August Favorites

Hey y'all!

Thank for bearing with me while I didn't post for a few days. I was in New York for two days and then school started so it's been hectic around here! I've decided that during this fall semester I will post only once a week and sometimes twice if I have the time. My plan is to post mid-week on Wednesday afternoon or evening. I hope that ok with all of you! Thanks for standing by even with not super frequent updates.

Onto the real post! Since it's getting very near the end of August I want to give you guys my monthly favorites!

Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

Brand: Revlon

Shade: Sweetheart Valentine

I gave you guys my first inpression/review of the kissable balm stains with an orange shade. I went back to the place with the sale and I was able to find this color and I fell in love! 

It is a very opaque deep pink almost fushia shade. It had a glossier finish than the orange stain. It applied like a balm but it didn't have very good staying power which kind of stunk. It is also not super forgiving of dry lips. Overall, a really great product and something I've really been using in my looks this month!

Pur Protect Daily Moisturizer

Brand: Pur-lisse

Contains SPF

This product is great! It doesn't give a lot of white cast in photos, can be layered over a primer or on it's own, and it is very moisturizing! A little of course goes a long way and I've used it by itself with no makeup as well as layering my makeup over top of it. It's very creamy and just sinks into the skin. Be warned that if you apply too much your face will begin to feel greasy.

Total Moisture Lotion

Brand: Vaseline

This is a classic brand with ultimately timeless products! This lotion nourishes and mositurizes the skin so that you can look and feel your best! You can feel it really working and being absorbed by the skin as soon as you put it on. 

I got this sample in my NYC hotel and I plan to find it somewhere I can buy it full size. I really recommend this for those who need extra moisture for their legs. My legs get dry fast and they are just ugly from years of scarring because I'm so clumsy! This just makes my skin look healthier and makes them super smooth! 

Perversion

Product: Mascara

Brand: Urban Decay

This is the brand new urban decay mascara. They also came out with a new primer called subversion which I didn't receive. This was a sample from my ipsy bag which I do have a different post on. 

This is a very black mascara that hold curl well. It darkens the lashes but also gives them an insane amount of volume. The mascara really coats each lash and makes my eye appear bigger.

It does seen as if there are fibers within the mascar which could attribute to the really great qualities. A downside, however, would be that the bottle gets a little messy around the opening but everything else is great!

Tinted Lip Balm

Brand: Mica

Color: #5 Natural

This is a tinted lip balm in a natural pink toned shade. The product is highly moisturizing and EXTREMELY opaque! One small swipe is enough cover the whole lip with the color. This particular shade is great for everyday and is also a great base for more vibrant a colors! Keep in mind the swatch is a very minimal amount of product:

Eyeliner

Brand; Mally

Shade: Starlight

This is the pencil I've been wearing on my waterline the most this summer. Black runs and tends to just make me look really scary. However, I don't like really any other colored liner. I got this in an ipsy bag a few months ago and I just came across it again when looking for my nude liner pencil from Rimmel. This liner stays all day on the waterline, doesn't run or smear, and opens the eyes. It makes me look less tired and the glitter just gives a very interesting look!

The gunmetal type color is very appealing to me especially for the waterline:

Thanks for reading and bearing with me during this busy time!

Until next time!

Cheers! <3 :)

-K

Love It or Leave It: LA Colors Lipstick

Hey y'all!

Today I wanted to give you guys a review of a very affordable brand: La Colors. Specifically I wanted to review their lipsticks:

Lipstick is one of those products that is ridiculously expensive... But does it have to be? Brands like LA Colors sell their lipsticks for about 99 cents. I'm here to review them for you!

Peony

This is a bright pink lipstick. I've used this one only have a dozen times as it's not super opaque on the lips. However, it's a gorgeous color and it's great to later under a glossy lippie!

Swatch:

Paradise

This is a light burnt orange color. For those who are scared of a full blown orange; this is slightly glossy and just a nice touch of orange. 

Swatch:

Wildfire

Of course I have one in my favorite color: red! They have two reds and this one is very deep and rich. It is slightly drying so I like to use a good lip balm and a red gloss with it. It's really nice and is actually a matte color! 

Overall,

LA colors makes good lipsticks. They aren't the perfect formula but they work. You can later them under glosses to make them more opaque. 

They are also a great inexpensive product that you can use to test colors on yourself and also expand your collection. At only 99 cents they are the perfect ones to try out if you are debating whether a color looks good or not. So, I love them! Pick them up at any CVS, target or walmart! Other drugstores also have them as well!

Until next time!

Cheers! <3 :)

-K

Maybelline The Nudes

Hey y'all!

I know it's been a few days but I've been trying to get ahold of this for ya:

I went to about 4 different Targets trying to find this Nude palette. It seems like it would be a great staple item and some have even said it's a great dupe for at least the naked basics.

The packaging is sleek and small. It fits easily into my makeup storage AND I've actually been able to fit it in my purse.

It's $10 and you get 12 natural shades. The colors range from black/dark grey to a shimmery white. There are 7 shimmer shades and the rest are matte. This is great because a lot of drugstore products aren't matte.

