Saturday, November 9, 2013

October 2013 Favorites

BEAUTY

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revlon colorstay matte balm stain in 'sultry' // sinfulcolors nail polish in 'whipped' // tocca 'stella' // jouer matte moisture tint


REVLON COLORSTAY MATTE BALM STAIN IN 'SULTRY'

I've already reviewed this so I won't go into super detail, suffice it to say I really love the formula and color of this balm stain. I bought it mid October and it stayed on my lips through the rest of the month. I bought another color from the matte range earlier this week & I'm tempted to go back and get another. I just really love the pigmentation & feel of these. I wish they provided more moisture & didn't leave my lips feeling so dry after a few hours but I don't mind re-applying & using lip balm between applications. Overall very pleased.
review here


SINFUL COLORS NAIL POLISH IN 'WHIPPED'

This is a leather-looking matte nail polish from Sinful Colors new Leather Luxe line. There were lots of different colors-- black, white, red, burgundy, brown, navy & maybe a teal? I bought black for myself and one for my leather lovin' bestie, Taylor. Sinful Colors, despite being incredibly affordable ($1.99 at Walgreens) are quality nail polishes. I wore this for around four days (no top coat) without so much as a chip. I was pretty impressed


TOCCA 'STELLA'

Ahh! I've been waiting since February to start wearing this again. I love love love the way it smells. The Sephora website lists the notes as: bitter orange, blood orange, watery accord, white freesia, wild diamond orchids, spicy lily, sheer musk & sandalwood. It primarily smells like blood orange but isn't terribly sweet smelling. I don't know, I'm terrible at describing scents. I just find that it smells amazing when I catch a whiff of it on my scarf or cardigan. It smells clean and fresh and I just really like it. You can find it at Sephora & Anthropologie-- I definitely suggest going in and sniffing a sample of it. TOCCA 'Cleopatra' is also amazing.


JOUER MATTE MOISTURE TINT IN 'PORCELAIN'

I reviewed this earlier this week ...or was it last week? I don't know, you can find a link to my review down below. I won't go on and on but overall the Matte Moisture Tint is definitely a great tinted moisturizer/base and is perfect for people with normal-oily skin & lasts all day and blends amazingly. Despite having a measly color range, I'm assuming each color is supposed to work with a range of skintones? I have no idea. I'm very pale and have cool undertones & a LOT of redness and 'Porcelain' works PERFECT for me.
review here


MISC.

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vintage green glass cameo necklace // f21 studded bat headband (sold out) // lexi holiday candle tin in 'frosted maple'


VINTAGE GREEN GLASS CAMEO NECKLACE

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Ryan's mom bought me this beautiful necklace from a vendor at Czhilispiel last year. Ryan's family competes annually in the Chili competition & there's always a small fair & a section of booths with arts and crafts type vendors. I picked out the green cameo charm & the woman who owned the booth constructed a necklace from other bits and bobs she had on hand in her little jewelry tackle box. I used to have her card but I've lost it. The cameo is actually one of many from a vintage bracelet I've seen on ebay. I love this necklace & always get so many compliments on it when I'm out. It's one of those pieces I know someday I'll pass onto a child or grandchild because it was a sweet gift from Ryan's mother & feels like a timeless piece of jewelry.


F21 STUDDED BAT HEADBAND

I bought this at F21 last month when they first released their cats & bats line. I wanted the kitty cat beanie but I wanted the bat ears headband WAY more. I sort of wish I'd bought the cat beanie too though, it would have been easier to wear throughout the winter. I wore the headband on Halloween as part of my bat costume & I think it's basically the coolest headband ever. I wish I could wear it regularly but I don't like weird stares and the bat ears are quite tall and would be really hard to miss. I accidentally bumped them off of my head all night trying to get into cars or fix my hair. They look so awesome though! I love the metal spikes & the faux leather look. I wore it with a wet-look fit and flare skirt and my peter pan collar top with a black cardigan I pinned to make it look like I had bat wings. Terrible explanation but it looked pretty cute if I do say so myself. I couldn't find this still for sale on F21's website but I'm sure if you looked around your local F21 you might find a pair.


LEXI HOLIDAY CANDLE TIN IN 'FROSTED MAPLE'

THIS CANDLE. I've already burned the wicks down but there's still so much candle left-- which is my only real complaint. I hate when wicks aren't evenly distributed and fail to melt the entire candle. Ugh! But apart from that, this candle smells AMAZING! I am not one for buying a candle that costs over $10. I'm a bit of a penny pincher when it comes to how much I'll pay for things. Even the citizens in my Animal Crossing town call me a "bell-pincher". News of my bell pinching ways even made it all the way to Taylor's town...little gossipy turds! So when I smelled this upon entering the WillowBend Anthropologie a month or so ago I knew I couldn't leave without owning whatever was making the entire store smell so CRAZY GOOD. It was $18 and while I think that's a stupid amount of money to spend on a candle...I did it anyways. Because it smelled so freaking GOOD. Now, if you aren't crazy about sweet smells, this may not be for you. However, I hate vanilla scents because they're too sweet and I think this is amazeballs so I would definitely recommend smelling it before writing it off. I lit it in our dining room and it managed to make the entire apartment smell like fresh made waffles and maple syrup for the rest of the day. I'm trying to figure out how to melt the rest of the wax or put new wicks in. I'll figure it out but for now I just leave it open on a table for a bit and even just the smell of the soy candle UNLIT makes the apartment smell amazing. Plus the tin is too cute!




