february favorites

Like last month, I only have three favorites! Which is a good thing, because it means I'm not spending a lot of money on new makeup. I'm strangely satisfied with the amount I have at the moment and I don't feel the want or need to buy more like I used to.

When I first started "beauty blogging," I felt like I had to have the newest makeup to show that I'm up to date with the latest products. But now it's more like I'd rather show what I can do with makeup rather than reviewing makeup. I'm the kind of person who likes to do really thorough reviews, and sometimes it makes me feel frustrated when I can't write out what I'm thinking! I think I'd go nuts if I was constantly churning out reviews for this blog.

Anyway, I've gotten off to a bit of a tangent. I *gasp* have a video to share my February favorites! I can't say enough of how awkward it is, but I think I'll ease into it with time.


PRODUCTS MENTIONED »
Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette
Urban Decay Electric Palette
Too Faced La Creme lipstick in Nude Beach

It feels pretty weird to me that I only posted once last week. I was hoping to have a post up on Friday but my schedule just wasn't having it - though I know I could have probably done it with better time management! Luckily the days are getting longer, so there will be more sunlight for me to take pictures :)

january favorites

Three favorite products from last month. It's not a lot, but I'm keepin' it real here ok?

I'll start with the one that isn't mine, which is the Fresh Sugar lip serum. My mom bought it sometime in December, and I've been using it since day one. We agree that it's not particularly useful alone (because it is a serum after all), so we layer it under our favorite lip balms - mine being the Korres lip butter in Jasmine and hers being Shiseido's protective lip conditioner. I pat it on my lips at night, coat it with lip balm when it sinks in, and when I wake up the next morning my lips are feeling super soft, hydrated, and nourished. The woman has expensive taste, I tell you... but I'll return the favor by repurchasing that serum when it runs out.

Next up is the Origins active charcoal mask, which was introduced to me by my sister. Normally I wouldn't willingly buy anything from Origins because the few products that I've previously tried from them either broke me out or irritated my skin/eyes, badly. This one is the gentlest face mask I've ever tried. It doesn't sting, doesn't tingle, and most importantly doesn't burn, which unfortunately a lot of face masks tend to do to me. If I feel a pimple about to surface or my skin feels clogged, I slap some of this on the area and by next morning it's as if nothing was even there in the first place.



Last one is a lipstick I picked up while returning something in Sephora. Not because I actually wanted it, but I feel bad whenever I return something so I feel the need to buy something to make up for it. Plus I'm getting some money back in return too, so it's kind of like hitting two birds with one stone. Except not really.

It's an Urban Decay lipstick in Naked 2, and surprisingly it's just what I was looking for. It's lighter than my lip color without being too light, but it's a little brownish as well so it leans more towards nude without making me look dead washed out. The formula is really nice as well - not as much slip as the YSL lipsticks but still quite hydrating. I wish they had more colors that I'd be into, but I guess it's a good thing they don't cause I'd be all over those.

2014 favorites | hair and bodycare

I was a pretty late bloomer when it came to makeup, and it's no different in terms of haircare and bodycare. In fact 2014 was the year that I started taking care of my hair and skin, and before that I'd rarely use lotions or hair products.

soap & glory hand food » My all-time favorite hand cream. I've gone through more tubes of this stuff than I can count, and when I can't squeeze any more out I snip off the top so I can get to the extra left in the crevices. My boss and coworkers always mention how I use this all the time. It sinks in very quickly, keeps my hands moisturized until my next hand wash, and doesn't leave a greasy feeling. It also smells nice, but not overpowering. I know it's probably a very boring description - it's what everyone looks for in a hand cream, and this one hits all the points for me. I switch my hand creams up from time to time, but I always come back to this one.

fixx argan oil no-frizz hair serum » Like all haircare products, this is a temporary fix for damaged or unruly hair but it's one is my favorite by far. I work about two pumps of it into the ends of my boob-length hair (is there a better way to say that??) when it's still damp, after towel drying. Back when I used to bleach and dye my hair like crazy, this is the one product that did wonders for my damaged ends... Words can't describe my feelings for this product, so see the post on Instagram, here!



