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.

Some Favorite Summer Bright Lipsticks

Note: Pre-written post from before I started traveling!  I actually didn’t bring most of these with me for my trip, but they are my favorite bright lipsticks, nonetheless.

After a whole slew of travel-related posts, I've come back to dabble in beauty for this post. It's a bit hard to talk about beauty when I'm traveling with just a little makeup bag, but it is one of my favorite subjects to talk about, so I'm taking a little break from travel for now to talk about my favorite summer shades.

Once upon a time, I was very terrified of bright lipstick.  I look back now and scoff at my hesitancy to wear even muted red shades (remember when MAC’s Viva Glam Cyndi was considered an ‘everyday red’ by many?  Not I).  And my brights were quite limited to reds. I shuddered at the thought of wearing purple, or even a bright fuchsia.  However, over the past year, I have slowly become acquainted with the idea of bright lipsticks, slowly building up my tolerance to the point where nothing is too bright for me anymore.  Orange lipstick?  A gateway bright for me.  I’ve moved on neon purple, no longer reserved for special occasions, but for every day activities. 

I think over the past year, my bright lip stick collection has tripled or quadrupled…which is quite easy to do when I only really have one or two lipsticks before.  However, despite my excitement for bright lipstick at any time, summer is the time when they all really come out to play, desperately calling my name while I happily oblige.  

I’ve pulled out some of my favorite bright lipsticks, ranging from the sheer to the fully opaque. For me, the easiest way to get used to the look of bright lipstick on me was to wear sheerish glosses until I finally got too curious for my own good. 

 Read after the jump to see some swatches >>

New in My Life

It's safe to say that my no-buy is officially over. From January to about the middle of March, I kept myself from buying any makeup to 1.) really use what I had and 2.) make an effort to save some money.  It worked for awhile - I was able to resist all the new products, new releases, and I was perfectly content rediscovering and finding new things in my collection.

However, eventually sales and the new summer products got to me and I had to add some new things to my collection.  Needless to say, my makeup buying is back with a bang, and I'm happily rolling in some new products!

I may or may not have jumbled up all my drugstore, Ulta, and other miscellaneous purchases with my Sephora purchases from dramatic purposes.

Click below to see the details!

Fyrinnae: the company that makes me giddy about makeup. Review, Haul, and Swatches!

I don't know what it is, but I've never really been into Indie makeup companies.  I have nothing against them, but I tend to forget about them, despite how FABULOUS they can be.  I think I can safely say that has changed.

Sometime around January, I had a sudden desire to start buying from Indie brands - I have no idea what prompted me to do so, but all of a sudden, I was spending hours browsing through various website and deciding what pigments and eyeshadows to get.  I think what drew me in was how complex different pigments could be - how one taupe shade could somehow have reflective shimmer in every color of the rainbow.  Most mainstream eyeshadow are not that complex, and let's face it - the prices of Indie companies is often more attractive, since a decent sized 1/4 tsp. sample is only around $1.75-$3.  These small samples are the perfect size to try a lot of different shades without having giant sizes of pigments that I'll never finish (MAC, I'm looking at you!)

Enter Fyrinnae into my life.  Within the beauty community, they are probably one of the best and unique Indie makeup companies.  Every time I see a look with Fyrinnae products, I'm kind of starstruck by how gorgeous everything looks.  The only thing that's tricky about Fyrinnae is that it can be difficult to order from them because their website is down a lot.  It's understandable - Fyrinnae is a very small company with a small staff, and since all their batches are handmade, it's easy to get overloaded with orders.  A lot of the times that I wanted to order something from their website, they were not taking orders, so when I saw that they were finally open again in January, I jumped at the chance to try some things out.

After furiously looking up swatches online, here's what I ended up with:

Keep reading for tons of pictures and swatches!

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!

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.

Review and Swatches: A Few of My Favorite Things - this Too Faced Palette for Holiday 2013 is one of them

The holiday offerings from Too Faced always draw me in with their gorgeous packaging, shade selection, and the simple fact that they are always palettes, and I love palettes.  They are a total weakness of mine, and I should know by now that I will always be suckered in, despite how many palettes I already have.

This time I absolutely could not resist.  With the perfect balance of neutrals (because a girl can never have too many neutrals) and some color to spice up my look.  What I like most about the shade selection is that the colors aren’t too bright.  While they will most certainly add something to my look, all of these shades are still in my comfort zone.  That, none of these are BAM out there shades, but are subtle attempts to be “fun” for people like me.

This has already been pretty extensively reviewed, so I’ll try to keep it short.

Look after the jump to see a detailed review and lots of swatches!

