July 2012 Favorites

Here are my July favorites! Played around with quite a bit this month. It was my birthday so hey lol!

Eyes

CVS is somewhat pricier when it comes to beauty items at the drugstore BUT I think they have the best  beauty deals.  They had a deal were all Physicians Formula products $7.99 and above were $7 off.  I've never tried any of their stuff since it is pricey for drugstore.  So of course I haaddddd to see what I could find lol!  I ended up getting two of their Bake Collection eyeshadow trios in Baked Sands and Oatmeal for under $2.  Both are nice neutral shades.  They can be worn wet or dry.  They are really nice and have good staying power.

I had tried Covergirl LashBlast Mascara a while ago and I thought it was just ok.  After hearing 2 of my favorite youtubers (emilynoel83 and makeupbytiffanyd) talking about it recently I decided to give it another whirl since I'm stlll on my drugstore mascara hunt.  Surprisingly enough I really like it.  It's a good everyday mascara that provides good length, curl and volume for my lashes.  Of the drugstore mascaras I've played around with I haven't decided which I would repurchase.  I have one more that I was to try out it again.  Let's see if I can make a decision next month.

LORAC debuted on HSN this month.  I picked up the Pro Star Eye Tutorial Kit.  I have fallen in love with the LORAC Pro mascara.  The wand is interesting.  It starts out small at tip and get wider up the wand.  So you can read get your lashes in the inner and outer corners and bottom lashes.  I also love that the formula isn't super wet and make your lashes feel like lashes.  Some mascaras are so thick and goopey to apply and make your lashes feel not so great. Also they can be hard to remove.  I had no problems removing this one.  I think it's relatively new.  I went to Sephora's site to check out reviews and when I looked there were none.

Urban Decay's Black Palette has been on my wish list for a while. It came to Ulta recently and it was on sale. On top of that I had a 20% off coupon, so I had to scoop it up. All the shades in the palette are black based. Great for a smokey look. I actually wore the blue shade from the palette on my birthday :)  For me the look wasn't too dark but then again I don't always stick with makeup "rules" and wear what I want lol. It comes with the Zero eyeliner which I feel I have a million of. I would draw a thick line close the the lash line and blend it out on my lid. Then I would take whatever shadow, place it on the lid and up into the crease. Viola! I may check out some tutorials on YouTube since right now all I've done is one color all over the lid which is ok with me. Still a little inspiration wouldn't hurt.

Bobbi Brown gel liners are some of my favorites. With the release of the new Twilight Desert collection a new shade was released. Twilight Night Shimmer Ink is a very pretty blackened plum shade with subtle shimmer. I've mainly worn it with a neutral eye. I saw a blog post where it was worn on its own and it looked just a pretty.

So I picked up another Lancome palette.  I picked up the Desert Sunset palette from HSN. I've had my eye on for a while and was like what the hey. It's has 6 shadows of beige, coral, pinks and brown. The Deep Brown shadow in this palette is everything! I've worn it all over the lid for a brown smokey eye, outer corner and in the crease. I love it! If I could purchase it on its own I would. The other shades in the palette are just as nice. They are easy to apply, easy to blend and I didn't experience any fallout.

Lips

The Revlon Kissable Balm Stains have been all the rage on YouTube and in the blogging world.  I only have one in Love sick.  It's a very pretty color and wears well on the lips. I may pick up one of the red shades.

So I wandered over to Walgreens looking for Wet n' Wild's Cherry Picking lipstick.  I didn't find it but I did stumble upon Spotlight Red and what a red it is!  I've kind of been on a red lip kick thanks to crystalis007's Red Lipstick Posts earlier this month.  When I wear it I don't top it with a gloss because once applied it has a sheen to it. Also I love how it wears during the day kind of like a stain.  I really don't need to reapply but of course I do.  I'm sure this a dupable red for a higher end lipstick.  I have two other Mega Last Lipsticks in neutral/lighter shades. Will definitely check out other shades.  You can't beat a good lipstick for $1.99.

My Makeup D'oh post not too long ago was about Revlon's Super Lustrous lipstick in Mink. I ended up purchasing two of these by accident *head palm*. Good thing I really like it lol. I have the extra one in my makeup bag that I keep in my handbag. I picked it up off a recommend from Destiny Godley. She did a YouTube video recently about nude lipsticks and glosses for women of color. Her recommendations are usually spot on. This works well for me as a nude lipstick. It doesn't make me looked washed about and I don't have to do a lot to "make it work". I do use a brown lip liner like I always do. I've been rocking this when I've worn a like using The Black Palette.

