Wish List

I hope everyone had a great Memorial weekend.  A lot of sales are going on at the drug stores and I am missing out right now :( .  Money is super tight right now and I don't want to spend money on new make ups to try out.  Unfortunately that is a luxury I have to put on hold right now. Boo!  I think I have mentioned this before but I am a huge fan of Nouveaucheap.blogspot.com.  I don't usually buy anything from any drugstore without some kind of review from this blog.  There has been many posts of new stuff coming out and some really great deals.  Neutrogena has just introduced a new line of Shine Control foundation, powders and a primer.  Ugghhhh I wanna try this out so badly!  I am also missing out on the 40% off Revlon right now at Rite Aid.  I wanted to try more of the Just Bitten Lip Balms and the cream blushes.  I also love their nail polishes and I wanted to try out some new colors also.  But I read that the 40% off doesn't apply to nail products.  I have been reading a lot of reviews on Physicians Formula makeup.  I have tried several times to purchase some bronzers and blushes when they are on sale.  But every time I go to the register, they tell me that the sale doesn't apply on the items I want even though there is clearly a sign on every single product rack.  I am not meant to try out anymore of their products I guess :(  I really want to try their Lip gloss and the happy booster blushes. I finally got the eye liner which I do like a lot.

My biggest make up venture is to go to Ulta.  And wouldn't you know there is one literally down the street from me.  I am a mere 3 minutes from the store.  But I don't want to just go there and test stuff or look.  I want to be there to buy, to do some serious buying.  I want some NYX products, some Urban Decay shadows and Two Faced palettes.  I hear they sell drugstore make up there as well.  I can't say if the prices are higher or the same or less.  I don't think it will be less than Walmart prices.  When I get some good money saved, I want to head over to Sephora.  Another store that is near me, closer to my work actually but I live 10 minutes from work.  Living in Costa Mesa/ Newport Beach, I have many outlets for great makeup if I could afford everything I want. Obsession!

Maybe I will win the lottery...maybe just maybe... LOL

Birthday goodies

I am a little behind in posting the birthday goodies I got this year.  I posted some pictures but it was not all of them.  First up is this kick ass phone case.  It's in Hello Kitty form and I love the kitty ears on top and the bow.  Love love love!!  I also was given the same color in Black and White.  

My good friend Gina bought me this adorable Hello Kitty makeup bag.  It's too pretty and cute to get it dirty though.  It sits on my vanity for now.  

My other good friend Lanie got me a GC to Target and a cute little PVC bag with shoes on it!  With the GC I got something that I had been eyeing at Target for some time but couldn't bring myself to buy it.  It was that expensive but I could never bring myself to take it to the check out.  So I finally got a makeup brush holder and I love this thing! I keep all my eye brushes in one slot, my face brushes in another and so on and so on.  

A lot of my other gifts were make up which I had posted earlier.  It was a very nice birthday!  Thanks to everyone that made it special.  XO

Maybelline Define-A-Brow: Holy Grail

Anyone that knows me knows that I struggle with my eye brows.  Why you ask?  Because they are non-existent.  I wish for perfect eye brows where they are just the right amount of hair and just dark enough that I don't need to color them in or I would just need a little bit of color to make them appear full.  Alas, my eye brows are literally 10 hairs.  I am trying to grow them out without plucking them and I am trimming them short to appear like there are more hairs there.  But the reality of it all is, I have to draw them on.  I guess it could be worse right?  I know I shouldn't complain but it's one feature on my face that I don't like.  But now, thanks to Maybelline and me discovering this product, I can actually love to draw in my eye brows!!!  It's Maybelline's Define-A-Brow.  My color is Medium Brown.  I somehow got lucky enough to find this at a Rite Aid.  But then literally every store I went to had Maybelline BOGO 1/2 off sale.  I figured this would be a good time to get a couple of backups.  No such luck!  Every store I went to were out of stock of my color.  The only one's available were in Blonde or Dark Blonde.  Even after the sales ended, the stores were still out of stock.  I then started to freak out.  What if they were discontinuing this pencil??  I went online and no one had it in stock.  Oh I was going to cry.  I think every woman in CA discovered this at the same time I did and had the same thought, they just beat me to the stores.  I waited a few weeks and went back to my Rite Aid and they had it there....Pheeewwww!  I did buy a backup but for full price (boo).  But I feel a little better that I have another one to last me for a while.  This is a must try.  

These are my eyebrows currently.  I am able to create a nice arch and I do use a concealer and brush to clean up the lines under and above my brows.  I really like the color and the finish this product gives.  Sorry, I have my bangs pulled completely back and my forehead looks gigantic!  I do have other pictures of me in other posts that has a better look of my full face.  

