BEAUTY RAVE: My MAC Eye Shadow Collection

Recently, I went on a huge de-potting spree on all of my MAC eye shadows.  I had way too many and could not justify lugging around all of those individual shadows, especially with my trip to Paris coming up soon.  I'm going to be studying there for about four months, so I feel like I will want to have all of my make up with me.  It seemed more convenient to put all of my shadows into palettes, so they would be much easier to travel with.  I thought this would also be the perfect time to do a MAC eye shadow collection since all of my eye shadows will be in one place, making them easier to photograph and swatch.

Top row: Blanc Type, Arena, All That Glitters, Honey Lust, Soba

Middle row: Woodwinked, Romp, Tempting, Mulch, Bronze

Bottom row: Twinks, Brown Down, Carbonized, Mystery, Carbon

Left to right: Blanc Type, Arena, All That Glitters, Honey Lust, Soba

Left to right: Woodwinked, Romp, Tempting, Mulch, Bronze

Left to right: Twinks, Brown Down, Carbonized, Mystery, Carbon

Top row: Patina, Sumptuous Olive

Middle row: Shimmermoss, Parfait Amour

Left to right: Patina, Sumptuous Olive, Shimmermoss, Parfait Amour

Obviously, I am a huge fan of neutral eye shadows.  I basically only use neutral shadows with any eye shadow look.  I usually leave the color for my cheeks or my lips.  I do occasionally like to do a bright liner on my lower lash line, but it's pretty rare.  The first palette is my most used palette.  The second palette definitely does not get as much love as the first one does.  However, I've found that now that I have my shadows organized in palette form, I tend to use my shadows more, especially shades I may have previously overlooked.

My favorite shadows from my collection are probably: Arena, Woodwinked, Tempting, Bronze, Brown Down, and Mystery.  I use Mystery every day for my eyebrows, so it's definitely my most used color.  For an every day look, I will only use Arena on my lids with some eye liner.  If I am going for a real eye shadow look, I typically go for Bronze or Brown Down in the crease with something like Arena or Woodwinked on the lid.  

xx,

Jordana 

BEAUTY RAVE: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

Top to bottom: 'Adore', 'Sweetheart', 'Rendezvous', 'Honey', 'Charm'

Left to right: 'Adore', 'Sweetheart', 'Rendezvous', 'Honey', 'Charm'

Left to right: 'Adore', 'Sweetheart', 'Rendezvous', 'Honey', 'Charm'

Recently, I've been seeing a little bit of buzz over these Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains and I was really excited to see that they were available at my local Rite Aid.  I used this opportunity to scoop up a few, five to be exact, and give them a try.  And let me tell you, they are definitely worthy of the hype!

First off, the color selection is amazing. There are 12 shades ranging from dark berries to light nudes.  I purchased 'Adore', a red, berry shade, 'Sweetheart', a bright bluish pink, 'Rendezvous', a bright orange, 'Honey', a dusty mauve, and 'Charm', a light peach nude.  

The color pay off is quite nice.  They are more glossy and sheer, but the color definitely is pigmented on the lips.  I was actually surprised and impressed with the pigmentation. Comparing them to the Clinique Chubby Sticks, which are quite glossy and sheer, these definitely have a less glossy finish, but are much more pigmented. 

One of my favorite things about the Kissable Balm Stains is that they are actually a stain.  They last forever.  After I did these swatches, I tried to wipe them off my arm and was left with a stain of color on my arm that...is still there. 'Sweetheart' and 'Adore' are particularly long lasting. 

I find these to be quite moisturizing and smooth on the lips.  They definitely live up to the 'balm' name.   I applied them to my lips without any sort of chapstick or other lip balm underneath and they glided on easily and did not seem to highlight any dryness I had on my lips.  The crayon like applicator made it really easy to apply, as well as apply precisely.

Lastly, possibly the best thing about the product is...they smell minty.  They smell really minty and fresh when you apply them and you can definitely smell the mint when you apply it too.  It makes it really enjoyable to apply and refreshing.  I think I've said a million times that I love things that smell good...and these win on that part.

Overall, I think that this is yet another great Revlon product that has come out within the last few months.  I feel like Revlon has really stepped up their game in terms of their products, especially their lip products.  Revlon has easily become on one of my favorite drug store lines, if not my favorite.  This product is a great value at their $8 price point, especially when there is an offer on Revlon products.  They definitely will become a staple in my make up collection, especially during the spring and summer.  

xx,

Jordana

BEAUTY RAVE: My Current Favorite Lip Products

I find that with every season, I have certain products that I constantly reach for.  Since we are in May, I am preparing myself for 4 months of hot weather and constant sunshine.  With this change in climate, I am straying away from my usual fall/winter make up looks like smokey eyes or dark lips and opting for a more neutral, natural luminous eye look and neutral lips or bright lips.  These 7 products are the products I've been constantly reaching for and I think will be staples for me for the rest of the season. 

