June Favorites!

Everyone always says that the month flew by for them. I swear, every time I see a favorites post, someone will be saying "the month just rushed by for me!" For me, most of of the month rushed by. I had final exams and such up until June 6th. After that, although I know I'm being cliché, the summer days seemed to start sprinting by. I'm so happy to be out on summer break! Having free time again is awesome, I've been working on a whole bunch of posts for you guys, I'm so excited! Anyway, this month I've been really loving a couple products. So I thought I'd do a favorites post. I have pictures of the products and swatches of all of them. Here goes!

Clockwise from top: Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer in 7, Inglot Gel Liner in 74, MAC Fleet Fast,  Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in Carnation, Inglot Cream Concealer in G

Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer in 7: This concealer is absolutely fantastic. I can only use it in the summer, since otherwise I'm too pale for it. However, it matches me really well at the moment! The coverage is fantastic - I use it to cover blemishes. It can be used for undereye circles, although it can turn out looking a bit cakey if you apply too much. It's super pigmented, so the one tube will last forever!

Inglot Gel Liner in 74: Inglot liners are my HG gel liners - they go on smoothly, they're pigmented, they're waterproof, and they last all day! 74 is a plum color that I feel makes my brown eyes pop a bit more (which isn't easy to do).

MAC Fleet Fast: This blush is a gorgeous color that lasts a long time, and is super pigmented! A review on this is coming up shortly.

Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in Carnation: A gorgeous blue based pink. Lovely creamy formula, and doesn't highlight imperfections. It has a slightly shiny finish, but not glossy. A perfect summer lipstick!

Inglot Cream Concealer in G: A basic green concealer to hide redness. Doesn't appear cakey, and applies smoothly and creamily. It blends out really well.

Here's swatches!

From left to right: MAC Fleet Fast, Inglot Gel Liner in 74, MUFE Full Cover Concealer in 7, Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in Carnation, Inglot Cream Concealer in G

And that's this month's favorites! What have you guys been reaching for a lot lately? Let me know in the comments! Also, don't forget to enter my Apothica/SkinCareRX giveaway!

I'll Be Happily Sailing la Vie This Summer: Review of MAC Hey, Sailor Lipstick in Sail La Vie

I don't own an orange lipstick. This was my first bright, true orange lipstick. I figured, it's summer, so why not? I wear a lot bolder colors in the summer than I wear to school, since bright lipstick and dramatic eyes aren't exactly school appropriate. I was taking pictures of this on a cloudy day, and as soon as I finished taking the pictures, the sun decided to come out. So of course, I had to retake all the pictures, just my luck. But I want you guys to have the best photos possible so you know what the product looks like before you decide to buy! Here's the packaging:

I just have to say, I'm keeping this box. Normally I just toss the outer packaging, but it's so pretty this time. I love stripes, I wear a lot of striped clothing pieces. So I pretty much died when MAC released this collection - it's all stripes. I honestly didn't fall in love with any of the colors in this collection, I fell in love with the packaging. I like the colors, but I LOVE the packaging.

 More gorgeous packaging! MAC's lipstick packaging is fantastic, they don't come undone in your purse/bag yet the lid is easy to remove. Unless your hands are greasy with sunscreen or something. Now that we've established how fabulous the packaging is, let's move on to the actual product.

The color itself is a bright orange that borders on red. It's definitely yellow based. This shade applies really creamily, and doesn't settle into fine lip lines as much as drier colors tend to do. Sail La Vie is a satin finish, so it has some sheen but isn't very glossy. It's VERY pigmented, and I really enjoy wearing this sheerly in terms of daily use. It has average lasting power for a lipstick, about 4 hours if applied regularly (not sheerly). From there, it starts to fade from the middle out, leaving a rather ugly lipline. So you have to remember to either wipe it off or reapply after four hours.

In conclusion, I like this lipstick a lot! It's pigmented, and can either be worn sheerly for everyday or worn full-on for a more dramatic look. The gorgeous packaging doesn't hurt at all, and the staying power is really nice! For me, it was definitely worth the $15.50 (I bought this from the MAC website).

June MyGlam Bag Review!

I'm still a MyGlam subscriber, and I got my Glam bag. I opened it and took pictures for you guys, and here's my review! Sorry it's late, I seemingly got my bag a couple days later than usual this month. Apologies for the lack of posts recently (finals, bleh), but it's summer now so I promise I'll be more active!

