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Skin Care I’m Loving: Mario Badescu Almond and Honey Non-Abrasive Honey Scrub
I’ve been interested in trying out some products from the Mario Badescu skin care line and thought this gentle scrub would be a good introduction to the line. This product contains chopped almonds and corn meal to gently slough away dry skin and honey and almond oil help retain moisture. This product has a lovely smell and makes my skin so smooth and soft after use. They suggest using this 2-3 times a week so I find it’s easiest to work into my skin care routine by using it in the shower. Not only do I apply this to my face I also use it along my decollage and shoulders to buff away dirt and dead skin. I’ve been using quite a few serums and products containing salicylic acid and wrinkle reducers so I’m really loving how gently and refreshing this product is on my skin. Sometimes I get so caught up in the hype of fancy face washes and masks that I forget how wonderful a simple and natural product can work and feel. The packaging and branding for Mario Badescu isn’t particularly pretty or interesting and I think that’s why I always overlook it, but I’ll definitely be purchasing more products soon!
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Drugstore Skincare I’m Loving
I wanted to share with you some products I’ve been using since January and really loving for my problem skin.
These Say Yes to Carrots blemish clearing facial towelettes are great to keep in my gym bag. I use them before and after my workout and I think it really has helped keep me from breaking out after all my gym sessions. My only complaint is they are a little dry. I always keep the package flipped upside down in a sealed container to keep them moist longer. If you have problem skin and spend a lot of time at the gym I would definitely pick these up.
Next is the Neutrogena Rapid Clear 2-in-1 Fight and Fade Toner
Lastly, I have a Rite Aid serum from their Renewal Skincare line. This was given to me as a Christmas present from my mom after I had been complimenting how beautiful her skin looked. I apply the nightime Regenerating Elixir at night before bed as the final step to my routine. In the morning I rinse my face and my skin looks glowy and soft. This doesn’t feel greasy when applied but can be slightly sticky until it absorbs in. If you are on a budget and looking for a nice nightime product I would give this a try.
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Wearable Turquoise Navy Eye + Bronze Gold Cheeks
What I Used:
Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation
Revlon ColorStay Quad in 540 Inspired (see my review here)
Urban Decay Sustainable Shadow Box
Benefit Cosmetics They’Re Real! Mascara
Maybelline Rocket Volum’ Mascara
MILANI Baked Bronzer in Golden
love & Beauty Bronzer (see my review here)
Revlon Colorstay Lipstick in Soft Nude
Revlon Lipgloss in Peach Petal
NYX Slide on Pencil in Sunrise Blue
I have a hard time wearing color on my lids but I wanted to find a way to wear this spring’s turqouise trend on my eyes. I came up with this simple smokey eye that’s subtle enough for me to wear but still has a pop color.
1. Apply Foundation and eyelid primer
2. Apply shade 2 of Revlon Quad from lashline to crease
3. Intensify color using Urban Decay’s Flipside shadow
4. Apply shade 4 from Revlon Quad into crease. Blend.
5. Apply a small amount of love & beauty bronzer to the center of your lid for added depth
6. Using NYX slide on pencil smudge under lower lashline and onto lower water line
7. Smudge love & beauty bronzer underneath lashline and apply to tear duct
8. Add lots of both Mascaras for a dark and defined lashline
9. Contour with the Milani Bronzer and then blend out as a blusher
10. Use the love & beauty bronzer as a higlight along the tops of your cheek bones
11. Apply lipstick and gloss
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Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation + Soft Daytime Makeup Look
I’ve been loving the last few drugstore foundations I’ve purchased, including my Revlon Nearly Naked
The rest of my makeup is what I’ve wearing on a daily basis lately. It takes me 10 minutes and all of these products last all day for me with no need for any real touch-ups. For my eyes I use my Too Faced Natural at Night Collection
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love & beauty Sun Kissed Bronzer
Forever 21 may not have the most high-end beauty products but I love grabbing whatever beauty steals they have displayed when I’m waiting in line to check out. This pretty bronzer was only 3 dollars and I couldn’t resist the packaging! For only a few bucks this looks lovely swept across the tops of my cheekbones. The bronzey gold pigment of this swatches nicely and isn’t overly glittery. A great find!
