Lip List #4

I was inspired this past week to put a little effort in to my lipstick routine. Truth be told, I couldn't be bothered to do much with my eye looks, so I jazzed up the bottom half of my face instead. ;) Here's what I wore in the last week, in order Monday-Friday:

• Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in As You Wish Victoria - A creamy, hydrating bright magenta. Full review here. 
• Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum - This is a moisturizing mauve color, perfect for every day wear.
• Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Pop - A light pink tinted gloss, perfect for the faintest hint of color.
• Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Get Ready - A creamy rosy pink, super comfortable to wear on the lips. 
• Mirabella Lipstick in Volatile - A vampy berry purple, perfect for fall. 

Have you tried any of this lippies? What's your favorite? Let me know! 

Summer Lovin' - FOTD

It FINALLY feels like summer here in Minnesota - kind of sad, considering it's July 21... but we've just been graced with some 80+ degree weather for the last few days and I am absolutely loving it. All this sunshine and warm weather had me feeling so good that I decided to sport some dressed up eyes just for the heck of it. Here's how you get the look:

On my face, I began by moisturizing. See my current skincare routine for the products I use to do just that. For foundation, I used a cosmetic sponge to apply the Revlon ColorStay foundation; I'm the lightest shade, #110 Ivory. I set it using my go-to Rimmel Stay Matte powder. For a pop of color on my cheeks, I used a blush that's been featured many times on this blog, Physician's Formula Multi-Colored Blush in Blushing Nude. 

I filled in and set my eyebrows using the Wet n Wild eyebrow pencil in Taupe and the Maybelline Great Lash in clear. On my lips I'm wearing a NYX Xtreme Lip Cream in the shade Nude Peach Fuzz, an awesome pigmented cream that is more like a liquid lipstick. Because this look is more dramatic for me than normal, a nude lip color is a nice choice so the attention stays on the eyes.

For my eyes, I started by using the Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin, a shimmering champagne color. To define the crease, I used my all-time favorite NYX single in True Taupe with a fluffy blending brush. Any matte brown that is just a couple shades darker than your skin tone will do. 

I then pulled out my Sephora Primal Instincts palette seen above to do the real work. Using the lighter shimmery purple shade called Tea Rose (top, right) I filled in the outside of my crease and then pulled it in along my lid. To really define the outside of the crease, I then used the jewel-toned shimmery purple called Plum. I pulled this slightly around the top of the lid for a bit of definition. To brighten up the middle and inner corner of my lid, I used a rosy champagne color (top, left) called Apricot. And wa-lah! That's all for the eyeshadow.

Because my eyes always need a pop of eyeliner to look complete, I used a brown liquid Covergirl liner (unnamed) and went over it with the Sigma eyeshadow base in Strike, a shimmery burgundy brick color. To complete the look I used a couple coats of Eyeko's Black Magic mascara. 


This look is super easy to replicate, and you definitely don't need to use the exact same colors I did to achieve something awfully similar. If you recreate this look, send me a link! I'd love to see!

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation | Review

Not often do I branch out from my favorite foundations - when I find one I like, I tend to stick to it. Seems odd, right? I'm a beauty addict who loves to sample all the things. However, with my combo/oily skin, not all foundations sit well on my face so I don't like shelling out money on something that may not work for me.

However, earlier this winter, I'd been hearing a lot about the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation and was intrigued. My skin was quite dry (due to some medication I was on) and most foundations worked well on me since oil wasn't a big factor, so I decided to try this one out.

Revlon Nearly Naked foundation retails around $7.50 a bottle, and can be found at retail and drug stores. It's available in 16 shades, but I am the lightest - 110 ivory. The foundation has medium coverage, but can be built up for more coverage. It looks natural and dewy on the skin, living up to its "Nearly Naked" name. I've applied this in a variety of ways - beauty blender, brush, and sponge - but my favorite way to apply it was using my Sigma F80 kabuki brush. The consistency is very light and runny, with a sort of oily finish, so the brush allows for easy blending and application. 

