Haulin': Sally Beauty Supply and Sephora

Seeing as how yesterday was payday, I spent my Saturday like any other normal college kid would.

I went shopping! And I picked up some super-cool things to share with you all =)

My first stop was Sally Beauty Supply. This awesome chain offers beauty and cosmetic products that are somewhat equal to their salon counterparts at a fraction of the price because there are no super-fancy names stamped on them. Recently, I spent the $5 it costs to join their Beauty Club which is a special rewards program that actually saves you about 10-15% on each item you buy at the store. I originally only went into Sally today to find a good damage repair shampoo as my hairstylist told me that with my constant bleaching and coloring, my hair was becoming dry and brittle. I was totally fine with that, until she tried to sell me a $24, 7 oz. bottle of name-brand shampoo. Umm... I don't think so!

So I went to Sally's and found this awesome product:
In all honesty, this product wasn't THAT new (I already had bought and fell in love with the brand's 2 Minute Repairing Mask). Since I loved it so much, I figure the shampoo must be awesome too. Aphogee's Shampoo for Damaged Hair cost $7.39. I'll try it out tonight and let you know how it goes.

I then walked down the nail polish aisle and these two products caught my eye:
Beauty Secrets' Base Coat (left) and Top Coat (right) came highly recommended from numerous Youtube makeup gurus and nail salons, so I knew they were the real deal. Each bottle cost $2.79. I just tried them out this evening (as I painted my nails with OPI's Teal We Meet Again) and they worked like magic! I especially impressed with the top coat, which helped my nails dry in thirty seconds.

Recently, I really needed a new pencil sharpener for my eye pencils. So, I picked this one up at the check-out counter:
I really like that it has an attached piece for all of your pencil shavings. At $2.99, it was slightly pricey, but it looks like it will work much better than my current sharpener.

I also got a strange impulse to buy this:
It's a 'Lip Crayon', which basically means it doubles as a pencil and lipstick. I bought one in the shade Coral Shimmer for $1.89 and so far, I really like it! It's a peachy-nude, slightly on the orange side, but still very wearable. I'll probably layer lipstick on top of it to ensure that it stays on for longer and doesn't make my lips look dry.

After Sally's, I drove over to Sephora. I originally intended to only buy this:
When I got my Urban Decay Naked Palette, it came with a mini Primer Potion and I fell in love with it. So, I went back to Sephora today and shelled out the $18 to buy a full-sized one. I think it's a smart buy, though, because it works so incredibly well and really holds my eyeshadow in place all day.

I also grabbed this in Sephora:
Though I have been cleaning my brushes weekly, I've been scared to clean them daily because the formula could dry them out and destroy the quality of the brush hairs. This brush cleanser ($6), however, is mild enough to use every day, so I will test it tomorrow and let you know how it goes!

And then my FABULOUS boyfriend bought me the COOLEST Valentine's Day gift ever:
Uh-huh. That would be the Nars Orgasm blush/Laguna Bronzer ($40). I AM SO EXCITED! For those who don't know, this duo is famous for being suitable for practically ANY skin tone (okay, maybe not Laguna. It can be a bit too dark for some skin tones. But Orgasm is definitely appropriate for everyone). I've been lusting after it forever and my darling boyfriend knew it would be the perfect Valentine's Day gift for me. How cute is that?!

So that's my haul! I did do some other shopping, but it was for clothes, so that doesn't really fit on this blog. Have you bought anything super cool lately? Share it in the comments!

Masterclass Mondays: The "Everyday Gorgeous" look for Olive Tones

Whoot! Welcome to Masterclass Mondays, a new weekly series that will feature a look from Jemma Kidd's Makeup Masterclass book. Today, I tried out her everyday look that features colors that specifically flatter olive skin tones. Fret not if you aren't olive, though! I will do more of her looks each week!

According to Kidd, every day looks should be neutral and not highly noticeable. The more natural they look, the better. Therefore, this particular look involves almost-skin tone shadows and colors.

I apologize for the poor photo quality. For some reason, these pictures came out super blurry =/

Eyes: As per Kidd's instructions, I left my brows natural and applied a gold-beige shadow (UD's Naked from the Naked palette) all over the lids. This shadow is slightly darker than my natural skin color. To "intensify the color at the socket and outer corner of the eye", I applied a cocoa-brown color (Buck from the Naked Palette) and blended it up into the crease. Lastly, I curled my lashes and applied a black mascara.

Face: I applied a liquid concealer on my under-eye circles and around the corners of my nose which tend to get red. Then, I applied a light-weight liquid moisturizer and a little translucent powder from Clinique to blot up any excess shine. To add a little bit of color to my face, I lightly applied a peach-toned blush that wouldn't look too made-up.

Lips: I used a rose-toned SPF infused moisturizing lipstick (Kidd recommends a rose tinted lip balm, but I didn't have any) to round out the look.

