Hey y'all,
Unfortunately there will not be a Mani Monday today due to some technical difficulty with my camera... However, I promise that I will put that post up later in the week!
How many of you watched the oscars last night?! My favorite part about award shows is always watching the red carpet and looking at peoples makeup looks! Everyone looked phenomenal last night, although I have to say, I honestly don't think Adele can ever look bad... Every time I see her, her makeup always looks flawless! Can her makeup artist come and just do my makeup every morning please?
Reese Witherspoon also looked stunning! I am absolutely IN LOVE with the way she wore her hair last night! I will hopefully be doing a tutorial on the look later in the week, and I think that would be a gorgeous look for those of you with prom coming up, or just want a glamourous hairstyle for a night out. I also loved Jennifer Lawrence's up-do, and I just love her in general... If I can figure out how to recreate her hair I will attempt to do a tutorial on that as well, however that is a big if! I also will be doing a few prom makeup tutorials so keep a lookout for those!
I'm sorry this was sort of a blah post, but I am hoping to get back on track soon! I have spring break coming up in a couple of weeks so I will be blogging a lot more once the term is over....
As always, please leave your comments below with any suggestions or questions! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday and had a lovely weekend!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté
The YSL Rouge Volupté
lipsticks are probably my favorite lipsticks of all time. Their only
downside is the price. At $34, they are definitely some of the pricier
lipsticks that I own, however I think that they are well worth it. The
majority of nude lipsticks that I have tried wear off everywhere except
right where your upper and lower lip meet, leaving a really gross
white-ish line. YSL Rouge Volupte in 2- Sensual Silk is the only nude
colored lipstick that does not do this. This is a beautiful peachy nude
color that is great for those of us who are extremely pale. If you have
a more tan-medium skin I would recommend 1-Nude Beige, which is more of
a light dusty rose, or 3-Ultimate Beige which is a brighter peachier
pink (but still in the nude category). All of their bright colors wear
amazingly as well. Some of my favorites are 11-Rose Culte which is just a
VERY bright hot pink, as well as 7- Lingerie Pink which is just a
really pretty baby pink color.Because this lipstick is so creamy, it doesn't seem to cling to every dry patch on your lips or dry them out further, which is a major plus. They go on super creamy and then within about 30 min to an hour, they dry to a more satin finish. Because of this they are super long lasting and wear great throughout the day. As I discussed earlier, when they do wear off they wear off more evenly, not leaving funky patches or lines on your lips. I would highly recommend this product, however because of the price point, I would recommend going into the store first and trying it on to make sure that you like the color as well as the feel on the lips. Sephora recently started selling YSL, and I know that you can get them at Nordstrom as well.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! If you have any suggestions or questions for me please let me know! I would love to hear from you :)
XO Kaitlyn
Favorite Mac Neutrals
MAC NEUTRAL PALETTES
Neutral Browns:
Favorite Highlights:
I decided to start out just showing my neutral mac palettes because these are the shades that I use on a daily basis. As you can see, there are a couple duplicates and quite a few that I have hit pan on. Mac has some amazing quality shadows, and they come in pretty much every color imaginable. The are definitely some of my top favorite shadows.
My all time favorites:
1. All that glitters- (which isn't as pink as it is showing up in this picture) I love this color all over the lid and it is the perfect shimmery peach color.
2. Twinks- I absolutely love this color! It's a perfect neutral plumy/brown color that looks amazing in the crease.
3. Vanilla- This is my favorite highlight color during the winter time because it matches my pale skin perfectly. In the summer months however, I tend to gravitate more toward ricepaper and brule
Shades that I will not be repurchasing:
1. Honey Lust- I definitely am not a fan of this eyeshadow. It looks gorgeous in the pan, but as soon as you try to put it on your skin, you only get this weird chunky glitter that has horrible fallout. normally I'll have about a third of it on my lid, and the rest of it will have fallen all over my cheeks and the rest of my face- not a hot look. However, a friend of mine swears by this shade so it is possible that I just got a bad one? Either way, I will be giving it to her the next time I see her to see if she likes it.
2. Motif- I have a love/ hate relationship with shade. I really really want to like it... Its just a weird shade. You cant really tell from the picture however it is sort of an orangey gold color with a pink duo chrome. It looks absolutely beautiful in the pan, however I can't make it look good on my eye. It's not a bad shade... I just can't figure out how to use it to make it look good! If any of you have suggestions please let me know!
Soon I will be doing my top 10 Shadows everyone should own, and I will go into greater detail on each shade and show some swatches, however this is all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! :)
If you have any suggestions/comments/ questions for me please let me know! Have a wonderful night.
