First Impression: ELLE Cosmetics

ELLE Cosmetics At Kohl's

During my wonderful marathon shopping excursion I made a special trip to my local Kohl's store. I went for two reasons... One I had a $10 gift card to use before it expired and two I really wanted to use that giftcard to buy some of the new Elle makeup.

If you've read my previous haul post then you know by now that I did not in fact buy any Elle cosmetics. I have a very good reason... They most certainly did not impress! Maybe I'm just overly picky or didn't give them a fighting chance but I just know that the initial launch left MUCH to be desired.

Lets start out with price

In the Kohl's ad they have a price range listed of $10-$16. I went in there fully expecting to find a varying degree of prices for each particular product in the line. That's not at all what I saw. EVERYTHING with the exception of the large makeup bag ($24) was $16!!!! The blushes were $16. The single eyeshadows were $16. The lipsticks were $16. The lip LINERS were $16. Even every single makeup brush was $16!!!! Okay, I'm sorry but if I'm going to pay that much for something then I want it to be from an already well established cosmetics brand that has reviews, reputation, and rock solid formulation! I was a little flabbergasted that I could go and buy a MAC lipstick for less than one of these! And call me cheap...but I don't think I would ever pay $16 for a lip LINER unless I just had a load of disposable income and it was something I would use all the time. I also dont really agree with having everything be the same price like that. I just feel like different makeup products warrant different prices. A foundation (which they dont carry btw) I expect to pay more for than an eyeliner. I expect to pay more for lipstick than a lip liner, and I expect to pay more for a blush than I do for an eyeshadow single. I glanced over at the Vera Wang collection and it had varying prices for items so I dont really understand why the ELLE line couldn't. 

Selection

As far as products go they have most of the bases covered. They sell blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lip liner, and mascara. The only thing the really lack is foundation and powders. The shade selection of those items, however, is very limited. I understand that they JUST launched but I remember when FLIRT! first launched in Kohl's and they had WAY more variety! They had about 8 or 10 blushes (which was pretty decent), 14 or so lipsticks (all of which were VERY similar in color and finish), a handful of lip liners (again all in similar shades), 3 eyeliner colors (black, navy, brown), 1 or 2 mascara formulas, and about 15 to 20 eyeshadows (almost entirely neutrals). Again, if you're going to charge me a ridiculous amount for a lipstick or eyeshadow then at least give me a large selection to choose from!

Textures, Finishes, and Consistencies

I swatched every lipstick and blush they had and nearly all of the eyeshadows. The lipsticks did have a nice creamy consistency and the color pay off was good but it just wasn't anything mind blowing. I feel like you can get comparable ones for a lot less money. They had pretty much all cream shades with maybe 2 frosty colors and none that were completely matte. The opposite can be said for the blushes though! Every blush swatched matte and had no sheen to it at all. The color pay off was hit or miss depending on the shade and because of the matte-ness I can see where they could appear chalky on someone with very dry skin. The eyeshadows had an alright texture to them. They weren't too hard or soft and they had some varying finishes but most were shimmery. Again the color selection was pretty limited and pigmentation was only so-so. Plus they didnt have a whole lot of "Color" to really play with. The nicest shade was a seafoam bluegreen.

Non Makeup Items

As I said before they did have a few makeup brushes and makeup bags. The bags were varying size and shape and had 3 different patterns to choose from. My favorite was the largest one which was $24 because it had several sections to work with. The lift top bags were pretty nice too and even included brush holders in the lid with a protective flap which you dont see too often. The bags were nice but I just felt like again, for the price, you could find something better or even spend a little more and have something far superior. The brushes I didnt actually take out and feel but the selection was pretty limited. They had just the basics, powder brush, crease brush, blending brush, liner brush, etc. Once more, I felt like you could definetely get better quality and selection for the money!

Overview

I really wanted to be wowed by these products but it just wasn't there. Again I just keep going back to the price issue. I guess the lipstick is what really tripped me up and was the icing on the cake for me since I went in to buy either a lipstick or blush. I'm not a MAC snob by any means considering I just recently went there for the first time, but I just feel like it's silly to spend $16 for a lipstick when I can goto the MAC counter at Macy's and spend $2 less and have a HUGE selection of finishes and colors to choose from and get a product that's reputation precedes it. I wouldn't waste my money on this personally, but that's just me. Maybe if I get a few more of those free giftcards I might get something from ELLE but honestly I think I would rather use it on clothes, jewelry, or home decor than waste it on that. Hopefully they readjust their prices to have a little bit of range and they expand the line to include more shades and finishes.

