Friday, August 31, 2012

August Favorites

August was a fabulous month!  

There were so many fun moments... my baby starting preschool, house plans, and VACATION!

And here were some of my favorite beauty items this month!

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Philosophy shampoo, shower gel & bubble bath
pink frosted layer cake


This was my first Philosophy purchase.  I've always wanted to try one of these lovely bath goodies... especially since they have amazingly unique scents to choose from.  A year or so ago, I discovered a similar-smelling product by Bodycology.  But it's been long gone in my shower.  So I decided to spend a little more (quite a BIT more, actually) and splurge for the Philosophy one... just to see what all the hype's about.  And I must agree, this product is wonderful, as I'm sure all of their other bath products are.  I have only used this product as a shower gel.  I would assume your hair would smell fantastic, but I'm just kind of weird about using these "all in one" products on my hair.  

The smell?  Exactly as it says.  pink frosted layer cake.  Amazing.

I'm excited that I'm nearing the end of the bottle so I can try something different. :)
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Clean & Clear 
Makeup Dissolving Facial Cleansing Wipes


I'm just now jumping on the "makeup remover wipe" bandwagon.  I've always just used my Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash to remove my makeup.  And it worked perfectly.  But I wanted to try something quick and easy to take on vacation.

So I purchased these (I'm on my second pack) and I love 'em.  They do a great job of removing makeup (and pretty well at removing mascara) and leaving my face clean and refreshed.  They don't seem to dry me out at all.  I actually feel more moisturized with these wipes than with my normal cleanser.  Although I'm pretty sure they don't have any sort of "acne fighting" ingredient in them, I haven't had much trouble with breaking out this month... except for the occasional boo-boo (lots of sunscreen this month, and that tends to do it for me).
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Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
Garnier Dark Circle Eye-Roller
Real Techniques Powder Brush


This has been my foundation routine for the past several weeks (unless, of course, it's Sunday or I'm going out).  When I'm at home, doing laundry, this is the quickest and easiest and really does work well for me!

This powder ROCKS.  I can't say enough good things about it.

And the Garnier Dark Circle Eye-Roller is an amazing product.  It's not got tremendous coverage, obviously, but it does a great job concealing mild darkness.  And it's very refreshing!  A real pick-me-up in the morning.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this brush.  I purchased a few Real Techniques brushes at Ulta several months ago.  I love them both so much.  This brush, in particular, does a fabulous job of setting my foundation AND buffing in my Stay Matte powder for great coverage.  It is super soft with NO SHEDDING!!!
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L'Oreal Voluminous
High Definition Mascara


I used this mascara pretty much all month.  It does a great job volumizing my lashes.  Its formula is similar to the original Voluminous mascara, but a tad different.  It's the perfect consistency - not a week later, but - right when you purchase it.  It does a fabulous job of building volume at the roots.  And it's got my favorite kind of brush: a "normal" bristle brush... not too big, not too small.
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Naked Palette


I don't have to tell you how much I love this... along with everyone else on the planet.  This was actually one of the only palettes I chose to take with me on vacation.  And I'm glad I did.  It was definitely my go-to.  It has so many options, you just can't beat it!
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Marc Jacobs Daisy
Viva la Juicy


These were my favorite fragrances of the month.  I only have small sizes... since I've been trying out new fragrances.  But I will definitely be purchasing full sizes of these... and Viva la Juicy will be very soon!!!  
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There you go... my favorites for the month of August!

Leave a comment below if you've tried any of these, if you love or hate them, or if you have a different favorite you'd like me to try!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Urban Decay Sin Dupe

As you can tell, my FAVORITE shadow in the original Naked Palette is Sin.  I absolutely love this color.  It's the perfect shade for all over the lid and highlighting the inner corner.  There are many days that I simply sweep this color over my lid, add some eyeliner and go!  It's got the perfect amount of pink and champagne to make a great color for me!


But since I'm scraping the sides these days (and I really don't want to purchase the single shade), I've been searching for something similar.

While browsing the shadows at Ulta last week, I came across this L'Oreal shadow.  I had never tried any of these shadows before, but they were on sale, so I decided to try one out.

This color jumped out at me... it reminded me of Sin.

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Wear Infinite
101 Satin Tutu

I couldn't wait to get home and swatch them side by side.

I'll let you be the judge!


without flash (top)
with flash (bottom)

Now, these shadows are almost identical in appearance.  However, they aren't quite the same in consistency.  I was HOPING they would be.  But not quite. 

Urban Decay shadows are so creamy!  The L'Oreal shadow takes a little more effort.  It's quite a bit more "powdery."  It works best if you use patting motions to apply.

With that being said, it's not an exact match, but it's pretty darn close!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

pursuing a dream

So maybe it's nothing to write home about, but it's my idea of a dream come true.  After taking up too much space on my "family" blog with makeup and beauty ramblings, I've decided to create a place devoted to beautiful things.  I'm so glad you've stepped inside my little world of makeup.  I hope you enjoy reading about my likes, dislikes, reviews, and ideas.  And I hope you share some of yours!

I'll link to some of the reviews and such that I've done in the past.... back at 
Better Together.

Check out these links for reviews, tips, favorites, ideas, and fun posts!





check out these links!

These links are from Better Together - my and my boys.  

You can find several reviews, favorites, and face of the day looks.

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Reviews, Tips, and Fun Posts















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Face of the Day Looks

FOTD Monday - June 18, 2012

FOTD Monday - June 25, 2012

FOTD Tuesday - July 3, 2012

FOTD Monday - July 16, 2012

FOTD Monday - July 23, 2012

FOTD Monday - July 30, 2012

FOTD Monday - August 6, 2012

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Favorites