MAKEUP MONDAY ♥ BECCA REVIEW! part 1

I have a lot of Becca to review. So if this starts getting too long, I'll have to break it up into two parts. 

First of all, if you're into cosmetics and innovations in cosmetics and also innovations in design of cosmetics...and maybe branding and trends in general....then you've no doubt noticed or heard about BECCA. It's a relatively newer brand from Australia. Its mission is to create product that makes women (or men) look healthy, glowing, fresh, natural and glamorous in a subtle way. Sort of. They're more along the lines of Bobbi Brown or Nars, in that it's mostly neutrals. But I think Becca is acres different than the other two brands. It's so so very modern in its concepts and packaging. And final effect. Basically if you're looking for a China-doll-white face and bright Hollywood-red lips, Becca is NOT a range for you.

just some of my Becca products....these have become some of my all-time favorite cosmetics.

I heard about Becca from various make-up artists and various YouTube gurus (which I LOVE because there's something for everyone). Some of their products are staple pieces in a lot of cosmetic artist kits. Others are new. The products are quite pricey (even for the Aussies...which makes no sense. I hope they cut those natives a break in the future...seems almost more expensive there!), and the packaging looks very, um, military at first to me. Industrial. But the longer I've been using them and looking at them, they almost look very 20's to me now. Especially when you have a few products sitting on your table together. Ends up with this very Deco vibe. OK OK OK...enough ramble...onto the reviews:

BECCA SHIMMERING SKIN PERFECTOR...THE OPAL SHADE IS IN THE CENTER.

BECCA SHIMMERING SKIN PERFECTOR

Let's start with this as it seems to be everyone's favorite glow product/primer. I really was so so interested in using this Shimmering Skin Perfector, but it's a steep buy. But I did end up buying it a while ago, figuring that you only use a couple of tiny dots...and it comes in a huge bottle. So it will basically last for a long long long time, making it worth the price. This skin perfector is everything it's stacked up to be....just a little bit rubbed into the cheekbones, temples, under the eyebrow, maybe the bridge of the nose (a touch), Cupid's bow (upper lip) and a bit on the forehead...and you look like you're healthy and glowing. I LOVE this product so so much. I rotate between this and my Cosmetics a la Carte Shine Illuminator. I have the color OPAL, but it comes in so many other shades, too. Even if you love your current make up, but you want something to make it a bit more modern or you need something to add a glow to your skin if it's turned a little dry, try it.  I promise you will love it. $41.00

BECCA PRESSED SHIMMER POWDER IN PRINCESS. THIS IMAGE DOESN'T DO THE COLOR JUSTICE.

BECCA PRESSED SHIMMER POWDER in PRINCESS

I know I JUST did a big blusher review recently. And though I still love the ELF blush I mention in that post, I have been using a new blush for the past week. And I love this, too! It's the Pressed Shimmer Powder in the shade Princess. At first I didn't know what this was supposed to do. The box it comes in doesn't really say, so I went online and read some reviews to see how other people have been using this. And I realized it IS a blush. I really wanted it for the compact (feels very posh), but now I am addicted to the product inside. It's a gorgeous pink/gold blush that adds even more glow and a bit of pink to your cheeks. I am so in love with this product. Plus, I do still love the compact itself. You can layer it so it's a little heavier or keep it super super light. I can understand why they called this Princess (which I also love....!) as it's just GORGEOUS. Sorry I keep using that word, but it is gorgeous. :) Also a bit pricey but if it makes you feel like a princess, then it's totally absolutely worth it and I support your future purchase. :) $38.00

BECCA CREAM EYE COLOR QUARTZ

BECCA CREAM EYE COLOR in QUARTZ

This is a gorgeous kind of oyster-pink shimmery cream eye "shadow".  It's more like a wash and even though it's supposedly a shimmer color, it looks so so natural and subtle on. Hard to describe. It flatters your eyes. And your skin. Which is a good way to describe all Becca products...they really do their best to flatter a face. It's a good go-to easy eye cream if you're low maintenance but want to look put together and modern. This Becca Eye Cream in Quartz is one of the first Becca products I nabbed, and I'm really happy with it. If it helps, the Becca site describes this as a "silvery-nude pink". $28.00

