Lipstick Series: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul

I remember purchasing this particular product right after all the hype of the lip creams came through town…erm… youtube. The packaging is supposed to reflect the actual color of the lip cream, and while it does come out similar, the swatch on my hand leans more toward a cool toned bright baby pink. 

                                   

On my lips, however, this color warms up and reflects more closely to the color on the packaging.  The formula on this product in this particular color is a little streaky, so two coats are my suggestion. (although you can build it up rather comfortably) This formulation does highlight any lines in your lips, so I'd probably top this off with a clear gloss.  

The formula does seem to remain a little tacky on my lips, not fully annoying but not the biggest gripe there is (and I'm sure with a light gloss, it'll feel better).  I wouldn't call this a "your lips but better shade" as this is lighter on me, but I'd classify this color more as a "nude" shade as true nudes make me look quite dead. By the end of the day my lips did feel dehydrated because it IS matte, so a little TLC was needed. 

Because these colors are opaque and creamy, I don't know if I would actually purchase any more shades, to be very honest when I went back to look at the selection, I still was very happy with my choice in this one (plus a little sentiment is in this as I spent some time in Istanbul back in May)

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams run at $6.  

**I will warn though that the swatches on the website aren't true to color. Istanbul on the website looks more mid toned/ neutral pink with a little dustiness in it. **

July Favorites

I don't typically do monthly favorites just because I don't rotate out products as much as many other youtube or beauty bloggers do. But if you have read any of my previous travel/ packing blogs, you know that I have packed some variety of products to use too. So I figured, since these were different from a lot of my usual products...I could just show you which ones I opted to use the most this month.  (I'd also like to mention that having less products has been extremely relaxing because I don't feel so stressed out that I have so much to use up!) Without further comment, here are my July Most Used Products.

 Eyes Products:

Shadow: I have opted for this little trio from 

LA Colors (it's in the shade Nude) and love it.  Obviously I have

hit pan on two of the shadows.  I find this versatile and just very easy to use in 

very busy mornings.  This is also a really great basic trio where 

you can just add on shimmery or glittery shadows to bring it to an evening/ dramatic look. 

Look at those dents!

Liner: I have gone back to my gel liner roots! (and now expanded to liquid!)

I love this gel liner from ELF and believe it'll be one of those

that I'll always fall back to. The coffee color is great because it's still not as dark as black, but dark enough to line.  The liquid liner is something I've gotten into,
I've never previously been a fan but it's awesome to make a dramatic eye.
The shade Midnight is also nice because it's a dark navy.

Primer/Base: Of course, If you have been following my blog for a while,
you will know that I am in LOVE with my NYX eyeshadow base in
Skintone.  This small pot has lasted me for over a year and it still is running strong.  It does not
crease on me and I just find it makes my eyeshadows stay SO long.

Mascara: Benefit Badgal mascara is such an oldie but a goodie.
This was my first mascara (not same tube...this is a new one) that I got and was introduced to.
I find this one gives me dark but long lashes.  I keep coming back to this mascara!

Face:

Concealer: I have been loving my ELF Studio Line Under Eye Concealer and Highlighter due.

Ok scratch that, I love the concealer part of the due, I dislike

the Highlighter portion of it.  I have a whole review up on this product, so check it

out to find out why I like it so much!

Blush: Yep, I'm still working through my Rimmel London Blush.  

This is a great dupe for Benefit's Dandelion, the only downside is that I no longer see this

at my drugstores.  (womp womp womb) I like that I can be a bit heavy handed 

with this blush, and still not turn out looking like a clown. 

It's also great because it leave a slight sheen on the cheeks so you don't really need a 

highlighter. 

Bronzer: At home I use the Physicians Formula Bronze Booster, but that thing

is SO clunky.  So I opted to take along a sample of Hoola bronzer

from Benefit.  I like this bronzer, but haven't quite fallen in love with it. 

Finishing Powder: If you keep up with my previous "trying to finish out 

products" you'll know that I've been working on a different product, but I didn't want

to possibly risk smashing my powder in flight, so I opted to take the NYC Smooth Mineral Loose Finishing Powder in Natural Veil.  I'm not a huge fan of loose powders

because they cause a huge mess.  But this summer I've been using the heck out of it!

