July Favorites

August 01, 2015 in Makeup, Skincare

Unlike in June when I was desperately combing through my routines to figure out what my favorites were, in July the favorites came in quick - just a heads up this is going to be a long post! I tried a lot of new products this month, as I just couldn’t stop buying new things, and I found a lot of winners in the mix that I can’t get enough of now. Four of them actually came in one shopping trip (evidence in this Instagram picture) that was only two weeks ago, but I've fallen in love with them all the same. I've even got a little music favorite for you at the end, too!

Starting with skincare, the one thing I could not get enough of this month was the Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil. I wrote a whole review on it last week (here) because I love it so much. This has done absolute wonders for my skin, clearing up so much redness and old acne marks. It's made applying makeup in the morning so easy - sometimes I can skip base products altogether!

Before I get into the makeup bits, I wanted to also mention the Bumble and Bumble Brilliantine. I went out and bought it immediately after reading Grace's review on it. It's hard to explain what it does to my hair - it just makes it better, you know? All I've been doing every time I wash my hair is apply a little of the Bumble and Bumble Invisible Oil Primer, letting it dry a little, and working a dime-sized amount of the Brilliantine through before letting it air dry all the way. It really takes the puffiness out of freshly washed hair and gives it that "slept in" look - I can now wear it down without any heat styling and feel confident enough to walk out the door!

With all the strobing going on, I just haven't been able to stop buying highlighters lately. I'm completely addicted (check out my Highlighter Roundup if you want to see my collection) and constantly adding more to my wishlist - I'm currently lusting after one of the NARS Illuminators and a MAC Cream Color Base if you're wondering. One thing I've been slathering all over my face to really amp up the glow is the MAC Strobe Cream. It feels really nourishing on the skin and just really livens it up - I can't see any shimmer particles, but it gives such a dewy sheen. One of my highlighters I used in my Strobing Face of the Day post and a recent addition is the Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight. I've been reaching for this so often since I got it because it's so quick and easy to apply. It leaves a gorgeous ethereal glow on the skin as well. Another highlighter love is the Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Compact in Highlight 01. I haven't heard much of this one around the blogging world, but oh my is it a beauty. I'm not sure why it has matte in the name, because it's certainly not. It gives the skin a gorgeous champagne sheen that's easy brushed on subtly or built up for a more "wet" looking glow.

Lastly on the makeup front are a couple lip pencils on the two opposite ends of the price spectrum. Normally my go-to lip liners are MAC's Whirl and Soar, depending on if I'm feeling something more brown or something more pink, but the two I've got here are just a little bit lighter and more natural looking on me. The first is Milani's Color Statement Lipliner in All Natural (04). I've heard Claire Marshall talk about this one as a dupe for Charlotte Tilbury's Lip Cheat in Iconic Nude. This one is a peachy-pinky-brown color, similar to if you took most of the pink tones out of Velvet Teddy by MAC. It's a great nude color on me that goes with everything and never makes me look washed out. The formula of these lip pencils is lovely as well - they're even creamier than the MAC Lip Pencils, although you do pay the price with a shorter longevity. The other lip pencil I've been loving this month is the Marc Jacobs (P)Outliner Longwear Lip Pencil in the shade Prim(rose). This one is quite similar to MAC Soar, but again it's lighter. It's a really great match for my natural lip color, so I've been scribbling this one on the most often. This pencil is also incredibly creamy, but it lasts for-freakin'-ever. As in I got two fillings at the dentist yesterday with it on and it still looked perfect at the end of it. I'm in love.

I like including some non-beauty favorites every now and again and this month I've got a music favorite in the form of a Spotify playlist I made (tooting my own horn much?). I've called it Sinatra Etc, and it's all I've been listening to the entire month. I've got all my favorites from Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Judy Garland, and Billie Holiday, with some Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, and Connie Francis thrown in there for good measure. Give it a listen if you want - this period of music is definitely my favorite.

What were your favorites last month?

Brands I'd Like to Try More From

July 30, 2015 in Makeup, Skincare

I'll be the first to admit, my beauty stash is a little out of control. I can't go on a shopping trip and not come home with a horde of shiny new beauty products. I've come to have a bit of a "can't stop won't stop" attitude about it - trying new things is just fun. While I have a few standby brands that can do no wrong in my eyes, there are still plenty I haven't tried enough from - yet (cue maniacal laughter).

Fresh is a brand I've tried a fair few bits from (the most out of the three brands I'll be talking about), and I've fallen in love with every piece. I can't live without the Sugar Lip Treatments - the shade Petal has been living in my handbag since I got it, and Plum comes out in the wintertime. Another favorite is the Rose Face Mask - I've only got the little sample size here, but the full size has definitely made its way onto my wishlist. I love Fresh's packaging - I just want to buy everything and display it on my dream bathroom counter. The products just seem so simple and effective - top of my list to try are the Sugar Lip Polish, the Peony Brightening Night Treatment Mask, and the Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil.