Foundation Diaries

I have a love hate with foundations, mostly with liquid.  I never use to wear it but as I get older my skin freaks out at every little thing.  I stopped drinking soda and I have one cup of coffee with caffeine a day.  I drink mostly cold water the rest of the day or my Almond milk (not as gross as you think).  I try not to eat fast good more than once a week.  My weakness is sugar.  I can't give up candy, cookies, cake, anything dessert-ish.  But even with the cut backs, my face has temper tantrums that I can't control. But what I do use to keep acne break outs at bay are a few things.  I use Acnefree Terminator 10 and Neutrogena Rapid Clear.  I don't use these together.  I use the Terminator 10 at night and the Rapid Clear during the day just on stubborn spots that I want the redness to go away.  Both works really well.  But you need to be patient with both cause there isn't any miracle treatment.  

I hear Neutrogena foundation works really well for acne prone skin.  I tried this Skin Clearing formula and at first it feels nice because it tingles a little bit.  But after an hour with it on my face, I look like I have put olive oil all over.  No powder can tame the shine.  So I don't use this one very much.  I have experimented a few different ways to apply it.  With primer, without, with a beauty sponge, with a flat top brush...end results are the same.  I will keep working on this because I want it to work for me but it's not looking to positive.  

Revlon ColorStay is by far is my favorite foundation. It's the only foundation that actually does what it states it does.  I have read and heard some reviews that the smell bothers some people but I actually like it.  The coverage is really good and I do have to touch up mid day but for me it's expected and once a day is not bad at all.  

Rimmel Clean Finish has a unique paddle that helps you pull the product out of the bottle. I should have taken a picture of it but you can also see detailed reviews on Youtube.  That's how I learned about this foundation and it had some mixed reviews but since it was around $3, I decided to try it.  First off, I got the wrong color.  I thought I was much lighter than I actually am for some reason.  But I did put it on and it looks nice at first but has the same problem with the Neutrogena foundation.  It becomes oily in a couple of hours.  This is another one that I am still experimenting to see if I can get it work for me.

Revlon PhotoReady is reviewed by almost everyone on YouTube.  This was the first foundation I bought because it came so highly recommended.  Of course AFTER I bought it, I saw the reviews of the cons to wearing this foundation.  And this was not cheap either.  I think I bought this for $13 and I got the pressed powder also which was the same price.  The powder wasn't anything impressive.  Now the packaging of this foundation is one of the best ideas having a pump instead of trying to pour it on your hand or something.  But this foundation has very fine particles of shimmer in it.  With my oily skin, those shimmers magnify the shine on my skin.  It's great when it's first put on and I guess to be photographed or be on video (hence the name Photo Ready).  But wearing this on an average 8 hour work day is no bueno.

I decided to buy the E.L.F. Flawless Finish Foundation and this also comes in a pump.  The coverage is very nice and the texture is good.  And I even like the smell.  But out of all of the liquid foundation, this one makes my skin the oiliest.  It's really too bad too because I got this for $3 on E.L.F.'s website.

Now I have tried everything.  Each one had similar issues and it all evolved around the oily skin.  So I don't have to tell you how the 3 pictured below turned out. I really was hoping something would work.  But alas, no luck.

I was really excited to try Maybelline's Dream Matte Mouse.  A lot of people rave about the regular Dear Mousse so with the matte finish I thought that was made for me.  The texture is very much like mousse.  I feel like I have to keep dipping into the container to get more and more product just to cover one section of my face.  I don't like how you are encasing any type of bacteria after putting your fingers into this jar and then closing the lid.  I use this sparingly.  It's not an everyday product for me.  But I do like how this looks once applied.  I LOVE the matte powder.

I was really, really excited to try this BB cream.  Most of the reviews I saw had the same end result which was leaving your face oily.  Considering what BB stands for, it would make sense.  I love the feel, the smell and the tinted color this gives off.  I do notice my face becoming a little oily but it's not for a few hours.  This wasn't as bad as I had thought or expected considering the foundations above made my face sooo so oily.  But using this with a beauty sponge and then a matte powder, it's not too bad.  I wish the SPF was higher than just 15.  If I use a higher sun screen first on my face and this product, my skin really freaks out.  I use this very lightly and sparingly also.  But I don't hate this product.

