Beauty Finds, Tips, and Tricks

That's scary - the baby detergent? Yikes. Ok maybe not that one

I use Caldrea products in the kitchen - and I know they have some gentle laundry detergents, too. (But I've only used samples) I like their products, but don't think they are very economical 16oz for about $10 for the laundry detergent.

Same for Mrs. Meyers. I like them, but kind of pricey 64 loads for $16.

 

This is the new Make Up Forever Midnight Glow Palette. I like that they mixed in a decent number of matte shades, and I think you'll be able to get some really pretty looks with this. I have a couple of their other palettes and have enjoyed using them.

Ok now I want to go makeup shopping.

 

If you don't own one of these you want one. Grandma wasn't dumb. Even as a man who doesn't wear makeup I find the one we have very useful even for shaving. The devil is in the details.

For getting rid of tiny blackheads and making sure everything is even its quite useful, my wife is now using one for makeup.

 

I'm wondering how this compares to Clinique and Clarins pore minimizers. Have you tried them? Maybeline sounds like a good economical score!

 

I have 3 MatteBalms and 6 Balm Stains.

I've been using the balm stains for months and am obsessed. I love the MatteBalms, and splurged when they were released around Thanksgiving on 3 of them. (Let me know if you want any swatches). I tried one of the LacquerBalms and wasn't impressed at all.

 

Don't think I forgot!


Balm stains on the left, matte balms on the right.


Balm stains. From L to R: Sweetheart, Darling, Rendezvous, Cherish, Smitten, Honey



(bathroom light)


(natural light, Top to bottom = L to R)


Matte Balms from L to R: Elusive, Sultry, Striking




(bathroom light)


(natural Light)

All swatches were two swipes. If you want any lip swatches, let me know.

 

Wet 'n' Wild shadow primer is awesome for only $4.

Love love the Jordana Balm Stain in Cranberry Crush.

 

I can't technically put this in the latest purchase thread, so it goes here! @damnitall is the most wonderful person in the world and knows how stressed I've been lately, and sent me a surprise present. I came home last night to a sephora box on my kitchen counter with something that I've been lusting after since its release:

SMASHBOX FULL EXPOSURE PALETTE.

First of all, the palette itself comes with a sample of the Smashbox Full Exposure mascara, which is one of my holy grail mascaras. But I digress.
This palette is gorgeous. 7 matte, 7 shimmer, and go well with pretty much every skin tone. I played around last night around midnight and made a gorgeous black smokey eye using M4, M7, and S7, and I just have a basic brown eye today with M1, M3, and M4, with a little bit of S1 for sparkle.
This palette is AMAZING. I've never used mattes so velvety smooth before. They blend like nobody's business, and I am in love. I can't wait to play around with it more.

She also ordered me a sample size of this mascara:

As I said in the previous paragraph, until now, the Smashbox mascara was my HG mascara. The Buxom Lash might beat it out. It straight up looks like I have falsies on. I'll take pictures tomorrow, hopefully, when it isn't so overcast.

 

I've not tried the Buxom mascara, only the glosses. Can't say I was a fan.

Have you tried Too Faced Better Than False Lashes Mascara? Your comment reminded me about this crazy fiber mascara.

 

Definitely! And I thought you were allergic to Milk? I hope that passed!

I'm not a huge fan of their glosses either. The mascara is really nice on me, but it has mixed reviews online. Maybe I just get lucky with mascara. I haven't tried that Too Faced, but I did like their Better than Sex mascara a lot. I'll try that one out next time I'm needing mascara.

Overall, I think the Smashbox mascara is still my all time favorite of every prestige brand I've tried so far.