I can’t believe it’s already March and time for another favorites post. The good news is that I’m finally remembering to write 2015 instead of 2014 now. So I’ve got that going for me.
My hair is finally getting long enough again to use these babies. When my hair was longer, I used to use the Goody Spin Pins all of the time. I wish I had had these spiral bobby pins while I was growing up, because they are quite the staple once you get used to them. They were so useful to quickly and securely put my hair up and they don’t tug at your scalp compared to the 20 other bobby pins you’d need to do the same thing. They are super simple to use, just twist up your hair into a bun, spin one of them in going up, and spin the other one going down. They also take away the need for hair ties, which means less creases in your hair. I have tried out the Conair version of these, and I don’t like them nearly as much – they just didn’t stay put as well as the Goody ones or seem as sturdy.
While the Benefit Push-Up Liner is what really got me into doing more cat eyes, I really wanted a more traditional liner to try out too. So I did a couple swatch tests at Sephora and absolutely adored the sheeny non-matte finish of the Marc Jacob‘s Magic Marc’er liner. Not only is the finish really quite stunning (see swatch below), it lasts all day even though I’m an eye rubber, and is waterproof to boot. The cap secures quite tightly, and I’ve seen no signs of it drying out on me after 3-4 months of moderate use. All around awesome product if you can stomach the price.
You might have seen me talk about the Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base when I originally got it in my December Sample Society Box. After a few more months of trying it out, I’ve decided I quite like it as a liquid highlighter. I apply it somewhat like an eye cream – but along the bridge of my nose and right above where I’d put my blush. I just tap some in with my ring finger and blend it out a bit. It doesn’t take much to get the subtle look I tend to lean towards, and it sinks in and sits really nicely. They suggest that you can mix a few drops into your foundation to make it a bit more dewy looking, but I’m not as much of a fan of that since an overt dewy look just makes me look oily.
Swatches of the above two! This is also after the smudge test on the liner, which looks like I didn’t even touch it. The highligher however is not rubbed in, but dabbed on and not blended. When I worked it into my skin it barely showed up on camera, and you couldn’t see the undertones of the shimmer at all. Which I kind of like a lot.
I got this little minis of the Formula X The System as a 500 point perk from Sephora a couple weeks ago. It came with the three steps (cleanse, base, and top coats), plus a mauve-y nail color. I’ve found that I can get a solid 5-7 days of wear with these compared to the normal 1-2. It still doesn’t last as long as gel manicures, but it less damaging.
Over the years I have used a lot of products from the Sexy Hair line. We’re talking hair oils, treatments, hair spray, mouse, etc… Generally I really like their stuff and find it more or less non-damaging. So when I heard they were coming out with a sulfate free purple shampoo? I stocked Ulta for two weeks until my local store got them in. I got the travel size of both the Blonde Sexy Hair Shampoo and Conditioner. The purple shampoo (the full size one has Marilyn Monroe on the bottle, so make sure to grab that one. The other shampoo in the range is a chamomile one like the conditioner and therefore not purple…) is very pigmented and rather dark. It does amazingly at fixing the brassiness my hair picks up, and doesn’t strip the natural oils from my hair at all. The conditioner is not a purple conditioner, but does contain chamomile which lightens the hair naturally and is quite moisturizing. I’m def getting the full size of these once I’m done with the travel bottles.
You can get the Goody Spin Pins here, Marc Jacobs Magic Marc’er here, Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base here, the Formula X The System here, and the Blonde Sexy Hair Bright Blonde Shampoo here and Bombshell Blonde Conditioner here.
♡Em
