Category Archives: Beauty on a Budget

June Favorites

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PhotobucketThis is how the bestie and I spent last Friday night, along with watching Mermaids. Therapy at its best!

Okay. I think I have my makeup mojo back. I’m finally feeling inspired, creative, and colorful again :). I think it may have been the new lipstick I bought that kick started my brain up again lol. Here’s to new makeup and the power it can have! Check out some of my favorites from the past couple of weeks:

PhotobucketPhotobucket Crosswires lipstick from MAC. I’m CRAZY about this color right now, it’s the most perfect/flattering coral I’ve ever seen. I can dab it on for a light stain or apply it from the tube for a bold pop of wearable color. My tan younger sister tried it on and it looked great on her too. Try it the next time you’re at a MAC counter :).

Photobucket Can’t get enough Zoya polish in my life. This is the best nail polish I’ve ever used; not only are the colors beautiful, but the wear time on these babies is amazing. I’ve had the same shade of hot pink on my nails since Sunday with hardly a chip. Worth the $8 price tag.

PhotobucketPhotobucket Personal Style blush from MAC. This is from the All Ages, All Races, All Sexes collection from last year. It had been sitting in my makeup drawers for almost a year and I decided to give it a go two weeks ago. It’s a beautiful rosy brown that gives me a little bit of a flushed/tan look that glows. I’m really pale, and very happy that doesn’t get ruddy/orange on me. Perfect for contouring too. I’ve been wearing this every day.

PhotobucketSmashbox Fusion Eye & Cheek in On in 5. Awesome bronzer that looks really natural and blends like a dream. I haven’t tried it as eyeshadow yet, but I’m sure the colors would pop beautifully.

PhotobucketIvory soap. So simple, so affordable (3 bars for $1), and so effective at removing makeup without irritating my sensitive skin. It’s the only soap that removes every stitch of makeup from my face without having to scrub hard or go over it twice. Can’t see myself not using it, ever.

What are some of your favorite products right now?

<3V

Zoya Haul

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Hello Beauties!
I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that summer has arrived where you live :).
I know I haven’t posted in a week, but I’ve been in kind of a clothing/makeup rut. It feels like I have nothing to wear, my makeup doesn’t look right, and I can’t seem to find anything when I go shopping. These ruts happen to me every once in a while, and they always suck lol. Do you ever go through this?
I’m going to be reading a lot of fashion/makeup magazines and blogs for inspiration, and I’ll be back to my normal self soon enough. For now, are there any looks that you’d like for me to try? Any celebrity makeup that you’d like for me to recreate? Send me your suggestions, I’d love to try them!
One bright spot in the past week has been the delivery of my new Zoya polishes. I’m crazy about this brand, and can’t wait to acquire more colors! Check out the little haul below:

Photobucket Avril, Portial, Elodie, Breezi, and Kieko.

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-Avril- light pink with just a tiny bit of mauve in it. It was almost opaque with two coats. Beautiful for every day, goes with everything.
-Portia- very light pink, leaning to white. It was opaque with two coats. I could see myself wearing this to a summer wedding :).
-Elodie- a lovely coral jelly. Formula was good, but needed three coats. I’ll be reaching for this color a lot this summer.
-Breezi- described on the Zoya site as a “soft, dusty, dirty medium cerulean blue with an opaque cream finish”. Formula was amazing on this one, and completely opaque with two coats. Love this blue, I don’t have anything else like it.
-Kieko- a red toned purple cream, completely opaque with two coats. This is sooo fun, I can’t wait to wear it on my toes :D.

Did you order any polishes from Zoya during their free shipping weekend?

<3V

Primer Primer (BFF Guest Post)

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Daydreaming of being on this beach with a good book and a good drink.

Happy Saturday, Dolls! Sorry for the slacking, I’ve been studying my butt off for a test I had and working on some projects. Here’s a guest post by my beautiful best friend, Shannon. Enjoy!

Primer Primer

Ok, so textbooks aren’t called ‘primers’ anymore (and this post is far from a textbook) but it made for a nice title. Don’t judge.

I’ve got two primers to review today: a save and a splurge.

SAVE: I ordered e.l.f.’s mineral primer about six weeks ago because Miss Vanessa turned me on to their super affordable products and I thought, “Why not? It’s $3.” When I first used it, the pump wasn’t very forgiving so the product shot all over my hand. And surprisingly, it was runny not creamy like other primers I’ve used.

Click the picture to purchase.

Once I got the primer off my hand and onto my face, it felt slick and oily, and took a while to rub in and absorb (probably because one full pump is entirely too much primer for one face). But when it was rubbed in, it left a powdery-feeling finish. Very clean, very even. After a few uses, the pump became a little worn-in and I could better control how much primer was actually dispensed. By using less, it didn’t feel as oily as the first use and I fell in love.

