Products I'm loving right now

Recently I have discovered some products that I have really been enjoying using, so I thought I'd share with you =) 

These first two products are kind of similar, even though they are meant for different things. 

BECCA Eye Tint - Vacuna 

Orgasm Illuminator 

                                                                                                                                       Orgasm                           BECCA eye tint 

As you can see, they are both shimmery liquid/cream products. 

I was first turned on to Becca products after watching Lisa Eldridge's videos, and the eye tint seemed like something I would really like. It comes in a variety of very neutral colors; I chose one of the lightest ones, which I was hesitant about because some reviews complained that it was barely visible on the lids. I personally love the color. It really brightens up the eye and is the perfect product for a barely there makeup look because it takes 2 seconds to apply. I have just been wacking this on with a little bit of gel eyeliner and I LOVE it.

It stays tacky after it has "dried" so I think it would work well as an eyeshadow base. It does crease slightly, but only if you apply a lot. This also works amazing as a highlighter, but make sure you test it out first if you have sensitive skin. 

The Orgasm illuminator is a sample that I got with my sephora beauty insider points, which I didn't think would be anything special, but I really like it. 

It applies really smooth and liquidy and imparts a beautiful peachy glow to your cheeks. You could use it anyway you want - as a highlight for your cheekbones, under your blush, mixed in with foundation. It is such an easy product to use; I love the packaging! You have to be careful to blend out the edges though, otherwise you're left with an obvious patch of highlighter, but otherwise, it's amazing!

MAC Creme Cup lipstick

Lately I've been more daring with my lipstick. Daring as in, wearing things other than nude, and this pink is so pretty. The cremesheen formulation is always great and the color a very wearable blue toned pink. 

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

I wanted to see what all the hype was about and so far I have really enjoyed using this. I apply it with a regular flat foundation brush, which I'm not really a fan of, but it seems to work the best. I like to use stippling brushes, and sometimes I will use a stippling brush after I've applied it just to buff it in - this gives such a nice effect. 

It gives good coverage and is really nice to work with, but I don't really get the dewey complexion that I thought I would with a name like "sheer glow". But, so far, I'm happy =)

Origins Ginger Souffle

This just sounds delicious. And it smells delicious too. It is basically a huge tub of body moisturizing goodness. 

It is a very light moisturizer and it soaks into your skin quickly, so it's good if you don't like a sticky feeling that lingers. It works like a dream and I'm glad I will be using this for a good while. 

LUSH Shampoo Bar - Karma Komba

Who doesn't want their hair to smell like karma? 

I have always been so skeptical of these shampoo bars. They look funny, and seriously, how does one wash their hair with a soap bar? But after buying this and trying it out, I am now a believer in shampoo bars, and I would love to try out some of the other ones. I still don't know how the hell it works, but you only need to rub this through your hair for a few seconds and you will have the fluffiest lather ever. 

Each one is supposed to work for a different hair concern. Karma in particular is good for detangling knotty hair, which I don't think is very true, but it is good for deep cleaning. It is a shampoo that really clarifies and gets rid of all the grease and gunk in your hair. Some people might find this "stripping", but I have oily hair and it works really well for me. This would be really good for every other washes, so that you don't strip your hair of its natural oils, but you can still keep oily hair in check. 

*Beware, do not leave this in the shower unattended. It will melt.*

So there are a few of the products I've been really enjoying lately. 

Do you have any products that you have been particularly loving recently?

Products I'm Loving

First off, the Real Techniques buffing brush. This brush is talked about so much, and now I know why - it's phenomenal. When I first used this to apply my NARS sheer glow foundation, I was blown away by how much of a difference this brush made. It blended in the foundation in seconds and gave an airbrush finish unlike any technique I've used before. It also washes really easily and doesn't shed! Really impressed and can't wait to try it with other foundations. 

Keeping in line with tools, I've been loving this new way of using my Clarisonic, that was first introduced to me by lilladylife. Pop out the outer ring of bristles and just use the center set for precise deep cleansing especially around the nose area. So simple, but it works dramatically! 

On my eyes I've been using MAC's blacktrack fluid line. I'm probably the last one on the bandwagon for this, but it's been working great for me. Creamy, black, and lasts all day. 

I've also discovered that Diorshow is my new favorite mascara. I've been a L'oreal Voluminous girl for a while, and didn't think that expensive mascaras were worth the money. This Dior one, however, curls my lashes like no other and really volumizes each lash without clumping. I'm obsessed with this mascara, and I really want to check out Dior's other lash offerings. 

