Would You Rather Tag

I saw a few youtubers do this tag and I thought I would give it a go. The questions are quite funny. And here is a cute picture of Riley sitting on my lap as I blog.

1. Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

I would rather lose my palettes and eyeshadows because I would prefer to just wear mascara with nothing else. And since I don't have that many palettes and eyeshadows it wouldn't be too terrible to repurchase those again (but lipsticks on the other hand...)

2. Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Can I wear a wig if I chop it all off? Hair grows back but never being able to cut it again sounds really really bad.

3. Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

Coral! it goes better with my skin tone. 

4. If you had $1,000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

This is tough. But I think I would chose clothes. 

5. Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner or eyeliner as lipstick?

I actually have a lot of nude-y shade lipsticks that might not look too bad on the eyes (if you're into that whole wet/vaseline eyelid look)

6. Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Definitely Sephora. So much more to choose from!

7. Would you rather only use one eyeshadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life?

One eyeshadow color. I'm much more of a lipstick/lip kinda girl and I really think different lip colors completely transform your look.

8. Would you rather wear winter clothes in the summer or summer clothes in the winter?

I hate feeling cold and I feel cold often so I would rather wear winter clothes in the summer. I can always take it off!

9. Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

Last year I probably would have said dark nails, but now I'm much more into bright nails. Especially since I tend to wear a lot of neutrals - my nails tend to be my one pop of color.

10. Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product?

I would give up my favorite eye product (which is the MAC paint pot in painterly right now). I can't live without lip products!! I carry like 5 lip products in my handbag at all times because I can't make up my mind which one to use. My current favorite lip product is either the Revlon lip butter in juicy papaya or the MAC lipstick in Patisserie.

11. Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

Messy bun.

12. Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lip gloss?

I wouldn't use lip gloss. As long as I can use lipstick and lip balm I'm good. I gotta paint my nails. My nails are never bare.

13. Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or Sharpie them in everyday?

I'm getting the thinnest light brown sharpie out there for this one. No eyebrows sounds awful.

14. Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

Ok this is a different story. I cannot live without makeup. Bye bye nail polish T.T

Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the daily posts!

Top 5 Essie Nail Polishes for Summer 2013

Essie is my go-to brand for nail polishes. I like the brush it comes with and they have great staying power. They rarely chip and the colors are endless. It was hard to narrow it down but here are my top 5 picks for this summer.

1. Essie, clam bake
2. Essie, mod square
3. Essie, van d'go
4. Essie, mint candy apple
5. Essie, in the cab-ana

Here are the colors in the bottles. (Sorry I mixed up the order a bit!)

I discovered clam bake through an essie trio pack from J. Crew last summer. I got complimented and asked about the color the first time I wore it, so I knew it was going to be a staple. 

van d'go is a beautiful pastel pinky-peach color that looks amazing with a tan and therefore perfect for summertime. it's very feminine and soft feeling but still very opaque! 

hello barbie! mod square is the closet thing to barbie pink! it's definitely a fun color to wear.

everyone's favorite, mint candy apple, is also one of my favorites. again because it's a light pastel color, it really pops against tan skin. it's a really opaque and easy to apply. i only used one coat in the picture.

in the cab-ana is the most recent purchase for me. i've had all the other colors for almost a year. i've already worn this color a few times this year and every time i wear it it just makes me happy. 

Review: Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

I contemplated awhile before getting the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. The bloggers I follow have much lighter skin tones than me and I just wasn't sure it would suite my skin tone. I swatched it many times in store before purchasing it and I'm so happy I did. The palette has 5 matte eyeshadows and 1 shimmery highlight. I have seriously used this palette almost every day. I love mixing Naked2 (taupe) and Faint (warm dusty brown) into my eye crease area. It creates a nice subtle depth to the eyes. It's such a versitile palette and so compact and great for travel. I love the big mirror and I highly recommend you go out and get this right now!

Here are the eyeshadows swatched on my hand from left to right as pictured. 

1. Venus 

2. Foxy

3. W.O.S. (Walk of Shame)

4. Naked2

5. Faint

6. Crave

As you can see Naked2 almost blends into my skin tone. My hands are a little darker than my face but you get the idea. I always mix this with Faint to create a nice midcolor for my crease. These are highly pigmented eyeshadows so a little goes a long way. These swatches are obviously straight from the pan without any blending - they blend to be much lighter if you want them to be!

