A Collective Post of Favorites!

Hello, Everyone!

One of my favorite beauty posts to read and favorite types of YouTube videos to watch is Monthly Favorites. It also happens to be one of my favorite posts to write! Unfortunately, I haven't written one since my August favorites! I would mean to compose one, and then next thing I knew, it was already the middle of the month, and I would think "Well, I'll just add it to next month's favorites", and here we are. Four months later. Yikes!

Today, I'm going to show you some of the things I've really been loving.

My favorite primer for the past few months has been the Make Up For Ever Smoothing Primer. I have large pores around my nose and cheeks, and this does a great job of filling those in! The trick is to pat the primer in to the skin, instead of rubbing it around,

I've been alternating between foundations for a while; going between the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Comfort Serum , the Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless, and some samples of the new formulation of the Make Up For Ever HD foundation, I really want  to try the MUFE HD in the Stick formulation, but Sephora wouldn't give me a sample of that one. ;) I do have dry/dehydrated skin, and the Maybelline foundation still works well for me.

For concealer, my tried and true Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Concealer, has still been a favorite. I've been trying out two others to see if they're a "dupe" for this one, so look for that post soon! The UD concealer doesn't crease on me, has excellent coverage, and doesn't look drying under my eyes,

My eyeshadow primer of choice has been the Smashbox 24 hour primer (not pictured). It keeps my shadows from creasing and they look just as vibrant at the end of the day as they did when I applied them.

Out of the dozen or so eyeshadow palettes I own, I've found myself reaching for my Z palette full of Makeup Geek shadows. I can create any look I need with this palette. I have a mixture of all finishes, including some of the foiled shadows, which makes it convenient whether I'm doing a smokey eye or have five minutes to get a look together.

The only highlighters I've used since I got this palette, have been the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors in the Champagne Glow palette.  I've alternated Pearl and Champagne Pop, and I sometimes mix them.

I have absolutely loved the Stila Lash Stunner lash primer and the Huge Extreme Lash mascara for my upper lashes and the It Cosmetics Tightline mascara for my lower lashes. The Stila combo gives me amazing volume, which is what I'm always after. I have used the primer with other mascaras, and it's still wonderful.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown has been my go-to pencil lately, and the Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow has been a life saver on days I haven't had time to completely sculpt out my brows. I received the deluxe sample size in a Birchbox a few months ago in the Light/Medium shade, but if I purchase the full size I'll need to go a shade darker.

Ever since I received the YSL Black Opium fragrance from Influenster to review, I've been loving it. It's everything I want in a fragrance. If you want to read more of what I think about it, you can view my review post here.

My go-to under eye setting powder is still the Nars Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder, which I've heard is being reformulated, which scares me! Hardly anything is ever reformulated for good! I have been using a new powder that may be beating this one out though...

My most used blush has been the Tarte Exposed blush, but it hasn't been the only blush I've been using. I'm a blush enthusiast, so I tend to use a different one every day. Exposed is a great, everyday neutral blush, though!

Some of my standout brushes have been from Bdellium Tools and Morphe lately. I reviewed five Bdellium Tools brushes here, if you'd like to take a look. The Bdellium 942 has been the perfect contour brush and the Bdellium 962, the perfect blush brush. From Morphe, I've adored the E8 for concealer and the M124 for packing eyeshadow on the lids.

The Urban Decay All Nighter Spray and the Smashbox Primer Water are daily staples in my routine. I also love Mac Fix+, but I recently ran out of it and back-to-Mac'd it. 

I didn't have any ride or die new lip colors or eyeliners lately, since I typically use a different one every day to rotate through my stash.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading! What have you been loving lately?


*Some of the links above are affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows: A Review

Hello, everyone!

I figured while I was still mostly bed-ridden, I would get another post up! I've been planning this one out for a few weeks because I am extremely excited to do this one, but I had to wait for another order to get here. If you aren't familiar with Makeup Geek (you might live under a rock), it is a company founded by a sweet woman named Marlena, which started with her YouTube channel, Makeup Geek. She sells all sorts of items, her brand and others, so definitely check her out! Today, is all about the foiled shadows. I now have three from the original line, and three of the newly released ones to review. There are 20 shades, total, so I know my review of six may seem small, but I'm paying for these babies myself. No one's sending me any goodies, so I'm collecting them in small doses. :)  Makeup Geek's regular powder eyeshadows used to come in two forms: compacts and pans, but I no longer see compact as an option on their website.  Each regular powder eyeshadow pan is $5.99, and each foiled eyeshadow pan is $9.99. I am a huge fan of the regular Makeup Geek eyeshadows, but today I want to review the foiled shadows. Like I mentioned, I own six.