BECCA CREME BLUSH IN AMARYLLIS

BECCA CREME BLUSH in AMARYLLIS

I do still love this Amaryllis creme blush and will use it probably when the weather gets a bit colder. I have a larger review here. But I'll just say it is beautiful, fresh, light...though I'm still working on the lasting factor. It fades away quite quickly on me. $30.00

This is getting a bit long, and I do have a lot more to review. So I'll put the rest of it in part 2. See you then and thanks for reading!♡

more makeup monday ♥ fancy mink (and faux mink) lashes
 
images from makeup4all.com, makeupmole.com, polyvore.com, beccacosmetics.com, apothica.com

MAKEUP MONDAY ♥ CURRENT FAVORITES

I can't believe it's already time for me to list up my current favorites. This will be short and sweet. I'll do a separate post, but I wanted to also mention that I'm probably going to start writing about things that are not fashion or beauty related. Or, rather, they're not product related. I'm going to mix them in with the normal day-to-day posts as I am getting a little bored with just posting up the say stuff every week. OKAY...now onto the current favorites:

Foundation

Current favorites are still the new Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup and my Skin 79 BB creams, especially the one in the orange container on hot days. I also still love my Chanel Lift Lumière, but I don't use that on a daily basis. You can read about the foundations by clicking on the links. 

revlon colorstay whipped foundation. i love this stuff!

skin 79 bb cream in the orange container. i love this, too! esp when i need a ton of spf!

Concealers

For under my eyes, my favorite is the Garnier roller ball in light/medium. I have been using this for a year and I can't believe it's still going! It hasn't run out and I use it every day. My favorite thing about it is that it de-puffs my eyes a little. I have big eyes and lack of sleep or anything shows up quickly in puffiness. 

For covering up imperfections, I've been trying to use up my Clinique Continuous Coverage which is actually a super full coverage foundation, if you have major things or tattoos you want to cover. But it lasts ages as a concealer for blemishes or anything else. And it pretty much does not budge after you have set it. I actually don't understand why no one ever talks about it. It's much more "sturdy" than the Vichy Dermablend stick foundation. 

clinique continuous coverage foundation

the garnier roller ball concealer. i love this!

Blush/Bronzer

My favorite bronzer right now is the NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny. I have the Chanel Bronze Universal or whatever, but I don't wear that if I'm at home working on the computer. This bronzer is amazing, matte, light application so you can build it up and it still looks natural. It's comparable to high end powder bronzers. Love it. 

nyc bronzing face powder in sunny. i use it with a giant powder brush.

Eyes

I pretty much use either Jordana Color Effects Eyeshadow Duo in the shade Good Match, which has a natural beige color and a very light tan color. They are both matte. I use the light tan color as a wash of color on my eyelids like every day. It takes a second and looks great. And this stuff is cheap! So you don't have to worry about running out. I also sometimes use it to fill in my eyebrows a bit. The other eyeshadow I use a lot these days is Becca's Demi-Matte Shadow in Doeskin. I can't read the label as it's rubbed off. It's almost matte, with a tiny bit of sheen, so your eyelids look almost wet. I love this! I'm also using my beloved Becca Creme Eye Color in Quartz, which is like a pinky-oyster shell color. It's amazing to use as a highlight and at the tear duct. But sometimes I just use it as a wash over my eyelids. I'm also using L'Oreal's Telescopic Mascara in Black Brown. It does the trick, but it makes your/my eyelashes crunchy, and I don't like that too much. So I won't probably repurchase. 

jordana duo eyeshadow in good match

becca eyeshadow in doeskin

becca eye creme color in quartz

l'oreals telescopic in brown black

Lips

I have a couple current favorites. First is my NYX Round Case lipstick in the color Milan, which is kind of like my natural lip shade but a little darker. I used to hate these mauve-y colors, but now I see them as a good alternative to natural lip balm. The NYX lipstick also smells amazing, like real rose water. The other favorite is a Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle. I wasn't sure about this. It's very soft. It can break easily. And I'm not sure, but I am suspecting that it dries my lips out for some reason. But on a good day, I really love it because it's more sheer than the NYX lipstick. And easy to use. I do love those Revlon Lip Butters.

revlon lip butter in pink truffle

nyx round case lipstick in milan

So I'll post up Tuesday's post in a little while. I just wanted to get this up. I had no idea what I wanted to post up yesterday. Thanks for reading and be back later!♡

more makeup monday ♥ metallic smoky eyes

SAT SHOPPING ♥ CURRENT FAVORITES!