the body shop body butters » These body butters are intensely hydrating and my super dry skin loves them. It does leave a slight film, but I think it's so that it keeps the moisture in instead of evaporating. I also love how many scents there are, and even though most of them are a basic, flat scent there's probably something for everyone. I'm not kidding when these are making it into my bodycare favorites. Out of this picture I've finished the three minis, and about one and a half of the fullsize containers. Don't even get me started on how many empty containers I've thrown into the trash. Personally my favorite scent is the Olive one :)



skincraft organics fresh cut deodorant » I mentioned this quite a while back and I'm still loving it. It smells good - though not exactly like freshly cut flowers, maybe the tea tree oil overpowers it? - and it lets me sweat like I'm supposed to do without body odor stinking up the place. It also doesn't leave a waxy film after showering, which is the main reason I avoided wearing deodorant like the plague for years. Gross fact but hey, I'm being honest. Also, almost a year later, I'm still using the same tube. Out of curiosity I twisted it all the way up and then all the way down to see how much I've used and OVER HALF OF IT IS LEFT. Now I'm quite aware that this is way past the "best used by" date but I swear, it's still as good as it was when it first arrived in the mail.

That's the last of my 2014 favorites, finally! That felt like a ton of products to go through and write about, and I feel like a lot of bloggers did their yearly favorites in a much more efficient way, haha. Note to self when it comes around to do 2015 favorites: take note of Terri's and Rachael's favorites because I NEED TO STOP WRITING PARAGRAPHS UPON PARAGRAPHS.

2014 favorites | makeup part 3: eye makeup!

Of course eye makeup will have its own post... For me, it's the most fun part about makeup, even though I don't have the time to play around with it every day. Here's the list of eye makeup that I find myself using consistently!

2014 favorites | makeup part 2: blushes, bronzers, and highlight

After I apply my concealer and sometimes-foundation, my face is looking pretty blank and flat! Here are my favorite blushes, highlight, and bronzers to add the color back in.

dolce & gabbana blush in tan 22 » It says blush, but it's clearly an overpriced bronzer. Even so, I'll buy this over and over because it's just that good. I have a review, here!

benefit hoola bronzer » Unfortunately just one bronzer isn't enough for me because I go completely bananas when it comes to contouring. Hoola is darker and more pigmented than the D&G one, so this one goes on just the hollows of my cheeks.

too faced a la mode eyes » BECKY THAT'S AN EYESHADOW PALETTE-- I know, I know! But, I like super shimmery highlights and even though it doesn't look natural at all... well, I like it so much to the point where I use La Croisette which is a SUPER pigmented and shimmery eyeshadow, as my highlight. I might look into the Becca highlighters but at almost $30..... I'm going to cry.

too faced full bloom ultra flush blush in cocoa rose » My go-to neutral blush, it works with both neutral and more out-there looks. I believe this is the first ever high-end blush I bought as well, around 2 years ago. Since then it seems like they've been out of stock of this shade in particular, and I really hope it's not discontinued.

tarte 12-hour amazonian clay blush in captivating » The perfect coral on the cheeks, I like using this when my makeup is fairly neutral to give a pop of color. I've been using it for a while and the imprint doesn't seem to fade away. Magic, I tell you.

The last of the makeup favorites series will be up tomorrow, featuring my favorite eye products! Unfortunately the hair and bodycare favorites won't be up until sometime in January (it feels so weird saying that!) since I'm saving the 31st for a post that will be special to me.

2014 favorites | makeup part 1: bases & details

After sorting through my makeup favorites from this year... there's too many! I'm sure most of you guys can relate, haha. I'm be splitting this section into a few separate posts, cause I don't like having super long posts myself. So here's part one of the (hopefully) makeup favorites trilogy: bases, and the little things at the end that tie everything together.

I'm changing things up a little bit by trying out different styles in writing... Usually I like to provide a (quite lengthy) mini review but I'll try to shorten things up a little bit especially since most of these products aren't new to the blog... I suppose that's the point of having these as my all-time favorites this year, though! A lot of these are featured in my everyday makeup post as well, if you'd like to read about how I use these products.



