Beat the Heat Makeup

While the August usually signals the beginning of the end of summertime, I can assure you that the heat is still going strong here in DC.  I've compiled a few things that have helped keep my makeup on throughout the day  and they have quickly become some staple products.

Travel Makeup for Long Trips - packing the essentials

What do I do when I have to pack for a 5 week trip with only a 55L backpack and a smaller regular sized backpack?  Pack the essentials, make sure everything is absolutely fool-proof, and use as many space saving solutions as possible. 

For my first packing post, I thought I would show you how I packed my makeup, and how I managed to pare everything down to the bare essentials (sort of) for a 5 week trip.  Except for my lip products...because when I keep my eyes simple I need to have options with my lip products. I'm quite proud of everything else that I packed, as now that I'm back from the trip I can safely say that I used everything, but wasn't lacking anything!

The trick for me was packing as many travel sized/samples of products as possible for me.  I basically amassed everything I could find in a travel size and brought them with me.  This includes travel size brushes, and *shudder*..using sponge-tip applicators as my eye brushes!

How it all fit in my two makeup bags, complete with foundation spills.

A Desperate Peachy-Pink Call for Spring

By now it should be known that my monthly favorites will be at least a week late, but it will be more like two weeks late.  Time just has this funny way of escaping me when it comes to things like this....

BUT this month (or should I say last month?) was different.  I had planned to do everything on time, until I looked around and realized I didn't really have too many favorites.  Then I looked at the few things I had together, and realized they were all kind of the same thing.

Case in point.

 I think the fact that all of these are basically the same color but with slightly varying tones indicates that I'm emerging out of my winter and cold weather-induced berry and plum toned blush selections to lighter pink and gold tones.  I am officially ready for spring even though I was able to enjoy the bitter cold better than most...but I'm ready for warmer weather and sunny days where I don't have to layer 48932 shirts underneath a puffy coat.

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!

January Favorites

Ever on time as always, I present to you my favorite products from January!  

January was a hectic month in terms of real life, but ever since I decided to go on a no-buy, I've definitely been shopping my stash more.  

Beauty-wise, this month has been all about skin!  (hint: many dewy skin products ahead!) When I haven't been in the mood (or had the time) to go all out on my eyes, I focused on having flawless and GLOWY skin.  I know winter is usually the season for mattes, but something about the cold weather makes me want to look as dewy as possible.  

Since I was always rushing, I didn't do much in the way of lips this month, but my Too Faced palette and face products got a fair bit of use...

December Empties

The end of December (and the end of the year) has completely snuck up on me with the craziness of finals and the holidays.  I haven't even had much time to browse around my favorite blogs...yet somehow I've managed to do some serious online shopping.  While another fashion post is in the midst, today I bring to you a satisfying post to write.  

Empties.  I always love writing and reading these because it's a fantastic way to show what products I have liked to actually completely finish using, as well as proof that I am actually using the products I own!  With as much makeup as all us beauty junkies have, using up products is a testament to a good stash rotation ;)

Since I took these photos about a week ago, I had a batch of products that were *almost* done, but I added them in anyway because I didn't want to hold on to them for much longer.

Missing from this picture: another bottle of my Clinique Acne Solutions Toner!  I use this stuff up every few months.

For my skincare and body products, I am actually surprised I managed to use up to bottles of body lotion within 4 months of my previous empties post.  I love the Pacifica body butters, and will definitely be purchasing them again in the future!  I also finally used up the Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil, that I wish I still had since it  is still the most effective product for taking off all my makeup with one step.  I'm lazy to order online, especially since more beauty brands are coming out with cleansing oils, but I may be tempted to order this again if I don't find an adequate replacement!  The Suave Everlasting Sunshine Body Wash was pretty good if nothing too special for me.  I loved the fresh floral smell of this the most, but it didn't linger or moisturize my skin to well.  Lastly, I am so so so happy I finished the tiny sample of the Kenzo Flower Perfume.  I know some people love this, but I could not stomach this smell at all.  It's a powdery floral scent, but it is WAY too powdery for me to the point that it was nauseating.  I barely even used this before it actually spilled in one of my bags....making my entire bag smell like this.  Not. Good. :(

I finished up a good amount of makeup products, and as you'll see below, there will be even more in just a few weeks! (days at this point..)  I have 3 lip balms to cross off the list, starting with the Revive side of the Blistex lipbalm duo.  I did not like this nearly as much as the Restore side (which I used up awhile back) since I did not feel that it was nearly as moisturizing, but it isn't the worst balm I've ever tried.  I also used up the Jack Black Grapefruit SPF25 lip balm.  I completely fell into the hype of this and understood why everyone is singing its praises.  I absolutely love this, and will be buying this again when I go through some of my other balms!  And finally, after losing it and then refinding it again this year, I was finally able to finish the Neutrogena Naturals Lip balm.  I don't hear many people talking about this balm, but actually found that it was insanely moisturizing for me.  I used it more at night since it doesn't have SPF, so I will also be buying this in addition to the Jack Black lip balms.