(L to R, top to bottom: Whimsical, Starry Eyed, Day Dreamer, In the Spotlight, Jester, and Mesmerized)

 

 

The packaging for the foiled shadows have a different color scheme than the regular packaging does, which makes it a little more fun. I appreciate cute packaging. This packaging has a "foiled" finish to it, which is (obviously) fitting. The original colors I had were Jester and In the Spotlight, then I signed up for the pre-order email and ordered Whimsical and Starry Eyed when they released. Also, if you signed up for their subscription list, they sent you a 10% coupon in early April, which I used for these. I just received Day Dreamer and Mesmerized on Monday, but since that was the night I was in the ER, I haven't had a chance to wear them. However, I have swatched them, and am confident that the formula is the same as the four I have worn, so I am including them in this review. I will be including pictures of me wearing the four I have worn at the end of this post so that you can see these (spoiler alert) amazing shadows in action. Let's get to the swatches!



(Inside with natural lighting from the window. L-R Whimsical, Starry Eyed, Day Dreamer, In the Spotlight, Jester, and Mesmerized)

(Hanging out my front door for natural light: L-R Whimsical, Starry Eyed, Day Dreamer, In the Spotlight, Jester, and Mesmerized)

Do you see the metallic, shiny goodness of these shadows?! They are SO beautiful! They are extremely smooth and buttery (almost feeling like a cream), and last such a long time! I have only worn these on my lids, inner corners, and lower lashline, as I don't like anything that isn't a matte in my crease or on my browbone. I have applied these at 7am and they are still there when I wash my face at 10pm. Absolutely amazing. I use a Mac paint pot in Soft Ochre underneath, and haven't tried any other primer with them. Temptalia reviewed these and found that, for her, these didn't last as long and stay crease free over eyeshadow primers such as the Urban Decay ones. I don't have perfectly smooth eyelids, so these can crease on me, right in the inner part of my lids, but it's nothing I can't smooth out with my finger. Speaking of fingers, that is my preferred method to apply these initially. You can apply them with a brush, but I use my finger for maximum color payoff. I will then take my fluffy blending blush and blend the edges so that everything looks seamless and there are no harsh lines. You know what the best thing about these may be? I get NO fallout with them. None. Zero. Zip. Get it? I will have NO glitter on my face from these, at all, during the day. And that is without having to spray Mac Fix+ on my finger/brush before applying them. I know you can "foil" just about any shadow that is not a matte and get a similar affect, but that requires extra products and you can still get fallout from that method. If you follow me on Instagram (@acleftwich), I'm sure you were tired of seeing my makeup looks for the day, because I was using the foiled shadows every day. They are that good, guys. I keep singing their praises to my mom, informing her that she needs these. I can't wait to get more! You can buy each pan individually for $9.99, the new 10 shade expansion for $89, or the complete set of 20 for $175 from the Makeup Geek website. The only thing that could be a con with these is that since they are so soft and buttery, they can crumble easily. Makeup Geek does a great job of packaging them in bubble wrap and packing peanuts, so none of mine have arrived broken, but I have heard of some that were received as press samples that had shattered. Once again, I haven't had that problem. If you were to drop it, it would shatter. I accidentally dug my nail in Starry Eyed yesterday and almost cried. No joke. To sum it up, these shadows are almost crease-proof, smooth, high color payoff, truly have a "foiled" look to them, long-wearing (I do not have oily lids), inexpensive, and all around amazing. I hope you check them out to see what I mean! No, this isn't in any way sponsored. Neither Marlena or the Makeup Geek staff have any clue who I am.  :) Here are a few pictures of me wearing four out of six colors.

Look at that sparkly goodness! Youngwildandpolished would be proud of those inner corners! :) I hope you all enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you've  tried these, let me know your thoughts!


*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.