5 Must Have Eye Brushes

These are the 5 must have brushes I have picked from my collection. I don’t necessarily think you have to buy these particular ones, but something similar in shape and size to these will help you create any eye look. I don’t typically buy super expensive makeup brushes because I think you can find plenty that are affordable and still get the job done. 

First, the precision eye liner brush. This brush can do a couple of different things and I think that is always a plus when spending your money! This can be used to add eye shadow to your upper or lower lash line very closely or you can the pointed edge to create a cat-eye effect with your shadow. This one came from Amazon and it retails for $10. 

This next brush is from Coastal Scents and is a fluffy blending brush. It has natural hair which pick up eye shadow very lightly. It is good for blending colors on your crease and also blending out any harsh lines that might occur. You can buy this from Coastal Scents for less than $3 and it is one of my all time faves!

This is a Morphe pointed blender brush. It comes to a nice tapered end. The tapered end is really helpful when blending crease colors. You can use the tip of it to place the color where you want it and because it’s tapered when you go to blend it the shorter bristles are helping to diffuse the look. Morphe has awesome prices on brushes and you can buy this one for only $6!

This “C” brush is from e.l.f.  It’s used to really pack in color. Brushes like this are more densely packed so the bristles pick up a ton of color, perfect for getting that shimmer eye shadow to really pop. This one is made from synthetic hair so you can use it wet or dry. If used wet you will really get a lot of color pay off. We all know e.l.f is affordable and you can pick this one up for just $3! 

The last brush on my must have list is a pencil brush. I like to use these on my lower lash line to buff out color. I like that this one is also tapered but the bristles are more tightly packed. This will give you a more precise application for the small under eye area. This one is also from Morphe and is just $4!

That’s it for my must have eye brushes! Let me know in the comments what your favorite eye brushes are! Let me know if you have tried any of these and loved them! 

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

The Makeup Breakdown: Week 4

This week for some reason was a little tough on me. I had good makeup days and bad. I also had a day or 2 that I slept in and didn’t get as much time as I’d like to work on my face. But, we move on and keep hope that next week will be better! I have my fingers crossed that I will wake up on first alarm every day and have plenty of "me" time in the morning! 

The first product I wore all week was the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector. When this product works well with a foundation, it really works well! I had more good foundation days than bad this week! We had some pretty hot days where I live and I feel like between the weather and my job the primer did a lot of work! Let me also put it out there that I always work 9+ hours a day and rarely have time for any kind of touch up! So, when I come home from work and still look decent I am OK. Pros: plays well with others, stays matte, and does a pretty good job at filling in pores. Cons: the price. The full size bottle of this will set you back $36. You also should be careful not to apply too much or it will cake up in lines. 

The next two products I used mostly together this week. They were the ELF Mad for Matte Summer Breeze Palette and the Juvia’s Place Nubian 2 Palette. I LOVED BOTH OF THESE! The colors worked very well together. The Nubian 2 palette does not have the lighter matte shades I need for blending so this is where the Mad for Matte palette came in. It is literally 10 warm matte shades ranging from a cream color to a black. I loved using the brighter shades from the Nubian 2 on my lower lash line for a little pop of color! Pros: both have great price points for the quality you are getting, blends well, worked well together and both have amazing color ranges. Cons: the only con I have is the Nubian 2 didn’t have everything I needed in one. 

Lastly, I used the IBY Beauty Highlight and Contour Palette. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this palette! There are 2 shades that just don’t work for my skin tone as a highlight or contour but if I wanted to use them they would work as eye shadow. The powders were soft and blended out nice on the face. The highlight shades did not work to set my under eye concealer, but if I set with my face powder then layered them on top it did help to bring some brightness back to my face. I also used them to clean up my contour and blend out any harsh lines. Pros: soft and easy to blend powders, I think they would work well on light to medium tan skin, and I think it’s a fair price.  Cons: I probably won’t use 2 of the shades. 

not my photo

This week I will be using and comparing two Tarte palettes. They are the Showstopper and Ladies Night palettes. They are both limited edition and I don’t think you can get them anymore but I wanted to get some use out of them anyways. They have 6 eye shadow shades, a blush, contour and highlight. I know Tarte is always coming out with palettes like this so I wanted to see if the formula was consistent enough to make me want to get more when they are released.  Plus, they are beautiful! I actually own a ton of Tarte products because I love the brand so much, so we’ll see how the formula is compared to my others. 

not my photo

 Next is the Make Up For Ever Step 1 Mattifying Primer. Again, I am trying out different primer/foundation combos for my wedding day makeup so, I need to test this one out some more and see how it compares to the Becca Primer I tried last week. The full size bottle of this is $37 for one ounce. The Becca primer you get 1.3 ounces so just a touch more for your money. 

photo from sephora.com

That’s all for this week, let us know in the comments if you have tried these products or want to buy now that I’ve given you all the info! 

