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!

I don't need anymore bronze shadow...

It started the other day when I misplaced my Bronze Max Factor single eyeshadow I've been using this summer- talked more about here. So I went searching for other options and found this...

It turned out I had quite a few options... I have bronzes in warm tones, cool tones, with some gold shift and silver shift...bronzes all over the place! I've probably been wearing bronze eye shadow the longest of any other shade. Back in the day when I got my first makeover from Clinique they gave me an eyeshadow duo with a bronze color in it AND a bronze lipstick (mistakes were made, I've learned and moved on from this). So apparently bronze is just one of those great universally flattering colors of eyeshadows. Pretty much any eye color can wear them and they look great on most skin tones. For today's purposes we're just talking about eyes- I have some bronze bronzers (go figure) but it's the eyes where I use bronze the most.

Let's start with creams. So as I mentioned in my previous post I like to use two of these products as eye bases to place a powder shadow over. It's easy and makes the products last a long time.  I'm a little more than half way through the Maybelline Bad to the Bronze. This one is my favorite and I'll be sad when it's gone, I'll probably repurchase it because it's a really excellent base, lasts all day and doesn't crease.  The other pot is my ELF Cruisin' Chic Smudge Pot half the price of the Maybelline and works just as well honestly. But it has a stronger smell and you have to use a lot of it to build up the opacity.  Then I have a jumbo eye pencil from ELF that I totally forgot about! This is in Turkish Coffee and smells so strongly of crayons that I don't use it...I may give it a try but it's not my favorite.  

I have several Bronze eyeliners (not pictured in the swatches) that are just okay. I'm not really a huge fan of anyone. I talked about Tarte's Sunstone Bronze in the last post as well and while I hate that it's so soft it gets the job done. I have another Tarte Bronze liner that's just their regular line that is a little more firm but doesn't have the lasting power.  I also have a Rimmel Scandaleyez in Brown but it's a shimmery bronzey brown.  This one is also too soft for me so I haven't used it in months, if I can remember to sharpen it and let it sit overnight without a cap it's usually fine, but it's way too soft for practical everyday use.

Now I have a few single bronze shadows as well. As mentioned before the Max Factor doesn't have an actual name but it's a very decent shadow. I've tried to use it without one of my cream bases and it just does not pack enough punch on it's own. But layered it's gorgeous. Then I have the L'Oreal Infallible in Bronzed Taupe now this is n interesting one. If I layer it over my Bad to the Bronze it looks very grey and cool toned. It's got almost a silver cast to it, but on it's own it's much more of a typical bronze color. I have a love hate with this thing. It's a pressed pigment so it's got the pay off you want in a shadow but it's very delicate and fragile and can have lots of fallout if you're not careful. I know a lot of people will apply this with their fingers but I'm really more a brush kinda girl and so I don't reach for this one a lot.  Then my last single shadow but certainly not leave is my Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Single in Between the Sheets. If you can't tell by the fact that I've hit serious pan on this bad boy, I loved this color. I used to wear this all the time! It's been discontinued and it makes me want to cry. It's the second to last swatch on the right above and it's just the most gorgeous bronze ever. I'm going to leave this bad boy out and finish it up because I forgot how much I loved it.  It's a bit of a warmer tone than the other two so we'll have to see how it does, it's also fairly old so it may need a base. We'll see but I'm glad I found it again because I love this one.

Lastly I have a bunch of palettes that have a bronze shade here and there in them. To be honest I haven't been reaching for any of these over the summer because I've been using my creams and singles but it's good to know that there are lots of bronze shadows out there in palettes if I every use up my singles. I doubt I'll ever use up that Max Factor single because there is just a ton of product in that thing. 

