5 Favorite Products - July

One of these things is not like the other. I feel no shame about #4 having nothing at all to do with beauty. I admit I have an addiction, and I will share my addiction with you because I love you.


Baby oil

This is probably something everyone has been doing forever, and I just caught on to it, but omg baby oil! I'm the queen of razor burn, and I've decided to Knight baby oil for the best after-shave everrrr.
P.S. You can get it at the dollar store in either the liquid or the gel.

(I've also begun using diluted tea tree oil to shrink my pores after shaving, but this I cannot recommend for everyone. If you try it, be sure you're buying 100% therapeutic grade oil.)

Venus Spa Breeze razor cartridges

Image credit

I am poor. Whenever I go down the razor isle, I have panic attacks. I simply cannot afford good razors. At some stores they want $22 for a package of 4! Are they kidding me? I've been known to use the same razor head for six months in order to save money.

But remember how I'm the Queen of Razor Burn? The only relief I've found is in a GOOD razor. This I discovered when I decided to splurge on some Venus Spa Breeze razor cartridges. Pretty sure they were about $15.99. I had so much guilt about buying them!

My legs thanked me for WEEKS.  Those pink pads of lotion are so awesome I didn't even need to use shaving cream with it, and when the lotion parts run out, the razor is still good for a while. For the first time ever I didn't get razor burn after shaving. You're welcome.


Ulta glitter nail polish

Image Credit

I have three boys. I NEVER have time to let my nails dry. I can't remember having perfect polish since my teenage years.



This is my new favorite polish, because it's super pretty, way glittery (yay shimmer!), and it takes about 5 minutes start to finish to throw some on my toes and leave the house. Several times I have been asked "Are those glitter toes?" and people are always surprised when I tell them no.
(About $4 at Ulta.)





Starbucks syrup

Did you guys know you can buy Starbucks (crack) Syrup by the BOTTLE? Yeah, I didn't either, until Boyfriend surprised me with my very own bottle of Cinnamon Dolce syrup, and I fell madly in love with him. (I admit, that wasn't the reason I fell in love. BUT it was definitely one of them.)

$12.95 (which he gave me on a Starbucks gift card, because sharing coffee means love). I had Cinnamon Dolce coffee at home for probably 2 months straight. It lasts forever. If you consider that ever Starbucks is approximately $5, I feel like I robbed them blind. Yum.
P.S. This is definitely not a health tip. You will consume calories and sugar and stuff.


French Tip Guide Stickers

I'll just tell you the truth, I have only had time to use these once, because you have to let your first coat of polish dry COMPLETELY before using them.

But they are so awesome, I've gotta tell you about them. I've seen all sorts of tips on Pinterest about using tape or those little round stickers you put in your binder paper... but I've tried them and those tips didn't work for me. None of them stuck well enough to make a good line. These tip stickers stick really well, and they're so wide you can even cut them in half and use half as many on your smaller toes/fingers. Pretty sure I paid about $2 for them at Sally Beauty Supply.

Bonus: Another awesome tip comes from my friend Carri, who showed us at the Girls' Day party how to remove nail polish with used dryer sheets (and polish remover). That was a cool trick - the polish came off so fast! You should definitely try it.

My favorite day of the month: When my ipsy Glam Bag arrives!

As always, this post is not sponsored. I do not receive any compensation for the things I write. 

I simply believe in spreading the word about good companies and products.

Each month $10 is automatically deducted from my bank account. In exchange for that $10, I receive a super cute makeup bag full of awesome cosmetics! This fulfills my MUST BUY MAKEUP need, without spending much money at all. Each month there is a new bag designed especially for ipsy, and each bag comes with 4 or 5 full-size, high-end products.

When you sign up (and you should), they ask you to fill out a quick survey about your skin type, colors, favorite brands, etc.

There have been things in these bags I never would have tried on my own, but now I adore and use every day. Each one of the products in the bag is worth at least $10 all by itself. I haven't found another service that is as good a deal as this one. (Although, there are a lot of these out there. The monthly grab-bag is kind of a thing right now. You can even get one for your baby, which comes with their age-appropriate toys and products. Or one for food. Or one for your dog. Whatever you're into. Mine happens to be makeup, and ipsy seems to be the best deal out there for makeup.) 

I have somehow lost the picture from April's bag, which happens to have been my favorite, but I found a review someone else did... you can see it here. I got more actual makeup in April's bag, and it was my style (dramatic black eyeliner, fake lashes, bright pink lipstick, etc.) so that month was my favorite so far. 

