May 2014 Favorites

May favorites. MAY doggone favorites! Jeez I feel like it should still be March. Anywho...

Ok I had this loooong blurb on how "torn" I was about keeping Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy that I mentioned last month. I said I was going to return it and then maybe get it in a rollerball. Yea well that didn't happen and I kept it lol! I really do like it. So that's that.

On to what I have been loving for the month of May!

Eyes

I picked up Smashbox's 24 Hour Photo Finish Shadow Primer before my work trip last month from Sephora. I had also purchased LORAC's Pro Primer which had been a past favorite but when I tried it again, it did not perform well on me like when I first used it. So it went back to Ulta. My "issue" is my right eye is slightly more hooded than my left, so shadows crease on my right eye. For giggles I picked up the Smashbox primer. I think it's a relatively new product. There were not that many reviews on Sephora's site when I got it, but all the reviews were really good. Rare I know. I got it home and I really liked. I had dubbed the Nars primer as my 'holy grail' but even that isn't performing like it used to. It has it good days and bad days. The Smashbox one performs about the same as Nars but I think I may like it a bit more. I like the packaging, how it get tacky once applied and I like how it blends out.

I've played around with 4 Bare Minerals loose eyeshadow sets this month. I enjoyed playing around with all of them. But the one I enjoyed  the most was Degrees of Dazzling. When this originally came out during the holidays last year, I passed on it. When I saw swatches, I thought it was pretty but I didn't think I would be wowed by it. Wrong! Of the larger loose eyeshadow sets I have, I think this is an all encompassing one. It has neutrals, colors, satins, mattes and smokier shades. If I had to recommend one loose Bare Minerals set then this would be it. I lucked up and got it on sale. It's no longer on Bare Minerals website. It is still available on QVC's site but at full price.

I took Tarte's Lights, Camara, Lashes with me on my work trip. It was on its last legs but I thought I could used it for another week. WRONG! I had to toss it. When my coworker made a CVS run, I asked her to picked up Covergirl Lashblast for me. It's been in my favorites before. It's one of my favorite (possibly my number one favorite) drugstore mascara. I like the formula, the wand, and how it gives me volume and length.

Ok I was DONE with this post until I tried Milani's Brow Shaping Gel in Clear and another Milani product I'll mention below when we get to nails. The Brow Gel one of their newer products that I had not seen in displays at CVS stores in my area. I saw it at CVS when I was in Florida but I decided to wait. Still looking when I got back home and was getting annoyed! I went to the CVS store I usually get prescriptions filled at and it was there. This is amazeballs! I tried it on my brows without filling them in and was shocked. It really does allow you to shape your brown hairs in place. Bummed that I just picked up a tube of Maybelline's clear mascara which is what I usually use on my brows. I guess I'll alternate between the two products. But once I'm done with Maybelline's clear mascara, I'm sticking with Milani! So if you're looking for a brow gel, pick this one up! It's less that $5!

Lips

Revlon's Firecracker is a very pretty orange gloss. I had put on an orange lipstick that was a bit brighter than I am comfortable wearing. So I grabbed Firecracker and it helped tone it down. I've worn it on it's own and it's really pretty. I will definitely get a lot of use out of this alone and with other orange and peach lipsticks.

When I went to Florida for work, I wanted to take a red lipstick with me. So I took Wet n Wild Fergie's Sangria. When I got back home, I continued to play around with it. It's a very pretty, inexpensive blue based red lipstick.

I picked up 2 lipsticks from the new Maybelline Buffs collection. I got Touchable Taupe and Untainted Spice. Both are beautiful brown girl friendly nudes. I paired both with Mally's Nude Light gloss. Goooorg! If you have a pinky nude type gloss, try that combo out.

Face

Along with playing around with a various loose eyeshadows from Bare Minerals, I also pulled out some blushes. I have been LOVING Marvelous Mauve. It is a good everyday, goes with anything color. It kind of reminds me of Tarte's Exposed blush. It gonna be hard to put this one away at the end of the month *shakes fist at blush drawer*

For the longest time, the bronzer that I have been crushing on is Bobbi Brown's Bronzing Powder in Deep Chocolate. I have hit serious pan on it but still have a lot of product left. I put it aside and have been using the Mally Visible Bronzer in Deeper for a while now and I really really like it. It's matte like Bobbi Brown's and it not muddy like some brown bronzers can been. It is brown without any hint or orange or red in it which I love. The Bobbi Brown bronzer I got was limited edition. I have searched and searched. I can't find another one. Mally's is no longer be available. I have checked Mally's website and QVC. I tweeted her asking if she's bringing back and she said no. Gah!!!! I have found a few sellers that have it on eBay. So we shall see if I pick another one up.

Nails

There was a Walgreens close to the hotel where I was staying in Florida. We went in there a couple of times for various odd and ends. One trip, my coworker noticed that Covergirl Outlast Nail Polishes were buy one, get one half off. The young lady working in the beauty section mentioned that she had $2 off coupons. So I got 4 polishes with an additional $4 off my purchase. Not bad huh? I got . Of the 4 colors (Show Stopper, Smokey Taupe, Mojito Madness and Out of the Blue), Mojito Madness and Smokey Taupe are my favorites.

