My Birthday Haul!

Hi, everyone!

My birthday was on Friday 7/31, and I decided to treat myself and do what I love most; makeup shopping! My husband and I were going away for the weekend, so I had a limited amount of time in which to go by Ulta and Sephora. I actually made a list of the things I wanted to pick up most (yes, I'm a list maker), and managed to get most of what I wanted! While I was packing for our trip, I purposely didn't pack the type of  makeup I would be buying. For example, I knew I needed a new color of my UD Naked Skin concealer; therefore, I didn't pack a concealer.

Let's start with what I picked up from Ulta! I had a 20% off prestige coupon (I LOVE when these come around!), and wanted to take full advantage! Last year, I bought myself the Lorac Pro palette for my birthday, and this year I grabbed the Lorac Pro 2! I'm usually not a fan of cool toned shadows, but I've been drawn to them a lot these last few months, and I actually didn't own but two or three of them! I certainly didn't have any cool toned palettes! Another thing on my list was the Too Faced Twice the Sex mascara duo. For the price of a full size mascara, you get one full size and one deluxe sample. Then, thanks to the beautiful @coffeebreakwithdani, I knew I needed to pick up the new Stila Lash Stunner Extreme Lash Primer. I am a huge fan of lash primers, and she made this one sound amazing. A few days before, while browsing the "new" sections of Ulta and Sephora, I saw a new hairspray by Living Proof called "Humidity Shield" and thought that sounded wonderful for my curly hair. While at Ulta, I spotted the travel size and scooped it up! I had forgotten to pack an eye makeup remover, so I needed to grab one while I was shopping. I usually use the Kroger brand of the Neutrogena one because it's inexpensive and it works. Since I was in Ulta, I went ahead and grabbed the actual Neutrogena one, and it works fine. It does the job. I've been loving the Rimmel foundation that I mentioned in my July Favorites, but I also forgot to pack my moisturizer with sunscreen, so I picked up the travel size It Cosmetics CC+ Cream in Medium. That covered my sunscreen, moisturizer, and the need to match my self tanner. If you read my post about the Lorac Alter Ego Lip Set, you know how much I love those lip glosses. I picked up a new color while at Ulta; a pretty peach called Super Model. One thing that was not on my list was a new foundation, However, the new Too Faced Born this Way foundation sucked me in and "Sand" found it's way into my bag. If you purchased anything from Too Faced, you got a sample pack of three different shades of the Born this Way foundation, which is what you see in the bottom of the picture above. A last minute impulse purchase was the Mario Badescu Facial Spray. It was on an end cap of travel things for $5, and I had heard @emilynoel talking about it, so I grabbed it. I love all things rose scented, and this smells wonderful. The last thing from Ulta was my birthday gift! Platinum members get two gifts for their birthday; a $10 off coupon and the makeup item all other members get. July birthdays got a deluxe sample of the Urban Decay Perversion mascara. I've tried this one a few times, and I'm not a huge fan, but maybe it will work better over the Stila lash primer!

There were two things on my list that were out of stock at Ulta, so next stop was Sephora! As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I needed a new shade of the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer. The one I had was Fair Neutral, which is too light with my tan. Ulta was out of the shade Light Neutral, so I purchased it from Sephora. The other thing that was on my list and sold out at Ulta was the Tartelette palette. @makeupbymaci, who is the queen of photographing her eye looks, was telling me how much she loves this palette, and she uses it in so many of her looks, I had to have it! The Kat Von D Ink Liner Trio was the other thing on my list. I already have and love the shade "Trooper", and this trio comes with that one, a navy, and a brown. I used the navy Saturday night and loved it! Sephora is great about offering samples, and the sweet girl who helped me gave me a sample of the First Aid Beauty Triple Remedy eye cream and the Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration moisturizer. As I was walking by the clearance table, I spotted the Kat Von D blush in "Wish" (no longer available on-line) and two bronzers on sale for $11.99 each. The bronzers looked similar to ones I already own, but "Wish" had been on my wish list for a long time, so I was happy to get it more than half off! A few weeks ago, I noticed that the Sephora automatic, waterproof lip liners were on the sale page on-line for $7, but all of the colors were sold out. My Sephora in JCP had them on the clearance table for $5.99! I've mentioned "Petal" in a post before, and I love it. They only had one left, which I bought, and then I bought two each of "Mauve" and "Naked". The last thing I picked up was the Josie Maran Argan Oil Light. I've used the regular version before, and loved it for my dry skin, but I thought the light version might be better for summer time. And then this happened...

