Face of the Day

I thought I would share with you my face of the day! I did a nice neutral eye with a bit of sparkle and a pop of green that it beautiful for spring and st. patrick's day coming up!

What I'm wearing:

Covergirl outlast 3-in-1 Foundation in the shade 820 creamy natural

Rimmel match perfection 2-in-1 concealer & highlighter in the shade fair/light (under my eyes)

L'oreal true match super-blendable crayon concealer in fair/light (spot concealing)

Rimmel stay matte pressed powder in 003 natural

Revlon photoready bronzer in bronzed &chic

E.l.f. baked blush in peachy cheeky

E.l.f. cool bronzer (the white shade to highlight my face)

E.l.f. glitter primer

Urban decay naked palette (sidecar on the lid, naked in the crease, virgin for under brow and inner corner highlight)

L'oreal infallible eyeshadow in golden emerald (in the outer corner of the eye and under the lower lashline)

Pixi endless silky eye pen in black noir (to tightline)

Urban decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in junkie (lower lashline)

Jordana best lash extreme volumizing mascara in black

E.l.f. instant lift brow pencil in deep brown

Anastasia beverly hills clear brow gel

Eos lip balm in sweet mint

E.l.f. moisturizing lipstick in the shade party in the buff

Nyx butter gloss in creme brulee

My top is from target

My necklace is from bauble bar

My Favorite Beauty Products from 2014

Happy New Year! I know it's been a while since I posted a blog! One of my New Years Resolutions is to stay more up to date with this blog, so hopefully you'll be hearing more from me in 2015! But before we start thinking about 2015, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of my favorite products that I used in 2014. These are tried and true favorites that I used a to throughout the year. Not necessarily products that were new! I will just give you a quick laundry list of my favorite products.

Makeup:

Foundation
Maybelline Fit Me Foundation, Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation

Concealer
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles

Powder
Elf HD Powder, Elf HD Undereye Setting Powder, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Blush
Tarte Blushes, Elf Blushes

Bronzer
Revlon Photo Ready Bronzer, Pixi Subtly Suntouched Bronzer

Highlighter
Elf Baked Blush in Pinktastic

Eyeshadow Primer/Bases
Mac Painterly Paint Pot

Eyeshadows
Wet n Wild Color Icon Singles, Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Eyeliners
Urban Decay 24/7 Liners, Julep Gel Eye Glider Pencils

Mascara
L'oreal Voluminous Mascara

Lip Balm
EOS Lip Balms, Maybelline Baby Lips

Lipstick
Maybelline Lipsticks, Elf Lipsticks

Lip Gloss
Juice Beauty Lip Gloss, Nyx butter glosses

Nail Polish
Zoya, Julep

Makeup MVPs for 2013: Face Edition

At the end of every month, on my youtube channel, I share my favorite makeup products of the month. It's a great way for me to let my viewers know the products I am using and loving and gives me a chance to give mini reviews of products! This is going to be a little bit different. Today, I am going to share with you my MVPs! Basically my holy grail products that I have tried and used and loved over the last year. Kind of the best of the best. I'll be breaking this up into 4 or 5 different sections. Including face, cheeks, lips, eyes and maybe even skincare products and/or hair products. We'll see. We're going to start, though, with my favorite Face Products from 2013. 

Foundation: In the past, I have always said that the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation is my all time favorite. I still absolutely love that one, but this year I discovered something that I like even better. The covergirl outlast stay fabulous 3-in-1 foundation. I wear the shade number 820 Creamy Natural. I really love this foundation. I think it would be a great one for oily skinned gals, because it dries down to a really nice matte finish. As for me, I am dry skinned, but I still find this foundation works well for me with a good moisturizer. This foundation is medium to full coverage, lasts all day and I don't find it to be cakey at all. It's a very affordable foundation, available at the drug store, and I really love it!

Foundation application: I go back and forth between a couple of different methods of foundation application. When I want a lighter coverage from my foundation I absolutely love my beauty blender. It's a fantastic makeup sponge, and even though it's a bit on the pricey side, I feel like it's absolutely worth it. It expands when you get it wet and allows me to stipple on my foundation effortlessly. It gives a great airbrushed look to my foundation and I love the look! When I want to use a brush, my favorite is the Sigma f82 Round top Kabuki Brush. This brush is amazing. It's incredibly dense, while still being soft, and the shape of the brush allows me to apply my foundation with ease. Again, this brush is a bit on the pricier side, when compared to say, drugstore brushes, but I think it's well worth it!

