Valentines Lips | Three Ways

Whether you're going on a date with that special someone, choosing to stay and have a good pamper session, or doing a night out with friends, Valentines is a day for love. It's always nice to look nice, regardless of what you're doing on the 14th, so I've rounded up three combos - lip-spiration as it were -  that work perfectly with a variety of different makeup looks for whatever kind of V-day you're choosing to have.

Nude

For the nude lip I chose my favorite lip liner in Natural by Rimmel, and filled in my entire lips. Then I applied Revlon Soft Nude and topped it off with the Maybelline Color Elixir gloss in Nude Illusion.

Pink

I had a bit of a harder time deciding on a pink lip, but narrowed it down the Elf lip liner in ... , which I lined and filled in my lips with. Next I took one of my all time favorite pink lipsticks - Mac Creme Cup. I chose not to go with a gloss and keep it more on the creamy/natural looking end of things and I'm happy with the decision.

Red

Finally, and most boldly of all - I had to do a red of course (Valentines and red go hand in hand) - so I grabbed my only go to red of the past couple months. The NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo is simply stunning.



I hope this little post gave you some inspiration! Let me know what your plans for Valentines are in the comments! 

Beating Winter Blues With Champagne Shades

I love a good glow in my makeup all year round, but I seem to be craving that lit from within look even more during this gloomy time of year. We're right into the thick of the winter right now, and it's not our skins best friend. The dry weather and short days tend to make skin dull and lack luster - my solution is to pull out the champagne tones. 

(Top to bottom) CG Champagne, MAC Naked Lunch, Hard Candy Tiki Bronzer

(Top to bottom) Benefit Watts Up, Smashbox light luminizer, NYX cottage cheese, 

Rimmel bullet proof beige 

My first and most obvious choice - note the name - is the Covergirl Eye Enhancers eyeshadow in Champagne. So soft and buttery, it makes for the most amazing inner corner highlight that will truly make your eyes pop. Naked Lunch from MAC is also one of my favorite powder eyeshadows for bringing extra brightness to my eyes - the bonus is it isn't a heavy glitter shade so it never looks over the top. As for cheeks my go to powder product is the Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki. It's labeled as a bronzer but for that purpose I think it would be impossible to pull off. It is however one of the best drugstore highlighting products I've ever found. 

If you're more of a cream product type of person, especially in terms of face highlighters, then Benefit Watts Up is the perfect product. In a stick form it makes for super easy application and adds the most wonderfully natural glow to the skin without looking like you actually applied a highlighting product. Smashbox Artificial Light Luminizing Powder - what a mouth full - is yes, technically, a "powder", however I kind of find it to be an in between kind of product. The applicator dispenses small amounts of this creamy powder that adds such a beautiful glow to the cheeks or eyes. Just a tip, I dispense it onto the back of my hand and then use a brush to apply it to where I want it - applying it straight from the container can get a little tedious. 

My final two picks are both eyeshadow sticks, and seriously, who doesn't love a good eyeshadow stick - so easy to use and convenient. The NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in cottage cheese - the name leaves little to be desired - is a stunner. It's shimmery white with undertones of gold. Finally the Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeshadow stick in bulletproof beige, which I must add is waterproof, adds a gorgeous light golden glow to the lids. I love wearing this both alone and as a base to make other shadows really pop. 

Go-To Dark Lip of December

It has been a busy month with the holidays coming up and everyone having tons on their plates, but regardless of how crazy its been for me I've still been making time to wear makeup (obviously!), and my number one simple look I've been loving is a speedy concealer and powder routine followed by a little liner and mascara. To top it all off and make it not so boring I've been adding a darker lip. I find I look so much more pulled together and like I had way more time to get ready than I really did. 

I find having a darker lip also distracts from the fact that I'm typically rocking a messy bun (from the pervious night maybe) and what ever baggy sweater I threw on that morning. 

My favorite liner and lipstick combo lately has come down two these two beauties. I've always been a major fan of Rimmel lip liners and this one in 'Wine' is no exception. I fill in my entire lip using Wine, and then dab this NYX butter lipstick in 'Licorice' over top to deepen it a touch more. 

Let me know some of your favorite dark lip options to check out in the comments!

See you in my next post! 

November Favorites 2014

As another month comes to and end it's that time where I round up some of the things I've used and enjoyed the most this month... here's what I came up with! 

NYX Matte Lip Cream in Monte Carlo

Guys, seriously, I've been obsessed with this little beauty this month. It is so soft and creamy (as the name would suggest) and I don't find it drying like other matte lip products I've tried. It's long wearing and smells amazing too! Going to be getting more shades in the very near future because I think I'm in love.

Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation

I plan on doing a full review/how I apply this product really soon but just know it is seriously awesome stuff. I may actually have to dub this my favorite drugstore foundation of all time (wow! now that says something!). 

Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner Definer in Natural 

This is an old favorite that really never isn't in my makeup bag, I've gone through at least 4 of these guys in my time and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. It's the 'my lips but better' lip liner shade, and I adore it so much I wear it on its own a lot of the time as well. This month I've been really loving it combined with the next product I'm going to mention. 

Maybelline Color Elixir in Nude Illusion 

This stunner has been going over top of the Rimmel liner and making for my perfect everyday lip combo. These glosses are also an addiction of mine - my goal is to get every single color... seriously. They feel amazing and smell even better! 

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

Another oldie but goodie. It's such an effortless product and I think that's why I always end up throwing it back into my makeup bag time and time again.

EVAmour Perfume by Eva Longoria 

I must say I did not buy this for myself, my mother in law picked it up on a whim while in duty free while on a trip to North Carolina. I'm usually slightly nervous to receive fragrances as a gift because I'm so particular about what I truly like to wear. She really did amazing picking this up though, it is just me plus fall - I am terrible at describing scents but I highly recommend giving this a sniff next time you're able to because it's simply lovely.

Maybelline Pumped Up Mascara

As you can probably tell, if Maybelline comes out with a new mascara Hannah buys it, and fast. This has been in my makeup bag all month long and I've really been enjoying how plump and full and, of course, 'pumped up' it makes my lashes look. 

Maybelline Gel Liner in Brown

I've been loving this for both lining my eyes and for my water line and tight line. It lasts all day, the formula is smooth and creamy and I've been really digging brown liner because it's not as harsh looking as black can be, which is great for every day wear. 

Sally Hansen Polish in Ruby Do

Really no explanation needed for this aside from that its a lovely creamy burgundy wine color, and is the exact shade that I'm obsessed with at this time of year. I really love the formula of this polish, it's super creamy and opaque in one coat. I also enjoy the brush as it's bigger than ones like Essie/OPI. 

Notebooks

Finally, in the picture above you see I added in a notebook. This has just been the one I've been using over the past few weeks, but in general any form of notebook is always a favorite of mine. I use them for my daily life to keep track of jobs around the house, for my blog, for work, and to keep track of my kids and where they need to be - I would be totally lost without a notebook on the go at all times. 

October Favorites 2014

Finally, after months of not posting a monthly favorites round up I am back in action with my October Favorites!

First, and probably most obvious to all, since it was October I was most certainly burning through a (couple) Leaves candles from good old Bath and Body Works. As you can see I'm coming to the end of my final one, but I'm feeling okay about it because we all know Christmas candles are next! 

This month I found myself grabbing three old favorites that I had drifted apart from for quite a while and I'm not sure why. I repurchased my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind (light), and the original CG Lash Blast - both AH-mazing and I'm so happy to have them back in my makeup bag. I also brought out an old fave from my stash, the Wet n Wild blush in mellow wine. I tend to forget about this guy until the fall rolls around when I find it the perfect boost to my cheeks. 

Through the entire month of October I really didn't have much motivation to do my nails, but when I did I kept it pretty straight forward and kept reaching for the same two polishes - Maybelline 'mauve in manhattan' and OPI 'I saw..u saw.. we saw... warsaw', and to spice things up I sometimes threw on a little of the Formula X effects top coat in Turbulent over the OPI polish. 

For lips this month I've been back and forth between my usual rosy nude fall lips, and darker reds and plums depending on my mood and what I'm doing that day. My stand out lipstick for the month though, hands down, goes to my NYX Butter Lipstick in 'licorice'. I intend to do a full post on how I wear this lip look, but let me just say now, if you like the vampy look and moisturized lips you need to run and get this! 

(mellow wine,  licorice)

Last, and certainly not least, the item I was searching for nearly a month for, the Maybelline The Nudes palette. This has been out for a while now, but I never really gave it much thought until I saw it featured in a couple of my favorite YouTube beauty gurus videos. By that time I was apparently too little too late and every store near me was sold out. I finally did of course get my hands on the elusive little guy and I could not be happier. I'm going to be doing a complete review post on this palette ASAP.

So there are my October favorites! Let me know some of your favorites of the month! 

Any requests please post them in the comments! 

Talk to you all soon!