Hey ya’ll!! Today I’m going to be talking about all the things that I’ve been loving this past month. I purchased a bunch of new goodies this month, some I’ve been able to use a good bit to make them favorites, while some I didn’t get a chance to use enough to call favorites just yet. I have been using, and loving, a lot of the same products the past couple of months, so I don’t have a ton of new beauty items to talk about. To make up for the lack of beauty items, I decided to add in a few lifestyle favorites as well. If you like me adding in a few lifestyle favorites, let me know!
Let’s start with beauty favorites first. The first thing, hands down, is the Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Palette. I picked this us during the Sephora VIB Sale and have been absolutely loving it. It’s a great, every day, matte eyeshadow palette. The shades are pigmented, buttery soft, and perform beautifully. I did a whole review and demo on the palette if you want to check it out.
Next up is the Becca Blush in Wild Honey. I have been wearing this blush non-stop since I got it. It’s a warm, apricot shade that’s perfect for Spring and Summer. I love the Becca blushes and want to collect the whole blush line. The next ones on my list to get are Songbird and Flowerchild.
This next product is the one I have used the most this month, and that is the It Cosmetic’s CC+ Radiance Ombre Bronzer. I am so in love with this bronzer, and it is one of the best I have ever owned. I like to wear shimmery bronzers in the Spring and Summer, and was in the market for a new one since most of the bronzers I own are matte. I was unsure of this when I purchased it, but am so glad I decided to bring it home with me. It’s so versatile with the three different shades in it, giving you multiple options depending on what kind of look you are going for that day.
The last beauty product I have to share is the Too Faced Shadow Insurance in the shade Champagne. I own a deluxe sized version, which is exactly half the size of the original. I got this, along with the shade Angel, during the Sephora Black Friday Sale this past December. I have been wearing it a lot over the past couple of months and decided it was high time I mentioned it. What’s great about this, is that it can be worn as an eyeshadow primer, or on it’s own. It is a shimmery champagne gold color that layers well under shadows, and looks really pretty on it’s own. I like pairing this with matte shadows. The shimmer gives matte shadows a really nice "satin glow” that I’ve been really into lately.
Moving on to my lifestyle picks…
First up I have a nail polish, and it is Essie’s polish in Mint Candy Apple. This is not a new product, but it’s new to me. I’ve heard tons of beauty bloggers rave about it for forever now, so I decided it was time I see what the hype was about. I really like the fun, light blue color against tan skin. It really pops and adds a nice pop of color.
Next up I have a candle from Bath and Body Works that was a complete surprise. I really love the Fall candles from them, but haven’t ever found a good Spring/Summer scent until now. The scent is Lemon Mint Leaf, and it smells so amazing. The description says it’s "freshly cut lemon balm and spearmint give a refreshing lift to a blend of vetiver and citrus”. It’s the perfect mix of mint and citrus, and I’m absolutely loving it.
I fell in love with the show Empire this month. The season is already over, so I marathoned it on Hulu. When I saw the initial promo’s for the show, I honest thought it was going to be dumb, but man was I wrong! The music first off, is so amazing, I downloaded the soundtrack and have been listening to it on repeat. Secondly, the story line, the characters, and the drama are so addicting. I cannot wait for Season 2.
I haven’t posted anything from my Beauty & The Books series lately, so I though I’d throw in a book favorite. I recently finished Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas which is the third book in the Throne of Glass series. The fourth book in the series is set to come out later this year and I am so excited. This book series is one of my favorites. It’s a Young Adult Fantasy series with lots of action, drama, mystery, magic, and of course a love triangle. If any of that strikes your fancy, I highly recommend this series to you.
That’s going to be it for my April Favorites! I hope you enjoyed getting a peak at everything I’ve been loving this month, and I hope you liked seeing some lifestyle favorites as well. I’m not sure if I will continue to add in my lifestyle favorites, or if it will just be an every now and then sort of thing. Let me know your thoughts down below in the comments! :)
Hey ya’ll! Today’s post is all about my foundation routine. This is the foundation routine that I do every time I do my makeup (except for my lazy "No-Makeup" Makeup Days). I know that may seem a little excessive, but if I’m going to take the time to put makeup on, I’m going to go all out and do the full routine. I don’t use a ton of products in my foundation routine, so it really doesn’t take a long time for me to do it.
To get the best possible base, you first need to cleanse and exfoliate your skin. This will not only smooth your skin, but also will rid it of any left over makeup, dirt, and oil, allowing for the best possible makeup application. Next is to moisturize. I have normal to dry skin, so I like to mix in a little bit of oil into my daily moisturizer. The Tarte Maracuja Oil is my absolute favorite. I usually wait about 15 minutes or so after I’ve applied my moisturizer to start my makeup application, but I like to apply my under eye cream right before I apply my makeup. I have dry under eyes with fine lines, so applying my under eye cream right before I apply my makeup really helps my concealer blend in without creasing, or caking up.
