August Favorites!

Hey, Everyone!

I'm a little late for my August favorites, but better late than never, right?! If you saw my Birthday Haul, you know I got quite a bit of new makeup right at the end of July. Well, some of that ended up in my favorites!

My favorite foundation (by far) was the Too Faced Born This Way foundation. I have it in "Sand" and "Light Beige" to match my tan, and my faded tan. I'm going to need to pick up "Nude" once we really get into Fall, though. I absolutely LOVE this foundation. Never before has a foundation made me want to throw out all of my others, and just buy different colors to match any occasion. This one does. It's supposed to make you look "born this way", and you can't detect it on your skin. It's a solid medium-slightly full coverage for me. I don't need a lot of heavy duty coverage, so this makes my skin look perfect.

For concealer, I'm including a repeat, the Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer, but this time in the shade "Light Neutral". If you want to see why I love this concealer so much, check out my May Favorites! 

My go-to bronzer this month was the Nars Tahiti Bronzing Powder in "Laguna". I have a deluxe sample size of "Laguna", and it's slightly darker and a touch cooler than this version. This one has a hint more warmth/orange to it. On hurried days, I used it to contour and bronze. There is a slight shimmer in this, but I can never detect it on my face.

The powder that I really enjoyed this month was the It Cosmetics Celebration Foundation Illumination in "Medium". I picked it up when I didn't have a powder to match my tan, and (for once) decided not to go with one that would give me a matte finish, I was really into a glowy look this summer, which is rare for me (even thought I have dry skin). Celebration Foundation Illumination gave a beautiful glow, no glitter on the face, and an extra bit of coverage. Keep in mind that this is a powder foundation, so I used it lightly over liquid just to set things. It could be used alone for full coverage.

My most loved blush this month was the It Cosmetics Ombre Blush in "Coral Flush". It's a matte blush, that you can really get four different colors out of. You can dip your brush in each individual color, or swirl all of the colors together. It is extremely pigmented, so fair gals beware when dipping into the brighter side!

I alternated two highlighters this month: "Audrey" by Gerard Cosmetics and "Opal" by Becca. They are both beautiful on the skin, and I used "Audrey" when I didn't want a "BAM! In your Face!" highlight, and used "Opal" when I did! "Opal" gives an almost wet look to the skin. I have it in a deluxe sample size from a Sephora promotion, but it shattered in transit, so I can't travel with it. I have "Moonstone" in a full size, but I think I need "Opal", too...

My definite most used eyeshadow palette this month was the Tarte "Tartelette" palette. I had to force myself to use other things some days. That's how much I love this. The formula is incredibly smooth and easy to blend. The colors are beautiful and extremely flattering. I used it on my younger sister when I did her trial wedding day makeup. She is the complete opposite of me (in complexion, eye color, and hair color) and it was still beautiful!

I didn't wear a ton of eyeliner this month, but when I did, I used the It Cosmetics No Tug Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in "Brown". It's a very dark brown, but not as intense as a black. This one also doesn't transfer onto my contacts like the black one does. It does a great job of defining the tightline and waterline!

For amazing lashes, I've sworn by the Stila "Lash Stunner" primer and Too Faced "Better Than Sex" mascara this month. I've used the Lash Stunner under a few other mascaras this month, and it made me love mascaras I didn't initially like. I've used (and loved) Better than Sex before, so this was already a win for me . Combine the two together? AMAZING.

A $2 eyebrow pencil may have changed my life this month. The Elf Instant Brow Lift is wonderful; especially for $2!! I have the colors "Neutral Brown" and "Taupe", and it seems to me that they run dark. I've been "outlining" my brows with the Neutral Brown and filling them in with Taupe. The point isn't so big that it's sloppy, but not so fine that it takes forever to fill them in.

For lips, my lipliner love this month was the Sephora Waterproof Retractable lip liner in "Mauve". This particular formulation is being reformulated at Sephora, so these have been discontinued. Hopefully, the new ones come out soon! It's a beautiful color and really does last all day! It also has a smooth, creamy formula. I can't imagine how they're going to improve it!

