One Goopy, Sticky Mess

My mom was sent a free gift with the Christmas present she bought me from Avon this past year. (Which I can discuss in another post for anyone interested.) Avon sent this lovely Extra Lasting Lip Gloss, which she added to my gift since she doesn't wear makeup. The color is gorgeous, but it's a very pinky red, which I wasn't really expecting when I looked at the color in the tube. In the tube it looked a bit more true red. The name is Always Apple. The smell of the product is kind of sweet, but definitely doesn't have a particular scent.

While it applied smoothly, I wasn't entirely happy when it began to dry on and felt a little like my lips were covered in a kind of tape. The other problem I have with the product is that while it is supposed to be long wearing, no amount of attempts can take it off of my face once it's on. I'm going to keep giving it a try here and there and see if I can make it work for me and actually begin to enjoy using it, but so far it's just a mess for me, because if I make a mistake I can't get it off and fix it, and it turns itself into a kind of "armor" on my lips the longer it stays on me, and gets kind of tacky as well. I'm not totally sold on the color on myself, but I keep trying to like it regardless.

Check back to see what happens, and as always Stay Beautiful!

BNB

Low Tide on the Arbonne Ocean

This is one of those products that I tried so hard to love, but I just couldn't. I tried it for months, on and off, hoping that maybe this time I would fall in love with it. I was kind of shocked, because I do love Arbonne so much when I am given products from one of my friends who is a representative, but I just couldn't get into this one. The Aromassentials Awaken Sea Salt Scrub just kind of fell flat for me. It cleanses amazingly, and I love the idea of using salt instead of the sand-like grit that a lot of scrubs use. But I couldn't get past the fact that the soap itself in the product leaves my skin feeling like it's coated in an oily film when I wash it off. I already have some struggles with oily skin and acne, and using this scrub makes me worry it will only make my acne issues worse. I thought maybe I hadn't washed all of the soap off and that's what caused it to feel slick and filmy on my face, so the next time I gave it a try I spent more time rinsing and rubbing it off. But the oily feeling persisted. I love how it makes my skin feel so clean, but it's not worth the risk of breakouts for me to keep using it. I'm sorry to say I will not be repurchasing this product.

I love so many things about Arbonne, but this product is sadly not one of them, not for lack of trying.

The Body Shop Sample Review

Back when I bought my haul from Ulta, one of the product samples they sent me was from The Body Shop. I was really excited to try this sample, since I hardly buy luxury beauty products regardless of the fantastic reviews I hear about them. I was sent The Body Shop's Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream. Sadly, this one disappointed me... I wanted so badly to fall in love with it, but I just couldn't.
And here's why!

I had several really big compliments to give this product:

• The formula was gorgeously light and pigmented.
• The company doesn't use tons of chemicals in their products.
• The products are not tested on animals.

However, I had two huge problems with this product when I tried it:

• The smell of this product was extremely overpowering (and it didn't go away after it set on my skin) Even though the company doesn't use harsh chemicals in their products the smell was extremely chemical-like.
• It seemed very fluid, and kind of streaked down my face when I applied it and I had to keep buffing it in until it was set on my skin.

My Holy Grail Products from 2014

We all have those go-to products we always use despite the occasional change in routine. Despite experimentation with other products I always come back to these, without fail these products work the best for me, and none other will compare. Every other product I try falls short in one way or another, and I always come crawling back to my tried and true favorites. Here's a list of the products I swear by:

Perfume: Outspoken by Fergie, sold by Avon

Lotion:
Face: Garnier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-cream
Hands: Vitabath Spring Green.
Body: Outspoken By Fergie, sold by Avon
Feet: FootWorks Healthy Intensive Deep Moisture Cream, sold by Avon

Primer:

Eyelid: NYX Eye Primer in Nude (for neutral looks) and White (for bright looks and bold colors)
Under Eye: Revlon Photoready Eye Primer and Brightener
Lip: NYX Lip Primer in Nude
Face: ELF Face Primer in Clear

Lip Exfoliator: ELF Lip Exfoliator

BB cream: Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB cream in Light/Medium

Foundation:
Full Coverage: CoverFx Cream Foundation and Pressed Mineral Foundation, both in N10, sold by Sephora
Medium Coverage: CoverGirl Clean Pressed Powder for normal skin in Buff Beige (summer) and Classic Ivory (winter)

Concealer: Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer in Sand

Blush: CoverGirl Shape N' Blush in Perfect Rose (Now a "Vintage" item, which is kind of scary)

Contour/Bronzer: Maybelline Blush/Brush II in Cinnabar/Copper Penny Frost (Also, scarily a "Vintage" item)

Brows:
Pencil: Avon Glimmerslicks Brow Definer in Dark Brown

Gel: CoverGirl Professional Natural Lash in Clear

Eyeshadow:

MAC eyeshadow single in Beauty Mark

ELF Studio Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette (144 shadow palette: The Rainbow One)
ELF Essentials Brightening Eye Color in Drama

