Beauty and Lifestyle blog from LA to you!
So the follow-up video for my Porn Star Makeup Tutorial with Tasha Reign aka my friend Rachel is finally here! In this video we discuss beauty tips for dating including kissing with lip gloss and how Tasha Reign gets the softest skin in the biz. I had so much fun recording this video with Rachel and I think there will be at least one more part with us discussing Porn Star makeup on set, trends, etc.
The products we mention in this video are Continue reading “Beauty and Dating with Tasha Reign”
The Sephora VIB sale is starting in 2 days on Thursday April 16th, 2015 and will go until Tuesday April 21, 2015 both online and in store. The sale is 15% off your entire order if you use the code VIBLOVE. There is a VIB event – VIB Early Access Day on Thursday April 16, 2015 all day at all stores and VIBs can bring a friend to share in early access to 15% savings, mini makeovers and new trends, personalized advice from brand ambassadors, and a free Sephora foldover clutch. As a reminder- in order to become Very Important Beauty Insider (VIB) status at Sephora, you must be a registered Beauty Insider (which is free) and spend $350 on merchandise either online or in store during one calendar year (January-December). If you log-in on Sephora.com you will be able to see your status. There is also VIB Rouge for those that spend $1000 per calendar year, but there aren’t any additional perks during this VIB sale that Rouge members don’t already get everyday (like free 2-day shipping on every order and Rouge Only exclusive products). If you’re ordering online don’t forget to go through Ebates they’re offering 4% cash back bringing the VIB sale up to 19% savings! To do it just 1. Sign up with Ebates 2. Search for Sephora on Ebates and click the link 3. Order from that link in order to get your 4% cash back on PayPal! I can’t remember the last website I shopped on that didn’t have Ebates cash back it’s seriously the easiest website ever. You can even add all of the items to your cart on Sephora while logged into your account, then close the window, open it again through Ebates and all of your items will still be there and then you’ll get the discount! Here’s what my savings looks like so far:
Ok now on to the good stuff – for this very special occasion I thought I would show you 10 of my favorite/MUST try products from Sephora! Continue reading “Sephora VIB Sale Spring 2015”
I was lurking the makeup aisles at Ulta for the new L’Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Pro-Matte foundation (Cameran Eubanks from Southern Charm’s favorite BTW) when the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless foundation caught my eye since it was half the price.
I had heard good things about this foundation so I wanted to try it. Maybelline also has a new Maybelline Fit Me! Dewy + Smooth foundation, but my skin is way too oily to even try to mess with that! I got the foundation in the color 112 Natural Ivory which is the second lightest color. Other foundations that are a good match for my skin for reference- Makeup Forever HD Foundation in N117 and Estee Lauder Double Wear in 1N1 Ivory Nude you can see swatches here.
Let’s go over some of the claims of the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless foundation : Continue reading “Maybelline Matte and Poreless Review”
Last month when I was in Florida for the holidays I hit up the incredibly epic Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise (near Miami). If you’ve never been to Sawgrass Mills it’s an enormous super high end mall PLUS outlet mall with stores like Tory Burch, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth, etc. etc. It’s always swamped with people from all over the world all brought together by the shared love of finding a great deal. I was at Sawgrass for HOURS in a trance-like zombie shopping state when all of a sudden I realized “holy shit…I’m in a CCO.”
So what the hell is a CCO anyway? CCO stands for Cosmetic Company Outlet or it’s also known as CCS which is The Cosmetics Company Store. A CCO is the one magical, mystical place that you can find MAC ON SALE. And not just MAC, but Origins, Estée Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Smashbox, Urban Decay, and more. They have current and past/discontinued products, limited edition products, gift sets, and products that are in the older packaging and therefore are no longer sold at the store. The products are authentic and usually sold at 30% off retail price. The stores are open to the public so you don’t have to be a makeup artist or in the industry to go to one. How is this possible? Continue reading “What is a CCO?”
