au naturale

hello beauties! hope you all are having a fabulous weekend in the sunshine :) 

today I wanted to share with you my recent 'go-to' eye makeup look since it's incredibly easy to do and is a perfect summer look since it incorporates neutral shades that are easy to find in your collection! 

I only use three shadows from my UD Naked palette for this look [Virgin, Sin and Naked] which are the first three in the palette and the lightest. I start off by applying Virgin to the inner corners of my eyes  and onto the bottom lash line to make my eyes look brighter and more 'awake'. I then apply 'Sin' along my entire lid just up to the crease, and finally apply 'Naked' into my crease using a pencil brush to make it very precise. 

I then continue with my usual mascara and eyeliner [L'Oreal Voluminous, Clinique High Impact, Kat Von D tattoo liner] to finish off the look! 

and there you have it! sorry for the god awful brows, must get them threaded asap haha 

as you can see, this look is super easy to do and is perfect for everyday! although i use shadows from my Naked palette for this look, the shades are easily dupable so you probably already have similar shades in your collection already :) 

whats been your 'go-to' eye look recently!? 

xoxo

the magic trio

one makeup item I could never live without would hands down be mascara. without it, my lashes are thin, light and sometimes look nonexistent. as beauty obsessors such as ourselves we are constantly looking for that 'perfect' product that combines everything we want in one tube: volume, length, color, ect. 

unfortunately i'm not here today to tell you that i've miraculously found that magic ONE, but I have found THREE that when combined together give my lashes a stunning finished look:

L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black

a cult favorite! this mascara is definitely good for giving my lashes volume especially when I apply multiple layers. depending on the overall effect I'm going for I will either apply this as a base then layer another mascara on top, or use this as a final touch to really give my lashes some 'oomph'!

YSL BabyDoll 
this is my first ever YSL mascara and thanks to Sephora I was able to get my paws on it early courtesy of my V.I.B status. the first thing I noticed about this mascara before even applying any, is the scent! if you're a regular YSL junkie then you already know that all of their products smell gorgeous!
I adore this mascara because my lashes look natural but more defined and longer. this definitely isn't a volumizing  mascara so to achieve the look I wear daily, I need to add a volumizing one on top.

CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume 
 and last but certainly not least.. another cult favorite! I've been using this mascara for years and it is one of my absolute favorites. it makes my lashes look extremely bold and dramatic which is perfect for me since my natural lashes are puny and dull. the only problem is that to achieve the 'bold and beautiful' look you have to apply layer upon layer of product! i've found layering this mascara once or twice on top of another mascara (like my Voluminous) gives the desired effect without as much layering.

phew.. long post! hope you ladies enjoyed reading about my favorite mascara's :) 

what are your favorites? 

xoxo

love for lush

fun fact about me: i LOVE baths. love love love. if possible i would take at least 5 baths every day! 

so it's no coincidence that Lush happens to be one of my favorite shops. i mean who doesn't love gorgeous smelling bubble bars and fun bath bombs that leave your skin feeling soft and smooth?!

i popped into the Lush store at the mall right across from my work to pick up a couple treats since i was almost out of my previous ones and here's what i got: 

* twilight bath bomb 

* space girl bath bomb 

* sunny side bubble bar

* creamy candy bubble bar 

this is my first time purchasing 'space girl' but everything else i've used before and love! i would have to say 'twilight' is one of my all time favorites because of it's scent which is lavender and how it turns your bath a gorgeous frothy purple :) 

am i the only one that tends to use just one Lush product in each bath? i don't think i've never combined a bath bomb and bubble bar before. am i missing out?? 

xoxo

foundation collection

hi there beauts! sorry it's been a bit since my last post, the weather has been exceptionally gloomy recently so good lighting has been pretty much non existent until today. so of course i took advantage of it and snapped some shots of my foundation collection to share with you! 

i like to think of myself as a foundation-addict. i'm always up for trying different ones in hopes of finding that magic foundation that will make my skin look photoshopped in all the right ways. another thing i've found, is that my skin tends to get 'sick' of a foundation once i've used it consistently for too long and then decides to rebel and make it look patchy or dull or whatever. so i almost have to have multiple foundations so that my face stays happy! (at least this is the excuse i tell myself) 

Revlon ColorStay 

this was probably one of the first foundations i ever bought (not this particular bottle, of course) back before i was a self confessed beauty addict and really had no clue when it came to applying makeup or how to really purchase the right makeup. i give myself props for knowing to purchase this little gem though because it is truly one of my all-time favorites! it gives amazing coverage and tends to stay in place for quite a while; although i do tend to need to touchup with some powder on warmer days. the only downside is that Revlon neglected to make a pump for this so you unfortunately have to pour it on the back of your hand to apply, which sometimes leads to wasting a lot of product since you potentially pour out a little too much! 

