A Few of my Favorite Lipsticks [Guest Post]

Today's guest post is courtesy of Willow of Willow's World where she talks about beauty and makeup related topics, sharing helpful swatches and her favorite products. Be sure to show her some love! 

I love wearing bold lip colours, I don’t know when it happened but I suddenly started to love wearing bright pinks, deep vampy colours and sometimes I’ll even try out a bright red or two. This never used to be the case, when I was 15 I never wore anything on my lips but I used to focus on my eyes with brightly coloured eyeshadows and thick, black eyeliner.

From L to R: Revlon Super Lustrous Black Cherry, Revlon Lip Butter Candy Apple, Boots 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick Bolshie, Art Deco Dita Von Teese Collection Shade 645, MAC Amplified Girl About Town, Revlon Balm Stain Smitten and Crush. 

I remembered to keep these in the same order as above!

The Art Deco lipstick is definitely the most pigmented lipstick I own but it felt a bit dry when I was swatching compared to Black Cherry which seemed to glide on but still be really pigmented. Candy Apple was the first Revlon Lip Butter I fell in love with after being slightly disappointed by Peach Parfait and Cotton Candy, it’s the perfect sheer red for me. Mirror Shine lipsticks are meant to be sheer but they add a little bit of colour and some shine to your lips. Perfect for when you’re scared to try out a new colour and want something sheer.  My lovely fiancé bought me Girl About Town from MAC for my birthday last year since I’d been lusting after it for so long. Revlon Balm Stains are my favourite lip products because they’re a stain and balm combined, I also like to apply them under similar coloured lipsticks for that extra bit of colour. I swear Revlon aren’t paying me, they just have the best lip products!

I slapped on a bit of Candy Apple in this picture to show you why I love it so much, please excuse the fact I still fail at putting lipstick on. Do you have a favourite lipstick? Or maybe you’re more into lipgloss or balms. Leave a comment below telling me what you love.

You can follow Willow on Bloglovin' here!

Mor Cosmetics Haul & Review

I first stumbled upon Mor Cosmetics while aimlessly flipping through a magazine. One of the features had a collage of items that every woman should have in their purse, and Mor Lip Macarons was pictured. 

Now, for those of you who don't know, I'm a complete sucker for packaging. I'm also a complete sucker for macarons and beauty products. Needless to say my curiosity was piqued to put it mildly, and I instantly went to their website to take a look at what else they offered. It was love at first sight. Everything matched my aesthetic perfectly and I had to try some of their products out for myself. I know, I shouldn't put so much stock in packaging, but everything was just so pretty!

The Belladonna Hand Cream was the purchase I was most apprehensive about. Scented lotions are tricky for me because if it's too heavily perfumed I get a headache and never ever want to use it ever again. As much as I love LUSH, I've stopped buying their body and hand creams for just that reason. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the subtlety of this scent. I didn't find it to be the least bit overpowering, in fact it's a very delicate fragrance -- sort of like a floral baby powder, which doesn't really sound quite a appealing as it is.

 The cream itself is rich and moisturizing, it actually keeps my hands feeling soft longer than my medicated Eucerin cream. I love that it has the added effect of making me feel like I'm pampering myself by using it, even though it's actually really good for me. 

I got a little tin of soap as well, called Little Luxuries Marshmallow Soapette which sounds freakin' adorable. I haven't had a chance to actually use the soap yet... I almost don't want to because I don't want to ruin it. I'd rather keep it in tact as decorative soap for when I finally have an apartment with a decent sized bathroom. 

I can tell you that it doesn't really smell like marshmallow, which is fine with me because I mostly selected this one because I liked the shade of pink (I know, I know I'm terrible.) Right now tin and soap are decorating the top of my dresser. I like them better there. 

And of course, the reason I ventured to Mor Cosmetics in the first place -- the lip macaron. I'm sad to say, I was initially disappointed. It was much tinier than I was expecting, and for some reason I was expecting (through no basis in reality) for there to be a tint of color to the formula, but it's just clear. The tin itself also feels a lot cheaper than I was expecting. The tray of the product moves around a little bit in the container, and you can see below what the inside looks like.

 $10 felt like an excessive amount of money to pay for basically a peach-scented tin of Chapstick. My opinion changed when I tried it, however. It's remarkably moisturizing, even decadent feeling. I am an absolute Chapstick addict but I only need to use my lip macaron once for every maybe 5 reapplications of Chapstick that I'd have to do otherwise. The soft feeling lingers for a long time, and tastes delicious too. That said, buying another one seems unnecessary for the price tag so I'm perfectly content with just having one in my collection. 

