My Makeup Collection 2018: Mascara

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're all enjoying a nice three day weekend.  The kids I watch don't have school today, so I thought it was going to be a regular work day for me, but their dad ended up getting the day off too.  Hooray for an unexpected day off!  :)

Anyway, I recently remembered doing a series here on my blog where I went through my makeup collection and show you everything I own in categories.  I thought it would be fun to do it again since that was two years ago and my collection has grown a bit since then.  I'm nosey and I love to see other people's makeup collections and I know there are many other nosey people just like me out there!  There's no particular rhyme or reason for the order that I'll be posting each category, so I decided to start out with mascara.

Full size:
Givenchy Beauty Noir Interdit, L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black, Touch In Sol Stretchex, and Tarte Tarteist.

Deluxe sample size:
Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes, Dior Diorshow, Marc Jacobs O! Mega Lash, Clinique High Impact, Smashbox X-Rated, Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye, Tarte Lifted (brown), Nars Audacious, Benefit Roller Lash, and Lancome Monsieur Big.

Needless to say, I'm probably never going to run out of mascara.  If I'm not getting them free with purchase or in a kit, I'm constantly receiving them from my sister from her Ipsy Glam Bags.

What are some of your favorite mascaras?  Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a great week.

My Makeup Collection: Mascara

Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?

I'm sorry that there wasn't a blog post on Thursday.  My husband damaged his muscle in his right shoulder last week and had to wear a sling, so I've been busy taking care of him. *He's doing better now, thankfully!*

 For this week's MMC, we're going to take a look through my mascara collection.  I recently went through and tossed ones I didn't like an gave away a few, but here's what I have left!

Full size mascaras: Rimmel London's Lash Accelorator Endless, Loreal's Miss Manga, Touch In Sol's Stretchex, and Urban Decay's Perversion.

Sample size mascaras: Too Faced's Better Than Sex and LashGasm, Bobbi Brown's Smokey Eye, Nars' Audacious, Benefit Cosmetics' Roller Lash, Make Up For Ever's Smoky Extravagance, and MAC's False Lashes Extreme Black.

I only have three mascaras open at the moment (Better Than Sex, Miss Manga, and Perversion), and of the unopened tubes I've only tried the Makeup Forever mascara before - the rest are all new to me.

What are some of your favorite mascaras?  I've tried quite a few, and some of my favorites are Benefit's BadGal Lash, Bare Minerals' Flawless Definition, and YSL's Volume Effet Faux Cils.

I hope you liked this and thank you for stopping by!

 

Holiday 2015 Makeup & Beauty Sets

Hello, everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!

As I'm sure most of you know, all of the holiday 2015 makeup and beauty products have been released.  The holiday packaging (for most products) is always adorable plus there's the amazing products inside, so resisting the urge to buy ALL of the makeup has proven quite difficult for me.  Out of all the limited edition releases, here are my holiday 2015 picks (some of these you may recognize from my last few blog posts).

The first holiday set I picked up is the Mi Vida Loca Remix Studded Kiss Lip Set from Kat Von D.  This set includes seven mini lipsticks in the studded black tubes from her permanent range including Noble, Halo, Bachelorette, Sexer, Wolvesmouth, Coven, and NaYeon and one full size limited edition shade called Gold Blooded in a studded white tube.  I think this is a great kit because you do get the full size limited edition shade and you also get to try out a range of permanent shades without committing to the full size price.  (A full size single lipstick retails for $21.)  This kit retails for $42 and is only sold at Sephora.

Another set that I ordered is the Sephora Favorites Superstars kit.  This kit comes with seven full size products, one travel size product, and five deluxe sample size products.  This kit retails for $75 but has a value of $207.

Next up is also from Kat Von D.  It's her Mi Vida Loca Remix Eyeshadow palette.  This palette has a total of 24 shades ranging from neutrals to bright, vivid colors of the rainbow.  There are 7 neutral shades and 17 colors.  There is a mixture of matte, shimmer, and glitter shades.  This palette retails for $59 and is sold exclusively at Sephora.

MAC had a few limited edition releases over the past couple of months.  One of which was the Magic of the Night collection.  I love the metallic packaging on this collection.  I had only planned on purchasing two products - the Evening Rendezvous lipstick and the Oh Darling powder, but by the time I placed my order the Oh Darling powder was already sold out so I only purchased the one lipstick.

MAC also collaborated with a few artists for some limited edition releases.  Out of all of them, I only picked up the Dita Von Tease lipstick and a lipstick from the Ellie Goulding collection.  Dita's red looked amazing as did the limited edition packaging, so I had to grab it.  Everything from Ellie's collection looked amazing, but I only ordered the one lipstick.

 

 Another Sephora Favorites holiday set is the Brow Raising Brow Wardrobe kit.  There are two options available for this one: Medium/Dark and Light/Medium.  Each kit has seven products (five of them being full size).  I purchased the Medium/Dark kit which includes: one deluxe sample size Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel, one full size Benefit Cosmetics High Brow Pencil, one full size Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown, one full size Kat Von D Tattoo Brow in Medium Brown, one full size Smashbox Cosmetics Brow Tech Gloss Stick in Brunette, one full size Sephora Collection tweezers, and one Sephora Collection compact mirror.  I was running very low on my ABH Brow Wiz and needed to purchase another when I came across this kit.  Now I'll have enough brow products to last me a year.  This kit has a value of $102 but only retails for $40!  (The ABH Brow Wiz alone costs $21.)

