REVIEW: Bare Minerals BAREskin Foundations

Here with a review! Finally.

So, I've never really gotten into the Bare Minerals makeup, but now I'm sort of trying to get into it. Lately I've been more concerned about ingredients and things that could potentially be bad for your skin. I've always been cautious of skin cancer and have never ever been one to tan, and I'm trying to keep away from ingredients that may cause premature aging or pose a threat to my skin long term. Anyways...that was a tangent.

I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about bare minerals powder foundations except that one time my old co-worker was trying to put it on in the car and it fell and her car was COVERED in foundation. Also, I know that it can stain carpet, just a little warning. When I saw that they were launching a liquid make up, I was immediately intrigued. Then, they mentioned how the formula is a skin brightening serum foundation. Um, hello?!?! Do you know who you are talking to? I love serums, I love brightening, this seems perfect. 

I bought mine at Ulta and even bought the skin perfecting brush with the "foundation reservoir", but ended up returning that. I never apply foundation with a brush because I feel like it clings to dry patches and looks cakey and not blended. Also, I found the brush to dense and uncomfortable on the skin and honestly, a little gimmicky. 

As far as the foundation, the bottle is 30ml; which is the same as my Make Up Forever HD Foundation and my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. I am in the shade "Bare Natural 07". The color match is pretty good as long as I do not use too much. This is the trick you guys. This foundation is highly pigmented and not mixed with much liquid therefore it is very bold and will not match your skin tone unless you start with literally 2 drops of foundation and work it in. I like to apply it with my beauty blender. The finish is extremely glow-y on my skin and really enhances the center areas of my face naturally. It will stay fresh-looking for maybe 3 hours until I wish I had used a powder over top. I am still working with it to find the best form of application. The bottom line for me is that  for $28 a bottle that is the same size as my nearly $50 Chanel foundation, and you only need a few drops to cover your face, this is a great high end value. 

Ulta is great about returns. My recommendation? Try this out for yourself and see how you like it for a few days of applying it in different ways. If you don't like it, return it! But I will say, the way it makes my skin look, I'm extremely happy that I found it. 

Long Lasting, Disney-Proof Make-Up Secret Weapons

Thursday I was lucky enough to spend my day at my most favorite place on earth, Disneyland!! It is so magical there, I simply cannot get enough.
I never like touching up my make-up. Besides lipstick, I literally never carry make-up in my purse. I just don't like doing touch ups and fussing with my face. I guess I really just don't care enough to keep my make-up perfect all day.
I ESPECIALLY don't like touching up my face at Disneyland. In fact, I literally was watching a group of three girls in the bathroom touching up their face, actually full on putting mascara on, and was feeling bad that they were wasting precious Disney hours.
Today I thought I would share my three favorite  items for keeping my face from melting off even under the most high-energy activities.

The Hourglass Veil Primer is my holy grail. I will never use a different primer, this one works so well I literally cannot bare the idea of using anything else. I can go run in the heat and my make-up will not budge. This is perfect for long, hot day spent at Disneyland parks. 

Any long lasting, photo ready foundation is great. My personal favorite (and another holy grail for me) is Make Up Forever HD Foundation. I keep this in my collection at all times, and even when I switch up my foundations, I always come back to this one. It photographs beautifully and is not matte so it does not get cakey looking. It has a satin finish that keeps the face fresh all day. 

Ben Nye Final Seal Matte Make Up Sealer is a summer time essential. It keeps my make-up on for hours and it smells minty (which I love). It matteifies the face but does not make my make-up a matte finish. I use this in the morning and will use my Mac Fix Plus throughout the day when I feel like I need to refresh my face. 

I hope this was helpful...here was my final Disney look!

Face is looking fresh and ready for action!! 

Also, I was lucky enough to meet Tyler Oakley while I was there (this was a HUGE deal). He is so funny on YouTube, check out his channel at Tyleroakley

Kit n' Caboodle-My Train Case Organization

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am on vacation right now with my best friend. We took our annual road trip to Los Angeles to spend a few days by the lake and to explore the city. Anytime you get the two of us together we go a little cosmetic crazy. We've been known to stop at every single Ulta that we see off the freeway...it's bad.
When we travel together by car, we both bring our Caboodle train cases to carry all the make-up we want to bring. Trust me, we pack those things to the brim. So today I thought I'd post about how I "organize" my extremely unorganized, overpacked Caboodle.
Warning: there is no method to my madness. 

This thing is literally stuffed full. I couldn't fit another lipstick in here if I tried. It's something about L.A. that makes you need to bring absolutely everything...

On the left stacked tier of my Caboodle:

Hair Ties

Clips

Highlighter

Setting Powder

Contour Powder

Pigments 

Blush

Face Powder

Lipsticks (some)

Nail Polishes 

In the right stacked tier:

BB Cream

Foundation

Primer

Concealer Assortment

Brow Kit

Eye Primer

Hand Sanitizer (this is key to alway have when traveling when you may not be near a sink)

Mascara

Eyeliner

Lipstick

In the center: 

This is where things get really crazy

Fake Eyelashes

Lash Glue

Setting Spray

All my Brushes

Eyelash Curlers

Palettes of Eyeshadow

That's pretty much the extent of my Caboodle. I love being able to see all my make up spread out in front of me so whenever I can travel with my train case, I love to. I will be the first to admit that I do not use all this stuff while on vacation and that I most definitely over pack, but I'd feel bad leaving any of these little beauties behind!