You also get a small sponge applicator that is double sided. The brush has both a thick and thin and sides.

The colors are nice a creamy and are well pigmented! Here are swatches from left to right. The first batch is the upper row the second is the bottom.

Second row:

However, these swatches don't really do justice to the beautiful colors and pigmentation. The lighter colors don't show up well on camera but they are light, shimmer and super pretty.

The other thin I enjoyed is that the back of the palette gives you 13 different looks you can do. The palette is split up by quads, trios, and duos. I've tried almost all of them over the last day and each one is unique and look great. The trios aren't as impressive as the duos and quads however. 

My favorite quad is the first:

My favorite trio is the third:

I also love the third and fifth duo

Overall,

I really adore this palette. If you don't have the money for the naked, Lorac or other high end palettes this is a great dupe! Absolutely awesome for a drugstore palette and a good thing for any girl on a budget to have! 

Until next time!

Cheers! <3 :)

-K

Dupe Alert: part 1

Hey y'all!

I love buying makeup as much as any other girl out there! I love having it and experimenting with it and just loving my products. However, makeup is getting soooo expensive especially from high end brands. Today, I'm bringing you part 1 of my dupe list. I've spent literally more than 2 years compiling dupes that I've either found by myself or on the internet and have tried. 

Please know that most of the pictures I'm about to show you are not all mine. I have tried and own or have owned ALL of the drugstore dupes and some of the higher end products. 

Posie tint vs. lip stain

The popular benefit lip and cheek stain is an absolutely beautiful color. It sits matte on the lips and face and doesn't budge all day; it costs $30. 

For $6 you can get the elf lip stain in their lightest pink shade. It is not as long lasting as poise tint but it is the same color and feels the same on the lips and cheeks.

Sephora baked shadow vs elf baked

For a while sephora brand had a popular baked eyeshadow palette. It was full of some matte and some shimmer shadows. They were all natural, had great pigmentation, and were just an all around good product. From sephora the palette costs $26.

Elf sells a dupe baked eyeshadow palette that has pretty fantastic pigmentation. Their are some sephora colors they couldn't recreate but most are fairly spot on. However, the elf does not come with any matte shades only shimmer. It goes for $10.

Stila high shine vs. elf hyper shine 

Stila makes this girly pricy gloss at $22 and it's one of those products that doesn't quite live up to the price. It gives great shine and color but it's overly sticky.

Elf has hyper shine gloss for $1. It has very similar color and the formula is almost the same. I've also found that elf stay in place a lot better than the Stila gloss did. The packaging is almost identical as well.

MAC Lippies vs. Wet n Wild and Revlon Lippies

MAC makes one besutiful products but when it comes to lipsticks the price is waaaay to high. The average MAC lipstick can cost anywhere from $16-$25 and that's ridiculous! There are several drugstore brands that make lipstick from $3-$10 that are the same color and have the same effect:

Rebel vs sugar plum fairy and diva vs. cherry bomb:

Viva glam Nikki vs. pinker bell:

Vegas volt vs. coral berry:

Benefit dandelion vs. loreal baby blossom

For $28 you can get a popular benefit blush. They sit nicly on the face and the color dandelion is perfect for spring and summer.

L'oreal also carried a light pink blush called baby blossom. These true match blushes have almost the same formula as benefit blushes and this color is an exact match. Meaning, loreal is an exact dupe for this color of benefit.

Of course, this is only part 1! Hope you enjoyed it! Comment blows of what was your favorite and if there were any I should have included. Please share this blog via social media: it helps.

Until next time!

Cheers <3 :)

-K

My Ipsy Bag: August 2014

Hey y'all!

I normally don't post on weekends but late last night I received my ipsy bag! So I thought I would open it for you today!

The bag this month was called Beauty Schooled. The bag was almost more like a pencil case. It was a plasticy vinyl feel, long, deep, and super cute! The tangerine dots against the white are super sleek in my opinion! 

Of course, 

It's all about what's IN the bag when it comes to ipsy! The first thing I pulled out of the bubble mailer was a sample of the Urban Decay Perversion Mascara!

This card included all the information on the mascara as well as their new subversion lash primer. Unfortunately there are no coupons.

The product itself is .3 pines and is really a good sized sample. The packaging is gorgeous and the formula looks so much different than any other mascara I've tried! The wand is fairly standard so it's really going to be the formula that makes this product stand out:

Costal Scents Blush Duo

Costal Scents sent a small sample of two colors of their forever blush. Ipsters also get 25% off using the code that you can find in your glam room!

The colors were both very beautiful and they included a peach and a pink; which gives a range for different skin tones. There doesn't appear to be any harsh shimmer, but in some lights you can see a little bit. The pigmentation is great and the product isn't chalky at all. 

I'm not thrilled about the packaging however, because it's difficult to get your blush brush into only one color.

Swatch:

Be All Natural Lip Balm

This is a fairly standard lip balm I got in the scent grapefruit. However, it smells more like the chocolate covered oranges that you get at Christmas. So, it kind of reminds me of the holidays! 

