Face of the Day

I had all of my makeup laying out this morning and thought it might make a fun post. Here is everything I wear to work every day. Nothing super crazy and I am still on a "no foundation" kick for everyday.

Revlon PhotoReady Concealer (on any spots)
MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Medium
Revlon ColorStay Under Eye Concealer in Light
Cover Girl Soft Mink Blush
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze
Naked Palette Naked on Brows with Angled MAC Brush
Naked Palette Toasted on Lids
Naked Palette Virgin on Brownbone and Inner Corner
Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

There you have it. It's about a 5 minute face using some of my all time favorite products. Creates a very light, natural look but one that covers anything I want hidden and lasts all day. One of my go-to looks for sure.

What is your daily makeup routine?

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

photo courtesy of maybelline.com

Favorite. Mascara. Hands. Down.

The only way I can describe how much I love this mascara is that it's just amazing. It has a super effective "spoon" wand, great formula, actually produces results, does not clump and does not smudge.
What else can you ask for??

This mascara claims to produce 300% more visible lashes. I don't know how true that is, but the shape of the wand alone hits lashes that most mascara's miss. The formula is such that you don't wait to reapply in between coats. Just build up to the look you like, without waiting for it to dry. It doesn't clump, no matter how much I use.

One of my favorite things is that the spoon wand can create really natural looking lashes if I apply lightly or really dramatic lashes if I go a little heavier. I can wear it all day with no smudging or flaking and it doesn't make my lashes feel dry or brittle.

It really does "lengthen" my lashes and applies so evenly that it is the closest I've come to "false" lash effect with a mascara.

I can't believe I waited so long to try this mascara. I will definitely repurchase and this will be a staple mascara for me.

Liplicious Lip Gloss "Blush Glass"

I got this from Bath and Body Works when they were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale a few weeks ago. It said it was a stain and I was intrigued. The girl at the counter warned me to use less than I thought I would need because in her words "it turns neon pink". Eek.

 

So I got home, tried it and was kind of less than impressed. It's a very "wet" lipgloss. It just kind of sat on top of my lips...not very pleasant. It also has a very sweet fake berry scent and taste. It reminded me of how the Strawberry Shortcake dolls smelled when I was little. Fake plastic berry.

It does change color, but definitely not to "neon pink". It kind of warms up from a sheer pink to a solid medium pink and stains for a while. It does come off after about an hour, so not really a long term stain effect. But, fun all the same.

gloss when first applied

after about 3 minutes

gloss wiped off, stain remaining

Overall, you get what you pay for. I would't repurchase because I don't like the smell or the feel of this product personally. But, I do think that the color change and staining effect are pretty fun.

C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve

Rose Salve. Sounds great, right? I was so disappointed to not love this.

I am a big fan of rose scented things, so long as it's realistic rose and not grandma rose. The packaging on this is adorable, so vintage looking and cute. It was only$5.99 at BBW so I grabbed it with a few lip glosses.

When I opened it it looked so pretty, a rosey tinted salve perfect for lips, elbows, cuticles. However, as soon as I touched it...blech. It's this sickly sweet scented pink vaseline like goo. It feels far too "oily" to be moisturizing. I've tried it a few times on my cuticles and it literally does nothing. It just makes my fingers greasy and doesn't soak in. It just rubs off on anything your fingers go near.

I think the idea behind this is great and if they worked on the scent and the formula a little more they could have something awesome. But this is just a fail for me as it is right now.

I think I'll stick to my Burts Bee's cuticle cream.

Revlon PhotoReady Concealer

I'm so excited about this.

 

I have been having a good skin month. The first in a long time. I have been using the Clinique Even Better serum and moisturizer (full review coming soon) since my birthday and have actually been noticing results. Enough so that I haven't been wearing foundation much lately. Which, is crazy to me. I always wear foundation. But with the help of this little concealer stick, I haven't needed to cover my face up in a few weeks.

I love this concealer. SO MUCH. I love the tube, it's sturdy and clean. I love that you can click the product up and click it back down when you aren't using it. I love that it gives amazing coverage on any spots you want to cover but never looks cakey. It stays all day and really does cover so well. It's very pigmented, this is only 1 swipe.

 

 

I generally apply this to a few hyperpigmentation spots I have on my cheeks from pregnancy and around my nose. I apply MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural with a fluffy brush and use my ColorStay under eye concealer and instant perfect skin. AMAZING.

NYX Every Color Imaginable 78 Color Palette

I found NYX!! Not a big deal to a lot of people but NYX is not sold anywhere close to where I live and the nearest Ulta is over 2 hours away. So when I saw some NYX products at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago, I was SO stoked.

I immediately grabbed 2 of these, one for me and one for our neice for Christmas. I was really interested in trying the quality of the NYX eyeshadows more than anything else, so this gave me a lot of different choices in one cute package.

