July Ipsy Glam Bag

Hey guys! In case you can't tell, I have been trying really hard to get back into blogging lately. I have been devoting a lot of time and energy into my youtube channel (Which you can, and should, check out here) and it's caused me to sort of move away from blogging. But I've been missing it a lot, so I am definitely making strides toward getting back into it.

Today I am going to be sharing with you all the contents of my July Ipsy Glam Bag. For those of you not familiar, Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription site. You pay just 10 dollars a month, and that gets you 4-5 full size and/or deluxe sized sample beauty products each month in a super nice reuseable makeup bag. It's a great service. The products that I receive each month are always generously sized samples (and often full sized products) and I am never disappointed with what I get, especially at the 10 dollar price point! So, let's check out what I received in my July bag!

 Each month, the ipsy bag is created around a certain theme. The theme for the month of July was Beach Beauty. So all the products in the bag are perfect for the beach!! The bag itself is super cute! It's a bright pink, transparent bag that is going to be fantastic for tossing into my bag when I am headed to the beach or pool. It's going to be water resistant, and the fact that I can see everything inside is super convenient. The bag is a great shape and I love the ipsy logo on it. So cute! Now let's move on to the more exciting aspect of the bag- the contents!!

In my bag, I recieved 5 products that are percect for beach going.

 I got a travel size can of the big sexy hair weather proof humidity resistant spray. This little guy is perfect for me. My hair is very frizzy naturally and when you add in humidity? Forget about it. If this product works it will be a life saver for me this summer! The cap on this product is the kind that you twist to lock/unlock so it's going to be perfect for tossing into my bag and not having to worry about a cap coming off and the product spraying everywhere (that has happened to me before, it's not pleasant) The full size product costs about 19 dollars. I would never pay that kind of money on a product I have never tried before. I'm glad to be able to test this product out because if I do like it, I will definitely pay full price to have this product in my haircare routine! Another great thing about ipsy is, along with the products, they also have coupon codes that they give you to use on the brands that they work with each month. So if you try a product and fall in love with it, you can buy it at a discount! The big sexy hair coupon code is worth $5 off a purchase of $25 or more at ulta.

The next product I received in my ipsy bag is a sample of the coola mineral sunscreen Rose essence tinted moisturizer. I have never heard of this brand before, but I am always anxious to try out new things. This is one of the smallest samples that Ipsy has ever sent. Generally the samples are quite a bit larger. But, there's plenty enough product in here for me to test it out and see if I like it! The rose scent of this tinted moisturizer is nice, and I think the color will be okay for my skintone! The coupon code they sent for Coola is 30% off any purchase at coolasuncare.com so that's a great little savings if I love this product and want the full size.

Next up is a product I have always wanted to try but have never been willing to shell out the money for it. It's Benitint from benefit! One of my favorite parts about my ipsy subscription is that they send a lot of samples form higher end brands. Benetint is a rose scented cheek and lip stain and the full size of this product retails for 30 dollars! There's no way I would ever drop that kind of money on a product that I didn't know for sure I was going to love, so getting this little sample is great! This is a fairly small sized sample, but a little bit of this product goes such a long way that this little guy will last a good long time! The deal that ipsy sent me gets me a free gift with purchase of a benefit product, so that's awesome too, should I decide to make use of that.

Next up is a full sized product! It's a Pop Beauty pouty pop crayon in the color coral crush. It's a goreous lip product that is just fantastic! Pop Beauty is another brand that I had never heard of before I started my ipsy subscription. They have sent out a mascara from this brand in a previous bag and now this lip crayon and I gotta say, I am really liking this brand. I swatched the lip color and it's a gorgeous pink. The swatch lasted on my hand for ages, so something tells me this product is going to last quite some time on the lips as well. If Id decide I want to try out more of these in different colors, Ipsy was kind enough to include an offer for 20% off a purchase from pop beauty as well!

And the very last thing in my bag this month is a selection of sample eyeshadows from BH cosmetics. Apparently, BH Cosmetics has a line of eyeshadow palettes called the Califonia Collection. This sample includes 3 eyeshadows. One each from their BH Hollywood, BH san francisco and BH Malibu palettes. The Hollywood shade is a gorgeous royal purple, the San Francisco shade is a nice brown, and Malibu is a golden shade. Each of the eyeshadows is nice and smooth and pigmented. And this little trio of samples could create an awesome look, or be worn separately. And if I decide I like the samples enough to try one of the full size palettes, I can use the coupon code and receive 10% off my purchase.

