Essie :: Where's My Chauffeur?

Today's NOTD is from Essie's Winter Collection and one of my favorite nail polishes (like, ever): Where's My Chauffeur?.  It's a beautiful, bright, Tiffany box blue that is perfect for a bright pop on the nails for summer.

I absolutely adore this polish. It was opaque in two coats, but in many cases, even just one coat can do the trick. I definitely recommend this polish to everyone and anyone!

Essie polishes retail for about $8 and can be found at Ulta and most drugstores.

xoxo

Benefit Watt's Up!

I have tried many Benefit Products... as minis! Recently I bought a couple of full-sized Benefit products and I have been loving them! Today's is a highlighter from Benefit-- Watt's Up!

Watt's Up is described as a soft-focus, or candlelight, highlighter. This means that its on the more-subtle side, as far as highlighters go. It's a beautiful champagne color with a cream to powder finish.

The top swatch is what the color looks like blended out while the bottom swatch is what the color looks like fully opaque, as if just applied

The stick application makes it easy to apply. I like to blend it in with my hands and I find that it does, in fact, give a nice, subtle glow to the face!!! Plus, a little goes a long way, so you'll have this forever!!!

This retails for $30.00 and can be found at Sephora, Ulta, or Benefit stores/counters. I definitely recommend this is you're looking for something to add an everyday glow to your face!!!

xoxo

Butter LONDON :: Kerfuffle

Hello there!!! I meant for this review to go up a long time ago and then I lost track of time and forgot about and... here we are now haha!!!

So this color came out with the Sweetie Shop collection Butter put out early this past spring. It was filled with a ton of beautiful pastels that were all to die for, but, sadly, this is the only color I picked up from the collection. It's a bright peach with hints of pink and orange to it that really stands out on the nails. I don't see a whole lot of peach polishes so this is a semi-unique color-- I at least don't have anything like it! As with all my other Butter LONDON polishes it has great staying power and amazing quality!

Butter LONDON can be found at its website, Sephora.com, Ulta (or Ulta online!), or even nordstrom.com! They retail for $15 and are totally worth the price tag!

xoxo

Essie :: Lights!

Today's NOTD is from last year's neon collection by Essie: Lights!!!

Lights is a neon blue-toned pink. Like most neons, it's a jelly with a mostly-matte finish! Since, I'm not the biggest fan of matte polishes, I like to add a topcoat to make it extra shiny and to seal in the color.

I love neon nail polish, especially in the summer, because it really packs a punch and makes me look extra tan!

I definitely recommend this color, and that you check out this year's Essie Neons collection! These retail for about $8 and can be found at Ulta and most drugstores!!

xoxo

Maybelline Color Tattoo :: Precious Pearl and Lavish Lavender

Hello there! Today's post is about two new Maybelline Color Tattoos for Spring and Summer: Precious Pearl and Lavish Lavender!!!

Precious Pearl is an eggshell ivory color with a lavender-pink duochrome to it! This color is so pretty on  and brings a lot of light to the eyes! It's perfect for a light wash all over the lid or as a highlight! It's a little sheerer than some of the others I have but it still rather pigmented and beautiful.

Lavish Lavender is darker than what I would consider lavender, but still a very beautiful violet purple. I don't get as much wear out of this as I do my neutral colors, but that is to be expected haha! It's rather pigmented but can sheer out fairly easily.

I love the color tattoos because they are creamy, pigmented, easy to apply, and last a long time! They are the best for the price and pretty much the only cream eyeshadows I bother buying (why buy the same exact thing at a higher price?)! They retail for around $5-8 depending on where you find them and I promise they are worth a look-see (go check out the permanent range too!).

xoxo

MAC All About Orange Blushes!!

Hello there! First, I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts the last month or so, life has been hectic, and even being on summer vacation I've been extremely busy! So I'm sorry but I have a lot of posts coming up so get excited!!

Today's post is about some of the blushes from the new All About Orange Collection from MAC. Instantly, the blush Royal Sunset caught my eye and it was love at first sight. Blush is probably one of my favorite makeup products to buy (it can really change a whole look but be subtle at the same time!). And when looking at the others I saw Immortal Flower, a color I purchased last year from the Très Cheek collection, so I thought I'd go ahead and share that with you as well.

Royal Sunset is a bright peachy-pink that is very soft and very pigmented. Not much product is needed to brighten the face with a pop of pink that is perfect for the summertime with a sunkissed glow!