I hope that you all were able to find this review useful and learned something from it. I'm sorry that I didn't have any pictures to add to this post but I wasn't about to buy something for the sake of taking its picture and they were doing prom makeovers at the end of the aisle so taking pics in store just was not happening! Maybe one of you will find something worthwhile to love about this line and can share with me so that maybe I can give it a second chance!

Thanks for reading!

Natalie

Super Mega Beauty Haul!!!!

My Massive Haul!!!

Ok so I think the title of this post makes it pretty self-explanatory! This is obviously a haul! For whatever reason the past couple of days I have just gone absolutely BANANAS buying beauty products! I've had a lot of loyalty coupons to use this weekend and a few good sales to shop so I got a little carried away but oh well... My pocket book loss is your reading and viewing gain! :)

Onto the products!

I was in need of some shampoo and conditioner and decided to try something that a lot of people had been asking and talking about on some of the beauty forums I frequent. I grabbed the Suave Keratin shampoo and conditioner and only spent about $3 each on them. I figured if I ended up hating them at least I didnt spend too much. I plan on doing a review after a couple weeks of use so stay tuned for that! I also wanted to grab some of the Mane and Tail shampoo and conditioner since one of my friends swear it helps their hair grow. My Walmart only had the shampoo so I went ahead and picked it up and will probably get the conditioner later on!



(Big Apple Spice, Nude York City, Brigton Beach Peach, Everlasting Blossom)



(from top Nude York City, Big Apple Spice, Brighton Beach Peach, Everlasting Blossom)

While I was at Walmart I also got sucked into getting some lipglosses! I had intended to buy ONE Revlon lipgloss but instead walked out with FOUR Nyc lipglosses...how that happened I still dont know! I picked up 3 Liquid Lipshines in Big Apple Spice (a deep brownish wine), Nude York City (a pretty caramel), and Brighton Beach Peach (a pinky peach) as well as one of their new 8hr City Proof lipglosses in Everlasting Blossoms (light frosty pink). As I was heading for the checkout my eye caught these pretty feet files, emery boards, and nail trimmers in funky colors and patterns and I just had to get one!



Gloss= Deep Crush, Lipstick= Dainty, Liner= Sugar Plum



Next I headed off to Kohl's to check out the new Elle and Vera Wang makeup... I swatched but did not buy because honestly I am very VERY unimpressed! But thats a topic for another blog post. What I DID end up buying with my $10 gift card was an awesome set from FLIRT! They had a few sets and packages marked down 50% off and I came across this little lovely containing a fullsize lipstick, gloss, and liner for $12.50! You can't beat that, especially when just a lipstick is $12. For $2 and change out of pocket I think I snagged a pretty awesome deal!!! :)

I actually made a couple of trips to Walgreens since they had a wonderful sale on Sinful Colors nailpolish! I just recently started getting into painting my nails and I obviously needed to start a nice little collection of colors and for .99 a bottle you just cant find a better way to get variety on the cheap! When it was all said and done I nabbed up 8 of these! I will say that if you plan on getting the Neon Melon or Irish Green use a couple coats of white as a base and you'll only have to use one coat of color. Otherwise you're going to end up with 20 coats of polish and it will still be streaky and sheer! 



                                                                  Candy Apple and Lollipop

Since I had some ECB's from CVS that were about to expire I figured I would use them on the Revlon lip sale that was going on and pick up 2 more lip butters! They didnt have the shades that I had specifically went in for but since I'm obsessed with these and want the whole collection anyway it didnt really matter which ones I picked up (lol)! I settled on Candy Apple (an orangy red) and Lollipop (a bright fuschia) and only paid $1 each out of pocket for them!

Making a long 45min trek to my nearest and only MAC, I just had to pick up the most talked about powder product ever...The Mineral Skin Finish Natural or MSFN for short! Since I usually use a powder foundation in the summer and I was out of my Bare Minerals I figured I would give this a try! It leaves the skin still looking luminous which is great since I'm not big on matte finishes. The lady at the counter let me try some on to make sure I liked it and even let me test out the Studio Sculpt but I opted for the MSFN!

