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!
Sorry for the long hiatus! I was bloggin' up a storm over on my other blog about movies and movies oh and about movies. I did a ridiculous thing...go read about it! Or stay tuned to hear about my Pencil Hoarding and unsuccessful purging.
This post could be long. We're going to talk about a lot of items that I've had for a long time and need to just get rid of. Liners. I used to use pencil eyeliner all the time, like every day, but then I discovered Gel liner and my life was forever changed. I still use pencil liners here and there but only when I'm lazy, it's the weekend or I'm trying to tight line. So whateves. So here's what I have.
After going through this stash I've decided two things...one I'm only getting rid of three things, I know I suck, and two I need to break this up into more categories. I was originally going to include lip liners and crayons but decided to keep all my lip stuff together in the next one. I'll also do a separate brow one even though I really don't have a lot of brow products... So let's go through what I've got! Since I'm not really getting rid of stuff.
Let's start with my inner rim brighteners. When I first started doing theatre a million years ago we put red eyeliner in our inner corners of our eyes, it looked freakish up close but apparently from the audience it was fabulous...eventually I learned that white was what you wanted for stage makeup. So I started putting white on my inner rim, much less freakish. Now when I'm not on stage I like to use nude because it's more natural looking and makes you look way more awake.
1. Beautique Eyeliner in White- I'm amazed at how pigmented and creamy this still it because I don't remember when I bought it. I should probably get rid of it but have a feeling if sharpened and alcohol dipped it'll be fine, it doesn't smell so it stays!
2. Tarte Inner Rim Liner- I just got this is one of my tipsy late night online birthday purchases and it's beautiful. I'm worried it may be making my eyes water but I'll experiment a little more before getting rid of it. It's a beautiful pinky nude.
3. NYX Wonder Pencil in Light- uuuuhgg not sure about this one yet either. It's the perfect nude shade because it can be used for inner rim brightening, brow bone highlighting and concealing, but it's a little hard. If you warm it up between your fingers it goes on smooth, but I'm just not sure yet. It's new too so keeping it!
4. Rimmel Scandaleyes in 005 Nude. This was my first inner rim brightener of my post blonde days! I love this stuff. It's so creamy and smooth and wears for a really long time. I do have to put this on before my mascara though because otherwise I get it on my lashes and it looks kinda funny. really like it.
Weird Jumbo pencil type things. I don't know why I'm keeping these, maybe because I haven't really used them. But the three ELF ones I've never used on my eyes and they're so pretty! I feel like I need to. There's a gold, a bronze and a navy blue. I don't know what I'm going to use them for but darn it I'm going to. My Pout Silver pencil is beautiful and I love it. I don't know when and where I got it but it's gorgeous and one of those makeup items you think will be perfect for Halloween so I'm going to keep it around. Then there's this Maybelline Kajal Liner in Brown that was my sister's and then she gave it to me to try to see if I could figure it out. Well I couldn't But it's really pretty and smudged out in the outer corner makes a great smokey eye, but as a liner it kinda sucks, so I'm lumping it together with my other jumbo pencils.
Now I don't really use black eyeliner. I pretty much stick to my neutral browns and I just feel like black is too harsh. BUT...these are really pretty black liners and I feel, like the jumbo pencils, you never know when you're going to need these for Halloween or for dress up days at work. Two of these are pretty glittery blacks- a Black Liquid Liner with glitter in that's soooooo pretty! And a black glitter from ELF. The liquid liner I got in an Ipsy bag and I've only used it once but loved it when I did. The Elf I got in a glitter set with a pencil I am getting of, but it's also a really pretty black so I'm keeping it! Then I have an ELF liquid liner that is pretty new and also gorgeous so I'm holding on to it. And lastly a Tarte black that I got in my Christmas Tarte kit. It's a gorgeous pencil. I may try to start incorporating some black liner into some looks this spring.
Browns and bronzes oh my! I used to wear brown eye liner every day before I started using gel, so these have been neglected. So my old favorite for dark brown eyeliner was the Milani Gel Eye Pencil and it was a mechanical roll up but now they've changed the formula and it sucks. It's too soft! You can not get a precise point because it is not too much like a gel. It made me so sad! Same goes for the Rimmel Scandaleyes. The two shorter Tarte pencils from my Christmas kit are great just firm enough to hold shape but soft enough to glide on smoothly. The bottom Tarte pencil with the smudger is a little too soft too but I need to play with it a little more because it's new. Overall I'm not terribly impressed with eye pencils anymore but keep the around for weekends and lazy days.
Here's my favorite gel liner by NYX! And an ELF Liner I never use... I just am not a fan of liquid liner. I remember in high school my sister was awesome at liquid liner and I wanted to be so badly, but I was never precise enough and it always smeared or smudged and it was not good. But I love this Gel Liner. It's perfect. It is so dark brown it's almost black but just almost. There's just enough contrast between the dark brown and the black of my lashes that I know it's like actually brown. I pretty much use the Gel every day and I feel like I'm finally starting to make a dent in it. I think I got it late last Spring, so at the year mark there is still well over half left. This stuff may last forever. The reason I'm keeping the liquid around is because I have hopes that one day I'll learn how to do winged eyeliner and will use this to try.
And here are the three I'm getting rid of. A black Lord & Berry pencil that's awful. Like I said I don't use black eyeliner a lot but when I do I do not want it to smudge and melt down my face. This stuff would not stay in my waterline to save my life. It's awful! It never sets but when it does it's almost a flakey powder it's weird and bad and no thank you. Then I have an ELF sparkly plum. Unlike the sparkly black this one is not pretty, you can barely see the sparkle and it's so try. I have barely used it and don't plan to use it anymore. Then I have a label-less ELF liquid liner in brown that I've had too long. It's dry. The new one is still unopened so it'll last a while but this one I don't need.
Bonus Pic! Here's how I decided what to keep!
See they're all still so pigmented and pretty! And oh my gosh some of them have ridiculous power and took forever to get off. Some came off a little too easily with a Target Up & UP makeup wipe but some required scrubbing. All the liquid ones were really really good. This has made me want to figure out how to use those ELF jumbo pencils too because they're so pretty and pigmented!
Previous Makeup Madness-es includePart One was on Blush and Part Two on Bronzers and Highlighters. Next up I'm going to do Lip Products...I've amassed quite a few recently and like very few of them. It'll be hard to get rid of them! I'm such a hoarder!
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!
