April 2015 Top 5

A hodgepodge of favorites this month. This is kind of early but I wanted to get this up before my work trip. So let's get to it!

Balsamic Vinegar & Basil Triscuits

I randomly stumbled across these in Safeway and I have purchased several boxes since lol! This flavor pairing sounded interesting.  I usually stick with the regular Triscuits and eat them on their own or with hummus. They're so good! Glad I took a chance on them.

belVita Breakfast Biscuits

I've eaten these off and on for a while. Recently I have been enjoying them more so for some reason. I eat these mainly at work with my coffee. Sometimes I'll eat a bowl of cereal or oatmeal later in the morning. Other times I'll just eat these and they do keep me full through lunchtime. I've also noticed that by dinner time, I am not as hungry as I typically am when I get home. Which I think has helped me not overeat at dinner. I also like the soft baked ones.

Essie Marshmallow and Zoya Monet

A random pairing that I did one evening when I painted my nails. I ended up really liking  these two polishes together. This just may be my go to nail look for the summer. It's light and festive. I'm telling you, Monet is a serious front runner for my 2015 favorite nail polish.

LORAC Pro to Go palette

I've had this palette for a good while now. I've used it here and there but never really USED it. So I played around with it this month and enjoyed using it. I was planning to take it with me to San Diego for work. I picked up another palette during the spring Beauty Insider sale that I plan on taking instead. It might show up in a post in May. This palette was so easy to use. The shadows are pigmented and easy to blend. This is a good everyday/don't think about it palette. It can easily take you from day to night. The LORAC Pro 2 palette has popped in and out of my want list. I may look into when I get my $10 off birthday coupon from Ulta. I enjoyed the blushes and the bronzer I used as an eyeshadow. If you're curious about LORAC shadows then this palette is a good place to start.

Olay Foaming Face Wash Combination/Oily

I can't remember if I have mentioned this in a favorites post or not. This is the best cleanser that I have used hands down. I'm not saying this because it's inexpensive. I'm saying it because it's that good. It's on the level with the L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Serum for me. When I crack open a new tube, I go and purchase another one since I don't want to be without it. This was a random purchase last year. It got put to the test last summer when I had a lot of travel going on and I only want to travel with one cleanser. I mainly use it in the evening when I remove my makeup but it's awesome to use in the morning too. It gets my face clean, my face doesn't feel stripped and my skin feels so doggone soft! I've been reading various articles about cleansers and most say that you don't have to spend a lot of money on a good cleanser. Especially since cleansers don't stay on your face long. If you're looking for a cleanser try this! There's also a sensitive version as well.

Short and sweet! On to June!

Foundation Overload!

Ok I don't know how this happened! Oye. As I mentioned in my recent no buy post, foundation (including BB and CC creams) isn't something that I go crazy buying. If I find something I like then I stick with it. Don't know when I started deviating from that. The recent additions have been from the drugstore which is a good thing since I was able to use coupons and catch deals. Still there's a lot going on.

It's not the best pic but here is my current foundation collection. I also threw in the various concealers I have too for giggles.

First row: Tarte Marcuja Miracle Foundcealer, Black Radiance Color Perfect Oil Free Liquid Makeup, Covergirl Queen All Day Flawless Foundation, Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation

Second Row: Black Radiance BB Cream, Covergirl Queen CC Cream, Bare Minerals Blemish Ready Foundation, Bare Minerals Matte Foundation

Third Row: Bobbi Brown Face Touch Up Palette, Mally Age Rebel Nourishing Concealer, Black Radiance True Complexion Under Eye Corrector & Concealer, Bare Minerals Stroke of Light, The Balm Time Balm Concealer, NYX Above & Beyond Full Coverage Concealer, Black Up Concealer Palette | Magic Quad, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye

Lawd this is a lot of stuff!  It helps to actually SEE everything. Some I purchased, some I won in giveaways and some were gifted to me. I did forget to pull out Bobbi Brown's Touch Up Stick and Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue *head palm*. If I had to pick a top 3 from what I currently have it would be the Bare Minerals Matte foundation, Covergirl All Day Flawless foundation and the Black Radiance BB Cream. There are a couple high end ones that I might try this year. Keyword being might *sigh* LOL! But looking at the picture again, I need to have multiple seats!

No Buy Success!

I did it woohoo! *two step*

For Lent, I went on a makeup no buy. I didn't say anything because I had already received some not so supportive comments from some who probably thought they were "joking" with me,but that's not how I took it. So I decided to keep it to myself and talk about when I was done.

It was really broad at first but then I was like no, if you're going to do this you need to be specific! So basically Skincare, hair care and tools like brushes weren't included. I did pick up a few eye primers and color tattoos to try out as primers since I am still have issues with my eye looks lasting. Which I am very annoyed by *sigh*. So mainly color products like lippies, nail polish, blush, and single eyeshadows and eyeshadow palettes were included. I also included foundations including BB creams, tinted moisturizers, etc. since I had picked up quite a few in the last month or so. I almost caved and ordered the new Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation just a few days before Lent was over. Phew!

 I was really put to the test when Lancome had an AWESOME Today's Special which of course was a good deal. I had it in my cart before I left work but then I forgot about it. When I got home, I looked at it again and then I was like NO! You're on a no buy and pretty or not, you don't need it! So I did not order it. During this time I did some reorganizing of my stash and future "planning".  This always helps put your beauty buying habits into perspective lol.

Going forward I'm going to continue with a no buy in some areas and a "low" buy in others. Here's my thought process for certain "beauty areas".

