July Favorites 2016!

Hey Everyone!

I'm a few days (months) behind on posting my monthly favorites, but you know, life. I have discovered so many good things in the past few months; I can't wait to share them with you! I ran out of my Urban Decay Chill Makeup Setting Spray, and decided to try something new. I've heard rave reviews about Skindinavia, and I thought I would try them out. If you look at the back of the UD setting spray, you will actually see "Skindinavia" on the bottle. I figured it had to be as good, right? I've used up the entire bottle, and I love it. It doesn't leave a matte finish like the UD ones, but it does hold my makeup in place all day. The spray nozzle shoots out a very fine mist, which is a must. I do feel like I ran through the Skindinavia bottle a lot faster than my UD one, even though they both contain four ounces. 

 I ran out of my Urban Decay Chill Makeup Setting Spray, and decided to try something new. I've heard rave reviews about Skindinavia, and I thought I would try them out. If you look at the back of the UD setting spray, you will actually see "Skindinavia" on the bottle. I figured it had to be as good, right? I've used up the entire bottle, and I love it. It doesn't leave a matte finish like the UD ones, but it does hold my makeup in place all day. The spray nozzle shoots out a very fine mist, which is a must. I do feel like I ran through the Skindinavia bottle a lot faster than my UD one, even though they both contain four ounces. 

I rediscovered how much I love my Too Faced Born This Way Foundation. Even  though it's a very thin consistency, it has great coverage and leaves a natural finish to the skin. I prefer it with my Beauty Blender; with a brush it ends up looking extremely streaky. If you've tried it, and weren't a fan, use it with a sponge!

I picked up the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel from Nordstrom after seeing rave reviews. I'd never used a cream bronzer before, but heard it dried down like a powder. I didn't want something melting off of my face! It is beautiful. It looks slightly orange in the container, but doesn't come off that way on the skin, even when I'm very fair. I think if you built it up a lot on fair skin, you would see some of that orange, but you really don't need a lot. It's described as a makeup base, so you could also apply it all over. 

My most used and loved eyeshadow palette was the Too Faced Natural Matte palette. I was having to force myself to use something different some days! The shadows are all super creamy and blendable. There are some brown tones, and some purple tones, which I appreciate. The palest highlight shade (Heaven) is so pigmented, it actually showed up on my fair skin! You even get a little "how to" guide in the compact.

 Another rediscovery was the Mac Paint Pot in Soft Ochre. It has yellow tone to it, which I didn't think would be flattering on my cool toned skin, but it helps to neutralize any discoloration on my lids.

 Another Mac item that I've been loving, but was new to me, is the Radiant Rose Prep+Prime Highlighter. If you have more warm or neutral undertones, I would suggest the Light Boost highlighter. It has a pink tone, which really helps with my super dark undereyes. It won't cover them up without some concealer underneath, but it does brighten beautifully! My only complaint is that it's in a click form with a brush tip, but mine wants to come out on the side of the brush for some reason. It has ever since the first time I used it, which is just annoying. However, it doesn't have anything to do with the actual product itself.

A new little tool I've been loving is the Beauty Blender Blusher. It;s smaller than the original Beauty Blender, but larger than the Micro blenders. This is amazing with cream blush. I've been using it with the cream blush that I will talk about in just a minute. I've also used it to cream contour and it works great. I've been meaning to try it with concealer, because I think it will be perfect. Just like with any other Beauty Blender, or BB dupe, you need to wet it for it's maximum potential. I do find that this little guy works to blend in my cream blush pretty well when it's dry, too.

Hands down, my favorite foundation brush for the past few months has been the Morphe Brushes E6 brush. It's a flat top buffer brush, but it's not as densely packed as some of the others I own. Morphe recently revamped their Elite collection, so  the one I have is from the old collection. I bought the first one when the Elite collection went on sale, and then bought another when they were 60% off. I needed a backup! I haven't tried the new collection, but I hope it's just as good! I don't have a coupon code for them, but I know a lot of YouTubers do, so I would search for one. No point in paying full price if you don't have to!