RiRi Hearts MAC Rihanna lipstick Heaux

RiRi Hearts MAC Summer 2013 Collection by Rihanna was available online at MAC this past Tuesday on June 18th at noon. After about 20 gateway errors and 1.5 hours of refreshing pages I finally placed the order on Heaux (pronouced Hoe). And it shipped pretty quickly because I got the lipstick this past Friday.

Heaux is a rich berry color with a retro matte finish. I heard it was similar to MAC rebel which is a Satin finish and a lipstick I already own. But after applying Heaux for the first time, I think it's a little lighter and I'm definitely loving the matte finish. It's feel dry when you apply it but that's the way I felt when I first applied Ruby Woo. It's a gorgeous lipstick. Thanks RiRi! I can't wait to wear it this fall!

Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush in Coral Reef

I picked up my second creme blush yesterday and I'm really excited about it! I am really starting to like the idea of creme blushes especially for the summer because they look much more natural on the skin. I also wanted another creme blush for travel so I would not have to pack my blush brush.

As you can see on the left is the blush first applied without blending and then I've blended it to look almost a rosy flush on the right. The Revlon PhotoReady creme blushes have a very nice feel to them. It's not soft or sticky at all. I've tried it on my cheeks and lips and its very easy to use and blend out. They blend out very sheer even though when you first apply it it looks a bit clownish. I love this color and I'm so exited to use it this weekend while I'm away!

Everyday summer face

As the weather gets hotter, my makeup gets lighter. Thought I would share my everyday morning makeup routine.

Summer = BB creams! And I have been loving the BB creams! I finished the Boscia BB cream sample that I had. That lasted me forever and I really recommend it. It lasts on the face really well throughout the day and it's just a nice basic BB cream.

The past few days I have been testing a BB cream sent to me from Missha. It's very unique because it's white at first but after you start blending it into the face it starts color correcting to your skin tone! The packaging is beautiful and very clean. You rotate the top lid and the bb cream comes out.

At first I thought it was a little pale for me, but after about 10 minutes it really matches to your skin tone and looks super natural. A little bit goes a very long way. I definitely put way too much on the first time I tried it. And I like to apply it with my hands first and then go over with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. It's pretty light coverage and it feels very light weight and natural which is perfect for summertime.

Then I apply my Bobbi brown under eye concealer and set everything with Rimmel Stay Matte powder. I fill them in lightly with MAC eyeshadow in Brun with an angled Sephora brush. I use Maybelline's clear mascara to make sure the brow hairs are all pointing and staying in the direction I want.

I apply MAC's paint pot in painterly all over my lid. Sweep some taupey eyeshadow in the crease and then blend it out. I tightline with rimmel's scandaleyes eye pencil and then use maybelline the falsies for my lashses.

I lightly dust MAC peaches on the apples of my cheeks and then MAC soft & gentle on my cheekbones and down my nose. I promise we're almost done.

Finally I put on some EOS lip balm in summer fruit and I swear I'm done and out the door!!

bite size skincare

I am going away this friday for the weekend. Travelling is super awesome because it means I can use my sample size products! Above are all the skincare products I'm planning to bring for the trip. And besides the Caudalie beauty elixir, everything has either been a sample from a Sephora order or some sort of gift with purchase! This looks like quite a lot of products to bring but I always end up not bringing enough products and feeling bad for my skin so this time I'm prepared.

Origins GinZing eye cream
Dr. Brandt glow - ruby crystal retinol hydracreme
Kiehl's Lip Balm #1
Olay shine minimizing cleanser
Ojon damage reverse
Caudalie Beauty Elixir
Clinique Even Better Skin tone correcting lotion
Lancome Bi-Facil eye makeup remover
Ole Henriksen Invigorating Night Gel

(makeup bag pictured was a gift from a friend from the alexa chung for madewell collection)

Lipstick Queen - Discovery Kit

Lipstick Queen lipsticks are one of my favorite lipsticks! I only recently discovered them but it was seriously love at first application. They just feel really luxe and beautiful and they're super sheer and easy to wear. They're like highly tinted lip balms because they're so moisturizing. And the packaging is like from a different era. It's really unique and I really appreciate it.

I picked up the Discovery Kit. This includes 3 lipsticks: (L-R) Medieval, Saint Nude, Trance. I originally only wanted to try Medieval because of Maria Duenas Jacobs' interview on Into the Gloss. I'm so glad I did and now I want more and more. 