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Maybelline Super Stay Lipstick Wine and Forever + Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation
I’ve been wanting to review the new Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation
for a few weeks now so I’m excited to have some free time tonight to get this review up! I purchased the shade 832 nude beige and while it applies slightly pale when I first put it on after a few minutes it seems to adjust to adjust to a perfect match for my winter skin shade.
This particular product is suppposed to give you the staying power of a primer, the coverage of a concealer and the blendability of a foundation. This gives pretty great coverage and still feels lightweight when you wear it. I would say the finish is almost like a powder and very matte. I also love that this has zero scent! While I have been loving this product most days, I do notice that it can apply slightly patchy and cakey over any dry spots on my face. I normally have pretty oily skin but I’ve had some recent breakouts so this settles around any dry healing spots I have.
I also haven’t quite decided if this applies best for me with a brush or fingers, so I guess the blendability is one area that I think this product falls short.
This foundation has a pump, which is rare for drugstore products and you definitely waste less product and have less mess. I do recommend shaking the bottle before application.
Overall, I think this is definitely one of the nicer drugstore foundations available right now. Covergirl is not a brand I usually gravitate towards when trying foundations so I think this was a great effort on their part in stepping up their game in this area.
Beauty Recap:
1. This has medium to full coverage but still feels light on your skin.
2. This is a matte finish for me and I did not get oily when wearing this
3. Staying power was average for me
4. I did notice this could look patchy when trying to cover any dry areas on my face
5. Great packaging!
I am wearing this foundation in the photos for this post and I think it photographs quite nicely!
The second part of this post is a quick look at one of Maybelline’s Superstay Lipsticks
in the shade Wine and Forever. This is a DEEP wine shade and a very dramatic color. I really like these Maybelline SuperStay lipsticks. They have great staying power but are surprisingly moisturizing. The only con for me is the scent, which is a little too fruity for my taste. For the look I’m wearing below, I just applied bronzer to warm up my face, a slight winged eyeliner and plenty of mascara. Thats all you really need with this lip!
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My Blush Collection
In an effort to declutter my life for the New Year I have been reorganizing my makeup collection and last night I began sorting out all my blushes. Blush is probably my favorite makeup item to purchase because it usually lasts forever and can really change the way you look. Anyways, I posted this picture on my instagram and someone asked me which ones were my favorite so I sat down and compiled a quick list of what my favorites and least favorites were 
The best!
1. Any of my Tarte blushes. I own four in the shades Amused, Blissful, Flush and Peaceful. The only one that has shimmer is peaceful and the rest are a matte finish. The most unique shade of these four is flush, which is a deep berry and a perfect color to brighten up your cheeks in these depressing winter months!
2. Physician’s Formula Happy Booster Blushes. These are nicely pigmented products at a very reasonable price, they are a drugstore brand but I think department store quality. The colors look natural with just the right amount of sheen/shimmer. I own the shade warm and a pink shade that no longer has a name on the bottom. Whoops!
3. Laura Gellar blushes. Next time you’re at Ulta swatch a few of these blushes because they are gorgeous. I have Neapolitan, sunswept and Pink Grapfruit. These are really pigmented, beautiful colors but kind of pricey.
4. NYX Powder Blush. If you are just starting a makeup collection or don’t have a lot of money to spend I think these are a great blush to start with. These are pigmented, very reasonably priced and come in a pretty good color selection. I own Mocha, Desert Rose, Pinched and Summer Peach. The only downside is these can be a little powdery and the packaging isn’t very sturdy. My lids always break on these so be careful if you bring those in your luggage!
5. ElF Studio blushes. This is another really good brand if you are just starting to play around with makeup. These cost 3 dollars and the color selection is decent. Watch out for a lot of shimmer in these!
6. NARS. I only own one Nars blush in the shade Amour. I love it and the quality is good. If I had to pick between buying another NARS blush or Tarte blush I would buy Tarte, but I still think it’s a good quality product.
7. Wet n Wild Blushes. These are cheap, pigmented and a great buy on a budget. Again, these are going to be a little powdery with crappy packaging but you get actual color payoff unlike a lot of other drugstore brand blushes.
8. L’oreal Project Runway Limited Edition Blushes. These only come out once a year but all the colors I have tried have been very pretty, my current favorite is #326 The Muse’s Blush. Warning: the eyeshadow quads in these limited edition collections are a waste!
