The Loch Ness Monster Likes Makeup Too

July was a long, hot, busy month for me. Quite honestly, I was in a bit of a makeup rut; I didn't really try many new products, and I mostly stuck with looks that were safe and familiar for me. That was mostly because I find it really difficult to wear a lot of makeup when it's really hot outside, and July was a hot, hot month. However, I do have a couple of favorites to share with you. Luminoso by Milani ($8.50) - A little while ago, I wrote about Luminoso by Milani in a haul blog . Luminoso is part of Milani's Baked Blush line, and it's a beautiful, beautiful blush. I had been meaning to buy it for months, and I finally got around to it in early July and wore it non-stop after that. Luminoso is a gorgeous peachy-pink with coral undertones and a slight shimmer . This blush gives you a gorgeous, summer glow, and it goes with almost any makeup look. It's super pigmented, blends well, and has a soft, creamy texture. Plus, as you can see, it's really inexpe...

So, I want to try something new and different this month. Instead of doing a post about all the polishes I wore this month (as I've been doing since April), I'm restricting this post to just my favorite polishes of the month. After all, there's not much of a point to talking about polishes I didn't like. Hopefully, this will be a more helpful way of blogging about the month's nail polishes, and it will give you a better idea of the polishes I was truly impressed by. Let me know in the comments if you prefer this format! Anyway, without further ado, here are my favorite nail polishes for July: Virgin Snow by Essie - My first favorite of this month is one of my favorite Essie polishes ever. In fact, it's the only nail polish I own a backup of. (I bought the backup after KathleenLights talked about it because it was a limited edition polish, and everything KathleenLights talks about goes out of stock immediately). Anyway, for me, this polish is the perfect li...

Today I want to talk about a product I've been using lately, the  Panda's Dream Brightening Eye Base by the brand Tony Moly (or, as I call it, the panda stick). This product is an eye brightening serum. One of my friends purchased this for me for my birthday; I'm pretty sure she only picked it because it looks like a panda -- and, if you know me, you know that I have an unhealthy obsession with pandas --but it's actually a pretty effective product. (But even if it wasn't, I would still like it because its panda themed). First of all, let me give you the basic information; this product is basically a brightening stick for your under eyes (although, you could probably use it on your lids too). The product itself is a twist up stick; I think it's designed to roll directly onto the skin, but you could also apply it with your fingers. It applies evenly and blends well. As I said, this is a serum; the texture is somewhat creamy, but I would say that it's more s...

So, if you're a nail polish junkie like me, you've probably heard of Essie's new line of Gel Couture polishes . I was really excited to try these polishes, so I picked one up a couple of weeks ago during Ulta's 20% off sale for Platinum members. In case you haven't heard, this line of polishes is being marketed as Essie's enhanced, long lasting, gel-but-not-gel line of polishes (similar to OPI's Infinite Shine 2 Lacquer line and Butter London's Patent Shine 10X Lacquer). Essie's Gel Couture is supposed to last up to 14 days without chipping, there is no light required, and it comes off with regular polish remover. It's also available in 42 shades , which gives you a good range of polishes to pick from. I have sort of mixed experience with these sorts of products; for example, I wasn't the biggest fan of OPI's Infinite Shine, but I love Butter London's Patent Shine. I decided to only buy one of Essie's Gel Couture polishes to s...

So, recently, Ulta had a 20% off sale for Platinum members, which means that I went shopping. One of the things I picked up was the  Land Down Under Palette by Cargo . Cargo is one of those brands that never seems to get enough credit. I have a few Cargo products and I've always been impressed with their quality, yet, no one in the YouTube universe ever seems to talk Cargo products . In any case, I've been eyeing this eyeshadow palette for a while and I was super excited to get it. As you can see, this palette comes with twelve eyeshadows, a brush, and an eyeliner . This palette is mostly cool-toned brown and gold shadows, but there are also a couple of blue and green pops of color . Cargo says that the palette is "inspired by the fabled sights and beaches of Australia." The formula on the shadows is really nice. They're really creamy, really blendable, and they're pigmented, but still buildable . In terms of pigmentation, I'm not sure if these palette...

In the past few months, I reviewed both the  Afterglow Palette by Becca and the  Rainforest of  the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette by Tarte . Because the palettes have similar concepts and are at a similar price point, I wanted to write a blog that compared them, in case you were considering buying one or both. In case you haven't heard of these palettes, these are both face palettes that contain mostly illuminating powders and highlighters, although the Becca palette has a few blushes, and the Tarte palette has a setting powder. In this blog, I'm going to assess each palette in four ways: packaging, quality of product, quantity and cost of palette, and variety and versatility. Now, if you read both of the individual reviews of these products, you probably won't be surprised by the conclusion of this blog, but I'm going to lay it all out again so that you can see how the products compare side by side.  Packaging: In my opinion, the packaging is the w...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog about my first impressions of the new line of Vice Lipsticks by Urban Decay . Since then, I've continued to use and test the lipsticks (Ulta sent me samples, and I bought a couple of full sized lipsticks myself). Now that I've had some time to use them and wear them, I wanted to give you an update on my opinion of my opinion of these lipsticks and give you a full review. First of all, I want to talk about the premise behind this new line of lipsticks. I really think that Urban Decay is trying to copy MAC with these lipsticks. MAC is famous for their lipsticks, and UD has never really been known for their lipsticks, so they're trying to re-brand as an alternative to MAC. Honestly, it's a smart strategy since UD is cruelty free, and MAC is infamous for doing animal testing. In terms of the actual lipsticks, there are about 100 different shades . The shades are sub-divided into six finishes: cream, metalized (which, as far as I can...

So, today, in honor of the 4th of July, I created a patriotic, red-white-and-blue manicure. I wanted to share it with you, even though I probably should have posted it a few days ago so that someone could actually have worn it for the 4th. Whatever, I don't plan ahead. Patriotic Nails Anyway, this is a very simple manicure because I was in a bit of a rush today, and I didn't want to mess with anything complicated. For this manicure, I used three polishes. You could use any red, white, and blue polishes for this manicure, but this is what I used: 1) Right Said Red by Sally Hansen 2) White On by Sally Hansen 3) Sailor by Zoya When selecting your polishes, I advise picking a blue-toned red (as opposed to an orange or yellow toned red). A red polish that has too much orange in it will look wonky next to blue. Similarly, I advise choosing a nice, deep blue for your blue polish. I picked Zoya's Sailor because it's a lovely, dark navy. I advise avoiding light bl...

The Brush Egg So, last month I included The Brush Egg in my monthly favorites blog.  In case you don't know, the Brush Egg is a tool for cleaning makeup brushes and sponges . Even though I talked about it a bit in my blog last month, I wanted to give you a full review because I love this product so much. Seriously, nothing cleans my brushes as well as the Brush Egg, and it's really, really easy to use. I highly recommend this product to everyone who cleans their makeup brushes (which, I hope, is everyone) or anyone who wants a new brush cleaning routine. First of all, let me give you some basic information. I bought my Brush Egg from Amazon ; a couple of different companies/vendors sell it (or something like it), but they all seem to cost between $2 and $5, so it's very affordable. As you can see in the picture, it's a silicon glove. It's about four inches long and about three inches wide. It comes in a bunch of different colors, but I have mine in pink becau...