Medieval is a sheer deep red that is super easy to wear. 

Saint Nude is a little heavier but still sheer. It is a very mature shade and I feel very grown up wearing it. It's a little darker than my lips and has a lot more brown than any lipstick I've ever worn. 

Trance is a beautiful sheer blue based lipstick that feels the youngest and the lipstick I have worn the most out of the three. I read on Barneys that the lipstick is inspired by Mohammad Ali's Rumble in the Jungle quote, "Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee." 

I'm addicted now... I want to pick up Lipstick Queen's Perfect Wave next!

Target (East River Plaza) Haul

If you live in NYC then you'll understand why I was so happy to go to a Target (because they're not in convenient locations!) I took a bus to get to the Target (East Rive Plaza - also Costco, Marshalls and others). I only picked up a few things but they're things I've been meaning to pick up for a long time now.

I picked up the Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray. I have never used a heat protectant and mainly because I rarely even blow dry it. I always just comb it through after I shower and then let it air dry. But on those special occasions when I do want to blow dry my hair or curl it with my flat iron, I didn't have anything to protect my hair. Now I do.

I also gave in and got the Maybelline Color Tattoo in 25 Bad to the Bronze. I already have 05 Too Cool and 35 Tough as Taupe. I've had those for about a year and I wasn't really impressed with them. Tough as Taupe definitely still creased on me by the end of the day. I don't think I wore a primer so hopefully if I pair Bad to the Bronze with MAC's paint pot in painterly it will live up to the hype. There is a lot of hype. And I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought Too Cool... maybe I thought it would a good inner corner highlight but it just sits on my shelf collecting dust. Sad.

For some reason, all the Duane Reade, Wallgreens and CVS stores in Manhattan do not carry the new Revlon lip butter shades. I had to go all the way to Target in Harlem to find Revlon lip butter in Juicy Payaya. I picked up Pink Lemonade a few months ago at a different Target but I think it's too light for my complexion. I hesitated to get Tutti Fruiti as well because it was such an orangey color and that scared me, but I fell in love with Tutti Fruiti so I knew I needed to have Juicy Payaya. It's a much pinkier orange and I really think it's flattering for light to medium skin tones.

Haaay. Wearing Revlon lip butter in Juicy Papaya.

I found Batiste Hint of Color Dry Shampoo in Dark & Deep Brown at Marshalls. It was only $5.99 (normally $9-$10) and since I've been wanting to try it I was so happy it was there. I tried it out as soon as I got home and I do like how when I spray it on my hair I don't really need to massage the product in to get rid of the white I normally would get from other dry shampoos but the spray can is intense. I need to practice how to spray it lightly because it comes out strong.

And finally just some lovely cotton rounds for taking off my makeup and applying toner.

Thanks for reading that really long haul!

Essie nail polish - Butler Please

Butler please!

I've already posted this on my instagram but I thought this beauty deserved a post on its own.

It's such a royal bright blue that makes me so happy every time I look down at my nails. I've been sporting this on my toes as well. Seriously is such an awesome summer color.

The best thing is I just stumbled upon this nail polish at a Street fair in my neighborhood for only $4 and now it's one of my favorite colors!

My nail routine consists of me puting one coat of Essie Feed Me as a base coat. Then two coats of nail polish and then the best top coat EVER - seche vite!!!!!!

Colors of the Rainbow Tag

Happy Friday! It's the Rainbow tag! This was a little difficult for me because I'm a pretty neutrals loving kinda gal. Yellow?? Indigo?? Multicolor??

I saw this tag on youtube and I've seen a couple blogs mention it as well. I thought it would be fun to end this week with something kind of different.

Red MAC, Ruby Woo
Orange Ren glycol lactic radiance renewal mask
Yellow Burts Bees lip balm
Green Mario Badescu eye creme
Indigo Essie, Butler Please
Violet Aussie Moist 3 Minute Miracle
Pink Chanel Coco Mademoiselle parfum
Multicolor Urban Decay Basics palette

RED
Who doesn't think of a bright red lip when it comes to the color red. C'mon. I chose MAC's Ruby Woo which was a wonderful present I got this year for my birthday. It's a classic. I love how matte and pigmented it is but also not drying at all. Amazing.