While at the Macy's in which my MAC is located I was solicited by one of the ladies at a kiosk to apply for a credit card. Now I need a Macy's card like I need a hole in the head but she said that even if I didn't get approved I would recieve a free fullsize lipgloss and several other goodies! Given that this particular kiosk was a mashup of Smashbox, Toofaced, Benefit, and Philosophy products I couldn't see how I could go wrong so I applied! The bag of freebies was AMAZING!!!!! It contained 4 regular packet samples, 5 deluxe size samples, and 1 fullsize lipgloss. The packet samples were for Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer, Smashbox Photo OP Under Eye Brightener, and 2 Strivectin Age Protect SPF 30. Deluxe samples were Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream (in a beautiful glass jar!), Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara, Philosophy Hope oil-free moisturizer, Murad Sun Undone moisturizer, and Too Faced Perfect Lips liner in Perfect Nude (it says "the only lip liner you'll ever need" and I agree, so pretty!). The fullsize lipgloss was Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in Sweet (a peachy pink with gold glitter). I think its a little sad that I got all of this for FREE just for applying for a credit card and yet so many people are signed up for subscription services and pay $10+ a month and sometimes never get this many NICE goodies!

I think my biggest score was at Victorias Secret! I still had a Reward card to redeem and was actually planning on just getting their setting spray...that is until I laid eyes on the new Beauty Rush Jumbo Lip Pencils!!! OMG!!! I swatched them and fell in love so much that I ended up buying all but one of them!!! They're like a cross between Tarte Lipsurgence and Revlon Lip Butters. They don't have quite as much pigmentation as some of the Lipsurgence pencils but they all have the moisturizing glisten like the Lip Butters! I'm rarely ever impressed by VS makeup but this totally caught me off guard! They're 2/$12 or 4/$20 I had 5 of the pencils so I picked up some of their other new products to finish off an even 8.



Blush Blush, Sun Goddess, Better Than Bare, Manic Pink, Boudoir Pink



I picked up the lip pencils in Sun Goddess (pretty peach), Manic Pink (bright neon pink), Boudoir Pink (pinky nude), Better Than Bare (nude), and Blush, Blush (pretty wine). I picked up the new Colorshine Gloss in Life's A Peach (wearable orange) and the new Dazzleshine Gloss in Dazzling Tropics (clear gloss with gold glitter).



Dazzling Tropics and Life's A Peach

 I also decided to try one of the Beauty Rush Blushes in Dollface which is a very bright but wearable pink! If you love the Tarte Lipsurgence or Revlon Lip Butters you NEED to goto VS and try out these jumbo pencils they are to die for and the new glosses are amazing as well and not nearly as sticky as their previous formulas!

The last thing I picked up that I want to share are 3 pairs of earrings from my Church's Yard Sale. There is this wonderful woman at my church who makes some really beautiful handmade jewelry and I was able to get each of these earring sets for only $1 each! I'm planning on doing a giveaway when I hit 50 subscribers and I'm going to include an entire set made by her that will have matching necklace, bracelet, and earrings as well as some other goodies!

Well that concludes my MASSIVE haul! I hope you enjoyed looking it over! If you have any questions about any of the products please feel free to leave it in the comment section below and I'll be sure to answer!

Haulacious hugs lovelies!

Natalie

Sick Girl's Emergency Makeup Kit!

Feeling Under The Weather?

I know I have! For the past 2 weeks I've been completely down and out with some crazy virus! I've had the scratchy throat, puffy eyes, runny nose, the whole nine yards!!! Now granted I did spend most of that 2 weeks holed up in my bedroom and didn't go anywhere or even think of wearing makeup, BUT there were a couple of instances when the world had to see my face and I was not about to show them the diseased creature I had become!

I got up and slapped on just enough makeup to get me by and give me enough of a healthy look to throw everyone off that I was sick...well that is until they heard my croaky frog voice...but thats beside the point! I'm going to show all you lovelies just exactly what was in my mini emergency kit! So lets get started!

To even out my skintone and put a little luster back into my drab and sickly face I put on some tinted moisturizer. I went with my fave, Covergirl Aquasmoothers in light to medium. I wanted to give myself a little color without caking on too thick of a layer, that way if I came home and was just too exhausted to take my makeup off (or in too much of a cold medicine fog to remember) it wouldn't be too bad and I wouldn't be laying there with a thick coat on my face. 

