Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter. Swatches!

I went to Walgreens a few weeks ago to get one of Revlon's Color Burst Lip Butters, but ended up getting three! There were so many colors to choose from, I couldn't just settle with one.

Anyway, I've been using them for a couple of weeks and just love love love them. They provide the pigmentation of a lipstick, and the moisture of a lip balm.

070 Cherry Tart, 050 Berry Smoothie, 040 Red Velvet

This one got a little bit out of order. 050 Berry Smoothie, 070 Cherry Tart, 040 Red Velvet

From top to bottom: 040 Red Velvet, 070 Cherry Tart, 050 Berry Smoothie

From left to right: 040 Red Velvet, 070 Cherry Tart, 050 Berry Smoothie

I find myself using Cherry Tart the most for the nice pop of color in an everyday look. The color is buildable so you can make it lighter or darker depending on how many layers you apply. Berry smoothie is more pink and light, so I use it when I want to be low-key. Red velvet is a bit dramatic-I only use that when I want dark red lips. 

Overall, this is a great buy. At under $10 USD per lipstick, the quality is awesome.

Essie Nail Laquer: Turquoise & Caicos

Spring is here! Well, at least the weather in San Francisco is starting to reflect spring a bit more. Lately, I've been interested in more spring-like nail colors.

This one is Essie's Turquoise & Caicos. I've mostly been using OPI and wanted to try Essie. I got it at Target, though I was surprised to find that they carry it at Walgreen's. Yay!

I tried out a bow nail design for this nice turquoise color. The lines could've been a lot thinner but eh. I used Kiss Nail Artist Nail Lacquers. They come in skinny brushes so you get more control.

Sephora V.I.B Sale Event, Givenchy Photo Perfexion

Hello Hello!

I spent way too much money today at Sephora's V.I.B Sale Event. I was looking for a foundation and a lovely makeup artist named Drew helped me pick out the perfect shade!

Here's Givenchy Photo'Perfexion in 5 Perfect Praline. At first glance it looked really really light! But I'm really glad I received some expert advice. In most cases, you want to match your foundation to the color of your neck for the obvious reason of it blending in and looking natural.

Here's me really tired and ready to go to bed, but my foundation still looks decent. Of course you can't really tell the fine detail with my crappy macbook camera, but trust me it still looks like I have nothing on.

This one was taken right in front of a light.

This one was taken with the light source behind me.

What I'm wearing:
Givenchy 5 Mr. Light - Concealer
Givenchy Blush 23 Aficionado Peach
Givenchy Photo Perfexion, 5 Perfect Praline - Foundation
Givenchy Le Prisme Face Powder
Sephora Ultra Vinyl Lip Pencil 07 Gorgeous Peach
Smashbox Photofinish Hydrating Primer

Changing Concealers: From Almay's Clear Complexion Concealer to Make Up For Ever Full Cover Waterproof Concealer

So in the past 1.5 years or so, I've been relying on Almay's Clear Complexion Concealer (in Medium) to cover annoying blemishes on my face from little pimples to old scars. I usually don't need that much coverage, but I wanted something that would last the whole day as I dislike reapplying makeup. I found that Almay's Concealer did an awesome job, I even went through about 4 of them in those past 1.5 years.

HOWEVER, I've noticed that my face type evolved from combination/oily to more... dry. Especially when I migrated from nice and sunny Southern California, to cold and windy Northern California. I had to find a better concealer that wouldn't leave my face looking dry after a couple hours. Almay's Clear Complexion Concealer was still great, but the 1% salicylic acid was unnecessary for me now.

Almay Clear Complexion Concealer - About $8 at drugstores (I bought mine at Walgreens)

After reading many reviews of many different concealers on Makeupalley.com, I decided to give the Make Up For Ever Full Cover Waterproof Concealer a try. It's been about a week and it's been awesome! I admit I was a little bit confused on which shade to select (I ended up getting Beige in 8).

Initially I looked at all the shades online and thought I would be Golden Beige as my skin is has more yellow tones than pink. I went to Sephora and after testing Sand 7, Beige 8, and Golden Beige 10, it seemed 8 was the best. It's comparable in color to Almay's Concealer in Medium. 

Make Up For Ever Full Cover Waterproof Concealer - $30 at Sephora

Even though Make Up For Ever's was more than 3 times the price of Almay's, I think it's definitely worth it. You only need a teeny tiny amount for Make Up For Ever's Concealer. The packaging is also more sanitary than the sponge wand from Almay's Concealer. I'll post some swatches in a later post, I'm in the process of getting a new camera so more swatchy pics and hopefully posts to come!

My Nightly Regime

Hi Beau-teas! It's been a long time since I've blogged. I've been debating a lot whether to start up blogging again. Most of the dilemma has been whether I would be consistent in blogging. Once I start blogging, I want to keep updating regularly.

There have been many many new products I've been trying since my last post. And I'm very excited to share them with you all! In future posts, I'm hoping to share some of the products I've tried that work super well, and also those that have been duds.

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I wanted to share my nightly routine. My skin used to be more acne prone and oily, but now it's evolved to a more dry state. I don't really get acne anymore, but I do have a little bit of spots and scars I cover with a concealer.

Here are the products I've been using every night (for the past 3 months or so):

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum

This stuff is awesome. It's a light liquidy gel that absorbs quickly in the skin that you put on before your moisturizer. It repairs your skin from the daily wear and tear (that you probably can't see) while you're sleeping. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure that this really does anything. HOWEVER, it doesn't do any harm to my sensitive skin so I'm sure it's doing something right :).


