Drugstore Haul

I did a bit of hauling this week. On Monday I posted my clothing haul and today I am posting my beauty haul! If you would like full review on any of these products, let me know in the comments xox

8 Tips for Naturally Curly Hair

If treated correctly, curly hair can be an abolsute blessing. If neglected, curly hair can be an absolute nightmare. Sometimes, even with effort, it can still be a nightmare. Here are a few tips and tricks I've learned throughout my 17 years of dealing with the knots and tangles and frizz that come with the curly hair package.

Spring Clothing Haul

I'm ready for the cool weather, crop tops, shorts, and sandals weather! Just patiently waiting for the cold, icky weather to go away...it's almost mid March for peets sake! Whilst waiting for the weather to warm up, I did a bit of spring shopping. My sister and cousin were in town this weekend so we did our normal Ross and TJ Maxx outing: trying on bunches of random clothes and modeling them for each other. So I thought I'd share with y'all what I ended up coming out of the store with! xox

Review: Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat

I've been really intrigued lately with matte nails, so when I saw Sally Hansen Big Matte Top Coat  for $5.99 I thought hey! Perfect! :)

                              Before                                                                          After

Random Wishlist

This is a random wishlist of a few products I've had my eye on.

Products Mentioned:
Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation
Urban Decay De-slick Setting Spray
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness
Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm
Essie Cutical Oil
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

I've wanted this Estee Lauder foundation for soooo long, I just can never bring myself to spend almost $40 on it. I really like the Revlon Colorstay and I hear this is better... if you've tried it, lemme know! One of these days I will just splurge and get it.

I've tried the Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray and really liked it, but I would really like to try the oil control one, considering I really do need something to "de-slick" my face. haha

Ever since MeganRosette raved about the Bye Bye Redness I have wanted it so badly. It sounds like the perfect product for me; I never need too much foundation, just something to cover up redness...so this product just reels me in...but once again I have a hard time bringing myself to spend $35 on a small little pot of it.

I love matte lipsticks. Ever since the Revlon Matte balms came out, I've been quite intrigued by them...not really sure why I haven't tried them yet! I'm particularily interested in Elusive.

I got a sample of the Essie Cutical Oil recently and really liked it! It made my cuticals feel and look so lovely. I really need to go pick up a full size one!

This last one is just funny. I see people from the UK absolutely rave about the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. And it makes me so angry that I live in the US, because I really just want to be able to just run to the drugstore and pick this up! I just thought I'd put this product on here because if I ever visit the UK anytime soon, this product will absolutely be the first thing I buy! :)

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know! 
xox

The Importance of Primer

I think primer is very underrated in the makeup process. Over this past week, I had to go to practice early in the morning(5:30am yikes!), so of course I missed a few things whilst packing my bag. Tuesday and Wednesday, I forgot to pack a primer in my makeup bag, so I had to go the day without. And boy did I realize how important a primer is to my skin.

Anytime I apply makeup, I will always prime my skin beforehand: it's just something I've gotten into a habit of doing. I never really knew if priming my skin did much or not, but after this week, my appreciation for my Becca Evermatte skyrocketed. In 2 hours my skin looked like an absolute mess...my pores looked huge and were very visible, my foundation was really patchy and you would've thought I had just gotten back from the gym: I was so oily. It was bad. Primer is important my friend. 

Benefits of Using a Face Primer:

~Whether or not you plan on applying foundation, a primer can smooth out the skin for that airbrushed      look. If you have a smooth base, your foundation will apply smoothly and will actually look smooth.

~It will fill in pores and make them less visible. If your pores are filled in, the foundation won't seep into them and make your face look icky.

~It will help control oil. No matter your skintype, we all produce facial oil. Using a primer will help to control the shine so that your makeup won't slide off your face or get patchy after 2 hours...which leads me into my next point:

~It will help your makeup last longer. If your pores are filled in and oil is being controlled, your foundation is more likely to stay put and look its best. A good base means a good face. :)

Primers I recommend:

Oily: Becca Evermatte Poreless Perfector, Smashbox Photofinish Light, Milk of Magnesia
Dry: Smashbox Photofinish Orignial, Tarte BB Tinted Primer
Everyone/Normal: Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro, Reviva Labs Primer, Benefit Porefessional

I do agree that it is hard to find a good primer that works well with your skintype, but with primer, it's all about trial and error. It is hard to find a good drugstore primer, so if you think you would like to give priming a shot, I suggest trying a sample of a highend brand. If you do happen to find a good primer that works well with your skintype, it will be magical and glorious. Just find what works best for you and you will be a happy camper.

*This post is basically saying that if you have not tried a primer before, I really urge you to give it a try! And I know primers aren't for everyone, but I think that everyone should at least experiment with a few different primers before claiming to not like them because like I said, it can completely change the way your makeup looks!

Benefit Gimmie Brow Review

This is going to be a short and sweet review on the Benefit Gimmie Brow $22 brow gel.