Another foundation that I've been loving is the new L'Oreal Infallible Pro Glow foundation. I did a whole review on it, so if you'd like to know exactly why I've been loving it, check that out here.

I finally picked up the much raved about lipliner by Mac in Whirl.I can see why it's so popular. It's a great neutral that goes with so many different lip colors. You can use it by itself, under a gloss, or under a lipstick, and it is still going to be beautiful. It's a drier formula, so it does last a very long time.

My two favorite lipsticks lately have both been by Urban Decay. First is Sheer Obsessed, which is described as a "sheer baby pink". I have it in the discontinued Sheer Revolution line, but they did bring that color back in the new Vice line. It's bright, but not super bright, thanks to the sheer formula. It's very flattering on the skin and livens up the face. I've used almost half of the tube since I got it!

The next one is the color Violate, which is a cream finish and is described as a "dusty purple with pink undertones". If you follow me on Instagram, you know my favorite lip color is purple. Violate quickly became a favorite! It has enough purple in it to make it look like an actual purple lipstick, but enough pink to keep it neutral. Yes, I consider some purple lipsticks neutral!

I broke out my It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores loose powder again, and found I really like using it to set my under eye concealer. It makes everything look so smooth! I did discover if I use it on my eyelids to set that base, my eyeshadow will NOT go on top of it. Just a warning. It just glides right back off of this siliconey powder.

I've been loving three products from Benefits Cosmetics lately. The first two are a combination that I love. The Benefit They're Real Tinted Lash Primer and Rollerlash together are amazing. I'm not a big fan of the They're Real mascara, but I love the Primer. As you can tell, I only have the travel sizes, but I will need the full size when I'm done scraping the last bit out of these! The primer also works great with every other mascara I've used it with.

The Goof Proof Brow Pencil has been the only pencil I've used lately. I got this one as a freebie or a perk from Sephora or Ulta, and I LOVE it. It's one of the new designs, with the angled tip that's a little wider than we're used to. Since I have pretty thin brows, this works amazingly for me. I can do my brows so quick with this! I have the shade 03, and it works perfectly for my brow color. The size I have doesn't have a spoolie on the end, but the full size does.

My other favorite brow product has been the Boy Brow in Brown from Glossier. It's an all in one product. I love it when I'm in a hurry, or for a natural makeup look. It helps fill in sparse areas and darken the lighter hairs in my brows, but not as much shape and structure as a pencil. I have used it over a pencil and it works just as great,

The cream blush I mentioned earlier is the Burberry Cheek and Lip Bloom in Poppy. These have a drier, non greasy texture to them and they blend like a dream. The packaging is also uber fancy. The lid screws on and off, so the product won't dry out. The color looks scary bright in the package, but it goes on lighter and you can build it up. They last a really long time on my skin, as well. The wider part of the Beauty Blender Blusher fits perfectly into this little pot, making it a great combination.

My absolute FAVORITE discovery over the last month has been the Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector Luminous Blushes. Oh. My. WORD. I now own all of them, since I picked up Tigerlily for my birthday last weekend, but my favorite two have been Camellia and Snapdragon. Camellia is a beautiful pink and Snapdragon is a coral. Camellia looks beautiful on my skintone, and I've found all of these last more than 12 hours on my cheeks! Even after half of my other makeup has disappeared, these are still hanging in there! I ADORE these blushes!!

The rest of my favorites are from Becca as well. I got a small size of the Backlight Priming Filter in a Becca kit, and it is AMAZING. It gives such a beautiful glow to the skin, without any shimmer or glitter. It's like healthy skin in a bottle. It has a great consistency and goes on so well. It doesn't fill in lines or pores, but it does make your skin look amazing. You could even wear it with nothing over it, just to put some life back into your skin. I will definitely need a full size bottle, once my other luminous primers are gone. 

