July Favorites!

Hello there! It is so incredibly hard to believe that it is August already! This summer flew by! I've never done one of these posts before, but I thought I'd start doing monthly favorites.  I tend to favor the same products every month, but I figure as the seasons change, there will be more variety in my favorites. I feel like I chose too many favorites....I have many makeup products, one hair product, and a few fashion favorites. Let's get this started then!

Makeup Favorites:

-Tweezerman ProCurl eye lash curler: Curls ALL of my lashes really well, and who doesn't love rose gold?? Review for this will be up soon!

-Maybelline Master Drama pencil liner: I typically reach for brown gel liners during the summer months, but this black pencil has really held up well in humid, icky weather. Lasts fairly well on the waterline, and good for lining the upper lash line.

-Revlon Grow Luscious mascara: I picked this up on a whim because it was super cheap, around $4 or $5 at Target. I LOVE this mascara. It does a good job of lengthening my lashes, and does wonders for my lower lashes! However, I don't believe it "grow" your lashes.

-Mac Painterly Paint Pot: This is the only Mac product I own. I'm such a drugstore lover that I hardly buy high end products, but I've changed that recently. This product is incredible! It is so creamy, and really lasts on my oily eyelids. Even if you wear it alone, it really makes your eyes look fabulous.

-Urban Decay Naked 2 palette: I purchased this last month. You have no idea how excited I was to be an owner of an Urban Decay product! We just got a Sephora in town, and I went a little nuts. This has definitely been my go-to eye shadow palette, mostly because I've been trying different looks with it. I really love these shadows, and I'm even tempted to pick up the original Naked. Haven't decided if I should splurge or not. ;)

-Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting concealer: This works amazingly at brightening up my under eye area. It does a decent job of covering up blemishes and redness, but this is best for under the eyes. 

-Maybelline Dream Matte powder: This powder really helps control any shine, and it is wonderful at setting foundation. This helps to give an almost flawless finish.

-NYC Smooth Skin bronzer in Sunny: This is basically the only bronzer I own. I have the ELF blush/bronzer duo, but Sunny is the bronzer I used daily. I love that it is matte, and it isn't too brown or too orange.

-Milani Baked blush in Dolce Pink: I really don't wear blush that often in the summer. When I do, I go for pinks and peaches. Dolce Pink is a very pretty warm pink blush with gold shimmer. It applies very lightly, but its definitely build-able.

*A little side note about my lips: the entire summer, I have been dealing with some sort of lip rash on and around my lips. I believe it is some form of dermatitis, but I'm not sure. I've been given several antibiotics, and they have all failed. It looks terrible, and my confidence is at a level of zero when I'm out in public. Because of this condition, I haven't been able to wear any lip products, but these would be my favorites if I could wear them. Just wanted to mention this, I don't really know why. :)

-EOS lip balm in Strawberry Sorbet: I love all EOS lip balms, but the strawberry one is my favorite scent for summer! Very cute and moisturizing.

-Revlon Super Lustrous lip gloss in Coral Reef: Revlon hands down has the best drugstore products. They are the high-end makeup of the drugstore world. This gloss is great! It feels amazing on the lips, and it is a nice pigmented coral. Perfect for spring/summer!

-Cover Girl Lip Perfection lip stick in Fairytale: Talk about a bright coral pink lip color! It is a very bold color, but so pretty. It feels so smooth on the lips and lasts a great time.

-Sally Hansen nail polish in Pacific Blue: I've worn lots of colors on my nails this summer, but this is my most worn. I love it! It's a beautiful cornflower blue, made for summer. I have swatches of it right here.

Body/Hair/Fashion Favorites:

Scent: B&BW Forever Sunshine: I picked this up during Bath & Body Work's semi annual sale. This smells like summer. It is light, but just enough to give you a pleasant, fruity floral smell. 

Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk serum: I picked this up after eyeing it for weeks, and after Emily Eddington and MakeupByTiffanyD reviewed it on Youtube. This stuff smells incredible! Coconut is a definite favorite scent of mine. This makes my hair feel so silky and smooth.

Hairstyle: Sock buns: This is the perfect hairstyle for lazy bums like myself. It literally takes 2 minutes or less or more, depending on how you do it. It's so cute, and can be casual or dressy. I have a few posts on sock buns. Click here and here to take a look at some sock buns I've done!

