July 2016 Favorites -- Beauty & Bath

1. Kat Von D Serpentina Eyeshadow Palette:  I couldn't not get this!  It's Kat Von D, had beautiful jewel tones and a color named after my favorite jewelry company -- Bloodmilk. The colors are wonderfully pigmented and gorgeous!
2. Black Moon Cosmetics BLACK METAL TRINITY™ - Limited Edition Pack & Myth:  I had to get these as well.  Black Metal Trinity consists of (according to Black Moon's website):  Immortal: A blackened purple with flecks of purple and arctic blue. Armageddon : A blackened red with hints of copper.  Sorrow: A deep blackened blue with flecks of arctic blue. Then there is Myth: a blackened emerald green with hints of teal to really push this color to the next dimension. They're all BEAUTIFUL.  My two favorites are Armageddon (-- this is the most metallic red I have ever seen!  I was so impressed!!!) and Immortal -- just a gorgeous vampy metallic purple!
3. Anastasia Beverly Hills - Glow Kit - Moon Child - I was practically salivating over this when I saw it!  Oddly enough, I think because they all came out around the same time, I kind of saw Serpentina, Black Moon's metallic lippies and the Moon Child palette as going together -- and they do, fabulously!!!  A really cool thing to do with this palette is to pair your eye look with the opposite color i.e. a red shadow and lip look with Lucky Clover's hint of green.  It's just beautiful!
4. Laura Geller New York Baked Color & Contour Palette:  (Shopped my stash!)  Heard about this some months ago from emilynoel83.  I got it after I dropped my It Cosmetics face disk and broke it. (I had used most of the highlighter and I think hit pan on the bronzer.) When I first got this, I was afraid it was going to sit in my makeup drawer unused for the most part.  I had not yet discovered the beauty of Baked French Vanilla.  I don't use it as a cheek highlighter, I use it as an under eye brightener, and in general a middle of the face brightener.  I can also use the bronzer as a contour as it's not uber warm.   The blush has a hint of shimmer and is the most beautiful pinky coral color.  Overall I really love this a lot better than the It Cosmetics face disk.  
5. e.l.f. Beautifully Bare Smooth Matte Eyeshadow in Nude Linen:  I took a chance and got this from e.l.f.  I had a feeling it would work well for me as and eye primer -- and I was right!!!  This is also fabulous if you're going for a no-makeup-makeup look to even out the eyelids.
6. DIY Cosmetic Containers - 26 MM 5 WELL BLACK PALLETTE, Makeup Geek Flamethrower, Coastal Scents Chamois Nude, Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear, Makeup Geek Bitten, Makeup Geek Cupcake: (Shopped my stash!)  I kept looking at Becca's Ombre Rouge Palette.  I came very close to purchasing it.  Then I remembered that I had an empty 5 pan palette, and some very similar single shadows.  I put Makeup Geek's Flamethower foiled shadow in there as I love shimmer on the lid.  I calculated it.  If I were to buy everything in lieu of getting Becca's Ombre Rouge palette, it would come out only a few dollars less.  But, adding the $40 Ombre Rouge palette when I already had colors like that didn't make sense for me.  
7. e.l.f. Prime & Stay Finishing Powder: (Shopped my stash!) I bought this months ago because of a the good reviews -- & for $2, why not?  I didn't really use this until I went on a trip. This powder minimized the look of my pores!  -- For $2!!!  
8. Essence Lash Princess Mascara - False Lash Effect: I heard about this from Young Wild And Polished.  This is a fabulous drugstore mascara! She seems to be the queen of finding really inexpensive kick-butt mascaras!!!
9. MATRIX Oil Wonders Oil Conditioner:  Ulta was having a sale on their large bottles of hair care.  I decided to try this on a whim. I LOVE this!!!  It's not often I find a conditioner I love.  I have long fine hair that's DRY!!!  This conditions my hair beautifully!
10. Sun Bum® 3 In 1 Leave In Hair Conditioning Treatment:  This was also on sale at Ulta.  I wanted to try this because it had SPF in it.  I thought it would be great for traveling.  OMG -- this stuff detangles like a dream!!!  A must for long hair!
11. GOT 2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray: I have a cowlick in my bangs that causes them to split.  I should have tried this sooner.  I haven't tried every brand of hair spray there is; but, this is the only brand I've tried that really works to keep my bangs in place.  I also use it to keep flyaways from forming when I tie my hair back before going out -- which is every day during summer.  

5 out of 11 favorites were shop my stash items Yay!!!

Ta Ta For Now!

August 17th is Black Cat Appreciation Day

You Tube Made Me Buy It -- Contours and Bronzers. Plus My Favorite Contour Brushes!!!

I love contouring.  I'm so glad this made it into mainstream makeup.  Here are the contours that You Tube made me buy.  Descriptions at the bottom of the pictorial.  Also, pictures of my favorite contour brushes and description below.

1.  e.l.f. Contour Palette (pressed powder) -- I've hit pan on the actual contour color and the matte highlight color but I'm not crazy about the matte highlight.  The bronzer is nice.  I've only started incorporating bronzers into my routine in the last month by using it around my hairline and above my jaw.  The shimmery highlight is not that shimmery and comes off a bit dry looking for me.  I'm such a sucker for these quads from e.l.f. though.  I'm not sure why I fall for them so badly!  LOL

2.  e.l.f. Cream Contour Palette - I've only used this once, so far.  I'm not used to applying cream contour and highlight; so, I have to get used to this.  If I recall, the contour is quite pigmented, so, I have to be careful not to pick up too much when I use it.