First off, MyGlam is still using these plastic packages (the gray splotches are the product of me editing out my address, just by the way). I really wish they would switch to recyclable cardboard boxes, like Birchbox.  It'd be much more eco friendly. Anyway, on to the contents of the bag!

There's some coupon type things from the Living Proof hair product line and philosophy, and there's a glitterbomb of a bag. The coupons aren't really worth much, just an offer of a discount set from the Living Proof line, and free shipping from philosophy. The bag is nice, it seems bigger than previous bags and I like the snap buckle as compared to the zip bags we got in the past.

The contents of the bag include:
-Marbella Permanent Eyeliner Pen in Black
-NYX Round Lipstick in Power
-Philosophy Take a Deep Breath Oil-Free Energizing Oxygen Cream Gel Moisturizer
-Living Proof frizz Nourishing Styling Cream

I'll go over the contents individually now, with a mini review for each!

Marbella Permanent Eyeliner Pen in Black:
This was actually awesome, since I actually don't own a liquid eyeliner. I've always been happy with my gel eyeliner, but it definitely doesn't hurt to have the option of liquid eyeliner as well. It's medium pigmented, not perfect but decent. I have to layer it to get a nice dark black line. Still, definitely a solid item in this month's bag!

(from top to bottom: one layer, two layers, three layers)

NYX Round Lipstick in Power:
These have gotten so many fantastic reviews! I was so excited to see this as part of this month's bag. I really like the color I got as well, it's a milky mauve pink, if that makes sense. This particular lipstick has a satin finish. It looks like a nude pink on me, since I'm a bit tanner than usual at the moment. It's super creamy and moisturizing, and I previously didn't own a nude lipstick. I was just so excited about this, definitely my favorite item from this month's bag! I at first thought it might be similar to Lancome's Love It! but when swatched, Power was much lighter, pinker, and milkier than Love It! which was much more mauve.

NYX Round Lipstick in Power

Power swatched

Love it on top, Power on bottom

Philosophy Take a Deep Breath Oil-Free Energizing Oxygen Cream Gel Moisturizer:

I personally don't really want skincare in my bag. I guess I'll use this when I travel. But I don't like Philosophy that much, their products have broken me out previously. I didn't really like receiving this in my Glam bag.

Living Proof frizz Nourishing Styling Cream:

I've always wanted to try a product from this line! I'm actually quite excited to give this a go, and the size of this is actually quite generous. I'm very happy with this particular product.

Overall, I pretty much loved this month's bag! A great combination of skincare, hair products (which I don't generally like, but this one I liked), and makeup! MyGlam really seems to be steadily improving their service, and I'm definitely going to stay a subscriber until next month!

May MyGlam Bag Review!

This is my May Glam Bag! I got it today, and was super excited! I wish MyGlam would make their packaging recyclable like Birchbox does, though, the bubble wrap just seems so wasteful! Anyway, I'm still so-so about this month's box. Keep reading to see why!

The wasteful plastic packaging

MyGlam finally stopped including all the random coupons in their packages, which to me mostly seemed like advertisements for different companies. I personally found them annoying and they pretty much all went into the recycling. I'm not really into this month's bag pattern, which is the kisses. I really wish they would either vary the size of the bags or stop including them, they're simply too small for me to use (I bring a lot of makeup with me when I travel).

Here's the contents of the box. I'll now go over what I think of each individual item.

Miss Beauty Nail Bling:
I personally don't like the peel-off stick-on nails, just because I find them quite annoying to apply and not very long lasting. I'd rather use traditional nail polish to paint my nails, thank you very much. Nevertheless, it would have been a nice inclusion if not for the pattern, which is absolutely not my style in any way. I ended up giving these to my younger sister. Nice thought, but the pattern is just tacky in my opinion.

 Philosophy Love Sweet Love Fragrance "Spray":
"Spray" is in quotes, because this frankly isn't a spray. It's a perfume vial with a cap. But anyway, this was nice. I don't really love getting perfume samples, since I'm VERY picky about my perfume and to this day still only have one perfume that I've liked enough to purchase and wear daily. But this one surprisingly smells quite good. I thought this was a really nice inclusion.

myGlam Concealer & Defining Eyeliner Brushes:

I'm pretty neutral on these. I've been using the angled eyeliner brush they sent last time for my eyeliner, since my MAC 208 went and hid in a corner or something, since I can't find it. I already have a concealer brush I like from EcoTools, but I guess I could rotate them. These are apparently the last brushes, so hopefully these will soon be replaced by a makeup product. These definitely weren't my favorite.

