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. 

Review: Dior Glow Maximizer Primer

Ain't that the best picture you've ever seen (not!). I bought this luxurious Dior primer in hopes that I could use it with some of my heavy/matte/satin/long-wear foundations to give them a more luminous finish. Sadly, this was not the case.

I bought this and really wanted to love it. I reallllllly really did. I gave it several chances; in fact, I gave it 2 months of trial to get a fair opinion. What it comes down to is that for $42, it simply is not worth it. It sets up REALLY quickly so you must work fast to get it all over your face. Sadly I don't think The Flash could work fast enough to get this stuff spread evenly. It looked patchy and uneven every. single. time. 

On top of that, it was extremely iridescent. It was gorgeous swatched and honestly I didn't mind it on my skin, but be warned, if you have pores that you try desperately to conceal, this primer will most likely be your worst enemy. 

I'm very partial to the Hourglass Veil Primer, it is my favorite high end and I would spend money on that without thinking twice. As far as this Dior primer, I held onto it for so long but something much better has recently stepped into my life. the Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer is incredible. It does not have a silicony feel (which I actually like when they do, but I know some people do not). It spreads well and gives the face a beautiful glow that looks luminous and not sparkly. It is much less expensive and, in my opinion, far better than the Dior Glow Maximizer. 

Hope this was helpful!! 

Tanya Burr Lipgloss Review!

It is no secret that I am obsessed with YouTube. One of my favorite YouTubers is Tanya Burr who's channel focuses on beauty and fashion. She is absolutely fabulous, adorable, knowledgable, and so sweet. Seriously, you watch her and you feel like she really does want to come out of the computer screen and give you a hug. I just love her.
Tanya recently released what hopefully is just the beginning of a gorgeous make up line. She has a collection of nail polishes and lip glosses. Of course I couldn't resist and HAD to buy some of her glosses.

After seeing how gorgeous and modern she looked at her release party, I knew I had to get the shade "Picnic in the Park" because that is what she was wearing. I would describe it as a corally-hot pink shade. It is really unique because it isn't too peachy or pink and though it is worn beautifully on it's own, you could pair it over a pink or peach lipliner and it would really conform to whichever shade you want it to be. Kind of like a chameleon.

I also got the shade First Date; your quintessential soft, baby pink. This one is really pigmented and is a great gloss to have. It's one of those shades that you just need in your collection because it is great on it's own, to layer, or to throw in your bag for an easy, elegant lip look.

I have to say, I am really impressed with these. I bought them because I love and support Tanya and she deserves all the success in the world for her hard work and loyalty to fans. Her humility and humbleness is contagious.  The packaging is durable and not cheapy, they aren't too sticky but do last a while, they are pigmented, and very versatile. I love to layer mine over lipliners to create a glossy bold look but also love to just carry the glosses for touch ups through out the day. They are very pigmented but not like an opaque cream formula. They smell sweet and delicious and come in a beautiful range of colors. You can grab them here!

theBalm "Vanilla Oil Absorbing" Face Moisturizer Review

Hey Folks! Maybe you recall a few months ago I did a post about a haul from a few brands on HauteLook; one of said brands being theBalm Cosmetics. I have several rave reviews for many products I have tried from theBalm, but I haven't really ventured into their skin care line. Actually to be honest, I didn't even know they had a skin care line! Most YouTubers that I watch that use theBalm mention how wonderful their blushes and their eyeshadow palettes are, but I've never heard anything about their skin care line.

Well, today I was getting ready and I hit that dreaded point in my daily moisturizer where I have to pump to top several times just to get the tinniest bit of product to come out. "Oh No" I think, "I'm getting close to running out!" It is at that moment that I know that the product I am using is Holy Grail product. Sometimes it gets exciting getting to the end of a product, especially if you have your eye on something else or if you really didn't like the product much to begin with. I really hadn't even given my daily moisturizer much thought, until this morning when I was frazzled at the fact that I am almost going to be throwing this bottle into my "empties" collection. 

theBalm White Tea Vanilla Oil-Absorbing Face Moisturizer is honestly AMAZING and highly underrated. Also, quick point off topic, when I tweeted to the company today that I think this product is amazing, they favorited my tweet! I absolutely love when a company is actually interactive with their social media community, I find it makes me want to keep purchasing their products and communicating with them. Anyway, I have in the past used Bobbi Brown Oil Control Lotion and I found it to be nice, but never repurchased. I like the scent of it although it irritated my skin in the slightest way because of the Seaweed Extract; I think it was the scent caused my sensitive skin to turn bright red. With this Oil-Absorbing lotion from theBalm, I find that I do not need to blot or touch up my face with powder all day. My skin is combination to Oily, but can have extreme dry patches, very acne prone, and extremely sensitive. I don't find that this lotion is too drying on my skin when it is drier and I find that it has held up in even the hottest weather conditions I've been in--Reno, Anaheim, Canyon Lake, Sacramento, you name it. The scent on this is absolutely lovely. It is very natural and subtle. I hate when things are labeled "unscented" and it smells like a scent of "unscented" (does that even make sense? is it just me?). This smells like the ingredients in it without added perfumes. I also like that it isn't a "matte" formula, it makes the skin look so much more natural and radiant. It also has not caused me to break out and it is paraben free, cruelty free, phthalate free, and synthetic dye free. 

