Bite Beauty

Look at this little stocking stuffer pack of lipsticks for $25!  Super cute creamy minis – not super shiny, or matte.  Here’s all the colors on:

Fig – A nice pale pink.

Pepper – Great, medium toned mauve.

Honeycomb – Tan?  It’s somewhere between a nude and a brown.

Nori – Ummm, I always want to like dark lipstick, but…it’s just too much work to maintain throughout the day.

Wedding Makeup – Trial by Myself

So, I tried to recreate a Pinterest board wedding makeup.  Here is the inspiration.

From Lulu’s Blog

I used my new Smashbox palette + Kat Von D’s liquid eyeliner.

I definitely needed a darker brown shadow for the crease, and I don’t love a cat eye.  On my next self-trial, I’m going to try a regular liner with an overall darker crease.  I’m also going to Nair my upper lip because I had to crop it out of the above picture.  HA

Makeup Monday: PLAY! by Sephora – Effortless Summer

My last Play! box – whomp whomp.  Since I’m trying to save money, I figured I should stop automatically spending it.

1. |★★★★★| Too Faced Soleil Matte Bronzer ($30) – I thought this was going to be way too dark, but I was pleasantly surprised, both with the hue and the smell.  It literally smells like a dusted cocoa powder all over my face.
2. |★★★★☆| blotterazzi by beautyblender ($20) – This is basically a flat beauty blender meant to sop up oil.  It’s a interesting concept and it seems to work, but it’s not quite as satisfying as seeing all the oil on regular blotting papers.
3. |★☆☆☆☆| Oaui Wave Spray ($26) – No.  Just no.  Big frizzy hair.  Picture evidence below.  It also smells like perfume.  I left one star here because my hair generally doesn’t work will with these types of products, so maybe…just maybe…it’s my hair.
4. |★★★☆☆| Citrine by NEST perfume ($68) – A nice floral scent that smells like actual flowers in nature and not like chemical-y perfume.
5. |★★★★★| Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser with Red Clay by First Aid Beauty ($24) – LOVE this.  It smells like a spa in Arizona – earthy and clean.  It’s a red liquid, but not thick like I assumed.  The clay is suspended within it.  It leaves my face really clean, no oil or shine, but not stripped, either.
6. |★★★☆☆| Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Primer by Smashbox ($39) – Smashbox’s regular primer is my favorite – better than NYX and CoverFX.  This pore minimizing one is basically a more expensive version of the NYX one I have.  It’s a paste meant to fill in pores, but I don’t really notice my pores too much.  I also don’t use enough foundation to really warrant spending money on a primer.

Pictured Here is the Oaui wave spray and the Too Faced bronzer

Makeup Monday: PLAY! by Sephora – June

This box was dubbed The Minimalist.

1. |★☆☆☆☆| Bumble and Bumble Don’t Blow It ($31)- This is a creme that is supposed to help with air dried hair.  Since I hate blow drying and straightening, I’ve been looking for something like this.  Leave in conditioner + mousse has worked pretty well.  The first day I used this, I did as instructed and clipped my hair in a bun for awhile to tamp down the frizz, but I don’t think I left it long enough because it was hella frizzy.
   The second day I left the bun in for 2 hours and the results weren’t much better.  I tossed this.  I have no room for products that barely work.
2. |★★★★☆| Bare Minerals bareSkin Bronzer ($28)- This is a beautiful transparent bronze.  I docked it a star because it’s so liquidy that I accidentally pour out much more than I need.
3. |★★★☆☆| Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real Mascara ($24) – Reviewed before here.  One of my least favorite.
4. |★★☆☆☆| Tarteguard 30 Sunscreen Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 30 ($32) – I wore this for a run, and when I showered afterwards everything felt slimy and gross, so I can’t imagine wearing it swimming.  I also tossed this.
5. |★★★☆☆| Becca Backlight Priming Filter ($38) – Beautiful looking product with a flattering shimmer.  Seems almost sad that it gets covered up by foundation.  I like it, but I prefer a matte look, so the shimmer “backlight” isn’t for me.
6. |★★☆☆☆| Tocca Beauty Florence Perfume ($68) – It’s not terrible, but still too flowery for me.  I also hate when samples come in little tubes with just a cap, no sprayer.

My Minimalist Look