May's bag was spring-inspired (below). The bag was green and cream canvas, and came with 5 things: 

1. Some weird spray water stuff for your face... still haven't figured out what that's for. (If one of you gets this for Christmas, just smile and say thank you.) 
2. Hang Ten sunscreen, which I use under my makeup every day I'm planning to leave the house.
3. eva-nyc Therapy Session Hair Mask, which I love. 
4. That Pacifica stuff is pretty great, I use it as my eyeshadow when I'm looking for something really light and natural, or as highlight and bronzer. 
5. My personal favorite from May was the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer. This stuff is amazing and I use it every single day. It's made with actual cocoa powder, doesn't make me break out, and lasts forever. Love it. 

May

June was even better. I kinda wish you could have heard me squeal when I opened it.

The bag is nylon, not my favorite look, but it's serving a great purpose holding all my lipstick in one place now. (A few more months and I'll be giving the bags away because I won't know what to do with them... how cute will that be? Little birthday gifts in cute makeup bags?) This is what I got in mine:

1. Be a... bombshell mascara, which is great. (Full-size, yay!)
2. Marc Anthony beach waves beach spray, which I liked more than I thought I would.
3. NYX butter gloss, by FAR my favorite product this month! I will be buying more of this.
4. The shimmer eyeliner is great, but I already have several of these, even one in this very color. I do love it, but will probably end up giving it away, because I don't have a need for more.
5. Skinn Olive and Enzyme Cleanser - this is one of those things I got because I included my oily skin in my profile.

June

My very favorite thing I got from ipsy was Cailyn high-pigment lip balm. I adore it so much I bought two more. Oh, after they send out the bags, they have sales on the products in them, so you can buy more if you liked it. And every time 5 people sign up for their own ipsy bags with my link, I get to choose a free product for my next bag... so if you do sign up, use my link, pretty please? :) 

Is it July yet????? I can't wait for my bright pink package to come to the door!

Faking a Clear Complexion & Contour

My skin hasn't been clear since the third grade. (Dear teenagers, anyone who tells you that you will grow out of your acne is probably lying.) 

I'm fighting a constant, losing battle against the acne invasion. People love to tell me it's probably caused by the fact that I wear makeup. I beg to differ. (This is your TMI warning. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

My acne is most certainly hormonal, as it follows a perfect cycle. I can predict, almost to the day, when I will wake up looking like I have small pox, and it definitely coincides with my period. I made this post on the up-swing, when my skin was especially clear. Still, I had a lot to cover. 

In addition to the acne, I have to cover acne scars, wrinkles, and serious dark circles under my eyes. These are my personal struggles with my face, along with the battle against unwanted facial hair (which we can discuss later), and my incredibly pale skin. I'm not saying I'm a hideous person, but I'm certainly not perfect. We've talked about contouring before, so I'm not going to go into serious detail about it today. (You can find the original post about contour on the old blog here.) 

Today's post is mostly about coverage. I love you so much, I even included two pictures of my face with absolutely no makeup whatsoever. This is the bravest thing I have ever done. 

Step 1 is always PRIMER. I can't say this enough: use primer! The finished product will be significantly different if you skip this step. 

I use femme couture mineral effects face primer, $9.99 at Sally Beauty Supply. (Try to excuse the pictures of my dirty makeup,lol)

Step 2: Circles under your eyes have a blue-green tint to them, so you counteract this with yellow. I use Palladio brand, also from Sally. It's about $5.99 and lasts absolutely forever. If you don't have under-eye circles, don't do this, as it will leave you looking jaundiced. Trust me on this one.

Tip: I have been using my homemade lip balm underneath the yellow, because it hydrates so well. With the vitamin E and almond oil in it, it keeps the wrinkles under control and lets the concealer glide on easier as well.

Step 3: Concealer. I am still searching for the perfect concealer, but this is my favorite for now. It's femme couture "get covered", applied with the eyeslipsface Concealer Brush.

I love this concealer because it's in a pot (thicker formula), and it provides a good, thick layer of coverage. I'm not in the market for a translucent concealer; I want to cover everything. 

Tip: I buy the second-lightest shade, which is lighter than my skin, so it also serves as a highlight. As you can see, it goes almost everywhere on my face, only excluding the places I put my bronzer. 

Blend this with your fingers or a beauty blender, I use this one from Target, $4.99. I refuse to believe that anyone needs a $40 beauty blender, no matter what anyone says.

As you can see, I'm starting to look like a human. 

But there is more war paint to come.

Step 4: Bronzer. I would normally never buy this, as it's a lot of money, but it came in my May ipsy Glam Bag, and I love it. When it runs out I'll be going back to my cheap bronzer, but until then, I prefer this Chocolate Soleil by Too Faced. 

(It's made with cocoa powder. I have yet to try this, but I saw a pin on Pinterest about making your own bronzer out of cocoa powder. Someone should try it and let me know what they think!)

