Haul | Ulta + MAC

Whenever I'm itching to go to Ulta or Sephora, I usually try to wait until I have a decent chunk of change saved up so I can purchase several items from my wish list instead of having an intense internal debate about which item to get now and which one to get next time. Recently, I made an Ulta trip and came away with a decent little haul. Here are the items I purchased :)

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2

I own the first one and it's been my go-to everyday palette when I want a quick neutral eye. I like this one a little better. It doesn't have a black which sucks a little but I really like the cooler toned browns, which I feel look better on me. It also seems like these basics palettes have creamier shadows and they seem to blend out better than any of my other UD shadows or palettes.

Smashbox Be Legendary Lip Lacquers

I wrote a blog review (check it out here) on these so I won't go into too much detail, but I really like these. I already had three so I bought a few more. They're pigmented, not sticky and fade into a beautiful stain. These are Bordeaux, Fuchsia, Keepsake, Pout, Coral, and Legendary. 

Lorac Alter Ego Lipstick

I own a few of these already and they're some of my favorite mattes. The formula is creamy and not drying at all which is a plus for a matte lipstick. It doesn't feather and the whole shade range for these lipsticks is just awesome. This is the shade CEO, which is similar to whatever mystery lipstick Kylie Jenner loves (she should just tell us already! I mean really) only a little more berry toned.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed

After hearing about this EVERYWHERE I thought I'd swatch the shade Opal. I instantly fell in love! It's a beautiful highlight and it's subtle so I don't feel like I look like a disco ball. I've literally used it almost everyday since I got it. I also received a little sample of the Opal Skin Perfector lotion and it will definitely be one of my next purchases.

Urban Decay Shadowbox

This is an Ulta exclusive and I generally don't buy UD shadows since I rarely use them, but I just really liked the color selection of these shadows. It has 12 shades from matte to shimmer and you can create an entire look with just this. Thaler shadows are quite smooth and blend able and with a primer they last all day long. My favorites are the new shades Baked Cowboy and Moonshadow.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz 

I've already tried this and love it, so I thought I'd try another shade just to test it out. I bought Medium Ash.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo

I bought this to use with the Brow Wiz. This brow shadow is amazing! It blends out well and i really like the look of it once applied. This is in the shade Ash Blonde. The combo of the powder and the pencil make natural sculpted brows super easy. I also picked up some ABH Clear Brow Gel, just to help tame those stubborn hairs that don't naturally stay in place.

Too Faced Melted Lipstick

I own a few of these already and I really like the formula and wear of them so I picked up two more shades that I didn't have. I got Melted Nude and Melted Marshmallow (which is beautiful by the way!).

The last things I picked up are two fragrances, Vera Wang Forever Vera (availableexclusively at Kohl's) and Vera Wang Be Jeweled Rouge. I've always loved Vera Wang perfumes ever since my mom bought me Princess years ago. I really like citrus and floral feminine scents and these two are right up my alley. The Be Jeweled Rouge is a little musky and spicy, not too powerful and absolutely perfect for fall. These two will definitely be two of my favorites I think, right next to Marc Jacobs Daisy. 

 

MAC is right next door to my local Ulta (a killer for my wallet) so I popped in there for a few things. 

I bought a backup of my favorite foundation, Face and Body. This is the best foundation for if you want a sheer coverage and it's my favorite that I wear most days. This one is in the shade N1... summer tan will fade and it'll be back to pale for me soon :(

After hearing about it all over the place I decided to pick up a Mineralized Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle. I'll say it is definitely a must-have. It's so pretty on the skin and gives that healthy, glowy sheen without too much shimmer. 

I also picked up "Trax" (a velvet finish purple with gold reflects) and "Woodwinked" (a veluxe pearl finish bronze) shadows. I have had them before but they didn't survive the move to San Diego a few years ago. 

I also HAD to repurchase Velvet Teddy lipstick. Velvet Teddy is my favorite matte neutral lipstick ever and I've already gone through three tubes!