Next I set my tinted moisturizer with a powder foundation. I chose the Covergirl brand again. It's not really my favorite but I had it readily available and it served its purpose. I went with a powder foundation as opposed to just a powder so I would have a little bit of added coverage to the tinted moisturizer and it would even me out just a tad bit more. 

Now for cheeks! On a good healthy day I'll go all out with blush, countour, highlight, and bronzer if its summertime. Obviously I didnt do hardly any of that! To keep my cheeks from looking a disturbing shade of gray sallowness I dabbed a little of my current fave blush, ELF Tickled Pink, on the apples of my cheeks. It gave my face a nice rosy glow and made me look less like the walking dead and more like a normal human being!

Onto the eyes! Anytime I wear makeup I usually spend the most time on my eyes! They can be my best feature....or they can be the one that needs the most work! The second is what I was working with, so naturally they got the most attention. 

I used a concealer right underneath for my ridiculously dark circles and made sure to use a neutralizing concealer to help hide them even more. I chose Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser in Dark Circle Neutralizer for a few reasons. One it was super easy to apply which is great when you dont feel like doing much at all. Second its a neutralizing tone so it would cover the dark circles better than just a skintoned concealer. And third its suppose to have properties in it to help make your skin around your eye look better anyway. 

Next I went in with my MAC Paintpot in Painterly and covered my entire eyelid area and blended out. Instead of using this as an eyeshadow base I simply used this as my all in one. Since it is a skintone color it helped to hide all of the darkness and discoloration that had collected in my eye area from all of the sinus issues and restless sleep. This instantly brightened my eyes and made them look more awake and alert.

After that I slapped on a coat of my fave mascara Revlon Photoready 3D. I forgoed eyeshadow and traditional eyeliner because I'm not trying to look super done up. I didnt have the energy to try to make myself look done up and was more or less just going for looking healthy! Applying a coat of mascara to my lashes helped to open my eye up even more and make me look more put together. Also, since I have blonde eyelashes it generally just made me look like I even had eyelashes! 

The last thing I did in my eye area was add a little white eyeliner to my bottom waterline. I went with NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, it is a bit on the large size but it was the easiest to grab and certainly did the job! By lining my lower waterline I helped to make my eyewhites appear a little less bloodshot and again just help my eyes appear more open and alert.

To finish off the whole face I put a little lipcolor on. I didn't want a full on lipstick or anything shiny like a gloss so I just went with a Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie. This shade is one of those "my lip color but better" instances and since I had been sick my lips just had no color. Instead of giving them a color that was completely not their own I just wanted to restore them to their original healthy glory and this lip butter did the trick! 

So there you have it! My entire sick beauty first aid kit all rolled into a nice 5 minute face! Again the object here was not to look like I had makeup on but more or less to just look like I hadn't been ill for the past 2 weeks! 

If you have any questions or comments please leave them down below! Also, let me know if you'd be interested in seeing a tutorial of this look. I know its pretty self explainatory but if anyone would like a tutorial just leave a comment!

 Hoping you all stay healthy!

Natalie

Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation Review!!!

Review Time!!!!

Hello my bewitching beauties! Today lets talk foundation! In particular the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hr  Foundation!

I had seen a lot of people reccommending this on various beauty sites and forums that I frequent so I just had to see what all the fuss was about. I headed into my local Sephora and grabbed a tube in my shade to test out.

I've wore this baby for about a week straight and have tried applying it several different ways to see which application I like the best, which works best, and to see if it really makes a difference in the end result. 

Texture:

The texture of this foundation is a little different from your usual liquid foundation. It has a thicker and somewhat whipped consistency and once you start to apply and feel the texture of the product as it spreads around it feels very silky, something akin to the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation.

Coverage:

I would definetely say this is a full coverage foundation. It can be sheered out though if you want to see more of your skin peeking through. The coverage really has a lot to do with how you apply it as well, I found with fingers, stippling brush, and flat top kabuki brush you got a very full coverage look and with a damp sponge it would be a little more sheered out obviously.

Finish:

This foundation definetely has a somewhat dewy finish to it. It has no chunks of glitter or shimmer in it like some dewy foundations. You can mattify it with some powder though if you prefer a more matte finish.

Breakouts?

I actually had no breakouts or irritations from this foundation what-so-ever! I know that it prides itself on being very natural and good for the skin and I certainly didnt have any adverse reactions from it even though it is on the thicker side.