I got this Caudalie s.o.s thirst quenching serum in a 500 point perk Caudalie set from Sephora. I've now used it up, and I am dying to get the full size. You put this on before your moisturizer - it's a light, milky serum - and it makes my skin glow. It feels and smells beautiful, makes the skin look plump and healthy, and seems to help my moisturizer sink in. My skin is so dry right now from the wind and cold, and this helps give that extra hydration that my skin is craving. 

My first and only Butter London nail polish in disco biscuit. This is a beautiful jelly magenta color with purple-y blue iridescent particles. So captivating and really a unique color. It is suprisingly dull on its own, but it really comes to life with a top coat. 

And finally, a fragrance! This is one of my oldest and most loved perfumes, Ferragamo Incanto Charms. It is fruity and sweet, but never overpowering and lingers all day. It's just delicious. Not really a fall/winter scent, but I rediscovered it on my dresser with just a few drops left, and I was reminded of how much I love this! 

Happy reading! 

~Vida

Out With the Old

These past couple of months have been light in terms of the makeup spending, and makeup lusting for that matter. I've been quite content with digging up products that I already have and using them up. These things fit nicely into one makeup bag and have made my morning routine so much quicker. I'm on a steady mission to finish up these products, to get rid of the clutter and make way for new things =I.

The L'oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base used to be a staple in my collection for smoothing out my skin near the t-zone and priming for foundation. To me it feels very similar to other more high end primers, like Benefit's porefessional. I stopped using it for no particular reason, but I've whipped it out again and I love using this even on its own without foundation on top. 

When I first got NARS Sheer Glow, I treasured it and used it sparingly, but after having it for a while I should just finish up what's left. This is a great foundation and I love the finish it gives, but I've come to realize that I'm not really a foundation girl. I'd rather spend my efforts on skincare, because no matter what I do with my foundation, I don't think it can ever look completely natural or flawless on my skin or maybe I just haven't found the right foundation yet. I love tinted moisturizers and BB creams though!

I received a sample size of the MUFE HD powder from Sephora, and although it looks like a tiny pot, I have yet to come close to finishing it. This is really good for mattifying and I like how smooth it feels. But, if you put this on dry skin, your skin will look dried up and old. I want to finish it up so I can make way for the bare minerals touch up veil or MAC's select sheer loose.

 I had been so in love with using my Becca shimmering skin perfector that I neglected to use my cream colour base in hush. This is a really great highlighter and is so easy to dab on with fingers. Hopefully I can use this up soon so I can back to MAC it and start using my Becca highlighter full time. 

Ok, let's be honest, I will probably never finish a blush in my lifetime, but I've recently started using my Michael Todd powder blush in Lilia again. The color is a little washed out here, but it is a really pretty springtime peachy pink. I love it for everyday wear and it would be especially great for spring. 

This is probably the most boring, plain eye shadow, but it is one that gives me a subtle sultry look that I can wear everyday. It is the nude beige color from the storm palette that is just slightly darker than my natural skin color. I haven't hit pan on a single eye shadow yet, but I am definitely close with this one. 

I no longer find it necessary to have 5 mascaras rotating at once, so I've been trying to go through as many as I can. The one I've been using is L'oreal's extra-volume collagen black. It has a nice chunky brush which I love and gives a similar effect to L'oreal voluminous, but slightly clumpier which may or may not be a good thing, depending on what mood I'm in. 

Although MAC paint pots are the only eye shadow bases I think I will ever need, I wanted to use up the Michael Todd eye shadow base. It works fine and I like the doe-foot applicator and fluid consistency, but it's staying power doesn't beat the paint pots. 

I've eyeing up the Milani liquif'eye pencils, but can't bring myself to get it until I finish some of the pencils I already have. The two I am using up are the sephora nano eyeliner in chocolate, and the smashbox limitless eye liner in black. Both are fine pencils, but nothing to write home about. 

So there's a few things that I've "shopped my stash" for. It's about time that I've finished up some of the half-used things sitting around in my drawers =)

~Vida

A jeweled inspiration

Hi guys, I'm back and hopefully I can blog more frequently now =)
A few days ago I went into Aldo and fell in love with these earrings:

I love gold and turquoise color combinations, especially in jewelry and I love how these are simple, yet gorgeous and they can be dressed up and down. So good for spring/summer and they were relatively inexpensive too. 

