December Favorites

Happy 2015 y’all! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday (including those that celebrated Orthodox Christmas last night!) and have enjoyed the new year so far. It’s business as usual for me, and with a new year I’d like to start a new tradition on the blog: sharing my monthly favorites! I know, right, so original, no other blogger has done this before…

December is the perfect month to begin with because I did a lot of product purchasing Black Friday onward, as you saw well in my haul post. I’m still getting through all of those products but that means plenty for me to cover for at least a few months! Without further ado, here are my favorite products from the month of December:

Tartelette Palette: When it doubt for a look, this has been my go-to palette to start if not complete an entire look with. I’ve loved it since I got it. I have no trouble complementing my other palettes with this one, and I love using it in combination as well as all on its own! If you haven’t seen my review yet, click here.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream: It took a while for winter to truly rear its ugly head but eventually it did here in Wisconsin and my skin has been in turmoil ever since. This lotion is my saving grace and I don’t know what I would do without it. It’s a nice, thick cream that dries to a matte finish in relatively little time. I use it during the day underneath my moisturizer with sunscreen, and certainly before bed either on its own or under a thin later of Vaseline when I feel that my skin is particularly dehydrated. I personally get the 16oz tub which will last you forever but it also comes in a 12oz pump version if you’re worried about keeping it sanitary.

IT Brushes for Ulta: Remember how I mentioned that I skipped out on Sigma’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale? These were the reason why. It started simple, with their Airbrush Blending Crease Brush #105, and that’s all it took to get me hooked. In total I now own the You’re Easy On The Eyes Dual-Ended Eye Shadow Brush set, the Live Beauty Fully All Over Powder Brush #211, the Velvet Luxe Soft Focus Sculpting Brush #315, the Velvet Luxe Buffing Foundation Brush #301 and the Velvet Luxe Plush Powder Brush #313. I’m planning on making a separate post about these soon but I just have to say that all these brushes are just so incredibly soft. I mean, the Velvet Luxe part of the line is just divine. I encourage each and every one of you to go to Ulta and just feel these up, I mean it.

theBalm Overshadow in No Money, No Honey. Swatched over bare skin.

theBalm Overshadow in No Money, No Honey: I received this as a “glam” prize on r/RandomActsofMakeup and it really lives up to the hype. It’s a beautiful shimmering gold color that I love using as an inner corner highlight as well as a face highlight. It’s my first product from theBalm and I’m already itching for more!

Swatch of NARS Audacious Lipstick in Audrey.

NARS Audacious Lipstick in Audrey: I had to have this color as soon as I saw it because a) it’s named Audrey, like Audrey Hepburn, so duh, and b) the color is gorgeous and unlike any red I had yet in collection. The shade is described as “red currant”, and is a muted red-plum color that I just fell in love with. It was an easy choice for my Christmas lip color pick. I’ll also be doing another post on this one later, along with the NARS Audacious Lipstick in Grace.

As far as food favorites, I gotta give some shoutouts to…

Seroogy’s Chocolates: Straight out of De Pere, WI, these are some of my favorite chocolates, and they hold a special place in my heart because they too are from Wisconsin but also because one of my fundraisers in elementary school was selling their chocolate bars. At the time, my family lived in an apartment building where my parents worked as maintenance managers, and I made serious bank selling these candy bars to all the elderly people in the building. My boyfriend got me a whole box of assorted truffles for Christmas as well as a package of their chocolate dipped potato chips. I just… he knows me so well, you guys. They’re giving my comfort while he’s all the way out in San Francisco for the next couple of months.

Anything packed with protein: I slacked a lot on my diet over the holidays (shocking, I mean who does that?!) but have thankfully kept up with my new weight lifting regimen. At the end of November, I started the program from The New Rules of Lifting for Women and just recently started Stage 2. After having done so much cardio for so long, it is so nice to fall in love with lifting, and I’m slowly seeing results! The biggest thing that’s going to help, along with maintaining a clean diet, is packing my diet with protein. Whey protein, things like Quest bars, chicken and eggs are some of my besties right now, and peanut butter is my one and only, forever and ever. I’m sure I will slowly gather plenty of protein-enriched recipes that will make their way here to the blog. If you have any to share, please do!

What are some of your favorites from the month? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Until next time, stay well, stay beautiful xx

The Wayne Goss Method + Happy Easter!

Hello everyone! Let me start off by wishing those who celebrate this holiday a Happy and Blessed Easter to you and yours. If you don’t celebrate, that’s okay, just remember that all the candy goes on sale tomorrow so treat yoself!

If you’re yet unfamiliar with what I mean by the “Wayne Goss Method”, quick check out the video below:

The beauties of MakeupAddiction (and I’m sure other beauty subreddits) have been going nuts over this for the past few weeks, and I decided to give it a shot.

