What's In My Bag? | Girl's Getaway

Hey everyone! I know I've been a little MIA lately, but honestly, I just needed a break from everything. My husband is coming home from deployment soon so I wanted to get the house ready, and I had some time off of work and the only think I wanted to do was relax and not stress about anything at all. Part of my R&R was a fun weekend a couple of weeks ago when I went out of town for a girls getaway and I thought that since its been a minute since I've done a What's In My Bag post, I'd do one for you today. We went to Palm Springs for a little getaway just to get out of San Diego and relax for a bit without any kids or husbands for a couple of days. It was so much fun and so needed! So without anymore rambling, enjoy!

The bag I decided to use was this cute Too Faced bag. It came as a gift when I bought my Vegas Nay Star Dust Palette and it's the perfect size for a weekend makeup bag. It's a pink canvas bag with cute kiss marks on it and the shape and size of it was perfect for squeezing into my travel case. 

First up for makeup is primer. I recently bought this NYX Honey Dew Me Up primer and I've been testing it out the last few weeks or so. It's a little tacky after application so it worked really well at keeping my foundation right where I wanted it in the Palm Springs heat. The honey is also a natural analgesic so its supposed to help any skin irritation which is pretty cool.

For foundation I brought my trusty Covergirl Ready Set Flawless foundation. It's a light to medium coverage and it literally lasts all day without fading or getting patchy and it sets quickly. It had a nice dewy finish on me too so I barely needed powder to set it. 

I paired the foundation up with a lightweight concealer, my Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer. It's good for hiding under eye circles and brightening up the face a little. And again, it's so lightweight so it didn't feel too heavy on my face and I didn't have to worry about it melting off. 

To set everything I brought along my Maybelline Fit Me! Matte and Poreless pressed powder. Palm Springs was still pretty hot, even in October, so this powder helped me keep any shine at bay and kept my skin matte throughout the day. 

I knew we would probably go out for one of the evenings we were there so I brought my Buxom customizable palette with me. I picked the shades myself (check out my review here) so I knew it would be perfect for both daytime looks and night looks. It was the perfect little palette to take along. 

For mascara, I wanted a long wearing formula that could withstand the heat so I brought a mini They're Real mascara by Benefit. It isn't a waterproof formula but anyone who has tried it knows how hard it is to wash off so this was my go-to. Plus it separates and lengthens my lashes without getting clumpy and I don't even need falsies when I use it. 

I didn't intend to wear eyeliner, but I brought along my Benefit They're Real Push Up liner in Beyond Brown with me. I ended up using it anyway just to define my lash line a little. It was the perfect liner for the weekend festivities since everyone was laid back and we weren't getting too glammed up. 

Going with the more natural theme, I brought along two blushes, Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hr blush in Score and Becca Mineralize Blush in Wild Honey. Both are a warm neutral blush and they just give a natural sun kissed flush without being too shimmery or too pink or anything. 

For bronzer and highlight I kept it simple with the Makeup Forever Pro a Sculpting Duo #2. Two products in one saved a little room in my bag and both shades look amazing for that Glowy bronze skin look- perfect for laying by the pool on a warm day. 

There were lots of drinks to be had so I knew I needed a long wearing lip color or two so I decided to bring along a more neutral pink shade with  Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lovesick and a brighter more fun shade with Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Persimmon. These both lasted for hours on my lips even with drinking cocktails and snacking and I didn't have to touch up either for most of the day. 

I also brought along a deeper lipstick for the night we went out and even though it didn't feel much like fall, I brought one of my favorite fall lipsticks, Maybelline Touch of spice. This is from the original collection of creamy mattes and it's always in my purse anyway so I thought why not? It ended up going beautifully with the pinky neutral eye look I did with the Buxom palette. 

For glosses, I stuck to neutrals and brought ️NARS Turkish Delight (a milky baby pink) and Guyane (a soft seashell pink). NARS has some of my favorite glosses and I really wanted to try out the one they sent me, Guyane. So far I'm loving it! 

For brows, I brought along my NYX Brow Gel. It's such a long wearing formula that I knew it'd be perfect for hot days laying out by the pool without worrying about my eyebrows smearing off haha. This definitely did the trick!

Last up is a few brushes. I tried to stick to just basics so I brought my Beauty Blender, a basic little blush brush, two fluffy blending brushes, and angled brush for brows, and a flat shader brush. I tried to bring as little as possible when it came to brushes and luckily these guys were enough to get me through the weekend. 

Okay that does it for this What's in My Bag post! What are some of your beauty must-haves for traveling? Let me know and don't forget to check out my other social media sites :)

xoxo

LivforLashes

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

Find me on Instagram @livforlashes

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com

Affordable Dupes for High-End Favorites!

The Internet is full of dupe lists of our favorite makeup products, and thanks to Temptalia, you can find a dupe for almost anything. Well, I wanted to share a little list of some of my own personal favorite products and some affordable options as alternatives to their high end counterparts. 

1. Revlon Colorstay ($8.99) vs. Este Lauder Doublewear ($38)

Both of these foundations boast a full coverage and both are long wearing. The Revlon foundation is slightly less coverage with a not quite as matte finish, but for a fraction of the cost, it's super comparable to Doublewear. 

