May 2016 Beauty Favorites

With the weather warming up, I have been gravitating toward the best of my collection to make sure that my face lasts through both hot, muggy, or rainy days.  The products below have not disappointed.

Brushes

It! Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Complexion Perfection Brush #7

I’m a sucker for a double ended brush! They are so convenient.  The fluffy side is the perfect size for contouring and dense enough to pack on product plus blend it out.  I haven’t used the other side all that much but I’m sure I’ll find a use for it soon enough.

Sigma 3D  Precision Brush

This sigma brush came out awhile ago and I blew it off, thinking that the strange shape was something that I wouldn’t need or want.  Turns out I was very wrong- I’ve been using this brush to sculpt concealer around my brows and nose, paint on highlighting concealer under my eyes, and sharpen under my cheek and nose contour.  The brush shape is perfect both for getting in all the nooks of the face and creating lines for sculpting.

MAC Vibe Tribe 228/226 Double Ended Brush

This is my first MAC brush.  I really like using the smaller end for the inner corner or my eye or to pop shimmer on the lids.  The fluffy side tapers into a nice point that makes defining the crease easy. The packaging makes it even better.

Essence False Lash Effect Princess Mascara

Buy this.  This mascara is ~ $4 so basically free, and makes my lashes awesome in just one coat.  I was skeptical when I saw some posts on this mascara since Essence is SO affordable and sometimes hit or miss.  Usually it takes a week or so for a mascara to get to the level of dryness I like and not clump up wetly, but from the first use this one is perfect.  One negative – it gets on the skin under my eyes so I prefer it on my top lashes.

NYX Skinny Mascara

I use this mascara just to coat my bottom lashes and get those teeny ones by the inner and outer corners.  Clinique’s bottom lash mascara has always been appealing to me, but I’m glad I held out from it because this one does the trick.  It does not come off on the skin under my eyes which is so rare for my oily skin and long lash situation.

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Illuminator Peach Glow

This highlighter is beautiful.  It gives you a very angelic looking glow rather than an in- your- face highlight.  It makes me feel like I have a natural dewy look on my cheeks, but definitely isn’t boring.

Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer

Typically I switch between bronzers constantly because I have so many and I like to give them all attention.  However, I keep going back to this one.  It has a soft cool tone to it that isn’t muddy, has an amazing creamy texture, and the smell is to die for!

Urban Decay Naked Skin One & Done Foundation

As the first Urban Decay foundation I have tried, I am extremely impressed with this product.  When I bought it I was thinking it may be a BB cream consistency and very light coverage.   This product is that and much more.  It’s great when I want something light weight and fresh, or when I want to be done up and covered.  The finish is fresh and natural on the skin and stays put on my oily skin (miracle) when I pair it with powder.

Amazing Cosmetics Concealer

I purchased this after seeing Allie Sevdalis talk about it in a recent YouTube video.  The coverage is very intense but doesn’t feel goopy or thick under the eyes.  The color range is great for my skin tone and it makes my under eyes look very bright.  This weekend we had a 100 degree day and I was so worried that my mascara and face would be all over the place melting when I was at a daytime event. Every time I went to go frantically touch up, I was surprised to see my concealer staying PERFECTLY in place.

Alaffia Everyday Coconut Water Face Toner

I love coconut milk, oil, water and anything else, so I picked this up off Amazon when I was buying some other skin care. I’m so glad this popped up on my recommended list because it feels refreshing and is a nice alternative to my Lush tea tree water toner.

NYC Liquid Liner

All I need in an eyeliner- brush applicator, thin application, dries matte.  After being dedicated to the Wet n’ Wild liquid eyeliner for the past three or so years, I have converted to this one.

Anastasia Milkshake Liquid Lipstick

This light nude pink looks great over a lip liner.  It works nicely when I am pale or more tan.

Anastasia Butterscotch Lipgloss

 

Eyeshadows

Red clay colors I love: ABH Blazing, MUG Tuscan Sun

Yellow and orangey based browns: Makeup Geek Tiki Hut and Chickadee, Anastasia Beverly Hills Custard

Bright white matte: Kat Von D Liberatus from the Shade + Light Eye Palette

Chrisspy Jetlag Sunnies

This isn’t technically a beauty favorite but oh well. Chrisspy is one of my glam idols and I’m not surprised that she killed it on her Quay collab.  I went for these because I have nothing else like it in my collection.

Champagne Pop Shimmering Skin Perfector

Surprisingly, when Champagne Pop released last year I ignored the hype.  In videos it looked like any other gold highlight that I have 4 or 5 of in my collection.  I didn’t buy it until this year around January.  Turns out, I was so wrong about it.  It has beautiful peach and gold undertones that are unlike other golden illuminators. I went for this liquid version for the Champagne Glow Collection launch, and use it as primer for my powder highlights. I also dot it all over my face under my foundation for an extra sparkle.

Thanks for checking out this post!  Happy June 😀