So that's everything that is in my bag this month. If you want to see more of my thoughts on each of the products as well as my swatches you can check out my video on my youtube channel, which I will be posting shortly and will then include a link to here. But overall, I really love my ipsy bag this month!!

The bag is always worth so much more than 10 dollars! I highly recommend you check it out! It's a fantastic way to try out new brands and beauty products. If you are interested in signing up, and you use my referral code, I can an extra product in my upcoming bag. And once you're a member, you get your own unique referral code so you can start recommending the site to others as well! Click here for more information on ipsy and for the chance to sign up through my unique code!

Makeup collection and storage

So I made a video going over my makeup collection. Its shaky and I ramble incessantly and it cuts off at the end. So I decided not to upload it instead just took a bunch of pictures. I might get the chance to film the collection video again sometime in the future but for now I'll just share with you the photos.Once again, these photos were taken with my phone so they aren't the greatest quality, but you can get the the basic idea!

First on top of my vanity is a little basket where I keep all of my hair products, my deodorant and other everyday products that I reach for a lot. Next to the basket I keep two cups which contain my face brushes and eye brushes.

All of those things are on the left side of my vanity. On the right side I just have a box of tissues, a little lettter organizer that I picked up at Walmart that contains a few of my eyeshadow palettes. I also have a little plastic martini glass which is really cute and that holds all of my EOS lip balms. I also have a little glass jar that contains a bunch of my jewelry.

All right now we can move on to my actual makeup collection. I use to store it all in little plastic Sterilite drawers but it wasn't the most sturdy or attractive way to store makeup. So I was on the mission to find something better. what I finally came up with was a Helmer unit from Ikea. It's a short metal cabinet with 6 drawers in it and it's perfect for storing my makeup. I picked up 2 of them as well as the plastic drawer organizers for around 100 dollars total so it was really great deal.

The first drawer contains all of my face products. In the very top little space I keep all of my powders. I don't have many of those. In the next section on the left I keep all of my foundations. I have foundations from ELF,  rimmel and Revlon as well as NYC. I also have a tinted moisturizer from elf. Next to that and another little section I keep all of my face primers and moisturizers as well as my ELF mist and spray. In front of those sections on the left I keep all of my concealers. I have concealers from ELF, hard candy, urban decay as well as L'Oreal. Next to those I just have a couple of compact mirrors and a zapper from ELF.

My next drawer contains all of my cheek products. So the very back segment is open and waiting for me to purchase more products. Haha not that I need anymore but it's nice to know that I have a little extra room if I did decide I want to buy more. The left handed segment is full of all of my powder blushes. I've got mostly elf brushes but I also have blushes from LA Colors and hard candy.  in the segment next to that I have all my bronzers. Again mostly from ELF but I also have 1 from NYC. The segment in front of that on the left contains all of my cream blushes. Again these are mostly ELF. I have a studio cream blush as well as there HD blushes from ELF. I also have a blush stick from wet n wild. The last little segment of this drawer has my high lighting products so I have hey cream highlighter from urban decay. I have a bunch of the all over color sticks from elf. I also have an ELF studio blush in gotta glow which I use for highlighting.

 

The next drawer contains all of my lip products. It's one of my favorite drawers! I just love the way it looks. haha. Anyway, I have this drawer organizer turned in a different direction than the other ones, because it works better for me this way. So in the top section of this drawer, on the left, I have my lip balms. Of course, not all my lip balms. You already saw my EOS lip balms on top of the vanity.  On the top right I have my ELF lip stains. In front of those, on the left I have all of my squeeze tube type lip glosses. I have lip glosses from Elf, Forever 21 and Urban Decay. In the right hand section I have other types of lip gloss like those in stick form, and those in  tube with a doe foot applicator. Most of the glosses in this section come from ELF, but I have some other brands mixed in there as well. The very bottom section houses all of my lip sticks and maybelline baby lips lip balms. I like that these drawers are deep enough that I can stall of my lipsticks up. It makes finding the lipstick that I want much easier. Plus it looks so nice that way! I store most of my lipsticks upside down so I can easily read the labels. I have lipsticks from Revlon, Urban Decay, Maybelline, NYC as well as ELF lipsticks from the mineral line, and the essential line.

