IM BACK!- Current Holy Grail Products

Hello dolls, it has been way too long since I’ve been on here!
Long story short, I had a 4 month internship which required me to blog for the company, so I didn’t have much time for my own.  Now that my internship is over, I do have some down time & have decided to start back up on my page 🙂  I actually really have missed this blogging community & am happy to be back!

Okay, let’s just jump right into my current holy grail products.

This Maybelline Brow Drama gel is probably the best brow product I use.  I am obsessed with it & have two other back ups as well.  I’ll use the tinted one when I’m in a rush & don’t have much time to fill them in.  The clear gel I’ll use after filling in my brows with pencil/powder.  My favorite part about these brow gels would be their brush applicator.  It’s a little round brush, which is very user friendly.  You could find them at your local drugstore or even Ulta & it ranges from $6-$8 I believe.

Smith’s Lip Balms is something I have been using for the last decade!  I started with the original one which comes in a blue tin, but realized this minted rose one is definitely my favorite.  I use it right before my makeup application so my lips are smooth before I apply a lipstick & once again before bedtime so I wake up with soft lips.  I’ve had this tub for over 6 months now & you can see that it looks barely used, which is awesome!  I got mine from Sephora for $7.

I picked up this Mario Badescu Facial Spray while I was waiting in line at Ulta.  I usually try not to give into those two areas filled with stuff you don’t really need, but end up picking something because you’re bored in line & why not…Ugh, but yea, so this facial spray was just calling my name for some reason.  Let me tell you…. I am literally addicted to this thing!  I spray some on before & after my makeup application and also randomly throughout the day if I have it on me.  It’s made with Aloe, Herb and Rosewater & literally says “to use anywhere anytime”.  It feels so refreshing on the face & has a subtle rose scent.  I honestly can’t go a day without spraying this on my face.  I even ended up buying one for my mom & aunt!  You can find this at Ulta for $7.

This ELF High Definition Undereye Setting Powder is all I use for my undereye after concealer.  It’s the only thing I have found that prevents creasing & looking cakey.  I need to pick up another one ASAP!  The best part is that it’s only $3 😀

My holy grail lipstick… the Milani Color Statement Lipstick in Pretty Natural.  It’s the perfect pinky nude shade for my skin tone. It has an amazing watermelon smell to it & applies to the lips like a dream.  It’s creamy & gives the “your lips but better” look.  It can also be paired with so many different shades of lip liners to give the lipstick a whole other look to it.  For simple days, I like to wear it on it’s own, other days, I’ll pair it with a dark lip liner.  The best part is that it’s easy to keep reapplying when needed, which is barely, but still.  Milani has been on a roll with their lip products!

That’t it for my current holy grails.  Have you tried any of these products?  What’s your holy grails?  Let me know!

Thick Hair Don’t Care

Hey guys!  I’m back with a new post, finally. I just started a new job this week so I don’t get as much time for blogging unfortunately 😦 but as soon as I find a little extra time, I’ll definitely be using it to blog.  

So today I’m here to share with you a little story about my hair. Growing up, I had beautiful, thick, silky, straight hair until I was introduced to a hair straightener.  Ever since I started adding heat & product to my hair, it started to get more wavy, brittle, and rough. I also started losing A LOT of hair as well and it scared me (I still shed like crazy tho). 

Long hair is my thing, I hate having short hair. The longest I’ve had it was about 5 years ago, and then a friend of mine convinced me to chop it off and I was so miserable, though it did help get rid of all the damage!  Right now I’m back to the long hair (thank god) and my bangs are finally growing out as well, which was the hardest to let grow. 

I did my research on how to get volume back into hair, thickening remedies, and all that good stuff. The main thing I ended up changing, and the most important, is the shampoo and conditioner I use. I never realized how important it is to use sulfate free products on your hair. 

