Ipsy's August Glam Bag

Out of the two Ipsy bags I have received this far, this one is my favorite. All of the products inside are things I actually enjoy using. Let me introduce them to you. :)

1. Nailtini in Mai Tai: This is a pretty coral red nail polish. I have never owned any polishes from Nailtini. I have yet to try it out on my nails and see how good the quality is but I'm sure it won't disappoint. Below is a swatch, on my hand... lol. I already had polish on so that's my excuse!

2. Michael Todd True Organics Pumpkin Face Mask: I have always wanted to try out products from Michael Todd. I was excited to receive this in my bag, and immediately tried it out after my shower. I have to admit, the smell was pretty gross. It smelled like those jars of mashed baby food and looked like it on my face also. It had a nice cooling tingle when I put it on, but my skin didn't feel or look any different once I washed it off which was kind of disappointing. Probably not something I would purchase on my own.

3. Pixi Lash Booster Mascara: This is the cutest mascara sample! It's so sleek and will be easy to travel with. It is said to boost your eyelashes in a "push up" effect that lasts all day. The formula is also waterproof which is great for summer.

4. Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in color 69: The lipstick formula is silky and smooth, and not drying like lipsticks tend to get. Not a huge fan of the color. It was a really deep blood red on my lips. I prefer a lighter orangey red so I probably won't use this unless I mix it with another color or gloss. I would definitely purchase a full size in different color.

5. Mica Mineral Eye Shadow in Striptease: This is a beautiful bronze gold shimmery loose eyeshadow.  I'm so glad I got this color because I love using golds and browns. Besides eyeshadow, it could even work well as a highlighter on the cheek bones or mixed into foundation for a pretty dewy finish. I'm excited to use this. The only thing I don't like is that you have to shake the product out and I'm scared I'm going to make a mess with it :( It's too pretty to waste!

Overall, I really enjoyed this month's bag! $10 well spent ;) 

July Favorites!

How is it already August? These months are flying by way too fast. July is my favorite month of the whole year, and I felt like I hardly got to enjoy it. :( I did enjoy some great products though, which I shall share with you right now!

1. Olay Fresh Effects "Bead Me Up" Cleanser: This is actually the first time I've used any of Olay's products. I guess I've been hiding under a rock, because I really love it! It's refreshing and has just enough exfoliants but isn't TOO beady like other exfoliating cleansers I've used. It's a great gentle cleanser with a little bit of that beady texture without feeling overly harsh, to scrub the yuck off your skin.

2. Herbal Essences "Set Me Up" Hair Spray: I've actually been using this the whole summer! I really mainly love it because it smells so good! It has a fruity/flowery smell which is so much better than the really strong repulsive ones like Aussie or Tresemme (no offense if you use those! :X). I use it for teasing my roots. It does just as good as a job as other drug store hair sprays. 

3. Loreal Everystyle Dry Shampoo: Another amazing smelling hair product, and also another first! This is the first dry shampoo I've ever tried. I wouldn't say it helped much with making my hair look less dirty/oily, but it definitely made it smell really good! It shoots out pretty powerful but I think most dry shampoos do for some reason? Either way, I'd probably buy it again because it smells so good.

4. Clinique Makeup Remover: All in all, any make up remover oils like this do the job. However, this is the one I've been using and loving. I mainly use it to touch up my liquid eyeliner by sticking a q-tip or cotton-bud in it to erase my mess ups. It's not really greasy like some tend to be and works like it's supposed to.

5. Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara: Cheap, and nice! I love the Jordana eyeliner pencils and liquid eyeliner markers, so I figured I'd like this. I've also seen a lot of beauty gurus (mainly in Australia it seems) rave about this mascara. I'm glad I finally got it!

6. Nivea Lip Butter: I had to get these in every scent - Vanilla Macadamia Kiss, Caramel Cream Kiss, and Raspberry Rose Kiss. The caramel is my favorite flavor of them all though. They're so moisturizing and taste AMAZING. Hands down the best lip balm I've ever had.

Hope you all had an amazing month! Bring on August♥

July Ipsy Bag

I was very excited and anxiously awaited my first Ipsy Glam bag. The fact that it was called "Beach Beauty" made me even more excited because I love summery, bright and fresh things. It was delivered in a pretty pink metalic package. Inside, the products were contained in a clear-pink zip up travel pouch. When I opened it up I was shocked by the fact that something was spilled all over my products. It was a tan dried up liquid that resembled a foundation or something of the sort. I wiped off the products and examined each one. To my surprise, nothing was broken or even the color of what was spilled in the bag. What the heck? A bunch of people on twitter were telling me to contact their customer service but I didn't see the point considering everything was intact and usable lol. Not the best first impression though, I'd have to say.

The 5 products I received were...

