Sephora Haul

I don't normally do hauls but I went and picked up a bunch of stuff I'd never tried before, so I figured it would only be appropriate to let you guys know what I got! (Pardon the awful picture, I am by no means a photographer)

2 of them were things I'd had already and loved, being the Stila Stay All Day liquid liner in Intense Black, and a bottle of the Peter Thomas Roth AHA/BHA Clearing Gel that's not in the picture.
The liquid liner by Stila is by far my favorite I've ever used, it glides on really easy and the Stay All Day part is no joke. It takes an intense amount of makeup remover to get it to even budge. For some people that could be irritating, but for me, I'm super happy if I don't have to worry if my eyeliner is smudging/cracking/flaking/moving. The other thing that I love: typically eyeliner pens dry out really fast; I'd used the MAC Penultimate liner and it used to dry out in a matter off 3 or 4 months. My Stila pen usually lasts 7 or 8, and that's with daily use!
The Peter Thomas Roth clearing gel is a staple in my skincare routine; I was devastated when I ran out and I ran straight to Sephora to grab a new bottle. It's the only thing that keeps my skin clear...I've tried just about everything and this is the only one that leaves me smooth, oil-free, and feeling fresh, not dry.
NOW:
On to the products I'd never tried before...-drumroll-
I got my little birthday gift because my birthday is in October so they were giving out the "Libra" box, so it came with two Make Up For Ever products, one of their mascaras, and one of their lipsticks. I'm super excited to try these; I call myself a product junkie...I like to try everything I can get my hands on, but especially mascaras because I'm always concerned that my eyes will get irritated, so I try them like crazy trying to find my favorite. It's currently the Smashbox Full Exposure mascara, but we'll see how this one goes!
The lipstick I'm excited about because I'm always looking for something to add hydration and a pop of color...I've found that I really like Kat Von D's lipsticks, and I'm a big fan of just about anything from Bite Cosmetics. I'll let you all know how I like the Make Up For Ever one!
I picked up the Tarred/Feathered Lip Balm duo from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (which I will abbreviate OCC from now on) because I love to play with my natural lip color, but I would rather do it with something more natural (they're vegan!) and I'm so tired of nudes! I've never seen anything like this one before, so expect a review when I try it out!
I also picked up the Lip Tar in the shade Black Metal Dahlia. I got the idea for this one from Michelle Phan on youtube; I loved her grunge makeup look that she posted...especially the dark lip. I LOVE a dark, vampy lip for fall and winter. I think it makes your skin look bright and smooth, and it really gets me ready for nights out with crunchy leaves, (faux) leather jackets and boots, and cozy sweaters.
She used the shade Black Dahlia in her video, but when I got to Sephora they were sold out of that one, so I picked up their new formulation with a bit of metallic shine, which I'm okay with because I love a touch of glitter! I'm probably going to group a review of that one in with the review of the Tarred and Feathered duo.
Expect that one some time either this week or early next week! Until then, beauties, stay fabulous!

Fall Trend 2014

I know, I know, it's only August right now. BUT it's important to look to the future! I know we're all being told to live in the now, and while I agree with that...I believe we should be living with our brains focused on upcoming beauty trends!
Wait...maybe I'm giving bad advice...
The colder weather is coming, which means we'll be drawing inspiration from our surroundings. Reds, golds, and browns are always popular in the fall months, and that is no different for this year!
I'm always a big fan of metallics moving into the colder months; it reminds me of the beauty of the snow and the magic that is Halloween and Thanksgiving. Hence why so many runways were seen using metallics, from Rodarte to Armani to Issey Miyake.
This trend can be done many different ways- my personal favorite is a subtle pop of metal in the inner corners of the eyes to brighten them up. Try doing this with a shimmery gold or silver, like Stila's Magnificent Metals Foil Finish eyeshadows in Metallic Dusty Rose or Comex Platinum.
Metallic Dusty Rose is a pinkish (just like it sounds, a muted rose color) and Comex Platinum is a beautiful opalescent white.

Dusty Rose is on top and Comex Platinum is on bottom. These photos were from Google (don't wanna take credit for what isn't mine)
Pop these on the inner corner of your eyes or just beneath the lower lash line and they'll pop beautifully! Pink and opalescent colors are flattering on just about everybody.
Also, I constantly recommend Stila products because I absolutely adore their quality. If you have never tried their Kitten products (their signature color), I promise you, try it once and it will forever change your life.
Happy glittering, beauties!

