Category: beauty

Summer Beauty Faves

Even when we’re working during the Summer, all we’re really thinking about is the next chance to play, whether that’s swimming in the sun or going on a trip with the family. And while the minimalistic approach works for any season really, it’s during the Summer that our beauty look really gets pared down to the bare essentials, just so we have a little extra time to play! Here are a few favorites that I’ve been reaching for this summer.

Maybelline Mascara

YSL Lipgloss

Skindinavia Makeup Primer

There’s a reason why Summer beauty focuses in on bright pops of colors and glowy skin. Eye makeup is easily the most difficult and time-consuming part of doing your makeup, so all we really want and need is a quick swipe of waterproof mascara like the Maybelline MegaPlush Waterproof Mascara. I am still using my 3D Fiber Lash Mascara, but I use this as a first coat to give it a good base. One thing that I must mention is the Skindinavia Makeup Primer that I got at the beginning of summer and it’s been my favorite product all summer. It is the best primer and my makeup stays perfectly all throughout the day with it. I either just spray it on before I apply my makeup or apply it directly to one of my brushes before applying.

The Yves Saint Laurent Baby Doll Kiss and Blush does double duty as a lip and cheek stain with a fluffy mousse texture that doesn’t feel heavy on the face. I’m loving all the colors but especially the pink “Rose Frivole” For nighttime, the NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil is easy but high-impact. It goes on so smoothly and has great staying power.

I’ve been very careful about my sun exposure lately so I don’t have a real tan and rely on my bronzers and self tanners for a glow. Maybelline’s Master Hi-Light adds dimension to the face with a mixture of pinky tan tones for the kind of color that looks like you’ve been vacationing in Cabo, but of course never without generously applying this Aveeno Lotion.

The yummy but sophisticated Jo Malone Grapefruit Cologne and Essie Nail Polish in Ruffles and Feathers on the toes are the perfect finishing touches for a fun Summer vibe.

What beauty products are a must in your Summer bag?

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BeautyBox 5 – December box review

Post author By tiffany
Post date January 8, 2014
5 Comments on BeautyBox 5 – December box review

There are so many subscription boxes out there now and I’ve been meaning to try a beauty one for awhile. BeautyBox 5 sends out 5 samples (some full size, some sample size) a month and it’s all sorts of beauty products, nail, hair, skincare, make up, etc… It’s $12/month which I didn’t think was too bad so decided to try it out and here’s my first box!

I got 3 full size products and 2 sample size products which I thought was pretty good! Here’s what was inside:

NYX Love in Rio Palette in Sway with Lola
(Full Size, Retail: $6)
I do love NYX but not sure I’m a blue or pink eye shadow kind of girl. The blue does go on very light so it looks good with a blue eyeliner and I’ve been using the pink as a highlighter for the inner corner. The taupe is really pretty neutral and goes with the rest of my shadows easily.

Body Drench hemp Moisturizing Lotion
(Sample Size, Retail: $8.99)
I’m always meh about getting lotions in these kind of boxes, I’d rather get something more fun but anyway, the Body Drench lotion is great and smells good. I do like getting sample size products of lotion to add to my bag when traveling so this will be perfect for my next airplane ride.

OFRA Lipgloss Plumper in Sultry (Full Size, Retail: $12.95)
This lipgloss is supposed to “plump” your lips. Those kinds of things never work for me but I do love the color and the consistency is nice and smooth, not too sticky.

Every Beauty All in One Foot Smoother
(Full Size, Retail: $4.99)
I love this thing! I have such dry heels and I am always trying to get nice smooth feet, especially in the winter time. I’ve been using this almost daily and love that it smooths out my heels and it doesn’t hurt at all when using it.

Clean & Clear Morning Burst Hydrating Gel Moisturizer
(Sample Size, Retail: $6.99)
Another good product to keep in my travel bag.

Go here to sign up!

