Drugstore Fabulous: Dupe Edition

Recently I stopped into my local Rite Aid and I was so excited to see a bunch of new products from Black Radiance. If you’ve never heard of Black Radiance, it’s a line of cosmetics formulated for women of color. However even if you aren’t of color, you can still benefit from their really pigmented eye and lip products. Black Radiance has come out with 3 new dupes for high end products.

The first one that jumped out at me was the Perfect Tone Lip Gloss. It immediately reminded me of Smashbox O Gloss. It’s a self adjusting formula that claims to be long lasting and hydrating. The idea is that the lipgloss goes from clear to your perfect shade of pink. It’s pretty gimmicky but a fun idea none the less. If you’ve been wanting to try Smashbox O Gloss but don’t want to spend $22 on it, give this gloss a try.

The next product I noticed was a Starry Eyes Shadow Stick. It looks like a great dupe for mac shadesticks. Shade sticks are really popular because they make really great eyeshadow bases. It looked like they had a nice selection of neutral shades that would work well with just about any look you’re going for. At 4 dollars a pop, you could get 4 Black Radiance Shadow Sticks for the price of 1 mac shadestick.

My favorite out of the bunch was the Complexon Perfection Under Eye Concealer. It’s a very similar concept to the LORAC Double Feature Concealer. Complexion Perfection is a duo that has a stick concealer on one side and a liquid concealer on the other. The lorac one has a little rollerball that can be used to blend the concealer. The idea is interesting but but not at all worth the extra cash. The other difference is that the lorac double feature has a liquid highlighter. To dupe this, just a bit of a luminizer, liquid bronzer, or a shimmery pigment to the liquid concealer side of Complexion Perfection and stir it up.

These’s aren’t the only new products. There’s also new liquid foundation ,primer, and a bunch of other cool stuff so go check it out.

Peace Love & Lipgloss

It’s Not Scary I Promise: Red Lipstick for Beginners

I love lipstick. I love lipstick almost as much as a love coupons. I think it glamorous and beautiful The thing is so many girls my age see lipstick as something for old women. They’re terrified of the stuff. I’ll never forget the first time I wore red lipstick to school. People look at me like they had just seen their grandmother in a string bikini. Their eyes would get as big as baseballs and I just didn’t understand it. Looking back on it, my application may have been a little sloppy but it wasn’t horrifying. But I’m so excited because I’ve found a new way to introduce beginners to lipstick in a not so scary way. It’s really quick and easy and not at all intimidating. So I’m going to show to do pretty not petrifying red lips.

The first step is to exfoliate your lips. There are a number of ways you can do this. Some people like to use a wet washcloth or a lip scrub. Personally I like to use a wet toothbrush. All you have to do is gently buff it in a circular motion all over your lips to remove all the dead skin. The reason for this is, well…have you ever seen a woman with lipstick on and nasty flaky lips? Not cute. Then I like to put on a lip balm to moisturize the lips. Some lipsticks can be drying, and dry chapped lips covered in red lipstick, also not cute.

Next we’re going to get a little bit of lipstick on our fingertip, AFTER you’ve washed or sanitized your hand. I can’t stress this enough, if you’re going to touch your makeup make sure your hands are clean. I don’t care what you wear on your lips, but nothing goes well with cold sores. Then you’re going to apply the lipstick using your finger. You can use patting, rolling, or swiping motions. Do whatever you’re most comfortable with. The result is a soft pretty flush of color. It’s like a lip stain but better.

You can leave it like that or you can top it off with a clear gloss for a cute, fun, glossy lip. See, I told you it wasn’t scary!

Peace Love & Lipgloss

Fabulous Fragrances: A Viva La Juicy Dupe!

Usually I’m not a big Bath and Body Works fan. I mean some of the scents are nice but I prefer getting a nice perfume that will last all day rather than a bunch of body sprays where the scent is gone in about 20 minutes. But I had a coupon for a free full sized body product with any 10 dollar purchase. And if you know me, you know I absolutely love coupons especially buy one get one free coupons. So here I am wandering around Bath and Body Works not really finding anything worth my 10 dollars when a sales lady hands me another coupon for a free C.O. Bigelow lipshine with any 10 dollar purchase. I’m thinking sweet another coupon! But then she tells me I can combine it with the coupon I already have! So I can get free lotion and lipgloss for the price of one body spray plus tax?! SCORE! I could not walk out of there empty handed. I was on a mission to find a scent a like. Enter Forever Sunshine. It’s Bath and Body Works newest scent and it’s also my new favorite Bath and Body Works scent. Bath and Body Works describes it as

“a fresh blend of golden apricot, pink peonies, and a hint of praline that captures the romance of warm days that linger into cool autumn. Experience this fragrance whenever you crave the essence of summer”

The apricot and berries make it fruity, light, and summery while the pralines tone down the sweetness of it and give it a nutty warmth. The scent is a little different and unique for me so it kinda had to grow on me, but I love it for summer nights and I think it’s going to transition really nicely into fall. Seriously the more I smell it, the more I love it. I have the triple moisture body cream on right now, and I keep sniffing my hands as I type this.

