The Beauty Sample

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Despite having quite oily skin, powder foundations (along with matte foundations, as I will get to in another foundation review coming up) have always been something I’ve shied away from. Just the thought of an obviously powdery, caked-on complexion strikes fear into my liquid foundation-loving heart. But then a while ago, I finally gave into my skin’s craving for a drier formula and bought the ever popular bareMinerals Matte Mineral Foundation. After a few uses, I was left not so afraid of powder foundations but also not very impressed. I tried to give up the idea that a powder foundation could ever hold up to a liquid foundation but kept hearing so many good things about them. So I decided to give it one more shot with the Gorgeous Cosmetics’ Powder Perfect Powder Foundation.

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Have I ever told you guys that I have a serious weakness for beauty products with names that pertain to food? Example: Lid Smoothie. Skin Food. Lip Butter. Soufflé Blush. This may or may not also be about 90% of the reason I am dying to try the new Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelées. But I digress–when I was at the Dior counter a few weeks ago to purchase the new Diorskin Nude Tan Paradise Duo Iridescent Blush & Bronzing Powder, these new Jelly Lip Pens caught my eye immediately. Doesn’t it just sound so squishy and delicious?? Who could resist a name so cute?!!

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  ««Press Sample»»

I used to be of the mindset that lip balm was lip balm, and paying anything over $20 for a lip balm would be tantamount to highway robbery, especially when you go through as much of it as I do (I once went through a stick of Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm in a week flat. True story!)! But over time, I found it increasingly difficult to resist the sweet siren call of such pricey lip treatments. I mean, there had to be something special about them to warrant the hefty price tag, right?! Well as luck would have it, Hourglass offered to send me their newly released N°28 Lip Treatment Oil. Of course I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss was about and whether or not these pricey lip treatments were worth the inflated price.

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As I’m sure many of you are well aware, I am and always have been more attracted to a very sheer, subtle lip. Tinted balms and sheer, balmy lipsticks are my go-to’s when I want to look a bit more polished and put-together. It seems that sheer lip color is also becoming more and more popular, especially now that spring is here and summer is right around the corner! So, I’ve decided that I should put together a post highlighting some of my favorites as of late for you! I think every single product would be great for a light, no-fuss pop of color during the warmer months. So here it is: a lipstick-phobe’s guide to lip color! Read the rest of this entry…

I usually don’t have a problem writing out an intro to my posts but in this case, I’m struck a bit dumb. Just look at that palette! I’m not entirely sure that words are really necessary here. So let’s all just take a collective step back for a moment and just gawk at the beauty that is Giorgio Armani’s Summer 2013 Face & Palette!

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Along with crayon-type eyeshadows that are becoming all the rage lately, you’ve probably noticed a new trend coming out of the woodwork as well: chubby lip pencils. Of course we know this is not really a new thing: Tarte’s super popular LipSurgence pencils have been around for a while. It seems, though, that Clinique really put the product on the map a few years ago with the ever-popular release of their Chubby Sticks. They’ve recently added a Chubby Stick Intense as well as their Chubby Stick Shadow Tints, but the original version will always hold a special place in many a heart (and makeup bag). Since then, there has been a slew of other brands jumping on the chubby stick trend: Revlon, Soap & Glory, Laura Mercier, Dior, Sally Hansen, and, of course, Neutrogena. Read the rest of this entry…

Just a quick series of snapshots to show you what I’ve been up to…

Currently testing:

See a trend? There are 2 different brands’ (Dior and Neutrogena) chubby lip pencils and 2 really expensive lip treatments (Hourglass and La Mer) in there.

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Summer always sees the release of the best makeup collections, in my opinion. There are some who dig the darker tips and nails of fall or the bright, pastel shades of spring but I am a summer collection-lover through and through. Maybe it’s that all the warm, bronzy summery shades just seem to flatter my skin best or maybe it’s that I’m a true Cali-girl, born and raised, and a just beachy girl at heart. Whatever the reason, nothing makes my heart go pitter-patter like the summer collections do. This year, there’s been some extraordinary releases from a multitude of brands but one brand’s collection that particularly caught my eye is Dior’s Bird of Paradise Collection for Summer 2013.

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 Remember how I told you guys a little while back that one of my first makeup items–the product that started it all–was a stack of loose pigments from my mom? Well just because loose pigments will always hold a special place in my heart does not mean that I still enjoy using them to this day. I have a few and sometimes will bring them out just to look at and swatch (anyone else do this with items in their collection?), but I can’t even remember the last time I deliberately chose to use a loose pigment over a pressed shadow in the last several years. Any loose pigments I do own have been slowly, steadily collecting dust in my collection for quite some time. Still, when I received some samples of Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Fire Drops Loose Glitter Pigments to test out, I was excited. I mean come on, it’s Rouge Bunny Rouge–they could send me acid green lipstick or neon purple blush and I would still be over the moon! But I had heard some really good things about RBR’s loose pigments in particular, so I eagerly started testing them right away.

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««Press Sample»»

For many of us, though it is now officially spring, we still have to deal with a multitude of problems coming straight out of winter. Dry, scaly skin, a pallid, lifeless complexion…it’s hard to get into the spirit of spring when looking in the mirror yields dull skin and wan, decidedly un-rosy and very un-spring-y (??) cheeks. That’s where Vapour Organic Beauty’s Aura Multi-Use Blush in Spark comes in.

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