August-December Favs

Oh man guys, it's been a very long time since my last post. But here we are at the end of the year with my favorites for the past few months!

First off is the Maybelline  Better skin foundation. This stuff is amazing! Once it sets it makes my skin look great even with my acne. It also doesn't really stick to dry skin, which I definitely get during the winter. To go along with the foundation, I'm also really loving the concealer in the same line to cover blemishes. 

To set the under eye area, I'm loving the City Color HD powder. It very fine milled and after it has a few minuted to set the under eyes they look very smooth. 

For mascara, I've been using the Covergirl clump crusher. I have to say I like the orange tube (lash blast volume) one better than this one but it gets the job done. I use it in conjunction with the L'Oreal Voluminous mascara which is really good at making my lashes look thicker. 

My favorite blush for the winter is the Laura Gellar Blush-N-Brighten in Tropic Hues. The color is a pretty berry tone on the cheeks, giving them a fresh look. As for highlighters, Wet nWild and Revolution have terrific options. The Revolution highlight that I have is in the color Peach Lights and has a light pink glow. Wet n Wild has more of a gold/orange glow. Both colors look really pretty when the light hits them, and it's great because they're both drugstore options!

I have a few favorite lippies! I swear anything lip related is my makeup obsession. Maybe I'll do a post on my top 10 favorite lip products. 

The Sephora Oil Infusion lip gloss in 06 Bubby Grenadine feels so amazing on the lips and gives a lovely wash of color. Don't be afraid of the bright color because it's nowhere near as bright on the lips. 

Korres carries their lip colors in many colors, but I chose wild rose because it's a great color for winter and the product itself is great at moisturizing my lips.

I saved the best for last of these three! Colorpop is amazing guys. If you haven't tried it, you need to. Their lip colors are super pigmented. The one I have pictured here is Tiger in the sheer formula which you can build up to be more opaque. 

The eyeshadows are amazing as well. Again they're very pigmented and blend very easily. The only downside is if you're into de-potting and putting them all into one palette, it isn't possible with these. The formula is a special one so if they're exposed to air for a long period of time they dry out. 

This year one of my favorite Youtubers (Tati Westbrook) partnered with Birchbox and came out with her own line of lipsticks and eyeshadow crayons. The eyeshadows have really good color and blend very easily. I would definitely recommend them. The lipstick is pretty but doesn't have great wear, especially if you're eating and drinking. 

Happy New Year!! 

I Take You

Should you? That basically sums up the entire book. Lily WIider the main character, can't decide whether to go through with her marriage or not. She's engaged but cheats consistently throughout the book, which in today's day and age probably sums up some people's lives. But for myself, I cannot relate so I was not a fan of this book. There were a few redeeming characters, but they didn't make up enough of the book to keep it together. I definitely would not recommend this book. I'm not sure how it even got past publishing. 

I would like to thank as always Blogging for Books for supplying me with this book to read and review. 

June/July Favsies

    It's summer favorites time! My first favorite of the month is the Kat von D tattoo liner in Trooper. This liner is amazing if you want smudge-proof, all day stay power. It's a super hyped up product, and you know what? It definitely lives up to that hype.

    For my under eyes the Tarte CC Under Eye Corrector  in the shade light/medium. I love this cream for canceling out the blue/purple underneath my eyes from lack of sleep and super early mornings at work. 

    I haven't been wearing as much foundation so I use liquid/cream/gel blushes. I've really been liking the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Jelly in Pink Escape. The cheek jellies are very blend-able and give a really nice wash of color to the cheeks. If you want just a bit of color use a little, if you want a darker cheek then you use more product and do multiple layers. Same goes for the Stila Convertible colors. I have the shades Petunia and Hibiscus. 

    Another cheek product that has been awesome for the summer is the Temptu liquid highlighter in Pink Pearl. I just dab a little bit on my fingers and swipe it across my cheekbones and it gives a lovely highlight. 

    My lip gloss/lipstick obsession continues with two more items for this month, the first one being the Victorias Secret Beauty Rush  gloss in Royal. I picked this lippie up on a whim when I was doing some bra shopping and it landed up being only $2.50! Can't beat that awesomeness. The gloss looks like a bright purple in the tube, but it looks so lovely on the lips! I'd say it does keep its purple tinge, but it also looks pink at the same time.  Overall when I run out of this one I'd buy it again and maybe try other colors as well. I have yet to try a gloss that has amazing staying power and this one is no exception. After about a half hour, I have to reapply, so if you don't like non long lasting glosses this isn't for you. 

The Ulta Matte Lip Cream is so freaking amazing. Beautiful color in Striking stays matte and it actually stays on the lips for a decent amount of time. If you do land up eating it will come off on the inner part of your lips which I'm not a fan of. I also recommend putting on chapstick a bit before you put it on so your lips stay moisturized long after the matte cream goes on. 

   For my scent this month I've been all about the sample I received in my Ipsy bag called Classico by Jor'el Parker. It's a beautiful scent for summer and fall. The scent is a mix of musk and floral while being romantic and sexy. 

