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What’s in Travel My Makeup Bag

February 6, 2016February 6, 2016 byte of beautyLeave a comment

I like to pack light, mainly because I am always packing at the last minute and just grab the bare minimum. Years of practice (?) have honed my skills. Here’s what I packed for my upcoming weekend trip to Louisville. All of it fits in ONE makeup bag!

Face:

Figs & Rouge Mattifying Emulsion and Pore Refiner Primer
Fit Me Matte & Poreless Foundation in 110
Nyx HD Concealer in Fair
Airspun Loose Face Powder in Translucent
Elf Mist + Set spray
Nyx Blush in Taupe
Laura Geller Blush-n-Brighten in Tropical Hues

Eyes:

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette
Elizabeth Mott Thank Me Later Eye Primer
NYC City Proof 24 Hour Eyeshadow in Taupe
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe (for my brows!)
Wet n Wild Megaclear Clear Mascara + Brow Gel
Maybelline One by One Waterproof Mascara
Tarte Tarteist Clay Liner

Lips:

Colourpop Lippie Stick in Tootsi
Pacifica Power of Lover Natural Lipstick in Nudie Red

Tools:

Real Techniques Powder Brush
Flat Contour Brush, no name brand- bought on Amazon
Elf Blush Brush
Elf Crease Brush
Beau Gachis Smudge Brush
Crown Brush Deluxe Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet
Studio M Eyebrow Brush, bought from local big box store- Meijer
Spoolie, no name brand- bought at CVS
Tarte Eyeliner Brush
Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge
Estee Lauder Eyelash Curler

Mini Reviews: A Handful of New Drugstore Products I’ve Been Trying

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015 byte of beautyLeave a comment

I’ve been trying out a lot of new drugstore products lately and wanted to share a few of them and what my thoughts are. Drugstore makeup quality has been improving so much in the past couple years, and now more than ever there are amazing, affordable drugstore products. My favorite place to get drugstore makeup is Meijer, which is a big box retailer similar to Target or Wal-Mart, but I think they are exclusive to the Midwest. Target also has a stellar selection, including exclusive brands like Sonia Kashuk and Boots No. 7, and Walgreen’s also rocks and has sales ALL THE TIME. Walgreen’s also has the widest selection of Wet n Wild that I’ve found, and you guys know how much I love Wet n Wild.

Below are five affordable products I’ve been trying the last couple weeks. Suprisingly, I like them all, so check out the reviews to see if they might work for you!

1. Wet n Wild Tame & Define Clear Brow+Lash Gel – $2

I’ve been needing to pick up a new brow gel, since the one I had been using was pretty old and getting a little gross (don’t judge me, you know you have makeup guilty secrets too). This is marketed as a clear mascara AND brow gel, but I only use it to set my brows. The wand is pretty big and it picks up a bit more product than I’d like, but the formula isn’t too goopy or hardening. It didn’t change my life, but it didn’t suck either, and for $2 you really can’t complain.

2. City Color Contour Kit – $8

I got this on Amazon, not from the drugstore, but it’s so affordable that I had to lump it into this post. I had my eye on this for maybe six months before I finally decided to buy it. This kit is perfect for fair skin tones. The palette has three pans: a contour shade, a bronzer shade, and a highlight shade. All three pans are very large and very pigmented. The contour shade is cool toned, which is perfect and hard to find in cheaper contour palettes. The bronzer shade is light and warm, and the highlighter has a very nice pearly sheen. All three blend like a dream. I really like this and recommend it if you have a fair to light skin tone!

3. Maybelline Baby Lips Lipgloss – $4

I have a mixed opinion of the Baby Lips collection of products. I think the lip balms are garbage. The primer, on the other hand, I love (it reminds me a lot of the Smashbox primer), so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the lip gloss, but I actually really do. I got the shade Taupe With Me, which is a neutral nude. This particular shade isn’t super pigmented, but I’m not mad about it because the formula is A W E S O M E! The texture is more like a lip butter than a lip gloss and is SO comfortable to wear. I will definitely be getting more shades, especially the more pigmented ones, and highly recommend the formula even for people who don’t usually like glosses.