NARS Lipstick in 'Heatwave'

I am a huge sucker for wearing color on my lips.  During the colder months, I love wearing either a dark red lip or a berry lip.  However, in spring and summer, I prefer a brighter red.  This NARS lipstick is the perfect spring/summer red shade for me.  It's a bright, orangey red shade that is really flattering on my skin tone.  It's a true orange red which I think is perfect for the bright lip trend that always seems to come around when it's warm out.  The consistency of this lipstick is more matte than the other NARS lipstick I own, but I find that because of its matte finish, it lasts forever on my lips.  Even after taking this swatch, I had to basically scrub it off my hand.  It can be a little bit drying, but it isn't unbearable and works fine when layered over a lip balm.

Revlon Lip Butter in 'Tutti Frutti'

I usually gravitate towards orange or peach shades when I look for lip products, because I find that pink tones are not very flattering on my skin tone.  I definitely remember all of the hype surrounding the Revlon Lip Butters and remember that for a good couple of months, I could not find them anywhere! When I finally could get my hands on them, I was immediately drawn to this bright orange shade.  My favorite thing about this product is that when I apply it, I get a light wash of orange over my lips that brings the perfect amount of color to my lips while still looking springy and fresh.  It is super glossy and moisturizing, as well.  Nothing is worse than chapped lips in the summer, so this is the perfect multi-use product for warm months. 

MAC Lipstick in 'Kinda Sexy'

I recently featured this in my most recent 'Retail Therapy' post, and after I received in the mail, I've been wearing this at least 3 times a week.  It is the perfect "my lips but better" shade for me.  I haven't been able to find a good nude shade before, and this has definitely become my "holy grail" nude.  It's not too pink, but not too light so it still looks natural.  It is a little bit drying, which is really unfortunate, but I just chuck on a lip gloss on top and that usually helps.  It's a gorgeous, neutral rose shade that goes with almost every single eye look, without being too bright or overpowering.  

Laura Mercier Lip Glace in 'BonBon'

I purchased this product about a year and a half ago and went through a phase of not wearing it at all.  However, I rediscovered my love for this lip gloss and realized why I bought it in the first place.  First off, the formulation is perfection.  Laura Mercier Lip Glaces are not sticky at all and glide on like a dream.  Not to mention, they smell like vanilla.  This color is a bright pink, but it's a sheer shade so it doesn't look too overly pink on my lips.  And I can't stress enough how much I dislike pink on me! This is definitely the pinkest I'll go.  It looks really beautiful over MAC's 'Kinda Sexy' or with a peachy lipstick underneath.  I am thinking of adding to my Laura Mercier collection because this is the only product I own from the line, and I always hear such great things about it.

Revlon Lip Butter in 'Pink Truffle'

As I mentioned before, I love Revlon Lip Butters. I bought this shade on a whim, since it really isn't a shade I would normally go for.  However, I've found that I have been using this shade a ton since I bought it.  It is a darker, rosy brownish pink shade that is quite similar to my natural lip color, so it's a great lip product for me to just throw into my bag and go.  I can just slick it on without even thinking about it and know that it looks good on.  Since it's such a sheer product, it doesn't look quite as dark on the lips, but just looks really natural.

NARS Lipstick in Barbarella

I featured this lipstick in my 'April Favorites' post.  It's one of my favorite lipsticks of all time.  It's a beautiful, sheer, bright peachy shade that is kind of a no brainer product for me.  I can just always use this lipstick and know that it looks good with whatever make up look I'm wearing.  My only problem with this lipstick is that  because it is such a creamy consistency, it clings to any dry patches I'll have on my lips if they're dry.  So I always make sure my lips are moisturized whenever I use this.  It's a sheer shade, but can be buildable to a brighter peach shade that looks really good for the spring/summer months. 

MAC Lipstick in 'Shy Girl'

I purchased this shade a few months ago after hearing so much about it from a ton of beauty gurus, and I can't believe I waited so long to get it! I asked the lady at the MAC store for a peachy nude that would work for my skin tone and she instantly chose 'Shy Girl'.  It is a light, coral beige shade that is quite sheer but still nudes out my lips a bit, which makes it perfect for when I want to draw focus onto my eyes.  I find that this looks really good when layered with a coral lip gloss on top or even with a lip gloss like 'BonBon'.  I think this shade would look gorgeous on light to medium skin tones, especially with yellow undertones. It's the perfect nude shade without making you look like a corpse like a lot of light nude shades do.

Nails: Essie 'Tart Deco'

xx,

Jordana 

BEAUTY RAVE: Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24 H Foundation Review

Before I start this post (which I am assuming is going to be quite long, because I have a LOT to say about this foundation), I want to start off by giving a little background on my skin and experiences with foundations.

Okay, first of all, I have extremely sensitive skin. And when I say extremely sensitive skin, I mean that I tend to stick to the same face products in fear of the break outs that tend to always appear on my face when I even ATTEMPT to try something new.  I like to try new things but most of the time, my money is wasted.

Second, I have pretty oily skin. And also, my face tends to get sweaty, especially on my nose.  Which is really not the cutest, but those are the cards I've been dealt. So, it's pretty hard for a foundation to last on my skin for more than a couple of hours.  Most foundations tend to look patchy on me or just come off my skin completely. Even with a powder and a primer.  Though, I tend to stay away from primers because, surprise surprise, my skin doesn't take well to most primers.

