August 2013 Top 3

Let's jump right into my top 3 favs for August!

I picked up Revlon Pink Pout  lipstick from CVS when I had a $3 off Revlon coupon. It's a matte lipstick but it's not super matte or drying on the lips. A makeup loving friend of mine mentioned it to me. She's a pink lipstick lover. I can't remember off the top of my head what MAC lipstick it's a dupe for but it is one. I'm leery when it comes to light lipstick shades and my skin tone. I'm worried that it's too light or will look milky on my lips. When I put it on I was like ooooohhh! I really like it! First time I wore it on its own with a little Carmex on top. Then I wore it with MAC's Going Casual Cremesheen gloss. Loooooove this combo! Both are a pinky lilac color and complement each other nicely.

I mentioned this as an early fav in July for August and I called in right lol. I had a work trip this month and for some reason deciding what makeup products to take was the worst! I went back and forth and in circles. Then I got fed up and said I'm taking the Smoked palette and that's that. This is a really good palette to travel with and just plain good for everyday use. It's a great mix of neutral, colors and smoky dark shades. It also has my favorite black pencil liner in Perversion. I used it with some Maybelline Color Tattoos and MAC's paint pot in Eclair and the shadows on their own over a primer. This palette is also good because you can do quick looks that look like you did a lot but didn't. At most I used 2 shadows and was done with my eye look. I really enjoyed this palette and glad that I finally picked it up! I had to force myself to put it away when I got back so I can use some other eyeshadows.

Went back to a favorite face primer of mine during my work trip as well. I took Black Radiance's Shine Control primer and I used it with Urban Decay's De-Slick. I still have the old bottles. I have the XL size and I refill the little bottle. This combo is BOMB.COM!! It kept my face makeup looking good all day. When I looked in the mirror later on in the day I was shocked. Now mind you it wasn't as humid in Cali and it can get in the DC area but still these two together was awesome. A few times I did use Mally's face defender but I really didn't need to. I have some other face primers on my "to try list" and they are pricier ones. But now I'm kind of like why bother?! You can't beat the price on the Black Radiance primer. It's less than $10 at the drugstore and if you can catch a BOGO or have a coupon you can save even more on it. So dare I say that I have found my holy grail primer?

And there you have it! This was easy to do this month. I can't believe it's almost fall and boot season!!!! Can't wait. 2013 is almost done! Wow! I'm already thinking about how I'm going to do my monthly favorites for 2014. I may do categories or something like I did before but maybe do the top product in each *shrugs*. We shall see. September goooooooooo!!

Bag of the Moment - Dooney & Bouke Large Luna Bag

**Ok I had did this post probably a couple weeks ago but kept forgetting to take a pic of the bag *head palm* I just switched to another bag I want to test out to see if it'll do for an upcoming work trip. Any who here it is...excuse the mess in the background and my messed up work chair.

I still have the order confirmation for this bag lol! I bought this bag in 2010 from.....you guessed it QVC! The Luna bag is my second favorite silhouette after the satchel from Dooney and Burke. I have two other ones in croco (dark olive and red which is a little smaller). The one downside is the cell phone pocket. It is small and doesn't fit my phone. I think 2011 is when they started making the pockets larger to accommodate the large cell phones. How fun is the color? Great for spring and summer. I love the shoulder strap and how it fits perfectly under the arm. The lining is nice bright so you can find your items in your bag. I carry way too much stuff but I can still zip it up without issue.

July 2013 Top Ummm....

Ok sooooo I tried to stick with 3 items lol. It's my birthday month and I liked a lot of stuff this month, so let's get to it!

Eyes

I had meant to mention Bare Minerals Ready 2.0 in The Escape last month but it slipped my mind. I picked this up from Ulta when I have some reward dollars to use. At first I thought this wouldn't work for my skin tone. I should have known better. The two shades are Daydream (nude cream) and Wanderlust (brown suede). It is the perfect duo for an everyday/any occasion eyelook. You can play it up with any lip/cheek combo. I had to force myself to put it aside to use some other products.

I grabbed Lancome's Hypnose Star mascara to play around with and loved using it. I like this better than Hypnose Drama. It's less messy and easier to apply. I love the formula, the wand and it's easy to remove. Their Hypnose line claims volume which this does give but it also lengthens and separates the lashes nicely. I plan on repurchasing it when I use some other mascaras up or it I can find a deal/coupon to use.