I decided to start doing a favorites post every now and again, in the case I have some current favorites that I am in love with and want to share. So, here we go...there will be makeup and some other goodies...as much as I can cram in here. :)

My current favorite foundation is a tie between REVLON PHOTO READY in 05 NATURAL BEIGE and NARS SHEER GLOW FOUNDATION in FIJI. Though I am aching to try NEUTROGENA HEALTHY SKIN as I've heard it does wonders for you if you have dry skin. And now that the weather has changed, so has my skin...in the drier way.

 

Favorite for covering up is PAULA DORF TOTAL CAMOUFLAGE in SAND/NUDE...which has a color corrector that's salmon-y and virtually erases the dark circles under my eyes as well as a neutral creamier formula that's great for covering pigmentation (which I do have because I grew up right by the beach and used to own 100 bikinis!). It can also be blended together to create the perfect shade for your skin.  I do also love the GARNIER SKIN RENEW ANTI-DARK-CIRCLE ROLLER as it has caffeine and is quick and easy and I know it will reduce any puffiness I have.

this isn't the actual color...it's just what the paula dorf pot looks like.

My favorite powder right now...well, I do have some expensive brands, but I've been using Wet n Wild's NATURAL BLEND PRESSED POWDER in the shade BARE as it doesn't bug me so much if I'm using it every day and staying inside to enter the novel edits. (Enter the novel edits! :s) I think it works just fine. It's very mattifying and it's cheap so you don't have to worry about using up your expensive stuff. I use it with the ELF blush brush from the Studio line.

Current fave blush...well, I love so many right now but I guess the one I've been really into lately is by PAULA DORF again and the color is called BABY FACE. I think it's comparable to Nars Sex Appeal in that it's very light and not shimmery. BUT it does cost about the same ($23). It really hardly shows up on my olive skin, but I sort of like that because it looks so natural when it's subtle that way. I use it with a huge ELF COMPLEXION BRUSH from their Studio line.

elf pigment eyeshadow in golden goddess (love!)

becca eye shadow in doeskin

 Fave eye stuff...too many to write. Elf has some great things if you want the glam but you want to save your truly expensive stuff for other days. Plus, when the makeup is cheaper it tends not to be as dramatic, so easier to wear every day. I like the BRIGHTENING EYE LINER in the color GILDED AND the SHIMMER EYELINER PENCIL in BOLDLY BRONZED to line my (hazel/green) eyes. I am LOVING the ELF CREAM SHADOWS in DAWN and PEWTER! (I also want to get the colors BRONZED, SMOKED AND NATURAL GLOW.)  I mean, I have some really fancy ones by Becca, but I don't want to keep replacing those, and the ones by ELF do the job and are cheap as hell. Plus the color looks more expensive. DAWN is very subtle mink color and PEWTER is awesome for a quick smokey eye. I also love the ELF PIGMENT EYESHADOW IN GOLDEN GODDESS...which is way more like a bronze than a gold and looks great as a wash all over the eyelid (esp if you have green or blue eyes). I also love two from Becca, but I'm trying not to use them every day as they cost like $25 each and they are TINY. The first is a demi-matte taupe (I think it's called Doeskin because the label has worn off) and the second is way more shimmery brown called SATIN.

elf pencil in gilded

elf pencil in boldly bronzed

elf cream eyeshadow in dawn

elf cream eyeshadow in pewter

becca eyeshadow in satin

The mascara I love is by Rimmel right now, but daily I use this TINY TINY little mascara I got from Sally's Beauty Supply. It's their SALLY GIRL MINI MASCARA in brownish black. And I love it. I am really loving the brown mascara thing. I have big eyes and long lashes and I think brown looks more chic and subtle than tons of black mascara sometimes. BTW, it costs 99 cents!

On my lips I have two that I love right now, though there are some that I am aching to get but don't have yet. The two I use daily (again because they are cheap and do the job and look expensive...and I can save the really good ones for special days)...is Wet n Wild's MEGALAST LIP COLOR in the colors BARE IT ALL (my favorite), JUST PEACHY and a darker one called CINNAMON SPICE. Just really really modern, chic look with totally matte lips. I also love love love an ELF MATTE LIP COLOR in NATURAL that looks amazing and rich and still moisturizes even though it's matte!