Estee Lauder Day Wear

I know I know.. you might be wondering, 'Isn't Estee Lauder for old ladies with wrinkles?' This was my first impression of the brand. But they've started a line for ladies who want to PREVENT wrinkles. Plus, you don't want to wait until you get wrinkles and lines before taking action! This moisturizer is so nice and full of 'body'. It absorbs quickly and leaves my skin soft and moisturized. AND it has SPF 15. It's a pricey moisturizer at $43 for 1.7 ounces, but definitely worth it. I will be buying it again for sure.


Kirkland signature's Age-Defying Protective Eye Cream

Ok, I got this at Costco for my mom and she didn't really want the eye cream. So I started using it even though I don't have undereye circles yet. It has a nice texture and I lightly pat it on my undereyes and potential crows feet area. Can't tell you if it's working yet, I'll let you know in 5-10 years ;)

Long time no blog. mini reviews from random hauls.

One of a few hauls. It's been a while, just wanted to share stuff!

Got all this stuff from Walgreens, Ross, Sephora, and Bath and Body Works.

Mini Reviews:

Bio Oil - Used this a few times. I was kind of scared because it's OIL which usually means clogged pores. But it was fine! and I have combination skin. Haven't used it for a while though, but will continue to. For now, I'm letting my skin breathe, which seems to be working well.

EOS lip balm - I love this little giant ball of lip balm!! I got the honeysuckle one and still haven't lost it. (I tend to misplace lippies a lot and then find them later after buying another one.) The thing I like about this product is that it's cute and durable. Plus, it's so easy to find in my purse. I think that's the number one thing with regular chapsticks. I always have a hard time digging through trying to find them.

I also bought the Mint EOS lip balm. Same everything, though I like minty lip balms better. Overall, great product. I believe it was $5 at Walgreens.

Almay Color Complexion Concealer - I only bought this because it was a BOGO event at Walgreens. I really only used this once and didn't really like it. It's kind of drying, kind of hard to build and blend. Will try using it again someday..

Sephora Pink cleansing pad - Got this at Sephora for about $5 I think. I use it with my face wash when I'm in the shower and it makes me feel more sanitized then using my hands to scrub. So far, love it!

Bath and Body Works - Warm vanilla sugar, Wild Honey Suckle, Rain-kissed leaves, Mint Nectarine. You know, it's lotion. Listed in the order of my favorites.

ELF get the look set - Comes with brown kohl eyeliner, mascara, eyelash curler, and eyeshadow. Was about $4 or less at Ross. I really only got this for the eyelash curler because I broke a previous one. I knew the eyelash curler was awesome, especially for the affordable price. I haven't really used the eye shadow or mascara from this set. I sampled the eye shadow though, and the color is kind of light, but not very pigmented. I like the brown eyeliner though, it's nice and easy to glide on. Though it doesn't really stay on that long.

What's your favorite product right now?

Smudge-proof liner for tightlining?

It's been a long while, I keep procrastinating the post of The Body Shop products I bought like two months ago.. and I'm going to procrastinate some more.

I'm looking for a smudge-proof liner for tightlining. Lately I've been using an eyeliner from covergirl (forgot the name but it's a twisty one) and it smudges quite a bit after a while. Any suggestions? I'd prefer one that doesn't need sharpening. Drugstore + brand name ones?

Unsatisfied facial routine

Hey girls, it's been several months since I last blogged. So I'm less busy now, mostly because I'm working 9-5 and have weekends free for once!

Some life update: I've moved from Pittsburgh to Mountain View, CA for the end of my capstone project for my masters degree. It's glad to be back in California!

I just came back from shopppping, I haven't been to a mall in almost half a year! So I kinda bought whatever I felt like :/. I will blog about the stuff I bought later.. after shopping I realized I really miss blogging and sharing my experiences from the products I use, so I decided to start up again. Most of the stuff I bought were skin care things, so stay tuned!

Anyway, I was continuously breaking out when I was in Pittsburgh. At first I thought it was the whether, but in the end I realize it was a combination of poor diet, dehydration, and lack of sleep. Being so busy made me neglect myself in that way and I really should've prepared for it. I also realized that dairy makes me break out and now I'm trying to cut dairy out of my diet. I knew I was lactose intolerant but didn't know that it also affected my skin.

Anyway, coming back to California, I have more time to be aware of my body, therefore I want to take care of my skin more.

After the move back here, I had to throw a lot of products away due to lack of space.. travelling some thousands of miles wasn't really fun. When I arrived to California, I wanted to use up some of the stuff I bought but didn't really use:

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash: redness soothing

I bought this because I have red blemishes from spots that were healing and wanted to subdue it. I used it for a week and didn't really like it because it didn't really 'foam' as a cleanser. It was like a lotion consistency. I tried using it again after running out of a different cleanser, but I still don't like it enough that I had to buy a new different cleanser.

Pros

nice tingly feeling after use

Cons

doesn't really do anything for the redness

leaves a residue feeling on the face

doesn't feel like it 'cleans'

Update update!

Hi therrrre. So it's snowing a ton in Pittsburgh. AND LIFE IS SO BUSY :( :(. I barely have time to do anything for fun. It's always work work work. I've been meaning to post something beauty product related. So stay posted! (Might be a while though :P) Hope ya'll are doing well. How is life?

Happy Winter!

It's been a while since I've been here. I'm back on the west coast for winter break! I escaped right before it started snowing consistently.

Oh beach, how I've missed thee.

On a product related note, I started breaking out a lot in the east probably due to the dry weather and stress. So I bought these and they helped.

Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Scrub

It's a gentle scrub with little beads and leaves my skin feeling refreshed.

Clinique Acne Solutions: Spot Healing Gel

This thing works. The end.