Benefit Watt’s Up! Highlighter

Like most girls, highlighters are my favorite makeup product. I want to GLOW all the time. I have a few different powder highlighters (my favorite is still Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop), but I have been absolutely LOVING the Benefit Watt’s Up ($30) cream to powder highlighter lately! If you have medium to dark skin, you need to pick this highlighter stick up ASAP because it is absolutely GORGEOUS.

I seriously get sooo many compliments when I wear it because it makes my skin naturally glowy. People always say “there’s something different about you today…I don’t know what it is, but you look great!”. Which is the perfect compliment because that means (1) my makeup looks natural and (2) it makes me look like the best version of myself!

Benefit Watt’s Up is a chubby cream highlighter stick. I swipe it on my cheekbones, the tip of my nose, and under my brow bone after using a CC cream or light foundation. This looks great for a “natural” glow makeup look. I have tried it on top of a full foundation, powder blush, contour look and I felt like it was harder to apply because I couldn’t just blend it in with my fingers…It kind of drags on your face when you apply it so I would be wary that it could move your makeup. But if you’re wearing a light face makeup, this looks beautiful on top. It’s a champagne color, so it’s warm-ish and golden, which looks amazing on my medium skin. And it’s so easy to apply because I just blend with my hands (there’s a blending sponge, but I don’t use it). My only complaint is the packaging: the stick is very wide so it’s hard to apply under my brow bone or down my nose, and the sponge is useless. Overall, the perfect every day easy highlighter for ladies on the go, and I would highly recommend. 5/5

Beauty Christmas Gifts under $20!

Christmas on a budget can be tough, but it is totally doable! Here are a few of my favorite gifts for beauty lovers under $20.

• Birchbox or Sephora Play! Subscription ($10 per month): If you want to give the gift that keeps on giving, then get them a monthly subscription box! You can customize for how many months, and they will get so many beauty treasures! I prefer Sephora Play! but they have a waitlist, so if you’re not down to wait, then Birchbox is always a good deal.
• TONYMOLY I’m Real Sheet Masks ($10 for 11): I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…Look at Amazon for amazing deals on beauty products! This sheet masks are so great (and I’m a Korean beauty junkie), and would make the perfect stocking stuffer. They sell these at Ulta for like $4 each, so the set looks way more expensive than it actually is!
• Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask ($10): This mask has been all over the internet lately, and makes a fun gift! You get a lot of mask for the price.
• Carli Bybel 14 Color Eyeshadow and Highlighter Palette ($14.50): If you’re a beauty junkie, then you probably watch YouTube makeup tutorials. If you watch YouTube makeup tutorials, then you probably know who Carli Bybel is. If you know who Carli Bybel is, then you know her eyeshadow and highlighter game is on point. At this price point, you can’t go wrong! A great gift for a beauty newbie just getting in the game.
• Formula X – X in the City Nail Polish Set (10 minis for $18.25): I mean, what a great deal! All of the colors are totally wearable, and there are tons of metallics which are hella on trend right now.
• MAC Nutcracker Sweet Essential Brush Kit (On sale for $19.50): These brushes are obviously useful but they are also super cute and festive! Love the bag they come in. This set is usually $35, but currently on sale for $19.50 so you better grab it fast!
• Becca Glow on the Go Shimmering Skin Perfector Moonstone Set ($20): This is a downright steal for the price! Plus every beauty lover knows that Becca highlighters are the TRUTH.
• Tory Burch Mini Perfume Duo ($20): The cutest packaging! This set would look amazing on a makeup vanity.

What are your favorite gifts to give under $20? Looking for suggestions! xoxoxo

Harry Potter Eyeshadow Palettes are Coming!

ACCIO EYESHADOW!

I literally squealed with delight when I read this article about the new Harry Potter-themed eyeshadow palette by Storybook Cosmetics. Storybook are the folks that brought us the Harry Potter wand eyeshadow brushes a few months ago, and now they’re answering all of our prayers and making a whole eyeshadow palette full of “Witchcraft and Wizardry” themed colors!

All Storybook says is that the palette will come out in the upcoming weeks (perhaps before Christmas??), but I do know this will sell out in minutes, so if you want it you should SIGN UP for their email list! I’m also following them on Instagram (@storybookcosmetics) just to make sure I stay up to date with when this is released. I CANNOT WAIT.

