Makeup Madness Part 7! Makeup brushes!

So here's my thing with brushes- I started using makeup brushes for eye shadow in high school, but then for blush I always just used what came in my blush compact, didn't wear foundation for the longest time so didn't need a brush for that and then I didn't need one for contour and highlight because I didn't do that till recently either. So once I started buying more makeup and needing more brushes it was a very slippery slope and all of the sudden I had 40 brushes.

The only thing I don't use a brush for is my foundation, pretty much no mater what foundation I'm using I prefer to apply it with my finger tips. Always clean hands but primer and foundation do not get a brush, I've tried and every once in a while I'll try again but its just not my favorite application method.


This will not be a purging at all. I'm not getting rid of any of my brushes...sorry to disappoint. But here they are and I'll link to where you can buy them- no affiliate links.




Face brushes!

1. IT Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Radiance Wand #14 This is the most amazing brush ever. I got this with an IT Cosmetics kit from QVC and it's the softest brush you've ever felt. It's big enough to be a great powder brush or bronzing brush I use it most for a bronzing brush and love it. OMG the softness.
2. Real Techniques Blush Brush This is my next biggest brush and I love it too! This is my blush brush and it's great for diffusing really pigmented blushes and blending them out. Because the cut on the brush is so tapered it really picks up product and so just a tap is needed to get great blush color.
3. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush I bought this brush to use with my bronzer before I had #1 but didn't like it for that. So then I tried to use it for what it was meant for foundation- didn't like it for that too. None of my foundations need that much buffing. So now I just kinda use it when other brushes are dirty or I need to really blend something out- like too much blush or too hard contour. It's a great brush it's just not what I need right now.
4. Real Techniques Setting Brush Love this brush! I had been using a different brush to set my under eyes and it was just too big, but this is the perfect size. It's actually also the perfect size for highlight. I keep wanting to get another for highlight but have restrained myself...but I may get another.
5. Bare Escentuals Flawless Face This is a brush I've had the longest and will probably be first to go when I find a replacement. This is a natural hair brush one of my few and it's almost 8 years old so it should probably be retired. It's kinda bristly and not as soft as it once was. I use this just for all over face powder which I don't use everyday...so eh I would not repurchase now.
6. Bare Escentuals Max Coverage Concealer I use this brush for concealing! I actually use this one for what it's for. I like to use this when I'm concealing around my nose or need to correct redness on my cheeks. It's a fine brush I don't use it daily either. 
7. Ecotools Skin Perfecting Brush I bought this brush when I first started using CC and BB creams. I feel like this is a great sized brush and it applies product just fine, but I also feel like it absorbs too much. As a white brush you can see all the product that gets stuck and trapped in it. Also because of this I feel like I need to clean it much more frequently. So I only use this brush when using really really creamy BB creams or ones I don't mind wasting a little bit.
8. Ecotools Concealer Brush LOVE! This is a relatively new purchase maybe just at the end of summer and I love it. I got this brush after seeing EmilyNoel or Kristin Ghem talking about it and using it with pot concealers. I use this with my Erase Paste and Pixi Correction Concentrate. It's great, perfect size. I have no complaints.
9. ELF Kabuki Face Brush (not pictured) This is a good all over buffing brush when you're blending. I don't use this brush to apply anything to my face but just to blend all my cheek products together and hopefully make myself look less powdery. It's a find brush no essential but good for what I need it for.
10. ELF Angled Blush Brush I originally bought this brush for contour and I love it for that. This is great at getting really deep contour around my ears and hair line. I don't use this everyday because it lays down a lot of product but when I really want to carve out my features I love this.
11. ELF Small Tapered Brush I bought this brush highlight before I got my stipple brush and it works great for that. I still use this periodically when different highlights depending on how much glow I'm going for, for the price it's great.
12. ELF Blush Brush Very similar to the tapered brush I really only use this when my big blush brush is dirty. Great brush I just don't reach for it too much.
13. ELF Small Stipple Brush I loved this brush for about 6 months. Then the brush head fell off! It's still attached to the ferrol of the brush but I couldn't believe it. It's a fairly cheap brush so it doesn't really bother me and I can still use it but just kinda disappointing. I use this brush for my super strong highlights that I need to diffuse more. I use this brush daily. 
14. ELF Contouring Brush This is another great brush for when you want really sharp contour. I don't use this all the time but when I want a great straight line on my face it's perfect. Also great for contouring your nose. 
15. ELF Flawless Concealer Brush I bought this brush the same day I got my other concealer brush and I probably don't need both. I only use this brush when I have really liquid-y concealer that I need to buff into my skin. I may re-purpose this brush for something else because I don't think my face needs it.

Eye Brushes!

1. Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush Love this brush. Perfect for the crease and does exactly what you hope it will. Essential eye shadow brush for sure.
2. Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush This is a great brush and a part of an eye kit with the next few brushes and it's fine. I use it how it's intended to, as my base shadow brush- use it daily.
3. Real Techniques Shading Brush I used to use this brush a lot more as a crease brush and it's great for that. But right now it's serving me as an awesome brush to use with cream shadows. I use it with my ELF smudge pots and Color Tattoos.
4. Real Techniques Brow Brush I use this brush incorrectly. I find this one too big for my brows and so honestly don't use it much. Every once in a while I'll pull it in for a thicker eye liner, but it's not my favorite.
5. Real Techniques Accent Brush This brush I use for my eye brows and love it. It's the perfect size! I use an angle brush too sometimes but this is great for getting precise brows.
6. Sephora Professional Pointed Liner #17 Great for gel liner. I use this when my other liner brushes are dirty. It's great but not essential.
7. Sephora Professional Angled Shadow #20 This is a super fluffy and soft eye shadow brush. I use this with really pigmented shadows I need to diffuse. It's so soft. I've used this brush for years and recently rediscovered it at the back of a drawer. It's awesome.
8. Sephora Pencil Brush- all the info has rubbed off Essential brush that I have no idea what it is! I can't find this brush anywhere now but I know it's Sephora and it's amazing. I got this ages ago and it's the perfect pencil brush! Why aren't more this size. It's stiff but gentle and great for getting the lower lash line or highlighting the brow bone or my usual use for it is my inner corner. Great great brush.
9. Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Flat Shadow Brush (discontinued because VS hates me). This is a super dense brush that's soft and great for packing on metallic shades. Use this all the time with my favorite gold shadows. Awesome brush what's wrong with Victoria's Secret bring back your makeup and brushes!
10. Ecotools Flat Eyeliner Brush Great eye liner brush, perfect size and I use it all the time for shadow eye liner. I don't like it with gel eye liner. But it's a great brush.
11. Crown Brush Dual Ended (Ipsy bag brush) It was free, well not really! It's great for travel or using with shadow colors I don't use frequently like black smokey shades or glitter. 
12. Tarte Dual Ended Shadow Brush (QVC) This is a great brush that came with a Tarte palette. Love it. One side is super flat which is great and one is fluffy. perfect for travel.
13. IT Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Dual Eyeshadow #5 OMG back to my IT brushes! I love this thing and need more. If I had a few of these brushes I wouldn't need other eye brushes. I love the small stubby side, it's great for lining the lower lash line. The fluffy side is super soft. Love it.
14. Sad no name shader brush I've had literally forever- ESSENTIAL brush. What are you? I love you.
15. Up & Up Target Duo Eye Brush Set These are awesome brushes. One's a bigger flat shader and one is a little smaller. I use these for shimmery shades and really nothing else. They're great little brushes and I have my eyes on some more from this brand.
16. ELF Eyebrow Duo Brush I Love this brush and my eyebrows would not be anything with out. I am super picky about my eyebrow brushes because I want the spoolie side to be eyebrow size not a full length spoolie size and this one is perfect! And the angle brush side it great too. I have no complaints about this brush and love it. 
17. ELF Small Angled Brush I got this brush originally for my eye brows before I got the Duo brush but now I use it for eye liner or smudging if need be. Great little brush.
18. ELF Angled Eyeliner Brush I like this brush fine for gel eye liner but don't quite understand the need for it to be angled. I don't have a trouble getting to my lash line like other do so the angle is kinda wasted on me, but love the brush and use it when my other liner brushes are dirty...which is frequently. 
19. ELF Crease Brush This is smaller than my blending brush but mostly the same shape. I find it too small for my crease but love it for smudging out lower lash-line liner. 
20. ELF Blending Brush (w) I use this brush daily. I love it and should really get around to buying some back ups. I can tell it's starting to loosen from it's base. But I love it and it's so soft and perfect.
21. ELF Eyeshadow Brush (w) Mine looks a little sad with some of the brush hairs a little longer than others but it's a great base or all over eye brush.
22. ELF Smudge Brush (w) I love this brush because it's a smaller flat shader brush, I'm sure it could be a smudge brush but I use it to apply really shimmery colors that I don't want to deal with a lot of fall out from. Love it. 
23. ELF Eye Crease Brush (w) Another crease brush and I don't use this one as much as the others, but it's a great backup when all my other brushes are dirty. 

So basically I have way too many brushes but I use them and it's good to rotate so you aren't always using dirty brushes. I clean my brushes regularly and they're all holding up pretty well. To me the ELF ones only have about a year and half shelf life and the nicer brushes obviously last much longer. I try to wash with Dr. Bronner's Soap once a month, but weekly I wipe them down with makeup wipes (sometimes more than weekly) and then daily I wipe off the excess color onto a washcloth I keep on my sink for just this purpose. I feel like this helps my brushes and my skin because I'm wiping off some of the excess oil and product so it doesn't go on my face. But I love my brushes and I do want to eventually get some more IT Cosmetics brushes just because they're better quality but I don't NEED them. Yay!

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Previous Makeup Madness-es!

Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters, Eye Liners, Lippies, Mascara, and Concealer!

Fall Party Makeup!

Ooops. I guess it's been a little bit since I blogged. I've had a very busy September. I've been busy with work stuff and after work stuff, so there hasn't been a lot of time for makeup creativity.  Until this weekend. I'd gotten in a rut of easy fall makeup and decided that I needed to spice it up. Luckily I had a Theatre Karaoke Party to go to and decided I'd go all out.  What do I mean?

I mean I wore I all the makeup.  This bag is filled with all the stuff I applied to my face. There was quite a bit. I hadn't worn this much makeup in a while and it kinda showed. It was indoors and kinda darkish party so luckily unless I was in full sunlight it didn't look like as much makeup as it actually was...at least that's what I'm telling myself.

So starting with my base. Primer. I primed. I had put my usual day cream on earlier in the day. But about 10 minutes before applying my makeup I used my IT Cosmetics Feel the Moment Primer Serum. This needs to soak in a moment. I also applied my CeraVe Eye Repair Cream- I'd recently heard it played well under concealer so gave it a whirl. It's my usual nighttime eye cream. After the those had sunk in a bit I added my Maybelline Master Prime in Blur + Smooth where my pores are the worst- around my nose and tops of my cheeks and my Milani Eyeshadow Primer to my eyelids and a little below where my concealer goes.


Once all that set in I moved on to my next face products. Bring in the IT Cosmetics team. I love IT Cosmetics. I combine both the CC Cream regular and Illumination in Medium to make a delightfully glowy full coverage effect. I also use two Bye Bye Under Eyes in Neutral Medium and Tan. I apply the CC Cream with my fingers one pump of the regular and half a pump of the Illumination. I use about a pinpoint size of each Bye Bye Under Eye and mix them together on the back of my hand. Then I apply a thin layer to each under eye and blend out with a fluffy concealer brush. I love the look of this combo. It's incredibly full coverage and very long wearing. The CC Cream doesn't need any setting powder by the time I get to my face products it's set fine, but the Bye Bye Under Eye definitely needs to be set. It will remain very tacky and I'd worry it would move around if I didn't set it. My favorite way to set it is with my NARS Translucent Crystal Powder.

Normally I would move onto my eyes next, but this Saturday I did it reverse and did my face powders next.

