Staple Items

As its been crunch time with classes, I have had much less time to do makeup. When I'm in a pinch, I turn to my trusty staple items that can make me look put together and like I invested much more effort into my look than I actually did.
My go-to items are:

(1) Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup in Tan
(2) MAC Studio Fix concealer in NC35
(3) MAC Indianwood Paint Pot
(4) Loreal Voluminous in Carbon Black
(5) Any lip balm really- pictured here is the MAC Hydrating Lip Conditioner (Viva Glam Ricky Martin Edition)
(6)Wet n Wild Bronzer in Princess



What are your go-to items when you're in a rush?

Guest Mani!

Hey all! Today's post features nail art by Jessica on her friend Aemi. She used an inspiration picture (Aemi's sister) :

To create this manicure:

I love this and I think its so creative. Even though it looks hard to do, its actually very simple and is really cute for spring.

She used a pin and these colors:

(1) Any white nail polish as a base to make the colors pop and appear more pastel

(2) Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Buttercup

(3) Essie in Turquoise and Caicos

(4) LOREAL in Penthouse Pink

(5) Essie in Cute as a Button

(6) Essie in Lilacism

What do you think of Jessica's manicure? Have you ever done a manicure based off of an inspiration picture?

FOTD

Hey all! As I was rushing to get to class, I did a quick, simple makeup today. I decided to go with fresh-faced and neutral and wanted to look put-together:



I wasn't as angry as I look... promise!

I'm wearing:
(1) Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation in Natural Tan
(2) Mac Studio Fix Concealer in NC35
(3) Mac Indianwood Paint Pot (I LOVEEEE this. It's my go-to neutral)
(4) Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara
(5) Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss

What are your go-to staple items?

Loreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow

When Loreal came out with a their 24 hour line of eyeshadows, there was tons of hype in the blogosphere about them. When I checked them out in person though, nothing really stood out to me, they all seemed like colors I already had in my collection. However, awhile back, I was perusing the aisles of the drugstore feeling sorry for myself after a particularly harsh day. This usually leads to the inevitable decision of  rewarding myself with a little pick-me-up. So I picked up one of the 24 hour shadows for $7.95- #892 Amber Rush.
I was hesitant about these because the packaging is typical of a pigment and I just tend to not reach for pigments as much.

This is the front of the product- a screw-top jar:

The back of the jar is flat and allows you to clearly see the shadow

When I unscrewed the jar, I was surprised to find that the shadow is not a loose pigment as I thought it was. Here's a close-up so you can see what the texture and color are like. You can see that I've swatched from the left side of the jar and the right is untouched. The pigment is extremely smooth and creamy. Love this.

It does come with a pigment press which it tells you not to discard (you should replace the press back onto the shadow after each use)

I was really impressed with the first swatch. The 24 hour seems to be a pressed pigment that has AMAZING color payoff. I barely touched my finger into the product and had rich, metallic color:

And here's a swatch on my hand:

I barely applied any pressure and used only the product on my finger to swatch this. Amer Rush is a medium, warm bronzy color that looks like rose gold. It looks like I've foiled (applied pigment wet) for the swatch, but I haven't. Its just great color payoff!

This is a great product, and others have compared it to the Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill. I haven't used any of those eyeshadows, so I wouldn't be able to directly compare but what I can without any hesitation say is that for a drugstore product, the 24 hour eyeshadows are truly outstanding. In all honesty, this shadow blows many other department store products out of the water. This is definitely something you should check out! I'm currently on a no-buy ban but I can't wait to check more of these out!

Prestige My Blackest Lashes

I love lashes that are HUGE and dramatic. Straight up, I am not the "natural defined lashes" type of gal. I like big, bold in your face lashes anytime, anywhere. That being said. I go the extra mile and forego fake lashes- I expect my mascara to do all the work for me. I've heard wonderful things about Prestige's My Blackest Lashes, so for about $8.00, I decided to give it a go.

The tube is pretty large. Not as huge as CoverGirl's Lash Blast, but certainly on the chubbier side.

The brush itself is a bristle brush- not a rubbery one with spikes. In comparison to other mascaras, the wand is large and can be a bit hard to maneuver.

In the closeup above, you get a better idea of the size of the brush. If you look closely you can also see that the formula is a bit on the drier side, and a little clumpy. As I prefer drier formulas, this was not a problem for me.... initially.

As it turns out, the formula was a bit TOO dry for me. As I applied the mascara, I noticed that it was difficult to get the product to build up on my lashes. I spent more time than I would have liked building up the product for what I think was a rather mediocre result. This mascara certainly isn't terrible and I can't say I completely disliked it, but to me it delivered average results, not really the bold, black lashes it promised.

Here is the My Blackest Lashes after about 3 hours of wear: 

 And here's a closeup (apologies for the scary pores!)

Although the mascara itself looks fine and there is no smudging, there is significant flaking. If you look at the undereye area you will see this. I noticed the flakes almost immedietely.

The verdict? I was dissapointed by this mascara because of all the rave reviews it had gotten from others. I personally prefer dramatic effects and could have dealt with the flaking if it gave amazing results. For me though, it was average and I will happily go back to my Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black (A MUST HAVE!!)
What are the best and worst mascaras you've tried?

Valentine's Day

In honor of Valentine's Day, I gathered up a few of my favorite pink and red lipsticks. I mixed in both drug store and department store finds to include a little bit of everything. Here they are in no particular order:

Stila Happiness

Stila Lip Enamel Luxe Gloss in Happiness. This is an opaque, warm-toned baby pink gloss with a slight silvery sheen to it. It came out about one or two years ago with their Barbie collection.

LOREAL Kerry's Rosewood

Kerry's Rosewood is part of LOREAL's Colour Riche line. For me, it is the "my lips but better" color. A nice neutral pink with slight brown tones. It's a bit sheer and glossy and also has small gold glitter. I happen to like the glitter because it punches up the color, and they aren't super huge or abrasive.

Viva Glam Gaga

Viva Glam Gaga is definitely an in-your-face pink! It is an extremely yellow-based light pink that is also super opaque, which may make it difficult to pull off for darker skin tones. For me, this is definitely a statement lip and is different from my usual super-nude lips. Like all MAC lipsticks that I own, it has the signature vanilla cupcake scent and is a Lustre finish, which translates to a more shiny, moisturizing color.

Revlon Carnation

Carnation is part of Revlon's Colorburst line and is a middle of the road pink, a bit like very light fuschia. For warmer or deeper skin tones, it can be considered an amped up neutral, in my opinion. It has a slight silvery sheen to it when you look at the bullet but does not translate on the lips. This is a pretty color and would make a beautiful "statement lip" for work.

Stila Tickled Pink

I LOVE THIS COLOR. Tickled Pink is another Enamel Luxe Gloss from the Barbie Collection. Its a bright fuschia that has a super glossy finish and is a go-to color for spring and summer. Definitely spiced up a fresh-faced look! Disclaimer: I have NO idea why it looks like I applied this lip color with my eyes closed! I absolutely promise you it doesn't look like that in real life- the shine really distorted the image lol.

I swatched all of the colors on my hand, and threw in a few extra! (from left to right) Happiness, Kerry's Rosewood, Viva Glam Gaga, Revlon lip butter in Cotton Candy, Carnation, Tickled Pink, Stila Joy (Barbie Collection), and Loreal Sunset Red.

What are your favorite pinks and reds? Are you more of a neutral gal? Let me know!

and last but not least.... Will you be my Valentine?