3 Quick Reviews! BB Cream, Micellar Water and They're Real!

I just wanted to a quick review of three products I've been using a lot of recently and how I'm using them.  The Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in light, the Benefit They're Real! Mascara in black, and the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water.  The BB Cream and Mascara I got in my Sephora Must Haves of little bag I bought in November and hadn't used too much until now and the Micellar water I've had all month and got at Target.

So lets start with the Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in light. I was really excited to get this in my little Sephora bag but when I first tried to use it I didn't like it. I felt like by itself over my regular moisturizer is just sat on my face and never melted in. I looked extremely made up and it just wasn't what I wanted.  At this time the only BB cream I was liking was my Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream that had been discontinued. This was also before my IT Cosmetics CC cream that changed my life.  So I was being kinda picky.  Then a few weeks ago I saw a YouTuber talk about combining products because different parts of your face need different things and I thought hey maybe I can make this BB cream better. I used to mix my Olay BB cream with a NYX Tinted Moisturizer and loved it, so why not.  So I have started using this BB cream in two different ways. Sometimes I'll just mix a little bit in my with my Olay and it works great, I feel like the Olay gives it that extra umph to actually sink into my skin and it helps give my Olay a little more pigment.  The second way I've been using this is after my moisturizer and after my Olay BB cream I'll place this just on my cheeks and around my nose where I have excess redness, this seems to work great too.  I still don't love this BB cream but I've found a way to make it work for me so I can use it.  I wouldn't ever purchase it outright, but I wouldn't not buy another fun kit with it in it just because of it.  On it's own it's $39 and this is a full size I have.

Next the Simple Micellar Water.  I've been hearing about Micellar water for a while now. EssieButton talks about it a lot, you hear about Bioderma and such. But I always got the feeling it was something that was more prominent over seas and not so much in the US.  So just looking at the bottle someone with dry skin would probably be afraid it was something like a Toner but fear not this is not toner.  This is a cleansing water. It feels like water going on the skin, but has super magical powers that cleans and gets off tough mascara.  Afterwards your skin feels lightly hydrated but most importantly clean! Now I'll be the first to admit that I don't take care of my skin as well as someone who wears as much makeup as I do should.  I am a face wipe kinda gal and then I put on moisturizer, I don't like going to the trouble of using my Clarisonic everyday and I probably only exfoliate my face twice a week.  I'm lazy is what it is.  So this adds another step to my routine but it's a step I'm happy to do.  So I use this after my favorite exfoliating face wipes also from Target and most stuff still comes off! It's awesome. I just put a little bit of this water on a face round and go to town. If I'm wearing super strong mascara I may use a second round but usually one round both sides does the trick.  I don't even feel like I have to put my moisturizer on immediately after I use this, I can wait a few minutes which is so nice.  I will definitely be buying this again but probably not for a while, I've been using this all month and I have barely made a dent. It's only $6.99 at Target and Cartwheel usually has a coupon for Simple products once a month so no need to pay full price! If we start to get some other Micellar waters I may try them too but this stuff right now if great.

Last but certainly not least a sample of Benefit's They're Real! Black Mascara. Y'all this stuff is no joke.  Seriously.  I've seen Vloggers talk about this stuff a lot of the last year, it's a very polarizing product. People either love it or hate it. I've heard it doesn't thicken enough, that it lengthens too much and that it's impossible to get off.  I'm going to saw all these things are mostly true.  This is a lengthening mascara and it's a tougher one to get off.  But it's called "They're Real" so it's supposed to be natural looking.  Who in nature has super thick lashes that are also super long...I'll wait...no one. So this gives natural looking length with little volume.  But it's great.  It's also super black and long lasting.  This is where my new Micellar Water comes in handy, if I can't get this stuff off just put a little more water on a cotton round and hold on your lashes for a few seconds and off it comes.  I haven't found my lashes have fallen out or been too dry because of this stuff, so win-win.  I really like this stuff. I also find I don't have to curl my lashes separately because this wand helps lift them up so much. Also put on as many coats as you like because the formula is pretty thin and the wand is very ruberized it's very hard to get too much on your lashes. I've put on 3 coats before without any spider-ing.  Really great stuff.  Now the full size is $23 and as I mentioned before I'm not convinced I need expensive mascara in my life, but since it was a sample I'm happy with it.  But probably wont purchase it again in the future.

So those are my quick 3 reviews.  I'm going to try to do more quick reviews like this in the future, but I did cancel my Ipsy subscription because- I have enough stuff- so it'll probably be stuff I already have, things I'm trying to use up or new drugstore stuff.  Happy Friday! 