This product retails for about $22 at Sephora, which is quite expensive for a .1 oz tube. But then again, there isn't very many products like this on the market. Basically Gimmie Brow is a mascara for your eyebrows I guess you could say. It has a wand that looks like a mascara tip, yet much smaller, which fits perfect on the little brow hairs.

It claims to be water resistant, long lasting, and buildable for natural-looking brows.  It's supposed to lock your eyebrows in place so that they don't end up looking like this by the end of the day:


(that's not me by the way, just a picture I found on google haha)

This product is absolutely perfect for those gals who really would like to go for the whole "bold brow" look but are kind of afraid to go "too bold" if you know what I mean. This is especially true for girls still in highschool or junior high, where it's sort of out of the norm to have bold brows. This product is perfect for that. It fills in brows without looking too over the top, perfect for everyday and on the go looks. I have the shade Light/Medium.



The only downside to this product is that, I have very sparse eyebrow hairs so when I apply only this, you can kind of tell that the product is on my skin, not just my eyebrow hairs, so it looks kinda weird. But you can only see that when you look really close up. Other than that this is a great product on days when I'm lazy and don't feel like puting much effort into my brows!

Was that short and sweet? Probably not but oh well xox

Valentines Day Makeup Look

Valentines Day is only 2 days away! Whether you are going out with someone special or staying in with some girls, here is a makeup look that will suit just about anybody!

First I applied Maybelline Color Tattoo in Inked in Pink as a base $6.99

I then applied Stila's Eyeshadow in Kitten $18 to the inner third of my lid as well as the inner part of my lower lashline and innercorner.

Then I used my Nordstrom's Pallete (which I can't find the link to) for the crease and highlight. The crease color is very comparable to Nooner from the Naked 3 Palette if you do not have this Palette.

Then I used my Plum Daze Palette $16 from Sephora in the outer V and lower lash line.

I winged out my Jordana Fabuliner in Brown $5.35 for a softer look rather than black liner. Added my Bare Minerals Flawless Definition Mascara $18 to my top lashes and Maybelline Great Lashes Mascara in Violet to my lower lashes. Set/filled in my brows with Gimmie Brow by Benefit in Light/Medium $18 (I forgot to get a shot of the Maybelline Mascara...which was limited edition by the way sorry!)

I finished it off with a Nyx blush in Rose Garden $5.99 and a Revlon Lip Butter in Cotton Candy $7.99 topped with a Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Adorned $7.49

And that is the completed look! 

*Most of the brushes I used were either Sigma or ELF

This is my first makeup tutorial so it was kind of rough getting the right angle and lighting and everything. It was pretty dang hard! I hope to improve from here; if you have any suggestions on what I could do better, please leave a comment! :) Happy Valentines Day! 

What are you doing on Valentines Day?!

Product Rave: Nivea Soft Moisturizing Creme

 This moisturizer is absolute perfection in a tub; its completely changed my skin. For the longest time I was opposed using moisturizer on my face because it seemed every product I had tried, was too thick and heavy and just seemed to make my face even more oily than it already was.

Nivea Soft Creme $5.39 claims to be a fast absorbing, light formula enriched with Vitamin E and Jojoba Oil for incredibly soft and supple skin all day long. It can be used on the face, hands, body, feet...basically anywhere. AND it can be found at the drugstore in a small 1 oz tin for $1.29, if you are unsure if you want to purchase the 6.8 oz jar. 

This is very lightweight yet moisturizes like a dream. It's the perfect moisturizer to use before makeup application, yet also the perfect moisturizer to use at night? IT'S JUST PERFECT. Even though I do have quite oily skin, I do get the occasional dry patch on my chin/cheek, especially in the winter, but if I apply this directly after cleansing/showering, my skin soaks it right up and wah la! Perfection. If you have dry skin, give this a try! If you have oily skin, give this a try! I mentioned this product in my Tips for Oily Skin post. You can read that post here. It's an overall great moisturizer that I can't recommend enough! xx

Paint It

Can you tell that I'm ready for spring? Too bad the groundhog saw his shadow.. haha.
This is my new "Paint It" series on my blog. Once or Twice a month I'm going to post my nail color for that week, just to show off what colors/brands I've been loving and give a quick review. :)

Base Color: Watermelon by Essie $8.49
Sparkle Top Color: Queen of Beauty by Sinful Colors $7.97

I absolutely LOVE this combination. I don't often wear glitter but when I wear this color by Essie, I feel it never looks complete without glitter on my ring finger(which is what I usually do but I was feeling particularly spunky today haha). I love Essie because it's very opaque and I usually only have to apply one coat which is nice. Now, Sinful Colors is kind of the opposite. This Sinful Colors polish has a very light glitter application, so it does take a few coats to get a good amount of glitter, but I like that in a sparkle polish. It allows for a more controlled glitter amount. If you don't want too much, then only apply one coat. If you want a lot of glitter, apply 2-3 coats. I like that you can decide how much you want. (I used about 2 coats in the pictures)

I like posting my nails every once in a while. I'm kind of a nail junkie, so I always find myself loving when other people post their nails so I can get an idea of what polish I want to try next. So my "Paint It" series is for all those nail junkies out there :)

Paper Clip or Bobby Pin Holder?