My lipstick love was Gerard Cosmetics "Vintage Rose". It's a perfect MLBB color, suitable for day or night. It can be used with a natural look or a smokey eye and look beautiful. It's a satin, but looks like a matte. I love it.

Lorac's Alter Ego Lipgloss in "Supermodel" was my gloss love this month. It's a peachy pink color that is beautiful by itself or over a lipstick or liner. I can detect a shimmer when I look at the color in the tube, but I don't see any glitter once I apply it to my lips. It just makes my lips look great!

Last, is the Mario Badescu "Facial Spray with Aloe, Herb, and Rosewater". This came in handy while we were in Atlanta! I've been using it any time my skin feels dry or as a cool down. It's a nice refresher mist, and smells like roses, which I love. This isn't a makeup setting spray, though. I use it before moisturizer or later in the day as a refresher.

Those were my favorites for the month! What did you love for the month of August? Comment below! Thanks for stopping by and reading!


*None of the links above are affiliates
*Some of the items mentioned above were previously sent to me as part of a prize package or from a customer service rep. All opinions are my own.

Atlanta Weekend Makeup!

Hey, Everyone!

Earlier this month, I wrote about my Birthday Haul; this post is slightly a continuation of that! The weekend of my birthday, my husband and I went to Atlanta as a gift from my in-laws. I had packed some makeup, but knew I would be birthday shopping right before leaving for the trip, so my makeup for the weekend was a mixture of new items and things I had already packed. I used a lot of different makeup items for those three days. I realize this. ;) 

If you read my birthday haul, you'll be able to spot what the new items are in this picture. The only actual foundation I used Friday and Saturday was the new Too Faced Born This Way Foundation, which I have in "Sand". It matched my self tan perfectly. On Sunday, since we were traveling home, I opted to use the It Cosmetics CC+ Cream in "Medium". I have the travel size since I needed a darker shade than the "Fair" and "Light" I already owned. I used one actual powder, the It Cosmetics Celebration Foundation Illumination in "Medium", and one setting powder, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed. I took two bronzers, the It Cosmetics Ombre Bronzer and a mini size of the Nars Laguna. I alternated two blushes, Mac "Warm Soul" and Kat Von D "Wish", and used only one highlighter, which was Gerard Cosmetics "Audrey". I didn't pack any eyeshadows, knowing there were two palettes that I wanted to pick up, so I alternated the Tarte "Tartelette" palette and the Lorac "Pro Palette 2". I used the Kat Von D Tattoo liner in "Trooper" on Friday night and the KVD Ink Liner in "Baudelaire" on Saturday, along with the Stila Smudge Stick Liner in "Stingray". The only eyebrow products I took were my ELF Instant Brow Lift pencils in "Taupe" and "Medium Brown" and my Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel. I only used one concealer, and that was the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer in "Light Neutral". Because, yeah, it's the best concealer ever. For lips, I went between the Sephora Retractable lip pencil in "Mauve" topped with the Lorac Alter Ego lipgloss in "Supermodel" and the Alter Ego lipgloss in "Goddess". My primers of choice were the Urban Decay Primer Potion in "Enigma" and the Cover FX Illuminating primer.  For moisturizers, I used the Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation, Josie Maran Argan Oil Light, and the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment. For sprays, I used the Maria Badescu Facial Spray, Smashbox Primer Water, and the Urban Decay All Nighter Spray. I didn't buy any new makeup tools, so I took along my trusty Beauty Blender Pro, some Morphe, It Cosmetics, Sigma, Sonia Kaschuk, Bdellium Tools, Smashbox, and Mac brushes, as well as my Tarte eyelash curler. I also took my travel size Nars Ita Brush, but forgot to include it in the picture! Last, were my two hairsprays. I took the Kenra hairspray for maximum hold and the Living Proof Humidity Shield hairspray since I knew it was going to be hot. It wasn't as humid as Tennessee, though!  

Like I said, I know that is a lot of makeup for one weekend, but I'm okay with that. ;) With four kids, I don't usually have as much time as I'd like to spend doing my makeup, so with a weekend away, I took advantage and took my time to play! 