XO kaitlyn
DIY Lip Scrub and My Favorite Lip Exfoliants
In honor of valentines day, I thought that I would do a post about my favorite lip products to keep your lips looking flawless and kissable!
Exfoliating your lips at least weekly is something that I cannot stress enough! However, there are multiple ways that you can do this. If you want to go with a cheap alternative, (which doesn't work quite as well as the products that I will be recommending, however it is a fantastic alternative, especially when you are looking for ways to save some money) I would recommend putting a petroleum free jelly (basically like vaseline without the petroleum) on your lips for about 15-20 minutes to let it sink in. After that take an old tooth brush and scrub off the balm as well as any dead skin cells. If you have time I would recommend taking some sort of vegetable/argan/olive oil and mixing it with sugar and scrubbing it on your lips, then leave it there for about ten minutes. After that you can scrub it off with a tooth brush again, and then immediately put a lip balm on.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful valentines day! Just remember this day is about celebrating love, whether it be celebrating the love you have for your boyfriend/ significant other, or celebrating love for your family, friends, cat, dog, or even makeup! Today, I am celebrating my love of makeup and my friends (as well as my love for chocolate!) Hope everything is going well for all of you, and if you have any requests or any products that you would like me to review let me know!
Have a wonderful evening/ day :) and happy valentines day!
XO kaitlyn
WHERE TO GET FRESH PRODUCTS: www.sephora.com/fresh, www.fresh.com
WHERE TO GET LUSH PRODUCTS: www.lush.com
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat
Cost: 40$
Finish: Natural, it blend beautifully into the skin and you can't even tell it is there.
Coverage: Light to Medium
Best Suited For: all skin types, I would highly recommend for those with more mature skin.
Comparable to: Guerlain Issima Precious Light Smoothing Illuminator or Dior Skinflash Concealer
Would You Recommend This Product?: YES!!!
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
P.S Please excuse the scratches all over mine in the picture! It's well used and well loved! :)
P.S Please excuse the scratches all over mine in the picture! It's well used and well loved! :)
Best Lip Balms For Dry, Chapped Lips
I thought that I would just continue on with the whole "kissable lips" theme and talk to you a little bit today about my favorite lip balms and treatments.
My top favorite lip balm of all time is the Fresh Sugar Lip Balms. They come in about every color imaginable and they are great for dry, cracking lips. They also smell amazing! From the name you would think that they smell sort of vanilla/sugary, however they have a very fresh citrusy scent. Like the Fresh Sugar Lip Scrub that I mentioned in an earlier post, it is on the pricier side at $22.50, however I think it is well worth it! Also, if you are a sucker for packaging like me, the packaging is absolutely beautiful! It also has a twist top so if you accidentally forget and send it through the washer/dryer, or if you leave it in a hot car, theres no chance of it melting and leaking out all over your clothes or your car. Fresh also has a treatment balm, which honestly works miracles. I would highly recommend it for those of you with extremely dry lips and its great for people on Accutane. I purchase mine from sephora, however you can also get it from the fresh website.
My next favorite, and substantially less expensive, lip balm is the Vitamin E Stick by Reviva Labs. I was hesitant about posting this on here because it can be difficult to get ahold of. The only place that I have found it is Whole Foods. If you can get your hands on it though, I would highly recommend it! It has a very different consistency on the lips than the fresh sugar lip balm. As soon as it is on the lips, it is very similar to putting straight olive oil on your lips. It also seems to have that olive oily taste/ smell. I could see how this could be irritating to some people, but I personally dont mind it. If you are going to put this on before your lipstick ( I would highly recommend putting some sort of balm on before any other lip products), I would make sure that it has completely sunk into your lips, and I would recommend wiping off any the excess oils from your lips before you apply your lipstick. If you just leave it on, your lipstick will most likely fade off within about an hour. As I mentioned before, this product is significantly less than the fresh lip balm, and the last time I bought the product I believe it was somewhere between $3.00-$4.00.
I have tried about every lip balm imaginable, and these two are by far the best! If you have any questions for me or anything that you would like to see a review on please let me know!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful day :)
XO Kaitlyn
Chanel Vitalumiére Aqua
Cost: 45$
Finish: Natural
Coverage: Light to Medium
Best Suited For:
Combination Oily- Dry. I would not suggest this foundation for those
with extremely oily skin, and it may sit on the skin slightly more for
those with very dry skin.
Comparable to: A
fuller coverage BB cream (Beauty Balm) or tinted moisturizer. Same
finish as the Origins Vitazing or Mac Mineralized Skinfinish Natural.
Would You Recommend This Product?: YES!!!
