Make it last!

Hello lovelies!

My beautiful reader Bernadette spends her days in the classroom teaching the future leaders of our nation. Touching up her makeup isn't an option and no one likes an over powdered cake face. Never fear, my dear! I have some tried and true tips for keeping your face fresh and flawless all day.

It all begins with how you prep your skin. Whether you're dry or oily, the products you use to smooth out your canvas make a huge difference in the staying power of your foundation. I don't necessarily mean using a primer either.

Take a look at your current moisturizer. Now look at your foundation. Are they both water based? Is one oil based? An oil based foundation is going to slide right off a water based moisturizer. These two products must live in harmony. The same goes if you're using a primer.

Powder is a good way to set your liquid or cream foundations and keep it in place all day. You can use either a pressed or loose powder. Loose powders absorb more oil throughout the day and pressed powders provide more coverage.

Layering your products is another way to keep fresh and bright looking all day long. Use a colored cream eye shadow base or blush before putting your powder products on. This will not only prevent creasing but keep your colors true. For lips I recommend using a stain underneath lipstick so even when it wears off there's that pretty just bitten effect left.

My new favorite discovery is setting sprays. Once all my makeup is done I spritz a few pumps all over my face. This has pretty much eliminated my need to blot, powder, and touch up. I just use the cheapy ELF Mist and Set but there are a huge variety that claim multiple benefits.

I know it's been awhile since I've posted so if you're still with me, thank you! I was finally able to travel to the great state of Texas to complete my job training. It's like being back in college again. I'll try to do a few tutorials over the next few days, but I can't wait to get back home. Texas is not for me. I don't like these huge bugs :) Muah!

Smooch me!

Hello lovelies!

Today I have a review of the Cover Girl Lipslicks Smoochies Lip Balm. I walked by these in the store countless times with little interest. Sure, the packaging is darling but the names (ie: "#C u l8r" and "#tweet me") are kind of obnoxious. What drew me in was Ulta's Buy 1 get one 50% off sale, like always. 

I chose the matte red #Tweet Me and the nude pink shimmery #Smooch. #Tweet Me is a gorgeous orangey red color. It's subtle enough for day to day wear. It's one of those "is she wearing lipstick or isn't she?" shades. I love the color and it lasts for hours, even through eating and drinking. 

#Smooch is the most perfect nude color ever for my skin tone. It's fairly similar to my natural lip color but it's frosted. My only complaint actually is the shimmer, and not because it's there, it's the fact that it's fairly large so the balm feels grainy. If I'm not rubbing my lips together it's fine but when I do it's just uncomfortable.

This are great little lip balms to throw in your pocket on the go. They're moisturizing and long lasting without being too shiny and never sticky. I'm going to pick up a few more shades next time I go to Ulta.

Thoughts on this product?

Duped the Dior

Can you tell which eye is wearing Diorshow?

Hello lovelies! Finding a suitable drugstore replacement for the beloved Diorshow mascara has been incredibly difficult. I hated the product myself and had to force myself to wear it to get an idea of the formula. After considering several different mascaras I've decide that the one most like the Dior is the Cover Girl Flamed Out mascara. Funny enough, I don't like that one either. By the way, Dior is on my right eye.

Even though I don't care for this Cover Girl mascara, I still think it's better than the Diorshow. It lengthens and volumizes where the Diorshow only separates and provides a tiny bit of volume. The main difference between the two is the Cover Girl is a wetter formula so I recommend wiping the sides of the brush off before application.

I think one of the main draws to the Diorshow mascara is the big fluffy brush. This type of wand is meant to catch the lashes and build volume from root to tip. The Cover Girl mascara also has a big fluffy wand but it has an hour glass shape to it. I can't think of any other mascara wand that is shaped in this way, but it helps you get into the corners of your eye and catch all the lashes.

Here's a close up comparison of the two for you. Diorshow retails for $25 and the Cover Girl Flamed Out is $7.99.

August Favorites

Hello lovelies!

I'm back with my favorites from the month of August. It's been ridiculously hot and humid here in Minnesota, so the theme has been long wearing and natural looking products. There's a mix of new products, trusty go to's, and old loves I've rediscovered. Let's get to it!

