Disappointing Product Review: Mac and Clinique

I'm back to two more products that didn't quite make the cut for me, one from Mac and one from Clinique, which is unusual for those two brands. Usually I'm in love with all their products, but I'll explain why these ones weren't quite up to par.

I'll start with the Clinique brow powder, the one of the left. I had high hopes for this but it just didn't cut it. The formula was way too packed, and you had to work to get product evenly distributed in the brows. The color is also really off. Although it says it's soft brown, and the sample picture on the Sephora website gives it off as exactly that, the color ends up being way different. You can kind of compare it to the bronzer, but it is way too orange for the brows. The brush it came with was also really bad. Whereas most brow brushes are very thin, this one was rather thick and got product caked into the bristles, and it was very hard to clean out. Overall, I stopped using it after three weeks because I just got so frustrated.

The Mac bronzing powder was something I wasn't expecting to dislike since their mineral powders are so good. This powder wasn't anything like those. It picked up on the brush poorly (and I tried two different types of brushes with different bristles) and I literally had to scrub the powder to try to get product. When applying it to the face, I needed a ton just to make my face slightly more bronze. I guess you could call it subtle, but I think for the amount of powder I had to use, it just didn't work well. It also has dried out a lot after just a few months, and I keep it closed and in a drawer, so I don't understand why it would do that. I tried testing it with my finger once, and absolutely nothing showed up, even when I tried the less dry parts. It just wasn't good enough for the money you have to spend on a Mac product.

The usual disclaimer is that whatever doesn't work for me may work wonders on you. It's all a matter of opinion. I hope that my reviews can give you some insight, but the only way to REALLY know is to try them (except I'd suggest sampling at the store versus buying). I hope you enjoyed this review!

Summer Wedding!

My cousin recently got married to his girlfriend of about 3 years (and they also have a little boy together named Jacob!). It was literally one of the most beautiful weddings that I've seen and it was great weather and a great crowd. About 100 people were there and it was at a privately owned lot with a beautiful lake and vineyard. I'll give ya a couple pictures:

The wedding was held by the lake with a bunch of blue little poms in the trees and a beautiful wooden arch that was made by the bride's step dad. The best part was instead of traditional rice, all the younger kids got a little bubble gun and shot bubbles at them after the ceremony. 

Now onto what I wore, there were two different outfits, one for the ceremony and one for the night before which was a little wine tasting at the vineyard just to get everyone together. My dresses were both from little non-chain shops but I do know you can get my ceremony dress at Modcloth. My shoes were both from DSW, and jewelry mostly from Silpada. The shoes for the second dress were red patent leather heals, which you can't see.

P.S. ignore the super crappy quality from my phone…

I love weddings so much, and I love wearing different things. My cousin and his wife looked so happy, and her dress was beautiful. Overall everything was so much fun and considering they did all the work by themselves, the wedding went flawlessly. The next thing I have to ask is who is next…?

See you soon!

Life Gets Busy…

Hi everyone. I haven't posted in quite a while. I apologize about that but I think everyone can contest that it happens. You can't do everything. I do promise a wedding post (not mine a bit too young), but it's filled with all the things you'd love about a wedding. But I don't guarantee it soon. It's just one of those times. I don't have time to breathe. But I love doing this and it will continue. See you all sometime!

August Favorites!

Hi everyone! I'm doing a favorites again finally. I have a lot of fun stuff to go through and links to be clicked so enjoy!

Lot's of makeup favorites this month. I've mentioned a lot of these in other posts, but I can't get over the amazingness. I'll attempt a left to right type of organization so here we go. 

The Pore-fessional Primer: I've definitely mentioned this before. So, so, so nice. It creates a nice matte base that really does reduce the look of pores, which I think is better than an illuminating base because my skin gets oily in 30 seconds. Love the feel of it on my skin, it's just awesome. 

Tarte 12-Hour Blush: This is a new one for me! I never was a blush girl because I always found it hard to put on light enough to not make it look like I painted my cheeks. This Amazonian-clay formula in Captivating is a very pretty peachy pink. I just put a really small amount on a Mac 150 and it is just gorgeous. 

Repetto Perfume: Again, another new kind of product, I never really took to perfumes, and this again changed that. It's a sweet smell, which I think is better for me because I'm still pretty young all things considered. I still save it for more special occasions and keep to body spray for school because it is a stronger scent, but dab a little on my neck and wrists, and I smell like vanilla, rose, musk and whole lotta other goodness.  

Make Up Forever Lipstick: I mentioned this when reviewing Sephora's birthday gifts, and I still love it. It's probably my most worn lipstick for August. The formula is wonderful, and keep my lips pretty hydrated (something I've always had trouble with Mac formulas), and the color. Oh the color. N9 aka Copper Pink is so gorgeous for everyday (it looks much darker than it is). I will soon be getting the full sized one. I just love it so much. 