I'll start with the trios first. I have the Wet 'n Wild trio in Walking on Eggshells and the middle crease color is a really pretty neutral bronze. It's pretty light and comes off warmer on me that some of the others. It's got great color pay of for a $2.99 eyeshadow trio and it's always on sale for less. I got mine for $1.99 so talk about bang for your buck. The other two colors are just as nice.  The Clinique trio I can't find online, I got it from my sister and the packaging looks like it might have been in a free gift set, but the middle color Buttered Bronze is another delightful warm bronze. The Tarte 8 Shadow palette was in a Holiday Gift set from QVC called Sweet Indulgences it was a limited release but you can see what all came with it online. The bronze in this kit does not have a name but it's the darkest bronze I have and is much more of a cool tone than some of the others. Then I have two Too Faced Palettes. I love Too Faced and the Too Face palette that I've panned two shadows from was actually my first high end makeup purchase post-college. The Too Faced Natural Eyes is a gorgeous neutral palette and has a couple of bronzey shades in it.  Push Up and Erotica are my favorites and they're pretty pretty shimmery too.  These are a little too shimmery for me now but for specially occasions I could probably still pull them off.  This palette has been repackaged and some of the colors have changed but those two are still in the new one.  Then last but not least my Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette I love this thing. Hazelnut and Haute Chocolate are two very different bronze colors but bronzey none the less. Hazelnut is lighter and warmer and Haute Chocolate is very dark. I usually use these two together and it's gorgeous.  They're not as shimmery as the Natural Eyes shadows but they're still reflective in a subtle way. 

So yah I have a lot of bronze shadow options. I just find it such an easy color to work with. It's very neutral but can go warm or cool depending and it's easy to find. I have a good array of high end and drugstore options in every form and that's fun. I think for the summer bronze is perfect and works for both day and night. You can get a dusty smokey eye with bronze or keep it light and natural. Bronze is the perfect multitasking shadow. 

Makeup Madness Part 4! Lip Products!

I didn't think I had that many lip products...

For someone who very rarely wears lipstick this was kinda shocking to go through. And there are actually 3 missing from the picture! My cat Bellatrix loves to play with lipstick and lose them all over my apartment.  I know exactly which ones are missing too and they're ones I love...so she better find them and put them back with the rest of my makeup or I'm going to be super upset.  So what we have here are 59 lip products and I am getting rid of a lot. Like more than any other Makeup Madness yet...especially since Makeup Madness 3 was a huge failure...

So the criteria I used to get rid of lipsticks and lip products was if they were expired- 2 -3 years- ewww. If they smelled I got rid of them and then if  attacked my lips or made them too dry.  So here's what I got rid of.

25 products. Oh I also got rid of colors that made my lips look dead and that I know wouldn't work for my sister either. I got rid of some glosses because I don't like lip gloss and I got rid of all the baby lips because they were all retired last year when my lips had a horrible reaction to EOS lip balms and these. Every time I would wear these or the EOS stuff my lips would puff up and look like I had lip injections- seriously not a good look for me- it was also painful.  The lip balm in the upper left I got in an Ipsy bag and can't get it open, but I remember disliking it.  The ELF moisturizing Lip Color was really disappointing, loved the formula but the poor thing is frosted! Hello 90s, not the look I'm going for.  The rest were just old so bye bye.

So like the eyeliners and jumbo pencils before them I decided to put my lip products to the swatch test...

PS Lipstick swatches are much harder to get off than eyeliner... Anyways aren't they pretty. So yes the lighting is bad but you can see I don't really stray outside of certain color familys.  What I ended up keep were a variety of terracotta/my lips but better colors, some brownie nudes and some reds.

So as you can see I kept 34 + the missing three and three I have at work. I'll break these into categories.

Lip Balms/Chapsticks- I love the plain generic Chap Stick I currently have Cake Batter (delicious) but Cherry is my favorite and I always have it on hand. I have another Cake Batter at the office.  I have two NYX Butter Balms that I'm undecided on, I may end up getting rid of these soon because i never use them but I'm going to give them a try before I make my decision.  I'm currently loving my Lypsyl I have one at home and one at work and it's a beeswax lip balm that has some good staying power. I'm almost done with one tube and will probably purchase more when it runs out. I have three rosebud salves- shoot it's missing from the picture too! I have two tubs and one squeeze tube. Thank god for the squeeze tube! I love it. It lives in my purse and I have a tub in my purse as well. Then a few assorted ones I'm not in love with but I leave them in every room of my apartment so I always have hydration for my lips if need be. I always have to have a balm or something on my lips or I'll go crazy.

I don't have a lot of lip liners because I'm lazy and don't like to line my lips.  The three I have here are all nudes one from ELF, one from Palladio and one from NYX. Nothing special about a single one, the Palladio is getting old so I am going to try to finish it up first, I want to wear more lipstick and notice a drastic difference when I wear liner...so goal.  I also have an ELF exfoliating lip scrub pictured here as well that I use infrequently. I like to have it around in case my lips do ever need scrubbing, but I usually use so much chapstick that I'm good. Another random one is my Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Chihuahua this is a gorgeous nudie brown that's a little darker than my lips, gorgeous and creamy but fades weird. I also have a baby sample of Palomino from Bite beauty, fabulous formula and it's a super hot pink...we'll see if I'm ever bold enough to wear it.