 

The next drawer contains all of my eyeshadow bases, mascaras and eyeliners. This is another one of my favorite drawers!  The very back section houses all of my eyeliners. I have many pencil liners as well as liquid liners and gel eyeliners.  of my eyeliners come from ELF or urban Decay but I also have some from NYC, LA colors and Bonnebell. The next section, on the left contains all of my eyelid primers. So I have primers from Elf, Urban Decay and one from too faced. This section also contains my eyeshadow pencils from Urban Decay and my jumbo eyeshadow sticks from Elf. The section on the right all of my mascaras. I have mascaras from Maybelline, Cover Girl, smashbox, L'Oreal, ELF and NYC. I also have my Elf eyebrow kit in this section as well as one of my lash curlers and my tweezers. The next section up, on the left holds all of my cream eye shadows. I believe every single one of them is from ELF. And then the right hand section holds all of my maybelline color tattoos and my one Mac paint pot in painterly.

 

The next drawer holds smaller eyeshadow palettes. Single eyeshadow, eyeshadow duos, trios and some quads. The back section on the left just holds my eyeliner sharpeners. Not really sure why they are in this drawer and not my drawer. Must have just been the drawer I had space in. The section on the right has my false lashes, lash glue and the like. The section on the left, in front of those has some random eyeshadow singles, duos and quads. I have a bunch from Elf, but I also have some from wet n wild, urban decay and NYC. Next to that is all of my Elf brightening eye color quads, as well as some duos from elf, and the Elf studio single shadows that I own. In the front section I just have a couple of Urban Decay Palettes, and a couple sephora eyeshadow singles. 

 

The last drawer in helmer unit houses the rest of my palettes. I have a couple of the Elf holiday "books". I have the Elf villainous villainous villains palettes, my BH cosmetics 120 colors palette and some other palettes in there. 

 

So that pretty much wraps up my makeup collection. I do have another helmer unit that contains things like makeup remiover, hair tools and my nail polish but I will go over that helmer in a separate post. Probably, when I do that, I will also post an in-depth nail polish collection as well. 

 

Fall Eyeshadow tutorial

I wanted to do an eyeshadow tutorial for the look that I featured in my last outfit/face/nail of the day post. So, I went ahead and filmed me doing it. I talk a lot in the video, and generally make a fool out of my self trying to find products without my glasses, but I decided to upload it anyway, because it's the easiest way for me to show you guys how I created the look. Please be kind if you watch this video. I am aware that I look like a fool. haha.

I should note that I didn't re-create the EXACT look that I featured in the face of the day. When I created that eyeshadow look I used three different eyeshadow palettes to do it, and that was just ridiculous, so I pared it down to one. I used the BH cosmetics 120 colors palette, which I have not given much love lately, and I am very happy with the way that the look turned out. I hope you find this tutorial helpful, or otherwise just enjoy having a laugh at me in this video.

My all time favorite Products

I was going to sit down and write my monthly favorites post today, but since I haven't purchased any new make up this month, and I have pretty much just been using the same products everyday it would be a pretty boring post. So instead, I thought I would share with you my favorite products of all time. These are products that I consider to be my holy grail products. Cosmetics that no matter how many new things I try, I keep going back to them. It might be a specific brand that I know I can always count on, or it might be a specific shade or color that I purchase and repurchase constantly. If I do not have a product listed for a certain category (for example, I have not listed any concealers) it is because I have not yet found my absolutely can't live without brand, and I would love to hear your suggestions in a comment below!

Foundation: Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation in Ivory

I love this foundation. I like that it comes in a squeeze tube, which is super easy to work with. I never have to worry about too much coming out, like I often do with a pump. I like that the color matches my skin. I often fin that foundation that is light enough for me is super yellow, and I have a lot of pink undertones to my skin, so it doesn't always work. This one has a yellow base to it, but it's not too over the top. It's easy to buff in to my skin and is a nice medium coverage.