ORANGE
I have been using the REN glycol lactic mask once a week for the past year and I will probably repurchase it when I'm done. I love the smell and easiness of it. Read a full review here.

YELLOW
I thought yellow was going to be hard until I remember Burts Bees lip balm! I have been using for years and years. I love the original and recently I picked up the Rejuvenating lip balm with acai berry (still yellow! only the cap is a plummy color). I am strangely in love with the smell. It doesn't leave that nice refreshed feeling on the lips but its still moisturizing and my go-to as a base for my lips.

GREEN
I'm picking the Mario Badescu eye cream that I mentioned a few days ago! You can't beat the price for a nice moisturizing eye cream.

INDIGO
This has seriously changed my mind about blue nail polish. The Essie nail polish in Butler Please. I will post the instagram picture tomorrow with more on my thoughts tomorrow.

VIOLET
I am a very simple person when it comes to haircare. I buy my shampoo and conditioner at Costco and I can't really be bothered with a long routine in the morning or night with my hair. I added the Aussie Moist 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner as an extra step a few months ago. I use it about twice a week. I normally hate coconut but seriously I feel like I step into a tropical paradise every time I bust thing out. As the title suggests you leave it in for 3 minutes and then after you rinse it out your hair is so soft and silky! So easy! Plus it's like $3 or sometimes less depending where you find it.

PINK
I stick to one perfume. I don't experiment. I like my Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and that is what I wear.

MULTICOLOR
This is a fun as multicolor gets for me on my face. The Urban Decay Basics Palette. Oh yeah. I love this palette. It seriously is everything - good quality color, extremely good color payoff, nice neutral matte colors + one shimmery goodness and so good for travel. A really good investment!

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FINDATION - Finding your foundation matches

Sometimes you just want to order your foundation online but you're not sure what shade you are and it's a really big hassle to go into the store and test it. Half the time I'm not sure if the associates are paying that much attention to actually find the correct shade and the lightning inside those stores is never ideal. This is where findation comes in!

If you know your correct shade in one or more brand and shade, you can enter that in and findation will match you with other foundations! It's super easy and I love to order things online so this is perfect. Now I know I'm also the shade Punjab in Nars Sheer Glow... which eventually I will try.

Here's a sample of all the different shades I match! and you can easily filter by brand if you're looking for a specific foundation!

Big big Clinique haul

I ordered the Clinique 'Even Better' Skincare Set a few weeks ago. This included:

• Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector
• Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 20
• 7 Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula

There was also had a gift with purchase so everything else you see also come in the order. I love the sizes of everything because they will be great for travel. (Especially excited about the chocolate eyeliner and eyeshadow duo in New York Dawn and Chocolate Chip!)

So far I have been using the dark spot corrector every night and day under my la roche-posay effaclar duo. I really like how lightweight it feels. I know these kinds of products take time but I already feel an evenness to my complexion. I use one pump to spread evenly across the face and down the neck. I wanted an extra step in my skincare routine that tackled dark spots and uneven skin. Over the past year I have definitely improved the overal appearance of my skin but really wanted another push to help it. After I finish the product I will give another review of the product.

Here's the full list of products that were included in the gift with purchase:

• Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream 
• Liquid Facial Soap Mild
• Take The Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes & Lips
• Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in New York Dawn and Chocolate Chip
• Quickliner for Eyes Intense in Chocolate 
• Long Last Lipstick in Twilight Nude 
• High Impact Mascara in Black or High Impact Waterproof Mascara in Black
• Tracy Reese for Clinique Cosmetics Bag

june birchbox!

my birchbox came in the mail yesterday! it's like a mini christmas every month! after i use some of the products i'll be able to give a better review, but basically you pay $10 a month and you get a little package full of makeup and skincare samples to explore and try each month. pretty cool!

Toners

Toners. Otherwise known as that step you to do right after you wash your face. I used to be quite lazy with toners and for a long time I was dedicated only to the Caudalie Beauty Elixir because it's just so easy. Now using toner regularly and actually understanding it's importance, here are a few I have on rotation:

Origins Zero Oil Pore Purifying Toner
Aesop B & Tea Balancing Toner
Boots Rosewater Toning Spritz
Caudalie Beauty Elixir

Toner is especially important for people with oily or acne prone skin. After you wash your face, your skin's pH balance can be unbalanced and toner will restore the pH balance to its optimum of 5.5

Toners can help close pores and even give the appearance of smaller pores (yay!) and it generally just preps the skin so your moisturizer or any treatments you layer onto your skin will absorb better!

this week what i brought to work

i like to carry small crossbody bags because i hate the weight of anything larger - therefore i have limited space in my bag! i like to bring one product with a mirror so i will always have a mirror handy and then a ton of lip products. i hate having dry lips and at the moment, i'm having a revlon moment.

here's what's in my bag!