My current love love love nail varnish is a dupe. It's SINFUL COLORS in the color NIRVANA which is a lot like OPI's YOU DON'T KNOW JACQUE and OVER THE TAUPE. I love love love this color every time I look at my nails. And I can't believe it only cost me two dollars!!

this shows the color well, but this isn't my hand! :)

I have favorite new sweater that's rich looking and leopard print...only $22.80 from FOREVER 21. This sweater is a dream. I love it even more than my (or maybe close to) Marc Jacobs, Sonia Rykiel and Lacoste sweaters.

this photo is kind of the wrong fitting. mine is a petite, but it's loose, the way a good sweater like this should be. dunno why they shot it this way.

My favorite thing right now is black tight jeans and a spiky belt I bought in Echo Park (LA) for like $3. Reminds me so much of the cool things my young uncles used to send to me from London in the late 80s when I was too young to understand how cool they were really. My favorite ring is a bronze cobra ring I bought in Venice Beach for like $3. It's too big for me, even my pointer finger.   But I still wear it until I get the new perfect skulls. My favorite bag is my Marc Jacobs Hobo that I wrote about here. I love this bag and feel so chic when I have it over my arms.

My favorite "thing" in the world, though, has to be my little dog Lotte (LOTTIE) who looks like a little wolf. Yesterday she turned 7 months old. :) 

my little lotte at 6 mos old. ♡♡♡ (please ignore that scary doll in the back...this was taken at my mom's.) ;P

I have so many others, but I think this is a good start for now. Hope you enjoyed that and have a good weekend!♡

more saturday shopping ♥ the celine cabas

SATURDAY SHOPPING ♥ BLUSH REVIEW part 1

I had a revelation yesterday and thought I should really just do this post now. I could wait until next MAKEUP MONDAY to do this post, but I have so much beauty stuff to cover it doesn't make any sense to wait. So I'm breaking it up into two parts. Here is part one of the Blush Review. Blush is one of my favorite things and I always wear it. And I've been experimenting with a lot of them lately.

PIXI WATER BLUSH. I WILL PROBABLY RE-PURCHASE THIS AS IT LASTS FOR EV ER AND IT LOOKS REALLY NATURAL AND LASTS ALL DAY. (I JUST CHECKED AND I'M NOT SURE THEY ARE MAKING THIS PRODUCT ANYMORE. SAD.)

ORIGINS PINCH YOUR CHEEKS. NOT MY FAVORITE ANYMORE. BUT I ALWAYS HAVE A TUBE IN MY MAKEUP COLLECTION...JUST IN CASE.

I have always (always meaning I've been using forever...so long that I can't remember when I started to use it) been a diehard cheek stain liquid blush lady. I think I started with the famous Origins Pinch Your Cheeks and then moved onto other things I loved that got discontinued and ended up using Pixi Water Blush which I have used for a couple of years...until recently. I noticed my skin was getting a little more dry. I've always had really combination-normal and maybe even very sensitive skin. But not really dry. But I'm not 23 anymore. Of course my skin is going to change. And, frankly, I was just ready to update my look a little. Sometimes when you're ready to take your ambitions to the next level, you also want to take your look to another level. In addition, in all these years that I've been using a cheek stain, technology in the beauty realm has really excelled...even when it comes to drugstore/high street brands. But blush is my thing. I don't like to wear too much of anything, but I am known for my "rosy cheeks".  And I was curious about blushes like NARS' "Orgasm" and Laura Mercier apricot shades. I tried both and returned both. It was way too powder-y for me and I felt like an old lady wearing powder blush. I'm sure it wasn't the products' fault, BTW. That's not what I'm saying...but the journey did commence to find something that made me think "OOOO!" when I looked in the mirror. 

Which leads to all the blushes I now own and have experimented with. You'll be very surprised at what I ended up loving. 

