Sweater Dresses

It is finally cold enough to wear sweater dresses, and I swear this is my favorite fall/winter trend. Just throw on a pair of tall boots and a statement necklace and you're all set to go! I found a bunch that I liked from Forever 21, so check it out:

Read More

PRODUCT REVIEW: Josie Maran Pure Argan Milk

Sephora, $56

I'm not gonna lie, this stuff is addicting. Lately, my skin has been both dry AND oily at the same time. My forehead area especially has been super dry and cakes up my makeup like crazy! Frustrating, I know... so I picked this baby up at Sephora last week and have been using it at night after I cleanse my face before bed. It's pretty similar to their regular argan oil products, but this one doesn't clog my pores, which is wonderful. So far, after a week of use, a lot of my dry patches of skin have healed up.. so I'm pretty thrilled about that. I wouldn't recommend this for morning use if you have oily skin because it really does nothing for that. I just use it before bed because thats the only time I don't mind being super oily and gross.

If you have dry skin without the oily problem... then yes, go right ahead and use it all day long!

Read More

Product Review: Tarte's Colored Clay CC Primer

Guys, sorry for the lack of updates. Here's a new product review on Tarte's Colored Clay CC Primer, Sephora $34 :

I absolutely love this product. I've been using it for the past 3 months and it definitely makes my skin look amazing. I have super uneven skin tone and this product smooths it all out like a pro! The Green and purple neutralizes the uneven-ness in my skin... I love it! I don't even have to wear concealer under this product, it totally acts as a concealer too. My skin totally looks airbrushed after application and it lasts all day! Here are some pros and cons about this product:

PROS:

• Works very well with oily skin. I find that I don't have to blot throughout the day (and I usually blot about 2-3 times a day! eek!)
• Completely evens out my skin tone! I have dark, red, uneven patches and it literally smooths my skin out to give that airbrushed look
• VERY lightweight! One coat and I find it works BETTER than full coverage liquid foundation (I'm not even joking)
• Adjustable coverage
• Tiny packaging

CONS:

• I wouldn't recommend for super dry skin as it will be super cakey

I really can't find any more cons about this product. Although it says "primer" I really just wear this as foundation.

APPLICATION:

1. I start out by running the product evenly around my face--paying special attention to more problem areas such as the dark spots on my cheeks, under my eyes, chin, etc.
2. I blend the product out by using my fingers
3. Top it off with some loose powder (I recommend this one!)

Read More

PRODUCT REVIEW: BARE MINERALS BARESKIN PURE BRIGHTENING SERUM FOUNDATION

Sephora, $29

I picked this up the weekend it came out because I used to LOVE their classic powder foundation until I switched over to Hourglass' Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation (Sephora, $55). My skin is very oily and BareMineral's powder foundation started to not be compatible after a while. I tried this foundation with both a kabuki brush and the Beauty Blender makeup sponge (Sephora, $19.95). I wore this foundation with Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer (Sephora, $33). Here's my take on this foundation:

PROS:

• The consistency is very smooth
• Build-able coverage--so I can adjust coverage as needed
• They have a very large range of shades--I have a warm undertone and alot of foundations don't have warmer shades, so this was a bonus!
• Very lightweight--my face did not feel like it had a mask of foundation on
• It had a very dewy finish, which is both a pro and a con for me since I have oily skin and tend to shy away from dewy finish products due to my face looking like an oily mess

CONS:

• The dewy finish part.. after a few hours my face did look like an oily mess 
• The consistency was too liquidy and it was difficult to blend--both with the kabuki brush and the makeup sponge
• It was splotchy--I spent a great deal of time trying to get even coverage
• My friend said it had a strong chemical smell (I didn't notice a smell)

I actually ended up returning this foundation. My Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation is still my go to foundation. Perhaps someone with dry skin would benefit more from this foundation than someone with oily skin.

Read More

PRODUCT REVIEW: MAYBELLINE VOLUME EXPRESS

Maybelline Volume Express The Falsies Big Eyes $9.49

I randomly picked this up at the local CVS because I ran out of my regular Lancome mascara. I love how it has a tiny brush for my teeny tiny bottom lashes.

Pros:

• Awesome for my bottom lashes as it reaches every last one
• The brush for the top lashes is awesomely designed to deposit a good amount of product on each lash and separates them out very nicely

Cons:

• Doesn't hold a curl very well at all. I had to use my Lancome lash primer underneath for it to curl.
• Somewhat drying on my lashes

Would I recommend it? 

The whole point of a mascara is to define my lashes and hold a curl. This does a good job of defining my lashes, but does not hold a curl. So for $10 I would rather look elsewhere. Plus it dries out my lashes and causes it to fall out. So no, I do would not recommend it. For $10 there are better mascaras out there.

Read More

PRODUCT REVIEW: JOSIE MARAN ARGAN TINTED MOISTURIZER

JOSIE MARAN ARGAN TINTED MOISTURIZER $38 Sephora.com

I was actually looking for the Josie Maran Argan Moisturizer SPF 40 at Sephora, but they were sold out! So I picked this up to try instead. I have very oily skin so it's always a struggle to find a product that won't make me greasy throughout the day. This tinted moisturizer is actually a creamy lightweight medium coverage moisturizer that has SPF 30. I would actually recommend this product to those who DON'T have oily skin and want something lightweight with medium coverage--perfect for the summer!

