September & October Favorites 2012 aka FrankenFaves

While I never got around to posting my September favorites I decided to just wait until now. I have been using the same products for the past two months. So it seems fitting to just combine all these items into a frankenfaves. So lets get this party started. Lol.

I will not be listing all the specs on the products as this will be just a quick list of my faves for these 2 months so please bare with me. If you do have any questions on anything here please feel free to ask.

• Urban Decay Naked Foundation in 3.5
• Sigma Flat Top Kabuki F80
• EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer Brush with my face setting powder
• Physicians Formula CoverTox Ten 50 in Translucent Medium
• Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Roller in Light/Medium
• Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller at night
• Maybelline One by One Volume Express Waterproof mascara in Black
• Benefit Stay Don't Stray Stay put Primer for the eyes
• Dermalogica Total Eye Care with SPF 15
• Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine
• NYC Bronzer in Sunny
• Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural

P.S. I had this done in late October I just forgot to publish it sorry. Also sorry for the terrible picture above I took this in my bathroom and my lighting wasn't quite right.

May Favorites 2012

I've just gotten around to this so sorry for the tardiness of this post. I finally had time to decide on my May favorites.

Estee Lauder's Invisible Fluid Makeup. This is their newest formula for foundation. I really love this stuff. It goes on lightweight and sheer but, is build able. I don't have too much to cover except some sight redness on my cheeks and chin. I won't go into too much here since I will be doing a full review soon. The color I use is 2CN1. Which I will say the color is dead on. I didn't think there would ever be a foundation that would be the exact color of my skin tone. Retails for $35

The next item is from Estee Lauder as well. It is their signature silky eyeshadow duo in Cappuccino N 02. I really like how this applies and it goes on so creamy and you only need a little. The colors are highly pigmented. I picked this up on Ebay. I'm not sure if it's in there permanent line. This has been my go to shadow all month. It's so quick and easy and goes with almost every look. So I highly recommend their shadows. Their duos run about $30 anywhere that sells Estee Lauder.

An eye cream I finally finished was my sample of Clinique's All about Eyes. I used this for several months now and I really liked it. It is a cool and refreshing gel formula for the under eye area. I liked the slight scent it had. It wasn't bothersome at all. The only complaint is that sometimes it migrated near my eyes and made me tear. This was only when wearing it at night. This formula absorbed quickly so it made easier when applying my concealer. I really did like this but, I didn't see too much improvement in my under eyes as in the fine lines diminishing. It did reduce my puffiness and as for eye circles it didn't do much. Overall it is a nice eye cream 0.5oz is $29.

In my Birchbox I received the Yes to Blueberries facial wipes to try. I really liked them they have a fresh and clean scent of blueberries and had some moisturizing properties to them as well. Now that's great as an added bonus to someone suffering with dry skin. As for me I have oily skin and I had to rinse my face off a little to get the film off. Now don't get me wrong they weren't bad at all. I just don't like that kind of feeling to my face. They did take all my makeup really well and on my eyes as well. Now when it came to mascara it did take some slight wiping but, it did come off. I didn't get any bad reactions to this nor did it irritate the skin. I will repurchase this in the future. I still have many wipes to use and try. A 8 pack is $2.99 at Ulta & a 30 pack is $6.99 at Target.

The last item to make my favorites is the real techniques expert face brush. This brush has replaced my Sigma Sigmax F80 flat top kabuki ($16). Which I thought couldn't be replaced ever. Well this brush is great a applying my liquid foundation like a glove. Sorry for the Ace Ventura reference. I couldn't resist. Anyway this brush really buffs out the foundation to an airbrush finish. It is lightweight and not as dense as the Sigma. But, still dense enough to make the face look great. I was also impressed with the price. It is $8.99 at Ulta or Ulta.com. Samantha Chapman from Pixiwoo has really done well with this brush line. It's super affordable and the quality is great. I have really come to love her brushes. I highly recommend them. These are all my favorites for the month of May. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24h Review

This is a review on the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24h foundation in 210 Buff N and 220 Buff C. Well what can I tell you about this foundation? It is great, fantastic, and marvelous. I personally have never tried any of  Lancome's foundations. Why did I try it now you ask? Well earlier this month HSN was having a premiere launch of its newest formulation of the Teint Idole Ultra 24h. Something about 8 years in the making for this exclusive patent pending formula. HSN was the first to get their hands on it for customers to try before it launched nationwide. So I decided to try it . I really wanted to see if it was all that it claims. Well at least for me it was.

Over the last few years I've tried lots drugstore and department store foundations and I have loved some and left some. I will go further in depth in a later blog on my fave and not so fave foundations. Like I said, this foundation is amazing on my skin. And that says a lot. It controls my oily skin well. The only issue was that there were only 5 shades to choose from. So I chose the one for light skin which came in a neutral shade. My skin is more cool toned than warm. So when I received it the color was a little ashy.

This foundation is medium to full coverage but, still lightweight and covers well without looking cakey or mask-like. It makes the skin feel like it has nothing on at all. Now that's hard for a lot of foundations out there now to do. Even the ones that claim they are weightless. I was skeptical at first. When I first applied it I saw a major difference in the way my skin looked and felt. This does cover well. I have redness on my cheeks, nose and chin area. This also does not settle in my fine lines or pores. It actually makes my pores look a lot smaller without accentuating them. I have no problems with the coverage and I only used one pump for my whole face. It blends really well and is build able. You can apply it using clean fingers for a lighter look or blend it using a foundation brush of your choice. I tend to use my fingers when in a hurry. Otherwise I either use my Sigma F80 flat top kabuki brush or a damp beauty blender to apply this. It has a velvety matte finish with no powdery effect. I personally do not use a finishing powder with this foundation as I feel it makes my face look cakey. This foundation is oil-free, fragrance-free and transfer-free.

