It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Celebration Palette FOTD

 I told myself I didn't need the It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Celebration Palette ($42), but alas, I found myself picking this up in ULTA...and not putting it back down again.  The warm neutrals in both warm and cool shades paired with the silky smooth texture had me in love at first swatch.

First, the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. 

And it gets better when you open it.

FOTD with some new items! Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee

 In the middle of all my essay writing and studying, it is only natural that I would do a little.....okay, a lot of hauling to tide me over.  Unfortunately, as busy as I was, I didn't actually get to wear any of what I bought until this week, making this a very fun week of trying and wearing new products.  It 
has resulted in me wearing possibly every new product I have at once, but at least now my mornings are a little more exciting!

Today, I will be featuring the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Berry Bliss, a deep wine shade that lightly stains the cheeks for an all day wear.  I've had my eye on this product for months now, and I'm so glad I was finally able to pick it up during the sales this year.

I was looking something to make me look flushed, and Berry Bliss looked like the best shade, although some of the other shades looked gorgeous as well.

It looks pretty scary in the pan, but swatched and on the cheeks it is a sheer and natural looking berry shade.  I think even very fair skintones would be able to pull this off because it is so sheer upon first pass, but it is definitely buildable.

Exploring Art Deco: Eyeshadows, Blush, and FOTD

I first heard about Art Deco a few years ago before I knew anything about German makeup and have been trying to get my hands on it ever since.  For some reason, I really love the idea of being able to build my own palette, and Art Deco has plenty of options for doing so with their assortment of blushes and eyeshadows.

The first time I was in Germany, I picked up a couple of eyeshadows, which I love dearly, but I've found some real winners this time in the collection as well.

Catrice Metallure Luminizing Bronzer - Rosy Gold Gallore

Although I'm in no short supply of highlighters, I can't seem to resist a good highlighter when I see one.  During a little foray through the aisles in the German drugstore, I stopped in my tracks at the new Catrice display with some beautiful metallic eyeshadows, nail polishes, lipsticks....and this beauty.

Rose Gold Perfection.

This was one of those products that I knew was going to be mine, even as I tried to convince myself out of buying it.  I was able to pass on the rest of the collection, but a "luminizing bronzer" light enough as a highlighter on my skin is actually something new to my collection.

Hot Off the Shelves: Kiko Daring Game Collection and Queen of Hearts Eyeshadow Palette (review and tutorial)

Stumbling into another Kiko store, I picked up some of the remaining items that I wanted to buy before going back to the states (which I'll be compiling a huge post for soon!), I was about to check out before I realized that I missed an entirely new display in the store. 

It seemed to be completely new, as the testers looked barely touched, and I can't even find it online on the website yet, but everything was gorgeous.   I had to exercise restraint not to buy everything in the collection.  Although I didn't take pictures of the display (oops), it seemed to be designed after a deck of cards.  Everything was card (aka rectangular) shaped in a white pearly packaging with an image of a suit on the front. The image is metallic and reflects light beautifully.  I believe that all the palettes have a different color, as well!  Kiko always impresses me with its packaging - I love standard black packaging, and I'm sure that that's the reason I'm so drawn to Kiko in the first place, but their limited edition packaging is always so unique and well thought out that they deserve extra points for that, too.

Although I've been saving all my recently acquired items for a master post later on, I wanted to try this out and let you all know to be on the lookout for this in your Kiko stores.  It wasn't too hard for me to walk away from the blush palettes since I could think of a dupe I already had for most of the shades but oh lord the eyeshadow palettes.  There were three that looked equally gorgeous, but I made myself choose just one.  It wasn't hard.  It was the neutral one. 

To be fair, it reminds me of the MAC  x Pedro Lourenco nude quad that I lusted after, but decided not to buy.  This quad had the same rosy neutral shades, but for much less money.  I could see myself using this one to death, especially as fall rolls around.

Even the outer packaging of this is gorgeous!  I think I'll definitely be saving the box of this one.

Most of the items in the collection (bronzer, blush, and eyeshadow palettes) were 14,90.

Read after the jump for my thoughts, swatches, and a full face look!