Loose Powder: Elf HD powder

I just recently started using this (and a full review is coming for the blog soon) but I absolutely love it. It applies so beautifully and really helps to set my foundation and leave my skin looking absolutely flawless. At $6 it is worth every penny (and practically a steal compared to the price of MUFE HD powder which it is often compared to).

Pressed Powder: NYC Smooth Skin

I love this powder. I reach for this more often than I reach for the loose powder, because let's face it, it's easier to work with, and just as pretty a finish. It makes my skin feel so soft, and it keeps away shininess all day (although, I do not have oily skin, so YMMV). I love this powder, and will forever repurchase it!

Eyelid Primer: ELF eyelid primer in sheer

I have talked about this product many times before, but I will talk about it again, because it really is that good. I have tried more expensive brands before but this one wins out because not only does it bring out the pigmentation of the eye shadows I use and allow my eyeshadow to stay on all day without creasing, it also only costs a dollar! I find this to be very comparable to the much more expensive Urban Decay Primer Potion, and would be happy to do a comparison post if anyone is interested in seeing how comparable the products are.

Pencil Eye Liner: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencils

I hated to even list these, because these are more expensive and not quite budget friendly, which is what my blog is supposed to be about. However, These eye liners are WORTH it! I have never actually paid full price ($19.00) I have always purchased a set or palette on sale that came with a travel size pencil. So there are affordable ways to try these out. But be warned, once you try them, you may never want to go back to the bargain pencils again. These literally do glide on nice and smooth, and DO last like they claim. They comes in a large assortment of colors as well, which is a bonus. I just placed an order for a set of brightly colored UD eyeliner Pencils this morning, and I can't wait to use them!

Gel Eye Liner: ELF cream eyeliner

I love love love Elf's cream eyeliners. They are so super easy to apply, come in a good variety of colors and last for hours and hours! They are so easy to work with. Don't smear all over the place, and the price is definitely right at just 3 dollar a piece.

Eye Shadows: Urban Decay, Elf, WEt 'n Wild, BH CosmeticsI can't pick just one company. I am obsessed with eye shadow. It's the one product that I buy the most. I love the eyeshadow formula from urban decay because they are absolutely smooth and flawless. They are also quite expensive if you pay full price, which is why I only buy them in palette form, and only then when they are on sale. You can get great deals shopping UD's sale page! Elf makes a ton of great eyeshadow options as well. I especially love their essential quads, because the eyes hadows are all great quality, and the quads only cost a dollar each. Wet n wild has an amazing line of eye shadows. They are all super soft, smooth and blend-able, and are also totally affordable! I also adore the palettes from BH cosmetics. They are great quality eyeshadow and there are tons of palettes to choose from (coastal scents also have palettes that are comparable, but I have found that BH cosmetics tends to be a bit cheaper!)

Blush: ELF Studio Blushes

I love elf blushes. There is a great range of colors and finishes. They go on smooth and last all day. The shimmery shades are not Over the Top shimmery. And they are all wearable with the right technique. I have tried quite a few elf blushes, and eventually hope to try them all. They are fantastic, especially considering their $3 price point!

Lip Gloss: Elf

I cannot imagine paying a ton of money for lip gloss, and that is why I love Elf lip glosses. Where it be their essential hypershine glosses for a dollar, their mint lip glosses from the studio line for $3 or anything in between, the glosses are all great quality and totally affordable. I love the variety of colors and types of packaging to choose from. You really can't go wrong with Elf's lip glosses. So that about covers it! I will always keep going back to these products because they are tried and true and totally awesome! What are some of your go-to beauty products? Leave me a comment and let me know! Note: all the above photos are stock photos. Not taken by me (I was too lazy to take that many pictures! haha)

My Favorite Crease Shadows!

Last time I showed you my favorite purple eye shadows since that's what I wear on my eyelids most frequently. I may revisit that and show you some of my other favorite lid colors at a later date. But, it was requested that I show some of my favorite crease shades, so I thought that today. 99 percent of the time, no matter what eye look I am doing, I reach for a brown eyeshadow for my crease color. And it's generally of these!