Concealer: For the under-eye area, I absolutely love the Maybelline instant age rewind eraser dark circles in the color fair. I have tried the brightener one, and I don't like it that much, but the fair is just a shade lighter than my skin tone and I find it conceals my under eye circles amazingly well, while also brightening that area. This concealer is on the thin side so it's incredibly easy to blend without tugging on the gentle area around the eyes and yet it still gives tons of coverage. I highly recommend this concealer and will not be without it!
As for a blemish concealer, I absolutely love the L'oreal True Match super blendable crayon concealer. I use the color fair and it's a pretty good match for my skin. It's a very creamy concealer so it's super easy to blend, and it covers blemishes like a dream! And once again, a drugstore price that just can't be beat!

Concealer Application: I apply concealer most often with my fingers, but when I want a brush to blend out my concealer I really love the Sigma Dome shaped Kabuki brush. It's domed tip makes it really easy to blend in concealer and the shape fits well. It's very dense so it blends amazingly well, and it's super soft! I love it!

Powder: Nothing I have tried beats the NYC Smooth skin pressed powder in translucent. I have been using this powder for years and I absolutely love it. For the price I don't think you can beat it! It's incredibly affordable and does a fantastic job of setting foundation and concealer. It's very finely milled powder considering the price and it does not cake up. I generally apply this with a big fluffy powder brush. No one brush seems to work better than any other.

Primer: I don't wear primer everyday under my makeup. Generally just a moisturizer and I am good to go. But when I want my foundation to really last and be flawless, I do, and the primer that I like the best is the Rimmel London Fix and Perfect Pro. It's a great silicone style primer that glides on effortlessly and fills in my pores to make my foundation glide on effortlessly. I love it!

Setting Spray: The final step in my face makeup application is a setting spray, and the one that I discovered this year and absolutely fell in love with is the Nyx dewy Finish Makeup setting spray. Because I have dry skin I love anything with a dewy finish and this gives me a really subtle beautiful dewy glow, and makes my makeup last all day. I really love what a fine mist of product I can get with this, and it's incredibly affordable. Just a fraction of the cost of the higher end ones, and now Nyx is being sold in my local target so I can get my hands on this product super easily! huzzah!

So there ya have it. While there are plenty of other face products in my makeup collection, these are the ones that I go back to again and again and again, and have reached :holy grail" status for me. These are the products I would NOT want to be without! Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you won't miss the next installment of this series, my MVP Cheek products, which will include blush, bronzer and highlighting products! I can't wait to share it with you all!

The Magic of Makeup: Before and After face of the day!

Today, after I took my shower I took a photo of myself before I did my hair and makeup, and then immediately after I finished getting ready for the day I took another photograph. I couldn't believe the difference in my appearance! I never realized how much makeup changes ones appearance until I looked at this before and after. Take a look...

I think that I look about 10 years younger in the "after" photo. My skin looks brighter, I look more awake and aware. Makeup really can do magical things, eh?

What am I wearing, you ask?

Elf studio Mineral Infused Face Primer in Tone Adjusting Green

Covergirl Outlast 3-in-1 foundation in 820 creamy natural

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer in Fair

L'oreal True Match super- blendable crayon concealer in fair

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour blush in thankful

Elf Baked Bronzer in St. Lucia

Elf Baked Blush in Pinktastic (as a highlighter)

Mac Painterly Paint Pot

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette (Foxy all over the lid and on the browbone, tease in the crease)

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Nude eyeliner in the waterline

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam Mascara in Black

Avon Ultra Luxury brow liner in Dark Brown

Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me

I guess it takes quite a bit of makeup to take off 10 years haha. 

Fall appropriate Face of the Day

As soon as September hits, I immediately start getting ready for fall. True, it might be summer weather outside, but that doesn't mean I can't rock more fall appropriate makeup, right? I love the look I created. What do you think?

Products Used:

Covergirl outlast stay fabulous 3-in-1 foundation in creamy natural
Elf essential tone correcting concealer in Ivory
L'oreal Magiclumi concealer/correcteur in fair
Tarte amazonian clay 12 hour blush in exposed
Urban Decay Rollergirl palette (suspect on the lid, darkhorse in the outer corner, the crease and along the lashline, verve on the inner corner and to highlight the brow bone)
Elf essential brightening eyeliner in coffee (to fill in my brows)
Maybelline great lash lots of lashes mascara in blackest black
Urban Decay lipstick in apocalypse
Neutrogena moistureshine lipgloss in vita plum

if you would like to see a tutorial on this look, leave me a comment and i'd be happy to do that

August Favorites!