For those of you with dry, clear skin, you just might love this foundation. If you've got oily or combination skin, you might want to think twice. When my skin was dry, I could easily wear this foundation all day, getting 6+ good hours of wear. However, with my skin back to it's normal oily/combo self, this stuff slips and slides around on my face, requiring me to re-set it with powder once or twice throughout the day. 

Revlon Nearly Naked foundation is a great option for those with dry or non-oily skin types. It smooths nicely across the face, has a large shade selection, and looks quite natural. For those with oily skin, this will probably slip and slide around and require you to powder your face multiple times throughout the day.

I tend to gravitate towards this foundation for a night out, when I'm only planning to wear it for a few hours. I also like to use it with cream blush, as the finish is natural and dewy. 

Unfortunately, due to the short wear time I get from this, I won't be purchasing another bottle. I'll stick to my tried and true favorite, the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous foundation.


Have you tried the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation? How did it work for you? Let me know!

Four or More

I was recently scrolling through my bloglovin feed when I stumbled upon a blog by Kate Spitz called "Four or More". Now first and foremost, if you don't read Kate's blog, you need to go check it out right now! I absolutely love reading her reviews. Her blog is a treasure trove of beauty goodness! So her post, "Four or More" is all about the products you own four or more of. Why? Because if you own that many it must mean you love them - which I totally agree with! I knew I had some items in my own collection that I certainly had four or more of and I thought I'd share my picks with you today!

Maybelline Color Tattoos - It's no secret these cream eyeshadows hold a special place in my makeup-loving heart. Maybelline Color Tattoos come in a wide variety of shades, they retail under $10 and they're the best thing to happen to drugstore makeup in a LONG time (if I do say so myself). I use the Color Tattoos both alone and as a base for other shadows, as the wear time is crazy good. I couldn't recommend these more!

Britney Spears Perfume - Long have I been a fan of Britney's perfumes. I know so many people love to hate on celebrity fragrances, but these are no joke! The wear time is impressive, and there's a scent for everyone - from sugary sweet to deep and feminine. My current collection holds the classic Curious fragrance, Midnight Fantasy, Circus Fantasy, Hidden Fantasy and Believe. 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains - Okay, I realize one of these is not the stain version, but really, I just enjoy these lip crayons by Revlon. The formulation is really nice, and the staying power of the stain crayons is just insanity. They're under $10 and the range of shades offers something for everyone. I've loved every one I've tried, and I'm certain my collection will grow to much more than 4 in the future!

Zoya Nailpolish - Zoya is, hands down, my favorite nail polish company. They're 3-free (a.k.a. free of bad stuff!) and they always seem to make shades that I can't resist! I've got far more than 4 of their polishes, and my collection is always growing because they release the best collections ever. You can pick them up in select Ulta stores, or online at zoya.com (which is where I get most of mine). You can tell just from the picture above that the color selection is all across the board. Go get you some!


I'd love to know what you have 4 or more of in your beauty collection! It's always interesting to see what others are loving - keep me posted in the comments below!

Revlon Legacy Lipsticks | Jungle Peach & Snow Peach

L to R: Jungle Peach, Snow Peach

Revlon recently reintroduced a series of vintage lipsticks that had once been discontinued. If you've been patrolling the aisles of your drugstore lately, chances are you've seen them. When I found them at Ulta not too long ago, I couldn't resist the peach shades. But really, all five of the shades are stunning. 

My favorite of the two is Snow Peach. This color is SERIOUSLY awesome. It's a pigmented pink-coral color that looks awesome on fair skin, although I could see it being gorgeous on tan skin as well. I can't speak to that as I'm white as snow all the time. This color went on smooth, was creamy and lasted 4-ish hours on me with some wear.

Jungle Peach looked so so gorgeous in the tube but  just look at this mess on me. It pulls really orange on my lips. I look like I'm dying or suffering from some kind of sickness when I wear this. I'm so disappointed because it looks so pretty in the tube. This will unfortunately be given to someone else who can pull it off. 

