2013 Beauty Favorites

There were a lot of new beauty products to try in 2013 and some things I just discovered the past year or fell in love with. I'm sure I could have thought of at least ten more things to add to my list of 2013 beauty favorites, but I didn't want this to be overly long. 

Since a lot of these products were things I had already discussed in other posts like monthly favorites or reviews, I re-used the pictures I had taken before, so they might look familiar.

Anyway, check it out!

Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencils

I knew I loved Urban Decay eyeliners the first time I tried them, but I fell even more in love with them this year. At the beginning of 2013 (maybe in March?) Urban Decay released a ton of new shades in their eyeliners and re-released some previously exclusive ones. The colors are even more wild and vibrant than before. Pretty much all the colors were love at first sight. I bought a ton of new shades this year because I just love everything about these liners! They are pigmented, they have any color imaginable for any occasion, and THEY STAY ON! If I had to choose a favorite shade for 2013, I would say Crave (a dark, dark brown that was exclusive to the Ocho Loco 2 pencil set) is my favorite neautral-toned eyeliner and LSD (a dark blue with lots of shimmer) is my favorite colorful eyeliner.

Tuesday Tips: Tape Trick For Powder Eyeshadows, Blushes, and Face Powders

Have you ever had an eyeshadow that has gradually developed a bumpy, hard surface? It makes is difficult to apply the eyeshadow after a while when the surface isn't soft and smooth. Brushes have a harder time grabbing the powder and the powders might go on clumpy.

This can happen to most powder makeup like shadows, blushes, and face powders for a few different reasons I'm sure. I believe the main contributing factor to this happening is that the oil from our eyelids and face get trapped on the brushes we use. When we are going back and forth, putting our brush in the powder and on our face over and over again, the oil starts to build up on the powder and create that hard layer.

There is a simple quick fix that can take the layer of hard, oily powder off - tape. Take a piece of tape and place it over the powder. Rub it into the powder (not too hard) to get that layer stuck to the tape. Remove the tape and most, if not all of the bumpy surface should be gone. 

I did this with my Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette because the highlighter shade had developed a bumpy surface.

As you can see below, the tape took off most of the rough surface.

I hope this tip helps some of you out! Have an awesome day! :)

Clinique Gift With Purchase

FREE MAKEUP. As a makeup junkie, those two words are just about my favorite thing to see or hear.

Clinique's fall gift with purchase at Bon-ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, and Younkers has started and all you have to spend is $25 to receive 6 free products and a makeup bag.

Check out what's in the gift!

Makeup Bag - This bag in particular gives off a real 70's vibe. If you have so many makeup bags that you don't know what to do with like I do, keep in mind that they make great gifts and can be used as a "gift bag" for small gifts for someone.

Liquid Facial Soap in Mild - This cleanser is step 1 in Clinique's 3 step system. Make sure you remove any face makeup before using this product to really get a benefit from it.

Take The Day Off Makeup Remover - This makeup remover is awesome! It can be used on your lids, lashes, and lips and removes even waterproof makeup. Just hold a cotton ball on the area you want to remove makeup for a few seconds and wipe it all away.

Lash Doubling Mascara - This mascara is both volumizing and thickening. I love the brush on it because it is skinny on top and gets gradually thicker. This makes it easy to coat all my lashes.

Different Lipstick in Surprise - This shade is a golden brown with hints of violet. It might look like a kind of scary bronze shade in the tube, but it is a pretty plum shade when swatched. I like this shade because anyone can make it work. If you think the color is too bronze/brown on your lips, try a different shade of lip liner underneath or a lip gloss on top.

 Soft-Pressed Powder Blush in New Clover - This blush shade is probably the most universal shade Clinique has. The soft violet color looks good on almost all skin types. You can dust the color on lightly or build the color to be a little more vibrant.

