Lip product addict tag

I'm a big fan of a good lipstick, so this tag seemed like an appropriate re-entrance into blogging. We will see how long the enthusiasm lasts.

1. Best lip balm/ treatment: I took this as 2 questions, for balm I chose the Dior lip glow-- it's nourishing while still giving your lips some pigment. Best treatment is the Caudalie lip treatment. Moisturizing, comes in a bullet--not a pot, and it isn't too emollient that it melts away (I'm looking at you fresh lip treatments)

2. Best eye catching red: hands down, YSL pur couture #1. Perfect neutral red, not too orange or blue. I don't use a liner with it, and it stays put for hours. Love.

3. Best luxury and drug store: luxury hands down goes to Guerlain rouge g's. Substantial packaging and a beautiful formula. Drugstore was tough, since I don't really reach for them, but I guess I would go with the nyx butter glosses-- they're very comfortable and moisturizing.

4. Best MAC lipstick: I'm not a fan of mac lipsticks, and never reach for mine. But, I guess I will go with creme cup- easy, basic color.

5. Liner yes or no: usually no. Not a fan.

6. Best gloss: Dior addict ultra glosses. Not gritty or sticky- and don't have a nauseating smell- so that's a plus.

7.  Most disappointing: YSL rouge volupte. I have 3 shades and I've tried different application methods, and no matter what they settle into my lines, look terrible, and have no lasting power.

8. Something extra: Burberry lipsticks. Love the packaging, love the formulas, love the colors, love it all.

BLOG SALE 2013!!!!

Going through and getting rid of some things that just didn't work for me. Some rules:

1. First come first serve basis, and if I don't receive a payment within 24 hours, it will go to the next person interested.

2. I only accept Paypal for payment

3. Shipping to US only 

4. I am not responsible for any damaged, lost, or stolen items. Items are not returnable or refunded.

5. To reserve your item leave a comment with your paypal email address and the items that you are interested in. 

Some product colors might show up different in the photos, I encourage you to google swatches of the product before you purchase. 

Shipping:

$4.00 +0.50 per additional item

 

MAC mineralize skinfish natural in Medium- usage shown- still domed- $12

Stila One Step Bronzer- usage shown about 75% remain- $15

Bare Minerals Highlight in The Shining Moment- only used twice- $15

MUFE HD powder- only used twice- $7

MAC mineralize skinfinish in Light year (LE)- $25

MAC beauty powder in Crew (LE)- only used twice- $30

Stila Love at first blush palette (LE)- used twice- $10

Stila Convertible Color in Camellia- $10

MAC blush in Fleet Fast (LE) - $20

Estee Lauder blush in Peach Nuance - $10

 Nars eyeshadow in Night Rider- $7

Nars eyeshadow in Emmanuelle- $10

Stila smudge crayon in Smoke- $10

Illamasqua medium pencil in Rump- $5

Mac mineralize eyeshadow in Love Connection- $10

Lancome single shadow Visionary (sheen)- $7

Lancome single shadow Model (metallic)- $7

 Tarte glamazon lipstick in Fierce - $5

Burberry lip cover in Nude Beige 01 - $15

MAC lipstick in Sweet and Sour (LE) - $15

MAC lipstick in Hue- $5

 Rimmel show off lip lacquer coral color- $2

Rimmel show off lip lacquer mauve nude - $2

Pixi tinted brilliance balm Baby Bare No.6- $5

MUFE aqua rouge in No. 15 - $5

Stila lip and cheek stain in yumberry crush- $5

Stila lip glaze in kitten- $2

Revlon lipgloss in pink pop - $2

Lorac lipgloss in Andy - $7

Summer Empties 2013

So apparently I like to collect my trash, even when I don't put anything up here, which is terrifying (and disgusting). So better late than never? Sure.