Studio Gear Complete Color Lipstick in Warm & Cozy:
My absolute favorite product of the bunch. However, I was hoping for a pink shade, since I wear a lot of pink lipstick. But I ended up with this shade, which is brown-burgundy. I took one look at the tube and mentally winced. I swatched it (I have a swatch a couple pictures down) and still felt sad. So I tried applying it sheerly to my lips, and it is actually really, really pretty! Nothing I would wear during the day, but definitely for a more refined look going out. Worn sheerly, it's so pretty! I'm so glad they sent me this color - the point of these sample bags is to try new products, after all. It feels really moisturizing when I apply, I absolutely love this!

This month's bag was a solid one. Still not up to par with their December and January bags, but much better than their March bag, which was just plain terrible. I think this one is a tiny bit better than their May bag. I haven't heard a ton of customer service complaints recently, and I myself haven't had any issues. Hopefully they're doing a better job of sorting those out now. If MyGlam continues to better their service incrementally, as they are doing now, I will definitely stay a subscriber!

My First Bright Lipstick: Viva Glam Nicki Review and Swatches

Okay, first of all I have to apologize for the long absence. First of all, I recently found out how to schedule posts on Blogger. I know, I'm a bad blogger and very non-tech savvy. But I saw people talking about how they scheduled posts and the brilliant thought occurred to me that I could do that too (I thought maybe they had more advanced blogging platforms, but no). I was actually on a trip to the Grand Canyon and the national parks in that area with my family, let me know if you guys want to see pictures. Anyway, I'm sorry for being AWOL and I'm back with a review!

This was my first purchase of a really bright lipstick, unless you count red lipstick. So I was quite excited. I've been wearing this on weekends, since it's obviously a bit loud for school. Anyway, someone tell me if I'm wrong but this looks VERY similar to Watch Me Simmer and Force of Love, at least in swatches I've seen. But I do have to say that I am in LOVE with this lipstick! I like Nicki Minaj, and her makeup is always super bright and creative. And the money for Viva Glam goes to a great cause - 100% of the money goes towards helping stop AIDS, which is just really, really fabulous.

As always with MAC's lipsticks, the packaging is gorgeous and simple, there's little chance of the lid coming off in your purse.

The inside of the tube has Nicki's signature on it, like all celebrity Viva Glam lipsticks. And the color of this lipstick is just so, so bright! This was an overcast day, so the true boldness of this color doesn't show as much as I'd like it to. I prefer the bullet type lipsticks to the ones where the lipstick takes up the entire casing, since with the latter type sometimes they don't twist down very well.

The formula of this is pretty nice, but my one issue is that it is so dry! I always have to apply lip balm before I apply this, or else it tugs on my lips. :( And after about 10 minutes this settles into the fine lines of my lips, but I can just correct that with a Q-tip and it's fine after. Because this color is just so gorgeous that it's absolutely worth it.

Ignore the purple eyeliner swatch above this, I didn't notice that when I took the picture. I was doing a bit of a swatchfest that day. The color is a yellow based bright neon pink with maybe a tiny tiny hint of coral in there. This lipstick is extremely long wearing, I get around 5 hours of wear from it with a meal in the middle. It does fade a bit unevenly at the end, leaving a nasty lipline so I have to wipe it off or retouch at that point. It's a satin finish, which I like.

Overall, the formula of this lipstick is a bit dry but the packaging is nice, and the gorgeous color honestly makes it completely worth it. A bonus is that the money goes to a fantastic cause. This is a lipstick that I would absolutely recommend. My giveaway ends in exactly two weeks, don't forget to enter! A big thanks to all who have participated so far. Spring break ends today, back to school tomorrow for me. Happy Sunday night!

Wednesday Wants

I'm going to start a new weekly post called "Wednesday Wants" which is basically going to be me showing you pictures of products I really want at the moment and probably will never get. Sounds fun, right? I'll do this every week, and I like the name. "Wednesday Wants" is some pretty snazzy alliteration in my opinion. Anyway, here's my Wednesday Wants for this week!

