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!