Speaking of glow, I've been loving Becca's Opal highlighter as well. I have four of her highlighters, but Opal is my favorite. It will work on a variety of skin tones, and gives a beautiful glow. If you're fair-light and want a more subtle glow, I would try Moonstone. I have the deluxe sample size, and it looks pitiful because it was damaged in the Ulta kit. It was the ONLY one they had left in the store, though, so I just fixed it up with some rubbing alcohol. It works just fine. ;-)

Last for Becca is the Perfect Skin Mineral Powder Foundation. Since I have dry/dehydrated skin, I don't use powder foundation. I do, sometimes, like to use a powder to set my liquid foundation, though. This powder is finely milled, and will give off a lot of kick up when you put your brush into it. I just tap it back into the compact so that I don't waste it. It doesn't look drying on the skin, or too matte and flat. It has a glow to it, without any detectable shimmer. Becca certainly knows how to do luminous right! 

The next item isn't technically a beauty item, but I'm using it for one. I found these two candy dishes at Walmart and thought they would be perfect for holding makeup brushes! I'm using one for foundation brushes, and the second for my other face brushes. They are made of a sturdy plastic and hold quite a bit,

The last thing I want to share is an UNfavorite. I haven't shared one of these in a favorites post yet, but it was so bad, I just have to. It's the Hard Candy Sheer Envy Hydrating Primer Mist. All of the claims on the packaging sounded perfect. Oil free, silicone free, alcohol free, 12 hour radiance primer mist. You get the idea. This mist does have a coconut smell, and it smells like actual coconut oil, not suntan lotion. It smells like I'm getting ready to cook with it, quite honestly. It feels super greasy on my face and I couldn't stand it on my lips. The worst part for me was right after I sprayed it on, my face started to itch like crazy. Some ingredient or another in here does not like me. I can't even say if it prolongs my makeup or not, because each time I tried it, I had to immediately wash my face before I clawed my skin off. I do not have sensitive skin, either. Emily Noel at Beauty Broadcast seems to really like it, but to me it's just a waste of money.

Thank you so much for hanging around til the end of this very long post! What have you been loving lately?


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

L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation-A Review!

Hey Everyone!

By now, I'm sure you've heard of the new L'Oreal foundation; Infallible Pro-Glow. I purchased it as soon as I was able to find my shade in stock, and I picked up shade 201 Classic Ivory. I got mine from Ulta, where it's Buy One Get One 50% off right now, Don't forget to use the $3.50 off $15 in-store coupon or the $3.50 off $10 online coupon!

I reviewed the Infallible Pro-Matte foundation last year (find it here), so I was excited to see a new, glowy version released! As a recap, I have dry/dehydrated skin. I love the Matte version, but have really loved glowy looks this year.

The Pro-Glow comes in the same type of squeeze bottle as the original Pro-Matte, but it has a smoother, shinier plastic instead of the frosted looking one. It makes it easy to tell the Pro-Glow from the Pro-Matte if you have both sitting in your drawer! You get the standard 1.0 fl oz, and the price will vary depending on where you buy it.

I love how L'Oreal adds these charts to the back of the foundations! It gives you the finish, wear time, coverage, and texture. 

Three cheers for safety seals! 

Now, for what you're here for: the actual review! I love this one just as much as the matte version. It applies evenly, and very smooth. I will say it is not as full coverage as the matte version, but glowy foundations tend to be on the lower coverage spectrum. I can get a great medium coverage out of it, though. It gives a very healthy looking glow to the skin, without any glitter or shimmer in the foundation (that I can detect). It has a runnier consistency to it, compared to the mousse like texture of the Pro-Matte. It doesn't settle into my pores or fine lines, and it does last me a good 10-12 hours before visible fading. I am, obviously, not planning on testing it for the full 24 hours it claims to last, but I would hazard a guess and say you could probably still see a trace of it after that time. It just wouldn't look as nice! ;-)  I can set it with powder if I want, but it's not necessary. It doesn't leave a wet or tacky feeling on my skin (thank goodness!)