This is a swatch of the 210 Buff N color. When I got this it looks like a great match on my face but, in reality it wasn't it was too ashy.

Here it is spread out a little better. This was just half a pump of foundation an a whole pump will cover all your face. So this will last a long time.

Here is a swatch of the color 220 Buff C. This color was matched to me at Nordstrom by a Lancome Makeup artist. It is a closer color to me since it has more of a pink undertone.

Here it is spread out to where you can see the texture and color. This color blended a lot better than the other color on my skin and looked a lot more natural. The other color made my skin look paler than I was.

This last set of pictures here is from when I went to Macy's. I was still not sure after using the other color 220 Buff C for two weeks. It started to look like it was too dark on some days. I still love the texture, coverage and feel of this foundation. It is just the color that has me second guessing it. I'm considered a Fair/Light skin tone with pink undertones.  In Mac I'm a NW 20. There are some foundations that I'm fair in color and other I'm light in color. So this picture above is of Ivorie 110 C which I got a sample of over the weekend to try. I was color matched at Macy's as being their lightest shade. It is hard to tell in this picture since my hand is darker than my face. It seemed to blend in well to my skin when applied.

This is the color spread out. I'm sorry I didn't put a lot of product on this hand so It kinda dried fast. This is the color that was matched to me. So I'm still debating on what color I truly am. I do know for sure that I'm not a 210 Buff N. So the perfect color search continues.

Here are swatches of all the colors on my inner arm which is almost the color of my face. So as you can see when they are all together. They do seem a little off in color. Making the Ivorie 110 C color my perfect match. So I will continue to use the Ivorie 110 C for the remainder of the week to make my final decision on color. I hope that this was helpful. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.

If you want even more information on this foundation I suggest checking out www.lancome-usa.com website or www.sephora.com or www.nordstrom.com .

My March Favorites 2012

Well another month has come and gone. I have several products that have stood out above all the rest. These products are not in any particular order. These are the items that I used the most in the month of March. I feel that they deserve a pat on the back.

The first product that I liked alot and is a stand out. Is so inexpensive. This item is the Sephora precision pore cleansing pad. This handy little product is gentle on the face. It is really a great value for only $5. This little pink wonder cleans your face like nothing else. It also will leave it soft and smooth. Which is No. 1 in my book. I usually use my face sponge or Clarisonic to cleanse my face daily. But there are some days I just want to give my face a break. I now use my Clarisonic 3 times a week instead of everyday. I read somewhere that using it too much may cause premature wrinkling. If this is true who knows but, I don't want to be the first one to find out. Here is a little information on this wonder gizmo. It is a flexible silicone pad that gently massages the face and helps deliver a deep clean, radiant result. This pad has tiny bristles to invigorate the skin and clean pores, helping to exfoliate and soften the skin. This is available at www.sephora.com and at most Sephora stores.

The next product is the Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24h SPF 15 foundation. This retails for $44 and can be found at just about any Department store that carries Lancome or at Sephora. This is my new miracle foundation. I really love how it applies and makes my skin look. It doesn't settle in my fine lines and doesn't transfer. It provides medium to full coverage with no more than one pump. It also has a velvety matte finish.  If you want to know more on this foundation I will be posting a review on it very soon. The color shown is in 210 Buff N.

My favorite tool is the Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki brush. This has been my go to brush for the last 8 months. I truly adore it. I even loved it so much that I purchased several as backups. This brush is so soft and dense that it really blends your foundation to an almost airbrush finish. Without streaking or removing the foundation as you blend. If you really want a good foundation brush for a great price then this is the one to get. It retails for $16 on Sigma's website www.sigmabeauty.com or you can get one on Ebay but, it may cost a little more. I feel that this is a great investment and with weekly cleaning and care this brush will last you for years to come. I will be doing an in depth review on my favorite brushes soon.

My favorite eye product is the Physician's Formula Nude Palette. This was a palette that was an impulse buy. I have a weakness for nude lipsticks, glosses and eye palettes. Why? Well I'm not sure maybe because they tend to look better on me than other colors do. Well this palette was purchased at Wal-mart for less than $10 dollars. I know that Ulta, Walgreen's and CVS carry it as well. I was watching a you-tube video by emilynoel83 and she was reviewing it. So I decided to buy it that same day. It is a winner it has great colors that blend well. I love the fact that it's so small and portable to carry everyday or to use while traveling. If you like nude eye shades or just like small cute palettes then check this one out.

Lastly the lip product that I adore lately. Is the EOS round lip balm in Sweet Mint. I really love this formula it glides on smoothly and lasts a long time. It feels cooling and hydrating at the same time on the lips. It comes in a cute round container. I got this one at Target for about $3. I also got two others a Lemon flavor and a Summer Fruit flavor. Well lets just say I like the sweet mint better. The other two weren't the same at least in my opinion. The lemon was too drying on the lips and the summer berry well the smell was awful. I couldn't stand it. As for the mint flavored one my cats seem to like it very well. To use as toy and also the smell and taste drives them wild. So when I wear it I have to be careful because they tend to stalk me. No really they do.

So these are my March favorites. If you have any questions or comments or want me to review any of these in depth then please email me or leave me a comment down below.