My search continues for the perfect foundation combinations.  I have tried MAC's matte primers which didn't do anything for me.  I want to try Make up Forever Matte liquid foundation but for the price, I think I will hold off.  Maybe I will get a GC for Sephora or something.  :)

New Makeup station

I got a new drawer organizer for my make up. That plastic drawer was working at first but it wasn't really cute. Jorge found the drawer and the little stool for me at a yard sale.  I really love it.  All of my make up and most of my nail polish fits into the drawers.  The things I use everyday are in my train case.  Jorge put up a mirror on the wall so it's at my level when I stand and very convenient when I sit on my stool.  The stool is just a plain black color which I added this pink polka dot blanket over it.  The lid comes up and I have additional storage space. I keep all of my hair tools in there now.  I will have to post pictures of close ups when I clean up the drawers a bit.  Things kind are thrown around when I was trying to find something.  It's a good starter set up for me.  I am hoping that one day I will have a whole room dedicated to just clothes and make up.  Oh to dream...

Nail Diaries: Going Wild

I had gone on an animal print kick for a few weeks.  I painted the zebra stripes either on one accent nail or I did it on all.  

 This one above was done to match my outfit for a Training session I had in Ontario, CA.

 I really wanted to use this hot pink nail polish but felt it was too boring by itself.  Anything looks better with zebra prints right?

 I had gotten a new $1 nail polish in this pretty blue.  Again did the accent nail in zebra print.

 My favorite animal right now is a giraffe.  I use to paint all my nails in this design but thought I would try to keep it simple by doing one nail.  I think this yellow was going south on me because it never dried!  Plus it was eating the brown paint which was bizarre so I only had this on for a day.

So I went with a pink polish with a hot pink giraffe print. I think I preferred the yellow better but I need to find a better quality light yellow.

Random make up favorites: E.L.F., Milani, L'Oreal, etc.

I've had these products for a while and I have been using them to  see if I like them.  So here are my thoughts.  

First up is E.L.F. Studio blushes.  These retail at $3 each.  I can say WOW?  I mean look at how much you get for $3.  You can find these at some Target stores, there is one by me that do not stock these (BOO).  I just found out that the Walmart nearest to me is now carrying E.L.F. products.  I was so excited to see the display.  I didn't get these all at once but I do have 4 in my collection.  Starting from top left is Tickled Pink, Candid Coral, bottom left is Pink Passion and bottom right is Mellow Mauve.  All look amazing on the cheeks.  They go on sheer at first but I think can be build up to be darker.  But for the price, you can't say no.  

Next up is Milani HD lip sticks.  The packaging is very classy and elegant.  The texture of these lips sticks are amazing.  I feel like not enough people talk about these lip sticks.  I think they are great.  I only have them in the 2 shades I felt I could pull off.  Classy Nude and Raspberry Blush.  Mine are a little dirty cause I have been using it everyday.  

I have one of the new Rimmel Kate Moss lip sticks.  The color I got is #14, there are no color names of these lipsticks.  This is a nude color also and it is very similar to L'Oreal's Fairest Nude but has a more perfume-y scent which a lot of people are not fond of.  I don't mind it.  But it does have a plastic chemical smell to it. There isn't much to rave about this lip stick, it's pretty general to me.  I just really like the color.  

I love these Maybelline Baby Lips.  I have it in Peach Kiss and Pink Punch.  The scents and taste match the name.  Pink Punch offers the most color payoff than the Peach Kiss.  But I definitely like both of these.  I also have the Grape and Cherry flavor (I don't know what the exact names are sorry :( ) but these 2 are my favorites.  

I got 2 of the L'Oreal Infallible Cream eye shadows.  These are a bit pricey but the 2 shapes I got are worth it.  I received Amber Rush and Endless Pearl.  Amber Rush is very shimmery and must be used with a light finger. This one is very pigmented.  Endless Pearl is a wonderful matte cream/white color.  I use this as a base or as my brow highlighter.  

 I also got the Maybelline Color Tattoo.  There is so much hype on these and they truly lived up to it for me. Obviously since I got them in 5 shades.  I got Tough as Taupe, Pomergranate Punk, Too Cool, Audacious Asphalt and Bad to the Bronze.  My go to colors are Too Cool and Bad to the Bronze.  But all are very pigmented and stay on for a long time.  I am not sure if they stay on 24 hours but who would wear makeup for 24 hours straight?

Swatches from left to right: Tough as Taupe, Audacious Asphalt, Pomegranate Punk, Bad to the Bronze and Too Cool.