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Quaker Overnight Oats

I tried the Quaker Overnight Oats and was pleasantly surprised! I never have enough time in the mornings to fix anything remotely good for me. I’m usually a ginormous cup of coffee gal, but I had these sent to me and gave them a try!

What I like about this is 1) it’s so easy! You just need to add milk, or your favorite milk substitute, at night, set it in the fridge and eat cold in the morning. 2) It’s not just mooshy oatmeal. I do love a bowl of hot moose every now and then, but Quaker added the coconut and almonds to this to give it a nice crunch! 3) For a healthy breakfast they are affordable. Compared to going out to the drive thru for something greasy and putting you back probably $4 or $5, this is only around $1.50! And you can eat in your PJs without getting judged! :)

If you have tried this or any of the other flavors let me know what you thought or what your favorite was!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!



I received Quaker Overnight Oats for free to sample.

The Makeup Breakdown: Week 3

It was another successful week in the Makeup Breakdown. I stuck to my guns and used the products every day! I'm seriously giving myself a pat on the back here because it's really hard to use one eyeshadow palette every day without getting bored! So, let's get into what matters, the reviews!

My first item I used every single day was the Maybelline Master Prime Blur + Smooth Primer. I tried this with 5 different foundations this week. It worked really well with most foundations. It also worked well on the day I only spot concealed my face and really helped the concealer and powder stay put all day. It did not hold up well with the Wet n' Wild Photo Focus Foundation. It held up REALLY well with the IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream and the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation! Pros: Affordable, smooths the skin and when it works with a foundation it REALLY works. Cons: doesn't mix well with some foundations.

The next product was the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector. I did try this product a few different ways, and while it is pretty, I felt it was sort of an unnecessary step in my makeup. When it was mixed with my moisturizer I felt it just got lost once the foundation was applied over top of it. I did not notice enough of a glow coming through to make me want to use this every day. I feel like this product would be nice for someone that is wearing no foundation or a very sheer coverage. It would probably be really nice applied to the shoulders or collarbone -- I did not try but it would probably show and stay better on bare skin in my opinion. Pros: pretty, subtle highlight and light-weight on the skin. Cons: expensive for what it is and doesn't pack a punch under foundation. Would I buy the full size? No. Will I use the rest of the sample I have? Yes.

Lastly, was the eyeshadow palette. I used the Lorac Pro Matte Palette. Like I said last week, I have used this prior, it was just nice to make myself use it every day for a week! The shadows are soft and super blendable. It made my quick makeup mornings easy to add in eyeshadow. Normally on days I'm in a hurry I skip eyeshadow because it just can be a chore, but this was perfect for easy days but also gave me enough to work with to add more when I wanted. I like that it has the neutral browns that go with everything plus the pink/mauve shades to add a little somethin-somethin. I would recommend this palette to any beginner or anyone looking for an all matte palette. Pros: soft/blendable, the matte colors are perfect for any look and I'll say affordable because at $28 it's only $3.50 per shade! Cons: For what it is, I don't see any!

As for next week, I will have four products I'll be trying out! I wanted to for sure use the Nubian 2 Eyeshadow Palette by Juvia's Place because I bought it from HauteLook a while back. (If you don't know HauteLook is a flash sale site from Nordstrom.) Well, I haven't really used the palette much, so I figured this was the best time! The palette retails for $28 but I'm pretty sure I got it for half of that when it was on sale! Since this palette is more on the bright side, I thought I would pair it with the E.L.F. Mad for Matte Summer Breeze Palette to get the matte shades I'd need to create a full look! The E.L.F. palette retails for just $10! I have not got to use this much either, so I'm ready for some creative eye looks this week!

Next, I'll be wearing the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector. I've used this primer before and I really like it. I'm trying to figure out my perfect primer/foundation combo for my wedding coming up in November, so now is the time to test out! This retails for $36 but it does really keep my face matte all day! I'm really only wearing it all week to figure out what foundation it works best with.

Lastly, I'll be using the IBY Beauty Highlight and Contour Palette. This has 6 all matte shades- 3
light powders to set your makeup or add brightness to an area and 3 darker shades to contour and bronze your face. I received this palette in a BoxyCharm and haven't gotten a lot of use out of it yet, so I'm excited to have it in the rotation this week!