Another great thing about this product is, and I kid you not, but there are some days where I put this on with my Tarte Maracuja C-brightner eye treatment and feel totally comfortable and beautiful walking out the door without a trace of make up on. It makes the skin look so fresh, clean, and bright. 

The packaging is gorgeous glass and looks very high end if you ask me, and the pump detail is nice too. The best part? This product is only $20! Which is a steal if you ask me as you could easily go to Target and find an Aveeno moisturizer that isn't half as lovely for $15 or more dollars! 

All in all, it is easy to see that I really love this product, even if it wasn't so obvious to me before I nearly ran out, I now see that I am going to need to order this stuff in mass quantities because I never want to be with out it. If theBalm was ever to stop making this, I honestly do not know what I'd do. I find it to be a really unique product that is highly underrated. 

As I always recommend with theBalm products, keep your eye out for them on Hautelook, I think I got this moisturizer for only $10 when it came around! 

Review: Tarte "Off The Cuff" Blush Palette

As I've stated several of times over here on Beauty and Blogging, Tarte is one of my favorite brands to browse at Ulta and Sephora. While there are dozens of products by them that I have yet to try, the few that I have tried are some of my all time favorites that I own in my collection. Of these favorites are definitely their blushes. They are highly pigmented and last a really long time. They come in a variety of finishes and look quite natural which make them photograph really well. They are one of the easiest blushes I've found to work with, especially for beginners, as I find that since they are not really powdery or buttery it doesn't come across streaky or ever worse, clown-ish!
Last year, Tarte released a Holiday Collection that contained 4 miniature blushes that were limited edition colors. Needless to say, I had to have it! I bought it for myself and immediately fell in love with all of the colors. To this day, I use all 4 all the time and they still look brand new; these things last forever! They also came out with another really fantastic Holiday Collection that came with lipglosses, a blush, a brush, an eyeshadow palette, and a finishing powder all bundled together in a travel case that I use every single time I travel. Bottom line, Tarte comes out with the absolute best holiday collections.
This year they recently released a blush palette that contains 4 blush shades, 1 bronzer shade, and a cuff bracelet as the palette is so properly named "Off The Cuff". While I'm not positive it is part of their "Holiday Collection", it is now available for a limited time at Sephora.

The packaging is very flashy and shiney. I think it is very pretty but I don't really like the texture of the palette's cover fabric. I feel like it will snag and get dirty really quickly.

The cuff bracelete is also a little cheesy; I probably will not wear it, but it did look cute wrapped around the palette. 

Now into the good stuff! The palette comes with a really large mirror and very substantial sized blushes/bronzer. I know that Dollface (the 4th shade) and Park Ave Princess (5th shade) are permanent to the collection, but I'm not sure about the other three; I don't think that i've ever seen them but I could be wrong. Anyways, I wanted to snag this up quickly since last year after I realized how much I loved my blush collection I wanted to go pick one up for a friend and it was nearly impossible to get my hands on. I also do not own any blush palettes and missed the boat on one that Nars released a few years ago and have never really gotten over it. I always travel with several blushes in my caboodle so I figured this would be a really good thing to have. I've tried all four of the blush shades and would love to give some quick thoughts on each:

Crave: described as a pink peach. I really like this shade a lot, it is my favorite of the four. It is a fantastic shade to wear in the fall and winter as it is fairly neutral but really warms up your cheeks which makes your complexion look flawless. Paired with your favorite bronzer, this shade is absolute perfection.

Dazzled: described as a soft rose. This is a neutral shade with shimmer. It is much darker than the other rose blush by Tarte called "exposed". I really like this shade as it leans a little bit on the red side and reminds me a little bit of my favorite Nars blush in "Lovejoy". This shade would look great with perfected lashes and a deep lip shade. 

Darling: described as a nude melon. This shade is what drew me to the palette in the first place and ironically it is my least favorite of the four. I do not hate it, but I don't find that it does much for my skin or complexion. It is a little bland. To give it more dimension, I put "Crave" onto the apples of my cheek and it made it look more interesting. 

