January 2015 Ipsy Glam Bag

Hello beauties! 

It's that time of the month again - another Glam bag is here! This month's theme is "Fresh Start". Very appropriate for the new year! Here are the things I received :

The bag itself has two colors - one side is blue, and the other side is white. It is textured, and seems to be quite durable!

Here's the breakdown of the products:

Probelle Nail Laquer in Into the Blue - This shade reminds me of the time I went through a blue nail polish phase when I was younger hahah! I love the color, and will definitely use it in the springtime.

Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow in Ethreal -  This is a very pretty iridescent color, perfect to use on the brown bone, or on the inner corners of your eyes (and yes, Pacifical claims that there is real coconut infused in the eyeshadow).

Eco - Beauty by La Fresh Group Moisturizer - I love the fact that this isn't the typical sample packet, in which you tear open the corner and there is no way to seal it if there is more product left in there. This one conveniently has a lid in which you put back on when you are done.. excuse my excitement, I've just never come across this before LOL! This cream is made without all of the bad junk found in other products.

BellaPierre Cosmetics Shimmer Powder in Celebration - This is a beautiful golden copper loose pigment.

Elizabeth Mott All Over Shadow Brush - This brush is seriously soft, and dense! Can't wait to use it!

I have to say, I'm very please with this month's bag! Did you get the same items as I did? 

My 2014 Beauty Favorites

Hello beauties! Am I the only one baffled at how fast time is flying?! I can't believe that it is 2015! I figured I would do a post showing you all of my favorite products of 2014. Some of these items are actually holy grail status for me - but I'll eventually show you what all of my holy grail products are in a different post.

Favorite Primers/Tinted Moisturizer/Foundation:

Pixi Flawless & Poreless Primer - I received this when I attended Generation Beauty in LA, and I'm so glad I got one! I use this primer for everyday use. Works great, and holds my makeup well throughout the day.

Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer - This primer is amazing! Foundation glides on effortlessly, and this stuff feels like silk when applied. I only use this primer when I'm applying makeup before a night out or for special occasions, because it's so expensive - which is the only downside of this product. I get the $18 travel sized bottle (regular sized bottle is $52).

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Annapurna - This is what I use on my face pretty much everyday. Quick and effortless!

MUFE HD Foundation - This foundation makes my skin look flawless and has been my tried and true for quite a while now. I tend to only use this when I am going out at night, or when I need good coverage when I have redness/breakouts.

Favorite Eye Products:

Too Faced Chocolate Bar - I found myself reaching out for this palette quite often. I use mostly neutral shades during the day due to my job, and this palette has the perfect combination of neutral colors. The fact that the eyeshadows smell like actual chocolate is a plus :)

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara -  Love this high end mascara. Doesn't make my lashes look clumpy and doesn't flake on me either.  This isn't waterproof though, so be careful if you're a cryer LOL.

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara - As you can see, this mascara has been threw it! Used and abused. This mascara does wonders for my eyelashes, seriously. Lengthens, separates, makes them look naturally fabulous. Best drugstore mascara for me!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - I have purchased countless tubes of this stuff. Eyeshadow will not crease or move all day, and makes the eyeshadow color appear more vibrant.

Inglot Eyeliner Gel #77 - This eyeliner is pretty darn black, just the way I like it! Once it dries, this will not budge.

Favorite Concealers:

Maybelline FIT Concealer in Sand - I use this concealer to highlight under my eyes, forehead, bridge of my nose, cupid's bow, chin. This is a great dupe for the next concealer I'm going to mention next...

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard - Love this stuff! I use this just the same as I would with the Maybelline one. I find that this one is a bit thicker than the FIT concealer.

L.A. Girl Pro Conceal HD Concealer in Medium Beige -  This concealer is more my skin color (although for some reason it looks a bit darker in this picture). Hides imperfections impressively well, and is comparable to MAC's Pro Longwear concealer (which I used to use all of the time before I ran out and purchased this).

Favorite Contour/Bronzer Products:

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit -  As you can see, this kit is used daily. All the colors I need to create my contour is in there, as well as the powder shade I use to set the highlight I created with concealer.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer - It was a close tie between my NARS bronzer in Laguna and this one. I chose this one at the end because it is a matte bronzer (although I love my NARS one a lot). It doesn't make you look muddy, nor orangey, and can also be used to contour.

Favorite Blushes:

MAC Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul (left) - I abuse this blush almost everyday, and it barely has a dent on it. The mineralized blushes last forever! It gives me a perfect bronzy/rosy color and I find that  this blush works with pretty much any look you are going for. Complements many, if not all, skin colors.

MAC Peaches (right)- This is a matte - and as the name of it states - a peach color. Love the way this color compliments my skin tone.

Favorite Highlighters:

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal - Obsessed. Love the glow it gives! It is very finely milled, and a little bit goes a long way.

