Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer

Recently I was looking for a new foundation. As I wandered around I knew I wanted something paraben free and I always go for something with medium coverage. I ran across this Tarte Amazonian Clay BB tinted moisturizer and decided to try it out on my hand because I know BB creams vary a lot in how much coverage they provide. Once I swatched it I liked the color (they had a good color selection, by the way) and it seemed to have decent coverage so I went ahead and purchased it.

Unfortunately once I got it home and tried it out on my face it wasn't what I was looking for. My skin is very fair and while my skin has been healing, I have leftover acne marks and on my face this product barely provided any coverage at all. I know it's a tinted moisturizer, but the texture seemed like it would have provided a bit more coverage. I did wear it with some concealer and it was nice, just not what  I need day to day.

If you are looking for something with light coverage that is free of some of those more harmful ingredients this might be up your alley! Let me know what you thought of this if you've tried it or what your favorite foundation has been lately :)

Going Blonde Part I

As you may have noticed, I've been going blonde. My natural hair color is dirty blonde, but for about 10 years I was coloring it very dark brown, almost black. I especially remember October 2014 that my roots were coming through and I needed to dye my hair, but I literally didn't feel like it- that started this entire process! I had been wanting to go back blonde for a while, however, I knew it was going to be an expensive and time consuming process!

I thought I would document my progress here for you all and maybe it'll help someone thinking of going blonde!

To start, some pictures to jog your memory:

August 2013

August 2014

Like I said, in October 2014 I started to let my roots grow in so by December my hair looked like this: 

December 2014

In May 2015 I started the process of actually lightening my hair.  I think we bleached it all over, which is definitely not great for your hair but you do have to strip the color out. I don't know much about hair but it's probably the fastest way to get to a lighter color without having to get stark highlights throughout. I will say that it did take a few times to get the orangey color out of it and I still had to get a glaze applied to it to even the color out. This is what it looked like right after the glaze:

It wasn't the color I was going for, but blonde does take time so I left it this way for about two months to give it a break.

That's it for Part I! Happy Friday!

Tanya Bur Lipglosses

From top to bottom: Macaroon, Candy Frost and Bewitching

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen back in December I go the Tanya Burr advent calendar as a birthday gift. I was really excited to find that three of the days were different shades of her lipglosses because I've been wanting to try them for so long!

The three shades I have now are Macaroon, Candy Frost and Bewitching as you can see above. I like the shade selection because you get to try a coral, a bright pink and a deeper berry so they covered all the bases.

Just to get the basics out of the way, I love the packaging. The square tube is really nice because it's modern and the gold top and accents are super trendy. Also, these have a doe foot applicator. As far as scent, they smell very strongly of vanilla and sweets. It's a pleasant smell for me, I'd rather it smell like this than like chemically-plastic like I've had before, however, it wouldn't be my first choice. The formula is really nice in my opinion. The product feels really smooth on your lips, not gritty at all and it doesn't leave your lips feeling dry.

They are fairly pigmented, although I will say that Macaroon (coral) and Candy Frost (bright pink) are definitely better over either a nude to bring out the color or a complementing lip shade. I like Bewitching on its own and over dark lipsticks to add more shine.

Have you guys tried any of these lipglosses or anything from the Tanya Burr line?

Revlon Hair Dryer and Styler

I was on Ulta's website one night and randomly saw this Revlon Hair Dryer and Styler. There were no reviews on the Ulta website and I didn't look any up, I just decided I'd get it and hope for the best!
I have thick wavy/curly hair that takes a long time to dry, particularly if I'm trying to dry it straight. If I don't use a brush while I'm drying my hair then it'll end up like an actual lions mane. My hope was that this tool might make the drying process easier because I wouldn't have to have a brush in one hand and the hair dryer in the other- it's do-able, but tiring!
So basically, I love thing thing. I haven't used my regular hair dryer since I got this. I let my hair air dry 50-70% of the way, just because it's healthier, and then I finish it off with this. It's no heavier than a regular hair dryer, but it's so nice that you're only holding one tool! As you can see, it has the "Cool," "Low," and "High" settings that are typical and the brush itself is a good size. Even though it's a paddle brush and not a round brush, I still find that I'm able to get my hair decently straight with it. It's much more straight and calm than when I use my regular hair dryer. I still have to use my straightener but the point is that it makes the drying process easier and my hair comes out looking nicer.
My only complaint about it is that the hot air only blows out of the top half of the brush. I wish that it came out of the whole brush because I have to make sure that the top half of the brush is getting through the wet areas, but overall I'm still very happy with this.
I know that this isn't a "new" idea and these types of things have been around for a while, but I never see anyone talking about them. I would imagine that if you have short hair this would be perfect for you, but I have thick hair that's a mid-length and it works great for me too. I'd definitely recommend trying this if you dislike drying your hair!

