Glowing Skin: My Favorite Highlighters

For the past year my skin has been looking rather dull! No matter how any skin care products I buy promising a nice radiant glow, my skin lacks luster. But lucky for me there are make up products to help me fake that "glow from within"!

 My first favorite would defineltly have to be L'oreal's Magic Lumi! I cannot get enough of this stuff, it makes my skin look so glowy and healthy. At first I was tad hesitant to apply this all over my face because I thought it would make me look a little too dewy, but once applied to the skin it looks gorgeous for an all over glow. I enjoy this product especially if I've had a late night and it instantly perks up my skin! What I like most about this product is the fact that I can wear it on it's own on days when I don't want to wear foundation!
















 Next is NYX's Born To Glow Liquid Illuminatior in Sun Beam, I enjoy using this product on the high points of my face instead of using it all over. Like the L'oreal Magic Lumi this also has a metallic finish! If you want an intense highlight this might be a good match for you. The one thing I did find is that this product dries quickly, so you do have to blend it in fast!

















Benefit's Girl Meets Pearl is a beautiful product to give you a nice glow! I love using this all over or mixed into my foundation. I often use this when I want a subtle all over glow.






















As you can see, I do enjoy Benefit's highlighters and Watt's Up has my heart! This is a cream to powder highlighter that blends like an absolute dream. I adore using this product to save my face from looking flat and give it some more dimension. You can make this a subtle highlight or you can build it up to make it a bit more intense. This would have to be one of my favorite champagne highlighters!










If you're looking for a good highlighter on a budget this one by Elf is amazing! The best thing about it is the fact that it only costs $1.00! These Essential All Over Color Sticks are so creamy and pigmented, they glide nicely onto the skin leaving a beautiful highlight! They also smell like lemonade, but the sent doesn't linger, if you're worried about that.
I was honestly surprised by the quality of this and I'm glad I found it!






What are some of your favorite highlighters?

Until next time, sending all my love to my fellow make up connoisseurs!  X

In Between Days: My favorite Dry Shampoos

We all have those days where we can't bare the thought of washing our hair, or at least I know I do. Especially since I have colored hair, washing it isn't exactly on the top of my list. I've tried so many dry shampoos and they have either been a great disappointment or they've been good and actually got the job done! I've seen plenty of these bottles go and I finally discovered my favorites.

My go to dry shampoo would definitely be this one by Suave! Not only does it smell amazing, I have yet to experience the horrid white cast from this one! If you have dark hair, you know this all too well when it comes to the world of dry shampoo. I have dark roots and I certainly don't want to walk around with a white cast over them, so when I use the Suave Dry Shampoo I can rest assure that won't happen! It's also great at soaking all that oil and still leave my feeling soft which I find difficult when shopping around for a dry shampoo. As you can tell I really enjoy using this product for in between washes.

Of Course as soon as I tried to take a photo of my own Dove bottle, it's nowhere to be found! Credit: vervemagazine

 When I'm really in a pinch and the grease is getting out of hand, this is the dry shampoo I reach for! The thing I love most about this dry shampoo is the fact that it gives me VOLUME! This dry shampoo is what I call  heavy-duty!  I usually don't gravitate towards this every time I need to freshen up my hair because I do find that it tends to dry out my hair, but using it once won't.


Dry shampoo is definitely one product I can't live without!

What are some of your favorites?

Until next time, sending all my love to all my beauty connoisseurs!

Spray Don't Stray

I've always been a fan of setting sprays, and there are some that really do help with the longevity of your makeup and that can really be helpful especially during the summer months. There are tons of setting sprays on the market, so there's a nice variety to choose from. Two of my favorite make up setting sprays are from NYX.

I like using the NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray on days when I know I'm going to be running around and want my make up to last all day. This setting spray really gives you a matte finish and I find that I don't have to touch up as often when I've used this product. I like to spray this prior to applying my make up and sometimes I like to add just a bit more once I've finished to insure my make up stays in place. Now I would say be careful when you apply this because using too much will do the exact opposite of what you were trying to achieve, and don't forget to spray at least 10 inches away from your face, or else you will get splashed with a lot of product and that isn't very fun. 