I received the Lorac Pro Palette 2 for Christmas and have been loving it! Right on Christmas day I even used it to create this Jade Smokey Eye look that I wore for the festivities as well as family portraits that I took for my dad’s present with my new Canon Rebel t3i. This palette is super versatile, can create day or night looks, and has both matte and shimmer shades. I would say the biggest downfall is you can get some serious fall out (when they eyeshadow gets on your cheeks while applying), but that can be avoided by applying dark or dramatic looks before doing your foundation routine like I did during this tutorial.
So now that I’ve had a chance to use my purchases from the 2014 Sephora VIB sale I wanted to give a quick review on them and let you know what I think. I especially wanted to get this up because Sephora sent out another perk for VIB members which is $20 off your purchase of $50 or more and the holidays are coming up so I’m sure you want to know what gifts are worth it.
1. Smashbox Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Foundation Primer ($39) – So far I’m happy with this little guy. The product is a little thick so you have to warm it up on your finger tips before you apply it. You then want to kind of push and roll your fingers into your skin to best cover your pores. When I’ve applied it and look in the mirror there’s no huge “WOW where have my pores gone!?” reaction, but it feels silicon-ey and smooth and blurs your face a tiny bit. The main thing I like about it is that I think it controls my oily skin without making my face too dry which is a delicate balance. My foundation maybe looks slightly better on top of this vs. without it, but it’s not anything that a slower more intentional application of the foundation couldn’t replicate or beat. It maybe keeps my makeup on a tiny bit longer as well, but again no huge day and night transformation. It’s supposed to last for up to eight hours, but I usually have my makeup on for about 12-14 hours per day. Overall I’d recommend this if you’re oily, if you’ve liked Smashbox primers in the past, and if you aren’t counting on it to change your life. It would also be good if you’re sweating or somewhere that’s humid because it’s supposed to be resistant to those things.
2. Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 07 Dark Berry ($13) – I got this because I want to be Samantha aka ssssamanthaa on Instagram from Batalash (see video below), but instead I look like I’m failing miserably at trying to look like Lorde. I’ve only worn this around the house to try it because it is BOLD as hale. It smells really nice like the Stila Stay All Day Lip Colors a nice cake scent. It stayed pretty well and I don’t remember my lips feeling too dry and crispy. I hope I’m brave enough to wear it out into the world one day, but we’ll see. The color is really cool and I’d recommend it if you want to try something new and fun I just don’t know if I’m cool enough to rock it yet.
3. L’Occitane Voyage En Provence Set ($39) – Ugh I haven’t used all of the products in this set so far, but so far I’m super disappointed. I had very high expectations for this especially for the famous She Butter Ultra Rich Body Lotion and it was nothing special. The scent was whatever and it’s not super thick or long lasting or curative to very dry skin or anything like I was expecting. I would not recommend this and I’m wary of buying more products from L’Occitane now even though so many people are obsessed! I’d recommend this to no one because I hate it and I’m pissed. The more I think about it and write about it the more I think wow why am I not returning this to Sephora I don’t need products to travel with so desperately that I need to keep this $39 set!
4. Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup in color 2.0 ($39) – I knew this guy was not going to be the perfect fit because it’s a luminous light weight virtually invisible foundation and deep down I’m a full coverage kind of girl. It’s very thin and fluid-like and reminds me of the bareMinerals bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation in that it’s luminous and nice for a day that you want to look natural and take a break from full cake face mode. This would probably work better for me at night because when I wear these luminous foundations during the day I get oily and then they’re a mess, but the problem is that I want full coverage when I go out at night. This does have build able coverage though which is good. I need to experiment with it a bit more to figure out how it can work best for me. I wish it had sunscreen in it. I’d recommend this to someone that wants to look younger (a more sheer, luminous foundation will make you look younger than a matte full coverage one), someone that already has pretty good skin and doesn’t need a ton of coverage, and someone with dry, normal, or combo skin.
5. Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush ($25) – This is a vegan brush that was developed to work with the Naked Skin foundation and overall I like it a lot. It blends out the makeup quickly and evenly. I have used it with both the super thin Naked Skin foundation and the super thick BECCA foundation. I’m back to using my tried and true Beauty Blender, but when I mix it up I love using this guy. I’d recommend it to someone looking for a good foundation brush to use with liquid foundation. I think the price point on this is great and very reasonable for the quality.
6. BECCA Ultimate Coverage Complexion Creme in Buff ($44) – YASSSSSSS hunny. I am absolutely loving this foundation and I’m using it everyday and at night for going out as well. It is super full coverage and gives you a very flawless finish. I normally use a generous amount of foundation so when I accidentally put two whole pumps on my beauty blender and then went to blend it out and I was wearing a serious mask (which was fine for that day, but meant I don’t need to use as much in the future because it’s so pigmented). This foundation is easy to blend but the only thing you have to look out for is once it dries (relatively quickly in 1-3 minutes) it is DRY and SET so don’t try to blend it out again because you will just mess it up. This foundation lasts me all day and/or night long and keeps me relatively matte without drying me out too much. Once it’s on it doesn’t feel super heavy or cakey which is nice for how full coverage and pigmented it is. I spent at least an hour trying to figure out online which color to get in this and while I like to think I picked the best match I do definitely have to blend it very well down my neck and blend very very well if I’m wearing my hair up. This foundation color is also super yellow which I like because I think it balances out my redness, but I know not everyone likes super yellow foundation. I would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a full coverage foundation with great coverage and staying power who has normal to oily skin. This is my favorite thing I bought. This price tag is a little high, but I’m hoping that since it’s so pigmented that I will use less and it will last me longer (fingers crossed!) Here’s a pic of me wearing it:
&& let’s keep it real here’s the unedited photo: Continue reading “Reviews of My Sephora VIB 2014 Purchases”
**UPDATE 11/10/17: Looking for the Fall 2017 Sephora VIB Sale discount codes? Check out my Sephora Fall 2017 VIB Sale – Shopping Tips + 7 Must Try Products post!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… the time where Sephora sends those of us who have spent way too much (aka Sephora VIB) at their stores a 20% off all purchases coupon. I spend hours researching, reading reviews, watching YouTube videos, adding products to my “loves” list then to my shopping cart then take them out again. I deliberate over what I “really need” and then finally make some decisions and spend a bunch of money. Let’s back-up if you’re not familiar with Sephora VIB program.
1. Beauty Insider – Free to join, no minimum purchase, you get a free gift during your birthday month, and a few other perks. You do not get the 20% off coupon in the mail every November, but you can use a friend’s coupon in store or they actually have AMAZING gift with $25 purchase options. Honestly I’m pissed that these aren’t available to VIBs because I really want all of them. You can sign up to be a Beauty Insider and shop immediately. Even though you won’t get the 20% off these gifts alone are worth a purchase. (Edit: These gifts were available at the Sephora VIB Sale in Fall 2014)
Kat Von D liquid lipstick, Pharrell’s new fragrance, UD eyeliner, MJ lip lacquer, like are you kidding me??
Continue reading “Sephora VIB Sale What to Buy and What to Skip”
I recently went to the Sephora Perfect Brows event and they showed me how to use a bunch of different Anastasia Beverly Hills products to get my perfect brows.
After I went to the NYX Face Awards recently I knew I wanted to attend more beauty events ASAP. I hit the internet and found a few. If you want to attend beauty events you can find them on websites for departments stores such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, Sephora, and MAC. The events are typically free and sometimes there’s champagne or gifts which is always fun!
Continue reading “How to Fill in Your Brows”I live 5 minutes from Ulta, Target, Sephora, Mac, CVS, and Rite Aid. I would call this both a perk and a danger of living in a big city. Today I ventured to the first 2 and here’s what I came out with:
Continue reading “Shopping Sunday Target and Ulta Beauty Haul”