And finally after searching for months (and it STILL being sold out) the wonderful MAC girl, Amy, gave me a very generous sample of the pigment, Melon. I had it a few years ago and somewhere down the line, I lost it. This sample will last a while so hopefully it will be back in stock before I run out. 

That concludes my haul and I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know on the comments and let me know if you've tried any of these products and how you like them! I would love to hear from you!  :)

xoxo

LivforLashes 

Products Mentioned: 

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette

Smashbox Be Legendary Long wear Lip Lacquer

Lorac Alter Ego Lipstick- CEO

BECCA Shimmering Shin Perfector- Opal
Urban Decay Shadowbox Palette

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo

Too Faced Melted Liquified Longwear Lipstick 

Vera Wang Forever Vera Eau De Parfum Spray

Vera Wang Be Jeweled Rouge Eau De Parfum Spray

MAC Face and Body

MAC Eyeshadow

MAC Matte Lipstick- Velvet Teddy  

MAC Pigment- Melon

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

IG @livforlashes come check out my page, follow and like!

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com

Maya Mia Palette vs. Tamanna Palette | Review + Swatches

So as most of us makeup lovers know, Anastasia Beverly Hills teamed up with three Instagram makeup artists to create eyeshadow palettes inspired by those makeup artists. The Amrezy Palette made us all drool with it's color selection (Iridescent Purple anyone?) and then some of us kicked ourselves for not buying it (the anguish of limited edition makeup). We couldn't wait to see the other two palettes and who they were inspired by. Then the Maya Mia and Tamanna palettes were released not even a month apart and I know I at least was a little bummed. They looked sooo similar. Teal-aqua color? Check. Peachy pink? Check again. Warm brown transition shades? You got it. 

I told myself I wouldn't buy them since I have MAC dupes for most of the shades and that gorgeous shade aqua in MMP and Sangria in the TP just weren't worth $29. Fortunate for me I was given both palettes as a gift and I immediately knew I had to swatch them. So without further ado...

Maya Mia Palette

So first impression is omg I looove this packaging. It is so cute with the pink and blue and the zebra stripes. You can totally see Maya Janeska's (@maya_mia_y on Instagram) personality in it. It's fun and bubbly and a little wild, like her makeup looks. 
 
This palette is mostly neutrals with the two stars of the show: Aqua and Fresh Peach. Both of these shades are shimmer and beautiful either as pops of color or full lid application.

  

There are 5 shimmer shades: 

Vanilla, Aqua, Fresh Peach, Glisten, Gold Bar 

They are smooth and easy to blend and the shimmer is subtle, making them perfect for everyday looks. I especially love pigment which reminds me a little of MAC Nylon. It doesnt have gold shimmer like Nylon but it blends out into a light pretty sheen like Nylon does. Gold Bar is also another favorite. It is a yellow-gold shade.

 

The palette also has 5 matte shades:

Nude, Deep Brown, Sienna, Warm Taupe and Caramel

These are also smooth but a little patchy if you use too much product and try blend them. Nude is disappointing (for me at least) because it literally shows up as nothing, as the picture above shows. It would probably be good as a matte brow bone highlight on darker skin tones or as a shade to lay down before blending your darker colors for a smoother application. 

Tamanna Palette

Again the packaging on this is to die for with it's Middle Eastern inspired design. I really like the elegance and glamour of it reflected by Tamanna Roashan (@dressyourface on Instagram). 

This palette again is mostly neutrals with a few pops of colors, but most of these shadows are shimmer/satin shades. 

It has six shimmer/satin shades:

Blush, Venezia, Gilded, Custom, Sangria and China Rose

Though is similar to Aqua from the MM palette, Venezia is more of an iridescent sea foam green. It is beautiful when applied and this picture does not do it justice. Another color I absolutely love is Sangria. Its a warm rusty color and it looks almost like it has a red foil type of finish. A primer made this color absolutely pop on my lids. 

