Showing posts with label makeup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label makeup. Show all posts

Sunday, April 15, 2012

March Favorites

Hello Lovelies,

I have been keeping my makeup relatively simply this month since the weather has really been warming up here so here are my belated March favorites. To start off with, I picked up a Flo Refillable Fragrance Atomizer. I hate having to carry around a full sized perfume with me in case I need to spruce up my scent during the day; with this refillable atomizer, I can mix fragrances and fill it up whenever it runs out. I have really enjoyed using it this month and mixing fragrances together.

My next favorite is the Lavanila The Healthy Body Butter in Vanilla Lavender. The pure vanilla scent is my favorite but the vanilla lavender is a close second. The body butter itself has a consistency between a normal lotion and a traditional body butter; it is thicker than a lotion but thinner than a body butter. It absorbs into the skin relatively quickly and leaves a faint scent on the skin. I have been trying to use up my all of my various lotions and body butters this month so this will probably be the first of many lotions included.

I switched back to my HG Laura Mercier mineral powder foundation since it is a little lighter and more natural looking than my MAC Studio Fix powder. I have the mineral powder in the color Tender Rose, which is currently a little too dark for me but if I blend it down my neck you can't tell. For me, this is my go-to foundation because it gives a natural finish and makes my skin look absolutely flawless.

I picked up the Sephora Professional Mineral Powder #45 brush and I absolutely love it with the Laura Mercier mineral powder. It is less dense than the Sigma kabuki brushes so you can apply a lighter layer of foundation to give a more natural finish. I find that I need less product when I use the #45 and I can build up the foundation to a higher coverage where I need it. I have been using a lot less foundation and have almost stopped using concealer altogether (except for under my eyes).


My next favorite is actually a skincare product; it is the Caudalie Beauty Elixir, which is a moisturizing toner/face spray. I use it everyday after I wash my face and before I apply my moisturizer in the morning and before I go to bed. Occasionally I will also use this during the day if my face is feeling dry or irritated. This has a relatively herbal smell, really a mixture of mint and rosemary for the most part. The scent is relatively strong until it dries so this may be off-putting for some people. That being said, if you can get past the smell I would definitely recommend picking this up because it has really made an improvement in my skin; I usually have some hormonal cystic acne but with this that has really cleared up for the most part.

My lips have been very dry and flakey this month so I have been using the Smith's Strawberry Salve all the time. I apply it when I put on my moisturizer in the morning and at night, as well as using it as a base for my lipsticks or whatever lip product I'm using that day. It gives your lips a nice rosy glow without really looking like you're really wearing anything on your lips. It smells delicious but I don't think it really has a taste as far as I am concerned.

I have been really lazy with my makeup this past month so I have been loving Tarte Amazonian Blush in Exposed. It is a gorgeous nude that I have been using as a blush/bronzer combo by using an angled blush brush to apply it to the contours of my cheeks and just a dusting on the apples of my cheeks and temples. It gives a natural flush without looking fake or orange. The pigment is great and I have a feeling more Amazonian Clay blushes will be making their way into my collection in the future.

My last favorite is from Arbonne, specifically the FC5 line, and is the mattifying powder. It is a green powder and it works wonders to leave your face looking matte and flawless. The green helps to cancel out any redness in your skin and even out your skin tone.  I always have at least two backups on hand because you do have to order it either online or through an Arbonne representative so it can be a bit of a pain to get your hands on but it is well worth it in my opinion.

So that's it for my monthly favorites. So what are your favorites from this month?
xoxo



Thursday, March 29, 2012

Haul: Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and Ray-Ban Wayfarers

Hello Lovelies!


I hope you all are well. I was at the mall today to go to Sunglass Hut and pick up a pair of sunglasses since my Marc Jacobs aviators broke again while I was in Chicago last weekend. I ended up purchasing the original Ray-Ban Wayfarers in the brown tortoise with polarized lenses.

