I want to avoid rambling here so I'll just get right into it.
Rant #1
GlossyBox.
A few months ago I received and email from GlossyBox stating that they were going to be raising their monthly subscription price from 15 bucks to 20! I honestly really wasn't happy about that. And considering the huge amount of beauty subscription boxes available, you'd think that they would want to be competitive with price and content. But, of course, me being forever the optimist (ha!), I wanted to remain positive and stick with it for a few more months because, obviously with the price being increased, they would definitely be upping-the-ante with content. I mean, that would make sense, right? Well I guess that's not what made sense to them. I feel like the products I've received since the increase have been either so-so or actually more disappointing than when the box was less money. The reason I chose GlossyBox in the first place was because they seemed to have a lot more niche and luxurious brands that I may never discover if it wasn't for the sample I got. I do also enjoy receiving brands I can easily get my hands on but lately it seems to be more of the drugstore brands and less of the luxury. I mean it's nice that I don't have to order from the internet if I do end up enjoying the products but I've been getting a lot of things that I actually already own. I just received a sample pack of 12 skincare products from Sephora online for FREE with my order and that blew any of my recent Glossyboxes out of the water. This is actually the reason I never followed through with my monthly review promise. I really wanted to see if the increase would be worth it and I'm really thinking it's not. I've been watching the last few months of the Ipsy bag and I think the content is better and for MUCH less money. Darnit, Glossy. I wish you would have stepped up your game. I was looking forward to a long relationship with you but I don't think it's working out. I'm sorry, its not me, its you.
I must just be AMAZING at shopping because I haven't picked up a real crappy product in awhile that I can think of. So, on to the good stuff!
Rave #1
Beauty Blender.
I can't believe that I held off on this for so long. I actually don't even know why I had no interest in it considering how much hype this has had. Yeah, I know It's been around for a few years so this isn't exactly groundbreaking but I'm so thrilled about it. If you don't know what a Beauty Blender is, its a cosmetic sponge that is used for applying and blending foundation. You run it under water for a bit and it doubles in size. I still love my Real Techniques buffing brush but I guess I like to complicate things and add as many steps into my beauty routine as possible. Right now, I'm in between shades in both foundations that I use so what I do is apply the lighter shade all over my face with my buffing brush and then lightly dab and blend in the darker shade with the Beauty Blender until I've reached my perfect match. I then use it to blend my under eye concealer. It's freakin' AMAZING! My foundation never cakes, it never clings to dry patches and it never looks flat. It seems to me that if you have oily skin, the only products you can use are very matte and if you have dry skin you can only get dewy looking products. I have oily skin and I don't always want to look flat matte. This helps with a happy medium. My skin looks oil-free but still pretty radiant.
Rave # 2
Estee Lauder eye shadow.
Damn you Tanya Burr and Zoella! Both of these beautiful girls mentioned how much they loved the EL duo in Raisins in their recent videos/blog posts. In the city I'm staying in, the only higher-end cosmetics you can find are in two department stores and they both carry the same stuff. Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Clinique, Lancome and Shiseido. I was in one of these stores a bit ago so I decided to see what all the hype is about. Well, yeah, I bought it. I had to. Its such a gorgeous duo. I think its possibly the most wearable, neutral plummy/purple you can find. I also picked up a single in the shade Sizzling Copper. Its a gorgeous SUPER pigmented gold/bronze colour. I love warm gold shadows. The product itself is also really great. The shadow is silky, finely milled and not powdery at all. Its incredibly easy to blend. I think the colour would match most skin tones as well. It is more expensive than drugstore but I think this is still a perfect beginner product. You don't have to worry about matching colour, it's unreal easy to blend and its compact so you could take it with you anywhere. The luxe looking gold packaging might be fueling the love of this product a little too!
Ole Henriksen Truth is in the Eyes
I got a sample of this with my last Sephora online order. There was a coupon code for a 12 pack of skin care samples from Sephora's favourite brands. I have been getting so excited about skin care lately and I couldn't wait to test these products out. This Ole Henriksen was one that I was most excited for because I've heard nothing but good things about the line. A little goes a LONG way with this stuff. It glides on smoothly and doesn't dry too quickly that its hard to get it everywhere it needs to go. It is a peel so I do recommend wearing a hydrating eye cream over top once it has dried. I applied this that evening during my nightly skin care routine and hoped for the best. I have become incredibly picky with new products since having so many moisturizer fails. I think, especially with eye creams, the claims made by the company are usually a little dramatic and far fetched and I'm not sure how much difference they can really make aside from hydrating the area. Actually, after the first night I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. My eyes seemed to look a little more awake and brighter. I wasn't going to jump for joy yet. I convinced myself that I was just hoping for it to work so much that I was seeing what I wanted to see. I was putting this to the test. As much as I tried to fight it, I couldn't help not noticing how much smoother my makeup looked every day under my eyes. I do have a bit of milia in the inner corners of my eyes and I can still see them but the skin looks so much more smooth. My eyes aren't as puffy and I've actually noticed that I like the way I look without any makeup on lately. I think that this might be, dare I say it?, a miracle product? I want to see how it affects the milia over the next while but I've already raved about this stuff to my mom and she wants to try it out too. I am DEFINITELY going to pick up a full size of this stuff. I've been using it morning and night for the past two weeks and I still have not run out of the tiny little sample. I'm giving it another month of hard testing but I think this is on its way to holy grail status. Also, I think I'm on my way to a love affair with the whole Ole Henriksen line.