How do you organize your make up when you travel? Does anyone overpack as much as I do? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Favorite Nars products & MOTD (make-up of the day)

Today while getting ready and putting my face on, I realized that many of my everyday products are from my absolute favorite make-up brand, Nars.

Nars is a high end make-up line that has fantastically pigmented products that are very high quality. Anytime I walk into Sephora, the Nars counter is the first place I stop.

Many Nars products have cult followings. I'm sure most of you have heard of their blush "Orgasm" or their "Laguna Bronzer" or maybe ever their eyeshadow single in "Ashes to Ashes". An anyone who is a Kim Kardashian fan (which I'll admit, I most definitely am not), would know that she wears the Nars lipgloss in Turkish Delight when she wants to wear a nude lip look.

I obviously have not tried every product that Nars has to offer (but I hope to one day!), but I have tried many of their products and have definitely come up with a list of favorites. Through this process, I also have compiled a hand full of products that I do not think are that great, and some that are certainly not worth the hype. 

Favorites:

• Nars Sheer Glow Foundation (i'm shade Punjab). I especially love this foundation in the winter. I love to wear glowing skin all year round and the thicker consistency of this highly radiant foundation is perfect for winter time. 
• Nars Powder Eyeshadows. I have several of these in duos and trios, my favorite was from their Spring 2012 collection (I'm almost sure) called "Ramatuelle", which is a trio that includes a Silver, Icy Peach, and Apricot color. It looks stunning with black eyeliner, and the apricot shade is especially flattering in the crease. I also love the Trio in "Cap Ferrat" which is an assortment of bluish-green tones, which are fun to play with for a more colorful look. My favorite duo is "Cordura", which has a shimmering warm rich brown and a shimmering sooty dark brown. Anytime I go out and want to do a dark brown smokey eye, I always use this duo. 
• Nars "Laguna" Bronzer. Yes. Yes. Yes. this is DEFINITELY worth the hype. I have used this every single day since I bought it (as you can tell from the above picture, this product has gotten much love). I use it every day to warm up my face. It is not great for achieving a sharp contour, so if I am going to contour, I use a different product and dust "Laguna" over it. I am a bronzer freak, and I will continue to repurchase this one and will keep one in my collection forever. 
• Nars Cream Blush in "Penny Lane". I don't see nearly enough hype on the internet for this product. I use it if I want a neutral cheek look or if I am getting ready in a rush and don't have time to contour. This cream blush looks gorgeous placed in between the cheek bone and where one would usually apply blush. It also has a wonderful consistency, it is not sticky and it looks very radiant on the cheek. It's a very, very, soft peach color. 
• Nars Powder Blushes. I have many favorites of these, they just seem to be the best formula for blush on the Market. "Lovejoy" is my favorite winter shade, it is a shimmering bronzed rose shade and it looks amazing with a plum or deep red lip. I don't know how I survived the winter before I had this blush. "Gaiety" is another favorite, which is a bright candy pink color. I like this because it is very wearable and many people could get away with wearing this shade. Bright pinks like this look great in the summer with a tan and bronzed complexion. Also, this blush is perfect for a soft look, or to build up for a brighter pink. Plus, who doesn't love the sound of "bright candy pink"??
• Nars Pressed Powder (I wear the shade "Beach"). This is simply the best setting powder I have ever used. It makes my face look so flawless and keeps oil at bay. 

UnFavorites:

• (brace yourself) Nars Pressed Blush in "Orgasm". I know right? "Orgasm" is described as a peachy pink with golden shimmer. Everyone loves this blush and I don't like it. It's not even like "it isn't worth the hype" (which it isn't), I just simply do not like the color. The formula is fine, as with all Nars blushes, it's just the color is not great and I cannot get it to work on me, not with a tan, not pale. Just not at all. I would return this if I was able to and pick up a different blush in a second. I just simply do not like it. 
• Nars Eyeshadow Duo in "Kalahari". I like these shades and I use this palette often, I am just disappointed that the colors do not have more of a contrast with each other. Swatched, they look great, but on the lid they look like the same color. 
• Nars Multiple in "Maldives". This is a shimmering pink champagne multiple. A multiple implies that you can use it on your cheeks, as highlight, lip stick, eyeshadow, pretty much anything. I would only wear this as a highlight, and even as that I do not think it is very good, and certainly not for $40. I would say skip the multiples and buy yourself a nice Nars blush or bronzer instead. There are plenty of better highlight/multiple products out there. This just did not do it for me. 

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope this was helpful! It's always a hugh bummer picking up products that are expensive and high end and being less than enthused with the results you get from them. Also, just because a cosmetic brand is your favorite, does not mean that everything they make is great. And just because a bunch of people love a certain product and it basically has a cult following, doesn't mean that the product is the best. There are always other options that should be considered before making a purchase.