That's it for this week's Makeup Breakdown, let us know in the comments if you have tried any of the products I mentioned and what are your thoughts on them? Don't forget to get sign up for email notifications when I post!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Product Review: Tea Tree Oil Shampoo

I have been dying to write this review for you guys, but I wanted to make sure I tried the product enough so I could make a very educated review of this. The team at Maple Holistics reached out to me and asked if I'd like to try their Tea Tree Oil Shampoo. The only thing they asked of me was to write a review. So, of course, I said yes!

Maple Holistics is made in the U.S.A., all natural, and cruelty-free. They sell oils, shampoo, body washes, and even some health foods! There is a wide range of items at excellent prices!

I tried the Tea Tree Oil Shampoo. You can buy it from their website here. Right now an 8oz bottle is only $8.95! This is an all natural shampoo that is supposed to improve the hair and scalp while promoting healthy hair growth. For those of you that don't know me, I am a hair dresser and I have used my fair share of tea tree shampoos. I find that THIS tea tree shampoo is probably one of the best I've tried. It wasn't one of those tea tree shampoos that make your scalp and hands tingly while using. (Which I really appreciate!) I don't like for my skin to tingle when I'm using tea tree. This just felt like it got my hair and scalp REALLY clean. I typically only wash my hair about every 4-5 days and I have lots of build up of products to get out. This tea tree shampoo did everything it was supposed to for me! Let me also add it did NOT burn my eyes or face while rinsing (which I've also had happen with others!!) 

My next favorite part of this shampoo is the ingredient list. Literally, this is it: Aqua, Jojoba Oil, Botanical Keratin, Argan Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Lavender Oil, & Rosemary Oil. How many other shampoos are you going to find where you can pronounce and know ALL the ingredients? Not many. Even with all the oils listed in here, I still got my typical 4-5 days in between shampoos!! They work together so well to cleanse the scalp!

The best part of this blog post is for you guys! Maple Holistics has a FREE SAMPLE program. Click HERE to pick your free sample today! Then, check your email to find out how to receive a free full-size product!!

So, would I recommend? YES! Would I try other products from them? Absolutely! Let me know if you guys have tried anything from this brand and what you thought of it!!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Links to everything:

Maple Holistics

Tea Tree Oil Shampoo

Free Samples

Disclaimer: I received this shampoo for free from the company. They did not pay me or ask me to say anything good about this products. All thoughts are my own from my own experiences with the product. 

The Makeup Breakdown Week 2

I'm very proud to say that I did very well using my 3 products this whole week!! It did get a little boring wearing the same lip color every day (and I did cheat there a tad! shhh.) but I wore the foundation and mascara as promised! I used a weekly planner to write down my makeup routine every morning and keep notes. I've been thinking about it and I won't be going into daily detail but I will tell you pros and cons about the products, tell you my favorite way to apply, and share a couple pictures of my week! Keep reading until the end to find out what three products I'll be using this upcoming week!!

The first product is the E.L.F Flawless Finish Foundation. I wore this for a couple days on its own and quickly realized that it was not meant for super oily skin. I wore my best mattifying primer and it still broke down around my nose and chin. I also quickly learned that if I mixed this foundation in with my Clinique Stay Matte Foundation I have a dynamite combination. It wore so much better for me! It stinks to have a foundation you can't wear on its own, but it's good to know I can mix it with more matte foundations to get a softer look. Pros: good coverage, nice shade (for my skin), affordable. Cons: breaks down quickly when worn on its own and not a huge shade selection. If you have normal to dry skin and can find a color match I think you will LOVE this foundation.

Second is the L'Oreal Voluminous Curved Brush Mascara. I really don't love this mascara. (I do love other L'Oreal mascaras, FYI.) I felt as the formula was too wet and heavy for my lashes. It did not hold a curl at all for me and it honestly was not that voluminous. I found that if I took the wand and literally wiped it off on a tissue so there was less product I got much better results. I realize that mascaras are really hard to recommend to others because our lashes are all so different. For reference, I love the L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise, Clinique High Impact, and Maybelline Big Shot Collosial mascara. Pros: affordable and did not smudge. Cons: too heavy for my lashes.

The last product I wore all week (sort of) was the ColourPop Ultra Satin Lipstick in Strip. I absolutely love the ultra satin formula from ColourPop! It is so comfortable to wear and has very nice color pay off. You only need one coat of these and you have full opaque color. This was a great neutral color that went with whatever I wore all week! Pros: affordable, comfortable, great color range in the collection. Cons: I have zero.

