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!

My Lip Colors

So, I did a poll a while back and the results are:




Since lipstick and lip glosses are tied with eyeshadow, I decided to show you guys my collection of both things. In this post, it will be lip items!!



I love my lips stuff. In my opinion, wearing lipsticks just really polish up any look. Especially since I have pigmented lips already (and not like a pretty color), lipstick really helps either brighten up my face or just make me look more sophisticated. I have written about part of my lip color collection before, but it has definitely grown this summer. Yeah, I have been a bit on the lippies craze all summer.

Anyways, I am not gonna show ALL of my lips stuff just because some aren't really that interesting. But I've split them into different categories!

1) LIP THERAPY:


- Burt's Bees is my GO TO lip balm. I'm obsessed with these and will forever repurchase like a crazy person.

- CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint is my favorite lip gloss ever. It is extremely moisturizing and it makes my lips glossy so I look a bit more polish than I do if I just wore my lip balm.

2) FIRST LIPPIES EVER


- Maybelline Moisture Extreme in Rosy Glow is one of my all time favorite lipstick. It is a warm toned pink and doesn't make me look dead. Instead, it looks so pretty on and it is extremely moisturizing, smells like watermelon, and has SPF 15.

- Rimmel's Lasting Finish (the old packaging) in Birthday Suit is the first lipstick I ever bought for myself. At the time, I didn't really know what I was doing but I think I chose a great color. It is a lovely nude that doesn't wash me out.

3) COLORFUL and BRIGHT


- Wet n Wild Megalast lipstick in Wine Room is such a pretty color between pink and red. You can wear this during the day time but it can really finish up the look for night time too. Very multipurpose.

- Wet n Wild Megalast in Rosebud is such a pretty pink! It is a straight up "HEY, I'm pink!" but it doesn't look weird on the lips. You know how some pink color just looks too cool toned or it doesn't really work with some skin tones...? But this one really does. It is being loud but not overwhelming (I hope that makes sense). A color like this would look so nice on tan skin as well!

- Revlon Colorburst in Soft Rose is such a great color, again, for everyday and yet can be made into a bolder color for going out. CUTE packaging and fantastic pigmentation with a nice semi-glossy finish.

4) NEUTRAL and MY LIPS BUT BETTER


- L'Oreal Juice Stick in Chai Love You is like my all time favorite product from L'oreal!!! Okay, where to begin. I love the pigmentation - makes my lips look better but very very natural. I love love love the smell and the moisturizing ability. It is like a gloss in stick form and it just feels perfect on my lips. WHY OH WHY does it have to be discontinued!!

- Lancome's Lipstick in Ecran Square is one my first lipsticks ever. My mom bought it but of course I used it... and now it is mine because she doesn't really wear it anymore. Lovely neutral shade that lasts all day with SPF 15. Smells great (I love Lancome lipstick smells) and feels really nice on the lips. $25 is a bit much though.

- Victoria's Secret's Very Sexy lipstick in Sweet Nothing as the cutest name - by far (oh, well besides Chai Love You)... ha ha. I think this is a lovely neutral with a touch of pink. Great for everyday and even for smokey eyes too!

5) LET'S LOOK A BIT MORE SOPHISTICATED NOW


- Maybelline Moisture Extreme in Rum Raisin is very between a neutral and a more reddish color. It is very wearable but also very nice for special occasions.

- Rimmel Moisture Renew in Dusty Rose is very similar to the one I mentioned above but I can see it has a bit more mauve in it. It is very pretty and easy to pull off!

- Lancome's lipstick in Mars is my absolute favorite when it comes to more red lips because of all the golden undertone in this. So gorgeous I could cry. I love wearing this and have gotten compliments too!

- NYX's Round Lipstick in Apollo is a decent dupe of the Lancome one but it is definitely more red. I really like this lipstick but I have read negative reviews about it too... I guess it depends.

6) LIPSTICKS I RARELY WEAR


- Revlon Lustrous Lipstick in Wink for Pink is a cute light barbie color but the pigmentation is horrible and so on my pigmented lips - sometimes it looks good, and sometimes it doesn't.