Did you snatch up any of these limited edition Revlon lipsticks? What did you think?

Birthday Haul!

I mentioned in Friday's post that my husband and I celebrated my birthday shopping all over the place. We had a blast - I'm lucky to have a husband who enjoys shopping as much as I do. I found some goodies, and I allowed myself to splurge on myself as a birthday treat. I thought I'd share with you all what I picked up. The above shows some purchases I made, as well as some gifts!

• Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation - I've heard lots about this foundation, and as an avid lover of the Stay Matte Powder, I had to give this a go. I've tried it a couple times so far, and you'll hear more from me about this in a future post.

• Dior Creme De Rose Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm - Ya'll know I was lusting after this in February, and my sweet husband gifted this to me for my birthday. It's everything I thought it would be and more! I'm in love.  

• It's a 10 Miracle Leave In plus Keratin - I got this sample for free for spending over $20 at Ulta. I've never used anything from It's a 10 so I'm excited to try it!

• Mario Badescu Drying Lotion - I get the occasional zit, and I've heard this little bottle is all you need to zap any unfortunate spot. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm glad to have it in my army of acne-fighting products.

• The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter - I've never tried any cleansing balms before, and this gem was half off so had to throw it in the bag.

• China Glaze: It's a Trap-Eze - It's not like me to grab a nail polish that isn't in the clearance aisle, but this one spoke to me! It has a milky base with multicolored glitter and it just looks awesome.

• RoC Daily Resurfacing Disks - I don't know what possessed me to grab these off the shelf, but I did and I'm excited to use them.

• Calvin Klein ck one mascara - This was my free Ulta birthday gift. This normally retails for $18, which is a pretty generous giveaway!

• Freeman Pineapple Facial Enzyme Mask - I'm a sucker for anything pineapple scented, and this mask smells SO good. I love facial masks, and I love pineapple... win win!

• Lush Prince shaving cream - I think this is actually geared toward men, but I wanted to try it out on my legs. It smells really earthy and nice.

• Lush Yuzu and Cocoa Bubble Bar - This smells divine. I take baths regularly so I treated myself to a new bubble bar.

I also got some lippies, too! My favorite!!! Lipsticks are listed left to right.

• Revlon Jungle Peach lipstick - This is one of the limited edition Legacy lipsticks, and unfortunately it doesn't look very good on me. It looks much more orange when on my lips. :(

• NYX Butter Gloss in Sugar Cookie - I am obsessed with these butter glosses. They're really hydrating and have great color pay off. Sugar Cookie is a really pretty hot pink shade, and I believe it's one of the new shades recently released.

• Revlon Snow Peach lipstick - Another Legacy lipstick and I absolutely LOVE this color. It's going to be great for summer. Swatches to come!

• NYX Butter Gloss in Angel Food Cake - This is another one of the new butter gloss shades. This is a my lips but better color, perfect for a neutral lip.

• NYX Butter Lipstick in Sweet Tart - I can't escape reviews of these everywhere. I finally picked one up and I really like it! 

• essence Stay With Me Long Lasting lipgloss in My Favorite Milkshake - I picked this up on a whim, and it's excellent!

• NYX Matte Lipstick in Street Cred - Another bright pink lipstick. I love a good matte lipstick, and this is completely shine-free. 

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know!

FOTD | Brunch

This past Sunday, a friend of mine invited a couple girls over for a brunch at her house. It was a really fun morning full of delicious food and great company. We dined on a pepper and artichoke frittata, apple cinnamon muffins and breakfast cookies. And of course, mimosas. What brunch would be complete without mimosas? 

I wanted a really fresh, simple look for this brunch and I thought I'd share with you what I used to achieve just that. 

