 Hey guys! I can't believe August is nearly over. For some reason, false lashes have been a discussion among a bunch of my friends and some followers. I've found myself recommending certain styles and giving my person tips because I do wear lashes all the time. So my friend Rhea told me I should do a post about tips and tricks. That's exactly what I'm going to do.
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Listen, I'm not a music festival type of person. I am a fall festival type of person where I can get funnel cakes and caramel apples. However, I know that many of you are. Everything from Coachella to Country Music Festivals. I'm from Tennessee and we have the CMA Fan Fest. So there are plenty of opportunities to go to one usually.
 Well...here we are. Another Subculture palette review. This isn't going to be a typical review though. I'm going to interject some thoughts that I've had on my mind for a while.
I bought my Subculture palette myself. So this is my own money, it wasn't sent to me. The color scheme is unlike anything I've seen before. It arrived in one piece and not broken thank goodness because shit happens. You never know.  Today I'd like to talk about self tanner. Some that I really love, or I'm really enjoying so far. Also, will mention a few that I don't really care for or they just didn't do well for me as the others. I use self tanner quite a bit, if you ever see me really tan then it's usually a "faux tan". I'm a big fan of "spray tans" like the booth spray tans of Mystic Tan or Versa Spa for all over tan. I usually do that for events. The others I'm going to list is for at home use.
 Ok soooooo why is everyone putting Baking Soda on their face?
This is going to be straight to the point, it's gonna be real, it's gonna be blunt, and some might see it as harsh. So stop reading now, if you're easily offended or don't want to know my thoughts on this situation. 
We talk about a lot of stuff on here. A lot of reviews. I rarely take you thru my tricks/shortcuts. Recently I got to use a new brush set and contour kit sent from The Vanity Planet. The brush set is a 15 piece brush set, cruelty free with Premium Synthetic Bristles, wooden handles of Brichwood and very light weight.
Here's a description from the company about the quality of the Bristles: "Made with Premium Synthetic Bristles, the brushes have a silky soft feel and are cruelty free. This particular material is not highly absorbent, so it’s great for applying cream and liquid-based products, as it allows for precise, smooth, and streak-free application"  So for this post I thought I'd give you a beauty hack of mine that makes a difference on prolonging my foundation, and keeping it as flawless and luminous as possible. Without being oily. My trick plain is simple is I mix together difference primers with not just different benefits, but different textures also. The ones I mix together are for my T-Zone and the areas I get the oiliest. Now the luminizing part comes in with using it only on the perimeter of the face. I don't mix luminizng primers because I do not feel that would be beneficial since it's going around the outside of the face. My luminizng primers that I rotate are: Smashbox Radiance Primer Dr Brandt Pores No More Luminizng Primer The Smashbox is almost like a cream highlight, it's a golden hour effect. It's a bit thicker and I use it with a beauty blender. I really enjoy it. It's also a moisturizing primer due to the Hylauronic Acid that's in it. So it's got more benefits that just a pretty glow. Dr Brandt Pores No More Luminizing Primer, is a pearl shade but basically invidible one the skin. It really does make pores vanish and it is luminizng. In the most subtle way. It gives foundationa a satin finish and it's nice to mix into foundation as well. It's a typical lotion style primer therefore it's easy to mix it into other liquid and cream foundations. Of coure you could do that with the Smashbox one but the peach tint would change the color some in the foundation and the Hylauronic Acid would make the foundation more moisturizing. If that's not something you need because you get oily, or oily in your T-Zone, I would avoid mixing the Smashbox Radiance Primer with foundation. Now the primer mix that I do consists of primers that have these benefits: Oil Control Pore Minimizing Smoothing This is the little custom cocktail that I put in my t zone only because that's where I get oily. I don't see the point in putting these potent products in areas where you don't get oily. Now most primers that will control oil will also smooth lines and texture but I like to be extra. So I use 3 usually and they all have different textures. Which I think that's why it works because sometimes a primer can be fantastic but if it's not tacky enough it doesn't have the staying power. Get what I'm sayin? It may also be smoothing but if it's too thin and like a lotion it's going to absorb into the skin more than it should. Another reason why I do it, is because primers that have a ton of silicone (dimethicone, etc) in them, for some reason, my makeup slides off my face if I use it by itself. Honestly, it does. A great example of that is Smashbox original primer, that is like a cult favorite, the one that started them all. Yea, makes my makeup slide right off. So what I like to do is get travel size or deluxe samples of primers when there is a promo for one or whatever because: 1) I do mix them, so I don't need much product 2) it's easy for me to find ones I may really like that way without spending tons of money and having a bunch of duds. Recently the ones I've been mixing, have been: Smashbox Pore Minimizing Primer (always