Shopping My Stash #2

One of the best benefits of purging a collection is suddenly finding things that you once used all the time or were really excited about when you bought but somehow made their way to the back of a drawer instead of onto your face.

It's inevitable when you have an unnecessarily large amount of the same thing that shades and formulas get neglected. As part of my ongoing mission to use more of my stuff and part with things that don't make the cut I've pulled a selection of things to start playing with. 

Beat the Winter Blues and Dye Your Hair Purple

Guys I did a thing!

A thing I practically never do. A Beauty something that really quite intimidated me for a long loooong time.

I put a crazy pants color in my hair. 

Now I realize that this is super popular right now and "everybody's doing it" but, I don't fucking care. I love it and I can't wait to do it again.

& Other Stories

My first foray into & Other Stories was one thing I didn't think it would be. 

Incredibly affordable. 

God bless the sale. 

I do not currently see these items on the sale page but if you are NYC I would highly recommend a trip to their SoHo flagship location. The store is open, airy, and merchandised beautifully. It's like all of the lifestyle photogs from Instagram opened a store. 

Succulents everywhere.

The Repurchases| Nuxe Reve De Miel

It has been quite some time since I've featured a repurchased item on the blog. 

Probably because I'm a little slutty when it comes to my products and because when you do find yourself finishing things you realize that it actually takes a long time to do. 

The Nuxe Reve De Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm is a prime example of this. The pot that I just finished is the one I started nearly 18 months ago. 

Balk all you want at a 19$ lip treatment but I bet you dollars to donuts you've spent twice that much on cherry Chapstick in the last year and a half. 

Foundation Chronicles|Benefit Hello Flawless

I am a big fan of a nice light weight base product and when Benefit launched their Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow (dumbest name ever.) a few years back  I was immediately drawn in. Unfortunately on it's initial launch there was not a shade light enough for me in the lineup. Since then Benefit has added and subtracted shades one of which being the lightest of the bunch called "I'm Pure 4 Sure" Ivory.

Now purity puns aside this color is perfect for my winter pale complexion and when I made my last and only Sephora Purchase from the month of January I added this to my cart from a promo code so I could finally text the formula.

Capsule Wardrobe| Lipstick High and Low

I've done one capsule posts before (here and here), essentially about the basic items you should have in your collection to create the most diverse looks with the fewest products. 

I did not show the same restraint here...but, I am offering a high end and a more budget friendly lineup for you guys to choose from. This way you can fill the gaps in your collection from either lineup or mix and match as you see fit.

The formula here was simple. I picked one nude, mauve, coral, berry and, red shade from each price point. Some of the shades, the nudes in particular, are going to work better for those of you with a warmer skin tone (like mine) but the more saturated colors should be fair game for everyone. 

I omitted pinks because, as I have mentioned recently, the variation in that particular color category is a little nerve wracking for me.

Do You Believe in Magic (Cream)?

Before I launch into my review I think it's really important I give a shout out to the AMAZING staff at Beautylish. I placed my first order with them over the pre-Holiday sales and not only did I recieve my goods in a timely and beautifully packaged manner but the staff followed up with me on my purchase and inquired about whether or not I wanted to try some samples. 

I can't say if it was because I featured them on Instagram or here on the blog but none the less the follow up was a lovely touch. 

As such I was sent a very generous sample of Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Cream and although I probably could have told you how I would feel about this before I tried it I had to satisfy my curiosity.

Good Smells| White Sandalwood

I made a point of not asking for beauty gifts for the holidays this past year. 

I don't know if it means I'm growing up but, the way I see it, I'm a big girl who can more or less buy the makeup she wants whilst still caring for herself and her expenses. So this year my list had things like a cast iron skillet, down comforter and a plant that I can't kill on it. 

While the family came through on the list front I am so glad I had one friend who saw fit to ignore me. 

The Beauty Purge 2015|#3 The Thing About Pink

As I wade through my acrylic drawers full of excess makeup (mainly lip products) I've suddenly noticed something.

I own A LOT of pink lipstick.

Do you know what I almost never wear?

Pink lipstick.

The Beauty Purge 2015|#2 Thoughts on Blush Palettes

With the holidays and all of the holiday gift sets behind us and my recent collection purge on my mind I was thinking a little bit about some of the the most popular offerings from brands at the holidays and how/when I use them throughout the year.

The first thing I thought of were the constantly reappearing blush palettes, initially brought out by NARS, I believe, in 2012 and then again every year since. Not to be outdone Tarte followed suit with collections of their much loved Amazonian Clay formula.

After three holiday seasons and two different palettes added to my collection how do I feel about this as a part of my collection and would I buy another one?

The Beauty Purge 2015| #1 An Introduction

Via Instagram

So as the dawn of the new year approached I realized it was time for me to start thinking about freeing up space in my beauty stash. 

Now being the kind of person I am, once this idea took hold I felt like I needed to go about getting it done like...now. 

Right now.

So on Sunday I spilled my entire collection all over my (very cold) bedroom floor and sorted, counted and, purged the whole damn thing.

Over the next few days you're going to see some more in depth posts about certain parts of the collection and everything that went. 