• Face: I moisturized with Neutrogena Oil-Free moisturizer (not pictured) and followed up with Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch primer on areas of my face where my pores are larger than other areas. I then used Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation in shade 110 Ivory and applied it all over the face using my Sigma F80 flat-top kabuki brush. For blush, I used a Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in Plum Wine, which adds a really natural flush to the cheeks. To set my foundation, and even over-top of my blush, I used the NYC Smooth Skin Pressed Face Powder in Transluscent. This isn't my favorite powder, but it's been in my collection for too long so I'm trying to use it up. 

• Eyes: I primed my eyelids first using Urban Decay's eye primer in Eden (not pictured - I have an icky sample packet I'm using). I then used the matte taupe color in the picture above called Like a Virgin (from the Too Faced Naked Eye Palette) to define my crease. On the rest of my eyelid, I used an Ulta eyeshadow in Seashell. This is the pinky gold color you see catching the light in the images above. For eyeliner, I use my tried and true favorite liquid eyeliner, Wet n Wild's Mega Liner in Black. For mascara, I applied one coat of Ulta Plush Drama mascara in Jet Black, followed by a coat of Pixi's Large Lash Mascara in Best Brown. 

• Eyebrows: To fill in my eyebrows, I used the NYX eyeshadow single in True Taupe. I love using this shadow for my brows because of the natural, full look it gives. To set them, I used Maybelline Great Lash clear gel. 

• Lips: With all the cold, dreary weather we've been having, I was craving a bright bold pink lip. I used a lipstick by Besame Cosmetics in the shade Exotic Pink (remember that lipstick?). Is that packaging amazing or what?!

What is your go-to brunch look?

Nail Polish Haul - on a budget!

As I do basically any time I'm out running errands for various things, I swing by the cosmetics aisle. However, because my hobby is to play around with and collect cosmetics, I especially look within the clearance aisles of my favorite spots to see what I can snag for a deal. Very rarely do I pay full price for makeup or nail polish. 

This weekend was no different, and I ended up scoring BIG on some great nail products! I thought you might like to see what I picked up.

I am the most excited about this find! Maybelline Color Show Fashion Prints - FOR ONE DOLLAR EACH. These colors are probably from an outdated collection that's being clearanced out to make room for the fall collection, but that's fine by me. Other patterns in this brand still retail for $7.99 each! I found mine at Big Lots, and I got the patterns (from L to R): Midnight Lace, Wild Reptile, Fierce in Fuchsia, and Divine Crocodile.

I am over the moon about these Sally Hansen polishes I picked up at Target, on clearance for $1.74 each (down from the typical $2.99 price point). These three are from the summer line of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes, which was an exceptional collection if I do say so myself. I had grabbed these a handful of times, only to put them back to save a little extra $$, but when I saw them on clearance I finally bit the bullet! From left to right the colors are: Pink-Grape Fruit, Berry Juicy and Kiwi Bikini.

This is a random group of polishes that I bought at Walgreens. They were all discounted down to $2 and $3, and they also had a buy 1 get 1 half off sale, so I ended up spending $6.44 total - less than any of these typically costs individually! From left to right I got: Revlon Star Attraction in Star Crush (I hadn't realized this was a magnetic polish when I got it or I would have skipped it - oh well), Revlon Colorstay in Nude Beige, and Essie Power Clutch.

If I would have bought everything at full price, I would have spent around $63. Thanks to awesome sales, I got all of these nail products for just $15.66! I love a good sale. It's absolutely possible with the right coupons, clearance items, and a good eye that you can build a collection of beauty products on a budget!

Have you tried any of these polishes? Let me know in the comments below! I love to hear from you!

June Favorites!

June favorites are here and I have some truly awesome things to share with you this month. If you missed my May Favorites and aren't quite sure what this is all about, my "favorites" posts are a selection of products I have reached for over and over again over the past month, and I usually include a mini review as well. Here goes nothing...

