Saturday, August 13, 2016

July 2016 Top 5 & More


Finally getting around to this post. So here we go!

Top 5


Buxom  Full-On Lip Cream in Hot Toddy

My YouTube BFF (in my head) Jennifer Wan has mentioned this lippie a lot on her channel and it's been on my list to pick up for a while. I finally picked it up from Ulta and I love it. It's described as a toasty nude. This was the lippie I threw on a lot for no makeup days. It adds a little color to my lips and the Buxom glosses flew so good on the lips. For me, it helps keep mine conditioned through the day. I haven't had this gloss long but I have used quite a bit of already. This is a lippie that I will definitely keep in reach and repurchase when I use this tube up.

MAC Mineralize Rich Lipstick in Midnight Mambo

For both of my July trips, I traveled with MAC lipsticks. This lipstick was given to me by a friend. I thought I had used it but when I looked at it, I hadn't used it *head palm*. So I threw it in my makeup bag. It is described as an intense violet shade but it also has some fuchsia vibes going on as well. It's a gorgeous sahde that's right up my alley as an everyday lip color. The Mineralize Rich lipsticks are "A 77-Mineral Moist Complex that instantly nourishes lips with maximum moisture in a lightweight, non-sticky formula." (from MAC's website). When applied it looks like you have on a lipstick and a gloss. This was very comfortable to wear, it didn't dry out my lips and wore nicely throughout the day. I may check out the other shades in this line.

Tarte Young Wild & Free Amazonian Clay Palette

I went to Ulta to use my $10 off birthday coupon. I went to get the Tarlette palette but for whatever reason I wasn't in the mood to pick it up that day (Sidebar: since then I have picked up the Tartelette palette and you'll probably see it in my August Top 5 post). So I walked around and had my hand on a Stila palette that had caught my eye but then I saw this palette. I had seen it in some emails from Tarte and say meh. So I swatched and it was totally surprised. It looks like just another neutral palette but to me it's not a "boring" neutral palette. All the shades are smooth, pigmented and blend so nicely. The only shade I had trouble with is Happy Place. It has a ton of fall out but it's a beautiful shade, so I can overlook that. The palette also smells so good! I traveled with this palette instead of Urban Decay's Naked Smokey palette for my work trip to New Orleans and thoroughly enjoyed using it. For me it is a complete palette and I didn't have to reach for any other shades to complete a look. I used it some more when I got back home and hand to force myself to put it away. This palette is limited edition. So check it out soon if you're interested.

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer

Ok did I really need another concealer? Nope! This is another item I got when I was in Ulta with my birthday coupon. Tarte was seriously promoting this on their Snapchat before the item launched. When I saw the display in Ulta, I swatched the deep shade and said on my damn. This shade is intended for deep skin with peach undertones. When I swatched it, I notice the undertone be more peach instead of yellow. So was intrigued and bought it. I took it with me on both of my trips and have continued using it since I've been back home. This is a really good concealer. The coverage is fantastic, it blends out nicely and lasts all day. If you're looking for a new concealer with awesome coverage then I highly recommend this one.

Anker PowerCore+ mini 3350mAh Lipstick-Sized Portable Charger

I think this is the best $10 I've spent on an electronic item (right now it's 12.99). I got this from Amazon for my Atlanta trip since I knew I would be using my phone a lot and didn't want to worry about looking for an outlet to charge my phone. This charger is fantastic! It's the perfect size too. It fit in a clutch I had without any issues. It charged my phone super fast and the charger itself held a charge for a really long time. Now I carry it around with me in my purse. You never know when you'll need to charge your phone on the go. If you're looking for a portable charger for your phone then check this on out.

Yays!


Tarte Drink of H2O Hydrating Boost

I ordered the tarte Rainforest of the Sea™ Make A Splash Hydrating Skin Savers back in April from Sephora. It was $10 and include three deluxe samples of their new Rainforest of the Sea skincare products. I had already tried the Cleansing Gel and really enjoyed it. I cracked open the Hydrating Boost and was shocked. This has been toted as a good moisturizer for dry skin. I'm an oily girl and was iffy to try it. I used at night and my skin drank it up. It didn't leave a shine on my face and it made my skin super soft! It didn't break me out and in fact it helped the breakouts I had on my face when I was using it. One day when I was bumming around the house and I put it on during the day since I wasn't going anywhere. I ended up having to run out so I threw an SPF moisturizer on top since I was going outside. I thought for sure my skin would be super oily. To my surprise it wasn't. I would definitely purchase this in a full size.

Camry 110 Lbs Luggage Scale

A friend on mine had this in Atlanta and it was a money saver. When I packed for Atlanta, my larger suitcase was over 50 pounds and this was after shifting some stuff around but the I got away without paying any overage fees. I didn't think I would be so lucky coming back home, Using this helped me shift items between my two bags to get both under 50 pounds I ordered one from Amazon before checking out of the hotel! The size is great to throw in a carry on bag and it's super easy to use. If you have the tendency to over pack or plan to shop on a trip and need to make sure you're luggage is not overweight then I highly recommend picking up a luggage scale.

Boos!


Olay Regenerist Luminous Dark Circle Hydraswirl Eye Cream

I got this in a Target Beauty Box. I started using it in between my two trips since I didn't want to unpack a ton of stuff like skincare items. So I said I can use this for the few days I was home. This is supposed to be a gel to cream formula that reduces the appearance of dark circles and under eye darkness and illuminates the eye area. Ummmm yea no. The consistency is just weird. It takes forever to blend it into the skin and I didn't notice anything being illuminated. This is going in the trash.

There you have it. Short and sweet. A lot of Tarte products for July huh? Let's see what August brings!

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

August 2016 Shop My Stash


Hellllooooooooo! Long time no see! Travel craziness of July is done. I'm so tired, it's not even funny! Now I'm trying to decompress and get back to "real life". Plus I cannot believe it is August!! So I'm sitting here trying to think about what I am going to play around with for the month. It was nice using the makeup I pulled to play around with for my two trips. Brings me back to decluttering more from my stash. I mean a lot more. Which is going to happen and I cringe at the thought. So here is what I'm playing around with for the month. After this will be my July Top 5 & More post.

Palette Play


For eyes, I'm going to play around with the Morphe 35P palette and a 28 color palette (not sure of it's official name) that I got off of eBay.

Polish Play


I pulled some nail polishes from Essie (Strut Your Stuff, Sure Shot, Dive Bar and Sexy Divide) and some recent OPI polishes (Flip Flops & Crop Tops and She's a Bad Muffuletta!) that I got from HSN.

Fragrance Play


I'm going to continue using the philosophy summer fragrances from last month since I really didn't use them much. I'm hoping that I can use up at least one of the body cremes this month.

Out of My Face

Here's what I used up in July:
  • Serious Skincare A Force XR Retinol Serum Concentrate 2oz
  • Serious Skincare 4 Million IU A Cream XR 4oz
  • Supersmile Whitening Pre-Rinse 16 fl oz
  • Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid 
  • Eyeko Visual Eyes Liquid Eyeliner in Mocha 
Here we go!