• Nail polishes - I am going to continue my no buy for nail polishes. I've had my eye on ones here and there. But honestly I'm sure I have something similar already in my nail polish stash. It'll have to be something pretty unique to make me buy. I reorganized my nail polishes too and everything fits. So I really don't have room for anything new.
• Lippies - Same goes with lippies. I do have my eye on some of the new NYX lippies but I'm waiting to see if Ulta does a 40% off sale. I also have my eye on some items from Colour Pop and Coloured Raine. But again we'll see and I will definitely compare colors with what I already have in my stash too.
• Blush - I don't really have my eye on any blushes except one from MAC in Coygirl that's discontinued. I found a seller on eBay but it sold. So I'll probably forget about it now. I have poked around on Colour Pop's website looking at the blushes that they launched not too long ago and there's maybe one from Tarte I may pick up.
• Highlighters -  I have been looking at several highlighters from Becca and The Balm. So we'll see if any of those come home with me. I was never really all that into highlighters. Don't know what has changed. But I have a nice stash of them so far. I'm going to sound like a broken record, but it'll have to be something unique for me to pick up any additional highlighters.
• Eyeshadows....*sigh* I think I'm eyeshdaow palette out. Shocking I know. I've eyed a few here and there but I'm not really wowed by anything. After a while they all start looking similar. The MAC 15 palettes have caught my eye, but I really don't feel like shelling out $85. One from Laura Mercier that I wanted is back on Sephora's website. If I get it, it may be my last palette purchase for a while. I've been looking more so at single shadows from L'Oreal and Jane Cosmetics. Again waiting to see what kinds of deals I can score from Ulta. I've also eyed some from Colour Pop. It's funny how now I'm shifting towards single shadows when I have always been about palettes other than Bare Minerals loose shadows.
• Foundations - I have never been a foundation junkie. I have picked up a few along with BB and CC creams. I have found ones that I really like and will stick with those. I was thinking about checking out some higher end ones but now I'm like what for??!!
• Mascaras - I am going to try some past favorites from the drugstores again and try to narrow down maybe my top 2 or 3. I don't plan to purchase any high end mascaras unless they come in a kit or come together in a bundle for a good deal. QVC does a lot of mascara bundles around the holidays.
• Brushes - I have gone a little brush crazy on and off since Christmas but that's slowing down. The only brand that I'm hype about is Real Techniques. So I'll keep an eye on what they come out with and scoop sales from Ulta. I'm also still a fan on Bare Minerals brushes and have my eye on two but now I'm leaning towards not getting them. I was also debating on checking out the IT Cosmetics brush line at Ulta but I'm leaning towards not even bothering with that either.
• Hair Products - I have A LOT going on under my bathroom sink *covers eyes*. So I'm definitely in use up mode for hair stuff and only replenish what I need. Plus I won a giveaway with some hair products from the Amla Legend line by Optimum Care! I've used all the items a couple of times and so far so good. They may show up in a post. I'm also trying to decide what I'm going to do going forward in terms of future Wen purchases. There are a few products from Shea Moisture I want to try but it's not like I have to get them right now. So they'll be on the list for a future purchase once I use some products up.
• Skincare Products - Similar to hair products, I don't need any additional skincare. I like the regimen that I have right now and I'm going to stick with it. I've picked up a couple of new scrubs from St. Ives and another mask from Freeman Beauty. So I really don't need anything else. Luckily I stocked on various products during sales. So I'll only to replenish the L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Serum since that's the item that I use up the fastest. I have my eye on a cleanser I may try when it comes back it stock online. I almost caved on some Paula's Choice products towards the end of March. Then I was like bish if you do not get off this website!!!

I think that's it lol. But course it's subject to change. It's all an ongoing process. I just have to program it in my brain that I already have something I like and works,especially when it comes to everyday "basics" like primer, foundation, cleansers, etc. So stick with those items and stop looking at others!

In addition to the no buy, I also read the "ReThink Life: 40 Day Devotional" which I really enjoyed as well.

Ok enough rambling.

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter. If you don't celebrate Easter then Happy Sunday fun day!

TTFN - Ta ta for now!

Product Play April 2015

Happy April! Can you believe that it's already April! I feel like I say this every month lol.

Here's what I messing around with this month.

Palette Play

Lancome Desert Sunset, Tarte Be Your Own Tarteist, LORAC Pro to Go, Bobbi Brown Bronze Eye Palette, Missy Lynn Eyeshadow & Baked Highlighter Palette

This month I'm going to play around with some smaller palettes. So I will be using them for a week or maybe just a few days here and there. I also have work travel towards the end of the month and I have no clue what makeup I'm taking with me. I may take the Tarte palette if I like the eye looks. The Naked On the Run palette has popped in my head as well. Then I was looking for something and stumbled across the Bobbi Brown Bronze Eye Palette and that became an option. So I pulled it out too for giggles. I don't want to take a lot of stuff and keep it simple the week I'm there. I have to be up early and have some pretty long days. So the last thing I want to do is fuss with makeup. I'm kind of leaning towards an eye look for the week, one blush and a couple of lip colors.  Who knows what I'll end up taking.

Polish Play

Brown Sugar, All Hail the Queen, Wallis, Pistol Pink, Big Smoke, Bluey 

April is Butter London month! I usually take a couple of nail polishes with me when I travel as well. I may take Brown Sugar and something else.

Out of My Face

Still working on the primer and hair moisturizer from February and the bath and body products March.  Oye vey! But I am going to add the H2O+ dual action eye makeup remover to the mix. I've had it for a while and need to use it up. I like it but I have the CVS version of Ponds and I purchased Bioderma from Beautylish which I am liking A LOT!

Let the playing begin!

Next up I have some "shocking" news and a bit of a ramble. Stay tuned!