Overall Rating: 4.8/5
Origins Vitazing
I
fell absolutely in love with this product when I first tried it about a
year ago. VitaZing is a fantastic oil free moisturizer that starts out
white, but then as you rub it into your skin, it reacts with your
natural pigmentation and turns into the perfect tint for your skin
giving you a beautiful sun kissed glow. It will even out your skin tone
and I feel that it also really helps reduce some of the redness that I
have around my chin. I was a bit skeptical at first because I am so fair
(I have a hard time finding a foundation pale enough for my skin) and I
was worried that this would make my skin look orangey or like I had a
bad fake tan, however I was pleasantly surprised. If you are as fair as I
am (Mac NC 15 or paler) you are going to need to blend it down your
neck to make sure that you don't have any harsh lines but it truly is a
beautiful product. I think that it goes on best with my hands ( just
because I feel that it is faster), although I occasionally will use a
stippling brush to apply it. In the summer when I have a tan and my skin
is looking better I generally use this as my regular foundation because
it evens out my skin tone and you can't tell that I am wearing anything
on my face at all. In the winter when I am paler, I generally wear this
as my daily moisturizer and then set it with a light pressed powder
such Mac Mineralized Skinfinish Natural, or if I am going for a more
full coverage look I will use Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, both of which I
highly recommend.This product definitely doesn't break me out, and if
anything I think that it actually makes my skin become clearer.This is
also fantastic in the way that although it does have an SPF of 15, it
doesn't seem to have the casper effect in photography (when wearing a
foundation with SPF, flash photography can make it so that wherever you
put your foundation looks about 5 shades lighter than it looks in real
life which is never a good look!). This product also has a really
pleasant almost minty sort of smell. I would definitely recommend this
product, and if you have an origins store near you, it is definitely
worth going and testing it out.
Cost: $35
Finish: Natural
Coverage: Light
Best Suited For: All skin types
Comparable to: It is a very unique product. I can't compare it to anything else I have ever tried.
Would You Recommend This Product?: YES!!!
Overall Rating: 5/5
Holy Grail Beauty Products
Products that I cannot live without!
CLEANSER-
Product: Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel
Description: A gentle, non-foaming gel that gently removes makeup, dirt, and oil from the skin without drying it out.
Price: 8 oz.- $12, 16 oz.- $20
Best suited for: All skin types. Especially good for sensitive, Acne prone skin.
Selling point: I
have extremely dry, sensitive skin and this is fantastic because it
gets rid of all of the makeup and dirt, and clears my skin from acne
without drying it out. I find that it works the best if you smooth it
over your damp face first and leave it there for like 30 seconds to a
minute and then work it into your skin with your hands or a Clarisonic.
DAYTIME MOISTURIZER-Product: Origins VitaZing
Description: Oil free daily moisturizer that gives you a slight sun kissed glow and evens out skin tone.
Price: $35
Best suited for: All skin types. Fantastic for both dry and oily skin
Selling point: looks fantastic on all skin tones (although if you are extremely pale like me you will have to blend down the neck) and gives darker skin tones a wonderful glow and can counteract ashiness. You can also use it alone as your daily foundation. (there is also a full review for this on another blog post)
LIQUID FOUNDATION-
Product: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua
Description: A medium to light coverage foundation that blends perfectly into your skin.
Best Suited for: Dry to combination oily skin (I would not recommend this for someone with super oily skin).
Price: $45
Selling Point: This is the most natural looking foundation I have ever tried. This foundation is great on my sensitive skin and it does not dry/break me out. It also does not fade or oxidize throughout the day. Only downfall is that it does not come in a wide variety of shades. (there is also a full review for this on an earlier blog post)
POWDER FOUNDATION-
Product: Mac Mineralized Skinfinish Natural
Description: A baked mineral pressed powder foundation that gives a light/ medium coverage and a natural luminous finish.
Best Suited for: All skin types. It does not break out sensitive skin as other mac face products can. if you have very dry skin I would use it over a liquid foundation or a tinted moisturizer (something like Origins VitaZing) and then use a rolling motion to pat the foundation on your face as to not irritate dry skin or flakey patches, which is the same for all powders.
Price: $29
Selling Point: This is a fantastic powder foundation that can we worn alone or used as a finishing powder over a tinted moisturizer/foundation. It gives an extremely natural finish and you cannot tell that you are wearing anything when it is on the skin. Like other mineralized products, the more that you buff it in to the skin, the more coverage you get (however as stated before, I would not recommend anyone with extremely dry skin or flakey patches on their skin to do this buffing motion as it can irritate the skin. I also wouldn't recommend this buffing motion when using it as a setting powder over another foundation, as it can disturb the foundation underneath making it look uneven or cakey) I use it with a soft buffing brush to blend it in.
UNDER EYE CONCEALER-
Product: Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat
Description: A correcting and brightening under eye concealer that hides dark circles and gives a radiant glow to the skin.