So now that we've started that pity party for my face, let's talk about what has worked for me in the past.  The two foundations I've used in my life that didn't break me out like a hormonal 13-year-old boy are the BareMinerals Matte Foundation and NARS Sheer Glow. I love them both and we had some good times.  However, with every beautiful relationship, we had our issues.

I used the BareMinerals foundation basically all throughout high school.  It had pretty good lasting power on me and it didn't irritate my skin.  However, it looked SO CAKEY on my face.  It was so painfully obvious I was wearing make up.  Which in high school, I didn't really know any better so I barely noticed.  But now, if I try to use the BareMinerals foundation, I just cringe at the way it applies on me.  I think that in high school, it was a great, affordable, good coverage foundation.  But now, I think that powder foundations just aren't for me.

Now, the NARS Sheer Glow was my holy grail foundation for about a year.  It was a great color match, since NARS products tend to have more yellow undertones.  And those of you with yellow undertones, you understand that it's virtually impossible to find a good color match when it comes to foundations.  Especially at the drugstore.  It had a beautiful, light finish that made my face glow, for lack of a better word.  My biggest issues with this foundation were that: it didn't last long on my face without going patchy AND it transferred like CRAZY.  I couldn't hug someone without my face rubbing off on them.  Mortifying? Yes. So I knew that I had to find something new.

Alright, now that we've gotten all of that nonsense out of the way....let's begin the review (finally)!

This foundation claims to last for 24 hours and be completely retouch-free, transfer-free and full coverage.

I am in the shade W410 Bisque, which I find is the absolute PERFECT shade for me.  I don't think I've ever found a better color match for my skin tone. Lancome has an AMAZING color selection ranging from lighter skin tones to dark skin tones and different undertones such as neutral (N), cool (C), and warm (W).  Those of you with pink undertones, the C range will be your best bet.  Yellow undertones, the W range will be best.  And those of you with neither pink nor yellow undertones, the N range will work best.

One of my favorite things about this foundation is its consistency.  It has a very light, smooth consistency.  It's extremely lightweight and applies very smoothly.  One pump is all I need to cover my face, when in the past with other foundations, I'd need the equivalent of two pumps.  I feel like this applies best with a dense, rounded flat top brush such as the Real Techniques Buffing Brush that comes in the Core Collection, available at Ulta in the US.

I really like that it comes with a cap and a pump because the inner germophobe in me feels like it's cleaner and you can control the amount that you get on your brush.  No need to dip your dirty brush into your foundation over and over again or premature oxidization of your foundation.

Now, since this is a longer lasting foundation, you need to be quite quick with your application.  It sets quite fast, but it's not unmanageable.  The lasting power of this foundation is incredible.  I never really wear make up for 24 hours (my sensitive skin won't allow it), so I can't judge if it lives up to its name, but I can say that it lasts up to 8 hours with no patchiness or rubbing off.  It looks just as natural and fresh after 8 hours of wear as it did when I first apply it.  Mind you, I do set it with a powder, but I can't imagine that the powder has that much of an effect on its lasting power because when I used NARS Sheer Glow with the same powder, my foundation still became patchy after a couple of hours.

The coverage is medium to full coverage.  I have hyper pigmentation in my skin which means that I have pretty dark acne scars that are quite hard to cover with most foundations.  This doesn't quite cover all of my hyper pigmentation with one pump, but the coverage is completely buildable so two applications cover most, if not all, of my scars.  However, I don't like to apply that much since I feel like it looks most natural with just one pump of product.

As far as being transfer-free, I have done the tried and true hug test multiple times with the foundation, and I can tell you now, it is completely transfer-free.  Never do I ever have to deal with the embarrassment of having my face rub off on my friend's clean white shirt (sorry, Jacob!).

I feel like this foundation is most suitable for normal/combination to oily skin types.  It has a semi-matte finish and throughout the day, my skin looks glowy, rather than shiny and oily.  I think that dry skin tones would have a harder time with this foundation, because I can see it clinging to dry patches.  However, if you have dry skin and you moisturize really well, this could still be a good match for you.

How the foundation looks on my skin with one pump, concealer, and powder. 

I suggest everyone should just give this foundation a try.  You can get a good size sample from most Lancome counters and get color matched as well.  I'm not quite sure how it sizes up to other Lancome foundations when it comes to shade range, but the woman at the Lancome counter was excellent with color matching. It runs for 44 US Dollars and is sold at all Lancome counters and Sephora.  You can also purchase it off of the Lancome website itself.

I can guarantee that this will be my go-to foundation for many years to come.  It's the best foundation I've ever tried.  Though it is quite pricey, it is completely worth every penny.  I have nothing but great things to say and I hope that you give it a try!

Word of caution with this foundation, though. Don't drop it on the ground.  Or else you'll be left with this (definitely one of the sadder, more frustrating moments in my life):

I hope this review was helpful!  If you've tried this foundation, let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your reviews.  Also, if you have any questions about this foundation or anything foundation/skin related, feel free to ask.

xx, 

Jordana