- Wet n Wild's lipstick (I am not even gonna bother with the numbers) is really frosty - too frosty for me. When I first put it on, my mother was like "It looked like you just drank a thing of chicken fat or something"... and that is something you never want to hear. I noticed that it is very moisturizing and if I blend it out, it isn't as frosty and it has a cute pink tint. However, being so cheap, it has that plastic taste to it and the packaging is just falling apart.

- Lancome's lipstick in Pink in Limo is a bright hot pink, which I don't mind. But it is kinda frosty too and the color just looks very weird on my lips. Not a big fan of that.

7) LIP GLOSSES!! Some of my favs.


- Revlon Lustrous Lipgloss in Life's a Peach and Wink for Pink are two of my favorite lip glosses EVER. I don't like to wear lip glosses but I do really like these. They feel great on the lips, pigmented enough to look nice and I just really love the packaging.

- Maybelline Colorsenstational lip glosses in Strawberry Glaze and Sweet Tooth are very pigmented and feel very nice on the lips. The only thing I don't like is the smell... it reminds me of bubblegum but after a while, it reminds me of the dentist's office.

Well guys... we made it!!! WOW, that was a lot of stuff... just wait til we go into my eyeshadow stuff.... wow.... I do have a lot!!!

Thanks for reading & have a great - no - a fantastic - day!

Summer Musts and Dusts

You know me - I'm always sporting the really casual and simple make up but I strangely find myself more attached to certain products in the summer than other seasons.

I'll just dive into what I'm talking about without a long intro!



1) Essie's Nail Polish in Risky Business: This is like a bright red color with a bit of coral in it. On the nails - it looks like a tomato color but not as red because, like I said, there is a hint of coral. HOWEVER, I absolutely LOVED it when I wore it all last week. It just screams - summer time!! Fun time!! It was so awesome. BTW - I received this as a contest winner from Cambo Soup... so Kalmo, if you are reading... THANKS!

2) UDPP: Now, I'll probably need this for all seasons but I feel like ESPECIALLY summer because my lids get so oily! I love this stuff - it keeps my shadow stay intact all day. I wear eye shadows to work so I need it to stay put and not crease or anything nasty like that.

3) Maybelline Chai Latte quad and ELF Butternut quad: both of these are fantastic neutral colors! It's because it has the option for me to go bronze and copper... I don't know - I tend to not use taupes and purple/cool toned shadows as much during the Summer. But wait til Fall gets here... it will be taupe central!


4) Revlon Color Burst lipstick in Soft Rose: this brightens my face and not only that it is long lasting. Like the nail color I mentioned above - this has a bright color that sings a long to the Grease song: "Summer lovin' happened so fast"...


Those are definitely the ones I reach for the most right now.

But these are the ones that are sitting my drawers... hoping for some love! But that won't come until the colder weather gets here... sorry babies!



1) Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer: This is way too light for me during the summer. If I wanted to use it, I had to mix with with my foundation that is too dark for me... kinda a hassle when you don't have time.

2) Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Light: Fantastic bronzer! Too bad I'm already tan so I don't really need that anymore... ha ha... oh well. Look how much this bronzer was loved... and will be loved again once the sun stops shining so frickin hard!

3) CoverGirl's Cheekers Blush in Deep Rose: Now this blush is PURE PIGMENT! Ha ha maybe not but it is so pigmented. It gives me the look of "I was playing in the snow all day" kinda look... now it is summer... so I don't really need to look like I've been playing in snow. But no worries, I will use the heck out of it once December hits again.

4) Maybelline's Moisture Extreme in Rum Raisin: I know I wrote about this lipstick before but I can't find the post... pretty much I love this lipstick... again for the winter time. I don't know. It gives me a deeper reddish shade and I think I prefer something that lights up my face more. This is a weird choice for me.

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

So, do you guys separate your products like this too or do you use everything all the time - no matter the season. Let me know!