Benefit the POREfessional PRO Balm $30

This was recommended to me by the girls at Ulta when I was looking for a mattifier. It has a slight pigment that evens out skin tone and Aloe to help soothe redness. I've tried a lot of primers over the years and this is the only one I will pay this kind of money for. It does exactly what it says it will: minimizes pores, keeps me matte, and helps lock makeup in to place. I just repurchased yesterday after 4 months with daily use.

e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation $6

I just did a full review on this so I'm not going to spend time gushing over it again. You can read all about it here: http://havemascarawt.blogspot.com/2013/08/falling-in-love-all-over-again.html

Nyx Stay Matte but Not Flat powder foundation  $9.99

This powder is so finely milled it feels like silk on the skin. Most often I use it to set my oily t-zone. It never cakes and keeps me matte all day. I wore this on its own one day when I went to Ulta and all the girls raved about how beautiful my skin looked. They couldn't believe it was a drugstore powder foundation. I've hit pan and will need to repurchase soon.

My pup Reagan also adores this product. She says the compact is sleek and shiny and the powder smells good!

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer $15.00 (full size $30)

This is a mini size of the highly popular Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer I picked up from the sample containers at Ulta. It comes with a cute little kabuki brush which I promptly lost. I love this bronzer for contouring. It's not too orange or warm on my pale skin and there is absolutely no shimmer. Plus, the smell, mmmm yum! Just like chocolate. It's very likely I'll purchase a full size when I run out of the little one. 

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer $24

You may be thinking, "$24 for a highlighter?! You're crazy!" Um, duh! While there are plenty of amazing drugstore lumanizers out there, there isn't one exactly like this one from the Balm. It is so pigmented you barely have to tap your brush in it. The texture on the skin is smooth and silky. The color is just gorgeous. It's a gold toned highlighter perfect for summer.

Swatches of the Mary-Lou Manizer (left) and Chocolate bronzer (right) on my baby hands.

e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set $3

Makeup setting sprays seem to be really popular in the beauty community right now. A lot of the Youtube gurus are using the Urban Decay b6 spray, but I haven't been able to talk myself into spending the money on it. I ordered this in my last elf haul to give the whole concept a go and I am in love. This keeps my makeup in place all day and controls the oil on my face. If I find myself looking a bit cakey from the powders, just a few spritzes of this helps everything settle and look natural. It's very refreshing and soothing. I definitely recommend this.

Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils Babydoll $10 (full size $30)

This mascara is in-freaking-credible. I've always been anti-high end mascaras but this one talks the talk and walks the walk. I got the travel size just in case I hated it but unfortunately for my pocket book I love it. My lashes look so full and long and doll like. It holds a curl all day, doesn't flake or smudge and is so dark. One of the few things worth the price.

Physician's Formula 2 in 1 Eye Booster Liquid Liner $10.99

I also have a full blog post touting the awesomeness of this product you can read here: http://havemascarawt.blogspot.com/2013/08/review-physicians-formula-eye-booster-2.html

After a few more weeks of continuous useage, I do think my lashes are longer, fully and healthier.

Mark Whipped Up Lemon Sugar Body Butter $10

I've been using this stuff for years. It smells so delicious. The scent lasts all day so no need to use an additional perfume. My skin is so soft and smooth after use. They have other scents now as well, but this is till my favorite. It feels so luxurious.

That's it for my August favorites! What have you been loving this month?

Falling in love all over again

Hello lovelies!

My friends can attest to you all that I have drawers and drawers full of every kind of makeup you could ever dream of: three in the bathroom and several shelves of the linen closet to be exact. Let's not forget the lip gloss collection that resides in my purse.

I'll admit it. I'm an impulse buyer. Every time I see that big red star with the word "NEW" in big bold letters, it goes in my shopping cart. This is a lot of fun for me because I rarely get bored with my products. However, with this constant influx of stuff, some of my beloved things get pushed to the back and forgotten about.

In this case I'm talking about my E.L.F. Flawless Finish foundation. I wore this almost exclusively for two years. When I started branching out in an attempt to try new things, I didn't repurchase after using up my last bottle. I had a 50% of studio coupon so I ordered another one. You know how they say you don't know what you have until it's gone?

A few days ago, I was running late for work as usual and couldn't be bothered with brushes or sponges to put on my foundation. I saw this sitting on the corner of my vanity and a wave of calm washed over me. Grabbing it, I squirted one pump on the back of my hand before dotting it on my face and blending it in with my fingers. Yes! Fingers! The light creamy formula melted right away into my skin covering my rosy red cheeks with ease.

The E.L.F. Flawless Finish Foundation is $6 and available online, Target, and now Walmart. It's a medium buildable coverage yellow-toned foundation. If you're very pink, you may not find this suitable. No matter your favorite way to apply foundation, this will come out looking flawless and even with minimal effort. I always set my tzone with a powder and never have to worry about this product sliding around or getting oily on me throughout the day. Plus, it has SPF 15! My shade is Porcelain.
I've worn this every day since.

Moral of the story: revisit your makeup collection often. You never know what treasures you'll find on the bottom.