Elf Studio eyeshadow in Saddle. I love this color. It's a midtown brown that is perfect with neutral eyeshadow looks. This is also a color that works great all over the lids, all by itself. So pretty, and very build-able.



The crease shade from the walking on eggshells palette from wet n wild. This is probably my most reached for eyeshadow to put into my crease. It's so neutral. Matches with everything, is really easy to blend out. Gives just enough definition without being too light or too dark, so it's wearable for day or night.



Deep brown from the BH cosmetics 120 colors palette. This is a deeper almost chocolate brown that I love to use for smoky looks. It's great for nightwear. Very soft and blend- able. But it can also be blended out well and worn for day looks too. Very versatile


Lastly is Darkhorse by Urban Decay. This is a beautiful shimmery deep brown. It adds instant drama to any look I am trying to create. It gives a lot of definition and sparkle. I tend to use this one to darken up my crease, or outer corner and often I use it as a liner too. It's gorgeous!

Here's the swatches!


from left to right: Elf Saddle, Wet n Wild: Crease color from walking on eggshells palette, Deep Brown from the BH cosmetics 120 colors palette, urban Decay's Darkhorse.
The liners are Elf waterproof eyeliner pen in coffee(left), and Urban Decay 24/7 shadow pencil in rehab(right) and are there because I already had them on my arm from earlier was too lazy to wash them off haha. Bonus!

So there ya have it. What are your favorite crease shades? If you have any questions or requests, in he comments below and I would be happy to address them!

My favorite purple shadows

I wear a lot of neutral eyeshadow looks. But when I want a bit of color, I almost always reach for purple eyeshadow. I love purple. It's my favorite color in general. But it also makes my green eyes really pop! I have found that not all purple eye shadows are created equally however. So I decided to share with you my all time favorite purples from my make up collection!


Urban Decay's psychedelic sister


the purple shadow from the Almay Intense i-Color Eye Shadow Trio for Green Eyes


the lighter purple in the N.Y.C. city duet eyeshadow in Tribecca Toast (my fave putple-y highlight color)


Deep purple from the BH cosmetics 120 colors palette (wish these had names or numbers! bottom middle cololr)



frosty pinkish-purple from the BH cosmetics palette (3rd in the top row)

and a couple pencils!


Elf shimmer eyeliner pencil in plum passion


Urban Decay 24/7 glide on shadow pencil in delinquent

And now the swatches


on top: Elf shimmer eyeliner pencil in plum passion, Urban Decay 24/7 glide on shadow pencil in delinquent
Below:
Urban Decay Psychedelic sister, Almay Intense i-Color Eye Shadow Trio for Green Eyes, NYC city duet eyeshadow in tribecca toast, purple from the bh cosmetics 120 colors palette, frosty pinkish purple from the BH cosmetics 120 colors palette


So there ya have it. My favorite purples. What is your favorite purple eyeshadow? What other colors would you like to see me feature for a similar blog post? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

Face of the Day: Shopping and Bowling

Today I went and did some shopping with my hubby, then I went bowling with some friends and family.



products used:
Face:
Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro face primer
Rimmel lasting finish foundation in Ivory
NYC liquid concealer in light
NYC smooth skin pressed powder in translucent
NYC smooth skin bronzer in sunny
ELF blush in Pink Passion
ELF blush in gotta glow (cheek and brow highlight)

Eyes:
Elf eyelid primer
BH cosmetics 120 colors palette (mostly brown and cream shades, with some black around the outer corner to smoke out the look)
Elf cream eyeliner in black
Elf Regular & Waterproof Mascara Duo (I used the wateproof)
Elf eyebrow kit (I used the powder to fill in my brows)
Elf wet gloss lash and brow gel (to set the brow powder)

Lips:
Maybelline baby lips in grape vine

Top 11 Products of 2011 plus some extras

I was going to do my december favorites, but then I realized I didn't really have any favorites. For the month of December, I just continued to use all of my favorites from previous months. So I decided to do a grand finale. Favorites that I used A lot throughout the year last year. So here we go!