I have had The Balm's Nude'Tude palette for a while now. I think I got it via Hautelook. I've used it a few times. I like it but I wasn't wowed by it. I even asked another makeup lover if she wanted but she never responded to my email. So I grabbed it again and started playing with it and I do really like this palette. It's their take on the neutral palette craze that seems to still be going strong. You can get a lot of looks out of this palette, from simple daytime to a smokey eye for the evening.

Mally Evercolor Eyeliner in Espresso is a deep dark brown shade which is my favorite color eyeliner. Sometimes black liner can be too much. A nice dark brown liner gives definition to an eye look without being too harsh. Her liners apply smoothly and last nicely on me.

Face

Bare Minerals Flawless Finish Brush came in the Problem Solving Brush Collection  that I purchased from QVC when it was a One Time Only value. This brush is amazing! It is super soft and does give you a flawless finish. I use it with Mineral Veil. It would also be perfect to use once you finish your face makeup and want to blend everything in. If I could purchase this brush outside of the kit, I would get another one.

Another brush I have been loving is Elf's Powder Brush. I had originally bought this brush to use with liquid foundation due to reviews I had seen people mentioning that the like it with liquid foundation. To me it was just ok for liquid foundation. Emilynoel83 had mentioned in a video that she had be using it with powder and said it would be good with mineral foundations. I was like well huh? Gave it a go with my Bare Minerals foundation and I LOVE IT!!!! Seriously! It makes the application of the foundation super easy and blends it in beautifully. Not bad for a $3 brush. I haven't seen it in my Target recently but I'll keep checking. I want at least two more. I tweeted Emily gushing over her recommendation. I'm always kind of shocked when she tweets me back lol. She is very sweet and down to earth.

My beauty pusher Crystalis007 had did a video on mixing products. She a big blush mixer. I had never mixed my blushes before. I had purchased  Black Radiance's Baked Blush in Plum Sorbet. I like it but it didn't show up enough for me on my cheeks. So randomly I mixed it with La Femme's Purple Passion blush. LOOOOOOVEEE!!

In another one of her videos, I believe Crystal was talking about must have products and she mentioned a cleansing oil. Someone had commented on that video saying they use coconut oil and a baby wipes as a makeup remover. I was like hold time. I have a jar of coconut oil (Nutiva) and I ALWAYS have baby wipes on hand (CVS brand is my favorite). So I said let me try this out. I did and I LOVE it. Melts the makeup right off and no irritation to my eyes or my skin. I follow up with my Clarisonic and whatever cleanser I have on hand. I will be sticking with this and it's most cost effective that purchasing makeup remover wipes or a cleansing oil.

I've mentioned MAC blush in Notable before so I'll be brief lol. I love this blush and seriously could use it everyday. I'm going to force myself to put it away. It's described as a muted brick rose color and rose colored blushes are my favorite blush color for my skintone. If you can find it on eBay for a decent price or CCO....grab it!

Random
Another favorite for the month was that I actually met my beauty pusher Crystalis007! She lives in my area and she emailed me saying we should meet and that her husband wanted to meet me too. He's gotten a chuckle or two from comments I have posted on her blog lol. So we nailed down a date and time and dinner was had. Both Crystal and her husband were super duper nice and I had a good time.

And something different....an item I hauled during July that I'm calling as early fav for August. I've only used it a few times but I love it already LOL! As an Ulta beauty member, I got a $10 off coupon for my birthday. First I said I was going to use it on some new Bare Minerals items from their Power Neutrals collection. But from seeing swatches online and seeing items in the store I decided to pass *pats self on the back*.  So I walked around and looked at this, that and the other. Then it hit me....fool get something that you've been wanting!!! Duh! *head palm* So I picked up Urban Decay's Smoked palette. I've been wanting it since it launched and now I have it woot!

Phew and there you have it! Work trip next month and I have been pre-packing in my head. The makeup portion always makes me want to scream LOL! Back to our regularly scheduled top 3 in August!!