Body/ Skincare:

St. Ive Apricot Scrub: Oh my gosh, I forgot how much I actually love this product.

After finishing out my large bottle, and vowing to not buy another face wash until my big bottles were done, I almost forgot about how great this makes my skin feel.  I think I'll have to break my ban and purchase this again. 

bebebeauty Face Experts: I picked this up here in Poland as a makeup remover and I love it.  

It's best explained as a milky, makeup remover lotion.  I had a different brand 

but same product a long time ago and loved it.  This doesn't sting my eyes

and takes off EVERY bit of makeup.  

Nivea anti-perspirant Stress Protect: The USA doesn't mass market this product, but in some Polish

markets you can get your hands on this. At first I was skeptical because it's liquidy and I just

couldn't believe that if I had to use heavier duty stick deodorants back home,  this would work.  

Needless to say...I think I'll be picking up a few extra of these to take home!

Randoms!

Vitamin C Tablets: SO many people have been sick and even after going to 

the doctor and getting meds, they still can't shake their colds, so these tablets have been a staple

for me.  I pop one of these a day into a bottle of water, and just drink. It

tastes like lemonade too!

Packing Makeup

Holy Moly... 
Ever try to narrow down the makeup products you might feel like using for the next three months? I was going through my makeup collection and deciding which products I might want to take along...it soon ended looking like this:

Yikes! This reminds me a bit of that Victoria's Secret commercial a few years back for the fashion show where the clothing suitcase is TEEEENY tiny, and the makeup trunk was insanely huge? Yep I had a minor flashback of that one. I know for sure I CAN'T take all of that makeup because I actually need to fit a decent amount of clothes, and now airlines are a lot more strict about weight and size of suitcases and carry ons (no thank you 50 dollar fees).  Needless to say...even Guam has makeup stores so if I realize I need something, I can easily pick it up from a Sephora, Inglot or drugstore.

So this was round two, three,  four and five (yep took that many rounds for my real bare basics) of pairing things down.  Still you can tell I was really wanting to take a LOT of eyeshadow...when in reality I'll be lucky to just finish one or two shadows the next few months.  This is still probably going to be picked through because I'm not 100% sure on some products but it's safe to say that I've got some great eye looks, great combos, etc available.

It took forever to finally narrow down my choices!

The bag I chose is a part of a 3 bag set that I got as a birthday gift a few years back.  I'm using the middle sized bag which compared to my computer is still a decent size. 

So let's really see what I plan to take on my trip:

Lips:
I am taking a good variety of products, but colors that I know I will use. 
I always need a few lip balms because my lips get painfully chapped. 

Products from L-R in top image: Fresh Sugar Rose (x2), Buxom Lip Gloss in Sandy,
NYC Applelicious Lip Balm in Applelicious Pink, NYC Lipstick in Violet Shine, ELF Studio Matte
Lip Color in Coral, Buxom Lip Stick in Two-Timer, Anastasia Lip Gloss in Bellini, Rimmel Kiss Off!
Lip Gloss in First Time, Love & Beauty Lip stick in coral/pink

Face:

When it came to face I knew I needed products that were small, and that would not shatter, 
that is why I went with the blush and bronzer.  I also don't switch those as often so it's really
not a big deal to just use these two. 

L-R: Laura Geller Spackle Primer in Bronze, Smashbox Photo Finish Primer,
Wet n Wild Coverall Foundation in Fair, NYC Smoother Mineral Finishing Powder in Natural,
Rimmel London Blush in Pink Sorbet, ELF Under Eye Concealer in Fair, Benefit Hoola Brozer

                          

Eyes: This is my favorite category!

I had a really hard time trying to figure out which products I would love, 

and which would be less fussy.  While I'm boring when it comes to colors,

there is just something about the packaging and the product itself that makes the application 

so much nicer.  I chose products that I knew would not fail me (even though some are already 

running low).  

L-R: ELF Exact Lash Mascara, ELF Waterproof Eyeliner in Midnight, Jordana Fabuliner in Brown, LA Colors Trio
 in Nude, MAC Mineralized Single in Aurora, Physicians Formula Trio in Baked Sands,
NYC Quad in Best of Broadway, NYX Eyeshadow Base in Skintone, Rimmel London Single in Royal
Linen, ELF Cream Liner in Coffee, Benefit Badgal Lash. 