Overall, I'm completely pleased with my order and I can't wait to purchase from Mor Cosmetics again. I'm especially interested in trying their scented candles and gorgeous perfume, which I think I may be getting in the near future!

3 Easy NYFW Beauty Trends to Try

I mentioned a few days ago about how I feel like I've been stuck in a beauty rut lately, doing more or less the same look every day without experimentation. Which is extremely frustrating for me, because in High School I used to be known for playing with my eyeshadow and lip color almost on a daily basis. I definitely have the technical skills to be able to do crazy looks, it just seems like I haven't like taking any risks lately. Talk about squandering.

Looking at some of the beauty trends from New York Fashion Week, I've been gathering inspiration for really simple ways I can breath new life back into my look. Maybe take some baby steps toward finding my adventurous spirit again? Thankfully, most of the popular looks this season are easy enough that you don't have to be a professional makeup artist to pull it off (which is good, because I'm only freelance!)  

So, I've gathered a couple of my favorite no-fuss looks from the runway as well as the products you can use to achieve them. Trust me, this is just as much for you as it is for me! 

(Source)

 // 1. Anastasia Brow Wiz // // 2. Benefit Brow Kit // 3. Smashbox Brow Tech //4. Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color //

Bold eyebrows can be a daunting trend to try because of their intensity, but done right it can be both versatile and flattering.

To dip your toe into the trend, try using a small angled brush and eyeshadow to lightly darken you brows. You can get a convenient kit with everything you need to achieve this look, or you can simply use eyeshadow and brushes you may have at home. Alternatively, for a more dramatic look use a felt-tipped liquid pen to give your brows a strong shape.

A tip I've picked up to soften up bold eyebrows and still appear feminine is to wear a pair of fake eyelashes. Keep your lips a pale pink or nude color to draw even more attention to your eyes.

(Source)

// 1. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil // 2. Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes // 3. MAC Fluidline // 4. Tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner // 

Bright eyeliner is a quick and easy way to add some excitement to your beauty routine. All you need to do is a quick swipe of color and add some mascara. 

Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil is a personal favorite of mine, I have one in five different colors! They're long-lasting and the color is rich and intense, so they're perfect for creating this look. I'm also a big fan of MAC Fluidline, but because it requires the use of a brush it takes a little bit more skill to apply and may not be best for beginners.

For fun ways to play with this trend, try doubling up on cat eyeliner in two different colors or using the liner above the crease or your eyelid instead of the lashline.

(Source)

// 1. Benefit High Beam // 2. Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight Powder // 3. MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft & Gentle // 4. MAC Vanilla Pigment //

One of my favorite ways to quickly get ready for class in the morning is to use a highlighting powder to brighten up my face. My "miracle product" for this is MAC's Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft & Gentle, which I recently blogged about in this post. I use a big, fluffy angled blush brush to dust highlighter on my cheekbones toward my hairline, my eyelids and down my nose and lips for an instant facelift. 

A cool trick to give yourself an all-over glow is to mix a small amount of reflective pigment like MAC Vanilla in with your foundation. If you don't have any pigment, you could also  scrape a small amount of eyeshadow to create the mixture as well. When I do this, I either keep the rest of my makeup as natural as possible or pair it with very subdued eyes and bright lips for an unexpected pop of color. 

I hope you're inspired to play around with your beauty routine, let me know what you try! 

This post has been submitted to IFB Project #83: The Best Beauty Trends from NYFW 

Current Beauty Favorites

// Covergirl Clump Crusher // Too Faced Perfect Lips Lipliner // Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette // Yves Saint Laurent Silky Sensual Lipstick // Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain // MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Soft and Gentle //

I've been making an effort to do my makeup everyday. In the past, with an 8AM class that would have been absolutely out of the question but I've got it down to the point where with a few products I can look passably presentable in 5-10 minutes. MAC Soft and Gentle mineralize skin finish especially has been a savior, I brush it onto my eyes and cheekbones over a little tinted moisturizer and instantly look like I could possibly be awake. 

Covergirl's clump crusher is another product I've been fawning over lately. I was a big fan of Covergirl's Lash Blast and have probably gone through at least 50 tubes of it in the last few years, and Clump Crusher is similar, but the brush is much easier to maneuver into the corners of my eyes and to get bottom lashes. One coat looks great too, it's perfect for getting ready quickly in the morning. 

Despite having amassed a pretty huge collection of eccentric makeup like orange lipstick, I'm finding myself drawn towards neutrals and more traditional looks lately. I might have to challenge myself to go outside of my comfort zone soon before I get stuck in a rut. 

What are your favorite beauty products right now? Tell me in the comments!

Another True Blood Beauty Collection!