in there because of the thick texture) Becca EverMatte (always in there because it's the most mattifying primer I've used) NARS Pore and Shine Control Primer (This is because of the thin consistency and it has the benefits I want) Alone the NARS isn't enough. It's too thin. Alone the Smashbox one will work on pores but it doesn't control the oil and it doesn't keep my makeup on. Alone the Becca is enough to keep me matte and keep my makeup on for sure but I still have the noticeable pores and lines issue. So therefore instead of have a quest where one can do it all I'd rather mix less than a pea size of samples or travel size and use those for months on end. I really think the key here is having one that is thin as well. So bear that in mind if you're gonna try this. Have one that's thin so that it'll mix them properly for you and have a good consistency. I really like mixing in the Smashbox Pore Minimizing (it's the purple one) because it's so thick which is why it works to fill in pores and lines but at the same time it's almost too thick to blend out, thus we thin it out. Some people layer primers and I think that's fine especially if the primers are thin or like a lotion for the most part. Like I know some who use the Smashbox Primer spray and then use the Nivea After Shave Balm (which is a good primer by the way). Then my friend Alaina layers a color correcting actual cream not primer (for redness), the Cane and Austin primer and then the Becca EverMatte on the more oily areas for her skin, with EverMatte being on top. Which is perfectly fine because the thicker consistency is on top. Where as if it were in the middle or something it would start to ball up. Which is the other reason why I mix these and apply the mixture because some primers will ball up on the skin with too much blending and/or rubbing on the skin. Also they can ball up when you go in with foundation as well if you blend that in too much, depending on what primer you've used, so again that's why I apply a mixture. Sometimes I will apply the Nivea Shave Lotion over top of what I've already done or mix it into the other primers because it is a very tacky finish which makes foundation stick like glue to the face. I know this is a lot of information and kinda confusing but the jist is: if you're primer is not working for you like it should, be it pores are still noticeable, makeup isn't lasting like it should, you're getting oily, etc. Get some samples or what have you and try mixing different ones and see if that helps the situation. Focusing the mixture on the problem areas while using a different one if you want around the perimeter of the face that doesn't cause you any issue typically. If you're reading this the day when it's posted (4/15) or early the next day, there is a complete GRWM on my Snapchat where I explain the tips and tricks and why I do this and that. Along with other tips. Follow me on : Snapchat: loveandmascara Instagram: @lovemascara Twitter: @loveand_mascara I now have a Facebook page so feel free to follow me on there too it's Love and Mascara as well.
 It's time for another round of "The Good, The Bad, and the Eh." This time we're talking about powders. It's going to be a 2 part though. This one is going to be pressed powders. The next will be loose powders. I'm going to preface by saying this is just *my opinion*, so don't get offended if I don't like one of your favorite powders. It's not personal, it's makeup lol. So lets's start with the good. I actually have quite a few that I really like from different price points which I love. I like for options of all sorts to be available. First up is my Holy Grail, my absolute favorite, my one and only for a good year or two and it's the Algenist Color Correcting Finishing Powder. For a very long time this is all I would use to set my under eye area. I absolutely love it and I recommend it to everyone. It's quite mesmerizing to look at with the different colors in it but it's totally transluscent on the skin. It's not a powder that claims to "airbush" or "photoshop" the skin. Algenist works with "AlgaCorrecting complex plus an algae-derived ingredient combine for glowing, luminous-looking skin". Of course with anything that is luminous or light reflecting there's a blurring aspect that comes to the skin. I actually love that in a finishing powder more than anything else. I don't think most primers do a good job of living up to that, and some foundations do a good job and some don't. However, a powder that you use to set and basically finish your makeup is ideal to be the luminous and blurring step in the makeup. I do not find that it makes you luminous from a highlighter quality, I believe it just simply color corrects and gives you an overall pulled together finished look. Which is all I really want. I would choose that over intense luminosity and intense smoothing. I just want to look pulled together and makeup to be on point but not too much, not too heavy, or unrealistic. This is at Sephora and it's $38 for .32oz . My second favorite powder is my 2nd in running to the Algenist powder. It's the Too Faced Primed and Poreless Pressed Powder. Now this is a matte transluscent (slightly pink) smoothing powder, it's also available as a loose powder. I've not tried the loose powder. I went in as a total skeptic of it's smoothing abilities and blurring claims. I am happy to say I was definitely wrong about it and it's my go to powder for under the eyes, and it's also my go to powder for large pores. It's a thin veil of product and to me there is a visible difference of the appearance of my fine lines under my eyes and the appearance of the pores as well. I also