Swatches & Review: Maybelline Eyestudio Brow Drama Pomade Crayons

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Hi, friends! I have another beauty review for you today. I'm always looking for ways to up my brow game and get #browsonfleek, so when Maybelline came out with these Eyestudio Brow Drama Pomade Crayons, I was curious to see how they worked. I received these for free to test out, and after playing with them for the past few weeks, I think it's about time I talked about them! 

The Beauty Lover Tag

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Hi, friends! I've missed you this week! Between a wonky work schedule and then getting sick, things have been a little hectic around here.

Today's post is a fun little questionnaire (or "tag") that any beauty lover can relate to. I was tagged by the wonderful Lauren of Little Blushing Birdie to do this not too long ago, so I figured it was time I gave it a go. If you haven't visited her blog before, reading her answers might give you a better idea of who she is. ;) But enough about that--let's get to the good stuff!

Birchbox: The Lip Sync Kit Review

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Hello, friends! I've got a fun little unboxing and review for you today. You might remember me talking about this Lip Sync Kit two weeks ago in my Mail Time post. I purchased this kit from Birchbox, and it basically comes with everything you need for a capsule lip product wardrobe. I'm always up for new lipstick (I mean, have you looked through my lipstick collection lately?) so I thought it looked like fun. I can't wait to tell you guys my thoughts!

Birchbox? What's that?

Birchbox is a monthly beauty and lifestyle subscription service. It sends 4-5 deluxe samples that are curated to your beauty profile. It is $10 a month, and has a wonderful rewards program, in which you can earn points for reviewing products and making purchases in the Birchbox Shop. You can then redeem those points for full-sized products! It's probably the best rewards program out there, in my opinion, which was one of the big draws in me signing up. They're always adding new products to the shop. Last month they sampled products from Amika, Juice Beauty, Shiseido, as well as pages of others! Some products are even exclusive to Birchbox, like Cynthia Rowley's new makeup line and the cult-favorite Beauty Protector brand. If you're interested in subscribing to Birchbox, I would love it if you used my referral link! Thank you!

Trend Report: Current Makeup Trends & How to Achieve Them

Hi, friends! I thought today we could take a step back from product reviews to look at makeup from a broader perspective. Specifically, I wanted to talk trends. Makeup trends come and go so quickly that it's hard to keep up. Today I'm doing a roundup so we can all get up to speed. I'm not really a stickler for abiding by trends, but I think it's fun to follow them and take inspiration from others so I can incorporate it into what I already like to do. We can all learn from each other. And who knows? You just might find something that sticks long after it dies down. But enough about that--let's get to the good stuff.

My Favorite Things: March 2016

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Hi, friends! Happy April! It's been awhile since I did a Favorites post (not since my 2015 Makeup Favorites, I believe), so I thought it was about time to touch base with you all. I've been trying out some new products and rediscovering some old ones, and I'm so excited to finally share them with you!

My Lipstick Collection: The Pinks

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Hi, friends! Today, I wanted to do a continuation of my Lipstick Collection series. Last month we delved into my neutral lipsticks and before that we talked about the reds. With spring finally upon us, I figured it was a good time to talk about the pretty pink shades in my stash.

Off-topic, but can you believe it's finally spring? I don't know about you guys, but the temperature is finally starting to stabilize around 50 degrees around here, and it's so nice. We had a rumored "snowstorm" on Sunday, but it barely snowed (typical), and it had already melted by the time I woke up the following morning. But you're not here to listen to me talk about the weather, are you?

My Lipstick Collection: The Nudes

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Hi, friends! It's been awhile since I did one of these lipstick collection posts, so I thought it was about time we visited the series. If you didn't catch my previous post on my current wardrobe of Red Lipsticks, let me fill you in. I basically included mini reviews of all the lipsticks of that color I had in my collection, and it was a good time.

Today, I figured we could do the same thing with my nude lipstick collection. I've never been much of a nude lipstick person, but in the last few months of 2015, I might have become a believer.

I know I love looking through people's makeup collections to learn about what products they like to use (or maybe I'm just nosy), so I hope you guys feel the same. I figured this deserved a part two, so without further ado, let's get to the good stuff~

Instagram Roundup: #5DayLipstickChallenge

Hi, friends! Last week was a slow blog week, partially due to all the time I put into my Mineral Oil Masterpost, and partially due to the Instagram challenge I was involved with. A couple of other bloggers and I devoted a week to showing off five lipstick selfies and dubbed it the #5DayLipstickChallenge. It was a fun opportunity for me to pull out lip colors that I don't normally wear. I was so happy to see that some of you joined in as the week went on! 

Now that it's over, I figured this would be a good time to look back, not only to look at how I did photography-wise (as part of my 2016 Blog Resolutions), but also to share my thoughts on the lipsticks themselves. The colors may be nice, but what about the formulas? Stay tuned!

Review & Swatches: PÜR Cosmetics HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation

Hi, friends! Today I have a new product to share with you from PÜR Cosmetics. I reviewed their new Cameo Contour Sticks just a few weeks ago, and now they're adding another product to their Spring 2016 lineup: the HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation. I've actually been in the market for a new foundation recently, so I was excited to see how well this worked. These babies are being released into Kohls and UTLA this Sunday, so you can use this as a sneak peek to see whether or not you'd want to pick one up. 

Beauty Buff Favorites of 2015: Makeup

Hi, friends! Can you believe the first month of 2016 is almost over? It's insane how time flies! Today I wanted to talk more about my favorite products from 2015. With skincare products, I'm a snob super picky when it comes to formulas and ingredients, so when I find something I like, it can be a little hard for me to detach and try something new. With makeup, however, I'm a lot more lenient and tend to try more products at a time. Plus, I hesitate having too many jars and tubes of skincare products open at a time, just because beneficial ingredients don't last forever, but with makeup I kind of throw caution to the wind. I don't think I have to tell you have many lipsticks alone I have open right now (or you can see for yourself in my ongoing Lipstick Collection series).

