SOCIAL MEDIA

Sunday, March 30, 2014

My Skin Care Routine: Oily Skin

So I have never shared my skin care routine with you guys so I thought it might be interesting to share. I have a thyroid condition so my skin alternates between oily, combination, and dry. Although most of my life, I have had dry to combination skin, lately, it has been oily. But not as oily as some people who experience chronic acne (is that even a term? you guys get the idea). 

A few of the products in this routine are pretty pricey. The Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus runs about $70 when I bought it years ago, and the VenoMAX was a pretty impressive sample size from BeautyBar. Their products are high end and come with a bit of a price tag. I am not bragging about the fact that I use these products or encouraging everyone out there to go buy these at the risk of breaking your budget. I am simply stating what I use/what works for me. Skincare is about solutions that work for you so not everything works on everyone. Part of the reason I actually use the Clinique product is that I have aging skin concerns (wrinkles, pigmentation). If you do decide to invest, however, you should know that the Clinique product lasts FOREVER the way I use it. My bottle has been around for 4 years and is still going strong.


Hope you guys enjoy this! Do you have any skincare products your swear by? Any oily skin tips? Let me know in the comments!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Eye shadows Under Ten Dollars: Inglot, Maybelline, Sigma, and More!

I thought this would be an handy-dandy reference for us (yes, I wanted this as well) so we could keep in mind that there are some really affordable quality eye shadows out there. Being pretty does not mean having to break the bank (although I have been guilty of this).


1. Inglot Eyeshadows $6. Inglot makes some of my favorite shadows. You can easily find many MAC dupes within their collections, and they have a LARGE eye shadow collection. The only down side is that it is hard to find an Inglot store in the US. I get mine at the Inglot store in Las Vegas or Fashion Island in Costa Mesa California. There are also several Macy's stores that carry Inglot in store (Beverly Center, Los Angeles). 
2. Maybelline Eyeshadow Quads. Unfortuantely, I don't know the price of my quad since I bought it so long ago. I do know it was cheap. And it has lasted me forever. I can even use the Natural Smokes quad as an eyebrow filler. 
3. Sigma Individual Eye shadows $11. So I cheated a little. These are a dollar more than the $10 limit I set for this post, but hopefully, a dollar won't break your budget. I had to put these in here since a lot of other bloggers don't include Sigma when talking about good budget eye shadows. Sigma keeps rolling out more and more colors all the time, and the shadows go on like butter on the lid.
4. Wet n Wild Eyeshadow Trios $4. These shadows are a great option for girls on a budget. I own a bunch of these trios. The ten? pan palettes are very budget friendly as well although I do not own any myself and cannot tell you the price. The shadows themselves go on buttery-smooth and last all day with primer. There is a bit of fall out due to shimmer so if that is not your thing, you might want to avoid these. Also I think the shimmer emphasizes wrinkles so this might not be a good eye shadow for mature women.
5. NYX Eyeshadow $4-10. Love Love Love! I cannot say anything bad about these. They have a great color range and go on buttery smooth. In addition, they come in a variety of finishes (matte, shimmer, etc). The one down side to me posting this now is that NYX has recently changed their eyeshadow packaging to circular pots similar to MAC. I think they have changed the shades and the names as well. Knowing NYX, the new shadows should be the same as or better than the old products, however, if you decide you want to stick to the square packaging, they can be found online at various discount drugstore makeup sites that sell discontinued products. 
6. Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow Quad $16. Again I cheated here a little since this quad isn't under $10.  However, the size of each color pot will last a long time so the per color cost is under $10 ($4/color). These shadows go on smooth, have lots of pigment payoff, and last all day with primer. The down side is that there is not a large collection of quads to select from, limiting the color range.

These are my drugstore/budget eye shadow favorites that I have personally tried. What drugstore/budget eye shadows are your go-to products? I'd love to try them out!

Disclaimer: All products purchased by me. I did not receive any compensation for the opinions listed here.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Subscription Box: IPSY March 2014

Lately IPSY has had some awesome bags! I was thrilled by February's bag, and I'm over the moon about March's bag. Despite the fact that there are only 4 products, these products are amazing!


I received:
Nicole by OPI polish in On What Grounds?
bareMinerals Marvolous Moxie Lipstick in Get Ready
Pacifica's Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter
Be A Bombshell's Eyeshadow Quad in Bora Bora

Here are the swatches:


I love the eyeshadow quad colors. They have great color payoff and look fabulous on colored skin tones. I like that the quad has both a daytime look (browns) and colors for more adventurous looks.  As much as I wanted to love the lipstick, the shade was not for me. The shade comes off almost a hot pink on my lips and I prefer a soft pink or a true red. The quality is superb and I can see why everyone raves about these lipsticks.  They go on super creamy. I will definitely be checking out some other shades in these lippies. As for the nail polish, you can check out my review of it here.

Do you subscribe to Ipsy or any other beatuy boxes? What do you think about this month's box?
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014

Makeup Monday: Reds, Browns and Soft Pinks

Foundation: A mixture of Clinique Perfectly Real Makeup  in 39G and Urban Decay's Naked Skin in 9.0

Eyebrows: Maybelline's Natural Smokes Quad (darkest shade on the bottom)

Eyes: Nude Tude palette's Silly on lid and Sigma's Elysees in the crease (you can also use Sexy from the Nude Tude palette); Maybelline's MasterPrecise liner in Black; MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

Cheeks: NARS Deep Throat

Lips: Pop Beauty Crayon in Rose Romance and MAC's lipglass in Fashion Punch

I wore this clubbing and pretty much everywhere the past few weekends. What do you guys think?