My Favorite Concealers And Why...

I will admit to fully being a concealer junkie. I've tried just about every kind out there, and because of how picky I am, there are very few(in retrospect) that I like. We'll go over my favorites today!

We'll start with the first jar on the left. I am a sucker for cheap makeup, so Nyx is one of my very favorite brands! Nyx Dark Eye Concealer. This concealer is a yellow-tone so as to balance out the sleepy purple circles under your eyes. At $6, I truly don't see any reason that one shouldn't at least try it! P.S., when buying anything from Nyx's website for the first time(or using a new email) if you enter promo code WELCOME25, you get 25% off.

The jar to the right of that is a regular concealer jar. I've used this concealer as foundation before for when I'm going for a more natural look but still want some good coverage. at $5, again, why not try it?

The two jars on the right side are a green concealer(to help with acne and scarring) and a purple concealer(to give you a beautiful, radiant glow). I love to use the green concealer to cover up my acne. As a girl who's always struggled with bad acne during Aunt Flo's monthly visits, I could live off of this. The purple concealer on the other hand is beautiful! It's so soft and creamy. I place it right above my cheekbones where I would normally use a highlight. Again, both of these are $5.

Going to the bottom of the picture, you'll see Kat Von D's Tattoo Concealer. Again, I've used this concealer as a foundation many times! I have one tube at my battlestation and one in my purse for emergency coverups. I've actually given a couple of tubes to friends before for tattoo coverups. You need less than a dime size amount to cover a tattoo the size of your fist. Compared to the Nyx Concealer, this is a bit pricier at $25 a tube, but you won't be disappointed with the incredible coverage this gives!

Last, but not least, my first big girl concealer. I went through what every girl goes through at some point in their lives-their mom buys them Covergirl and you're so excited to have your first "real" makeup. And then you enter the world of Sephora and Ulta, and your bank account becomes royally screwed. I have and always will recommend Urban Decay's 24 Hour Concealer. It's a nice median price at $18, and lasts longer than you should keep it. I have had the same stick for over a year, and it has yet to dry out! It lasts closer to 18 hours than 24(yay all nighters!), but I do have an oily face that soaks up stick-type foundations and concealers. 

The coverage with UD's concealer is incredible! I've scribbled on my face with it before and used a sponge to blend out, and it works like a charm. You can also pick a darker shade to use for contouring!

I hope you've found all of this helpful! Please don't forget to enter my latest contest before it's too late!!

Nyx Cosmetics just released their new Macaron Lippies!

About an hour ago, Nyx announced that their brand new pastel colored lipsticks were live on their website! At six dollars a pop, these brand new lipsticks promise to offer just as much color payoff as the rest of Nyx's lippie lines. I ordered five right off the bat in shades Pistachio, Blue Velvet, Violet, Chambord, and Lavender. They've already shipped, and are scheduled to be here by Saturday. Swatches will be posted then! Also: PROMO CODE ALERT! If you use the promo code WELCOME25, you'll receive 25% off your order! My order of $30 was just $22.50 with free shipping!

The New Urban Decay Electric Palette Review

I was in Ulta earlier just milling about trying to find something fun and new to review when I came across this! The last one in the store, just waiting to be bought. I snatched it like a kitten and a mouse, and promptly went to the register.

$49 later, here I am! I can't wait to create some incredible looks using this palette! I will be posting one tomorrow that I created earlier today.

The lovely thing about the Electric Palette is that these are pigments, not shadows. You can actually use this on your lips, in your hair, on your brows-wherever! I'm excited to pair my OCC Clear Lip Tar with some of these crazy colors!

 As you can see, the colors are highly pigmented. There is still quite a bit of fallout, but that's what Urban Decay's shadows are known for at this point.

While the palette is fun and colorful, if you aren't an adventurous person, I wouldn't recommend buying it. I also noticed that while it looks nice to use a primer with it on your eyes, it makes them very difficult to blend, so if you don't have a lot of time for blending(or you get fed up with it), this is probably not the palette for you.

My January Haul!

This week, through various online swaps, gifts, and a few Ulta/Sephora stops, I've put together some of my favorites.

All of the magical products in one! 

I got the Lorac Pro Palette through a swap on Reddit, and love it! As someone who owns all of the Naked palettes, and numerous nude eyeshadow pots(obsessed? Nah..), I knew I had to have the Lorac Pro Palette somehow. At $42 this is a bit pricey for the average person, and with my husband and I moving next week, I knew there was no way to buy it. I went on Reddit, and requested it, and a lovely person was willing to swap their unused palette!

I am feeling absolutely no regret about getting the Lorac Pro Palette. It is radically different from the Naked Palette Series, and I use it very differently. All of the colors on the top are matte, all of the colors on the bottom are shimmery. 

This is Sephora's Moonshadow Baked Palette "In The Tropics". At $26, after swatching at Sephora, I promptly put this in my Sephora Bag, and bought it. Normally I don't like Sephora brand shadows, but these are particularly pigmented, and well worth the buy. They do have a hard time blending with or without primer, but it isn't impossible. The woman at Sephora told me that this is a limited edition spring line palette, so if you're interested, you may want to jump on it while you can! 

I went to Ulta this month with the intention of buying a sponge cleaner for my Beauty Blender knock off, and walked out with the Anastasia's Dip Brow in Blonde instead. I had been wanting a way to make my brows appear lighter at whim without dyeing them, and this did the trick! I only wanted a little bit lighter of a shade, which is what it gave me. Having very thick brows, it was difficult(not impossible) to blend into the hair, but using it on clients with thinner brows is a breeze.

Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation With SPF 15 and Japonesque's 150 Degree Foundation brush! I found the brush at Ulta on sale for $4.99(originally $34.99), and how can you turn down something so cheap? Answer: You can't. Coming from using sponges, it was difficult to start using a brush, but I liked it! I really like using it on clients instead of a sponge as it makes for a more even application. 