This has been the shampoo and conditioner I’ve been using:



I wanted something that was reasonably priced and just as effective. Loreal has a sulfate free line with great reviews so I decided to pick up the thickening shampoo.  

Now I’m weird in the sense that I don’t like using a matching shampoo and conditioner. Don’t ask me why, because I honestly don’t even know. 

Anyways, so instead of getting the Loreal sulfate free thickening conditioner, I decided to try the OGX Thick and Full Biotin & Collagen conditioner.  I was basically drawn to all the fancy words on the bottle. 

Using both these products together, the thickness in my hair has definitely improved. With my hair being super long, it is hard to keep volume in my hair without it just weighing down.  The shampoo and conditioner in combination are a savior. I love them both and have back ups of each. Bonus: they both smell amazing. Along with the products, I do take 5000mg of biotin pills daily. 

Note: I only wash my hair every 2 days or even less frequently than that if I can. 

Let me know if any of you have been trying to get that thickness back into your hair and what products you’ve been using ! 

This or That Tag!

Another snow day here in the northeast, so what better day to do my first tag post?!  I got this tag from Dorkchops :]

M A K E U P

Blush or bronzer?
Blush, I already have a natural bronze going on

Lip gloss or lip stick?
Lipstick for sure

Eyeliner or mascara?
Mascara, I love long lashes!

Foundation or concealer?
Foundation!

Neutral or colour eye shadow?
I’m not much of an eyeshadow girl so I’d go with neutral

Pressed or loose eye shadows?
pressed.

Brushes or sponges?
Brushes, I still end up using my brushes more even though I just got the beauty blender

N A I L S

OPI or China Glaze?
OPI only because I don’t own any China Glaze

Long or short?
if it’s my natural nails, short, if acrylic then long!

Acrylic or natural?
I’m back to my acrylics!

Brights or darks?
darks for winter, brights for summer!

B O D Y

Perfume or body splash?
Perfume

Lotion or body butter?
Lotion

Body wash or soap?
body wash

Lush or other bath company?
I don’t use anything from Lush, so other i guess

F A S H I O N

Jeans or sweat pants?
I don’t even remember the last time I wore jeans 😡

Long sleeve or short?
long sleeve

Dresses or skirts?
Dresses

Stripes or plaid?
is neither an option?

Flip-flops or sandals?
Sandals

Scarves or hats?
Scarves, I can’t be ruining my hair!

Studs or dangly earrings?
dangly

Necklaces or bracelets?
I love statement necklaces, but I only wear them on occasion.  I never take off my Tiffany’s bracelet, so I guess bracelet

Heels or flats?
If I didnt complain about wearing them, heels, but realistically flats

Jacket or hoodie?
Jacket

H A I R

Curly or straight?
curly all the way, I don’t like straight hair

Bun or ponytail?
messy or sock buns!

Bobby pins or butterfly clips?
Bobby pins

Hair spray or gel?
i’m a hair spray addict

Long or short?
LONGGG #LongHairDontCare #TeamLongHair

Light or dark?
Light in summer, SUPER DARK in winter

Side sweep bangs or full bangs?
neither, but I guess side

Up or down?
down

R A N D O M

Rain or shine?
Shine please

Summer or winter?
summer, I’m over all this snow

Autumn or spring?
Autumn

Chocolate or vanilla?
chocolate

East coast or west coast?
East Coast represent

Vogue or InStyle?
Vogue

Kim, Kourtney, or Khloe?
Khloe duh

Coffee or tea?
Tea

I guess I tag everyone reading this lol 🙂

February 2015 Favorites

Being the last day of February, I am here to share my favorites from this short & sweet month!

I have decided that my favorites posts from now on will include both beauty & music.

Let’s start off with my beauty favorites:

I have 3 drugstore products and 1 high end.

