Browsing Category

Beauty

Beauty

Kat Von D Lock-It Setting Powder

Posted on May 2, 2017

I have been hearing so much about “setting powders” lately.  I know that Laura Mercier has one of the best ones out there, but sometimes I like to stray away from the best sellers and look at the up and coming products.  Plus, I have a current obsession with Kat Von D products.  I love the Tattoo Liner and the Everlasting Liquid Lipstick (review coming soon!).  I know I’m late jumping on this bandwagon but it’s better late then never right?

First I needed to figure out exactly what I am supposed to use setting powder for.  Is it the same as using powder foundation after my liquid foundation?  Do I put it on after both of those?  Do I need to “bake” with it?  There are so many questions! Lucky for you, I did hours of research for you.  Here’s what I found out:

  • Use setting powder after your liquid foundation to matte and “set” your face.  It’s different from powder foundation in that it’s lighter and will typically not give you a cake-y finish.
  • Baking:  Putting a crap load of translucent powder under your eyes (typically) and letting it sit there for awhile.  The heat from your face will set your foundation and concealer giving you a flawless finish.  Some people use it where they contour as well.  I am not that savvy just yet.

Personally, baking is too much for me.  My friend does it for big events and swears by it.  I guess you can say that I am too lazy and don’t want to deal with the excessive amount of powder after.

So how is this setting powder?  I am still getting used to it but you can kind of see it in the photo with my hand – it’s powdery.  However, it’s a finely milled silky powder.  I used CoverFx’s Matte Setting Powder and within an hour my nose was super shiny.  The Kat Von D one gives me a nice glow.  Seems to have the tiniest bit of shimmer in it but not much.  I do have to do one touch up in the middle of the day with a pressed powder (review coming soon!), but it’s not bad.  If you are looking for a setting powder, this is definitely a great one to try.  It’s lightweight AND the Kat Von D Lock-It Setting Brush so soft!  I am a sucker for brushes that go with the product.

Final thoughts:  I still love Kat Von D’s products and definitely think you should try it out!!!  Stay tuned for more Kat Von D product reviews.  I am obsessed right now – so that’s what you’re going to get!

Lock-It Setting Powder | Sephora $30   Lock-It Setting Powder Brush | Sephora $38

Beauty

Marc Jacobs Beauty – Dew Drops Coconut Gel Highlighter

Posted on April 23, 2017

I received the Marc Jacobs Beauty Dew Drops Coconut Gel Highlighter complimentary from Influenster for review a few weeks ago. When I found out I was chosen to review this products, I was super excited.  I have heard such great things about the Marc Jacobs Beauty brand and wanted to test this out!  Dew Drops is a lightweight, coconut-infused gel highlighter that can be applied directly onto the skin or added to a foundation or primer for a glow.  I have been trying it the last few weeks and am finally able to give a good honest review.

PROS:

  • The packaging is very fancy.  The product comes in a nice glass bottle.  It feels very luxurious.
  • The amount of product that comes in the package is a lot!
  • A little goes a long way = this bottle will last forever!
  • Great for mixing with your foundation for a glow from within look
  • The Radiant Finish color has a gold tint and will work on most skintones.
  • Marc Jacobs Beauty has been known for having some great products

CONS:

  • It’s a bit hard to control when you just want to highlight your cheekbones.  I find that when I put a little, I can’t see anything.  Then I put a few more drops on my cheekbones and then it’s too much.  Since it’s like a lotion I have to rub rub rub.  Well, I don’t want to rub rub rub.  I want it to sink in when I pat it on with my fingers, which it doesn’t do.
  • Doesn’t smell like coconut – which I feel like it should since it has coconut oil.

Final thoughts: Marc Jacobs Beauty Dew Drops Coconut Gel Highlighter definitely tried to jump on the highlighter bandwagon.  Unfortunately, I prefer to use my powder highlighter.  If you are looking for a subtle glow to add to your foundation – this is it!

