December 2012 Favorites

My last favorites post for 2012 wooohoooo!!! I'm proud of myself for sticking with it for each month. And thanks to those who have read and commented!

What I did this month was trrrry to use only drugstore makeup. Keyword being try. I did ok earlier in the month. Heard about challenge on YouTube from prettydaysies. For me this was mainly eyeshadows, blushes, lip products and nail polishes. I haven't been able to find a foundation, concealer, bronzer and powder that works for me from the drugstore. I'm hoping that one day drugstore brands get with he program and offer more shades. I only have a few eyeliners from the drugstore as well. I love the items that I do have from the drugstore and get on kicks every now and then but I reach more for my mid-range/high end items more. Oh well on to the favorites!

Eyes

I finally picked up the Laura Mericer Artist for Eyes palette. This was the last palette on my wish list for the year. I wanted from the moment I saw it an email I got from Sephora. Then I went back on forth on getting it based on some of the reviews I saw. But I'm glad I stuck with my original instincts and got it.  I saw crystalis007's review on the palette and it sealed the deal for me. Some stuff you just have to try out for yourself and make your own decision. I love this palette. It has half matte and shimmer shadows. When I first got in I was stuck of the mattes. Cafe Au Lait and Coffe Ground are perfect for my skin tone if I want a barely there eyeshadow look. I also love the dark navy shade Deep Night. I got the palette in store at Sephora. I looked and it's not available online anymore So if you still want check your Sephora store.

I picked up Bare Minerals Shades of Decadence set from QVC. It contains 9 eye shadows. I've already mentioned my love for their loose eyeshadows. There are a good selections of shades in this set. Two shadows I have been loving out of this set are Atomic Plume (smoked clove) and Cypress (glided evergreen).

I played around with the Maybelline Stylish Smokes quads that I have earlier in the month. I've mentioned them before. Very pigmented and go one smoothly. My favorite is the Natural Smoke quad.

I know I mentioned shadow sticks last month but here they go again :). I picked tarte's 5 pieced Holiday Amazonian Clay Shadow Sticks Collection from QVC last month. tarte is my favorite when it comes to eyeshadow sticks so I jumped at getting this set. I love all the colors. They go on smooth and last all day on me with or without a primer. I loved this set so much that I was mad at people giving it low rating claiming that these are full of glitter (which there are not). I wrote a review on them which I rarely do.

Lancome was on HSN for which I think were their last visit of the year. The had a special of the day perfume set but I already had the perfume lol. They have free shipping going on on all items until the end of the year. So I picked up the new Hypnose Star mascara. I'm trying to pair down my mascaras. I have a lot of favorites that I'm kind of over. I've tried two other Lancome mascaras and I like them so I said why not to this one. Make this number 3. I love everything about this. I love the formula, the brush and how my lashes look. I'm not claiming this as holy grail status just yet but we shall see.

Lips

I have talked about the Revlon Lip Butters before. So I will be brief lol. The color that I have been loving this month and is my #1 fav is Red Velvet. I typically don't buy back ups in a product but I would for this product. And it is hard to find in stores. Usually when I troll the Revlon section in stores I don't see this one too often. It's an amazing deep red color and the pigmentation is insane for it not to be a true lipstick. Also I have been reaching for Fig Jam as well. It's a great everyday color that goes with just about everything.

The Shades of Decadence Collection I mentioned above also came with 6 lip glosses. There are 3 of their 100 natural glosses and 3 of their Moxie glosses. I am LOVING the 100% natural gloss in Wearable Mauve (glazed rose). I need for them to make this available in full size. Like seriously! I even tweeted them telling them so. That's how much I love this gloss.

CVS had another one of their sales around the middle of the month. The Revlon Colorburst lipsticks were part of the sale. Lord knows I didn't need anymore lipsticks and I did pick up some for Christmas gifts. So of course I had to get a couple for myself right? *shifty eyes*. I got Rosy Nude and True Red. Both are gorgeous on. Rosy Nude is a brown girl friendly nude for me and True Red is just that. I've said it before that Revlon is #1 for me when it comes to lipsticks.

I am a fuchsia lipstick lover. And I think I've picked up 3 recently in the last month or so. Sad I know but *shrugs*. Two that I have been in my reach are Revlon SuperLustrous lipstick in Fuchsia Fusion and CoverGirl's Spellbound lipstick.