This product has easily become holy grail and I have myself wondering why it’s taken me so long to discover!  Cocoa Butter Petroleum Jelly is such a universal product and everyone needs a tub of this sitting on their desk/vanity/dresser/nightstand.  I got a generic brand rather than the Vaseline because 1. it was a a bit cheaper and 2. because there really isn’t a difference.  I use this literally EVERYWHERE, especially since this winter is making my skin go crazy.  It smells good too!  I got mine from my local drugstore for $3.99.

After watching so many of Kaushal’s YouTube videos (click for videos here, blog here), I noticed that she uses a nude color eyeliner on her bottom waterline, rather than a white one to make her eyes appear bigger.  So when I went to my drugstore and saw the same Rimmel Scandal’Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in nude that Kaush uses, I immediately picked it up.  I love this eyeliner so much.  It’s super pigmented and glides on so smooth!  The nude makes the larger eye effect look more natural than a white liner.  I got this for only $2 since there was a sale at my CVS!

Alright, I’m so mad that I didn’t pick up more of these when I first found them, because now they are impossible to find!  The new NYX Intense Butter Gloss has everyone going crazy.  Every time I go to my local Ulta, the NYX section is such a mess, especially by the lip products!  First I had a problem with getting my hands on the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams, and now these butter glosses!  I do have 3 of them though; Sorbet, Apple Crisp, & Black Cherry Tart.  They are highly pigmented and go on smoothly.  They have the same cakey smell as the soft matte lip creams, which I love.  They are about $6, and Ulta usually has the buy 1 get 1 50% off sale on NYX products.  You could also find them on the NYX website I believe.  I’m hoping to get my hands on more this week!

Last, but not least, we have my high end product.  I have been on a search for a powder foundation and the one that kept popping up while doing research was from it Cosmetics.  This is called the Celebration Foundation.  I don’t want to get too in depth because I will be doing a full review on this!  This foundation was about $35 and could be found at Ulta or it Cosmetics website.

That’s it for my beauty favorites!  Now let’s move onto music.

This month I was introduced to Ibeyi.  They are a French-Cuban musical duo consisting of twin sisters.  They sing mostly in English and incorporate some Yoruba, a Nigerian language that traveled to Cuba via slavery into their music.  These two young girls are not only talented, but they are so beautiful.  Their recent self-titled album, Ibeyi, just released and you can listen to my favorite song, River, from the album here.  Take a listen and let me hear your thoughts!

That’s it for this month guys and happy March!

Leave any of your favorites from February in the comments!

2015 Oscars

This year’s Academy Awards were pretty mundane to me along with the fashion.  I only have one pick for best dressed and worst dressed.

Best Dressed:

Jennifer Aniston in Versace.  I’m such a huge fan of this beautiful woman and she always looks so timeless!  This neutral Versace gown is absolutely gorgeous on her, it has just the right amount of sparkle to it, as well as the perfect amount of leg show.

Worst Dressed:

Lady Gaga in custom Alaia.  This could’ve easily been a great dress on her if it wasn’t for those red gloves.  Looks like she’s getting ready to wash some dishes.  Oh Gaga..

SPECIAL SHOUTOUT!

Congratulations to my favorite hip hop artist, Common, and John Legend on their Oscar win for Best Original Song, Glory!  Such a proud moment for the hip hop community and I could not be any more happy!

Both also looked very handsome last night! 🙂

Let’s hear some of your thoughts from last night’s awards!

Skin Care Advice. HELP!

I’ve always been the one who had a problem with oily skin, but this winter my skin decided to take a turn on me.

My face has become a lot more dry & flakey and it’s becoming very frustrating! Especially in my under eye area. It’s so noticeable when I try to put concealer on. The area becomes cakey & patchy which is clearly not a good look.

I’ve been going through different cleansers
and moisturizers but nothing seems to be working 😦 So if any of you have tips/suggestions/advice please let me know! I greatly appreciate it, thanks! 🙂

2015 Grammys

Let’s talk fashion!

