September 2016 Top 5 & More

Once upon a time, I was able to get these posts up in their slated month lol. Dah well. There's a lot going on in this post. Like to hear it, here it go!

Top 5

Signature Sedona Lace Travel Tote

I won this in a giveaway some time ago and I never used it. I knew I wouldn't like it for air travel purposes. For my everyday items I bring in the bathroom, I had being using the small Joy Mangano Better Beauty Case. It was cool for a good will but since it's the small size, I was limited in what I could put in it. Also I would usually have too many products in it, so it was hard to shift stuff around to look for items. So I randomly the thought popped in my head to use the Signature Sedona Lace Travel Tote. So I reorganized my items with pencils and mascaras in the brush side. In the zip pouch I have various lippies and lip pencils. In the open space is everything else and a few products in the side pocket. The items in the side pocket don't really stay put. I wish the pocket was cinched. But it's no biggie. I have really been enjoying this for everyday use. I also like that if I had a car trip, I can just throw in foundation, powder and bronzer and go! Sedona Lace is always having some kind of promo and you can also find a $4 promo code from a YouTuber. So you can save some on it if you're interested.

MAC Taraji P. Henson Collection

I'm cheating here with three productions *shrugs*. When I found out that MAC was doing a collection with Taraji P. Henson, I was like GIVE...IT...ME! I was all over this. When I started seeing promo pics I was even more sold on the collection. I picked up two of the lipstick from in the collection called Strip Me Down. It is a matte and described as a deeptone beige. I've paired with Colour Pop liner liners Pitch and Ellarie and I like it with both. The collection has two Mineralize Skinfinishes (MSFs). Highlight the Truth is described as soft bronze coral with golden shimmer. It is a very pretty highlighter. The other is an MSF Natural called Taraji Glow. It is described as a reddish brown. I can wear this shade as a blush. Of course after playing around with the items, I said I wanted backups of the MSFs lol. The one sucky thing is that some of the MSFs were mislabeled. MAC made amends which I thought was cool. I have both of them so I'm not bummed. This lipstick is still available on MAC's site. Both MSFs are still sold out. So I would check a MAC store if you're near one or other retailers that carry MAC.

MAC Pro Longwear Paint Point in Eclair & Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Havana

More MAC items. I reacquainted myself with these two items when I was digging through my stash from items to send to Glambot. I hadn't used these in a while but I knew they were not leaving my stash. Paired together they create the pretties brown eyeshadow look. Some times I paired it with a darker brown shadow and other times I wore just these two together. Eclair is described as a light chocolate with gold pearl. It was limited edition so it's currently not available. MAC likes to bring items back or you make luck up and find it online. Havana is described as a dirty copper brown and is available from MAC.

Juvia's Place Sheba Eyeshadow

I enjoyed playing around with both Juvia's Place palettes that I pulled out for September. One eyeshadow that got my attention and that I used a lot is Sheba in The Nubian 2 palette. It's the prettiest bronze shade that's not warm and doesn't run red. It's great for everyday. I paired it with Kenya which is also in The Nubian 2 palette. If you're bored with eyeshadows from mainstream brands then check the Juvia's Place palettes and eyeshadows out.

Serious Skincare A Wash Gel-to-Foam Cleanser

I picked up the Serious Skincare Age Defy & Exfoliate Kit from HSN back in June and this cleanser was included. When I first used it, I was just ok to me. The more I used it the more I liked it. It's a gel to foam cleanser. It lightly foams which I like since I don't care for super foamy cleansers. In the morning it enough of a cleanser to prep my skin for the rest of my skincare routine. In the evening with my Clarisonic it get my makeup off. So score! Visit HSN's product information page for more info!

Yays

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale 

I came across the Harvest Pumpkin Ale at Safeway and said well now. I'm not much of a beer drinker but pumpkin season is upon us, so why not! Also Blue Moon is one beer brand that I do drink here and there. This is actually quite nice. The pumpkin flavor is not too much.

tarte Tartelette Palette

I had meant to mention this last month. This was just sitting on my dresser and I thought it was in my cart with my other palettes. Smh. I got this when I exchanged a Clinique foundation at Sephora. Why can't I just return an item and walk right back out the store? I have looked at this palette off and on for a while now. So I said ok I'll try it and if it doesn't work out it is going back. Well I was surprised just how much I liked this palette. I liked it so much that I got rid of The Balm's Meet Matte Nude palette that has been a past favorite. This palette to me is a lot more versatile that The Balm's palette. If you are a matte eyeshadow lover you HAVE to check this out. These eyeshadows are smooth, not powdery, pigmented and easy to blend. After my experience with this palette, I plan to pick up the Tartelette in Bloom palette at some point.