Book Lovin - Book book vs ebook

(Courtesy of Microsoft)

Yes I said book book lol. No but seriously as an avid reader the whole physical book vs ebook has me going in circles!!! I purchased a Nook Color as a graduation gift to myself in 2011 when I finished up my Masters and I love it. I love the ease of reading on it in terms of adjusting the font size, the back lightening and even the ease of accessing a book (which can get you in trouble since it is so easy lol). I'm debating if I want an Android tablet or a Kindle Fire (another discussion for another day).  I also feel that at times, I read faster on my Nook Color vs reading a print book. Of course that depends on the story at hand. If it's good I can read through a print book like it's nothing. From previous book related posts, I'm sure you have gathered I own a lot of print books. The dilemma now is, do I buy the print version or the the ebook version? Some books I have are part of a series or are from authors that I had purchased the majority of their books in print. My "collector brain" is like of course buy the print book. But in some instances the ebook is cheaper and I don't have to worry about finding space for another book. So that part of my brain is saying buy the ebook. Then there are occasions when an author will do special pricing on a new release of  book in ebook format.

One thing that makes my azz itch is when the ebook is the same price of the print book!!! I'm like are you kidding me!?!? That mess needs to stop! I've read various things were it is being "worked on". We shall see *insert eye roll* There have been times that I want to buy the ebook but it pisses me off to pay the same price for it as the print version. I may sound crazy but I'm not alone in feeling this way. I have talked with other book lovers who are facing the same "dilemma". Having an ereader or tablet was supposed to make things "easier" but now it seems to be making things more difficult when it comes to book buying purchases So I'm still at a loss lol. Readers what do you say? Anyone else facing this "dilemma"? Do you prefer a physical book or an ebook? Is there a happy medium? Chime in!

June 2013 Top 3

Happy June everyone! I cannot believe June is pretty much over! Oye vey. I feel like it should still be March! Ok so let's get to it!

I picked up Aveeno's Ultra-Calming Makeup Removing Wipes thanks to my beauty pusher crystalis007. If you have not checked her out please do. She has a blog and is on YouTube. When it comes to removing my makeup, I pretty much use my Clarisonic and face cleanser of choice. I didn't really do the whole makeup remover thing be it wipes, cleansing oil, etc. I want to say a couple of months ago I randomly picked up Say Yes to Cucumbers makeup remover wipes from seeing a review on Instagram and I did like them. I was going to include them as a favorite that month but the more I used them I just thought they were ok. They weren't really all that moist for my liking and the wipes were kind of small. Fast forward to Aveeno's wipes. Crystal did a review of these on her blog and she did mention them in a recent video. She loved them and has reviewed other Aveeno products. Her reviews are pretty much spot on so I said why not. I went over to CVS and picked up a pack. These are fantastic. They are a nice size and not dry but not overly moist. Also they do not irritate my skin. I used to use some Aveeno skin care products a few years ago and I never had any issues with them. They help get the majority of my makeup off. So I use this first then followup with my Clarisonic to get any residual makeup off. I also take some of my face cleanser to get off the rest of my mascara. I would definitely repurchase these and continue using them as part of my evening skincare routine.

I felt like I had been neglecting my Buxom lipglosses. So I pulled out a few to play around with and one that I loooooved was Trixie. Trixie is described as shimmering golden rose. I feel like it's more of a peachy shade and not really rose. I guess it's the golden part *shrugs*. When the warmer weather hits we all want to pull out our brighter makeup shades. I love this gloss during the spring and summer.  It's a nice way to brighten up your lips without looking crazy or being too bright. These are some of my favorite glosses. They feel good on the lips and even though they're glosses they stay on your lips. If that makes sense :D

Keeping with the bright color theme, I was loving on Maybelline's Coral Rush blush this month. The name says coral but the joker is a nice golden orange color. It is pigmented as all get out. So you need a light hand when applying this. It's limited edition and I got it awhile ago. I'm glad I scooped it up. My brown girls, you need this in your life. If you don't want to splurge on a higher end orange blush then check this out.

And there you go! On to July which is my birthday month! \O/ Bring on my free Starbucks drink and birthday coupons to my favorite stores *two step*.

2013: Organize, Purge & Save - Check In

At the end of December I posted about my organizing, purging and saving efforts for 2013. I guess you can say these were kind of my "resolutions"/goals for the year. Since 2013 is half done (insert shocked face), I decided to post an update. On the saving part I haven't done much. There was this money challenge that was going around on Facebook that I said I was going to take a stab. Lasted about 3 weeks. So clearly I'm still working on the saving part *head palm* I've included some before and after pics and it is what is it. I don't mind comments but keep the smart azz ones to yourself :D Here we go!

