TAG: Beauty Favorites

I was tagged by the incredibly sweet Mom's Makeup Stash  to do the Beauty Favorites Tag. The basis is pretty self explanatory, there are a bunch of categories of beauty products and you list your favorites for each one! Definitely check out Sandra's blog, she's such a sweet and informative blogger; she gives lots of detail in her posts without going on and on haha!

Foundation I love my NARS Sheer Glow! Not heavy at all and applies nicely.

Powder I have been using my MAC MSF Natural as a setting powder, or even a light foundation.

Primer The Murad Oil Control Lotion has been working nicely for me. It doesn't keep my oils away all day (rhyme!) but it helps prolong them.

Blush If you watch my videos or read my blog, you can tell I'm not a blush girl! This usually confuses people for some reason lol! I have some rosiness to my cheeks so I rarely wear blush. If I had to choose one (well, I only own one!) I would pick NARS Madly, it's a nice natural peachy tan color. But usually I just sweep a little of bronzer on my cheeks to give some warmth and dimension.
Bronzer My go to bronzer is now Tarte's Park Ave Princess. I find it's more natural than the cult favorite NARS Laguna, which can get muddy on me sometimes.

Concealer Benefit's Erase Paste for under eyes, set with Benefit's Powderflage

Highlighter I don't wear any, rebel!

Moisturizer I have been using the Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture. It has a convenient pump and SPF 15.

Lipgloss Any gloss from the Revlon Super Lustrous line. I kept Sandra's answer because I have to agree! These are the best glosses I've tried, such a nice formula that's not sticky and doesn't cling to your lips. I love the Peach Petal and Pink Pop colors the most. Also, I have been reaching for MAC's Pink Lemonade a lot!

Lipstick Lately, I've been loving MAC's Gem of Roses, such a gorgeous color.

Lip Balm I have to say, the Jack Black balms. They are so moisturizing and yummy!

Lip Liner I barely wear lipliner but I love the Prestige liner in Silk.

Eye Primer Urban Decay Primer Potion, hands down.

Eyeshadow Too Faced Silk Teddy, I'm sure you guys have seen me rave on and on about it!

Mascara I love the Revlon Grow Luscious. Recently, I have been using the Benefit They're Real mascara, which is really nice too.

Face Brush The Sigma F80, best foundation brush EVER! It's completely worth the hype.

Eye Brush MAC 217. If I had to throw all my brushes away and keep one, it'd be this one...it's so universal.

Nail Polish Nicole by OPI Make a Comet-ment. I wouldn't wear this on it's own but it is an amazing layering polish. It has fine, holographic shimmer that is gorgeous over ANY color.

Perfume Ralph Lauren's Romance has been my signature scent for years.

Makeup Brand High End/Drugstore

High End: MAC

Drugstore: Wet n Wild

Eyeliner Jordana Fabuliner for lash liner, Prestige Total Intensity for waterliner

Makeup Remover Bioderma Sebium H2O. Get this people! It is by far the most effective makeup remover on the market. (I kept Sandra's answer. She actually sent it to me in a swap and though I think it's SO expensive...it's truly wonderful.)
Nail Polish Remover Zoya Remove +. Expensive but amazing. (I kept her answer for this one too, best polish remover I have EVER tried.)

Favourite Drugstore Product WnW Eyeshadows, by far one of the best shadows I have tried PERIOD.

Thank you so much Sandra for tagging me! I tag EVERYONE but I have some specific people I would love  to see do this post:


Maria: http://itsmylife-maria.blogspot.com/
Emily: http://aladyinlove.com/home/
Yana: http://peachlacebeauty.blogspot.com/
Katie: http://www.healthydivaeats.com/ (I know Katie is a health blogger but she is also a nail polish (Essie!) addict and I'm sure she has some amazing beauty favorites to share!)


If you do this Tag, please let me know! =]


What are you beauty favorites? 

Birthday Face and Outfit of the Day

Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted to thank all of you that wished me a happy birthday on twitter and youtube! I really appreciate your sweet wishes!! I went out with my family and went for a casual yet cute look. I haven't posted my looks since the March and April challenges so I thought it'd be a nice occasion to do one.