Also, please vote in my poll - I really want to know what you guys have been gravitation towards when you go shopping for make up.

Lately, I've been going lipstick crazy! I think after the WnW lipsticks though, I am done for a while :) Usually when I go shopping and nothing catches my eyes, I tend to look at the blush and bronzer section more. Don't know why... because Lord knows I have way too many!

Thanks for reading!

Rimmel Moisture Renew

Rimmel lipsticks, in general, has gotten a lot of rave from many bloggers and youtubers. As I read the various reviews on Makeup Alley and such, my curiosity is sparked and I was determined to purchase one of my own and write my own review. As luck would have it, these babies were 50% at Walgreens a few weeks ago and I jumped immediately to the opportunity.

I picked up: Dusty Rose.


Now don't be fool - the actual lipstick is a lot darker than this picture. How I would describe this lipstick is a neutral but has a bit of a mauve and rosy pink undertone (more mauve though). I would say that this is one of those things people call: MY LIPS BUT BETTER (MLBB) color. So, I would say that it is darker than some of you - especially people with fair skin.



Flash // No Flash

See how my lips look a bit darker w/ no flash? The actual color comes off more creamy than glossy. Even though I would probably use this for everyday, I think it is more suitable for special events/nights and would look great with minimal make up.

So does the title "MOISTURE RENEW" hold up to it's name? YES, I think this lipstick is really moisturizing. It glides on easily and I think it is very creamy. As far as pigmentation goes, I can imagine some other colors being sheer but buildable. I chose a darker color so I didn't see any flaw in pigmentation. But I definitely love that it has SPF 18 and is moisturizing. Staying power on the other hand is not the best - it is actually just normal. I think it would last 1-2 hours on my lips if i don't eat and drink.

The only thing that I don't really care much for is the packaging. I don't like the purple and the lipstick container seems a bit flimsy. Now, I have had 2 other Rimmel lipsticks before - both in much older containers; one in Birthday Suit and one in Latino.


This picture shows Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Birthday Suit
I have to say that compared to the older lipstick, smell and taste are pretty much the same. I am okay with the smell but I hate the taste. Overall, not much of a change from the old lipstick except for the fact that it is a lot more moisturizing and has a bit more color selection.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that yes, I think I would reommend this lipstick. I think I might try other shades myself. I think I was mostly disappointed with my choice since I was hoping to buy a new summer shade. Also, I noticed that I already have similar looking lipsticks...


Maybelline's Moisture Extreme Rum Raisin // Rimmel Moisture Renew Dusty Rose


L'Oreal Color Juice Stick Chai Love You // Rimmel Moisture Renew Dusty Rose


Chai Love You // Dusty Rose // Rum Raisin


I guess it is pretty easy to see that Dusty Rose is the darkest one. Well, at least I hear that Sunset is a good dupe for a MAC lipstick so I that might the next shade I try.

Let me know which shade you like best from this line! I would love to hear your opinion.

Products Worth Mentioning of 2009

I know everyone's been doing this... but that is to be expected since 2009 is OVER! I really love these items - have recommended a bunch of times - it is time to put it all together!

1) Best Face Products:


>> Rimmel's Natural Bronzer in Sunlight and Jane's Blushing Petal. These might seem like dull colors but they really make my life easy. Awesome colors that make me look natural but awesome!

2) Best Nail Polish:


>> Rimmel's Lyca Wear in Posh Trash and Milk Chocolate. These needs base & top coats BUT they are awesome colors - especially Posh Trash. I think I wear that the most. BTW - horrible picture. The flash pretty much killed the colors.

3) Best Make Up Brushes:


>> Ecotools Blush brush, Coastal Scent's Pink Kabuki, and ELF eyeshadow brush. I use the blush and kabuki brush almost everyday... pretty sure EVERYDAY! And I use the eyeshadow brush every time I use eyeshadows. I mean, these are important, necessary, irreplaceable and CHEAP!

