Summer Essentials

Long time no see?
I feel like when I write I need to have a refreshing beverage or coffee in hand, good tunes and have had a good work day.
Today was good and I have a cider in hand, so I am happy.

I hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend! Even though it was not sunny or hot here it felt like the beginning of Summer, therefore I needed to compile my list of Summer essentials.

This will mostly likely differ from my Summer favorites that will come in September but this the overall plan.  Enjoy and a let me know your Summer essentials in the comments!

 BareMinerals Complexion rescue, Fresh Tinted Lip Treatment Sugar in Rose, 'We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson, L'oreal Magic BB Cream, maison martin margiela Replica 'Beach Walk' perfume, Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronzer by Chanel

1. Tinted moisturizer/BB Cream.  I usually go lightweight with my skin for any time of year but definitely for Summer. 
2. A lip treatment.  My go to is Vaseline which I feel like I talk about in every essentials/favorites post, but I do like the Fresh treatments as well and thought I'd sneak that in there this time.
3. A good book.  I hope to do a book post this Summer as I have been getting back into reading again as I now have the time to.
4. A Summer scent.  There are scents that smell like Summer and then there are scents that remind you of Summer (watermelon, a boy's cologne, bbq hot dogs, the ocean etc)
5. A go to bronzer, one that enhances your Summer tan or just makes you look like you were at the beach all day even though you were slathered in your SPF like me.

 L'oreal EverSleek Precious Oil Treatment, Essence All About Sunrise Eyeshadow, Stila Aqua Glow Serum Concealer, The Lumineers 'Cleopatra', TooFaced Hangoverx,Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara

6. A good hair product to keep your hair feeling smooth and silky after all those UV rays. 
7. Summer-y, shimmery eyeshadows for those days or nights you feeling like looking like a mermaid.
8. Lightweight concealers.  I tend to tan pretty well in Summer, so I do need to go a shade darker but at the same time I rarely need concealer so I stick to light coverage ones that will just make me look more awake.
9. Awesome tunes! A Summer playlist is a must-have for me and has been for years.  Let me know your Summer songs in the comments, I would love to know!
10. A primer, specifically a hydrating one.  I tend to ignore the fact that I have dry skin in the Summer as I am already looking oily from the hot days, but you shouldn't ignore your skin type even if you are a sweaty mess.
11. Natural looking mascara that will have people questioning if those are your natural lashes, oh why yes they are!

Maybelline Better Skin Concealer, Tarte Cosmetics Rainforest of the Sea palette, Hawaiian Tropics Silk Hydration Sunscreen, Stila Aqua Glow Cushion Blush in Rosewater, Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer

 
12. SPF.  Sunscreen is a must for me.  It wasn't in the past, but as I near thirty I've realized the importance of it the last few years.  No more of that 4SPF tanning oil for me, okay well maybe but only because it smells so good and then I'll slather something more on over top.
13. I love having rosy cheeks, so a cushion or cream blush is perfect for the Summer. It looks natural and feels light on the cheeks.
14. Moisturizer.  Something to hydrate your skin before hitting the heat, as well as something for your skin to drink up at the end of the day.

So, go on let me know what you tend to reach for in the Summer months.

I hope you have a great week and I hope to talk to you soon!

How much is your makeup bag worth?

I was really inspired by this video on buzzfeed:



So I thought I would do this myself.
I'm only going to do my everyday makeup products, because if I did my whole collection I might cry.

I still might cry.

I'll include brushes too, and right there I know I'm already $150 in because I got a brush with a palette.

 Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette, BH Cosmetics blush brush, Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector, Maybelline FitMe Matte Poreless Powder, Sephora Airbrush Powder Brush, Beauty Blender, L'oreal Magic Skin Beautifier, Besame French Vanilla Powder

 Lancome Cils Booster, Sephora Airbrush Shadow Brush, Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Palette, Toofaced HangoveRX Primer, Shu Uemura Eye Lash Curler, Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyebrow Gel, Benefit Cosmetics Rollerlash

 Sephora Precision Foundation Brush, Vaseline Lip Therapy, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Killer Cheek Bones Palette with Brush, Sephora Airbrush Concealer Brush, Nyx Microbrow Pencil, Mac Pro Longwear Concealer

And the grand total is:  $612.96

Yowza!

I'm a snoop, so let me know in the comments how much money you're putting on your face every day.
Have a great week!
Here we go. . .

2014 Beauty Favorites!

I've decided that every morning should be like this one.
Getting up early, eating breakfast, drinking many cups of coffee and blogging.