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Sandals + Nail Polish Pairings

Post author By tiffany
Post date August 13, 2013
4 Comments on Sandals + Nail Polish Pairings

One of the best things about summer: sandals + cute pedis. Once winter’s here, your toes go into hiding, so I’ve been taking advantage of the opportunity to show off my dressed-up toes (even though I can no longer paint them myself – thank you gigantic pregnant belly!). Love these nail polish and sandal pairings:

1. Schutz Baldonera + Essie Full Steam Ahead
Love the edgy studs with the bright yellow color. The peep-toe gives you just enough room to show off this lovely pastel purple.

2. Kate Spade ‘Intro” Sandal + Butter London Trout Pout
Such a great neutral sandal – pair it with this cute cantaloupe color to brighten up your toes! I’d wear this with all my LWDs!

3. Zara Leather Mini Wedge + Nars Arabesque
This black sandal is super versatile – it can be tough and edgy or sleek & sexy. I’d pair this with this glittery pink polish to make it a bit girlier.

4. Tory Burch Kailey Sandals + Sephora Hot & Spicy
The bows on these sandals are irresistible. Pair this with a bright orange color for a fun look.

5. Joie Jaclyn Ankle Strap Sandals + Deborah Lippman Mermaid’s Dream
This is a gorgeous berry color and would transition well into fall. Love pairing this luxurious color, with this metallic seafoam polish for a cool look.

6. Dolce Vita Delmy + Dolce & Gabanna Peachy Nude
Such a fun color! Since the color’s so bright, I’d complement it with this pretty peachy nude color.

7. Asos Fall Back Sandal + Essie Peach Daiquiri
Complement these cute turquoise sandals with this neon fruit punch color. Pair it with your summer dresses and you’re good to go.

8. Zara High Heel Shiny Shoe + L’Oreal Crazy for Chic Remember when oxblood was THE color? This is a similar hue, and would look great on all your date nights.

9. J Crew Allie Gladiator Sandals + Essie Turquoise & Caicos
The perfect gladiator sandal that will go with everything! Pairing it with one of my favorite colors – mint!

10. Saint Laurent Tribute Sandal + NARS Schiap
Perfect neutral sandal for all your summer outfits. Amp it up with this gorgeous pink shade from Julep.

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New to my make up bag

I got a chance to try out this IT Cosmetics “Your most beautiful you”
collection and I had to share because I love every single thing!

Here are the things it comes with

Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer
Heavenly Luxe Dual Airbrush Foundation/Concealer Brush
Hello Light™ Anti-Aging Crème Luminizer
Heavenly Luxe™ Pointed Precision Complexion Brush
Your Brows But Better™ Brow Power Skinny Pencil
Vitality Lip Blush™ Hydrating Gloss Stain

The under eye concealer is AMAZING. It totally covers up dark circles and never creases or cracks. The concealer brush is the perfect tool to put it on with. The Luminizer is a fab highlighter and it comes with instructions on where best to put it to give you the perfect glow. And I’m always looking for a great brow pencil which I’m loving how thin this one is that gives you a more precise tool to fill in your brows. Less chance of making a mistake and ending up with wonky or overly dark brows. The gloss stain is super hydrating and gives off a nice hint of color.

This kit is going to be a Today’s Special Value on QVC tomorrow, July 13th only so wanted to make sure that you guys don’t miss it!

I’ve been a fan of Laura Mercier forever and here are the latest items that I added to my makeup essentials.

The Laura Mercier Eye Canvas is the perfect eyeshadow base. I’ve been a
devoted fan of Urban Decay’s primer for awhile now but mine finally ran
out so am trying this one out and gotta say I really love how creamy
and smooth it goes on and it really keeps my shadows and liner stay on
all day.

Which also brings me to the Longwear Crème Eye Pencil (this one is in cobalt). It goes on super
smooth but doesn’t smudge easily, which is great because I have pretty
oily eyelids and even with a primer/base my liners smudge all the time.
It’s waterproof which I’ve found is the best for my eyes so that it
really doesn’t budge.

