My Favorite Drugstore Brand

The answer people often give to the question, "What is your favorite make up brand?", is: "Oh, I love all sorts of brand. I don't like this just one!".

This is so true - I look at my make up collection and think - I love all different brands! Each brand carry a different item that I love so it is impossible to choose. But I thought I'd think about this a little harder... and here's the extended version of my answer:

Brand I go to for face products: Maybelline

Maybelline's Dream Mousse Concealer
and
Maybelline's Mineral Power Concealer

I absolutely love both concealers! I love the Mousse one more just because it is so easy to apply!!!!!! Makes my make up routine a million times faster.

Brand I go to for Blush: Jane
Brand I go to for Bronzer: Rimmel

Rimmel's Mineral Bronzer in Sun Light (L)
Jane Blushing Cheeks in Blushing Petal (R)


Blush and bronzers are a must for me because I'm kinda pale and with the combo of both, I look like a I have healthy complexion! I look awake and ready to take on the world!! Jane blushes are so soft and, this one in particular, is so pretty and natural on me! The Rimmel Bronzer is my favorite bronzer and I love just dusting it all over my face. I feel like it brings life to my face... weird huh!

Brand I go to for High Lighter: Physician's Formula

Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips in Vegas Strips

Love the pigmentation and texture of this! Very beautiful shimmer that isn't over stated. I use this both on my eyes and my cheeks to high light! I usually hate shimmery products but I love doing this during the month of spring because it gives me that fresh glow!

Brand I go to for Lip stuff: Revlon

Revlon's Colorburst lipstick in Soft Rose
and

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Glosses

I really love the way Revlon lippies look and they feel great on the lips too. I find that Revlon has a lot more selections when it comes to types of lipstick, finishes, colors... etc. Their lip glosses are the only ones I really enjoy wearing also.

Brand I go to for Mascara: Maybelline

The first mascara I ever tried was Maybelline's Great Lash and at the time, I was so a n00b that I bought it in Brown! Boo! The 2nd I tried was the Full n' Soft and that was a great everyday, natural mascara! Even though I haven't tried any others, I feel like this brand has the most to offer me w/ all their new mascaras coming out. Some that I'm dying to try are: Lash Stiletto Voluptous, The Falsies, and Define A Lash.

Brand I go to for Brushes: ELF

ELF's $1 Professional Eye Shadow Brushes

I own two of these along with the $1 crease brush. These three are my essential weapons for eye make up! Besides that, I also own a few studio brushes and I really like them all! They are so cheap that you can have great tools but you can also save the money for more products to play with.

Brand I go to for Single Eye Shadow: CoverGirl

CoverGirl's Single in Tapestry Taupe

I am starting to fall in love with these shades! They come with so much products and various types of colors! Now, I do love the NYX singles but I feel like I don't reach for those as often as I reach for CoverGirl... not sure why! I also have Brown Smolder and Swiss Chocolate - both fantastic shades with great pigmentation and easy to wear.

Brand I go to for Palette Eye Shadow: Wet N' Wild

Wet N' Wild's Mega Eyes Trio in Mojave Mauves


This is my go to palette - eye shadows are soft, pigmented and freaking fantastic! I have two other palettes: Sugar Plum Fairies and Silent Treatment. Here are two recent FOTD's I did with these WnW eye shadow palettes:

1/29/11 w/ Mojave Mauves
1/25/11 w/ Sugar Plum Fairies

Brand I go to for Lip Balms: Burt's Bees

I am quite sure I've used up about 4 tubes and that's only because I wanted to use up my other lip balms too. I've used so many different lip balms but always go back to this one! LOVE IT - will repurchase when I run out of my other lip balms!

Drugstore Look-a-Likes

When I look at some of the products I have purchased/swapped over the years, I have to say that, when it comes to eye shadows, I'm in love with 2 types of colors: bronze and taupe!! What I love love about these shades is that I can just swipe the color on my lid, liner, mascara, and I'M DONE!!!! No fussing about outer corner or crease shades or blending.

