Happy Birthday To Me! - From Sephora

I picked up my birthday gift not too long ago and I am overly excited about it. It's quickly become a favorite. I had a choice between a Marc Jacobs mini makeup set (lipstick and eyeliner) or a deluxe sample set of Fresh skincare product. Even though I'm in the market for some new skincare, I'm always a little hesitant to try things without doing thorough research on what's in the products because my skin is so sensitive to so many ingredients in skincare products. With that being said I went for the Marc Jacobs set which came with a mini Le Marc Lip Creme in 216 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and a mini Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer.

Let me tell you... This is a wonderful birthday gift to get when you're someone who has trouble splurging on yourself. This lipstick is so long wearing, creamy, and opaque. It's a fun pink that's a few shades brighter than my natural lip color. It's easy to apply, and let's be honest, the mini size of it is absolutely adorable. Even for a deluxe sample size it will still last a long time!

The eyeliner stayed in place all day on the waterline without smudging or ending up in my eyelash roots giving me raccoon eyes, but it's just a mini matte black eyeliner. While I can't justify spending money on this expensive of an eyeliner, you can bet that I will be using this one up without complaining. It's opaque and creamy, and probably well worth the price for it's quality, but I can't do it.

Thanks Sephora for a lovely birthday gift on my first month back in Sephora stores!

Stay Beautiful!

BNB

Recent Beauty Purchases

Recently, there hasn't been a lot of things tickling my interests in the beauty world.

I'm not a collector so I don't just pick up all the new products just to test them out. I do my research, I swatch things for months, I buy travel sizes or get sample perks before buying. If it doesn't peak my interest or have something to offer me that what I already have doesn't, it's not going in my vanity. But that being said, I have picked up a few things I've been in need of for a bit.

First, at my local hobby store I picked up a 4 inch square mirror to use as a mixing palette for my foundation so that I can stop having to use the backs of my hands to hold product. Before this I was using a Ball jar lid for a week or so, but it just isn't quite big enough

I also picked up some baby wipes and face cloths for removing my face makeup before showering, and to refresh my face after sweating when I don't have makeup on. I prefer baby wipes because they're cheap, multipurpose, and work very well on my fragrance and alcohol sensitive skin. I got a travel size pack of face cloths simply to avoid carrying liquid makeup remover, or a 40 pack of baby wipes around with me for vacation.

Next, I also picked up some travel sized brush cleaning wipes for my vacation as well so that I don't have to carry my brush spray on vacation either. I'm all about finding things that are convenient for travel, especially when it involves an airplane.

On a walk through Walmart, I came across a display of the new Garnier Whole Blends shampoos and conditioners, and remembered one of my favorite YouTubers raving about the Honey Treasures repairing shampoo and conditioner. For less than 4 dollars a bottle I just couldn't pass it up. Since growing out my hair and going back to dying and straightening it I know I will need something to help keep the damage at bay, though I will never stop using my Head and Shoulders shampoo.

At DollarTree, months ago, I grabbed a bottle of nail strengthener from LA Colors, but sadly I was unimpressed because it does little to nothing to stop my nails from peeling apart and breaking off at my finger tips. But more recently I found a few more similar products at a different DollarTree from a brand called Dr. Marvey which I will be testing out to see if they work better. For a dollar a piece if either of them work I will be quick to pick up a bunch, and if they're horrible then at least I didn't break the bank.

Reviews of these products and more are to come! I'll also be doing a post talking about what I pack and how I pack my beauty items for a vacation, and how I get everything prepared for airport security.

Stay Beautiful!
BNB

Exciting Products to Come!

I have a lot of great stuff in the works for the next few months. I've got some things in the mail, as well as a few things I want to try out in hopes of working with my seemingly picky skin.

In the mail I have the mini size of the Hourglass dim light ambient lighting powder so I can try it out, by looks it appears my wet n wild bronzer in reserve your Cabana might be a dupe. We will see!

Also in the mail is the Becca travel set of the Opal powder and liquid formulas. I thought it might be worth a try since I seen to have a lot drier skin than I used to. I went into Sephora and got color matched because I couldn't decide between opal and moonstone. The opal set is going out of stock and the moonstone liquid travel size is new, so I wanted to be sure I was getting something I would like. With my skin I could have chosen either so I started with Opal.

In the works otherwise is purchasing the milani liquid metallics lipsticks before they go out of stock permanently. My goal is to pick up the nude and the brown shades. I'm in love with the liquid lipstick formula because I work in a hot warehouse and I need something that stands up to drinking and sweating.

And also soon I will be getting matched for a foundation because unfortunately for me my skin isn't very agreeable with drugstore foundations because they are generally either yellow or pink based and both of those tend to be off on my skin. So I am looking for a more neutral toned color or a way of making my foundation a better match instead of just going with what I can find that's close enough.

Take care in the sun and heat, and Stay Beautiful!
BNB