So I have been loving these beautiful new additions to my jewelry collection and wearing them has inspired my makeup as well. I have just recently gotten my hands on the Naked Palette (finally!) and one of my favorite eyeshadows from the palette is half baked, a beautiful warm gold color that I thought would look amazing with these earrings. And because I am obsessed with the blue and gold combo, I paired it with a sky blue shadow from the soften the mood trio by MAC.

I used Half Baked all over the lid and blended out the edges with Naked, which is nice if you want to give a very subtle definition to the crease. Then I ran the light blue shade underneath on my lower lash line.
Then I topped it off with a thin line of the Clinique gel liner and some L'oreal Voluminous mascara. Nothing major here. 

The rest of my makeup:
L'oreal Studio Secrets magic perfecting base
NARS Sheer Glow Foundation
MAC Well Dressed blush
MAC Hush CCB
NYX Circe lipstick
Michael Todd Natural Creme Glace

I really love this makeup. It is so fresh and light and totally puts me in the spring mood. The gold eyeshadow in person is really stunning, and makes your eyes pop.
Also, I would like to say that I am completely obsessed with the Naked Palette. The eyeshadows are so buttery smooth and you can get so many different looks from the array of very wearable colors.

I hope you have all been getting some nice weather. I am so glad to have these sunny days =)
Have a great day!

Made up, Snowed in

Today after I got up, got dressed, and put on my makeup, I found out that all the obligations I had ahead of me in the day had been cancelled due to the absolute crap weather. 

I took advantage of the free day to blog and so here is the makeup I was wearing today. I kind of just threw things on as I went, but I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. 

1. NARS Sheer Glow - Punjab 

2. Benefit Hoola Bronzer

3. MAC Cream Colour Base - Tickle me Pink 

4. MAC Mythology - lid

5. MAC Patina - crease

6. Wet N' Wild Brulee - inner corner 

7. MAC Black Swan eyeliner

8. Maybelline the Falsies mascara

9. NYX round lipstick - Circe

I really love mythology eyeshadow. It was one of the first MAC eyeshadows that I bought and I love coming back to it now and again. It's a pretty burnished pink copper color that looks so good mixed with browns and taupes. I've also tried some in my crease with a very neutral lid color, which I think gives a quite interesting, fresh look.

I have always worn patina all over the lid, and it wasn't until today that I found it also works beautifully in the crease. Just another reason to love patina =) 

Even though I can't stand the abominable weather we've been having, I do love a good snow day =) 

Hope you are all enjoying your day! 

Thursday Sights

Freshly painted nude pink nails with a glitter accent: OPI bubble bath + Sephora by OPI only gold for me

Breaking out the NARS Sheer Glow for some extra coverage, and loving it so far.

Discovering that olive eye shadow looks good with my skin tone right now. This one from the Sleek original palette is especially good with MAC's wedge eye shadow. 

Planning for my upcoming trip to China =)

Finishing up a diy upholstered headboard project that was inspired by this one here. 

~Vida

Travel makeup

Me and my girlfriends are going on a 4 day trip to Vegas tomorrow so I thought I'd do a post on the makeup I like to bring with me when traveling. 

It's always hard to decide what to bring. I hate being confined to a certain set of things and not having the freedom to choose from my whole collection, whether it be clothing or makeup. Ugh I hate packing! 

When it comes to stuff like foundation, bronzer, and highlighter, it's enough to choose one of each thing and be content. But with eyeshadows, blushes, and lip products it's hard to pre-select the colors that I'm going to be wearing, especially in a place like Vegas. 

Anyways, here are the things I will be bringing,

My travel makeup bag

Face and Cheeks 

 I wanted to bring more cream/liquid products because its so dry in Vegas

L'oreal Studio Secrets primer

NARS sheer glow foundation 

MUFE HD powder

Benefit hoola bronzer 

MAC margin blush

MAC cream colour bases - virgin isle and tickle me pink 

NARS Orgasm illuminator (I love this!!)

Eyes

Palettes are the best!

MAC Painterly paint pot 

MAC Taupographic shade stick

My MAC palette

NARS essential eye palette

MAC soften the mood eyeshadow trio 

Milani silver charm eyeshadow

Clinique gel eyeliner 

MAC black swan eyeliner 

Maybelline brow definer 

L'oreal Telescopic 

L'oreal Bare Naturale

Lips 

A coral, a pink, a mauve, a nude, and a gloss that goes with them all

YSL rouge volupte - no. 30

MAC Creme Cup

MAC Blankety

Revlon Soft Nude

Sephora gloss - no. 14

Seems like a lot, but if it fits in the bag, then it's good for me =) 

I'm so excited! Will be back next week with some updates!