There are only four matte shades: 

Fresh, Bengal, Chocolate and Noir

Although it doesn't give much selection for mattes, I like that it has a warmer shade for a transition color (Bengal) and a cooler more flat brown (Chocolate). This palette also has a black shade which I think is a must have in palettes to line the lashes and add some definition. And just like the MM palette, the lightest shade, Fresh, is so nude it barely shows up on my skin tone.

Final Verdict

All in all, I really like both of these palettes.  Sure they're very similar and have copy shades from the Amrezy Palette, but both have a little something special that I like. Plus, a little note: if you are interested in any single shadow, all of these shades and more will be available for purchase through the Anastasia Beverly Hills website in October.

Well thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post! Comment and let me know your thoughts! 

xoxo

LivforLashes

 
Maya Mia Palette available online at:
http://anastasiabeverlyhills.com/
Nordstrom
Sephora
 
 
Tamanna Palette available online at:
http://anastasiabeverlyhills.com/
Ulta
Nordstrom
Sephora

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

IG @livforlashes come check out my page, follow and like!

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com

Beauty 101 | Easy Smokey Eye + Pop of Purple

I think every girl should have in her arsenal the ability to create a black smokey eye. When done correctly, and with some patience and blending, it can really look amazing... Not like you just got punched in both eyes because that just isn't cute. Now I get that this isn't an everyday kind of look, but it's perfect for nights out when you want to glam things up. Here I'm going to show you how I achieve a black smokey eye and I'm going to add a pop of purple to the lower lash line, just to make it more fun. Keep reading to see how I did this :)

 First things first, you'll want to prime your eyelids to prevent any creasing of the eyeshadows. Dark shadows especially have a tendency to crease and get patchy on oily eyelids. I used a basic primer, my ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer. 

Next, take a medium, warm-toned matte brown eyeshadow and blend that into your upper crease. This will be our transition shade. I used "Soft Brown" by MAC. 

After that is blended, blend a little bit of a darker, matte berry toned shade into the crease. This will help blend out our black a little smoother. Black shadow can be hard to blend without looking patchy, so this shade will help with that. I used "Blackberry" by MAC.

Now for the black. Pack on a matte black shadow onto the lid. I used "Crave" from my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. 

Blend out the edges of the black. You can use a little more of the other shades too, to smooth things out. 

Highlight the brow bone and inner corner with a white shimmer shade. Here, I used "Nylon" by MAC. This shade is perfect for highligjting, as it's soft and subtle without having too much shimmer. 

Now for the lower lash line. Line you waterline and lower lashes with either a purple eyeliner or purple shadow stick. I used my NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Purple Velvet" for this. 

Next, take a purple eyeshadow and blend that into the liner/shadow stick. This helps soften the cream product as well as set it to prevent any purple from smudging under your eyes. I used Milani's Bella Eyes Gel Powder Eyeshadow in "Bella Violet" (longest name ever!).

Now, you can stop here and add some mascara, but I wanted a little more dramatic so I added some winged gel liner. I just used my ELF Cream Eyeliner in black for this step. 

Finally throw on some false lashes and add some mascara.

And that's it! See? Simple! Anyone can do this. This look is so versatile too. You can easily swap out the black for any color and customize it to your own style. 

I hope you enjoyed this and if you like seeing blog tutorials like this, let me know in the comments! 

Until next time,

xoxo

LivforLashes 

Products used:

ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer $3

MAC "Soft Brown" eyeshadow $16 ($10 for pan)

MAC "Blackberry" eyeshadow $16 ($10 for pan)

MAC "Nylon" eyeshadow $16 ($10 for pan)

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette $29

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Purple Velvet"

Milani Bella Eyes Gel Powder Eyeshadow in Bella Violet $3.99

ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner $3

Ardell Natural Lashes in Black 120 

Laura Geller Beauty GlamLASH Mascara

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz and Brow Powder Duo on the brows. Want to see a brow tutorial? Let me know! 

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

IG @livforlashes come check out my page, follow and like!