So, without further ado, let's talk about my favorite makeup discoveries and most used cosmetics of 2015!

Review: CoverGirl Colorlicious Oh Sugar Vitamin Infused Lip Balm in Caramel

Hi, friends! You guys know how much I love tinted lip balm, so today I'd like to share with you a new product from CoverGirl: the Oh Sugar Vitamin Infused Lip Balm. These are part of their Colorlicious line (where you'll find a lot of their other lip products categorized). 

I'll be reviewing the shade Caramel, since that's the shade I received in the mail. I got this product for free, but that's not going to impact my review of it at all. But enough about that--let's get into the good stuff! 

My Favorite Things: December 2015

Hi, friends! The end of the year is almost upon us! Can you believe it's nearly 2016 already? Where did the time go? Anyway, it's time to talk monthly favorites. These are the tried-and-tested products I most reached for this month. I took most of these products with me when I went out of town for Christmas week. You quickly realize the products you really rely on when you can only take a select few in your suitcase! Let's get into the good stuff.

Trash Talk: December 2015 Empties

Hi, friends! It's a beautiful day here in New York, strangely warm and sunny for December. What's it like where you live? Today we're going to be doing some trash talk, because it's been a really long time since I've done an Empties post (five months, actually). I use up products faster than I can talk about them, especially since a lot of these are samples I get from subscription boxes (mostly Birchbox). I'm actually quite backlogged! In fact, I'm still talking about products I used up at school (I graduated in May, to put things in perspective). The included photos were taken in less-than-stellar conditions without the help of my fancy new DSLR camera, but we'll make do! But enough about that--let's talk trash (about products, not people)! 

Trend Report: Pantone 2016 Colors of the Year

Hello, friends! Have you heard the news? The official Pantone Color of the Year has been released! And guess what? There are TWO colors this year! The colors are Rose Quartz (a warm, pale pink) and Serenity (a cool, powder blue).

On their website, they say it coincides with our eternal quest for gender equality. I appreciate that, but if we're talking about equality, I think like a vibrant, punchy red is a good feminist color. Like, when I want to feel like a powerful woman, I put on red lipstick--I don't wear a baby pink sweater, you know? Don't get me wrong, I like having multiple options, and I think that women should be equal to men, but this whole thing is still kind of silly to me. If anything, couldn't they have done something more original to represent gender equality that baby girl pink and baby boy blue? I told my brother about this and even he said, "That's like we're doing something special this year for Christmas--the colors are RED and GREEN!" Ugh, sometimes I wish a color was just a color, and didn't have an agenda behind it. Or if it did have an agenda, they at least tried to get creative. Come on, people.  

Review + Swatches: PÜR Cameo Contour Dual-Ended Contour Sticks

Hi, friends! Today I'd like to share with you a new product I've been testing out by PUR Cosmetics: the Cameo Contour Dual-Ended Contour Sticks (say that three times fast!). They sent me all five shades to test out and play around with, and now that I've come to a conclusion on how I feel about them, I wanted to share that with all of you! Let's jump into everything. 

My Lipstick Collection: The Reds

Hi, friends! Happy Friday! Today I'm going to be starting a new mini series here on the blog. It's been awhile since I've done something like this, and I like the idea of doing a cohesive project, so I figured why not? Basically, I'm going to be sorting through my lipstick collection and show you what products I've accumulated and how they stack up against one another. Think of it as a bunch of mini reviews in one.

This series was actually inspired by a trip to the mall, in which I almost impulsively bought a lipstick in MAC, before I realized I probably had a similar color at home. I figured this post would be good for both of us--to get myself organized and to share my findings with all of you!

But enough about that. Let's get to the good stuff~

My Favorite Things: November 2015

Hi, friends! Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I certainly did! I mean, I can't have anything against a holiday that makes it socially acceptable to stuff your face (or, if you're Italian like me, you do that on every holiday). Today I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite beauty products I've discovered or rediscovered in the past two months. I didn't have much to talk about favorites-wise last month, so now it's back with twice as many products worth mentioning!

Black Friday Picks 2015

Hello, friends! With Black Friday almost upon us again, I figured it was time for a little pre-sale window shopping (digitally, of course--who has time for the real thing nowadays?). If all of the deals seem overwhelming and you need a few beauty recommendations, let my wishlist be your guide! Whether you're looking to get some Christmas shopping done early, or just want to treat yourself, look no further. These are my top product picks for this year's Black Friday sales.

Sephora is bringing back their $10 Deals for this year's Black Friday both in store and on their website. If you want one of these, you're going to have to be quick on your feet! At $10 a pop, it's easy to get carried away, so the best advice I can give is to really think before you buy. They all look good, but there's a few in particular that look really good to me. Their stores won't be open on Thanksgiving (yay!), but the deals will be starting early on the 27th.

Trend Report: Fall 2015 Wishlist

Hello, friends! We're going to be taking a break from the Greek Goddess Makeup Challenge today to talk fall trends. Beauty blogs and makeup magazines have us talking about red lips and bold brows, and I'm so into it right now. It was really hard to pare my list down to just these few, so grab your Pumpkin Spice Latte and your cozy sweater and let's talk makeup! 

My Favorite Things: September 2015

It's been a few months since I did a monthly favorites post, so we have a lot to catch up on! In order to make this post not a mile long, I really had to ween down the best of the best. These are the products that I used all summer and will continue to love into the fall. If it's here, it means I enjoyed using it so much that I'd personally recommend all of my friends to get it, too.