3.  Too Faced Bonjour Soleil Bronzing Wardrobe Palette -- I got this, originally, for the packaging.  It was so cute!!!  But this is really a great palette!  Plus it smells really good everytime I open the palette up (like cocoa).  The Chocolate Soleil bronzer makes a really nice contour.  The Sun Bunny Bronzer is a shimmery two toned bronzer that I like to use on my hair line area.  And the Snow Bunny Bronzer is a really pretty highlight.  Plus, whenever I'm done with the makeup in there, I can use the box to house makeup pencils.

4.  Morphe Brushes 9BZ - THAT GLOW BRONZER PALETTE -- This is a beautiful bronzer palette with different tones of bronzer and some that have a bit of glow to them.  I love the glowy ones for near the hairline.

5.  e.l.f. Bronzer Palette -- I think this is a nice bronzer palette.  A lot of people complained that it wasn't nearly dark enough for them.  I can see why.  e.l.f. heard the complaints and has since come out with a darker palette.  This again is a nice basic palette for around the hairline and above the jaw for me.

6.  Morphe Brushes 9C - 9 COLOR HIGHLIGHT/CONTOUR PALETTE -- I love this palette.  The contour shades are beautiful, there are a couple of matte highlight shades in there (one with a yellow tone, one with a peach tone), there is a shimmery gold highlight shade in there that goes on beautifully, plus some bronzing colors.  Just a wonderful palette overall.

7.  e.l.f. Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder - St. Lucia -- The Contouring part of this palette works great.  The blush has almost no pigmentation.  I have a feeling the pigmentation can vary from batch to batch.  I've seen some people on YouTube say that theirs has great pigmentation.  I'm not willing to gamble on buying another palette to find out if that's true or not. Just a waste if it isn't.  

8.  It Cosmetics Vitality Brightening Anti-Aging Face Disk -- I bought this when I saw how big this was.  I also bought this before I started liking shimmery highlights.  But, once I started getting into shimmery highlights, I hit pan on the highlighter, using it both on my cheek bones and on the inner corner of my eyelids.  The bronzer is VERY warm; so, this does not make a good contour unless you have VERY warm skin. But for those that like to bronze all over, this would be good. This wasn't my favorite palette.  I accidentally dropped it one day & what I had left of all the powders broke.  (I was actually kind of glad because I was tired of using it.  LOL)  But, for someone who likes to buy one thing stick to it, this would be great!

9.  Nyx GO-TO PALETTE - Wanderlust -- I am always looking for travel friendly palettes-- things for weekend getaways and things for a week or two.  This is actually a really nice basic palette.  Everything is nicely pigmented, and the highlight is gorgeous and very shimmery, no glitter or sparkles just wonderful shimmer!  The contour color is a little warmer than their HD Blush in Taupe; but, still works as a contour for me.

10. Wet n Wild Color Icon Contouring Palette 749A Dulce De Leche -- I love the contour on this.  It's subtle and a good color for my skin.  I've used most of it up, actually.  However, I don't like the highlight.  It's too dry & dusty looking for my skin.  If they made this big compact in just the contour, I'd be all over it!!

11. Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Refill - Fawn -- I bought this to put in my custom travel palette, which I am in the process of creating.  I heard great things about the Anastasia contours.  I had to do some research to see which one would fit me best.  Fawn turned out to be a great option!

12. Nyx-HIGH DEFINITION BLUSH - Taupe -- Before Nyx came out w/HD blush, this shade in their regular blush was a YouTuber favorite.  I've not tried the other version but I love this.  It tends to have a bit of fallout but I still like it.  From what I've seen on YouTube, the colors between the two, vary slightly but not enough to make it too noticably different.  If they still make the older one, after I'm done with my HD versions, I may try the original.

13. e.l.f. Bronzer - Cool -- This is a very versatile "palette".  This can be used as contour, matte highlight, bronzer, blush and eyeshadow for a quick, natural, inexpensive take it with you palette that won't overcrowd the handbag.

My Favorite Contour Brushes

I have a round face.  My face does not benefit from densely packed straight edged contour brushes. I do, however, like densely packed, tapered top, oval shaped brushes for the job.  I've found some contour brushes that I really love!  Most of my favorites are priced so that even someone on a tight budget can afford them!

e.l.f. Selfie-Ready Powder Brush -- This is currently my FAVORITE contour brush!!!.  It's like the e.l.f. Blending Brush but not as wide.  I only have one of these and want to get backups as soon as they restock this on e.l.f.'s website.  You can get this for only $6!!!

Morphe Brushes E47 Small Flat Angled Contour Brush -- I love this brush for contouring my nose and under my inner brow.  It works so well! $8.99 on Morphe Brushes site.

e.l.f. Blending Brush -- Before the e.l.f. Selfie-Ready Powder Brush came out, this was my favorite contour brush.  It works really well without having to call in a second brush for additional blending.

Sedona Lace 316 Synthetic Flat Contour -- Before the e.l.f. Blending Brush came out, this was my favorite contour brush.  It's a flat contour brush but it is neither densely packed nor stiff so it allows for blending while it contours.  I would say more angular faces would really like this brush as well.

Ta Ta For Now!