Hauling All the Way to the Holidays

Its that time of year again....the time of year that my bank account starts to suffer and weep because of all the beauty deals floating around, namely, the Sephora deals.  It's the only time of year they offer a 20% off discount, causing mass hysteria and panic to buy the most coveted limited edition palettes before they sell out.  In recent years, they've limited the sale to VIB members only, but if you're a beauty crazed addict like me, spending $350 is no big deal.  Plus, I justify it by spending about half that money on skincare, which is absolutely essential and more important than any cosmetic product.

After much planning, I've managed to stock up on skincare and scare some of the holiday offerings at Sephora.  Among the most popular items this year were the Hourglass Ambient Light Palette, Laura Mercier Artist's Palette, and the NARS One Night Stand Blush Palette.

I bought the Hourglass Ambient Light Palette when it first came out, and I'm glad I did because it ended up selling out almost immediately once the VIB sale started.  But for the actual VIB sale, here's what I ordered:

I had originally wanted the Laura Mercier Artist's Palette, but wasn't able to catch it in time, but I think I may like the Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things Palette better.  Stay tuned for a review coming up very soon!

 Read after the jump to see some more products I've been acquiring lately...

October Shop Your Stash

Even though this Shop Your Stash is being posted when my favorites should be posted, I figured this would still be a good time to show you some of the things I've been using, even if they don't make my favorites list for the month. A lot of these products are part of my transition to fall makeup, meaning berry tones, muted roses.

 Want to see more?  Click after the jump for swatches!

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...

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!

Review: Vincent Longo Water Canvas Foundation

I used to never wear foundation, but it seems that this year I have been on quite a foundation kick. Introducing, the Vincent Longo Water Canvas Foundation ($57).

Cost: $57
Availability: vincentlongo.com and nordstrom.com

Keep reading to see my thoughts and how it applies on my face!

A Haul Long Forgotten

Back when I was in Germany, I did some European makeup hauling that somehow never made it onto my blog.  I tried not to spend too much money on makeup, but I couldn't resist picking up a few things, mainly from Kiko and Art Deco.  I've already used and shown quite a few of these products, but never got around to reviewing them.  This month, I will definitely be taking these products out to get reviews up!

Here is all the damage!  I'm happy to say I've been loving ALL of these!

Read on to see more detailed pictures, swatches and more!

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!

The 'Shop Your Stash' Project

So, last week I started something new. Although I've been going through my stash and rediscovering new things the past month, I wanted to find a way to use them all on a consistent basis.  This isn't a new concept - taking out a few products that haven't been used very much or in a long time, but it isn't something I've tried in awhile.

Here's what I'm trying to do: I took out 21 products for the month of June and my goal is to use each product at least twice, just so I can get some use out of it and be creative about the way I use it.  I've had this going for about two weeks now and I'm really pleased with how its going.  I certainly am enjoying products that I either haven't used in a long time or haven't used much at all.
I have a total of 5 face products, 7 eye products, and 9 lip products to use before June is over.  Some of these will undoubtedly end up in my June favorites, while others may just be average products - we'll see which ones make the cut!

To see what products I'm using, as well as tons of swatches, keep reading!

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!

And the hauling monster returns....

Stepped into a Rite-Aid for the first time this year, and I couldn't resist picking up a few things. 

L-R clockwise: Maybelline Vivids Lipstick in Electric Fuchsia, Covergirl 3 in 1 Outlast Foundation, Covergirl Lash Exact WP mascara, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Icy Mint.

Covergirl Foundation, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Icy Mint, Maybelline Electric Fuchsia

I've never been a huge Covergirl fan, but I've heard so many good things about the new Outlast Stay Fabuous 3 in 1 Foundation.  I picked it up today, and was pleasantly surprised by its light and watery texture.  I haven't worn it yet, but a quick swatch on my hand reminds me of MAC Face and Body.  The shade in 857 Golden Tan is a perfect match - such a perfect match on my hand that you can't even see it blended it in under the pumped out swatch.

I was also excited to see the new Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids collection, and had to resist getting all the shades.  I picked up Electric Fuchsia to begin with and the initial swatch is gorgeous.  I don't any shades like this so it'll be interesting to see how it looks on my face.

The Maybelline Color Tattoo in Icy Mint was a total impulse buy as I saw this all by itself and was drawn by its icy blue-mint color.  This will be a perfect base for some summer looks!

Last of all, I picked up the Covergirl Lash Exact mascara because I know my Max Factor one will dry up soon.  This is a tried and true waterproof mascara - it will not budge.  It provides some perfect volumized and lengthened lashes!

Although this was an unplanned haul, at least I know they were things I've wanted for awhile!  I'm sure I'll be back with more soon. Oops, there goes my bank account...