FOTD: Holy Cobalt Batman!!

Summer is here! Last week, for the first time, it actually felt like Summer. The temperature was well into the 90's and while I'm certainly not a fan of the hot weather sitting in the nice hot sunshine felt so so good for a change. Another thing that felt nice for a change was reaching for a statement color to wear on my eyes.

On my eyes;

Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Clash

Urban Decay 24/7 Liners in Perversion and Radium

L'Oreal Infaillible Shadow in Gold Imperial (LE)

NYX Doll Eye Mascara

It was a bit grey out ironically when I took these photos to the color doesn't stand out quite the way it did in person. It was so nice to reach for something like this for a change. When I was in high school I used to reach for shades like this all the time but, as I've gotten older it has just become more infrequent.

On Face

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream in Light/Medium

Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Pen in Radiant

Maybelline Super Stay 24hr Concealor

Bourjois Choclate Bronzer

NYX Blush in Mocha

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade

Lips

Number 17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Beehive

I think with the warmer weather I'm going to try and wear more outlandish colors a few times a month. This blue and shades like turquoise and violet look so nice against tan Summer skin that if I were ever going to pull these colors off and have it look tasteful it would have to be now.

Have you guys moved beyond your comfort zone lately? Did you enjoy it?

xoxo

Molly

Holy Grail Status

Even amidst my recent battle to finish things there are a few purchases I haven't been able to resist. Some of them are worth the trouble, a lot of them are not. This one, however, is something I would surrender my first born for if neccessary. (I kid naturally) It is amazing stuff none the less.

I am a self apointed lip balm junkie. Now obviously I have a thing with makeup in general (otherwise why would I be here) but lip balm is where it all started. Who doesn't remember there very first Lip Smackers? Mine was Dr Pepper flavor and I loved it, it made me feel all grown up and lady-like applying it in the middle of my 5th grade history lesson. Since then my quest for smooth lips has continued and gotten more serious every year. While I may never stop trying new ones, I'm confident I have found the best.

Nuxe Reve dr Miel is not a stranger to the internet. There are no shortage of glowing reviews to be found on the particular product. It is a thick balm with a waxy consistency and a citrusy beeswax smell. It is truly unlike any other lipbalm I have ever tried. The beeswax in the formula creates a bitty texture in the balm but as soon as you get the product on your fingers and massage it into your lips it melts and creates a very thick, hydrating, matte, coating on the mouth. It is quite dense and I would say that if you were to wear the balm during the day it might be uncomfortably thick on the lips.

For nighttime use however, this is the best thing on the planet. A barely there layer applied right before bed and when you wakeup it is STILL THERE. Honestly I've never experienced that before. It seems to be the perfect marriage of pertoleum based products that just create a seal over the lips and oil based products that hydrate but don't last.

I think the inclusion of the beesewax is what makes this product work so well.  As far as I'm concerned the balm stands alone in terms of quality and function. It is however  quite a pricey product. I ordered mine from dermstore (link!) where the price is 19$, but the shipping there is always free. You can find it listed other places for less but with the shipping costs it usually winds up working out to more than 20$ anyway.

The pricetag certainly won't be for everyone but with the amount I use of this there is no way I see myself using it up anytime soon. If you think about it as a cost per wear it will work out much cheaper.

There are ultimatley cheaper lipbalms on the market that will do the job (not nearly as well I promise you) but if you have the funds to treat yourself I cannot reccomend this enough!

Have you guys splurged on anything lately? Was it worth it?

xoxo
Molly

This was going to be an outfit post...

...but then this happened.

His name is Maxwell and he is the best puppy ever. The end.

Anyway the two things in the outfit that I was most interested in sharing were the skirt.

Hello transparent! I came accross this skirt at, you guessed it, forever 21 about three weeks ago now ant have already worn it several times. It's just a plain hi-low black knit maxi (it does hit my ankle in the back but these photos don't give the best impression) It has been a really nice lazy day piece and at 18$ I think I should have bought two.

Lastly is my new DIY slave bracelet. I spoke not too long ago about Caggie Dunlop the super trendy british reality (sort of) TV star. link! Well in addition to here irresistable lip color she had on a huge turquoise cuff bracelet paired with a small silver slave bracelet. I loved the look so much I decided to combine the two concepts and DIY myself a little accesory. Its a bit heavy but if your just out shopping or something low key it's really a great statement item.

Have you guys made any new family additions lately. (four legged or otherwise) Or have you found any new trends to get hooked on?

xoxo

Molly

Owning It

Target has sort of been owning my life lately. I spoted two pairs of shoes there latlely and passed on them both. (I'll get to them in a second.) I immediately regretted this decision and proceeded to visit every other store in my area to try and hunt down the items I had foolishly let slip through my fingers. The one pair I was really after were these little T-strap gold and black sandals. They were just neautral enough to go with everything and just embellished enough not to be boring.