I used my usual and ALMOST gone NYC Sunny Bronzer to contour and bronze up my face. Then I used the gorgeous highlighter from the IT Cosmetics Live, Laugh, Love Vitality Face Disc. This highlighter is not joking around. It is in your face and shiny and gorgeous. Then I finished it off with my Tarte Blush in Savored from last year's Tarte Holiday set from QVC. Combined these face products are gorgeous. I chose the IT Cosmetics highlighter because it's more champagne based and less gold than my usual. This is not a highlighter you'd choose for a natural day or if you were wanting to be subtle. I will also use up my Sunny bronzer this year if it kills me. I'm so tired of that thing and have so many other bronzers I want to use. Now that it's fall I've started to pull out my deeper blushes and this is one of my faves.

For my eyes I knew I wanted to do something special. Something fun and sparkly. I also wanted to use my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette that I've been neglecting. I started with White Chocolate all over my lids for a smooth base. This helps the shadows blend together too. I then took Salted Caramel in my crease to just warm things up and give a transition. On my lids I used Strawberry Bon Bon. Then I took the star of this look Black Forest Truffle in my outer V and kept adding and blending and adding and blending. I got rid of some of the lightness of the Strawberry Bon Bon so I added on top some Champagne Truffle in the inner part of the lid to brighten things back up. Not satisfied with the depth of the outer V I added a smidgen of Dark Chocolate and then more Black Forest Truffle. It ended up being a super pretty eye look but not as party worthy as I'd been hoping so I reached for my ELF Long Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow in Gala to add some sparkle, just to the outer edge.

To finish off the eyes I used my NYX Dark Brown Gel Eyeliner along the top lash line and Dark Chocolate on the lower lash line. I then let the gel liner set and filled in my brows with my NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Taupe. For mascara I doubled up with my Covergirl Super Sizer and Benefit's They're Real both in black. Not pictured is my NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Walkyrie.  To finish off the whole fancy pants think I was going for I used my Armani Si from Scentbird as Perfume.

Here is how the look came out in various stages in the evening. It was fun, but at the end of the night a pain to get off. I broke out the cold cream because it was just a lot of makeup.

      

*None of the links above are affiliate links, just where you can buy this fabulous stuff!

Favorite Eye Shadow Combos!

It's the last day of summer for me. My students started trickling back to town last ween but their first day of class is tomorrow. So that means summer dress is over, no more jeans in the middle of the week, no more flip flops, and for me- no more lazy makeup.  So I have a couple of Go-To eye looks I do throughout the academic year. I've been spoiled over the summer with my 10 minute makeup look, my usual routine takes about 1/2 an hour with the majority of time spent on my eyes.

So the palettes I use for my eye looks and will reference throughout this post are as follows:

1. Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette
2. Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette
3. Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette

All of these links are for ULTA- so no affiliate links.

Neutral Matte
I would say the look I do the most and will continue to do the most this semester will be close to my Tartelette Redux look. An all Matte neutral bown-ish natural look. I can accomplish this look with both my Chocolate Bar and Tartelette palettes.

Chocolate Bar Palette (Left - Right)
White Chocolate, Strawberry Bon Bon, Salted Caramel, Milk Chocolate, Semi-Sweet, & Dark Chocolate

1. I'll start every look with eye primer- I'm working through Milani Eyeshadow Primer right now.
2. Then I cover the entire lid with a base powder either White Chocolate or Free Spirit. This makes blending out all the colors easier and doesn't seem to effect lasting time.
3. Next comes a pale pink all over my lid below the crease- I use either Strawberry Bon Bon or Caregiver. If these shadows get muddied during the blending process I'll come back to them at the end.
4. Then I start deepening the crease starting with a light medium brown or camel color like Salted Caramel or Force of Nature.
5. Then another crease color a little darker still- Milk Chocolate or Wanderer.
6. Blend Blend Blend!
7. Then the next shade darker brown goes just in the outer V and blended with a very light hand into #4&5. I used Semi-Sweet or Dreamer here and make the outer corner the darkest of all and blend it just so slightly into the V.
8. Blend Blend Blend! you don't ever want to see where the color changes so I blend till it's a perfect gradient.
9. If my pale pink has gotten a little lost then I'll brighten it up with it again, I don't always have to do that though.
10. Finally I use either the darkest brown color to line my lower lashes lightly and the outer corner of my top lashes- Dark Chocolate or Multi-Tasker.
11. If I want real liner I use my dark brown gel liner, but I've been liking the no-liner look lately.

Tartelette (Left - Right)
Free Spirit, Caregiver, Force of Nature, Wanderer, Dreamer, & Multi-Tasker

I feel like this is the most universal eye look I do. It goes with everything and always looks classic. If I want to make it more dramatic I can add Dark Chocolate or Multi-Tasker as a second outer V color. If I want my eyes to really pop I can use gel liner around the whole eye. I can even skip the outer V colors all together and just have a very no-make-up-make-up eye look. So I love this one, it still takes me 20 minutes to complete because blending takes time, but I feel like I've gotten as fast as I can with this.

Burgundy and Gold
I don't know when I fell in love with gold shadow on my eyes but I know it was sometime after purchasing the Rainforest palette and seeing Kristin Gehm rave about it. But I started playing with the golds in this palette and my chocolate bar palette and somehow stumbled upon burgundy being a good pair with those. So this is another look that I loved all last fall and have already broken out a couple times this past week. Gold is fun! So these looks can be done with the Chocolate Bar or Rainforest palette.

Rainforest After Dark (Left - Right)
Bare to Explore, Tangled Up In You, Up To No Gold, Plum Away With Me, Don't Turn A-Brown

1. Primer
2. All over lid base color- the Rainforest palette is missing a good nude base color so I either pull it from my Chocolate bar or just use my setting powder here as a base. White Chocolate still works here and whatever color I use goes all over the lid because the base is all the same color for this look.
3. Next I move to the crease with Milk Chocolate and Semi Sweet or Bare to Explore and Tangled Up In You. The chocolate bar look gets darker quicker and the Rainforest stays a little lighter.
4. Then I take GOLD all over the lid below the crease. I do it after the crease base colors in this look because gold gets everywhere if you blend over it too much. I use Creme Brule or Up to no Gold. They're both gorgeous- I feel like the Chocolate Bar Gold is smoother but the Tarte's sticks a little better to the eye. I usually do two layers of each to get that really metallic look.
5. Next up a burgundy or maroon color. In the Chocolate Bar you have two options depending on how dark you want to go Amaretto or Cherry Cordial. For Rainforest I go with Plum Away With Me. These colors start at the outer corner and come in for the outer 3rd and then blend lightly in the crease above the gold.
6. Then if I need more depth I'll add Dark Chocolate or Don't Turn A-Brown and add to just the very outside of the eye.
7. I use my dark brown gel liner with this look and usually take some gold and medium brown on the lower lash line.