Too Faced Candlelight Glow - This truly gives you a candlelight glow. Makes you look healthy and radiant all day long, without chunky bits of glitter.

Favorite Lip Products:

 

MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn (left) - The perfect, everyday soft pink lipstick. This is a lustre finish which is hydrating and gives off a subtle sheen without having to put gloss over it. 

MAC Lipstick in Shy Girl (middle) - One of my go to nude lipsticks. I wear this on it's own, or I pair it up with MAC lipliner in Spice. 

MAC Lipstick in Modesty (right) - This one is such a pretty color, and would work on SO many skin tones. Its a nude, but not quite brown, and not quite pink. It's perfectly in the middle - if you don't own this, please do yourself a favor! 

That concludes my favorites! What were some of your 2014 favorite beauty products?

Ulta Christmas Haul

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season :)

For one of my Christmas gifts, I received a gift card for Ulta since my boyfriend is pretty much clueless when it comes to makeup hahah! I gladly went online and did some shopping. It was hard for me to narrow down what I wanted, but here is what I ended up with!

Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in Medium - I am running low on my L.A. Girl concealer- and I really do love it, but I have heard great things about this one and I'm curious to try it out. 

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Spotlights - I have mentioned this before, but I love highlighters. I own the Becca Pressed Shimmer Powder in Opal and I'm obsessed! I've never tried the liquid ones before, and since these are the travel sized liquid version, I decided to give it a go. The three shades in order from left to right are Pearl, Champagne Gold, and Opal.

Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette - This is part of Tarte's spring collection. All of the shades are matte and seem pretty easy to dupe, but I don't have some shades in my collection.

Real Techniques Bold Metals Collection #301 Contour Brush - I own some of the regular Real Techniques brushes, and I find them to be of great quality. Sam and Nic have released a luxury line of Real Technique brushes, and since the regular version has never disappointed, I wanted to try out the high end version. These brushes are weighted, metallic, and sleek looking. I don't have a flat contouring brush so I went ahead and got this one.  That concludes this little Ulta haul. I was debating on making this a "What I got for Christmas" post, but decided on just focusing on what I got at Ulta, although I will mention the other goodies - I received a 5 drawer Alex storage from Ikea, since the one I currently own had no more space in it. I also got a Diva Ring Light (you can see the reflection of it on the RT brush!) I am so excited about that!  Is there anything from this haul that you would like to see me review in the next few weeks? Let me know! 

December 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag

Hello Beauties! Here's a look inside of my Ipsy December Glam bag.

For this month, I noticed that there wasn't a specific theme, like the past two months that I have been receiving a glam bag. The goodies were placed inside of a black pouch, in which the lining on the inside is purple. Photographing the pouch was a bit difficult, as you can see the material isn't all that great (I think its nylon).

Now onto the goods! 

Coolway Boost Hair Repair System - I have honestly never heard of this brand before. According to the packaging, you apply a generous amount on your hair after shampooing leaving it on for 4 minutes before rinsing. It has a pleasant smell, and has a creamy consistency.

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes - I own the full size version of this mascara, and was pleased to see that I received a travel size version of it! I have no complaints on this mascara - doesn't clump, it lengthens and doesn't make my lashes look spidery.

Nourish Organic Eye Cream - Its an organic, USDA certified, good for your skin eye cream designed for normal to dry skin. Ingredients include avocado oil, Moroccan argan oil and shea butter.

NYX Butter Lip Balm in Marshmellow - I must admit that when I first saw the color of the tube, my heart sank a little. It looked way too nude, and figured that same color would read on my lips. I was right. Although moisturizing, I can't wear this on it's own because it is nude enough to make me look a bit washed out.

Pixi Fairy Dust in Brightening Bare - This is a taupe colored loose pigment. When I swatched it on my skin, I thought it would be a more intense color, but it was definitely the opposite. I would have to try this wet.

What did you receive for this month's glam bag? Anything different than what I received?

Mini Ulta/Sephora Haul

Hello beauties! 

All these holiday sales are driving me nuts! I promised myself that I would't go crazy and buy a bunch of things, but of course I had to get myself a thing or two. I was pretty selective as you can see, and may be a bit on the boring side, but whatever haha! Here's a look at what I purchased...

Sephora Haul (minus the Lime Crime Velvetine in Salem)

For the purchases I made at Sephora, I took advantage of the VIB sale and also their Black Friday sale. For the VIB sale I purchased the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown, since I needed another one. I got the Bite Beauty Mix N' Mingle Lip Minis in the colors Nude Rose/Light Brown Nude. NOT pictured is the Lime Crime Velvetine in Salem (because I completely forgot to include it in the picture and only realized it as I was typing #KeepingItReal). You are probably thinking "since when does Sephora sell Lime Crime?!" They did have Lime Crime items available on their website for about a day, and I don't know why they decided to not restock. On Black Friday I purchased the Bite Beauty Best Bite Remix and the Bite Beauty Lush Lip Trio - which they had available for $10! As you can see, I'm on a Bite kick :)

Ulta Haul

For the Ulta Cyber Monday sale, I got the Real Techniques Nic's Picks 2014 brush set with the intention of saving this for my kit. I love the quality of Real Techniques, they never disappoint and I highly recommend their line to anyone. I also got the Lorac Champagne Dreams palette that was only available online on Cyber Monday for $15! I couldn't pass that up. 