Estee Lauder Double Wear

ohh a cult classic! i won't be able to give much of a review on this yet since i only just bought it two days ago. but based on my first impressions i can definitely see why everyone raves about this foundation! 

Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation 

pretty sure i've rambled about this foundation before.. basically it's a HIGH high coverage foundation which makes girls like me extremely happy since i have a lot of acne scars and semi-uneven skin tone. i have noticed once wearing this for a while consistently it does tend to look caky and clings to dry patches. i actually have two bottles of this, one being the palest shade of the range and one being the second palest which i use when i don't want to look like a vampire hehe but it has become one of my all time favorites!

Bourjois Healthy Mix 
i was introduced to this baby when i was studying in London last fall and legit bought 5 bottles to take them home with me. i love the formulation of this foundation because it feels almost silk like when applying and smells gorgeous! the only downside is that the lightest shade they have (51) still isn't quite pale enough for me so i tend to have to mix it with a white foundation to pale it down.

NARS Sheer Glow
 i think i may be one of the very few people who aren't completely in love with this foundation. i'm not completely sure why i don't like it but it is the foundation i use least of all the others in my collection. it could be because the color i was matched with is totally off but not all of my foundations match me perfectly so i can't fault that reason alone. anyone else not a huge fan of Sheer Glow? 

Illamasqua Skin Base 
nope, the lighting is not playing tricks on you, this is actually a white foundation. this is what i use to mix with other foundations i have that are a tad too dark for my skin tone and just need a drop of this to lighten them up!

Clinique Even Better
this is another popular foundation amongst the beauty blogging community and i can absolutely see why! this foundation makes my skin tone look even and healthy but not incredibly 'glowy' if that makes sense. it is probably one of the more natural looking foundations in my collection so i don't tend to need to powder after applying which is pretty nice!

so there you have it! my foundation collection :) hope you all enjoyed taking a little peek at which foundations i use and why i love using them!
which foundations are in your collection?! 
xoxo

makeup storage| before & after

hello beauties! hope you all had a enjoyable weekend now since the weather is starting to warm up :) 

i spent my 'lazy sunday' reorganizing my makeup and swapping out what i use for storage since what i had been using was embarrassingly filthy! 

Before:

so as you can see, there was really no organization to my makeup collection before. i literally just tossed everything into these plastic drawers and would fish around to find what i needed! needless to say because of that, there were a lot of products i had forgotten about due to them being stuck at the bottom of the drawer never to be seen until i took everything out! 

After:

and ta-da!! i swapped out the crummy plastic drawers for this gorgeous wooden night stand that my sister had at her old apartment and is no longer using.  eventually i'd like to get some dividers or separators for the top drawer, especially for my blushers and MSFs :) 

I feel so much better now that my makeup is all neat and tidy! hopefully it stays that way haha!

how do you store your makeup? any tips? 

xoxo

unplanned swap

hello beauts! today I wanted to share with you some amazing goodies I was sent from the gorgeous Lisa of Golden Glow. this whole 'swap' originated while I was in London this past January.. I had brought her a concealer to try in exchange for her giving me a NARS eyeshadow duo she didn't plan on using. but as fate would have it, we were not able to meet up while I was there so we decided to mail the items to each other instead. months later we finally got around to it and of course added some extra bits with our packages! 

needless to say Lisa spoiled me rotten! my package was so crap compared to hers :P 

I definitely plan on doing separate reviews of each of the products she sent me (excluding the candy, obviously)! 

If you don't already follow Lisa's fabulous blog, please please do so! she is a stunning girl and her blog is amazing :) 

xoxo

beauty newbies

happy monday! (not like that helps) hope you all had a wonderful weekend :) 

today I wanted to share some new goodies I've recently purchased.. haircare, skincare and of course makeup! 

haircare

 - Not Your Mother's 'smooth moves' frizz control hair cream 

- Matrix 'so silver' shampoo 

- Batiste dry shampoo 'light & blonde' 

skincare

- Bodycology sugar body scrub 

makeup

- YSL 'babydoll' mascara 

- Essie nail polish 'waltz' 

- Elf bronzer 'sun kissed' 

so far I am absolutely loving my YSL mascara and the Matrix silver shampoo! really looking forward to trying everything else and giving full reviews of everything :) 

what have you bought recently? xox