February Favorites

Hi Friends!

I can't believe it's already the end of February! A lot of happened this month and I can't believe how fast it has gone. One thing that I want to start on this blog is my monthly beauty favorites. For those of you who don't know me. I am a product junkie. I can not tell you how many times I go into Ulta and Sephora and see what needs to come home with me.

Hair: One thing that I have been in love with this month is the L'Oreal Boot It High Lift Creation Spray. It retails for $4.99 at Ulta, and it claims to give your hair targeted root application with a unique fan spray for instant lift and fullness with a modern back combing effect. Strong hold boosts body on any style for voluptuous, textured look that lasts. Heat protection. What I love about it is that since I have pin-straight hair I am also curling it just to add some waves and texture- BUT whenever I do curl it, the top of the head ends up being FLAT (whomp whomp.) I usually just spray this on the top layers of my hair and it instantly looks fuller and I have that big Texas hair. It also smells amazing too. Sometimes I use this instead of my dry shampoo because it adds volume but it doesn't have that baby powder smell.

Skincare: So two skincare products that I have been OBSESSED with this month are the Boscia  Tsubaki Deep Hydration Sleeping Mask and the Mario Badesu Cleansing Milk with Carnation & Rice Oil. So I suffer from eczema and in the winter is when it's at its worst- especially this year. But these two products literally saved my skin. The sleeping mask retails for about $34 from Sephora and it is a deep-hydrating overnight sleeping mask that intensely moisturizes and protects to deliver long-term anti-aging benefits and smoother, baby-soft skin. I usually use this mask twice a week after I wash my face and and I leave it on overnight and rinse it with water in the morning. 

The cleaning milk retails for $10 at Ulta and it is a creamy, tissue-off cleanser that gently cleanses all face makeup and debris from skin's surface without leaving it dry. The carnation oil can aid in the reduction of wrinkles. This one I massage onto my dry face in circular motions and then with a warm damp towel I wipe off/rinse my face. I love this product because I really can tell a difference in my face after using this for the last month, I have very deep lines in my forehead (I guess I'm always deep in thought), but after using this my fine lines have diminished drastically. Now granted they are still there! But it's not as prominent as it use to be before I started to use this product.

NYX matte bronzer in medium

ELF studio blush in Pink Passion

Face: I have 3 products for my face that I am currently loving. My ELF Studio Blush, My Hourglass No 28 primer serum and my NYX matte Bronzer. My ELF Blush (Eyes. Lip. Face) you usually can find at Walmart, Target, or online and it retails for $3. The color that I have been using is Pink Passion. Pink passion is like a Barbie pink but when you swatch it- depending how heavy handed you apply it- it becomes a great pink sheen that gives you have doll glow and it blends nicely. The bronzer that I have using this month is my NYX matte bronzer- you can find this at Ulta, online, and I believe they just started carrying it at Target. I usually will use this shade (medium) or I also have this in the darkest shade(deep) The deep I use either when I'm tan or when I want to have a defined contour. But lately I've been loving the rose gold sheen that the medium has been leaving on my skin and it has been able to warm up my face without it being too harsh. Finally the primer that has become my official holy grail face product is the Hourglass primer. This primer is a silky, luxurious oil blend that glides on to strengthen the skin's natural moisture barrier, even out pores, and shield against environmental aggressors. It includes 14 essential oils, 10 lipid-rich plant oils, and 4 vitamins. 

left to right: hunk, razzle

 Lips: So for the month of February I was really into the orchid lip. Idk if it was because it was voted pantone color of 2014 but I was obessed. The four lip products that I consistently used this month were the NYX cosmetic's butter lipsticks in hunk and razzle ($5.99 at Ulta), the NYX buttergloss ($4.99 at Ulta) in raspberry tart, and the Milani cosmetics lip intense in Fiery Coral ($6.49 at CVS). The butter lipsticks were new this year and what I love about them is the texture and the fact that you can build the intensity of the color. For the butterglosses, this particular color was new for this year and what I love about it is when you wear it alone, it's a nice sheer wash of orchid but if I want to intensify my lip I usually pair it with hunk for a bright purple lip. the Fiery Coral has definitly been my everyday go-to lip color- and I think it's because of the vibrancy of the pink and the staying power. It's more like a stain then a gloss which I prefer stains over glosses any day!

left to right: hunk, razzle, raspberry tart, fiery coral

Eyes: Ok, for eyes- what I have been loving and wished I had bought this when it first came out is the Lorac Pro Palette. I cannot believe I lasted this long without this eyeshadow palette. The colors are so versatile that I'm able to create an eyeshadow look for absolutely anything with this palette. The top row is all matte eyeshadows and the bottom row is all shimmer shadows. It's like it took the 3 Naked Palette's BEST eyeshadows and put them into one palette. This is currently being sold online and at Ulta. and its for $42.  Two mascaras that I have been loving are the Too Faced LASHgasm mascara and the Better Than Sex Mascara. They are both sold at Ulta and Sephora- the Lashgasm is $21 and the Better than Sex is $23. I really like using these together to get the perfect lashes. I start with the LASHgasm(a voluptuous, fluffing mascara that conditions as it thickens to create dramtically long lashes with intense color. This unique, flexible molded brush grabs lashes from all sides for a climax of length and volum)  to build a base with my eyelashes and really separate and lengthen them and then I use the Better Than Sex (the brush was designed to separate, coat and curl each lash to voluptuous perfection. to pump up the volume.

left to right: nude, champagne, gold, light bronze, pewter, garnet, deep purple, slate

left to right: white, cream, taupe, light pink, mauve, sable, espresso, black

lashgasm mascara

better than sex mascara

Well those are my February Favorites! I hope you enjoy and until next time

- Mikaella