This week I will first be testing out the Maybelline Master Prime Blur + Smooth Primer. This retails for $9.99 on Maybelline's website but you can always find this cheaper in Wal-Mart or Ulta, plus there are always sales and coupons! It is a water based primer that is supposed to blur and smooth away fine lines and imperfections and not clog pores! I will wear a different foundation with this every day and see how it holds up!

The second will be the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Liquid in Opal. The full size of this product is $41 at Ulta. I have a deluxe sample size to try out so we will see if this makes me want to purchase the full size! It says it creates a natural dewy glow that becomes one with your skin! It also says to use it two ways: 1. mix with your foundation or primer for added luminescence or 2. add on top of foundation to the high points of your face. I will be trying both ways!

Last product I will be wearing this week is the Lorac Pro Matte eye shadow palette. This retails for $28 at Ulta for 8 all matte neutral shades. I have used this palette before and I'm excited to add it to this weeks lineup to get more use out of it. They can be used wet to create a soft eye liner effect. These are great eyeshadows so I should not be disappointed!

In this photo I am wearing the e.l.f foundation mixed with the Clinique Stay Matte Foundation. I used the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless primer. I'm also wearing the L'Oreal Voluminous Curved Brush Mascara.

That's it for this week's Makeup Breakdown! Let me know in the comments if there is any product that you'd like to test out for a full week or if there is something you KNOW I need to have in my collection! Don't forget to sign up to get email notifications when I upload my blog!!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

The Makeup Breakdown

I've written a post before about how I rotate my makeup collection to make sure every product is getting used. I'm going to rotate three products every week and *try* to use them every single day and get a proper review of the product for you. Every Sunday I will share my final thoughts with you on what I've been trying out and letting you know what the upcoming products will be.

Since this is my first week I don't have reviews to share so let's just get into the products and why I chose them.

First is a newer foundation from E.L.F. that took me FOREVER to get my hands on. They expanded the shade range and the lightest shade was always sold out. It is the Flawless Finish Foundation with SPF 15. It costs $6.00 on the E.L.F. website. The details of the foundation say that it is a lightweight oil-free foundation with a semi matte finish. I have worn this once already, but I don't have any real thoughts on it quite yet. 

Second is the L'Oreal Voluminous Curved Brush Mascara. This retails for $7.29 on the L'Oreal website, but as you know the brand is always on sale at drugstores and Ulta, so I say if you're going to buy, wait for the sales! This mascara claims to be clump and smudge resistant. It says it will soften and build lashes 5X their natural thickness. Again, I have tried this mascara before, but I have no memory on how it wore or when the last time I wore it was. I thought this was the perfect time to try it out!

The last item I will be trying out this week is an ultra satin lip from ColourPop. I'm going to wear the color Strip all week. The ultra satin lips say to be a moisturizing matte liquid lipstick. They retail for $6.00 on Colourpops website. The shade strip is a said to be a warm beige color that will be the last thing I'll ever want to take off.

So, there you have it. The 3 products I will wear every day this week. I will take pictures and write notes so stay tuned for next Sunday to get the full run down on these products! Be sure to sign up to get email notifications when I post so you never miss a thing! Also, let me know in the comments down below if there are any products you'd like to see me test out for a full week!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Two Skincare Products I Can't Live Without

I have found two products that I now cannot live without! I have never been so strict with my skincare routine as I have been the last 3 months.

 I accidentally found out that I'm somehow allergic to almond milk, or just the almond milk in a certain coffee shops cinnamon almond milk macchiato. I didn't get a rash or swelling, I got the most intense breakouts on my face. I started noticing the breakouts and could not for the life of me figure out what it was. One night I started looking at pictures and thinking really hard what I had changed in my life. The timeline lined up perfectly with the release of the drink and the fact that I was drinking 2 or 3 a week. Once I stopped drinking them I stopped breaking out. 

The hard part was the healing. I had horrible acne and even worse red marks from the scars forming. I knew I had a rough road ahead of me, especially with my wedding happening in November, I knew I had to do something so my skin would look its best. 

I was late night shopping one night and found a brand called Maxi Zest. They are a family owned company making products from natural and organic ingredients. I purchased the Retinol Serum and the Vitamin C Serum.

The Retinol Serum is a blend of 2.5% Retinol, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E and Green Tea. It is said to help with fine lines, wrinkles, dark eye circles and acne. The Vitamin C Serum helps boost collagen production keeping skin hydrated and plump while repairing and reversing the signs of aging. Both of these products together have absolutely helped repair my skin and heal and fade signs of acne scarring. 