First things first I'm the realest - the things I slap on my face after skincare...

november favorites

It's a little bit late for my November favorites, but at least it's not late December? I didn't do one last month because I didn't have many favorites I particularly liked throughout the month. For the ones that I did enjoy using, I started using them near the end of the month so there wasn't a lot of time for me to form an opinion on them other than "I like this!"

So without further ado, here are my favorites from November and a little bit of October!

Urban Decay Naked2 Basics is a palette I've been reaching for almost every time I do my eye makeup. I thought I really didn't need the original Naked Basics palette because I saw it as shelling out the extra money for the convenience of often-used shadows in a single palette, and of course I thought the same for Naked2 Basics. While it's kind of true, I also don't have anything quite like the shades in this one and I like that I'm getting a lot of use out of it. You can read the full review here.

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque, I love you. If you don't know already, I have terrrrible dark circles that just won't go away Of course getting a few days of good sleep helps, but even so it's still a tad noticeable. One of the associates at Sephora helped me pick out this concealer when I told her about my dark circles problem, and she said these are supposed to go underneath your concealer/foundation to cancel out the discoloration. It works like a charm, and my under-eye area looks even more rested compared to using only concealer.

Formula-wise, YSL Rouge Volupte Sensual Radiant Lipsticks are the best I've tried so far. I only have (had) two of them: Beige Ultimate and Peach Passion. I wouldn't say it's balmy, though it's definitely nourishing like a balm. It's super wearable even on bad lip days, how the heck did YSL manage to create something like that? I did end up returning Peach Passion, though. There wasn't anything different about the formula, but unfortunately I didn't find the color as flattering on me as they did on others. However, I do recommend the entire line if you're looking for a great lipstick.



And lastly, the very basics: a primer and a sunscreen. One of Laura Mercier's primers made it in my September favorites and it worked wonderfully, but it had a slight white cast to it with flash photography and that was a no-no when it came to taking pictures with my Instax camera if the flash fired. So I went for her (probably) original primer, which is just called... Foundation Primer. It's a water-based primer and it works a lot better than a silicone-based one. I found that silicone-based primers made my foundation and concealers patchy, while this one makes them look like a second skin!

The sunscreen I've been loving is Clinique Broad Spectrum SPF50 Sunscreen. Prior to this I've used Algenist Ultra Lightweight UV Defense Fluid SPF50 (a drying alcohol as the third ingredient - no thanks!) and Ole Henriksen Protect the Truth SPF50+ Sunscreen (pilled up horribly - think of it like rubbing dried glue off your hands). Clinique's sunscreen goes on very nicely, doesn't have any drying ingredients, doesn't create pillings, and is fragrance-free which is always great when it comes to skincare. Plus, it's inexpensive relative to the other two sunscreens mentioned before. I haven't taken any pictures with flash when I wore this, but hopefully the white cast (if any) won't be too noticeable.

What were some of your favorites this month? Leave me a link if you've written one, I'd love to see what you've been loving :)

september favorites

Not many favorites this month, but oh well. Does this mean I'm saving money yet?

anastasia beverly hills » dipbrow pomade in ebony + brush #12

My favorite brow product at the moment. I loooove how crisp I can make my brows look with this. It's also quite easy to use, though it does take some time to apply versus a brow pencil. A little bit goes a very long way - I've been using this since the beginning of the month and there's probably enough product to last me a lifetime. I bought Anastasia's brush #12 to use with it cause I don't have anything else, but honestly I think any thin angled brush would work. I still like it though, and it works well with the dipbrow so might as well include it in the favorites :P I also have a review of dipbrow, here!

laura mercier » foundation primer protect broad spectrum spf 30 sunscreen pa+++ 

The BEST primer I've used by far. It's a water-based primer (unless I'm wrong), and it works like a dream. I noticed that my under-eye concealer doesn't cake up or look blotchy compared to silicone-based primer or no primer at all. It does feel a little tacky upon application, but it wears off after maybe half an hour or so. It's a sample size right now, but I'm getting a full-sized one as soon as it runs out. Bonus points for having SPF - though it does have a slight white cast with flash photography.

wet n' wild » color icon eyeshadow single in brulee

I think this is something that everyone loves, but I'm just late :P I remember my sister having this years ago - as in, probably when I was still in high school - and she loved it so much and used it every day for her inner corner highlight. I bought this months ago and never really got around to using it until recently, and I love it for the inner corner highlight as well. I don't know what it is, but I like it a lot more than my other inner corner highlight shades.