Renpure Organics shampoo- I think this was some kind of ginger scent- it smelled amazing, didn't notice that it worked amazing or terribly. I would get buy it again.
H2O spa Sea Marine body wash- Another one that smelled amazing, but wasn't groundbreaking. This is not sulfate and paraben free, wouldn't repurchase.
EOS shave cream in pomegranate- To aid how lazy I am, I love that I can use this with dry legs. I have already repurchased.
Avon Naturals bodywash in pomegranate- Complete indifference.
Tree Nut Shea Sugar Body Scrub in Macadamia Nut- really didn't like the smell, too sweet for me. But I do like the texture of these scrubs and doesn't dry out my skin. I have repurchased in other scents.
T3 dry shampoo- I didn't notice that this was tinted, and when I sprayed it into my scalp it turned it blackish purple- oh and on my forehead too. Threw this away after using once.
Skin & co Body Sicilian Orange Body Wash- Complete indifference- as much of my glossybox products were (why I canceled) 

Alba Botanics cleansing towelettes- This did nothing for removing makeup, pretty much just smeared it around your face. But for nights that I didn't wear makeup and was feeling real lazy, I would use these- and I feel like it actually did help tighten my skin and left it brighter.
Clinique eye makeup remover- OK product. Nothing special- didn't take off mascara
Sonia Kashuk eye makeup remover- same thing as above.
Caudalie Cleansing Water- Both the small and large size- still love this stuff, will always have it

Tocca hand cream in Stella- smells nice, but not very moisturizing.
Clinique High Impact mascara- there was no impact at all. did absolutely nothing for my lashes.
MUFE profinish powder- I only used this dry, but I found it to be a bit dry on my skin and looked powdery- will not purchase
Revlon Lash Potion Mascara- I keep trying drugstore mascaras and keep getting disappointed. This did nothing- and irritated my eyelids.
Bath and Body works wallflower in Strawberry- When I could smell this, it smelled good, but the only time that I was able to smell it was when I installed it upside down and it was leaking all over the floor...
Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer compact- I was really excited about this sample, but very disappointed. Didn't like this at all, cakey but with little to no coverage.

Arcona magic white ice- loved the smell of this product, didn't notice anything special- but will be looking at other Arcona products- I am interested in the Cranberry toner
Clinique foundation- can't remember which one this was, but it was OK.
Guerlain Lingerie de Peau foundation- I love this foundation and will be buying it. It is very thin liquid, but has pretty decent coverage and has a great look on the skin. Love this stuff.
Amore Pacific moisture mask- nothing special.
Kate Somerville anti aging moisturizers- nothing special
Living Proof Restore repair cream- loved this stuff, will be buying it. Left my hair very soft and didn't weigh it down at all.
Bare Minerals Moisturizer- nothing.
Lancer sea cleanser- nothing.
Jane Iredale BB cream- this was the thickest BB cream, foundation I have EVER used. It was so difficult to blend, felt heavy on the skin, and looked like you had caked on foundation. Terrible.

April/May Empties 2013

With planning my wedding and finishing up my degree, I wasn't able to do my monthly empties. Because of that, I have a ridiculous amount of products that I have gone through.

I have a ton of samples that I have gone through, so get a comfortable seat.

Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone illuminator- this is supposed to be a correcting serum- I only use serums at night time, so nothing was noticed- but perhaps under makeup this could have been nice?
Origins Starting Over Age erasing moisturizer- While I am not a huge fan of the way that Origins promotes themselves as a natural brand, but their ingredients are not. I did really enjoy this moisturizer!!! loved the smell, texture, effect, and would definitely consider purchasing the full size of this!
Algenist Multi-Perfecting Pore-Corrector Concentrate- noticed nothing in this sample- will not purchase
First Aid Beauty face cleanser- this was a pretty basic cleanser- didn't really take off makeup well but for regular cleansing it was pretty nice.
Caudalie vinexpert serum- this was OK, love the Caudalie smell, but didn't notice anything spectacular. I prefer my SOS serum to this one.
Clarins Double serum- it took me a while to get up to use this product after I found out that one of the "double" sides was mineral oil. So it has great properties, but uses mineral oil as its carrier oil. No thanks.
Clinique Moisture sure intense- really nice basic moisturizer, leaves the skin plump and soft. Love this line of clinique moisturizers.
bareMinerals purifying facial cleanser- basic, not memorable- did nothing special.
Lancome youth acitivating concentrate- another expensive serum that I tried and noticed no results. I am not saying that with regular use of these that you wouldn't notice results- but definitely not in this small of a sample. 
Lancer dermatology 3 step cleansing system- the natural sea polish is awesome- love it! the extremely pure cleanser was really nice as well. The nourish AM/PM moisturizer I can do without- not sure why they would have a moisturizer for AM and PM because my skin requires different things throughout the day.

