Saturday, November 23, 2013

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge Review

Let’s start off by saying that I am not one of those people who is a Beauty Blender hater, in fact it recently has become one of my favorite beauty related items however the price is absolutely ridiculous! $20+ for a little sponge that needs to be replaced every few months is the craziest thing ever which is why I was SO excited when I heard that Real Techniques was coming out with a complexion sponge I was hoping it could compare to the beauty blender. Much to my surprise, when dampened not only does it compare to the beauty blender it is actually better than the beauty blender in my opinion.

The flat side of this really is what makes it so good. It is perfection for getting the majority of your face then you can go back in with the pointed side for around your nose, eyes and to layer a little concealer or more foundation on blemishes or areas you want to cover more. For $5.99 (and most of the time Ulta has them BOGO 50% off plus you can use coupons on them) it is WELL worth it and a great substitute for the beauty blender fans like me that just can’t justify the price. Have you tried this little miracle sponge yet? If so what do you think?

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Collection Limited Edition One Night Stand Cheek Palette

I am trying REALLY hard to curb my beauty related spending and trying to save money to eventually buy a house but every now and then I just get suckered into purchasing something. In walks the new NARS Holiday Collection One Night Stand Limited Edition Cheek Palette a beauty that I just could not resist no matter how many times I told myself I didn’t need it. I never got the Danmari palette a few years ago when that one came out and I have regretted it since then so I knew it was now or never. I think this one will sell out pretty fast especially since the 20% VIB sale starts this weekend so I would order it NOW if you want it. Don’t wait for the 20% because you will kick yourself if you miss out on it. Here is the description of shades from the Sephora website:

- 0.14 oz x 6 Blush in Laguna (diffused brown powder with golden shimmer), Deep Throat (flirty, sheer peach), Orgasm (peachy pink with golden shimmer), Mistinguette (bright pink), Goulue (medium pink), Devotee (highlighter)

If I had to change anything in this palette it would be that it wouldn’t contain the permanent shades. For people like me who already has Laguna, Orgasm and Deep Throat it is a little disappointing to see them appear in this palette. NARS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come out with a 6 pan cheek palette that has all limited edition shades.

I would highly suggest ordering this before the 20% VIB sale start not only because it will probably sell out but because I got to choose from a cute little bag of samples on top of the 3 samples you already get from a Sephora.com order. I have included pictures of all the samples (plus the normal 3 and I grabbed a Clarins One Step Gentle Exfoliating Facial Cleanser for 100 points because I love that stuff and think it is awesome to have a travel size).

Overall this is a beautiful palette and if you don’t already have the permanent shades in the palette it is a no brainer. If you do own 1, 2 or all 3 of the permanent shades you will have to decide if you will get good use out of this as a travel palette. Since I am gone so much (I have been gone pretty much every other week for the past 3 months and will be gone again starting tomorrow) it makes sense for me to travel with this and not being a few single blushes.

Cheers to pretty cheeks!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

My Cream Eyeshadow Collection- Part 1

My name is Kimberly, and I am a cosmetics addict. Ok, not that it is a surprise to anyone reading this. Blush is probably my number one vice but eyeshadows, especially cream shadows come in at a REALLY close second.

I figured it would be nice to start a blog series that will highlight different sections of my collection starting with all the potted cream shadows that I own. (I will do jumbo pencil types of shadows and ones in tubes in 2 other separate posts) The swatches and information below are separated by brand. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about any of the products or swatches that I show below.

Chanel Illuion D’Ombre
From bottom to top in both pictures:
1- Convoitise #90 (LE) A pale champagne shimmer with micro glitter
2- Apparence #817 (LE) Light gold shimmer
3- Emerveille #82 Subtle rose gold that leans more to the pinky side than gold
4- Initiation #827 (LE) Warm taupey brown with hints of a gold undertone and shimmer
5- Epatant #84 Cool based silver shimmer with a slight touch of green



MAC
From bottom to top
1- Bare Study: White based shimmery champagne
2- Morning Frost (LE): Cool based taupey silver with shimmer
3- Vintage Selection (pro longwear formula): Pink based taupe with shimmer
4- Rubenesque: True Rose Gold
5- Nubile (LE): Pink based skintone
6- Painterly (pro longwear formula): Brown based neutral skintone
7- Superwatt (LE- Electric Cool Eyeshadow): Warm brown based taupe with shimmer



Part 2 will be up later this week but until then I would love to know if you have any of these shades and which ones are your favorite!

October Favorites

I love going through my stash and putting together my monthly favorites, it is really interesting to me to see how much can change or stay the same month to month when it comes to my daily makeup routine and what I continue to reach for. Most of the month of October I tended to reach for tried and true favorites. I traveled to my sister’s wedding so I will put an annotation next to anything I actually used on her wedding day in case anyone is interested.

Here are my favorites for the month of October:
-IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Corrector Concentrate Cream
-Hourglass Immaculate Foundation and Estee Lauder Doublewear (I have been switching back and forth between the 2 but I wore Doublewear for my sister’s wedding)
-IT Cosmetics Hello Light Creme Illuminator topped with Becca Shimmering Perfector in Opal (I wore this combo to the wedding)
-Benefit Porefessional Primer (I wore this to the wedding)
-Laura Mercier Artist 2 Palette
-MAC Vanilla Pigment
-Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette (I wore Dim Light to the wedding, well I actually wear it everyday)
-Dior Addict Lipstick in New York and Tarte Glitzy LipSurgence (I wore both of these layered to the wedding)
-IT Cosmetics Your Brows But Better pencil
-MAC Tease your Taste blush (wore this to the wedding) and MAC Ripe for Love blush
-Bath and Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin body wash and lotion

I know that this is alot of stuff and if people want I can do a separate post on what I used on my face for my sister’s wedding and what I used for makeup products on her. She was a STUNNING bride! It was a great month with lots of awesome makeup favorites and I hope you will pick up a few of them to try to dig through your stash and start using them again if you have any of them. Here is to a great November!