Face

So you all already know that I'm kind of obsessed with the tarte Amazonian Clay blushes.  I picked up another from Ulta when I had a 20% off coupon.  This time I got Blushing Bride.  It's described as a plumy rose.  For my skin tone it's a good everyday kind of blush.  I like the shimmer it and that it gives a nice glow to the cheeks.  I have my eye on one more and then I think I'm good. Hopefully lol!

Another item that I picked up during the Physicians Formula sale at CVS were the Happy Booster blushes.  I got Rose and Natural.  I'm alway leery when purchasing blush because I automatically think that it will not show up on my face or I have to pack it on to get some pigmentation.  In the pan the Rose blush is really pretty and applies just as pretty on. So Rose is my fav. The Natural, meh *shrugs* need to play with it bit more.

I've talked about Bobbi Brown's Bronzing Powder before but I had to mention it again. I looooove this bronzer.  Finding the right bronzer is hard. I thought I had found my holy grail bronzer in Covergirl Queen Collection bronzer in Ebony Bronze but not so much. What  I love about Bobbi Brown's one is that 1) it's matte and 2) it doesn't have a red or orange undertone. With the Covergirl one it has a red undertone. So by the end of the day I have a red streak from where I contoured my face and that was NOT cool! I've had my Bobbi Brown one for a while and I just started hitting pan on and I do use it everyday. If this product was discontinued I'd be crushed!

I've been reaching for the Sephora Classic Mineral Powder brush to apply my Bare Minerals foundation.  It's very soft and helps buff in the foundation without it appearing cakey on my face.  I really like wetting this brush to apply the foundation.  When I do hunty my face is beat ok!!  May try this with the Sigmax round kabuki one that I have to see if I get the same results.

Nails

I received Julep Yumi in my July Maven box. It's a pretty pink and silver glitter polish. I like how it's a full glitter. I didn't have to pack it on for the glitter to show on my nails.

So one of my nail polish loving sorority sisters emailed me a pic of Revlon's Gray Suede. She thought it would be a good neutral for her skin tone.  I liked it and was curious on how it would work for me. I found it Walgreens and tried it the next day. I paired iwth a purple shatter polish and I really liked it.  This one is good on it's own but also good to pair with shatter polishes or glitters were you want it to stand out and not fight against a color polish (if that makes sense lol).

Another release from Bobbi Brown's Twilight Desert collection were nail polishes. I dragged my heels on pick them up. I did get Turquoise and more than likely will pick up the other shade Twilight, I was leery in getting Turquoise because for some reason I thought it was a lot like Essie's Turquoise and Caicos. I'm happy to say it's not lol! To me the color is a little deeper and more vibrant. 

This and That

I've tried various of the Glade Plugins and I like them but I've never been wowed by any of the scents.  I picked up Lavender ad Peach Blossom randomly when I was at Target.  I have one in my bathroom and two in my bedroom.  As I was sitting, I was like oh this is nice!  I usually like Lavender scents but sometimes they can be too strong to me.  I guess the peach helps balance it out.  Not sure if the scent is limited edition or not but I will definitely pick this one up again.

I picked up Korres Guava Body Butter and Shower Gel duo from HSN based off of glowing recommendation on QVC's beauty banner board (another fav over the last few months that I haven't mentioned).  For the longest time I have trying to find a body lotion and shower gel that I can wear on its own or pair with whatever fragrance and it now overpower it.  By George I think I've found it! The scent it very light.  It reminds me of something but I can't place it. The shower gel has an awesome lather but it's not drying. The body butter is so nice, smooth and not greasy at all. My skin was literally soft and hydrated all day. I had a coupon and they were offering free shipping when I got this set. I will definitely be stalking HSN to see if it goes on another deal because I will be stocking up on this product. There are a couple of other scents I want to try next.

Philosophy Unconditional Love is I think my second favorite fragrance from philosophy. It's a sweet scent that reminds me of cotton candy and I wear all year round. I have the spray fragrance but recently picked a set from QVC that was a Today's Special Value. Everything in the set is super-sized. I received the body emulsion, body mist and olive oil scrub.

So arm candy and stacking bracelets seems to be all the rage. Typically I just wear a watch and call it a day. I have a gold tone bracelet that I purchased from QVC a while ago that has gotten more wear this month. I also picked up some bangles from Armitha Singh via a Hautlook sale. I didn't notice until after I ordered them that they're call the Beyonce Bangle set teehee! I heart her.

Phew that's it! Again pardon the typos and stuff that just doesn't make any sense.

I might start including reconsidered favorites and/or products that I'm kind of blah about.  Or separate posts all together. We shall see.

On to August!