The Loch Ness Monster Likes Makeup Too

For some reason, October was a month of pink-toned makeup for me. This month I was super into pink toned eyes, pink toned blushes, and bright pink lips. This is extraordinary for me because I'm not usually big on pink. First time for everything, right? Anyway, these are my favorites for the month of October: Solstice Highlighting Palette by Sleek - If you want to glow like the sun, you need this palette. I've used this palette almost everyday since I got it (roughly seven weeks ago). I've written a complete review of it , but, long story short, it's just an amazing (and very affordable) highlighting palette. All of the highlights are so beautiful and so brilliant on the skin. Plus, they have just the right amount of pigment for highlights, and the shades are simply beautiful. Shape Tape Concealer by Tarte - I wrote an entire blog post about this concealer a few weeks ago. Honestly, I don't even know how I ever used other concealers because this conceal...

I don't have many empties this month (I guess I need to get back on my product use up game, huh). I've noticed that I tend to use up products in waves. When it rains it pours, right? However, I do have a few empties to share with you. Enjoy! Blending Sponge by Swissco - This isn't so much of an "empty" as it is a "broken." I used to use this sponge to blend my concealer, but I accidentally ripped it one day while I was cleaning it. It's not the best blending sponge ever, but it worked well for my purposes. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a basic, cheap beauty sponge. I would definitely repurchase it. In fact, I was planning on repurchasing it, but it was out of stock at my Ulta. Instead, I picked up an Ulta brand beauty sponge. Fit Me Concealer by Maybelline - I bought this concealer because I heard a couple of makeup YouTubers say that it was one of the best inexpensive concealers out there. Truthfully, I was qui...

Last month, in my August/September nail polish favorites blog post , I talked out the issues I'm having with my nails. My nails have been really dry and damaged lately, and they've been breaking and peeling a lot. I'm trying to give my nails a break from the constant cycle of applying and removing nail polish; consequently, I left my nails bare for a few days between each polish change. So, unfortunately, I didn't get to wear too many polishes this month. However, I do still have a couple of favorite polishes to talk about. Snowcone by Orly - This polish is a favorite purely because of its formula. It has a phenomenal formula, simply phenomenal. It's opaque in one coat, and it practically applies itself. It dries quickly, doesn't run, and levels out beautifully. Ugh. If only all polishes had formulas this beautiful. The color itself isn't anything special to me (I have approximately 10 million blue polishes). However, it is a pretty polish. As you can see,...

I'm a Colourpop believer, through and through. Colourpop produces great products at very reasonable prices. Today, I have some swatches of lip shades from Colourpop's Fall Edit (well, two are from the Fall edit; two are just fall shades (well, I consider them to be Fall shades)). First of all, I want to reiterate how much I love Colourpop's formulas for their Ultra Satin Lip line and their Ultra Matte Lip line . They're both long lasting, comfortable, and very pigmented.  Plus, all of Colourpop's products are super affordable ; so, they're a really good value for the money. The first shade I picked up from the Fall Edit was Barracuda. Barracuda is an Ultra Satin Lip, and it's a deep, brownish red. I absolutely love this shade; it's so flattering and it's so autumnal. To me, Fall is the perfect time for dramatic lip colors. I love red, dusty rose, and brown lip products in the Fall, and Barracuda is just perfect for me. The second color I pic...

A few months ago Jaclyn Hill started the Ride of Die Makeup Tag  (In case you haven't seen it, I'm attaching her original video to this post). I saw it, got super excited, decided I had to do it immediately... and then promptly forgot about it. Well, I recently saw Kathleen Lights doing this tag, and I was reminded that I wanted to do the tag. So, today I'm going to do the Ride or Die Makeup Tag...before I forget about it again. My tag is basically Jaclyn's tag, but I added and removed a couple of categories to more accurately reflect the sort of makeup I use on a day to day basis. Note: some of the pictures in this blog are my own photos and some are photos from Sephora/Ulta/the manufacturer. I'm using the manufacturer photos because (a) I don't have all of these products in my collection at this exact moment or (b) I've used some these products so much that they're not "pretty" enough for photographs. Primer - I had a lot of trouble pi...

A few weeks ago, I wrote a First Impressions blog about the brand Sleek. In this blog, I talked about Sleek's Solstice Highlighting Palette . If you need to glow, you need this palette. Seriously, you better be ready to shine if you buy this palette because it will make you glow like the sun. Okay, scratch that; you might actually be brighter than the sun. Let's just say that it will make you shine like a supernova. Okay, now that I've sufficiently hyped this palette, let me get into the actual review. This palette comes with four highlights (three powder highlights and one cream highlight) and a little brush (which I don't really use). The palette costs  €10.41, which is roughly $12 in American dollars (although, you will probably have to pay for shipping if you order from the USA). I think that that's an incredible value, considering the quality of the highlights.  As you may have guessed, I was quite impressed with the formula of these highlights . They ar...