Overall, I am a huge fan! Shade 201 is currently too light for me (I've had it for a month and have since gotten a tan), so I'm going to need a new shade or I'll need to  mix it with something so that I can use it again!

Tell me, have you tried it? Did you like it? Why or why not? Leave me your comments below!

Thanks for taking the time to visit!


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

A Review of Loreal Infallible Pro-Matte 24hr Foundation for Dry Skin

Hello, Everyone!

I have read and watched tons of reviews on the Loreal Infallible Pro-Matte 24hr foundation, but they're always by combination/oil skinned people. Which makes sense, being as it is a matte foundation and most dry skinned gals are looking for a dewy finish. Being the beauty junkie that I am, I still had to try it out. I don't particularly love a dewy finish, anyways, and tend to set my more luminous foundations with powder. I picked this us a couple of weeks ago, and if you follow me on Instagram (@acleftwich), you've seen me wear this a lot since I purchased it. Ulta shows 10 shades in the range, and I have the lightest, which is Classic Ivory. I heard this could oxidize, and I knew if I went for the second lightest shade and it oxidized, then it would be too dark. This doesn't oxidize on me (maybe because with my dry skin, there is no oil for it to mix with), and can be a tad light. It's nothing noticeable once I complete my makeup, though. Classic Ivory does have more of a cool/pink undertone to it, due to it's lightness; however, my understanding is that the rest of the line runs on the yellow side. Here's what the packaging looks like:

The Pro-Matte comes in a standard squeeze tube and contains 1.0 fl oz/30 ml. It retails anywhere from $10-$13, depending on where you buy it. Keep in mind, there are usually coupons in the Sunday paper, and you can stack those with the $3.50 off $10 or 20% off coupons at Ulta. I like the squeeze tube more than the open glass bottles with NO pump, which is just a breeding ground for germs. This way, I can get the exact amount I need and not waste any. The tube is matte, like the foundation, but it can get (and stay) dirty pretty quickly. 

The above picture shows the amount I would use to cover my entire face. I've used it with both a flat top kabuki buffing brush (like the Sigma F80) and the Beauty Blender, and I like both tools. The brush gives a fuller coverage, while the Beauty Blender sheers it out a little bit. I have been using it over the Laura Mercier Radiance Primer, and I love those two combined. The matteness of the foundation keeps the primer from looking too glowy, and the primer keeps the foundation from looking too flat.

I'm not sure how well you can tell the difference in this picture once I blended the foundation in, but it did do quite a bit of perfecting. It has a very light feeling on the skin, almost mousse like. It is in no way heavy feeling, and hasn't broken me out. I haven't had any experience with it clinging to any dry spots or looking cakey. I absolutely love the way this looks on my skin. It has been my go-to foundation any day that I need my makeup to last or I want my skin to look perfect. It claims to last 24 hours, and I obviously haven't tested that out. I have, however, worn it for 16 hours, and it still looked amazing at the end of the night.

I really love the way this looks. It blends beautifully, doesn't oxidize, and I don't feel the need to set it. Loreal claims this has a demi-matte finish, and I agree. It doesn't leave a completely flat finish on the face, making you look one dimensional. I have the Estee Lauder Double Wear, and while I like it, this one is better, The Double Wear feels heavier on the skin, does leave my skin completely flat, and can get cakey quickly. If you have dry skin, I believe that as long as you moisturize and use a hydrating primer, you would love this foundation. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend pairing it with a mattifying primer, or setting it with powder. If you are combination or oily, I'm sure you've either already tried it, or heard all the rave about it for your skin type. Overall, I love this foundation and am a little miffed that a drugstore foundation is out ranking my higher end foundations. Lol. 

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