Samples!

And of course what Sephora/Ulta order wouldn't be complete without some samples? 

What did you purchase during VIB sale/Black Friday/Cyber Monday?!

KISS InstaWave Automatic Curler Review

Hello beauties!

I recently was given the chance to try out the latest curling iron out in the market through Brand Backer - the Kiss InstaWave curling iron.

For some, the process of achieving a head full of nice curls may be a bit challenging. It may take a long time to do, if not careful enough you can burn your fingers, arms start hurting, wrists, etc (girl, I know the struggle). This automatic curling iron promises to get the job done quickly and easily - and claims that you don't have to be a pro to achieve the look you want.

Here's more on the InstaWave:

• 1" ceramic iron barrel
• Fully automatic, and tangle free
• Has two temperature settings (high and low, heats up to 420 degrees)
• The Curl Dial allows you to to choose the direction of the curl 
• You can curl with either your left or right hand
• Automatically shuts off after 90 minutes for safety

Step 1: Hold InstaWave vertically, and place 1-2 inch section of hair in between the prongs.

Step 2: Press the Curl Dial to the direction you want the curl. The prongs will start catching your hair and wrapping it around the barrel. 

Step 3: Wait 5-10 seconds, depending on how tight you want your curl to come out. Once you have reached your desired time, just guide the barrel downward to release the curl. 

And this is my end result! I need more practice with it so I can get my hair to look just right. 

Honestly, there is a bit of a learning curve with this iron, as it took me a few tries before I was able to get my hair on the prongs without it slipping, and wrapping around the barrel properly. I was a bit worried about the curls not catching on properly, due to me not having such long hair - I thought it would be an issue, but if done right, there is no problem. I was also concerned about my hair tangling  but not once did it catch on the wrong away! Something else I do want to point out is that the curling iron emits this weird humming noise when plugged in, but as per KISS, it's nothing to be concerned about as it's caused by the circuit that drives the motor.

Front view of final result! 

Overall I do recommend this to anyone that would like to curl their hair as quickly as possible and not have to worry about burning your fingertips.  You can purchase one through KISSinstawave and it retails for $59. 

Is this something that you would like to try for yourself? Do you own a InstaWave? Disclaimer: Powered by Brand Backer. My review is 100% honest, and entirely my own.

Face of the Day - Emerald Eyeshadow

Hello beauties!

Last night I posted a picture on my Instagram on a look I did on myself for a night out, and although I  quickly listed the products I used in the caption, I decided to make a blog post and go a little more in depth. I usually stick to my neutral colors, but that night I decided to be a bit more daring and step a little out of my comfort zone.

Face:
I always start off by moisturizing my face, so I used the Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer. For primer I have been loving the Pixi Flawless and Poreless. I wanted my face to appear flawless and picture ready, so I applied my tried and true Makeup Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in the shade 153 Golden Honey. For concealer, I mixed L.A. Girl Concealer in Medium Beige, with NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard- I applied this in patting motions in an "upside down triangle" shape under my eyes, instead of just blending it in to achieve maximum coverage and smoother finish. To set that concealer, and to add highlight and contour to my face, I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit. On the cheeks- Warm Soul by MAC, and the highlight for my cheekbones is the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal. Hourglass Ambient lighting Powder in Dim Light to further set, and to really make my skin look amazing.

Eyes:
UD Eyeshadow Primer Potion in original for my eyelid primer. To highlight under my brow bone I used MAC eyeshadow in Brule. Soft Brown by MAC was used as a transition color, and I applied it into my crease, and a little bit above it. Milani eyeshadow in Bella Emerald was used all over the lid. I first applied it dry and decided to intensify the color by spraying my flat shader brush with a little bit of Fix +. For the outer corner I went into my Amrezy Palette and used LBD and Legend for my inner corner. For my brows I used Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown. Inglot 77 gel liner, Cargo Picture Perfect HD Mascara, and Ardell Glamour lashes in 102.

Lips:
Instead of applying lipstick, I opted to just line and fill my lips in with Spice Lip Pencil by MAC, and on top of that I used Rambutan Lush Fruit Lip Gloss by Bite Beauty.

I should have taken more pictures, but as you can see, I had my coat on ready to go! Is this something you would like to see more of? Perhaps in pictorial form showing step by step? Please let me know down below!