Typically, I ended up stopping at Sephora on my way out of the mall since I am somewhat addicted to shopping there. I have been on the fence about the Naked 2 palette since I have the original Naked palette, as well as tons of neutral MAC shadows. Most of the reviews online say that if you have the original, you really don't need the second one so I have been debating purchasing it every time I have gone to Sephora since it came out. I finally caved today and bought it (obviously haha) and I am actually quite happy with it. If you don't have many cool toned neutral eyeshadows, this is a great buy to start off with or to just add to your makeup collection. That being said, if you already have the original or you don't want to splurge on it, you really aren't missing out on much. As always, the shadows have an amazing consistency as well as pigmentation. Urban Decay eyeshadows have my favorite formulation other than NARS. There are swatches all over the place online so I am not going to post my own but I will link a few of the posts from the lovely Christine at Temptalia below, as well as the links to where you can buy the palette and the sunglasses.  The palette also comes with a double ended blending and shader brush and a sample-sized Naked lip junkie lipgloss. The brush is great for on the go or travelling since it fits right in the palette. I really like the lipgloss and I am thinking about going back to Sephora and purchasing the full sized gloss (just what I need - another lipgloss haha). I am really happy that I finally picked this up. You shouldn't have any trouble finding this in store but if you do the link is below.

Also, you may have heard about Urban Decay's new customizable eyeshadow palettes that are being released. The concept is similar to the MAC palettes in that you can pop the pans into the palette without much hassle. However, the MAC palettes can hold 15 shadows and the Urban Decay shadows can only hold 6. I have not been able to get my hands on one of the palettes just yet since they are not available anywhere except online (or at least my counters don't have them yet). The palettes are $18 and come with a matte neutral shadow, called Walk of Shame I believe. Overall, I think the palettes are a good idea but if you want more bang for your buck go with one of the Naked palettes or any of the other more colorful palettes because a filled customizable palette will cost you between $108-126 for the palette and 5 to 6 eyeshadows, depending on whether or not you keep Walk of Shame in the palette. You are getting less than half the product in the Naked palettes (they come with 12 full-sized eyeshadows, a brush, and either a lipgloss or a mini Primer Potion) for more than twice the price. If you already have a bunch of UD eyeshadows, you can depot them so that they fit in the new palette but otherwise I would invest in one of the other palettes instead.


Hope this was helpful!!

xoxo

Links:

Wayfarers: http://www.ray-ban.com/usa/sunglasses/rb2140/902-57
Naked 2: http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P302916&searchString=naked%202
Temptalia: http://www.temptalia.com/urban-decay-naked-2-palette
http://www.temptalia.com/urban-decay-naked-2-palette-swatches-photos-reviews
http://www.temptalia.com/urban-decay-naked-1-vs-naked-2-palette-dupes-comparison-swatches

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Travel Makeup Bag: Long Weekend

Hello Lovelies!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am going to Chicago this weekend so I thought I would share with you what I am bringing. I always overpack so for some of you this may be way too much but I always want to have a variety of products so I have options depending on what I will be doing. To keep this short, I am just going to do a quick list. Hope you find this helpful!


Benefit Porefessional primer
MAC Studio Finish concealer in NC15 (blemishes) and NW20 (under-eye)
MAC Studio Fix powder in NC15
Bobbi Brown creamy concealer in Porcelain *
Bobbi Brown correcter in Light Bisque *
MAC powder blush in Pinch O' Peach
MAC paint pot in Painterly
MAC eyeshadows in Omega, Mulch, Naked Lunch, All That Glitters, Espresso, and Mylar
NARS eyeshadow in Ashes to Ashes
Urban Decay eyeliner in Stray Dog
Clinique High Impact mascara in black
NARS lipstick in Cruising (holy grail by the way -- "my-lips-but-better" color)
Korres lip butter in Jasmine
Sigma Make Me Classy Travel Edition Brush Set
MAC brushes - 239, 217 (X2)


I have everything in a clear Laura Mercier cosmetic bag that came with the Flawless Face Kit and the brushes in the case that comes with the Sigma kit.

* I am testing out the Bobbi Brown correcter and creamy concealer but I am bringing my MAC concealers just in case I have any problems with the Bobbi Brown ones.

xoxo








    Sunday, March 4, 2012

    Hello!!!

    Hello Lovelies!!

    Welcome to Ladylike Makeup, a blog about makeup, skincare, fashion, and all things girly!!
    Hope you enjoy it!!

    xoxo