Regular Lipstick. So I don't have a lot of repeats in my regular lipstick stash. One of my missing ones is actually a pair of the Rimmel Kate Moss ones, I have the red cased one here but I have a black cased one too that I love and am heartbroken that it's missing.  I am also missing my two Victoria's Secret Very Sexy lipsticks from a hundred years ago, yes they're old and expired but I want to always have them because they're beautiful- don't judge.  So in here are most of my Red lipsticks, everything from brick red to bright hot red and then deep red burgundies. I have two beautiful brown nudes that are great for falls or when you want your lips to have that dead look that's a little special.  Two are YouTube Made me Buy it's- the NYX in Alabama and Wet N Wild's Fergie Bebot Love were YouTube recommendations and I love them. 

Jumbo and micro sticks. Man these have really piled up lately. Two months ago I had no NARS Velvet Matte lip pencils and now I have three! Two were my birthday gift from Sephora and one I bought in Walkyrie a gorgeous brick red that looks fairly natural on me...they last forever and are super easy to apply, I like them a lot. I have two Revlon Matte Balms in Elusive and Standout, these are gorgeous too and pretty hydrating. I also have a Revlon Balm stain in Honey another YouTube Made me Buy It. Then I have two L'Oreal Glossy Balms in Lovely Mocha (so pretty) and My Babydoll (which I haven't worn on my lips). I also have a coral-y color from Tarte that I haven't worn but it's a dark dark coral really pretty, but I got it in a winter kit and haven't had a chance to play with it yet, it also came with a gloss I'm willing to try. 

So that's about it. I love the jumbo stick format for lip sticks and clearly enjoy the ones that have more of a balmy texture. My biggest problem with lipstick is even if I don't wear liner after an hour or two it looks like that's all I have one. I drink coffee or water all day and so a lot of lip products rub off. I'd prefer to only have to touch up once after lunch. So I'm really picky about my lip products. This is why I usually don't wear any, but I do enjoy the way it looks so I am trying to wear them more often. So we'll see.  

These last few items are just not for me, so I'm going to see if my sister wants them. The two ELF products are a great texture but the lip balm is too thin for me and the lip color is all wrong, but looks like my sister. The Liquid Lip thing was in an Ipsy box and is fabulous, but messy. Also the color would probably look better on my sis.  Same with the Hikari lipstick I wore this once and it started off a gorgeous deep red but faded to a hot pink on me. It's a good brand so I felt bad getting rid of it so I'll see if Hail wants it. If not these will also see the trash.

I feel really good about this purge I feel like I'm really only keeping what I want/can use. So yay! I don't know what I'm going to do next but here are Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters and Eye Liners. 

No Palette Make-Up Saturday!

Because it's Saturday and because I get to take a little more time with my makeup on Saturdays I decided to do a makeup look without using any of my palettes! Really I was just trying to use some eyeshadows that don't get enough love and when I use single eyeshadows I use take a lot longer to do my eyes and figure out where I want to go with it. So here's what I used.

No palette Saturday make-up. #olay #benefit #maybelline #loreal #nyx #nyc #elf #nars #urbandecay

A photo posted by Tyler Archer (@tyleralyse) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:18am PST

A lot of this stuff is my usual. Olay BB cream nothing new, NYX Brow Powder nothing new, Maybelline Age Rewind a frequent visitor, and the same with my NYX Eyeliner and NYC Bronzer. Everything else though doesn't get used on the daily or even weekly sometime. Benefit Fake Up Concealer. This is a really moisturizing concealer, it's concealer wrapped in a moisturizing gel thing so it's super hydrating. It doesn't really have enough umph to tackle my weekday undereyes but on the weekend it's light and gives my eyes a rest from the heavy duty stuff. And I topped it with my Age Rewind today because that stuff is pretty lightweight too.