Another skincare brand I've been dying to try more from is NUDE Skincare. I've only ever tried a sample of the Advanced Renewal Serum and really loved it, despite not being its target audience. The brand's vision is really interesting - that nutrition is just as important for our skin as it is for our bodies. The products are formulated like a healthy meal you want to be eating - a balance of vitamins and minerals, omegas, and antioxidants. I'm especially drawn to the products heavy on the omegas, like the Perfect Cleanse Omega Cleansing Jelly and the Progenius Omega Treatment Rescue Oil (I'll be cracking into my sample of this ASAP). The Miracle Mask has made its way onto my wishlist as well (after reading its description a few times it's crossed over into "OMG NEED" territory).

As for makeup, I like to think I've tried quite a lot of it. I'd say I've tried at least one thing from every brand carried in my local Sephora, except for Smashbox, Buxom, and Make Up For Ever. One that I've only recently come to try is Bobbi Brown. I've heard nothing but good things from the brand, but as it's not stocked anywhere near me, I just never pick anything up. I got the Long Wear Cream Shadow Stick a few weeks ago and it has already become a firm favorite. Falling for the eyeshadow stick as definitely made me catch the Bobbi Brown bug - now I want it all. Brushes, skincare, makeup, you name it. Edging into the "can't resist a Sephora order much longer" section of my wishlist are the Hydrating Eye Cream, Full Coverage Face Brush, and the Pot Rouge for Lips and Cheeks.

Have you tried anything from these brands? If you have, let me know your top picks! And what brands do you want to try more from?

The Skin Transform-er: Sunday Riley's Luna

July 25, 2015 in Skincare

The beauty world has been sent buzzing over the past few months thanks to the release of the Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil. Beauty bloggers everywhere raved about the overnight results they saw in their skin, so of course I had to jump on the bandwagon and see what the fuss was all about.

I'll start off with a disclaimer here - no, I didn't pay for this. My mom bought this for the two of us and my sister to all try out and share, as we all had skin concerns that the reviews of Luna said it could fix. Do I think it's worth spending my own hard-earned cash on a repurchase? Spoiler alert: YES.

The Luna Sleeping Night Oil is essentially a retinol (trans-retinol ester) in oil - in the Pixiwoo Sisters' interview with Sunday Riley, she says that this is actually quite a hard thing to formulate. But she seems to have done it flawlessly. Retinols are known wrinkle fighters and anti-agers because of their ability to stimulate cell turnover and collagen production (source), but the cell turnover aspect is what attracted me to it - I really wanted to get rid of my acne marks. Giving the oil its blue color (besides a couple added dyes) is Blue Tansy, a flower that's poisonous if ingested but has great anti-inflammatory and skin-soothing benefits if formulated correctly (source). Because I have a lot of splotchy redness in my skin, too (thanks, hormones), this combination of ingredients just really sounded right up my alley.

I'm really happy with the packaging - the pipette is the best way to deliver this product, and the dark/opaque bottle is extremely practical as well. Retinols will react with sunlight, rendering them ineffective, so housing Luna in a dark bottle was pretty much the only choice - it will ensure that the active ingredients will actually stay active, and you won't be wasting your money on a product that will work at first and then just turn into a bunch of nice blue-colored oil.

After testing the product for a month and a half now, I can say I'm incredibly happy with the results. I use about three or four drops of the oil every other night before bed, so I think the bottle would last quite a long time. I didn't believe any of the reviews I had heard when people said they saw results overnight, but honestly, I did too - the morning after my first use, my skin looked so incredibly even and glowing - I didn't use a spot of concealer that day. It really tones down the redness in my skin, allowing me to wear less base makeup to even everything out. My mom and I were marveling at the results - her pores appeared smaller after one use, too. At first the results didn't last that long - the next day, after I hadn't used the Luna oil at night, my skin's redness was back. But after using it consistently for a month and a half, the redness has really toned down and stays minimal between uses. It's helped my dark acne marks tremendously as well. When I got back from the beach a couple weeks ago I had three or four really dark spots on my chin from a breakout (despite slathering on the sunblock, I was still left with these marks), and they were completely gone after using the Luna oil for three nights in a row.

It's becoming quite addictive to layer on at night because it just feels so luxurious and I'm in love with the results. It's incredibly moisturizing but sinks into the skin quickly and doesn't feel greasy at all. The blue color does sink in and disappear as you massage the oil into your skin, so it's a good indicator of when it's completely worked into the skin. It does have a bit of a smell, but I've gotten used to it, and my boyfriend actually told me last night that it smells like "mac & cheese without the cheese," if you're looking for a more detailed description (thanks, Brett).

Have you tried the Luna Sleeping Night Oil?