The Kohl Liner Extreme which
is so great for when I want to do a dramatic smokey eye. They actually
recommend this to be applied on your inner lids, I believe some people
call it the “water line” which I know people don’t love to do and I
definitely am not a fan of doing it daily but it’s essential to create a
dramatic smokey eye.

And lastly this Miracle Skin Transformer SPF 20
which I’ve been using as a primer but works great for light coverage as
well. This one is “designed to hydrate, prime, enhance, mattify, and
protect your skin in a single step.” I’m a total sucker for these type
of multi-taskers so had to try it out and it really is a fabulous
product. I love the light coverage and the SPF protection and when I
need a bit more coverage I just pat on my favorite Make Up For Ever powder and I’m good to go.

Also if you are a Nordstrom card holder if you haven’t already checked out the Nordstrom Anniversary sale preview, you gotta see the great cosmetic specials they have!

I always love their MAC anniversary kits and can’t help but want this pink MAC lip kit. And how cute is the holder that comes with this brush kit? It comes with some great essential brushes that I can always use in my makeup kit.

I got the NARS Cheek palette last year and am still using it but am tempted to get this year’s Cheek & Eye palette too. Love NARS Lip products and this kit is the perfect nudes!

I don’t know if everyone can access this link but here is the products for the Early Access sale preview if you want to see the rest!

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Summer Beauty Faves

Pregnancy has made my skin a bit wacky. It can be great for a few weeks and then the next few weeks I break out like crazy. I’ve also noticed my zits are more intense if you know what I mean which is SO annoying. My skin does tend to break out but not like this so I’m totally blaming pregnancy hormones for this. I recently got this Clarisonic & Supergoop! kit that I’m loving so had to share. It comes with all the essentials, like the Clarisonic that I’ve long been a fan of but this one is the new Clarisonic PLUS and comes with a body brush extension handle so I can get some good exfoliating on my body as well. It also comes with these awesome Alpha-Beta face and body pads from Dr. Dennis Gross that just feel so great on the skin. And the Supergoop! City Sunscreen Serum that I make sure to put on every day as I don’t want any unnecessary wrinkles from being out in the sun. I just love this kit, plus you save $75 just by buying all these products together!

Clarisonic & Supergoop! Summer Essentials

I’ve been feeling a bit pale (okay a lot pale) since we usually do a few beachy trips by now but between my business being so busy, being pregnant and moving, we just did not have time to plan a beach trip this year. I’m not too worried about not having a “babymoon” as many people have asked if we are doing because I’m sure Grandma and Grandpa will love having our little one for a week while my husband and I take a break to somewhere warm and relaxing! 🙂

Anyway, to offest my paleness I’ve been using these self tanners and I can not stop raving about them. They are awesome and come out totally natural color. No orange or streakiness with them! I can’t reccommend them enough.

I use the Rich Self Tan Lotion when I need a quick coloring on my legs or arms. It goes on super smooth and settles into the skin really quick so you don’t feel sticky. The best part, it does not smell! I’m so used to self tanners with an icky scent but I love that these ones don’t have a strong scent so even if you apply it and go out the door you do not have the scent of self tanner following you around.

Vita Liberata Rich Self Tan Lotion

I use the pHenomenal Self Tanner when I have a bit more time as this one lasts a few days. It claims it’s a 2-3 week tan mousse but I’ve been using it about once a week and loving the results so I don’t know if it will last the full 2-3 weeks without reapplying but every week seems to be fine for me. Oh and I forgot to mention that for both of these products I use their very handy Tanning Mitt that totally eliminates the need to wash your hands a ton to get the self tanner off. I hated that part of self tanning but these mitts make the tanner go on perfectly smooth and never on the palms of your hands.

Vita Liberata pHenomenal Self Tanner

For my face I’ve been trying out a few different products. I do like using just BB cream during the summer months so I can skip my regular powder foundation but recently tried out this CC cream from pur minerals that has been fantastic. It covers up my blemishes when I need it to but it’s also not too heavy of a formula. I can just use this and some under eye concealer most days.