That's it for this month! Not a ton of favorites because I'm trying to not go toooo overboard on makeup. The next few months favorites will probably be from what I already own, but it's not bad to give old products some love ♥

recent favorites

Hey! It's been a long time since I've done a favorites post, so I'm kickin' it off with some of my recent ones. Maybe I'll be consistent enough to do one next month too, but we'll have to see about that ;P Lol at my phone cause how do you put an intangible item in a favorites picture anyway n_______n

nars | creamy concealer in honey
bobbi brown | tinted eye brightener in porcelain bisque
It's summer and it's hot, so on most days I opt out of wearing foundation and go for just concealer. I've written about the NARS concealer before and I still love it! Used in conjunction with Bobbi Brown's tinted eye brightener, it definitely looks like I've been well-rested :) The way I like to use these is putting a few dabs of the NARS concealer right under my eyes, and swiping Bobbi Brown's tinted eye brightener in a V shape under the concealer.

beautyblender | the original beautyblender
Speaking of concealer, my new favorite way of blending it out is with a Beauty Blender. Yeah yeah, it seems like everyone has one and they either hate it or love it. It's so easy to blend out my concealer with this and I don't have to get anything on my fingers, which is a huge plus because the feeling of stuff on my fingers bothers me a lot and I have to take an extra trip to the bathroom to wash it off (first world problems, I know). I also like this because I can wipe Benefit's Watt's Up!, my cream highlighter of choice, off my fingers and onto the wet sponge. Heh.



anastasia beverly hills | brow pencil + clear brow gel (from their go brow kit)
My new favorite brow combo! I got these in a small kit along with a tiny pair of tweezers. I like my brows looking very natural, so the brow pencil is perfect because it's not too soft and doesn't deposit too much product. My eyebrows grow downwards in some places, so the brow gel is great for keeping them in place all day. A lot of people seem to like Maybelline's clear mascara as brow gel, but I find that it just doesn't compare to this one.



fresh | citron de vigne shower gel
While I really disliked the rollerball of this scent, I love the shower gel! It smells very citrusy, with a tiny hint of bitterness to it which I really like. So it's not just like straight up lemon or straight up orange like most citrus scents, but more like a blend with a little something to it. I like to think it makes me smell a little more grown up, haha~ It's a little drying to the skin even though it claims to be moisturizing, but I think that's true for all shower gels anyway.

{ edit: unknown source. probably from the official website? }

psycho-pass: extended
Usually I don't go for dark and somewhat gory shows like this, but I'm in loooove with this one. The storyline takes place in the future where it's possible to scan and "measure" how dangerous a person can be, and can determine whether they are criminals even if they haven't committed a crime yet. Except there's the bad guy of course, who isn't affected by that system and can commit crimes as he pleases. James introduced it to me - he's watched the original show, but we're currently watching the extended version together. It's still airing, so we have to wait a week between each episode. As always, I would recommend Japanese audio with English subtitles n_______n

Until next post,

Becky

some favorites + i'm back!

First off - so, so, so sorry about the unexpected, unannounced hiatus. I don't have an explanation - I just haven't really been feeling it lately. I've also been avoiding this blog and blog-related emails like the plague, so I apologize for that as well. Anyway, onto the post - I thought it might be appropriate to introduce some products I've been liking a lot during my time away from here n____n

fresh | sugar lychee rollerball

Finally, a perfume that I can say I truly love and look forward to putting on every day. There are some others that I like, but I can't say it's something I would want to use every day. It's a nice, light, and fresh scent - quite sweet, a little floral, a little spicy when the top notes start wearing off. I won't bother going on any further with describing the scent since I'm not the best at that - you'll just have to give it a spritz (or in this case, a roll) when you get the chance.