So I decided to pull out my collection and swatch them to see how similar the colors are. Have I been wasting my money on the same exact shades?!?! Or are there slight differences to them that I can detect.

Bronze:


1) ELF's Butternut quad
2) Revlon's Coffee Bean quad
3) Cover Girl's single in Swiss Chocolate


My favorite to wear is the Revlon one because it is so soft and easy to apply! I feel like I always get compliments when I wear this. I recently got CG Swiss Chocolate from a swap and already really enjoy it! It is also really soft and pigmented! I love it. Now, the ELF one is not as soft but still just as pigmented and it is one of my oldest shadows. All three are extremely easy to blend and looks great in the crease as well as all over the lid!

Taupe:



1) Maybelline single in Beach Blush
2) Cover Girl's single in Tapestry Taupe
3) Wet n Wild trio in Silent Treatment
4) L'Oreal's HiP in Sassy
5) Wet n Wild trio in Mojave Mauves


Let's see, I would say that the best texture and pigmentation would be the Wet N' Wild shadows and the L'Oreal HiP. The cool thing about L'Oreal's shadow is that it is a good dupe for MAC's Satin Taupe. However, I find it a bit dark for everyday wear. Sometimes, it is easy for me to go smokey with this if I'm not careful. However, the WnW ones are amazing! I swear, Mojave Mauves is one of my favorite trios ever and that taupe shadow is probably most worn. Of course, CG's shadow is quite popular and it is a really cool taupe because it is more silvery taupe. Very cool! I don't like the texture that much - it can cause a lot of fallout as well. WnW's Silent Treatment is also a silvery taupe. Finally, the Maybelline single is really cool - texture isn't as good as I would've hoped - but I still love the color and it really brings out the brown of my eyes. Very interesting indeed! These are really fun to have - taupes are a lot prettier than regular brown, IMO. These are extremely easy to wear! One swipe on the lids and I'm done w/ my eye shadow look.

So, what do you guys think? What color do you guys tend to buy?

I also just realize I have a lot of matte dark brown shades too... but I guess I can save that for another time. ALso - the swatches show how dry my skin was... GROSS!

♥ ♥ ♥

I went to see No Strings Attached with a friend yesterday...




and I thought it was cute -- but really cheesy!!! Ha ha but I think it's kinda good timing for this movie since Valentines day is right around the corner. It's good for couples and singles to go and watch :)

I think Natalie Portman is freaking awesome and she is a great actress. However, I hope she does more amazing films.

BTW - Natalie Portman and Alicia Keys are two women I really want to be like. Their make up and clothing styles aside, they are both extremely talented and really smart and just fantastic at what they do! They live life under pressure and fame but doesn't succumb to all that crap. Very admirable indeed.

100 Things: 11-15 + FOTD!

Yes, another one! Sorry guys but since I've just had one of the most annoying exam ever, I just want to write something that will cheer me up a little bit.

11) Coldplay


12) Books


13) Red Pandas!


14) Nature


15) Hope


♥ ♥ ♥


So I went out with a couple of friends a few weeks ago and just wanted to do a nice normal look - not neutral - so I reached for my Revlon's Nude Element. The palette is great for a more glamorous look but definitely not over the top!







Revlon's Palette in Nude Element
Revlon's Illuminance Creme Shadow in Pink Petal
NYX single in Champagne
ELF's quad in Butternut
Jordana's Fabuliner Liquid Liner upper lash line
Physician's Formula Gel liner lower lash line (this stuff last and last!)

Maybelline's Colorsensational Lipstick in Warm Me Up

Loving This Time of Year

Why?

Because CVS and Walgreens - even Ulta and a bit of Target and Walmart - are having huge sales to clear out stuff for their new merchandise! You know what that means? Beauty CLEARANCE SALE!