Pur Minerals CC Cream

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At home gel manicure – Couture Gel Nail Polish

Post author By tiffany
Post date April 16, 2013
7 Comments on At home gel manicure – Couture Gel Nail Polish

Melissa, the president of Couture Gel Nail Polish contacted me to see if I wanted to do a review of her at home gel nail polish kit and of course being nail polish obsessed I said yes! I was definitely intrigued to try it out.

The lamp to cure your nails (I was silly and didn’t take off the blue sticker before I took this photo but you are suppossed to take it off before using it which I did.)

The Base and Top coat that helps seals the nail polish

The five colors I chose:

Amethyst Crush
Chic

Cashmere
Cranberry Cosmo

Pretty in Pink

I went for mostly pinks but a mix of creme, shimmers and glitter polishes.

I’ve done a manicure about 3 times with this kit and I love it every time. The steps are super simple. Basically, base coat – cure under lamp for 2 mins. Paint your color and then cure for 2 mins. Top coat and then cure for 2 mins. That’s it! Of course you need to prep your nails before hand like with filing and getting your cuticles nice and clean but I do that with any manicure. I love how fast the process is AND it’s instantly drying so you never have to worry about smudging. Oh and one last step after you’re done is to just run a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol on it over the tops of the nails and it removes the stickiness and creates an extra shiny coat for your nails.

Pros:

Super fast painting to drying time
No smudges
Last up to 3 weeks without chips
75 colors to choose from
Not having to paint and repaint your nails every week if you don’t feel like it.
Auto timer on the lamp so you don’t have to sit there and watch the clock, just push a button to start and the light will turn off when it’s done.

Cons:

You have to be really good at cleaning up your polish mistakes before you cure it, otherwise you are stuck with polish on your cuticles and it’s not so pretty and not as easy to make clean lines like with regular polish.
Peel off – I think this comes with practice too but I think I overpainted my base or top coat onto my fingers so one of the edges started curling up and then got caught on a shirt and then the whole gel polish ripped off my finger nail like a press on nail (don’t worry it didn’t hurt)
Storage – I already have so much nail polish and little room to store it so to have to store the lamp is not helping but it’s totally worth it for the chip free nails.
The kit is pricey but if you get enough salon manicures it may be worth the savings.

I painted the majority of my nails with Pretty in Pink (my favorite so far) and an accent nail with Cranberry Cosmo.

I highly recommend it. I’ve been so busy lately and haven’t been able to pay attention to my nails so this has been a great solution for me to still have nice looking nails without having to take time out for a full on manicure every week. You can get it here!

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Pretty eye makeup

I’m so obsessed with pretty eye makeup. I don’t have the greatest eyes or skills for it, but I try as hard as I can! I love pinning all the pretty eye makeup tutorials. My make up pinterest board is full of gorgeous looks that I’ll probably never achieve but I still like looking at. I’m particularly in love with this girl’s amazing blue eyes and the subtle but super pretty eye makeup she did.

from Barbie Mutation

I do love a good neutral palette and I’ve been using the Urban Decay Naked palette since it came out but quite honestly it’s not my favorite. I have tried several other palettes that have worked for me but when I spotted these Smashbox palettes I thought they would be perfect to create the perfect day or nighttime looks. I also love that they’re only $39. I love palettes but I don’t love spending a ton of money on them so I think these are perfect for the price and love all the colors that come with it.

Smashbox SmokeBox Eyeshadow Palette

Smashbox SoftBox Eyeshadow Palette

My favorite site to look at pretty make up tutorials is Snobka which is in a language that I can not read (I don’t even know what language it is) but just looking at the pictures is good enough for me!

Here’s a great tutorial from them. Click through to see the entire tutorial.

I’m seriously envious of that girl’s eyebrows though! Aren’t they amazing? I need to groom mine badly. I just got the Now Brow Perfect Arch Kit so I can keep up with the grooming in between the times I get my brows waxed (which nowadays is not so often).