LOTD: Too Faced Love Palette

I used the True Love shadows (center square of the palette).



This is what it looked like:







I'm really liking my palettes! I highly recommend them!

LOTD: Too Faced Natural Matte Palette

I set out to use the Classic row on my eyes, but ended up using almost all of the shadows from the palette for one thing or another. I first used Honey Butter in my crease up to my brow bone, then I pat Strapless on my lids, Risqué in my crease, and Lace Teddy above Risqué. I deepened up my crease with Sexpresso and used Heaven as a highlight. I went back and pat Honey Butter in a concentrated area just above my iris to add some dimension and a little bit of emphasis to my eyes. Voilà! I usually don't go for matte eyeshadows but these colors were to die for and I knew I could use them for transition shades on my brow bone. I'm still partial to shimmery highlights, but I challenged myself today to only use this palette to create a look and I really like the way it turned out. The colors are super easy to blend and are buildable as well. I am excited to keep discovering looks using this palette!

Haul: Ulta & Sephora

I went to Ulta last week with the BFF to check out the UD Naked Smoky palette, which we didn't buy—long story—but I ended up buying these! Activated charcoal is a buzz phrase in beauty right now and I had to test it out too! The Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask is a repurchase. I bought a sample a while back and loved it! I'm so glad it comes in a nice container! The sample was hard to keep from drying out before I could use it because it was just in a pouch, so this should keep me stocked for quite some time! So far I have tried all three charcoal products and they weren't what I expected, but they worked so well! I expected the mask to be similar to the avocado one where it's easily smeared on, dries after a few minutes, and is then washed off, but it's not! It's chunky because of the sugar in it, making it more of a scrub, so it took some getting used to, but my pores seemed to have shrunk with just one use. The Biore scrub was just on my skin a minute or so before being washed off, so again, something I hadn't expected because I didn't read the packaging in the store. It worked really well though, as did their nose strips! They were way more effective than the normal strips. I'm excited to incorporate these into my skin care routine!

Yesterday I went to Ulta and bought the Too Faced Love Palette:

I'm excited to use it! I think it'll be very versatile because some shades can also be used as cheek highlights, blushes, or bronzer as well!

I also ran over to Sephora and bought the Too Faced Natural Matte Palette and I'm excited to use it for transition/brow bone shades because I'm going to run out of Nooner one of these days and I won't know what to do!

I love the packaging! The only let down is that there is a repeat shade, Sexpresso, from their Natural palette that was gifted to me a few years back. It's one of my favorite shades though so I can see why they did that, especially for those who don't have the other palette. I will have a LOTD using this palette tomorrow. :) Thanks for reading! What are some products you're loving this summer?

LOTD: Ballin' on a Budget

I'm planning on teaching a class for some girls ages 12-17 next week and picked some make up at Dollar Tree to use for a demo. I saw this palette and had to buy it for myself as well! I mean, it was only a dollar!

This is the look I came up with:

I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion and it stayed on great and didn't crease after working a 12 hour shift. I usually take the philosophy of quality over quantity but this palette proved that wrong! I will be checking out the dollar store for makeup more often now!

Review: Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara

Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara is a product I kept hearing about. I bought this online during the hype and I didn't like it at all when I first tried it. As time has gone on, I've liked it more! The problem is that it does seem to flake off onto my cheekbones (imagine thumbs down emoji) and transfer onto my shadows because it does lengthen and it keeps my lashes curled up—which might happen with other mascaras, but they never keep my lashes curled up long enough to transfer. It's a catch-22! I don't know that I will repurchase this as I feel like it doesn't make my lashes thick enough and sometimes makes them look like spider legs if I'm not careful, and because I end up using other mascaras with it, that brings me back to my everyday dilemma of finding the best mascara! Can there please just be a be-all end-all mascara already?! The struggle is real! I hope this helps! Let me know if you've found a mascara that creates fullness, length, curl, and has staying power!