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain in 15 Rose Vinyl

MAC 109 Small Contour Brush

MAC Chenman Force of Love Lipstick

What beauty or makeup items are currently on your wishlist?

Small Wet n Wild Haul from CVS

I went to CVS and found that they were having a 40% off the already cheap Wet n Wild! So I picked up a blush, an 8 pan eyeshadow palette, a lipstick, and some make up remover. I've decided to try Neutrogena's - I might do a review on it once I've had a couple chances to use it. I've heard really good things about it.

My mini-haul:

My Top 11 Makeup Products of 2011

Now, this post is pretty much old by now. It's where you take your top 11 favorite makeup products of 2011 and name them. I should probably have done this about two weeks ago. But instead of that, being the procrastinator I am, I'm doing it now. Since I love my eyeshadows extraordinarily much, I don't feel I can put them into one post along with other makeup products. I am warning you, by reading this post you are beginning the journey through what has turned out to be quite a long post, although I didn't intend for it to end up this way. I did kind of a mini-review on each of the products. So here's my top 11 favorites of 2011 excluding eyeshadow, with pictures, in no particular order.

1. Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Foundation

This foundation is the third foundation I've tried. Admittedly, I haven't tried many. I actually received a mini size of this in my Birchbox, and decided to give it a go (although at the time I didn't wear foundation on a regular basis). However, it surpassed all my expectations. It gives me absolutely gorgeous skin with a completely natural finish - you pretty much can't tell I'm wearing it once I set it with my powder. I think it actually helps keep my skin clear - I've never broken out due to using this. It's lasted me a pretty long time - I got this in October, and I'm only about halfway through! It's my HG foundation, and the only time I use another one is for photos where I need a bit more coverage. It's meant to be used as a concealer as well, but  personally I find it doesn't work as that at all, since it doesn't hide red blemishes. However, as a foundation it's absolutely lovely. It matches my skintone perfectly (I think I'm NC25) and I use the shade Blush Medium - oddly enough, it has yellow undertones,  not pink ones. I have yellow undertones myself, and it's a color match made in heaven (at least during the fall/winter). I have 2 backups of this just in case they ever discontinue it - I love it that much. 

2. theBalm Sexy Mama Pressed Powder

This is the powder that keeps my skin matte and my foundation finish flawless. It gives me an absolutely natural looking face, and I love it very much. For more detail, see my review.

3. Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer in 7

This is my HG concealer (and the second one I've purchased). Sorry for the reflection on the tube, I'm still a learning photographer. I use the shade 7, and it is absolutely wonderful. It covers redness, dark spots, blemishes - everything that a concealer should cover. You only need a tiny bit, and the tube has plenty of product in it. I think the one tube will last me at least a year or two, if not longer. I don't use a lot of it every day, I usually only have one or two blemishes that I need to conceal. My only complaint is that when I use it on my cheeks, the area I use it on sometimes is a sort of darker patch because my skintone lightened during the winter. However, it's rarely an issue, and in the summer I'm sure my skin will be tan once again, and it won't bother me anymore.

4. MAC 224 brush

This is the ultimate blending brush, in my opinion. I've tried EcoTools and Sephora blending brushes - neither of them cut it. I tried some obscure brand from 20 years ago's blending brush - it didn't cut it. And then, for my birthday, I received the one and only MAC 224. Any harsh lines on my eyeshadow? No problem for this brush. It whisks them all away and replaces them with smooth transitions. If I could only say one thing about this brush, it would be that it would get taken very good care of.

5. ELF Flat Top Powder Brush

This brush is just so soft. And so skilled. And so dear to my hear that I bought two backups of it (yes, of a brush!) before the first one broke for good. The ferrule had come detached from the handle for the 2nd time, and once again I had to superglue it back together. So when ELF had a $5 off, I jumped on it and ordered two more of these fluffy, soft, beautiful brushes. This brush applies my powder and powder foundation flawlessly. I haven't used it for anything else, because my powder and foundation are much too selfish to share this amazing brush with any other products. For only $3, this brush is absolutely incredible. It's my HG powder brush - twice I've bought a high end powder brush, only to return it before even using it, because I knew that they could not possibly surpass this brush, and they would only be a waste of money.