love that it can be dusted on and work just fine or it can be pressed in with a sponge and have the same effect and a matte finish. I love it very very much. The packaging is also adorable as well. It's $30 for .35 oz. This give a more "perfect" finish to makeup where you definitely look Instagram worthy. It's the closest thing I've found in pressed powders to a "photoshop" quality. Next is a great light reflecting and overall finishing powder which is the Hourglass Ambient Powder in Diffused Light. This has a yellow cast to it and it's a really subtle luminous "banana" like powder. For such a long time everyone set their under eye with a yellow-ish banana shade from either Ben Nye to ABH Contour Palette Banana shade. This is a luminous version and I feel the best choice if you want that shade. This was in the first line of the Ambient Powders which was amazingly successful and to me sky rocketed the Hourglass brand. They have other shades but this is what I would use to set the face. The others I feel are a bit too luminous except for Ethereal Light which is a cool white sheer powder. They are now available in travel size which is $22 for .049 oz of all the shades. The full size is $46 for .35 oz which is expensive on both counts. There have been several Ambient formulas but the original is the best. Now onto some really great affordable options. Most recently the Wet n Wild Photo Focus powder. This is a silky sheer powder. It's a bit luminous and it's tested specifically to work well under flash photography and in pictures. It does work very well. It's around $6. They don't have a translucent shade but they have a nice range of shades and I don't find them overly pigmented so I think you'll be ok with your shade or a shade lighter and a fluffy brush. Another great matte finish powder is the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless. I do not feel like it's as good as the Too Faced Primed and Poreless but I do feel like it does help with larger pores and it's definitely matte. It's a good alternative and it's something I like to keep on me in my purse or traveling to touch up and blot my T-Zone. Also if it breaks or gets damaged, or lost, you've not lost an expensive powder and I personally feel like it's always good to have 2 powders. Whether they're the same or different but one for your vanity or counter space when you're doing your makeup and one to take with you where ever you go.  Now moving onto the Eh powders. They're neither great or terrible they're in the middle and they're just alright. The reason they're worth mentioning is because it might help you choose a better powder for yourself. Or it might help you avoid a powder that's not right for you. Covergirl Tru Blend. I like this because it's actually pigmented and it provides a nice finish. A satin-matte finish and a bit of coverage as well. However it doesn't set the under eye for me and it emphasizes lines more than I would like. Which is why it's in this category. Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Pressed Powder. Don't kill me. I know, I know, everyone talks about how wonderful it is and how smooth it makes the skin. Don't get me wrong as a setting powder for the entire face, it's very very nice and it does give a smooth finish to the skin that you can feel. I have an issue with this because it oxidizes my under eye concealer. It's $45 and I feel like for that price it shouldn't oxidize. Before you ask, no it doesn't matter what concealer I use, it still oxidizes it and if I use too little that it doesn't set the under eye and then the under eye creases terribly. I have some pictures that are not photoshopped or anything that will show you the difference of this versus other powders. I would prefer any of the powders in the "Good" section over this and for the same price almost, I would choose the Hourglass powder. Now onto the bad. This is just my opinion. It's not the Gospel guys. These just didn't work for me. So don't get offended. Covergirl Outlast. This is the new formula or new packaging at least. Some love it but I find it very ordinary and not that great. It's lovely to the touch and very silky feeling. It's a sheer pigment and it's only 3 shades, or that's all I seen. I just don't think it's amazing or even good and I much prefer the Wet n Wild to this one. Mainly because I find the shades very peachy and not what I like at all. Next is also going to be a fan favorite that I just never liked, which is the older formula of the Make Up For Ever HD pressed powder. They have reformulated and I hear it's quiet nice. I do not like this in the loose or the pressed formula, or at least the old one. I find that again like so many others it makes lines more noticeable and I just don't enjoy it. Which HD is High Definition which means essentially everything in that filter, finish, or whatever is going to be more defined and I do not want that. I want the blurring filter, finish, etc. I want the smoothing, I want the luminous, I don't want to be more detailed. Which I'm sure is not what they meant but if we just break down the name that's kinda what it implies. I would like to try the new formula though just to see if it's finally the immaculate powder that it should be. So that's all I got. Those are what stand out. I narrowed the list down quite a bit. There are plenty of decent powders out there but I'm trying to discuss the ones either heavily talked about or the ones flying under the radar that I wish people would talk about.
Ok so just for a comparison, on the left we have Too Faced Primed and Poreless Powder on the under eye area. We have Wet N Wild Photo Focus setting the rest of the face.