4) Best Lip Gloss:


>> CO Bigelow's Pink Tint - LOVE THIS STUFF!! Have this stuff everywhere I go with me. Will use this up like nothing else and probably will buy a million more! To bad they are a tad bit more expensive than what I am used to. But no worries, take advantage of the Semi-annual sales!

5) Best Eyeshadow Palette:


>> ELF Eye Brightening Quad in Butternut and Drama. Okay, these might not be the BEST to you but they are the BEST to me! The only thing is that they might not be as blendable as I would like (the darker shades in Drama) but that is all the complaint I will give. I love this stuff. ADORE them.

6) Best Eye shadows:



>> NYX has the best singles as far as drugstore goes. LOVE the texture, the pigmentation, the blendability (not a word), adorable packaging. Ha ha - BUT, one thing that I hate about these shadows is the staying power. They have crappy staying power even w/ a primer sometimes. Eh well - they are only $3-5 though.

7) Best Lipsticks:


>> Maybelline's Moisture Extreme are amazing! I have 3 shades - Rosy Glow (my first lippy EVER!), Rum Raisin (I'm starting to fall in love w/ this color all over again(, and Winsdor Rose (which is in the picture!). High pigmentation, amazing moisture, and great color options. I doubt that you guys reading right now haven't tried these yet... but just in case you haven't set your lips on these little beauties yet, GO GET SOME! And YES, these are the best in my collection.

8) Best Fragrances:


>> Anything Bath and Body Works is fantastic. So I would say the products from that store in general. From left to right - PS I Love You, Pink Grape Fruit, Cherry Blossom, Sea Island Cotton, Twilight Woods, and Japanese Cherry Blossom (which I kinda want the perfume version - also, best selling fragrance from BBW... correct me if I am wrong).

9) Most Disappointed Products of 09:


>> This doesn't fit w/ the rest but I had to say something about this line. Jane oh Jane oh Jane... I wish you came out w/ newer and better products yet you completely disappointed me. SIGH!

10) Best Youtube Beauty GURU:


>> There are so many amazing GURUs out there but MichellePhan's videos are to unique, artistic, and just beautifully done. It isn't just about the make up and I think that is just fan-frickin-tastic!

There ya go... Hope you guys enjoy. I would LOVE to hear what you have to say... or what your favorite products of 2009 are.

Posh Trash - a Review

Everywhere I look, people are blogging about their nail polishes and I have caught onto the nail polish bandwagon! I'm also having a lot of fun w/ it!

When I was younger, I didn't like to do my nails much - a lot of hassle plus I didn't really know how to apply it. I still struggle w/ application but I'm getting much better! I have about 6 nail polishes right now and 4 different brands so I decided just to get a color from each brand and review the nail polishes for the brush, the consistency, color pay off, and so forth of those brands.

Today I will talk about Rimmel's Lycra Wear 10 - Mineral Nail Polish in Posh Trash


** I have short nails b/c I play the piano

Brush: 5/5 - Love the brush! Truly helps w/ application and even makes things go faster :D Great for beginner to use!

Polish Consistency: 3.5/5 - A little bit thicker than I would like but nothing too annoying. If you don't have enough on the brush, it'll get really dry at the top but if you have too much it'll create a thick coat. Just have to work w/ it. For this color, I only need one coat for a great opacity!

Drying Time: 5/5 - This thing dries fast! But again, I would wait 5-10 minutes before washing hands or anything.

Color: 5/5 - The picture shows it a bit lighter but it is a really beautiful pearly grayish, purplish, and champagne-ish color... it is really unique I would say. I LOVE THIS ON MY TOES! I have it on my finger nails right now but it looks gorgeous on my toes too! This color can be build up to be really dark!

Color selection: 3/5 - The website shows 21 colors but usually at the store, I see about 10 shades available. The big thing is they only make pinks and purples... I don't see any blues or greens or any vibrant (stand out) colors.

Overall: 3.5/5 - Yeah, I would definitely buy another color in this brand but the color selection makes it hard for me to choose. I always walk by the collection and never thought much about it because the colors don't reach out to me! Although I've seen a youtube GURU talks about the color Milk Chocolate so that might be my next color. Again, one of those products that doesn't hurt to try... :)

Have a good day~

How To Be Nude - Lesson 1

First, you clean, moisturize, apply, and gloss!

