Tuesday, July 30, 2013

July 2013 Top Ummm....

Ok sooooo I tried to stick with 3 items lol. It's my birthday month and I liked a lot of stuff this month, so let's get to it!

Eyes

I had meant to mention Bare Minerals Ready 2.0 in The Escape last month but it slipped my mind. I picked this up from Ulta when I have some reward dollars to use. At first I thought this wouldn't work for my skin tone. I should have known better. The two shades are Daydream (nude cream) and Wanderlust (brown suede). It is the perfect duo for an everyday/any occasion eyelook. You can play it up with any lip/cheek combo. I had to force myself to put it aside to use some other products.

I grabbed Lancome's Hypnose Star mascara to play around with and loved using it. I like this better than Hypnose Drama. It's less messy and easier to apply. I love the formula, the wand and it's easy to remove. Their Hypnose line claims volume which this does give but it also lengthens and separates the lashes nicely. I plan on repurchasing it when I use some other mascaras up or it I can find a deal/coupon to use.

I have had The Balm's Nude'Tude palette for a while now. I think I got it via Hautelook. I've used it a few times. I like it but I wasn't wowed by it. I even asked another makeup lover if she wanted but she never responded to my email. So I grabbed it again and started playing with it and I do really like this palette. It's their take on the neutral palette craze that seems to still be going strong. You can get a lot of looks out of this palette, from simple daytime to a smokey eye for the evening.

Mally Evercolor Eyeliner in Espresso is a deep dark brown shade which is my favorite color eyeliner. Sometimes black liner can be too much. A nice dark brown liner gives definition to an eye look without being too harsh. Her liners apply smoothly and last nicely on me.

Face

Bare Minerals Flawless Finish Brush came in the Problem Solving Brush Collection  that I purchased from QVC when it was a One Time Only value. This brush is amazing! It is super soft and does give you a flawless finish. I use it with Mineral Veil. It would also be perfect to use once you finish your face makeup and want to blend everything in. If I could purchase this brush outside of the kit, I would get another one.

Another brush I have been loving is Elf's Powder Brush. I had originally bought this brush to use with liquid foundation due to reviews I had seen people mentioning that the like it with liquid foundation. To me it was just ok for liquid foundation. Emilynoel83 had mentioned in a video that she had be using it with powder and said it would be good with mineral foundations. I was like well huh? Gave it a go with my Bare Minerals foundation and I LOVE IT!!!! Seriously! It makes the application of the foundation super easy and blends it in beautifully. Not bad for a $3 brush. I haven't seen it in my Target recently but I'll keep checking. I want at least two more. I tweeted Emily gushing over her recommendation. I'm always kind of shocked when she tweets me back lol. She is very sweet and down to earth.

My beauty pusher Crystalis007 had did a video on mixing products. She a big blush mixer. I had never mixed my blushes before. I had purchased  Black Radiance's Baked Blush in Plum Sorbet. I like it but it didn't show up enough for me on my cheeks. So randomly I mixed it with La Femme's Purple Passion blush. LOOOOOOVEEE!!

In another one of her videos, I believe Crystal was talking about must have products and she mentioned a cleansing oil. Someone had commented on that video saying they use coconut oil and a baby wipes as a makeup remover. I was like hold time. I have a jar of coconut oil (Nutiva) and I ALWAYS have baby wipes on hand (CVS brand is my favorite). So I said let me try this out. I did and I LOVE it. Melts the makeup right off and no irritation to my eyes or my skin. I follow up with my Clarisonic and whatever cleanser I have on hand. I will be sticking with this and it's most cost effective that purchasing makeup remover wipes or a cleansing oil.

I've mentioned MAC blush in Notable before so I'll be brief lol. I love this blush and seriously could use it everyday. I'm going to force myself to put it away. It's described as a muted brick rose color and rose colored blushes are my favorite blush color for my skintone. If you can find it on eBay for a decent price or CCO....grab it!

Random
Another favorite for the month was that I actually met my beauty pusher Crystalis007! She lives in my area and she emailed me saying we should meet and that her husband wanted to meet me too. He's gotten a chuckle or two from comments I have posted on her blog lol. So we nailed down a date and time and dinner was had. Both Crystal and her husband were super duper nice and I had a good time.

And something different....an item I hauled during July that I'm calling as early fav for August. I've only used it a few times but I love it already LOL! As an Ulta beauty member, I got a $10 off coupon for my birthday. First I said I was going to use it on some new Bare Minerals items from their Power Neutrals collection. But from seeing swatches online and seeing items in the store I decided to pass *pats self on the back*.  So I walked around and looked at this, that and the other. Then it hit me....fool get something that you've been wanting!!! Duh! *head palm* So I picked up Urban Decay's Smoked palette. I've been wanting it since it launched and now I have it woot!



Phew and there you have it! Work trip next month and I have been pre-packing in my head. The makeup portion always makes me want to scream LOL! Back to our regularly scheduled top 3 in August!!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Book Lovin - Book book vs ebook

(Courtesy of Microsoft)

Yes I said book book lol. No but seriously as an avid reader the whole physical book vs ebook has me going in circles!!! I purchased a Nook Color as a graduation gift to myself in 2011 when I finished up my Masters and I love it. I love the ease of reading on it in terms of adjusting the font size, the back lightening and even the ease of accessing a book (which can get you in trouble since it is so easy lol). I'm debating if I want an Android tablet or a Kindle Fire (another discussion for another day).  I also feel that at times, I read faster on my Nook Color vs reading a print book. Of course that depends on the story at hand. If it's good I can read through a print book like it's nothing. From previous book related posts, I'm sure you have gathered I own a lot of print books. The dilemma now is, do I buy the print version or the the ebook version? Some books I have are part of a series or are from authors that I had purchased the majority of their books in print. My "collector brain" is like of course buy the print book. But in some instances the ebook is cheaper and I don't have to worry about finding space for another book. So that part of my brain is saying buy the ebook. Then there are occasions when an author will do special pricing on a new release of  book in ebook format.

One thing that makes my azz itch is when the ebook is the same price of the print book!!! I'm like are you kidding me!?!? That mess needs to stop! I've read various things were it is being "worked on". We shall see *insert eye roll* There have been times that I want to buy the ebook but it pisses me off to pay the same price for it as the print version. I may sound crazy but I'm not alone in feeling this way. I have talked with other book lovers who are facing the same "dilemma". Having an ereader or tablet was supposed to make things "easier" but now it seems to be making things more difficult when it comes to book buying purchases So I'm still at a loss lol. Readers what do you say? Anyone else facing this "dilemma"? Do you prefer a physical book or an ebook? Is there a happy medium? Chime in!