Well, that's it for my monthly favorites. Sorry it came a bit later than normal. Did you do anything fun for Halloween? What did you dress up as? I'd love to know! Tell me below in the comments!


-Becca


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Review: Jouer Matte Moisture Tint in 'Porcelain'


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So I've been accumulating Birchbox points the last few months & since I'm running low on my beloved NARS Sheer Glow Foundation, I decided to use my points to try a new foundation I've heard good things about: Jouer Matte Moisture Tint. Initially I'd wanted it for the summer because I wanted something light-weight to wear while sweating my butt off in Texas. Who wants to wear heavy foundation in 105ºF weather? Nobody does. But alas I put it off until nearly a month ago when the colder weather started settling in. Oops!

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I ended up getting the lightest shade in the range called 'porcelain' for $8 after using my points. It normally retails for $38USD here & here.

Initially I was worried it would provide too little coverage (or be a bad match) since it's a light-medium coverage foundation/tinted moisturizer but it's super easy to build up & blend out. As for application I use a primer underneath & a damp beauty blender. I haven't tried applying it with a buffing brush but I always feel like whenever I use a brush it makes my makeup look cakey. Cakey is not cute.

The texture and consistency remind me a lot of my Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation as it's quite thick and comes in a squeeze tube-- but I find that the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint looks more natural and matches my skin tone better. The finish is matte but still looks natural & soft. I find it doesn't settle into my pores and despite having 15 SPF doesn't leave my face looking more oily for it. I've been using it everyday for the past few weeks & haven't had any spots or acne issues. Also, I have a very oily t-zone and this tinted moisturizer manages to stay fairly matte for better part of an 8 hour day. I normally only have to use a rice paper slip or apply a little powder towards the end of the day which I think is pretty impressive.

Price-wise you get the most for your money as well:
NARS Sheer Glow - $44 for 1 fl oz
Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation - $43 for 1.18 fl oz
Jouer's Matte Moisture Tint - $38 for 1.7 fl oz

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I definitely suggest giving this foundation/tinted moisturizer a try since I think it's a really nice base & a more affordable high end brand. I recommend it especially if you're a fan of either Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation or NARS Sheer Glow. I personally love this & definitely plan on repurchasing.


Have you tried any of Jouer's products?? Anything I should try out? I'm itching to try more from this brand.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

New Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell 'Zach in Metallic Silver'


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I'm in LOVE with my new shoes from Karmaloop. I bought these Halloween weekend along with another pair of JC's (they ended up being too big and difficult to walk in--gotta return them :c) and was so hoping that they would fit alright. I own one other pair of Jeffrey Campbells & they're so comfy and fit like a glove so when I slipped these on & wore them a whole day (shopping & everything) without any blisters, I knew I'd made the right decision.

The Zach shoe is a penny-loafer style shoe with a pointed toe & a thick chunky heel at the back which gives a little bit of height without looking like a kitten heel or a child's first heel. They're made of patent metallic leather & a man-made sole. They were marked down from $120USD to $47.95USD when I scooped them up using an extra 40% off coupon code-- so I managed to pay around $28USD for them. Which is an INCREDIBLE deal for such a nice pair of shoes! I'm already looking forward to pairing them with dresses (a bit of that masculine shoe mixed with a feminine dress) or even just really comfy casual clothes because the intense shine they give off instantly makes an outfit a bit more glam. Unfortunately they're sold out on Karmaloop but I'm sure they'll turn up on ebay or somewhere else.

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I'm posting about these mostly because I want to brag about Jeffrey Campbells amazing quality. And no, I'm not being paid to freak out over this brand, I just really really like them. I wish JC would send me free stuff, geeze. Sizes are really consistent from what I've both heard and personally experienced. I ordered a size 8.5 in the 'Zach' loafer (which fit perfectly & is also the size of my JC 'Wanted' heels) & a size 9 in the heel I'm planning on returning (which turned out to be too big...womp womp). Another thing I'm really impressed by is I always get blisters on my heels and toes with new shoes & neither of my JC shoes have so much as made my feet ache & I own both a pair of flats and a pair of heels.

I'm pretty new to the brand (wow two pairs) but I can already tell I'm hooked. I definitely recommend looking on both PLNDR & Karmaloop for deals on JC shoes & other really great brands.




Ah! I just love these so much! Do you have a brand of shoes that you just adore?

-Becca