Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Today I wanted to share a very special Manicure Monday because it's actually a fun and easy-to-follow nail art. It's been a really long time since I've done character nail art but every once in a while I think it's a creative way to express yourself and give a little happy boost whenever you glance down at your fingers. I've gotten loads of compliments on this look so I wanted to share it with you as well! :)
Check out the step-by-step tutorial below!
Hey everyone! Today I wanted to share the $20 Makeup Challenge tag. The concept is simple since it's basically just as the title implies. You get 20 bucks to complete an entire makeup look from start to finish using products purchased with only $20 before taxes including all primers, base, color makeup, and tools like lash curlers or brushes.
Since I usually like to mix drugstore and department store makeup, it was definitely a challenge to use not only drugstore products, but the less expensive drugstore products to boot! Many people don't realize that even a drugstore foundation can cost $10-$15, plus I didn't want to skimp on a full-on look that I could leave the house in.
Did I complete the challenge? Click below to see!
Hey guys! March is upon us again and it's time to share my monthly favorites from the past 4 weeks. This month, I found a new favorite lip product and rediscovered a few older items that I used nearly everyday!
Check out the video and product list below...
Remember that drugstore haul I did not too long ago? Well I have a follow-up on how well I liked the products in my August Hits & Misses video!
Products mentioned:
Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation in 325 Sandstone
Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Cream
Wet & Wild 8-Pan Palette in Comfort Zone
L'Oreal HIP Shadow Duo in 510 Electrified
Wet & Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink
Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof Mascara
CVS triple sharpener (similar here and here)
Milani Liquif'eye pencil in Black
Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Zero
Wet & Wild Mega Eyes Cream Eyeliner in Black
Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Face Powder in Beige
Unii Palette in Black
Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Blush in Blushing Glow
Products mentioned:
Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation in 325 Sandstone
Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Cream
Wet & Wild 8-Pan Palette in Comfort Zone
L'Oreal HIP Shadow Duo in 510 Electrified
Wet & Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink
Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof Mascara
CVS triple sharpener (similar here and here)
Milani Liquif'eye pencil in Black
Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Zero
Wet & Wild Mega Eyes Cream Eyeliner in Black
Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Face Powder in Beige
Unii Palette in Black
Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Blush in Blushing Glow
On me:
My nailpolish is Maybelline Express Finish in 155 Speedy Hot Tamale
Lipstick is NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul
Foundation is Fairydrops BB Cream in Ochre
Eyeshadow is L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow Duo in 510 Electrified
Necklace is Amrita Singh Shelter Island necklace via Hautelook & currently on sale (my invite)
As I said in the video, I feel a bit justified for being biased toward high-end makeup for the face and low-end makeup for the eyes. It is probably because of the area I live in not being very diverse (midwest) but seriously, I was shocked when I tested out the Maybelline concealer because it was SO light! It's true that I'm currently in my "tan stage" after this heat wave of a summer, but I know for a fact that there are plenty of white girls who are my skin color or tanner and they would not match this concealer either!
Also, I felt pretty sad about the Covergirl Natureluxe foundation not working for me because G over at Nouveau Cheap loves it. A little bird mentioned to me that the formula may have been inspired by Armani foundation but I have not tried it and cannot speak for that myself.
It almost worked out and it doesn't look that bad on my face in person especially after initial application, but it definitely gave my face a ruddier look since it has pinker undertones than what I should be using. It starts with a nice satin finish but my face gets oily within a couple hours. Definitely a return.
Check out this screencap I took of Covergirl's page for this foundation. Pink, pink, pink, pink, and dark.
Did Covergirl not get the memo that most people are warm-toned? I guess it makes sense why they chose Taylor Swift as their spokesmodel. It certainly wouldn't have been Jessica Alba, which to that I will say, "Thank you Revlon, for making yellow-based foundations!"
