2013 Favorites!

Here’s a list of all my favorite beauty products from 2013. I’m not going to go into detail discussing each product because I’ve talked about most of them in monthly favorites posts already, but if you have questions about any of them just ask! Some products aren’t pictured because I don’t have them with me right now but most of them are pictured either in this post or a previous favorites post.

Face:

face products: foundation, concealers, powder

face products: blushes, bronzer, highlighters, setting spray

• Nyx HD concealer
• Maybelline Fit Me concealer
• Benefit Boi-ing concealer
• Benefit Stay Don’t Stray eye and concealer primer
• Elf HD translucent powder
• Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation
• NYC Sunny bronzer
• Elf Tickled Pink blush
• Physician’s Formula Translucent Pearl powder
• Benefit Highbeam
• theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer
• Nyx Boho Chic Rouge cream blush
• *Tarte BB Tinted 12-hour primer
• Elf Mist & Fix

Eyes:

eye products: mascaras and eyeliners

eye products: eyeshadows and eye bases

• Nyx white eyeshadow base
• Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows in RSVP and Bikini-Tini
• Naked 2 palette
• Lorac Pro palette
• L’Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Iced Latte
• Nyx Pearl pigment
• Nyx Aloha eyeshadow
• Stila Kitten eyeshadow
• L’Oreal Infallible Super Slim liquid liner
• Urban Decay eyeliners in Rockstar and Stash
• Urban Decay eyeshadow in Sellout
• Too Faced Perfect Eyes pencil
• Revlon Colorstay eyeliner
• Maybelline Colossal mascara
• Maybelline Big Eyes mascara
• Covergirl Lash Perfection mascara
• Covergirl Clump Crusher mascara
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz
• Milani Brow Kit
• Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel
• MAC eyeshadows in Satin Taupe, Shale, and Shadowy Lady
• Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof kohl eyeliner in Taupe

Lips:

lip products

• Nivea lip butter in Raspberry Rosé Kiss
• EOS lip balms
• Nyx Soft Matte lip cream in Tokyo
• Wet ‘n Wild Mega Last lipstick in Think Pink
• Tarte Lipsurgence matte lip tint in Lucky

Hair:

hair products

Le Angelique curling wand

• One ‘n Only Argan Oil Spray
• Suave Dry Shampoo
• Le Angelique Ultimate Curling Iron 18/25mm
• Tresemmé Heat Tamer Spray
• *Sebastian Shaper Zero Gravity hairspray
• Aquolina Pink Sugar hair perfume

Fragrance:

fragrances

• Aquolina Pink Sugar perfume
• *Victoria’s Secret Pink Soft & Dreamy perfume
• Victoria’s Secret Pink Sweet & Flirty body mist

Nails:

Red Carpet Manicure gel polish system

nail colors and Sally Hansen Dry & Go drops

• *Trim Nail Care 7-way buffer
• Red Carpet Manicure gel polish system
• Sally Hansen Dry & Go drops
• Sally Hansen gel polish in Greige
• Essie Beyond Cozy, No More Film, and Vested Interest
• Covergirl Outlast Bronze Beauty and Silver Lining
• Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pink Satin
• *China Glaze Devotion
• *Sinful Colors Shine Divine

* not pictured

Holiday Party Look – Dramatic Eyes

I wanted to show you guys the type of look I would wear to a Christmas or New Years party since those days are soon approaching. I decided to build the eye look around Urban Decay’s Maui Wowie, a metallic golden beige with silver glitter. It’s definitely cooler than most gold shades. For the face, I wore my usual foundation, concealer, and bronzer. I used a cool pink blush with a light silver-pink highlight. I didn’t apply any lip color because I wasn’t actually going out but I would definitely use something light and neutral with this look.

I apologize for my hair in my face in the photos!

Products Used

Eyes:

• NYX White Eyeshadow Base
• UD Maui Wowie on lid and middle lower lash line
• L’Oreal Infallible Iced Latte in inner corner and inner lower lash line
• MAC Copperplate in crease
• Too Faced Pillow Talk (Naked Eye Palette) above crease
• UD Pistol in outer corner and outer lower lash line
• Lorac Pro Palette Slate in far outer V
• L’Oreal Infallible Super Slim liner on upper lash line and wing
• Too Faced Perfect Eyes pencil on outer lower lash line
• (I used tape to get the straight line on the outer V)

Brows:

• Covergirl Brow & Eye Makers pencil in Soft Blonde
• Rimmel Brow Pencil in Hazel
• Milani Brow Kit
• Benefit Speed Brow gel
• Lorac Pro Palette Cream to highlight

Face:

• Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous foundation
• Maybelline Fit Me concealer (under eyes)
• Benefit Boi-ing concealer (on blemishes)
• Elf HD powder (set under eyes)
• Hourglass Diffused Light Ambient Lighting Powder (all over face)
• NYC Sunny bronzer
• NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Boho Chic
• Elf Pink Passion blush
• Benefit High Beam
• Physician’s Formula Translucent Pearl highlighter

June Favorites – my first post!

Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to buy a lot of new products this month – but the products I did buy I have really loved!