I was looking at my vanity the other day and realized that the container I use to hold my bobby pins might not be something everyone uses to hold bobby pins(aka hair grips). So I thought I'd share my idea with y'all!

Basically, one day I was cleaning my desk and realized I never use the paper clips in my paper clip holder. So I emptied it out then thought "Hey, paper clips are magnetic and so are bobby pins!"... So there you go! You can get one of these at Target for like $4 in the office supply isle :)

Review: Mac Paint Pot Painterly

Everyone seems to rave about this product...that's why I'm kind of nervous to write this review.
I bought this because I had been noticing more and more lately how veiny and red my eyelids are. Initially, I tried just putting a little concealer on my lids, but because I have such oily eyelids, it would crease immediately and look very odd. So I decided to give this product a try.

Tips for Oily Skin and Long Lasting Makeup

Oily skin can be EXTREMELY annoying... Imagine putting on a full face of makeup and having it all slide off your skin 2 hours later... I know thats a weird picture.. but it happens! And it's very annoying! So here's a few of my tricks for keeping your makeup looking fresh all day:

Check your cleanser
Make sure that your facial cleanser is designed for oily or acne prone skin. Cleansers I suggest are Cetphil Daily Facial Cleanser $9.49 and Olay Fresh Effects Shine Minimizing Cleanser $5.99

Face Masks
Treat yourself to a face mask at least once a week. Find a mask that says something like "purges pores" or "deep clean". This will help to really get deep down and remove some of the bacteria and oil deep in your pores. I recommend all of the Freeman's face masks.

Tone
Use a toner morning and night after cleansing your face. A toner is designed to get all the extra gunk (aka oil) out of your pores. Oily skin clogs your pores, so toning your face at night, releases all the gunk so that your face can breathe at night. Toning your face in the morning helps to remove excess oil so that you have a completely clean face when putting on makeup. Apply a quarter sized amount onto a cotton ball/pad and rub onto your skin. Try Dickenson's Witch Hazel Pore Perfecting Toner $4.19

MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE
There is a myth that if you have oily skin you shouldn't moisturize...that is false! Depriving skin of moisture will only make the skin produce more oil to compensate for the lack of moisture. Once I started moisturizing my face morning and night I noticed a VERY signifigant difference in the texture of my skin and the longevity of my makeup. You just have to make sure that you are using a very light moisturizer... My holy grail moisturizer is the Nivea Soft Moisurizer $6.71. I can barely feel it on my skin but it definitely gets the job done! Another good moisturizer is Clean and Clear Morning Burst Hydrating Gel $5.49 

Prime
Primer is almost a necessity for oily skin. A primer acts as a barrier between the oils in your skin and your foundation. It also fills in pores so that it's harder for oil to seep out of them. Apply the primer after moisturizing then wait about 2 minutes before applying foundation to let it to set...if you don't let it set, your foundation will just slide right off. (You can start your eye makeup while waiting for the primer to set). A product you might not think to use as a primer is actually Milk of Magnesia. Dab a little on a cotton ball and press it into your Tzone before foundation...It actually controls oil really well! My holy grail primer is Becca's Evermatte $36. Others I suggest are Smashbox Photofinish Light $36, Reviva Labs Primer $12, Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro 002 $7.99.

Blot after applying liquid foundation
When using liquid foundation, I find that if I take a blotting sheet, and blot my skin after each layer of foundation, I produce less oil and my makeup lasts longer. Make sure not to rub though or you will rub the foundation right off! Try Clean and Clear's Blotting Sheets. $4.49

Swirl Don't Stroke 
When applying foundation with a brush, try using small circular motions instead of dragging the brush across the skin. Doing this will ensure that the foundation isnt just sitting on top of your skin but it's actually clinging to it. Try doing this with your primer as well.

Setting Spray
After applying foundation and before using powder, try giving your skin a little spritz of setting spray. Setting spray acts as hairspray for your face, locking on the foundation so it will stay in place all day. For extra longwear, try spraying it before applying primer as well. I recommend Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray or Nyx Matte Finish Setting Spray $7.99

Powder
For oily skin, powder is an essential. After applying foundation, take a setting powder and lock that baby in! Now although it is very important for oily skin to use a setting powder, make sure you don't go overboard on the powder! Don't make the mistake and think, "the more powder I use, the longer my makeup will last!" ... because thats wrong. Using too much powder will only make your face look cakey and unnatural. All you need is a few swipes with a fluffy brush and you're all set! (haha get it? set... I'm so punny ;) )  Powders I recommend are Rimmel Stay Matte $4.99 and Makeup Forever HD Setting Powder $34

If you have any other tips or products you use, leave me a comment! I'm always open to trying new products. :D  

Throwback Product: Suave Kids Detangler

If you're a gal with long curly hair, you will understand the struggles of the endless tangles that seem to overtake your life.

Empties #1

So I've accumulated quite a few empty products recently and decided to share some brief thoughts on each of them!