A few weeks ago, I saw that Tarte had just released their holiday line, including the Amazonian Clay Blush Palette Color Wheel . I saw it, loved it, decided I had to have it, saw that it was limited edition, panicked, and bought it. I didn't even think about it. Boom. Just like that. Even though it is a limited edition palette, I believe it is still in stock on Sephora.com. So, in case you're thinking of picking it up, I wanted to give you a complete review of this palette (in case you like to make informed decisions, which obviously isn't for me (AKA Queen of the Impulse Buy)). First of all, the packaging is simply gorgeous . Holiday packaging for cosmetics is usually pretty, but I was especially impressed with the purple and gold packaging of this palette. I've noticed that Tarte has really been stepping up their packaging in the past year or so, and I'm really impressed with their new packaging designs. Plus, the packaging of this particular palette is nice a...

If you live on Planet Makeup (which is a lovely place for vacation, come join us there), you've probably heard of Tarte's new Shape Tape Concealer . Literally everyone on YouTube is talking about it. There's a ridiculous amount of hype about it. It's been in more favorites videos and tutorial than I can count. The more I heard about it, the more I wanted it (which is usually my relationship with new makeup products). I finally got around to it a week ago at Ulta, and it was one of the best makeup decisions of my life. First of all, I want to tell you that this concealer is only available at Ulta (also known as my favorite place in the world), it comes in 10 shades, and it costs $24 . I know that's expensive; it's a little bigger than most standard concealers. For example, the Maybelline Fit Me concealer is .23 oz, and the Tarte Shape Tape is .33 oz. It is also a wonderful concealer, and it's definitely worth the money. This concealer is so, so amazing ...

If making impulse buys was an Olympic sport, I would have several gold medals in that event. A few weeks ago, I was placing a Sephora order and I needed to spend an additional $7 to get free shipping, so, naturally, I bought the Ciaté London Olivia Palermo x Ciaté London Smokey Suedes Eye Palette, which was $19.50. Originally the palette was $39, so, when I saw that it was on sale, I had to have it. I wasn't even interested in it before it was on sale. But it was so cheap that I thought it was a crime not to buy it. That makes sense right? Anyway, I have this palette now, so I'm going to review it. Unfortunately, it was limited edition and it is now out of stock on Sephora (probably because the sale was excellent). I feel a little bad about talking about a product that you can't get anymore, but I want to review it anyway because it's possible that you'll be able to find this palette in Sephora stores, and it gives you a point of reference for buying other Ciaté p...

Okay, so there's a bit of a story behind this First Impressions Friday. A few months ago, one of my friends went to England, and as soon as she told me she was going, I was like "get me British makeup!" Sleek is a British cosmetic brand, and I've been dying to try it forever. So, I gave my friend a HUGE list of Sleek products I wanted. Unfortunately, she couldn't find most of the products I wanted in stores.  But, by then, I had gotten my expectations up, and I had decided that I just had to own everything from Sleek. So, I decided I was going to order everything online no matter how much the shipping cost. Well, I got my Sleek package, I've tried out all the products, and now I have impressions. i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette in Garden of Eden (€8.74) - I picked up this palette because I don't really have a lot of green eyeshadow. Obviously, green eyeshadow is not an everyday look, but I have green-ish eyes, so I think it suits me. First of all, the formul...

I've been wearing contact lens for about a year now.  My vision is definitely better than it was with glasses, and contacts are super comfortable. However, wearing eyeliner in your waterline doesn't always mix well with contact lens. When you don't wear contact lens, the natural moisture in your eye can wash away dirt or makeup residue; if that doesn't work, you can usually blink it out. This doesn't always work when you wear contacts because dirt and other residues have a tendency to adhere to your lens. If you have bad vision like me, you probably know that getting dirt or residue on your contacts is the literal worst (well, maybe just the figurative worst). It blurs your vision, and it can be uncomfortable or painful. When I first started wearing contacts, I had major problems with getting eyeliner on contacts. I learned that certain formulas of eyeliner work with contacts and others just don't . Since I've been wearing contacts, I've tried out a...

This blog is a safe space, so I feel comfortable telling you that I have a problem -- a serious problem -- with buying nail polishes for the name. Like, I will not buy a polish -- even if I like the color -- if I don't like the name, and, if I really like the name of a polish, I will buy it even if I don't really like it/ will never wear it. Half the fun of nail polish collection releases is reading the names of all the new polishes. Themed collections are particular fun. Like, somehow or another I manage to convince myself that I need a particular nail polish because I like the name. Any nail polish brand can name any polish of any color after anything in Game of Thrones and I'll just be like, "take my money." For example, I have a polish that's named after one of my favorite characters on Game of Thrones , and I legitimately felt like I would be letting her down if I didn't buy it. Why? I don't know. I know that she's fictional, but I had to ha...