Now on the right (just ignore my attempt at Faux Freckles) I'm using the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish powder under the eyes and also the rest of the face. It's just dusted on. The pictures are taken with the front facing camera on my phone, in natural light, at a window. It's not photo-shopped (obviously). Also this is right after I had finished the makeup and took pictures. Not after 4-8 hours of wear later.  So recently it's come to light that there is a wider audience looking for empty makeup palettes. Your resident beauty blogger is here to help. I don't know if I've went in depth before about the ones I use now, and have used for the last 2 years or so but my choice is always Make Up For Ever Metal palettes. There are different sizes, and they are actually really inexpensive compared to others on the market. MUFE palettes are hard to catch in stock a lot but I get mine from Frends Beauty mostly. You might have to be a part of their free membership program in order to get to the Make Up For Ever page and if so you'll save 10% on your purchases so it's like a win/win. I've seen these on Sephora's website a lot, granted they are always sold out on there. They're available on the Make Up For Ever website as well. They offer these in X-Large, Large, Medium, and Small. The price range is from $10 to $14. The small is $10 and the XL is $14. As you can tell it's a good deal. The XL will hold 45 standard size (ABH, MUG, MAC etc) shadows. I also use it for my ABH Glow Kits and bigger powders like that. The Large will hold 32 standard size shadows (I'm speaking of the normal circle shadow, I can't speak for square shadows). I have all of my JD Glow shadows in a Large palette. Which are quite a bit bigger than a standard shadow so they're closer to the size of a standard blush from like MAC for example, not as big but close and it fits 18 of those shadows. The Medium size will hold 20 standard size shadows and the Small will hold 9 shadows.  Moving on from the MUFE palettes, some other options are Coastal Scents. The have Custom Palettes. Which are even more inexpensive than the MUFE ones. These have shadow dividers in them though. So if you prefer not to have that, I'm not sure if it can be removed. There are plenty of sizes and some have clear lids so that you can see what's inside your palette. I have the 12 shadow clear lid palette and it's only around $6. They're worth checking out in my opinion. They hold standard size shadows because their individual shadows are standard size.  Etsy has some really cool options for magnetic palettes. Some are incredibly expensive but some are actually really cute with very cute designs for a more affordable price. I don't have any so I can't tell you what the quality is on those or how strong the magnet is in them. Juvia's Place also offers a magnetic palette for $15 (and remember there's always a code for Juvia's Place). Makeup Geek offers the Travel Size Vault palette which only holds 9 shadows but it's really nice and on sale for $9 right now.
So magnetic palettes aren't hard to find, more and more companies are putting them out which I love seeing. My first choice will always be Make Up For Ever until I'm convinced otherwise, but I'm very interested in Juvia's Place and I also have had very good luck with Coastal Scents custom palettes. So I hope this was helpful if you're looking into getting some or branching out and happy shopping! I'm sitting here, covered up in my purple mermaid tail blanket (Thanks J), drinking my Birthday Hot Chocolate (secret recipe), and watching it snow. I'm also sitting here pondering on some very hyped up products that I just.....don't get. A lot of it is very good advertising and marketing.
*SKIP THIS PART IF YOU AREN'T INTERESTED IN MARKETING AND ADVERTISING* Now before we get into it, I'll tell you a pretty simple definition of marketing and advertising. Ad's are a very appealing shot, testimonial, video, post, billboard, commercial, etc by one person or company. Advertising is part of marketing. Marketing is the big picture which is the placement of ads, when to time them, where to put them, so they'll have the most impact and so on. Like, can you imagine how ideal and awesome a time slot to air a commercial during the Superbowl would be? When that many people are watching? So there's that, now you know a little back ground information. I have no issue with ads, lot's of times it's actually very good products that they're talking about. I'm not opposed to sponsors, affiliates, or sponsorships because I do a lot of those and I'm an affiliate to a lot of things. Just because you're sponsored does not mean that you are lying by any means. So today I find myself thinking about products I've purchased because of very very persuasive advertisment and excellent marketing skills. Two in particular stand out but I'll throw a few more in for good measure. First is the Karity 21 Eyeshadow Palette. If you have Facebook I'm sure you've seen the ads for this and I believe it's an article in Huffington Post. The headline is super catchy about how these inexpensive shadows are disrupting a $63 billion dollar industry. So I read the article. I seen the swatches they provided, in said article, which I'll link here. I looked up their Instagram and then I bought a palette. I got the Smokey palette. Fully believed this was going to be amazing. Now, not to say that this is terrible it most certainly is not. However, does anyone remember the first palettes that Morphe had? Where there was inconsistencies in the shadows? This is similar. Some shades do very little, other shades do remarkably well. There's more good shades than bad, but nothing like what I expected it to be which simply, I thought it would be