Yep. Hello, Rouge!

Thank you for stopping by and reading! 

*None of the links above are affiliates.

*All items mentioned were purchased by me and all opinions are my own, 

May Favorites!

Hello, Everyone!

 

It's that time again! I didn't think I would actually have a lot this month because for two weeks out of four, I didn't wear any makeup. That is probably a new record for me! I love wearing makeup, but when I was having gallbladder attacks, and then surgery, I just didn't have the energy! Enough rambling, let's get to it!

 

I am including a few things that are EVERY month favorites, not just in May; however, since I just started blogging, no one knows what those things are! I'm actually going to start with those three things.

 

First up: the Beauty Blender! This really is a magical little sponge. I've had two of the Original (pink) ones, and now own two of the Pro (black) ones. It applies liquids, creams, and even powders flawlessly! I do have to say that I think the pointy end of the black ones aren't quite as pointy as the pink ones. Small thing, but still.

Next, would be these two brushes from Sigma. I own 30 or so Sigma brushes, but I use these two every. single. day. The E35 is labeled as a highlight brush, but I love it for setting my under eye concealer with powder. The E40 is the perfect eyeshadow blending brush. No other fluffy blending brush I own even compares. I need multiples of each of these!

Yes, I know this is a sample packet. However, I had four of these, and finished two. I LOVE this Laura Mercier Radiance Primer under my foundation. Especially under the foundation I'm going to mention in a  minute. It's not glittery, or sparkly, it just gives a beautiful luminosity to the skin. It has a peachy pink tint to it, and looks like it would be loaded with sparkle, but it's not. I haven't tried it under dewy foundations, because I don't want that much glow. I do love it under matte foundations, and I will definitely need to pick up the full size!

Loreal's Infallible Pro Matte foundation. THIS has been my favorite foundation this month, and the one I've been loving over the Laura Mercier Radiance primer. I actually plan on reviewing this since all of the reviews I've seen for it are by bloggers with combination or oily skin, and mine is dry. Spoiler alert: I love, love, love it!!

This concealer has become Holy Grail for me! It is exactly as the name claims: weightless and complete coverage. It feels like nothing on my skin, but covers my dark circles amazingly well. It doesn't leave my under eye area looking dry or crease. I do think the color selection will be difficult for some (I have Fair Neutral), and I've heard quite a few people are buying two shades and mixing. Considering the cost of this, I'm glad I only need one shade!

My most loved palette in May was the Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist's Palette. These were my first Laura Mercier eyeshadows, and they're beautiful. They're smooth, creamy, pigmented, and blend great. All of the purple tones and shadows make my green eyes pop and I've loved every look I've created with it. As for the Mac shadow in Satin Taupe, this was my most loved single for those I'm-in-a-rush-and-have-to-leave-now days. And I had quite a few of those last month! It's a beautiful all over the lid color, with a lighter, matte brown in the crease. A pop of a bright color on the lips and I looked like I had made a huge effort!

I originally purchased the eyeshadow primer in Enigma from Urban Decay because 100% of the proceeds went to empower women. Thankfully, I really love this primer! I usually use my Mac paint pot in Soft Ochre, but that took a back seat to Enigma last month. It's opaque and neutralizes the eyelids, creating a blank canvas for your shadows.

Here's where I become a little high maintenance. I've been loving combining all three of these products to get amazing lashes. I have long lashes, but they're blonde. Without mascara, I look like I have none! I've been using the Dior Diorshow Maximizer to prime, then the Makeup Forever Smoky Extravagant mascara for volume, and topping it all off with Benefit's They're Real for separation. It's the perfect trio!

I've reviewed it and talked non stop about it, so it should be no shock that the It Cosmetics Ombre Bronzer in Warm Radiance made my favorites list. I have a feeling this is going to join the first three items in this post as "always and forever" favorites. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see this listed in every makeup picture I've taken. Because it is that good.

My favorite blush of the month is the Clinique Cheek Pop in Pink Pop. The design of the powder, the packaging, and the color are all beautiful. It's not so pigmented that you need to barely dab the brush in and then tap it off before applying it to your cheeks, so you can build it up. I have found that I need to use a natural hair brush instead of synthetic for best color payoff. It gives a beautiful, healthy flush to my cheeks.