Kate Somerville Exfolikate- I am constantly getting samples of this, and I know everyone loves this, and that it is a physical and chemical exfoliant- but I have used up atleast 3 large samples of this and haven't been blown away (only at the price).
Clinique uneven skin tone solutions- another serum with no results
Jouer luminizing moisture tint- for a tinted moisturizer this stuff is AMAZING! the luminizing was a bit too glowy for me, but I did purchase the matte tint which is amazing. The coverage of these is the best I have ever tried in a tinted moisturizer and leaves the prettiest effect on your skin. Love it!
L'Occitaine precious serum- this was one of the better serums that I tried, but still not as good as the one I am currently using.
Bumble and Bumble thickening shampoo and conditioner- I got about 2-3 uses out of these samples and I LOVE what it did to my hair. They were super moisturizing and left my hair feeling soft and silky without weighing it down. I would definitely consider buying the full size of these.
Smashbox camera ready BB cream- I know there is a crazy amount of BB creams flooding the market right now and this was one of the first american BB creams that was released. It got pretty good reviews, but I wasn't blown away. The coverage was light/medium, but left the skin looking greasy.
Peter Thomas Roth laser-free retexturizer scrub- this was a really nice scrub, another physical and chemical exfoliant- I actually preferred this one to the Exfolikate
Ole Henriksen sheer transformation moisturizer- this was a really great moisturizer, but it is perfect for daytime- light, weightless, but nourishing- however it has no SPF. If they were to put SPF into this moisturizer, I would pick it up in a second.
Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pad- as an exfoliating pad I thought this was really nice, and left my skin feeling really nice and smooth- and let my makeup go on beautifully. However, this has self tanner in it, which left my skin a little orange. I am going to see if they make these with no self tanner, because if so, I would buy them.
Shisedo White Lucent- another serum with color correcting- maybe I just don't have much need for spot correction. I noticed nothing.
Algenist Overnight restorative cream- I had really high hopes for this, but really didn't notice much of anything. It was a nice thick overnight moisturizer, but it didn't blow me away with results, a bit of a let down.
Living Proof Restore- OMG LOVED THIS! this little tube was a single use as a leave in conditioning treatment. It left my hair feeling the softest it had been since before my ombre'ing last summer. I will definitely be buying this at some point!

Giovanni unscented facial cleansing towelettes- I had tried these in cucumber, and decided to go with the unscented this time. BIG MISTAKE! the non-smell, smell was terrible. These dried up much faster than the cucumber, and did nothing to cleanse my face. Terrible.
Ardell Natural 110 lashes- These were easy to apply, light, and looked extremely natural. Loved these! will definitely use these again!
L'Occitane hand cream- this was light, and the smell was nice, but I really didn't find it very nourishing. Still was not as good as the Caudalie hand cream.
Koh Gen Do emollient cream- nothing special about this moisturizer. No results, not nourishing, no smell, would not buy this.
Clinique moisture surge intense- LOVED this moisturizer. This sample lasted me forever- a little bit of this goes a long way! Has the typical Clinique smell, this was incredibly light, but nourishing at the same time- and didn't break me out at all. I will be buying this product!
Sensodyne whitening- finally got through this- and I prefer the Pronamel versions to this
Shiseido facial cotton- I know everyone goes crazy for these. Organic cotton face pads that don't leave any cotton on your face. Honestly, I felt like this didn't have enough grit in it to use with my eye make up remover and would just smear around the product. And for toners, I feel like it soaked up a ton of product without putting it on my face. I think these are overhyped and not worth the money. Will not be repurchasing.

Batiste dark brown dry shampoo- as a dry shampoo, it worked OK. I don't think it was great- and I hated the tinted color of this. This still left my hair feeling and looking dry and gritty. Was not impressed.
Loreal EverCreme nourishing shampoo- This worked fairly well, and for the price for a sulfate free shampoo, it was good.
Say yes to Grapefruit Body Wash- I am obsessed with the smell of grapefruit, so when this new range came out I had to buy it. I was looking for a harsher scrub, but this is more of a body wash that has a very small amount of scrubbing particles. The smell was great, scrub was bad.
Revlon Grow Luscious mascara- My first ever drugstore mascara purchase- I wasn't completely blown away, but it wasn't terrible either. I would consider buying this again as a daytime mascara.
Makeup Forever Smoky Lash Mascara- this was a really great mascara for about 6 weeks, after that it begins to dry out, and since the formula is already pretty dry- it just clumps up and gives you spikey, spider lashes. If I had this in a sample size, it would be perfect, but this big size- I feel like it was just wasted.
Josie Maran Argan Oil- at first I loved this product, but it was definitely breaking me out on my face. I stopped using it as a facial moisturizer. I tried using it in my hair, but it left my hair greasy. So eventually just started putting this on my dry patches (knees, elbows, etc) on my body. So, I will not buy this again- just didn't work for me.