I'll be posting about ipsy, but for now I'll just say I ADORE IT! It's only $10/month for 5 high-end products/month. You should sign up to get it too, with this link. :) 

(I get free makeup when 5 people sign up through my link.)

I use my blush brush and my Eyeshadow "C" Brush, both by eyeslipsface, for bronzer. The blush brush applies around my hair line and creates "cheekbones" on my cheeks. The eyeshadow brush is used to create the contour on my nose. 

So far all that's on my face is the concealer and bronzer, so the lines are harsh. That's done on purpose; the next step evens it all out.

Not gonna lie, that rogue eyebrow hair is driving me crazy.

Step 5: Foundation

I use Bare Minerals Matte foundation, and because I'm poor, I mix it with High Definition loose powder by eyeslipsface, to make it last longer. I apply this mixture with the angled blush brush from eyeslipsface.

Tip: If I'm going out at night, I will do foundation before bronzer, so my contour lines are a bit more pronounced. Day makeup calls for a smoother look, so foundation is further down the list. 

I need very little foundation after my concealer and bronzer have done all the leg work, so my foundation lasts several months.

These pictures aren't the best, but as you can see, I've eliminated the look of the current acne and the acne scars. The dark circles under my eyes still exist (they are basically just an unsurmountable force), but much better than they started out. 

That's it for the face. After I did this, I applied eye makeup, eyebrows, and lipstick You can find the tutorial for that here. But just so we're clear, I recommend doing your eye makeup before your face, in case you have excess eyeshadow land on your cheeks. 

Have fun experimenting, and leave me a comment pretty please!

Alternative Smokey Eye

If you don't have a large eyelid (or even if you do), this is a good alternative to the original smokey eye. It's the exact same process, but only covers the lid, leaving the upper half of your lid as highlight.

Smokey pallet by NYX - an $8 alternative to the $53 Naked pallet

I want to show you the way I do a smokey eye, and a few extra tips along the way about eyebrows and mascara. Try to bear with me, as this post required a lot of pictures. 

Oh, and I'm not sponsored, even though it sounds like it. I just really love eyeslipsface products, so I use a lot of them. :)

These are the four makeup brushes I use to do my eye makeup every day. 

The far left is a Sonia Kashuk brush I've had forever, which is good for applying mass amounts of color. The second to the left is e.l.f. essential defining eye brush, my all-time favorite brush. The third is the e.l.f. Studio line small angled brush, and the fourth is the e.l.f. Studio line contour brush. 

No, I'm not exaggerating. I use four makeup brushes just for my eyelids. There is no other way to achieve these precise looks, so if you've been attempting it with just one brush (or God forbid, that little spongey applicator that came with the pallet), you've found your first problem.

I'm going to show you Smokey by NYX and Sex Bomb by NYX. I got them for about $8 each and you can find them pretty much anywhere. 

I use these two pallets together, because I like two or three of the colors from each. You don't need both, you can do this look with either one of these pallets, but I use both, so that's what I show here.

STEP 1: Start with your absolute lightest color (for this I used the one that's almost white). Your lightest color always goes first, and it's always under your eyebrow (to create a highlight) and around the inner corners of your eyes. Pull the light color down under your eye, by your bottom lashes, to make them stand out a little too.

STEP 2: Next is your second-lightest color. Cover the lid with this color. 

STEP 3: The next darkest color makes a vague triangle around the outer edge and crease. (I prefer purple to blue, but if I had blue eyes, I'd probably choose blue.) If you have small eyelids, skip this step and move straight to step 4. 

STEP 4: This is the part where you start to feel like the Goth from high school. Trust me (and yourself). You have to apply too much to start with, but I promise it will be OK. We'll be blending soon. 

I use the Sex Bomb pallet for this, as I prefer the matte black color to the sparkly black in the Smokey pallet, but it's really whatever you like best. (Any pallet can follow this process, just go from lightest to darkest!)

Your darkest color goes in the crease and makes a triangle at the outer corner. Absolutely none of this color goes in the inner corner! Keep this color away from the light inner corner you already created, or you will look sunken in and dead. Anywhere you put the white, back in Step 1, this color does not go there.

STEP 5: Blend like crazy. You will lose a lot of the color during this process, which is why we put on too much to start with. You are going for smokey, not Cat Woman. 

(OK, maybe a little bit of Cat Woman.) 

After you blend, add a little of the cream color wherever your dark color ended up and you didn't want it. (Tip: by now my tissue is filthy... this process is messy. I usually don't do my foundation until after my eye makeup, but I didn't want to scare you guys!)

STEP 6: Eyeliner - I use e.l.f. eye brightening eyeliner ($1) for the bottom lid and e.l.f. liquid eyeliner ($1) for the top. 