I'm sharing a picture of skin from April and from today. The before picture really hits hard for me. It was hard to go through my skin changing so rapidly and not knowing what to do about it. I'm SO glad I found this brand and these two products, they honestly have completely changed my life. I feel so much better about myself and my skin now. I feel comfortable going out with just spot concealing and not caking the makeup on, trying to hide what was happening underneath.

I hope this post helps you to know that you can make things better. You can heal your skin. You can feel your best. It's just about finding the products that work for you. Luckily, these two worked for me.

Let me know in the comments down below if you have any must have skin care items I should try!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Dose of Colors -- Baked Browns

Dose of Colors is a new makeup brand to me. I have been wanting to try some of their liquid lipsticks because everyone raves about them, but I haven't taken the plunge. When I saw the launch of the Baked Browns and Marvelous Mauves palettes I instantly feel in love with the Baked Browns. Do I have eyeshadows similar to these? Sure. Do I mind? Nope.

Upon the first touch, the shades are buttery smooth. They seriously almost feel like silk! I was SO impressed with the quality right from the start.

Let me tell you a little about this palette. It contains 5 ULTRA pigmented, warm matte shades. Plus, a brush! The warm tones in this palette are suitable for all skin tones, in my opinion, and will flatter any eye color. You can create easy daytime looks to a super brown smokey eye. Use them all alone for a complete matte eye look or add any shimmer or glitter you love to your lid to really amp up your makeup.

Tealight-off white
Deserted-sandy caramel beige
Outdoorsy-tawny peach brown
Cherry wood-reddish rusty brown
Rock Bottom-chocolate brown

This palette will set you back $32, which in my opinion isn't unreasonable. Doing the math, they are $6.40 each, most drugstores run around $3 or $4 for one single shadow. So, for a few extra bucks you are getting incredible quality plus a brush! For those that are wondering this palette is cruelty-free, paraben free, and talc free.

You can find this palette here on Doseofcolors.com website or here on Ulta.com.

Let me know if you have purchased this palette or are thinking about it! Don't forget to tell me if you love it!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Covering Dark Circles

Lots of people suffer from dark circles and lots of us struggle with how to cover them or correct them. I've tried many different techniques and products promised to help. I will tell you two things that are a must when dealing with this issue.  Number one and most important: drink lots of water! The skin under our eyes is very delicate and needs all the hydration we can give it. Number two: moisturize your under eye area! This can include just using your regular moisturizer or investing in a good eye cream.  In the mornings I usually just use my day cream and at night I will apply the eye cream.

If you find that your foundation or concealer alone does not cover your dark circles you need to try a color corrector. First, figure out what color the darkness is. Does it have a more blue hue or purple hue? If you have more blue under eyes an orange or salmon colored corrector will work best. If it is more purple then a yellow corrector will be what you need. 

The tools you use for the application can also make a big difference. Using a beauty sponge can sometimes sheer out concealer a little bit, so if you need more coverage try using a small dense brush to blend everything out under the eyes. 

Application time:

Always moisturize your skin! Apply a smoothing primer under the eyes to help smooth any fine lines, if you have any. Apply your color corrector to the dark portion only. This does not need to go under your entire eye. Mostly the inner corner and any bit under the eye, you can use your finger to blend this step out. Next, apply your foundation avoiding the under eye area as must as possible. You are going to be adding concealer under there, and there's no need for the extra product. It tends to be too heavy for the under eye area. Next, is applying your concealer. We all have heard about the upside down triangle concealer, if you aren't looking for full glam coverage just do a mini triangle. The light does naturally hit your face in this shape, but for softer makeup applications, you can do a mini triangle. Blend this step out with either your beauty sponge or a dense brush for fuller coverage (in a tapping motion -- don't brush or drag it around). Once everything is blended out you want to set it down with a powder of some kind. I usually use a translucent powder that is light weight. You should now have flawless under eyes!

Products I love:

EcoTools Perfecting Blender Duo: $9.99 for two sponges, the larger one is perfect for foundation and the smaller one for concealer. 

Morphe G38 brush: $5.99. This is a small dense brush with synthetic bristles perfect for blending creams.

Maybelline Master Prime Blur + Smooth: $7.94 Does exactly what the name says. You can wear this all over your face or target it in areas you need the most help. 

Hard Candy Color Correct Expert Creme: $5 The peach tone is perfect for light skin tones and they also have an orange for deeper skin tones. This is a very lightweight formula perfect for under eyes in my opinion. 