I am a ginormous True Blood fan, so I was super excited when I found out via InStyle that HSN will be releasing a beauty collection inspired by the show which will be available on August 9th. Tarte already made a relatively small True Blood collection which I did check out at Sephora, but in all honesty nothing seemed unique enough that I felt I had to have it.

The HSN collection appears to be much more extensive than Tarte's, and I'm especially intrigued by the Forsaken perfume (pictured below.) I'm a total sucker for a pretty bottle, and this one looks completely different (see: less girly) than anything else I already own. The scent is described as "... a very sexy fragrance that any woman can wear anytime when she wants to feel ultra-feminine, yet sultry." 

The collection also includes a set of nailpolishes inspired by Sookie, Jessica and Pam for $25. Though they come as a set, I'm the most interested in "Bad Blood" (on the left) inspired by Pam.

 I would have preferred a girlier route with Pam, one of my favorite things about her style is how seamlessly she switches between leather-clad dominatrix-esque outfits to pink cardigans and pencil skirts and I think a homage to her versatility would have been a better reflection of her character. One of her best quotes is "I don't know what it is about me that makes people think I want to hear their problems. Maybe I smile too much. Maybe I wear too much pink." A hot pink polish with a bit of a twist -- black glitter maybe -- would have been way cooler in my opinion. 

Fun fact: Pam is actually my spirit animal. 

The center polish is called "Strange Love" and is inspired by Jessica, and I rather like the color choice. Jessica is as sultry as it gets, but she's also a bit goofy and naive. A sexy but not too dark color seems perfect. And then there's "New Flesh" inspired by Sookie. It's beige and bland. Fitting. 

Are you a fan of True Blood? If so, how do you feel about the color choices for the characters? Tell me in the comments! 

{Image Credits: College Candy, InStyle)

Top 5 Favorite LUSH Products

In my previous post How To Get Perfect Skin, I talked about some of the products I use in my skin care routine. Many of my favorite products are from LUSH Cosmetics, a company that specializes in organic beauty and bath products.

I've tried a variety of  products from LUSH since I discovered the shop tucked away at the Macy's in Mayfair Mall about three years ago. While some of the cosmetics I bought I certainly could live without, a few others became absolute essentials which I wanted to share!

1. "It's Raining Men" Shower Gel 

($9.95-$27.95)

This was allegedly a limited edition product the first time I bought it, but seems to have been added to the permanent line. With good reason, because this is the single best smelling body wash I have ever used ever. It smells like honey and flowers and candy and rainbows, and the scent lingers ever so subtly even after I'm out of the shower. I have the 16.9 oz. bottle and it's lasted me well over a year. The "best if used by" date has already passed, but I haven't noticed any difference in the smell or quality yet. 

2. "Breath of Fresh Air" Toner

($8.95-$19.95)

The concept of toners seemed sort of gimmicky to me at first, but being the adventurous gal that I am I decided to take the plunge one day and get a small bottle just to try it. I love the way it makes my face feel, especially during the Summer or after a shower. It's a nice, tight, clean feeling which makes my skin noticeably more supple. LUSH toners also come in little tabs, but I've only ever tried the bottled variety because I'm lazy. 

3. Gorilla Solid Perfumes 

($10.95)

I have a few of these, so it's difficult to pick just one to showcase. I use Lust the most though, it's a rich and musky scent; very sexy. I love these because of how convenient they are. I keep one or two in my purse at all times in case I need a quick dab of something delicious smelling while at work or out and about. You only really need one quick little dab too, the scent is extremely concentrated so one tube will last you an eternity. I also suggest Vanillery and Karma. 

4. "Buffy" Body Butter

($11.95-$22.95)

A body exfoliant and moisturizer all in one, Buffy is tons of fun to use and leaves your skin feeling silky soft. After I'm done washing in the shower, I rub this all over and then massage the crushed up nuts and beans into my arms and legs to scrub away dead skin cells. I've found that one of the 3.3 oz bars will last approximately 10 uses, and using it two or three times a week will suffice. It's especially effective for smoothing out freshly shaved legs and preventing itching. I've also tried King of Skin, but I prefer Buffy. 

5. "Dark Angels" Facial Cleanser 

($26.95)

Dark Angels is the holy grail of skin care for me. It was unavailable for a few months about two years ago because they were changing the formula around a bit, and I literally checked back every week to see if it was in stock. In the mean time I had used Herbalism instead, but it just wasn't the same. The nice thing about LUSH's cleansers is that there are different varieties to suit different skin types, so while Dark Angels is perfect for me, another might be better suited to your needs. I like Dark Angels because of the sugar scrub (can you tell I'm all about exfoliation?) and because of how well it cleans out difficult blemishes like black heads. In stores it's possible to purchase whatever size or dollar amount you want, I usually get about $15 worth at a time and it lasts me several months. 

