ELF Beautifully Bare Natural Glow Face Palette: A Review

I have had my eye in this for a long long time, but I’ve never been able to give myself a legitimate reason for buying it… until now. Now that I have my own blog, I can buy things I want as an excuse to review them! I am hella glad that I got this, because it’s actually pretty bomb. The bronzer is really nice, it is more neutral of a bronzer so it is perfect for my pale self in the winter. The highlight is kinda like a light champagne but isn’t as dark in the pan as it looks. It’s one of those highlights that melts into the skin and would be great as a lowkey highlight that wouldn’t overpower a look. The blush that is to the right of the highlighter… yikes. It takes a lot of work for this one to show up, and the with the swatches pictured (second swatch) it barely shows up in natural light. I had to swirl my finger over and over and over and press super hard to get it to show up, and I had to layer it up this blush is more peach toned whereas the second blush is rosier. The rosy blush is okay, once again it takes more work for it to show up, but it isn’t as bad as the peach one.

Overall I really like this palette. The blushes kinda mehh but the bronzer and highlight are good. This palette would be good for someone who is a minimalist with their makeup or is going for a natural look. I don’t think this would show up on skin that is deeper than medium. This palette retails for $8 at ELF.com.

IPSY Bag Review: October

I recently received my October IPSY bag last week, and I’ve made my opinions. For those of you who don’t know what IPSY is, it is a monthly subscription based service. Coming in at $10, you get five products to try and a bag every month. For the most part, the higher end products will be minis, and the lower end products tend to be full-sized. I’ve had an IPSY subscription for almost a year, however, this is my first review of a bag. So, let’s get into it!

The bag this month is so. freaking. cute! It speaks to my inner vampire. The bag is a red printed lace on (faux?) leather. The inside of the bag is kinda like a cheap raincoat fabric but seems pretty durable. Plus, it has an adorable little bat on the zipper, a subtle yet effective touch. This is probably one of my top five bags I’ve gotten this year.

Meech and Mia Loose Eyeshadow in Purple

 

This. This is probably one of the best things I’ve ever gotten in an IPSY bag. At first, I was a little skeptical on how nice this would be, but I am not disappointed. This is kinda an iridescent purple with a gray undertone. I thought this would go gray on me and wouldn’t look purple on my lids, but it looks SO vibrant. This is the perfect addition for a smokey eye.

Would I Buy This? YES

tarte deluxe lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara

This is my second favorite thing this month. One thing you should know: my lashes are naturally long, thick(ish), black, and curly. So, it really doesn’t take much for my lashes to look good. I like this mascara because it separates my lashes pretty good and also lengthens them, however, I didn’t notice much thickening

Would I Buy This: ehhhh, maybe if I was out of mascara and I saw it in a trial size.

Dermelect Cosmeceuticals: Dermelect ‘Me’ in Verdure

This is okay. It’s a nice color. It has a normal staying power. It’s a hunter green….. I don’t know what else to say

Would I Buy This? eh. no.

Marc Anthony: Hydrating Coconut Oil & Shea Butter Oil Treatment

Well. I tried this once, and then it leaked all over my counter top, so there’s that. The first time I did use this, I had to use a lot because I have thick hair. It was just okay.

Would I Buy This? heck no

Urban Decay: 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion

Well, I hate to do this, but I don’t use eyeliner (shocking I know). So, instead of using this product, I will be donating it.

Would I Buy This? not today Satan, not today.

 

Redeemed from Ipsy Points:

For those of you who don’t know, you can gain IPSY points by referring people to IPSY or reviewing your bags. You can redeem this brushes for items.

Crown Brushes: C441 Pro Blending Crease Brush

Bruh. I have some VERY strong words to say about this. I’ll save you the time and tell you that IT SUCKS! It’s scratchy, it shed at least 1/5 of its bristles, it frayed and every time I use it, it gets worse and worse. I’m seriously considering contacting IPSY for a points refund.

Would I Buy This? girl bye!!

Overview:

Overall, this isn’t the best bag I’ve ever gotten but it sure isn’t the worst. Is it worth ten dollars? Oh yeah. If I saw it a store would I buy it? Honestly? Probably not.

Ulta Beauty Color Correcting Foundation & Primer Stick: A Review

I went to Ulta recently and tried to find something I thought was out of the box and different from anything I’ve tried before, and I think I’ve done just that. This foundation/primer is unique because it has a green center. There are a couple of reasons why this could be my dream come true product:

1. I am HELLA lazy and I love me a good time saver
2. I get out of my bed 0.000001 second before I need to be in my car on my way to school (at seven in the morning, mind you)
3. My skin is quite red, so I basically have to put green color correcter all over my face anyway

So, this product is essentially three of my beauty steps in one. Coming in at $14 and 0.25 oz, I think it’s not a bad price point. One bad thing, however, is the shade range. It has only a mere eight shades. It is a pretty good gradient, except there are lots of light and medium but only two dark shades. The tone of the color corrector for the darker shades might be too light and might make you look ashy. My shade in the range is fair porcelain, the lightest shade. When I swatched it in store, it seemed like it would be too light for me but it’s actually pretty spot on, just a little bit lighter than my skin tone. Along with fair skin, I also have neutral-warm undertones. The second lightest shade is very pink, and pink does not look good on ya girl, and the third lightest shade (which an Ulta rep. recommended for me) would have looked like I smeared cream contour all over my face. So I said screw it and bought the lightest shade, and I’m glad I did.