I'm sure in the future they will get the hint and improve but for now, I will stick with Makeup Forever and bb creams for my base makeup. ^_~
Anyway, to do a quicker recap about the rest, I loved all of the eye products I tried save for some packaging flaws that could be improved, and kudos to Wet & Wild for really stepping up the drugstore game in general. I appreciate their pigmentation and quality, especially in the face of bigger companies (*cough*Covergirl*cough*) who are great at some things like mascara, but really suck when it comes to blushes and foundations!
I hope that my reviews helped those of you who were interested in picking up some of the items I tested out!
If you want to see swatches you can see my haul blog post here as well.
Now I have to go pack for... shall we say... a search for that je ne sais quoi! ;)
As I said in the video, I feel a bit justified for being biased toward high-end makeup for the face and low-end makeup for the eyes. It is probably because of the area I live in not being very diverse (midwest) but seriously, I was shocked when I tested out the Maybelline concealer because it was SO light! It's true that I'm currently in my "tan stage" after this heat wave of a summer, but I know for a fact that there are plenty of white girls who are my skin color or tanner and they would not match this concealer either!
Also, I felt pretty sad about the Covergirl Natureluxe foundation not working for me because G over at Nouveau Cheap loves it. A little bird mentioned to me that the formula may have been inspired by Armani foundation but I have not tried it and cannot speak for that myself.
It almost worked out and it doesn't look that bad on my face in person especially after initial application, but it definitely gave my face a ruddier look since it has pinker undertones than what I should be using. It starts with a nice satin finish but my face gets oily within a couple hours. Definitely a return.
Check out this screencap I took of Covergirl's page for this foundation. Pink, pink, pink, pink, and dark.
Did Covergirl not get the memo that most people are warm-toned? I guess it makes sense why they chose Taylor Swift as their spokesmodel. It certainly wouldn't have been Jessica Alba, which to that I will say, "Thank you Revlon, for making yellow-based foundations!"
I'm sure in the future they will get the hint and improve but for now, I will stick with Makeup Forever and bb creams for my base makeup. ^_~
Anyway, to do a quicker recap about the rest, I loved all of the eye products I tried save for some packaging flaws that could be improved, and kudos to Wet & Wild for really stepping up the drugstore game in general. I appreciate their pigmentation and quality, especially in the face of bigger companies (*cough*Covergirl*cough*) who are great at some things like mascara, but really suck when it comes to blushes and foundations!
I hope that my reviews helped those of you who were interested in picking up some of the items I tested out!
If you want to see swatches you can see my haul blog post here as well.
Now I have to go pack for... shall we say... a search for that je ne sais quoi! ;)
Hello from Minneapolis! I've been spending the last couple days hanging out with my dear friend Eki here in her city just to get away from things for a bit. We've been having several conversations that are getting my creative juices flowing and of course also eating a lot of delicious food!
Since I have a little break before we head out to the zoo today to see the Japanese paper lantern festival, I wanted to do a blog update of my recent drugstore haul to CVS and Walgreens. :)
Products mentioned:
Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation in 325 Sandstone
Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Face Powder in Beige
Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Cream
L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base
L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow Duo in 510 Electrified
Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof Mascara (regular Lash Blast here)
Milani Liquif'eye pencil in Black
Wet & Wild Mega Eyes Cream Eyeliner in Black
CVS triple sharpener (similar here and here)
Sour gummy worms :3
Wet & Wild Comfort Zone palette
Wet & Wild Color Icon blush in Pearlescent Pink
One of the items that I got that I've been sooooo lemming for for a while now is Wet & Wild's Comfort Zone 8 pan palette. The 8-pans can only be found at Walgreens and Walmart as far as I know but I seriously think it's worth the trip to pick this baby up. At $4.99 it has a lot of bang for the buck.
Here are my swatches. I will say that the texture is super buttery but also very prone to fallout since the shadows are so soft. In fact, I already dropped mine once and the pale taupe shade broke (cry) so I will have to see if I can press it back together. Overall, the colors are very vibrant and the pigmentation is impressive for a drugstore product.