1. topshop creme blush, head over heels
2. revlon lip butter, tutti frutti
3. revlon just bitten kissable balm stain, honey
4. revlon colorburst lip gloss, peony

have a great weekend everyone! *sorry this was a fuzzy iphone photo!

MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

MAC paint pot in Painterly is another summer purchase for me (my eyelids can get oily throughout the day causing my eyeshadow to crease. I already have Urban Decay's primer potion which I think is good and I will finish using, but I love the way MAC paint pots go on the lid and I like the subtle color it adds. It brightens the eye area and covers any veins or unevenness so you have a smooth surface to work with and feels super light! It makes my eyeshadow last throughout the day and makes the colors even more vibrant.

I like to wear Painterly as an eyeshadow base or even as my eyeshadow on some days with a little eyeshadow through the crease and eyeliner. It's super easy to apply. It's a creamy texture and is a soft matte nude/pink. I use my ring finger to apply it and you don't need much at all. I love that the shade is a little lighter than my eyelid color and I love anything that brightens and makes my makeup stay put!

mask behaviour

I love masks. I try to do a mask at least twice a week. The REN glycol lactic radiance renewal mask is a skin renewing and targets firmness, tone and radiance. I was drawn to this because in the product description it said it worked well with post-acne scarring, blemishes, blackheads and sun-damaged skin.  Those pretty much are my exact concerns. The mask itself is quite pricey, but Sephora offers a Get Radiant, Glowing Skin In Just 10 Mintues! Kit. And for $3 more you get a mini micro polish cleanser and radiance perfection serum. And maybe a cleansing cloth but I don't know where that went.

At first I did not see noticeable results with this, but I noticed that if I leave it on for longer than 10 minutes, after I wash off the mask, my skin is so soft and smooth - it really feels refreshed! Sometimes it tingles more than others and it's got a real fruity smell. I love that one pump is the exact amount you need to spread evenly on your face. It never dries, so after 10-15 minutes you just wash it off your face and then apply the rest of your night time skin care routine. It's clean, easy to use and it's the perfect mask to use at the end of the week to feel refreshed again.

matte is better

summer made quite a dramatic entrance this past weekend. luckily i purchased this right in time. i've heard a lot of great things about this product and i really wanted to try it for myself. I got Jouer Matte Moisture Mint in the shade Nude. i still wear a SPF underneath but this stuff seriously does give you a matte finish without feeling dry at all. i don't even really need to powder my face after. amazing. (i still powder just to set my concealer)

as we welcome summer i'm going to try and cut back on products. i really hate getting foundation all over my sunglasses. and i hate having to worry about panda eyes.

eye creams

Eye creams are so so so important.

Here are 3 eye creams that I have been using this past year. I just finished the Kiehl's Creamy eye treatment and it was the least favorite among the bunch. It's not as smooth and is hard to pat into your eye area. I think I read somewhere it's because it won't accidentally rub into your eye but for me it just feels bad. Also, it leaves a sheen across the surface under your eyes and therefore I only used this at night as I felt it left a slight sticky and shiny appearance. During the day I have been using the Clinique All about eyes rich (second or third time repurchased) because it lays a nice base for my under eye concealer. It's a nice basic eye cream that feels thick and is super easy to apply. Lastly, I now use the Mario Badescu eye cream at night and so far it's been really good. It's a similiar color to the Kiehl's eye treatment but it's a lot smoother and I like the way it feels when applied (and such a great price!) I read about it on Into The Gloss and I think I will be repurchasing it from now on because it's nice and affordable!

nailed it

I normally wear reds, pinks and nudes but this summer I am loving all shades of blue on my nails! Currently I am wearing Essie In the cab-ana. It's a hot blue with a hint of teal and looks really beautiful against my tanner skin tone. It's perfect for the summer. I can't wait to wear it to the beach!