Sheer Makeup Favorites

I do love a good full face of makeup, don't get me wrong - it's always nice to go all out and have your makeup looking flawless, but more often than not I like to go for the quick, sheer makeup look that's fresh, fast and easy. With Spring right around the corner, a sheer and fresh face is right up my alley, so today I'm sharing some of my favorite products to achieve the look.

The Body Shop All in One BB Cream - This gives me the perfect amount of coverage, goes on smoothly, gives great hydration to the skin and lasts all day - perfect for those light-medium coverage lovers.

Maybelline Dream Lumi Concealer - Not only is this my new favorite under eye concealer for covering my dark circles, but I've found it also works great for a light touch of coverage on any blemish you may have. It doesn't crease and blends seamlessly with any foundation I choose to use it with. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - This light weight powder is excellent for adding a touch of coverage and keep skin matte all day. I love it for both setting my foundation and concealer - the perfect all in one! 

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural - This powder is just dark enough that it adds a nice bit of warmth to my face without being too heavy on the skin. During the Summer months this is the perfect all over face powder, but for this time of year it makes for a lovely light bronzed glow.

Elf Blush (Peachy Keen) - This blush adds a nice soft wash of color that perks up my complexion and also adds a nice glow with the golden subtle shimmer it has. 

MAC Paintpot (Bare Study ) - This cream product has been a long time favorite for its stay all day capabilities, and the lovely wash of color it adds to my eyes. It can be easily paired with a little winged liner and some mascara for a simple eye look. 

Revlon Lip Butter (Pink Lemonade) - The formula of these is perfect for when you want just a subtle sheer wash of color and moisture to your lips, this one in particular adds a hint of pink which gives your lips a little extra something. This makes it easy to apply on the go and keeps your lips feeling hydrated. 

What are some of your sheer makeup favorites?

Review | Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation

In the past I've mentioned many times how I enjoyed the Maybelline Fit Me range - foundation, concealer (most of all), and powder were all great on my skin and I always enjoyed using them. Now they have launched a new range of Fit Me products which were focused specifically on creating a matte and pore diminished finish to the skin - hello right up my alley!

I went for the shade 115 Ivory which is the absolute best match for my current skin tone out of any foundation I am currently using. In my initial application I found it to be very similar in consistency to the original Fit Me - a little more on the fluid side of things, but I don't mind this as it makes blending easy as pie and in some strange way it feels like you're not using as much product.

The difference came when it was applied and began to set - instant mattification! - but not in the way that makes you look flat or unnatural. I also must admit I was quite surprised when I took a closer look and did see a difference in the way my pores around my nose and on my cheeks looked. Nothing can make your pores actually disappear, but they can be concealed, and I think this stuff does a pretty darn good job of it!

I wore this for a full day and found it stayed in place really well and did not feel heavy or mask-like, even by the end of the day prior to washing my face. Overall I think this foundation is worth a try, especially for anyone looking for a good matte but natural looking foundation, medium coverage, and all for a great drugstore price!


Have you tried this foundation out yet? What did you think?

Review | NuMe 25mm Curling Wand

I'm starting this post off a little differently than normal by beginning with a thanks. A thank you to Style Haul for hosting a little Snapchat/Twitter giveaway, and to NuMe Products for providing the prize - a 25mm Curling Wand. I feel I'm like everyone else in that I love giving contests a shot, although I'm rarely (extremely rarely) lucky enough to win a free coffee, let alone an amazing hot tool, so you can imagine how over the moon I was when I found out I had actually won. So, with all that being said, if it wasn't for these two awesome companies and a little bit of luck on my behalf, I would not be able to do this review at all. 

Now let me say, I've never been one of those gals who yearns for pricey hot tools, I've always just made due with whatever I could find at my local Walmart etc. Don't get me wrong, you can find lots of great tools at places like that, and they'll get the job done, sure! But this, this beautiful piece of curling magic has finally shown me the light - how could I have not known THIS is what I was missing out on?