LOTD: The Balm's Balm Jovi Palette

I've been doing this look this week and have been loving it! To get this look I applied Allegro from my crease to my brow bone, Blink 1982 on my lids, Alice Copper on the outer one-third of my eye and crease, Iron Maid-In as a highlight with Third Eye Blinded in a triangle above my irises. For blush I used Milly as a cream base with Don't You Want Me? over it and Solid Gold lightly on my cheekbones. For my lips I used Vanilly. Voilà! It's a perfect no-fuss look that still looks put together! I've noticed it makes my blue eyes pop and goes great with anything I wear! I hope you can recreate it!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

LOTD: LORAC PRO Palette

I have resisted buying eyeshadow for nearly a year—and it's kind of a miracle! In an attempt to shop my stash and use the many palettes I already have, I put a new look together using a palette I've had for a while, the original LORAC PRO palette. I applied Mauve in my crease and on my brow bone in a windshield wiper fashion as a transition shade. Next I pat Gold on my lids and then blended Pewter over it to get the shade I wanted. In the outer third of my eye and in the crease, I applied Deep Purple. It's so important to blend, so I do that with a fluffy brush in between each step. For a highlight I used Nude below my brows and in the inner corner of my eye. Then I used MAC's Pro Longwear Eyeliner in Rich Experience on my top lash line and Ulta's Automatic Eyeliner in Black to my lower waterline. I curled my eyelashes and then used Sephora's Full Action Mascara to separate my lashes, Too Faced's Better Than Sex Mascara to get my lashes really thick and luscious, Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara over to keep my lashes curled up, and Blinc Mascara to keep my mascaras from flaking. After that, I pat Champagne above my iris to add dimension to my eyeshadow look. On my lips I have Too Faced's Melted Melon Liquified Long Wear Lipstick. For my face I used Makeup Forever foundation in 135 and bareMinerals foundation in Medium, since I've gotten a little sun. I used Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer as a contour, Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush (in Fresh Pink I think, but it's worn off!), Milani Baked Blush in Dolce Pink over that, and filled my brows in with MAC's Lingering.

I hope you're having a great summer! Thanks for reading! :)

LOTD: Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!!! My love for America can't really be put into words but it swells in my heart as I experience all the carefree moments that I am able to enjoy because of the liberty this country possesses thanks to so many sacrifices made by others!

In patriotic fashion, I present you with my Independence Day look, a navy smoky eye:

For any eyeshadow look I always start with Urban Decay Primer Potion! I used Nooner as a blending shadow (UDN3), Downfall as a base (UDV3), Reign on the inner and outer thirds (UDV3), Houdini on entire lid (MUG), Center Stage on entire lid (MUG), Unbridled (LORAC UNZIPPED) blended above blue shadows into Nooner, Magic Act in a triangle shape just above my iris (MUG), Heroine (UDV3) pat on the outer side of Magic Act, Evidence (UD Smoked) pat on the inner side of Magic Act with In the Spotlight (MUG) as a highlight below brows and in then inner corner of my eyes. I finished off this look with eyeliner, mascara, my usual face makeup, filling in my brows, and Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipstick in Pomegranate.



Thanks for reading! I hope you're all enjoying the freedoms of this country with your loved ones!

Empties

Here are my empties:



A little about these products...

My cosmetologist sister got her hands on that shampoo for me and I love it!

I needed shaving cream while on a trip so I picked up the eos brand and it's amazingly gentle and leaves my skin so smooth!

As for the two bottles of lotion, when weeding out a month or two ago, I set these out to you since I've had them forever but have taken far too long to finish. I have seriously had them since I was a Junior in high school! Ridiculous! I was pretty disappointed. I don't know if they were not as moisturizing because they were so old or if they were just gimmicky ziosk purchases I made in my naïveté from Middle Eastern men who claimed the lotions were made with Dead Sea salt in Israel, imported into the U.S. in big vats, AND THEN packaged. (I hadn't read the packaging closely enough until I got home and you'd best believe I called them out on it the next time I saw them in the mall! That was their response and I didn't believe it then either!)

The rest of the products are just tried and true products that I can't live without! I'll try to come up with something besides an Empties post before too long haha. I'm mostly just enjoying the summer weather and can't wait to check out the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette this month! I always have to physically go into the store for that type of thing and swatch it before purchasing. Is anyone else like that? #pickymakeupgirlprobs

I hope you're having a great summer and thanks for reading! :)