August Beauty Favorites

It's that time of the month again! Can you believe yet another month has come and gone?! It seems unreal to me that summer is on its way out & fall activities are sneaking upon us. Come Tuesday of next week, I officially start the ultrasound program & I couldn't be more excited. This week has been filled with orientations & preparations for next week. Also with back-to-school season comes football games, tailgating, and of course, fall fashion. I can't wait!

Today I wanted to share with you all the beauty products that I have been loving this month. Because of all the wedding related festivities & shall we say....'photo opportunities' that I encountered this month, I really geared my daily makeup routine towards products that left my skin looking flawless with full coverage & of course, great longevity (as opposed to last month when I went the minimalist route).

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light: I dust this powder all over my face to set my foundation. It leaves the most natural finish without adding that "powdered" look.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation: I love using this foundation when my skin has been clear. The formula is so smooth and weightless & has that natural matte finish that I love so much. 

Yes to Carrots Nourishing Wipes: I love this brand & have tried almost all of the different makeup remover wipes. The 'carrots' line is great for gentle cleansing & moisturizing.

Avene Thermal Spring Water: This French product came in one of my Ipsy bags & I use it daily to set my makeup and refresh throughout the day. 

MAC blush in Gentle

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie gloss in Dare Devil

Revlon ColorStay Moisture Stain in Parisian Passion

Serious obsession with berry/plum tones right now. They will transition perfectly into fall!

Orly polish in Prelude to a Kiss: I was happy to discover this light pink/nude polish. I love neutrals & find this color to pair perfect with any look. 

Urban Decay Perversion mascara: I received this sample of mascara in my monthly Ipsy bag & I will definitely be buying the full size when I finish up the ones I am currently using. It adds tons of volume to my lashes & doesn't clump. 

What beauty products were front runners for you this month? 

Thanks for reading! XOXO, Carrie

5 Things By Fall

I'm a bit of a list-maker. I constantly am jotting things down in my Notes app on my phone & always keep running lists of things I want/need to do. Not only to do I make lists for makeup to check out  when I make it to the mall and for groceries to pick up later in the week, but I also like to make lists of "fun" things to do... almost like a bucket list (with short term goals, that is). It's fun to constantly be setting goals for myself, because it results in a great feeling of satisfaction & accomplishment. Here's my current list:

Take a walk in a [new] neighborhood

Try a new & unique recipe from my pin board

Rock a bold lip in a color I think I'm scared to wear

Finish that book I've been meaning to tackle

Clean/organize a different part of my apartment each day for one week

Are you a list-maker? What things are on your fun list?

XO, Carrie

Hot & New

If you are like me, your Instagram is flooded with beauty gurus & fabulous bloggers. One of the major perks of being an Instagram junkie, is that it keeps me in the "know". I'm convinced that 90% of the things I find out about [social-wise] are conceived from Instagram. What's also great about this is that it allows me to find out about amazing products very early on! As I scour my news feed & YouTube subscriptions, I am always making note of the things I would love to check out when I head to the mall. Here are the hot new things I am currently drooling over.

As a fan of the original Naked palette and its preceding "sisters" if you will, over the years I have become a sucker for Urban Decay products. However, when the first version of the Naked Basics was launched, I really had no interest. The colors seemed [blah] to me. So naturally, I passed on picking it up. But, when I heard they were launching a second edition, I will admit I was excited. Now that the colors have been revealed & it is officially on sale, I can attest that I will definitely be getting my hands on this baby. It's the same slim little [travel sized] packaged palette, but contains matte, taupe neutrals. [Urban Decay Naked2 Basics]

YSL.. oohhh, my eyes cringe at the price tag. But this is a product I am very interested in getting a sample of. After seeing one of my fave beauty babes, Brianna Stanko, raving about this foundation, my attention was sparked. This long-wearing, featherweight, matte finish foundation sounds perfect for an oily skinned gal like me. [YSL Fusion Ink Foundation]

Can we say gorgeous? This unique disk-shaped, multi-use palette is one of kind. I've seen this in person and am over the moon for the blush color in the center and the beautiful purple tone shadows. It's limited edition, so if you would like it for yourself, be sure to grab it while you can! [Tarte Rainforest After Dark Eye & Cheek Palette]

To this day, I have not found the perfect primer for me. While I have purchased a few and don't dislike them, I am not completely sold. I have trouble figuring out what I should be targeting... my oil, my pores, my redness, etc. From what I have read, this new primer from Tarte looks great. Think pore diminishing, line filling, skin smoothing & firming. [Tarte Timeless Smoothing Primer]

I'm cheating a bit on this one. I got a sample of this in July ipsy Glam Bag. For a couple weeks, it kind of went unnoticed. Until one day I was cleaning and opened it for the first time. I have been using it ever since and am really impressed. It claims to be [10-in-1]... but I always find that to be a bit gimmicky. I like this mascara because it lengthens and volumizes without clumps. I will definitely be picking the full size version up when I use up the ones I am currently trying. [Bare Minerals Lash Domination Volumizing Mascara]

Those are the 5 hot & new things I have my eyes on! Have you scooped up any of these products? If so, let me know what you think!