In this video I share with you my favorite beauty products, haircare products, etc. from the month of August. I hope you enjoy!

[Tag] If I lost all my makeup...

I've never heard of this tag before, but someone in one of the makeup groups I am a part of on facebook posed this question, and I decided to do it here on my blog. The question is...if I lost all of my makeup what are the 10 products that I would repurchase. I am not sure what phenomenon happened that I lost all my makeup, but I have a very clear idea as to what I would repurchase immediately.

Foundation:

My favorite foundation of the moment in the covergirl outlast Stay fabulous 3-in-1 foundation. I wear the shade creamy natural. It's a very nice foundation with medium coverage and I love the finish. I think it does a nice job of covering my imperfections without being too much, or cakey. I love it!

Concealer:

I can't go without a concealer. No way! Ideally, I would have two concealers, one for undereye and one for blemishes. But, since I only have ten products I can purchase for this tag, I need to prioritize and choose a concealer that works for both. I really love the Elf Tone correcting concealer from their essential line. I know it's only a dollar, but it's a great little concealer. It blends easily and covers well. It's a great multi-tasker, and has a pleasant smell. I use the shade fair, which is just a shade lighter than my skin and it really helps brighten my under eye area. Love it!

3. Powder

As someone with dry skin, I generally don't really need to set my foundations, but I definitely need a setting powder for setting my concealer and for touching up throughout the day. My favorite powder is the NYC smoothskin pressed powder in translucent. It's a really nice finely milled powder that doesn't add any color or coverage. It's really smooth and does a fantastic job of setting, without caking up. It's one of those products that I rarely ever hear people talk about and I don't know why, because it's fantastic!


4. Blush:

Blush is one of my all time favorite makeup products. I think it makes such a difference to the face. I would need to choose a nice, neutral blush that I could wear all year 'round. So I would go with one of my favorite blushes. I love love love the blush from the Elf contouring blush and bronzer duo is St. Lucia. It's a gorgeous peachy-pink blush with some gold shimmer running through it. The shimmer is lovely, but not over the top. It's a bit powdery, but I find that the color compliments my skin so well that I don't really mind that. Plus, this has a dark brown bronzer that also has some gold shimmer running through it. It's not my favorite bronzer ever, but having that extra option, if I only have 10 makeup products is an added bonus! haha

5. Eyeshadow

If I can only purchase one eyeshadow palette, than you can bet I am going to go with one of my all time faves. The Urban Decay Naked palette is so incredibly versatile. It wouldn't even cross my mind NOT to pick it up again. It's got a great range of 12 neutral eyeshadows that are so soft and easy to blend. There are so many looks you can create with this one palette. Love it! It also comes with a little mini UD primer potion, which saves me from having to buy an eyeshadow base! Score! haha

6. Eyeliner

This is another one of those products that I would love to own at least two. I love my pencil liners but I love gel liners and liquid liners too! Gah! It's so hard to choose. But, most likely, my first liner purchase would be a pencil liner, and my favorite pencil liner is, without question, the Urban Decay 24/7 liner pencil in the color perversion. It's a super dark black! I love the Urban decay liners because they glide on easily and last forever, even in the water line! Perversion is gorgeous deep dark black. Love it!

7. Mascara

Mascara is my most used product. Even on days when I don't wear makeup, I wear mascara. There are so many amazing mascaras out on the market these days, and choosing just one would be incredibly difficult. Up until recently, I would have easily chosen Covergirl's lash blast mascara. And while I still love that one, I recently found one I like even better! At least for now it's my favorite. It's the Maybelline great lash lots of lashes mascara. It gives me a ton of length and volume, it's not too wet or too dry of a formula. The tapered brush makes it super easy to get into the inner lashes of the eye as well as the bottom lashes. It's just a fantastic mascara, and one of the most inexpensive mascaras out there at just around 5 bucks a tube!

8. Eyebrows

It is SO important to fill in your eyebrows. I never used to do it, and I don't know why, because it makes such a huge difference in the look of your face. Filling in your brows really frames the face and makes the whole look come together. I love the elf eyebrow kit in medium. It's got a tinted brow gel as well as a brow powder and it's the perfect product and the perfect color for me!