Just because I'm obsessed with this shade, here's a closeup of my favorite color which you may recognize from my Wet & Wild Night Elf Palette look. It's a reddish brown with a strong green flash similar to Mac Club or Rock & Republic Lawsuit.
Next are swatches of the L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow duo in 510 Electrified which has a gorgeous pale metallic taupe and a lovely deep purple to contrast it. The quality on these is excellent, which is saying something because I've tried other shades in the HIP line that I was less than impressed with.
In order, here is the Milani Liquif'eye Pencil in Black, Wet & Wild cream eyeliner, and Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Cream. This concealer is way too light for me, although it was the darkest shade available at my CVS.
Finally, here is the Wet & Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink and Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation in 325 Sandstone. It looks light here on my hand but it actually matches my face fine.
I don't want to go too far into detail with everything since I will be giving my full thoughts when I have my monthly Hits & Misses at the end of the month, but as far as first impressions go I was pretty happy with most of the items I bought. Hopefully I will still feel that way after using them for a while! ;)
I hope seeing actual swatches of the items were helpful if you were thinking about picking these up. Let me know in the comments if any of you have tried anything I bought and your opinion on it since, good or bad, it's always helpful to get more insight from the community. ^_~
Now I'm gonna go get ready to see some elephants, monkeys and beautiful paper lanterns! :D Yeah!
Since I have a little break before we head out to the zoo today to see the Japanese paper lantern festival, I wanted to do a blog update of my recent drugstore haul to CVS and Walgreens. :)
Products mentioned:
Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation in 325 Sandstone
Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Face Powder in Beige
Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Cream
L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base
L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow Duo in 510 Electrified
Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof Mascara (regular Lash Blast here)
Milani Liquif'eye pencil in Black
Wet & Wild Mega Eyes Cream Eyeliner in Black
CVS triple sharpener (similar here and here)
Sour gummy worms :3
Wet & Wild Comfort Zone palette
Wet & Wild Color Icon blush in Pearlescent Pink
One of the items that I got that I've been sooooo lemming for for a while now is Wet & Wild's Comfort Zone 8 pan palette. The 8-pans can only be found at Walgreens and Walmart as far as I know but I seriously think it's worth the trip to pick this baby up. At $4.99 it has a lot of bang for the buck.
Here are my swatches. I will say that the texture is super buttery but also very prone to fallout since the shadows are so soft. In fact, I already dropped mine once and the pale taupe shade broke (cry) so I will have to see if I can press it back together. Overall, the colors are very vibrant and the pigmentation is impressive for a drugstore product.
Just because I'm obsessed with this shade, here's a closeup of my favorite color which you may recognize from my Wet & Wild Night Elf Palette look. It's a reddish brown with a strong green flash similar to Mac Club or Rock & Republic Lawsuit.
Next are swatches of the L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow duo in 510 Electrified which has a gorgeous pale metallic taupe and a lovely deep purple to contrast it. The quality on these is excellent, which is saying something because I've tried other shades in the HIP line that I was less than impressed with.
In order, here is the Milani Liquif'eye Pencil in Black, Wet & Wild cream eyeliner, and Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Cream. This concealer is way too light for me, although it was the darkest shade available at my CVS.
Finally, here is the Wet & Wild blush in Pearlescent Pink and Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation in 325 Sandstone. It looks light here on my hand but it actually matches my face fine.
I don't want to go too far into detail with everything since I will be giving my full thoughts when I have my monthly Hits & Misses at the end of the month, but as far as first impressions go I was pretty happy with most of the items I bought. Hopefully I will still feel that way after using them for a while! ;)
I hope seeing actual swatches of the items were helpful if you were thinking about picking these up. Let me know in the comments if any of you have tried anything I bought and your opinion on it since, good or bad, it's always helpful to get more insight from the community. ^_~
Now I'm gonna go get ready to see some elephants, monkeys and beautiful paper lanterns! :D Yeah!