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Mega Effects? Mega no!

Hello lovelies!

Per your requests, I ordered the new Mega Effects Mascara from Avon. I've always been a fan of Avon products so I had high hopes for this mascara. The design of the brush was most intriguing and terrifying. I can't even decide how to describe it to you that makes sense so let me show you.

The flexible handle and "panoramic" brush is innovative, but let's face it, I poke myself in the eye enough with a regular mascara wand. This was worse.

This packaging makes the mascara very messy. The applicator slides into the black pod where the product is held. There are two tabs, one on each side, that you have to squeeze while rocking the wand back and forth. Sounds easy but oh no. I pulled and pulled then all of a sudden whatever jaws that were clinging to it released and it nearly went flying across the room. I managed to hang on but in the process smeared it all over the hand holding the black pod. Ugh.

The applicator holds a ridiculous amount of product. It's wet and thick. I knew if I didn't clean it off my lashes would end up a big clumpy mess. But, in the spirit of giving a true review, I resisted, not that there was anywhere to wipe it off anyway. Well, just my hand.

Cautiously, I approached my eye, nervous for impact. I'm pretty sure I held my breath until the wand rested securely against the base of my lashes. So far, so good. The massive amount of product deposited itself on my lashes, then promptly ran in to my eye. Ow! It took a minute to blink it all out. At this point, I cleaned the wand. Again, I slowly brought the brush towards my now watery eye. At the last minute, I panicked and blinked, poking myself in the eye. I nearly gave up.

Because of the angle at which you approach your face, it's difficult to see where you're actually placing this wand. Avon claims the shape of the wand allows you to get into the corners of your lashes but I didn't find that to be true. Perhaps if you have a larger eye shape it would, but I still struggled. My lashes ended up in 3 clumps no matter how I manipulated the brush to separate them. With the multiple lengths of teeth, you'd think it would do a good job catching and separating, but no. I did clear the excess product off before doing the other eye and still had clumping. I think this formula is just too wet.

The only redeeming thing about this product is that it's great to use on other people. I tried it on my friend, Julie, and it made getting her lower lashes very easy. She didn't mind the mascara and thought it was light weight which is important to her. Just goes to show you, what doesn't work for me may work for you!

I think this is going in my "products I regret purchasing" bag. I'm pretty sure I won't even use this. A rare miss from Avon. Have you tried this? Let me know what you think!

Crease No More! My Favorite Eyeshadow Bases

Hello lovelies!

I don't know about you, but I spend a decent amount of time on my eye makeup in the morning and I expect it to stay looking flawless throughout the day. When I'm working, that may mean running from one end of the terminal to the other, being out in the harsh sun or freezing cold or lifting and throwing bags for 8 or more hours. I don't have time to touch up and reblend any shadows that have decided to fade or crease because I'm a sweaty oily mess.

These eyeshadow primers and bases have been put to the test and I know I can count on them to keep my shadow in place and the colors true for hours. Most of these products can be found in the drug store.

First is the Urban Decay Primer Potion $20

I love this stuff. I use it every day even if I'm going to be using another base. It helps to even out my skin tone and control the oils all day long. My favorite is the Original formula. The others are tinted or have shimmer which can sometimes overpower your eyeshadows.

Next is the Benefit Stay Don't Stray $26

This comes in shades Light/Medium and Medium/Deep. It does double duty as a primer and a concealer. I use this on the lid and under the eye to bright the area before using concealer.

And from the drugstore I have the ELF Eyelid Primer $1

This was the first primer I ever used, and although it's not as good as the Urban Decay primer, it still does a very good job of preventing creasing. The formula is a bit too thin for my liking. I haven't tried their new mineral eye primer. If you have, tell me what you think!

You can use a lot of different products for an eyeshadow base, not just primers. Anything that is sticky in consistency works. The trick is to layer. 

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil $4.49

These little guys rock my world. Milk is by far one of the best purchases you will ever make in your life. It is a stark white color that makes any eyeshadow layered over it vibrant and true. Cashmere and Yogurt are more faves. Seriously. These are amazing. They are kind of a pain to sharpen however and I wish they had a twist up mechanism. The formula is incredibly soft, so place them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before you try to sharpen to prevent breakage.

Maybelline Color Tattoo $6.99

I love Maybelline. I do I do I do. I can't think of a product of theirs I haven't loved, and these cream gel shadows are no exception. The colors are vibrant and smooth and they really will last 24 hours even if you don't set them with a powder shadow. Vegas tested, Brooke approved. They're beautiful on their own or with other shadows.

That's all from me. Do you love these products? Are there any you think I should try? Share with me!

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