The two little samples on the right side are the now discontinued Smashbox Tinted Moisturizer and the Tarte Recreate Silicone Free Primer.  The tinted moisturizer wasn't anything too life-changing..it was sheer and light, but didn't have any effects that I noticed.  Similarly, while the Tarte primer kept my makeup kept my makeup lasting a littttle bit longer, I didn't find that it did much to help my pores.  I'm glad these are finally out of the way, though!

 The makeup products I finished this time around were a long time coming.  I definitely enjoyed the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, which seemed never-ending (in a good way!).  It was great for concealing my dark circles, and even acted double duty to help conceal my blemishes.  Again, I have some other concealers to go through, but I will consider buying this in the future.  The Covergirl Lash Exact Waterproof mascara is a good everyay, defining mascara, but I personally like a little bit of drama to my lashes.  It was good for days that I just needed to throw on mascara since it never clumped, but I still prefer my Maybelline Falsies.  Next, I finished up a mini size of the Stila All-Over Luminizer in Kitten.  It was great for traveling and adding a beautiful glow to my skin, since I prefer liquid highlighters to powder highlighters.  I bought this in a trio with the Bronze and Rose Gold shade awhile back, and look forward to using those as well!  In a valiant effort to use up my eyeliners, I finally (finally!) used up the L'oreal Extra Intense Liquid Eye Pencil in Black.  Now, this was never-ending.  It was a great eyeliner in terms of its intensity and creaminess, but it just seemed like I had this forever. I actually prefer the Milani Liquid Eyeliner Pencil since it is even darker than the L'oreal version.  Lastly, I am just about done with the Milani Radiant Bronzer. I'm not even sure if they sell this anymore, but this was a great bronzer for its matte, but not flat finish and a bronzey glow that warmed up my face well.


Finally, here are some products that are just about finished, but aren't quite there yet.  I imagine that by the end of the month (yikes...4 days!), they will be done.

Starting from the left, I have the Revlon Colorstay Foundation in Warm Golden..which I have had for an embarrassingly long time.  Let's just say that although I love this foundation to death, I'm glad I'm finally finishing this bottle.  Next, the Clinique Take the Day Off Balm has lasted me just about a year, doing its faithful duty of shedding off all my makeup at the end of the day.  Although the Shu Uemura oil was more effective, the fact that the Clinique one was a balm made it much more convenient for all the traveling I did this past year. Since its also easier to acquire, I'm more likely to repurchase this. Now I have a lipstick (?!?!) and even a blush (?!?!...cream, but still).  The Maybelline Moisture Extreme Nude Blush lipstick has been long discontinued, and I was so devastated that I stopped using it for about a year.  Now that I think I have enough dupes (not exact, but close..), I had the heart to pull this out again.  I'm just about near the end of it, and although I'm sad to see it go, I'm glad to clear out this lipstick and use my newer ones.  And the unicorn of all makeup empties.  How often do I use up blushes?  Never.  But since I use pretty much the same cream blush everyday under my powder blushes, they go a lot quicker.  This Topshop Cream Blush in Nutmeg was the perfect everyday soft pink cream blush.  It was pigmented, glided on well, and lasted for a decently long time.  I know this shade doesn't exist anymore, but I will be checking out their other shades whenever I get the chance!

I'm certainly happy with the amount of makeup products I finished, but hopefully I will have even more next time to clear out some of my older products!

Long Time No Talk and some September Favorites

That moment when life starts up again and it seems that I have no time to sit down and relax..I've become so busy that I've even had to hold off on reading blogs, which I used to do every spare moment I had!  My cooking and experimenting has also diminished down to the easiest thing that I can cook.  I'm finally taking a break from studying and working to update you all on some of my favorite products of the month.

There were some victories this month as I found a routine that really worked for me, but that also means that my experimenting has decreased. I've already had a few mornings where I've been rushing and had to grab my "standby" products that I know work well together. That being said, I was still able to find some new favorites in my stash.  Although I did have a "Shop Your Stash" planned, I failed big time at using a lot of the products, meaning that I'm going to repeat whatever I didn't use for October. Hopefully I will have the time to post those products as well as some new products that I will be using!