#1. Favorite Lipstick- The lipstick that I wore the most in 2011 was Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in the color totally toffee.It's a great pinky nude shade that goes well with absolutely every look. The perfect My lips but better color, and I wore it a ton! Around 6 dollars

#2. Favorite Lip Gloss- By far the lip gloss that I reached for most often in 2011 is NYC Liquid Lip Shine in Dusty Rose. It's a nice stand alone shade, because it's very opaque, but it also looks great layered over a lipstick. It's a great dusty pink shade with gold shimmer, and looks great with my complexion, in my opinion. Around 2 dollars

#3. Favorite Lip Balm- Hands down my favorite lip balm for 2011 is the EOS lip balm in Lemon Drop. I have raved about these plenty on the blog, so I won't go into detail other than to say that these are awesome, and I plan to invest in many more flavors in 2012. Around 3 dollars.

#4. Favorite Face Powder- My favorite face powder of 2011, and the best face powder I have used to date in the NYC smooth skin pressed face powder in translucent. It does not break me out at all, and it sets my make up and lasts a long time. It's a great powder at only around 3 dollars!

#5. Favorite Bronzer- Again, I have to give this one to NYC. I love the NYC smooth skin bronzing face powder in sunny. It's a great Matte bronzer. It's light enough that I can use it all over my face, but build-able enough that I can use it for contouring. And the price ia right around 3 dollars. Can't beat that!

#6. Favorite Blush- the blush that I liked the most in 2011 is the blush from the E.L.F. Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder. The bronzer in this duo is too dark and muddy for me, except in the summer when I already have a tan, but the blush is gorgeous. It's got some shimmer, which I am not always crazy about in the colder months, but I like a lot in the summer. It's a light pinky peach shade with gold shimmer and accents tanned skin beautifully. $3

#7. Favorite Eyeshadow Primer- Hands down the best eyeshadow primer I will ever use is the E.L.F. Essential eyelid primer. This stuff is amazing. So creamy and makes my shadow last all day. I use it every single day and it's one of my most valued products! Best part? It only costs #1!!

#8. Favorite Mascara- The mascara that I used and enjoyed the most last year is the
NYC Instant Lash Mascara in black. I didn't experiment much with mascaras last year, but this is the ones I used the most so it gets the spotlight. It's great for darkening your lashes and does give some length. Plus, it's only a dollar!

#9. Favorite eye liner- My favorite eye liner of 2011 is the E.L.F. studio cream eyeliner in black. Easy to apply, super dark, great lasting power! $3.

#10. Favorite Eyeshadow palette- this will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever read my blog. I talk about this palette all the time. It's the BH cosmetics 120 color palette. It has 120 different shades of eyeshadow with tons of different finishes. If you can't find something you like in this palette, than you have a serious problem! $25.

#11. Favorite nail Polish- I expanded my nail polish collection a TON last year. I won't go into my favorite nail polish color- how could I ever choose? But my favorite brand of nail polish is NYC. I love the formula. I love the color selection. and I love the price!! $1-$3.

Bonus!!

Favorite shampoo and conditioner- L'oreal Eversleek shampoo and conditioner
Favorite Body wash- Softsoap body butter coconut scrub
Favorite Fragrance- bodycology brown sugar Vanilla

My Make Up Collection: Eye Products

I had someone tell me they were interested in seeing my make up collection, so I thought that I would share it with you. I don't think I have a ton of products, but i've been accumulating make up for a while now, and it's all products I truly believe in, and they are all very affordable. I think this post could help anyone looking to start getting into make up, or maybe just inspire someone to try out a product they have never tried before. That's why I am doing this. I am breaking these posts up, because otherwise the posts would be VERY LONG. SO I am starting out with all of my eye products!

I am going to start out my eye products. I probably have more eye products than anything. I love shadows and liners, and I think that having a variety of different colors and finishes can really help change up your look, and is great for experimenting!



Starting with the primers and mascaras I have (top left row of the picture)

l'oreal decrease- this is a great drugstore eyelid primer. It's not the best I have ever used, but it does the job and will run you around 6 dollars.
ELF essential eyelid primer- THIS is my favorite eyelid primer of all time. It applies nice and smooth, makes my eyeshadow last all day long, and it only costs a dollar!

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in brown The first mascara I ever used, and still one of my favorites. I love the formula and the simple brush. This mascara runs somewhere in the 5-6 dollar range.