I like that it's a smaller black case and it is travel friendly. Once you pop it open, all of the more "wearable" colors are on top, you can then slide each side open and it reveals 2 more rows of brighter colors on each side and then on the bottom you have 6 larger eyeshadows that are probably the most basic shades. Each eyeshadow is about dime sized, very similar to the Coastal Scents palettes.

I have to say, I am super impressed with the quality of this. It's got a few matte shades that I really liked, most shades are shimmery or satin finishes and there are a few sparkly shades. The majority of the shades are buttery soft, super pigmented and have little to no fallout whatsoever. I find myself using the top right side the most, the neutrals.

I don't particularly love the neon/brighter colors. They aren't really colors I'd ever wear but they also have a little more fallout and aren't as pigmented as some of the more neutral shades. But, for a fun once in a while look it's nice to have pretty much every color you'd want in one little black box.

I got mine at TJ Maxx for $12.99 but it is still available on the NYX website for $25. I will definitely be purchasing more NYX eyeshadows based off the great quality of this palette.

MAC "Syrup" Lipstick

Syrup was my very first MAC lipstick. Suprisingly, my husband actually picked it out for me without even knowing how popular this shade is. I get why it's so loved, it's an amazing color.

I'm not a massive lipstick fan, I like glosses or lip butters for every day wear but sometimes a girl needs a gorgeous lipstick.

Syrup is a neutral, rosy shade. Not pink or tan, just a beautiful and flattering neutral. It's a lustre formulation so there is no sparkles or glitter in Syrup, which I think adds to the wearability of this color. It just comes off glossy and so pretty. It's a perfect "my lips but better" shade.

 

This is not a lipstain or anything and the staying power is honestly not that great. If you eat or drink, you will need to reapply. However, the great thing about this shade is that as it wears off, it just blends into your lip color so you don't get a strange wear off pattern.

If I could have only 1 MAC lipstick, Syrup would be it. What's your favorite MAC lipstick shade? Have you tried Syrup?

Drugstore Dupe for MAC Bare Study Paint Pot

My love for the Maybelline Color Tattoo's is no new thing. I think you all know how great I think they are. Well, when I heard they were releasing some newer colors I was out on the hunt for them.

Much to my suprise they are HARD to find where I live. Everytime I go to a drugstore I looked for them, but wasn't having much luck until I went to Walmart a few weekends ago. I saw this little Maybelline display peeking out from behind an end cap of mascaras, and VIOLA. All the new Color Tattoo's were there, hidden behind another display!

Anyway, I knew for sure I wanted Barely Branded as soon as I saw it. It's an exact dupe for Bare Study by MAC which I love the color of and use quite a lot but I'm not in love with the formulation. The color of both is a creamy, champagne with golden sheen. It works great as a highlight color on your browbone, on your inner corner of the eyes, as an all over shade on the lid with a nice neutral crease color or can also be used lightly as a highlight on top of your cheekbones. I grabbed Barely Branded and another Bad to the Bronze because I was out and use that almost every single day.

When in the pot, Barely Branded is identical to Bare Study. Texture wise, I prefer the Color Tattoo. The paint pots from MAC can feel a little "greasy" to me, or at least Bare Study does and I have a hard time getting Bare Study to apply smoothly. With Barely Branded, it applies perfectly and sets nice enough to wear on it's own or works perfectly as a primer under colors like Naked Lunch (MAC) or Sin (Urban Decay). Swatched on the hand, the golden tones come out more on Bare Study making it almost a yellowy gold and Barely Branded is a little more neutral, which I think I prefer.

Have you tried any of the new Color Tattoo shades? Any you really loved?

Maybelline "The Rocket" Volum'Express Mascara

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I've had my issues with CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara. It used to be my favorite drugstore mascara, but I had a run of 3 or 4 tubes that were super dry when I bought them. So I've been switching it around trying to find something I like.

Mascara is one of those things I almost always purchase at the drugstore because I don't use them for more than 2 months. I toss them after that, just for hygenic reasons. It's on your eyes, it needs to be clean. So it's not worth it for me to spend more than $8 on a tube of anything i'm tossing after 60 days, right?

I tried several different L'Oreal mascaras but experienced "smudging" with all of them. I thought it was my under eye concealer, but the mascaras smudged even with no other eye makeup on.

 So...I decided to try The Rocket mascara from Maybelline in Blackest Black. Guess what? It's like an even better version of the Lash Blast. Same kind of brush which I love because it gives you super precise lashes that don't clump. It's a great brush for applying several coats of mascara because it lenghthens everytime you pull it through your lashes. It reminds me a lot of Lancome Hypnose that way.

I really love the formulation. It's just wet enough to be easy to work with but it dries and stays put! I tested it out on a snow day over the weekend. 12 hours on the slopes and an hour in a hot springs pool did nothing to move this mascara but it removes easily when I wash my face. I am a hardcore fan of this stuff!

Have you tried The Rocket yet?