Shoe Giveaway at Pammy Blogs Beauty!

Pammy at Pammy Blogs Beauty is offering at great giveaway for a free pair of Oka-b shoes.  I encourage your to check out her blog to enter this giveaway and also to be come hooked on her beauty tips and reviews like I have.

My Must Have Brushes

Brushes left to right: Sonia Kashuk powder brush, Sonia Kashuk blusher brush, Sephora blending brush #29, ELF eye shadow brush, Coastal Scents pink angle taklon liner brush, Essence of Beauty crease brush duo, Essence of Beauty kabuki brush (top right)

These are the brushes that I use everyday without fail.  Everyone should have these brushes, or similar brushes, in their collection.

Brushes and uses:

• Sonia Kashuk powder brush - great for applying setting powder
• Sonia Kashuk blusher brush - perfect size brush for applying powder blush
• Sephora blending brush - semi-soft blending brush for blending eye shadows
• e.l.f. eye shadow brush - best brush ever for applying eye shadow (only costs $1)
• Coastal Scents pink angle taklon liner brush - small, fine-tipped, angled brush for applying eye liner
• Essence of Beauty large crease brush - great for defining and contouring eye crease
• Essence of Beauty small crease brush - great for highlighting inner corner of eye or adding depth to outer corner of eye
• Essence of Beauty kabuki brush - perfect brush for applying powder foundation

All of these brushes are affordable, ranging in price from $1 to $18.  The Sonia Kashuk and e.l.f. brushes are available at Target.  Essence of Beauty brushes can be found at your local CVS.  The Sephora blending brush is available in Sephora stores or online.  And, last but not least, the Coastal Scents liner brush can be purchased online only from Coastal Scents.

My Very First MAC Eye Shadows!

MAC eye shadows in Satin Taupe (left) and Trax

Satin Taupe (left) and Trax

I finally have my very first MAC eye shadows!  After much consideration, I narrowed my selection down to Satin Taupe and Trax.  I had heard a lot of great things about Satin Taupe, and it has not disappointed!  I love this shade!!!  It has a nice shimmer to it, as well as a great deal of depth.  I am able to create a beautiful eye look using just this one color.  I think this is the perfect choice for anyone who is looking to purchase their first MAC eye shadow.  The second shade I chose is Trax; this is such a multidimensional shade.  To describe it best, I would say that it is purple with flecks of gold sparkle in it, but it looks different depending on the lighting.  Trax is the prettiest purple shadow that I have ever come across.

Both shades are beautifully pigmented, with smooth, soft textures.  I am really impressed with my first MAC purchase and can't wait to add to my collection!

My First Birchbox!

I got my much anticipated first Birchbox the other day!  Birchbox is a membership club that sends you a monthly box of deluxe cosmetic samples.  So, for $10 a month, I get this cute little box filled with samples.  Part of what makes this so fun is that the packaging is sooo pretty; it's like getting a present in the mail every month.  Additionally, you can purchase the full-size products on the Birchbox website with free shipping.

See how pretty everything is packaged!

I was pretty pleased with the contents of my box.  I got a Bare Escentuals Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara, Befine Exfoliating Brown Sugar Cleanser, NARS Orgasm Illuminator, Pomega5 Green Tea Mattifying Moisturizer, and a cute tin of Sweetriot Chocolate-Covered Cacao Nibs.  I was especially excited to see the NARS Orgasm Illuminator in the box because I have been wanting to try that for awhile now.

I would recommend Birchbox to all the girlie-girls out there; it's simple to sign-up and so much fun to get a present in the mail each month!

Makeup Haul and Mini Review

My haul from the Christmas Tree Shops

I just happened to stop into the Christmas Tree Shops yesterday and discovered that they have a ton of drugstore makeup selling for around a dollar less per item than say Wal-Mart sells them for.  So, I stocked up in some favorites while I was there.

What I got:

• Tiny Conair hair clips
• Palladio blotting papers in Natural
• Freeman Superfruits Peel Off Facial Mask
• Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer in Ivory
• Posh crease brush duo
• Revlon Color Stay Liquid Eye Pen in Blackened Brown
• Olay Complete SPF 30 Moisturizer 

Here are my thoughts on some of the products listed above:

Palladio blotting papers: These are great for quickly eliminating any shiny areas on your face.  I just grab one and gently blot my face with it for a fresh matte finish.  The papers have a fine rice powder on them that absorbs the oils on your skin.

Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer:  This is probably my favorite concealer.  I love that it has a little wand applicator you can use to tab the product on with.  And, the color and consistency are really great for covering under-eye circles, redness, and blemishes.  It blends really well and provides medium coverage.  This is my go-to concealer for a quick and easy cover-up.

Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer wand

Revlon Color Stay Liquid Eye Pen:  These pens are awesome!!!  I have never been able to apply liquid eyeliner well...until, I found this product.  It's basically a marker with a really fine tip that you use to draw on the eyeliner.  This is liquid eyeliner that anyone can use!  It goes on really nice and smooth and lasts all day.  One of these pens usually lasts me a couple of months.  I use them daily and have never had one dry up on me.

Revlon Color Stay Liquid Eyeliner Pen

I can't review everything yet, as I have not really tried out the Freeman face mask or the Posh crease brush dou.  See my previous blog entry for a review of the Olay Complete SPF 30 Moisturizer.  Please leave comments if you have tried any of these products.

In Love With Cream Shadows

Benefit Cosmetics Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Birthday Suit and Flatter Me

Flatter Me (left); Birthday Suit (right)

I am in love with Benefit's new Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liners.  These shadows are so creamy and just glide right on.  The best part is, they really are creaseless!  I'm sure many of you have tried cream shadows in the past only to have them gunk up in the creases on your eyelids; well, these shadows won't to that!  The shadows are so easy to apply and look great alone for a quick and easy eye look.  I just smooth a little on my eyelids with my finger, no eye primer necessary.  In fact, I use them as a base for my pressed eyeshadows and skip the primer.  The color lasts all day without fading away like many other cream shadows have a tendency to do.

Birthday Suit is my favorite of the two because it is a shimmery, taupe shade that works great with the colors in my Urban Decay (UD) Naked Palette.  This shade is a cream dupe for UD Sidecar!  Flatter Me is a shimmery, pale pink/peach shade that is fairly neutral and can be blended easily with many eyeshadow shades.

I swatched all of the cream shades Benefit is offering while in Sephora a few weeks ago, and I had the hardest time deciding which ones to get because all of the colors were gorgeous.  At $19 a piece, I had to choose just two...sigh.  I urge you run out and grab these shadows; they are a must-have!

Organizing Your Makeup Stash

I must confess, I am a total neat freak!  I just love to have everything organized and put away all the time.  I guess that is the librarian in me.  So, naturally, I had to find ways to organize my ever growing collection of makeup.

The Umbra Capelli Polycarbonate Accessory Organizer is a great way to organize the brushes, liners, mascaras and other tools you use everyday.

See...there's plenty of room for everything

To start with, I finally found the perfect counter top organizer for the makeup brushes, eyeliners, mascaras and other tools that a use daily.  It's the Umbra Capelli Polycarbonate Accessory Organizer; I found mine on Amazon.com.  Not only is this an attractive way to organize these items, but it is very roomy too.  Having the brushes separated is better for the brushes and saves me the aggravation of constantly grabbing the wrong brush.  This organizer has really made my morning makeup routine much easier!

Vanity drawer with divided containers and a drawer doubler organizer on top.

I am fortunate enough to have the entire bathroom vanity to myself, thus allowing me to fill both large drawers with makeup.  In the top drawer, I have divided the drawer with small interlocking containers that I found at Wal-Mart.  This allows me to neatly store all of my small eyeshadow palettes, blushes, powders, primers, etc.  Then, I added a drawer doubler that I found at Bed, Bath & Beyond; it just rests on the edges of the drawer and gives me a whole second tier of storage space.  I store all of my single eyeshadows and some favorite palettes and blushes in this.

Second vanity drawer with storage for larger palettes, nail polish, and lipsticks.

I use the bottom vanity drawer to hold my larger palettes, nail polish, lipsticks and some miscellaneous hair supplies.  I picked up a few inexpensive, small bins and fit them into place to separate the different items.

I hope this is helpful, as I know that finding a place to store everything you need in the bathroom can be a real challenge!