A-Z beauty tag

Name a brand and suggest a product(s) from that line.

A- Anastasia brow wiz and brow powder- woman knows her brows
B- Benefit porefessional and they're real mascara- primer is great at filling pores and smoothing skin and mascara is my holy grail favorite
C- Caudalie cleansing water- Best makeup remover. I've been using it for 5 years, leaves your skin feeling so clean and still moisturized. So on those nights you are too tired or too drunk, you can use this and not worry
D- Dior amber diamond highlighting powder- beautiful perfect highlight and can be used as eyeshadow
E- Elemis papaya enzyme peel- one of my all time favorite masks
F- frederik fekkai ironless straight smooth serum- I can put this in and not have to use any heat to make my hair look good- the least amount of work the better
G- Guerlain terracotta four seasons bronzer- four colors, I usually stick to the lighter colors, but there is a reason why everyone says Guerlain makes the best bronzers. They do!
H- Hourglass mineral veil primer- another great primer, the best at making your makeup last. The mineral veil foundation is really nice too
I- Illamasqua powder blush in naked rose and cream blush in zygomatic. Most wearable blushes, blend beautifully, and great pigmentation.
J- Jack Black lip balm- love this stuff, want to try the different scents. I have only tried the original
K- Kerastase nectar thermique- ultimate smoother, leave in conditioner, and heat protectant. Worth the high price
L- Laura Mercier flawless face polish- usually don't like physical exfoliants(prefer chemical) but this stuff is awesome. I leave it in the shower and do it when I wash my hair. I also love Laura Mercier second skin blush in rose bloom and lush nectarine
M- Mario Badescu glycolic acid toner- great product always makes my skin look brighter and healthier
N- Nars blush in sin, deep throat, luster, gaeity - love these blushes great pigmentation and long lasting also love Nars eyeshadows in ashes to ashes, ondine, and Galapagos
O- Origins super spot remover- will put this on a pimple before bed and by morning it has helped significantly! Will always have this on hand!
P- Phyto hydrating botanical cream- leave in treatment that doesn't weigh your hair down
Q- Queen Helene mint julep mask- just as good as lush mask of magnaminty , less messy and has a longer shelf life and better price point
R- Ren glycol lactic radiance renewal mask- best mask ever. Plumps skin and makes it bright and healthy. Amazing. I also like the clear calm clay cleanser too.
S- Stila smudgestick crayon in pink violet- beautiful color and so easy to use. you can find these in stores but think they are discontinuing them. Shame! Love Stila stay all day liquid liner and smudge stick liners- waterproof and really do stay all day without flaking
T- Tarte Amazonian clay blush in exposed- good blush not blown away by texture or performance but a good blush
U- Urban Decay setting spray dew me- I have dry skin so this is the best one for me. Sets makeup and gives it a Dewy, glowy effect.
V- Vichy I have never tried any of their products but have heard good things
W- Wet n' wild eyeshadow palettes in silent treatment and walking on eggshells. So surprised at the quality of these shadows and they are only a couple dollars! Total bargain
X- Xen tan dark lotion - this is my winter self tanner. Thicker than the st tropez mousse, which is my summer self tanner. Moisturizing and doesn't have super potent tanner smell
Y- Yves saint Laurent touché éclat- amazing brightener, can just wear this and it immediately makes you look awake. Also love the shocking mascara and pur couture lipstick in rosé carnation
Z- Zoya nail polish in Snow White- amazing. Could get away with one coat and would look great. I also put this under other colors as a base to make the top color pop more.

Loved this tag!! Really made me look through my collection and find things I hadn't used in a while!

September Empties!

A month of hoarding my garbage has gone by, and I used up a LOT of crap! thank god because my house only holds so much- new motto- one out, one in. Let's all see how well that goes.  I love seeing Empties posts because you actually get a pretty decent opinion since they used up the whole product.  This is actually forcing me to look at what I have and get it out, and either repurchase or stay away. Yayy for less clutter... well theoretically.