Chocolate Bar Palette (Left-Right)
Milk Chocolate, Semi-Sweet, Creme Brule, Amaretto, Cherry Cordial, Dark Chocolate

This is a great look for fall! I just love the gold, if you were this look with Green and have blue or green eyes it's amazing! I also love to wear this when I'm wearing brown or orangey- you know fall colors. It's a great look that works for all the eye colors. Brown eyes look gorgeous with gold. This look takes me a little longer even though there are fewer steps because Gold can smell fear. You have to go slowly with gold or it'll end up all over your face.

So I think these shadows make great fall looks. Even within just the shadows I shared you can do a variation of things and each can be very appropriate work day or school day looks as well as evening looks. I frequently will just darken things up after work and have a perfectly good evening look.  Here in Texas fall is still a few months off, but hopefully we're at least done with the 100+ degree days so fall eye makeup here I come!

In case you want to know what blushes I would use with these looks- definitely plummier, deeper rose colors and with hints of gold. So I'll break out my NARS Orgasm again, my Cabana Boy from the Balm and my deepest Tarte blush in Savored. Less pinks more plums!

Makeup Madness! Part 6! Concealers

It's Makeup Madness Time again! This time it's all about concealers! I only have a few to get rid of but have some I really love. Now I'll be the first person to admit like all my makeup adventures, concealer is still something I'm working on. I have not perfected my concealer game but it's getting better.  I wrote briefly about concealers once upon a time here.

So what do I use concealer for? Well I have terrible sleep problems and so I constantly have big blue bags under my eyes that need to be covered up.  And while acne isn't something I struggle with I do suffer from the occasional face planet that needs to be covered up. One of the biggest concealer tips I ever learned, a little late I might add just two years ago, was that you do not use the same concealer all over your face. There's a reason they make concealer specifically for under your eyes and specifically for covering blemishes.

Up first we have stick concealers or concealers with wands. I feel like stick concealers are the style of concealer handed to ever pubescent teenage girl when they get their first breakout. These concealers are usually a little dry or waxy, but provide fuller coverage.  I cannot use these, they're too drying for my face so I pretty much steer clear, however they do make excellent tattoo cover ups.  I use the ELF and Wet 'N Wild for one of the many layers of concealer I use when I have to cover up my tattoos for shows. Then the creamier concealers with either a wand or the ball thing the Maybelline has are much more hydrating and easy to use.  These concealers are hit or miss some are too shear (ELF HD) and some don't blend in well with the rest of your foundation (Age Rewind).  But I feel like these styles of concealers are definitely the easiest to learn how to use when first starting out with concealer.  So here's what I have (not int he order pictured)

• ELF Studio Concealer stick in beige. This $3 concealer is great. Excellent coverage, perfect shade match to me and a non-waxy stick formula. I can use this on my face and before I knew any better use to slather this under my eyes- but I don't recommend that because it'll dry your under eyes out like no ones business. If I was recommending a drugstore concealer for someone just starting out I'd recommend this easily- love it. This was also the first ELF product I ever tried after a theatre friend's recommendation.
• ELF HD Lifting Concealer  in light. Another $3 ELF product that is not great. This stuff sucks. It is so sheer. It applies with a doe foot applicator and is just awful. It also smells too face make-up-y which I hate. I have no use for this concealer and have no idea why I've kept it. In the trash it goes. 
• Wet n Wild Coverall in 804. A $2 concealer! Ummm this is not good either. The shade match is fine and the texture I'm sure would work for really oily people, but my Sahara desert skin cannot handle this, it's so waxy and you can just feel it sucking all the moisture out of your skin. This is another excellent tattoo cover up and literally the only reason I bought this thing too. I'm going to hold onto it just for that reason, also it's only about a year old so if I do another show I'll pull it out. 
• NYX Wonder Pencil in light. I didn't really know where to stick this $4 pencil, I think I might have also included him in my eyeliner madness, but that's because that's how I usually use this guy.  NYX advertises it as a "wonder" because it's supposed to do lots of things- conceal, line your lips and be an eye brightener.  It doesn't really do any of these things too terribly well.  It's too light for it to be a concealer for me, but the formula is too hard. I hate using it in my inner rim of my eyes because it's stabby. I have to warm it up first, and I don't use it to reverse line my lips but if I had the right color I may. I don't think it's anything special but I'll hold onto it and see if I can figure out a use for it.
• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in medium. I have a love hate relationship with this product. It's $9 and after 3 tries I finally got my color right, but...I don't know. I've almost used up this tube and while I like it and use it I wont be repurchasing it right away.  It's a creamy concealer, non-drying and made specifically for your under eyes, but I don't find it plays well with the rest of my makeup.  On days I'm just using concealer it's fine, but if I try to blend it in with different foundations for a seamless appearance it just doesn't work. So I'm just torn. I think it's a good concealer it does conceal but after using a full tube of it I'm not in love with it enough to spend $10 on it again.
• Benefit Fake Up in 02 medium. Oh my $24 concealer I love you. I sometimes forget about you in the back of my drawer and whenever I pull you our I remember how much I love you! This is a stick concealer unlike any other I had tried when I got it- it's a super creamy stick concealer surrounded by vitamin E and moisturizer gel. So it's hydrating! OMG I love it. I use this bad boy under my eyes and they feel so hydrated and are lightly concealed. This is not a full coverage concealer it's very light coverage but feels heavy (in a good way) but can build up to medium coverage. To me it just feels so good under my eyes and is perfect for weekends when I don't feel like wearing a full face of makeup. This was my first high end concealer purchase and after it I realized what my problem had been. Don't buy cheap concealer- they're just not worth it. Because I use this so infrequently I've had it over a year and will probably finish it up before Thanksgiving. I love it. I may not purchase it again right away but I definitely will again before next Summer because it's delightful. 