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eyeshadow Review

Hi beauties, I have another review for you today! There's a lot of controversy over the price and quality of the Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish shadows, and I figured I would try it out to form my own opinion.
I have a very mixed opinion about these. I have two shades: Metallic Lavender and Metallic Dusty Rose. I have both swatched below, with and without the primer they tell you to use them with...

The yellow star is what the colors look like when mixed with the primer. The swatches without the star are the ones that were just applied with my finger and nothing else.
They recommend that you don't use brushes with these because they are a really strange consistency; they're like a crunchy cream shadow, if that makes sense. It doesn't feel dry, it doesn't feel wet, it doesn't feel smooth but it also doesn't feel like you're putting chunky glitter on...I have to say you have to feel them for yourself to decide what you think it feels like.

So here's how I feel about Metallic Lavender:
I absolutely adore this shade. I have to say, it isn't really a lavender, it's more of a gunmetal grey with some purple undertones. In the packaging it looks much more purple than it does when you put it on.
You can see from the first swatch without the primer it looks like a shiny, fabulous grey that would be awesome for wearing out. I wore it to work and it got quite a few compliments because it's really, really sparkly. I put my usual Sephora brand primer underneath and just applied it with my ring finger (PAT, do not rub) and that's how it came out. I was so happy!
Then when you add the primer, you get a gorgeous opaque silver/gunmetal with more of a shimmer than a sparkle. I haven't worn this out yet, but I do love how it looks on my hand!

Here's how I feel about Metallic Dusty Rose:
No.
I actually really hate this one. The shade itself is stunning; it's a beautiful champagne pink with gold shimmer/sparkle. It reminds me of a MAC eyeshadow I had a few years ago and I can't for the life of me remember the color, but it was a part of their Halloween collection and they had gorgeous baked eyeshadow duos. *If anyone remembers the name of this collection please please please let me know!* It was my favorite eyeshadow in the world and it went with absolutely everything, it was so naturally colored but the shimmer made my eyes pop...I could go on for days about how much I adored that eyeshadow.
Anyway, this one is SUPER chunky. Like depressingly, foil falling in my eyes chunky. With and without the primer. So all in all, I'm incredibly disappointed. I don't know if maybe I got a bad one or something, but this color is gorgeous, just the quality and opacity of the shadow itself was not so great for me. There's such a significant difference between the look and feel in the two shades that I bought, and this one reminds me of your cheap first eyeshadow that came in some cheesy kit you got when you were 9. It flakes, it smudges...-sigh- I'm so sad.

So I'm incredibly torn about these, I may buy just one more to solidify my opinion. We'll see. I don't really want to spend another $30 on an eyeshadow but...for the sake of beauty! And you!

Let me know about your experiences with these, I would love to know how they've been working out for the rest of you!
Thanks for reading guys!

Cruelty Free Beauty (Stila edition)

Segment number two in our search for beauty without bunnies! Today's focus is Stila Cosmetics.

Stila is a cosmetics company that prides themselves on high quality products, and I can vouch for them when I say they do a pretty awesome job of making products that can be used for special occasions, every day...the works.
You can get Stila pretty accessibly, too, I know personally I can get it at the Ulta that's around 7 minutes from my house. However if you can't get to an Ulta or Sephora, Stila has a great policy: free shipping and handling for their website on orders over $50! (and I guarantee with the products they have, you're going to want to order well over $50)
So let's talk about some of their products that will help you achieve incredible amounts of fabulousness without the disappointment of knowing it was smeared on one of our furry friends first...
They have just about any makeup product you could ask for, from skincare (such as foundations and concealers) to waterproof mascaras and eyeliners, to shimmering and matte eyeshadows.
Their eyeshadows from my experiences are beautiful and highly pigmented, and range from crazy brights to neutrals. No matter what you're looking for, they're going to have it for your eyes. They even have a primer called the Prime Pot, very similar to MAC's Paint Pot! (just a bit stickier; I've found it works better for me than the Paint Pots do).
And now for the face: Stila offers BB and CC creams, as well as foundations, primers, concealers, you name it.
They even have lip and cheek tints in a handy pen-like package! Talk about convenient, right?

I'm going to pick up one of their "Magnificent Metals foil finish" eyeshadows tomorrow- I'll be doing a review of that some time in the very near future! Stay tuned for more cruelty-free beauty brands, as I'll be posting hopefully at least once a week. :) stay beautiful, everyone!