The Make Up Eraser

After washing.

I had seen reviews of this product, the MakeUp Eraser, claiming it was magic and it somehow removes all of your makeup without additional product. I've tried several makeup removal methods, but the one that always stuck for me was using a baby wipe (cheaper than makeup wipes) for my face makeup and dipping a section of the wipe in eye makeup remover to get off my eye make up. What I never liked about the baby wipe method is that it's cold! I'd even thought about buying a baby wipe warmer because of it- haha! The baby wipe worked pretty well, especially the fragrance free ones, and I switched to baby wipes because you get a lot more in each package. However, I wear makeup every day and I was still having to buy them frequently.
I decided to give this a go around Christmas. You have to wash it before the first use. When you're ready to use it, you just run it under water, ring it out and it's ready. 
I can say that it does really work. It gets all of my makeup off, including eye makeup fairly easily. It's a long cloth, so I just work my way down it every night and I wash it once or twice a week and that seems to work fine for me. Also, one side is soft and smooth and the other side has a little texture to it for exfoliating. It doesn't come completely stain free in the wash, but it is clean, there's not caked up makeup left behind. I'm also happy that you use warm water with it so no more cold wipe on my face!
The only thing about it is that it is just a soft micro fiber cloth, there's no product on it...it kind of makes me feel like, "why didn't I think of that??" At Sephora, it's $20 and being that it's just a microfiber cloth, that is pretty expensive. Still, though, it's nice to have because it's re-useable so that means no more wipes and no more eye makeup remover. I imagine that after a while it'll get worn out and you will have to repurchase it, but I still think that it's worth trying and having.
How do you remove your makeup?

Advent Calendars Day 5 & 6

Blogmas Day 12

In my Benefit Advent Calendar on days 5 and 6 I got a sample size of the They're Real mascara and I can now see why people are so obsessed with it. I like that it has the spikes on the end of the brush because it makes it easy to get the lashes on the inner corners and the outsides coated and overall it makes my lashes long, but not clumpy. I even had someone at work ask me if they were my real lashes the first day I wore this! 
Day 6 of the Benefit calendar I got a Lollitint Lip and Cheek Stain, which I haven't tried other than swatching, but the color is really pretty. It's also definitely a stain because it won't come off of my hand, so I think it'll be great worn sheer for work because I'll be left with a hint of color even after it wears off.
In the Tanya Burr calendar on Day 5 I got a set of lashes with glue. I was pretty excited about this because I'm not really a lash wearer, but it'll be nice to have them if I ever want to wear them for something. They look really pretty and natural, so I'm sure I'll be using these at some point.
Lastly, on Day 6 of the Tanya Burr calendar I got a gorgeous lipgloss in the color Bewitching. It's such a pretty wine color with very subtle iridescent sparkles throughout that I cannot wait to wear!
Also, I wanted to mention that this is the last "Blogmas" post I'm going to do. I decided to stop at day 12 and just think of it as "The 12 Days of Blogmas" because it's really difficult to post every single day and I don't feel like all of my posts have been up to my standards. I still plan on posting every other day for the rest of December, but I'm not going to stress about it. I hope you've enjoyed it and continue to enjoy!

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

Blogmas Day 10

A few weeks ago I decided to treat myself to a new foundation. I always repurchase Revlon Colorstay, which I love, but I thought that for my birthday and the holidays I'd try one that I've wanted to try for so long. As you can see, it's Estee Lauder's Double Wear- the original. I'm in the shade Ivory Nude and it matches me perfectly.
My requirements for a foundation are medium to full coverage and it has to last about 10 hours without needing touch ups and this pretty much meets those requirements. It's definitely medium to full depending on how much you apply. However, a little does go a long way, which I appreciate since it is a more expensive product. I like to have a foundation that has coverage that is good enough to not need concealer on spots because I like to eliminate any step that I can and this product does that for me.
It does last all day as well, but I do start to see a little oil coming through on my nose half way through the day. I don't mind blotting once through the day, but I do not want to have to reapply any makeup or put on powder.
I like the finish of this product; I would say it's a satin finish, which is my favorite because it's not too dewy and not too matte so it looks really natural (especially because I don't need concealer). If you look at the picture of me on my birthday, this is the foundation that I'm wearing. It had been on about 4 hours at this point and it shows how it photographs.
As far as the packaging, the bottle is very nice, it's thick with the gold top that really adds to it's aesthetic. There is a no pump, which is a big thing for a lot of people. I don't mind not having a pump too much because I'm used to it with the Colorstay, so it's not a deal breaker for me to use.
Also, a side note about this product is that when deciding on a foundation to purchase, I wanted one that was paraben free. This one came up in the search on Sephora's website, but I'm unable to find it written anywhere. Anyway, I hope that it is because that went into my decision to purchase it. So if you try to stay away from anything with parabens, you should check this one out.
Overall, I'm very happy with this product. I'm sure that I'll repurchase it in the future because it is probably my favorite high end foundation that I've tried so far.
Let me know what you think if you have it!