9. EOS lip balm in lemon drop

I love lip balm and can't go without it! I love the EOS lip balms, and lemon drop is my favorite because it's got SPF, which is a must have! :) It's great under my lipsticks, or on it's own. It's great protection and moisture for my lips!

10. lipstick

For lipstick, I want something neutral with a nice shine so that I don't need lip gloss (since I didn't leave room for one! haha) My favorite lipstick that meets all of those qualifications is the Rimmel London lipstick in Airy Fairy. It's a great neutral shade that goes with everything, glides on smooth and looks great on my skin tone. It's a must have for any lipstick lover, in my opinion!

So there ya have it! The ten products I would immediately repurchase if I lost all my makeup. Which products would you purchase? I would love to hear from you!!

Face of the Day

Hey guys. Just a quick post to share with you my face of the day. Today, I went out to a super fun sketch comedy show- The Joe Moses Showses. It was Joe Moses (one of the members of my favorite theater company now based out of Chicago, but originally based here in Michigan- Starkid), Tessa Netting (professional fangirl) and my favorite Warbler from Fox's Glee, Curt Mega, together on stage doing sketch comedy skits. Hilarious, and super fun. Of course, chances are you have no idea who or what I am talking about, so let's forget about that and just get into the makeup!

I was really pleased with the look I put together today. Ignore my hair in the above photo, it was still wet!

Products Used:

Face
Rimmel London Fix and Perfect Pro Primer
Covergirl outlast stay fabulous 3-in-1 foundation in creamy natural
Maybelline Instant age rewind eraser dark circles in Fair
Covergirl fresh complexion pocket powder foundation in medium light
Hard Candy Fox in a Box Blush in Smooth Talker
NYC smoothskin bronzing face powder in sunny

Eyes
Mac painterly paint pot
Urban Decay Naked palette (sin all over the lid, buck in the crease, virgin on the brow bone and inner corner. hustle on the outer corner)
Elf Brightening eyeliner in coffee
Maybelline great lash lots of lashes mascara in black
elf eyebrow kit in medium

Lips
Elf Jumbo lipgloss stick in Pink umbrellas

And here's a bonus pic of me with Curt Mega! He's adorable and so sweet! Thanks for reading!!

Makeup for a day at the pool!

Hi guys! Today I thought I would share with you the type of makeup that I do when I am headed for a day at the pool. Now, obviously it's not at all a heavy look. No one wears a full face of makeup when going swimming., But, since I don't generally put my head under water, I do wear a bit! Here's what I'm wearing!

Face Products:
Equate Naturally Beaming daily moisturizer
Coola Mineral Sunscreen Rose Essence tinted moisturizer
Covergirl Fresh Complexion pocket powder foundation in medium light

Eye Products:
Mac paint pot in painterly
Maybelline the rocket waterproof mascara

Lip products:
Maybelline baby lips tinted lip balm in Melon Mania

The Coola tinted moisturizer is a great source of protection from the sun for my skin. I got it in my latest ipsy bag and I LOVE it! It gives a tiny bit of coverage and adds spf 20! I used my regular daily mosturizer in conjunction with it to make sure my skin is nice and hydrated before going out in the hot sun! I used just a light dusting of powder just to set it and add a bit more coverage.

The paint pot in painterly just mutes out the veins in my eyes without adding any dramatic color or shadow. Maybelline's the rocket mascara is a fantastic waterproof mascara! I wear this to the pool, and even if the kiddos splash me in the face with water, it doesn't budge.

The baby lips lip balm is a gorgeous subtle melon color that provides tons of moisture for my lips. I love it!

So there ya have it. My typical pool day makeup. This would be great for the beach or for a light no makeup makeup look for a lunch time date or picnic as well. Hopefully you enjoyed this and got some helpful tips! Thanks for reading!

Summertime Face of the Day

Today, I thought I would share with you my face of the day I created a nice, pretty summertime look. I also filmed a get ready with me video on this look, so if you want to see how I created this look, you can check it out here!



 I filmed me applying the makeup and then sped it up for a super easy to film video. I like to do that style video when there's a lot going on in my house and it's too noisy to film a video that I talk through. So hopefully you will enjoy that. Now, let's go ahead and share the finished look!