9. Hard Candy Fox in A Box Blushes. I own Hot Flash and Spicy & Sweet. I love them because they have 4 shades in one box and are reasonably priced at Wal-Mart
The Not So Great!
1. The Balm. I only own one blush in the color Frat Boy, but this color does nothing for my complexion. I used it once since I bought it and just overall was very underwhelmed.
2. SmashBox Softlights Duo Blushes. I think I have the shades Passion and Undercover. These come with a blush and highlighter but I’m not particulary impressed with either. Not worth the price and not something I would ever be interested in repurchasing.
3. MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush. I own the shade Dollymix. The color is pretty but the texture of this didn’t impress me and didn’t seem worth the 18 dollars I spent. I’m just not a big fan.
4. Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush. I have a love/hate relationship with this product. I only own one, Hot Tamale and probably will never try another shade. Applying this is a huge pain for me. I hate using fingers and a brush doesn’t work. It’s messy and some days it looks streaky and patchy and I end up taking it off and starting over with a different blush all together. Other days it looks perfect and I end up loving it but I just don’t like having to work that hard in the morning.
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Skincare I’m Loving: RoC Daily Resurfacing Disks
These RoC Daily Resurfacing Disks are hands down my favorite skin care product of the moment. These pre-moistened cleansing disks are great at removing dirt, oil and even makeup and leave my skin with a gorgeous glow that lasts all day. Over time these also help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and signs of photo-aging. Personally, I have found these have greatly reduced the hyper-pigmentation from old acne scars around my mouth and nose.
One side of the disk is textured and the other side is smooth. The texture of these have a real grit to them so if you have sensitive skin and avoid products that use texture to exfoliate skin you may not like this product. However, I have found these leave little redness or irritation on my face unlike other exfoliating products I have tried. The smooth side is great for the under eye area as well.
To use just apply a quick splash of water to your face and then beginning massaging over face and neck area. After a few minutes rinse your face clean and voila! You are good to go. I have been using these in the morning and before bed.
Each container comes with 28 pads and retails for around $9. I have been purchasing mine at Ulta since I can no longer find them at Wal-Mart. However, I have found them online for $7.99 which is a bit cheaper.
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Observation about CoverGirl BB Creams and the BB Cream Craze in General : I’m Not Buying It
So while at Ulta this week I noticed that yet another drugstore brand has put out another BB Cream. Covergirl now has one as well as Maybelline and L’oreal but when I looked at the CoverGirl one and then the corresponding label on the shelf I realized they literally just took their normal tinted moisturizer and repackaged it as a BB Cream.
I haven’t been able to try all the new versions of BB Creams yet but while I think the ones I have tried have been fine, they’re nothing that special. I realize the Asian versions can be different but I think most of us are buying into the hype of BB Creams way too much. If you want a lighter version of your foundation just mix a little of your moisturizer into it. That’s what I’ve been doing all summer and I can customize the coverage to suit my skins needs that particular day which I cannot do with a BB Cream. The more moisturizer I use the lighter the feel and look with basically all the same benefits. So before your break the bank trying out every new BB Cream you see skip all the hype and save money by making your own version with products you already have!
Anyone agree with me on this?
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Milani Baked Powder Blush: Corallina Swatches and Review
One of my favorite blushes of the summer is this Milana Baked Powder blush in the shade Corallina. This is a peachy warm toned blush with a touch of golden shimmer to it. This product not only looks beautiful in the pan but swatches just as nicely. I am not a huge fan of mineral eyeshadows but my experience with mineral blushes has been great. The texture of this is a little grainy to the touch but the pigment is excellent. You need very little product to get a golden warm flush to the cheeks. I prefer this blush in the summertime when I have some natural color as it can look a little orange on pale skin. The glitter in this product is noticeable but I think you can get away with the shimmer during the summer months. If you have been eyeing the lorac baked blushes but don’t want to splurge try some of the milani baked blushes. I find they are very similar and a much more affordable price. I usually like wearing this blush with a subtle brown smokey eye and nude lip. This blush is pigmented enough to be the prominent color on your face.
Shop Milani Baked Blushes at the link below:
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