Even Better Liquid Foundation - This gift is a little different than what Clinique usually does for their gifts. It comes with a deluxe sample one of four shades in the Even Better foundation. This foundation evens skin tone, is oil-free, and has SPF 15. The four shades are 02 Fair, 03 Ivory, 04 Cream Chamois, and 05 Neutral. Be sure to get matched to one of these shades for the gift to make sure you are getting the right color for your skin.

Make sure you check out my two-part brand review of Clinique I did a couple of months ago to learn more about Clinique products.

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July Favorites

Another month has come and gone so that means it is time for me to share with you the products I really liked in July.

Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Empire - This is a smoky, metallic purple that adds just enough color to any look. I have been using it with a lot of different eye looks lately to either add color to a subtle/nude eye or to even out a bright eye.

Maybelline Color Whisper Lipstick in Pin Up Peach - I really like these Maybelline lipsticks. They are sheer but add just enough color to the lip. They are also fairly moisturizing as well. This shade is a pretty peach that complements many skin tones and is great if you don't want to go too bold with peach/orange lip colors.

Clinique Color Surge Eye Shadow Quad in Plum Seduction - I love purple. Can you tell? This quad has two beautiful purples, one dark and one light. It also has a taupe shade and a brownish gray shade. These colors are swatched in my post I did about Clinique cosmetics. Clinique now has brand new eye shadows, so this one is not going to be in their collection anymore. However, they do have some awesome new purples and other shades like the ones in this quad. If you are looking for some similar shades try their new eye shadows in Purple Pumps, Rock Violet, Foxier, or Hazy. They also have a new quad called Going Steady that has purples in it.

M.A.C Powder Blush in Blush Baby - This is a beige-pink sheertone blush that I wore almost every day in July. It adds a beautiful neutral color to my cheeks and doesn't overwhelm any other makeup I wear.

Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Stay-Matte Hydrator - This stuff is awesome! It basically mattifies your face and keeps oil under control. I am so glad I had this to get me through the hot July. It really does cut down on the oil on my face. I would totally recommend this to anyone with oily skin.

Urband Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray - I have been using this stuff for maybe a couple months now and it does seem to help keep my makeup in place. I spray it on before I apply my makeup and after, which seems have the best effect. I don't think it is a miracle product by any means, but this did help me get through the hot July as well.

Not Your Mother's Lock Luster Oil Treatment - I've never really gotten into using oils in my hair, but for some reason I finally decided to try one out. I went for one of the more affordable one out of the ones I've found and got this Not Your Mother's brand. This brand is one I have grown to love, and I plan on doing a separate blog about hair products sometime in the future where I will discuss this brand more. This oil treatment is infused with argan & macadamia oil, which is supposed to help repair dry and damaged hair. It also is supposed to protect your hair from heat and styling. I love how lightweight it is when I put it in my hair. It doesn't weigh it down or make it look greasy. I just put it on the ends and my bangs without getting too close to my roots. It helps tame my fly-aways and any frizz in my hair.

I have A LOT of stuff to talk about and show you in upcoming posts and I don't want any of you to miss them. To make sure you don't miss anything, you can subscribe to my blog or follow me in several places. I am on BlogLovin', which you can follow me on by clicking the link in the sidebar. You can get e-mail updates by entering your e-mail in the sidebar as well. You can also follow me on Twitter to get updates. Thanks to everyone who continues to come back and please share my blog with your friends! :)

Look of the Day: Soft Pinks

You probably have gathered from all of my posts that I am really into bright colors, both on my eyes and my lips. Okay, and my hair. I do enjoy more subtle looks every once in a while though. Today I used a soft pink on my eye and lined my eyes with black liner. I really like the way it makes my blue eyes pop. I used a slightly dark, nude pink on my lips to balance out the look. Products I used are listed below. Let me know what you all think! :)

Products Used:
Urban Decay Eyeshadows from the Vice Palette: Freebird, Laced, Noise, and Anonymous. I used the tiniest bit of Noise. It is a super bright pink that I placed on the outer lid and blended A LOT.
Lancome Artliner Liquid Liner in Noir
Estee Lauder Pure Color Liner in Blackened Black
Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black
Lancome Brow Expert Brow Groomer in Taupe
Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24hr Foundation in 100 Ivoire N
Clinique Allover Colour Blush in Peony
Lancome Le Lipstique Lip Liner in Sheer Raspberry
Lancome Color Design Lipstick in Vintage Rose

Swatches of Products Mentioned in My NYX Cosmetics Post

I didn't want my post from earlier to be too picture-heavy and long, so here is a separate post of swatches of the products I mentioned. I did not swatch the things that NYX does not sell anymore.