As far as I know - this is still going on - and so I want to quickly review a product that I got a week ago and urge you guys to take advantage of this awesome deal.

What I'm talking about is:


Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing Concealer

My shade is Medium -- and check out the 75% Off!!

So I'm not gonna go into major details but I always think that a picture can say a thousand words so - here are some pics of this baby doing its thing.


before

after

So?? What do you think?

The texture, I would describe this, as more liquid than cream. I was SURPRISED to see how pigmented this is considering it is a liquid concealer. It comes on SOOO light and it feels light but it covers so well!!! And a little bit goes a long way! I just squeeze out a tiny bit (like less than pea size... like a droplet) and I was able to use that for my eyes and other redness/spots on my face!

Easy to blend and the shade works quite well for me.

The most amazing thing about this is that it is hydrating and it doesn't get cakey! It doesn't settle into lines because of how moisturizing it is! This is the aspect that I love the most!

I guess the only bad thing is I don't think it has strong lasting power. I would say 4-5 hours would be the max!

I remember almost purchasing this for it's full price $10 but I got it for $2.50... sooooo.....

Yeah, don't walk - run to your closest CVS and fingers crossed that it is still on sale.

Bring It On - Lippies Version

Okay... this is my 2nd time writing this GRRR!!! Blogspot...

Okay so this is another product battle and this time it is between Revlon's Colorburst lipstick vs. Maybelline's Colorsensational lipstick.





In my opinion, these are some of the most hyped drugstore lippies and I can see why!

1) First of all - look at the packaging!!!! Man these packaging can rival the high end ones! So cute. However, I think I like the Revlon one a lot more just because of the quilted pattern... I mean... CUTE!

2) When you open it up, there is no gross smell - none on the Revlon and a slight caramel scent on the Maybelline one. Now, other reviewers have mentioned that the Maybelline one can smell disgusting so be aware of that. No nasty taste either - hooray.

3) PIGMENTATION is amazing!! What you see in the tube is what you'll see on your lips. Let me tell you, I have pigmented lips myself but these colors overcame that. HOORAH I say!

4) I also love that both lines have really fantastic color choices.
However - Maybelline has way more color selection and they categorize their lipstick colors into "Pink", "Neutrals", "Plums"... etc which is really nice. I think Maybelline also has more finishes.

I still love the Revlon selection but I believe they all have cream finishes. Now this will probably fit me more since I love cream finishes. I also think that the colors here are more bold - so less "everyday" colors to choose from. This line has a really intense nude shade - Soft Nude.

5) Lasting power are pretty good compared to all my other drugstore lipsticks. I think they can last 3-4 hours on me so that's pretty amazing! I actually think the Revlon one is better... not sure about that though.

6) It sits comfortable on the lips - not slick or runny - they both feel really light on my lips.





Revlon's Colorburst Soft Rose: this color is between pink and red - a pretty berry color. A face brightener but it isn't as bold as red. I love wearing this because brings color and light into my face... also it makes me look more dressed up than I am. Really like this color! If you are looking for something bright for Spring - this might be a color that you should look into!

Maybelline's Colorsensational in Warm Me Up: this is a "my lips but better" but w/ a hint of pink which is so nice. I love that this color is warm because those shades look better on me. I am always looking for good neutrals and this is it! I think you should definitely look into this color - so easy to wear and it looks good too!




The flash makes the pink show through a lot but it's very neutral!


Of course they both have flaws. For me, the biggest one is moisturizing ability.

Yes, both of these lippies are not moisturizing but they aren't commercialized as that. However, I think the Maybelline one is more drying and accentuate my dry lips. I'd recommend you use a lip balm when you use these lipsticks but more so for the Maybelline one. I also think Revlon one is creamier and easier to apply.

So overall, I like the to try more of these lipsticks but mostly the Revlon one. I just love the way it looks and the way it goes on and mostly for the staying power. As for Maybelline, I love the color choice and pigmentation as well as lasting power. Too bad it is kind of drying. Either way, both of these lipsticks are great and definitely worth a try.