Products used:

-Murad Oil Control Lotion
-UDPP (base for undereye concealer)
-Benefit Erase Paste (under eye concealer)
-NARS Sheer Glow in Deauville
-NYC Smooth Skin Powder in Translucent (to set foundation)
-Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer
-NARS Madly

Products used:

-UDPP
-MAC All That Glitters (lid)
-MAC Quarry (crease)
-MAC Mulch (outer corner)
-NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk (inner corner base)
-Urban Decay Virgin (inner corner)
-Jordana Fabuliner Eyeliner (upper lashline liner)
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner (waterline)
-NYX Black (to set liner)
-Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara
-L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara

-Top: Express
-Jeans: Levi's
-Flats: Sam Edelman Calypso Flats
-Watch: Guess
-Bracelet: Tiffany's
-Earrings: LV
-Nails: Essie Van D'Go

That's my look for the day! Hope you are all having a great Memorial Day Weekend and please take time to remember and thank our troops =]

April Shadows Weekly Roundup

As promised, I will now do the April Shadows post in the form of a Weekly Roundup of the week. I'm glad I have written down everything I've used to keep track! Just as a warning, these will be pic heavy posts =] NYC has had gross weather for most of the week so I've been more into the "one shadow all over the lid and go" look most days.There were some days that I have felt like using more shadows and I have loved those combos!


Monday:

 

Products used:
-UDPP

-Too Faced Birthday Suit (lid and inner corner)

-Jordana Fabuliner (upper lashline)
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner (waterline)
-NYX Black eyeshadow (to set liner)
-Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara

Tuesday:

 

Products used:
-UDPP

-Too Faced Silk Teddy (lid)

-Jordana Fabuliner (upper lashline)
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner (waterline)
-NYX Black eyeshadow (to set liner)
-Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara

 Wednesday:

 

Products used:
-UDPP

-NARS Corfu (base)

-MAC Patina (lid)

-Milani Java Bean (crease)

-NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk (inner corner base)
-Urban Decay Virgin (inner corner)
-Jordana Fabuliner (upper lashline)
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner (waterline)
-NYX Black eyeshadow (to set liner)
-Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara

 Thursday:

 

(for some reason the look came out greener but it was very gold in real life)

 Products used:
-UDPP

-MAC Constructivist Paint Pot (base)

-Urban Decay Half Baked (lid)

-Urban Decay Hustle (crease)

-NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk (inner corner base)
-Urban Decay Virgin (inner corner)
-Jordana Fabuliner (upper lashline)
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner (waterline)
-NYX Black eyeshadow (to set liner)
-Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara

Friday:

 

Products used:
-UDPP

-MAC Blonde's Gold Pigment (lid and inner corner)

-Jordana Fabuliner (upper lashline)
-Prestige Total Intensity Eyeliner (waterline)
-NYX Black eyeshadow (to set liner)
-Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara

So there's my week of eyeshadow looks. I'd have to say Tuesday's and Thursday's looks were my favorite. Too Faced Silk Teddy is one of my all time favorite shadows. It is great for a gorgeous, eye brightening one shadow look. I also loved the golden look of Thursday. I usually avoid shades like Half Baked and Woodwinked (very similar to Half Baked) because while they look golden and glowy, they come out copper on me. People have given me the tip that if this happens, to use a brown base. This did the trick and I got the gorgeous golden color that I wanted.

What was your favorite eyeshadow combo that you wore this week? What's on your eyes today?

The Eyes of March- March 2nd

Day 2 of the project and I'm going strong! If you missed what The Eyes of March is, I explain it all in my last post. I forgot to mention yesterday that I do have makeup off days. Mostly on the weekend, I let my skin breathe and wear no makeup. On those days I just don't wear makeup and I wont bore you guys with a picture of my bare lid!

Today, I stuck with the taupes and wore NARS' Ashes to Ashes and Covergirl's Brown Smolder. Brown Smolder always sits in my drawer and when I finally use it, I wonder why I haven't raved about this! It's a matte dark brown for $3, yes please! I love pairing a $20 shadow with a $3 one because it looks good and no one is the wiser (unless you read this post ;) )

Products used:
-UDPP
-NARS Ashes to Ashes eyeshadow (lid)
-Covergirl Brown Smolder eyeshadow (crease)
-MAC Nylon eyeshadow (inner corner)
-Jordana Fabuliner (upper lashline)
-Milani Liquif'eye liner (waterline)
-NYX Black eyeshadow (to set liner)
-Revlon Grow Luscious mascara (got this a few days ago and I'm really liking it!)