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill #6, #15, #27

I hesitated for a long time to pick up any of the Armani silk eyeshadows, knowing their price tag- I didn't think that it was justified. I know that they get great reviews online, and finally decided to swatch one and couldn't believe how soft they were, pigmented, and the complexity of colors. So, clearly there was no way I could only decide on one- so I got 3, and I don't regret it at all. I've worn them all, and they are unbelievably long lasting, pigmented, and beautiful. After about 10-12 hours of wear they showed absolutely no creasing or signs of wearing off. They are pressed pigments and have the stopper (similar to the Loreal infallible shadows), I find it is easiest to apply these with my fingers, they blend out extremely easily- and are easy to pack on the color. If you apply with a brush the color just goes on a bit sheerer. I think the Loreal infallible shadows are comparable in packaging and style of pigment, but the Loreal shadows are no where near as complex in colors as the Armani. Also, the wear time of the Loreal are much less, I notice creasing (with a shadow base) at around 6 hours, where I used no base with the Armani and noticed no creasing after 10 hours.

Armani Eyes to Kill Shadow #27

This color is a burgundy purple with silver shimmer in it- I  don't have anything else like it in my collection. It is really beautiful and unique. This was part of a newer release of colors that came out last year. It is very soft but doesn't have any fall out. 

Armani Eyes to Kill Shadow #6

This is by far my favorite of the 3 that I got. This is an extremely unique color with golds, greens, and bronzes. It leaves the most wearable green color that looks amazing with brown eyes. I wore this with Laura Mercier cafe au lait blended in the crease and Burberry midnight brown in the outer corner, and it was gorgeous. I will be wearing this a TON over the summer! 

Armani Eyes to Kill Shadow #15

I really like this color as an everyday color, really easy to use and lasts all day with little effort. The color is a bronze and copper with black. Another color that looks pretty amazing with brown eyes.

From Left to Right: #27, #15, #6

(no flash)

Recent Purchases

Eve Lom muslin cloths set of 3- I recently purchased the Emma Hardie cleansing balm, and because I didn't get the cleansing system, it didn't come with muslin cloths. So, I used some birchbox points and picked these up. They are really big, and pretty soft. I've been enjoying them.
Beautyblender- and while I was shopping on birchbox, I picked this up. I've been wanting to try this for a while and decided to finally just bite the bullet. I haven't tried it yet, but I am really excited to give it a try. The pack came with the soap, I probably should have gotten the pack of 2 instead, but hindsight is 20/20.

Dior hydrating concealer - really love this! Of course, my justification was finishing up my Balm and Maybelline concealers- obviously means picking up this one. It is very light, but does a good job concealing, doesn't settle into lines too much.
Clarins instant light in 005- this is one of the new shades that Clarins came out with this spring. I love these, and especially the new colors are much more pigmented. This is a really pretty peachy pink color, and has the same texture and amazing quality of the original colors.
Armani eyes to kill eyeshadows in #6, #15, #27- because clearly I have a problem, once I swatched one of these, there was no way that I could only buy one!!! They are amazing- smooth, pigmented, complex colors, waterproof. They really are fool proof. I am in love- and have another one on the way.

Until next month- when Sephora is having their VIB sale- yikes.

March Empties 2013

Another month, more garbage- get on it.

