Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-place Flawless Wear Concealer | Review & Swatches

It’s lightweight, pigmented, blendable, long wearing, and conceals spots and dark circles with ease. Interested yet? The Estée Lauder Double Wear line has been talked to death in most circles of the online beauty world, and I finally understand why. I picked this up at a Cosmetics Company Outlet while on vacation in Virginia. It has since become my go to concealer for spots. My favorite method of application is actually not the doe foot applicator it comes with; it’s perfectly fine but it applies a large amount in a small area which can make blending a bit messy. Instead I love taking the product from the back of my hand using a RealTechniques Deluxe Crease Brush and pouncing the brush over any spots I have. I’ll go over a few spots, allow the product to set just a little bit, then go back to blend the edges. This helps prevent wiping away too much of the coverage in an effort to blend it out right away. In the end it dries down to a beautiful semi-matte finish. I rarely bother to powder it stays put so well.

FOTD 9.14.14 | Sunday Shopping & A Few New Products

Most Sundays I’m content to go grocery shopping and run my errands bare faced, but this week I had a few products I couldn’t wait to try out.  This week my orders from Hakuhodo and Makeup Geek arrived so I had a bit of a play with eyeshadows, blush, and new brushes.  I went fairly light on foundation since I usually try to give my skin a break on weekends.  The eyes are a very warm, almost orangey brown with my typical half stripe of black liner.  For cheeks I used a warm pink blush and on the lips I used one of my favorite bright lipsticks from Bobbi Brown.  It’s a very easy and quick look that would be suitable for the majority of skin tones.  If you’re darker you may need some darker browns on the eyes but the shadows from MUG are very pigmented so they may work for you after all!

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipsticks | Review & Swatches

Rimmel recently reformulated their Moisture Renew lipsticks as well as introduced more shades in the US.  They claim to “drench lips in moisture” while delivering vitamin-infused color with a glossy finish “at torrential value.”  I have three of the 25 shades for review today.

Honestly, I had a mini party in CVS when I stumbled upon these for the sole reason that the shade In Love With Ginger was finally in my hot little hands.  I had this in my basket in Boots on my last day in London and put it back thinking I could find it at home.  Wrong!  I looked everywhere when I got back and even tried to find dupes with limited success.  I realize it’s just a lipstick, but it was ridiculously irritated at myself for passing it up.  Fast forward to a few months later perusing the drugstore display and finding a product I thought I’d completely missed out on.  If any one was watching my face when I picked up that lipstick I’m sure they would have thought me insane… Happy anecdotes aside, let’s get on with the review!

Recent Haul: Foundation, Skincare, Lipstick, & More!

I took a look at my makeup stash trying to decide what to review next and realized that since starting my blog I’ve done quite a bit of hauling that I might not have otherwise done. I love seeing what others have picked up recently so I thought I’d share! This is quite a lot of stuff, but I’ve collected it over the past 2-3 months so the damage isn’t quite as bad as it looks. Let me know if you see anything you’d be interested in seeing a review in any of the products shown. I should have quite a few concealer reviews coming up seeing as I’ve been on a bit of a kick lately.

Dry Skin Saviors

Plagued by dry skin?  These products helped me get the moisture back!

In the past few weeks my skin has been feeling progressively drier, something I’m rather unfamiliar with.  I kind of always assumed my skin would stop producing teenage amounts of oil as I got older, but since I’m only starting to reach the mid 20s range it’s caught me unprepared.  It could be due in part to my efforts to quash the hormonal acne I’ve been plagued with in the past few months, but a lot of what I do is spot treating so logically it shouldn’t dry out my entire face.  Right?  *crickets chirping*

In the past week I’ve been especially diligent in choosing products that are more suitable for dry skin.  I had one particularly miserable day where I went to work and my face felt so dry all day all I could do was pray for the end of the day so I could run home, remove makeup, and slather on a thick layer of the richest moisturizer I could find.  After that day of miserable discomfort I’ve also put a few of my previous favorite makeup and skincare products on hold.  They’re much more suitable for the combination/oily skin I was used to.  I’ve certainly felt more comfortable in my own skin since I changed up my routine.  Sad to see the old favorites go but I’ll have them on hand if my skin has another bipolar phase!

After a good bit of research and taking advantage of free Sephora samples, here are the skincare and makeup bits I would recommend for anyone battling dry skin in the midst of summer.

FOTD 7.23.14

When the boyfriend goes out of his way to say, “Damn, you look great today.  I think it’s the makeup,” you know you’ve got a keeper.  I pulled out the ol’ Naked palette while I was getting ready for work and I guess I picked a winning combination!  Nine times out of ten my makeup is quite soft and neutral, very work appropriate, and this is no exception.  Of course when I got to work the air conditioning was malfunctioning so the effort to look presentable hardly seemed worth it… it’s quite impossible to exist as anything other than a sweaty mess in the middle of summer in Florida with no A/C.

But I digress.  In the end the A/C was fixed and everyone stopped sticking to their desk chairs.  A happy ending for all!

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush | Review & Swatches

These beautiful blushes have been out for ages, but I thought I’d throw my two cents into the mix of opinions!  I am a self proclaimed blush addict. My first piece of makeup was a blush, and the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes are neck and neck with NARS for my favorite blush formula of all time.  When these were first released, all of the shades were matte.  Due to their popularity the color range has been expanded and now includes some lovely shimmery shades as well!  The three I have for review today are the original matte formulation in the shades Exposed, Natural Beauty, and Blissful.

Maybelline Color Elixir by Color Sensational | Review & Swatches

Right off the bat I would like to state how seriously impressed I am by this formula!  They are without a doubt the most hydrating gloss I have ever tried.  The moisture really sticks around, even after the high shine wears off.  They also give a good dose of color and I think the lipstick bullet shaped packaging is rather clever.

There are 20 shades total.  There’s a nice color selection available with several neutral pinks, some brights and some darker shades.  I wish they would add a few more peachy pinks to the line; their Celestial Coral is not what I would call coral although it is a nice color.  The shades don’t always translate on the lips the same way they look in the tube either.  The two I have for review today are 065 Caramel Infusion (left) and 080 Captivating Carnation (right).

Quick Tip for Drying Makeup Brushes

If you spend a fortune investing in quality makeup brushes it’s worthwhile to take good care of them.  One essential is to wash brushes regularly, but another is to dry them properly.  When the bristles of the brush are wet you want to lay the brush either flat or at an angle so water doesn’t drip into the ferrule (the metal bit between the bristles and the handle) of the brush.  When water gets up there it can break down the glue holding the hairs in place and it can also rot wooden handles.  Plenty of websites sell fancy stands and contraptions  to hold brushes upside down to ensure that all water drips away from the ferrule and reduce drying time.  However, if you don’t feel the need to invest in another gadget there’s a simple trick you can try to help your brushes dry properly!

What’s (Always) In My Makeup Bag?

I always love these sorts of “what’s in my makeup bag” type posts so I thought I would do a variation and show you my staples that always have a place in my makeup routine.  These are the first products I reach for every time I do my makeup.  I don’t always go for a full face and use everything shown here, but I’ll most often choose a subset of these items to perk up my skin and eyes.  Along with each product I’ve given a mini-review as well 🙂