My second favorite is NYX Dewy Finish Setting spray. Now this setting spray is great if you're after a dewy finish! I prefer using this setting spray when I go a little overboard with the powder, which happens on days I'm extra oily, and it instantly reduces any cake face that might be going on. The one thing I do notice when using this product is I do get a tad shinny throughout the day, but that's nothing a little powder can't fix.

The only downside I can think of is that the bottles go a bit wonky after using them for a while, but that's not exactly a deal breaker for me. 

Have you tried any of these make up setting sprays? Which ones are your favorite? 

As always, until next time, sending all my love to all my make up connoisseurs! 

High Voltage Make Up That Really Packs A Punch!

 Do you ever have those moments where everything you buy seems to come from one brand? Well, that happened to me. Lately all my beauty purchases seems to be from Kat Von D! I feel like it wasn't that long ago when I purchased her liquid lipstick in A-GO-GO, and I managed to pick up just a couple more things from her line.

Everlasting Blush

Can we just take a moment to admire this beautiful color? I have the shade Bellisima, which is a gorgeous peachy pink. I adore this blush so much, it's insane! Everything I could possibly want in a blush is given to me and I am eternally grateful!  This blush is pigmented, long lasting, and extremely silky feeling. It also blends really nicely, see everything about it is perfect! What I like most about this blush is you can gently tap your brush into it and have a light wash of color or you can be extremely daring and have a nice flush of color.

Chrysalis Eyeshadow Palette

 

Choosing between this palette and the Monarch Eyeshadow Palette was extremely difficult! But I thought I would step outside my neutral comfort zone and try out Chrysalis, and I'm glad I did. All the shadows are nicely pigmented and although you may think some of the shades aren't that wearable, they really are! You can actually create a variety of looks with this palette from a nice subtle day time look to an amplified night look. My favorite shade would have to be Hybrid Moments, a beautiful deep plum color. Most of these shadows are quite soft, so you might get some powder everywhere, but the shades are so beautiful that I don't mind the slight mess.




Left To Right: Lucid, Lunar Lights, Lifelike



Left To Right: Tornay, Entombed, Graphic Nature, Black Milk, Melancholia, Glasswing, Transition, Mezzanie, Hybrid Moments

 











I'm really tempted to go back to Sephora and pick up the Monarch palette and maybe another blush from this line!

Have you tried any of these or other Kat Von D products?

Until next time, sending all my love to my fellow make up connoisseurs! xo

Paint it SUMMER!

Let's talk nail polish, shall we? If there is one thing that perks up my mood it's nail polish! I stumbled upon these five nail polishes in the past couple of months and I am absolutely loving these colors for summer.

Left to Right: Innocent, ?, I Lilac You, Hot Chili Pepper, Blue My Mind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish

I really enjoy Rimmel products and once I found out they had nail polishes, I just had to try them out! They have a nice shade variety in this line from bright colors to deeper shades and even some glitter. My favorite thing about these, aside from the names, is that the brush applicator  is nice and big, so you can really coat the nail with ease! My one complaint would have to be that this does NOT dry in 60 seconds. That was the only disappointment because if you're like me and want your nail polish to dry almost instantly because life happens, and you end up smudging and making a mess of things, then I would suggest setting aside sometime to not do anything while this dries.

 

Blue Cross Beauty Summer Bright Nail Color 

I randomly spotted this nail polish in Rite Aid and was instantly drawn to this color! I can't find the name to this color anywhere on the bottle, which is a shame, but I really do enjoy this nail polish. It's a matte finish nail polish and to be honest I'm not too keen because I feel like it accentuates my dry hands, but that's nothing a shiny top coat can't fix!

I've been loving this color so much that it's almost gone and rarely do I ever go through a bottle of nail polish!
The formulation isn't the greatest because it does chip quite easily, but since I love it so much I let that slide.

Sinful Colors

Now this color won't be for everyone, but I have fallen head over heels for it! It's a nice pea green (now doesn't that sound appealing?) and in my opinion it's a perfect color and I wish to wear it all the time. I've always like Sinful Colors they have a variety of different shades and the formulation is great! I can honestly wear this nail polish for a week with minimal chipping!

Gelogic Nail Polish 

I wanted to mention one more nail polish, which is an excellent top coat!   You can find this brand in Rite Aid and it's worth picking it up. It claims to leave a gel like finish without using any UV lights. This definitely leaves a beautiful glossy finish and my nail polish lasted (a week and still going strong!) without any chipping aside from two fingers, but it was slight chipping and can't really be noticed! I was really impressed with this top coat and I can't imagine myself not using it!