I'm so happy to hear you guys are excited about this project! You guys will definitely encourage me to keep up with it. I already know one person, Sandra, who has joined me in the challenge. Feel free to join us in our path to rediscover makeup haha

Will you be joining the challenge? What are you wearing on your eyes right now?

Makeup Storage/Collection (PIC HEAVY!)

First of all, happy 2 year anniversary to my youtube channel! I started videos exactly 2 years ago today and it's been such an amazing experience. I wanted to make a special video for the occasion and figured I'd show you guys my makeup storage/collection. I'd say my collection is right in the middle; it's not small and not huge. Of course it's WAY more than one person NEEDS but hey you guys understand, right? =]

My makeup lives (yes...lives) in two Ikea Fira drawer chests. First of all, I want to apologize and say that the Fira line was discontinued about a year ago =[ I'm not sure where you can find them but there are tons of other drawer containers out there. This is the 5- drawer one and contains my eye products.

This is every day stuff. I reach in here everyday and don't want to search through other drawers for this stuff. It contains UDPP, Milani Liquif'eye Liner (a mama and a baby one), Jordana Fabuliner, NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk, NYX Black eyeshadow, MAC tendertone and a sharperner.

Next drawer is round bases and some single shadows. In here is MAC Paint Pots, NARS Corfu cream eyeshadow, baby Benefit RSVP, Chanel Taupe Grise, and MAC Mega Metal Shadows (they didn't fit anywhere else)

Next drawer is MANY single eyeshadows/duos/trios. Brands vary from NYX, Maybelline, Wet n Wild, ELF, NYC, Milani, Covergirl, and more!

The next drawer is the wider one. This is mostly lose shadows/pigments but some palettes ventured in there. Here are MAC pigments (full size and holiday vials), MAC Solarbit, NYX pigments, NYX Morocco Pallete (LOVE), Sigma palette, Sally Girl Eyeshadows, and in the black cotainer (can be found in Walmart/Target) are the little pigment jars that contain MAC pigment samples, Glamour Doll Eyes, and BE shadows)

The other wide drawer is palettes. It contains MAC Holiday palettes, UD Naked Palette, ELF, NYX, Claire's, also some more single shadows/duos that range from Revlon to MAC to Stila. In the other black container is Wet n Wild palettes and trios, MAC quads, and Physician's Formula trios.

On the counter I keep everyday stuff that I would reach for often. This includes Dermorganics Volume Foam, Detangler, MAC Fix+, Brush Cleanser, Perfume, and Hairspray.

Here I keep big palettes like my UD Alice in Wonderland Palette and my MAC Palettes. I have a post here of what is in my MAC palettes, I changed them around a bit but they're still similar. Also, I keep my Too Faced Natural eye palette here, A. because I reach for it almost everyday and B. because it's bulky.

I keep cotton rounds and qtips on hand in these office section cups.

Like a lot of people, I keep my makeup brushes in the sephora-style vases. The fill is just flower fill that can be found in arts stores in the flower section.

On top of my second Fira drawer chest I keep paper towels, tissues, moisturizer, toner, nail stuff, and a lint brush. The box with my clippers, files and nail buffers is actually a MAC box I cut up. Old boxes can make nice storage and organization items.

This is another version of the Ikea Fira chests. Again, I don't know where you can buy them =[ sorry!

This first drawer is my everyday face stuff. Here is NARS Sheer Glow, a small Benefit's Erase Paste, a little jar where I keep some Benefit's Powderflage, sample Murad Oil Control Lotion, MUFE Mascara, NARS Laguna, and some concealers.

This second drawer has more face stuff but I don't go into it on a regular basis. Here is where I keep my full size Benefit Erase Paste and Powderflage, Bare Minerals foundation, MAC MSF Natural, another sample of the Murad Oil Control, and some brow stuff.

This drawer has some skincare. In here is moisturizer, Argan Oil, Mario Badescu Drying cream, Vitamin E, and Baby Oil. 