Like I said early, body sprays tend to not linger for very long. I’m really not one to go douse myself in body spray every 45 minutes so what I like to do is layer the fragrance. First thing I do when I get out of the shower is dry off and then put the body cream on. Then I get dressed and put on the body spray. The spray kinda clings to the body cream which helps it last longer. I’m probably going to go back and get the shower gel and the perfume so I can really smell like Forever Sunshine all day long. Or maybe if someone loves me, they’ll get it for my birthday =)

An interesting thing I found out when I was doing some research on Forever Sunshine is that it’s a pretty good dupe of Viva La Juicy. They both have notes of berries, gardenia, vanilla, sandalwood, and praline. I would say Viva La Juicy is a little sweeter smelling but they’re really similar scents.So if you were looking for Viva La Juicy on a budget or you really like the scent, I would suggest you go check out Forever Sunshine.

P.S. I always feel really cool when I put this on because it has sandalwood in it, and Serena from the Gossip Girls series had sandalwood in her perfume. Haha I’m a loser, but you know that you love me 😉

XOXO,

Out With The Old In With The Nude

Generally when it’s time for me to remove my makeup, I immediately reach for makeup wipes. But when I have to take off an extra intense smokey eye or a hard to remove product, Clean and Clear Soothing Eye Makeup Remover. Serious this stuff takes off everything. I have really sensitive eyes so it being fragrance free and safe for contact lens wearers was a big plus. It makes removing my eye makeup so easy. But sadly it’s all gone. It was good to me to the very last drop. Dare I say it, I liked it better than the infamous Lancome Bi-Facial makeup remover. So RIP Clean and Clear Soothing Eye Makeup Remover. You’ll be missed.

Swatch of Revealing on top, High Tea on the bottom

But don’t worry I’m not too crushed. I’m in product love with a new product. I recently bought a new mac lipstick in High Tea. Oh sweet Jesus, it was love at first application. It glides on so smooth and it’s not drying at all. It’s a sheer golden color. On its own it provides a really pretty gold sheen that is perfect for when I want to keep things light and simple for the hot Sacramento days. I also like to pair it with a gloss. High Tea + mac Love Nectar makes a pretty baby pink with plenty of gold shimmer that looks amazing with bronzey eye. Or when topped with Revealing Lip Glass, you get a creamy nude that looks great with a smokey eye. If you want to keep things simple just slick any clear gloss over it and it will look great with just about anything. Typing this post makes me want to go experiment with even more combinations. With that said, I hope you all are have a fabulous day.

*The clean and clear soothing eye makeup remover was sent to me through a BzzAgent campaign, but my review was in no way influence by this

Peace Love & Lipgloss

The Cutest Brushes Ever

Anyone who knows me knows that as much as I love shopping, I do not like spending money. So anytime I can find good beauty products at a discount price, I’m a very happy camper. I was helping my brother shop for an outfit to wear to his friend’s 8th grade promotion when I came across these babies at Marshalls.

For 5 dollars, I could resist getting one a blush brush and an eyeshadow brush. I don’t care what anyone says you can never have too many eyeshadow brushes. Plus they were hot pink with little rhinestones! If I were born a brush, I would be an Essential Beauty brush.
I immediately took them home and gave them a very thorough washing. As great as their prices are, Marshalls isn’t exactly know for having the most hygienic shoppers. I know very well that those brushes have been opened up and felt on by more than one customer. These brushes are super soft. I love them. Compared to my ecoTools blush and eyeshadow brushes, these ones win hands down. I can’t wait to go back and get some more!

Peace Love & Lipgloss

Fourth of July FOTD: Throwback Edition

I didn’t get to take a picture of my makeup this fourth of July before I wiped it all off and went swimming so I decided to show you guys a look I did last 4th of July. This is probably one of the first FOTDs I had ever taken a picture of. I love looking at it because it reminds me of how far my makeup skills have come. I don’t know what I was thinking or if I wore this look out but haha I’ve come quite far. I think my favorite part of this look it the little splotch of fallout that I failed to clean up

Anyways I hope you all had a really fun 4th of July. I simply went to church and then went to a pool party at a family friend’s house. They had a really nice pool and it felt sooooo good to swim for the first time in a few years. We had the best ice cream cake you could ever image. I’ve never tasted chocolate so good in my life. All in all it was a chill but fun fourth of July.

Peace Love & Lipgloss