tarte Maneater Voluptuous Mascara

Another product I meant to talk about last month. Lawdy. This originally launched on QVC UK then a week or two later in launched on QVC here in the US. Leigh from Tarte had talked about this mascara before it launched. So I said why not. This is good everyday mascara. For me it gives me a lot of length. I love the applicator. It a rubber applicator with smaller bristles. Rubber applications work best for my lashes. This mascara is also a great mixer with other Tarte mascaras. I usually don't mix mascaras. I randomly tried it with Lights, Camera Lashes and the Tartetist Lash Paint mascara. I enjoyed it with both. I plan to try it with The Gifted mascara when I crack a tube open. So if you're looking for a new mascara to try then check this out.

Gerard Cosmetics Lipgloss in Wild Orchid

This was given to me by a friend. I had eyed this on their website during one of their sales but didn't get it. If you are a purple lippie lover then I highly recommend this. Even though this is a gloss it wears more like a lip lacquer. It wears nicely throughout the day and doesn't dry out my lips.

Serious Skincare MEGA FORCE™ Liquid Exfoliant

Annnnnd another Vitamin A product form Serious Skincare lol. This is another item that was included in the Serious Skincare Age Defy & Exfoliate Kit. I would say it's comparable to Paula's Choice SKIN PERFECTING 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant I have used and liked Paula's Choice liquid exfoliant. So I said ok I'll use this one and then decide which one I'll stick with. I'm sticking with this! This makes my skin so soft and I feel that the skincare products I use afterwards absorbs into my skin better. I compared the ingredient deck and it's somewhat similar. I think the main difference is that this has retinol in it. Again I think since I'm no expert. If you looking for a liquid exfoliant product to add to your skin care routine then I highly recommend this one. For more information check out the HSN's product information page. You can find a better description of the product, reviews and video presentation from the brand reps. I am LOVING everything I have tried from the Vitamin A line. I'm sure you'll see something else mentioned in October. I'm just sayin *shifty eyes*.

Boos

Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo & Conditioner

Since I've have been using Wen's Tea Tree Cleansing Conditioner, I have been curious about various Tea Tree shampoos and conditioners. This one but Paul Mitchell has had me curious for a while. So I picked up the mini bottles from Ulta and I probably had a coupon. The shampoo was blah and I felt like I had to use a lot to get my hair clean and my hair didn't really feel clean. The conditioner was just as bad. It didn't add any additional moisture to my hair and it didn't help detangle my hair. Thankfully I used the One n Only Argain Oil Hydrating Mask afterward and that saved my hair. After I took the pic of the bottles for this post, they went in the trash. I'll stick with Wen's Tea Tree Cleansing Conditioner.

Neutrogena Light Cleansing Oil

I got this in one of the Allure Beauty Boxes. I was interested to try it since I've heard good reviews on it. It is light. It's not super thick like some cleansing oils. It did get all my makeup off  but it irritated my eyes the few times I used it. And I had that cloudy feeling too once I rinsed my eyes. This always happens with whatever cleansing oil I use. Overall I'm just not a fan of cleansing oils. I may pass this on to a friend who likes it. I'll stick with makeup remover wipes, cleanser and Clarisonic.

NYX Slide On Eye Pencils in Jet Black and Brown Perfection

I've heard off and on that these are dupes for Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils. Demolition and Perversion are my holy grail brown and black pencil eyeliners. I have some other shades too. I ran out of Demolition and Perversion a while ago. I had been using some other liners I had in my stash. They were just ok. So I said let me try these and see if the dupe title is worthy. Yea um welllll NOPE! They do glide on to the eye with ease. Brown Perfection is not a deep enough brown for my liking. Jet Black is ok but it ain't (yes I said ain't) Perversion. I think I used the black on my waterline and it flaked off something terrible in my eyes! That has never happened to me before. I've already picked up Demolition and I will get Perversion soon. These are going in the trash. I'll pay for what works on my eyes.

Create 365 Happy Planner Ink Pens W/Black Ink 4/Pkg-Black & White Designs

I ordered these from Blitsy. There were part of Me and My Big Ideas planner basics release. I gave one to a friend and kept the other 3. I started writing with the black and white striped one. You can see in the pic that the black stripes started rubbing off. I was like what the what!?!? It writes ok but they're not my favorite pens to write with and for me it's too slim. It's awkward for me to hold. I prefer the Uni-ball Signo and Papermate Inkjoy gel pens. So the two I have not used I'm going to pass on and toss the other one.

And there you have it. Let's see what October brings!