Beauty Favorites of 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2012 has come and gone…..boy does time fly! It’s been a crazy year for me; I never knew that raising a little kiddo would be so tiring and amazing at the same time. Having a child has changed my spending habits for beauty/fashion items; instead buying lipgloss, I have been buying formula and diapers buy the truck load. I feel like I didn’t purchased as many new products this year but the ones that I did have turned out to be some of my favorite, most used products of the year. So with out further ado, here are my favorite beauty products of 2012!

Skincare

• Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel ($35) - Contains Glycolic & Salicylic Acid to exfoliate and clarify. It’s oil-free and leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean.

• Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation Moisturizer ($45) - Lightweight, Oil-Free and melts into to the skin to hydrate beautifully plus contains multiple anti-aging ingredients. Only wished it came in a pump!

 • Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Eye & Lip Cream ($49) – I use this morning & night, super lightweight, I feel my dark circles have lighten a bit and definitely feel like I look less fatigued in the eyes.

• Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Anti Wrinkle Serum ($62) – I use this a night to give my skin a little moisture before bedtime. Contains Hyaluronic acid and Grape-seed Polyphenols to smooth and correct wrinkles. Got to start early to combat those wrinkles!!

 

Makeup

• Foundation – Chanel Perfection Lumiere ($54) B10/B20 – Love Love Love this foundation! I get even coverage every time and it lasts all day…it really is perfection.

• Concealer – Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer & Corrector ($23 each) Sand/Light Bisque – Use together really covers my dark circles and other skin imperfections.

• Powder – Rimmel Stay Matte Translucent Powder ($3.99) – Heard about this powder on Pixi2woo’s YouTube channel. Extremely affordable & works great to set my makeup.

• Blush – Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed ($25) this is my favorite color currently but I love the formula of this blush and have it in multiple colors. Lasts all day and this is a perfect everyday nude shade.

• Bronzer – Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Bronzer in Daydream ($45) – Been my go to bronzer for about 2 years now. I love it, can’t say anything but good things about it.

• Eyeshadow – (tie) MAC Carine Roitfeld Desert Camouflage Palette ($44) & Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette ($50) – These both are excellent neutral palette perfect for everyday use. You can create tons and tons of look using just these 2 palettes.

• Eyeliner – (tie) Eve Pearl Black Pearl Liquid liner ($29) & MAC Teddy Eye Kohl ($15) I use these separately but also together to get the perfect liner. The EP liquid really gets to the bottom of the lash line to create a really thin line. Teddy is just an overall great everyday liner.

• Mascara – MAC False Lashes ($20) doesn’t clump or flake. It lasts all day and makes my lashes longer and fuller than any other formula I have tried.

• Lip liner – No. 7 Lip liner in Nude ($7.99) best basic lip liner, almost exactly like Sublime Culture from MAC. I use this everyday.

• Lipstick – Burberry Lip Cover in Nude Rose ($30) Great neutral color, I have been using a lot this fall in winter as my go to lipstick for everyday.

• Lipgloss – (tie) Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy ($22) & Chanel Sweet Beige Glossimer ($29.50) both of these shades look great on their own or over lipstick. Love both formulas.

 

Well there you have it, my favs of 2012. Hope everyone had a safe New Year Holiday and I can’t wait to see what new goodies 2013 will bring! See you next time…

January 2011 Favorites

The first month of 2011 has flown by and its already on to the next month. Here is what I have been loving in the last month.

Maybelline Great Lash BIG mascara – Love the formula and brush of this mascara. Great drugstore buy!
MAC Clam Mode Tinted Lip Conditioner – this lightly tinted balm smells great and leaves my lips smooth and hydrated.
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit – the skin under my eyes has been a little dry during these past few months and this concealer is great for concealing dark cirles and hydrating skin.
MAC Creamsheen Glass in Deelight – great go to color, medium pink that is easy to throw on with any look at any time. I love the creamsheen formula.
MAC Eye Pencil in Coffee – definitely my go to eyeliner, I like the deeper brown color rather than a true brown liner.
mark Powder Buff Natural Skin Foundation in Nude Skin – similar to MAC Studio Fix powder but a little less heavy when applied. It lasts a long time and sets my foundation perfectly.