Samples!!! glad to use these up. I will quickly go over these because, honestly, how much can I actually gauge from these tiny packets.
Sephora Body Butter- ehh ok. smell was ok. texture was ok. result was ehh... nothing great.
fresh Umbrian Clay mattifying serum- didn't notice anything different. not great for me.
Clinique bb cream- awful color match, was so light on me so who knows, maybe it's good?
Murad energizing pomegranate moisturizer- nothing special- really small sample
Ahava extreme firming eye cream- NOTHING extreme about this. no results. nothing special.
Bliss anti aging night cream- this was great- loved it, wish it was bigger/ wasn't $79.00. I am saving this sample so I remember that I liked it, and would purchase it.
Caswell-Massey almond & aloe hand and body emulsion- nothing special. smell was good though
Strivectin intensive concentrate for stretchmarks & wrinkles- I honestly believe that if I had a bottle of this it would work- I could see differences in 3 uses- another one that is around $80... saving this sample too

Deluxe Samples! yes, bigger is always better.
pure DKNY body butter- must have got this with a Nordstrom/Macy's purchase because I don't own this perfume. The scent was really strong and not really up my alley, but as a moisturizer it was pretty good.
Peter Thomas Roth Shampoo and Conditioner- brought these to NH with me on a weekend trip (I hoard shampoo/conditioner samples in case of these trips that I almost never go on) these were ok- nothing great- didn't notice any difference to my hair.
fresh Sugar Rose lip treatment- got this sample in a birchbox- loved the smell! kind of reminded me of pink lemonade- was really moisturizing and left a rosy tint to my lips.
Sephora blush in rose petal- loved it. already bought it. great color. not powdery. good color pay off and staying power.
Ahava Essential Day Moisturizer- again. not essential- not terrible. just nothing. typical of Ahava- I notice no difference and it's just... there. wah wah wahhhhh (a la debbie downer)
Maybelline BB cream- why people are going nuts about this is beyond me- it's a glorified sunscreen. no color pay off- leaves skin feeling wet- not dewy.
alessandro pedix foot balm- liked this a lot- sunk in really quickly- and didn't leave my feet greasy. don't think they sell this in US yet though.
Lancome renergie eye cream- i've had multiple samples of this. nothing special. not sold.

Show Off beauty addicts mascara- I'm not even done with this- used it a handful of times and quite possibly the worst mascara I have ever used. Super clumpy, wet, way too much product on the wand. Terrible. Tried leaving it slightly open to dry up a bit... it didn't. Throwing it out.
fresh Umbrian clay absolute concealer- too wet for my liking- I like a thicker concealer and the color pulled a little orangey on my skin- glad to be done with it.
Colgate cavity protection- had been using this for YEARS because I have extremely sensitive gums that would freak out if I ever changed toothpastes- and then I tried the Sensodyne pronamel- and nothing happened--- THANK YOU JESUS!!! loving the pronamel by the way.
Generic Target cotton rounds- yup. reeeeal interesting. these actually kind of suck and fall off when i'm using them on my face.

Loreal EverPure Shampoo- smell was good. sulfate free. was pretty good- especially for the price- I would buy it again.
H20 Sea results serum- wasn't blown away by this. I felt like it sat on my skin and didn't really penetrate. did like texture of it. wouldn't buy it again.
Body Shop seaweed deep cleansing facial wash- couldn't wait to be done with this. really didn't do much for skin, but felt like the bottle was never ending!!!!
say yes to blueberries facial wipes- the smell was good for the first 10 wipes... then got a little nauseating. I only used these on SUPER lazy days that I just wanted to go to bed. they did leave my skin feeling soft- not irritating. I might consider the cucumber ones.

Soap and Glory Clean on Me- this was one of those internet influenced purchases that people RAVE about how great it smells and how soft it makes your skin... umm neither happened. smell was ok- a little too powdery smelling for me, and definitely did nothing to my skin. Never mind the fact that it has sulfates and parabens and all kinds of great stuff.
Lush ocean salt- I have a love/hate relationship with Lush. They promote how they hand make all their products, but their products have sulfates and parabens. But everytime I walk past a Lush, the smell sucks me in and I HAVE to go in. The second you add grapefruit to something, I'm sold. This salt scrub works good, smells good. but has parabens. I already repurchased it- and will be saving these tubs to bring back to Lush for a free face mask.
Lush mask of magnaminty- here is where bigger isn't always better. I had to throw away half of this. Had a shopaholic lapse of judgement and bought the bigger size even though it expires in 3 months. works good- but wasted a lot. I bought the Queen Helene mint julep mask- it works about the same. *has parabens