's moisturizer  I did like it at the time. The more I used it I realized it wasn't a good fit for my skin but I continued to use just so I could use it up. Then I kind of got feed up and was like nope. So I used it as a hand and body lotion.  Bare Minerals moisturizer for combination skin is a better fit for my skin.

From September
Oh boy another doggone mascara! I picked up the L'Oreal Voluminous Full Definition. It was ok at first. I like it for a short period of time and them I hated it. It's funny L'Oreal used to be my favorite brand for mascaras from the drugstore. Now I'm kind of over them.

From October
Phone case from eBay. The day after I did my favorites post, the design on that joker started peeling! So I took it off. No more hard cases for me! Hmph!

From November
Still loving everything from November :D

From December
Everything from December is still good :D

And there you have my 2012 favorites re-review. It's funny how you love something one minute and over it the next.

April 2013 Top 3

Ok so I had this post pretty much done in April and had meant to post it before my work trip. Which didn't happen. In looking at what I thought were favorites had me going hmmm. So I thought back over what I had been reaching for and really loving and re-did the post and got it back down to 3. Originally there were 6 things. So here we go!

Every now and then I reach for my Urban Decay Naked palette and fall in love with it over again each time. I love colored eye looks but I'm a neutral girl at heart. You can create a bunch of looks from simple to dramatic with this palette. This time around I used more of the lighter shades in the palette. When I first got it I only used about 5 of the shades and was kind of  "afraid" of the lighter shades. But now that I'm more comfortable with applying eyeshadows and know how to make things work for me skin tone, I don't have a problem with the lighter shades in the palette. I took it with me on my work trip as well. My favorite shadows in the palette are Buck and Darkhorse. I could wear these two shades together everyday and never get tired of them. It's one of my go to eye looks when I don't know what to do or don't feel like doing much. I love Urban Decay eyeshadows. I'm still debating if I want to pick up the Naked 2 palette. The Smoked palette is on my list to get.

I've had the Urban Decay All Nighter spray for a while now and have used it off and on. Wasn't sure if I needed to pitch it since I've had it for a while but it hasn't broken me out or irritated my skin, so I guess it's still good. When I first used it, I liked it but was never really wowed by it. I started using some new skin care products and they dried my out a little bit and my skin got flaky. So this made my Bare Minerals foundation look not so great. Once I applied it there were still some flakes. So I grabbed the UD spray, did a few spritz on my face and it really helped. It also helped keep my makeup in place all day.

Justin Timberlake's new album came out in March and I have been playing in non-stop in my car. I also have it on my phone. The album just flows from beginning to end. I love the beats and the outros he did on almost all the songs. It's like 2 songs in 1. It's hard for me to say what my favorite songs are. At first I kept listening to 2 or 3 and now I keep listening to another 2 or 3 on repeat. I will say that Mirrors is probably my main favorite. I first heard it when he performed on Saturday Night Live and kept listening to it on Spotify until I got the CD. Love the video for it too. JT is really on his grown man flow and I love it! He's coming to my area in August but I won't be able to go due to a work meeting. I know it's early but I'm calling this as album of the year.

On to May!

March 2013 Top 3

Happy March! Spring has sprung! Well somewhat but the warm weather is coming and I cannot wait! Played around with a bunch of stuff this month but it was kind of hard to pick three things that wowed me. Here's what I picked.

A go to eye combo that I reached for towards the end of February into March, was Maybelline's Color Tattoo in Rich Mahogany and MAC's Extra Dimension eyeshadow in Havana. For me this is the perfect smoky brown eye look that will go with just about any lip/check combo and can be worn day or night. I've been trying to use the Color Tattoos I have more since I have most of them and I do like them. The MAC Extra Dimension shadows came out last year and they are really nice shadows. They are very smooth and easy to blend. Both products were limited edition. MAC is coming out with a collection that has new extra dimension shadows next month I believe.

Maybelline Color Sensational High Shine Lip Glosses are new glosses to the Maybelline line. I started out wth Rasperberry Reflections. I picked up Mocha-mazing and Luminous Latte about a week ago. THEN I got two more.  I picked up two more that are limited edition ones in Mirrored Plum and Fiercely Fuchsia.  Can I just say that I'm lightweight over limited edition stuff, especially at the drugstore. (rant for another post).  These are some great glosses with great pigmentation, shine, are comfortable to wear and you can't beat the price. I have my eye on a few more shades and perhaps a backup of Mirrored Plum since it's limited edition and a gorgeous shade that I know I'll get a lot of wear out of.

I picked up Essie's Pillow Talk during an Ulta visit. It was on sale so I was like why not.  This is the perfect polish when you don't want a whole lot going on your nails, but you want something on them other than clear polish. Very sublte and pretty. I didn't think it would look good on me. Some lighter shades don't pair well against my skin tone but this one is great and would work on any skin tone.

Well there you have. Straight to the point this month. On to April and the beginning of work travel *two thumbs down*

Take the Passion's Prey Pledge!

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Calling all readers! For those of you that like paranormal stories, check out The Shadow Shifters Series by A.C. Arthur. She is one of my favorite authors. Ms. A.C. can write ok!! Book 3 in the series is out today! She is doing a contest along with the release. So check it out and Take the Passion's Prey Pledge today!!!!

What Do I Desire?

This video goes along with my "Be Happy" post. This video is awesome and is so true! A perpetual cycle of chasing the almighty dollar. If you love what you do then the rest will fall into place. The world is changing and we can't continue the same cycle. Look where it has gotten up now. I'll leave it at that for now because I could go on :)

Bloglovin

Since Google Reader is going bye bye, I'm checking out bloglovin. Let's see how this goes.

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Be Happy...

Messing around Instagram on last Monday morning, I came across this Helen Keller quote:

"Be happy with what you have while working for what you want. So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied."

I always see quotes that I like but for some reason this on really really spoke to me. So much that I have it up on my wall at work. We all have our issues, bad days, etc. But when you sit back and take stock of who you are, what you have and what you have accomplished its like wow. Lord knows I have issues. I've posted about them. Even though things have been rough and I've questioned a lot of things, I am very fortunate and blessed beyond measure.

In Beyonce's recent documentary "Life is But a Dream", there's a part where she talks about becoming her own manager.  The first question she asked herself is "what do you want"? That part stuck with me. It kind of goes with this part of the Helen Keller quote "while working for what you want". I guess you can say I've thought about this in passing. The last "big goal" I had was to get my Masters degree. Which I did get in 2011. Then I focused on my weight loss efforts. I've lost some weight but I've kind slacked off and gained some of it back. And now....crickets. I feel like I'm just going through the motions of life but I don't have the "next thing" I working towards personally or professionally.  In short, I don't know that I want.  There are some personally things going on directly and indirectly that have impacted my current behaviors and feelings. So I guess it is time for me to re-assess some things and get to working on what I want and be happy in the process.

Stay tuned...