blendercleanser Beauty Blender Solid Sponge Cleanser: Review

Hey everyone!
Sorry I have been a little lacking on the posts recently. With a half dozen graduate classes, a job, and putting together a gallery show, life has been hectic. But thanks for sticking with me and being so supportive. I am happy and proud to call you all friends.
This leads me to today's post. In busy times, I know at least a few of us are guilty of not washing our makeup brushes as often as we should. Since I have bought the blendercleanser beautyblender Solid Sponge Cleanser, I find I have been washing them more and more! It is just so easy!

I picked this up most only Ashley's recommendation and was not disappointed.
The blendercleanser retails for $15.95, which may seem steep for a little round solid soap, but it works well without using much product at all. I can envision this lasting me nearly a half a year if I cleanse weekly. We shall see!
I have previously been using a combination of baby shampoo and some quick spray cleansers for between cleanings.

What I love about this cleanser is that it works quickly and leavesmy brushes squeaky clean. Seriously, this gets out old makeup and gunk that you didn't know even 'clean' brushes were hiding. I feel so much better about my brushes, have noticed less breakouts, and this gets rid of makeup staining on the brushes as well.

I do not have a beautyblender but this works so well on the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge!

Bonus is that is is free of parabens! Yay!

Have you tried this product? What is your favorite way to clean your brushes?

#28daysoflippies Week Three: Instagram Round-Up Red Week!

Only one more week of my #28daysoflippies Instagram challenge left! Can you believe there is only one week left in February? 
Check out this week's fabulous reds!

I found rocking reds all week long totally increased my confidence!

Red Lippies:

Lipstick Queen Medieval $22: The sheerest of the bunch. A moisturizing sheer red for that flushed look.

NYX Round Lipstick in Snow White $3.99: The deepest of my picks, a little vampy and a nice sheen.

Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish 01 $4.99: A true, blue-based red.

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Gloss in Game Changer $18: A true red gloss with bold coverage.

NYX Matte Lipstick in Bloody Mary $5.99: A more subdued red, but very, very matte.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Mightiest Maraschino $17: Glossy and easy to wear.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in F-Bomb $22: Creamier that the Rimmel offering; true and intense.

I am glad to know at least these picks from my vast collection of reds aren't dupes! What is your favorite red lippie?

Tomorrow starts the week of wildcards! Are you excited??

The Fair Foundation Files: Buxom Show Some Skin Foundation in Dim the Lights

Hey Pandas!
"The Fair Foundation Files" will be a mini-series going on in the next few weeks because I have recently picked up a handful of foundations specifically for my fair skin and skin needs. I know this won't be the most helpful for all my readers because not everyone has this skin tone and I am aware of that, but I also know for many it can be a problem to find a very light foundation shade. At the very least, I hope my comments on the formula of the foundations are helpful, and you can choose your own shade.
See my first post to learn more about my skin and needs/wants!

There has been some buzz about this new foundation that just launched from the bareMinerals line Buxom. I recently got a sample of this and was eager to try it out.
This is Buxom Show Some Skin Weightless Foundation in the shade Dim the Lights.

• This boasts light to medium coverage and broad spectrum SPF 30.
• Dim the Lights is described as a "warm yellow shade for light skin tones"
• Honestly, the fairest shade Fair Game would probably suit me better, but samples only came in a few shades. I have neutral undertones but this was still a decent match.
• The price is $34 and this is formulated with tamarind, Vitamin C, and marine algae extracts to give skin 8 hours of moisturized wear.

As you can see, it pulls a bit yellow on my skin. bareMinerals suggests using only a pearl size amount, like what you see above, but I used about 7 times that to see any coverage.

The dewy, slightly yellow patch in the picture above is the foundation blended into my skin. This is a dewy finish formula.

This is about a third of my tiny sample tube on my face, and I was still a bit red on my nose and it did not cover my acne on my chin. 

But I can't complain much, as it is specifically stated this gives light to medium coverage. Emphasis on LIGHT. It was easy breezy to wear, didn't oxidize, lasted about 7 hours, so overall, pretty close to the claim, and moisturized my skin. My chin and nose got a bit oily throughout the day, but blotting or powder takes care of that.

Likes: 

• The SPF!
• I love the Buxom/bareMinerals brand and trust it won't break me out (and it didn't)
• The added moisture
• The dewy glow

Dislikes: 

• I still felt uncomfortable with the coverage
• Felt it was a bit too yellow on my skin

Overall: I like this to an awesome tinted moisturizer with SPF, not really a foundation. Maybe almost like a U.S. CC Cream for me. Not much coverage but great skincare benefits, moisture, and a dewy glow. This will be a nice foundation for the weekends, but it is a bit too much moisture and not enough coverage for school and work. But if you have dehydrated skin and not many blemishes, give this a go!