Immortal Flower is a peachy-orange. Once on the skin, it leans a little pink-color, while still remaining its creamsicle color. I love this blush and how flattering it is! This again is super brightening and adds a nice pop to a tan!

I love these blushes so much and definitely recommend picking one of them up if you can still get your hands on them! My little secret to purchasing limited addition MAC products? Nordstrom.com! I've purchased a few products from their site and they seem to sell out much slower than they do in-store! These retail for $21!

xoxo

Maybelline Color Whisper :: Cherry On Top

I'm back with another one of the Maybelline Color Whispers!!! I reviewed two of them a few months back, in Coral Ambition and Pin Up Peach. I absolutely loved the other two colors but I wanted a color that would pack a bigger punch! This color is the cherry on the cake (pun totally intended) for my spring/summer lip obsession!!!

Cherry On Top is a bright, red-toned pink (very hot-pinkish, but not barbie at all!). Since these are sheer, they are not overpowering and never look like you are wearing too much (or look too overdone) yet they still add a great pop of color to the face!

With a little bit of a tan and a bronze eye, this lip color is to-die-for. It will also be perfect for those no-makeup, big sunglasses days!!!

These are available at any drugstore or anywhere else Maybelline products are sold. They run for anywhere from $5.00 to $8.00 depending on where you find them. I love the three I have and definitely recommend them to anyone who will listen!!! These are all my go-to lip products this summer!!!

xoxo

Deborah Lippmann :: Rockin' Robin

Rockin' Robin is a light pastel blue cream with small black glitter particles that resembles a robin's egg or a speckled egg. This color was opaque in two coats, and has great staying power (as do the other DL polishes I have tried). It lasted days without chipping, which is something I can't say too often!!! This is the perfect spring color (which I say in a lot of my nail posts haha) if you're looking for something easy and on-trend!!!

Polishes like this have been huge for the spring and summer (see Spring Beauty Trends post). This polish retails for $19 (steep! I know!) and can be found at higher end department stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdales. If you are willing to overlook the price tag, this is a truely amazing polish that I wholeheartedly recommend!!!

xoxo

Benefit Ultra Plush Gloss :: Dandelion

Hello there!!! I'm very excited about today's post to say the least!!! Today I'm talking about Benefit's Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in the color Dandelion. Months ago, Benefit released a lip gloss collection to match their cult favorite boxed powders. I've wanted to get my hands on them ever since and I just recently picked up my first one!!!

Dandelion is a light, warm pink with a gold shimmer. It is very sheer and only provides a light wash of color on the lips. Its the perfect product to apply on the go, when you can't always stop and look in a mirror. Some people may not like this for the sheerness, but I think its the perfect wash of shine that still natural but "done." It's very natural and will work over any lip product (or on it's own!!!).

Because it's rather sheer and shiny, it was hard to adequately photograph!!! Sorry!!! I did the best I could!!!

Another major plus? This is THE SOFTEST AND SMOOTHEST gloss I have ever owned!!! There is zero-stickiness. Zero. Like, Nothing. At. All. It's also moisturizing, which is really something that I have never been able to say about a lip gloss. I put it on rather dry lips and they actually felt better after this wore off!!! Since its so smooth, it doesn't have to longest lasting power, but most lip products don't last very long on me anyways. The only downside? It smells like cantaloupes to me, which is not my favorite scent. Some people might like that and some might hate it, but I personally have learned to get over it because this is still one of my favorite lip products!!!

All in all, for $16 this is one of the best lip products I have ever bought. I love how smooth, soft, and sheer this is, the perfect no-fuss lip gloss. You can find it at Sephora, Benefit counters and stores, or wherever else Benefit is sold!!!

xoxo

Essie :: Tart Deco

Hello there!!! Today's NOTD is yet another from Essie: Tart Deco!!!

This color screams spring, as it is a creamsicle orange-peach with a cream finish!!! The wear time is great, lasting several days chip free and the color is vibrant, needing only two coats!!!

I found this at the drugstore for $8 and can also be found wherever else Essie is sold (Ulta, etc.). Well this is probably my shortest post to-date, very clear-cut and precise!!! Hope you have a great spring!!!

xoxo

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush :: Blissful

Hello!!! Today's post is about Tarte's blush in the color Blissful!!!

Tarte is famous for their Amazonian Clay Blushes (probably their most well-known product). They are extremely pigmented and have amazing staying power!!! They have a range of about 15 blushes; I've tried several and have had positive experiences with all of them (more posts about others to come).