Thank you for stopping by and reading! I'd love it if you'd subscribe! :)

*None of the links above are affiliates.

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

Gerard Cosmetics-A Review!

Hello, Everyone!

I realized recently that I own more lip products from Gerard Cosmetics than any other one brand. With that realization, I figured I should write a review about them! I have seven lipsticks and three lip glosses, all with varying finishes in formulation. I also have their BB Illumination Creme. Their lipsticks retail for $19, lipglosses for $24, and the BB Creme is $36. However, because they've had SO MANY amazing sales this year, I haven't paid full price for any of these.

I'm going to go in order of lightest to darkest, starting with the lipsticks. I didn't use any lip liners or lip balms under the swatches for these photos, to show the way they actually look on my medium pigmented lips. 

First up, would be Kimchi Doll. This was a collab with Sophia Chang (I don't actually follow her or know who she is, but this is her collab), and the first so many orders received a lipstick tube with her signature etched in it. As you can see above, I received one of those. This color is described by Gerard Cosmetics as a "perfect baby doll pink and peach nude", but there is NO pink in this color on me. It is peach, and almost concealer like on my skin coloring, I can make it work with a lip liner under or a gloss on top, but I don't like it on me by itself. The formula on this one isn't too bad. Gerard doesn't specify on their website what type of finish it's supposed to have, but I would say it's on the matte side. It doesn't tug my lips when applying it, and it doesn't go on patchy.

Next up would be Buttercup, and it is my absolute favorite out of them all. It is the second lipstick created by Jaclyn Hill (yes, I know who she is), and the perfect pink for my skin tone. Out of ALL of my pink lipsticks, this is my favorite. I love this one so much, I bought a back up. I don't even recall the last time I went through a complete lipstick, but I bought a back up of this one. Gerard describes this one as the "perfect nude pink" and I agree 100%. It's creamy, opaque, flattering, and comfortable to wear. It looks good with a natural makeup look or a smokey eye. 

Third, we have Fairy Godmother. This is a matte, and can be patchy when applied. It is a bright neon pink, and takes a lot of confidence to pull off. I've worn it, but it could be a little much for the office. It's a lot brighter in person than my camera picked up on. Gerard describes it as the "perfect baby pink lipstick that pairs pastel and flattering blue undertones", which is correct. It is definitely blue based (yay for not making my teeth look yellow!) and is one of those neon pastel colors. It tugs my lips a little bit when applying, but that could be avoided by using a lip balm underneath. It is a great color for the Spring and Summer time, but I will definitely be putting it away once we get close to fall.

Fourth, there is Rodeo Drive. Let's be honest. This purchase may have been influenced by my love of 'Pretty Woman'. A little bit. Or a lot. This is described as a "medium rosy pink hue" that I think is the most universally neutral and flattering out of the seven I own. It is the perfect every-day-work-appropriate-neutral. It has a creamy formula, that isn't at all patchy. It looks beautiful and doesn't require a lip liner or gloss. But, of course, you could always add one!

Fifth is Tequila Sunrise, and is one of the few orangey lip colors I own. I'm always afraid that these type of colors will make my teeth look yellow (I'm a huge "teeth person"), so I usually avoid warmer lip colors. This one, however, is lovely. I don't find that it makes my teeth look orange, and I do find it flattering. Gerard describes this one as a "peachy coral", and that's pretty close. This one can apply a little unevenly, so I do have to apply quite a few coats for opacity, I would consider it a cream or maybe a soft matte. It's not as matte as Fairy Godmother, but not as creamy as Buttercup. However, it isn't uncomfortable on the lips. It's another great Spring and Summer color.

Then we have Underground. Sweet, lovely Underground. This one isn't everyone's cup of tea. It's one of the newest contenders in the "greige" lip color battle. It's darker than Lime Crime's Cashmere, but not nearly as drying. Then again, this is a traditional bullet lipstick, and Cashmere is a long wearing, liquid lipstick. Gerard describes this as a "mixture of warm earth tones and cool grey, with a touch of pink". I see no pink on me, as this is mostly grey. I've seen this look so many different ways on so many different people. It can pull a slight purple undertone on me, which I like. I have used a small amount of Buttercup over this in order to make it a little more "wearable" for work. It's a comfortable formula on the lips, and doesn't make me want to reach for a balm or gloss. It's a creamy, opaque finish, and probably my second favorite out of the bunch.