Body

Sofia Vergara launched her new fragrance Sofia on HSN in April. A sample card came with a previous order, so I got chance to smell it beforehand. It was right up my "fragrance alley". So I ordered it. It was waiting for me when I got back. I wore it for a week straight and then off and on for the month. I love it! The notes in the fragrance are:

• Top: Cassis buds, juicy blackberries and luscious plum nectar 
• Mid: Purple violet, Colombian rose and Colombian luna musica orchid 
• Base: Earthy woods softened with toasted praline, vanilla absolute and creamy sandalwood 

I am going to briefly mention philosophy's Fresh Cream yet again. They are having a TSV on June 7. I was able to pre-order it. Here are the links (single shipment or auto delivery) to it if you're interested in checking it out now. There are two other scents that will be presented along with Fresh Cream. I got my hands on the body lotion and the body spritz. If I wasn't already in love with the scent, these two products helped seal the deal! Amazeballs! When I saw the picture of the TSV, I was like, oh the lotion must be a 12oz or 16oz bottle. It looked small. Welllllll no. The shower gel is 64oz! The lotion is the regular super size of 32oz. Of course I opted for auto delivery, so I'll have another shipment coming in November. You can up the quantity on auto deliveries. I'm trying to talk myself out of getting an extra one. I've used a good amount of the shower gel that I got in March. So yea I'm set on bath and body stuff for a a good while! Other unopened shower gels I have on hand will probably turn into Christmas gifts this year and I'm cool with that. Helps me save some $$ on gift shopping annnnnnd I can get products out of my stash. It's a win win! Fresh Cream is tops for me. Didn't I say briefly mention? Jeez girl hush up!

Random Stuff

Popcorn Indiana's Aged White Cheddar Popcorn is a new lovely addiction that was sitting on a table at work where we put snacks out to share. I thought my coworker had gotten it and I ribbed her about it. She was like no our boss got it. I got a bag to snack on during my work trip and I picked up another bag once I got home. It is so good and I like that it's all natural. It's gluten free, non-GMO corn, no preservatives, no trans fat and no high fructose corn syrup. Yum yum!!

Let's talk purses for a sec!

I went back and forth on what bag I was going to take with me on my work trip. I ended up taking my Dooney & Bourke Jumble Duck Tote. This is the perfect tote and not just for travel. It is a nice size tote without being too big and obnoxious like some totes can be. But you can still get a lot of stuff in it. Plus it a fun tote for spring and summer. I just love the size. I looked into some of the newer totes that Dooney has come out with and I wish there were similar to this one in terns of size and shape. I was poking around on Michael Kors' site and there's a polka dot tote similar in size to this one that I have my eye on. I could seriously could carry this bag and all spring and summer.

When I travel for work I also try to take something smaller with me. I don't do small bags on a regular basis but you do need them from time to time. I ended up throwing this Coach pouchette (not sure of the actual name of it) in my suitcase. This was PERFECT! I threw essential items like my room key, cash, cards, lippie and a few other items. It held what I needed when I was out and about but didn't want to keep up with my tote. I usually throw a cross body bag in my suitcase but I like this so much better. My coworker liked it too and said she was going to look into finding something similar. She had a larger wristlet which was fine but she wanted something smaller.

Surprise Products of the Month

I'm such a sucker lol. Mally Beauty had a palette TSV last yar and of course I opted for auto delivery. The set came with a palette, 3 liners, mascara and under eye brightener. I saw pictures and swatches of the palette that was in the last shipment. I was "good" and said it's pretty but I don't need it. So I cancelled the order. Of course my simple self was curious to see if the the Citychick Loving Life palette was available on its own and my lightweight OCD kicked in. I mean I have the other palettes right? So why not round it out and get the last one right? *sigh* Indeed the palette was available on its own. So I watched the video for the palette. They palette was on wait list So theeeennnnnn I wondered if I could reinstate my auto delivery *shifty eyes* Here's the thing *pauses*, QVC allows you to reinstate an auto delivery pending that  it's still available. So I reinstated it and it shipped to me a couple of days later and now I have yet another palette. Sick I tell you. So in the midst of playing around with loose Bare Minerals sets, I played around with this palette a couple of times.  I'm glad I did get it. Isn't it pretty? I didn't think I would have liked it this much. Of the Mally palettes I have gotten my hands on, I think this one is my favorite. I'm toying around with getting the In the Buff palette, which is the first full sized palette she released.

I received the second shipment in the Bare Minerals Glamour Now TSV. When I got it and saw the blush and Moxie gloss. I was like oh ok. I wasn't wowed by the shades. The blush is called Tropical Sunset and it's described as a bright pop of pink. The Moxie gloss is called Glamourista and it's described as a candied pink. Both applied are gorgeous!!! Most Bare Minerals blushes are buildable but Tropical Sunset you can REALLY build it to the color that it is in the pot. Glamourista is a beautiful pink. It's a my lips but better shade if you have pigmented pink lips which I do but it still gives you a bit of a pop. If that makes sense.

I went into to CVS to look for a magazine and as always I trolled the beauty section. In the Milani display I saw a clear polish. I was like what's this? I've never seen a clear polish in a Milani display. It was their Quick Dry Top Coat. I was like bwah!!!? I did not know that Milani had one. There were two in the display. They were 50% off so I got both and crossed my fingers since I have never tried it before. Another amazeballs product from Milani. It's very similar to the NYC quick dry top coat that I love. It did not take long for my nails to dry at all. I also hit a few nails will I messing around on my laptop and there were no nicks! So I'm glad I got the two bottles.

Meh Products of the Month

In my April/May polish play post. I mentioned that I picked the OPI Today's Special (Iconic Nail Lacquers and Mani Essentials set) from HSN. In that set the Expert Touch Lint-Free Nail Wipes and Expert Touch Lacquer Remover were included. I don't get the wipes at all! There are thin, so you really can't get them moist like a cotton ball. Then I felt like I could only get polish of a finger and half. With the polish remover, the only thing I liked  is the bottle lol! It's a good one to travel with since it is a thicker plastic with a nice cap. So I will be keeping the bottle for travel purposes. The nail polish remover itself wasn't anything special. I still prefer the Beauty Secrets Acetone in the nourishing formula.

And there you have it. Phew!! On to June and more girly shenanigans!