They are not very sturdy but for the 15$ pricetag they're great to get me through the summer. 

 The next pair I found I thought would be a nice colorfull addition for the warmer months. The best part about these is that when I did finally locate a pair in my size after turning them down they had been reduced from $20 to just under 14$. YAY!

They offered them in a pretty cobalt blue color as well but I am definitely going to get more use out of the red pair.

I have to say though as much as I love these, warm weather shoes just don't do it for me. How many days left until boot season?

Finally I picked up a couple more duplicates. Two new shades of the L'Oreal Caresse Lipsticks and the last of the colors of the Cos Bar for Target tweezers as they were 30% off and I figured I would just complete the collection.



Top: Blushing Sequin Bottom: Sunset Angora

The Sunset Angora shade is the ideal summer lip color in my opinion. Its natural and can be worn with a stronger eye but has a slight wash of coral to it making it appropriate for the warmer months. Even (or especially) when the sky looks like this.

Have you guys found any outstanding pieces lately? Where were they from?

xoxo

Molly

Come Out Come Out Wherever You Are...

I have been on a huge drugstore wild goose chase. I got wind of the US release (finally) of the L'Oreal Rouge Caresse lipsticks at Target from Nouveau Cheap (link!) about three weeks ago and nearly immediately made a trip to my local Target (or both of them) on the hunt for a couple shades. Now when I first took a look at the display there were only about 5 shades and I thought they had simply sold out of the more appealing shades. Then, when I went to a different location I saw that they had the same 5 shades in stock and no others. After a recent visit back to that same second Target they are now offering rain checks on the shades that haven't been stocked yet, which leads me to believe there was a distribution error to begin with and not all of the shades were available when they were scheduled to launch. (Rain checks, in case you're not sure, is when the store notifies you when they have the stock available.)

The two colors I did purchase from the ones that were available were Sheer Linen, as soft nude, and Cardinal Plume, a blue based red color.

The packaging on these is different from the packaging that was released in Europe back at the begining of the year. The "original" has a silver tube that looks a lot like the L'Oreal Inffailible Le Rouge lipsticks where as this tube is more like an updated version of the Color Riche lipstick packaging.

I really love the look of this product. The stip of color at the base of the tube is a really good indication of the color you get in the product anf I think this is a really expensive looking product from the drugstore. It reminds me a lot of the Estee Lauder lipstick tube. The shiny gold tube however is sort of a bitch to photograph.

These have a very interesting texture. These are almost like a solid gloss. I don't neccesarily think they feel or act like a balm, I don't really find them to be moisturizing. That said, they're not drying by any means and they leave behind a nice shiny colorful layer on the lips. They last like a gloss but have a more even natural looking texture on the lips. The product stays shiny on the lips for about an hour (give or take) and needs reapplication after about three hours.


L: Cardinal Plume R: Sheer Linen



Ultimately I really like this. It is a great east summer prduct and if you're in the market for a nice summer lip color I reccomend you pop to Target and see what shades they have in stock.

Just a quick comparison before I go. As far as these and the Revlon Lip Butters are concerned I would say that they're not as similar as I was expecting but not worlds apart either.(does that make sense?) If you are not insane and only buy makeup when you need it I would say choose which you purchase based on the color that suits you best (I think L'oreal offers a more sophisticated color selection while the revlon color choices are a little more fun.) If, however, you are a collector I think they are different enough to get a shade or two from each range. Ultimately I think the Revlon is a more traditional lipstick product while the L'Oreal is more of a pigmented gloss product.

Have you tried any of the new L'Oreal Caresse? Do you have any thoughts on the formula?

xoxo
Molly

Foiled Again

I have been eyeing up a few of the American Apparel nail polishes for a while now. I bought one when they first came out a couple of years ago and I fell in love with the formula. My color choice however, could have used some work. This time I knew I wanted Meteor Shower, a gold leaf type glitter suspended in a thick clear polish. I also had my eye on one of the neon shades because I thought it would be nice to have for the summer time.  I also wound up picking a California Trooper as a nice neutral to wear underneath meteor shower.



L-R: Neon Red, California Trooper, Meteor Shower Link!


I love these polishes. Just like everything else at American Apparel the price seems a little high at first but the quality is so nice that once you use them the price seems justifiable. Its also worth is to buy these three at a time so you get 3 for 15$ instead of paying 6$ each. In addition the neon formula was amazing. It was totally opaque in two coats it didn't require any kind of white base or an assinine amount of coats. It was also unique in the sense that in some nights it looks more neon than in others.