Last, we have 1995. This was the first Jaclyn Hill lipstick, and almost the one and only that I ordered from Gerard Cosmetics. It's inspired by the 90's lip trends (obviously, as the name is "1995"), and (I think) by the Kylie Jenner lip craze. I despise this lipstick. It has a matte formula, and drags across my lips when I apply it. This color looks very red-brown on my lips, and is not at all flattering. Even the tube on this one feels cheap. It feels like a lightweight plastic, making it not feel as sturdy as the others. There is not one single thing that I like about this one. I am thankful that that I wanted Buttercup so badly, that I gave their lipsticks another chance, though.

On to the lip glosses! I'm not going in order of lightest to darkest with these, but by the order I purchased them. Before Gerard Cosmetics was a separate company, everything  was through Whitening Lightning, so the first three I purchased have the "Whitening Lightning" packaging. First, I have Nude, which is one of their best sellers. It pulls very peachy on me (as a lot of things do), so I didn't like it very much when I first got it. It's not a neutral nude, but a peachy orange neutral. I do like it now, and it looks great over Kimchi Doll! Their lip glosses have a nice formulation, creamy and opaque, with some containing shimmer. I do not find these to travel outside my lip lines, or settle unattractively in any lines in my lips.It may look like it does in the picture above, but keep in mind that not many people see my lips this close up. Gerard describes this as a "neutral nude", but I don't consider it a neutral for my skin.

Coral Craze looks a lot like Nude on me in the photo above, but in person, it's a slightly brighter coral color. I wasn't crazy about this one, either, feeling like it didn't do anything to give the illusion of whiter teeth when I was wearing it. Now that I am getting more into bright and bold lip colors, I do find myself liking this one. It looks like it settled everywhere on my lips in the photo above, but again, not many people are this close to my lips. It really doesn't look bad in person. All of the glosses I have are opaque and creamy with the coverage and formula.

I was wanting to just dip my toes into the bold lip pool when I ordered Pink Tiara. What better way to try out a bold color than in a gloss form, right?! This one made my teeth look yellow. I was NOT happy. I put it on the back burner (along with the other two) for a long time. I broke it out a few months ago, used it in a look, and was really pleased with how it tied everything together! Gerard says this is the "perfect milky pink for the bubblegum princess", and it does remind me of the color of bubblegum!

Buttercream. Once again, Jaclyn Hill. Gerard describes this as the "perfect creamy, pink nude", and they are accurate! For me, this is the lip gloss version of Buttercup. It goes with everything, flatters my cool, pale skin, and is just beautiful. Another creamy, opaque lipstick, and one of my favorites! I do have to say, that this one has a terrible odor when I open it. It smells like burnt plastic, and is the only one that does. It has a strong chemical smell, but it will fade a few minutes after application.

Last, I have Shimmer of Hope, This is the only one of my five that has shimmer in it; the other's are all creams. I had been holding out on this one, telling myself I didn't need it, but I was sucked in after seeing it over everything on their Instagram. I'm really glad I caved! It's a beautiful gloss, that makes your lips look full and pouty; whether you wear it over a lipstick or lip pencil, or you wear it one it's own. This is my other favorite!! This is a lighter version of Nude and a lot less peachy.

My last Gerard Cosmetics item is the BB+ Illumination Facial Creme. This is another item that I had been looking at for such a long time, but I thought it would be way too gold and warm for my skin. As you can see from the above picture, it is gold. However, once blended in, it adds a beautiful luminosity to the skin. You can use this as a creme highlighter or mix it with your foundations for an all over glow to the face. I haven't mixed it with my foundation, but I have used it as a regular highighter, and it is stunning. It does stay on my skin all day, with little to no wear or breakdown. You get 50ml/1,69 oz of product, and I love that it comes with a pump. It does us an airless pump, so you may have to pump quite a few times to dispense product, I had to actually remove the pump, squeeze the creme almost to the top, and then replace the pump. I've had no issues since!