Next is more eyeshadow bases. This drawer has the stick type basis, as opposed to the other drawer with round jars. In ehre, I have UDPP original and Sin, MAC Shadesticks, NYX Jumbo Pencils, and some random L'oreal and Wet n Wild ones.

Here is eyeliners other than the ones I use everyday. This is mostly colored liners. In here I have the L'oreal HIP loose kohl liner, some UD liners, Milani, L'oreal, and the Wet n Wild cream liner.

Next is mascara drawer. I'm not a mascara "collector" and a lot of these I received in swaps. They are mainly unopened mascaras. I usually stick to a mascara I'm loving (currently the MUFE one) so I don't have many mascaras opened at a time.

Here is my lipstick drawer. There's many different brands in here that include MAC, Maybelline, Rimmel, L'Oreal, and Barry M. I group them by brands and generally know which is which so I can pull out the one I want. I also have a few lip liners in this drawer.

Of course, near the lipstick drawer is lipgloss. These are also grouped mainly by brand. They range from Victoria's Secret, MAC, NYX, Sephora, and Revlon. 

Here are lip balms. I'm not sure how I got around to having so many but what can you do =]. In here are EOS, Neutrogena, Blistex, Nivea, MAC, and C.O. Bigelow.

 

Another drawer I have is miscellaneous stuff I would have on hand. I have the 32 oz of Zoya Remove+, LUSH Snow Fairy, some empty LUSH containers, hand cream, body butter, and some makeup remover wipes that I don't really like but keep for when I'm swatching things. 

That is my makeup storage/ collection! I hope some of you found it helpful in terms of finding ways to organize or reorganize your stash. If you have any questions on what a particular color or product is, feel free to ask. =]

How do you store your makeup? Do you like your method or are you looking for another way to organize your makeup?

My Holiday Wishlist ( I can dream!)

I know Xmas is 4 days away but I wanted to show you my list of things I'm lusting after right now! And I can only hope that somehow someone I know stumbles upon this and feels the holiday spirit LOL

1. Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette ($35 at Sephora)

Source 

Well, hello HELLO! My previous post was a RAVE about how I've been loving the Too Faced Natural palette. Too Faced apparently heard me (yea, ok lol) and has released another gorgeous palette with their spring collection. It's available on the Sephora website now!

2. Nail Polish Rack (around $50 with shipping from transdesign.com)

Source

OK! I admit it! I'm a nail polish FIEND! And with that, the next step is admitting that yes, I need another nail polish rack because I filled mine up. Oh the SHAME!

3. NARS Pleasures of Paris Palette ($55 and sadly unavailable at narscosmetics.com and no clue where else I can find it)

Source

Look at that yummyness. This palette looks amazing for all of us neutral/purple lovers! Sadly I don't know where I can find it, even if I wanted to make the present for myself.

And last but not the least, the "omg there's no chance I'll get this but I can dream can't I??" item...

4. Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas Neverfull MM ($700 at Louis Vuitton stores or site)

Hello, Lover. I've been lusting after this bag for quite some time and I've started to fall in love with the Damier Canvas instead of the regular logo. There's just something so sleek and elegant about this one (not to mention about the bag!) However, budget and BUDGET keep me from making the purchase! But I can still look at the pictures lovingly =]

So that's my Holiday lust list!

What's on your wish list? Do you know what you're getting for the holidays?

Thanksgiving FOTD

To all my USA readers, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm thankful for all of you and for your sweet kindness and support. I just spent the day with my family and our huge yummy feast.

I went for a neutral look (shocker), really simple yet glowy.

excited for yummy food!

Face:

Murad Oil Control Lotion SPF 15

Benefit Erase Paste in Medium (under eyes)

Benefit Powderflage (under eyes)

MAC Select Cover Up (any blemishes or scaring)

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Deauville

NYC Smooth Skin loose powder (to set)

NARS Laguna Bronzer

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

MAC Vanilla Pigment (lid)

MAC Sable (crease/outer v)

NYX Milk & MAC Vanilla pigment (inner corner)

Jordana Fabuliner (upper lash line)

Milani Liquif'eye (waterliner)

NYX Black (set upper lashline and waterline liner)

MUFE Aqua Smokey Lash

How was your Thanksgiving? What are you thankful for?