PROS:

• Very moisturizing
• Medium Coverage
• SPF 30
• Lightweight, buildable coverage

CONS:

• Made me oily
• It doesnt that big of a variety of skin tones, so do your best to find your shade. I got this product in Fair and it was too light for me--but by the end of the day it was too dark because the oil on my face turned it all muddy and gross. 

Would I recommend it?

NOT for people with oily skin!! My face was all muddy looking by the end of the day. Yuck! It'll work wonders for people with dry/"normal" skin (not sure about sensitive skin though, I didn't break out or anything and my skin is pretty prone to that). This product may seem drying at first after applying it, but it really does keep your skin hydrated and smooth for a good while... until my face started to get oily.

Read More

Cute Summer Maxi Dresses!

I was at H&M the other day and I spotted a bunch of cute maxi dresses for summer. Sadly they ran out of my size for ALL of the dresses, but let me share with you guys what I found:

$17.95

$29.95

$34.95

$49.95

$59.95

$39.95

$24.95

$19.95

I hate how you cant order on their website because I would have loved to order that last dress since I cant find it in my size. boo!

Read More

PRODUCT REVIEW: Murad Rapid Age Spot and Pigment Lightening Serum

Murad Rapid Age Spot and Pigment Lightening Serum, Sephora $60

Sephora had this as their 250 point thingy, and I decided to give it a try. And holy shit this product is extremely strong. I applied it on my cheek area to get rid of dark sun spots and I applied it slightly above my cheeks and my eyes starting BURNING! The smell of this product is SO STRONG that my eyes start to burn and tear up. My nose is fine though. I try not to apply it anywhere near my eyes now and hold my breath while applying this product. I only use like a dab of it to cover the area I want it to cover, so the tiny bottle I have will probably last me over a year.

I've been using it for 2 days. I actually see a difference. I'm not sure if its the combination of a bunch of other products that I'm using for the same purpose or what, but my dark spots are lightening to the point that I actually notice a difference. So I think I will keep on using this product.. and holding my breath while applying it.

I cant return it since I didnt exactly pay for it, so I'm stuck with it anyways, lol. Not recommended for people with sensitive skin though, although I would test it on a small patch of skin first.

Read More

Some Little Skin Miracles!

So I've been trying out some new stuff at Sephora and I've found some pretty neat things I wanna share. There's a new line called Miracle Skin that is pretty amazing. So let me start out with some issues that my skin has:

• Blemishes
• uneven skin tone (like REALLY)
• hormonal acne
• VERY OILY SKIN!!
• Dry patches
• dark spots
• Dark under eye circles

So with these issues in mind, I'll start my product review:

Miracle Skin Transformer Vanish

Pros:

• Evens out my skin tone
• Acts as a primer
• Brightens my skin to give it more life (I swear I look like a zombie)
• hydrates my dry patches
• It's also supposed to be good for wrinkles and sun damage too, but I dont have wrinkles yet so I can't tell you if it works in that department

Cons:

• None that I've seen/felt

Miracle Skin Transformer Treat and Conceal Eye & Face

Pros

• It's very lightweight, but offers ALOT of coverage
• It comes in different colors to match your skin tone
• Acts like a Highlighter as well
• I use it to cover my under eye circles, acne scars, blemishes, sun spots, and other problem areas.
• It's lightweight with good coverage so it works perfect for pimples

Cons:

• None that I've felt/seen

Miracle Skin Transformer SPF 20

Pros:

• Lightweight/good coverage/build-able coverage 
• Has SPF
• Good for daily use 
• My skin looks airbrushed!

Cons:

• It made me oily
• SPF not high enough (Recommended SPF 30)

Miracle Skin Transformer Advanced Peptide Lip Treatment

Pros:

• Plumping
• Nice colors
• Pigmented

Cons:

• STICKY! I hate sticky

Miracle Skin Transformer Acne Control Tinted Skin Enhancer

Pros:

• VERY good at controlling my oil so that I dont have to blot 
• Lightweight/good coverage/buildable coverage
• Good for daily use
• My skin looks airbrushed! Best if applied with fingers

Cons:

• It dries out my skin (But I use VANISH underneath, so that solves that problem
• no SPF 

So in the end I returned the lip treatment and the SPF 20 foundation, but kept the rest. So far they all are working pretty well together and I highly recommend them for oily skin people.

Read More

PRODUCT REVIEW: NYX Glitter Cream Palettes

So I bought these recently to try and I actually really like them. They're not sticky at all and I used the sponge tip applicators from the palette to apply them to my lid. I highly suggest you wear these on a night out because they are VERY glittery and not for daily day time use. The glitter is true to their color and can easily be layered on to give it a more dramatic look. I had to put on a few layers to achieve the desired effect and got many compliments on my makeup throughout the night. Check it out:

For eyeshadow I used Urban Decay's Naked 1 Palette in dark horse for the crease and Smog on the lids. I also applied gold baked in the center of my lids to give the gold glitter a nice base. I then lined my eyes with dark horse on a wet eyeliner brush.

I really do recommend these palettes as they are SUPER cheap and gives a nice pop of glitter that really makes your makeup stand out in a crowded bar or night club :)

Since they are really hard to find in stores (they're discontinued) here are some places you can find them:

NXY Glitter Cream Palette in Bronze Goddess, amazon.com

NYX Glitter Cream Palette in Ocean Breeze, amazon.com

Read More