Bb Prêt-à-Powder…Worth the hype?

I am a dry shampoo junkie. I have started washing my hair only once every 2-3 days, so I go through a LOT of dry shampoo. I finally broke down and purchased Bumble and bumble Prêt-à-Powder ($27), which is a cult favorite powder dry shampoo that basically everyone and their mom swears by.

I’ve been using Prêt-à-Powder for a few weeks now, and I can say it works. It voluminizes and removes oil, and leaves a nice texture in my hair (I have shoulder length hair that needs lots of volume, so this is perfect). It smells nice too (not too strong). My only problem is that you have to use a TON of product to get it to work, which is a big deal when it costs $27 for 2 oz. Dispensing takes a long time too because it’s a powder with a tiny pin hole in the cap, so you have to part your hair and shake out the powder to get it out. Then you have to wait a minute or so, then rub your scalp with your fingers to really work it in. It’s a whole ordeal, and to be honest, spray dry shampoos are a lot easier.

So I’m torn…I absolutely love the way it feels and looks in my hair (and it’s the only dry shampoo I trust on day 3), but it takes a while to put on and it is so expensive because you have to use a lot of the product. For now I’ll say 3/5, but it’s definitely worth having in your beauty arsenal.

YSL Touche Éclat Dupe for $14!

I have been on the lookout for the perfect under eye brightener/concealer for a while now. I want light, buildable coverage that looks natural and brightens my face without providing too much coverage. YSL Touche Éclat ($42) is a cult classic for doing just that, but it’s a little out of my price range. I went into Sephora looking for help, and they directed me to the Sephora Collection Smoothing and Brightening Concealer ($14). When I saw that it was only $14 (a third of the price of YSL Touche Éclat), I immediately snatched it up!

I’ve been using 05 Radiant Peach for a few weeks no on my under eyes, forehead, and down the bridge of my nose for a light highlight. I am in LOVE with the product. It’s very light coverage, but the color is great and really brightens my under eye so that I look wide awake. I have dry skin, and this stuff looks so good on, it doesn’t dry out or look cakey by the end of the day. The coverage is super buildable, and it makes a great concealer for layering it on if I’m looking especially dead.

My only complaint is the packaging. It’s one of those with the brush on the end and you have to twist (“CLICK CLICK CLICK”) to make product come out on to the brush to use it. But the brush is no good so you’re still going to have to use a concealer brush or your fingers to work it into your skin. I hate the clicking because I never know when the product is going to come out or how much is going to get on the brush. I wish they would just put it in a normal tube with a sponge applicator or something. Basically, love the formula, great value, but I hate the packaging. 4/5

Sephora VIB Sale! My Shopping List

Ladies, it’s the most wonderful time of the year…The Sephora VIB Sale! 20% off EVERYTHING for VIB’s. The VIB Rouge sale was last week, but the one for VIB’s is coming up this weekend.

I thought I would put together my personal Sephora shopping list for all of you guys, and tomorrow I will share a few ideas for Christmas gifts for your loved ones.

My shopping list is extensive, but I’ve had my eyes on these products for a while:

• Kat Von D Shade + Light Refillable Contour Palette ($49): This one I’m still not sure about because I’m new to contour, so I’m not sure if I would need all of those colors. But it’s got rave reviews online, and it’s refillable so even if I only use the dark bronzers, I can refill them when I hit pan. I’ve really really wanted a dark contour bronzer for a while now, because my Hoola matte bronzer from Benefit is just not dark enough for a dramatic look.
• Too Faced Soleil Matte Bronzer ($30): My bestie recently picked this up, and she’s got great contour skills and swears by this product. She got the darkest color, so maybe that would work better for me than the whole Kat Von D Palette…What do ya’ll think?
• Fresh Skincare Darlings ($19.50): This is a pack that includes the Fresh Soy Face Cleanser (I’ve been coveting this for a while) and a mini Sugar Lip Treatment. It’s a good deal, and I know I’ll use it.
• Belif Aqua Bomb ($38): Ya’ll know I’m OBSESSED with this moisturizer, and I’m about to run out so I’m going to buy another while it’s 20% off.
• Clinique Chubby Stick ($24): I feel like I need a better touch up foundation stick to carry with me. I find that my foundation doesn’t always stay to the end of the day, and having this (for under $25) in my purse would be a good product to have.
• Benefit Watt’s Up! ($30): I want to wear highlighter more often, but I don’t have time to fiddle with powder highlighters. I’m hoping this cream to powder highlighter will be easy and natural for every day wear.