Too Faced collaborated with vegas_nay (on Instagram) to create the Stardust by Vegas Nay palette which is sold exclusively through Too Faced and Ulta.  The palette retails for $45 and includes 12 shadows, a deluxe sample size Better Than Sex mascara, a deluxe sample size Shadow Insurance primer, and a deluxe sample size Glamour Dust Glitter in the shade Nude Beam.

 I also got the Real Techniques Bold Metals Essentials brush and clutch set.  This set comes with a clutch bag and three Bold Metals brushes: an angled powder brush, a tapered blush brush, and a crease shadow brush.  I already know I won't use the clutch bag, but this was still a good deal for the three brushes.  I ordered this on Black Friday for $31 (the shadow brush alone costs $16).  These brushes are incredibly soft.

Sephora also has a limited edition Disney collection available which consists of six beautifully designed compact mirrors with Disney princesses on the front.  The Disney princesses are Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Aurora, and Elsa and Anna.  I picked up four: Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Elsa and Anna.  I really wanted all of them, but Ariel and Belle sold out before I could order them.  I believe Elsa & Anna and Snow White are the only ones that are still available.

I also picked up the First Aid Beauty Peace, Joy, & Fab kit.  For $54, this kit is an amazing value.  When I purchased this, I had a $25 off of $50 coupon which brought this down to only $29.  This set comes with a 6 oz Ultra Repair Cream ($30), a 2 oz Face Cleanser ($10), a 28 count of Facial Radiance Pads ($15), a 2 oz Vitamin Hydrating Mist ($16), and a 1.7 oz Ultra Repair Hydra-Firm Sleeping Cream ($38).

  
Guerlain came out with some beautiful holiday pieces as well.  One of which is their Meteorites Powder.  First, let's appreciate how the packaging resembles a Christmas ornament.  This is seriously so cute and so well thought out.  The meteorites themselves are beautiful too.  Some of them are shaped like stars which I think makes them extra special.  This is my first Guerlain purchase and I was not disappointed.

What holiday items did you pick up over the past couple of months?

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Sephora Favorites Superstars Review

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're having a wonderful morning!

Last year was the first year I purchased one of the limited edition Sephora Favorites Superstars kits.  I loved everything in it (minus the Benefit Cosmetics They're Real mascara - I do not like that mascara) and have been waiting patiently for this year's kit to be released.  Of course, I purchased it ASAP.  This kit comes with seven full size products, one travel size product, and five deluxe sample size products.  The full size products are an original Beauty Blender, Lancome black pencil eyeliner, Urban Decay eyeshadow in the shade Lounge, Nars Dual Intensity eyeshadow in the shade Himalia, Clinique Chubby Stick highlight, Touch In Sol Stretchex mascara, and a Stila Stay All Day black liquid eyeliner.  The travel size product is the Smashbox primer water.  The deluxe sample size products are a Tarte bamboo contour brush (original size is double ended), Makeup Forever foundation primer, Laura Mercier powder highlight, Benefit They're Real mascara (ughhhhh, seriously again?!), and a Tarte contouring stick in the shade Park Avenue Princess.  This retails for $75 but has a value of $207!

Smashbox Primer Water

Makeup Forever Step 1 Primer

Beauty Blender (Original)

 Tarte Bamboo Contour Brush

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real Mascara

Lancome Liqui-Pencil Eyeliner

Stila Cosmetics Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner

Tarte The Sculpter in Park Avenue Princess

Touch In Sol Stretchex Mascara

Laura Mercier Powder Highlighter

Clinique Chubby Stick Highlighter

Urban Decay Lounge Eyeshadow

Nars Himalia Dual Intensity Eyeshadow

*Left is a dry swatch.  Right is a wet swatch using the Smashbox Primer Water.*

As I'm sure you can guess, the number one product in this year's kit that I hate is the Benefit Cosmetics They're Real mascara.  I gave it to my sister and she really likes it though.  I've never heard of the Touch In Sol brand before, but I'm curious to try it.  Honestly, I prefer the Real Techniques Miracle Sponge over the Beauty Blender.  I already have a Beauty Blender Pro (black) and I'm not a huge fan of it, and the original didn't seem to work any better.  They both leave a porous look to my skin instead of an airbrush finish.  There's been a lot of hype around the Smashbox Primer Water and the Makeup Forever Step 1 Primer, so I'm excited to give those a try and find out if they're worth their hype or not.  The Tarte contour brush is cute, but not practical.  Honestly I was expecting the handle to be a bit longer.  In reality though it's very short and gets lost in my brush holders.  I have another full size Stila Cosmetics Stay All Day liquid liner, so I already know I like it but it's nice to have a back up.  I've only tried one product from Lancome before and it was a deluxe sample of their Hypnose Drama mascara, but I've been wanting to try more of their products.  I haven't tried a cream contour before, so I'm glad I get to try out The Sculpter from Tarte.  This is my first product from Laura Mercier, and it is stunning!  I wore it for the first time for mine and my husband's anniversary and have fallen in love with it.  Speaking of highlighters, the Chubby Stick from Clinique looks amazing!  The Urban Decay Lounge eyeshadow is really cool.  It's green with a red/brown shift.  I didn't swatch it wet, but I bet it's even more stunning applied that way.  It also looks great over a black base.  The eyeshadow from Nars is very beautiful too.  I actually had this exact shade (Himalia) on my Sephora wishlist for a while, so I was pretty stoked when I saw that it was included in this kit.

Did you pick this up or are any of these products some of your favorites?  I'd love to hear which ones you're loving right now.  I'm most excited about the Clinique Chubby Stick, the Nars eyeshadow, the Urban Decay eyeshadow, the Tarte contour stick, the Smashbox primer water, and the Laura Mercier highlighter.

I hope you found this helpful!  Thank you for stopping by!