Today though, I filmed a video going over some of the highlights of the purge including some of the stuff going back to MAC, the give aways, the trow aways and the parts of my collection that took the biggest hit. (Hint: starts with lip ends with stick.)

Also there will be a full rundown of all the numbers for the last installment of the purge next week.

So watch this space!

Sephora Does Your Birthday Right

This was not the post on the adgenda today. 

Whoops. I'm a day behind but, that's Ok. 

This is worth the mention.

Every year Sephora does a birthday gift for its' Beauty Insiders that they give out all year long.

Since this is my first year as a VIB Rouge I got the big daddy of Birthday treats (I'm a January baby.) and I have to say; this year they partnered with NARS and really, really knocked it out of the park. 

The gift contains two classic NARS favorites and one formulation that is new to me.

Cream Contour

2014 was the year I really started experimenting with contouring my face. I learned pretty quickly that cream products were my friend in this arena. 

While any contour can get out of hand without careful application I think cream products just blend out better and give you a little more freedom to fix your mistakes.

Since my go-to cream contour is no longer available in the states (why Illamasqua?! Why?!) and because I wanted free shipping on my last SpaceNK order I picked up the Kevin Aucoin Candleight and Sculpting Creamy Glow Duo. I have one of the Creamy Glow blush shades (Tansoleil?) and it is a fantastic cream formula but, does it measure up to Illamasqua's Cream Pigment in Hollow?

The One I Broke My "No Buy" For

 So I decided that to kick off the new year I would reign in my beauty spending until after I did my beauty inventory (coming later this month) and got rid of some of the clutter taking up space in my Muji storage. 

I can tell you now in terms of what's lacking (HA!) in my collection lip products DO NOT qualify. 

Then this past Wednesday my apartment flooded. This is not the first time it's happened but I had thought the issue was behind me. Sadly it is not and I still have some work to do with my landlord (who is handling things wonderfully might I add) to get it squared away. 

This past Wednesday was also the launch of Bite Beauty's new Lip Lab Limited Release Creme Deluxe series for 2015. 12 Limited run shades released the first Wednesday of every month all year long.

What can I say? I'd had a rough morning and I'm weak.

My First Facial and Follow Up Skincare

 This year my lovely father treated myself, my mother and, his mother to a beautiful post Christmas pamper session.

 He booked us in for facials and mani-pedis on the 26th and while we were all looking forward to a lazy day I don't think any of us were prepared for this kind of relaxation.

My feet are finally feeling like feet instead of sandpaper but the Dermalogica fueled facial seems to have me completely skipping my hormonal break out this month. Now that doesn't mean there wasn't some residual purging for my skin after the thorough and deep clean but since then it's been smooth sailing. 

Some of the consultant's advice seems to have been really working well for me too.

The Top 14 of 2014|TheUnanimousMolly

After a year of trying, testing, buying and applying I have narrowed it down to 14* of my favorite things from the last 12 months.

The Every-look Blush

I may have accidentally bought myself a Chanel blush this holiday season. I say accidentally because it wasn't initially for me.

I knew I wanted a Chanel blush for my mom's stocking and really wanted to give her the cream blush formula but, when I went to Bloomingdales to find it for her they were out of the color I really wanted for her. A little disappointed and thinking I wouldn't have anymore time before the Christmas to shop I picked up the next best thing:the powder blush in the shade #68 Rose Ecrin.

Ultimately I did find the cream color I wanted for her and since my receipt for this was already gone I found myself with an new very expensive blush.

One of their bestselling shades according to the very aggressive pre-Christmas sales associate but true or not it is a welcome addition to my cheek round up.

Ed Note: MAC Ruby Woo

Do you know how hard it is to get your hands on the world's most recommended red lip the week after the biggest red lip holiday of the year?

Damn near impossible.

After two MAC stores and two more counters it took one very friendly blue contact wearing, black lip sporting  MUA a trip up two floors at Macy's to find me, what felt like, the last Ruby Woo in New York City.

That was one purchase that went from New Years Eve impulse to New Years Eve mission very quickly.

There isn't much to say about this shade that hasn't already been said.

Keeping Warm in Style

 I am a bath girl from way back. Not on the regular or to get clean particularly but, when it comes to taking time out to turn off having a bath is top of my list.

As an avid Lush fan and one time employee I have run the bathbombbubblemelt trend into the ground so; as I get more mature maybe bath-time should too?

I have been after some grown up bath-time luxury in the form of the Aromatherapy Associates Bath and Shower oils since they took over every YouTube holiday gift guide video three years ago. They promise insanely concentrated scent, deep hydration and, obviously, aroma therapeutic properties at a premium pricetag.

When I was poking around the Space NK post-holiday sale I found their Bath Jewels gift set for half price and immediately placed them in my cart.

Reflections and Resolutions

Happy New Year!

2014 has been a really stellar year for me and my little corner of the internet. 

This little nugget of a beauty blog was featured in BORO Magazine this past fall opening me up to so many more of you lovely readers and my YouTube Channel has doubled in size. 

So I just want to thank you all again for helping my little labor of love reach more and more people everyday. 

You're seriously so cool.

So thanks for that!

Now to look ahead.