 The look that I created is a very neutral summer appropriate look. The eye make up is a little bit darker in reality that it's showing up in the photos. The lips are a really nice pinky-coral shade, and I'm wearing a nice bright matte pink blush that I feel like brings the look together. Here are the products I used.

Face Products:
Equate naturally beaming daily moisturizer spf 15 (not pictured)
Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 foundation in 820 creamy natural
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles treatment concealer in 10 Fair
Covergirl Fresh Complexion Pocket Powder foundation in 635 Medium Light
Elf Studio Blush in Pink Passion
Elf Studio Golden Bronzer (as a high light)

Eye Products:
Urban Decay Naked Palette:

• Buck- all over the lid
• Toasted- in the crease
• Virgin- brow bone highlight
• Sidecar- in the very center of the lid to add dimension

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter pencil- under Virgin on my browbone
Elf 3-in-1 Mascara
Elf Eyebrow kit in medium

Lip Products:
EOS lip balm in Lemon Drop
Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Lip Crayon in Coral Crush

Overall I really liked the look that I created, and I hope you like it too! Be sure to check out that video to see how I did this and until next time I will talk to you later!! Thanks for reading!

Instagram fotd

Hey guys! If you have been checking out my blog lately than you know I have been posting a ton of nail polish related posts. Nail Polish is awesome, but I realize that not everyone is obsessed as I am, so I need to make a conscious effort to post other things on here as well! In an effort to do just that, I thought I would share with you a quick face of the day!

If you follow me on instagram (which, hell you should. www.instagram.com/Jwhackers) Then you may have seen me post this #selfie. I like posing quick snapshots of my makeup for the day on there. It's fun! So here's what I am wearing today!

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous  3-in-1 foundation in 820 Creamy Natural
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark spot treatment corrector in Fair/Light
Covergirl Fresh complexion pocket powder foundation in 635 Medium Light
Elf Baked Bronzer in St. Lucia
Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour blush in dollface
Elf baked bronzer in Pinktastic
Sally Girl Baked eyeshadow in pink icing
Wet n Wild Color Icon trio in sweet as candy (used the crease color in my crease)
Elf liquid eyeliner in coffee
Maybelline Volum' Express The Rocket Waterproof mascara in Brownish Black
Elf Jumbo lip gloss stick in Summer Nights

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. 

 

Face of the day!

Hi everyone! I wanted to share with you a quick face of the day! I went with purples and browns on my eyes today because I really wanted my green eyes to POP! I think it turned out quite nice! For such a natural look, though, I sure did use a lot of products! My skin has been breaking out a ton this week. I can't figure out what is causing it. I haven't tried any new face products recently. Maybe it's just the weather or hormones or something. Anyway, here we go! Ignore my hair in the photos. It has a mind of it's own today, and I just let it do it's natural thing!

::Products used::

Face
Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro face primer 
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation in Ivory

Elf tone correcting concealer in Light Beige
Elf maximum Coverage concealer in Sand 
Urban Decay 24/7 concealer Pencil in CIA (to highlight)
Elf blush in Pink Passion
Elf contouring blush and bronzing powder in St. Lucia (the bronzer to contour)
NYC smooth skin bronzing face powder in sunny (all over flush of color)
Covergirl fresh complexion pocket powder foundation in medium light

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Elf brighteing eye color quad in Hazy Hazel
Pink color from an unnamed Elf duo as a highlight for my brown bone and inner corner higlight
Urban Decay 24/7  eyeliner pencil in Whiskey
Covergirl lash blast mascara
Elf eyebrow kit in medium
Elf wet gloss brow and lash gel

Lips
EOS lip balm in Sweet Mint
NYC lipstick in Violet Shine

Back to school! Drugstore makeup look

I did a look today that I think would be perfect for back to school. Whether you are a student heading back to school for classes. A teacher who wants a neutral fast every day makeup look. Or, like me, a mom who has very little time to get ready due to getting kids out the door for school. It's a very natural, pretty look. And it took me less than 5 minutes to put together!



on my face:
Elf tinted moisturizer in Nude
cover girl fresh complexion pocket powder foundation in medium light
L.A. colors blush in peach rose
NYC smooth skin bronzing powder in sunny
Elf shimmering facial whip in lilac petal

on my eyes:
Elf eyelid primer
Elf duo eyeshadow cream in berry mix (I used light pink as an eyeshadow base)
Wet 'n Wild walking on eggshells palette
Bonnebelle eye style precise liner in basic black
NYC instant lash mascara in black
Elf wet gloss brow and lash gel

On my lips:
EOS lip balm in lemon drop
NYC liquid lip shine in Dusty Rose

10 products I would repurchase tag

So, the premise of this post is this. I wake up one morning and find that all of my makeup has disappeared. I'm not sure what happened to it. It was stolen maybe? haha. But, I can go out and repurchase only 10 products. Again, not sure why. I didn't write the tag. So, I have to decide which 10 products I would repurchase. I am assuming there is no price limit, since no one who has done this tag mentions one, so that makes it a little easier. So yeah, which 10 makeup products would I go out and purchase to begin my makeup collection again?