There were some days that I went makeup free but of course I threw on a lipgloss. One that I reached for a wore for about 4 days straight was Bare Minerals 100% Nautral lipgloss in Apple Butter. And it really does look like the color of apple butter. It's a great throw on a go gloss.

Face

I had some face brushes that I wanted to mention last month but forgot. One is the Simga F05 small contour brush. I have 2 of these, so this gives you an indication on how much I love this brush. But last month into December instead of using it as a contour brush (what I typically use it for), I used it as a blush brush. It's great for putting blush on the apples of your cheek and blending it out. Another brush I loved is the Bare Minerals angled buki brush. This was in their mini brush set for the holidays last year. This brush is AMAZING for applying Bare Minerals foundation. If it was available for purchase on it's own I would buy another one. That's how amazing I think this brush is.

I've had Peter Thomas Roth's Ultra-Lite Oil Free Sunblock SPF 30 for a while and have used it daily. I was however never really wowed by the product and had be looking at trying other SPF products for my face. I had been playing around with small bottle of Mary Kay's Day Solution which is an SPF product. You would apply after you washed your face but before you applied your moisturizer. I liked it and was debating on getting in a full sized bottle.  But then I was like hmmmmm...maybe I should apply Peter Thomas Roth's Sunblock the same way. So I did and now I LOVE it! I also love that it has other ingredients in that are good for the skin. So I will not be switching to another SPF product for my face. I picked mine up from Sephora.

Another skincare product that I have been loving this month and I have dubbed my holy grail daytime moisturizer is Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Moisturizer for combination skin. This stuff is amazing. I love how it sinks right into the skin and it's lightweight.

Another product I've talked about before are the Wet n' Wild Color Icon blushes. I have all 4 and picked the final one in Berry Shimmer earlier this year I believe. Inexpensive, very pigmented and blend nicely on to the cheek.

I purchased Bare Minerals November Today's Special Value. Included was a brand new Mineral Veil called Perfect Light. It's supposed to adjust to whatever lighting your in and I have been loving it since I received it. It's kind of peachy in color.

Nails

I went to CVS to get some toothpaste and mouthwash, but of course I trolled through the beauty products. This one CVS I go to has OPI polishes. One caught my eye and it happened to be Warm & Fozzie from The Muppets collection. I was like score! I didn't get anything from that collection but this was one I was interested in when the collection was released. I guess it a brown pink shimmery collection. Gorg on and I got tons of compliments on it.

I picked up Good Tidings We Bling glitter polish from Sephora when I got the Laura Mercier palette.  I wanted this polish last year and never got it once it sold out online. I had no idea that they brought it back again for the holidays. It's a pretty red and green glitter polish with fine and chucks of glitter, perfect for your Christmas inspired nail looks.

I picked up Sinful Colors polish in Sugar Sugar last year from Walgreens. It's the perfect red nail polish for the holidays. It does have some glitter in it as well but it's not that noticeable.

This and That

Once the weather gets colors I throw on a scarf every now and then. But I have really been into scarves lately, especially infinity scarves. I picked up one from The Limited (side bar: I forgot The Limited had cute stuff and inexpensive!). It's a "pretty" scarf and not really one for warmth since the material is light. I have 3 infinity scarves that are cute but will keep your warm that I got from Rachael Zoe's QVC line. I like infinity scarves because I'm not the best at tying my scarves all fancy. Just loop these around your neck and go.

I ordered Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You CD from HSN. They had a bonus CD with some duet songs on it. I have had this in the car and have been straight JAMMING OK!! Ugh still can't believe she's gone. She SANG you hear me! And if "I Look to You" wasn't her testimony. She truly was "The Voice" and there will never be another Whitney.

I purchased these Amrita Singh bracelet sets from a Hautelook sale. Simple, easy and you can rock them with any outfit. I think they were called the Beyonce set. Teehee.

And there you have it! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!! See you in January :)

2013: Organize, Purge & Save!