I don’t know if I will be able to bite the bullet and buy EVERYTHING on this list (that would be almost $200!), but I think I’m definitely going to get something for contour, the Fresh kit, and Belif aqua bomb. What are ya’ll picking up during the VIB sale??

Sephora Favorites Extravagant Eyes Box

If you haven’t heard of the Sephora Favorites Boxes, you are missing out! These are multi-brand gift boxes that Sephora puts together, usually around a theme, and they sell them at hugely discounted rates. The Extravagant Eyes box ($42), for example, includes 8 products from brands like Laura Mercier, Huda Beauty, Smash Box, NARS, etc. for a total value of $134. That means you’re getting all of these products for almost 70% off!

I’m going to do a full review of all of the products in the box, but TL;DR the Extravagant Eyes box is a downright steal, and you need to buy it! Just the full-size Laura Mercier Caviar Stick and the Huda Beauty Lashes pay for the whole thing and make it worth it!

• FULL SIZE Huda Beauty Lashes in Samantha #7: These lashes are soooo full and luscious. I’ve only worn false lashes a couple of times, and they were never these big. These are great for a super glam look, and I can’t wait to wear them to a wedding I’m going to this weekend! The only downside is they didn’t come with a lash glue, so I had to pick up the DUO lash glue ($9) so that I could use them. 4/5
• FULL SIZE Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Plum: Ya’ll, this full-size Laura Mercier caviar stick eye colour is normally $29! And if you look at Sephora.com, they are OUT of the Plum color because it’s the prettiest shade. I’m so happy with this stick, it is so easy for a one color eye look and blends easily with a blending brush. 5/5
• FULL SIZE NARS Dual Intensity Eye Shadow in Himalia: Another full-size product in this kit, worth $29! This eyeshadow is GORGEOUS on, like a light golden shimmer. It looks great with the Laura Mercier Caviar Stick as an inner corner color with a gold gradient into purple. 5/5
• 0.10 oz Marc Jacobs Beauty O!Mega Lash Volumizing Mascara in Blacquer: Meh. I love that it’s Marc Jacobs because their beauty products are very high end, but this is just a normal black mascara. It’s always nice to have a travel size mascara though for your purse. 3/5
• 0.158 oz Milk Makeup Eye Pigment in Silent Disco: This is new to me. I’ve been wanting to try Milk products for a while, so I was excited to see this one. This is like a liquid shadow that you put on your lid and it stays all day. It’s a sparkly purple, so it’s more of a going out shade, but it looks BEAUTIFUL with the Laura Mercier stick. This little sample should last me a long time. 4/5
• 0.028 oz Sephora Collection Waterproof Contour Eye Pencil 12 HR Wear in Black Lace #01: A great, standard black eyeliner. So useful, and great for keeping in my purse. 4/5
• 0.14 oz Smashbox Cosmetics 24 Hour Photo Finish Shadow Primer: This is a wonderful eye primer, and the perfect size for travel. I’m going to bring it to that wedding this weekend! 5/5
• 0.25 oz Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy: This product I would have NEVER bought for myself, but I love that it was included here! It’s nice to try out new things. This is a gold glitter with a clear medium, with the tiniest eyeliner brush on it. It would be great for gold glitter eyeliner, but you can use it for anything where you would want glitter! I’m going to use it for my Halloween makeup look. 4/5

I am in LOVE with this box, and so happy I purchased it! This would make a great gift for the beauty lover in your life (or for yourself!).

 

The BEST ColourPop Ultra Matte Lipsticks for Fall

Fall makeup is my favorite kind of makeup. Dark lips, long eyelashes…Everything just feels so romantic and beautiful, you know? Well, if you’re like me and you’re on a makeup budget, but you still want to have a large variety of beautiful lip colors for the season, I highly recommend you check out ColourPop cosmetics. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but their ultra matte liquid lipsticks are the best in the business, and they are only $6! YES, $6. And if you spend over $30, you get free shipping.