Up next I have potted concealers. Or panned concealers. These come in two types- at least that I've found- waxy and creamy.  There are some other variations in there but I think both really have their place and I've found a use for them that I didn't expect. So lets just jump into what I have.

• Benefit Boi-ing in 02 medium.  This $12 duo is 1/2 Boing concealer and 1/2 eye bright brightener.  Since I already knew I loved my first Benefit concealer I thought this duo was a great way to try others and it is. While I don't have much use for the eye brightener I may just not know how to use it, but the Boing concealer is a very interesting full coverage concealer. This stuff is thick, not hydrating but not waxy. I sometimes would use this on top of my Fake Up for a little more coverage and it works fine for that. I don't reach for this much anymore. I've hit pan on the concealer and will probably use it up but I've found other stuff I like better. This stuff isn't bad I just don't really need it in my stash. I think the Boing concealer texture and consistency would work on oilier skins better than dry.
• Benefit Erase Paste in 02 medium.  There's a theme here with Benefit. Their products are good. This $26 pot of salmon colored gold is amazing. I bought this after seeing several videos by EmilyNoel83 using it in tutorials or highlighting it in concealer videos. 2nd important concealer lesson I learned- if you have dark blue/purple circles under your eyes, you should use a salmon or orangey colored concealer to hide them. Something about being on different sides of the color spectrum makes them hide each other. This concealer has a creamy almost gel like texture it's very slippery and smooth. I don't think it's adding hydration to my face but it feels very moisturizing.  This stuff is made for the under eyes and since it's in that salmon color does a great job. During the school year when I'm super pale I use this under another concealer, but in the summer when I get a little pigment in my skin I can wear this by itself. I think it does a great job, if you set it it doesn't crease.  The only thing that is weird about this concealer for me is every review and the instructions online all say to use a little bit of this and that it'll go a long way...not the case for me I have to put a layer of this on my skin. I use the back of the spatula they give you to get it out of the pot and I cover the back of the spatula once for each eye. So I don't know. But I love it, I only use it under my eyes and I imagine this pot will last 2 years unless it goes bad first. I love it and as of right now I'd repurchase it- we'll see how I feel in another year.
• Pixi Correction Concentrate in brightening peach. This is a semi-drugstore option for Benefit's erase paste. This is $12 at target and YouTube told me it's a dupe for my Erase Paste.  I actually bought this first before I tried Erase Paste and loved it. It's creamy it's a salmony-peach color and it doesn't dry out my under eyes.  For me after a while I found the color wasn't as pigmented as I'd like and while my dark circles normally pop back out a few hours after concealer I feel like this almost made them look grey half way through the day. I like it though and find it a great option if you don't want to spend $26 on a concealer which I agree hurts. I'm holding onto it because it's another one of those concealers I'll break out on the weekend when I don't want to use my really expensive stuff. I imagine this stuff will last a little less than 2 years because it's slightly smaller than my erase paste.
• theBalm timeBalm Concealer in light/medium. This is an $18 concealer that I got for $10 on Hautelook (referral link). I heard about this from JenLuvsReviews and Tati on YouTube. Jen uses this as her under eye concealer and Tati uses it as an eye base/primer. I'd been wanting to try it so when I saw it come up on Hautlook I decided to try it. Well it's not good for my undereyes and then it creased on my eye lids.  This is a fairly dry and very lightly waxy concealer. Sigh. It's a perfect color match which was awesome and it lasts forever but I just found I couldn't use it under my eyes or on them.  Then one day- I decided to be adventurous and use it as a redness corrector around my nose- the one area on my face that is dry as hell but not as dry as say my cheeks and eyes.  So I took a concealer brush and lightly spread it over the area- instantly my redness vanished! It's a miracle! So that's how I'll use this guy up. I probably wont repurchase him because I know there are better redness correctors out there but it'll do for now.

And lastly we have tubed concealers! So now that I have more experience with tubed concealers I expect them to be full coverage and really hydrating. However that is not always what you find.

• Flirt! Glamouflage Healer/Concealer in who knows. I've had this concealer well past the recommended 36 months. I'm pretty sure I've had this for about 7 years. I'll be getting rid of it. This was a gift from a friend back when I was having acne issues, this concealer was really thick and has salicylic acid in it. I used a lot of it because the tube feels pretty hollow. I don't know if you can get it anymore- a quick Googling shows it on Ebay, but it was good then I wouldn't purchase it now because I don't need that type of coverage.
• Maybelline FaceStudio Master Conceal om 20 light. This $9 is also going in the trash. I do not like this. I got this because it was on sale when I got a Face Studio primer that I love. However this concealer does nothing. It is so wet and watery and would be great if I wasn't to go full on highlight the under eye area but that's not my style. I couldn't get this to work and I didn't like the formula enough to try a different color. It's sad because I hate to waste money on crappy products I can't find some way to use, but life is too short to use bad concealer. 
• It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer in neutral medium and tan. This is a $24 concealer. And I have two of them. I'm actually surprised it's a little cheaper than my Benefit because I definitely thought it was more expensive. I have however never purchased these concealers at full price. I've bought both of them with $9 of Ulta rewards so $15 is much easier to deal with considering I need two of these.  This is a great concealer, a VERY thick, creamy concealer. This stuff will cover up anything and it's moisturizing. I always do but people will less dry skin would not need an eye cream before using this. Also this stuff stays moist throughout the day! If you don't set this stuff well it'll stay tacky all day long. I love this stuff. I bought the neutral medium last fall and fell in love with it, it covers amazingly and really disguises those dark circles and blends in with other foundations beautifully.  But a few months ago I noticed it was a little too light, it was starting to highlight more than conceal so I saved up my rewards and bought the next shade up tan.  Right now I can use tan by itself and it's great but I imagine if I blend it with neutral in the fall I can probably get a little better shade match. Even though I love these concealers and out of all of mine if you told me I could only keep one I'd pick one of these, I do still find in the afternoon my bags start to peak back out. I don't know if I just have really resistant dark circles or what, but I do sometimes double layer this with my Pixi or my Erase Paste for extra concealing power. But I love that this formula like all of ITs stuff has good for your skin properties. I do feel like it helps tighten my under eye area and keep my fine lines a little less line-y. I hope I don't have to purchase either of these again anytime soon, but I will unless I find something better, but right now this is the best.