Favorites: December 2010

Happy New Year! I'm back!  It’s 2011 and I am ready to start the New Year out with a bang. My goal with my blog is to really showcase my favorite products from new cosmetic collections and feature my oldies but goodies products. As with every New Year comes a new year’s resolution. I have a few resolutions this year: Eat healthier, get a solid workout routine down and try not to spend too much money on my makeup addiction…..well see if that one actually sticks. Anyways….here is what I have been loving in the past month….

 Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara – I love the brush, formula and packaging, overall great mascara.

MAC Ladyblush – this creamy, super pigmented blush gives a nice fresh pink flush, applies lovely with a MAC 109 brush on the apple of my cheeks.

MAC Cherish lipstick – great deep peachy nude lip color and looks amazing paired with my next favorite product…

MAC Goldensoft Lip Gelee – I have never tried out the MAC lip Gelee formula and I really like it. It looks super shimmery and sparkly in the tube but looks soft when applied. Love it!

MAC Subculture Lip Pencil – Great go to neutral lip liner, I have been using it every single day recently.

Sleek Storm i-Divine Palette - I learned of Sleek makeup through various British beauty bloggers and I love how amazing their i-divine palettes are. The colors in this palette are awesome and super wearable and have been using it quite often the last few weeks.

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer – really enjoying the coverage and long lastingness of this product. I have been using NC 20 to cover imperfections and NW 20 to cover under eye circles.

Spring Collections I am looking forward to:

Estee Lauder Wild Violet
Bobbi Brown Pretty Powerful palettes
Clinique Milly Collection
MAC Peacocky
Chanel Les Perles de Chanel

October Favorites!

Where does the time go! It’s already November so that means it’s time to gear up for the holiday season. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here in a flash.  Here is what I have been loving in the month of October, Enjoy!

~bareMinerals Flawless Definition volumizing mascara - Love the volume & length this mascara gives.  One coat does wonders!
~Chanel Mat Lumiere foundation - Great coverage, long lasting & doesn't break me out.
~MAC lipstick in Hug Me - Oldie but a goodie, a beautiful neutral fleshy pink. Goes with everything!
~NARS Pure Matte lipstick in Bangkok - love the formulation and color. Great to throw on whenever.
~Chanel Glossimer in Petit Peche - this gloss looks beautiful on its own and over top any lipstick. I found myself using it almost everyday this past month.

What products are you loving right now??

Favorites: Face Brushes

Here are some of my favorite brushes right now for applying foundation, bronzer, blush, etc.

L to R: 109, 168, LY02, F50, 129, F25

Louise Young LY02 – Large foundation brush

This brush is the largest foundation brush that I have been able to find and I love it! The larger brush allows for an easy flawless application of cream or liquid foundations.

Sigma F50 – Duo Fibre ($16)

This brush is excellent if you want that “airbrushed” finish look using liquid foundations. This brush is also great for applying powder foundation and highlighters.

Sigma F25 – Tapered Face brush ($19)

This large domed brush with a tapered tip is great for contouring/blending the face with contour powder, blush or bronzer.

MAC 129 – Powder/Blush brush ($34)

I use this brush for applying bronzer mostly but it is also great at applying blush or face powder.

MAC 168 – Large angled contour brush ($32)

This is my main blush brush. I use it to contour and apply color to the apples of my cheeks.

MAC 109 – Small contour brush ($32)

This brush is great at applying cream products such as foundation and cream blush. When using with foundation you really get smooth coverage because you can really buff it into your skin.

All of my favorite brushes can be found at maccosmetics.com, sigmabeauty.com and louiseyoungcosmetics.com

September Favorites

I can not believe it is October!  I don't know where September went. I feel like just yesterday it was my birthday (the end of August). So I guess it's time for my September favorites.  Here they are....
1. Edward Bess Secret Desire Ultra Slick Lipstick and Endless Love Deep Shine Lipgloss

This has been my favorite lip combo this month because it looks great with my skin tone and almost every look I wear. It enhances my natural lip color perfectly and I have been wearing it constantly! See my original review here.

2. MAC Sublime Culture creamstick liner

This is probably my favorite lip liner of all time.  I don't often use lip liner but when I do I always reach for this one. It's super creamy and glides on with ease. For me its the perfect neutral pink liner.

3. MAC Shale eyeshadow

I never really thought much about this color until recently. Shale is a plummy mauve color that is great for when you want to wear purple but don't want to go really bright.  It's a very soft and wearable color.