Tanya Burr Advent Calendar Day #3

Blogmas Day 8

Day 3 (Day 5 for me) of the Tanya Burr Advent calendar was very exciting because it was a full size nail polish. It's in the color "Under the Sea" and it's a dark midnight blue with varying sizes of glitter in blues and greens. Once again, I really like the packaging, although it was a little hard to open, the shape of the bottle and the gold top make it look really nice.
I didn't have time to completely change my nail polish, but I did put it over my dark burgundy polish just to see how it would look and I thought the result was pretty. If you look at the tip of my nail, you can see where the burgundy polish had chipped off so that's a more true representation of the midnight blue base color.
I'll have to wait to see how it wears when I'm able to apply it properly, but I'm really excited that it was included in the calendar!

Advent Calendars Days 3 & 4

Blogmas Day 5

These products are from Days 3 & 4 of my Advent Calendars. The Tanya Burr calendar had one of her lipglosses in the color Macaroon, which is a really pretty coral color with subtle shimmer. I really like the packaging with the gold writing and the gold top, I definitely think it makes it look really nice and more expensive than it probably is. The formula of the gloss is smooth, not gritty from the shimmer and pigmented- all positives!
The Benefit calendar had the Total Moisture Facial Cream, which I was also quite excited to try. I've never tried anything from their skincare line but I've heard good things about it. I think it's a good size for it to have come in the calendar and it's plenty for me to be able to tell how I like it. As far as first impressions, I think it smells really nice, not too perfumey. It's pretty thick, so I think this will be something I'll start using at night. As far as I know, it doesn't have any SPF, so I'm going to keep this in my nightstand for the nights I'm tired, want to get in bed and don't feel like standing at the sink to do a skincare routine. My skin has been very dry recently so I'm happy to have something that feels substantial to see if it helps!
Let me know what you think of these products if you've tried them! Especially any Benefit skincare :)

Tanya Burr & Benefit Cosmetics Advent Calendars

Blogmas Day 3

As I said in yesterday's post, yesterday was my birthday! I was so excited that two of my gifts were the Tanya Burr Deck The Hauls Advent Calendar and the Benefit Party Poppers Advent Calendars! Ever since Vlogmas/Blogmas became "things" and people always opened their advent calendars I've wanted one every year and never bought one so I'm very excited to have TWO this year :)

 I've decided that I'll open each one every other day since they both have 12 days, until Christmas. Also, sometimes a whole post might be an advent calendar post, sometimes it might just be tacked onto the post or just on Instagram.

Since I got them on December 2nd, I had a little catching up to do ;)

The first door on the Tanya Burr calendar is an Eye Shimmer Pot in the color Creme Brulee. I'm going to work today, so I just used a little and smudged it into my water line and it looks really pretty with black liner on top.

The first door on the Benefit calendar is the Ooh La Lift Under-Eye Brightening Boost. I also used this today and it has a pretty sheen to it, nothing too crazy, just very subtle :)

This calendar sings, by the way! I knew it was an advent calendar but it doesn't look at Christmas-ey as others out there. I love that it sings, though, because it's their version of the 12 Days of Christmas and it's really cute :)

So there you go, the first days of the Tanya Burr Deck the Hauls and Benefit Party Poppers Calendars! Please excuse the not-so-great lighting, I literally took these pictures at 9:00 last night after I opened my gifts...I was too excited to wait! :)

NYX Butter Gloss

Blogmas Day 2!

A while back I was in need of a new go-to nude lipgloss to keep in my purse and Ulta was having a sale on NYX products so I decided to pick up two of the Butter Glosses.
The shades I got are in Creme Brulee and Fortune Cookie. Fortune Cookie is the one I've had in my purse and it's the one I go-to the most often because it is more of a "true" nude in my opinion. Creme Brulee is a light pink nude shade.
Overall, I'm really happy with these glosses. I've always been a fan of NYX glosses in the past and these did not disappoint. They are light colors, but they have good pigmentation despite that. The formula is really nice so they don't feel thick or sticky on the lips, they're very comfortable and not drying for me at all.
These glosses are pretty inexpensive as well, at around $4.99 each.
I would highly recommend you try them out and I know that I'll definitely be going back for some of the darker shades for fall/winter!
Ps. Today's my birthday! Maybe a post coming up will be about my day :)