Saturday, August 29, 2015

August 2015 Top 5


Long time no see. August was a blah month. I cannot believe that we are going into September! I mean it was just April! I think my body knows Fall is coming and the days are getting shorter. I've been super tired/can't be bothered to do much lately. Oye vey! I need to get it together. The upside is that FOOTBALL is BACK!!!!! Woohoo!

Here's my top 5 for August and a bonus *shifty eyes*. Also since there are only a few products, I decided to throw in the meh and surprise products in this post. I didn't feel like doing a separate post. See laziness I tell you! I'll try not to be too chatty.

 Let's get to it!



MAC Raizin

I have been reaching for two blushes this month and they both happen to be from MAC. One is Notable which I have talked about before. The other is Raizin which I really hadn't reached for in a while and now I don't want to put it away. It's is a great everyday blush for deeper skin tones. It's described as golden reddish-brown and it's matte.

philosophy The Present

I purchased this when it was in the outlet section (sale section) of the philosophy website after hearing Wayne Goss rave about it. I got it for $15. The original price is $30. I've used it off and on and I liked it but wasn't wowed by it. It reminds me of the Rimmel Matte Primer. Since it's from philosophy, it has some good for you skincare benefits. The more and more I've used it with and without makeup, the more I have enjoyed it. It would repurchase it again, if I can catch it on sale.

Mask Duo

I was watching crystalis007's July favorites video and she mentioned doing a mask duo with two Glam Glow masks (Supermud Clearing Treatment and Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment). She said that it's a great at home spa treatment and using the two masks together had done great things for her skin. She recommended trying it out with similar products and that you didn't necessarily need the Glam Glow masks since they are expensive. I had two masks that were similar to The Supermud Clearing Treatment masks (Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque and Murad Clarifying Mash) but I didn't have a moisture mask. I picked up Queen Helene's Olive Oil Masque from Bed, Bath & Beyond. So I gave it a go alternating with the Queen Helene and Murad masks with the Queen Helene Olive Oil Masque and I LOVE the results. My skin felt super smooth, plump and hydrated. It's like a reset for your skin. The one mask pulls the gunk from your skin and the other soothes and puts moisture back into your skin. If you have some similar masks in your stash, give them both a whirl. This will probably be my Sunday evening treat going forward.

Covergirl Queen All Day Flawless Foundation

I've gushed over this foundation as a surprise product back in February. It was a favorite back March and now it's a favorite again. You can probably already guess that it's going to be my foundation of year when I do my 2015 favorites post. This has been my go to foundation for the month. I took it with me to Philly and I just can't stop using it. My friend says it's magic brown liquid and it really is. The coverage is great, it blends nicely into the skin, it lasts all day and doesn't break me out or irritate any breakouts that I may have. I want to check out the shade before and after Mocha just for giggles. I have two bottles on hand now. When I get to the second bottle, I will order two more. It is that serious and it's not a game. I don't want to be without this foundation. I don't want to get too crazy with backups since it does have an expiration date due the sunscreen being in it. If you have not tried this foundation, grab a bottle and give it a try. You will not be disappointed.

philosophy Summer Grace Whipped Body Creme

This is another philosophy product I scooped from the outlet section of philosophy's website. I had the spray fragrance and when I saw there was a whipped body creme, I wanted that too. Their whipped body cremes are one of my absolute favorite body moisturizers. This one however seems to leave my skin super soft and hydrated all day. The summer grace scent is described as a "warm, bright floral fragrance of sun-kissed bergamont, passion flower and warm coconut musk."

BONUS: Ubiquitous Hair and Health Trade Show

Sneaky sneaky with a bonus favorite lol! I went the Ubiquitous Hair and Health Trade Show last Saturday. I went last year and had a good time. This year it was held at the Convention Center downtown in DC. There was more room which was nice. You could sit down and grab a bite to eat. There seemed to be the same number of vendors but there were some new ones present. The plan was NOT to buy a crap ton of stuff but I ended up buying a crap ton of stuff lol. Below is a pic of the inside of my bag *head palm*. Ledisi was the musical performance and she was fantastic. If you are in the DC area or happen to be in the area when this event is going on I highly recommend checking it out!



Surprise Products of the Month



Neutrogena Pore Refining Toner

I stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond to purchase another L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Serum and Neutrogena Clear Pore toner. At this particular location they have a HUGE skin care section and but they didn't have the Clear Pore toner. So I ended up grabbing their Pore Refining Toner. I was curious about this line since I've heard good things about it. I took it with me to Philly and really enjoyed using it. My skin feels super soft and I do feel it makes my skin feel and appear smoother after using it.

Anastasia Beverly Hills World Traveler Shadow Couture Palette

I'm always leery of hype brands/brands that send a crap of stuff to instafamous beauty folks on Instagram and YouTube. The only palette I have from Anastasia that I do like is the Maya Mia palette. I picked up the Tamanna palette but returned it and I missed out on the Amrezy palette. I picked up this palette with my Ulta $10 off birthday coupon. From pics I saw beforehand, I knew the eye shadow colors were right up my alley. I've used it off and on throughout the month and had to make myself out it away. The shadows are nicely pigmented and blend nicely. This is good everyday palette for any level of  makeup lover.