When I put this one in the morning it looked pretty good, but as they day wore on it got worse and worse and worse. See, my skin is very oily, and it basically slipped and broke down all over my T-Zone and surrounding areas. It made my skin look very textured and clung to all the hair on my face and made it stand out more. It made me want to wipe it off of my face. When I got home from school, I tried some different methods to try and make this work because I really wanted it to work. I tried several different setting powders to try and set it, and they all made my skin look extremely textured. The green also settled into my nostrils, which can commonly happen with green color correctors. I think the finish is just too wet to set it, and it soaks up the powder as soon as you apply it. It says on the website that the finish is supposed to be dewy, so I tried one last time to make it work by not setting it. Once again, it looked really good when I first applied it, but after a couple of hours it disintegrated on my oily skin. It also made me look a little washed out because of the green core. It was very full coverage and made my skin look very good at first, however, towards the end of the day it sat on top of my skin and made my skin look very textured. Also, it made my skin look kinda wet, which I know some people like but I’m more of a mette kinda girl myself. Cream products worked very well with it, but I can’t imagine you could use powder products with it. I won’t be using it under foundation because if it didn’t work well on its own it’s not gonna work well under foundation.

The stick itself is very creamy, almost too creamy. It is very easy for the stick to get muddy. Also, if you use it at an angle the green center will wear down a bit slower than the stick. Be careful in regard to how much you roll up the stick because it might break or shift at the base because the formula is so soft. As I used it, it would break and shift and it was very messy. I feel like I actually used quite a bit because of how creamy it is. The inside of the tube is caked with product.

So, who would I recommend this product for? If you are fair to medium skin toned, have redness everywhere, don’t like to wear a ton of makeup, like a very dewy finish, and have pretty much flawless skin, then maybe this will work for you. But, don’t take my word for it. This is just my opinion, and it does have a 4.4 rating on Ulta’s website with 700 reviews, so I guess somebody likes it. In the reviews I did see some people using this a concealer, which is a smart idea. I won’t be doing that, however, because I am done trying to make this work for my skin type. Just because it doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you!

Ulta, World Market, and T.J. Maxx Haul

If I had to describe my style, I would say this: If Morticia Addams and Victoria Beckham had a love child, and its babysitter was Marzia Bisognin plus its grandmother was Hillary Clinton, that would be my style. Also, add bell sleeves to every shirt I own.

That being said, let’s take a look at the weird assortment of things I (aka my mom) bought over the past few days.

First up, Ulta

This is one I didn’t think I’d be purchasing again. I have acne-prone skin, which can get irritated kinda easily. This means I have a ton of redness and I use a ton of potentially skin irritating products to treat my acne. I bought this over the summer and I liked it because it was very cooling and also soothed my irritated skin. With the seasons changing, I decided to buy it again so I could use it when my skin is inflamed. One thing I do not like about it is that the sprayer is not a good one. I would not use this to set makeup because the spray is nowhere near Urban Decay’s. I do like the scent however.

This next one was an impulse buy. This is a primer/foundation with a green core. As I mentioned before, my skin is very red. Like, pretty much everywhere. The shade ranges on this are less than satisfactory. Coming in at a whopping eight shades, it might be hard to find a shade that matches well. I haven’t tried this yet besides swatching in store, but I’m probably going to look like a ghost if I use this by itself. I will do a dedicated review on this, so stay tuned!

This is one of my staples in my bathroom, and I almost ran out of it today. I mostly use it for days that I have greasy hair, but I also like how it gives me a little volume. It really does soak up the grease and leaves hair looking refreshed. This one is in brunette, and it smells so good. If you plan on buying this, shop the different types and find what will be best for you.

World Market:
If you don’t know what World Market is, I’m so sorry. Basically, World Market has everything from food to furniture, but it’s mostly stuff from or inspired by other countries.

One thing you should know about me is that I loooove dots. So, when I saw this in World Market I nearly screeched. For some reason, I’m actually in the Christmas Spirit this year (probably all the new makeup coming out tbh). However, I wouldn’t buy this again. The red and green is fine, but I don’t like the weird vanilla part. I finished the box though because I have no self-control.

If I could eat one of these every night, I would. I wish I could get a giant Costco sized box of these bad bois. Have you ever wanted cake but you didn’t want to make one / go out and buy one? If so, then this is for you! Its cake, that you make in a mug *mind blown*. It’s way better than those DIY recipes and tastes like real cake box cake.

If you’ve ever been on a Delta flight and eaten one of these, you’ll know how FREAKING DELICIOUS THESE ARE!!!!!! (No, Delta does not serve Santa cookies they serve the regular rectangular kind). Whenever my dad went on a business flight, he would always save these for me and ask the flight attendants for more because he knew I loved them so much and he didn’t know where to get them. We found them at World Market about a year ago and it was the best day of my life. They taste like if you made autumn into a cookie.

T.J. Maxx:

Guess what I’m going to wear this shirt with? If you guessed black pants and black shoes, you’re correct!! This shirt makes me feel like a *~fierce~* Morticia Addams.

Ah yes, more bell sleves! I don’t have many sweaters, and I don’t have this color in my closet so I am excied to wear this.