So I jumped on the band wagon when all the different lip balms/butters came out.  I did invest in a lot of lip butters and I think only one was a favorite but I don't use everyday.  Above I talk about the Baby Lips which I use as normal lip balm under my lip color.  Then I got the L'Oreal The Balm.  I love the formula of these much more than the others.  It's very creamy and the finish is very glossy, like a lip gloss.  The  shades I got don't have that much color pay off but it's enough when my lip stick has worn off, like after lunch and I need something moisturizing with a hint of color.  I do use these everyday.  I got Nourishing Nude and Caring Coral.  I did swatches but there was very little color difference.  I do want to try one more shade in Berry something.  I can't remember but I will know it when I see it.  I saw another review with good detailed swatches and I would be interested in a darker pink color.  I would wait for when these are on sale also. I got these when Rite Aid had the BOGO 1/2 off sale.

This was a pretty random post with a little bit of everything.  I am way behind on my posts and I have collectively taken pictures and notes on different products and it just got too much for my brain to hold.  I am hoping that I can maintain some time to review products one by one and more in depth.  I have many nail design photos that I need to post also.  I haven't done any new crotchet projects but I am hoping to start on a few soon.

Hard Candy Haul

A few months ago I watched some video reviews on You Tube on Hard Candy makeup.  It got me interested and what really interested me...it was exclusive to Walmart stores.  I use to live at Walmart to get everything.  Since moving, I don't go to Walmart as much only cause the closest one is about 30 minutes away.  I have always lived down the street to a Walmart so it took some adjusting...LOL  

First I got a baked bronzer but I saw that many of the beauty gurus were using this as a highlighter.  This retails for $9 and it will take me forever to use up all of this product if I am using it just for highlighting.  

 The color I got it in is Tiki.  It is available in 3 other colors which is darker than this one.  I am not a bronzer type person so I passed on the other colors.  I do like this one but it's not something that I use everyday.  But I like the packaging and the product is very nice.

I got one of the baked blushes, the color below is Pin Up.  Truthfully this was the only one that was available and I didn't want to just pass on it and regret it later.  These retail for $6, at the Walmart I went to anyways.  This has the same affect as the Tiki bronzer but for your cheeks.  I tend to use this as a topper over my matte blush if I want a shimmery glow which isn't too often now that it's getting hot.  This product plus my oily skin is not a good combo.  I did get this when we were on the last leg of winter and I loved this blush.

 I love anything that says "Matte" on it.  I have terribly oily skin and I feel like it's just an oil slick at the end of the day.  Hard Candy makes a translucent matte powder which I like.  I do use this in combination with my Maybelline Matte powder.  I do like the finish of this.  

 It totally comes with a cute pink heart sponge at the bottom of the compact.  I used it once to see how well it looked on my face.  I prefer to use my powder brush.

 My favorite lip glosses from Hard Candy are the Plumping Serum Volumizing Lip Gloss.  I got it in 4 colors but one is not pictured below because I kept it at work.  That one is a very light pink with various color shimmers and the name is Cake Walk.  The colors of the glosses below are from left to right: Nude Beach, Amp and American Girl.  My favorite by far is American Girl.  Out of all of the glosses American Girl is the one with very little shimmer.  This one I carry in my purse at all times.  The swatches aren't very pigmented in the photo.  Each of these are like $5 each.

 This concealer is seriously no joke.  It lives up to it's name on the tube.  I don't use this a whole lot because it's very thick and could end up being cakey.  But I use it mostly to cover up any unsightly blemishes from acne scaring.  It blends in well and the color I got is Medium.  I believe it comes in a Light but I am not sure if there is a darker shade than Medium.  I think this cost $6 but don't quote me.

 Another favorite from this line are the blushes.  I don't have any Benefit blushes but I hear they are very similar in packaging.  I love the packaging, it is sooooo cute.  Each blush comes with a small brush which sucks.  But the colors in the 2 that I got are awesome.  I got Spicy & Sweet and Smooth Talker.  Spicy and Sweet as you can see has more of pinky tones.  Smooth Talker is more neutral but when blended together is a light coral color on the cheeks.  Both are super nice and blendable.

I check back once in a while to see if anything new comes out but nothing as of yet.  There are other items in this line but nothing of interest to me.  A lot of it reminds me of Milani makeup which has a lot of glitters or shimmers in them.  I don't usually go for something that will shimmer on my face.  I posted a while ago on some baked eye shadows that I tried and loved.  Is there something else I should try?  

Nail Diary: May 22, 2012

I got this look from a YouTuber that I follow, her handle is missjenfabulous and I love watching her videos.  She does a little bit of everything which I try to accomplish.  She just posted a video on 3 different nail creations.  My favorite is the one I did tonight.  I used all Wet N Wild polishes.  Sorry I didn't note the colors I used.  If you are interested, leave me a comment and I will make sure to note it.