 

I have four favorite lip products, and believe me, that's a small amount. Lol. I picked up the Sephora waterproof, retractable lip liner in Petal, and it is the perfect pink liner for me. The only downside is that it does have glitter in it. It doesn't show through my lipsticks, but it's still there. It is extremely creamy, making it easy to apply, and does last for hours on my lips. It will work under numerous lip colors, or as a lip color itself! For lipstick, I chose my Gerard Cosmetics lipstick in Buttercup. I originally held out on getting this since I assumed the only reason people really loved it was because it was a Jaclyn Hill creation. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just don't want to buy something I don't think I'll love. Well, as you can see in the above picture, I LOVE this lipstick. It is the perfect neutral pink color for me. I love it so much that I bought a back up while they were having huge sales and free shipping. I can't recall ever doing that with a lipstick before! For lipgloss, I've really been loving the Lorac Alter Ego lipgloss in Girl Next Door. I'm more of a lipstick person than a lipgloss person, but this formula is amazing. You can read my review of these here to learn more about what I think. I also chose the LA Splash Smitten Lip Tint in Charmed. It's a beautiful nude-pink, matte liquid lipstick. It's comfortable on the lips and makes my lips look fuller. It lasts all day on the lips, and never feels drying.

Last, is this hand cream from Soap & Glory. I got it on clearance from Sephora (the brand is moving to drugstores), and loved it so much, I bought a back up before they sold out. I keep it on my desk at work and use it throughout the day. It's extremely moisturizing, but sinks in quickly, and doesn't have an offensive or overwhelming smell.

 

That's it for this month! What were some of your favorites for May? I'd love to know!

 

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*None of the links above are affiliates.

*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

 

Lorac Alter Ego Lip Set-Updated!

Hello, Everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about a Lorac product that I ordered from Ulta a few weeks ago. This was an "Online Only" set that, I believe, was exclusive to Ulta. At this time, it is no longer available on their website, but you can buy each item individually. This set originally came in three different "colors", Nude, Pink, and Plum; Pink being the set that I have. Each set contained two Alter Ego lipsticks and two of the new Alter Ego lipglosses in the same colors, with mine containing Girl Next Door and Sex Kitten.  Ulta was (and still is) running a "gift with purchase" promo that allowed you to get a deluxe size of the Alter Ego lipgloss in Goddess when you purchased $25 or more of Lorac products.

I'll start with the lipsticks. The gunmetal colored packaging is beautiful, but can hold onto fingerprints, and I LOVE the fact that the bottom shows the color of the lipstick inside. They smell absolutely divine, better than Mac lipsticks; like a whole sweet bakery shoved in these little tubes. These lipsticks are extremely pigmented, which is good and bad. The good being it only takes one swipe for full color; the bad being that these lighter colors can look chalky since they are so opaque that none of my natural lip color shows through. The Alter Ego lipsticks are very creamy, and I don't find them drying on the lips even though these two colors are matte. Girl Next Door is a lighter, peachy pink neutral, that looks pretty with my skin tone and doesn't wash me out, while Sex Kitten is a bright, almost neon, pink. I don't feel like I can quite pull of Girl Next Door without gloss on top though, due to the fact that it does look rather chalky. As for the Alter Ego lipglosses, they have the same gunmetal color on the top, while the rest is a clear cylinder that you can easily see the color through. Each of the colors match the lipsticks perfectly, with the same delicious sweet smell. Each of these glosses are opaque, and can easily be worn on their own for beautiful color payoff. The formula is creamy, not streaky, and doesn't feel sticky to me. They're very comfortable to wear and can last three-four hours depending on the amount of eating and drinking you do during that time.

Alter Ego lipstick in Girl Next Door topped with the matching lipgloss

Alter Ego lipstick in Sex Kitten

Alter Ego lipstick in Sex Kitten topped with the matching lipgloss

 

I neglected to take a picture of me wearing just Girl Next Door because I immediately topped it with the lipgloss, but I assure you, it wasn't exactly flattering. I do own one other color in the Alter Ego line, Duchess, and it's not as light in color, so it doesn't have the chalkiness issue that these can. All in all, I love these lipsticks and glosses. I haven't worn Goddess on my lips yet, but I have a feeling I'm going to want the lipstick and the full size gloss. ;)

**Update- all three of these sets (Pink, Nude, and Plum) are back in stock on the Ulta website! 

 

 

Thanks for visiting and please subscribe!

 

 

 

*None of the links above are affiliates

*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.