THE BLUSH TEST...L TO R...ELF BLUSH/BRONZER DUO, PAULA DORF CREME BLUSH IN CHA CHA, JEMMA KIDD STAIN/FLUSH/BLUSH CONCENTRATE IN MASQUERADE, JEMMA KIDD BLUSH ID, SONIA KASHUK SUPER SHEER LIQUID TINT IN PEONY AND BECCA CREME BLUSH IN AMARYLLIS...THERE'S ALSO A ROSIE JANE CHEEK GLOSS IN ROSE THAT I FORGOT TO INCLUDE IN THE SHOT.

I have way more than mentioned above, but these are the main contenders. So...here we go.....

ROSIE  JANE CHEEK GLOSS IN ROSE

Rosie Jane Cheek Gloss in Rose

Someone from their PR sent this product to me ages ago, and I loved them. Though, I prefer to wear them on my lips than my cheeks as they don't stay on very long. At least not on my cheeks. But it's def convenient to have this Rosie Jane tiny compact in your pocket if you don't want to carry a full-on makeup bag. Because in a second, you have lip gloss and blush and a teeny tiny mirror to boot. This is one of my HG blushes. I just love love the hue. I own all the colors, but this is definitely my favorite. It leaves a dewy sheen on your cheeks which is lovely. The only problem is that it doesn't last on my cheeks, which is why I tend to use it as a back-up blush and more as a lip gloss. But it is great. Love it. Oh and I think it used to cost around $48 a compact which is really steep. But I saw it recently for about $24.

BECCA CREME BLUSH IN AMARYLLIS

Becca Creme Blush in Amaryllis

I was really really excited to get this blush. The other colors I was interested in were sold out. But this is a really pretty pink that looks really natural on my olive skin tone. Again, this is an expensive cream blush coming in at around 30-something dollars. So I figured it would be awesome. And again, I do love it and I do wear it and it tends to work best when I apply it with a brush rather than my fingers which gets it to melt too much maybe. But it doesn't stay on my cheeks all day like some of the other blushers I love. This is the reason I have always loved stains. They last all day. You never have to worry and thus they look really natural because they are on your face all the live-long day! But maybe the cheek staying power thing is my own issue and this might work better on others. Everyone raves about Becca and I do love their products. The packaging I don't really get as it looks really military to me. But we'll see. 

SONIA KASHUK SUPER SHEER LIQUID TINT IN PEONY...THIS IS A TERRIBLE IMAGE AS IT DOESN'T REALLY SHOW HOW GORGEOUS THE COLOR IS.

YOU CAN SEE THE COLOR A LITTLE BETTER HERE.

Sonia Kashuk Super Sheer Liquid Tint in Peony

I really love love this product but I haven't used it enough to know how to use it properly yet. When I see images of other girls who have used this, I LOVE it. But I don't know how much to put on or really how long it stays. Sometimes it stays on for a long time. And other times I can't see it after an hour. But the shade Peony is perfect. And it's usually sold out.  It's not too expensive, coming in at under $10 at Tar-get. So maybe you might want to try this one. Again, I use a brush with this. It tends to go on better that way. 

Okay...here's part two of this Blush Review. x♡

more saturday shopping ♥ dolls and roses

images from target.com and a lot of other sites i'll list on the makeup monday post. except for the group blush shot which is my own.

MAKEUP MONDAY ♥ GALLIANO SPRING 2012

a bunch of models outside the galliano spring 2012 show. don't they look fresh?

THOUGH it wasn't totally John, I really liked the Galliano Spring Summer 2012 collection, and I'll post some shots of the looks I fancied. But I also loved the fishtail braids and the makeup. I love love love this smokey rust/gold/bronze eye and matted lip. It's really something I love, and maybe it's because it looks so effortless during the day and can be jazzed up for evening simply by adding some black kohl liner to the waterline and some black mascara. I think with the hair and the makeup, the John Galliano show look was really a modern one, and I'll definitely be working it. The other good thing is, you can simply use your bronzers and/or blushes to achieve the entire look...and then a matted lipstick. But a couple of my budget brand favorites are Rimmel's Glam-eyes in Spicy Bronze and ELF's eye shadow in Saddle, Wild Wheat or Pebble if you're not looking for a full bronze effect. My all-time (for now) upscale brands for this is Becca. They have LOADS of colors that work with this look. Just browse their site and see for yourself.♡

more makeup monday ♥ becca review part 1

images from style.com