January 2014 Favorites and FOTD

Hi friends.  I hope you've had a nice week.  Thanks to the polar vortex, we've been snowed in all week.  Thankfully we were safe and sound.  The craziness in the south was so horrible to watch.  I'm glad my friends and family fared well through it all.  I hope you all made it safely through this unwelcome weather phenomenon.

I must admit, I've been kinda hoe-hum with makeup. When you're snowed in, food, particularly baked goods seem to be appealing.  Or is that just me? Anyone?

Tried and Tested: Equate Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover

Hey friends.  We all love makeup – that’s why we’re here right? Right? Taking off our makeup can sometimes be a chore.  At the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time removing my makeup.  I’ve tried a ton of different products, particularly to remove eye makeup, and many have fallen short.  I don’t like waking up in the morning with the residual panda eye look.  I’m not of the opinion that you need to spend lots of money on expensive makeup removers.  You can imagine the happy dance when my latest find works like a dream and is incredibly affordable.  It’s the Equate oil-free eye makeup remover.


This brand can be found at Wal-Mart.  It’s said to be a comparison or dupe to the Neutrogena oil free eye makeup remover.  I’ve never tried that one, so I can’t tell you if it compares or not.  What I can say is this stuff is amazing.  It removes my eye makeup so easily.  I soak a cotton square and just place this on my eye and let it sit for 15-30 seconds, then gently wipe away.  Although it claims it’s oil free and has no oily residue, it does have an oiliness to it.  It’s not overly oily, but just so you know there is a bit of that with this remover.  I don’t find it an issue; it doesn’t break me out and I haven’t had any adverse reaction to it.    Tried and Tested 50/50 approved.  I don’t think it lives up to the claim of “no oily residue” but it definitely removes all my eye makeup.  I haven’t met an eyeliner this remover couldn’t tackle.  At a retail price of under $4, it’s definitely worth a try.  Tell me what your favorite eye makeup removers are and if you’ve tried equate.

Tried and Tested: Pssssst Dry Shampoo

Hi friends.  Today, I’m reviewing a dry shampoo.  Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve heard the buzz on dry shampoo.  Apparently it’s the end all to beat all in the hair revolution.  I’m not one for bandwagon trends; some are silly and others are common sense.  But I got suckered into the dry shampoo trend after one of my friends said she used it with good results.  I tried one, but I got that icky white cast.  My brunette hair with a white cast was not cute.  So I passed on them.  Until I received a sample of Pssssst Dry Shampoo.

2013 Beauty Favorites

Hi Friends.  I’ve rounded up my favorite, most used products for this past year.  The products I’ll be mentioning are ones I’ve reached for the most this past year.  I won’t be doing full reviews of the products listed below.  But if there is something you’d like more information about, please let me know in the comments.  Let’s get started because it’s a a lot!

First group is face products.  These are my foundational type products.



These face products were the ones I came back to over and over again.  They are from left to right:
1. Cover Girl 3 in 1 Outlast Foundation in 857 Golden Tan
2. Mally Poreless Perfection Powder
3. MAC Prolongwear Concealer in NC42
4. Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector in Dark Peach
5.  Tarte BB tinted Primer in Tan

Neutral Face of the Day Using NYC Trio

Hi friends.  Today’s post features a quick FOTD.  I used a product I received from my Influenster Jolly VOXBOX.  If you’ve not heard of Influenster, they are a sample box service that will periodically send out samples for online content creators to try.  This was my first box and I loved it!


The look I created is something that I can put together in 10 minutes or less. Real talk.  It’s my go to neutral look.  The box featured a trio from NYC.  I’ve never tried their makeup, but I received it in my  VoxBox so I decided to give it a whirl. 

Becca Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation

Hey Friends!  Hope you’re all doing well.  Today, we’re talking foundation, specifically Becca!  I was introduced to Becca Cosmetics through social media.  I’m always on the hunt for products that cater to women of color.  Many makeup brands don’t account for the varying skin undertones.  The undertones in your skin a very important when color matching.  Many brands are either too pink or too yellow – basically too generic.  But Becca was different.

(Becca Radiant Skin Satin Finish Foundation – Bamboo)

The great thing about Becca Cosmetics is their focus on natural looking skin.  Which means they hone in on the undertones in a woman’s skin to help you achieve the best color match.  You can read more about their approach here on their website.  After reading that, I googled various reviews and I was sold.   My only challenge was locating their product.  The only place to order was online; there was not a physical location in my area that carried them!  So imagine my happiness when Sephora starting carrying the products.  I wasted no time in driving to my local Sephora to check them out.  But again I was dismayed.  My local Sephora did not carry them!!!  You could only order online - which I eventually did.  After a bit a research using the description of the foundations on their website and searching Youtube, I decided on a color.  I placed my order for a few products (more to come on those). 

FOTD Friday

Hi Friends.  Below is a look I put together and I liked how it turned out.  I used the Anastasia Lavish Palette.  Can we just stop and take a moment to discuss how wonderful this palette is?  I’ve used this so much since I purchased it.  It has quickly become my go to.  I plan to do a more in-depth review of it soon.   But back to this look, I think it’s a wearable look for the fall.   I’ve also listed the products I used below.  Let me know what you think.