Dollface: described as a light pink. This is a great shade of blush for everyone to have in their collection. Light pink blushes are very natural on the cheeks and make you look like you've just been out in the cold (in a good way!) I've never purchased this blush by Tarte before, even though it has been getting rave reviews since the beginning of time, but I am so glad they incorporated it into this palette. It is one of those shades that would be flattering on anyone. 

I have yet to try the  Park Avenue Princess matte bronzer that is in the palette, but I'm sure it is gorgeous and very usable. Everyone on YouTube and blogs across the internet have been raving about it for years now, and I love the Tarte matte bronzer in "Hotel Heiress" so I'm sure this one is no different. 

(Left to Right) Crave, Dazzled, Darling, Dollface, Park Ave Princess.

This palette comes in at $42, which given the fact that a single blush is $26 and a bronzer is $29, I think that this palette is a really good price. Each of the powders inside the palette are full sized so you're getting the 5 for the price of two! This would make a great gift for a friend (or yourself!) But I recommend getting your hands on it quick, I have a feeling it will sell out fast!

How Benefit Brow Bar Redeemed Themselves...

As some of you may remember, in August I wrote a review on my Benefit Brow Bar experience (if you didn't read it, you can catch it here). My review was clearly unimpressed by the service that I received (or lack there of, actually). I'm not a fan of bad customer service and certainly am not one to give second chances often. I don't believe doing your job well and being kind to customers is difficult, and if you find that it is then you probably should consider finding a less interactive job. *End Rant* 
So the other day I found myself in Ulta walking around and looking for a few things I wanted to pick up. Both the items I went in to get were sold out and since I was in the mind set to spend some money, I started talking to one of the sales women. She was in the high end section of the store and was really casual and comfortable to talk to; she was giving several customers personal opinions on products and being extremely helpful. I knew from that moment I wanted to buy something from her because she was such a proactive employee. Do these types of impulses happen to other people? Just me? 
I approached her and was asking some questions about products and mentioned my horrible customer service the last time I was at Ulta to get my arches done at the Benefit Brow Bar. She totally agreed with me on my feelings of how they should still do a free Birthday Arch service and how dumb it is for them not to. She then mentioned how she does brows and since it wasn't busy, I asked if she had time to do mine that I would really appreciate it. She was happy to take me in and give me a shaping. She took her time and walked me through the whole process with the measuring of the arch, beginning, and tail of my brow. Then she filled them in to show me what they are going to look like. She was sure to mention that I would probably need to do the process at least 3 times to get the exact arch that I want because some areas need to grow in before we wax other areas. She would do a section and then show me in the mirror and make sure everything was looking good to my standard.

• I loved how sterile the process was; a new stick of wax for each section
• The wax is MUCH more gentle than what I'm used to at the nail salon
• She was chatty but not rude; she didn't mention how badly I needed to get my brows done, what a mess they were, or how sensitive my skin is
• She made sure I wasn't allergic to anything that could be in their products
• Most importantly, she didn't let me leave looking like a mess. She applied make up over the waxed area, filled in my brows, and fixed up my make up. I was able to run errands after my appointment without my face being bright red and oily. It was AMAZING.

So this experience was MUCH better. I was even told that day by some friends that my brows looked really nice and more arched (which is what I've always wanted!) Everything about my second time at the Brow Bar was so much better. I plan on going back once I'm due for a touch up. If you are unsure of your local Brow Bar, I suggest looking up reviews on Yelp. Usually I wouldn't just hop into a seat and let someone alter my face without checking other people's experiences, but this just had a really good feeling about it. 
I'll put it this way...I plan on buying this woman a Christmas present because I'm so happy with the way my brows turned out. 

I hope this helped some of you guys out!

Have a great week, XOXO

My HOLY GRAIL Break Out Product

I have suffered from acne and break outs since early-mid high school. I am now in my 4th year of college at 21 years old and still have problems with acne. It can be so frustrating getting break outs when you are essentially an adult in every other way. I've gone to dermatologists and tried just about every product on the shelfs to prevent and reduce acne. Some have done nothing while others have literally burned the very skin off my face and left me with peeling, red, bleeding skin. Trust me, there have been some nightmares, including taking prescription pills that were supposed to help but instead just caused me the sun burn so painfully that I couldn't even sit in the seats in my car. Ugh, thinking about all these horrible events is making me cringe. Acne is emotionally, socially, and physically painful. Ain't that the truth, though...