I didn't use an eye primer today. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos lately where they've been saying their Maybelline Color Tattoos were drying out! I started to panic because I don't use mine enough. I bought them so I could do the whole one eyeshadow look but lets be real how often do I use just one eyeshadow. So with the color tattoos I don't wear a primer because they're creamy and work as a base. So I broke out my Bad to the Bronze my first color tattoo and smeared that all over my lid and into my crease. Then to add some dimension I added Inked in Pink to the inner third of my lid. Then I let those set for a few minutes and went in with some powders on top. I love my L'Oreal Infallible shadows and don't use them enough. I took Endless Pearl and placed it under my brows, then took Bronzed Taupe into my crease and on the outer corner to darken it up. Then because I didn't have enough shimmer I took my new Urban Decay Sin shadow (it was from Sephora's holiday kit) and put that on top of the Inked in Pink to really make it shine. Overall this is a super sparkly eye look that I don't do very often, but it's the holidays I should do more shimmer.

The Maybelline Mascara I'm using was Haley's and she didn't like it. So I'm trying it out, I think it needs to dry out a little more to make it really special, but it's doing fine by my lashes. It makes them super thick but doesn't add to much to my length. It'll do.

My new Nars Orgasm Blush also came in the little mini Sephora kit I got this week and is lovely. I don't think it really lives up to the name Orgasm, but it's a fine blush. It has some shimmer in it already but I still needed to top it off with my Elf baked highlighter in Moonlight Pearls because I wanted to shine!

I really need to play with my single shadows more. I usually just grab an eye palette because it has everything I need and I don't have to pull from other things, but there are so many good singles in my stash that I should really let them shine more. Now this look is definitely not something I'd wear everyday, in fact it is probably going to garner me some special looks at the grocery store, but for a kinda blah Saturday it is fun to play with my makeup.

My Thanksgiving 2014 Travel Beauty Bag(s)

I worked really hard not to overpack this year. I didn't overpack my clothes- I may have under-packed tops forgetting that newborns spit up every time I hold them. And I tried...not to overpack my makeup.  So really it's my beauty/bathroom travel bags that I'm talking about here- there are 3. 2 for makeup and one for shower, face and any extra toiletries I may need.

My big Polka Dot Bag has served me well, I've been using it for a good 5 years and it's always been my go to toiletries bag when traveling.  In it I have makeup wipes the Target Up and Up Cucumber Exfoliating ones are my favorite, Neutrogena Night Cream, Vaseline Intensive Moisture Lotion, Secret deodorant, a wide tooth comb, Dr. Bronners in Almond and Tea Tree Oil scents, NYX Dewy Setting Spray, Q-tips, bobby pins, a few packets of nail polish remover liberated from some hotel, a sample packet of moisturizing face serum by a brand no one has heard of (they're not very good), Redken Curl Sugar Gel, Olay Refresh Facial Cleanser Sample (don't like it either), and a white washcloth I use for wiping my brushes off after each use (cuts down on oil/product buildup).   A lot of the standards I keep at my sisters house or steal hers. I have a toothbrush and toothpaste, some random hair products, and a razor I leave there.  If I need anything else they can usually provide it, like last time I came home and forgot deodorant, I stole a travel size of my brother-in-law's Old Spice Tropical stuff- I smelled like a boy all week- no one seemed to mind.

This ELF pink bag is a newer addition to my travel routine. I needed something better to carry my brushes in and liners and weird things I didn't want mingling with my palettes or other makeup things.  So the basic rule here was that it was long, tube like, a brush or a makeup tool it went in here.  This pouch has two sides, one with spaces specifically designed for brushes and a mesh pocket perfectly shaped for my eye brushes.  Then it had a big dumpable pocket that I stuck my pencil liners, Age Rewind Concealer, eyebrow wax pencil, eyelash curlers, big kabuki brush, eyeshadow primer, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else.  But this bag fits inside the next bag event with everything else in it- and of course it's pink so I like it. 

Then my big train case makeup bag, also from ELF. They didn't have it in pink when I ordered it- sad.  But this bag I hold all my bigger products or things I'm not too concerned about getting mixed up together. So my eye palettes, BB Cream, Blush, eyebrow powders, 3 single eyeshadows, two under eye concealers and a lipstick.  This is where I cut down the most on my packing, I really wanted to add two more palettes into this bunch, but I didn't.  Then my pink bag fits on top and I just have this black bag and the polka dot bag to keep track of in my luggage.

