Video: Massive Clothing/Makeup Haul

But mostly clothes. It's a long one; don't feel obligated to sit through it!

FOTD/OOTD/Personal & Hair Update

Wow, it felt really strange clicking the 'new post' button just now! I barely even recognize Blogger now, it looks so different. It's been exactly 2 months since my last post and I apologize for that. I've been really busy and honestly haven't had much to post about. My husband and I are now homeowners (which is partially why I was gone) so that is pretty exciting. I've been slowly getting back into the swing of makeup again and allowed myself to buy some new L'Oreal bits at the store recently, most of which I am wearing in today's look. The new True Match Lumi foundation is AMAZING. End of. I will do a review soon!

I tried to take a mixture of natural light and flash photos to mix it up a bit!

FACE:

- L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer

- L'Oreal True Match Lumi foundation in N1-2 Soft Ivory

- Mac MSF Natural in Light

 - Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Light

- Mac MSF in Semi Precious Crystal Pink (blush, face highlight and inner corner highlight)

EYES:

-Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Golden Sage (lid and lower lashline)
- L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Golden Emerald (crease and lower lashline)
- L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Gleaming Bronze (used as liner)
- Ulta Golden Eyes eyeliner (lower waterline)

- Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

LIPS:

- L'Oreal Caresse lipstick in Rose Taffeta

As you may have noticed, my hair is a different color. I haven't dyed it in about 2 months (and even then that was just to cover the blonde ends, which the dye ended up fading right back to blonde again anyway) and was ready for a change. I wanted to go back to red without bleaching so I started doing some research. I ended up with L'Oreal (I swear I'm not sponsored) HiColor in Red Hot and some 20 volume developer. Here are the results!

Before (sorry for how ragged it is, I had just sprayed protein filler all over and it makes your hair a hot mess):

After:

Overall, I am really pleased. I wanted it a little brighter (you can see how bright it got over my blonde ends) so I am going to wash it a few times and then decide if I'm going to dye it again. The dye is gentle enough to use again, and I plan on hitting my hair with 30 volume developer this time if I decide to redo it (for more vibrancy). I'm still undecided. What do you think? 

Last thing is my outfit for today, I absolutely love this dress pattern but holy wrinkles, Batman!!

Dress: Kohl's (Lily Rose)

Cardigan: Target (Mossimo)

Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory (City Classified)

That's it for me today. I will have some new Darling Girl eyeshadow swatches up soon so stay tuned!

FOTD/OOTD: Striving to Be Different

With my recent makeup rut, I had some time this morning to play with makeup and wanted to try a different eye shape than what I normally do. I hadn't used MUFE #92 in FOREVER, so I incorporated that as well. I really like how this turned out!

FACE:

- L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer

- Avon Smooth Minerals Foundation in Nude

- Mac MSF Natural in Light

 - Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Light

- Boots No 7 Vital Enlightening Powder (on eyes as highlight, too)

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Peach Satin

EYES:

-Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- Revlon Matte Eyeshadow in Peach Sorbet (lid)

- Mac eyeshadow in Expensive Pink (crease and lower lashline)

- MUFE Eyeshadow in #92 (to darken crease and lower lashline)

- Physician's Formula black gel liner from Blue Eyes set

- MUA eyeliner in Lovely Lilac (waterline)

- Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

LIPS:

- NYX Lipstick in Indian Pink

- NYX Mega Shine gloss in LaLa

It's supposed to be pretty sunny and nice here today so I wanted to wear a dress... figuring out a cardigan to wear with it was tough, I'm not 100% sold on this combo.

 Cardigan - Forever21

Dress - Target

Shoes - Burlington Coat Factory

Necklace - No idea

Nails - Color Club Blue-Ming

FOTD/OOTD: Shocking

I've been experimenting with different ways to make my eyeshadow last with all of the issues I've been having with creasing and fading. I've found that a really good method is the MUA Primer that Robyn sent me with a Maybelline Color Tattoo over the top, and then a powder eyeshadow heavily buffed into the Color Tattoo. That seems to be working for me right now. This eye look is one that I've done a lot recently.

I also used the Real Techniques foundation buffer today with my foundation and it is AMAZING. End of. Totally impressed.

FACE:

- L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer

- MUFE HD Foundation in #21

- Mac MSF Natural in Light

 - Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Light

- Boots No 7 Vital Enlightening Powder (on eyes as highlight, too)

-NYC Sun 'n Bronze Bronzing powder (blush)

EYES:

- MUA Professional Eye Primer

-Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe

- L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow in Amber Rush

- Rimmel Spark It Up eyeliner in Peridot (upper lashline)

- NYX eyeliner in Teal (lower lashline/waterline)

- Mac eyeshadow in Aquadisiac (lower lashline)

- Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

LIPS:

- MUA Plumping Lip Gloss in Shocking Pink

It's so dreary outside today so I wanted to wear something bright and fun. I had a picture of my nails as well but my cuticles are looking too ragged for macro at the minute.

Top - Forever21

Belt - Primark

Skirt - The Limited

Shoes - Burlington Coat Factory

Nails - Color Club Blue-Ming

Quick Purple Lipstick Comparison

Really really lightning fast post here.

 

Left to right: Cover Girl Embrace, Mac Violetta, Mac Heroine, Cover Girl Divine and Mac Up the Amp

This was mostly to clear up some questions about dupes for Heroine!