I have a couple of higher end products. Products that I feel, despite their high price tag, are worth the investment. The rest are drugstore and very inexpensive items. I have talked about all of these products before on this blog. I love them and they are favorites. Hence the reason I would go out and snag them back up! So let's get started.




1. NYC Smooth Skin pressed powder in Translucent- this powder is my all time favorite pressed powder. I prefer pressed powder over loose powder because it's simply not as messy. As you can see I have hit pan on this powder, and that's because I use it practically everyday. It's great for setting my make up, and for touching up throughout the day. It's translucent so it always matches my skin tone, and it's nice and light so it doesn't cake up on me. The price point on this product is great. I believe I purchased it for less than 3 dollars, and it has lasted me about 9 months now and it's nowhere near used up yet!

2. Urban Decay Naked Palette- this one is sort of cheating, because it's one product but you get 12 different eyeshadows out of the deal. I debated between choosing this one or the Naked 2 palette, but I chose this one simply because I feel like I can do a lot more with this one in terms of using it for daytime look and nighttime looks. I love this eyeshadow palette. The colors are all various neutrals. they can be combined in dozens of different combinations, and it even comes with a handy brush. This product cost me 50 dollars. Which is a lot. But that breaks down to about 4 dollars a shadow, which isn't bad at all. Especially considering how soft and easily blended these are. I highly recommend this palette! Urban Decay is one of my favorite cosmetics companies.

3. Covergirl lash blast volume waterproof mascara in black-brown- this is one of my all time favorite mascaras. It glides on smooth. there is no clumping. it gives my lashes tons of volume and some length. The color is the perfect shade for day looks or night looks. And it's waterproof which means it doesn't budge til I am ready to take it off. Love this mascara. This one runs about 6-8 dollars, depending on where you purchase it and can be found at most drug stores.

4. EOS lip balm in Lemon Drop- I have talked about this product so much I might as well get hired as an advertiser. But it's because this lip balm is just awesome. I love how smooth it goes on. I love the smell. I love the shape. I love the fact that it has SPF. There's nothing bad about this product. I think I paid around 3 dollars for it, and it has lasted me so long and still has tons of use left. It's a great balm!

5. Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eyeliner pencil in perversion- If I could only have one eyeliner, this would be it. I have a zillion eyeliner pencils, but this one is by far my favorite. It's the blackest black I have found in pencil form. It glides on so easily. Doesn't drag or pull and lasts forever! I purchased this in a set of 5 eyeliners for 19 dollars from Urban Decay during a sale. It was a great deal, because buying just this one pencil full is 19 dollars. But I would purchase this again, even if I had to pay full price. It's that good. Sure there are other really great eyeliners out there for much less. But nothing that I have found that tops this one. I think it's worth the investment. Especially if you, like me, tend to wear eyeliner in pencil form all the time, rather than liquid or gel eyeliner.

6. Revlon Colorburst lip butter in Creme Brulee- when going through my makeup, at first I wasn't going to choose a lip stick. But then I remembered this one and couldn't leave it out. I love the color and the consistency of this lip product. It's the perfect nude color. The finish is beautiful. I have almost used this little baby up and I will be purchasing another as soon as I do. This one cost me I believe around 7 or 8 dollars.

7. Elf tinted moisurizer in Nude- I debated about whether I wanted to do a foundation or a tinted moisturizer, and I decided on a tinted moisturizer just because I really enjoy this one. The nude color is the perfect shade for me (I originally bought porcelain, and I still have it and use it, but nude is a much better match for me). It's got enough coverage to even out my skin tone without being too heavy like foundations can sometimes be. This tinted moisturizer has SPF which is, of course, an awesome bonus. I love it. And for 3 dollars, you really can't lose.