I wanted to throw in at the end quickly my concealer brushes. I use an old flat Bare Escentuals brush when I used my Time Balm as redness corrector.  Then I go back and forth between my ELF concealer brush and an Eco Tools one. The ELF is fluffier and is good for blending and the Eco Tools is a little more structured and good for placement and tapping in concealer. I am definitely a conceal with your fingers kinda gal and use my ring finger most of all, but sometimes I'll use a brush and when I do these guys are what I use.

 So that's my concealer stash! I got rid of three and I'm happy with that. I use all of the ones I have so I think it's fine to have options. If there's something better out there let me know! I would love to be able to conceal my under eye circles better, but based on the research I've done I'm doing what I should be it's just not perfect.

Previous Makeup Maddnesses include Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters, Eye Liners, Lippies and Mascara!

*The HauteLook link is a referral link and the only one in this post. All other links link to Ulta, Drugstore or the brands site. I also link to a couple of my favorite YouTubers if they're who I saw the product with first! 

Beauty Trash #2!

I feel like I just did one of these! But I guess it has been 3 months... my last Beauty Trash was my first. But I've got more. I store my beauty trash in a medium size Sephora bag and when it gets full it's time to talk trash! Here's what I've got this time-

Some repeats from last time, my tried and true and some stuff I wont be trying again. I went through 5 makeup wipes bags! What? How? And only one cotton rounds? I wont spend too much time on stuff I've already talked about. 

Now I have a whole post on moisturizers so I don't need to go into too much detail except that I'm super impressed I got through an entire thing of my Vaseline Intensive Care, I only use this stuff in the summer because it's not strong enough any other time, so I'm about half way through another one too.  I've talked about the Simple Miscellar water a lot, still love it. I still just use it after my makeup wipes to get anything else off my face and eyes. It feels like you're putting nothing extra on your skin.  Next up we have something I hate and will not be purchasing...L'Oreal Miracle Blur? Ewww. It was a pretty big sample and I didn't finish it. It balled up on my face and reacted horribly with my day cream. This stuff was gross. I went through a Sephora sample of my favorite perfume of the summer Armani Si, I hope to one day own a full size but it's so expensive. Next to that I have an Ulta sample of Lancome Effacernes concealer in Light Bisque. This stuff is lovely and very hard to describe. It's very thing but has great coverage, doesn't dry out my under eyes but dries down to a powder finish. I didn't think it was anything special so I wont be purchasing it but it was nice to play with.  Then I went through a full NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray this stuff is just fine. I got a second one during one of Ulta's buy one get one NYX deal, but it's not the end all be all. If I get it on sale I'd buy again but I've yet to find my setting spray holy grail.

Lypsyl! Y'all Lypsyl. This stuff is fabulous. I talked about it a little bit in my last post and I just love this stuff. I dug the remaining goods out of this tube I loved it so much. I have a tube about half way done at work in the mint flavor and another honey one at home I'm working on. I love these things and will continue to purchase, use and abuse.  I also went through my car chapstick! I always keep one or two chapsticks near me at all times. In my car I probably have like 3 of these rolling around and the original Cherry flavor is my favorite. I have a few in the cake batter flavor left and one in the blue tube...is that mint? I'll finish those up but they're always a good standby, you're in the checkout line with dry lips and you just pick them up. This next up I was so sad to finish. My NYX Micro Brow WAH! I loved this thing! I have mine in Taupe and it's just beautiful, so much more natural than any other brow product I use. I already have a back up but I'm working through an inferior brow pencil that I've had for longer than I had this one- I don't use it a lot because it's not as good! I love this NYX pencil and will go back to it as soon as I'm done with my other one. Then finally I had a blush sample from Tarte in Fearless. Gorgeous color! These Tarte blush samples last a while because they're so pigmented you need so little of them. Has anyone ever in the history of the world gone through a full Tarte blush? I don't know how you ever could! I bought this, it took me forever to track it down they never had it at my Ulta, but I found it, I love it and it's just the perfect light pink that goes great with everything.

On to the other half of my trash! Up top we have my Olay Day Cream that I talked about in my moisturizer post as well and it was such a chose to get through this. I just didn't like it. I feel like it really didn't do much. Once I started wearing more foundations and less BB creams there just wasn't enough moisture in this bad boy. So nope, I went back to my Olay Beauty Fluid and life is lovely.  This tube of Cetaphil was my last one I went through before summer and it's fabulous I love it and I have more. I went through 3 Neutrogena make-up remover wipes (talked about those in the last empties) and 1 bag of HEB cotton rounds.  Then I have two makeup wipes I was just trying out.  The ELF I had used before and hated, they weren't wet enough and the product was kinda stingy.  So I tried them again the new packaging helps keep them moist  but they're still stingy, so I use them for daily brush cleaning and wiping off swatches.  The other makeup wipes I had I heard great things about they're the Trader Joe's Miscellar wipes and they were fine, but suffered ELF's earlier fate that they just weren't wet enough. I will probably get the ELF again to use for clean up and swatches but I wont get the Trader Joe's ones. 

So that's my trash! It's fun to see what I actually use and go through. I feel so much more justified knowing I'm not wasting my money and am actually finding ways to use things up even when they're not my favorite. None of the links above are affiliate links- I'm not fancy enough for that- they're just links either to other blog posts or somewhere you can buy this stuff like Drugstore.com, Ulta or Sephora.  Let's see if I can make it till October to do my next empties! 

My favorite lip products!

Let's revisit lip stuff! So I wrote a few months back about all my lipsticks...here. For someone who doesn't wear a lot of lipstick I had a whole heck of a lot of lipstick, but the post was already so long going through them all that I had a friend ask me to go into more detail about my fave lip products- Okay! (she's also the friend who requested my Matte eye look walk through). So here I'll walk us through my lip prep, my favorite drugstore lipsticks and my favorite/only high end lipsticks.