2. L'oreal True Match Lumi Powder Glow Illuminator in Neutral  ($11.99) vs. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade ($32)

When the four powders in the L'oreal neutral highlighter are swirled together, it creates a glow almost exactly it like Lightscapade. It is slightly less fine milled, and takes a little more blending, but the outcome is identical. 

3. Essence Metallic Effect Eyeshadow in Sandy Says Hello ($2.99) vs. Stila Kitten single eyeshadow ($18)

Kitten is my all time favorite eyeshadow, so when I found SSH by Essence, I immediately snagged a few up. Kitten is slightly more glittery, and SSH slightly more beige, but on the lid and blended out, they both give a gorgeous champagne shimmer.

 

4. Elf Blush in Gotta Glow ($3) vs. Sephora MicroSmooth Baked Illuminizer in Star Dust ($14)

Both of these are great products for that light golden highlight. The Elf one is a little more powdery, but a little extra blending helps that. Plus these are both great dupes for NARS Albatross!

5. Revlon blush in Mauvelous ($8.49) vs. Kat Von D Everlasting Face Shaper Blush in Truth ($25)

These blushes are seriously identical on the skin. The KVD one is slightly creamier and more pigmented, but for a drugstore blush, this Revlon one is a good pick. 

6. L'oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer ($9.79) vs. MAC Strobe Cream ($33)

Both of these lotions give your face a luminous glow underneath foundation. The L'oreal one feels slightly thicker with more of a silver glow while Strobe Cream is a little more pink, but these are pretty darn good matches for each other. 

7. Elf Mineral Infused Face Primer ($6) vs. Bare Minerals Prime Time ($24) vs. Smashbox Photo Finish Primer ($36)

These three are literally identical. They are all a slippery silicone base that helps fill pores and smooth out your foundation. They glide on smooth and dry fast too. The elf one feels slightly thicker, but I kind of prefer that. 

8. Elf Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder in St. Lucia ($6) vs. NARS Orgasm blush ($30) and Laguna Bronzer ($39)

While the Elf duo is a lower quality than the NARS Powders, it's a great alternative for only a few bucks. The elf blush is a little chunkier with bigger shimmer particles, but with a few extra swipes of your brush, it gives that same peachy golden glow as Orgasm. Laguna is slightly lighter than the Elf bronzer, but again, once blended out, the bronzers are identical on the skin.

 

9. Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge ($5.99) vs. Beauty Blender ($20)

If you can't quite bring yourself to spend $20 on a makeup sponge, the Real Techniques sponge is an awesome alternative. I even prefer it to my Beauty Blenders. Both are a super dense but smooth sponge that applies foundation and blends concealer flawlessly. I like how the Real Techniques one has that flat side though, making it a little more versatile for using different products than the Beauty Blender. 

What are some of your favorite dupes? I would love to hear and find some newer alternatives to other products. I hope you found this post helpful and let me know if you enjoyed it! 

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

Find me on Instagram @livforlashes

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com

Too Faced Melted French Kisses | Holiday 2015

The holiday makeup season is upon us everyone! Ulta and Sephora will be full of different eyeshadow and blush palettes, travel sets and limited edition sets and I'm always super excited for it. There isn't a whole lot of things this year that really interests me but I found a few that I wanted to buy. One little set I bought was the Too Faced Melted French Kisses liquid lipstick set from the Christmas in Paris holiday 2015 collection.  

The packaging is a cute little black box with a pink Eiffel Tower with gold detailing. The set comes with four mini Melted Long Wearing Liquid Lipsticks.

Two of the shades are the original formula and two are from the metallic range, which happen to be new shades exclusive to this collection. This set would be perfect for someone who hasn't bought these lipsticks before and wants to try them out. I already love the Too Faced liquid lipsticks so I know what to expect from this set. The minis are a pretty decent size and I mean who really goes through an entire tube of lipstick? Especially makeup lovers like me who have a decent lipstick collection to chose from.

The tubes are a little less than half of a full sized one, but you get four shades for only $25, where as one full sized will run you about $21. They're so cute and prefect for throwing in your purse or clutch without taking up too much room. 

Like I mentioned, this set comes with four shades. Chihuahua and Berry are both original shades and then the two exclusive shades are Metallic Peony and Metallic Macaron. Metallic Peony is a soft baby pink, Chihuahua is more of a dusty pink based brown, Metallic Macaron is a brighter cool toned pink and finally Berry is a deep raspberry shade. 

The wear on these isn't that impressive as they really don't set so they don't last terribly long. But the formula is super comfortable on the lips and its thin enough that it doesn't slip around.

The minis come with the same velvet tip applicator which can make application a little messy, but personally, I find the applicator perfect for this kind of formula. 

So overall, for $25 I have to say that I really like this little set. The tubes are cute and compact and it comes with a nice color selection, if you're into pink lip colors. The Too Faced Melted French Kisses set is available at Sephora while supplies last. 

What holiday items are on your list? 

xoxo

LivforLashes 

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

Find me on Instagram @livforlashes

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com