I've been using my normal curling iron as a wand for quite a while now (ignoring the clamp all together and just wrapping my hair around the barrel), so this is absolutely perfect for my wants/needs. The wand is so light and easy to handle, and the ability of the cord attachment to the handle to swivel makes it even more of a breeze to work with. The tool also heats up in no time flat - nothing worse than deciding to curl your hair and then having to wait a solid five minutes just for the styling tool to heat up. It also curls my hair incredibly quickly - these two things combined made me fall in love, because I can be seriously lazy when it comes to spending time styling my hair. It's an added bonus that a heat-resistant glove is also included.

My biggest surprise with this wand came when I used it for the first time and saw how amazingly smooth and soft my curls were. They also hold all day, even without hair spray, which is excellent for anyone who has hard to curl hair like me - I've always had problems with my curls falling within a few hours, but not with this. I would also say this size of barrel is versatile for all lengths and thicknesses of hair - my long thick hair and long layers can be turned into tons of curls or thick waves. Depending on the style I'm going for it can take me 5-15 minutes to do my hair, as opposed to a more typical 30 minutes plus it takes me with other hot tools I've used.

The only small complaint I do have with this product is the fact that you need to be careful about where you set it while it's on - with no stand unlike a typical curling iron you must ensure you set it on a heat resistant surface - in the grand scheme of things this is only a minor problem when the end result of using it is so amazing. 

I am so incredibly impressed with this little beauty I am certain I will want to acquire more sizes/styles they have to offer eventually. 

Naked2 Basics Review & Swatches

They got me again - Urban Decay and their Naked line always has a way of creeping into my Sephora shopping cart. Here it is, the sequel to the Naked Basics, a palette I've pretty well permanently kept in my everyday makeup bag for a year and a half now. I think it's a combination of the size (so lovely and compact), the all matte colors (which I've been completely obsessed with lately), and the whole taupe/brown shade family housed in this lovely little palette that made me fall for it just as hard as I fell for the first. 

Although the shades are from different families - the original being on the warmer end of things, and the second being cooler - the palette in general is set up in the same way. You get five matte shades, and one demi-matte shade (Skimp) which is perfect for highlighting - similar to the original which includes Venus as a highlighting shade. 

I really enjoy how they both include a deeper, darker matte shade as well - perfect for using as a liner, or for deepening up the outer corner of the eye when doing your smokey eye of choice. 

Top - Naked Basics

Bottom - Naked2 Basics 

I think the main reason I love these palettes both so much is the versatility you are able to have with them - using them solo you can get some lovely matte looks, or you can utilize the matte shades along with shimmers from another palette you love to create a really amazing combination. It's certainly no secret that none of the Naked Palettes have all that many matte shades, which are always super useful for blending and adding extra definition to any eye look. With these in combination with any or all of the Naked Palettes 1-3 you have no end to the amount of looks and shimmer/matte combinations. 

A Little Sephora Haul | March 2015

It had been so long since I grabbed anything from Sephora - quite proud of myself for actually showing restraint and giving my pocket book a break - but when I noticed my St. Tropez tanner was running low I knew it was time to place an order.

I ended up keeping it straight forward and only made two major purchases - I got a replacement St. Tropez Self Tanning Mouse, this time I went for the dark, I've been interested in trying it out and seeing how it compares to the original (post will be coming soon on that!).

I also ended up caving and picking up the Naked2 Basics. I've had the original for quite some time now and I use it pretty well every day so I thought I would add this one to my collection as well since matte shadows have been my jam lately - of course going to do a review/comparison post on this as well!

I typically like to save my points for a big point perk, but I had 400 just sitting there calling my name so I went ahead and used them since I was interested in trying out some skin care samples. I ended up choosing the Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar, Clinique Repairwear Sculpting Night Cream, Ole Henriksen Truth Serum and a Kat Von D Immortal Lash mascara. I also used a code at check out and got the Ole Henriksen Ultimate Lift Eye Gel. I've been pretty basic with my skin routine lately and haven't tried anything new in quite a while so hopefully I'll enjoy some of these samples enough to buy the full size.