8. Urban Decay 24/7 concealer pencil in CIA- another Urban Decay Product. you guys are probably thinking geez is this a budget beauty blog or not. But this is another one of those products that I think is worth the investment. I paid just 5 dollars for this concealer when it was on sale. And I love it. It's so creamy and easy to blend. It's the perfect shade for under y eyes because it's a couple shades lighter than my skin so it really brightens up this area. I only paid 5 dollars for it, but I would definitely pay the full price for this in the future. It's another one of those products that I just think is worth the investment.

9. Elf contouring blush and bronzing powder- I love love love this duo. I cannot say enough good things about it. The blush side is a lovely peachy pink with gold shimmer. I have talked about this blush a ton. It's my number one favorite blush. The bronzer side is a little dark for me, but definitely useable with a light hand. I will buy this over and over everytime I use it up. I love it! And for 3 dollars you can't beat it! They say it's a dupe for the Nars Orgasm and Laguna duo. I have no clue if that's true or not, but it's a pretty darn good little duo, dupe or not.

10. Elf wet gloss lash and brow clean mascara- this is one of my must have items. I use this to keep my eyebrows under control. My brows tend to go all over the place if I don't use this stuff. It holds the brows in place, and it really makes a difference in my overall look. It only costs a dollar, works great. What else can I say?

So that's it. That's my 10 products I would repurchase. Which items would you purchase if you woke up one day and found all your makeup had disappeared? I tag anyone who wants to do this, and if you do it, please leave a comment and link me to it so that I can be sure to read/watch it! Thanks for reading!

Face of the Day: Shopping my Stash

Since I haven't been purchasing a ton of new make up lately, I have had a chance to shop my collection of make up a little bit, and I unearthed some makeup that I have not worn in quite a while. So I challenged myself to use the products again, see how I liked them (some of this stuff I haven't used in months!) and try to incorporate some of the good stuff back into my daily rotation. So here's the stuff I pulled from the backs and bottoms of my make up drawers. Some of this stuff I have used recently but some of it hasn't seen the light of day in quite a while!





And here's the look I created. I am not in love with it, It's certainly not the best look I've ever done, but it's okay considering I hadn't used some of these products in a while, and since the only place I am going to is a Church picnic later on today. (It's hot hot hot outside, and I haven't washed my hair, which explains the super slicked back, not so pretty hair)





Products used, as well as a mini review on a lot of them:

Face:
Elf tinted moisturizer in porcelain (I use this all the time, but I use all my foundations all the time)
Elf mineral foundation - spf 15 in warm (I haven't given this much use since I got it, and I wanted a little extra coverage. I like this, the coverage is nice, and the spf is a bonus!)
NYC Cover Stick in light (I used to use this all the time, but when I got other concealers this made it's way to the back of the drawer. It's because the others are superior, this isn't very blendable. It does have good coverage, but it's also super light. It's rare that I say something is too light for my skin but this is, at least now in the summer. I used it under my eyes and it brightened the area so it's good for that, but I wish this was creamier.)
NYC liquid concealer in light (I use this one often enough, but I included it because I needed something for the few spots and pimples I have. This one works okay. very easy to pat in, and the coverage is good. It's not the best concealer in the world, but it's not the worst either)
Elf healthy glow bronzing powder in Matte Bronze(I use this a lot, but haven't given you all my thoughts on this yet, that I can remember. I love it. It's matte, and a nice dark shade that doesn't turn orange. When used with a light hand it's the perfect contour shade for me. Today I used just the tiniest hint of his to accent my cheek bones. It's hardly noticeable in the photo, but a little more so in the day light IRL)
Elf shimmering facial whip in lilac petal (I have said before that I don't really like this product- I just prefer the all over color sticks, but used sparingly, this is a really pretty highlight, which is what I used it for today. Very subtle- I used the tiniest of dots of this product)
L.A. Colors blush in Peach Rose (I like this color a lot. It's a pretty peachy rose with silver shimmer. It doesn't blend well, and is a pretty chalky, but what can one expect from a $1 blush?)
(Wow it seems like I Use SO MANY PRODUCTS on my face when I list them out like this. I assure you, it looks quite natural!)