Rave#4
Nicole by OPI polish in Alex by the Books.
This colour feels so spring! I'm getting so excited for warmer weather and when I wear this shade I feel like the flowers are already blooming. Enough said!
Rave #5
Rimmel Kate Moss matte lipstick in the shade 101
I've always been a little leery about buying matte lipsticks. I always kinda figured that they would look funny on me and be drying. Boy, am I glad I picked this up. It's super creamy and the lasting power is ridiculous. The colour also couldn't be more perfect. I've been searching for a nice light dusty rose shade because it's the colour I can picture wearing on my wedding. This might be it! But seeing as I'm still about 5 months out, I think I may accumulate a few more lippies by then and change my mind. I am definitely going to be adding matte lips to my comfort zone and I will certainly be checking out a few more shades by Kate Moss.
Rave #6
MAC Boldy Bare lipliner and my mom.
This is like the jack-of-all-trades lipliner. I literally wear this with almost every one of my every day neutral lippies. It makes too-light shades more wearable and blends in perfectly with most colours. Now, I'm not suggesting you use this with a red lip but you get the idea. My lips aren't very pigmented naturally, especially at the edges of my lips. It doesn't look like I have a solid line where my lips should end. More of a gradient colour onto my face. Sounds weird I know, I have a terrible bad habit of over exaggerating when it comes to my own features. I'm sure if someone else had the exact same lips as I do, I wouldn't notice. Anyway, I feel like this fixes it. It's the same-ish shade as my own natural colour, just slightly darker. Perfection. I got this in a lip set from my mom for my birthday. She has always been naturally beautiful and hasn't ever needed to pay much attention to the world of makeup so I was excited and even a little surprised at how bang-on she was with everything she got me. I use at least one thing she got me every day.
Rave #7
Archie's Girls collection by MAC.
Seeing as I've already reviewed and swatched everything I purchased from the collection I won't go into too much detail here but I just felt that I needed to add it into my favourites because of how excited I still am about it all. I've been wearing either Cream soda blush or Flatter me PearlMatte powder almost every day and I love the lipstick shades. I haven't worn them a lot yet because they aren't the colours I would wear on an every day basis but I know next time I meet the girls out for a drink I'll be rockin' Betty Bright and this coming fall I'll probably use up Oh, Oh, Oh.
Lipstick of the month:
MAC Shanghai Spice.
Okay, this one almost makes me mad. I love MAC because the staff is always very knowledgeable about their products. They're super helpful and I love the fact that you can actually try the lipsticks on your lips before you buy them. Every time I stop by the MAC counter, I ask the girl helping me to help me find an every day, wearable either peachy or rosy pink shade. I want something muted because I don't like light bright lipsticks. How in the hell has this one never been recommended to me?!?!? And how is this shade not more popular? It's so perfect. It may very well be my all time favourite lipstick at the moment. I haven't heard really anything about this one anywhere online. Maybe because it is such a perfect neutral shade that it isn't remarkable in some way? Or maybe because MAC is absolutely terrible at describing lipstick colour on their website. The swatches are usually terribly inaccurate, too. MAC describes it as a "frosted neutral pink". In reality, it's a neutral muted peachy colour with a teensy hint of pink. No frost. It's a Cremesheen so its super creamy and glides on perfectly.
Momma Favorite of the month:
Aleva Naturals Bamboo Baby Pacifier and Toy wipes.
We've all been there. You're over at a friends house or at the store and your baby is happy sucking on a soother or chewing on a toy. Then it happens. They get this urge to just throw it on the floor and they don't understand that they can't just get it back. You frantically search your bag for the spare one before the screaming begins and realize its sitting at home on the counter because you just took it out to wash it. Ughh, worst. You don't want to offend your friend by insinuating that her house isn't clean. You know she cleans regularly but you also know that she's got two big dogs that like to run around outside and step in God-knows-what and then those paws walk all over the floor that your sweet little one's toy just fell on. Yes, kids need to be exposed to germs for the health and strength of their immune system but I know I wouldn't be cool with that dogs paw in her mouth so I like some peace of mind. These wipes are a life saver. My Emily thinks its hilarious to throw her things onto the floor. In one grocery store run I'll go through two or three pacifiers (and usually lose a sock or two, also!) so I am so glad that I stumbled across these. They are free from chlorine, sulphates and parabens and they are hypo-allergenic. Every mom needs these. Just like the pack says; Perfect for babies on the go!
What are your favourite products this month?
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