Maybelline Fit Me! Matte + Poreless Foundation: $7.99 This a good foundation for normal to oily skin. It leaves you with a soft matte finish that lasts all day long. 

Tarte Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation: $39 A little more on the pricey side, but so worth it. Perfect for more normal to dry skin. I have oily skin so I mix this with one of my matte foundations and get a perfect combination. 

Wet n' Wild Photofocus Concealer: $3.99 creamy and luminous concealer with high coverage. Perfect for concealer under eye circles. 

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer: $25 The best high coverage concealer I have ever tried. Creamy to apply but dries to a matte finish with little to no creasing.

Comment down below with any of your favorite tips and tricks to cover dark circles!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

May Favorites!

I thought I'd start doing a monthly favorites series on my blog, I'm hoping to keep this kind of short and sweet because I know that some of my other blogs can get a little lengthy! So, let's just get into it!

courtesy of WalMart.com

First is a color corrector that I found at my local Wal-Mart. It is from Hard Candy and it's just a green color corrector.  It's called the Hard Candy Color Correct Expert Creme. It comes in a tube with a brush tip applicator. It's a nice color corrector because it is very light weight. It offers just enough pigment to balance MOST of the redness but is lightweight enough that it does not make your other makeup look heavy over it. Best part? It's only $5!

courtesy of pixibeauty.com

Next is a blush from Pixi Beauty in collaboration with AspynOvard.  They call it their Glow-y Powder in Rome Rose.  This is not an intense blush at all, the color in the pan looks like it might be a pretty bright pink, but it's one of those blushes that you can layer a few times and get the perfect flush of color without ever looking like a clown. It has some shimmer in it but in the most beautiful way. It's perfect for those days you want to wear the least makeup or you are in a hurry, you can put this on and get a blush and a nice glow all-in-one. It cost $16 but is a good size that you won't run out of anytime soon!

courtesy of milanicosmetics.com

I will admit that I have tried WAY too many lip products. I mean, wayyyy too many. But, I have found one that lasts for hours on my lips, doesn't feel drying, and fades in the most graceful way possible.  It's the Milani Amore Matte Lip Creme. My favorite shade right now is Precious. From what I can see it comes in 33 different shades! Holy Cow! ANYONE should be able to find a shade or two they love in this line!! It retails for $9 on Milani.com but I'm fairly certain you can find it for as little as $5.99 from different drugstores!
lip products.

courtesy of thebrowgal.com

The last product that I have not stopped using since it arrived is from The Brow Gal. This convertible brow duo came in my BoxyCharm box this month. This stuff is seriously amazing. It is a brow palette that comes in three different shades -- dark, medium and light-- and all palettes come with three different powders -- ash, neutral and warm.  The idea here is the powders can be used wet or dry. Dry just as you would a powder product, but once you wet it, it becomes a brow pomade. It also promises to always revert back to its powder form.  You can mix the shades in your palette for your perfect brow color, and use wet and dry for some extra dimension in your brows! In my BoxyCharm box, I also received the brush that works with this product. It's a standard angled eyebrow brush with a spoolie on the end. It has just the right about of flexibility to it.  The powder trio retails for $35 and the brush retails for $14. If you have a favorite brush, I say save your money on this one, it isn't anything life changing, but because it came in my box, I, of course, use it!

That's it for tonight! If you have used any of these products let me know what you think of them in the comments down below! Also, let me know what your favorite prodcuts have been for this month!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Favorite Products from ColourPop

If you haven't heard about ColourPop you must be living under a rock.  They are an amazing company (in my humble opinion, of course) that creates amazing products, with a phenomenal color range for a very affordable price. They are from L.A., founded in 2014. They are friendly on the wallet and friendly with the animals, never tested on animals.  

My favorite product from ColourPop is definitely the Super Shock Eye Shadows ($5). They are a creme to powder finish product with an almost mousse-like texture. The texture eliminates any fallout you would normally have with powder eyeshadows. They are best applied with your fingers or with a synthetic brush to blend into the crease. Because of the texture, you have to keep them sealed tight when not in use.

Here are some of my favorite shades:

Coconut: satin bright teal.
Mittens: a matte plum/brown.
Glow: matte vanilla.
Porter: warm burgundy with gold glitter.
Wattles: satin beige/pink.
Cornelious: matte warm brown.

