Month: July 2015

 A Spritz of Luxury : Caudalie Beauty Elixir Review

  

Caudalie is such a luxurious brand. Everything they have has such a great scent and makes you feel like a million bucks when you use it.

When it comes to skincare, I like things that make my skin feel fresh and clean – and I try to stay away from things that make me feel oily.  Having dry skin, I need hydration.  I need it under my makeup and over my makeup.

I decided to try this Beauty Elixir from Caudalie because I was in the Sephora checkout line, and you know, the travel sized goodies are so tempting.  Well, I ended up really loving this product!  Do you need this product? No.  Will your makeup and skin still look good if you don’t have it? Yes.  This is an extra, a bonus product if you will.

So, this is a spray skincare product.  It is a serum and a toner, so it balances your skin without the sting-y, menthol feeling that toners usually give.  It is very hydrating to the skin like a serum would be.  It’s made up of essential oils and fruit extracts that are good for your skin.

So, you can pretty much use this a lot of different ways.  You can use it before your moisturizer, after your moisturizer before you put on your makeup, or just as a cool refreshing mist anytime during the day.  I use it any of these ways.  I like to use it after I apply my foundation because I find that it takes some cakiness away and helps my foundation blend in and look more like skin.  I also like to use it after powder to take away the powder-y look and give a dewy finish.  On the days that I don’t wear makeup, I like to spritz this all over my face before my moisturizer.  When I come inside after being in 100 degree heat, this feels great to spray all over my face.

The scent of this product is hard to describe.  It smells amazing.  You can definitely smell the peppermint, but it also smells like a spa with the blend of essential oils in it.  Kind of like flowers.  It makes you feel like you are at a spa, and is just so luxurious.

So, this product is not necessary, it’s just a bonus, because sometimes it’s nice to just have that one product that makes you feel special and like a queen. Haha.  Treat yourself!

Thanks for reading! xx

3 MAC Lip Liners, 3 Dupes

  

MAC lip pencils are a favorite of mine, they wear very well and don’t dry out my lips.  Although, when it comes to pencils, there are a lot of good brands out there for cheaper – sometimes with better formulas.  I own quite a bit of MAC pencils, so I thought I would look through my stash and see which ones I could easily find dupes to.  Here’s what I came up with!

  

I found drugstore dupes for MAC Dervish and Whirl.  I had a hard time finding a dupe for Soar.  Soar is a VERY popular color, and often sold out.  I did find a dupe for it, but it is a high-end dupe.
   MAC Dervish is a pinky-mauve shade, very close to my natural lip color.  The liner that I think matches almost exactly is Jordana’s liner in the color Tawny.  

MAC Whirl is a dirty rose color, with more brown in it than Dervish.  This is a very popular “Kylie Jenner” color, or a 90’s more pinky- brown toned lip.  The exact match I have found for this color is NYX Mauve.  NYX actually has a lot of colors similar to MAC shades, and the formula of these are really nice.

The last dupe I found is for MAC Soar, which is a medium toned pink-brown.  This is darker than the other two liners and leans more red.  The only reason I included this dupe is because Soar is sometimes really hard to get your hands on.  It must be a special color, because none of my drugstore colors matched it, and I have a LOT.  So the dupe I found is Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Lip in 14C.  I know, Make Up For Ever is more expensive than MAC, but if you’re really looking for Soar and can’t find it, this one is a great alternative.  These Aqua Lip Pencils are REALLY GOOD.  They’re waterproof, and they don’t dry out my lips.  I love them.

Thanks for reading guys!  Let me know your favorite lip liner in the comments below! 🙂

xx, Amy  

Pink Ombré Nails

  

My favorite color of nail polish, and just my favorite color in anything, is pink.  I love pink because it is feminine,  girly, pretty and fresh.  I have a lot of pink nail polish, as you can imagine.  I thought it would be fun to paint each nail a different shade of pink, going from light to dark – ombré as they call it.

  
   
This is a really fun way to do your nails, and you can do any color.  I received so many compliments on my manicure, and although a little time consuming, I really like how it came out.  Of course I finished it off with my favorite Formula X Topcoat.

From light to dark:

OPI Got A Date To Knight

Essie Lovie Dovie

Butter London Fruit Machine

Nails Inc Brompton Place

Loreal Pink Me Up

Formula X Top Coat

Do you like ombré nails?

xx, Amy 

Time To Prime

  
Priming your face is so important for a flawless makeup application, and also to keep your makeup on during these hot summer months.  I live in south Texas, where the summers are HOT with 100+ temps.  I love summer, so I don’t complain much, but I don’t want my makeup sliding off, so I use primer.

Here are some of my favorite primers to use.

   
 
For face, I love anything marketed as “pore minimizing”.  My two favorites are Benefit the Porefessional and Smashbox Photo Finish Primer in Pore Minimizing.  These two are pretty much the same, they are a skintone tan color and they have a balmy-silicone feel that provides a nice smooth silky base for your foundation to grab onto.  I find my makeup wears SO much longer when I use a primer.  I also like this Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water.  This is a spray primer that you spritz on before applying your foundation (after your moisturizer) and it primes your face for makeup.  Give me all these types of sprays.  I love anything that you can spray on your face before or after makeup.  Keep it in the fridge for a cool mist. ahhhhhh.

For eyes, I have tried almost everything – but my two favorites are the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and the MAC Paint Pots.  These are pretty basic, just rub them on top of your lids before applying shadows.  These also makes a world of difference with the longevity and staying power of your eyeshadow.  It gives the eyshadow a base to stick to with no creasing.

Now, this last one here is probably gimmicky, but I don’t know, I really like it.  This is the MAC Prep + Prime Lip Primer.  I use this to prep my lips for color.  This is not a balm, this is like a sticky glue (well that doesn’t sound appealing), or more like a base for your lip color to adhere to.  I think this really helps my lip color to stay throughout the day, and also gives a nice surface and fills out any lines or cracks in my lips.

Thanks for reading!  Let me know what your favorite primers are!

xx, Amy

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