4. Maybelline Fit Me Dewy + Smooth Foundation – $6

I have been hearing a lot of great things about the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation, but I have dry skin, especially on my forehead, so I knew that the matte formula just wouldn’t work for me. I saw they had a dewy option for dry skin, and picked it up because it was cheap and I figured, hey why not? This foundation has medium coverage, but is buildable, and has a dewy finish as the name suggests and does look very smooth. I always powder my face to set it, and with setting the foundation lasts me all day. The longest wear time I had was 9 hours, and it still looked pretty great, with a little bit of separation in the corners of my eyes and around my nose, which is totally understandable. I am loving this foundation and will repurchase once I finish this one. The only con is that there is no pump, so you have to pour it out on your hand or onto your sponge or brush. Annoying, but not a deal breaker.

5. Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge – $7 (or get a 2 pack for $10!)

I am probably the last person to jump on the Miracle Complexion Sponge bandwagon, but I finally bought one and it is just as good as it was supposed to be. First, it’s so affordable, especially compared to the Beauty Blender that sells for $20 for ONE sponge. Mama ain’t got that kind of money, so I will stick with cheaper alternatives, and the Real Techniques sponge is the best affordable makeup sponge I’ve found. It is super pointed on the end for precise concealer blending, the side is big enough to easily blend my foundation, and the flat edge is great for concealer around the eyes and nose, as well as for use with a powder to set the under eye area. I have been using it for almost two weeks, and I noticed a few micro tears on the flat side, but nothing that inhibits its job, so I am pretty satisfied, and for the price, I will definitely be buying more!

What drugstore makeup have you been loving lately?

Look of the Day: Cranberry Smoky Eye and Cranberry Lips

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 byte of beauty2 Comments

Cranberry shades are SO popular this season, and I wanted to try out the trend for myself. Here’s my take on a cranberry look, featuring a smoky eye, flawless skin, and a cranberry lip.

For the face, I used a mix of drugstore and high end products to achieve a flawless, airbrushed look. I primed with ELF Poreless Primer, then used Maybelline Fit Me Dewy + Smooth foundation, Kat Von D Lock It Tattoo concealer, and Maybelline Lumi Concealer with a Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge (which I am O B S E S S E D with). I set my undereye with my NYC translucent loose powder, which is exactly the same as the super expensive Makeup Forever HD Powder and much cheaper, and set the rest of my face with the Wet n Wild Reserve Your Cabana bronzer (which really isn’t a bronzer… see more deets here)

I contoured with Nyx blush in Taupe, a perfect cool toned brown, used Colour Pop blush in Pre Nup, and highlighted with Wet n Wild Hollywood Blvd. You can find my review of the highlighter here! I used Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe on the brows with a sturdy, thin brow brush, and then used a spoolie to soften them for a less harsh look.

For the eyes, I used several colors from a few different brands. From my beloved Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette, I used the shade White Chocolate all over the lid and brow bone to set my primer, and then placed Salted Caramel in the crease as my transition shade. I then used the ELF Lustrous Eye shadow in Soiree(see swatch below from Lust for Lipgloss) on a flat, synthetic brush to pack the color all over the lid. This eye shadow is a weird consistency, half cream, half mousse. It reminds me on the texture of the Maybelline Dream Bouncy blushes. It is a little hard to work with, but it is a beautiful glittery burgundy shade and you can definitely make it work. I then went in with Wet n Wild Eye shadow in Panther, a matte black, to darken the outer corner of my eye. I alternated blending with the Salted Caramel and Panther shades until I got the smokiness I wanted. I used my Star Looks Pro Eyeliner, which is amazing, to create a wing and then threw on a pair of Eylure lengthening lashes for extra drama.

For the lip, I used a Lord and Berry liner in Blush and Black Radiance lipstick in #5027 Burgundy Royal. This lipstick was around $2, and is a lovely color, but is so creamy that it easily smears. It definitely requires a lip liner, and don’t expect incredibly long wear from it. For $2, though, it’s a great, cheap way to test out the vampy cranberry lip trend!

What do you think of cranberry looks? Let me know in the comments!