Elf lengthening and volumizing mascara in black This one costs a dollar and is great for darkening and separating your lashes.

NYC Lengthening Mascara in black I am not sure if they make this mascara anymore. I've had this one for a while (Health Note: You should replace your mascara every 3 months. I don't, but I really really should! Don't be like me!!)

NYC Instant Lash mascara in black One of my fave mascaras. Great for lengthening lashes, and only cost me a dollar!

Moving on to my eye liners (next row, still at the top of the photo)

Elf Wet Gloss Lash and Brow clear mascara. I just picked up this product, and haven't used it long enough to do a review on it, but it only costs a dollar, so what do you have to lose?

NYC liquid Eyeliner in black This is not my favorite liquid eyeliner. It takes a while to dry. But, it's easy to apply and very affordable, so I definitely don't regret purchasing it! I don't use Liquid liner often, so it was a good deal for me.

NYC Brow/Eye Liner Pencil This doesn't have a color name but it's just a charcoal gray color. I never use this one. It doesn't apply well. It's not soft. I probably should just throw it away, but I am a hoarder (lol) and I figure I can alwaus use it in an eyeliner emergency, if I run out!

NYC Eyeliner Duet in mockingbird This is a double ended eye liner pencil. One side is black and one side is white. This one is nice and smooth and glides on fairly easy. The white is great for defining your eyes and making you look awake, while the black is great for defining!

Bonne Bell eye style precise liner in basic black This liner is great. It's the twist up kind so there's no sharpening necessary, and it's a great basic black, soft liner. I wish the color was just a bit darker, but what can ya do?


Elf Studio Cream Eyeliner in black This I just purchased recently, but it very quickly became my favorite eye liner. It is jet black, and very easy to use. I just use an angled brush to apply it and it goes on so smooth and flawlessly. This one costs 3 dollars, and I plan on going back and picking up more colors- maybe even all of them. This stuff if so good!

Ok, now moving on to the eye shadows.

BH Cosmetics 120 colors palette I have talked about this a ton here on my blog, so I won't go into detail, but as you all know, I LOVE this palette.

moving on to the next row in the picture starting at the top and moving down

Cover Girl Eye enhancers eyeshadow quad in Ice Princess This is a great little quad. I love the purples for bringing out the green in my eyes. The shadows are pigmented and soft. With the exception of the darkest shade in the palette which is a tad chalky, but nothing I can't work with!

Wet 'n Wild eyeshdaow palette in Greed Back when I first started using makeup wet n wild was cheap and useless. But they have reformulated and now wet n wild have some of the best eye shadows I have ever used. This palette is nice and has some neutral shades and some darker shades for a great smoky eye. I think it's very versatile.

(next row)

NYC City Duet eyeshadow in Tribecca Toast This is a nice little duo. Again with the purple shades, which are my favorite to wear other than my every day neutral eye. These shadows have some shimmer and are nice and soft. Not bad at all for just under 3 dollars.

Elf brightening eye color in Drama The name says i all. This quad is all about the drama. The colors make for the perfect smoky eye for a night out. And the shadows are great quality. This hot little quad will cost you a dollar. Well worth it!

Elf Brightening eye color in Day 2 Night I am currently obsessed with this quad. The colors are great for a day look, or a night look (hence the quad's name!) The colors are pigmented and have some really gorgeous shimmer. Snag this up for just a dollar!

in the next row I have:

Elf Duo eye shadow creams I just did swatches and a review on these so I won't go into detail, but I have the following duos: Blueberry, Mocha Swirl, Olive, Butter Pecan, Berry mix, and Black Licorice. These are good buys at just a dollar a piece!

So there you have my eye make up. Be sure to watch out for the other segments including my lip products, faec products, brushes and tools!

Make up Tutorial: Dusty Rose Gold

I did a look today that was so simple and yet turned out so beautiful so I thought I would share it with you all. I'm hoping that I can translate what I did into words. Let me know what you think of this tutorial. If it's too hard to follow, maybe i'll film the next one. Anyway, the look I did today is really gorgeous. It's a great rose colored eyeshadow with some gold in the crease. I used a ton of inexpensive products from NYC as well as my favorite BH cosmetics eyeshadow palette. It makes for a great day to day look, but could be amped up to wear at night. Here's what I used.