It’s a Saturday morning and I’m going into work yayyyyy

Products used:
– Mosturizer: Whatever Target’s version of Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Mosturizer is because I’m cheap
– Primer: Monistat Chafing Relief Powder -Gel*
– Powder: NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder
– Foundation: Urban Decay Naked Skin Shade 3.5
– Concealer: Neutrogena Skinclearing Blemish Concealer in shade Buff (09)
– Mascara: Revlon Lash Potion
*Before you get weirded out that I’m using a Monistat product on my skin, first, IT’S NOT A VAGINA CREAM (even though it’s in the vag care aisle). It’s meant for the inner thigh and bikini area, for chafing, just like it says in the name. Second, it’s been thrown out there as a dupe for Smashbox Photo Finish Primer because the ingredients between the two are almost identical. I’ve never used Smashbox but I was willing to give this a shot because I’m playing around with primers. You may continue.

This is how I started off the day. Had to go into work to help someone feed their cells. Not the best quality photo since it’s the front-facing camera on my phone but I was pretty happy with the results overall. You’ll be able to tell in a photo I post at the end of this that I have some blemishes on my forehead and cheeks. You barely notice them here. I’m still dealing with dry skin recovery from this brutal winter so my foundation isn’t always perfect and I’m struggling with that, but whatever, this looked pretty damn good in comparison to the usual.

A few hours later…

More products:
– Eyeliner: NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker in Carbon Black
– Blush: NARS Orgasm
– Bronzer: NARS Laguna
– Brows: Wet n’ Wild Color Icon brow pencil in Taupe & Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde
– Lips: NYX Butter Lipstick in… Fireball? I think this was Fireball, not Hot Tamale. Still NYX regardless. And then Urban Decay Naked Lipgloss in Streak on top.

I worked for three hours, got lunch at Culver’s with the coworker I helped out, then went to the mall when my dad called me asking hey, want me to bring you home for Easter then take you back tomorrow? The man can’t stand not having his little girl home for the holidays. In total, I was gone for about 5 1/2 hours before I got home and added on all the other stuff. So this photo was taken approximately 7 hours after initial foundation application.

Hey sexy

Ohhh dem brows. Dat wing.

A moment to appreciate my stupid, oily hooded lids

The brows are still a work in progress, ladies and gents. Give them time.

You can probably notice in the eye closeup photos the lovely areas of dry skin I have. And the freaking patches of blonde-white hairs I have all over my face. Overall, though, I’m still pretty satisfied with how my foundation has held up, and my skin still feels nice and not oily, other than my eyelids which I didn’t put anything on since I opted against eyeshadow. (For reference, I have normal to dry skin, with maybe some oilyness in my T-zone. I swept on a little extra powder in that area after putting on foundation just in case.)

And then I went on a motorcycle ride.

Post-dinner, it-was-a-freaking-frigid-ride face.

Again, I apologize for the horrible front-facing camera photo. There was no natural light left outside and I was too freaking cold to care. Wind sucks.

Anyway, obviously the lipstick has faded off which I totally expected it to, but even after my face was battered by the wind for over an hour and a half, things look not all that bad. The foundation did look a little patchy upon closer mirror inspection, but seriously, I was whipped in the face by the wind for almost two hours, what do you expect?

I’m a pretty big fan of this method of application if I’m looking for my makeup to last extended periods of time, albeit through less-extreme conditions. If you haven’t tried it yet, definitely give it a go. I’m looking forward to testing this out more myself.

“That is some really bright lipstick.” THAT WAS THE POINT, MOM.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, a nice pre-church selfie featuring Revlon Lash Potion mascara, Covergirl Clean Pressed Powder in Buff Beige, and NYX Butter Lipstick in Little Susie for some festive color. Since we were on the motorcycle, I had a to pack a small bag to take home with me, so I only brought a couple products back to use. I cared 0% about impressing anyone at church anyway.

My hair also sucks because I showered the night before and then slept on slightly damp hair. Again, 0% caring. Deal with it.

I did a little mini Ulta haul on Saturday since they were doing 40% off some drugtstore brands that included Revlon and Maybelline, so those products may be introduced soon. I also picked up the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge which I’ve been dying to try! I currently use their Expert Face Brush as well as a Beautyblender for applying my foundation. I’ve heard the RT Sponge is as good if not better than the Beautyblender, so I’m super excited to give it a go.

I’m probably going to wait a bit before posting anything. I just ordered a new makeup mirror that will hopefully make practice much easier (I’m currently doing stuff in my bathroom, which works but isn’t the most practical) so I’ll probably wait until that arrives in the mail to do anything. I’m also participating in the Crazylegs Classic 8K next Saturday so this week is all about making sure I’m prepped and ready for that. I’ve only really gotten into running in these past six or seven months so this’ll be my first race and I’m super excited!

Now if you excuse me, there are some chocolate bunnies calling my name.

Until next time, stay well, stay beautiful!