Sexy Hair's Soy Renewal Beach Spray: This is described as a spray that provides body, fullness and light hold while helping to nourish, protect and heal hair damage with the power of Argan Oil.  It creates undone texture that looks and feels like you've spent a day by the sea. I'm not a big fan of sprays like this considering you are usually meant to spray it in your hair while it's wet and let it air dry. I'm not sure if I'll even use this since I never let my hair go natural. :(

BH Cosmetics California Collection: This provides three pretty colors from 3 different palettes. The dark purple shade is from the Hollwood palette, the brown from San Francisco, and the goldish yellow from the Malibu. They're all such gorgeous colors and come in cute packaging, that I'm actual considering buying the full size. I just checked them out on their website and discovered that they're relatively cheap, going for $9.95 and also include blushes and bronzer in the palette! Such a nice deal. Question is, which palette do I choose? Hollywood, San Francisco, or Malibu? Hmmm...

Coola Mineral Sunscreen: This is loaded with organic vitamins and minerals It's hypoallergenic, anti-aging, water resistant and also reduces redness and irritation on the skin. It has cucumber that calms the skin and a plankton extract that rejuvinates. Sounds pretty nice to me! I will probably use this because I hate burning my face and I've been getting so many new freckles that I just want to go away!

Pouty Pop Lip Crayon in Coral Crush: I am so glad I got this color. It's just the right coral color, so bright and pretty. It felt moisturizing and smooth on the lips unlike how I'd expect most crayons to feel. I'll definetely be enjoying this product.

Derma E Microdermabrasian Scrub: This is an exfoliater that contains sea salt and volcanic sand. It is said to help deminish the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and acne scars leaving the skin youthfully radiant. Even though I'm only 23, I have all of the above springing up on me and love that this will help me with those issues!

All in all, I'm happy with the products I received. I think $10 is definitely worth all that I got. Minus the spillage, I'm excited to get my next Ipsy bag and see what they choose for me next. :)

Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo Eyeshadow Review

What can I say? These eyeshadows blew me away with their long lasting capabilities. It is a cream/gel based eyeshadow that can be smoothed on with your finger tip for crease proof color that doesn't fade. It comes in 10 gorgeous colors ranging from a vibrant teal to a dark asphalt black. Like I mentioned in the Walgreens Haul post, I swatched these on my hand and they didn't come off at all when I rubbed at it. I am not kidding when I say these really are tattoo like. It was still on my hand the next morning even after I had washed my face and had my hands in water. I suppose a good makeup remover will be needed to remove this. The Colors I chose were the Bold Gold and Tough as Taupe which are pretty neutrals that I know I'll get a lot of use out of using them as bases. I found these at Walgreens but they are also available at Ulta, and a select few at Target going for $6-7 depending where you get it. They are buy one get one 50% off at Walgreens and Utla, so get them while they're hot! ;)

NYX Haul

I have long awaited the delivery of my NYX order. I don't know if it's just me but they take really long to ship out their orders compared to other companies. It took 10 days or more. Regardless of that, I am very happy with the items like always.

I went with a few lip products. I got the Butter Gloss in Peach Cobbler which is really glossy and a little translucent. The Soft Matte Lip Cream in Addis Ababa (a what? lol), it was pretty matte, I almost felt like I wanted a gloss to it but the color is a gorgeous fuchsia. Then the Xtreme Lip Cream in Candy Land which was very lipstick like and thick. Loved it. Below are the swatches in order.

I also included the Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator in Sunbeam, the Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, Powder Blush in Taupe and the Smokey Shadow Palette.

The illuminator and eye pencil show up great too! The Milk pencil is great for highlighting under your brow bone and the corners of your eye. You just draw a bit on and smudge it out with your finger or a blending brush. This is actually my second one (a repurchase!). The illuminator is a really pretty pearl shimmer that I can't wait to add to my cheek bones for a dewy, glowy finish. The taupe blush was recommended by one of my favorite youtubers ~saturdaynitesalright. She insists it is great for contouring in the hollows of your cheeks which I'm excited to try out as well since I've been using bronzers to do that. Below is a swatch of the pencil, illuminator and blush (which you can't really see so I'll put a picture of that also).

Last but not least, the Smokey Eye Palette. I really wanted the Natural or Nude eye palette? But they were out of stock, so I thought why not just get this one. I actually do love smokey eyes and tend to apply my eyeshadows dark and smokey anyway. It has every type of color you'd need from a sparkly grey, to burgundy, blue, and tan.

What do you think of these products? Have you tried any of them out?

June Favorites

These are products I used almost daily and loved for the month of June. I decided to go with a small handful of things so this wouldn't be a mile long post.

1. Loreal True Match Lumi Foundation: I looove this! It feels light on my skin and not cakey like a lot of other foundations tend to feel in the summer time. It's full coverage and long lasting which is always what I look for.