In The Tropics Palette

I don't know about you, but with the warmer weather upon us I tend to gravitate towards shimmery eye shadows. There's nothing better than a nice shimmery eye look for summer and this In The Tropics palette by Sephora gives you many options to choose from!

Inside this palette contains 10 beautiful shimmery shades that can be used either wet or dry. If you want to intensify the color I would suggest using them wet! Now I must admit, some of the shades are more pigmented than others, but what I like about them is you can build up the color intensity by layering the color. The eye shadows also wear quite nicely even on my oily lids which is something I struggle with when it comes to shimmery shades.

There honestly isn't one shade in the palette I wouldn't wear. I was quite impressed with these eye shadows that I'm interested in checking out other Moonshadow baked palettes that Sephora offers!

Until next time, sending all my love to all my fellow make up connoisseurs out there!

Benekits: A Great Way To Try Out A Variety Of Products

Primping With The Stars

 

 I was first given this lovely set on my birthday last year and when I received it, I was very excited to try everything out! I've only used a few of Benefit's products here and there and this little box is a nice introduction to other products they offer.

First of all, can we all admire the wonderful packaging that Benefit has with all their products? I'm not going to lie, I am a total s u c k e r for packaging, and Benefit does a g r e a t job with that!

Inside the box contains six miniature size products:

• Stay Don't Stray
• Some Kind-A-Gorgeous Foundation
• Benetint Rose-Tinted Lip & Cheek Stain
• The Porefessional Pro Balm
• Girl Meets Pearl Liquid Pearl for Face
• They're Real! Mascara in Black

and a mirror which is really convenient for traveling! I say that like I actually go places, but if you do it's a great thing to take, so you're not lugging around tons of separate products. It also includes some tips on how to use each product which is nice.

Here are my stand out products:

I was most excited about The Porefessional because I've heard so many rave about it, and I can see why! It provides a lovely base for your foundation and does minimize the appearance of pores. Now I must say I don't have too much of problem with pores, but they are there and sometimes they are noticeable, but this product does make them less visible and also allows my make-up to last a tad longer. Especially in the areas where I can literally fry a piece chicken on my face cos it gets pretty oily.

Oh, Girl Meets Pearl stole my heart. I'm a big fan of Benefit's Watt's Up!(which is a cream to powder highlighter) but since trying out Girl Meets Pearl, I've completely forgotten about my Watt's Up. I apply this to the high points of face, and it leaves a nice luminous glow to my skin.

Benetint Rose, I found, is best to use as just a cheek stain! Once I applied this to my lips, let's just say my mouth was not happy. It smells like roses, but surely does not taste as good as it smells! I tend to lick my lips a lot- bad habit, I know-  and it tasted so bitter! It also didn't do much for my lips other than make them sticky. Now Benetint on your cheeks that's a different story. It gives such a pretty natural "flushed" look, like you've just pinched your cheeks, and it stays put!

The ones I was not so keen on were Stay Don't Stray and They're Real! Mascara.

Stay Don't Stray didn't quite work out for me. My eyeshadow didn't stay on and I was so disappointed about that! I've been on the hunt for a new eyeshadow primer and hoping this would be "the one", sadly it wasn't. I must warn you though, as I've gotten older my eyelids can become oily throughout the day, and that could have something to do with it, so for those of you without that similar problem I would suggest to go and give it a whirl. But as for me, my Two Faced EyeShadow Primer is just going to have to do for now.

This is going to be quite controversial... They're Real! Mascara. I must say that I loooove this miniature version, but the actual full size doesn't work out the same. Am I the only one who encountered this problem? I love how it give me great length- lashes for miles-,  but why -oh why- doesn't the full size do the same? It's truly devastating. *sigh*

I have still yet to try out Some Kind-A-Gorgeous Foundation! And the reason for that is because my skin has been quite dry recently and this is a cream to powder formula. I might give a go and prep my skin accordingly, and who knows, I may end up liking it.

Overall I think these Benefit kits are really a good investment! Especially when you're not quite sure what to try or simply want to try many all at once. They're roughly around $30+ (there are some cheaper than that), but like I said well worth it!

Until next time, sending all my love to all my make-up connoisseurs out there!