5 Things I'm Loving

Right now, there's a few things that I can't get enough of.

1. I'm obsessed with Pure Seduction Bloom from Victoria's Secret. Not only is the packaging freaking gorgeous, but it smells like spring in a bottle. I couldn't help but go out and buy the shower gel as well.

2. I'm equally crazy about this nail polish from Vicky's as well. I think this is the most perfect mint nail polish. It's the color "Lucky."

3. Don't get me started on Benefit's They're Real mascara. This makes my lashes look like they are a million miles long. Plus it goes on without a single clump. It's truly one of my favorite mascaras ever.

4. My first NARS eyeshadow duo in Alhambra is so pretty I can't stand it. This pink and sparkly gold combine to make the prettiest all over lid color ever. I can't believe I've lived without this for so long!

5. My boyfriend. I can never get enough of him.

10 Makeup Prodcuts I'd Repurchase

 

I’ve been enjoying the 10 makeup products I’d repurchase videos on Youtube. This instantly got me thinking about what things I’d repurchase if I lost all my makeup from a fire or all of it melted or something. It’s really telling what products impress you, by whether you would buy them again.

So here, is my list of those ten items!

1.    NARS Orgasm Blush

So, I’ve only really used two blushes my entire life. The first was some random Covergirl one back in the day. The other is NARS Orgasm. Needless to say, Orgasm is so amazing, I’ve rarely felt the urge to try another (although NARS Deepthroat, Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes, and MAC Pink Swoon have been calling me).

2.  MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

On this blog, I’ve raved countless times about this pressed powder. I love it. And honestly, if I lost all my makeup, I’d probably buy this and not a BB cream or a tinted moisturizer. It’s great alone and it’s great as on top of another product. It’s simply amazing.

3.   MAC Painterly Paint Pot

A lot of people love Urban Decay Primer Potion. When it comes to priming my eyelids and giving my eyeshadow a great base, I look no further than my Painterly Paint Pot from MAC. This is probably my most used makeup product besides my Mineralize Skinfinish. It makes my shadow look brighter and more intense, it makes it last longer, and makes the colors blend so much easier.

4.   Wet N’ Wild Walking on Eggshells

I love eyeshadow. And I love my Naked Palette. But when it comes to what I go toward the most, this palette is probably tied for first for what I wear most often. Why? Because it’s only $2.99, creamy, easily blendable, and so pigmented. And the champagne pinky color? Probably the prettiest shade in the entire world. I would buy this again and hoard about ten extra just in case Wet N’ Wild decides to discontinue it.

5.  MAC Satin Taupe eyeshadow

What’s tied for my most used eyeshadow with Walking on Eggshells? Satin Taupe from MAC. I love it. It’s the prettiest taupe/gray/purply color. Every single time I wear it, I get compliments on how amazing my green eyes look. It blends well, it wears extremely well. You can just feel the quality from this shadow.

6.   Revlon Brow Fantasy

For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out what the heck to do with my brows. Then I discovered this product, and it suddenly became so easy to make my brows not look like caterpillars or nonexistent. I love this so much!

7.   Physician’s Formula Shimmering Strips Eyeliner (Brown Eyes)

Like I’ve mentioned recently in a previous post, this eyeliner surprised me so much. It’s so creamy, easy to apply, and has great staying power. I love that fact that in a package you get three colors too.

8.   ELF Mineral Infused Mascara

This $3 mascara has quickly risen to being my favorite. It makes my lashes look so pretty and defined. It’s so simple to apply. And the price is amazing. It’s something that I plan on buying the second I run out. There seems to be a lot of mascara that’s impressing me lately, but I definitely can’t beat the price.

9.  Naked Palette

While this is probably a given, I think this palette is an important one in anyone’s makeup collection. It could be worn every day, and some of my favorite colors are in this (Virgin looks so pretty with Satin Taupe, Sin is stunning, I love Buck and Naked just to name a few).

10.  MAC Blanc Type Eyeshadow

So this might be a surprise, but if I lost all my makeup, this highlight shade would be so severely missed. I love this on my browbone, mostly because it’s matte, and looks a lot like my skin, It’s by far my favorite out of Virgin from the Naked Palette and MAC’s Phloof.

So what are somethings you can’t live without? Would it be mostly drugstore or highend?

 

College Make Up Must-Haves

Wondering what make up to wear to college classes? Well, it's all personal preference really. If you like makeup and being all prettied up, then you'll probably wear it on a daily basis. If you only really wear it on special days, well, you'll probably not wear it as often. However, I decided to list some of the make up that I think is essential to every college girl, not just ones that love makeup.

BB Cream: I think this is the perfect daily, go-to face product for the college girl! Why? First, it has SPF (depending on brand, it can be as high as 35!), moisturizer, priming capabilities, the ability to reduce redness, and even skintone. Pretty good for just one product. Plus, there are BB Creams in every budget!