What am I talking about - ha ha - silly me! I mean nude lips~ Thing is a have a big old problem of having really pigmented lips so its kinda hard to wear lipstick - in general. It always makes the color look different - in some cases - BAD!

But I've found two ways to achieve a decent nude-lips look w/out killing my wallet.

My star products:



NYX's Circe - it is like a lip pigment erasing tool! Don't need a lot of it because it is REALLY pigmented(but you do need to blend this out w/ your finger or it'll look cakey and fake). It is creamy but not so much moisturizing so do major moisturizing underneath first. It is matte so make sure you wear a gloss over it or else you'll look DEAD. But this is a good nude lipstick just because it will make your lips a skin color or really light. But I really should reinstate that you should wear it w/ a gloss - preferably a darker gloss!


Lips w/ Circe and NYX's l/g in Beige (pictured below on the left)

Again, I like to use the gloss to manipulate what kind of nude lip I'll have - a peachy tone, a golden/bronzy tone, or a pink tone (like the one above). These are glosses that I would generally choose.

Rimmel's Birthday Suit - one of my first lipsticks. That's why it's lost it's shape at the top :) Even starting out, I was working for a nude lip. This doesn't have the same pigmentation as Circe but I like that I can just wear this for an everyday subtle nude lips. It gives me a glossy glow and lightens up my lips just a bit so that it looks natural. I don't know, I just like that it does for my lips. Also, it is moisturizing and no need for gloss. It's already pretty the way it is (I feel though this has been re-formulated since I last purchased it).



** Doesn't do the lipstick justice! -_-;

** The real nude lips ;p


EEK, so many pictures of lips! YECH. I really thought this was gonna be short post... eh well.

HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY~

a quickie before bed

Why does my title sound dirty?? Bet you didn't think of it that way until now that I've mentioned it... ha ha ha... I'm evil.

ANYWAYS - it's late and I guess I'm just ready to sleep now - and dream of sweet make up!

But, this post is about my foundation routine. So during the winter time, I didn't really notice any problems w/ my skin (besides a pimple here and there). But now it is summer time (and it gets HOT here!) and I notice some problems....

AHHH MY PORES ARE GINORMOUS!! During the winter time, I have dry skin but now during the summer time, I have dry-combination skin. DISGUSTING!!! So, now my biggest thing is to cover up my pores and make my skin look more smooth and nice.

Big pores just makes your skin oozy w/ oil and also blushes really exemplify them - and let me tell you, I LOVE BLUSHES! I'd put blushes on before I put on eye shadows or liners (I would put on mascara before it).

So, the points of this post is what I've been doing to cover up my pores and "mattify" my t-zone.


First, moisturize!!
Second, I put on the Rimmel primer (I'll talk more about this later... it's too late!)
Third, I conceal my under eye circles w/ the Maybelline concealer. I actually really like this concealer.
Fourth - THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS! I use the Revlon Mousse Foundation and YES! It minimizes my pores (instead of making them look bigger!) and really pretty matte finish! WHEE!! I adore this foundation but BEWARE - this is not a foundation for dry skin people. I can only use this during the summer now but I wouldn't dare put this on in the winter time. I actually did that for a little bit and it really magnifies dry spots. So be careful w/ this. But I've been really satisfied w/ this little baby! It doesn't feel cakey at all but it gives beautiful coverage.
Fifth, I just put some sort of powder on it. I think I mostly used my Wet n Wild pressed powder really lightly to set.

NOTE: I only put these things on my t-zone where I need it the most. I don't do my whole face.

Here are some pics... I don't know if this helps but I didn't edit anything at all on these pics. Trust me though, it really helps w/ the pore problems.


- Flash makes me so much tanner than I am... but I am pretty tan right now - one reason why I don't use Bronzers during the summer.


Hope this helps some of you!