better. I prefer my Makeup Geek shadows that are also very inexpensive. Moving on, and I believe this was also in Huffington Post, I seen an article where this young woman was talking about Dr Jart Cicapair correcting cream that had changed her life. To the point that she no longer needed foundation. I love Dr Jart, we all know this. So I was pumped! It was sold out in my Sephora, then I went to another one and got the very last one. Pretty sure it was selling out online just as quickly. Concept is it's green and turns beige or adjusts to your skin tone. It corrects pigmentation issues, soothes the skin and has a bit of a blurring/masking quality to it for pigmentation issues as well. This was around $50, maybe more? You get 1..7 oz. It comes in a glass jar. It's mint green. Let's be clear, I do like this and it does do what it says. However, unless you have great skin or minor issues with your skin, you still need foundation to have coverage. At the very least you'll need concealer under your eyes or somewhere. So that being said you're paying $50 ish dollars for a correcting cream that has no long term skin care benefits that I can find and also no claims for long term benefits. The you would proceed to foundation. Which is costing you more money when you could use a full coverage foundation and get the same effect of masking your imperfections without the extra step of the Cicapair. So let's say that your foundation costs around $25. For a lot that's really low and then for some it's mid line, and for others it's still expensive. So together you're spending $75 roughly on your foundation/base. Which if that's what you want to do then go for it because make no mistake it is good. However, when I read this article I was under the impression that after using the Cicapair for a while, it changed the appearance of the skin so much you can get away with wearing absolutely no foundation. I could've read that completely wrong but still that's how I took it. So that being said I can't really justify purchasing this product because there are other ways to achieve the same effect which is much more inexpensive and less time consuming. The product is good though, so if it's something you want then go for it, it will help your base makeup for sure. I don't view it as a "need" right now. Another product that was really hyped up for quite a while, is Butter London nail polishes. Let me say I've tried to love these. Over and over again. I have quite a few of these actually. They just, in my opinion, not great. I much prefer Formula X or Essie, or anything else for that matter. These look cool, they have beautiful colors, but there just isn't anything special about them I don't think. I'm also not a huge fan of the Glam Glow masks except the firming one and that's only because it smells good and I like peel off masks. I got the white one that everyone and their uncle was talking about and I tried to use it cause it was not cheap.....it just didn't work for me. I have other masks that do a better job like the Aztec Indian Healing Clay mask. It's way more product, and costs way less. I wanted to love these and I don't think they're useless, I just don't have much luck with them. I'm on a roll now. Laura Mericier secret brightening powder. Secret's out: there is no secret. I'm sorry, it just didn't make my under eye area look any better. It actually made it look worse. I can not use it.. I am not a fan, simple as that. Loving Tan 2 Hour Express Tanning mousse. This. Does. Not. Work. For. Me. I have a whole post on it. People talk about this like it performs miracles but it's super uneven and patchy on me. The color is gorgeous don't get me wrong but it looks very patchy on my skin. I've tried everything, followed all the rules, then tried changing it up. No such luck. Maybelline Age Rewind concealer. This has no coverage in my opinion. I have pretty dark circles though so even using a corrector and then this, I have no luck. It looks like I didn't use anything at all. This is hailed as one of the very best drugstore concealers and I just do not understand why. It still baffles me to this day. Pretty much Tatcha anything. I'm not trying to be mean but the only thing I like from Tatcha is the Triple Indigo cream and I LOVE that cream. It's wonderfully soothing and I think it's fantastic. I'm not a fan of the rice powder that everyone loves, I don't feel like it does anything. I don't like the Luminous spray merely because that just doesn't work for my skin type. I'm not a huge fan of the serum. I just haven't used much from them that has been a hit and it's so expensive. It's widely talked about but I don't get it. Luckily you can always return stuff to Sephora. Another thing that everyone loves is the Bumble and Bumble Pret A Powder. Which is a dry shampoo voluminizing powder. I bought it thinking unicorns would appear and give my hair the boost it needed. NO that didn't happen. Not in the least, not at all. It was a complete waste of my time. I'll leave this here right now. I don't want this to get too lengthy. I guess my advice is, take everyone's recommendations (including mine) with a grain of salt because what works for some, won't work for others. As for things that are heavily marketed by ad placement, do your research. Don't go off that one ad, that links a certain article. Find your own articles. |
ErinI'm from Tennessee. I'm a makeup and skincare lover. I have always enjoyed creating looks but I love to help people with product knowledge and application even more. I've been able to start blogging and do these things I love because God has seen fit to bless me with the opportunity. Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me! 
  
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