As for packaging, these come in a plastic case that matches the color of the product inside and also the finish (a more shimmery blush will have more shimmery packaging while a more matte blush will have more matte packaging). They have a mirror that takes up the entire inside of the lid and a high-quality snap-closure  to ensure the blush inside is safe from outside harm!!! The bottom also has a tiny hole where one can take a pin and poke out the pan of the product to put into a blush palette.

Blissful is a bright, warm peach with lots of pink and coral (the perfect blush recipe!!! haha). It has a matte finish and great pigmentation. This is a great blush for both the spring and summer to give a nice flush to your cheeks that will compliment any tan nicely!!! Because these blushes are so pigmented, a little goes a long way, ensuring that these blushes will last you quite a while!!!

I've included two pictures of swatches because I feel the top one shows the true color of the blush while the bottom one shows just how pigmented it is!!!

Because they are formulated with Amazonian Clay, these blushes are supposed to last all day, control oil, and provide other skin benefits. I think they live up to their standards quite nicely.

These blushes retail for $26 and can be found at tarte.com, Sephora, or Ulta. I think they are totally worth the price tag, and if this isn't the color for you, I definitely recommend seeing the rest of the line to find you perfect blush!!! There are some truly amazing colors!!!

xoxo

Essie :: First Timer

Today's post is yet another NOTD (I have quite a few coming up)!!!!

Essie's First Timer is a bright green creme with a hint of mint that makes it so fresh for spring!!! I've never seen a green quite like this, it's almost a bright kelly green but not quite because there's some underlying minty/pastel-ness to it!!! I absolutely love this color!!! Another bonus? This polish was opaque in one to two coats!!! It wasn't streaky at all and has amazing lasting power. So far, it's the only color I've picked up from the 2013 Resort Collection Essie has put out this year. There's also a bright red-coral, a sky blue-turquoise, and a pinky lavender. All of the colors in the collection are bright, fresh, and so right-now.

Essie is definitely my favorite nail polish brands out there. I always look forward to a new collection release because they never seem to disappoint!!! This polish retails for about $8.00 and can be found at Ulta or drugstores.

xoxo

New Revlon Lip Butters for Spring and Summer!!!

Hi there!!! Today's post is about some very new exciting projects at the drugstore: new Revlon Lip Butters!!!

In the new spring/summer collection by Gucci Westman, there are four new lip butters and I picked up two!!! Out of the four, I got the two lighter colors, Pink Lemonade (a warm, light pink) and Juicy Papaya (a light coral with orange undertones). There are two darker colors, Sorbet (a hot pink) and Wild Watermelon (a red with pink undertones) that I didn't get.

These are sheer, creamier than the original lip butters, and have a cream finish (no shimmer). They leave a shiny, gloss-like sheer wash of bright colors on the lips that is on-trend for spring and summer. They are slightly moisturizing and very comfortable on the lips. The lip butters last a pretty good amount of time on me (a few hours) for being so creamy. I love how easy and on-the-go-friendly these are!!!

These can be found at any drugstore or Ulta and retail for about $6-8 depending on where you find them. Overall, I definitely recommend these, as well as many shades in the permanent range as well. Go check them out before their all gone!!!

I'm thinking about picking up the other two colors from the new collection and will do a separate post if I do!!!

xoxo

Maybelline Quad :: Copper Chic

Today's post is from Maybelline's EyeStudio line: a quad in the shade Copper Chic!!!

This quad features four neutral colors (a light shimmery white-ish color, a tawny pink, a copper, and an espresso brown). They are all shimmery, so there is really no variety in finishes here (which is something I really like in a palette). They are buttery soft and highly pigmented, quite high-quality eye shadow from the drugstore. I find that a quad is the perfect number of shadows to create anywhere from a very simple look to a rather dramatic as well (highlight, lid, crease, and outer corner), and this palette contains four perfect colors to do so.

I've not tried many eye shadow products from the drugstore so these definitely leave me wanting more. This line has many other quads with a range of colors and combinations to create any look. They range for about $10 at the drugstore, though with any product at the drugstore its easy to find deals or use coupons (I try not to pay full price haha!).

xoxo

Stella and Dot :: My Favorite Earrings!!!

Hello there!!! Today I am doing a jewelry post– the first non-beauty post on my blog!!! I'd like to include some non-beauty posts from time to time, be it fashion or lifestyle related!!!