2. Burberry Brit Perfume: This is a fresh, fruity fragrance that isn't too young and in your face. It includes scents such as pineapple leaves, mandarin, grapes, pink peony, peach blossom, and white musk. The bottle is also a really pretty sheer pink with the burberry pattern.

3. Loreal Evercreme Nourishing Leave-in Spray: I use this as a leave in conditioner after my shower. It really does nourish and hydrate dry hair and makes it really soft. I starting using this after I added bleach to my hair and it made such a huge difference.

4. Tarte Hotel Heiress Bronzer: I scored this for $10 on their website. Not sure if it's being discontinued, but it will be a sad day if/when it does because it's so nice! It's not overly shimmery and leaves such a pretty bronze glow to the skin which is buildable and great for contouring. Plus the snake-skin leathery type packaging is adorable.

5. Tarte 12 Hour Blush in Glisten: It's the prettiest pink blush I own. I used to stick with berry and rose colored ones because light pinks never seemed to transfer on my skin for some reason, but this does. It has a gold shimmer to it which is just beautiful. This is by far my favorite blush, especially for the summer because of how vibrant it is. And of course like their bronzer, the case so pretty!

6. Benefit Browzings in Medium Brown: I've been using this all year, honestly. It's so nice! On one side it has a dark brown wax and then the medium eyebrow powder next to it. It comes with two mini brushes, one for blending and one for shaping which I actually use. My natural eyebrows are patchy and uneven so I use this daily.

7. Maybelline Dream Lumi Highlighting Concealer: I love that this is more of a pink tone which helps with the bluish tint you can get from tired under eye bags. It brightens and conceals so wonderfully. It really makes my eyes pop and my skin glow. I love it so much. 

8. Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara: I've been hesitant to switch mascaras since I loved my Too Faced LashGasm so much. The wand has fine comb bristles which is great for my thin eyelashes. It really does give into it's promise of being clump free also. The fact that it is water resistant too is awesome and great for the summer. It never smears, and sometimes I'll wake up in the morning and feel like it's still on even though I washed my face. Waking up with dark eyelashes is a bonus I'd say? :)

Last but not least....

9. OPI Cajun Shrimp Nail Polish: This is the prettiest orangey red color. It's perfect for summer and looks great with a little tan.

Makeup Storage

Back when my makeup collection was small and simple, I would keep everything separate in makeup pouches on my dresser. Since, it is forever growing, a while back I decided it's time to be a little more organized. I found these chests of drawers at Walmart for only $8. They aren't as pretty as the see-through acrylic chests like I've seen beauty gurus have, but it works for now!

I have separate drawers for each product in order that I apply it. It starts with primer, next I'd obviously use foundation but I put that on top since they're pretty large. Then it continues with powders, concealers, bronzers, blushes, eyebrow/eyelash products, eyeliners & mascaras, lip glosses, and lipsticks. I keep my palettes on a shelf above.

As for my brushes, for now, I am keeping them in the closeable holder/case that my sigma brushes came in. I also use a DIY makeup holder that I made out of a mason jar with glitter and ribbon.

It'd eventually be nice to have a more presentable, pretty place to store everything like in a vanity or nicer compartments.

How do you guys store your makeup? Is it organized or all mixed together? I'm curious. :)

Small Haul

Even though all I really needed was a birthday card for my younger brother & father's day card, I did a little browsing at Target. Can you blame me? No one has self control there. Here are the things I picked up.

Cheetah Print Scarf: It's really light and airy. There's nothing worse than a bulky scarf to me. I can't wait to wear this to spice up a casual outfit. I'd pair this with a white tee and some denim shorts, or black leggings.

Loreal Magic Lumi Primer: This has gotten great reviews! I'm excited to try this out and see how it differs from the Benefit Porefessional and Maybelline Instant Age Rewind primer that I currently use. I have other Loreal Lumi products that I love, so I'm sure this won't disappoint. 

Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara: I'm a sucker for thin brush wands since I have rather thin and sparse eyelashes (thanks dad!). I feel like it's easier to get up in there to the lash line. I haven't ventured out too much with mascaras. My long time favorite has been Maybelline's Great Lash mascara. I've currently been using the Too Faced Lashgasm which is amazing, but is sadly running out.

Coppertone Tanning Spray: It's that time of year where we live in our bikini's, and naturally we want to get some sun while we're at it. I've always been a sun worshiper (bad me, I know). I made sure it wasn't the lowest SPF but not the highest either, so I can still get some UV rays. I like sprays because it feels more lightweight. I'm not very picky of the brands. I feel like they all do their job.

picture is not mine

Clearasil Ultra Cleansing Pads: I've used this for years! It's my holy grail. My skin always feels really refreshed and clean after using it. I struggle with small hormonal acne breakouts and I feel like this helps fight it off. I use this every night before bed or anytime I wash my face. I'll share my night time skin care routine in a later post. 

That's it! Do you like these products? Tell me if this is something you've used and enjoyed!