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com

Smashbox Be Legendary Lip Laquers | Review + Swatches

These past few months I've been really into lip lacquers. Lacquers are awesome products that allow for a quick pop of lip color without having to use a liner, lipstick and gloss. They have the benefits of both the color payoff of a lipstick and the smoothness and glossiness of a lip gloss. I love any products that cut my everyday routine down so a 2-in-1 product is a definite plus for me. I've bought some drugstore like the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain and some high end like the Too Faced Melted Lipsticks. I decided to try the new Smashbox Be Legendary Long Wear Lip Lacquer so I bought the shade Coral. After wearing it for a few hours, I immediately knew I wanted more.

These lacquers are probably my all time favorite. They are AMAZING! They come in 20 different shades ranging from very light baby pinks all the way to dark deep burgundy-reds. It has a doe-foot applicator, a little longer than standard gloss making it easy to swipe on the lips. The color payoff on these things are out of this world. They are quite opaque and it looks just like lipstick topped with gloss. And the best part about these? They lasted FOR. EV. ER. Once the glossiness wore off (which for me took a few hours) they left a beautiful stain on my lips without looking like I just ate a bunch of Popsicles all day. Here is the Smashbox website description:

"Goes on as a lacquer, then uniquely adjusts to a stain for 8 hours of long-lasting color.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT:
A proprietary triplex of 1) vibrant staining pigments, 2) glossy-finish pearls and 3) conditioning vitamin E. Our formula pushes saturated, long-wearing color to the limit by literally maxing out the amount of staining pigments we could blend in. (This way, hi-res photos pop with true color.) Then by mixing it with glossy-finish pearls and conditioning vitamin E, you get a velvety, lacquer-like finish that stays put without feeling tacky or drying."

My first time trying them, I applied around seven a.m and the color was still bright and fresh looking around ten. By two p.m my lips were stained a pretty color and still looked nice. Though it didn't last the 8 hours like the website describes, I was still pleased with it. I bought six shades (so far!) of these beautiful lippies. 

Pout

This is a super light baby pink. It comes off almost white but nice nonetheless. It is a tad but streaky at first but after a few minutes of wear the color evens out. This shade would be great for those fair skinned girls. 

Coral

Just like the name suggests, this is a coral shade. It is that perfect blend of orange and pink without coming off too bright, but adding a few more coats of it does brighten it if that is what your prefer.

Bordeaux 

This shade is one of my favorites out if the six that I bought. It is a red-based deep vampy color perfect for fall. This one also benefits from another coat to even the color as it is a little streaky at first. After the gloss wears off it leaves a beautiful berry-colored stain on the lips. 

 

Legendary

Legendary is your classic red shade in this collection. This one is one of the shades featured in a recent shaaanxo video on YouTube. It is a vibrant, sexy red that every girl needs in her collection. The stain left by this shade almost looks like a matte lipstick which is awesome. 

Keepsake

If you're into mauve shades this is yours! This one is absolutely beautiful. It's slightly more pink than a traditional mauve but it's still beautiful. This is another shade that would look flattering on any skin tone and is the perfect everyday pink. 

Fuchsia

Just as the name says this shade is a beautiful fuchsia shade. Slightly less purple than traditional fuchsia, this shade is a beautiful deep bright pink. Another one that doesn't need another coat, adding another one makes this lacquer more vibrant. The shade does darken a little after a bit, but it just makes it all the more lovely.  

Final Verdict

I love love LOVE these. I'm definitely going to be buying more shades of these (when they aren't sold out... Looking at you Ulta). They are a little pricey at $24 a piece, but I'd imagine one if these would last a long time. It takes minimal product for a clean, even application. Just the wear alone sold me. These are a must have for any makeup lover's collection!

I hope you enjoyed this review and please comment and let me know what you thought! Suggestions for my next blog are also welcome!

xoxo

LivforLashes

Follow me on Twitter! @LivforLashes

IG @livforlashes come check out my page, follow and like!

Email: liv_2008@icloud.com