Best suited for: All skin types. This is especially fantastic for more mature skin because it does not sink in to fine lines and wrinkles.
Price: $40
Selling Point: Although
rather expensive, this product is well worth it. It is by far the best
under eye concealer and it gets rid of the dark circles I constantly
have as a result of being a sleep deprived college student. I use shade 1
which is pink tinted and acts as a corrector and a concealer as the
pink tones in the product counteract the blue tones in my skin. It is
extremely creamy and as stated above it is especially good for more
mature skins as I have found that it does not seem to settle into fine
lines and wrinkles. This is a holy grail product for both my mother and I
and we have extremely different skin types. This product also brightens
as it conceals making you look awake, refreshed, and like you've had a
full night of beauty sleep.EYESHADOW PRIMER-
Product: Nars Eyeshadow Base
Description: An eyeshadow primer that makes shadows brighter and more radiant, as well as keeping it in place all day without it fading or creasing.
Best Suited For: All skin types
Price: $19
Selling Point: Although I feel that face/ foundation primer is completely unnecessary, eyeshadow primer is a must, and this product is the best at keeping your eyeshadow in place all day without it fading,smudging, or creasing. It also will make anything that you put on top of it brighter and more true to the color in the pan. This is especially great if you have oily lids because it is absolutely fantastic at not making eyeshadow crease, or if you just want your shadow to last all day.
EYELASH CURLER-
Product: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
Description: Honestly the worlds greatest eyelash curler.
Price: $20
Best suited for: everyone!
Selling Point: This eyelash curler conforms perfectly to the eye so there is no tugging or one side being more curled than the other. It curls so much better than any other eyelash curler I have ever tried. If There was on a desert island and I could only have one thing (other than sunscreen, because I burn like a crazy person!) It would be this eyelash curler. The only downfall is that Shu Uemura no longer has any stores in the US, so you would have to order it from their website.
CLARISONIC-
Product: Clarasonic Mia
Description: A rechargeable face brush with a rotating brush head that buffs off makeup, dead skin, dirt and oil from your face and body making your skin soft, supple, and radiant.
Price: $119, ( the original, which is basically the exact same, it is just slightly larger and it has 3 speeds is around $225)
Best suited for: All skin types, they have different brush heads depending on your skin type and what your needs are.
Selling Point: Although this might not technically be a product, this is something that I could not live without and this product saves my skin. I use it both in the morning before I put my makeup on, and at night in the shower to take all of the makeup, dirt, oil, and built up skin off of my face. This is an absolute must have for people with acne prone skin. I can immediately tell the difference if I do not use my Clarisonic even for a day because my skin will break out and become dry and flakey. I use this with the Mario Badescu Enzyme cleansing gel, and it is a miracle worker. I would recommend the mia over the original, just because it is basically the exact same thing ( I find that I only use one speed on the original anyway) and the mia is less expensive. The only thing "better" about the original is that it beeps after like 30 seconds to tell you when to move to the next section of your face (forehead, cheeks, chin, nose....). They have recently come out with the Mia 2, and they might have this feature, however I am not sure.
Mac Studio Finish Concealer
I
have tried just about every concealer known to man kind, but I have
always been hesitant to try some of the mac concealers because some of
their face products break me out. This is one of the exceptions. I have
been using it for about 1 year now, and so far I have not noticed any
breakouts or it making my skin dry, red, and flakey. The amazing thing
about this concealer is that it blends perfectly into your skin without
getting that "grainy" effect ( I cant think of any other way to describe
it, but its when you can see clumps/flakes of uneven spots where your
concealer was worn off and now it just looks like an uneven yucky mess),
which has happened with every other concealer I have tried. I am very
pleased with this concealer, and I would definitely recommend it for
covering up blemishes and uneven skin tone. If your skin is extremely
dry and sensitive, their moisture cover concealer would probably be a
better better suited for your skin type. I know multiple people with
oily skin who swear by this concealer, and I have combination/dry
sensitive skin and this works wonders on it. I personally would not use
this as an under eye concealer because I much prefer YSL touche eclat,
however I do know people who use for under the eyes. If you are going to
use it for this purpose I would recommend getting the NW shades in
order to combat dark circles, or if your eyes are quite red then I would
recommend the NW shades in order to counteract the redness.I would highly recommend this product!
You can find it at mac stores and it goes for about 17$
other products mentioned:
Mac Moisture Cover Concealer- 17$ at Mac stores
Both of these products can also be found at Mac counters or online at Nordstrom.
Cost: 17$
Finish: Natural
Coverage: full, covers just about anything
Best Suited For: all skin types, especially those who are acne prone or have hyper pigmentation
Comparable to: better than anything I have tried!
Would You Recommend This Product?: YES!!!
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
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