Summer Clothes Update and a FOTD

I'm not one to buy new clothes very often - usually just one or two things here and there, but I really only go out with the intention of buying multiple things a few time a year.  Now that summer is here, it was time to update my closet with some essential I've been meaning to get.

Wandering through my usual stores - Forever 21, H&M, J. Crew - I found some good gems.  I also hit up Old Navy and Uniqlo and found more great items.  I really only bought bottoms - shorts, skirts, and dresses because I'm fairly satisfied with the tops in my collection

I didn't take a photo of everything as I haven't found the best lighting to take photos of it....but these things are so simple that I didn't take pictures of it all.

For the ones that did make it into the photo....

For all of who comment on my neutral clothing, here's some orange and purple for you ;)

For more of my picks and a recent FOTD, keep reading!

A Little Haul (NYX and Real Techniques) and What Goes On A Face - FOTD

I don't know what spring break means for you - but it certainly doesn't mean sitting in my room writing a paper the entire week.  Alas, my spring break was not full of sun, beaches, warm weather, or too much of a "break," at all, but at the end of the day, I'm actually glad I had time to work on my homework without having to worry about class for a week. (Note that this is the life of an overachieving nerd, and I'm desperately hoping it will all pay off in the end)  

BUT, I did manage to get a few things done. Beauty-related things, too!  I bought makeup for the first time since January...a BIG deal for someone as beauty and makeup obsessed as me.  And I only managed to spend $20..not too bad, right?  

Here's the damage:

To see more details (and swatches), as well as how I incorporated these into a look (plus a haircut), keep reading!

FOTD Catch Up #5439503

I seem to always have a backlog of FOTD's to show.  I take pictures of what I wear fairly frequently, but as for updating them here....well that obviously hasn't been going so well.

Here is a backlog of some FOTD's that I've done in the past couple months.  I honestly can't remember some of what I used, but I did my best to list whatever I did use!  Something in common with all of these photos is that I used the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette.  It has definitely aided in giving me a more flawless glowy look.  I never thought I would fall for the hype, but the palette is a total must-have in my routine! 

For this first one, the focus is on the lips - I used a pair from my  January favorites, the Clinique Berry Freeze lipstick with the Milani Crystal Gloss in Baby Love layered over it.

 

To see more faces and the products I used, click below!

Shop Your Stash: August Edition and some FOTD

With a new month comes a whole new round of the Shop Your Stash project with new rediscovered products to try!  As I've mentioned before, I like doing this to really go through items in my collection I might have not used in awhile and to find new ways to use them.  After two months of doing this, I can say that it's going well and I'm definitely finding new products in my collection that I've forgotten about.

For those new to my blog, the Shop Your Stash project has a couple guidelines:

• I pick 20 - 25 face, eye, and lip products that I want to use more often in the month

• I have to use each product at least two times in the month

Without further ado, here are this month's selections!

Keep reading to see more details and swatches of all of the products!

Another collection of FOTD's

I seem to be failing at putting up my faces of the day, but here they are from the past week!

Click for the products used and tons more looks!

Faces of the Day: A Compilation of Looks

Once again, I have fallen behind on my postings.  I like keeping a collection of the looks I do just to see how my tastes change, the products I use, and for inspiration.

Without any babbling this time, here are the most recent faces I've done recently:

Keep reading to see breakdowns and more looks!

Review - Vincent Longo Lip and Cheek Gel Stain: Keeping It Fresh and Light for Summer!

Once it starts getting really warm around here (aka real summer), I have to start being a little more tactical about my makeup.  I can't just throw on any old product and expect it to last throughout the day, so my most long-wearing and fuss-free makeup comes out to play during this time. 

Although a post is coming up featuring some summer/hot weather essentials, I wanted to dedicate this post to the Vincent Longo Lip and Cheek Gel Stain in My Sunshine.

Keep reading to see my thoughts on it and how I like to wear it!

SOTD and some unusual combinations

I know you all want to know what's in this:

I didn't have any bananas around so I modified it a little bit, and the result was a great protein packed post-workout smoothie.

You're probably also wondering what silver looks like over brown, and what teal glitter looks like over pink lipstick.