It's very thick and super moisturizing. I out it on last night and I can already feel a difference in my chapped lips. I'm thinking because it is organic that might have something to do with it; because there are no harsh chemicals!

Shimmer Body Lotion

Strangely, I'm actually a big fan of shimmer lotions! As long as it's not super chunky and obvious glitter it's fine! A slight shimmer in the skin is lovely. This product would also make a beautiful shimmer blush or even a liquid highlight! It blends to a soft iradescent pinky color that is absolutely gorgeous. 

Body Creme

This body creme is 1 ounce of product and is supossed to be super rich in nutrients. It includes volcanic minerals and lemon. It's a fairly thick creme that I haven't had a chance to really to try it yet. However, it has a nice light scent and I'm hoping it works well!

Overall,

This ipsy bag wasn't my favorite. I'm really excited about the mascara and the lip balm. The other products were pretty "meh." A lot of other people got products like dry shampoo and benefit primer. From what in aware the perversion was given to everyone! I would have loved one of the other higher end products instead of the costal scents or shimmer lotion. I will get use out of all the products and the bag I well worth the $10 but I'm just not excited about it. 

Until next time!

Cheers <3 :)

-K 

If you're interested in trying ipsy please consider signing up with my link. It gives me points that I can use to redeem cool prizes; you'll also receive a link when you sign up! 

www.ipsy.com/r/46fk

What's In My Pencil Case

Hey y'all!

I know this is my second post of the day as it's making up for the fact that I didn't post yesterday! So I'm sitting here with some coke trying to stay up late for y'all! Thanks in advance for the support you give me! So, today I'm talking about the wonderful things you can find inside my pencil case at school! It's not all beauty related stuff but this can help you with school so I figured I'd post it anyway! 

My pencil case as you can see is a very classic long case. It's fairly shallow but I can still fit a lot into it. It has a great Bible verse and cute little saying on it. I think it represents me well! Of course, this post is more about what's inside the bag!

Sharpie Highlighters

These are the only kind I use when highlighting in my text books! They create very crisp highlights and they don't smear. I use all different colors and actually color code my highlights in my notebooks!

Crayola Erasable Highligter

A product they unfortunately don't make anymore; this little magic highlighter comes in handy when you make mistakes! It's actually erasable! It works really well on text book pages but not too well on paper. I actually go through my books and erase the highlights to make my text book sell back for more... Yea... I'm that student XD

Calligraphy Pen

These fountain pens are a lot easier on your hands than regular ball points. With my nerve and joint problems this little buddy is a life saver. The ink flows much more smoothly and quickly with this pen. You also don't have to push as hard. They are a little pricy so I save mine for only the classes I write the most! 

Sharpie Markers

I keep one fine tip and one ultra fine tip with me. They come in handy for different things. You really just never know when you might need a thin sharpie!

Glitter spoon

This was a joke prop kind of thing from the last play I was in. It was a running joke with the cast and I just never got rid of it!

Ballpoint Pens

Good for note taking and any other general writing needs!

Novelty Pen

I like to carry a kind of weird novelty pen as a conversation piece! I own one that's a candy cane, one that's an elephant, and the one in the picture. The cool thing with this earth one is that it lights up when you write!

I swear I'm an actual almost adult! I'm not a child! I just like really interesting and different stuff.

Pencils

Like pens, these are for all these basic school needs. I prefer mechanical to regular yellow wood pencils. I also get #2 so I can use them on scantrons... Yes... They use those in college too!

Watch

I can't wear any braclets ot anything on my wrist while I take notes. They get in the way and are just annoying! So, I keep This handy so I can easily see the time without trying to sneak my phone out of my pocket.

Chargers

I always carry with me the charger to my phone, iPod, and kindle along with the little wall plug. They stick easily in this pencil bag and sometimes when I don't have time to charge in The morning these can come in handy to carry around!

Tweezers

I have these to pluck those out ofplace  eyebrow hairs i may not have seen that morning. These are also good for a number of other things like getting a splinter from a friends hand (yes it's happened before) or using it to create a straight edge on an assignment!

Lip Balm

I normally carry an EOS or Babylips in my pencil case. I wear a lot of drying colors and I find that these two products give me moisture without really messing up my lipstick. This Babylips is a favorite of mine because it's minty and the neon green is a cool effect! Don't worry though, the green isn't visible on the lips! 

Eyeliner

I use liquid in the morning but throughout the day it tends to fade a bit in intensity. I like to freshen it up so this little glide on pencil works for that! 

This is the urban decay 24/7 velvet glide on liner  and I really enjoy it! It stays put, is super black, and is a very silky product! It can tug on the lid a little but but the overall effect it gives is great! This deluxe sample also fits on my pencil case easily!

Here's a swatch for y'all:

So, that's what I carry in my pencil case! I like to keep my nessecities for class along with a few beauty items! I also carry with me in my backpack my beauty bag so most of my beauty items are in there! I already did a post on that bag yesterday; simply search the blog to find it if that interests you!

Leave a comment of what you keep in your pencil case; I always look for suggestions on what to add to mine! Also, please share this post and my blog in your social media through the tab at the top of the blog! 

Until next time!

Cheers! <3 :)

-K