Price:

If you're interested in this foundation I definetely reccommend going to Sephora and getting a sample to try out and find your correct shade. If you do end up falling in love with this product I highly recommend ordering it from QVC where you can get a single tube of foundation AND the foundation brush designed for it for several dollars less than you would pay at Sephora for just the foundation. The brush alone at Sephora is $32!!! You can also order double foundation with brush or the foundation in a set with other items from Tarte on QVC as well. Sephora doesnt give you that luxury and neither does Ulta. I would consider this a mid ranged highend product. It's certainly more pricey than drugstore foundations but there are several other high end brands that are obviously far more expensive as well. Depending on where you decide to get this from expect to pay anywhere from $35 to $40 for 1.7 oz of product. 

Shade Range:

Even though there isnt a MASSIVE range of shades in this foundation I was actually very surprised to find one that works for my INSANELY pale skin! My color was the lightest they had Fair. It comes in 8 shades and they seem to be pretty forgiving and easy to make work with various undertones. Unfortunately, if you are a woman of DEEP color you may not be able to find a shade that works for you in this foundation since the darkest shade they have is not incredibly dark. 

What It Claims:

This 12 hour foundation claims to give you long wear, lightweight feel with full coverage, have a wide range of shades, and be very buildable. I feel like it does deliver on most of these claims. It does feel lightweight to give as much coverage as it does and I found that it did truly last a very long time! I didn't have to reapply or touch up at all throughout the day. That being said I do have drier skin so I'm pretty positive that someone with oilier skin is not going to get as long of a wear time out of this as I did. What this product didn't live up to was the range of shades and buildability. To me 8 shades is not a "wide range". I am thankful that they do have a truly very VERY light shade for all of us super pale lovelies but I feel like the gorgeous African American gals with that truly dark skin got the short end of the deal where this foundation is concerned. As for the buildability...um no...To me buildability means that I can apply one layer and if that isn't enough I can then go over and apply another layer and it wont look cakey it will just give me more coverage. If you need more coverage with this then just apply a slightly thicker layer from the get go because if you try to apply another layer over the first it will not look nice at all and will not blend as well. You can build in small sections by dabbling a little bit more on the apples of your cheeks to cover hyperpigmentation or on a spot that cropped up but to actually do a complete second layer it just isnt going to work as well.

How I Applied It:

I've tried applying this foundation several ways and honestly I dont think there is truly a "horrible" way to apply this foundation. It honestly just depends on the coverage you want.



A little of this product goes a long way!!! To cover my whole face I only used about a dime sized amount and that still gave me full coverage.

For the most coverage I recommend applying with your fingers then going over it with a flat top kabuki to lightly buff it in any spots that need blending.

Applying with a stippling brush will give you a medium to full coverage look but it does require a lot more work. There's just something about the consistency of this foundation that streaks really bad with a stippling brush so you have to work harder to blend out all the little brush strokes.

For a sheered out look you can either apply less product, add a little moisturizer, or simply use a damp sponge. You can always go back and dab a little extra over the spots that need more coverage just dont try to do a whole second layer.

With or without a primer you're going to get a good wear time out of this. If you are on the more oilier side or will be doing an activity where you may be sweating I would recommend going with a primer to help it stick better and also to help mattify your skin.

My favorite way to wear this foundation was with no primer, applied with my fingers and buffed with the flat top brush lightly (so as not to micro exfoliate my dry skin), light to NO powder, and then a light mist of setting spray. For me this gave the dewiest look achieveable and since I have dry skin I want a very dewy glowy look. Even though this foundation does have a naturally dewy appearance you can always matte it down with some powder no problem. 

Overview:

So far I really like this foundation! It took a little bit for me to get used to the consistency of it since I'm mostly use to straight up liquid foundations but now that I have gotten accustomed to it I find it rather nice. As I said before if you are interested in this product I would recommend getting a sample of it from Sephora and then ordering from QVC. I know that sounds like a bit of a hassle but you honestly get a better deal that way! I have not tried using the foundation with the brush designed for it but I have looked and felt of the brush and I think it will work wonderfully with the foundation since it is a very dense brush much like the flat top kabuki I love using with this product.

I hope you all found this review helpful and if there was anything I left out that you would like to know please leave a comment down below and I will be happy to answer your questions! :)

Amazonian bear hugs!