Read on to see what I managed to do! 

Quick FOTD and update!

 Road trip prepping is hard work. I despise eating fast food and will do anything to avoid it when I'm on the road. This led me to prepare snacks and easy car meals (i.e. zucchini pasta) for the better part of the night last night. Chopped peppers, celery, no-bake energy bites (pictures of that coming soon), zucchini pasta, and fruit galore! As a result, I didn't start packing until midnight, after which I was already half asleep and could not bear the thought of typing up my intended post of my favorite travel items. On another note, if you follow my instagram, you'll see that I got my haircut...finally. Instead of my normal you-can-barely-tell-i-got-a-haircut trim, I chopped off about 5 inches and had it thinned out a bit, something I haven't done in awhile. I think this length suits me better, but its not as effortless and requires a bit more thought and styling sometimes. Gone are the days where I can just let it be free and completely natural, but I really only need a styling cream in addition to my leave-in conditioner now, so I shouldn't be complaining. I don't have to style it, but it does look better straightened or curled. I'm kind of excited to curl it again, as I didn't like my longer, thicker hair curled before, but I generally hate styling my hair.. I have NO idea how I used to do it everyday in high school, and I haven't actually used heat on my hair for almost two years now unless its a special occasion. As a result, my hair has been visibly healthier, shinier, stronger, and split-end free, so hopefully I can still keep the heat styling to a minimum.

Now that I've blabbered on, here is my FOTD with a picture of my new length. Its quite similar to my old cut, but there are more layers, angles, and its been thinned out a little.

Since my makeup was already packed, I used completely different products today, and also tried out the Physician's Formula Eye Booster Liquid Eyeliner, since my favorite Maybelline Eye Stiletto is running out.

First Impressions: Is this supposed to be Ultra Black? I had to go over the lines multiple times to make it as black as my Maybelline liner. Maybe I just got a dud, but the color payoff is not impressing me. What is impressing is the fine tipped brush that makes it really easy to draw a thin line.

Products Used-
Face:
Revlon Colorstay Mousse Foundation (discontinued) mixed with a little bit of MAC Face and Body for color
Revlon Photoready Cream Blush in Coral Reef
Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer
Sonia Kashuk Barely There Loose Powder
Physicians Formula Healthy Wear SPF 50 Light Bronzer
Sugar Gingerbread Blush (discontinued)
Benefit SunBeam highlighter
ELF Golden Bronzer


Eyes:
NYX HD Eye Primer
L'oreal HIP Eyeshadow Stick (discontinued, color name rubbed off)
Sonia Kashuk Perfectly Neutral palette: champagne shade and brown on lower lid
Physicians Formula Eye Booster Eyeliner
Max Factor False Lash Effect WP


Lips:
Neutrogena Moisture Shine in Nectar (discontinued)
Vincent Longo Lipgloss in Dolce


Posts on my energy bites (or the new crack, this stuff is amazing), travel makeup, and pictures of my favorite place in the world (or at least the US) coming soon!

Crazy for Chia Seeds! + A New Highlighter to Love

Chia seeds have quickly gone to the top of my list of foods to be eating everyday.  I add them to everything - tea, milk, oatmeal, granola, smoothies.  Its omega-3 and fiber content make it a great addition to everything, especially because of its mild flavor.

I had previously heard of chia seed pudding, but never tried it out until yesterday.  I didn't get very creative, and I only followed a recipe from Peanut Butter Fingers, but it was DELICIOUS anyway!  I can't wait to get more fruits to incorporate into it. 



I used the same recipe, but added slightly more of everything. A little mishap also caused me to add more sugar than intended...I meant to only add 1 tsp, but it ended being around 2 1/2.  It wasn't too sweet, but it didn't quite make it into a low sugar dessert like I planned to.

Chia seed noms.

 Continue reading to see my recipe, and a new highlighter that gives me a perfect glow!

FOTD: ...And the Color Finally Arrives!