Tarte Tartelette Matte Eye Palette

So I've broken my New Year's makeup resolution.  Didn't take long. Two weekends ago I went on an unscheduled shopping spree/retail therapy trip and when I got home did the usual YouTube Vlog Watching. I also started following a lot of my favorites on Instagram where they usually post if there are any really great sales or deals out there.  Usually QVC and HauteLook have the best.  So this particular Saturday I believe it was @jenluvsreviews that posted QVC was having a special on the Tartelette palette! One of the main palette's I was trying to avoid purchasing till I worked through some products... This palette is usually $44 but QVC had it on sale for $36 plus a dual ended brush...so I justified it...with shipping it ended up being $45 but I still got the brush so that's fine.

It arrived in the mail last Friday so I didn't get to play with it till Saturday.

Beautiful neutrally brown and pinky rose colors. I love it.  Now Matte shadows are tricky for me. I feel like as we get older we're supposed to wear less shimmery colors and more Mattes, but I'm only 29 for goodness sakes (for 61 more days at least) and so I should enjoy my shimmer while I can! Buuuttt...there's just something really appealing about Matte colors for me right now. In my Too Faced Chocolate Palette I've been reaching for a lot more of the Matte shades and then as soon as I heard about this palette I just really was drawn to it.  So let's Matte!

Now this isn't a full review because I've only worn this thing for four days so these are really just first impressions. Saturday I used it a nude Color Tattoo and it was really just there to transition color and high light and worked great. The colors felt smooth and light.  I found no trouble blending them out and they didn't drag at all on my eyes. No primer except the color tat.  Sunday I work just these in "free spirit" all over the lid and "force of nature" on the moving part of my lid up to the crease.  I didn't do eyeliner or mascara and just went pretty natural. Again it felt fine on the lids without primer.

Then Monday... this happened.

Free spirit, caregiver, force of nature, dreamer and multi-tasker @tartecosmetics #tartlette #makeupmonday #matte

A photo posted by Tyler Archer (@tyleralyse) on Jan 26, 2015 at 5:14am PST

I decided to go all matte on everything.  I used my usual Wet 'n Wild Fergie Eye Primer.  I let it set for a second then added free spirit on the brow bone and  caregiver on the moving part of my eyelid up to my crease.  Again fine.  Then I took force of nature in my crease. I felt a little dragging.  I added dreamer to just under my crease and it took a lot of blending to smooth it out.  Then last was multi-tasker as eyeliner, but it felt a little grippy so I couldn't get a smooth line.  Interesting...at the end of the day my makeup was still on, it looked just as good as it had when I first applied it.  I was worried it would look patchy in some areas and I definitely don't think it'll go down in history as one of my best eye shadow looks, but that's okay we'll try again.

So today I tried again. I used about half the eye shadow primer than I normally do and stuck to just the top row of colors. Free spirit all over, force of nature in the crease, dreamer in the outer v and I left multi-tasker alone. I feel muddy. I just don't feel like I was able to get a smooth blend.  But it looks exactly like it did 5 hours ago when I applied it so the staying power seems excellent.  I just maybe need to find the right primer.

So I'm a little disappointed in this palette. I think it's a great neutral palette and tomorrow I'm going to play with it in conjunction with another palette and see if they play well together.  I'll also research online if there's a certain type of primer I should use them with. Or maybe my brushes are the problem. I am about a week past when I'd normally clean then, but I was busy binge watching The Fall this weekend.  So well see.  I'll give an update in a few weeks after I've played with it more to see what I think.  So for now it's not terrible it's just not perfect...

What's on my face in the pic?
Primer- Benefit Porefessional
Face-I have IT Cosmetics CC Cream in Medium
Eyebrows- NYX Eyebrow Powder in Blonde
Shadow Primer- Wet 'n Wild Fergie Take on the Day
Bronzer- NYC Sunny
Blush- Tarte Unleashed (from the Rainforest after dark palette)
Highlighter- Tarte Champagne (Rainforest after dark)
Mascara- Benefit They're Real (sample size- not sure how I feel about it...)
Brushes used- all real techniques and the dual ended brush the palette came with

Conceal don't feel...like you look like death.