nars | radiant creamy concealer in honey

My favorite concealer by far. I'm skeptical of all concealers in general, but I remember Rikki mentioning it in one of her posts. It doesn't look cakey, powdery, or find its way into fine lines like most concealers I've tried. It's also really easy to work with and doesn't catch onto dry patches, which is a huge plus for me. Honey in particular is great for masking stubborn under eye circles.

skincraft organics | fresh cut deodorant

I hated using deodorant in the past because the store-bought ones always leave a waxy film that's difficult to get off in the shower. Yes, I'm aware I give off a terrible stench when I sweat (everyone does!). No, I'm not putting deodorant on. Since this little gem came into my life, I've been looking forward to putting deodorant on every day. Which sounds silly, because deodorant is one of the least glamorous things out there. I love that it's made from natural, organic ingredients that don't do harm to your body. It doesn't smell like jasmine and ylang ylang like the description says, but it's still a pleasant scent. You will still sweat - and that's a good thing, because that's what your body was made to do - but offending body odors will be kept at bay.

urban decay | grindhouse sharpener

At first glance, I totally wasn't going to shell out $10 for a freakin' pencil sharpener. I decided to give it a try anyway when I needed an extra bump for free shipping and couldn't find anything else with a small price range. It has a smaller sharpener for eyeliners, and a bigger one for shadow sticks. Blows. Me. Away. Never before have I sharpened a pencil with such ease, sharpness, and precision - ok I'll stop. Did I mention that it doesn't break the tip off either? But seriously, it's worth the hype and price.

korres | lip butter in jasmine

One of the best lip care products I've tried. I dislike that it comes in a pot that you have to dip your finger in, because it's more prone to getting little pieces of dust in the lip balm and that just drives me nuts. That, and it's not exactly sanitary to be dipping a (possibly) dirty finger into which is why I only use it when I can wash my hands (aka home). Other than that, it's a nice and basic little product that keeps my lips moisturized and happy! Also, this smells nothing like jasmine. It's still a nice scent, though.

Until next post (and I promise it won't be 2 months later),

Becky

sister's makeup: my favorites

Aside from the occasional fights and mishaps, having a sister is awesome. Even though my sister is younger than I am, she's the one who introduced me to makeup. We use each other's stuff all the time, so that's where the idea for this post came from. Here are some of my favorites from her collection. 

★ maybelline instant age rewind dark circle treatment concealer in light and brightener

The name of this product is ridiculously long, haha. I used to use the shade neutralizer, and even though it did help cover up my dark circles I felt like it was the wrong shade for me now that I look back to it. My current concealer routine consists of Motives Creme Concealer in Amber for my undereye area first, then dabbing the brightener shade on top, followed by the light shade. Three concealers for the eye area is probably a bit excessive, but this combination works really well for my dark circles.

★ nars sheer glow foundation in santa fe

I used to hate foundation because it made my face feel really heavy. My sister was raving about how she loves this foundation, so I gave it a try as well and ended up buying my own after a few uses (in my defense, I'm running out of my Too Faced BB cream so this is kind of like a repurchase). The formula is really light but provides medium-ish coverage (I'm not well versed in the foundation department, so how would I know?). I love how this truly gives a natural look to the skin - the "glow" part definitely means a healthy glow, not shimmery or dewy, which I think is really flattering on both my sister and me.

★ mac 168 large angled contour brush

I never understood the hype for MAC brushes, until I tried this one. It's the perfect size and shape for contouring my cheekbones and for some reason I can never achieve the same effect with any other brush. It's rather expensive in my opinion for one brush, but I think it's worth the investment.

★ clinique take the day off cleansing balm

I'm extremely gentle when it comes to my eye area, so using my regular makeup remover takes a while and I'm not very patient with it. I used to use olive oil in the past and it takes eye makeup off really easily, but it's a mess to work with. I love this because it has the same quick, easy, and gentle removal properties as olive oil but washes off with warm water without leaving residue. I only need a pea-size amount to remove all my eye makeup, though I still use a regular remover for the rest of my face.

Aside from the foundation, I probably won't actually purchase any of these until she goes back to Ohio for college. The perks of having a sister, eh? ;)

Until next post,

Becky