 My next favorite product from ColourPop is probably the eyebrow products.  They have two products that I love equally.  They have a brow colour ($6) that is basically like a pomade and they also have a brow pencil ($5).  I like to use the brow colour in a slightly lighter shade, I use taupe, to fill in my entire brow, then use the pencil in bangin' brunette to pencil in some hair-like strokes. This adds a little more dimension to my brows and makes them look as natural as filled-in brows can be.

dope taupe colour

bangin' brunette pencil

ColourPop probably has hundreds of different lip colors in all types of different finishes.  They have Ultra Matte liquid lipsticks, Ultra Satin liquid lips, Ultra Glossy, and lippie stix that come in just as many different finishes. It was really hard to pick my favorites but I did narrow it to a few that I love.
My two favorite lippie stix are apparently discontinued and I did not know that until writing this blog. I have one glossy finish that is super creamy and very comfortable and a matte x shade that is also creamy but has a super matte finish on the lips.
Next, is the Ultra Matte lip ($6). My FAVORITE color that I own in this is called November. It's a deep dusty rose color on my fair skin tone.
My next favorites are the Ultra Satin lips. They are a semi-matte finish that doesn't quite dry down and is very comfortable to wear. My two favorite colors are November (warm peachy-pink)  and Aquarius (soft pink-nude).

ColourPop recently launched pressed powder eyeshadows ($5) and somehow they managed to get the same amazing color pay-off as the Super Shock shadows. I haven't tried many of the colors (but I do have more on the way!) But, a couple of my favorites are: Pep Talk-- metallic peach & Going Steady-- matte dusty wine.

Pep Talk

Going Steady

 My last two favorites are the creme gel liner($5)  in Stomper (a cool toned brown). And the Super Shock Cheek Highlighter ($8) in Lunch Money (light gold).

**all of the above pictures are courtesy of ColourPop.com

I swatched everything on my arm for you guys, sorry if they aren't the best swatches but I wanted you to see what the colors looked like in real life and not just on a website.

 

I hope that you all enjoyed my favorite ColourPop products and I hope that if you haven't already tried them, that you go and order something RIGHT now! You won't regret it, I'm sure of it.

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Rotating Your Makeup

If you are a makeup enthusiast (ahem-- hoarder) like me then you probably have had moments where you think to yourself, "how am I really going to use all this stuff up?!?!"  I think about that a lot, and then I think to myself that my makeup makes me happy, I get to put beautiful products on my face every day, and so, I will hoard the makeup if I please!

I have found a way that really works for me to rotate all my makeup in my morning time routine. I have a little vanity set up in my bathroom that stores all my makeup and that's where I sit in the mornings to get ready.  I have everything in drawers and some tabletop storage to keep everything (mostly) organized. It works for me, anyways.

So every week I like to sit down and pick out what makeup I want to wear for that week, and really try to stick with it.  This also really helps me to figure out what products work for me the best and which ones I can live without since I do wear them for the entire week.

What I basically do is go through every drawer and mentally do my makeup in my head.  What primer do I want to wear this week? What blush? What brow product? And so on. I set it all out on my vanity so that in the mornings those are the products I am looking at.  Trust me when I say that I am not a morning person and I have to do through every drawer every morning to pick out makeup it would take me 3 hours.  And girl, I like to sleep as late as possible in the mornings!!

This cuts down on so much time for me in the mornings while allowing me to utilize all the makeup I have. I learn which foundations look best with which primers. I learn what really lasts all day on my face during my 9+ hour work day.  If I were better, I wouldn't have 6 different foundations open at a time, but I do. And I needed to find a way to make sure that I used them all before they expired.  The only thing worse than some of the price tags on makeup is letting them go to waste because you forgot to use it up!

Let us know in the comments down below if you have any tips or tricks to rotating your makeup collect! Or if you have the willpower to use up all of one thing before opening another!? I'm curious as to what you do!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

Oily Skin Problems

So, lately, my skin care has changed a ton partly because of the weather and partly because of one product I have been using. The winter months my skin gets so dry and I think it's because I spend so much time indoors in the dry heat. Plus, there isn't a lot of moisture in the air.

Having oily skin I was always afraid of using moisturizing products on my face or any types of face oils because I thought I already had enough oil, why would I add more?  As I got more and more into the beauty and makeup world I kept reading that you still needed good oils or moisture even though you had those bad oils. I still thought people were crazy.

I started slow and got into using sheet masks and I'd buy the moisture or hydration masks. Nothing bad happened, so I was like ok, my face feels great afterward but in the mornings I still wake up and I still need to wash my face and get this oil off, and throughout the day my skin would get ridiculously oily. I'd need to blot my face and apply powder throughout the day, everything. If you struggle with oily skin, you know.  It is a hassle. Plus, you never feel like you get the full benefits of foundations that claim to last 12 hours because, after 6 hours of work and blow-drying hair, my face is telling me that this foundation does not, in fact, last 12 hours.