Conceal don't feel #faveconcealers #pixi #itcosmetics #benefit #maybelline #makeupmonday

A photo posted by Tyler Archer (@tyleralyse) on Oct 10, 2014 at 4:58am PDT

I have deep dark under eye circles. I've been a fully functioning insomniac since moving to College Station in 2012.  I average about 4 hours of sleep a night. I feel really great after 5 and when I hit 7 woh buddy watch out.  So concealer has been my friend for a while now.  Also as I've gotten older my under eye skin has gotten drier- I know shocking after my last post.  But it's true. The skin under your eye is like no other skin on the rest of your body, it's thinner, more sensitive and more delicate and in my world drier too.  So in the last year these have been my new go to concealers that I've used and abused and I love them each for individual reasons.

Prior to my makeup obsession I used really cheap basic concealers that were drying and in stick form.  They weren't bad concealers but they weren't made for your under eye and the certainly weren't hydrating.  Let me clarify in case it wasn't obvious but this post is about concealing bags, under eye bags, bags as deep and dark as your soul.  So while dry stick concealers are great for hiding blemishes they're no bueno for under the eye.

So last February during my makeup awakening the first concealer I decided to try was the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind in Light. Well that was too light.  It covered great but made my under eyes look like I'd used white stage makeup or like I was one of those tragic concealing accidents where people use way too much highlighter under their eyes.  It was not a good look for me.  So I abandoned the Instant Age Rewind in Light and moved on to something else.

Try #2 Benefit Boi-ing duo thing.  It's Silver Dollar sized compact that's half concealer and half brightener.  The concealer is in #02 and it's the perfect shade! Oh my gosh this matches my skin beautifully and perfectly and man does it conceal and not budge...but...there is no hydration, it's drying like no other, within 5 minutes my under eyes look dry and cracky and it's just sad.  But this one had awesome potential so I keep it around and every once in a while layer it over another product.

So since I had so much success with the color at least for Benefit I decided to stay in the Benefit family and try Fake-Up.  This product is very interesting.  It's a stick concealer but it's wrapped in a hydrating gel thing, so the outside is clear and the inside is concealer.  It feels amazing going on the skin, you can feel the hydration. And the concealer is great but I think the hydration part dilutes the color a little bit so it's not as full coverage as I'd like. However this concealer paired up with the Boi-ing is great. I get some hydration and excellent coverage and it's fabulous.  This concealer on it's own is also something I use on the weekends when I want to be extra nice to my under eyes, have a little coverage but not go over board.

So by this point it's late March or early April and I was still hearing so many great things about the Maybelline Age Rewind, I did have the wrong shade and so I thought I'd give it a try again just in case I really was missing out.  So I got the Medium shade and it was a pretty good match.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Age Rewind Dark Circle Corrector Concealer but it's just not my favorite. I like the little spongy applicator, I like that it feels super light.  I just don't think it's as hydrating as people say it is.  I'll use it around my nose sometimes if I'm really red, or use it to hide a blemish if I'm so inclined.  And I've used quit a bit of this concealer now, but I usually use it with something else if I'm going to put it under my eyes.  I either use it on top of my Fake-Up or on top of the next product I've going to talk about.

I was pretty satisfied most of last Spring and early Summer just using a combination of the above products and with good results. In the summer and spring it's a little more humid here so the dryness started to subside a little and I had started wearing a little more face makeup anyways so that helped and I was pretty okay with my concealer choices, but still wanted to find that product that would change everything and make life better/easier.  So my beauty bloggers/vloggers were my guides and I decided I'd try something in a pot this time instead of a stick or roll up or whatever.  Pixi Correction Concentrate was the recommendation.  Pixi is a brand you can buy at Target and it's higher quality that drugstore products but less expensive than Sephora or the high end products at Ulta.  So for around $12 I got this little pot of peach creamy concealer.  This stuff is awesome.  Very hydrating and it's peach so it's supposed to be color correcting.  You don't rub this stuff on but dab it and focus mostly on where your blue tinted skin is.  This stuff is great I really enjoy it, but rarely on it's own.  I usually have to top it with my Age Rewind or Boi-ing if I want to actually conceal, not just color correct.  This is really a great product to use on the weekends as well when I want something hydrating but still look pretty natural.  Some days I can use just this and it's fine, but somedays it needs something on top.

So this brings me to my last product.  My last favorite concealer that I got this past fall as an impulse purchase or last ditch effort to find the perfect concealer.  It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer one has a ridiculously long name but two was the concealer I've been waiting for. I love this stuff.  This is pretty much my every workday concealer.  This stuff can hide some bags like nobody's business while still being incredibly hydrating.  This stuff is so hydrating it has to be set with a light powder before I'm done! I love it.  It lasts all day and is just fabulous.  I have the shade Neutral Medium which the lady at Ulta told me worked for most people.  I love this stuff. It needs to be applied with your fingers because it's kinda thick and the warmth of your hand helps melt it a little, but also you need the smallest amount, a little can go a long way.  So this is it! My favorite concealer of the bunch, the most expensive and probably the one that will last the longest.