#28daysoflippies Week Two: Instagram Round-up Pink Week!

#28daysoflippies is half over...and this week is red week! But take a look at the pinks that made my final cut!

From sheer and baby, to bold and hot, my pink lippies took over my life for Valentine's day week!

Pink Lippies:

NYX Glam Aqua Luxe in Essential $6: Super shimmery and fun for a night out.

Lóreal Colour Riche in Blushing Sequin $8: Sheer watermelon with a shiny finish.

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss $5: Mauve pink with lots of glitter.

Beautifully Disney Spell Breaker $15: True cream bubblegum pink.

POP Beauty Plump Pout Fuschia Freesia $16: Luxurious on lips and a beautiful raspberry---smells a bit weird though but it doesn't linger.

Urban Decay Revolution in Anarchy $22: Creamy and in your face hot pink.

Too Faced La Créme in Jelly Bean $22: Raspberry with a comfortable wear and pretty sheen.

There is hopefully something for everyone across the board here! Let me know if you have tried any of these!

LUSH #signoflove

I know I have been blowing up my social media feeds with this picture, but it really is so important. LUSH Cosmetics is doing a #signoflove campaign partnered with All Out to support LGBTQ rights in Russia and stop anti-gay violence there. 

Image Credit

I found out about this trend from the amazing Tracy at BeautyReflections and I encourage all of you to snap your selfie and share the love as well!

All you have to do is draw a pink triangle somewhere on your body, snap a selfie and share to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. with the hashtag #signoflove! More info HERE Let's rock this pandas!

February Ipsy Glambag: The Look of Love

Just a quick post about my new Ipsy bag for the month of February. It is called "The Look of Love" and there was definitely a Valentine's Day theme to it. 
Sorry the pictures are awful---I took them quickly because I wanted to tear into it so badly!

So, what did I get? And the value?

J.Cat Beauty Lashes: Retail $3.99. Decent lashes to play/practice with.

Skyn ICELAND Fresh Start Mask with Ice Age Mud: Burned the living hell out of my skin but thankfully left no damage. My skin felt amazing after, just not pleasant at all during. Retail value $7. The full size includes 6 packs like the one you see above for $39...wow...that is pricey!!

Zoya Nail Polish in Dot: Pretty light pink. Retail Value is $9.

Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette: Retail value $18. This is full size. Pretty amazing.

POP Beauty Plump Pout Mini is Fuschia Freesia: Retail Value: About $8 since this is a half size of the original.

Total Bag Value: 45.99. SCORE.

I really love the Zoya and POP brands in this bag. There were also some other awesome brands this month like Mally!

On the left is the Tini Beauty Violette Cream Shadow and POP Beauty lippie on the right.

I loved everything but the face mask, so I am pretty happy. What did you get this month?

#28daysoflippies: Week One Instagram Round-up

Thanks to those being really supportive of my first Instagram self-imposed challenged called 28 days of lippies.
A new day, a new lipstick/gloss/pencil for the whole month of February.
It gets me to shop my stash and break out of my comfort zone!
Week One has been the week of my nude lippies, of which I barely have any. This week really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I ended the week (today) with a rose pop of color...next week will be my pinks!

Here's a quick run down of this week's picks, in order, starting from the top left and going across the rows.
1. NYX Butter Lipgloss in Creme Brulee. $4.99. Creamy light pink/nude and decently moisturizing. 2. Maybelline Nude Lust. $7.49. New to my collection. I felt it washed me out but the formula is great! 3. Lancome Rouge in Love 304B Rose Emotion. $28. A pretty, leaning light coral nude pink. Great, featherlight formula. 4. Urban Decay Native. $22. Creamy and pigmented, but thick. 5. Khroma Beauty Joystick in Sea Coral. $8.99. A matte light coral. Love the vanilla smell! 6. M.A.C Stay Sweet. $15. Lightest baby pink. Settles into lines but I still love it. 7. Rimmel Picadilly Pink. $5. My prelude to the pinks, a rosy neutral.
If you haven't checked it out yet, my Instagram link it to the upper right!