<3

Used Up

After a lot of beauty hauling, I've amassed an embarrassing amount of makeup, body lotions, and face creams. Recently I've been making a conscious effort to get rid of the odds and ends in my collection, simplifying it down to my holy grail essentials. I've been keeping the small fraction of products that are close to being finished in their own compartment, so I can easily reach for them and use them up.

I've posted about some of these before - Dermalogica skin smoothing cream (nice, but will look for something else), Caudalie thirst quenching serum, NARS sheer glow (amazing foundation!)

I've also talked about these two in a previous post here, and I still feel the same way about them. The Clinique gel is truly amazing, and something I will definitely go back to in the future. For the winter, it is not as hydrating as I would like, but this is perfect for the warmer months. The Dr. Hauschka lip balm was one of the best I have ever tried, and definitely the most luxurious. I would love to repurchase this again and again, if it wasn't so expensive! 

I have to say, I was not impressed by these Prestige mascaras. I've heard a lot of good things about my blackest lashes, and tried out my biggest lashes because I liked the name, but neither of these did it for me. The MAC technakohl liner in graphblack was also another disappointing product. It's not very creamy and smudges on me every time. 

I've posted about the Boots body cream in patchouli & lavender before. It's nice, and the tub looks adorable on my dresser, but I only have eyes for the L'occitane almond oil. I bought the La Roche-posay nutritic emulsion for my dry skin last winter and it worked pretty well while it lasted, but it wasn't exciting enough for me to want to repurchase. 

Nothing is more satisfying than scooping out the last bit of product of a tub that has been lying around for months. Looking forward to finishing more products and cleaning up my collection! Hope you enjoyed this post, 

~Vida 

Summer Shimmer

I typically prefer matte/satin finishes, but lately I have been noticing that a lot of the products I've been using contain quite a bit of shimmer - and I don't hate it. In the summer time I tend to wear less makeup so I think it's easier to wear a shimmery eyeshadow or blush without being overwhelming. It brings a lightness to my makeup and adds to the dewy glow effect. The only thing is that my t-zone gets pretty oily, so sometimes adding shimmer to my face can be a little distracting. I bought an Origins mattifier to help myself out and hopefully I can do a review of that soon. 

After Lisa Eldridge, 25FLondon, and many others talked about these colour mousse eyeshadows by Rimmel, I was intrigued. I am down for any cream eyeshadow that comes in a pot, and luckily a good friend of mine was in England at the time and was able to get me one of the colors, Get Fresh. Feeling panicked that I only got one and did not have easy access to the range, I quickly ordered two more off ebay, Glitz and Sassy, and even went further to get the mousse bronzer in medium glow. 

These are really good for the price. The formula is more like a cool gel than a mousse, and it dries almost instantly and does not budge once it is set, so you have to blend these babies out quick. The eyeshadows go on a lot more sheer on the eyes (although you can build them up) and are super shimmery, but I do like the effect that they give. I really like using a flat shader/concealer type brush to put these on because using my fingers is just too messy. 

The bronzer has some shimmer in it too although it is hardly noticeable on the cheek. The color is a terracotta brown that I'm afraid could go orange on some people, but works for me. It's nice because you can put a thin layer on for a subtle tan - cream bronzers look so natural!

A few other cheek products I have been using

ELF warm bronzer, NARS Deep Throat, Wet N' Wild Pearlescent Pink

The ELF bronzer is very peachy toned. On some darker skin tones it barely shows up, but for me it works well as a blush/light bronzer. It gives lots of sheen and is one of those great products that you will never feel guilty using. 

NARS Deep Throat is my first and only NARS blush, although not my last, and it definitely lives up to the hype that follows it. It is slightly peachy pink, shimmery, and amazingly pigmented. I love this and will probably never run out. 

The Wet N' Wild blush looks sort of like a dupe for Deep Throat, but is rosier and contains much chunkier glitter, which is probably barely noticeable on the cheeks. It is also extremely pigmented and is among the many good products from Wet N' Wild. 

I love all these, but the one thing I will never do is shimmery lip products. I can't stand them! 

~Vida