You can read the post here for descriptions of these products and prices of them.

Slim Eye Pencils: Black, White Pearl, Electric Blue, Purple, Acid Green, Emerald City

Jumbo Eye Pencils: Milk, Black Bean, Pacific

Studio Liquid Liners: Black, Coffee, Plum Purple, Purple, Blue, Sapphire

Another look at the liquid liners. The purple didn't show up as vibrant on camera as it is in person.

Liquid Crystal Liners: Gun Metal, Pewter, Jade. The bottom is the liners swatched alone and the top is over the black liquid liner. Pewter is a purple pink shade that is similar to Gun Metal but not as much as the picture makes it seem.

Soft Matte Lip Creams: Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Amsterdam

Round Lipsticks: Mars, Louisiana, Spell Bound, Femme

Left: Jumbo Lip Pencil in Ice, Right: Retractable Lip Liner in Nude Pink

HD Photgenic Concealer in Yellow

HD Studio Photogenic Grinding Blush in Sangria in Madrid

NYX Cosmetics

Back in April I did a review of Clinique cosmetics. I talked about the products I had used from the brand, what I thought about them, etc. This time I am going to discuss a drugstore brand, NYX cosmetics.

I have been using NYX for a few years and find more and more products from the line each year that I like. This brand is super affordable and does not skimp on quality with most of their products. The best time to buy these is when Ulta occasionally has 40% off on NYX or buy one, get one free. NYX isn't sold at any of the drugstores near me, but I know that they are sold in various drugstores in the U.S.

EYES:
Glitter Mania Glitters - I won't talk too much about these because NYX doesn't carry them anymore. I wish they still had them because I think they are really nice glitters. I have them in white, blue, and purple and they are bright and stay on well. When I put other glitters on my eyes sometimes, they tend to crease a lot. These don't do that. I'm sure there are other comparable glitters out there that I will try when I use these up.

Slim Eye Pencils - I have these eye pencils in the shades Black, White Pearl, Electric Blue, Purple, Acid Green, and Emerald City. These aren't my favorite eyeliners in my collection for a couple reasons. I don't feel like they are as pigmented as they should be when I use them. They also do not wear well on me and are usually faded after a few hours. My eyelids are extremely oily, so that may or may not have something to do with it. I guess I have so many because they are a really good price and I can pair them with other eyeliners I have. These are $3.50.

Jumbo Eye Pencils - I have these pencils in the shades Milk, Black Bean, and Pacific. I started using these jumbo pencils after I saw XSparkage using them in her tutorials a lot. It was love at first use. Milk Jumbo Eye Pencil is something everyone should have. It is a perfect base and makes any color placed on top of it pop and look much more vibrant. It surprisingly doesn't crease on my oily lids, but I do use a primer underneath the pencil. NYX has tons of different shades in these to create all different kinds of looks. They can be worn alone or as a base for other shadows. They are $4.50.

Studio Liquid Liners - I have these liners in shades Extreme Black, Extreme Coffee, Extreme Plum Purple, Extreme Purple, Extreme Blue, and Extreme Sapphire. On the bottles, the labels say, "Dramatic Color Payoff". That is totally true. These liners are awesome. They are vivid, don't rub off, and have a small brush in the lid that is pretty easy to use. The blue and purple are my favorites because I love bright colors. At such a great price, it is worth it to own at least two. They are $4.50.

