Hey everyone!
As promised, here is my list of beauty items that I am loving right now.
Hair Products - My absolute favorite shampoo/conditioner is the Organix Ever-Straight Brazillian Keratin Therapy. These smell amazing, and I have noticed a difference in the straightness in my hair. I have naturally wavy hair, with the tendency to get quite frizzy while blow-drying it. After getting out of the shower, I use the John Freida Frizz Ease Serum right before I blow-dry. It makes my hair pretty straight to the point I have little to straighten!
I try not to wash my hair every day since it's pretty bad for your hair, so I am always on the hunt for a great dry shampoo. I tried the Pantene one first, and liked it, other than the fact it would leave such an awful white residue in my hair (I'm a brunette so it was very visible!). I went to Ulta and got a sample of the Oscar Blande dry shampoo and hated it. I am so happy I didn't get the full version - I didn't feel that it worked at all, and the smell was overwhelming, it was sickly sweet.
I recently read in a magazine that the beauty editors loved the Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo - I was shocked to hear that they loved a Suave product! I always thought of the brand to be tacky and cheap. Not anymore! I got a coupon for 50 cents off of two products from their professional line, and I got the dry shampoo and the shine spray and I love them both! The dry shampoo beat the Pantene and the Oscar Blande by miles.
Makeup:
Primers - I have recently fallen in love with Physician's Formula products. I got a hold of these $5 off of any product coupons and I went a little nuts with them! I bought the 3-in-1 correcting primer + sun protection in nude. It doesn't totally make all of the redness in my skin go away, but it dramatically evens my skin tone and gives me a nice glow - it just makes the perfect canvas for my foundation.
Foundation - Since self tanning, I needed to get some darker foundation...I am scared to put self tanner on my face because I don't want it to be splotchy or look bad. Walgreens had a buy one get one 1/2 off so I bought the Revlon Photo Ready and the Revlon Color Stay foundations. I haven't used the Color Stay yet, but I picked it up for later when I have full days at school this fall. I have used the Photo Ready and am amazed! I read a ton of reviews and people's biggest gripe was the shimmer in it. I really don't notice it at all, it seemed pretty matte to me, even in the sun. People also say there's a white cast to it in photos, but I haven't taken any pictures while wearing it yet, so I will get back to you on that. I love the coverage of this foundation - I had completely given up on liquid foundation because I could never find one that was good enough, and this restored my faith. I think I really just needed more of a medium to full coverage instead of a light.
Concealer - The two I really like the most right now are the Revlon Photo Ready Concealer and the Physician's Formula Rx Concealer. I use them both (one or the other) on blemishes, and on my under eyes after the Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Eye Roller (the tinted one).
Powder - I use Rimmel Stay Matte Powder and love it. It really does help with my oily t-zone - I press it into those oily spots with my brush rather than to just dust it on as well and that also helps.
Blush - I have been using NYX Pinched (a dupe for NARS Orgasm!), Physician's Formula Mineral Glow Pearl, Hard Candy Fox in a Box (the lightest pink box with the bronzer) and Physician's Formula Happy Booster Blush. I have to say that I have been using Pinched the most lately, and I sometimes put the pearl blush over it to give it a nice sheen.
Bronzer - I am really into contouring and use NYC Matte Bronzer in Sunny and the bronzer part of Fox in a Box. I reach for Sunny the most as it is pretty dark and that it's matte.
Highlighter - I recently got the Physician's Formula Mineral Glow Pearl in translucent because I heard it was a good dupe for MAC Silver Dusk. I immediately loved it, but was really bummed to find out the intense shimmer was just an overlay! I still use it, but really have to pack it on and it is much less intense now that the overlay is gone. I am just going to spring for the Silver Dusk as I know that I will love it. I have the Happy Booster translucent powder as well, but I honestly don't really like it because it's extremely subtle. I think it showed up better when I had really pale skin.
Eyes - Oh my, I am an eye product junkie so there are many favorites! As for shadows, the Too Faced Natural Eye Palette, Maybelline Eye Studio Eye Shadow Quad in Green with Envy, and the ELF Beauty Book Brights Edition seem to be the ones I reach for most. Liners - I have a ton of liners that I love: Physician's Formula Shimmer Strip Gel Liner trio in Hazel, Physician's Formula Eye Enhancing eyeliner trio in Green, and my ELF black liquid liner.
Mascara - I am a mascara junkie too. My combinations change quite a bit...I recently discovered that layering different mascaras works beautifully so I starting doing that in the last month. I was layering the Physician's Formula Eye Enhancing mascara in Hazel under Maybelline Falsies until I brought home the Revlon Custom-Eyes - holy crap does this mascara define! It doesn't lengthen very well so that's why I layer the Falsies on top.
Lips - Until recently I didn't really play with lip colors that much. My absolute favorite lipstick of the moment is a beautiful nude - Avon in Bare! I used to hate this on my lips because of my extremely light skin tone, it looked really odd and brown. Now that I am tan, it is the most beautiful color I have ever seen. I have been topping that off with ELF Hypershine Gloss in Flirt and Blossom (a nude peachy color and a baby pink). Other favie combos: NYX Indian Pink (I don't know why they call it pink, it is a very peachy orange!) topped off with Milani 3D Glitzy Glamor Gloss in Designer Label, NYX Rose bud with L'oreal Infallible Plumping gloss in Plumped Pink, ELF Luscious liquid lipstick in Cherry Tart topped with ELF plumping lip glaze in Mauve Berry, and last but not least ELF luscious liquid lipstick in Pink Lemonade topped with the plumping lip glaze in Oasis. The great thing about all of these ELF lip products is that they were only one dollar!
Nail polish - I have just recently started really experimenting with my nails as well. I have always had pretty bad nails - they peel and are not very strong at all, and some of them curve down oddly. I can never wear them very long length wise bare because it looks awful. I never was really into nail polish and I recently starting watching beauty You Tube videos and all of the girls had such beautiful painted nails, and I thought why not?
I have been experimenting with all different colors but I think my favorites have to be the Crackle polishes. I have most of them from China Glaze, but also have three from Sally Hansen. I just love them! Favorite non crackle polish...that would probably be Avon in Copper Armor. It's just a really pretty bronzey color that looks beautiful with a tan! My only gripe is that it chips like crazy if you forget to put on a top coat! Speaking of top coats, I absolutely love Winning Nails Tough Coat Bonder/Sealer. It's marketed for a sealer for nail art, but I read reviews from women that just used it as a top coat and loved it! It definitely makes my manicures last at least 5 days longer. Who doesn't want that when they spend all that time getting the polish on?!
Alrighty I think that is it for now - in future posts I will start taking pictures of everything.
Stay beautiful!
Nykkie
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