I love a good stud earring. I'm all about simple and sparkle. So these are perfect!!! I love a classic, everyday stud that will easily go with any look I want it to (but also one that I don't have to take out every night!!!).

They are called the Glint Flower CZ Earrings. They are amazing quality, have an amazing sparkle, and are the perfect size for an everyday stud that can also be worn out at night!!! They are so versatile and I will continue to wear them for years to come!!! My friend gave me a pair for my birthday a few years back and I adore them.

They are priced at $39 and can be ordered online at stelladot.com or purchased at at a hosted event at your house or one of your friends!!!

LORAC PRO Palette

Eeeeeeeeeeeeepp!!! I'm so excited for today's post: all about the LORAC PRO Palette!!!

I've wanted this palette for a few months now and I finally got it and I could not be more excited to share my thoughts with you!!! The beauty community has been buzzing about this palette for a little while now and I'm over the moon with excitement that I finally got my hands on it!!!

As for packaging, the palette comes in a super thin, super sleek, black rubberized case with a magnetic closure (quite similar to the original Naked palette). I compared its size and width to the original Naked Palette and an iPhone 5.

The LORAC PRO Palette contains sixteen eye shadows, eight of which are matte (the top row), the other eight are shimmer (the bottom row). The mattes include white (white), cream (nude), taupe (warm medium brown, very similar to UD's buck form the Original Naked Palette), light pink (light milky pink), mauve (browny-mauve), sable (warm reddish-brown), espresso (dark brown), black (deep black). The shimmers include nude (pink-champagne), champagne (slightly darker, more neutral champagne), gold (bright antique gold), light bronze (light golden champagne-bronze and one of my personal faves from the palette), pewter (taupey brown), garnet (red-brown), deep purple (rich dark purple), and slate (gunmetal blue-gray).

I own a quad from LORAC from a while ago, which is nice, but the shadows do not compare to these in quality. These are super soft and buttery, and extremely pigmented shadows, that last a fair amount of time (although I always use a primer). A little will go along way with these, especially with the darker colors (and the color gold on the bottom row, I was blown away)!!! So snaps to LORAC for stepping up their eye shadow formula in the last few years!!! However, the amount of actual shadow in each pan is minimal at only 0.02 g, compared to the more standard amount of 0.05 g (in the Naked palettes, MAC eye shadows, etc.)

I'm a big fan of neutral-colored makeup, so this palette is right up my alley. It gives the perfect variety of finishes and shades for every day looks, night out looks and everything in between!!! Just looking at the shades gives me a thousand and one ideas on looks that can be made with this!!! On an everyday basis, I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of colors like nude, champagne, light bronze, taupe, and mauve (among others haha), and I'll use colors like deep purple and slate for those special occasions when I want an extra dramatic eye!!! I'll also be using espresso and black as an eyeliner (shadow as a liner can be more smoked out but also less dramatic).

As a little bonus, this palette also comes with a mini version of LORAC's Behind The Scenes Eye Primer. This is a neutral fleshy color that turns invisible after blending onto the lids. In comparison to Urban Decay's Primer Potion, this is thinner in consistency (UDPP is quite thick). This makes shadows last longer than they would on their own and makes the colors appear more vibrant. I would say this primer is good, but not amazing; so far nothing has quite matched up to UDPP for me, although most of the primers I've used, including this one, is quite similar.

This palette can be found at Sephora and Ulta and retails for $42. I used a 20% off coupon and $3.00 in Ulta Rewards and after tax payed about $33 for this palette-- a total steal!!! So after all this, I definitely recommend this palette and am completely in love with it!!!

If you read all the way through this very long post then thank you very much haha!!!

xoxo

Revlon ColorStay :: Buttercup

Hi there!!! Today's post is another nail polish post from Revlon's long-wearing line, ColorStay in the color Buttercup!!!

This particular line from Revlon has been out for about a year (I think!!) maybe a little more, but I had never tried one until now. I saw Butter LONDON's Jasper, a light buttery yellow color that's out with their spring collection and didn't really want to pay the $15 for it, so I picked this one up instead!!!

Buttercup is the perfect name for this nail polish, it is a pastel buttery yellow cream. It's so pigmented and easy to work with!!! Fully opaque in two coats and finished off with a shiny top coat (I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength) this is the perfect spring color!!! Not a lot of people like wearing yellow on their nails, which makes this a more unique color for some people; a little pop of yellow can be so unexpected and fresh!!!

This retails for around $8.00, but with all drugstore products, the price will vary depending on where it is purchased!!!

xoxo