The best product, hands down, that I have ever found is the Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Stress Control Toner. You guys, I swear, I rave about this product to absolutely everyone. Anyone that says they are breaking out or have problems with acne, I literally get so excited to tell them all about this product. I use this every single night after I wash my face and on mornings when I'm dealing with a break out. It has significantly reduced the amount of break outs that I get and I have repurchased it over and over again. I'm pretty sure this is my 4th bottle. I've even got my brother and my best friend hooked on it. She even told me that she stopped using it and when she went back to it couldn't believe that she stopped using it in the first place. The active ingredient for this is salicylic acid, which seems to work better for my skin type as opposed to benzoyl peroxide. The bottle will last you a few months also, and it has never dried out my skin to the point where it is peeling. Sure, it will make your skin feel drier, but I haven't had any severe dryness since using this product. If Neutrogena ever discontinued this, I literally think I would die. I've even stopped using the acne medicated gel that I've been using for the past 4 years because this has worked so many wonders for my skin. The best part? It's under 5 dollars! Perfect for teenagers and acne strugglers on a tight budget. 

One Direction FLOG(?!)

FLOG (n): a blog written solely for fun.

Well, I guess technically all my blogs are written for fun, but this one is just going to be a quick brief reaction to One Direction: This Is Us movie.

Now, the story behind going to see this movie is actually quite funny (at least to me). Being a semi-recent fan, I was asked by my best friend if I was planning on seeing the movie when it came out and I told her 

"It's one of those things where you don't just go to see

the movie. You know? If you're going to go ,

you have to go to the midnight showing, get their 

early, sit in line, get good seats, and fangirl the whole

time."

It was pretty clear I wasn't going to go because 1) I never go to movies and 2) I'm an old lady and don't like being out late. Well, me and the best were out getting crepes on Thursday night and remembered that This Is Us was coming out at midnight. We immediately looked up tickets and were like "we have to go, it's like a sign that we remembered it was tonight, we are already out and we are looking for something to do"

So we went to a movie theatre nearly 30 minutes away from where we live, got their early, we were first in line, got great seats, and of course, fangirl-ed the whole time. 

I want to reserve this cardboard cut out for when the theatre is done with it; the poor boys don't deserve to be in a dumpster. 

The movie was really great, I love the boys more than I did to begin with. If you're an on the fence fan, GO SEE IT. 

Anyways, I hope you guys have a really nice Labor Day Weekend and have a lot of fun.

Also, Tyler Oakley (whom I love, I'm obsessed with him) JUST posted an interview of One Direction and he did awesome! Go check it out at www.youtube.com/tyleroakley . 

And if you have any question over who is my favorite....I love Harry =]

TARTE Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara Review

Tarte cosmetics is one of my top favorite brands. Whenever I walk into Sephora or Ulta I always make sure to check out their little display. I love that their products are paraben free and are not tested on animals. It makes their steeper price tag totally worth it knowing I'm buying a high quality product. Not to mention, I've yet to be disappointed by any of their products.

One of my all time favorite products by them, and all time favorite mascaras, is their Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara. It is phenomenal and a really difficult formula to beat. They recently released a new mascara from the same line called Lights, Camera, Flashes, and I simply could not wait to get my hands on it 

As usual, their packaging couldn't be more beautiful, I admit it's a little bit extravagant which probably drives the price up but honestly, it looks high end and makes me feel fancy.

The wand on this baby is what makes it so incredible and unique

Although its hard to tell (and even harder to photograph), the brush has two sides. The directions on the box suggest using the dense, soft side of the brush first to build volume, then comb through with the flex-bristles to create length and definition. It also suggests applying two coats, which I always do anyway. 

The formula of the mascara reminds me a lot of  Benefits "they're real" mascara, it's really wet and can be messy. I find that it does have a tendency to clump a little bit but I'm going to work with it and practice so I can avoid that issue. This stuff means business when it comes to holding a curl. My lashes stay curled, thick, and long all day. It's serious stuff. 

Here are some shots of the application process:

Two coats applied to the left side, compared to nothing on the right. 

After mascara was applied to both eyes (natural light). 

This mascara makes some big claims and promises, and although I may not agree with "+752% volume", I would agree that this mascara makes a HUGE difference. I love the false lash effect that it gives, I feel like my lashes are butterflies every time I blink. I love that it's formulated without parabens, phthalates, triclosan, sodium lauryl sulfate, or synthetic fragrance (yuck!). It truly is amazing and very unique. I was not a fan of Benefit "They're Real" and was skeptical that this would disappoint me since they seemed comparable, but I won't lie, I love this stuff!! If you're in the market for a nice high end mascara, Tarte "Lights, Camera,Flashes" retails at about $23. 

PS I found this image online and found it helpful at explaining the brush's technology