So last night was the 2015 Grammy Awards.  I absolutely love award season, primarily for the fashion.  Unfortunately, at last night’s Grammys I felt as if there was no “wow” factor with many of the dresses.  Nonetheless,  I have my 3 best & worst dressed of the night.

Best Dressed: Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj.

First, we have Beyonce in Proenza Schouler.  I am a fellow Behive member so of course I had to put Queen Bey on the list.  I just love the simplicity of her dress.  The deep V-neck with long sleeves just makes her look timeless.  And also, she’s rocking the #LongHairDontCare.

Next, I picked Kim Kardashian.  This one was tough because it’s either a hit or miss for a lot of people, and for me it was a straight hit.  If anyone was rocking a gold sequenced robe on the red carpet, it’d be Kim.  I don’t know anyone else who could pull this off.  Like come on, it’s Kim Kardashian…Anyway’s she’s in John Paul Gaultier straight off the runway.

Lastly, I went with Nicki Minaj because hello, she looks FLAWLESS.  Everyone is always so used to Nicki wearing something crazy with pink hair, but she’s changed her look and I absolutely love it.  She’s rocking the Tom Ford.  The sleeked back hair and neutral face is a good look for her.

Alright let’s move onto the fun part!

Worst Dressed: Rihanna, Madonna, Joy Villa.

Rihanna, I don’t even know what to say.  Giambattista Valli Haute Couture, what’s happening here?  Is she having a Quinceañera?  The first thing that came into my mind when i saw this was bubble gum.  That’s it.

Oh Madonna, I was so looking forward for your red carpet appearance.  This was such a disappointment.  I understand you’re Madonna, but still I really wasn’t feeling this Givenchy Haute Couture.

Lastly, I didn’t even know who this person was, I had to look her up.  It’s Joy Villa in snow fence.  Okay, honestly who let this happen and why?  Can we sue?!  Smh.

Bonus!

Best Dressed Couple: Chrissy Tiegen & John Legend 

I’m not a Chrissy Tiegen fan, but they slayed the red carpets together last night.  Chrissy in Emilio Pucci & John in Dolce and Gabbana.

Worst Dressed Couple: Pharrell & his girl

They’re wearing Adidas and It’s just an overall red carpet no no.

What were some of your picks of the night?

Haul!

I collected a few new beauty products throughout the week so I thought I’d share my buys with you in this post.

-On a side note, I seriously need to stop buying so many things!

From left to right:

1. NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Black Cherry:  I got this from Ulta Beauty for $6.  I’m not a big fan of glossy lips but after trying to find NYX’s Soft Matte Lip Cream in Transylvania for so long, I just decided to give the new intense butter gloss a try since it’s that super dark vampy color I wanted.  It’s super pigmented and I love the formula.

2. Beauty Blender + cleanser:  But seriously though, what have I been doing without a beauty blender for so long? Love. Love. Love.  Nothing more to say.

3. Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray:  I bought this at Sephora for $15.  I got the smaller size because I never actually used a setting spray before so I just want to test it out to see if it works for me.  I used it for the first time last night and I was a bad girl yesterday and came home and fell asleep with my makeup on 😦 which hasn’t happened in so long.  Ugh, but anyways, I woke up literally, as Beyonce would say, #Flawless.  Nothing budged from my face!

4. Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lip Color in Lust For Blush:  I’ve had my eye on this for a while and I had a coupon from CVS for $3 off a Maybelline lipstick, so I obviously had to get it.  I love Maybelline’s matte lipsticks, this is my second one.

5. NYX Matte Lipstick in Temptress:  I picked this up along with the intense butter gloss because it was buy 1 get 1 50% off for NYX at Ulta.  I think the color I got is off.  I thought it’d look one way and it ended up looking totally different.  The formula and pigmentation is great, but I’m just not a fan of the color I got.

6. Coloured Raine Matte Lip Paint in Soul:  I came across Coloured Raine on instagram and immediately fell in love with this color.  We all know I’m a huge fan of liquid lipsticks so I just had to buy this.  They are an online company and they have so many beautiful lip colors!  If you’re interested you can check them out here.  I haven’t tried it on yet, but when I do so I may review it fully.

7. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Ebony:  Again, another one that I don’t know what I’ve been doing without!  Every girl needs this in their essentials.

Johnny Rain

When I discover great music, there’s nothing I’d rather do than share it with the world and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was introduced to Johnny Rain.  I’ve been raving about him to literally everyone and anyone.

Johnny Rain is a R&B/Soul singer/songwriter/producer from San Diego, California.  He has such raw, underrated talent and it kills me knowing he’s not out there blowing away the rest of the world.

I started off with his most recent album, 11, and it’s a masterpiece to say the least.  The album has been on repeat for weeks now.  I get lost in his voice and I don’t want to be found, his music takes me to cloud 9.  I honestly don’t want to compare him to anyone else because no one else is worthy enough, but if I had to, I’d say he’s a mix between The Weeknd and Drake.  But seriously though, that comparison does Johnny no justice.

I want everyone reading this to go on YouTube and just check him out first, Johnny Rain 11.  Also check out his other two albums, L.O.M and Villain.  Then go onto iTunes and support Johnny.  I promise you won’t regret it.

It truly saddens me knowing an artist with incredible talent is being kept away from the world and doesn’t get the credit they deserve and we’re here stuck listening to whatever it is on the radio.

Johnny Rain, if you’re reading this, please keep doing what you’re doing.  There are souls out there you truly touch, including mine and know that you’re time will come, sooner than you think.

Thank you for your music.

January 2015 Beauty Favorites

We made it through the first month of 2015, wow.  Seriously though, time flies way too fast!  So, I decided to start doing monthly favorites, here’s my first one:

I have 5 favorite products for the month of January, drugstore and high end.

This first product I want to mention is the Dr. Brandt Pores No More, Pore Refiner Primer.  I have always struggled with my large pores so I took a trip to my local Ulta to get my hands on the Benefit Porefessional, however, I happened to stumble upon this product instead.  I decided to give the sample size, which is 15ml for $15, a try.  I actually love it.  It is very similar to the Porefessional, but I see myself reaching for the Pores No More more than the Porefessional.  The actual size, which is 1oz, retails for $45.  It may seem like it’s more expensive than the Porefessional, but you actually get more product.  I highly recommend this for anyone with oily skin with troublesome pores.  I got my sample size from Ulta and it can also be found in your local Sephora.

This next product is the NYX HD Studio Photogenic Finishing Powder.  This is a total dupe for the MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Microfinish Powder.  Both are made of 100% mineral silica.  The NYX one is only around $9.99, while MUFE is over $30.  It is perfect to set under concealer, as well as the whole face.  The only thing I don’t like about it is that it’s way too refined so white powder is blowing everywhere.  You have to be really careful with it, otherwise it’s a great product.  I got mine from CVS, it can also be found at Ulta or the NYX website.

The L’Oreal Infallible Gel Lacquer Liner 24 Hour, is a holy grail for me.  It’s the perfect gel liner, great quality for a great price.  It’s creamy, glides on perfectly, comes with a great brush applicator, super pigmented, and lasts a long time!  I got mine from CVS for $9.99.

Another L’Oreal product I’m loving this month is the L’Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black Mascara.  There’s nothing I love more than long, voluminous eyelashes and this gives me exactly that.  It claims to just be a lengthening mascara, but I feel like it gives me volume as well.  I have been using Benefit’s They’re Real for a while now and the Telescopic may just beat it.  I got mine at CVS for $9.99.

Last, but not least, is my favorite lip product.  Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita.  This is the perfect mauve/nude color on me.  It lasts a long time and has great pigmentation.  Make sure your lips are exfoliated and moisturized prior to applying.  I got mine from Sephora for $20.   

Have you tried any of these products?  What are some of your favorites from this month?  Let me know:)