Hey guys! It's time for recapping my monthly favorite beauty products of this August. As you know, this month has been filled with lots of travel. With the whole packing and moving process, a lot of my readily-available cosmetics and beauty products have been limited so I wanted to share some solid staples that have made it to the small makeup pouch that I've been living out of for the last few weeks!

Inside you can see the large mirror, 8 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, highlighter, and 2 brushes included in the palette. This is quite a large palette and there is thickness to it which is unfortunate, but it accommodates the width of the brushes included.


Here's a better look at everything included. It's amazing how all the shades work together even though we each came up with our shades independently.


Lots of eye candy close ups and swatches after the jump!

One of my very favorite makeup items in all of existence is blush. Isn't it funny that we try so hard to cover up our rosy red cheeks when we become embarrassed, but then try to mimic that flush with makeup? I think there's something quite charming and attractive about a beautifully applied blush that can't be replaced by anything else in a makeup routine. Even with no other makeup on, it brings a liveliness to the face that I really adore.

There are plenty of techniques used to give us that effervescent, lit-from-within glow that we all seek but I've found one which is easy to master while helping to slim and contour the face at the same time...

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed and are still enjoying Halloween fun. I suppose that this year part of our seasonal fun is the annual Sephora Friends & Family sale, am I right beauty community? Everyone loves a good sale off beauty products!

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

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!

Sob, sob, I was wanting to record another Halloween tutorial today but sadly, I am still very sick today. :( Pretty much sound like death. Instead I thought I'd post about my MAC haul that I recently did from the big Disney collection that came out with some of the best villains ever created.

I recorded this video a few days ago when I wasn't coughing as much. I know you've all probably seen tons of videos and pictures of this collection already but what can I say, I was still excited about mine. ;)

I didn't mention Bite of an Apple blush in my video because I actually received it as a gift from my dear (and amazingly talented photographer) friend Kassia which was TOO GENEROUS of her, but in return for having these swatches and photos for you all, you should visit her blog, full of makeup & eye candy magic!


The packaging had some pretty sweet sketches on the cardboard boxes. I always have such a difficult time throwing unique packaging away so I'll hoard them in a drawer until I need more space. ;D


The much-coveted Bad Fairy nail lacquer. This is a duo-chrome shimmer polish in the same vein as the ORLY CosmicFX collection. I have 3 CosmicFX polishes that I still need to post about, so I'll show all three swatches then. I'll just say that this type of polish makes me weak in the knees and very distracted by my hands while I'm walking/working/driving/in sunlight at any point.


Blushes! I love blushes, which you probably already know from my ridiculously huge Rock & Republic blush collection. I didn't used to be such a blush hoarder but now I can't go without them! Even on no-makeup days, I find a bit of blush brightens up the face so easily. ^_^


Briar Rose beauty powder blush. MAC Beauty Powders tend to be sheerer but impart a nice glowy look to your skin that makes it look more like a natural, beautiful flush. This one is such a lovely pinky-purple, which is a shade I've been loving for the Fall weather. It's more sophisticated than my summer corals. Although it's matte, I could see a few shimmery flecks in the sunlight.


Bite of an Apple blush is a wham-bam coral red that is VERY pigmented and completely matte even in sunlight. I recommend using a light hand with this one, or a stippling brush. This would actually look SO pretty with Heartless lipstick for a cheery holiday look.


The 2 lipglasses I bought were Revenge is Sweet and Strange Potion. Revenge is Sweet looks neon purple in the tube but is actually the prettiest glossy, sheer fuchsia pink. Super wearable for everyday and not too sheer in my opinion. Others complained about this color being underwhelming but I love it! Strange Potion in contrast is a cute opaque peach with pearl shimmer. Very wearable as well for those afraid to go full-nude with lipstick but still want an opaque nude lip.


Heartless lipstick is a very neutral, bright red. Cousin to my favorite red, NYX Snow White, but brighter. Can't wait to try this one out for the holidays! The image of Cruella isn't my favorite but honestly, she was never a very attractive lady. I'm pretty sure if the Evil Villains were all makeup bloggers Cruella would be the one with the most hater comments from 13-year olds telling her to re-shape her eyebrows. ^_~


And of course, swatches! Click for a bigger image.


For those of you who are wondering about my outfit/nail polish in the video, I'll have a video and OOTD post about it more in-depth next time. :] Hope you enjoyed these pics and swatches!

Now it's time for me to go nap before going to the in-laws to celebrate hubby's birthday. HE'S SO OLD!! Just kidding, he's only 2 months older than me. You can wish him a Happy Bday in the comments since I'm pretty sure he stalks my blog or something, wtf.

<3<3<3 lolzjkloveyouhubby! I'll try to stop coughing on you as my present. True love!

Hey everyone! I wanted to do a new series of videos and blog posts dedicated to some of my favorite products so I decided to begin my new "HG Spotlight" series with my favorite blushes, the Rock & Republic Contrived Pressed Blushes. I know I can't altogether take credit for spreading the love of these blushes but I'm not gonna lie, these are just ridiculously good.


I first bought these blushes from the Hautelook sale at 40% off and swatched Call Me and Kinky in this post. Then, the next time the sale came around, I decided to buy X-Rated, All Nighter, Bedroom, and Lust as well since I was so impressed with the quality of the first two. A reader e-mailed me to let me know that Hautelook will be having Rock & Republic Beauty sale again on Monday, 7/12 so I thought it would be a great time to post all of my collection and swatches.

If you haven't already signed up for Hautelook, click here for an invite.  Note: Hautelook does give a store credit to the inviter after the invitee's first purchase, but as always I only post when there is actually an event I am personally buying from too. Gotta share those good deals! ;)

As an all-encompassing statement, I will say that this blush line is one of the best quality blushes that I've come across. They are gorgeously pigmented, finely milled, and are long-lasting. The actual amount of product in the pan is literally 2x the amount in a NARS blush, so they last forever. I don't even want to start on the packaging! It's weighty, shiny, and just over-the-top decadent which I LOVE.

The only downsides to these blushes are the availability (You can only buy it online and at R&R specialty stores, or occasional Hautelook sales) and the price (Original retail price is $40. Ouch!) But as I mentioned before, I got mine through Hautelook where they were $24 and compared to NARS blushes which retail at $26, it's quite a nice deal.

So with no further ado, here are the swatches which can explain 100x better than words can. :)


Each blush in biggins glory. So you can see the pretty shimmers. ^O^

Call Me


Bedroom


All Nighter


Kinky


X-Rated


Lust


Check out the adorable necklace I bought from Lisa HQCD's store. I freakin' love the silver branch. Oh, and the watch I'm wearing in the video is from Juny's and the polish I'm wearing is Revlon Petal Peach.



Anyway, hope that was helpful if any of you are deciding to buy something from Monday's Hautelook sale. Let me know if you decided to get something or if you already have any Rock & Republic stuff! Any other suggestions of colors I should get this time?

Hope you guys have a fantastic weekend. :)