Colour Pop Lip Liners

I've had Pitch (blackened chocolate brown) for a while. I used a couple of times when I first got it but put it away to use up the NYX liner I had in Espresso. The NYX liner has been my go to due to price and availability. I finally used it up and reached for Pitch. One thing I will say about NYX liners, they are hard and you have to do a few swipes to build up the color. Colour Pop liners are SUPER SMOOTH and PIGMENTED! The first time I used Pitch I was like WHOA! It took some getting used to to since I was used to the NYX liners. Now I really like it. This month I ordered BFF 3 (deep peachy brown), Ellarie (blackened violet) and Leather (Deep blackened violet). BFF 3 is lighter and warmer that Pitch. It's ok but it won't be my everyday liner. Ellarie is gorgeous! I wore it it a matte read lip pencil and I love it. I wore Leather with MAC's Heroine lipstick and the two together are perfection! I'm excited to have darker liners that I can wear with various red, berry and purple lippes. I will definitely repurchase Pitch which I could use on its own with other lippies since I can make a dark brown liner work with just about any lippie color. It may be outdated but it's what I like and am comfortable wearing. If you're looking for some new lip liners, check out Colour Pop.

Meh Products of the Month


Neutrogena Pore Refining Cleanser

Since I had been enjoying the Pore Refining Toner so much, I decided to pick up the cleanser when I was in Walgreens. I like how my skin feels after I use it. However, I cannot get over the smell and it irritates my eyes something terrible. I can't open my eyes at all when I use it and I don't have it that close to my eye area! The fumes or whatever from the fragrance of the cleanser are very strong. I read reviews on Ulta about it irritating people's eyes. I'm so bummed. I may try to finish using it or I may just toss it. I'm using the Ambi Even & Clear Foaming Cleanser that I picked up from the Ubiquitous Hair and Health Trade Show and so far I'm enjoying it.

Nivea A Kiss of Olive Oil & Lemon

This was a YouTube made me do it product. MakeupbyTiffanyD has raved about this product for a long time. When I've been out and about, I've searched for it with no luck. I finally saw it at Ulta and picked up it. I used it at night. I didn't find it all that moisturizing for my lips and I can't get past the taste. So in the trash it goes and I'll stick with Carmex for my lips at night.

And there you have it!

On to September!

Monday, August 17, 2015

#ManicureMonday OPI Life Gave Me Lemons & Formula X Bionic



Greetings and salutations!

It's been a minute. When I got back from Philly I was super tired. Shoot I'm still tired. Also my nails were a hot mess. So I wasn't in the mood to do a nail post. I trimmed them down quite a bit and I did throw a nail polish on, but it wasn't really anything to post about.

So here we are today with OPI's Life Gave Me Lemons from the Brights collection. It's described as citrusy lemon-lime shade. It was kind of hard to work with. The first coat was terrible. It came together with a second coat and I did do a third coat of a few fingers. I pulled out Bionic by Formula X mainly for two accent nails. I ended up liking the look and used it on the rest of my nails. Bionic is described as a pastel lime green glitter and black glitter. I think the two pair nicely together.

See you next Monday!

Monday, August 3, 2015

#ManicureMonday OPI Miss Piggy's Big Number




Greetings from the city of Brotherly Love!

I'm still in a blue mood. This is one of the two blue polishes that I brought with me to Philly. It came out in the Muppets Most Wanted collection last year. It's a bright metallic blue. I digs it.

A random thought came to me on purging some more nail polishes from my stash. I was thinking in terms of which brands to keep. OPI is definitely at the top of the list. I picked up an anniversary set that they did for HSN's birthday celebration. It was the CUTEST set of minis. There's also a Coca-Cola minis set they did for their 100th anniversary that's up on HSN too that I'm eyeing. Gah! So yea, some of the polishes I have need to find new homes or be tossed all together. Stay tuned for that.

See you next Monday! Hopefully. I'm going to be so wiped after this trip, I might not even paint my nails. We shall see.

Here's the view from my room!



Sunday, August 2, 2015

Product Play August 2015


Last month I said that I may skip August. An OPI purchase last month inspired me to go ahead a post some items for August. So here's what I'm messing around with for the month.

Palette Play


This month I'm going to play with the Urban Decay Smoked palette and the PrettyLilMzGrace palette from Sedona Lace. I was going to pick up the new Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette with my Ulta birthday coupon but decided to wait. Then the Smoked palette popped in my head. I saw the PrettyLilMzGrace palette in a YouTube video from PurpleyeAvi. I proceeded to watch some other videos on the palette. I have never heard of PrettyLilMzGrace, so I went to her channel and watched a couple of her videos. At the time when I ordered, Sedona Lace was having a 20% off site wide promo and I used PrettyLilMzGrace's $5 off coupon code. Score!

Polish Play


I picked up the OPI Brights Mini Nail Lacquers set from Living Social. I like these sets from OPI. They're usually a good price but it was a better deal getting it from Living Social. Plus it's a nice way to pick up the majority or all the polishes from a particular collection. I also got the Orly Dare to Dream set from a coworker for my birthday and I LOVE Mulan! I watched it on Netflix not too long ago. It's probably in my top 5 for Disney movies.

Out of My Face

I used up some more products from the long list I posted in June and I have some bonus ones too woot! Here's what I used up in July:
  • Christie Brinkley Complete Clarity Daily Facial Exfoliating Polish
  • Christie Brinkley Recapture 360 Night Beauty Treatment
  • Alpha Hydrox Retinol ResQ
  • Korres Mulberry Vanilla Shower Gel
  • Wild Rose Daily Brightening & Refinishing Buff Cleanser
  • Bonus: Christie Brinkley Complete Clarity Facial Cleansing Wash
  • Bonus: Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer 0.33oz
  • Bonus: Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar 0.5oz 
  • Bonus: Wen Cleansing Conditioner in Tea Tree 32oz 
Since I used up a TON of stuff in July, I'll probably add some more items to the list in September. I have a few more things I'm hoping to get used up in August *fingas crossed*

Let's play!