EyeLiner:
Cream: ELF Cream Liner in Black and Brown
Liquid: NYC Liquid Eyeliner in Black
Pencil: WarPaint Beauty Wing Tip Liner Pencil in Black or Milani Eye Pencil in True Black and Dark Brown

Mascara: CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion Mascara in Black and Brown

False Lashes: Ardell Fashion Lashes #110
Lash Glue: Duo Lash Glue in Dark

Lips:
Lipbalm: Burt's Bees Original Lip Balm
Lipliner: Avon Glimmerslicks Lipliner in Clear
Lipstick: Nyx Matte Lipstick in Nude
Lip gloss: Liplicious Flavored Lipgloss in Mulberry

Cleansers:
Face: St. Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub (light abrasion), St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub in Invigorating (heavy abrasion)
Body: Bath and Body Works 2 in 1 Superfruit Body Scrub and Wash in Pure Passion (back, chest, shoulders and arms), Summer's Eve Cleansing Wash in Simply Sensitive

Makeup Remover: 

Wipes: Garnier The Refreshing Remover Cleansing Towlettes

Liquid: Wet N' Wild Eye Makeup Remover

Longwear spray: (I haven't made it through my first bottle yet and it's been years but I'll give you it's name anyway) Icing by Claire's 

Brush Cleaner: Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner

Brush Set:

Crazycity Professional Cosmetic Makeup Brush Set with Bag, Sold by Amazon (Imported from China)

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing what products I repurchase every time I run out of them. Stay tuned for reviews of these products, and more!

Stay Beautiful.
BNB

This Year's Upcoming Posts

Okay, Ladies! It's 2015. I'm working on a post currently that should go up tomorrow which will list all my Holy Grail beauty products I swear by and will always reach for when I purchase. After this post goes up I'm going to work my way through the list and review the items one by one in posts throughout the year. I may insert a post here and there that is not on the list simply because you guys know I'm always buying more stuff and trying new things, despite having my tried and true products around. I'm doing my best to get every type of beauty product I use onto the list, complete with names and color or number codes whichever the brand has. Some things I listed a category for, but I haven't got a particular product I reach for, because I'm always experimenting. And some things, like lip liners, I just started purchasing about 3 months ago, and since I have only tried one brand I didn't deem it fair to label it my Holy Grail product because I have no idea if I truly find it to be better than any other products out there.
I'm going to try and do a small segment on men's products as well closer to the end of the year. (I have to try and rope my lovely man into trying products for me and giving me his thoughts though, because I'm not sure me trying the products will yield the desired reviews. Men think differently than I do.) Post comments or email me your thoughts and any products you might be curious about for your men, if this is something you guys would be interested in me trying to get working.

Stay tuned for my Holy Grail list, and more product reviews!

Stay Warm and Beautiful
BNB

Winter Skin Repair

One of the samples I requested in my Package from Ulta a while back has become a nightly staple for me during the cold days of winter this year. I have absolutely fallen in love with Vitabath hand cream. It makes my dry hands feel absolutely silky soft, moisturized and rejuvenated after a long day out in the cold. The cream is nice and thick, quick drying, but doesn't leave behind a greasy film behind after application. The scent is salty but in a pleasant way. The scent is called Spring Green. It reminds me of the ocean, which is a wonderful thing to think about in the winter because it reminds me that the warmer days of summer are coming soon.

I use this lotion every night as part of my bed time routine. It helps to remove they dryness from being out in the cold all day.

I Take it Back!

Ok NYX, you remember how I bashed your matte lipstick in Nude a while back?

Well I was wrong...

Though the first time I used it it was kind of chalky looking and an unpleasant tan color, I recently tried it again assuming I would confirm my suspicion that this was not the lipstick I'd been hoping for. AND I LOVED IT! I don't know why the color was so tan on my first try, or why it was too chalky (ok, this one I have my suspicions) but it was a beautiful color maybe one shade darker than my skintone (And I'm a pale little girl, so Kudos to you guys) and there was no sign of chalky or graininess anywhere to be found. I am so excited to wear this out with a gorgeous bold eye look. I was so excited in fact that I threw away the concealer I had been using as a nude lipstick.

That's right... The concealer I've used for YEARS as a nude lipstick has LEFT THE BUILDING!

Now as for my suspicions about the chalky texture... I started obsessively using my moisturizing lip balm again a few weeks ago, which may have contributed to removing the weird texture because I have heard a lot of other gurus say that using matte lipstick on dry lips shows all the cracks and dry loose skin very easily and can look chalky and weird if you are not careful to exfoliate or moisturize well. Hopefully the texture stays as gorgeous as it is now, I love it so much and I can't wait to start wearing it out all the time. This may be a holy grail product for me. Let me know if you're interested in the posting of my list of holy grail beauty products.

I'm planning on picking up two more shades from this line as soon as Ulta has them in stock. If you want to know what my next shade purchases are leave comments below or send me an email.

I may also be posting a list of the products I would kill to own if that is of interest to anyone. Let me know what you guys want to see posted next!

Stay warm and cozy, kids!

And as always, Stay Beautiful.
BNB