Want That "Glow"? Let Me Introduce You to Highlighters!

Not too long ago, my BFF Jen told me that my skin was looking great, and in fact, had a "Glow" to it.

 

(You know that Glow...pregnant women, young girls, and women newly in love seem to have it.)

 

Well, I had recently started using my stash of highlighters more consistently, so I attributed it to that.

Urban Decay's NEW Perversion Mascara vs. Better Than Sex Mascara

In my August Ipsy Glambag

I got several cool items...

  I was very excited that we got to sample Urban Decay's NEW Perversion mascara so SOON after it just came out. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Ipsy!

 

Anyways, I did my unboxing video:

 

You can see all the things I got, plus, watch as I apply UD's Perversion on one eye while I follow up with Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara on the other eye.

What were the results?

e.l.f. Ariel Beauty Book Review, Demo & Giveaway!

I am a fan of e.l.f. cosmetics...and I also have 2 little girls, so I'm a Disney Princess fan, too.

Of course I was attracted to these awesome new e.l.f. Disney collaboration products!

 

I picked up 2 of the Ariel palettes (aka Beauty Books), and one of the Snow White palettes.

Bronzers: Inexpensive Version of Benefit's Hoola? YEP!

I love bronzers.

They can help sculpt cheekbones where there are none, thin out a nose, slenderize a face, lift a jawline, add oomph to your shoulders or décolletage, or simply add sunny color to perk up your bland complexion.

 

Let me admit here that I'm not a fan of shimmery bronzers. I do have one by Victoria's Secret, but I rarely use it. It looks goofy on me, in my opinion. Perhaps dusted on my body for a special occasion; but on my face, it looks like I'm a teenage, oily, disco queen. Not good.

IMO, shimmery ones are not good for sculpting work, anyhow. They should be used to achieve sun-kissed coloring.

So, we need MATTE bronzers, ladies.

Hot Mama! the Balm's Shadow/Blush Review

Are you a Hot Mama?

I am!

 

Okay, maybe not really, but I wear Hot Mama!, the Balm's lovely shade of "eye shadow/blush" (yes, that's how they put it...shadow/blush, complete with front slash).

My December 2013 Birchbox

I'm glad to say that through my subscription to Birchbox, I've been introduced to several of the Balm's great products. Two I received within the last little bit, are Hot Mama! and Mary-Lou Manizer (MLM). MLM is touted as a "highlighter, shimmer, eye shadow".

I like MLM, too, and could go into the details of its merit, but let's save that for another review. Back to Hot Mama!...

Cheek Stain? Is it for you?

A couple of months back there was a good sale at Ulta on the Ulta brand products so I picked up their Extreme Wear Cheek Stain. It was still summer and I felt like a peachy color would be good for me, so I got the shade "Gleam". There are 3 other colors available.

 

I've worn it quite a bit over the past couple of months, trying to figure out if I like it or not.

 

Here's my take:

Easy Summer Face: Stila & Stainiac

For lots of us, summer means looking less made-up. We want to streamline our beauty routine, and we don't mind looking a bit more natural, even if we're not ready to go completely bare.

Just in time for my extended summer vacation in South Florida, I got several of my subscription beauty boxes. While they were all awesome, I'm going to focus on just one of those boxes for this post because it really helped me nicely achieve that less made-up look. My Birchbox contained several deluxe samples I was VERY excited to try out.

Photo: Birchbox

It had quite a few good things, but I was most excited to try:

theBalm® cosmetics Stainiac

and

stila one step bronze