Thank you Influenster & Marc Jacobs Beauty for letting me review this product!  #CoconutGlow #contest @Influenster @MarcBeauty

Sephora $44.00

Beauty

March Birchbox Review

Posted on March 30, 2017

This past weekend I was up in NorCal for work and had a blast!  If you follow me on my Instagram, you would have seen that I went to Kittea Cat Cafe in San Francisco.  I had so much fun, the cats are adorable. Maybe I will do a review on my visit.  Let me know if you want to know what it was like.  Other than that, I ate a lot.  The food up there is amazing and it’s fun to see the different variations between SoCal and NorCal.  For example, I saw a huge line for Boba Guys. Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley – we have a ton of boba places.  I couldn’t believe why there would be a line at this place. Well, it’s the hip, organic, delicious version of what we have down here.  I approve.

Now back to the real reason for this post – March Birchbox review!  This Birchbox was curated by Reese Witherspoon and her lifestyle brand Draper James. This one had some great products in it and I was super excited to try everything out.  Also, I love Reese!

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream | Birchbox $27.50:  This is a no-brainer.  I love Kiehl’s products.  This is right in between being lightweight and creamy.  It’s great for an everyday face cream.  It has no scent which I do like.  This is the best every day no nonsense face cream!

W3LL PEOPLE Expressionist Mascara | Birchbox $21.99: It doesn’t matter what kind of mascara it is.  They  never work on my stick straight eyelashes.  However, I try every single mascara that is sent to me and sadly, this did not work for me.  *insert sad face*

Davines Naturaltech Replumpling Shampoo & Conditioner | Birchbox $26.50 each:  I know I say this a lot, but I was really looking forward to trying this out.  I love Davines.  However, this smelled musky and like an old lady.  AND when I used the shampoo my hair didn’t feel clean.  When I used the conditioner, my hair didn’t feel soft.  PASS!

Davines Naturaltech Replumping Hair Filler Superactive | Birchbox $40:  I was skeptical about this.  What is it supposed to do?  Fill my hair?  Well, other than the smell which I didn’t like (it’s the same as the shampoo & conditioner) – it did what it said it was going to do!  My hair is full and plumped.  I wish it didn’t smell like an old lady, but I will be using this whole sample bottle up!  Who doesn’t love fuller hair?

Real Chemistry Fresh-Start Foaming Cleanser | Birchbox $24:  I loved the Real Chemistry Luminous 3-Minute Peel that was in my December Birchbox so I was really looking forward to trying this out.  It doesn’t dry your face out like normal foaming cleansers do and it’s moisturizing!  Not bad!  This would be perfect if you have a Clarisonic.

Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Double the Lip in Lusty Rose| Birchbox $20:  This product is really cool.  It’s a lip liner and lipstick in 1.  You can see in the photo that there are two layers.  However, even though I was super excited to see this and try it – it was a bust for me.  The first problem, the color.  It just wasn’t a good look on me.  Also, having to put the “liner” part on your bottom lip is a bit of a task.  It’s a great concept and Benefit is some high quality stuff – but this just wasn’t for me.

I liked 4/7 of the products sent to me.  I say that’s a win!

If you want to get your own Birchbox, click here!  Until next time!

Beauty

February Birchbox Review

Posted on March 19, 2017

Hello out there!  I did not forget about you, my blog.  Without going too much into detail – I got super sick, got my eyebrows microbladded, it’s been raining (which means no photos) and I have been traveling like crazy for work.  I finally had a free weekend and I had a day off to take photos last week – so I’m BACK!  And how I have missed you.

I know this is a month late, but you will forgive me right?  Here we go….

WEI Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask | Birchbox $42:  I was a bit skeptical about this – because I am about everything I haven’t tried.  Well, this turned out to be a wonderful surprise!  This mud mask isn’t super thick, it’s creamy and when it dries on your face – you can still move it!  After I took it off, I found my face to be nicely matte and my pores were noticeably smaller.  I am definitely going to purchase this!  Plus, the mask comes in individual pods – I like that.

Manna Kadar Cosmetics Lip Locked in Rosette | Birchbox $24:  I thought I was going to like this.  It’s a primer, stain and gloss in one.  Who can go wrong with all those 3 in 1?  Well, this went straight into the trashcan after I tried it on my lips.  It was blotchy, the consistency was not smooth, the color was horrible on my skin – it was just bad.  SKIP!

Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo | Birchbox $44:  I love Oribe products.  My absolute favorite is their dry texturizing spray.  I use it every single day.  So I was super excited to see this in February’s box.  This dry shampoo is not bad.  It’s my #2 after my Living proof Dry Shampoo favorite.  It doesn’t leave a white residue and very lightweight.  I can hardly tell that I have it on.  If you need a new dry shampoo, definitely give this one a try!

Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentre | Birchbox $28:  I didn’t think I would like this.  I am all about packaging and this is packaged in just a foreign looking tube.  I was easily amused when I saw that I had to turn the cap and puncture the top of the tube to get the cream out.  Remember when you had to do that as a kid?  Well, this french moisturizer impressed me.  It’s great for dryness and supposedly preps the skin for foundation.  However, I found it too greasy for my liking to use in the AM.  I definitely recommend this for those dry winter PM nights.  I will be putting this in my shopping cart!

Obliphica Professional Seaberry Serum | Birchbox $38:  I just started experimenting with using serums after doing my hair to tame the flyaways.  You can use this with wet or dry hair.  I tried this on my dry hair this morning after straightening my hair and found it very pleasant!  Has a nice smell and wasn’t greasy and didn’t make my hair feel oily.  Will definitely keep an eye on this and keep using it until it’s gone!

I was trying so hard to pump out a post that when I took the photos of the products, I only swatched the ones I thought I would like.  Well, this should tell you that you should never judge a book by its cover.  I thought I would love the lip gloss, but I hated it.  I didn’t think I would like the moisturizer or serum, but I’m going to use up the entire sample and may even buy the full size at the end.

Do you want your own surprise in the mail?  Subscribe here!

 

Beauty

Bite Beauty | The Lip Pencil

Posted on February 6, 2017

I was chosen by Influenster to try out the Bite Beauty VoxBox.  In case you don’t know what Influenster is, it’s actually really cool.  You sign up and it does require a bit of work, but you can get picked to try out new products for free!  I got the Bite Beauty The Lip Pencil.  It’s exclusive to Sephora and was just released on 2.2.17 (also my dad’s birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!).  I received 2 lip pencils, 2 lipsticks and 1 Sephora pencil sharpener.

I have the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in Champagne and love it, so I was excited to try their new lip pencil.  I did some research on the brand to get more familiar with it.  Turns out that they use food-grade ingredients and some of their products smell good enough to eat!  This definitely intrigued me.  Read on to find out my thoughts on the lip pencils!

Bite Beauty The Lip Pencil 020 Beige Nude| Sephora $18:  This is the PERFECT nude color.  I have to say that this is comparable to my favorite Charlotte Tilbury Lip Liner in Pillow Talk.  The pencil itself is creamy and lightweight. It has shea butter in it!  I did pair this with the Amuse Bouche lipstick that they sent in Honeycomb and it was lovely! AND did you know that their lipsticks are hand made in small batches?  LOVE!

*lip pencil on top, lipstick on bottom*

BITE Beauty The Lip Pencil 044 Rich Mahogany | Sephora $18: If you have been reading my blog, you know that I love dark lip colors.  You put it on and look put together – like you spent all day getting ready.  I love it!  When I opened up the box, I thought this was going to be my favorite color of the two pencils. Well, I like both equally.  Don’t hate me ok?  This pencil is super pigmented which is a good thing when using a dark lip pencil.  I was sent the Amuse Bouche lipstick in Whiskey to pair with it, but holy cow!  Whiskey looked almost black on me (it’s supposed to be a Rich Mahogany with Red). The lip pencil itself is beautiful alone, which is how I wore it.  Doing this actually really impressed me with how nice the lip pencil is.  Lipstick is not needed.  LOVE!

*lip pencil on top, lipstick on bottom*

Final thoughts?  I need to head over to Sephora to look at the other colors in person.  For being brand new, this product is really great.  I would just be careful to now throw it in your big handbag (or mine).  I did that and the cap fell off…of both pencils.  You do NOT want Rich Mahogany all over the place.  Other than that, this lip pencil is great.  I highly recommend it!

*I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster and Bite Beauty*