The glow on my cheekbones is from the BB+ Creme over the Loreal Infallible Pro Matte foundation.

Gerard did come out with some new powder highlights that I am drooling over. And I absolutely LOVE the names they gave them! I also want to try their eyebrow palette!



Have you tried Gerard Cosmetics? What did you think? Tell me below!

Thanks for reading and please subscribe!


*None of the links above are affiliates.
*All items were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

April 2015 Favorites!

Hello, everyone!

One of my favorite videos to watch on YouTube and one of my favorite blog posts to read are "favorites", so I'm excited that I finally get to share my own! Of course, since I knew I was planning on writing this, my mind totally spaced and couldn't think of anything. At all. I've been writing down favorites on my hot pink post it in my planner all week so that I wouldn't forget anything! Here are the things I used a ton this month and really loved!

I picked up the It Cosmetics CC+ Radiance Ombre Blush with a 20% off coupon at Ulta this month, and I LOVE this blush. You can get three different colors with it, or swirl it all together for a beautiful flush. It only comes in one color, Je Nais Se Quoi. Next up, is my Maskcara Hac Pack (check out my review here) that I used for foundation, highlight, contour, and blush a ton this month. It really makes getting ready in the morning faster! I purchased the Dermablend Loose Setting Powder during Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty Steals, and this stuff is amazing. I have dry skin, so it's really not necessary for me to use powder to control oil, but I do like to use it to calm down some of my dewier foundations and BB creams. The Dermablend comes in three shades, but I have mine in "colorless". I'm very pale, and even though it says it's colorless, I still think it makes me just a tad bit lighter. It does a great job of giving an airbrushed finish, mattifying without looking flat, and not emphasizing pores or any fine lines you may have. Then there are the Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows. Oh my word, these shadows are PERFECT. I'm not going to go into too much detail because, unless you live under a rock, you already know all about these, and because I want to do a review on them once I get my next order in. Pictured above are In the Spotlight, Whimsical, Starry-eyed, and Jester. I may never wear any other shadows on my lids again! I also have to include my Makeup Geek blush in Spellbound. Yes, I have three blushes in my favorites. I'm a slight blush whore. Lol. The only other eye shadow I'm including is Mac's Satin Taupe. I used this almost every day on my lid when I was in a hurry and had minimum time to get ready, and it always turned out beautiful and looking like I had spent more time than I did. Mac's Soft Ochre paint pot is an every day, holy grail item for me. I use it to prime my eyes for shadow 99% of the time. The soft yellow color and the opacity of it conceals any redness and veins on my lids and leaves a wonderful blank canvas to apply shadow to. Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfector, pressed, in Moonstone has been my go-to highlighter since I purchased it a few months ago. It's beautiful on pale skin and not for the faint of heart! My dry skin has absolutely LOVED the Too Faced Hangover RX Primer for the past few months, especially under the Hac Pack. Lip products were the hardest to narrow down, since they're the easiest to change out. For the first half of the month I was slightly obsessed with liquid lipsticks (as most people have been lately), and my two favorites were Lime Crime's Cashmere and LA Splash's Charmed. I am aware of all of the Lime Crime controversy, but since I paid for it, I'm going to use it. I don't know if I would purchase from them again, but I'm going to use what I already have. The LA Splash lipstick is more comfortable to wear than the Lime Crime one and a little more universal to wear. Last for this month is my Gerard Cosmetics lipstick in Buttercup. This lipstick is the perfect pinky-nude for my skin and absolutely perfect. I ordered it when they were running one of the amazing deals they had in March, and loved it so much I actually ordered a backup. I can't remember the last time I actually went through an entire lipstick, but I wanted to make sure I didn't run out of this one!

So there we have it! My April favorites. What were your favorites this month? Anything you didn't like? Let me know! Thanks for visiting and please subscribe!






*None of the links listed above are affiliate links.

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