Pressed Powder: Not only is it great to set your BB Cream, it's also a great touch-up for when you feel your skin is looking dull. It sops up any oilness, and can add an airbrushed look. My favorite is MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural.

Favorite Eyeshadow Palette: Even if you don't wear eyeshadow everyday, I think it's really important to have a good eyeshadow palette that can work for class or night. If you can, look for a palette that offers you the most looks. My favorite is the original Naked palette by Urban Decay. First, it comes with a brush, Primer Potion, and 12 pigmented colors that work for a ton of different looks. I love that you can go from a very natural look, to a very dramatic one with just a few different colors and techniques. Plus, if you are needing inspiration, there are a ton of great tutorials on Youtube using it! Other favorites come from Wet N' Wild's "Walking on Eggshells" and Covergirl's "Shimmering Sands."

Natural Pink/Peachy Blush: I think this is a great touch for those early morning where you look paler snow. Either providing a sheer wash of color, or a bold blending, blush can make any college girl go from dragging to alert and pretty in seconds! Of course my go-to is NARS Orgasm, but I also love NARS Deep Throat, and Tarte's Dollface. A great budget friendly alternative is ELF too!

Versatile Masara: My favorite must is mascara. Whether you have short or long lashes, just a couple swipes of a good mascara can really open up your eyes and make you looks instantly put together. My favorite go-to for definition, length, and volume is Tarte's Lights, Camera, Lashes! Some great drugstore alternatives is L'Oreal Voluminous Millions, Maybelline's Colossal Volum' Express mascara, and Maybelline's Falsies.

Tinted Lip Balm: I'm definitely not a lipstick sorta girl, and lipgloss is usually much too sticky for an everyday look, so I tend to stick to good old tinted lip balm. Why? It has SPF, shine, color, and of course because it makes your lips soft! I love Burt's Bees, but there are tons of others!



Much Needed Shopping Trip

So I've had my eye on a few things recently and today I decided to finally go get them. You know, sometimes nothing beats a good shopping trip. The sun shinning, walking around, and a nice Starbucks to go with it.

So I went to Target (my favorite store in the entire world) and picked up a few cheap essentials. I know after all that debate about Sigma vs. MAC vs. Sephora brushes I bought two ELF. By no means are they my final selection, but sometimes you just need to buy something to tide you over until you afford better. Plus, if they are good, they were only $3 each. And if they aren't, eh. It's only $6 total. But reviews online were pretty postive about the blush brush and the complexion brush, so we'll see.

While I'm discussing my love for Target (it is seriously up there in my top 10 loves because they constantly amaze me), I also decided to try out the Cos Bar cleansing towelettes. They're currently highlighting businesses from around the US and one of them is Cos Bar from Aspen. It was probably the packaging (loving leopard right now) and promise of a blueberry scent, but they were calling me. And for $5, you really can't argue. I'm loving my Garnier ones right now because they aren't overly oddly smelly and get off my mascara (best thing ever), but I'm halfway through them and wanted to try this. So excited to take off my makeup tonight!

The other half of my shopping trip was to the open air Promenade shoppes, which happen to have many of my favorite stores (Pottery Barn, Victoria Secret, Bath and Body Works, Express, Ulta, and Sephora).

Sephora is seriously another favorite of mine. Everything just calls me. Kinda like the Apple Store, everything is so shinny and sleek and beckoning me to sample new products. In the end, I walked out with what I wanted. NARS blush in the ever famous Orgasm and Sephora's ultra-smoothing primer.

I think I easily spent over an hour in Sephora playing with everything. I swatched the Naked Palettes on my arms, drooling over them (I know, I'm the last person to not own them), tried on every primer in the store (on my arm for some weird reason haha), and comparing all the different foundations and such.

But overall, I'm happy with the blush and the primer. I was seriously stuck for a little bit between Orgasm and Tarte's Amazonian Clay Blush. Ugh, that was such a hard decision!

How is a girl to choose?! After swatching them, trying to them on, trying to find something to sway me either way, I finally had to go with NARS, it is supposedly the best. Plus, it was what I went to Sephora for originally. But I will definitely have Tarte in mind for the future, because the texture of the blush was so cool. Soft, heavily pigmented, almost cream-like. But definitely solid.

I also found a way to manage to stop my the mall to go to Dillards to visit the MAC counter. I've been trying to figure out a good summer face look and finally the wonderful reviews of MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural called me. It was cheaper than the Makeup Forever, Benefit, Bare Escentuals, and Laura Mercier ones I was looking at. And the reviews were promising me something that I wanted: a light, natural, finished look. I was color matched to medium plus and I can't wait to try it.

Overall, I think today was a successful shopping day. My account took a beating, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet I guess in the sake of investing in good products (hopefully). I can't wai to try them all and see how they work for me. This will be my first high quality face routine (before I just dabbled with Covergirl and other drugstore brands). Hopefully they live up to the hype!