Eyes
elf duo eyeshadow cream in coffee and cream (I used the cream side. It's a nice little base. The color is very sheer and would never work as as an eyeshadow alone. But this made a nice base for the other eyeshadows. There's a bit of shimmer in it, which is nice)
Covergirl eye enhancers eyeshadow quad in Ice princess (this was at the bottom of the drawer for a reason. Not a fan of this particular quad. Covergirl eyeshadows as a rule are nice, but I just don't love this one. Purples are my favorite, ut these shadows are not very easy to blend, and the color is patchy, and I felt like I had to pack the colors on to get them to show up at all. The final result was pretty, but I just think think that there are better eyeshadows out there for a cheaper price.)
Bonnebell eye style precise liner in basic black (this was my holy grail eyeliner for a long time. It's nice and smooth going on, nice and creamy, retractable and super inexpensive. I've since found liners that I like better, but this is still a great one! It's not the blackest black, but it's great for smoky looks because it's very easy to smudge out and looks gorgeous. It doesn't stay in my water line which is a bummer, but for the price, I really like this one)
Elf lengthening and volumizing mascara in black (I once raved about this mascara. Now that I have tried a few more mascaras this one is not at all a favorite. Still it defines the lashes and lengthens them, and doesn't flake off. So it's a nice day time mascara. Not one of my more reached for mascaras but I do especially like it for the bottom lashes)


Lips
Eos lip balm in lemon drop (I've already raved about this a zillion times, I use it everyday and I don't think I will ever find a balm I like as well as this one)
Rimmel London Lasting Finish lipstick in Asia (I have talked about this before. I loe this mauve-y color and I am sad that i'm almost done with this lipstick. It's the first time I have worn it in a while and it reminded me how much I love it. I need to see if they still have this color available since this tube is sooo old)
Neutrogena Moisturshine gloss in Vita Plum (I forgot I had this gloss. I love it, and I am so glad I did this so I can use this gloss again. It's one of my all time favorites!)

And I finished the whole face off with the elf make up mist and set spray, which I just got recently but quickly has become a holy grail product for me. I love this! I spray this on in the morning and mt make up lasts all day! Even in the summer when my make up is normally melting off by noon! Also, I've got super dry skin, so a quick spray of this refreshes my make up after a long day!

SO that's it! I definitely found some old favorites in the mix that I will be incorporating, and I found a couple of flops too. I am glad I did this little experiment and look forward to shopping my stash more in the future!

May favorites

May this year was hot hot hot! Several days we here in michigan saw temperatures of 90 degrees and above. So a lot of my make up looks were very summer appropriate and my favorites this month definitely reflect that!

Elf Studio tinted moisturizer

I love this stuff! I wear the shade porcelain. It's a little more yellow toned than I would normally like, but luckily this is sheer enough that it's totally wearable. It gives just enough coverage and is very moisturizing. Plus, It's got an spf of 20. What more can a girl ask for?

Eos Lip Balm in Lemon Drop


This is my all time favorite lip balm. I wear it practically every day layered under my lip products. I've found myself reaching for it even more so than usual lately. I've said it before but I will say it again, I love the shape of these balms. The spherical egg shape makes locating it in a jammed packed make up bag, or drawer super easy. This particular one is a fave because of the yummy lemon smell and the spf 15!


Elf all over color stick in persimmon

When it's hot out, I like to reach for cream products over powders a lot of the time. I found myself reaching for this product a ton for the month of May. This all over color stick only costs a dollar, and I love it to place on the apples of my cheeks as a blush, or along my cheekbones as a gorgeous high light shade. This is a very versatile product. I liked it so much I went back and bought some of the other colors to try!


Covergirl lash blast volume mascara


I think I may have found my holy grail mascara. I love love love this. I have quite a few mascaras, but I have been neglecting them all for this bad boy right here. It gives my lashes a ton of volume, lasts all day and it completely waterproof. Does not budge until I am ready to take it off at night.

Elf Luscious liquid lipstick



I never really gave these much of a shot before. I think because these weren't really what I was expecting when I first got one. Now, however, I am crazy for these. I am making it my mission to get every single color, and multiples of them, even. This is just so effortless. Glides right on, and looks fantastic. They are just a sheer touch of color, perfect for summertime looks. I have worn this every single day of the month, in varying colors over various lipsticks, and they just work with everything.

neon nail polish



I have just been loving neon nail polish this month. 24/7 from sinful colors (neon pink)has been on my toes all month. And various neon greens and pinks have appeared on my fingernails!

So that's it for this months favorites! Hope everyone has an amazing June!!

Note: Photos in this post are stock photos and are not mine. I was too lazy to take photos so thank you google images for the photos!