The Classic Physicians Formula Green Powder: You're probably bored of hearing about this one. But too bad, because it will continue to be in my favorites. Pop a bit on a zit, zap on some concealer, and poof it's gone. It's magic. 

Two non-beauty favorites here. And don't mind the weird wick. It tilted and then got stuck in the dried wax. Oops. 

Brick and Mortar Candle: So some bad news is I can't find this specific candle at the store website, but good news is I found it here! First the store. Brick and Mortar is a furniture store in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I don't have my own home, but going there makes me want 20 different houses so I can take the whole store and decorate them all in different ways. The things there are high quality, and so, so, so cute. It's a wide range of styles and seriously there is so much to find there you never go out without finding something you like. The online store is great, and their sister clothing stores are some of my favorites. Onto the actual candle. Heaven in a really cute jar. It's made of vegetarian wax which is great for conserving those honeybees. The smell is indescribable unless you have put your head into a honeysuckle. It really does smell exactly like honeysuckle, and the jar is a very pretty pink, and very sturdy. Plus 120 hours of burning. Can't beat it. I've been burning it so often, and I just love it so much. 

B&BW Body Cream: AGAIN, this isn't actually on the website, but I did find it in the store. This body cream, in apple blossom and lavender is a great scent, and a good kind of transition scent from summer into fall. I love the two scents together, they work really well. It's a nice big tube too so it will last me forever. 

So not much variation but here it all is. Sorry it took me forever to do another favorites but with the extra day off tomorrow I had the time. Have a great Labor Day weekend! 

Rock the Red Lip w/o Lip Liner

Red lips are always considered "dangerous," but I think anyone can rock the look, even when lip liner is not available. A red lip is always about creating a clean line on the lip, and having an overall polished look in the end, so doing it without lip liner isn't always advised. But I think that it's not always necessary, and you can get that perfect line that doesn't feather. You want to first prime your lips with something, I usually do an Eos balm because it isn't a heavy balm. Side-note, I like to use a lipstick with a sharp edge, such as this Mac Red. It will create sharp lines, or you can always create one by rubbing the lipstick with a tissue. I start with the top lip, so the tip is at its sharpest, because creating a sharp line on the top lip is much harder. Using the edge I try to follow the exact line of my lips without going over. I try to go in one stroke, not multiple, because it creates the cleanest line. I also want to make sure I go to the exact edge of the lip, and do the same on the bottom so it doesn't create a weird faded edge. I do the same for the bottom, keeping that smooth edge. One thing I don't usually do with bright red is blot afterwords, because it can smudge the lipstick onto the skin. And there you go! A great red lip to wear anywhere, anytime. Hope you enjoy!

BTS Week! Part 3- What I'm Wearing and Senior Goals

I start tomorrow. Dang. But I'm going to keep positive and talk about the things I like. I'm going to be wearing a blue no sleeve shirt with white shorts (before Labor Day) and a black sweater because my school likes to keep it freezing. I know that's very vague but my camera ran out of battery. Oops. But talking goal wise I want to keep my grades, I want to get my applications done soon, and overall I want to have a fun year. Senior year is where things start to relax and college becomes a reality. And I'm beyond ready for it. Have a great year everyone! 

BTS Week! Part 2- Beauty Bag Essentials

So in my last post I talked about my whale case and here I'm going to talk more specifically about what is in the case, with links to see where to get things. Click on anything below!

Maui Scent from B&BW: I love this new scent from Bath and Body Works. And of course, the travel sizes are seriously the best. I keep the travel sized lotion in my whale case for those super dry winter days, and also when I just need a bit of fragrance that isn't overpowering. 

PocketBac from B&BW: Again, another travel sized product from Bath and Body Works. Their mini sanitizers are so awesome and they always mask the smell of alcohol. I usually go for more fresh scents over fruity scents because the fruity ones can be a little strong. My favorite is probably Dancing Waters, with a close second being apple scented (even though I just said I prefer not to have fruity ones I just love the scent of apple). 

Sephora Concealer in 07: I've mentioned this one before and I'll keep mentioning it because it is a great concealer. Perfect for my skin tone and easy enough to travel with, this concealer is great for that midday touch up on spots. Because it's a click type of packaging, I'm not worried about it spilling all over my other stuff, making it even better.

Fresh Travel Size Balms: These balms are AMAZING. I bring a travel sized advanced therapy one that doesn't have color and the color Rose. I know I got the travel sized in a sample from Sephora, and they had a little pack of three so I'm not sure if they still come in the smaller size, but even the bigger sizes are fine for carrying around. The packaging is super durable which I like too, so at the bottom of a backpack they won't break and get things all goopy.  

Some other essentials I carry are hair bands and bobby pins, Band-Aids (blisters are the worst), and tissues. It seems like a lot, but it actually all fits in the little whale case. It's great to have it all in one place too.