Today I went into Sephora to return a few products that I wasn't a fan of, and wound up with store credit! I've been wanting to try a new foundation, swatched this, and fell in love! At $38,  it's very soft on your skin, goes on evenly, and moved effortlessly. The packaging is stunning with a real bamboo lid. Unfortunately, the box I grabbed was mismarked, and I ended up with Fair Sand instead of Ivory. I will again be making a trip to Sephora tomorrow; fingers crossed that I don't walk out with anything but foundation!

Through swaps and Sephora hauls, I acquired four different Lip Tars from OCC. From left to right, I have Strumpet, Lydia, Femme, and Hush. For whatever reason, in the swap photo Strumpet and Lydia are mixed up, but everything else is in the correct place. 

I really adore lip tars. They take a bit of effort to apply, but they're highly pigmented wonderfulness that stays on all day long. At $18 a piece, you would think they're a bit pricey, but you need but only a drop to get the look you want! Be sure to use either an anti-feathering pencil, lip liner, or both when using a lip tar so as to prevent feathering(I forgot one day when I was running late for work...Looked in the mirror an hour after getting there and had massive feathering-not cute). 

Keep a close eye on my page over the next few days as I will be doing a giveaway very soon! Make sure you're subscribed to me as that is part of the giveaway!

MAC's Hautecore Lipstick

So, I got the Mac Hautecore Lipstick through Reddit/r/makeupexchange after it had already sold out, and I'm glad that I did! Let's get on with the tutorial, and then I'll give you the run down.

Bonus picture of my adorable husband! Today, instead of my Too Faced Primer which has been lack luster as of late, I tried out the infamous Maybelline Baby Face. I have to say, for a price tag of $6 compared to $30, I think it wins over! Very soft, and it took a lot of my natural oiliness away(thank goodness!). I used E.L.F.'s tone correcting powder, and my brand new EcoTools face brush(that I love. Completely beats the Becca Brush, in my opinion)-much softer than it's competition. You can buy it at Ulta for $13(the Becca Brush is $50). 

A typical beginning to a smokey eye-Darkhorse by Urban Decay. 

I used Blackheart by Urban Decay. Also, I forgot to add my Illuminator. Orgasm by Nars.

Too Faced's Anti-Feathering Lip Pencil-A must. I'm in love. And the amazing, wonderful Hautecore Lipstick by Mac. I wish I had gotten it before it had sold out, because I would've bought five. It is so perfect! I've heard a lot of reviews saying that it was drying and it makes your lips peel. I didn't experience that at all! A lot of people said that it came on very sheer, and again, I didn't experience that. It certainly wasn't moisturizing by any means, but after wearing it for 6 hours, I didn't have any such problems!

I loved it! If you can find it anywhere, I would buy it ASAP.

Review of Japonesque 180 Degree Contour Brush

Here is a link to the brush in question!  Now, let's begin. At first, I was very skeptical about purchasing this brush, but after seeing it on sale for $8, I figured why not. At regular retail price, this brush will go for $32 at your nearest Ulta. A select few of the brushes are on sale for a deep discount, so if you are a Japonesque fan girl/guy, I would head on out! They are already out of stock at my Ulta. 

 I started this look out with my normal foundation using a Beauty Blender Sponge(which you can now find the link to on the side bar!), and my trusty Kat Von D foundation! This is of course partnered with my Too Faced Primed and Poreless Primer(also located on the side bar).

 Immediately getting to the new brush. I put on E.L.F.'s translucent powder and began. Using Coastal Scent's blush palette, I started contouring. I found the brush very interesting. It makes it easier to contour, but I feel like if you already know how to contour your cheekbones, this brush is kind of a pointless buy. If you have a harder time contouring, this may work for you! I found that the brush picked up a lot of powder which required me to tap it off every time I would reload, so to speak.

 My traditional Naked 3 eyes.

Using NYX's Matte Lipstick in "Perfect Red Rouge Parfait", I really enjoyed this look. I used the Too Faced Anti-Feathering Lip Pencil. Another must have. 

To sum it up, I think that if you have a difficult time contouring, this is a great brush! I really liked using it on my clients, and found it very easy to use. The brush is not nearly as soft as you would expect a $32 brush to be, and I feel like you could get a better quality one at Sedona Lace. If money isn't an issue, I would highly recommend the Becca brush, or it's knock off(which I prefer over the Becca Brush), The Eco Tools Face and Body Sculpting Brush. It's much softer than the Becca Brush, and at 5 times cheaper, how can you mess up?

Be sure to check out the side bar and see my top Must Have Items. 

A review of NYX Matte Lipstick

I chose to go ahead and do my first review today of a product that I'm extremely pleased with. I went to Ulta today to do a little mini haul which I will post more about later this week, but I picked up quite a few NYX products, one of which NYX's matte lipstick in Perfect Red Rouge Parfait. 

Let me go ahead and preface by saying that I am very picky when it comes to my matte lipsticks. Matte to me means feathery, flaky lips. But, I am pleased to say that that wasn't the case this time! I can say nothing wrong about this purchase! The only thing that upset me was that they didn't have more shades! 

This lipstick was very easy to put on. It feels moist on your lips-almost like a balm, but it goes on very matte(the shine in the picture is due to my computer's crappy camera, not the product). I put on the lipstick this morning before work, and came home this evening to perfect lips! No need to reapply. That, my friends, is music to my ears. The picture on the right is of me this morning at 8:45, and both of the pictures on the left are from this evening at 5:15. That is at least 8 and a half hours of wear.

For $5.99, I would say this is a product that I will be going to get the rest of the collection for.