The Fair Foundation Files: bareMinerals Original in Fair

Hey Pandas!
"The Fair Foundation Files" will be a mini-series going on in the next few weeks because I have recently picked up a handful of foundations specifically for my fair skin and skin needs. I know this won't be the most helpful for all my readers because not everyone has this skin tone and I am aware of that, but I also know for many it can be a problem to find a very light foundation shade. At the very least, I hope my comments on the formula of the foundations are helpful, and you can choose your own shade.
Let me preface this series by describing my skin and my needs.
My Skin: 

• Used to be very oily, but now is only oily mid-day on my t-zone. Cheeks, chin, forehead are very dry. 
• I have fairly sensitive skin (sensitive to lots of fragrance) and my pores clog easily.
• I suffer from monthly breakouts but am currently dealing with some minor acne scarring on my cheeks.
• My skin is very very fair. It used to be darker, with yellower undertones, but I have found lately that my undertones are more neutral.

My Needs/Wants:

• I want medium to full coverage foundation.
• I want a foundation that won't break me out.
• It needs to last through my hectic days.
• It should have SPF.
• It needs to not oxidize.
• It needs to be a very close match to my coloring.

Now that we have that out of the way, I want to introduce you to the first contender: bareMinerals Original SPF 15 in Fair.
I used to wear Fairly Light not long ago, but recently found it a bit too yellow for my skin. I have used all versions of bareMinerals (original, matte, and pressed). I decided to try the original formula again because the matte broke me out and the pressed did the same thing but was $2 more.
This foundation is $27 and comes with .28oz of product (I apply A LOT for full coverage, so it lasts me about 2 1/2 months). It also has an SPF 15 which is an added benefit and is good for the skin.
Active Ingredients: Active Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide 12.6%, Zinc Oxide 21%. Inactive Ingredients: Bismuth Oxychloride, Mica, Iron Oxides, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide.

Fair is the lightest shade offered and is very, very light with slight pinkish undertones. This is touted to last 8 hours.

I like the newer sliding lid so you can twist it to cover the sifting holes and save from spills. If you are familiar with bareMinerals at all, the typical way to apply is to dip a face brush in the minerals, swirl in the cap, tap the excess off, and buff onto face.

But since I want full coverage, I dip a kabuki brush directly into the minerals and then buff on my face. This gives fully coverage and in my opinion, is less wasteful of product if you were to tap off the excess.

This is a swatch on my hand, and as you can see, it is a few shades lighter than my skin tone here. It has a luminous finish and is incredibly forgiving and buildable.

Please forgive this picture--- but I am ONLY wearing bareMinerals foundation in Fair. No eyebrows, no mascara, no lippies, no concealer except for bringing the powder up under my eyes. Hopefully you can get a feel for how this covers and my skin tone.

I feel this is a nice match for my skin tone, even though it is the lightest foundation I own. Definitely looks better on my than Fairly Light, but is a smidge too pinky.

Likes:

• Is breathable and I know it won't irritate my skin.
• Fragrance free.
• Easy and quick to apply- very forgiving.
• Gives skin a dewy glow.

Dislikes:

• A bit too fair/pinky
• Lasts only about 6 hours, not 8, before it starts to fade.
• Powder is hard to mix with cream blushes, etc.
• Does not cover my acne scars fully.

I'm torn on this, but overall, I would suggest it for someone with very good skin already and who wants to keep it that way. This foundation is my old standby and I know it won't disappoint. Be prepared to blot midday, even if you have drier skin like mine. I have definitely found my weekend foundation for when i want a low-maintenance look--but it didn't quite hit all my criteria.

Join me next time for more on my foundation search!

NYX Butter Lipstick in Cotton Candy: Thoughts, Review, and Swatches

Many of you have seen teaser pics of my haul including one of the brand new NYX Butter Lipsticks and the review is finally here!I have been a fan of NYX's Butter glosses, so the thought of a similar lipstick intrigued me. There is a wide range of colors, but I went against my normal shopping habits and picked out a very light pink.With 22 shades to choose from at $5.99 there is sure to be something to please everyone. I found this at Ulta, but the displays are already running dry! And they also don't have all the colors.

The packaging of these lipsticks is cuter than their regular matte lipsticks (which have the same packaging in black), but they still look a tad little-girlish and cheap. However, the color makes it easy to find in your stash. 

The smell of these is slightly sweet and a bit artificial, but you really have to sniff them to pick up on that. The formula of these is actually really nice. These are buttery and glide onto the lips well, providing a nice opacity of coverage. 

Cotton Candy is a very very light baby pink, so be aware of that, since it looks much darker than it appears on the lips. For this color, prep lips well. Other, darker colors in this line seem to be much more swipe and go.

Cotton Candy gives my pout a very springy and mod vibe. Butter Lipsticks are comfortable to wear, but only last me about 2 and a half hours. I just find them a little too light to really stick around, but I've never been one to mind reapplying a lip product on normal, non special event days.