FOTD/OOTD/NOTD: Sweet Dreams

I did full makeup today which hasn't happened in a long time! I'm testing out a new eye primer to see if it helps with the issues I've been having. Anyway, I got out my Too Faced Sweet Dreams palette and went to town. Would you guys want to see a review and swatches or is it too old at this point?

FACE:

- L'Oreal Magic Lumi Primer

- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21

- Mac MSF Natural in Light (just to set concealer)

 - Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Light

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light 

- Boots No 7 Vital Enlightening Powder (on eyes as highlight, too)

- Mac blush in Full of Joy

EYES:

- MUA Professional Eye Primer

- Too Faced Sweet Dreams Palette: Nice Stems! (lid and lower lashline), Party Girl (crease), Label Whore (to darken crease and lower lashline) and Smolder (to lightly darken upper lash line)

- NYC Waterproof Eyeliner in Teal (lower waterline)

- Rimmel Sexy Curves Mascara

LIPS:

- Wet n Wild Megalast Lipstick in 906D (Wine Room)

- Essence XXXL Shine Lipgloss in Wanted (Silver)

For my outfit, I got this top at H&M last weekend for some stupidly cheap price. I think it might be a dress? I'm not sure as it's so short. But it's got kitties on it!

Top: H&M

Cardigan: Target

Necklace: Forever21 (?)

Leggings: Forever21

Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory, City Classified brand

Last, my nails. Nothing spectacularly complicated, just a pretty color. This is Wet n Wild's It's All in the Cut. This came out over Christmas time with a bunch of different colors. I love these polishes so much.

Anyway, that's all for today! Sorry I've been so MIA. We're in the process of buying a condo right now and it's been a little crazy.

Physician's Formula Youthful Wear Foundation Review

I picked up the newest of the Physician's Formula foundations last week as I had seen some reviews on blogs and wanted to try it out.

Youthful Wear boasts an SPF 15 and the potential to 'look 10 years younger instantly!'. It claims to fill fine lines and wrinkles and firm and lift skin in 3 weeks (for 94% of users). The ingredients list is quite long and is as follows:

Active Ingredient: Zinc Oxide 1.960% Inactive Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone, Isododecane, Hydrogenated Didecene, Lauryl PEG-8 Dimethicone, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Tribehenin, Nylon-12, Polyamide-5, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Ceramide 3, Glycerin, Aluminum Dimyristate, Disodium EDTA, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Magnesium Silicate, Olive Glycerides, Propylene Carbonate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexyl Glycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, May Contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides

The first ingredient is water, which made me assume that this would be a lighter foundation. It does also contain silicones (and a lot of them), so if you are sensitive, be wary of this foundation.

The foundation comes housed in a lovely metallic purple squeeze tube that is lightweight but not flimsy. It's quite compact so it would be good for traveling. You get 1 oz. of product in the tube, and the regular price of this is $14.99. I found the brush that came in the box to be soft and pliable, but not the right texture to apply this foundation with, which I'll talk about later.

The foundation comes in 3 shades: Fair, Light and Medium. I tried Fair.

Fair would be a good match for NW/NC15 in Mac, and possibly an NW/NC20 if you use a light hand. The color of this is pretty light for a drugstore foundation, but will be way too dark for those that have a very fair complexion. Alternatively, with this only going to 'Medium', those darker than an NC/NW30 are going to be out of luck! You can see from my swatch that it does indeed fill the fine lines in my hand, so I feel like the claim that PF makes for that part of the foundation is very true!

The foundation's texture is a little unusual to me. For a water based foundation, it feels quite thick, but I don't feel like it has a lot of coverage. I'd classify this as a light coverage, bordering on medium if you powder it afterward. I feel like the foundation takes a few minutes to settle on my face, as it tends to look a little oily in the first 5-10 minutes. Once set and powdered, it's a much more natural finish... I'd say a satin finish. I don't get shiny or oily when wearing this but then I tend to have dry to normal skin, so that's not usually a problem for me. I feel that around the 6-7 hour mark, the foundation definitely needs a touch up.

The easiest way to apply this is with fingers, by far, as the brush that comes with it is too soft and fluffy and ends up absorbing most of the product. The warmth from your fingers also helps to distribute the product around more evenly as again, it feels a little on the thick side.

I'm going to show you before and after pictures, just be warned that I am showing you my naked face! My bare face will be the first two pictures, and then my face with only the foundation on will be under those.

With the foundation:

 

As you can see, it doesn't completely cover the discoloration around my eyes, nose and in general around my face. On the closeup shot, you can see my skin imperfections, acne scarring and freckles. I don't have a problem with a lighter coverage foundation, but I wouldn't recommend this to someone who prefers more coverage.

One final picture to show it with powder and concealer (full makeup face):

Overall, this is a decent foundation but not spectacular. I'm jaded by using BB creams, I'll be honest. I got this at a discounted price because I had coupons, but I feel like $14.99 is too much for how little coverage it has! If you're looking for a light coverage with some fine line filling properties, you would definitely like this. It also reminds me of the Cover Girl NatureLuxe Foundation, so if you liked that, check this out. Otherwise, skip this and save your pennies for a BB cream.