Lip prep is really important. I am a chapstick/lip balm junkie. I hate when my lips get dry but one of the millions of things I've learned in the last year and a half watching beauty gurus is that your lips have to be prepped and primed just like your face to get the results you want.  So here we have two lip balms, a primer and an exfoliator. The ELF Lip Exfoliator is $1 and you could make it at home, but its cheap and comes in a lipstick format so it's just easy. It's little sugar grains surrounded by a waxy balm. Rub this on your lips whenever you start to get chapped and top immediately with your most hydrating lip balm. Whenever you exfoliate anything on your body always follow it up with a good moisturizer you just lost a layer of skin and a layer of moisturizer so tim to replenish.  After I exfoliate I need something kinda thick and that will really get the moisture back in my lips quickly- the Smith's Rosebud Salve is perfect for this. It's like $6 or $8 at Sephora and lasts forever...I've never known someone to go through one of the tubes or the tub...I'm gonna try. It's basically a lip mask it's so thick, but it's amazing and it comes in a tube now so you don't have to dig into the little tub or worry about it getting stuck.  I still have two tubs that I also use, but I love my tube! Leave this one overnight preferably or at least 1/2 an hour before applying anything on over it. My favorite chapstick right now is the Lypsyl I've already gone through a full one and am half way through the ones I have at home and work. I keep one at the office too- I told you I don't like my lips to feel dry.  I put Lypsyl on the moment I wake up and usually by the time I'm done with my makeup it's set enough on my lips that I can apply my lipstick right on over it without wiping any off.  This stuff has beeswax in it and it's amazing maybe $4 at Wallgreens and lasts me probably about 3 months.  Then the little pencil I have is Milani's Anti-Feathering primer maybe $4 too and I only use this when wearing red lipstick.  I'm not a big lip liner girl but with red lipstick it's really important and this acts as a primer/anti-feathering/liner so when I need it I use it.

Next up I have my favorite drugstore lipsticks! I'm a huge fan of chubby pencil lipsticks, they're easy to use and precise and Revelon's Colorburst Matte Balms are amazing they're $9ish each but you can always get them on sale at Ulta. I have shades 250 Standout which is a great brick red that works really well with my undertones and 225 Sultry thats a great everyday nude color.  These last super well and fade somewhat gracefully, when they start to fade I usually rub some lip balm over them and extend the life a little longer but these last through water drinking but not through eating. This is not a moisturizing lip product so chapstick before is definitely needed. Then I have a NYX High Voltage $6 in 05 Flutter Kiss. I really love this formula, very long wearing and very moisturizing. I think I'll love this more nudey brown in the fall, but I love the formula and while it does transfer a little bit to wears beautifully. Another nudey brown I love is Wet 'n Wild's Bebot Love $2 and amazing. Creamy, creamy formula very moisturizing but it doesn't stay on well. I maybe get 3 hours wear time if I put it on after I drink my coffee.  Another color that will be great in the fall.  Then the last drugstore lipsticks I just love everything about are the Kate Moss Rimmel lipsticks in Matte and Satin. I have numbers 08 a beautiful natural everyday color and 104 a gorgeous everyday light pink.  These are $5 and again you can get them on sale all the time at Ulta. But these have everything going for them.  They last forever, they don't transfer and they don't dry my lips out.  The Black tubed Satin in 08 is definitely the more hydrating one than the Matte but they are both very comfortable and smell delightful. I lost of my first 08 at work and had to buy another I enjoy it so much.

For high end lipstick I only have a two brands I think, but I only like my NARS Velvet Matte and Satin Lip Pencils.  These puppies are $26 each...I got my first two in my Sephora Birthday Gift in a bright red and a shimmery nude, I love the shimmery nude but the red was too blue for me.  So I bought these two guys (on different trips) The colors are not this similar in real life, but the first one I bought is a very dark nude- Sephora calls it a Warm Coral Red it's name is Walkyrie and it's going to be gorgeous in the fall. I love it and anytime I wear it I automatically feel fancier. I got this at the end of spring and always thought it was too dark but when I tried it on in the store I just fell in love with it so a few months later I went back and got a better everyday color Bettina, a pink mauve, is literally the color of my lips. My lips have a lot of pigment in them already and this just evens out the skin tone a little better and I can wear it and not worry about it wearing off unevenly because it's my lip color. Now the formula on these is kinda dry, it's not drying but I always need a lip balm under them usually my Lypsyl and I usually reapply balm a few hours after wear.  These have a great wearing time I usually get to lunch very easily and after lunch just a quick touch up is all I need.  I can drink water and coffee easily without them wearing off.  It does hurt my heart that they're so expensive but they're worth it- as I've found with most NARS products...

So the other day I was going through my back up stash and found my favorite lipsticks every in the history of life that I thought I had lost when I wrote my makeup madness lipstick post...

Very Sexy. Yes you are. My beautiful Victoria's Secret lipsticks from 100 years ago before they were discontinued.  I have two reds. One a brick red that closely resembles my Revlon red called Don't Stop and a sparkly fire engine red called On Fire- there is glitter involved. I love these lipsticks so much, I know they're expired but I can't throw them away they still smell good! And they're sooooo pretty. So they're bonus lipsticks just for fun since you can't buy them anymore.

So that in a nutshell is my lipstick post. I am not a big lipstick person but I try, I enjoy the look but I always end up with lipstick just on the edges of my lip so I feel like I have to check up on them a lot when I wear them.  But these are the lipsticks I reach for the most out of my vast collection and if I were to repurchase any of them again it's probably be the NARS and the Revlon, I do want to get a few more shades of the NYX, but I'm on a makeup No Buy for a while because I DO NOT NEED MORE MAKEUP. I have plenty for now and I want to save up some $$$ for the holiday palettes that will come out in the fall- I love those. So for right now I'm good. 

If you have any suggestions or questions you want answered about my life with makeup let me know! I love getting asked questions it's easier than me coming up with ideas all on my own! 

Makeup Madness Part 5! Mascara Monday!