What do color would you recommend me trying next from these lines OR recommendation for a better drugstore lipstick!?



♥ 3 day weekend!!!
♥ I had lunch w/ an old friend today - I love catching up with old friends.
♥ Finishing up House season 4 and 5! Good show... I love 13 and Kutner... Okay, I love the entire new team.
♥ GOLDEN GLOBES!! Go Christian Bale and Natalie Portman.
♥ Watching the Golden Globes makes me want to watch: The Social Network, The Fighter, How To Train Your Dragon, True Grit, Black Swan
♥ I went to a basketball game and then played tennis all on Saturday - what's w/ that! So much sport in one day!
♥ Looked at some old pictures - like past years and found some hilarious pictures of me, my friends, and family - really fun, you should do it once in awhile

2010 Favorites

I don't meant to jump on the bandwagon but I absolutely love reading these posts so hopefully this will be fun for you guys too.

1) Best Products for $1



ELF's $1 Eyeshadow primer: Yes, this stuff is amazing - not as good as UDPP but perfect for everyday!

Wet n' Wild's Coloricon brow & eye liner in Taupe: This is a product I used almost everyday for 7 months straight. Love this stuff - just ran out so I had to buy a new one. My brows look so great and it costs 0.99 cents. Seriously, if you guys are looking for a cheap brow pencil - try it out - not gonna cost you an arm or a leg. It might even be your HG!

2) Best Eye Shadow Products


The first two - Maybelline's quad in Chai Latte and Revlon's quad in Coffee Bean - are two of my favorites "office/school" friendly palettes. These are my everyday palette and I tend reach for these A LOT! Right now, I like the Revlon one over the Maybelline one but in 2010 - I used them both equally. I recommend you guys checking these quads out - especially if you are on a drugstore budget and want a good everyday look.

Wet N Wild's trio in Mojave Mauves has been good to me but I only realized how much I loved it when I would use it CONSTANTLY during my trips. I would make a few palettes with me but one that I reach for every time I actually do my make up is this trio. Why? Because the colors are shimmery and they give nice washes on the face. They are also EXTREMELY pigmented and are so easy to work with and apply. I frickin love it! This is discontinued but I went to Walgreens the other day and saw new 2011 trios that are released... and OH MAN!!! They look so awesome!!! WnW makes some really great shadows - don't doubt the brand b/c of their price/packaging.

ELF's Butternut quad was my first eyeshadow and probably one of the best purchases a beginner would ever need. Besides the peachy shade, the quad is GREAT! Especially for $1... really good. I still use this all the time and the bronzy shade is awesome for summer.

3) Favorite Product Line



The Maybelline's Dream Mousse line is one of my favorites. I LOVE LOVE the texture and they are also very good products. I wrote most of my thoughts in that post but his might be the first line that I really enjoyed every single product I own! I still want to try the foundation... although I've heard mixed reviews.

4) Favorite Lip Products



Wet N Wild's Megalast lippies (I like WnW... they have a good year!!) has the best color payoff ever. So bright and bold! Really gorgeous - I love how these colors really brighten up the face. This isn't as creamy or moisturizing as I'd like but they are long lasting and great purchases for $2.99 each.

Revlon's Colorburst lipstick is FANTASTIC!!!! When I first got it, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would but after using it for awhile - I fell in love!! Ha ha... yes, this is awesome for Spring time!

5) Favorite Rediscovered Products



CoverGirl's Cheekers blush in Perfect Peach - one of my oldest blushes EVER! And for some reason, I have been using this product for most of Fall and still now. I don't know why - it gives me a really nice, natural flush! And it stays on quite well when in conjunction with creme blushes.



Coastal Scents's Italian Angled Blush Brush was also rediscovered especially since the CG Cheeker is a bit strangely packaged. But I find I get better control applying my blush this way.