STEP 7: Eyebrows and mascara

The picture below was taken to show you why I fill in my eyebrows. I have a lot of "how do you do your eyebrows?" comments, and I have to say, I don't do anything special. I pluck them every single day before I do my makeup, and I fill them in with e.l.f. eyebrow kit in Dark. My eyebrows are naturally black, but as I get older they are less full, and I find it makes a big difference to fill them in. (Try to ignore the eyebrow hair on the left which is currently on strike.)

As you know, my favorite mascara changes by the minute. (You already know I LOVE the 3D fiber lashes, but I don't use them every day.) For every day mascara I use Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express: Cat Eyes.

I have two tubes of this because when I buy a new one, I hold onto the old one as long as I can stand it (and extend its life with this trick). The new one gives me the dramatic affect I'm ultimately going for, but the older one gives me the volume to build on. If the first coat of mascara is too new, it's too wet, and will just clump all ugly-like. First coat: older tube of mascara, second coat: new tube of mascara. Don't forget to curl your eyelashes before the mascara! If you do it after it makes the clumping much worse.

(If you find this look doesn't work well on you, try the alternate smokey eye, 

which you can find here.)

That's all I have for you. Thanks for reading!

Leave a comment, pretty please! 

And if you can share this post, that would be pretty sweet of you as well. :)

Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes - my new(est) favorite thing!

I posted my first impressions about this mascara on facebook after my first application. My sister came along and said, "You should probably let people know you aren't being paid to promote this brand." It hadn't occurred to me that it sounded like an advertisement; I was just raving about it because I loved it!

Here are the original pictures from my first use: 

This was one application, without my usual mascara under the Younique mascara.

These pictures were taken with my phone, so the quality wasn't very good, and I wanted to try them a couple more times before I went telling y'all to buy it. I love you too much to recommend a product that only worked out on a fluke! 

After 1 coat Palladio 4D Boost mascara

2 coats Palladio 4D Boost mascara - my regular mascara

I have heard a million mixed reviews on the Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes mascara. I've heard people say they LOVE them because they look like false lashes without having to apply false lashes. I've also heard people say they are messy, clumpy, and an overall disappointment. Here's my advice:

Bear in mind that mascara is like a new haircut - you are going to feel differently about it than someone else would! The product you use every day on your delicate lashes is an incredibly personal choice. Not everyone's lashes are the same (just like the hair on your head), and not everyone will want the same effect. I, personally, love a dramatic effect. I like my eyes to pop; I like the dramatic eye shadows, etc. If you are in the market for natural-looking eyelashes, this probably isn't the product for you. Having said that, however, my favorite part about this mascara is how many different ways you can wear it. It can be barely noticeable or give the effect of falsies, depending on how you apply it. I don't really see why you would be buying this if you were looking for a dramatic effect.

Step 1: Apply one coat Transplanting Gel
This gives the fibers something to hold onto,
so obviously you can't skip this step.
It feels/looks like regular mascara.

Step 2: Apply one coat Fiber Lashes. These are literal fibers,
like tiny feathers or bits of fabric. That's why they don't look smooth.

This picture shows the feather-like fibers a little better.
I imagine this part is why some users are calling it "messy".
As you can see in the next picture,
the extra fibers can simply be brushed off your face.

That one part of my left eye got a little clumpy,
but an eyelash comb took care of that.

Um, yeah. These are awesome.  

The lashes are literally longer because the fibers
 attach themselves to the end of your eyelashes and stick there.

Step 3: Add another coat of Transplanting Gel
on top of the loose fibers, to seal them on.
(If you aren't doing this step, you are probably hating this stuff!
I can see how it would get in your eyes if you didn't seal it properly.)

They look like my false lashes do, but no glue and no stiff feeling!

From now on I will be using them without the layer of my own mascara under the fiber lashes. I think the extra layer of my usual mascara made them more clumpy than I would like. The first day, when I used only the 3D fiber lash mascara, I did not have a clumping/spider-lash problem at all.

So there you have it! Now the important part: Where can you buy it? It IS a little pricey, but I promise you it's worth the price, and it lasts a really long time! Especially if you save it for special occasions. :) 

Morgan Hardman Younique Products

Morgan's family

This is Morgan's adorable little girl. 

Stole this from her Instagram to show you guys:

"Moms with dancers, pageant girls, or just a girl who loves to play dress up, these are perfect!
Super easy to apply, gives great length for any dance recital, pageant day, or pictures!"

I'm not going to lie and say your only option to get this mascara is through this link. But I AM going to say I would greatly appreciate if you were to buy through my link, so we can support my long-time friend Morgan, who brought this product to me and let me share it with all of you! 

Let me know what you think, in the comments. I'd love to hear about your experience.