Face:

• Benefit Boi-ing concealer: I like this so much I’ve already hit pan! I have big bags under my eyes which are also pretty dark, so a good concealer is a necessity for me. In the past I’ve used Benefit’s Erase Paste under my eyes. While the salmon color really provided a nice contrast to my dark circles, I felt that Erase Paste moved around too much. I definitely couldn’t use it without a setting powder, and when I tried to set it, it didn’t really stay in the places where I needed it most. I decided to try out something that felt more solid on my face. Boi-ing has a thicker consistency. I apply it with my finger by using a patting motion where I need it. It blends out very nicely this way and also STAYS PUT. It doesn’t need to be set as badly as Erase Paste, but I still set it because I tend to rub around my eyes a lot throughout the day. I use Makeup Forever’s HD Microfinish powder on a Real Techniques multi-task brush or an Elf kabuki. The concealer doesn’t crease and I can also use it on blemishes (unlike Erase Paste, Boi-ing isn’t a salmon color so it’s more versatile). I’ve found that I can go all day without needing to reapply as well. I definitely recommend Boi-ing if you’re looking for a good concealer.

Eyes:

• Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Bikini-Tini: I was looking for a cream eyeshadow in a pretty lid color that I could use alone or as a base. I swatched every cream eyeshadow in Sephora that came in a beige/cream/champagne type of color. Almost every one I tried had a LOT of glitter fallout and not enough color. This one really stood out because it didn’t have as much glitter in the formula and had a nice metallic frosty finish. There wasn’t enough glitter to even have any fallout. I apply it with my finger and it glides nicely onto the lid and doesn’t crease (just like the name says!). With this product I found exactly what I was looking for in a cream eyeshadow and it looks great on its own. When used under a powder shadow, it adds a nice sheen to the color.
• L’Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Iced Latte: I absolutely love this eyeshadow over Bikini-Tini. The combination gives my lids a fantastic metallic pop – great on the inner corner as well. On it’s own, Iced Latte is still just as awesome. It’s a beautiful champagne frost. I really like it for summer but I would definitely wear it any day of the year. The formula is very interesting too. The powder is sort of loose but the packaging includes a plastic stopper that presses the powder down and packs it together. It’s extremely soft and smooth. It can be applied with a brush but I find I get better color payoff by using my finger.

left: Bikini-Tini, right: Iced Latte

Iced Latte layered over Bikini-Tini on lid

Lips:

• NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Sex Machine: Okay, one thing you should know about me is that I rarely wear anything on my lips besides lip balms – I definitely don’t wear colors on a regular basis. Unlike my face and eyes, I use my mouth to talk/eat/drink throughout the day so I just don’t like putting makeup on it. I don’t like having to worry about smearing the color or getting lipstick on my teeth or getting food around it. And I NEVER wear lip gloss because I can’t stand wearing something that sticky. That being said, I am trying to get used to certain lip products so I can branch out and wear more color on my lips. I found a steal on Amazon where I got a full sized NARS blush, lip pencil, and gloss (which I will probably give to someone) for $40. You can buy the set here. The pencil is very smooth and doesn’t bother me too much. I really like the color because it’s not too dark or bright and is only slightly darker than my actual lips are. It’s very wearable and doesn’t smear too much, but it doesn’t dry completely either.

Sex Machine

Nails:

• Gargantuan Green Grape by OPI: Despite the name, I find this color is more blue than green. It doesn’t look anything like the picture online unless they changed the color. It’s a very light blue color and a nice mint shade for spring and summer. If you’re interested in a drugstore dupe, it’s pretty close to Sally Hansen’s Breezy Blue from the Hard As Nails line. OPI’s formula is great, of course. Even though the color is pretty light, it’s not streaky like a lot of Essie polishes are. I only have to apply two coats and three if I want it really opaque.
• Zoya Pixiedust in Godiva: This is the first Zoya nail polish I’ve tried and it definitely won’t be the last. I bought this after watching Rachel Whitehurst talk about how awesome it was and she wasn’t exaggerating. The formula is FANTASTIC. It’s not gritty like a lot of glitter polishes and with a thick top coat it feels smooth. It paints very evenly and dries quickly. Two coats is sufficient but I usually do three for full opacity. The color is very pretty and wearable. It’s a nice beige and the champagne sparkle really makes it a fun color to wear.
• Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps: This is a great base coat. It’s pretty thin, doesn’t get sticky, and dries very quickly.
• Sally Hansen Dries Instantly: When I use this, my nail polish doesn’t chip nearly as soon as it used to. I like to apply a thick coat of this to really make my nails nice and smooth. If your polish chips after a day, try this top coat.

Godiva and Gargantuan Green Grape

Hair:

• One ‘n Only Argan Oil Spray: This stuff is GREAT for frizz. The roots of my bangs tend to get frizzy after I wash my hair so I started spraying this all up on the roots and now they just get wavy when my hair dries. I also spray it on the ends of my hair and I find it leaves them feeling pretty soft. This product can also be used on dry hair for smoothing if used sparingly.
• One ‘n Only Argan Oil Hydrating Mask: After accidentally doing a permanent dip dye on the ends of my hair with Kool-aid (long story…the moral of it is don’t boil the water if you’re dying your hair with Kool-aid), I ended up bleaching them twice and dying over the bleach to try and get my natural color back.  My ends are pretty dry and damaged, so I use this every week and leave it in for 10 minutes. I’ve found that it’s kept the damage to a minimum and you wouldn’t be able to tell I bleached my ends twice just from the texture or appearance of them.

That’s all my favorites for this month 🙂 I know this was pretty long, but I like to go into detail! Thanks for reading!