The 2 for 4$ Drugstore Matte Lip Score

 It's admittedly been a while since I found anything truly exciting at the drugstore. I went through a long phase where I bought a lot of drugstore makeup and had a lot of 50/50 experiences. 

I think that's to be expected when you're shopping on a budget. In my experience the formulations, while great for some, have a much more narrow margin of success at a lower price point. Since then my beauty budget has increased a bit and so I'm more inclined to shell out for pricier products.

That said, every once in a while the drugstore gives up some really stellar surprises. 

The New Favorite

The dreamy sun-soaked photo above unintentionally captured my feelings of warm fuzzy summer love that I have for the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lip Colors.

No. Joke. This stuff is the things matte lip dreams are made of.

Even application, full color coverage, non drying and minimal transferring. UGH! I just love them.

I 100% will be getting more.

It's Cheaper At Home

 I went all the way to London, trolled the Charlotte Tilbury counter at Selfidges and then came home and snapped up one of the newest shades of the Matte Revolution lipstick. 

What? It was cheaper at home.

Nails:New In

It has been quite a while since I've purchased nail polishes. Not just since I've featured them on the blog but since I've bought any period. 

I had amassed such a large collection at one point that it became overwhelming.

A little over a year ago I got rid of a whole bunch of colors and have bought very few new colors since. 

When I was away on vacation though, I thought it would be a lovely opportunity to give a couple of new to me formulas a shot.* 

Catrice: First Impressions

 This is going to be an extraordinarily well timed post, especially for me.

While I was in Dublin with my family in the first few days of July I picked up a small selection of Catrice products because at the time they were only available across Europe. Since then (like in the last 2 weeks) they became available on the the Ulta website and in a few exclusive stores.

Let me tell you if you are a fan of good beauty on a budget this is GREAT news for you.

When Summer Brights Feel Right

Despite that fact that two weeks ago I was droning on about winter berry lips at the height of the Summer season I may have finally managed to find a set of "seasonal" lipsticks that are making me tick.

They are in a stellar formula that, better yet, is at the drugstore.

The Maybelline Creamy Mattes formula launched last fall and for the Spring they doubled the shade range.  As soon as I saw preliminary images of the colors I knew exactly the colors I would be aiming for.

Look Alive

 Organic and "all natural" makeup is a tricky thing. With brands constantly on the hunt to find ways of selling customers a more green angle it's hard to know what brands that claim to be organic are legit.

RMS Beauty has long been regarded as one of the forerunners in organic and green beauty products. While this isn't necessarily a huge concern for me when it comes to beauty (I'm an equal opportunity hoarder) when you hear enough about any given product it's hard not to cave and give it a try. 

So when a little coupon code incentive surfaced for DermStore last week I went ahead and finally picked up the RMS Living Luminizer. 

Ed Note:The Negative Space Manicure

It's pretty rare these days for me to want to experiment with nail art. Once upon a time I luuurved it. These days though I just don't have the time I'd like to for it so when something comes along, like the studs from last month, I get excited to play with it.

Now this is a far from perfect attempt but I am looking forward to giving this one another go and trying out some new shapes.

Come Correct

As a makeup junkie with hereditary dark under-eye circles and years of concealers and correctors under my belt it gets very hard to find things that do anything new for you. 

On my "to buy" list for this year's Spring VIB sale was a product I had heard so much about but just could not commit to the insane price tag.

It is so worth it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Giorgio Armani Master Corrector.

Seasonally Appropriate?

I love a bit of nail polish. A few months ago now I did a little post on all of my favorite spring nail colors and since then I feel I may have changed by tune a little.

Now don't get me wrong those are all lovely and beautiful colors but part of me has had a really hard time feeling spring-y due to some of the ongoing awful weather. Now that the cold seems to be more or less behind us my days are thrilled but my nails haven't really gotten the memo. 

So this is my rather seasonally inappropriate selection of shades.

Stepford Alien

I feel like every year I share a new pair of sunglasses on the blog. Last year it was a badass pair of colorful, mirrored aviators and this year we have June Cleaver meets Judy Jetson.

Now these are "inspired" by the Tom Ford Nastasya sunglasses that I first saw on Dara's YouTube Channel.

Now I love Dara and her recommendations but Tom Ford and my wallet are just not on the same page these days.

I think the number of selfies on my Instagram may have grown by 5,000% since I got these.

I am in love.

Impulse Purchasing 101

If there was going to be a blog post on how not to shop responsibly this would be a good place to start. 

Do you know when you see a product and you go...eh, it's ok, and then you look at the name and everything changes. 

Well when I saw the name on one of Marc Jacobs Beauty's newest Le Marc Lip Creme's I knew I had to have it. Even if it is a member of the color family that I admit I almost never wear. 

Some Thoughts on Colourpop

I finally placed my first Colourpop order a couple of weeks ago and when it arrived on Monday I was beyond excited to crack them open. It was all I could do to get the photos before I stuck my grubby fingers in the product. 

For the uninitiated Colourpop is the latest in a line of fledgling beauty brands that are made in the USA and pedaled by the YouTube hierarchy. 

Not that there is anything wrong with that. As a business model it's pretty genius but, from a consumer perspective it does make me hesitate before parting with my cash. 

Now that I have had a chance to play with my goodies (I ordered eyeshadows and a blush) I'm all about telling you what I loved and what I didn't love.

Under Eyes Like A Pro

My under eye circles are a constant state of consternation for me. I love embracing my natural beauty and all that jazz but I would also really love to look like I slept for more than 3 hours a night. 

My dark circles are hereditary so regardless of how well I sleep they just are. They're not going anywhere anytime soon.

Over the years I've tried many a solution and recently I've come across a couple more products that are making the task just that little bit more easy. 

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. 

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.

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.

It's Officially Candle Season

 Now I love me some home fragrance all year round but there is nothing quite like a good flickering candles come Autumn. 

I always especially love candles in the colder months because I tend to gravitate towards stronger, woodier, incense-y smells that just seem to suit the cold so much better. 

I've found a couple new scents that are really tickling my pickle..and some that I am dying to try.

HAUL:Sephora VIB Sale and More!|TheUnanimousMolly

Sunday Bonus Jonas!

If you haven't already seen it I posted my Sephora VIB sale haul today!

I definitely picked up some more fun things this time than I did in my Friends & Family haul especially with all of the Holiday goodies and gift sets lining the shelves at Sephora this time of year.

It was a hard one to resist!
Check out the footage behind the cut!