Can you believe we are already half way through 2016. I swear it feels like it was 2015 just yesterday, but here we are in July. In today's post I will be telling you all about my beauty favorites during the past three months. As you can see from the photo below, the color theme of the past three months was definitely bright pink. April being the month where I was in full spring mode, May being the month where I was transitioning from my soft spring makeup into bright makeup for summer, and finally June being the month where I dove straight into my summer makeup. So without further ado, onto the favorites!
When it comes to eye makeup, I am the kind of person that can get stuck in a rut rather quickly. I have to be at work very early every morning and I love my sleep, so my creativity with my eye makeup is what I pretty much sacrifice every morning. In May I got a new eyeshadow palette, the Tartelette in Bloom Clay Eyeshadow Palette and a new palette is the best motivation to be creative! I have loved using this palette everyday to create different eye looks. The palette has nine matte shades and three shimmer shades. My favorite shades are flower child which is a matte creamy nude shade, jetsetter which is a matte warm taupe shade, and firecracker which is a shimmery bronzed copper shade. Speaking of copper, another one of my eyeshadow favorites was the Burberry Eye Colour Contour Smoke & Sculpt Pen in Pale Copper. I heard a lot of buzz about this product and you know how much I love a good eyeshadow stick, so I had to give it a try! I will say it is not my favorite eyeshadow stick formula, (*cough cough Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks) but this is a close second. The formula is smooth and creamy, blends perfectly, has a lot of pigmentation, but most of all it last well on the eyelids. The color is also a beautiful golden bronze copper shade that is perfect for summer!
My next favorite is going to be a surprising one because it's a pair of false lashes. I'm not really a false lash person. I really can't be bothered to put them on most of the time, they are a little too expensive to justify, they look fake half the time, and they are downright uncomfortable to wear. Now with all of the preconceived negativity about false lashes aside, I now totally get the hype of false lashes. My problem with false lashes in the past was that I would buy cheaper ones, and I totally believe in the saying, "You get what you pay for." I had heard some good reviews about the Huda Beauty Lashes and I had to go to a wedding at the end of April, so I thought that was a perfect opportunity to give them a try. After a lot of research I ended up purchasing the Huda Beauty Classic False Lashes in Giselle. These lashes are very natural looking but still add that extra length and volume I'm looking for. I wore these lashes all night and barely noticed them. At one point, I asked my friend about my lashes and she said she had no idea I was wearing false lashes they looked that natural. Since then, I have purchased another pair of the Giselle lashes as a back up for the future and I have even purchased the Samantha style which is the next level up on the natural lash scale. False lashes will still remain for special events, but I'll be sure to keep you updated on my false lash journey!
I have been on the hunt for a holy grail foundation since what feels like the dawn of time. In April I decided to try the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation and I instantly fell in love! The concept behind Charlotte's Magic Foundation is, "What's your magic skin wish?" For me, I want a foundation that is not too heavy but has decent coverage, that is matte but still looks like skin, that is long lasting, doesn't get oily and start to breakdown throughout the day, doesn't cling to dry patches, doesn't absorb into my skin, doesn't just sit on top of my skin, doesn't settle into my smile lines, but most of all covers my redness, acne, and hyperpigmentation. Does this foundation do all of this for me, no but it does check a lot of the boxes and more then any other foundation before it. I think this is the prefect foundation for people with combination skin like myself. Another product I'm always on the hunt for is concealer. At birth I was blessed with dark under eye circles and as I've gotten older, my dark circles have gotten worse and worse. It also doesn't help that I'm a night owl and don't really get much sleep either. So as you would think I am always in need of a good dark circle correcting under eye concealer. I had been hearing such good things about the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Concealer so I decided to give is a try and I totally get the hype. This concealer can cover my worst under eye circles without even trying. I have the shade R22 which is the second lightest pink toned shade. What I love most about this concealer is that it's so pigmented that you only need a tiny bit and it has a thin consistency so it layers really well without looking thick or cakey. If you are in need of a new concealer to combat your dark circles, then you must try the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Concealer!
Summertime is all about that sun kissed glow and as you may know, my Soap & Glory Solar Powder is one of my favorite bronzers ever, but I'm kind of running out of it and the shade is a little light for the summertime. So at the beginning of June I went back to the cult favorite NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna. There is a reason this bronzer has a cult following. It is a universally perfect bronze shade that can be used to achieve an effortless all over bronzed look or a precisely sculpted contour. If you're looking to invest in a bronzer for summer, you must purchase NARS Laguna! While reorganizing my makeup a couple months ago I rediscovered the MAC Blush in Fun Ending and I seriously forgot how much I love this blush! It's a dusty pale mauve pink color that can be worn everyday with any makeup look. (Trust me, I've been wearing it everyday so I should know) This blush was from a limited edition MAC collection so I'm going to be so sad if I ever run out of it someday, but I feel like there are so many blushes on the market like it that I'll be able to find something similar.
As with my eye makeup, I can sometimes get stuck in a lipstick rut where I favor one or two lipsticks and wear them practically everyday, (aka NARS Anna and MAC Syrup) but I have six lip favorites from these past three month! First the Bite Matte Créme Lip Crayon in Pastille, which is a dark nude rose brown mauve. It goes on smooth and creamy but then dries down to a semi-matte. What I love about this lipstick is that it's so easy to wear and put on. If I'm in a hurry and don't have enough time to pick out a lipstick or even put one on, this is what I grab. It also has lots of staying power and fades really nicely through the wear and tear of the day. Next is a lipstick pair that are beautiful on their own, but I have been loving to mix together these past few months. They are the Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipsticks in Lust for Blush, which is a pale dusty mauve, and Ravishing Rose, which is a pinky rose. Mixed together they just make the most beautiful color perfect for spring and summer. Now if you don't know already I am a lover of liquid lipsticks, but I had never tried the Anastasia ones that everyone raves about. So in April I decided to try the Anastasia Liquid Lipstick in Soft Lilac and if I could wear this liquid lipstick everyday without my lips killing me I totally would! This lip color has been a staple in my weekly lipstick rotation over the past three months. It's a dusty pink mauve with a hint of lavender, which is the perfect "me" color. What I love about this liquid lipstick formula is that it's not too drying and I can comfortably wear it all day to work without getting that liquid lipstick feeling you know. (Don't lie, you know the feeling! The one where your liquid lipstick is so dry that it's sucking so much life out of your lips that you start to ponder the thought of just ripping you lips off... Yeah, that feeling.) Anyway, since I love Soft Lilac so much I'm definitely going to have give some of the other colors a try! My last lip favorites are a lip liner and lipstick pair. First being the MAC Lip Pencil in Magenta, which is a bright fuchsia magenta, and then the MAC Lipstick in Have Your Cake, which is also a bright fuchsia magenta. I have worn this lip combination to a wedding, a graduation, and even to work. The color is such a beautiful bright pink toned fuchsia magenta with purple undertones. The lipstick is matte but wears comfortably throughout the whole day without being too drying. They both reapply very well and have a lot of staying power. I found that I barely had to touch up at all most times I wore them. I just love both these products so much and I know this will be my lip combination of choice all summer long!
Above on the left you can see the beautiful colors within the Tartelette in Bloom palette and how very well loved it has been this past month. On the right you can also get a closer look at the NARS Laguna bronzer. Below I have also done some eyeshadow and lipstick swatches for you to better see the colors of my favorites this month.
From Left to Right:
Burberry Pale Copper, Maybelline Lust for Blush, Maybelline Ravishing Rose, Bite Beauty Pastille, Anastasia Soft Lilac, MAC Have Your Cake, MAC Magenta.
