February Favorites

1. Paul Mitchell Extra Body Root Boosting Spray: I was really impressed with this product. On it's own it does okay, but if I mix it with either a mouse or gel...I have amazing volume!

2. ShortSexyHair Hard Holding Gel: I love using this when I don't want to blow dry my hair straight. I just put a dime size amount in my hand (I have very short hair), rub my hands together, then scrunch my hair. Then using the lowest heat on my blow dryer, I

run warm air all over my head while I toss my hair. It makes my hair come out really pretty.

3. Redken Full Frame 07: This is a volumizing mouse, and it's probably the best one I've ever used (and I've tried ALOT). I just love the way it holds my style and gives me volume without weighing my hair down.

4. Sigma Brushes F45 (kabuki) and E40 (blending): I finally got Sigma brushes!!!!! I've been wanting some for a long time, but have never broken down and bought any, but this month I did for a Valentines Day gift for myself and I'm so glad I did! They're amazing! I plan on doing a full review on all the bushes I got but I had to include these two in my favorites. The F45 makes my Mac MSFN look flawless and gives me more coverage and the E40 is great for applying concealer. I never want to apply concealer with my fingers again!

5. Benefit High Beam: I got this product last month and I've been really loving it. It's a great highlighter. I like using it as a highlighter or mixing it in with my moisturizer.

6. MAC Eye Kohl I Get No Kick: I bought this in January also and I love using it on my lower waterline and lower lash line. It makes my eyes pop and since it's such a light color, it's hard to goof up with which is great for me because I always mess up when putting any color on my lower lash line.

7. Last but not least, one of my favorites this month as been Bright Eyeliner. I was feeling pretty blah last month about makeup so I made myself wear ridiculously bright eyeliner a few times a week as a pick me up and I forgot how much I love colored eyeshadow! I usually go to neutrals but colors are fun! The palette I'm showing is from Stila and unfortunately you can't get it at Ulta or Sephora anymore (which is funny since this just came out in December), however I looked it up online and you can buy it online. Just go to Google Shopping. But this is the palette I've been using all month for my bright eyeliner. I just get a brush wet, then apply a thick line at my upper lash line.

What have you been loving this month?

Cheers!

Face Off: Face Powders

Top: Benefit Get Even in Light

Bottom Left: MAC Studio Fix Powder in N3

Bottom Right: MAC Minineralized Skin Finish Natural in Light

I took this picture a while ago when I was putting together blog ideas, but I have used up all of the Benefit powder and the MAC MSFN (and repurchased a new one). I stopped using the MAC Studio Fix powder and am Back-to-MAC-ing it.

To compare these products...........

Benefit Get Even is more of a blot powder or setting powder. It does okay controlling oil, but tends look cakey, and I noticed it made my skin look dry in places I didn't even realize may be dry. I like that it had a mirror and the inside of it was actually big enough that I kept a wedge sponge in there that I changed every week. I also liked that it was yellow based so it helped with midday redness. However, overall, I wouldn't purchase it again or recommend it. In the end, this was just your basic blot powder.

MAC Studio Fix Powder is a powder foundation. I've blogged about this plenty of times, but I don't really get along with liquid foundation (although that hasn't stopped me from trying to find one that I like), so I tend to stick with powders. Surprisingly though, this powder made my skin oily! More oily than some liquid foundations. It was really weird. The coverage and is great, but after two hours, I was an oil slick. And, unfortunately, it broke me out :( but most MAC foundations do. I personally would not repurchase, but I think it may work for some people so I would tell a friend to check it out.

MAC MSFN: Holy Grail for sure! Love, love, love this powder. This is a pressed mineralized powder and it is amazing!!!! I plan on doing an updated foundation routine soon, but basically, this has sheer to close-to-medium coverage (depending on what you apply it with. I personally like applying it was a Kabuki brush which gives me more coverage). I notice I don't get as oily throughout the day when I just have this on which is great! Two down sides: it doesn't last all day, so I do reapply if I'm going out in the evening, and no mirror. If this came in a mirror I'd keep one in my purse and one in my makeup drawer, but since I need a mirror for touch ups I use a blot powder that has a mirror. Still, definitely think everyone should check this out!

What are your go to powders?

Have a great week everyone!

Cheers!

January Finds: Hits and Misses

Hits and Misses blogs are going to sort of be like a monthly haul video. I'm going to go over products I bought or tried out for the month and tell you which ones I thought were hits and which ones weren't.
Diorskin Nude Fresh Glow Makeup: Hit. I stopped in at Macy's earlier this month to look at a Dior powder. I wasn't impressed with it, but the sales woman talked me into trying this product. I really like this foundation. It truly looks like my skin only better. It goes on quite sheer, I think it would be easy enough to build up, but I like a sheer coverage so I didn't try that. This looked great with MAC MSFN over it. It did look a little oily after two hours, but once I touched up it looked (almost) the way it did when I first put it on. And surprisingly, my face never looked that oily after that. I still had to touch up one more time in the course of the day, but my face didn't look oily. The product itself is a hit, however the price is not. It's over $40 and I haven't decided if I want to spend that much money on it so I'm looking at trying some cheaper foundations and seeing if they're just as good.

Benefit High Beam: Hit. I've been wanting this product for a long time yet I always manage to talk myself out of buying it. Well I'm glad I didn't do that this time. I LOVE this highlighter. It's so much prettier than any powder highlighter I've ever used. It's very easy to use a light hand with this. I would recommend blending this with your ring or pinky finger though, because when I use another finger, the product ends up over a larger area then I wanted (if that makes any sense?). I'm still playing with this trying to find the best way to use it, but this really was a good purchase.

Lancome Definicils: Fail. I got this as a sample from Sephora, so I'm glad I didn't waste any money on it. Basically this is a fail because when I put it on, it makes me look like I have only 5 lashes. Not pretty.

On a trip to MAC, I picked up these four products....

Pinch O' Peach: Hit. This is a sheertone blush. I talked about this in my January Favorites blog, but basically it's a great pink color for my skin tone and brightens up my face. I really like it.

Rubenesque Paint Pot: Fail. I've heard so many great things about this paint pot but it didn't do anything for me. I have Painterly for an eyeshadow base, so since this color doesn't really show up on me, I didn't see any reason to keep it. It went back a few days later.

Eye Kohl in I Get No Kick: Hit. This product came out with one of the January collections. I haven't been following the MAC collections much but January had three new collections come out so I was curious enough to check them out. This is the only product that stood out to me because it's so different. It's like a champagne highlighter in stick form. I like putting it on my lower waterline and lash line the most.

Face and Body: Fail. This went back as well. I actually really liked this product when it first went on. It looked a lot like Diorskin Nude. But this has no staying powder at all. I was oily after just 1 1/2 hours, and this does not look good after touching up. Plus, after about five hours, there was no makeup left on my face.

Let me know what you guys think of this type of blog. Should I continue to do this each month?

Cheers!