 

Covergirl LipPerfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in 215 Watermelon Twist

First up is a lip "balm" (I say that in quotations only because it is far more pigmented than most "balms") that I am absolutely in love with. As you can see, it provides a really good coverage, it's a gorgeous bright pink, and let me tell you - it is perfect for summer. These are hydrating and shiny, and I would highly recommend them. You can find these at most drugstores for about $7-8 each, and they come in 14 different shades. 

Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in 008 Candy Pink

If Barbie had a favorite lipstick, I imagine this would be it. I hate to share this because I think this might be a discontinued product line, replaced by the relatively new Revlon Lip Butters, BUT I HAD TO. It is seriously so awesome. It is a sheer pink color that is buildable to a good pink coverage. The nice thing about this product is you don't need a mirror to apply it - it's a good one to keep in the purse for apply-and-go lip color.

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation in Ivory

It's been a while since I've changed up my foundation routine, but after hearing nothing but good things about this foundation from some YouTube "beauty gurus" that I watch, I finally caved and picked it up. What the HECK was I waiting for? This stuff is an instant favorite. The 3-in-1 means this foundation functions as a primer, concealer and foundation. The things I love most about it are that it has full coverage without having to apply a ton of product (total necessity with hot summer weather), it lasts all day long, and the pump bottle applicator rocks. I'm in love. You can find this at most drugstores for around $10.

L'Oreal Clean Definition Telescopic Mascara in Blackest Black

Perhaps you've heard others praise the amazingness of the Telescopic mascara line, and if so - you can add me right in to this group of lovers. I'm not sure if you can still pick up the Clean Definition version of this product (I believe Shocking Extensions is the latest version of this mascara) but you can find it at times at stores like Big Lots. This mascara draws out your lashes, separates them, and makes them look so long and full without looking clumpy. The skinny brush makes it easy to apply in all sections of your eye, whether its the inner corner of your lashes or the long outer corner lashes. A must have mascara, for sure.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in 25 Bad to the Bronze

Helllooooo awesome cream eyeshadows! This line rocks my freaking socks off. I own a handful of these colors, but my favorites from this line include this one, Bad to the Bronze, because it is an easy everyday color. (Mix this with Barely Branded and you're set for the day!) These cream shadows are super pigmented, easy to use, and they really do last alllll day long without creasing. These are a great, and much cheaper, alternative to MAC's paint pots. You can find these at drugstores for around $6.

Physicians Formula Powder Palette Multi-Colored Blush in Blushing Nude

Since I bought this blush earlier in June, I have not been able to put it away. This is a seriously great product. The multi-colored aspect of it allows for easy blending and it adds a very natural looking definition to the cheeks. This is a great product to use when you're doing an all-over natural face look. You can find this product at most drugstores for around $10.

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil 

When I first heard of this product I was like "put pure oil.... ON MY FACE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" And then I did my research and found that this oil won't clog your pores, and is actually filled with antioxidants that help soothe blemishes or acne. This is one oil that your face will absorb nicely, so it won't sit on your skin and feel oily and gross. Maracuja oil is also supposed to help with fine lines and wrinkles. I use this nightly, primarily around my eyes to mega-moisturize that area and fight off any future wrinkles and fine lines. Now and then I use it on my whole face which feels divine. This stuff is kind of pricey (I got it in a gift set, which was basically the price of one of these bottles alone), running about $45. If this is too much for your budget, you can get maracuja oil MUCH cheaper if you buy it without a brand name attached.

Lush Lip Scrub in Mint Julips

Lippies are my weakness, and nothing is worse than putting on lipstick with gross peely dry lips. That problem is solved completely thanks to this awesome product by Lush (a favorite brand of mine). Essentially, this is a sugar scrub for your lips. You take a tiny bit out, scrub it all around, and then lick it off (it's all natural, baby!). It tastes just like you would imagine it would, and it works a freakin' miracle on my lips. You can get Lush's lip scrubs at any Lush store, or online at their website. They run around $9 each. 

What products have you been loving this month? And do you love any of these same products? Let me know in the comments below. :)