The pic above is a before pic of my closet that I had on my phone. I've made progress in the organizing and purging areas. I have gone through my clothes and I got rid of a lot. Either the items needed to be pitched, they were too big (yay weight loss! \O/) or didn't like the items any more. For the items that were too big and did not like, were donated to a local organization that my family and I have donated to for years. I plan to go through my closet again before the end of the summer. Next up I went through my shoes and did the same with pitching and donating. With the clothes and shoes it's "hard" mainly due where I currently work which is casual and that's putting it mildly. I still "put myself together" but I don't have to dress up everyday. I have sold some of my handbags and have some I'm going to give away/gift. I went through them again and I have more lined up to see if I can sell them. A lot of people told me to try eBay. I don't have the patience to deal with eBay. Plus everyone has their bags on there, so there is no way for me to "stand out" as new seller.

In my beauty world.....*head palm* lol!.... I did do some reorganizing and I purchased a 10 drawer cart from Amazon to reorganize my stash. I got everything off my one dresser with the exception of one item but still that's awesome in itself. I also shifted some stuff around that was on my other dresser. No alllll the drawers are not full but I can now "see" everything which in nice and a big help. Can't use what you have if you don't know what you got! In the smaller drawers stuff was crammed in them and it was hard to get to stuff. I decided to see if I could do the "no buy" thing again and ummmm yea that's not going too well *sigh*. But I have been in use up mode and I have used up quite a bit of skin care and bath and body items. I did go through a pull some items to give to family members who are always circling my stash when the come to the house LOL!

(Courtesy of Microsoft)

In my book world I started going through my books and asked myself "are you REALLY going to read this?" So I have a stash of books that I am going to donate to the library. I was going to list them and see if friends wanted any of them. I did that with some of my makeup items but the money I spent on shipping stuff to people...hmph! So they are going to library! I need to list them for donation purposes which I'll get around to before the month is out. Then I'm going to go back through what I have in my room again and the books in the storage unit. Hopefully I'll go through everything and get the books I want to keep out of that doggone storage unit before the summer is out.

I came across this New York Times opinion article about living with less on the QVC Beauty Banter forum. Very well written piece and I can sooooo relate! I know I've had my "retail therapy" moments or saw something in a magazine or a beauty vlogger talk about a product and just haaad to have it!  It's "fun" for the moment but then when you get home and have to put the item/items away it's like ummm what the hayle!?!? I'm trying to do better. I have my good moments and bad moments. We all get caught up in "things" and then those "things" take over. I'm not saying you should deprive yourself but there should be a happy medium and not struggling and stressing on what to do with our '"things". Then you're not enjoying so then what's the point in having them? Make sense?

And there you have it folks. I'll check back in during December.

May 2013 Top 3

Here are my three favorites for May. Didn't have too much trouble this month picking three items.

L'Oreal released the Miss Candy Colour Riche nail polish collection for summer. These polishes are gel/jelly texture. I originally picked up two of these polishes (Lilac Coolers and Miss Pixie). Then I searched for nail swatches of the entire collection. That was a mistake lol. I went back and picked up three more (Berry Nice, Jolly Lolly and Bubble Trouble). At first I thought I wouldn't like them. They're are not opaque. You can build up the color somewhat but you can still see your nail. But they aren't bad. I think they are perfect for spring/summer. I did a jelly sandwich with a glitter polish and I loved it. These will probably be my go to polishes for spring/summer.

I picked up my first MAC Paint Pot in Eclair. I can't remember which collection it was released in since it seems like MAC has a new collection every other week (a rant for another day). But it was a fairly recent collection and it's limited edition. It's described as light chocolate with gold pearl. I'm really loving this shade. I've worn it on it's own and with a powder eyeshadow over top of it. It has really good staying power. I have Indianwood and Constructivist on my wish list.

I randomly grabbed Tarte's emphasEYES aqua-gel eyeliner in black that came with the True Blood palette. I used off and on throughout the month and realized that it's an awesome eyeliner. It's a true black. Some black eyeliners have a grey/off black look to them which I don't care for. It goes on smoothly and lasted on me all day without fading. I also love that it is a retractable liner and you don't have to sharpen it. I looked on Tarte's website and found it in the sale section. So I guess they are phasing it out which is a bummer. I may pick up another one since the price is really good.

And there you have it. Short and to the point. On to June! I already have some items in mind that I started using at the end of this month *shifty eyes*