My opinion: I think this is a great look for everyday usage, especially for high schoolers who are just starting to dabble in makeup or women who like to stick with a naturally beautiful look. I did add a brown eyeliner once I was done because I felt that my eyes sunk into my face otherwise, but overall it's definitely a look I could wear every day. Plus, to make it even more appealing, it only took me 7 minutes to do! How awesome is that?!

Super Bowl Sunday: Go STEELERS!

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of matching my makeup to my clothing because it just looks too matchy-matchy to me. But when you're a die-hard fan* of any sports team, it's natural to want to show your colors in any and all ways possible (even if it means matching your eyeshadow, lipstick, and team jersey) right?

Well, sort of.

For example, in this year's Super Bowl (the biggest, most important American football game for all of my foreign readers), I favored the Pittsburgh Steelers. But instead of wearing a look that was centered around black and yellow, I wanted to do a more unique, wearable look that would look good for a football game or any other fun event.

So, since I was avoiding black and yellow, I did a look based around my team's name and made a "steely" gray look!



Eyes: First, I primed my eyes with Urban Decay's Primer Potion because I wanted this look to not have fall-out or flake off as the day progressed. Then, with a thick, flat brush I patted UD's gray Gunmetal shade (from the Naked palette) all over the lid. It's REALLY important to use patting motions because there is so much glitter in this shade that if you try to brush it on, you'll wind up with glitter all over your face! I then blended the shade at the edges, into the sockets, so that it didn't look like a harsh gray blob on my eyes.

Next, I took a smudging -- or pencil -- brush and ran the black Creep shade (also from the Naked palette) just above my upper lash line. This also has glitter, so be careful!! After I applied it, I blended it upwards, creating a silvery, smokey eye. To balance out the dark lids, I then used my clean blending brush to lightly apply the shimmery, light beige tone from the same palette, called Virgin, just underneath my brows and down into the inner corner of my eyes. I also highlighted the brow bone with just a little bit of Sin -- a very light, shimmery pink shadow.

I lined my eyes with a thin line of black gel liner on the top lashes and then used an angled brush to apply the Gunmetal shade on the outer two thirds of my lower lash line. Lastly, I curled my lashes and applied a lengthening mascara.

Face: Because the eyes are so dark for this look, it's really important to use a good concealer under the eyes. Apply it with patting motions using your ring or middle finger so that the concealer blends into the skin but isn't rubbed off. Then, I used a tinted moisturizer since I didn't want my makeup to look too over-done (after all, this was just for a football and food party). To lock in the concealer and moisturizer, I applied a mineralized face powder all over my face with a fluffy brush. I then used bronzer to sculpt my jaw line and a very light, raspberry-toned blush on the cheeks.

Lips: I went really simple, and just applied a sheer gloss. The idea of this look is to have the eyes really pop!

Return of Beauty on the Brain!

Hello my lovely BB's! I'm back and certainly did not forget about you. I'm so sorry I haven't posted in ages. Unfortunately, with school and my job, blogging fell to the wayside and I often did not have time to create the meaningful, informative blogs and reviews you all come here for.

That being said, I certainly did not run out of time for cosmetics and beauty products! Here's just a glance at what I've been up to:

That's a heck of a lot, no? The beauty brain never sleeps, no matter how many exams or work-related meetings come up!

Over the past couple of months, I've accumulated a TON of products to review and incorporate into tutorials for you BBs. Some have been awesome; others were less than stellar. Nevertheless, I'm still look forward to telling you all about my beauty exploits.

There were some incredible stand-out products that I came across. First up are the deep conditioning treatments I've been using in my hair:

Both were purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply and while they both are nice, one definitely works better than the other. So, look for an upcoming Battle of the Brands between these two!

Next, I tested the urban legend of using artist brushes (sold at Michael's Craft Store for painting) to apply my makeup.

Please pardon my dirty brushes! I was just getting ready to do a brush cleaning tutorial!

Did they work? Find out soon in an Ultimate Brush Smack Down!

What else? Oh, yes! I tested a new brush cleanser, so look for a review on it soon.

Also got a new boar bristle brush, which is supposed to smooth frizzy hair and keep the natural oils from building up.


So far, I'm loving it! My hair has never, ever, EVER felt so soft and manageable. If you have coarse, frizzy hair, I would definitely recommend investing in one. I got mine at Sally's Beauty Supply for under $6.00.

Another awesome cosmetic acquisition was this package of facial/makeup remover wipes that I bought at XXI Forever of all places.


They smell sooo nice and I love using them to clean up makeup through out the day or to totally get rid of makeup at night. They are soothing, refreshing, and leave my skin smelling sweet. Great price, too (only $2.80)!

