What I'm Loving Right Now: February 2017 Favorites

Y'know how sometimes after you go through a rut with your beauty products, you come out of the rut with like 30 new loves? Well, that's what happened here. I haven't done a favorites post in several months because there just wasn't anything making me excited enough to call it a favorite. There are a few exceptions to that, things I've been loving for a while, but just forgot to talk about for one reason or another. Psshh, how rude of me. I'm making up for it now by sharing the goods, including a few product combos that I think are really stellar. Are you ready for this jelly? Good, then I'll stop blabbing and get into it!

Disclosure: This post does not contain affiliate links. This post is not sponsored. This post does not contain paid/sponsored product mentions. This post does include a product received as a PR sample, clearly labeled as such.

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Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick Swatch and Review

Since I was about 13 or 14 Urban Decay has been my ride-or-die brand. The edgy packaging, the cheeky names, the variety of colors and glittery neutrals, it's always just been the brand I felt most connected with, especially when I was disappointed by drugstore products that looked colorful and glittery in the package but performed like absolute trash. Thankfully, drugstore products have come a long way since then and many of them match or even outperform their high-end counterparts. Still, Urban Decay will always be special to me because they helped inspire my love of makeup. Considering my love for the brand, it was a given that I'd pick up some of the new Vice Liquid Lipsticks when they launched, especially with all of the hype surrounding these. Waterproof, transfer proof, comfortable liquid lipstick? Sign me up! Did these live up to the hype? Check out my wear-test and review to find out!

Urban Decay Vice Liquid Lipstick left to right: Time, Conspiracy, Naked

Disclosure: These products were purchased by me with my own money. This post does not contain affiliate links.

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Recent Favorites + A Flop

It's been a few months since my last favorites post, but they're some of my favorite posts to write. I've got some great products to share with you today that I've really been loving (including some non-beauty favorites!). Hopefully you'll love them too!

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What's In My Go-To Eye Shadow Palette?

Hey friends! As you probably know by now, things have been very hectic for me lately between house hunting, packing, getting ready for a friend's wedding, and preparing to start at a new school and a new job. Early on in the craziness, I realized that one of the tasks that slows me down the most when I'm trying to get ready is trying to decide which eye shadows I want to wear. I love changing my look up day to day, but realistically, I just don't have that much time to put into it right now (well, that and I don't wanna scare our realtor away with one of my glam grunge smoky eye looks, she's pretty traditional). In order to keep myself from digging through my palettes, I put together an assortment of eye shadows in my Makeup Geek Travel Palette that would allow me to do a range of eye looks and give me everything I needed to accomplish a quick look with just one palette. Today I'll be sharing my palette with you, as well as the logic behind my choice of shadows. Swatches are at the end of the post!

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July 2016 Favorites

Things are a little bit crazy for me at the moment. I'm starting classes at a new university (if you're curious, I'm working on a Bachelor's of Science in Communication), preparing for a friend's wedding, which I'm also a bridesmaid in, and doing the bride's makeup, starting a new job, and to top it all off, I'm in the process of house hunting (stalking them from the bushes and everything*) and getting ready to move. Hence the lack of blog posts recently. I'm trying y'all. I've got a few long-awaited reviews in the works and lots of empties posts coming up, I'm just trying to find a way to sneak them in amidst the chaos.

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[Review & Swatch] Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation (Shade 1.0)

I'm a bit of a foundation junkie, due in part to my difficult to match skin tone (pale, yellow-leaning olive*), as well as my general fussiness when it comes to foundation. It needs to be lightweight and skin-like, but still provide enough coverage to cover up redness and minor blemishes. It also needs to be long-lasting, and ideally sweat-proof since I live in a warm climate. Urban Decay Naked Skin Liquid Makeup ticks nearly all of those boxes, so it's no wonder this has become one of my favorite foundations.

*If you suspect you may have an olive undertone, read this and this.

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Shimmery Silver/Purple Eyes and Mauve Lips Featuring Ciaté London Pin Up

Have you ever been digging though your makeup for one product only to get completely distracted by another? That's what happened here. I was searching for ColourPop's Hustle, intending to do a warm smokey eye, but then I saw Meow, and, well, 'tis the season for glitter, ain't it? Meow was one of my very first ColourPop eye shadows, and as a cat-lover I pretty much had to have it. It's a gorgeous shimmery pink/silver/purple tie dye with loads of silver glitter, which is why I don't reach for it very often. Holy glitterbomb Batman!