Sci-Fi Awesomeness

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Let me start off by saying that this book was CRAZY! It's a story about a group of people who are working on a secret project called the Albuquerque Door (mentioned as the Door with a capital d throughout the book).  Basically, what this "door" does, is transport a person to a different dimension in time in simple terms. The book explains it in a much more complicated way, but still so the reader can comprehend it. The main character Mike goes into this project thinking all he's going to have to do is make sure the door works the proper way and creates no issues and then go home after a couple months, but that is so NOT what happens. Instead, many issues arise when people go through it and then come back. Eventually things become so bad that it becomes a matter of life and death to even keep the door open.
If you don't really understand the concept of the Door at first I recommend referring to the cover. The picture gives you a pretty good visual to grasp the concept of it.

If you're a person who's into mystery/thriller sci-fi's then I would definitely say read this book. A major page turner.  I for one am going to be looking into this author's other books he's written.

I would like to thank blogging for books for supplying me with this book. Any questions or comments, guys, you know where to leave them :) Happy reading!

The Grace Keepers

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A circus, a bear, a girl. An ocean, birds, a girl. Both come together in this tale, each searching for understanding of the world that they live in. North lives as a dampling (sea dweller) while Callanish lives as a landlocker (land dweller). North is a circus performer trying to get out of a marriage she does not want and tries to hold on to a secret that could cost her her job. Callanish performs funerals for the damplings and holds a secret of her own that would make her an outcast if found out. 

This book is very fantasy/fairytale driven and it's a very interesting way of capturing the dynamic of two different ways of living for the girls. The book was a bit hard to get into because there isn't a whole lot of action that happens at the beginning. I did fall in love with the main characters. North and her bear and a lovable duo with the way they care for each other. Callanish is very mysterious and like North she cares for her birds. It was interesting to read about how they felt about each other's way of living and even the different food they ate. Damplings and the land lockers were very repulsed by each other and their ways of life. 

I have never really read a book quite like this one. It's supposed to be somewhat based on a Scottish fairytale, which I may have to look into to understand this story a bit better. If you're a person who like a book with fantasy and fairytale intertwined this one may be for you. 

I would like to thank blogging for books for supplying me with this one! Happy reading!

April/May Beauty Favs

It's that time again! Monthly favorites! A few items that I use are the same every month so I'm just going to stick the newer ones in this blog.  Alright let's get into it...

I signed up for a makeup subscription service called Ipsy probably about 2 years ago and I love it. It sends you 4 to 5 makeup items whether it be blush, lipstick, brushes, bronzer, lotion, etc. You also receive these products in a (usually) cute makeup bag. The May bag came with a full size eyebrow pencil from Chella which I love! I got it in the color tantalizing taupe and it's perfect for creating darker dramatic eyebrows. The consistency is a little bit waxy to hold your brows in shape. Definitely going to repurchase when I run out!

Next eye item is one that's been repurchased already but for some reason I don't think I've put it in a monthly favs. Its the Physicians Formula eye booster eyeliner. I had it in black but that dried out so I bough it in dark brown. The color is really good, but you definitely need an eye primer on your lids to keep the color from transferring which happens if you tend to get oily eyelids.

The L'oreal Telescopic Carbon Black mascara is one of my top mascaras. It lengthens lashes like crazy! I use a columnizing mascara along with this one because I like my lashed to be long and thick looking.

Two lip favorites! Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 01 and Almay Smart Shade Butter #20 Pink-Light. The Almay lip butter is super nourishing and gives a really nice natural light wash of color. It smells really good too, like vanilla/cake. Clarins lip perfector does a great job at making the lips look full and healthy and shiny (but not in a bad way).

For the face now...the Ofra blush in Paradise Pink is a really pretty darker pink with a tiny bit of sparkle to it. You only need a little bit otherwise you'll end up making your cheeks look like a clowns.

For bronzer the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil in Medium/Deep has been really great. It smells like chocolate which is amazing and it's matte which is a must for a good bronzer. Lorac's Tantilizer also has another really good bronzer in it. The highlighter that comes in the duo is another favorite of mine. It gives the cheeks a pinky-gold glow to them.

How to Get Dressed (and other tips and tricks)

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    This book is chalk full of amazing information on clothes and how to wear them, fix them, alter them, and many other things. I learned many tips and tricks for my own clothes and I even may have gone out and bought some of the products that the author mentioned... :P.  Because Alison is a fashion designer she shares a lot of cool stuff that a normal person wouldn't know the first thing about when it comes to clothes. For example, I know literally zero about getting clothes altered. She explains what types are really worth the money and what aren't.  Now, after reading that whole section I don't think I'll be going and getting my clothes fixed, but at least I know what to do if I want to!

    The most entertaining sections of the book was about undergarments (aka bras and underwear). Alison teaches you how to measure for your own bra size, embrace panty lines, and to throw your shape wear in the trash and use bike shorts and "grannie" underwear instead. She explains every type of bra that there is out there. Who knew there were 23 types of bras?! 

    How to get Dressed is a great book for women. Alison gives real advice for real women that is style related. She even gives you a guide in the back of the book on how to get rid of all kinds of stains. That's pretty awesome! If you're in a bookstore and you spot this book and you don't want to buy it, at least flip through it. There is definitely great advice throughout the book for women and men. 

I would like to thank blogging for books for supplying me with this great book. Any questions or comments, please leave them below! Happy reading!