Valentines Day look

Hi guys!

Since tomorrow is Valentines day, I thought it would be fun to show you a makeup look you could wear, even if you're not going out or doing anything fancy. It's nice to have an excuse to wear even more pink. ;)

I started out with E.l.f.'s eyelid primer to prevent creasing. Then I applied a matte white shade from Tarte's MATTEnificent palette (post all about it next!). I used my NARS blush in Desire as an eyeshadow and used my finger and lightly pat it on my eyelid. Then I took a fluffy brush and a medium brown matte eyeshadow and blended it out in the crease. Next I used the dark plum shade from the Tarte palette and popped it in the crease as well. With what was left on my brush, I blended it over the pink shade on my lid to tone it down.

After that, I took the medium brown shade I used earlier and put it under my bottom lashes, & did the same with the dark purple- focusing more on the outer edges.

I used a brown eyeliner from Revlon on my lids and blended it out for a smokey effect. I used a white eyeliner pencil for my bottom waterline to make my eyes pop.

For a highlight under the brow I used a cream concealer lighter than my skin tone. I curled my lashes, and added mascara and tada! That's it.

Here's a list of all the products I used:

FACE:

L'oreal True Match Foundation in n2

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 001 Transparent

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Smoothing Stick in Fair 01

CHEEKS:

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Milk Chocolate

Milani Illuminating Face Powder in 03 Beauty's Touch

EYES:

E.l.f. eyelid primer

Tarte MATTEnificent palette

NARS blush in Desire

Revlon Grow Luscious Lashliner in 002 Espresso

NYC Kohl Eyeliner Pencil in 926 White

Mally Volumizing Mascara

LIPS:

NYX Butter gloss in éclair

I hope you guys have a great Valentines day & a good weekend! 

-rachel j

FOTD #2- Clean and Fresh

Hi everyone!

I'm currently working on putting out some awesome new posts, but I didn't want to keep y'all waiting, so I decided to do a quick FOTD! I hope you've all had an amazing week! Be expecting some tips & tricks, reviews, and maybe even a tutorial soon! ;)

FACE:

Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in 120 Ivory

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque 

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 15

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 001 Transparent 

EYEBROWS:

Kat Von D Saint palette carravaggio

Stila Stay All Day Eyebrow Color in medium

EYES:

NYX Love in Paris palette

Maybelline New York Master Precise liquid liner in black

Mally Volumizing Mascara

CHEEKS:

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Milk Chocolate

E.l.f. Blush in tickled pink

Milani Illuminating Face Powder in 03 Beauty's Touch

LIPS:

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in 080 Strawberry Shortcake

-rachel j

Favorite drugstore lipsticks

What's up guys?

This past weekend I noticed that I haven't really talked about lipstick yet. So here's a little post about my favorite affordable lipsticks!

Top row, left to right:

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss 09:

I love this shade when I want to look extra classy. It's a deep berry toned red.

 Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss 06:

This is such a bright and pigmented color! I love the Kate Moss Rimmel lipsticks; they are really smooth and glide on easily. I get compliments all the time when I wear this one.

Revlon Super Lustrous Shine 805 Kissable Pink:

This is a nice bright yet sheer pink that looks relatively natural on the lips. It's also pretty moisturizing. I like to wear it when I'm in a rush or when I can't decide which lipstick to wear.

Bottom row, left to right:

Revlon Super Lustrous Creme 613 Just Enough Buff:

It took me a while to like this beige-y nude. I'm not really a nude kind of girl- I usually stick to pink colors, but I really like this when I've got a lot going on with my eyes or if I wear a bright blush. 

 Rimmel Moisture Renew 235 Pink Star:

Pink Star is a peachy pink with some fine shimmer in it. It's a fun color without being too bright.

 Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter 027 Juicy Papaya:

The peachiest of them all, and I love it! The name really suits it. It's very moisturizing and it lasts a pretty long time. It's not as thick as the ones by Rimmel, but it still has a good amount of color to it. 

These are just a few of my favorites- I had a really hard time narrowing it down! I tried to have a bit of variety color-wise instead of only having loads of pinks or nudes. I also didn't notice until I was typing this post that they're all either by Revlon or Rimmel! Funny how that happens.

What do you think? Tell me your favorites in the comments x

-rachel j

REVIEW: New Revlon Colorburst Matte & Lacquer Balm

Hello again!

A couple of weeks ago I went out to scope what was new at the drugstore and found these! Revlon came out with a collection of Colorburst Matte Balms and Colorburst Lacquer Balms. I got two matte balms & one lacquer balm. There are a total of 9 matte shades and 10 lacquer shades (at least according to Ulta's website). I tried to pick shades that I would get a lot of use out of, but there are plenty of more daring colors like hot pinks and purples that I may try in the future.

Below are close up pictures of each shade, as well as swatches on my arm and on my lips so you can get a better idea of how these balms look!

Left to right: 105 Demure (lacquer), 205 Elusive (matte), 240 Striking (matte)

240 Striking

205 Elusive

105 Demure

Left to right: 105 Demure, 205 Elusive, 240 Striking

(I had to go over the swatches at least once to get them this vibrant)

Demure is pretty close to my natural lip color. Demure is one of the lacquer balms that is a beautiful light, beige-y pink with fine glitter in it- I think all of the lacquer balms have some glitter in them for added shine. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the glitter, but it ended up being my favorite of the three! It's a nice "my lips but better" shade.

The only kind of negative thing in regards to the glitter is that even after the color has faded, the glitter sticks. It looks a bit odd in my opinion, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

Elusive is a bit more pigmented then my bare lips- I would describe it as a bright rose-y pink. 

Striking, as you can see, is pretty striking! It's a beautiful yellow toned red. Reminds me of a tomato! I love to wear this with some winged eyeliner and mascara. Very classic.

(Sorry for the messy application on this one!)

Quality:
These balms are very creamy, smooth, and easy to apply. I love the packaging and how they feel on my lips. The pigmentation is pretty decent- I have to go over my lips at least twice to be happy with the it, as I did for the swatches above. For some reason I have the most trouble with Striking, but like I said before, I just go over it a few times and all is well.

Also, the matte balms aren't super drying like a lot of matte lipsticks. They don't cling to dry skin quite as badly as other lipsticks, but I still recommend exfoliating and moisturizing to get rid of the dead skin before application.


Staying Power:
These aren't the best for long wear, especially if you're eating and drinking. They do stain your lips, but it's definitely a more faded look compared to right after application.

I put Striking to the test today- I put it on around 3 pm and went about my day, eating and drinking included. (These do transfer onto glassware, by the way). By around 4:30 pm all that was left was the stain, which didn't look too shabby. I would recommend popping this in your purse before going out just incase you need to reapply.

Conclusion:
I like them! They're easy to apply and feel nice on my lips. They also have beautiful shades to choose from and they're around $9 each.

As always, I hope you're having an amazing Tuesday and I'll talk to you soon!

-rachel j