(Courtesy of Microsoft)

I don't always make resolutions for the new year. But reflecting over 2012 (it's been a rough one with a lot of ups and downs) and where I would like the be in 2013 and beyond; organize, purge & save came to mind. I started the organize and purge process in 2012 but there's more to do for 2013. I can stand to get rid of some more books and make an effort to get through a good chunk of what I have. My reading really slacked in 2012. I did get rid of some handbags but I'm sure I can let some more go. I'm purged and pitched some makeup. I happy with what I have but I need to reorganize it. The plan for this is to get an 8 drawer system. I was planning on getting something else that cost a lot more but I like the 8 drawer system better and the price is doable. Plus I can store other items in it. I have papers and other stuff I need to organize that I'm tired of looking at. I need a new paper shredder. The save component will come from knowing what I have, using it up and not shopping as much. I don't know if I can do a complete no buy. Baby steps. Also throw in getting back on track with my weight loss journey. Feel off and I've gained some weight back. Not a whole lot thank goodness. But it's time to work on the next 30 pounds! Phew that's a lot but the end result will definitely be worth it. And hopefully my mind won't be as cluttered and I'll be less stressed.

Let's see how this goes! Maybe I'll do a check-in every 3 months or so on my progress. Stay tuned...

November 2012 Favorites

Ok no babbling this month. Let's get straight to it.

Eyes

Even though I love eyeshadow palettes, every now and then I get on one eyeshadow kicks. I have a three of Milani's Runway Eyes baked eyeshadows. I have Shamrock, Blue Lagoon and Coffee Shop. I've been using them with darker eyeliners (another fav for the month) as a base and taking CoverGirl's Brown Smolder eyeshadow and using in the crease and just above my crease. Quick and easy smokey type looks for the month. Similar to what I did with two Urban Decay palettes and two of their eyeliners (Perversion and Demolition) over the summer (July favorites post).

I have several of Mally's eyeliners. I have been using them as based for my one eyeshadow looks and lining my lower lash line. So if I wore Blue Lagoon, I used Onyx (black) or Sailor (navy) as a base for the eyeshadow. Then I would take Sailor  and line my lower lash line. I did this also with Deep Olive (green) and Espresso (chocolate).

I went through my stash and pulled out a bunch of cream eyeshadow products. There were quite a few from different brands such as Milani, Bobbi Brown and Tarte. I liked them all. So overall cream eyeshadows were a favorite for the month. They are so easy to apply. Just throw on and go. If I wanted a little more definition to the look I used my go to Covergirl's Brown Smolder eyeshadow.

Lips

Another nude lip combo I stumbled upon this month is Mally's Look lip gloss and Revlon's Mink lipstick. When I was digging in my lip gloss drawer I thought I had grabbed her gloss in Nude Light lol! Very brown girl friendly lip. Well at least for me.

You know every now and then you have to go old school. When the cold weather hits and the air gets dry, my lips can get very dry and cracked. Especially in the corners of my mouth. Now I bought into the "hype" products such as the EOS lip balms, Maybelline Baby Lips, Fresh Sugar Lip balms and maybe some others. Some I like, others were ok and one I did not like at all! I went back to using Carmex. I've used the twisty tube and the squeezy tube. I prefer the squeezy tube which is the Moisturizing Lip Balm. I will not buy into the hype again lol. This works for me and my lips are happy. I also like it when I'm wearing a lipstick and as the color fades towards the end of the day, instead of reapplying the lipstick I'll use the Carmex and it adds a nice shine to my lips.

I pulled out the various lip glosses I have from Kissable Couture. I forgot how much I really like these glosses. They feel good on the lips and have very nice pigmentation for a lip gloss. First Lady is one of my favorites, it's a nice nude gloss that doesn't wash you out. The downside to these is that they are kind of pricey, especially once you add on shipping. They have promos and such every now and then so  that helps.

Face

I picked up Small Vanity blush from MAC's Glamour Daze collection. It doesn't look like much in the pan. When I went to the Glamour Daze event at the MAC store in my area, I asked the makeup artist which of the 3 blushes would work for my skin tone. When she said Small Vanity I was like huh? I swatched it on my hand and was like oooooh. It's described as a dusty rose tan. When I thought about it dusty pinks are my favorite kind of pink blushes. A Bobbi Brown blush I have is a dusty rose color and it's one of my favorites.