4. MAC Blushbaby Sheertone powder blush

I love MAC Sheertone blushes. Sometimes heavily pigmented blushes can look really ruddy on me, so the sheertone blushes are right up my alley. I can get build up the color with these very easily and Blushbaby is a nice neutral pink beige that looks great on all year round.

5. Benefit Badgal Plum

I received this as a deluxe sample at Sephora. I love the Badgal Black, so I decided to give this color a try.  It's a burgundy plum rather than a purple plum.  The color is very subtle when applied and really warms up your lashes. It looks great with golden browns/bronzes.

WANT List:

YSL Rouge Pur Couture in Rouge Bergamasque & Rose Carnation
Chanel Holiday Collection (especially the eyeshadow quad, it looks gorgeous!)
Estee Lauder Holiday Collection
Edward Bess Bare Rose Deep Shine Lip Gloss
MAC A Tartan Tale Holiday Collection
Rouge Bunny Rouge – too many products to list, I want it all!!

Favorites - Eye Shadow Brushes

I owe all my makeup skills to my brushes. They are like my little babies.  With the help of great eye shadow brushes, you can create the most flawless looks. Here are the brushes I can't live without.

1. MAC 217 - Blending Brush $22.50

2. MAC 219 - Pencil Brush $24.50

3. MAC 239 - Eye Shader $24.00

4. MAC 266 - Small Angle Brush $19.50

5. Sigma E70 - Medium Angled Shading $9.00

6. Sigma E35 - Tapered Blending $9.00

What are your go to eye shadow brushes??

Favorites: Cream Blushes

I have always been a powder blush kinda girl. Having combo/oily skin, I never really had an interest in trying cream blushes because I thought they would be greasy on me. That all changed when my local MAC artist used one of their cream blushes on me during a run through for my wedding. I never realized how long lasting and dewy looking cream blushes could be and from then on I was hooked. Since then, I have accumulated a few cream blushes that I really love and use all the time. Here are my favorites….

NARS Penny Lane, MAC Ladyblush, Jouer Petal, MUFE HD Quickie

MAC Ladyblush blushcreme ($18.50) was the first cream blush that I ever purchased and I love it. MAC blushcreme’s are very pigmented, so a little goes a long way. Ladyblush is a beautiful cool pink with a cream finish, no shimmer here. It leaves a rosy, healthy glow when applied on the apples of the cheek. I either use my fingers or my handy MAC 109 brush to apply.

 

 

MAC Ladyblush

 

Jouer cosmetics is a brand that I first read about in various fashion & beauty magazines. I purchased a few of their products a couple years back and have loved mostly everything I have gotten. One of the standout products for me is Jouer’s Cheek & Lip Tint ($20) in the color Petal. Petal is a soft rose pink with a soft shimmer finish. It’s almost not even a shimmer but a sheen. The formula isn’t super pigmented so you don’t need to worry about using too much and it’s very blendable. I keep this in my handbag for on the go cheek/lip touch ups! If you have a chance you should check out Jouer’s website for all their great products. (www.jouercosmetics.com)

Jouer Petal Tint

I received a deluxe sample at Sephora of Makeup Forever HD Microfinish blush in #6 Quickie. MUFE released this new blush formula. This is a cream formula that comes in a pump form. Quickie is a salmon coraly pink that is super pigmented with a cream finish. One thing about this packaging is that you need to be careful and not pump out too much product. Since it is so pigmented you only need half of a pump. I have swatched it unblended and blended. This color is a little bright, but once it is blended, you get a nice peachy pink flush that lasts and lasts.

 

 

MUFE HD Blush in Quickie - Left swatch Blended out

 

The last of my favorite cream blushes is from NARS in the color Penny Lane ($26). This is a cream to powder blush with a sheer cream finish. Penny Lane is a soft nude pink color that is perfect for my NC25 skin. I love using this color when I do a strong smokey eye because it gives the perfect pinky nude color to the cheeks that doesn’t compete with your eyes. The cream to powder finish is nice because it doesn’t feel sticky at all. It almost has a silky feel when you blend it in.

NARS Penny Lane

As you can see Penny Lane is very light nude and is the lightest of my cream blushes. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my favorite cream blushes and if you have any suggestions on one's I should try, let me know! Talk to you soon!