This wasn't the look I had originally wanted to do - the one I had planned was actually an all blue look, but at the last minute, I decided to add in a neutral gold on the lid instead.  I remember now why I don't usually play around with color anymore - it takes so much time to find all the right tones to go together!  When I only have 20 minutes to get ready, it can be hard to find just the perfect shades, and I haven't quite gotten to the point where I can naturally figure out what shade should come next.  Hopefully I can figure that out this summer!

Read on for more pictures and the products I used:

It's Bright Lip Season....

Actually, who am I kidding...every season is bright lip season, but I don't always wear bright lips during the day.  I try to reserve it for nights out, but yesterday seemed like the perfect day to bust out my bright pink lipstick.

I also wore Covergirl's Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation on its own yesterday, hoping to check out its wear and full coverage on me.  I would say that was a fail since I ended up being outside for an hour, stomping around a park with one of my friends, but I am pleased with what I see so far.

It has a nice almost gel-type consistency, and it spreads out to a nice medium coverage.  I needed concealer to cover up some of my darkest spots, but it covered everything else up perfectly.  My shade is in 857 Golden Tan, and it matched pretty well, but it seemed just a smidge too pink.  It's not enough to really notice unless I don't blend it in well enough.  I would say that this also photographs pretty well, even in flash:

Read on to see more photos, as well as my most recent read:

Perfecting the art of the natural look

While I love a perfectly made of face complete with bronzer, blush, highlighter, sometimes I just want a lighter look.  Especially as the weather gets warmer (with the exception of today's 55 degree weather), layering on a full coverage foundation puts me at risk of having a melted face at the end of the day.

Tinted moisturizers are perfect for creating a natural look with their light coverage while still evening my skin out.  I mixed Covergirl's Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation  just to get a perfect color match, but I don't think I added enough to really amp up the coverage that much.  

I haven't perfected the minimalist look using just around 5 products, but I'm getting there!  There's something liberating about just wearing a few products on my face.

  
I guess the eyeliner doesn't make it a perfect "natural" look, but I couldn't resist...the best way that I've found to define my eyes without using a black eyeliner is by using a charcoal liner.  It subtly darkens my eyelashes without actually creating a definite line, making it perfect for those I-don't-want-to-look-like-I'm-wearing-makeup-but-I-actually-am days.

Here's what I used-
Face:
Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer mixed with a drop of Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous Foundation - also used as concealer (multitasking!)
Sephora Mattifying Foundation
Vincent Longo Water Canvas blush in Aqua Crimson (I finally finished this today..hooray!)
theBalm Frat Boy

Eyes:
Milani Liquif'eye 
Revlon Colorstay eyeliner in Charcoal on lower lashes 
Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara

Brows: Revlon Brow Fantasy

Lips:
Neutrogena Moistureshine Lipstick in Nectar

I'm a load of contradictions, aren't I?  Between natural-no makeup days, and challenges to put more color on my face, I can't make up my mind!

SOTD: Smoothie of the Day and FOTD where I'm actually wearing color??

I'm addicted to smoothies. I can't help it - they're so incredibly easy to make, are refreshing for the warmer days we've been having, and are a great way to fill my sugar cravings.  I find that whenever I drink my smoothies, the fiber in them keeps my so full that I have no desire to snack on anything else, which was always a problem for me.  

My next experimentation is extremely refreshing, and has a great balance of a tart and sweet flavor.  It's also a nice tropical-inspired smoothie, including kiwis, bananas, and pineapple.  I typically don't like eating either kiwis or pineapple for their texture, but I love the taste of them in a juice!  I added in kale to sneak in some fiber, and right before I started blending, I added in some flax seeds as well.

All the ingredients jumbled in together!

 Read on to see the exact recipe!

Feeling Coral

I have a full blown obsession with the Estee Lauder Pure Color Blush in Naughty.  It is the perfect bright red coral that with the right stippling brush (Sonia Kashuk Highlighting brush anyone?), gives me the perfect flush.  I'm actually not sure I've loved a blush more, except for MAC's Fleur Power when I first got it a few years ago.  It still remains as one of my favorites, with its shiny new sister from Estee Lauder.

Paired with MAC's Refined Mineralized Skin Finish, it is a coral-bronze glowy heaven.

Read on to see swatches and how I wore this!