Musing of a Muse did review on the L'Oreal blushes from the Project Runway collection. One of the blushes she reviewed was The Temptress' Blush. She described it as a plum wine color. When I saw her review I was like hmmmm. So I picked it up when I wen to Ulta. I love that the color is buildable. Pigmented is nice but sometimes if something is toooooo pigmented, it can be hard to work with. At least for me. And I like the option of putting a hint of color on or really going to town and building it up. Also it has some shimmer in it but it applies nicely and gives your cheeks a subtle glow.

I was in Ulta and I usually mosey over to the drugstore side and look at the displays. I saw one by Essence for Breaking Dawn Part 2. Now I'll admit I didn't get into the whole Twilight thing (side bar: I have been looking into the books and the movies so I may give a go now since everything is out and I don't have to wait). Two items in the display caught my attention. One of the was the blush called Renesmee Red. This is a beautiful matte red blush and it was less than $5. I want to say it was $2.99 and I have been wearing it like crazy!

I don't think I've mentioned the Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub before. This was a random CVS purchase. I was in the skin care aisle looking at various scrubs and this one caught my eye. I use it in the morning in the shower and I love it. I like using a light scrub in the morning to help smooth out my skin before applying my makeup. This does the trick. My skin is smooth and soft after using this. It also has salicylic acid which my acne prone skin appreciates. I just repurchased my second tube from Ulta.

Nails

Crystalis007 has gotten me in trouble again. She did a post on Deborah Lippman's Don't Tell Mama nail polish. I love deep dark colors. The is a deep dark green. It almost looks black depending on the light.

I picked up China Glaze's Winter Holly at Sally's. I don't have a deep green glitter polish. It's nice and I paired it with Don't Tell Mama.

Looking throw my nail polishes I pulled out Zoya's Ibiza. I forgot about it and how much I love it. It's described as a blacked indigo blue brightened with subtle metallic blue shimmer.

A nail combo that I love and got tons of compliments on was Maybelline Color Show's Auburn Blaze and Sephora by OPI's Traffic Stopper Cooper

This and That

A Shea Moisture product I have been loving is the Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque. One thing I like about their products is that they have multiple uses. The "main" use for it is deep conditioning  But it can also be used a moisturizing styling cream.  I have been using it a night when I tie my hair up. I watched a moisturize and seal tutorial from Kissseventyseven. I really didn't know what it meant to moisturize and seal. After watching the video I was like ooooh lol. So I have been using this as the moisturize component.

Wen's Tea Tree oil is bomb.com. I use this is a variety of ways. I use it as the seal component after I moisturize my hair. I used it directly on my scalp. I will either pull my hair back in a ponytail and wear it in my hair all day then wash it out later evening. Or I will sleep with it and then wash my hair in the morning. Tea Tree oil is awesome if you have scalp issues. My scalp tends to dry and can get flaky. I have not had this problem since using this oil.  I want to say it had helped with my hair growth which I've had as well. I typically don't hoard hair products but this is one I would definitely hoard.

Another "old school" item I picked up and have been loving this month is Vaseline. I got the kind with Cocoa Butter in it. Now I have used Palmer's Cocoa Butter for years on the more drier areas on my body. When I ran out I was going to get a larger jar that I saw at Sally's. But during a CVS run I was like let me try this Vaseline. Well at first I wanted to price it and it was cheaper than the Palmer's. I have really been liking it. It absorbs in the to skin well and makes the areas I use it on very soft. So I think Palmer's has been replaced!

A couple of fragrances that got a lot of love this month are Michael Kors Very Hollywood and Victoria Secret's Heavenly from the Dream Angels line. Very Hollywood reminds me of Velvet Tuberose from Bath and Body Works, What I started late this month is using a fragrance for the whole week. I'm going to try and stick with this and hopefully get some used up.

(Courtesy of Jessica London)

Since we are in boot season I had to mention the Kayleigh wide-calf side-buckle boot from Jessica London. I love these boots. I have them in 3 colors (cognac, black and brown). I  have been wearing the brown color nonstop this month. It's an easy boot to dress up or down and it is ridiculously comfortable. I wish they had a grey color :D The biggest pain I've had when purchasing knee boots is finding a pair that will be fit over my large calves. There's a nice selection of wide calf boots on Jessica London's website.

And there you have it. I didn't link everything. For the most part I tried to mention where I got an item from. Also Google is your friend ;)

On to December and my last favorites post for 2012!