Without further ado...

I don't have too many favorites, but they definitely were well-loved this month!  Some of these are recurring favorites, or some favorite standby, emergency products, but I needed (and wanted) to use these items more than usual!

The first is MAC Fleur Power.  This has to be my all-time HG blush.  It was one of the first blushes I ever purchased from MAC, and despite using it fairly often, I still have not hit pan on it.  It's a beautiful, intensely pigmented pink-coral blush that automatically brightens up my face.  I've used it almost everyday this month, mainly because it seems to go with everything I wear.  If you don't have this yet, I highly recommend checking it out!

The Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 05 Rosy Brown is a repeat favorite of mine since I featured it over the summer, but I got a lot of use out of it this month for those days that I needed to throw on some quick eyeshadow.  It glides on so easily and gives me the perfect neutral smokey eye.  I also love that it's in a stick form so I don't even need any brushes to apply it!  

I have officially fallen in love with the Stila Smudgestick Eye Liners, especially the shade Lionfish, a great chocolate-bronze shade with some subtle shimmer.  It lasts exceptionally well on my oily skin that seems to eat most eyeliners.  The shade is also that perfect bronze shade that is dark enough to subtly define, while light enough to look natural.

The Neutrogena Naturals Lip Balm has been a standout for me.  I bought this awhile ago and lost it before I was able to use it a lot.  I found it in the bottomless pit tin one of my purses recently and have used it daily ever since.  It's moisturizing enough to use at night and has the perfect creamy, but not too greasy consistency.

Now that the weather is starting to get a little cooler, it's time to bring out my hand cremes again!  I recently purchased the L'occitane Cherry Blossom Hand Creme, and I finally see what all the buzz over these hand cremes is all about.  It's light and it absorbs quickly, but it still gives me hydration.  The smell of this is also absolutely divine.   It's not too cloying but it lingers enough so that I will get slight whiffs of this.  It's perfect for fall, but I sense that it may be a little too light once winter comes around, but I certainly will be enjoying this.

Lipsticks were a big product this month, mostly because it's so much easier to grab a lipstick in the morning to look put together rather than creating an elaborate eye look.  I recently rediscovered the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Blushing Mauve, and it is the perfect fall transition color.  It has slight hints of both pink and berry, and it makes me look put together without having to use a bright lip color.

The Revlon Colorburst Lip Stick in Rosy Nude was definitely my most used lip color this month.  It's a great MLBB lipstick to just thrown on in the morning, but it does a great job of brightening my face.  The formula is also great as I can build it up or just leave it sheer.  

I have been getting into matte lip colors again, leading me to pull out the Wet n' Wild Mega Stay Lipstick in 912C.  This too is a MLBB, but I think the matte finish of this makes it a little different.  I love pairing this with some heavy winged liner since for some reason it reminds me of a 60's Brigitte Bardot look.  The formula on these lipsticks also can't be beat - they're opaque and long-lasting without being drying.

The next product is the Milani HD Lip Color in Ignition - Although I think this is discontinued now (sorry!), this was the perfect lip color to brighten up my face.  I loved using especially when I couldn't find a lip balm in my bag, but still wanted something moisturizing.  This is a great glossy, sheer lipstick that did not dry out my lips!

Even though fall has descended upon us, my residual tan means that my skin is not light enough for my fall/winter highlighters yet so I am still wearing many of my bronzy peachy highlighters, including yes, my beloved MAC Refined MSF. However, this month, I've been reaching for Benefit Sunbeam much more because its liquid consistency gives me a more natural and dewy glow, while just adding that slight bit of moisture that I need now that is a little cooler.  I love that it isn't the typical pearly highlighter - it has a bronze/peach tint to it that gives me a beautiful golden glow.

Here are some swatches of the products:

Milani HD Lipstick in Ignition, WNW 912C, Revlon Colorburst Rosy Glow, Revlon Blushing Mauve, Stila Lionfish, Kiko 05, Benefit Sun Beam, MAC Fleur Power

I didn't realize how similar all the lipsticks were....oops!

With the change in season changes in my schedule, I can't wait to change up my look and start using berry and red lipsticks again!  I think my phase with colorful eye makeup is over, but I'm ready for vampy lips.

What are some changes that you are making for the fall?  Let me know!  Otherwise, let's hope that this time I'll take out some time to breathe and relax...

Finally crawling out of the house...

Finally getting out of the house and looking like a normal human being...

 See the products and a few swatches after the jump!