Jewelry: colorful friendship  bracelets: Who doesn't love a nice arm party? I made these bracelets this summer, and it took forever! But they are just so fun and colorful. During the summer, I hate the feeling of necklaces when I sweat, so I prefer earrings and bracelets.

Shoes: rose gold rhinestone Mossimo flip flops: I eyed these flip flops at Target last spring. I saw these in a Missglamorazzi video, and that was the final straw. I had to have them! These are so gorgeous and so comfortable. They make a casual outfit look a bit more glamorous!

Handbag: Nine West Tunnel Mini Crossbody bag: LOVE THIS BAG! I picked this up at Ross one day at random. I just saw it, and it spoke to me. I hadn't owned a cross body bag before, and this was just so perfect for summer. I have a long post on this bag right here. Love love love this handbag, and I love Ross and TJ Maxx for purchasing handbags. They seriously have the best deals!

Speaking of TJ Maxx, it am dubbing it as my favorite store of the entire summer!! I've bought a bunch of adorable tops there over the last few weeks, and that store is just so incredible. Here is a post showing some tops I've picked up this summer.

I hope you enjoyed this first favorites post! I don't know if I did too many, or not enough! But I enjoyed sharing my favorites with you. I'd love to know what your favorites are! :)

My Makeup Collection: Face

Hello there! I thought that I'd share my tiny makeup collection with you all! I feel like I have an essential amount of makeup, but I'd love to add to it! I'm going to do separate posts for each category: Face, Eyes, Lips, and Brushes. Keep in mind, I've owned previous products, this is just what I have at the moment! I will sort of do a mini review of each product. So, let's do this!!! Don't forget to click on images to enlarge them & see details! =)

Foundation, Concealer, & Powder:

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation in 103 True Ivory. This the only liquid foundation I've ever used in my life! I've always used powders until this baby came into my life! I love it because it is perfect for my dry skin. I love that it has minerals in it. It blends nicely into my skin. The color I have is slightly off, but I can work with it. This foundation really does last all day for me! I also love the cheap price tag of only about $6 at Walmart!

Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Powder Foundation in Natural Ivory Light 3. This is my second container of this product. I really enjoy it! However, the color I have now is so orange on me, and it's summertime! I'm going to have to go back to the first shade I purchased, which I think is one shade lighter than this one. I like this product because it provides great coverage, is fast to apply, and I love minerals!

Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Ivory Light 2-3.5. This is the only concealer I've ever owned! If you can't tell, I'm not very big on face products. hehe. I love the mousse texture of this product, and how well it covers under eye problems. But this shade is far too light for my skin. Also, I'm pretty positive this product is being discontinued, so I need to find a new concealer!

Rimel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 001 Transparent. I bought this powder to set my liquid foudation, and I think it does a pretty good job. It claims to minimize the appearance of pores, and I think it actually does. A few things that might turn you away from this product: powdery scent & cheap packaging.

Elf Translucent Mattifying Powder. This is a much better setting powder than the Rimmel Stay Matte. I already reviewed this in my ELF Collection post. But I highly recommend this powder. I just wish that the whole pan was full of powder. The sponge is pretty pointless.

Blush & Bronzer:

Milani Baked Blush in 04 Terra Sole. I actually received this blush from a giveaway I entered on the Milani Facebook fan page. The first 25,000 that entered all won a free full sized sample of this blush. I'll be doing a full review on this blush in the next few days. The blush houses a mirror and brush underneath the actual product. This blush is very powdery when you dip your brush in, but it is so pigmented and blends well. The color is a little too dark for me, but I find ways to wear it.

NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in 720A Sunny. This is a nice matte bronzer that won't hurt your wallet. I like the cute sun pattern embedded in the bronzer, but the compact is so cheap and could break easily during travel. This color is a tad too orange for my skin, but it still gives a nice sun-kissed look.

Covergirl Cheekers Blush in Rock N' Rose. This is a nice rosey blush that I love to wear in the colder months. It is pretty sheer, but I like that I can build this color up if I want. It isn't quite as shimmery as it looks in the picture. It has a pretty strong perfume scent to it, so if that bothers you, don't get it!