6) Least Used Products



I don't want to say NYX products because I think the quality is good but I have pretty much swapped for most of my NYX stuff. I don't own any jumbo pencils anymore - not because they are crap but because I just don't use them. Also I have gotten rid of my Round Lipsticks in Thalia and Circe and the Diamond lipgloss. The picture above is the megashine lipgloss in Frosteed Beige. I kinda hate this product because it started to leak and made a mess... the only ones I still like are the single shadows. Those are still awesome. However, I still want to try their mosaic and creme blushes.

---------------------------

This is all I have for now. One of my favorite things from 2010 is the lack of purchases I made and the fact that I wore make up almost everyday!!! Yes, to use up these items instead of buying more. Very awesome. I will have to do another post on products I've finished!

What about you guys? What are some of your 2010 favorites?

Golden Snow

That is the title of my look :) Yes! Um I tried to copy Katy Perry's look in her music video: Firework. But it just didn't work out too well - however, I still really enjoyed the look so I decided to show you guys what I came up with:









I made the mistake of putting the gray on top of the blue... it should've been the other way around! Oh well - I still enjoyed this look and will probably try it out for the Holidays b/c it has that gold in it!

What I did was I placed some sort of cream shadow underneath. Then I used the ELF's Butternut quad lightest cream shade all over the lid as a base. Then I placed Lancome's Golden Bikini all over the lid and then I placed the blue (CoverGirl's Tropical Quad) on the outer corner. And I deepened it with the gray from the Revlon quad.

Have you guys seen the music video? Did you enjoy it?

Golden Leaves and Fall Weather

Okay, so it has been Fall for awhile... no? But it only had started to feel like Fall here in the lovely Southwest! It's been nice - 40s F in the morning and then 70s F throughout the day. Yeah, very nice!

But in the spirit of Fall, here are some items that I think of as "Fall items". They just represent the season very well and they are items that I tend to reach for these days.


Revlon quad in Coffee Bean

You can't really see the colors really well here but that 3rd shade down - it's like this rusty-coppery color! It reminds me so much of the colors of Fall - earth tone that is warm and sultry. I wear that all over my lids and use the rest of the color to help out with the blending and such. I also line my eyes w/ the dark brown. That color is definitely the star shade of that quad - easy to blend, pigmented, really pretty - and I get compliments when I wear it... love love love!!


Maybelline quad in Natural Smokes

Speaking of earth tones - this quad has all of that loveliness for you! It's got a nice taupey shade and then got a nice warm rustic color again! This is such a lovely quad to use for everyday and then for a more glamorous look for going out or something. Very very pretty!

PS. I've done better reviews on these quads - feel free to check them out!

Other things that I like using for this weather are:


L'Oreal Juice Stick in Chai Love You // Lancome's Lipstick in Ecran Square // Victoria's Secret's Very Sexy lipstick in Sweet Nothing


Very nice neutrals - they don't wash me out; they give me color but they are also not BRIGHT IN YO FACE - you know what I mean. I like wearing them to give me more warmth to the face but very natural as well. These are definitely "my lips but better".


Milani's Brown-alicious // Essie's Tomboy No More // Zoya's KI // Revlon's Midnight Affair


Again with the warmer and darker, vampy, colors! I mostly wear the dark colors on my toes but that Revlon one is GORGEOUS in the light. It looks dark but you can tell it is navy... however, those sparkles within it are just amazing!!! Very distracting - for me. I couldn't stop looking at it. The first two are your typical warm and, again, sultry, earthy colors!

So what are some of your favorites????

Let me know! I might stop by and pick some up.

SPEAKING OF BUYING THINGS: 75% off on some L'Oreal products at CVS! Click here for more info from Nouveau Cheap!

Have a great day!! Off to study for my BIOCHEM exam! Wish me luck... I need it!!!