Oh, yes. The holiday season AND my birthday also came and went. Thanks to my amazing family and fantastic friends, I got some super sweet goodies to share with you! First up is this nail polish set from my dad:

Isn't it CUTE?! I love the teal one and the silver glittery one the most, but it's such a great mini set of OPI's most popular colors.

My fantabulous boyfriend somehow managed to get a hold of an Urban Decay Naked palette for me for my birthday. It's my latest makeup addiction:


It's incredible. He's incredible. Be jealous =) HAHA! But in all seriousness, this is an amazing palette, so expect a review and tutorials based around it.

Then, since my mom is pretty much the coolest person ever, she totally out-did herself and managed to snag a bottle of MAC's Mean and Green nail polish from the sold-out Venomous Villains collection for my birthday. The duo-chrome shade didn't photograph perfectly, but here's a quick peek:


I've been wearing it for almost a week straight and have gotten dozens of compliments on it. I will do a post soon with better photography and easier-t0-see color swatches.

And lastly, my good friend Morgan (who's blog you should check out over here if you are interested in writing techniques) got me the makeup Bible for my birthday:


It's so... pretty! All of the looks are beautiful and Jemma is a brilliant makeup artist. So, in honor of this fabulous book, I will be starting a new series called Masterclass Mondays, where I will do one look from the book each week. Look for it soon!

OH! And I just realized I forgot to photograph this with the rest of the group of items, but I got this super-awesome nail polish at Disney World in December:


It's from OPI's Alice in Wonderland collection and is called "Off With Her Red" (Get it? Get it?!). It's a lovely color, so look for a review on it soon.

Honestly, I'm so glad to be back to blogging again. I have so many fantastic blogs planned and I'm really excited to post them for you. Thanks for sticking around with me!

Tag, you're it! Products I regret buying

In all honesty, I don't really regret buying any beauty products, because I feel like they each serve some sort of purpose and while they might not necessarily work for me, they could definitely work better on someone else. So, with that in mind, these are a list of products that I didn't exactly love..

1) Urban Decay's Cream Shadow in Delinquent ($17.00 at Sephora)
This eyeshadow looked great in the tube and DID serve as a great base coat for really dramatic, purple smokey eyes, but I got this weird tingling sensation on my lids whenever I used it. It didn't necessarily hurt, but it certainly didn't feel great! Honestly, I don't reach for this product very much because it feels so weird. The packaging also kind of sucks because while you can easily get the product out the first time or two, it seems to clump at the bottom and then you actually have to squeeze the tube to get it out... it just gets really messy. I think for the price, it wasn't worth it.

2) Laura Geller's Lipstick in On Stage ($15.50 on her website, but I think I bought it on clearance at Sephora for $5 o5 $6?)
I bought this lipstick in hopes of a great, night-out-on-the-town, bright red color and it delivered on that end. However, I find it to be pretty drying and it almost seems to flake off? Not cool! I do still use it on occasion, but it's not my number one red lipstick. I don't think I'd really recommend it.

3) Buxom's Travel In Style Lipstick and Lip Polish Duo ($18.00 at Sephora)
I really bought this set because of the beautiful coral-orange lipstick that I fell in love with in the store. Needless to say, I hated the gloss when I got home because it was gooey and gross (also wasn't a huge fan of the plumping formula. I knew it was a plumper in the store, but I don't think it really did much for me and I found it sort of unrealistic) so I used just the lipstick with another gloss over it. But then, like a week after purchasing the set, the lipstick broke! The whole pigment stick fell out of its holder and got stuck in the super-thin cap. I was pretty upset. So overall, I just had bad experiences with the set, but I'd consider buying the lipstick on its own if the manufacturer could create a new packaging for it.

4) mark.'s Shimmer Tubes Hook Up Gel Blush in Rose, Peach, and Bronze (I think these were $2.00 a piece? I bought them in the last chance section and they return every once in a while)
I think these are gorgeous colors, but they're just totally sheer as blushes. I love the concept and the formula, but they don't show up at all on me (except for the bronzer, which for some reason looks like dirt). As I'm typing this, though, I think I'm going to experiment with them as eyeshadow bases or highlighters, so I'll get back to you when I do that!

5) e.l.f. Essential's Hypershine Gloss Box ($5.00)
These glosses were too sticky and gooey for me. The colors are gorgeous, but the formula was not for me and the applicators were not fun either. They got really messy and gross.

6) BonBon's Eyeshadow in Copper and Purple ($0.99 at Walmart)
These shadows were just too powdery for me. It didn't matter how I applied them, they always got messy and were more hassle than they were worth.

7) Almay's Nearly Naked Cover Up Stick ($6.97 at Walmart)
Too creamy and oily. This concealer creased on my skin so quickly and never stayed put. I like the pureness of Almay's products normally, but this concealer just did not work. I also had it in my purse for about a week and it melted and got super-messy.

What are some products that you're not a fan of? Are any of the products I dislike ones that work for you? Let me know!