It's been a minute since I did a makeup madness right? Ooops. Summer has been kinda busy.  But I figured I need to get rid of a lot of Mascara so a makeup madness would be really productive right about now.  I have 15 mascaras and only use about 3...also some are old...like a year old it's time for them to go! Now I will be the first to admit I keep mascaras past their recommended expiration date. Most people recommend getting rid of your mascara after 3 months to avoid eye infections, but a lot of mascaras have a 6 month expiration date printed on their tubes. (I just learned the cool makeup code that looks like a jar with the number of months it's good on it. My benefit products have it and they say 6 months.) So I'm going with 6 of when they dry out.

Here's what we're working with...

Wow this is a terrible picture...sorry.

Now I've never finished a mascara tube, I've never used one so long that it ran out- how much mascara are you people putting on?!?! I'm a two coat girl. So usually my mascara has to go bad before I pick up a new tube, but I'm going to be very forceful with myself and get rid of mascaras that are old...hopefully.

Let's start with my faves. Benefit makes some good mascara. My first Benefit mascara was the They're Real This little sample came in my Sephora Favorites kit that I got a lot of fave products from- good job Sephora. And it changed my eyelash life. I already have pretty curled lashes and they're relatively thick, but I lack length. I talked about it a little bit here. When it started to get dry-ish was right about the time the Benefit Roller Lash came out and I thought you know what I'm going to get that instead.  AND OMG it was even better than They're Real! This is a $24 mascara and it is worth every penny. Length, volume and curl! Like I said my eyelashes don't need a lot in the curl department but this stuff is amazing. My lashes look real and flawless with this on. I don't know how it does it. You can also use it in tandem with They're Real for more amazingness. I have a backup sample of my They're Real so I wont be repurchasing either right now, but both of these are over 6 months old now and need to be retired. I'm keeping both wands to try to help some of the weaker mascaras we'll talk about soon.  Both of these wands have rubberized bristles and they're kinda hard stiff bristles that hurt like a mother if you ever poke yourself in the eye.

My first foray into high end mascara came at the hands of my first Ipsy bag. Urban Decay Perversion Mascara. This stuff gives you false eyelash looking eyelashes with just two coats. I even used this stuff during a show and got away with not having to wear eyelashes! It was amazing. When the sample started to dry out I bought the Pervserion/Subversion Duo from Ulta. The Subversion is a lash primer that's supposed to give added umph. I used it but I don't think it didn't anything too magical.  The full sized version of Perversion however is incredible. It's like the never ending tube of mascara. I have had it since September and it is still rich and creamy and applies as well as the day I got it.  Now considering it's been 10 months I am going to let this mascara go but it pains me because there isn't anything wrong with it! It's just old.  The bristles on these mascaras are fibery traditional bristles very tightly packed. Your lashes do clump a little bit it makes them so thick is doesn't really matter. Right now I don't need to repurchase but if I ever do a theatre show again I'll totally shell out the $22 for this mascara instead of buying flash lashes.

Maybe she's born with amazing lashes...or maybe it's Maybelline. Maybelline is the gold standard of mascara for me. I've used Maybelline my entire makeup wearing life. My first tube was one of those pink and green Great Lashes in Blackest Black and also Royal Blue. The Great Lash classic mascara tube isn't going to do anything spectacular for your lashes, it'll color them and add a little bit of length and separation, but beyond that you're on your own. This is a perfect mascara for no makeup makeup days. Pictured here I have Royal Blue that I purchased for the 4th of July. It's good for the lower lashes but not much else.  Maybelline's the Rocket is another great standard now with rubber bristles that are super short and get great separation in the lashes. This was my go-to before I found the high end ones. Then I've tried a few others the Colossal Pumped Up was a hand me down from my sister and like her I didn't find it too impressive and the Lash Sensational I got because it's supposed to be a dupe for the Roller Lash. I love the formula of it but the brush sucks, I'm keeping my Benefit brushes to see if they'll work with this formula. I'd probably purchase all of these again given the right circumstances or money limitations. Maybelline makes great mascaras. I'm only keeping the Sensational.


My last little group of high end mascaras leave something to be desired. I wish I had my Tarte Lights Camera Lashes because I love that stuff, it's right up there with my Benefit Mascaras. Another $20 mascara I got in an Ipsy bag and that stuff is the shit, so I had high hopes for another Tarte mascara Gifted. This stuff sucks! It's not the worst mascara I've ever used we'll get to that, but it's awful and should not be $20. Then I have a Clinique sample from my sister and a Lancome sample. All three of these are bristle brushes and all three have the same problem. THEY FLAKE! The Clinique one was really good for about a month but then started flaking terribly and the other two flaked from day one. I hadn't had a mascara flake on me in so many years I almost didn't no know what all the black specs on my face were from! I don't have very oily eyelids so I didn't know why my undereyes suddenly looked grey- these mascaras were smearing too! So they just didn't work for me so I will not be purchasing any of them and they're all being retired.

Last but not least my total failures. So two of these are cult favorites! The L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes in Carbon Black is what so many people go back to time and time again because they love the length and volume it gives. This did nothing for me. Spikey rubbery brushes that I usually like but the formula is so wet it wont dry and my lashes stuck together! It was the saddest thing ever! Then the CoverGirl Super Thick Lash was supposed to be a dupe for my Tarte Lights Camera Lashes and whoever said that should shut their dirty mouth because it's not.  Then the last one Volume Eyes from Model Co I got in an Ipsy bag and it just flaked and transferred so I didn't give it much of a try at all.  All three of these bad boys are going in the trash because one they're old now and two they suck.

So at the end of this Makeup Madness I know what I like and what I don't like in mascaras. I prefer a thicker dryer mascara formula with either short rubberized bristles or long fibery ones that are packed super tight together. I have ones I like in both the High End price and the Drugstore range. I hate spending $20 on mascara especially when a $10 sample will usually last me just as long. I'm currently working through my Lash Sensational and another tube of They're Real (sample size) and so I'm set for right now. I'll probably buy another Roller Lash next...it was just so good!

Previous Makeup Maddnesses include Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters, Eye Liners and Lippies!