Have you ever tried any LUSH products? What did you try and what did you think? Tell me in the comments!

Soft Cat Eyes

I haven't been wearing eyeshadow as much as I used to, and when I do it's been mostly neutrals. When I was in high school I used to love experimenting with color on my eyes, I think part of it was because I felt like I was too big to dress up nicely so my way of expressing myself was through makeup. Now that I've gained more confidence with my body though, I've stopped experimenting so much with my makeup.

I'm trying to ease myself into being more bold... it's so easy to fall into a rut when you find a perfect look that you just love. I decided to do some soft eyeshadow today to match my usual winged eyeliner though. it may still be neutrals, but it's a step! 

Eyeshadow: (MAC) Yogurt, Soft Brown, Gesso, Copperplate

Eyeliner: (Hard Candy) Little Black Dress

Blush: (MAC) Stark Naked

Top 5: Makeup Staples

I love the creative aspect of making; playing with eyeshadow color and shapes, bizarre lip color, and even creating casual daytime looks. Like most art forms though, makeup requires a few basics that set the stage for sultry eyes and sexy lips to steal the show. Here are five products that work "backstage" to create the base for all of my makeup looks that I wouldn't be able to live without.

1. Makeup Forever HD Foundation 

$40 at Sephora

I used to use MAC foundation (Select SPF15 formula, and then later switched to Studio Sculpt.) It did the job for a while, but I started to notice that my face tended to look very glossy in photos and that I would feel greasy at the end of the day. I heard good things about Makeup Forever's HD foundation so after my last tube of Studio Sculpt ran out I decided to give that a shot instead. Switching from a gel based formula to a liquid took a bit of getting used to at first, but after I experimented with my application method a bit I fell in love with this foundation and I don't regret my switch at all. My skin appears smooth and clear and most importantly, natural, in photographs and in person all day, and never slimy. 

2. Too Faced Eyeshadow Insurance 

$18 at Sephora

Yet another tale of switching from one product to another, I used to be a member of the cult of Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion for eyeshadow bases. While "UDPP" as it's lovingly referred to among many internet makeup communities is still definitely a great choice for a base, it had some major flaws in it's packaging. Namely, having to cut the damned thing open in order to get half the product. Urban Decay has since switched to a more economical packaging, but I doubt I'll be going back to them. I got Eyeshadow Insurance in a Too Faced gift pack (which are awesome, and usually great bargains. I highly suggest keeping an eye out for them) and I instantly liked the formula better than UDPP which tends to be a bit on the dry side, Eyeshadow Insurance is a creamier formula and I almost never had a problem with creasing or wandering eyeliner.

3. MAC Blacktrack Fluidline Gel Eyeliner 

(Source)

$15 at M.A.C Cosmetics

When applied it looks like liquid, but it's actually a gel formula and it's great for subtle lash-line darkening or dramatic winged liner. What brush you use is a matter of preference, I actually use either a watercolor brush or a lip liner brush depending on what I'm going for, but a small angled brush is a favorite for many people. I love this because it goes on very, very black and you have a lot of control over the thickness of the line. My only complaint is that the jar tends to dry out before I can use all of it. 

4. Too Faced Primed and Poreless Powder

$28 at Sephora

In theater, actors wear tons of makeup so that their features can be seen even by the audience in the back. The foundation used in theater is usually very greasy and can rub off on costumes or melt under stage lights, so they're loaded up with powder to create a barrier between the makeup and... anything else. For daily makeup wear, the same concept is often overlooked which can lead to foundation wearing off as the day goes on. It's amazing what a layer of powder can do to increase the staying power of foundation and eyeshadow and it takes away that greasy feeling that can come with liquid foundation. Too Faced's Primed and Poreless powder is the best finishing powder I've tried, it leaves my skin feeling smooth and has a light diffusing property that erases the shine in photographs. Anyone who currently uses liquid foundation should definitely pick up some finishing powder, trust me when I say that you'll be glad you did. 

5. Covergirl Lashblast Mascara

$6.94 at Target

One of few drugstore products that are by far better than any high brand I've tried, Covergirl's Lashblast has been my favorite mascara for years. Despite having had a few torrid love affairs with some other mascaras, I always find myself coming back to Lashblast. The brush makes sure it never clumps. Ever. Application is smooth and the color is dark and sexy. Unfortunately the large handle makes it a little bit awkward to apply at first, and I usually use a disposable brush to apply it to my bottom lashes because otherwise I end up stabbing myself in the eye. 

What are some staples of your  makeup routine? Tell me in the comments!