So quick recap and my favorite uses for each-

1. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind- good topper for more hydrating concealer, but not hydrating enough- can be used on more than just under eyes
2. Benefit Fake Up- LOVE! Great weekend concealer when I don't want to be too fussy but not enough coverage on it's own
3. Pixi Correction Concentrate- Fabulous for color correcting, hydrating, can be used on it's own but usually needs a topper
4. Bye Bye Under Eye- Fabulous! My fave.  Great under eye concealer, must be set with a powder, not really good anywhere else on face. 

That's it! These are most frequently used concealers.  Unless I find something better I doubt I'll stray from my Bye Bye Under Eye concealer, I probably wont repurchase the Age Rewind but the other two Fake Up and Pixi I can see myself buying again. 

Moisture is important.

I've tried to write this post two other times and it's seriously gotten away from me. There is so much I could say about lotion, hydration and dry skin. Seriously I could talk your ear off- or write your eyes..off..okay nevermind. So I narrowed it down.  I'll just say this, I have dry skin, skin as dry as the desert, it's seriously dry and has been a constant struggle my whole life to find a moisturizer that I like- I've found some that work, but NONE of them are perfect.  So here's what I'm satisfied with/using right now. 

This was my favorite lotion of the summer/warmer/more humid months. I've used lots of different Vaseline products and this one and the Rescue are my favorites but I think I like this one better because it has a slight shea butter smell that I love.  It goes on very wet so you may worry that it wont get absorbed it'll just dry, but I find that it really soaks into the skin fast and works wonderfully.  I can put my clothes on within 3 minutes of application which is great and don't worry about it getting on my clothes or leaving grease stains.  I used this past year between April and October.  Some days I would need to reapply more than others, but usually a morning and evening application was all that was needed and it was great. This larger size bottle with pump lasts me about a month sometimes a little less. Vaseline Intensive Care you can get it anywhere for between $6 - $9

If I had to pick a Holy Grail lotion it would be this tub of white hydration.  I love this stuff.  And I hate this stuff.  This was the first over the counter cream my dermatologist recommended I use back in the 7th grade when we learned I had Ichthyosis.  This cream has no smell, is really thick and can be a little greasy. BUT I love it.  And still kinda hate it. As soon as I put this on my skin you can almost hear my skin sigh, it's so glad when I start using this again.  This is my cold month lotion I use it all winter long and anytime it's really dry out. This takes some time to really soak into your skin but it stays with you, the moisture lasts all day.  Now I still will apply it twice a day, but when I'm lazy I can usually get away with just a morning application.  This stuff is amazing and works fabulously and if it wasn't for the price tag I would love it.  But this tub which is slightly bigger than the normal size tub barely lasts me a month.  Usually I finish one of these after 3 weeks- 3 weeks! And the price tag makes that really upsetting.  Because you find this Cetaphil moisturizing cream for $10 - $15 depending where you buy it! So thank goodness I only have to use it a few months out of the year, but it stresses me out to spend that amount on a product I have to use multiple times a day.  But again it's what I always come back. I try other things and nothing compares.  I'm currently purchasing it from Amazon and it's a little cheaper but still...

Now I don't use either of these lotions on my face.  My face is kinda weird- sometimes it'll be super duper dry like the rest of my body and other times it's pretty normal and I don't have to worry too much about using a super heaving cream on it.  But because it's winter and because I'm wearing a lot more makeup than I used to do, I've noticed I need to be better about lotion-ing my face. 

I will always remember my 25th birthday when my facialist told me I needed to start thinking about wrinkle prevention and one of the things she stressed was night cream.  I basically said whatever woman I'm 25 leave me alone.  Well over the last year I started searching for a nigh cream I liked.  Around March I found this Neutrogena deep moisture night cream.  Done! This stuff works great and lasted me basically a year. I probably have enough to last me till the end of this month.  Now I didn't use it daily, I probably used it 2 - 3 times a week and just a teeny tiny amount.  But it's great, I love the way it makes my face feel and in the morning I feel hydrated and ready to put on my day cream.  This stuff costs $12.99 usually and I didn't really mind spending that amount on a product I was using on only a small part of my body.  Not sure if I'll repurchase this one or go with an Olay night cream, but if I don't like whatever I try next I'll come back to this one. 