The Ultra Matte Liquid Lipsticks are my favorite for a few reasons. (1) They last ALL FREAKING DAY. You may need to retouch after eating if you didn’t use a lip primer or lip liner, but that’s it. And when they fade, they fade evenly so it doesn’t look patchy. (2) The color coverage is amazing. They are true to the color in the tube. (3) They dry relatively quickly for liquid lipsticks so you don’t have to hang around with your mouth open for a few minutes after applying them.

They are drying, yes, a little bit, but not that bad especially considering the payoff that you’re getting for longevity. If you don’t want a matte finish you can apply a lip balm over top to help with the drying.

Here are a few of my absolute FAVORITES for Fall:

Bumble

Tulle

Bad Habit

More Better

Notion

Beeper

• Bumble: A classic ColourPop color, and still one of my favorites. This is a “dusty warm terracotta” that is like a grayish reddish orange. This one is classic Fall, and is on ColourPop’s Best Sellers list.
• Tulle: A “dusty mauve burgundy” that looks like a very deep reddish brown on me. I love this color, but my husband doesn’t (boys never understand makeup anyway haha). It’s a ColourPop Best Seller, so what does he know anyway.
• Bad Habit: A “dusty mauve pink” that reads brighter on my lips than it sounds. But this one is perfect for work, I wear it all the time.
• More Better: A “deep violet wine” that looks like a deep fuchsia on me.
• Notion: “Rich red violet” that looks like a very very dark red with cool undertones. This is from ColourPop’s Fall collection. I LOVE this color, but the formula is a little patchy on my lips and harder to apply than the others. I still use it though because the color is beautiful, I just have to keep an eye on it in case I need to touch it up.
• Beeper: The only brown lip on this list, this one is a brown lip for beginners. It’s a “warm mid-tone taupe” that looks great on my medium skin tone when I want something vampier. Another ColourPop Best Seller.

What are your favorite ColourPop lipstick colors? I might do another post about ColourPop lippie stix because they’re a completely different product. If you’re still hesitating on buying ColourPop products, just GO FOR IT! They’re amazing and totally live up to the hype.

*Pictures are not my own because I didn’t have the time to take them. 😦

Why I returned the ABH Ultimate Glow Kit

So, I already posted about how I was sooo pumped for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Ultimate Glow Kit ($45). I immediately ordered it online without even swatching in store, because I was so sure that I was going to love it. All of the other Glow Kits have rave reviews online, and this one had 50% more highlighter for only $5 more. It seemed too good to be true!

Turns out it was too good to be true. This highlighter palette was not for me. All of the golden highlighters were completely glittery and they looked terrible on my skin. It looked like when I was in 6th grade and used to put glitter all over my face. This was just straight up a palette of glitter bronzers, right out of 2004. And “Snow”, that white color that I thought would be useful for brow bone and inner corner of the eye? Yeah, that has a blue-ish tint to it on the skin that made me look gross. Honestly, I didn’t like anything about this palette. I tried for a couple days to make it work, but I ended up returning it (thank GOD Sephora does refunds!). Instead I picked up the ABH Master Palette by Mario eye palette ($45), which was a MUCH better use of my money (a review on that to come!).

I can see how some women would like this palette, if you really like glitter or want something for going out. But if you want a natural, glowing highlighter that makes you lit from wtihin….Yeah, this isn’t it. Sorry. 1/5

WANTED: ABH Ultimate Glow Kit

I’m a highlighter junkie, so I’ve been eyeing the Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kits for a few weeks now. I hadn’t decided which one I wanted to get, until I saw that they are releasing a new one….The ULTIMATE Glow kit. The standard glow kit has 4 highlighters for $40, but this one has 6 highlighters for $45! Yes, you read that right. The colors are very warm, which is perfect for a medium skin tone, and they even have a true white highlighter, which I don’t own yet. 

This palette is a downright steal, so I am for sure going to pick one up when they are released online TOMORROW. I have a feeling these are going to sell out FAST, so make sure you get into a store or buy online! Sephora online release is tomorrow, October 11th, and in store October 14th. 

Gigi from BeatFaceFriday wrote a great blog post with swatches on the Ultimate Glow Kit, which you should check out! I will be writing my own review once I pick it up.

UPDATE: I bought it! Look out for my review when my Sephora shipment arrives this weekend. Pick it up quick if you want it, I bet it’s going to sell out in a couple days. xoxoxo