Keep in mind, this wear time may only be for the lighter colors. I am hoping to pick up a darker shade to compare. 

Overall, I think NYX Butter Lipsticks are a great product at a nice price point and I have been reaching for Cotton Candy often since I have picked it up!

Have you tried any of the NYX Butter Lipsticks? Thoughts?

NYX Butter Lipstick in Cotton Candy: Thoughts, Review, and Swatches

Many of you have seen teaser pics of my haul including one of the brand new NYX Butter Lipsticks and the review is finally here! I have been a fan of NYX's Butter glosses, so the thought of a similar lipstick intrigued me. There is a wide range of colors, but I went against my normal shopping habits and picked out a very light pink. With 22 shades to choose from at $5.99 there is sure to be something to please everyone. I found this at Ulta, but the displays are already running dry! And they also don't have all the colors.

The packaging of these lipsticks is cuter than their regular matte lipsticks (which have the same packaging in black), but they still look a tad little-girlish and cheap. However, the color makes it easy to find in your stash. 

The smell of these is slightly sweet and a bit artificial, but you really have to sniff them to pick up on that. The formula of these is actually really nice. These are buttery and glide onto the lips well, providing a nice opacity of coverage. 

Cotton Candy is a very very light baby pink, so be aware of that, since it looks much darker than it appears on the lips. For this color, prep lips well. Other, darker colors in this line seem to be much more swipe and go.

Cotton Candy gives my pout a very springy and mod vibe. Butter Lipsticks are comfortable to wear, but only last me about 2 and a half hours. I just find them a little too light to really stick around, but I've never been one to mind reapplying a lip product on normal, non special event days.

Keep in mind, this wear time may only be for the lighter colors. I am hoping to pick up a darker shade to compare. 

Overall, I think NYX Butter Lipsticks are a great product at a nice price point and I have been reaching for Cotton Candy often since I have picked it up!

Have you tried any of the NYX Butter Lipsticks? Thoughts?

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Smoldering Plum Swatches and Review

I recently hauled some buy-one-get-one half off products at Ulta and this eye shadow was one of them. Retailing for around $6 (depending on location), I snagged this little pot of purple at the discount.

Smoldering Plum caught my eye, even though we are fast approaching spring, I am still hanging on tightly to the winter colors. I figured this might be a good crease shadow.

These shadows are packed tightly, and I feel would have a looser consistency if not for the plastic stopper in the package to keep the powder pressed. These are rather messy once you remove that, and I honestly find this shadow a bit of a pain....but I persevered on because of the color.

The darkened plum mixed with red glitter really got my hopes up. This is not a new shade, but I felt it may be something really unique in my collection. I did get a little OCD and clean around the packaging after taking this picture because I can't stand the messiness).

This is the initial swatch, done with a finger and no primer. I wasn't as 'wowed' as I hoped I would be, but the red glitter is still pretty apparent. The good news is this goes on smoothly and with little fallout, despite the consistency.

The bad news is that this is the best swatch of the product. It looks muddied on my eyelids and although it does wear all day with a good primer, it is nothing special in an actual look. Now I wish I would have picked out another color instead. But---all hope is not lost. I try to never give up on a product, and will continue experimenting, maybe placing this over a black creme base. 

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow in Smoldering Plum Swatches and Review

I recently hauled some buy-one-get-one half off products at Ulta and this eye shadow was one of them. Retailing for around $6 (depending on location), I snagged this little pot of purple at the discount.

Smoldering Plum caught my eye, even though we are fast approaching spring, I am still hanging on tightly to the winter colors. I figured this might be a good crease shadow.

These shadows are packed tightly, and I feel would have a looser consistency if not for the plastic stopper in the package to keep the powder pressed. These are rather messy once you remove that, and I honestly find this shadow a bit of a pain....but I persevered on because of the color.

The darkened plum mixed with red glitter really got my hopes up. This is not a new shade, but I felt it may be something really unique in my collection. I did get a little OCD and clean around the packaging after taking this picture because I can't stand the messiness).

This is the initial swatch, done with a finger and no primer. I wasn't as 'wowed' as I hoped I would be, but the red glitter is still pretty apparent. The good news is this goes on smoothly and with little fallout, despite the consistency.

The bad news is that this is the best swatch of the product. It looks muddied on my eyelids and although it does wear all day with a good primer, it is nothing special in an actual look. Now I wish I would have picked out another color instead. But---all hope is not lost. I try to never give up on a product, and will continue experimenting, maybe placing this over a black creme base. 

Happy Superbowl Sunday!