I also wanted to try out one of my new lip colors from Ciaté, which I received for Christmas in a cute little trio of minis. So far, I like it, but it does that thing (I know, I know, very sophisticated term) where it starts to go a little patchy if you smack your lips together, kind of like the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams sometimes do. The formula is a thick cream similar to the Ofra liquid lipsticks, but I would definitely say that I prefer the Ofra formula because those feel like nothing on the lips and look a little less dry, whereas with the Ciaté formula, you can definitely feel that you have something on your lips. It didn't feel drying, just a bit heavy. I like it enough that I would probably purchase more shades, but I don't see it ever replacing Ofra or Jeffree Star as one of my favorite liquid lipstick formulas.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Products:

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion (Sin)
• Urban Decay Cherry
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Metallic Plum
• Smashbox M3 (Full Exposure Palette)
• ColourPop Mixed Tape, Meow [Discontinued]
• Kat Von D Tattoo Liner (Trooper)
• Maybelline gel liner (Blackest Black)
• Benefit Roller Lash
• House of Lashes Smokey Muse lashes + HOL lash adhesive

Face:

• Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Radiance
• Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide (Vanillé)
• Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless (112 Natural Ivory)
• NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (Vanilla)
• Benefit Erase Paste (Fair)
• Benefit Gimme Brow (Light/Medium)
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder (Medium Brown), Clear Brow Gel
• Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder
• Physician's Formula Bronze Booster (Light/Medium)
• Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush (Fanciful)
• Benefit Watts Up

Lips:

• ColourPop Lippie Primer
• Ciaté London Liquid Velvet (Pin Up)

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Glam Red, Green, and Gold Makeup, with a Twist of Orange featuring ColourPop Girl Power

When ColourPop released Girl Power as part of their fall 2015 collection, I had an instant case of heart eyes. C'mon, a vibrant red-orange eye shadow, did you seriously think that wasn't going to make its way into my collection? I swooped it up soon after it released, and I practically drooled when I swatched it for the first time, yet it's been sitting in my drawer for the past couple of months because I just couldn't find the right look to incorporate it into. Last week as I was trying to come up with a way to put a spin on the classic red/green/gold combo we see so often this time of year, I realized that Girl Power was just red enough that it would still complement the green, but just orange enough that it would be a bit out of the ordinary. I'm so pleased with the way this look came out, and I'm already planning another look using Girl Power, it's freaking gorgeous!

For the eyes, I used Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base, and Makeup Geek Creme Brulee as a transition. Then I layered and blended ColourPop's Girl Power several times until it came up as high as I wanted it to and there were no harsh lines. Next, I applied an equal mixture of Damaged and Stash from the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette all over the lid up to the crease. I blended these together and used ColourPop Rebel to create a softer transition between the two colors. I also added Makeup Geek Charmed to the center of the eyelid to make it more reflective. For the wing, I used the Anastasia Creme Colour in Jet, and applied a pair of Yue Er Gong Zhu HW-05 lashes (I get these on ebay) using the House of Lashes dark adhesive. I wanted the bottom lash line to be a bit smokey, so I used a combo of Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear, Cherry Cola, Americano, and Creme Brulee. To finish off the eyes, I used a bit of ColourPop XO on the inner corners, then drew a line from the inner corner to about the center of my eyes using Urban Decay liquid eyeliner in the shade Eldorado, tapering it off as it got closer to the center of my eyes. 

For the face I used

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Holiday Party Lipsticks

With all of the holiday parties going on over the next couple of weeks, I thought it might be helpful to have a few suggestions on lip options, preferably ones that hold up well through eating and drinking.

From the left: Essence In The Nude, NYX Dolly Pink, Essence Soft Berry, ColourPop Lippie Primer (*cringe* I hate that name), and Essence Wish Me A Rose

Starting off with a good base is important if you want your lipstick to last. My favorite lip liners are by Essence. They're creamy, pigmented, don't tug, and they have good staying power. I also feel like they grab onto product better than some other lip liners do. I sometimes wear them on their own, or pop just a little bit of lip balm over top. They're only $1.49 at Ulta, the only down side to these is that the shade range is quite limited (c'mon Essence, what's a girl gotta do to get you to make more shades? I need 'em, I'm tell ya!) Shown here in In The Nude (my personal fave), Soft Berry, and Wish Me A Rose.

I also like the NYX Slim Lip Pencils (also available at Ulta, $3.49). These have a much better shade range, so if you're wearing something out of the ordinary, NYX will be your best bet. Featured: Dolly Pink.

From the top: NYX Dolly Pink, Essence Soft Berry, Essence Wish Me A Rose, Essence In The Nude

My favorite lip primer is this one from ColourPop for $5. Apply it, let it set for a minute or two (this is important!), and it will become slightly tacky. It smooths the lips and holds color in place. This stuff is a savior when my lips are a bit chapped. I've gotten into the habit of wearing it almost every time I apply lipstick.

On to the lipsticks!

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Pink & Silver for the Holidays

Today's look uses Makeup Geek blushes to define the crease and one of the MUG foiled eye shadows, High Wire, on the lid. I wanted to do something that was both colorful and festive, without going the traditional route of reds, greens, and golds. This would be a fun look for New Year's Eve if heavy, smokey looks aren't your thing. Full details are down below. I hope you're enjoying your Sunday!

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