Fast forward three weeks and I run out of primer. With no warning. The pump just kind of spurted the remaining primer onto my fingers tips and that was it. Less than a month’s worth of use.

Overall, I like e.l.f.’s product. It gave an even base and didn’t cause any break outs. It really did give results that Smashbox’s photo finish primer gives, but my mini tube of Smashbox lasted much longer than three weeks.

I would recommend e.l.f.’s mineral primer – it’s inexpensive, it works, but you’ll be making quite a few trips to the store/internet.

SPLURGE: Fortunately, I wasn’t out of primer for long. Shortly after running out, I made a trip to Sephora to pick up MUFE Matte Velvet foundation (that Vanessa also recommended). My rewards card with them gave me the opportunity to pick a freebie and one option was Dr. Brandt’s Pore-No-More Anti-aging Mattefying Lotion. I grabbed it thinking, “Anti-aging? Might as well be pro-active…”

Click the picture to purchase.

It’s AWESOME. Just a little goes a long way – it’s more creamy than e.l.f.’s primer without being oily or heavy. I’ve really noticed that it reduced the appearance of my pores. AND it also reduces fine lines and wrinkles! It gives a great, clean-feeling finish and a great base for make-up. I LOVE it! However, it runs $60 a 1.7 oz. tube. …yikes.

I would recommend Dr. Brandt’s mattefying lotion – if you have money to burn. It’s lasted me longer than three weeks, but I haven’t used it everyday.

<3Shannon

E.l.f. Cream Eyeliner Review

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Photobucket My niece, Elizabeth, enjoying a tostada lol. She hasn’t quite mastered the art of eating like a lady.

Hello Dolls!
Happy Saturday! I slept for a glorious 11 hours last night and feel amazing :-D. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I love e.l.f. brand brushes because of their great quality and budget friendly prices. I picked up one of the cream eyeliners in purple at Target the other day to try out and I’m in love again! The packaging is really cute and the liner comes with a little brush that’s surprisingly good quality. The consistency is really smooth and creamy, almost like a gel; it glides on easily and is nicely pigmented.
One thing that I always check for with liquid/gel liners is their water resistance (I’m a crybaby lol). I swatched the liner on my wrist and let it dry for 5 minutes before I tried washing it off with just water; it didn’t budge, even with rubbing. I was able to take it off with face soap and warm water. For $3, you can’t really go wrong with these, I can’t wait to get all of the other colors. You can find the liners at Target and at the e.l.f. website.

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Have you tried these liners? If so, what did you think of them?

Have an awesome weekend!

<3V

Beauty on a Budget: What Would You Do?

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Happy Wednesday, Beauties!

How are all of you today? The weather in Southern California is kind of all over the place. The winds by my work are so strong that they almost knocked me flat on my butt this morning; I just keep reminding myself that we’re actually pretty blessed because we aren’t buried in snow or ice. It still wasn’t fun to walk into the office with my hair teased to high heaven by the winds. I’m combing out the knots in between typing lol.

On to more important things!

I decided to put this post up because I wanted different views on something that I’ve been fighting with myself about. A few weeks ago, I was watching on of Tiffany’s favorites videos and she mentioned how much she loved Origins VitaZing moisturizer because she used it almost as a foundation and hadn’t had any issues with it making her break out. I’ve used the Aveeno calming moisturizer because my skin can get red with certain chemicals and loved that it took the redness away, but didn’t love that it didn’t control oil very well. While walking around Macy’s a few days after that, I picked up a decent sized sample of VitaZing to try out and used it for two weeks.

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Well, as luck would have it, I’m hooked, so I picked up another sample that will last me about a week and a half. This stuff is so awesome! It moisturizes just enough, doesn’t make me break out, controls shine, has a slight tint to it that gives me an amazing glow, and holds my Mineralize Skinfinish in place all day. So, you’re reading this thinking, “What’s the problem, Nessa?”

The problem is that it’s $35 and I’ve never spent that much on moisturizer. I’m on a budget while I pay off my car/credit card and save up to move out so that is A LOT for me to spend on one thing. I keep going back and fourth because I’ve never loved a moisturizer so much and my skin has never looked this good before (I’ve gotten a ton of complements :-)). The bottle will last about 6 months or so with daily use, which is how long my current moisturizer lasts (at half the cost). Pretty much the only bad side to this situation is that it costs $35 and that I’m scared I won’t be able to afford it once I move out and be miserable. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but it would suck.

What do you think? I’d love to get your opinions!


<3V