Olay! Oh I love Olay.  This is just your most basic day cream that Olay offers in the Age Defying category.  My facialist's voice is still in my head.  It's light, absorbs instantly and I'm pretty sure it does not offer extra hydration but just kinda a base level.  I used to live by the original Beauty Fluid but decided I  needed something specialized for day and then night.  So the reason I can get away from a thinner day cream is because I only use tinted moisturizers, BB or CC creams on my face, so those have a lot of hydration in them. So I use this first let the first layer soak in, reapply and then add my BB cream on top.  That's perfect for me. I find my daily BB cream works just fine on top of this and I don't feel dry.  Now I'm probably going to try the Classic Renewal cream next to see if it's the Instant Hydration that makes it less cream like but for again $12.99 I'm totally fine with the price of the Olay Instant Hydration Age Defying Day Cream 

Now for something a little extra.  GlamGlow! This is the GlamGlow Thirsty Mud Hydrating Treatment for the low price of $69 it can be yours!  Well the full sized one, I bought a sample for $19.  This stuff is a treat. I use this when my face is tight and dry and I have active flaking.  You use the smallest amount of this stuff and in minutes your dryness is gone.  Now this is sold as a mask or treatment because you're meant to wipe it off afterwards or rub it in to leave on.  Well my skin doesn't really give me that option, I put this on and my skin absorbs all of it! It loves this stuff.  I use it mostly around my eyes, nose and eyebrows where I'm the driest and it's fabulous. It smells delicious too.  Now will I buy the full size? Probably not $69 is crazy.  But it was fun to try the smaller version to see what all the hype was about from the YouTubers pushing it.  

So as is hopefully evident I'm a little more picky about my body lotions  than my face lotions.  I feel like my face is less picky so it's fine.  My body however will instantly tell me when it doesn't like a lotion, it will start to itch, it will flake off, my Ichthyosis will get terribly painful and make me cry.  So while I love trying out new lotions and soaps (another story) I know that they could have disastrous results.  I know Cetaphil works so why do I keep trying other things, I know in the summer I can usually get away with using a lotion over a cream and something lighter and less expensive.  We will see if I ever find something to trump my Cetaphil. Or if I ever find something I can use year round.  Cetaphil is way too thick to use in the summer.  But for now this is my arsenal for my skin- if you have dry skin give it a try or if you have recommendations I'm always willing to mess my skin up and try something new. 

2015 Makeup Resolutions/Projects

Happy New Year! 2015, I am so looking forward to this year. I hope many amazing things happen. One thing I'm really looking forward to is turning 30 in March- 86 days actually.  I'm excited to move on to a new decade of my life and make some changes.  However besides the personal goals I've set for myself this year- there are really only two- I have some makeup goals.  My family is horrified with my new makeup obsession and while my sister is pretty much on board because she likes makeup too- she has given herself the limit of only 1 makeup drawer, so all her makeup must fit in 1 small narrow drawer.  My apartment is not set up that way so I have a little more freedom, but I do think some limits and ground rules are important for both sanity and my budget.

I have a very healthy makeup collection right now and I promise to myself to write that blog post soon to go over my collection.  It takes up a small 3 drawer counter top storage thing, a countertop storage box (about the size of a shoebox), and an under the since organizer with lots of compartments- I'd say right now my makeup collection is only a little obsessively more than I need. And I have no desire to expand it too much more.  There are some things I have my eyes on but not a lot of things I just want because they're cool makeup items, if I want something makeup wise there's a point to it, it's not just going to be on my shelves.

So I propose to tackle my makeup habit the way my sister tackles her clothing problem (she has a lot of clothes omg). I plan to not buy anymore large, non-essential makeup items without first finishing one or donating to someone else.  This will exclude eyeliner and mascara because those have to be replaced more frequently.  My problem areas are Eyeshadow and Blush. I love both.  I have a slight BB cream excess right now, but after these three are complete I'm going to try to keep those to just one at a time.  I feel like it's important to actually use the products I have, and while life is too short to use makeup I don't like, I do feel like what I have I can make work perfectly well for me.