Eyeshadow Collection - The Motherload

So about a year and a half ago, when I just got into make up, I only had a few shadows here and there. My love for eye shadows really increased when I finally purchased an eye primer - UDPP. The problem with me and eye shadows have always been the creasing so UDPP really helped my shadows stay all day and stop looking horrible.

But the biggest problem with me and shadows is still blending and working with the colors. That is still something I must keep practicing! However, you can't practice much if you don't have a lot of eye shadows to play with. This is pretty much my collection... I have quite a lot. I wouldn't say as much as some of you out there, but definitely more than my friends combine!! Luckily, I'm a cheapie and so these are all fairly inexpensive items.

Without further ado:



Notice how there is almost two of everything???

I think I will start with the left top corner...
ROW 1:
- I have 2 sample MAC pigments: Vanilla and another brown color... never knew the name.
- Victoria's Secret baked shadow in Expresso Lane
- Wet n Wild's Trio in Mojave Mauves
- Two Smashbox shadows: Photo shoot and Test Shoot
- Maybelline single in Beach Blush

ROW 2:
- Lancome quad that my mom gave me.
- 2 Cover Girl singles in Tapestry Taupe and Brown Smolder
- 1 Cover Girl quad in Tropical Fusion (my first palette EVER)
- Milani's single in Java Bean - if only I could find more of them in the store!
- MAC's single in Sketch.

ROW 3:
- Jane's single in Midnight
- 2 Maybelline quads in Neutral Smokes and Chai Latte
- 2 ELF quads in Drama and Butternut
- 2 Revlon quads in Nude Element and Coffee Bean

ROW 4:
- 4 NYX singles in Taupe, Champagne, Root Beer, and Iced Mocha (lots of drinks here... except for Taupe though)
- 2 L'Oreal HiP duos in Sculpted and Sassy

Then, I have the cream shadows and eye primers and what-nots!

From L-R
- MAC's paint pot in Rubenesque
- Urban Decay Primer Potion
- ELF's Mineral Eye Primer and the $1 one
- 2 Revlon's Illuminance Cream Shadows in Pink Petals and Coastal Blues
- HiP's Cream Shadow Paint in Nervy

But if I had to recommend a few, I would definitely narrow down to these four:



1) Chai Latte is so easy to use. The texture is nice and smooth and you can wear this for an everyday look or a really nice glamorous look (because of that pretty metallic coppery shade). I'd say pick this up if you have been debating about it. It's totally worth it!

2) Coffee Bean is a perfect quad if you work in an office and you have to wear the most natural look ever. The colors are pretty and pigmented. You have a lot of good options with this quad. I definitely struggle between which one I like more - Chai Latte or Coffee Bean... but I think I'm going with Chai Latte... for now. Funny because I'm drinking more Chai Lattes lately than coffee too.

3) Wet and Wild Mojave Mauve is like my vacation trio. I take this with me on my vacation and I will NEVER EVER be disappointed with it. I always bring several eye shadows but this always work on me... it is so pigmented - easy to blend. And it isn't your typical boring neutrals. This has a gorgeous taupe, a nice maroon, and most of all, that lovely lightest shade... it's like a creamy lilac. I don't know, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I recommend this to everyone and their mothers.

4) Butternut from ELF is something I recommend to people who are just starting out. At $1, this quad will help you learn what your style is and you can practice and practice with it until you get better. I don't like the idea of going out and getting something expensive if you don't even know what you are doing. Besides that, I enjoy the colors! That dark brown and the lightest shade are my favorites. Together they can make some nice smokey eyes!


As for colors, I really enjoy these two quads. The CG's Tropic Fusion was my first shadow palette ever... which isn't a good thing for beginners... ha ha. But I love using the colors (mostly the blue and green) to line my eyes. It makes the look more interesting. And the HiP's duo in Sculpted has the prettiest pink color and pretty purple. It can change the typical look into something more fun and girly!

I hope you enjoy this post. Please let me know what your favorite/recommendation is! I am always up for trying something new.