NYC Blushable Creme Stick in 644U Plaza Pink. This is a great cream blush for the summertime. It is in a twist up stick form, like a jumbo lip balm. You get a decent amount of product, and a little seriously goes a long way! It is so creamy and blends out so nicely! The color is a nice peachy pink shade.

Hard Candy Fox In a Box Blush in Hot Flash. As soon as I saw these in my Walmart, I had to get one! I kind of wish I had picked out a different, less pigmented one! As you can see, this blush is bright! The 2 muted colors help to tone down the bright hot pink colors, but it is still so flashy on my cheeks. I think I'll pick up another one of these blushes, but a more natural one!!

Elf Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder in Blushed/Bronzed. I already reviewed this product in my Elf Collection post. But this is a great product to own, and it's only $3! The blush is a pretty peachy, pink color, reminds me of the NYC Creme Stick in Plaza Pink. The bronzer is a deep bronzy brown. Both have shimmer in them, but it's not crazy shimmery.

Clinique Soft-Pressed Powder Blusher in Pink Blush & True Bronze Pressed Powder Bronzer in Sunkissed. This came as a sample with a gift of purchase. The blush is pretty sheer and hardly shows up. It gives a nice, sheer glow to the face. I really like the bronzer side. It gives a nice, tan glow to my face.

That's all the face cosmetics I own currently! I hope you liked this post and maybe found it helpful in some way! =)

My Everyday Drugstore Lipstick Swatches

I actually don't wear lipstick everyday....I just meant that these are lipsticks that I feel are appropriate for any day wear. These are all drugstore brands and very affordable. In the pictures below, they all look quite the same. However in the swatch images, you can see the differences. I should have nuded out my lips with concealer, but I didn't want my lips to completely dry out on me!!
Make sure you click on the images to enlarge them if you want to get a closer look!!

Here is what the tubes all look like from L-R: Avon Ultra Color Rich in Sparkling Warm Rose, NYC Ultra Moist in Cafe & Petal, Maybelline Colorsensational in Born With It, and L'Oreal Color Riche in Honey Peach

*Note that there are two of each following image. The top photo will be in natural sunlight, and the photo on under that will be in artificial florescent light.

Here are some hand swatches:

L-R: Sparkling Warm Rose, Honey Peach, Born With It, Petal, and Cafe

L-R: Cafe, Petal, Born With It, Honey Peach, and Sparkling Warm Rose

Here are swatches on my lips:

My natural lips with nothing on them. About 99.9% of the time, I'm wearing some sort of lip balm.

NYC Ultra Moist "Cafe" applies very smoothly and is a very pretty caramel bronze shade! However, both NYC lipsticks smell like they cost...CHEAP! For only .98 cents though, these have pretty good pigmentation.

NYC Ultra Moist "Petal" is a brilliant shade for spring! It is a bright pale pink. (bright pale sounds like an oxymoron...right?) Again, this smells cheap and doesn't wear for long, but is a beautiful color! Goes on really smoothly.

Maybelline Colorsensational "Born With It" is my FAVORITE lipstick of all time. It is a lovely pale pink. It's my "my lips but better" lipstick. It applies and wears pretty well. It is so creamy! I'm almost out of this shade, but I know i'll be picking up a new one soon!

L'Oreal Color Riche "Honey Peach" smells lovely. Has a fruity scent that I like, but some women might not enjoy it so much. This is a really pretty peachy summer color. In person it is a bit more orange on my lips, but not in a wonky way. This is a nice and creamy formula. I don't believe this is sold anymore because I got it on clearance for $2.14 at Walgreens about a year ago. But they have a very similar shade called Peach Fuzz that might still be around!

Avon "Sparkling Warm Rose"is a very pretty lippie indeed! It is a warm pinky rose color with really pretty shimmer in it. I love wearing this when i do a more natural eye. I use it to play up my lips a bit, as it is brighter than I'm used to wearing. I'm so sad because mine snapped & i lost ALOT of product from that. :( I tried to save it by melting it with a lighter and refrigerating it, but that was no use. Now I just use a brush or clean finger, which actually looks better to me.

I hope that these swatches were okay! I've never really swatched anything before and was bored. So I figured I'd share some cheap but lovely lipsticks! These were all WAY under $10 at Walmart, Walgreens, Target, K-Mart, or any drugstore. The Avon lipstick was ordered form a friend.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
=)