We're only two weeks into January but I feel a bit late on my 2014 Beauty Favorites. And I know I was supposed to blog on Monday but Sunday was busy and yesterday was a strange shift where I didn't get home until almost seven.  Excuses, excuses!

Moving on!
Here are my most loved beauty favorites of 2014.  And there are a lot.

I only recently bought the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette back in the early fall, but I have been loving it to bits for the all the holiday parties I've attended.  And I wear the highlight (middle shade) every day to work. 
Oh Maybelline, I do love your concealers the best.  I only tried one new concealer this year because I can't seem to leave my Maybelline Anti-Aging concealer alone.
I splurged on make up this year.

The TooFaced Chocolate Bar Palette, I didn't know you could love an eyeshadow palette this much.  I've been getting into eyeshadow a lot more recently, you know the whole blending thing, and I just love all the neutral colors in this palette!  I've been tempted to get the semi-sweet chocolate one, but that blue color in it is throwing me off.
Next on the far left is a L'oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Coconut shake, I just really like using this as a base or on it's own with winged liner. 

That mysterious black tube that you can't read the label on is the Dior Addict-It Lash mascara, I just got this in December and I've already pushed all my other mascaras aside for this one.  I like a drier formula and this has it and the brush is spiky and perfect for me....ah, love.
Amope, I just received this at Christmas from my parents and it's one of my favorite gifts.  I hate dry, calloused feet.  I am a true Pisces and care about my feet immensely.  So I use this little foot file thing about twice a week and it's like magic.
The Shu-uemera Eyelash curler, where have you been all my life?  This curls your lashes like no other eye lash curler I have ever tried.  It's expensive for what it is, but it lives up to the hype.
L'oreal Lumi Primer, if you like dewy skin this is definitely one for you.  Honestly, I hated this product when I first bought it, it separated and I didn't use it for a few weeks.  But my skin was looking dull and I decided to give it a go.  I gave the product a shake to see if that would help the whole separating thing and it did.  It's not sparkly and it just gives a natural glow under your makeup.

Starting from the top left in this picture are Essie nail polishes in "Recessionista" and "Bahama Mama" , very similar dark burgundy shades and they are my most reached for colors.
Under is the perfume Alien by Thierry Mugley, I just can't...I love my Prada Candy perfume but a new scent that smells divine? Sorry Prada, I won't be reaching for you for awhile.
TooFaced Shadow Insurance, I love this for canceling out the veins on my eyelids and it does pretty well at keeping my eyeshadow in place.
This was the year I decided to fork out the twenty seven dollars for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz (in dark brown)..well I actually bought two, one in chocolate as well.  I don't know what I was doing with my brows before these.  I find it's so perfect for natural looking brows. I don't know what I would do without this.
Salon Grafix Play it Big hairspray, I love my L'oreal Elnett hairspray the most, but this Salon Grafix one was on sale and it works, the smell isn't over powering and I find my curls last quite a long time with it.
The Braun Silk7 epilator, I bought this bad boy in the summer after reading a review on a blog.  Let me tell you that this thing kind of hurts the first few times you use it.  If you don't know what an epilator is it's basically a bunch of tweezers spinning around really fast pulling out your body hair.  I refuse to use this on my legs anymore as I received tons of ingrown hairs from in, but this works amazing on the under arm area.  I use it 2-3 times a week and I find I don't get that ugly dark shadow under my arms anymore that I was so subconscious about.
Last but not least, I had to add a candle because I am a candle hoarder. 
Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, I've always loved this one but this past year my anxiety was so bad and this was the best candle to relax me.  I'm always stocked up on this one.

A few extra favorites that aren't pictured are:
Maybelline Baby Lips, I can always rely on this to keep my lips moisturized while I'm at work.
Lush Magnaminty Face Mask, this makes my skin so soft and has pushed all my other face masks aside.
For a good eye makeup remover I keep going back to the Neutrogena Oil Free Makeup Remover.
And lastly, a blush.  Benefit's Rockateur, I'm scared I'm going to hit pan on this soon!

What were your favorites of 2014? Have any new favorites for 2015 yet?

Have a great week!

Trying Out New Products #1

Hello Everybody!

For the past couple months to even just a few days ago I have been trying a few new products and I thought that I would share.

[Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula with Vitamin E Strong Roots spray/Tony Moly Appletox/Bioderma H20/L'oreal Magic Lumi Primer/Olay Regenerist Serum]
Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula with Vitamin E Strong Roots spray- This spray claims to stimulate the scalp and promote healthy hair growth and create a "cooling sensation" to sooth dryness or itch.
I take it that you're supposed to spray this on to your hair after you shower, but after reading other people's reviews you can do it dry (but it does make your hair feel a bit sticky and like you have hairspray in it).
The smell is coconut with a eucalyptus and peppermint. I notice the coconut right away and only smell hints of peppermint, so I don't find it overpowering.
I tend to suffer with psoriasis on my scalp and while it hasn't acted up in two years, I figure this would be something new to try for my itchy scalp. I've been using it every 2 days and I notice that it does have a soothing sensation so that's a plus. But I will have to wait a few months before seeing any hair growth.

Tony Moly Appletox- I am quite in love with this so far. So basically you rub this cream all over your face, massaging it in, and after a few minutes dead skin should start to rub off (like those little eraser bits). Once you feel like you have no cream left to rub in you can rinse it off with warm water. Oh my gosh, my skin was so soft after this! I would probably only use it once or twice a week.

Bioderma H20- This is a cleansing water. It's supposed to remove all make up and reveal clean skin. This works really well, but I find that it leaves a big raccoon eyed mess with my makeup unlike some eye makeup removers I've used. So I don't know if I'll be repurchasing. One this I did like was that it didn't irritate my eyes or my skin.

L'oreal Magic Lumi Primer- This declares it is a "light infusing primer". You can mix it with foundation or BB cream, wear it under your make up or use it as a highlighter. I've been loving this to give myself a glow and wear it under my make up, I use a BB cream and find it gives a natural, healthy glow. There are times when I forget to put this on first and I end up using it as a highlighter and I find that works just as nice.  It's not oily or sticky feeling, it blends into the skin rather well and I highly recommend this.

Olay Regenerist Serum- This is supposed to improve wrinkles in 2 weeks.  I am really not sure about this product. I love how it feels, it doesn't sit heavy on my skin, it's fragrance free, the bottle/pump is so easy to use and the 50mls has lasted me about 3 months so far.
But have I seen improvements?
I'm going to be honest.  I've noticed the wrinkles around my eyes and mouth a lot more lately and after I'm done this bottle I'm going to try something new and if that doesn't work, I might come back to this just because I love how it feels. It's a staple in my everyday routine, but I just don't think it does anything.
Maybe my skin isn't old enough?

[L'oreal Super Slim 12hr liner/Tarte Lights,Camera Lashes Mascara/Anastasia Brow Wiz (Chocolate)/Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler/Benefit Cosmetics Cheeky Sweet Box O' Blushes]

L'oreal Super Slim 12hr liner- I was looking for a dupe for the Stila Stay All Day Liner, I think this is it.  I don't know what else to say, because I just think it's a very good dupe.  I need to get more use out of it to be 100% positive, but it's looking good.

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara- This was the first Tarte product I ever bought and tried.  I want to try more!  I love this mascara. The length and separation is amazing, but natural looking. I did find that I had black smudges under my eyes at the end of the day, so it's not one I wear to work, but for the weekend when I can do touch ups if I have to, this is on my lashes.

Anastasia Brow Wiz in Chocolate- This is my first time owning this product and I don't know if I can ever switch to another brow product again, besides maybe trying out the pomade.  I used to use Benefit's Gimme Brow and E.L.F.'s brow kit. I think the brow wiz is my favorite, I find you get a lot more precision and a more natural looking brow.  I might try the brow wiz in brunette next time though. Thumbs up for the brow wiz!

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler- Another win here. I only bought this because I felt my eyelash curlers weren't doing a thing. So Boyfriend and I went to Sephora. I had two different Shu Uemura curlers in my hand, Boyfriend asked a salesperson which was better and this is the one I ended up with. Holy amazing. I didn't realize that's how curled lashes are supposed to look. It was a pricey purchase but worth every penny in my eyes.

Benefit Cosmetics Cheeky Sweet Box O' Blushes- I've owned this for about a month, I think.  I've never owned a Benefit blush before, but I've heard very good things. First off, these smell so good.  This set comes with Dandelion, Sugarbomb, Hoola, Coralista, Rockateur, Bellabamba and a mini Watts Up!.  My favorites are Dandelion, Rockateur and Watts Up!  I haven't played with the bronzer Hoola too much yet, but it's supposed to be the best there is.  Definitely a good little set if you're just being introduced to makeup or even Benefit products.

I hope the rest of your week goes well and talk to you soon!

-The Quiet Brunette

All these products were purchased by me and all reviews are my own unsponsored opinions.