Sarah Mcnamara Miracle Skin Transformer FACE- This is supposed to hydrate, prime, enhance, mattify, and protect (spf20). I had tried the BODY version and thought it was terrible- transferred like crazy. However, I was pretty impressed by this, evened out your skin tone and left it really smooth. I would think about buying the full size of this.
Josie Maran Argan Cleansing Oil- wasn't expecting much from this, and am SO impressed! I use this as a makeup remover, I use 2 pumps and rub it onto dry skin- then wet my hands and work the product in more. When I rinse it all off, my skin is not greasy at all, just really clean- and just MELTS your makeup away. Bought the full size already.
Ren Glycolactic Skin Renewal Peel Mask- LOVE this mask. The texture is pretty sticky, I would say that is the only bad thing. It smells citrusy but not overpowering, I leave it on for about 15 minutes and when I take it off my face is glowing. I love the REN brand and have been using them for years, I already have the full size of this.  REN has no petrochemicals, sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrance and colors, TEAs, DEAs, silicones, etc. Such an amazing brand.
Evologie blemish serum and cream- I got these 2 samples in my glossy box. The smell is horrendous, very chemical/ doctor type of smell, but the products aren't bad. I would say they don't work if you don't use them combined though. I was only using the serum, and it didn't do anything, but when I introduced the cream- I noticed some spots starting to get lighter and any active breakout started to dry up. I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase these, but they were OK.
Ahava Essential Day Moisturizer- Typical ahava smell and performance- mediocre. It was not amazing, nor was it terrible. Will not purchase.
Lancome la vie est belle- was not into this perfume at all, forced myself to put it on twice- did not enjoy it. The notes are iris, patchouli, and gourmand, which sounds like it would be something up my alley. But, it's not.
Ojon rare blend oil- I've been interested in oil since it released. It is a hair oil that has 3 colors a pink, white and yellow. You shake up the oil and it makes a pinky color and apply it to wet hair on your roots. I was hoping for much more, while I think the product is beautiful- I didn't notice much results from this.

Bath and Body Works Frosted Cranberry candle- really love this scent, burned well, and had a good scent pay off. I bought a back up.
REN clearcalm 3 clarifying clay cleanser- I don't even know why I bought this particular cleanser because it is for blemish prone skin, which my skin isn't really. So it isn't the cleansers fault that it didn't work amazing on me. It worked well enough- but if I were going to purchase another REN cleanser, it would be one that suited my skintype.
OSEA ocean cleansing mud- I would use this about once a week, it is a very strong cleanser. It is a brown mud and slightly stings a little when applying. However, I do love this stuff- and all natural. I haven't purchased from OSEA in a while, but I think I am missing some products- so I will have to do that!
Soap and Glory Hand Food- I ended up getting this free with an online Sephora purchase. The smell was nice, the product was OK. It didn't do anything crazy for my hands, but it is priced well. I still prefer my Caudalie hand cream better, which you can get in sets for a really good price.
Bath and Body works Tangerines hand soap- This was given to me at Christmas, I don't do anti bacterial soaps, and definitely not the ones with all kinds of chemicals in them. I used it up- won't repurchase. But the smell is really nice.
Schick Intuition razor- This is one of those razors that has the soap/lotion around the razor, so you don't need to use shaving cream. Great in theory- terrible in practice. The lotion is not nourishing, and all it does is clog up the razor. Makes shaving last 10 times longer- hated it.

Redken quick dry 18 hairspray- apparently on the can it says that this was limited edition- so I have no idea if you can purchase this still or not. It lasted me a while and worked pretty well. Didn't leave my hair too stiff and was pretty manageable but still held curls.
Maybelline Insant Age Rewind Concealer in Light- when I first got this I hated it, then I started to like it, then I hated it again. I really loathe the packaging of this- twist up into this sponge tip applicator and who knows how much product is still in the tube that I can't get to. It does an OK job of covering dark circles. I might repurchase to leave in my purse- for the price- its OK.
Lancome artliner in black- one of my all time favorite liquid liners. It is felt tip and really easy to glide on- doesn't skip around and leaves a really black line. Will repurchase this at some point.
Buxom lash mascara- the brush on this is a large plastic bristled brush. The size of the brush is a little daunting, and it gave OK length, but I didn't notice any real volume. Wasn't a big fan of this- will not repurchase.
Stila glamoureyes mascara- the wand on this was very short- which was a little awkward to use. The brush was bristled, pretty ordinary. The results were ok, a bit clumpy though. However, I'm pretty sure this was making my lashes break or fall out, all I know is that after using this my lashes started to look like HELL! They are finally looking normal again after stopping using this about 3 weeks ago, so no- will NOT repurchase this!