I started out by priming my eyelids. I used L'oreal De-Crease. This keeps the eyeshadow in place so that it doesn't crease, and makes it last all day. It's a great product and I highly recommend it! After that I chose a great shimmery cream colored eyeshadow (#1 in the photo) and using an eyeshadow brush I applied it all the way from my lash line to my brow bone. This makes a great neutral base. After that, I applied a rose colored shadow (#2 in the picture) all over my lid. Next, I just popped a little gold shadow (#3 in the picture) into the crease. After I blended it out to make it look natural, I went back in with the first color and applied it to my tear duct to make the inner corner of my eye pop, and that's it for the shadow!

After I finished with the shadow, I lined my upper lash line with NYC Liquid eyeliner in jet black. Once that dried, I lined my lower lash line with the NYC liner duet in mockingbird. I used the black side of the pencil along my bottom lash line and the white side just on the inner corner. It really helps brighten up the eyes and gives you a very awake look.

Once I finished with the liners, I curled my eyelashes and applied two coats of NYC Instant lash mascara to both my upper and lower lashes. That's it for the eyes!

On my cheeks, I used a pinky peach blush from the elf contouring blush and bronzing powder. It's a great colored blush, but it does have a ton of shimmer in it, so if you're not into shimmer on your cheeks, I wouldn't reccomend this product.

After that I just used an NYC liquid lip shine on my lips. I used the color 549U Dusty Rose. It's the perfect dusty pink color and compliments the rose colored eyeshadow.

And that's it. Super easy, and super pretty. What do you think of this look?

October 2011 Favorites

Happy November everyone! I can't believe that October is behind us already! Time has been going by so fast. Before we know it, it'll be Christmas. But, before anymore time gets away from me, I want to share with you some of my favorite products from October. Products and colors that I used a lot throughout the month.

The first item I want to talk to you all about is the BH cosmetics 120 color eyeshadow palette. I used this palette every single day of last month. I love it. It's great quality shadow. Very pigmented, with every color you could imagine. It's got a great mix of matte and shimmer shadows. I chose 3 of my favorite colors from the palette to share with you. I used these three a lot in October. They don't have actual names, but the first one is a gorgeous shimmery dark purple color. I use this one a lot. It really brings out the green in my eyes. I like to wear it as either my lid color or smudged into my crease, depending on the look I am going for. The second color is a shimmery gold. I feel like a Greek goddess or something every time I wear it. I love to sweep it all across my lid, concentrating on my inner corner. It's stunning. The last color I want to share with you is a dark, charcoal grey. It's so dark it's almost black, and it's great used either for a great smokey eye, or else smudged along the lash line as a gorgeous liner color. The shades are the center shadows in each picture. You can also get an idea as to some of the other colors in this palette. I highly recommend this palette to anyone. I paid about 25 dollars for it, which sounds like a lot, but you get 120 different eye shadows. Each shadow is about the size of a dime. there is a gorgeous range of colors. If I never bought another eyeshadow again, it would be okay, because the BH cosmetics 120 colors palette has be covered!




My next favorites are a couple of nail polishes. I wore both of these a lot throughout last month. I have talked to you guys about them before so I won't go into too much detail. But they are both NYC polishes. Spring Street is a bright orange, perfect for October, and Cashmere Cream is a light, cloudy blue color. Each of these polishes cost me less than 2 dollars at walmart! Can't beat that price.


Next is a lipstick. It's the ELF lipstick in Voo Doo. It's a deep berry colored lipstick that is perfect for fall. You might remember this one from my favorite fall products blog post not too long ago. It's stunning, and only costs one dollar! I got mine at Target.Here's a swatch.


The last favorite I want to share with you for this post is a hair product. It's the Pantene Medium-Thick hair style heat protection and shine spray. This product is great. I use it every time I blow dry or flat iron my hair. It's important to protect your hair from heat when styling to keep it looking healthy. This product does just that and leaves my hair looking shiny and gorgeous. It runs around 6 dollars. And it's well worth it!



That's it for my favorites this time around! I hope you all had a wonderful October, and a great Halloween. And I hope November is amazing for each and every one of you! Thanks for reading! :)