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.

YSL Black Opium Perfume-A Review

Hello, Everyone!

I’ve really dragged behind in the last month, haven’t I?! It was a busy time; I had some doctor appointments, and just didn’t feel well. There was one week where I didn’t even feel like wearing makeup!! The horror!!

As you may have seen in previous posts, or on my social media, I receive VoxBoxes from Influenster from time to time of products to review. I recently received two boxes, and this is the first one that I would like to share with you!

 Influenster sent out the YSL Black Opium Fragrance (0.25 oz) to be tested, so let’s see what I think!

 First, let’s look at that packaging! It is stunning! It’s a blackened-gray color, with a textured bottle, and the cap pops off to use it. I believe the bigger sizes are sprays. I leave it sitting on top of my vanity so that I can look at it. The bottle I received is an adorable miniature size of the 1-3 oz bottles that you can purchase. Sephora and Nordstrom also carry a .33oz spray fragrance. The price on this ranges from $25 USD (.33oz) to $115 USD (3 oz) at Sephora and Nordstrom. Sephora describes this as “Fascinating and seductively intoxicating, the opening notes of adrenaline-rich coffee and the sweet sensuality of vanilla recline into the softness of white flowers for a modern, young, and vibrant interpretation of addiction” with notes of “Coffee Accord, Orange Blossom, Cedar Wood Essence, and Patchouli Essence”. I am not someone who is really into fragrance. I also do NOT like typical “female” scents that are candy sweet, or scents that are very florally. I actually prefer men’s scents, because I prefer that musky, masculine scent. For the longest time, I only wore a vanilla body spray, and I was happy with that. In all of the notes Sephora describes Black Opium to have; the most noticeable one, to me, is the Cedar Wood Essence. This smells very musky and woodsy to me, with hints of vanilla, which puts it right up my alley! If I had a full size, I would probably spray it a few places, but since this is one that I have to put my finger on the top and tip it over, I’ve been enjoying putting it behind my ears. I have put it on my wrists and the inside of my elbows, but when I put it behind my ears, I catch the scent every time I turn my head! On the bright side, I can make the bottle last longer by only applying it behind my ears! 

This scent doesn’t give me headaches, which is so nice. I’m not extremely sensitive to scents, but I have been known to hang my head out a window for fresh air when a guy at work had on too much cologne. 

I think if you have a chance to get this perfume, even if it’s just the .33oz spray, go for it! It is perfect for fall and winter (although I’m going to wear it until it runs out!). 

*None of the links above are affiliate links.

*I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer and Perfector Review!

Hi, Everyone!

I recently received my first VoxBox from Influenster, and they included two new products from YSL to review!

 Inside my box were the new YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer and the Touche Eclat Blur Perfector. I was sent a deluxe mini (.33 oz) of the primer, and a full-size Blur Perfector (.33 oz). The full-size primer is one ounce and retails for $52, while the full size of the Blur Perfector retails for $55.

Let's start with the packaging. The pale pink and gold is absolutely beautiful! It has such a classy and elegant look and feel to it. I've never purchased anything from YSL, due to the price, but I have had a few items on my wish list for a while! I obviously cannot comment on the packaging of the Primer since I only have a deluxe sample size, but the packaging of the Blur Perfector feels very sturdy, and has a great closure. It snaps closed tightly, so I'm not afraid of it coming open and being damaged in my purse.

First, let's talk about the Touche Eclat Blur Primer.

 The full-size primer comes with a pump, but because this is a sample size, it has a spatula applicator. It is described as being an "illuminating primer that blurs imperfections and boosts the radiance of foundation". 

 As you can see in the picture above, there are tiny flecks of gold glitter in this primer to provide the luminous finish. If you do not like glitter on your face, you may not like this. Indoors, this provides me with a pretty glowy finish, but in direct sunlight I can see the gold flecks on my skin. The consistency is the best part about this primer, though! It has a silicone feel to it, similar to the Smashbox Photo Finish primer, but it dries down to a velvety feel as opposed to remaining "slippery" feeling. I always feel like my makeup is sliding around on top of the Photo Finish, and the YSL Blur Primer doesn't make me feel that way. As the name suggests, I do feel like it does a great job of blurring my pores and the small lines under my eyes. It's also a great one to put in the areas where your foundation can tend to crease, such as your laugh lines or in between your eyebrows. I am enjoying it right now during the summer, but I may not use it as much come winter time when I'll be more into matte skin.

Next, is the YSL Touche Eclat Blur Perfector.

Once again, look at that packaging! Even the boxes are beautiful! The Touche Eclat Blur Perfector is a balm-to-powder product that is used to "soften the skins imperfections, while creating a subtle rosy glow effect". You can use it in different ways, such as alone to soften and blur the skin, to set your makeup, or later in the day to remove any oiliness. As I've mentioned before, I have dry skin, so this product idea is genius for someone like me! If you're familiar with the Mally Face Defender, this is a similar concept. It has a silicone, balmy feel to it, that when applied to your face with the sponge, reduces shine and the visibility of pores. One of the things I like better about the YSL Perfector over the Mally one is that once I apply the YSL, it dries down and I can't see or feel it. The Mally is supposed to be the same way, but I don't find that to be true on my skin. Mally's product has a slick, greasy feel to it, and even though it is invisible, I can still see a residue left behind, The Blur Perfector comes with its own small sponge and a velvety black pouch, with two pockets, so that you can carry it around with you, I love the way this performs, but I do have a few complaints. First, when I apply the Perfector over my makeup (to reduce shine or blur pores) it lifts my face makeup off onto the sponge. Which in turn, transfers my makeup from my face into the compact. I can imagine that in the long run, the compact will end up very dirty looking on the inside and could start to harbor bacteria.

All in all, I do think both of these products have some great qualities to them, and I will definitely continue to use them! I haven't experienced any reaction or breakouts from using either one of these, and I have used them both on a daily basis since receiving them.

If you've tried these, I would love to hear your thoughts! Please leave me a comment below and subscribe! Thank you for stopping by and reading!


*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

*None of the links above are affiliates.