What I'm planning to finish up before spring-

1. NYC Bronzer in Sunny - I love this bronzer, there is nothing wrong with it, but I've been wanting to try a higher end bronzer to see what I think. I have a Too Faced Chocolate Soleil sample I'm going to use first but I want to try Benefit's the Hoola, but have to finish this first. 
2. Maybelline instant age rewind concealer- This just wasn't the concealer I was expecting it to be. It's fine on the weekends or when I'm just going to the store, but it's not for workday use.  I'm not going to replace this with another concealer because I currently love my IT Cosmetics Bye-Bye Under eye and Pixi Correction Concentrate. So this vacancy I may hold onto for a while till something really good comes along.
3. NYX Dewey Setting Spray- This setting spray is fine, I just don't think it's any better than my $3 ELF setting spray that I love. I like the container though and the mist that comes out so I'll probably repurpose it.  I don't need a very high end setting spray either, there's a new L'Oreal one I want to try when this is out.

Things I'm craving-

1. Always new eyeshadows. I know I have plenty and I really can't justify that I need anymore, but watch my justify why I need more.  Eyeshadows don't expire like mascara, BB creams, Lipsticks and cream products.  They last a long long long time.  And as long as you don't get any weird eye infection you really don't have to throw them out for any reason.  Now I can pretty much get any look I want from the 3 palettes I have.  My Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette is the love of my life and I could probably get on with just it for a while. But I notice HUGE dips in 3 very neutral matte colors that I use daily with that palette.  If I had another neutral matte palette I could substitute and therefore extend the life of those colors.  My Rainforest After Dark palette will get a little more action in the spring, but it too is an amazing palette.  And my Tarte Sweet Indulgences Eye Shadows are beautiful.  So it only makes sense that the next eyeshadow palette I have my eye on is another Tarte Palette.  It's the Tartlette Matte palette and it's gorgeous.  Now this is not a purchase I'm allowing myself to get anytime soon. I have to first finish the above three products and downsize my single/trio eyeshadows and then I can get this. So it may be a month or two.
2. A good blush palette.  I love blush! I've always been a one blush girl. I've always used one till it was up then got a new one.  Even when they were crappy blushes.  But life is too short to have only one blush option.  I like very natural, neutral, pinky type blushes and have about 4 right now.  Only two that I'm in love with (surprise they're Tarte) and so I want to invest in a good Tarte Blush Palette.  They usually come out with one or two a year and I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for one.  I just want one and it'll probably be till summer because one comes out, so this is not an immediate need, but a long term goal/plan.  In order to allow myself to buy this I need to finish two of my other blushes.  I have a Lancome I've hit pan on and a Wet 'N Wild that's great in spring.  So I have some time to work through those first.

And that's it.  I do think after this last year there are some things I've learned and discovered about my makeup "needs".  I don't need expensive mascara.  I like them and given the ability to have more I'll take it, but I don't need to spend $20 on a mascara when there are perfectly good drugstore mascaras for under $10 that do the exact same job.  I do want to try more mascaras so when I finish the 3 I have now. I will search for my perfect drugstore mascara, but one at a time.  Another thing I've learned is that I just prefer high end eyeshadows and blushes.  They last longer on my skin, they're non-irritating and they're an investment. In March I'll have had my chocolate bar palette for a year and hopefully I'll only have hit pan on 2 colors, but this is a palette I should easily be able to get use out of for 2 years or more and that makes it a good investment.  My blushes have tons of product in them. My Lancome blush lasted over a year, my Tarte ones barely have a dent and they seem to have never ending product.  

The last thing is a tough one and maybe I haven't actually learned anything from it yet, but high end face products. BB Cream and concealer.  I love my It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under eye.  This is an amazing concealer that has a ton of product it in and that I use very little of that I hope to have around for a while.  But this is the only concealer I've ever used that I felt was hydrating enough under my eyes not to look cakey.  Now it's not cheap.  It's $24 for a very small part of my face.  I don't even use it on other parts of my face that need concealing- Just my under eye.  So the price can only be justified for how long it lasts.  This was a late fall purchase so we'll see how long it lasts.  But if it lasts at leave 6 months then I can justify that price.  Then there's BB Creams.  I've drive 4 drugstore BB creams and 2 high end BB/CC Creams.  And I'm still dissatisfied with my options.  I love a drugstore BB that's been discontinued and I love my high end CC Cream that smells terrible.  I don't think either are perfect. I want my BB Cream a little more full coverage and I want my CC Cream a little more hydrating.  I will not be repurchasing either again and will just start going back in forth between drugstore and high end till I find my perfect BB. I have not exhausted my options yet, but again I need to finish the three I have before trying any others. 

Happy New Year! I hope I can stick to my guns on these things. I love makeup and don't want to stop loving it but I also don't want it to make me broke or crazy.  I do not need to own all the makeup, I just want stuff that works for me and my skin.