So here's a breakdown of some of the contents of my bag.  Here is all the eye stuff I brought.  So I have 3 eyeshadow palettes (including my Tarte rainforest disc that has some face products in it as well). All the palettes are Tarte, I love the quality and texture of the shadows.  They're beautifully pigmented and last all day- even when running after a toddler nephew and dealing with new niece spit up. The two 8 pan palettes are from the Tarte Sweet Indulgences kit I splurged on from QVC. I have two L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows in my cream color and bronze- great for an easy everyday look, or great additions to the palettes I brought.  I also brought a pale iridescent pink Maybelline Color Tattoo.  My Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer- this is a sample size I thought was perfect for travel and it has been.  Two eyeliners in bronze and brown.  My Tarte Lights Camera Lashes mascara.  My eyebrow stuff form NYX- both cake powders and wax.  Then eyelash curlers.

And here are all the face products minor those I used in my Tarte Rainforest Palette.  So we have my usual BB Cream, Tarte Blush, Pixi Color Corrector, Benefit duo concealer, Maybelline Age Rewind, Benefit Porefessional Primer, Temptu highlighter, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer and my NYX Setting Spray.  This is really the bare minimum face stuff I need.  I always use my BB Cream and reach for one or two or all three of the concealers I brought depending on sleep.

So I have to say I'm pretty pleased with my packing job this trip.  I've used everything I brought except 3 items.  The Tatu liquid highlighter is gorgeous, but I just haven't felt the need to get "that" done up this holiday. I love it but it's kinda for a more glitzy look.  I also haven't used my Maybelline Color Tattoo, this item is the exact opposite, it's for a more casual look and I just haven't been in the mood.  Then the last thing is the Benefit Porefessional, and part of the reason I haven't used it is because I'm not quite sure how to integrate it into my routine in the first place. I use a BB Cream so I can't wear it under it, but if I put it on over it I sometimes look like I'm wearing way more face makeup than I actually am.  So out of everything I brought I feel pretty good that only three things didn't get use. 

The best thing I brought or the most useful would have to by my Rainforest After Dark Tarte palette because it's so multi-useful.  I can use it for eyes and face.  It has the bronzer I've been using all weekend as well as the highlighter, I haven't used the blush but that's okay cause everything else in the palette got action. 

So when I come home for Christmas pretty much the same things will be coming home, only I'll probably throw in my Too Face Chocolate Bar Palette for a few more color options, another lipstick option and a setting powder. I didn't need a setting powder too badly but I still feel better with one in my kit. 

Tomorrow I have to pack it all back up and take it back to College Station, but it'll all return again in 3 weeks for a little longer visit. 

Makeup Monday: October Favorites!

How is October over?!? Where is this fall going? I have lots of faves and if I listed them all it'd look a lot like my last post on my Fall Friday Favorites.  While I vary a lot of my makeup daily, these are things I really did use the majority of the month, some every single day and others like every other day.

First my L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Bronzed Taupe and Endless Pearl.  I pretty much wore Endless Pearl daily as a base color and brow bone highlight. I love this shadow.  It's just pigmented enough to be a nice base but not so pigmented it messes with other shadows you put on top of it. Like it's friend Bronzed Taupe.  I got this shadow thanks to EmilyNoel83 again as a great single eyeshadow look. You put it all over the lid and blend up through the crease and it's just easy.  It's been pretty much my weekend makeup look except for Halloween things. I also bring it in to play with my Chocolate Bar palette but it's definitely a fast favorite.

Rimmel's Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in 08 is amazing.  This is a creamy matte lipstick that doesn't dry out your lips! I was looking for that perfect "your lips but better" shade and this is it! It's nude but pink and best of all hydrating. I have lots of nudie natural lip shades but most of them are a bit too dark and look like you're wearing too much lipstick, and this one just feels natural. You could wear it even if you were just wearing mascara and blush and it wouldn't look too made up, but just enough so you'd look polished. I have another shade of the Kate lipsticks that I like it's just a little darker but until I can figure out my lip liner game it's staying on the shelf.

ELF Brushes. Thanks to YouTube and Pinterest I've been introduced to the wonderful world of ELF makeup brushes. I probably have about 8 or 9 but these two are my favorites.  The Small Tapered Brush and Blush Brush. I actually use the tapered brush for my blush and the blush brush for my highlight, but they're great.  Excellent quality, I've washed them several times and their shape stays intact along with their bristles.  Best thing about these brushes is their price- $3 each and I got both of them for half off during one of ELFs months everything 1/2 off sales! Gotta love ELF.

My NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder set has been a favorite since the spring but I used it basically every day this month. I'm a little addicted to filling in my brows. I just feel so naked without them now. My right brow is my deficient brow on my face and if I don't fill it in it looks like I have a bald patch in it! I've never had pretty thick brows but I never noticed them before I was blonde. I thought when I went back to brunette I'd stop wanting to fill them in, but no such luck, I think my brow defining days are here to stay and this product is great.  There are two shades of brunette in the palette and a small tub of setting wax, the tools that come with it are fine, the brush is a little stiff but the spoolie brush works great.

And last but not least my favorite eye primer is Wet 'n Wild's Fergie Take on the Day Eyeshadow Primer. It's amazing. I'd been going back and forth using an ELF mineral primer, a color tattoo, a NYX eyeshadow base and none of them worked as well! I always creased.  Well this bad boy is great. It stays a little tacky but that helps eyeshadow stick and not crease.  I love using this with all my shadows but I honestly think it amplifies that pigment in my Tarte After Dark palette and just gives excellent lasting power.  Another cheap product I love at only $4.99 in drugstores, but you can always find Wet 'n Wild on sale.

That's it for October! I'm tying not to buy too much new makeup in November since Christmas is right around the corner, but I have a weakness for sales...so we'll see!

Five Fall Friday Favorites!

I love makeup. Did I say that already? I love lots of makeup and own more makeup now than ever before.  It's hard to pick my favorites, but there some products that I just reach for more than the others.  This fall it's my bronzey, brownie, mauvey and burgundy eye makeup and nude-ish pink brown lips. But on Friday's I try to keep it simple with just some basics.

1. My Fresh Effects Oil of Olay BB cream in Light - Medium. So many people on the internet hate this product because it's too light in coverage and color. I love it because it's light. I've never really been one to wear foundation but always struggle to find a moisturizer that wears well with my blush. This BB cream evens out my skin tone and wears blush, bronzer and highlighter beautifully over it. Also it doesn't oxidize on me like other BB creams and Tinted Moisturizers have in the past.  I wear this daily.  Also it has SPF in it and is made by Olay who also makes my favorite moisturizer.
2. I rotate concealers a lot, because some days I need a little extra oomph and some days I don't feel like messing with it. On a bad day I'll wear 3 different concealers but on Friday I just wear my Pixi Correction Concentrate. This is an amazing peachy salmon color concealer that I heard about on EmilyNoel83's YouTube Channel. I have super dry under-eyes and serious dark circles and this stuff is creamy and doesn't settle in my 29 year old fine lines. It's hydrating without needing a setting powder and I loves it. 
3. On any given day I use between 6-7 different products on my eye lids alone. First there's primer, then a base, then a cream matte shadow, a crease color, an outer v color, a shimmer shade on my inner corners and then an eyeliner.  All of these products/colors require a separate brush for application- and this is before my mascara and eyebrows! So on Friday I keep it simple usually with just a Maybelline color tattoo all over the lid, a brow highlight and then tight-lining. Sometimes I'll switch out the color tattoo for a L'oreal Infallible shadow if I want more shimmer. Either base I use in their respective bronze shades- Bad to the Bronze in my color tattoo or Bronzed Taupe in my Infallible.
4. 3 months ago I got my first Ipsy bag subscription and inside it was a mascara that would change my eyelash game forever...or at least till now. Urban Decay Perversion Mascara. OMG it's amazing. Three coats of this stuff and I stopped wearing false eyelashes for the stage! After working my way through my sample I purchased the full size as well as the Subversion primer.  WARNING: if you use both the Subversion Primer and Perversion Mascara at the same time, strangers in your building will stop you and ask you about it. Not for the feint of makeup heart. I don't need that much eye attention on a day to day, but on Friday when I'm not wearing 7 layers of eyeshadow, I'll bulk up my mascara for fun and wear both.
5. My last favorite is a cheat. It's my Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette that has eyeshadow, bronzer, blush and highlight.  But what I use the most out of it are the three face products. The bronzer and highlighter are terribly special but I use them frequently.  However my favorite thing in this palette is the blush.  The prettiest everyday flush color it's perfect for fall and daily use.  But on Friday's I can use it without all the other fuss and feel completely done up with ease. 

There are a few other makeup items that are new favorites so I wont mention them here, this is almost my full face look, but just a little more minimized. The rest of the week I usually wear lipstick and play around with my contouring and highlighting more, but on a Friday I like to take it easy.  Now this routine in itself is way more than I was doing 8 months ago, but way less than I was doing during those 6 months I was blonde. So I like to think this is a pretty reasonable medium.