I received a sample size of the Tarte Maracuja Oil that is a face oil that is supposed to give you radiant skin without the greasy feel. It is naturally rich in vitamin c and is supposed to rebalance your skin, also calming excess sebum production. This is everything I thought I needed! I gave it a shot, what's the worse that could happen, right?

I started using it, and I didn't notice a lot happening at first, I did notice that after I put it on at night, I didn't feel the need to wash it off in the morning. It had completely soaked into my skin, and it felt super soft. I was on the hunt for something to work for me. I also read along the way that washing your face too much is also bad because it strips it down too much, causing your skin to want to make more oil. So, as long as I felt clean in the morning, I wasn't washing this oil off of my face.

Fast forward about 3 months after using this oil every single night, my skin has completely changed! I'm not sure if it's just dryer now because of the weather or if it's this oil, but I'm honestly thinking it's the oil. I hardly at all get oily underneath foundation throughout the day anymore. My skin looks SO good. I'm talking I can spot conceal any redness and my dark circles and call it a day. I don't feel the need to wear a full foundation every single day anymore. My concealer looks amazing under my eyes these days, I feel like the fine lines are disappearing before my eyes! Seriously, it's that good. Tarte also claims this will firm and soften your skin. I haven't noticed any firming going on, but my skin is certainly soft.

Rewind about a week. I splurged on myself, because I have set a wedding date, and I'm trying to get my skin flawless before November! I bought a Foreo Luna Mini. It's essentially a vibrating facial "brush" used to cleanse your skin. It's a little silicone tool that you use to wash your face with. It's supposed to deep clean your skin and remove dirt, oil, and any makeup residue you may have. I had many reservations about buying this because I thought how could this little thing wash my face any better than I can with my hands? Well, friends, this little thing has been a game changer!

My face literally looked better after one time using it! I am not kidding! This is not a drill! My skin looked and felt better than I had seen it in a loooong time. I have (but they are much less and smaller now!) these little white bumps around my nose, I'm going to assume they are little whiteheads or little pockets of sebum under my skin. No exfoliator could even though them. I tried the Biore Pore strips and those didn't even remove these things around my nose. ONE TIME using the Foreo and there was less of them. Now, I have only been using it for about a week now, but I'm telling you, I will never go back to washing my face with just my fingers.

So, for the last 3 months, I have changed just TWO things in my skincare routine, and I have seen amazing results! What will you do to change your routine? Will you be trying either of these products out? Let me know in the comments down below! Also, if you have questions, feel free to ask them!

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!

***Disclaimer: I do not in anyway get paid for anything I have said about these products. The Maracuja oil was sent to me in an Ipsy Glambag that I purchased myself.

Lashes for Days

Who doesn't love the look of thick, fluttery lashes? Anyone? I didn't think so! I bet there's more of us than I can count that weren't blessed with thick, fluttery lashes. I also bet that there's even more of us that just can't get the hang of applying false lashes.

I'm going to bare it all to you guys, and show you what my naked lashes look like on one side, then you'll see what 3 and 6 cluster lashes looks like.

They can be uncomfortable when they aren't applied properly. They can poke us in the eyeball all day. They are also likely to just fall off, maybe straight into your morning coffee. But have no fear my dear friends, I've come up with a way to add volume to your own lashes without using a strip of false lashes.

I know I didn't come up with this trick, I'm not here to take credit for it, lash companies came out with this trick. They sell this little package of cluster lashes. So, it's like say 7 little "hairs" attached to this little tiny bulb at the end. Essentially you just dip that little bulb into eyelash glue and then place it on your lash line. They also come in different lengths. Short, medium, and long. If you're going for more natural then pick the one that is closest to your lash length. If you want to give yourself a little cat-eye action on the outer corner then go a length longer for some drama.

The great thing about applying lashes this way is that you get to customize what YOU want. If you only want or need to add some volume on the outside corner, then just apply 3 little clusters on the outside of your lash line. If you want to fill in the whole lash line, go for it, girlfriend!

I used these. Except the ones I'm wearing are in short. I also just used the Ardell Lash Glue.

Comment and let us know if you have tried this technique! Share some pictures with us! Use the hashtag #bobbichats and tag me in pictures on Instagram! @bobbijooo_

Goodnight my lovies, thank you SO much for stopping by!