Finally depotted my domed makeup :)

Sephora formula x polishes in Radioactive and Bionic, totally obsessed!

What's in my Travel Makeup Bag?

I finally managed to get some time off to visit my family back home in Texas, so I figured I could do a quick post on the makeup I took with me. The lip and cheek products are some of my faves for the summertime, so hopefully they will be interesting if you are looking for any new summer products :)

The makeup bag I took with me was my neon pink Ted Baker bag. I LOVE the color. I also unfortunately love every other color that this bag comes in…and it was a serious dilemma picking this one out since the neon yellow and mint were serious contenders as well. The material of this bag allows for easy clean up with a makeup wipe or paper towel and it’s quite roomy.



During the summertime I like to use a light weight foundation and supplement with fuller coverage concealers for any blemishes. I really like that the Laura Mercier concealers are thick and peach/orange toned since they last through just about anything. I recently re-discovered my MUFE HD powder and am kicking myself for ever having put it in the back of my drawer.



Ah the cheek products. You’ll notice that I really like peach/orange/bronze products for the cheeks and lips in the summer! I like to layer a cream blush with a powder blush for added staying power and the MAC MSF in Cheeky Bronze is basically my new holy grail summer item. I highly recommend checking it out if you have a medium/tan complexion for use as a blush topper or highlighter. If you have fair skin, I bet it would be a fantastic bronze goddess all over bronzer :)







For the lips I brought a few bold options and a more neutral one. Again, I love peach/orange so Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin and MAC Ravishing were a no brainer. For an alternative bright I packed MAC Girl About Town and to tone down any of the colors I added my MAC Cremesheen Glass in Kiss Don’t Tell (sadly LE but one of my ultimate fav lip glosses). I added the MUFE Aqua Lip Liners because I find they last really well through meals, and a trip home always means lots of eating.





I packed pretty basic for my eyes and eyebrows. The Smashbox eye primer is my new holy grail primer (previously NARS, but this one is just as good and cheaper) and a must have for the summertime.



Last but not least, I included two palettes by LORAC. I love how compact the packaging is and am pretty much obsessed with all the colors inside. The texture of the powders are so buttery smooth and pigmented, and there’s plenty of neutrals along with a few pops of color. I pretty much planned to keep my eyelids neutral and play up the color on my cheeks and lips.





That wraps up what I packed for my trip!

Weekly mani using Revlon Berry Jeweled nail polish

Clearance alert! My local Target has all the NYX butter glosses on sale for $3.48 (regular price $4.99). Be sure to check it out if you like these :)

Summer Jewelry Organization!

I know, it's not makeup. But jewelry makes things more beautiful just like makeup, amirite? I got this display board for only $8 at Marshall's and hung up all of my summer earrings and necklaces on it :)

Sephora & Ulta Haul!

After three months of using up tons of products, I finally accumulated enough reward money to do some shopping! In case you are curious, in order to curb my shopping and encourage myself to use up things in my collection, I use a reward system where I get $4 for every full size item I finish, $2 for every deluxe/travel size item, and $0.50 for foil packet samples. The rule is I can't buy anything if I haven't accumulated the money to purchase it. On a limited budget, I made use of some of my ULTA rewards as well as their BOGO sale on NYX items to keep myself in check.

The goodies!

As you can see, I went a little bit crazy with lip products but I am super pleased with all of them! The palette is from Mally and it's a blush/bronzer/highlight palette which I thought would be great for travel purposes.

First up, the Mally Shimmer, Shape and Glow palette ($40, 11.4g). I chose the "Deeper" option, but the "Lighter" option is very similar with a more champagne highlighter, a slightly lighter bronzer, and a pink blush. The highlighter is a really nice gold, sort of similar to NARS Albatross. The bronzer is a cool brown with a matte/satin finish, which is similar to Benefit Hoola. The blush is a gorgeous peachy coral with some subtle gold sheen. It's the perfect combo for the summertime!

  

I've been seeing reviews for the Too Faced Melted lipsticks ($21, 0.4 oz) all over the internet, and for once, the nude shade is one that doesn't wash me out! This is a really rare thing, so I knew I needed to snatch this up. This is a browny pink nude and the formula is divine. It's smooth and non-drying with a fuzzy felt tip applicator which makes application a snap.

Believe it or not, these are my very first NYX Butter Glosses ($4, 0.27 oz). The original line didn't have any colors that appealed to me, but NYX recently doubled their color selection and I went straight for two of the nude options, Praline and Ginger Snap. Praline is a pinky brown, while Ginger Snap is pretty much just a brown. I love the texture and scent on these, though they aren't very long wearing. These are perfect to wear on their own, or to pair with light nudes or brights that you want to tone down.

This was a new display in Sephora, and it's called the Luster Matte Long Wear Lip Color ($16, 0.14 oz). It was basically love at first swatch with this product. They are super slick and although they dry somewhat matte, they still have a really nice natural slickness to them and don't look dry. The formula is smooth and moisturizing, and doesn't emphasize fine lines. This color is a fall one, but it was the one I was most drawn to. Who cares about makeup rules, I'm gonna rock this vampy color whenever I feel like it! I hope to pick up some other colors once I use up more products.

I also picked up a Nano lip liner in Chic Choco ($5) from Sephora, but I couldn't get it to stop rolling long enough to take a close up picture. It is however swatched in the picture below :)

Everything in the haul is super wearable, and I have already started incorporating these products into my daily routine!