I first prime my skin using the Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer. This product is pricey, but it works really well at keeping my makeup in place, and lasting throughout the night. It’s light weight, and dries quickly, without leaving any sort of residue behind.
Next I apply the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation using the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki brush. This is one of my favorite foundations and it works great with normal, dry, and combination skin types. If you have oily skin this foundation can still work for you, but you will just have to set it with a powder, and probably do touchups throughout the day. This is a medium coverage foundation, dries down to a normal finish on me, and looks amazing on camera and in pictures.
After I’ve applied my foundation I like to conceal and highlight using the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind. This is the best concealer I have ever used, drugstore or high-end. I have dry under eyes and have fine lines. It’s not necessarily wrinkles, but because I have full and high cheekbones, when I smile my eyes naturally crease which causes the fine lines. Because of that, most concealers crease on me and can cake up really easily. This concealer is lightweight, super creamy, and very pigmented, making it the perfect two in one product for both concealing and highlighting. I like to blend it in using a dampened Real Techniques Sponge. Since the sponge is dampened with cool water, it adds a little bit more hydration, and blends in the concealer perfectly.
Lastly, I like to set all of that concealer with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light. I only set the areas that I put concealer at, I do not set my whole face because I tend to be on the dry side. This powder is very finely milled, soft, and light weight, making it perfect for my under eyes. It’s a translucent powder with a pale yellow undertone, so it does a great job at brightening up my highlighted areas too. The powder isn’t heavy at all, so it really helps to set everything without looking super powdery or cakey. The Hourglass powders are on the expensive side, but they last a really long time. I’ve been using mine a ton the past two months and have yet to hit pan.
I hope you enjoyed today’s post and found it helpful! Be sure to watch my video if you’d like to see my foundation routine in action. Also, I would love to know what your favorite base products are in the comments down below!
Today’s post is an exciting one on the brand new Kat Von D Shade & Light Eye Palette! I have been really enjoying the Shade & Light Contour Palette, so of course when I saw that Kat Von D was coming out with a Shade & Light eyeshadow palette I knew I had to have it.
The palette retails for $46 at Sephora and on Sephora.com (the same price at the contour palette). Another similarity to the Shade & Light Contour Palette is the packaging. They are pretty much identical except for the foiled accents. On the eyeshadow palette, the foil is gold, and it is silver on the contour palette. You also get an outline of the palette on the back of the packaging with the names of all the shadows.
The top three shades in the palette: Laetus, Lazarus, & Ludwin, are the same size as the highlighting powders in the Shade & Light contour palette (.08 ounces). The other nine shadows in the palette are .04 ounces each and are vary comparable in size to the shadows in the Urban Decay Naked Palettes (.05 ounces each). All of the shadows in this palette are matte, there are no shimmery shades in this palette. There are two shades however, Lucius & Latinus, appear to have a little bit of a satin finish.
There are three different sections to the palette: neutral’s, cool tones, and warm tones. That’s what makes this palette so amazing, ANYONE can use this palette no matter what your skin tone is, because there’s shades in here for everyone. The different sections in the palette are perfect for beginners, because it helps take a lot of the guess work, and confusion, out of trying to decided which shadows go together. But of course, there are no rules when it comes to makeup. All of the shades can be used interchangeably, and can be mixed and matched to create your own perfect, individual, look.
All of the shadows are super soft, buttery, blendable, and pigmented. I have been trying out every shade, and coming up with different combinations, and they all perform beautifully. The combinations you can create using this palette are endless. You can create natural eye looks, soft smokey eyes, and really intense smokey eyes.
This is a very high quality palette with amazing shades. The only “downfall”, or negative, I have noticed is that the shadows are very powdery and there’s a lot of fall-out. It’s particularly noticeable when you go to apply them with a brush. Fall-out isn’t a deal breaker for me personally, but I do know that there are people out there who aren’t a big fan of shadows that do that. A tip to dealing with fall-out from powder products is after you have picked up the product with your brush, tap it off lightly, and then apply it. When you tap your brush, all the excess product will fall off, which then decreases the amount of fall-out onto your face.
I hope you all enjoyed this review and found it informative and helpful! I definitely recommend this palette to anyone and everyone. I would have to say that this is a MUST-HAVE palette. If you are looking for an eyeshadow palette with all matte eyeshadows, check out this little beauty. It’s absolutely stunning and the amount of looks that can be created with it are endless. I really enjoy the Kat Von D line. Everything that I have tried from the brand has been wonderful. Be sure to check out my video below to see the Shade & Light Eyeshade Palette in action! :)