Liquid Crystal Liners - I have these in the shades in Crystal Gun Metal, Crystal Pewter, and Crystal Jade. These liners are as equally freakin' awesome as the Studio Liners. They are very glittery and stay on just as well as the other liners. You can wear them on top of the Studio Liners to make them stand out really well, but they stand out on their own too. I love putting one of these on with a more nude eye look to spice it up. These are also $4.50.

LIPS:

Sheer Gloss - NYX doesn't have these Lip Glosses anymore, but I have them in shades Shangri-La, Rose, and Sweet Dreams if that means anything to anyone. They are decent glosses, but don't wear that well. I will have to try some of their newer glosses at some point, but I just have so many other glosses right now that I need to get through.

Soft Matte Lip Creams - I have these in shades Abu Dhabi ( rose-beige), Istanbul (a soft pink), and Amsterdam (a bright red). Here is a description of these creams from the NYX website: "Neither lipstick nor lip gloss, the matte lip cream is a new kind of lip color that goes on silky smooth and sets to a matte finish. Soft Matte Lip Cream is surprisingly durable and, unlike some matte lipstick formulas, also moisturizing." I think this is a pretty accurate portrayal of these babies. However, I do think they are kind of drying after a while, so I use a lip gloss with them. Amterdam also fades after a couple hours, so I like to wear it over a red lipstick. Istanbul is my favorite out of the three I have. I probably wouldn't buy more of these just because I like some of the other NYX lip products a lot better and, at $6.00, they are pricier than most of their other lip colors.

Diamond Sparkle Lispticks - Ahhh! Okay, so NYX doesn't carry these lipsticks anymore either! Sorry that three of three of the products I have to talk about are ones you can't even go out and buy. I didn't realize that until I started writing this post. Well, I have these in Sparkling Gold (a gold-toned nude), Sparkling Amber (a gold-toned pink), and Sparkling Orchid (a purple-pink). They are nicely pigmented, extremely sparkly, and I don't reach for them as often as I do their other lipsticks.

Jumbo Lip Pencils - I have one Jumbo Lip Pencil in Ice (an iridescent, light brown). I don't wear this color as mush as I should. It is a great brown-toned shade, and I have a hard time finding something like this that looks good on me. The wear on these is average, but I sometimes wear this with other lipsticks to help make it wear longer.

Round Lipsticks - I have these in the shades Mars (beige), Louisiana (bright strawberry pink), Spell Bound (Magenta), and Femme (orange-red) I counted on their website and this lipstick comes in 108 different shades. There is almost no way you couldn't find a shade you like. The hardest part is deciding which one or ones to get. These are pretty moisturizer, very vibrant, and last for a few hours before having to reapply. Use a lip liner to make these last longer. At $4.00, they are totally worth trying.

Retractable Lip Liners - I own one of these in Nude Pink and it looks slightly brighter than what I would imagine a nude pink lip liner to look like. This is a great lip liner that I can wear with a lot of different colors. I usually fill my entire lips in with this lip liner before applying lipstick. My lip color stays on for most of the day without having to reapply when I use this liner. They are available for $4.50.

FACE:

HD Photogenic Concealers - I have this in the yellow shade and it's supposed to help reduce the appearance of under-eye darkness. This concealer works really well. It brightens my eye area and hides the dark circles that I generally have. It goes on really smooth and the applicator wand helps control how much I put in without over-doing it. This concealer comes in different shades and colors to correct various problems and costs $4.50.

HD Studio Photogenic Grinding Blushes - I have this blush in the shade Sangria in Madrid. I really liked the idea of this blush, but I just don't really like it. It is slighty messy if you don't open it carefully and the shade I have looks clownish on me no matter how little I use. Maybe some of you would like these though. They are $15.

Powder Blushes - Okay so I have not personally tried these NYX blushes, but I have heard a lot of good things about them. I also know that they have a lot of good dupes for MAC blushes. These will be something I will pick up in the near future. They are $5.

Sometime today or tomorrow I will have another post with swatches of this stuff. I won't include the items that NYX doesn't sell anymore.

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