California Trooper was on sale when I bought it and is a really nice nude base. If you're interested in nail art it is a really handy color to have. Meteor Shower on the other hand is the only formula that isn't overly impressive. The clear base is a little gloopy and the glitter flakes are a little sparse. Some of the flakes are large and a bit bent and it's difficult to get them to lay flat sometimes. All of these things are dissmissed by the fact that it is so PRETTY! I will make the effort with this because I love the way it looks.

It is a great summer glitter and I'm excited to see how it looks layered over other colors. (Specifically navy blue)

What colors have you guys found that your excited about wearing this summer?

xoxo

Molly

Feeling Naughty?

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of HauteLook's sale on  theBalm cosmetics. In fact, I joined HauteLook specifically for this sale. There was a really fantastic selection of products and initially my cart was very full. I wound up whittling my selection down to the one thing I was most curious to try.

The Nude'tude palette was sort of  theBalm's answer to the growing trend of large nudity themed eyeshadow palettes. I have to say I think this is a nice contender in the world of neutral eyeshadows,with a creative color selection and an equal distribution of warm and cool tones.

The colors are richly pigmented with the exception of Stand-offish which is a little bit sheer. There is a terrific gradation from highlight shades to liner shades. I also love the inclusion of a pale yellow gold color, Snobby, which I think is such a versatile shade for many different skintones. I also really enjoy the color Sexy which is a warm eggplant color which is a great shade for adding definition and is almost universally flattering for eye colors across the board.

While I do think this is a versatile high quality palette of neutral colors I will say that I find the shadows themselves to be less unique than some other similarly themed palettes. For most people who are not collectors (...addicts...) this isn't really a big deal it is a functional, high quality, user-friendly selection of eyeshadows. There is however one thing I really didn't like about the palette.

The brush is horrendous. You can see in the photo above that the fluffy end is so poorly cut there are all kinds of bristles sticking out. Honestly, leave the brush out. I have very little use for it and will likely just throw it away.

All in all I would call it a great purchase and well worth investigating HauteLook for. I got this palette for $18 before shipping but would gladly have shelled out the full $36. The gimmick with the naked ladies is pretty cute too but they do offer a "nice" version for those of you who aren't moved by the pinup angle.

Have you guys tried theBalm before? What did you think? How about HauteLook? Have you found any good deals there?

Link to theBalm

Link to HauteLook

xoxo

Molly

NOTD: Tone on Tone

I went a  little Essie crazy this week. One of the salon supply stores near where I live was having an essie sale and I basically got a bunch of polishes for less than three dollars a bottle. I wound up buying six. Whoops. So to give some of my new colors a walk through I decided to attempt a tone on tone funky french manicure.



Base: Essie To Buy or not to Buy Tip: Essie Splash of Grenadine

I really love the way this turned out but the combination is funny. I'm not sure if it's because the colors were worn together or if To Buy or Not to Buy does this on it's own but in some lights the base looks really blue based and then in some lights it appears to be a lighter shade of the tip color.

I think next I'm going to try some of my new colors as a leopard print manicure.

Have you guys tried anything new lately? What type of colors or combos have you been trying?

xoxo

Molly

Thats Why They Call Me Frenchie...

Lately it seems fancy French skincare has taken over beauty press. I remember when I first heard about Caudelie years ago on some Style Network show and thinking it was so luxurious looking. That is the nice thing about skincare and beauty products in general; they are a small easy way of injecting some luxury in your day to day life. The two products I hunted down were the Caudelie Beauty Elixr and the Bioderma Crealine Micellar Solution.

First up is the Beauty Elixr

I love this product. LOVE. IT. It is a toner made up of several essential oils suspended in water. The most notable of these is pepperment oil. The product smells very strongly of this and I believe its the ingredient that makes the spray so refreshing. Not only does it feel lovely but pepperment also encourages blood circulation which is amazing for the skin. It also features rosemary which is naturally antiseptic amd toning so if you suffer from breakouts or skin congestion this is a really lovely product to add into your routine.

Next up is the Bioderma

My feelings for this product are less concrete. It is a very gentle and very effective makeup remover that is incredibly hard to get a hold of in the United States. I found this bottle on eBay for around 25$ with shipping which was the most cost effective price listed. I use it by soaking two cotton rounds with product and placing it over my eyes for 30-90 seconds (depending on how heavy my makeup is). When I wipe it away almost all of my makeup is gone. I will state that I don't use anything waterproof but it had no problem with the Stila glitter liquid liner which is a nightmare to remove. I also really like having it around in the morning as a light cleanse before makeup because it gently removes any dirt and oil residue from sleeping.

I will say that I like the concept of this product but I think when this runs out I'll look into the same type of solution from a more accesible brand. The Caudelie is something I plan on repurchasing immeditely.

Have you guys branched out into any new skincare recently? Were you dissapointed by anything or did you find something new to fall in love with?

Let me know!

xoxoxo

Molly