6. Sephora Collection Classic Double Ended Every Day Brush

Whoo, that's a mouthful of a name. Anyway, I use the flat shader end of this brush to shade. It does its job, it's very soft, and I do, true to the name, use it pretty much every day. The other end of the brush, the smudger, I use to apply darker powder eyeshadow colors on the lashline sometimes. It's kind of poky, and anyway I don't do dark eyeshadow every day. So I guess you could say I use it every half day, since I use half the brush every day? Anyway, it's a competent shader brush that makes me feel no compulsion to buy a newer, more expensive one. This, along with two Stila eyeshadows, was the only makeup related item(s) my mom ever gave to me (she thinks I'm absolutely crazy with my makeup obsession/makeup purchasing habits).

7. Inglot Sleeks Lip Gloss in 40

Sorry for my dry/veiny hands in this picture - I was just snowboarding a week ago, and my hands still haven't recovered from the cold/dry weather trauma (it's all about skiing on the fake snow, guys). Anyway, this is pretty much my HG lip gloss. The formula, not the color (although I do love the color). And unlike my experience with foundation, the sheer (pun not intended...okay maybe a little intended) amount of lip glosses that I have tried boggles minds of scholars everywhere. From high end to low end, I've tried them. And for their own reasons, each of my new lip glosses has slowly earned less and less use until it gets buried in the pile of lipglosses that I own. It is not the case with this one. This has earned its place on the top of my stack of lipglosses. The color I have is a pink with mauve undertones and silver/multicolored tiny glitter flecks. It smells kind of like, well, lipgloss. Which I actually really like the smell of. It's like plasticy grapefruit? It sounds unappealing, but I personally like it. Not as much as the fragrance of MAC's lipsticks (those smell like heaven in a stick), but it's pretty decent. It stays glossy for about an hour or so. It's completely non sticky, but still packs a pretty nice pigmented punch. If I need to go somewhere and lipgloss is on my packing list, this is the lipgloss that I will bring without thinking twice about it.

8. L'oreal Voluminous False Lashes

So this mascara has the most enticing ads. They show models with long, defined, gorgeous lashes. And I should know by now that when real people wear this mascara, ones who don't have lash extensions, it doesn't look quite as good. So after taking this mascara home, I wasn't expecting much, although I still had a sliver of hope that it would deliver decent results. As a matter of fact, it did. When I use this mascara and put on multiple coats, it doesn't lengthen a ridiculous amount. It volumizes (it is in the name, after all!). Without giving me clumpy lashes, it gets me fairly close to a false lash look. I absolutely love this mascara - if only I didn't need waterproof, which is an absolute pain to take off.

9. MAC Bombshell Lipstick

Sorry again about the dry nasty hands. Anyway, this lipstick is the only one I own by MAC. It smells like the rest of MAC's lipsticks. Like a fountain of vanilla, happiness, and smiles in a beautifully colored creamy stick. I could come up with all sorts of creative ways to describe this, but I should probably get to talking about the actual product now. This is the ultimate pink for me - it goes with pretty much any look, winter or summer. It has some gold shimmer, and pulls a tiny bit purple. It's a frost finish, and it's really quite lovely. Not drying on the lips, and it lasts a good 3-4 hours if I don't eat or drink.

10. theBalm Mary Lou-manizer

For the last time in this post, apologies for the veiny and dry hands. I've been using a Jurlique hand cream that I quite like, which is helping to repair the damage. This highlighter is like, the 3rd highlighter I've bought. The other two I returned, because neither could measure up to the mindblowing amazingness of this highlighter. It gives this amazing candlelit glow to your cheeks without the disco-ball glitter festival-ness of many other highlighters. I'm not opposed to glitter altogether, just not for every day. It's a golden toned highlighter - it doesn't lean white. It's super pigmented, so you only need to touch the brush to the pan to get enough. And since they give you a ridiculous amount of product in the pan, I will probably actually never use all of this up. Sad, I know. I got this on sale from Hautelook for $12 instead of $24, and the value of this is just mindblowingly good.

11. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Okay, there really isn't much else to say about this last item that hasn't been said a million times already. It keeps my eyeshadow from creasing, doesn't irritate my eyes, makes eyeshadow apply evenly, yada yada yada. In the end, all you really need to know is that I love it very much.

That wraps up my (extremely long post on) my top 11 makeup products of 2011. I hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave me a comment below!