Natalie

Favorites: March 2012

March Favorites!!!! :D

If you couldn't tell from the title this is going to be a post on all of my beauty favorites for the month of March. These are going to be products that I've bought in March or just recently started really using and loving in the month of March. So onto the FAVES!

Skincare

I had a crazy fluke allergic reaction on my face this past month from a bad skincare decision so needless to say my entire skincare regime got an over haul! There were a few products that I really loved but because of my allergic reaction and having to meet with a dermatologist they had to be replaced in my routine with prescriotion items. Anything that is in my CURRENT routine will be noted but thats not to say I dont still LOVE the ones that aren't in my routine, they just had to be temporarily replaced. :)

Burts Bees Radiance Cleanser

This cleanser is so milky and creamy! It contains royal jelly and is suppose to help with evening skin tone and adding moisture. I could definetely tell a difference in my skin's color after washing my face with this. My hyperpigmentation was reduced slightly and it was just very calming to my skin. I dont use my facewash to remove my makeup so I cant speak for how well it removes makeup but it definetely gets the dirt and grime off!

Sephora Instant Moisturizer

I was a huge fan of the First Aid Beauty Repair Cream because it was so super hydrating but the problem was it was so thick it took a long time to really soak in so I mainly used it at night. On a trip to Sephora I spoke with one of the sales women if they had anything that was as hardcore as that but would absorb a little better. She sent me home with a sample of this and a few days later I went in and purchased the fullsize bottle! It definetely delivers some hardcore moisture easier than the thicker cream of the FAB Repair Cream. A little goes a long way with this too!

Olay Total Effects 7 In One Eye treatment*

I think this may be working its way into my Holy Grail department. I've never really been able to find an eye cream that I felt like really did anything for me...that is until I picked this one up! It combats dark circles AND wrinkles whereas most eye creams only target one or the other. Its also moisturizing to the point where it has even helped a little with my dry eye that I sometimes wake up with. I've noticed a lightening of my dark circles and even though I dont currently have wrinkles I do want to take preventative measures now. I still currently use this and I dont really see a reason for me to stop anytime in the near future! Love this stuff!!!! I use it am and pm!

Purpose Gentle Cleasing Wash*

This is my current facewash and was reccommended to me by my dermatologist. I love it not because my dermatologist reccommended it but because it has really calmed my skin from the painful dryness and hasn't stripped it down since it is soap free. I've noticed my breakouts have lessened as well. I also suffer from sensitive skin so even when I dont have actual pimples I may still get skintone little bumps on my face so even though it may look smooth it certainly doesn't feel smooth. This facewash has given me the smoothest FEELING skin I think I've ever had!!! It also doesnt sting my eyes if any happens to run a little to close to them.  Again I use a makeup remover before I wash my face so I cant speak for the makeup removing ability of this wash. Also this is in my current skincare routine and I use it day and night.

Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 50*

This is another item my dermatologist reccommended and I'm completely sold on this. Even though the Sephora Instant Moisturizer was amazing it still wasn't hardcore enough to deal with the damage I had done to my skin with the allergic reaction. The dryness I had left over from the reaction was so intense it was painful and unbearable for me to make any kind of facial expression. Within ONE day of using this my skin was 1000% better! I hadn't been able to wear any foundation without it seperating and looking aligatorish because of the dryness and after one day of using this my skin was back to normal and I could finally wear foundation again and not look horrible! I also feel like because of the high spf in this it has helped with my hyperpigmentation. It hasn't caused me to breakout or become overly oily but I wouldn't recommend this for someone with oily skin...at least not the spf 50 since the sunscreen does make it a little more greasy. The only down side is that because of the high spf it does smell like sunscreen when you first apply it but once it absorbs into your skin the smell goes away. I use this in the morning after washing my face and before applying my makeup and it is currently in my skincare routine. Also, if you are looking for something to give you a nice healthy glow you may want to look into this! I hadnt really noticed until my grandmother commented on it but even when I dont wear foundation this has really helped to give me a nice healthy dewy glow without becoming greasy looking.

Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes in Evening Soothe*

Ok so I know I'm a little late jumping on the Ponds towelette band wagon but what can I say, I'm sorry! I LOVE these towelettes for removing my face makeup before washing my face. They have got to be the wettest premoistened wipes I've ever tried!!!! They smell so amazing and aren't harsh on my skin! They dont aggrivate my hyperpigmentation or cause any irritation and they take off all of my face makeup! I use a seperate eye makeup remover but I will go over my eyes a second time with this wipe to remove the oil and any leftover eye makeup. These are still a part of my routine but I dont use these daily. I will only use these on days I've worn makeup as a makeup remover and not necessarily as a face washing product. I have used these in a pinch for removing my eye makeup as well and they have worked great! They are a tad bit harsher on my eyes than a normal oil based eye makeup remover but they get the job done and are fine if you need an all in one. I haven't tried them with any waterproof makeup so I can't really speak for how well they would handle taking that off.

Face Makeup

Since I wasn't able to really wear any face makeup until the very end of the month I dont exactly have a favorite for this month. I do have one honorable mention though!

 Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Skin Correcting Powder

(Honorable Mention)

This powder is a swirl of pink, green, yellow, and flesh tone. It's suppose to correct redness and even out skin tone. It does exactly that! When I was unable to wear foundation this was the only thing I could get by with wearing. I used it sparingly since it is a powder and I was already insanely dry but it did help to combat all my hyperpigmentation and redness and make me a little more presentable! This wont cover any blemishes you have and unless you just have really clear skin I wouldn't reccommend using this solo. However, if you're looking for a very bare look and just need to tone down some redness this is great and it's also wonderful for setting foundation to help tone down any redness that might peek through.

Eyes

This month was an awesome month for eyes!!!

MAC Paintpot in Painterly

This month I lost my MAC virginity and one of the things I purchased was a paintpot in painterly. I had seen so many gurus talk about this and use it in tutorials and since I was running low on my UD Primer Potion I figured I'd try out a new primer. THIS ROCKS! I think it may have forever replaced my UD primer potion... It gives my eye a nice base for colors so they really pop and because it has a thicker consistency than primer potion it really grabs onto my eyeshadow. Its great to use without anything over it too, if you dont feel like wearing a ton of makeup but dont want to look tired. It instantly brightens my eyes. The lasting power is amazing as well and it keeps my shadows from creasing or disappearing on me.

MAC eyeshadow in Omega

This has become my goto eyebrow color!!! I've had such a hard time finding an eyebrow color that doesnt come off so harsh against my pale PALE skin. This did the trick! Looking at it in package you wonder how the heck this is going to show up let alone fill in eyebrows but when you put it on your skin its like magic! If you're blonde, light brunette, or just have VERY pale skinned I recomend getting this and giving it a try as an eyebrow filler! It looks amazingly natural and wont come across harsh on your face. I just use an angled eyeshadow brush to apply it and then if I need massive staying power I'll throw a light coat of brow gel over it.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad To The Bronze

Again late jumping on the bandwagon with this... I finally got my first color tattoos this month and Bad To The Bronze is definetely my favorite one. It lasts an INSANE time with no primer and it looks amazing alone or paired with another eyeshadow. Its great for an easy eye look and here lately, easy has been my goto look! :P

Revlon Photoready 3D Volume Mascara

I swear I think this mascara is magic. I did one coat with it and thought "hmm this is ok I guess" then I did a second coat and was like "HOLY CRAP! Where did all those lashes come from!" I normally dont like wet formulas or rubber bristle brushes, which this one has both, but WOW I was highly impressed! The only negative about this is that they dont currently have a waterproof formula. Hopefully they come out with a waterproof formulation in this soon and then I'll be all set!

Lips

I found a couple of lip products I really loved this month.

Strawberry Shortcake Revlon Lip Butter

This color is such a pretty bright pink! Its so perfect for spring and I love the formula. I'm typically a chapstick girl so it was nice to find a really great lipcolor that is so moisturizing!

Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie

Yet another great lip butter! I love that this is a cross between my lipcolor but better and a little bit of a berry tint as well. It's great for a slightly sexier look or even to use with a natural no makeup look.

Misc.

Since I found a few odds and ends this month I like I figured I'd let you in on them as well!

 

King of Skin by LUSH

This solid body bar is amazing for moisturizing and getting rid of that horrible dry winter skin just in time for spring and summer short season! I did a review on this already so I'll spare you a ton of details!

Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Antibacterial Bar

This bar soap is awesome for using in the shower if you suffer from body acne. It contains Triclosan which fights bacteria and has been great for helping to reduce my body breakouts. I dont get a lot of breakouts everywhere. Without going into too much detail we'll just say I'll get breakouts on ocassion in certain places from sitting so much at work. This has really helped to heal them and stop me from having them as often. Its also very gentle and can be used anywhere on the body or even the face. Look for it in your facial skincare aisle NOT in with the bar soaps.

Coastal Scents 22 Piece Brush Set

I've already dedicated an entire post to these amazing brushes so I'm not going to go into much more detail other than just saying they are phenomenal!!!! I haven't really needed to reach for hardly any other brushes other than the ones in this set.



Happy Belated Easter!!!!

Hello my lovelies! I'm so very sorry it is taking me so long to get my March Favorites up! :( I've just been super busy with the Holiday weekend and trying to spend time with family and squeeze in work!

I hope all of my bewitchingly beautiful followers had a great Easter and found lots of easter eggs! :) I had a wonderful time hiding eggs, decorating eggs, eating tons of good food, and most importantly spending loads of quality time with all of my family!

I know you all have been dying of anticipation for the March favorites post and I promise it will be up tomorrow or maybe even very late tonight! The writing of it is finished but I still have some pictures to take and add to it to make it complete. I dont want to just submit a post talking about products and not have actual pictures of them! ESPECIALLY when I own all of the products and can take pictures of them. I'm working on the pics right now though ladies so never fear the post will be up soon! :)

Thank you all for being so patient with me! Again, I hope you all had fantastic holiday celebrations with your family's!

Chocolate bunnies and easter egg surprises!
Natalie!

Ebay Blush?!

Blush from Ebay? Thats Crazy!

Most of us have shopped on ebay at some time or another. Shopping for cosmetics and other makeup related things on ebay can often be scary, intimidating, and challenging! You don't always know if what you're seeing on the page is really what your going to recieve, whether its going to be authentic, or if its even going to arrive in one piece!

If you do decide to shop on Ebay for cosmetics though, and have gained the knowledge to know how to spot the fakes and find the good deals then it can be a treasure trove of amazing deals and hard to find items!

I've been very lucky so far with all of my Ebay experiences and have never had any items arrive damaged or not what I expected. One thing I want to discuss in particular though are some blushes I recently ordered.

Some of you may know that the makeup palettes offered by BH Cosmetics, Coastal Scents, Sedona Lace, and other various companies are available on Ebay often cheaper than from those sites. Almost all of the palettes come from Hong Kong so shipping times are going to be much longer than if you ordered from one of the sites so that's something to bare in mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that since they will be travelling such a long way the odds of them getting broken is much higher than if they were coming from somewhere in the states. If you're concerned about getting your items fast and KNOWING they are going to arrive safely then I recommend ordering them from one of the sites above. Often you can catch specials and sales on these sites and even get them cheaper than on Ebay.

Recently I was in the market for a large and cheap palette of blushes. I wasn't too concerned about having it arrive right away so I wanted to try out ordering one of the Ebay palettes. I found the one I liked with the number of blushes I wanted and placed my order. As expected the blush was coming from Hong Kong and was going to take a few weeks to arrive.

When the blush palette arrived it was packaged in just a large insulated mailing envelope with several layers of bubble wrap around the palette. All was safe and secure and none of the blushes were cracked or damaged. The palette was stored in its own black box just like the BH Cosmetics palettes I'd ordered previously only this box had no label. Inside the palette was in a bubble wrap sleeve. The actual container of the blush palette was made of plastic and while it wasnt the sturdiest in the world it didn't seem like it was going to fall apart on me right away.

The shades of the blushes wasn't extremely diverse. There were two pale pinks, one hot pink, two reds, two neutrals, one plumy color, and two somewhat peachy colors. Even though that sounds like a large array the shade difference in the majority of them isnt huge so they are all very similar to one another. The color payoff was decent for each color and the blendability was only so-so. Some of the colors can come off a little chalky especially if you have very dry skin so thats something to be weary of and make sure you moisturize. 

Overall I think they are fine for the money. I only paid $6.94 for the palette of 10 blushes and shipping was free so it wasn't that bad. If you're not a huge blush wearer or dont have that many blushes then I think this is fine to buy to have a selection to choose from all in one place. There are definetely better blushes out there but there are also far worse ones out there! I consider these about average but for the price you can't really beat it. I'll probably use these blushes for some tutorials because of the accessibility.

Hope you all found this helpful!

Blushing kisses

Natalie