oh hello blogging world

I told you I couldn't stay away for too long, I'd miss it too much.  So anyways Im back! (for now at least) lol. Recently a good friend (and reader) of mine asked me about a dilemma that many women are puzzled with.  And trust me, its one that every one has dealt with at some point or another, and that is.....how to make your EYELINER stay put! First things first, it depends on what you are using, gel, liquid, and creme eyeliner are all fairly long lasting and it is their intended purpose to stay put on those lids!  But I'm talking about the waterline, what do you use there? Its an area where products have a higher tendency to run and melt, so I've decided that I'm going to go on a little eyeliner adventure and try out a few new pencil eyeliners to find which is best for long wearing waterline wear (redundant lol.)  A tip I do have though, regardless of whatever liner you have is that anything with a creme, soft kohl, that type of tendency will last oodles longer if set with powder.  So if you take a TINY amount of translucent or whatever powder you prefer and gently put it under NOT ON TOP OF where you put the eyeliner, it should stay put.  But anyways, I need to find a few more eyeliners to test out, I'm thinking three different ones should suffice.  So I'll definitely keep you guys up to date with that project. In other news I can finally say that I truly recommend the NYC Matte Bronzer in SUNNNY, I'm in love with this product.  To get the best application, in my opinion, take a dome shaped or a smaller blush brush, and start from where your cheekbones meet your hairline.  Then dab the product into the hollows of your cheeks right under where your cheekbones are, don't just brush it on, pat it in, it makes a huge difference, then if you want just add a bit more anywhere the sunlight would naturally hit you.  But this method does give you really flawless cheekbones and its a great contour. I love this bronzer! If anyone wants to know more about it, let me know :) Oh okay so in other news, I was at my local TJ Maxx the other day, and for those of you who are not familiar with that store, its a store which sells a variety of inexpensive designer labels for less (way less!)  And i found the most amazing shoes, for only $10, they are gorgeous and neutral and will complement so many looks, its great to find such deals when you least expect them.  The shoes are Seychelles which is a pretty expensive brand, and they went from somewhere in the $75-80 range down to $10.  Seriously guys, when you go to store like TJ Maxx or Marshalls, the most important thing to do is to look, and have a little patience, you never know what gems you'll find.  On a last and very exciting note,  I was just given the Urban Decay Hall of Fame Set ($20) by the most amazing person ever, thank you best friend! and lemme tell you guys, I AM IN LOVE (so far.)  The set comes with five of the company's most beloved products, and on the Urban Decay website its being sold for $20 (it was originally $29 i believe.)  Honestly, this set could have been worth way more, seeing as the XL Primer Potion it comes with retails for $23 by itself.  Now everything that the beauty world has hyped up about the Urban Decay Primer Potion, is pretty much accurate.  It is one of the best eyeshadow primers I've every used.  And it makes your shadows last for hours!  Okay so more on the Urban Decay Set in a later post, my fingers are aching from typing so much haha.  Thank you so much for reading everyone! :)

fun reads,

bella

ps: kim's my fave, by far.

images property of their respective owners.

update!

im sorry for being away everyone! Just been extremely busy with school and what not.  I hope that everyone is having a great week, lol two more days til the weekend theres something to look forward too.  Anyways oh so currently testing a few products at the moment:
a) NYC Matte Bronzer in Sunny (swatch was in the post before this one): thoughts so far, I like it, not too much color for me so its just perfect to even everything out.  And its really great for easy contouring. It glides on very easily, I just use either a angled blush brush or a big fluffy brush, both methods have different outcomes but the finished product look very natural and effortless, the fact that its a drugstore item makes it even better! The Ulta that I went to had it in stock but I had heard rumors on the blogs that it was being discontinued and pulled from drugstores, I'm most likely repurchasing next time I go to CVS or a Duane Reade, its definitely worth the money.
b) NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils: honestly you guys, I've been using the matte white (milk) every day, even if its just for the tear duct, they are just so smooth! Little warning though, I'd be careful about using these in the waterline as they do transfer easily, so if you don't mind the smudgy look than go for it. Other than that really pleased.
c) Olay Complete All Day Moisture SPF 15 Lotion ($10.99 at most drugstores): So far not bad at all, after that Neutrogena disaster, I wanted to try something different, and this has been working well so far. It is a little bit thick for my skin but i don't mind it at all, more on it later.

Oh and I've been obsessed with this song since yesterday, so sweet: B.o.B Nothin' On You
check it out!
(these are just my personal opinions, im not being sponsored by a company or endorsing anything, music property of its respective owner.)

p.s. Katherine McPhee as a blonde is very cute, loving the makeup.

Ulta Buys :)

I was at Ulta yesterday, which is a beauty/salon store for those that didn't know, and i picked up a few needed things.  I wanna wait a few days before I do a full review on all of these products, just so I can test them out and give you guys my honest opinion on them.  So I picked up two NYX cosmetics jumbo eye pencils ($3.99-one in milk and the other in slate which is a dupe for MAC's Sharkskin), NYC cosmetics Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny ($2.99), Redken Satinwear 02, and some refills of products I already had.  I was super excited for the NYX pencils though, I've heard so much about them and I'm just really excited to try them out and do a few looks with them.  The Satinwear is a blow out lotion, and its used to prep your hair before you blow dry it, it works amazing plus it smells great :)  The NYC matte bronzer is another product I was excited to try because a) its being discontinued! :( b)its matte, most bronzers are shimmery this one gives you the perfect amount of all over color or just enough for some natural contouring of the cheeks and nose.  I will definitely let you know how that one goes, but its only $3 and you cant go wrong with that price, so its worth trying out for sure.  The NYX pencils were buy one get one free, which is the promotion Ulta is running on all NYX products this week, so if your looking to try out any of there stuff, now would be a great time to do so.  Initial reaction to the pencils are that they are super creamy and make a wonderful color base! They can really amp up a color and deepen it for more dimension, but I'll do a separate review on those soon, so look out for that :)  Here are just some pictures of the bronzer&pencils and some swatches of the colors, milk is a matte white & slate is almost metallic navy blue.

fun reads,

bella

ps: classic beauty

(This is just my opinion, I am not trying to endorse any products here.)