                                    

Now I know this is a good amount of stuff I plan to bring, but I also wanted to have certain extras if I finish a product, it gets lost or stolen or smashes.  If you want to have a review on any product let me know! 

xoxo,
Emi

November Favorites :)

Hi All!

  Wow it is so nice to finally have the time to write over here! November is sure the calm before the storm of December and boy do professors love to dump HUGE projects at the end of November. I think that is my one big hate about November. I've been assigned several projects that amount between 50-150 pages of typed work (yay double major and minor!) ANYWAYS, I also finally managed to work out how to take my own photos for my blog and this is the first post I will not have googled an image. I'm still working out kinks and such since my room has really weird lighting, but it is a start! I do have a bunch of skincare products I've used this month but I wouldn't claim any as real loves than what I have mentioned. Although reviews will be on the way! So here are my faves! 

The tops of my products (Poor St. Ive's is on the last leg!)

A view of the various products uncapped.

Night Prowl Wet N Wild. LOVE IT!

Carmex: Oh my gosh, I really don’t know why I did not get this product earlier. I picked this up last minute because I had such chapped lips, and I figured “oh medicated” and got it. As you can tell I’m about halfway through my container of it. I plan on repurchasing this as soon as I run out of it. It kept my lips so hydrated and the medication left a lil minty tingle on my lips.

ELF Cream Eye Liner: I bought this a while back, (bout a year ago).  I went through a big eye pencil phase, but recently I went back to using the cream liner on my water line. I use a small brush, not presision brush to get a smudgy, smokey look. It’s not too harsh like black, but it is deep enough to still give attention to my eyes. 

Love & Beauty Black Mascara: This is a product from Forever 21 for about 2 bucks.  I LOVE this mascara, it has fibers that grab and coat every lash. I don’t see any clumping and is lightweight. Best of all, my lashes become SO long that when I compare them with a regular pair of false eyelashes, they end up being the same length!

NYX Eyeshadow Base in Skintone: My original Holy Grail eyeshadow primer was reformulated and now I dislike it, so I had turned to NYX to try out their products. I like my primer to be a little more opaque because I do have purple veins in my eyelids and want to cover them nicely. This was my first NYX purchase and boy do I love it. The price is 6 bucks and I’ve been using it for over a month and still barely made a dent in it.  Hello new favorite primer!

Noxema: I’ve heard some bad rep about this product recently which made me a little sad, but then I realized different skintypes will be causing so many effects. I personally love this product, it leaves my face clean feeling with no film. I’ve had the same bottle of it for over a year and still is going strong although I AM on the last inch or so of it.

ELF Eyeshadow Duo in Mocha Swirl: Another product I have had in my collection for a while but had not used for a long time. The lighter shade is a beautiful champagne color and the dark brown is a nice rich brown. Both have shimmer, but are buttery in consistency. 

Wet N Wild Lipstick in 502A: I wish these lipsticks had names on the packaging and not just at the store on the swatches. But this is one color I have reached for almost everyday. It is a pink tone, with gold, silver and pink shimmer in it. It is not chunky shimmer but enough to look like you have a gloss. It’s not drying and just gives my face a more pulled together look. 

Wet N Wild Night Prowl: At first glance this nail polish is a black, but when you look closely there is purple shimmer throughout the polish! It is a great polish to go with a dark nail, but not full on black. It does need a good topcoat since it does leave a little bumpy texture. The way it goes on is like a jelly polish and two coats gives you a full opaque nail. I used this at one point for a black tip French Manicure and it looked SO cool. It does not chip away either, I actually tried to and ended up pulling off all the polish in one go (granted it DAMAGED my poor nails) but it was a little pain to remove (all that shimmer) But I still love it. I would repaint my nails several times in a row with this color (rare for me!)

St. Ives Apricot Scrub for Sensative Skin: I have used this product so much that I might be finishing it up in December! I like that it is a little more chunky because I just get the overall sense that my skin is really being exfoliated. I would love to repurchase but I have an Olay scrub that is waiting in the wings to be tested and reviewed! But no matter what else I purchase, this product always sneaks back into my routine. (hmmm little elves perhaps)

So that is all for my November favorites, and I hope this next month will be good to us all! Feel free to leave a comment below or if you would like to have a review on a product, I am always open to that! 

As always, hugs and health,

Ema