I hope you all are having a great week & a fabulous month of August! :)

XO, Carrie

July Favorites

Another month has come and gone... How is that possible? July went faster than the previous months, in my opinion. But fortunately for me, August is what I'm coining my "fun month". Finally, all the wedding festivities I have been talking about are at my feet. I can't wait to celebrate! 

This month, I was all about a quick and easy beauty routine. If I wasn't at the lake enjoying the sunshine, I was either out for a run or tackling my online classes. But like all months, I picked up a few new products, and they quickly made their way into my "omg, I'm obsessed with this" stash. ;) 

Here are the products I was loving this month...

Hourglass blush in Luminous Flush 

This blush is like a 2-for-1 type product. If you are familiar with Hourglass, you may remember their hyped up Ambient Lighting powders. What's cool about the blushes is that one of the powders is swirled into each one, giving it that ambient lighted finish. This particular color, Luminous Flush, has the Luminous Light powder inside. Pretty genius, huh? 

Garnier BB Cream for oily skin in Medium/Deep

About a year ago, I bought the original Garnier BB cream and absolutely hated it. It made me look like a grease monkey, and so I returned it. Since then, they came out with a version for combination/oily skin. I continuously heard people raving about it and how great it was for a drugstore BB cream. I finally broke down and jumped on the bandwagon. This product is simply perfect for those days you want to skip a heavy, full coverage foundation, but still want good coverage...if you feel me. I know most people say to apply these sorts of products with your fingers, but I am all about my Beauty Blender right now. 

NARS The Multiple in Altai

Three words. Cream contour perfection. While I have a handful of drugstore foundation sticks that work in the exact way as this NARS product, there really is no comparison. The consistency of this product is what makes it a home run. It blends well & has great color, without being too muddy. If you have been wanting to try a cream contour, I highly recommend this product. (I also love to use this on my eyes!)

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet liner in Black Velvet
Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill mascara

 I have never been a huge fan of pencil liners. Mostly due to the fact that I refuse to line my lower water line. I just can't do it. But as of late, I have really been into lining my top water line, to create a fuller lash line appearance. This product is great for that. It glides on so smoothly and is jet black.

Giorgio Armani...you are love...in mascara form. *Swoon* This is hands down my favorite mascara of all time. I'll say it again. Of ALL time. It volumizes, lengthens, and everything else you could want a mascara to do. I bought this when Nordstrom was having their mascara sale and am so happy I did. However, I am a bit upset that I'll always be wanting to purchase this spendy sucker.

Buxom Full-On Lip polish in Sophia
Milani lip liner in Nude

I picked up this Milani lip liner per recommendation of Nicole Guerrio. She is the queen of lip products and I always trust her recommendations. I like to wear this liner as my lip color. Is is somewhat creamy at first, but sets nearly like a stain. 

This Buxom lip gloss was a perk I got with the Sephora point system. I have many of these glosses and love every single one of them. This shade, Sophia, looks so good paired over top of the lip liner. I have been wearing this combo all month long!

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day 5-in-1 Styling cream

I use this each time I wash my hair, prior to drying and styling. It think it works best as a smoothing agent & give my hair nice body. And it smells amazing!

Sephora Makeup Brush Cleaner

Between deep cleaning sessions, I like to spot clean my brushes before each use. This gives my makeup the best application, leaving all products true to color....and not a mix of the 7 other colors I used last week. 

Sally Hansen eyelash curler

Until a few weeks ago, I wasn't into the whole eyelash curling business. I mainly didn't like to do it because the curler I previously owned didn't fit the shape of my eyes. [Maybe you didn't know this, because I didn't either, there are many different shaped curlers on the market. Choose one that matches your eye shape!] Now that I have a proper lash curler, I am enjoying the results it gives me. 

What products have you been loving this month?

As always, thank you for reading!

XO, Carrie

Fall Beauty Trends 2014

While some of us want to hang on to summer forever, fall is here in the fashion and beauty world. Fall fashion has hit stores and beauty trends are already leaping off the runway onto faces near you. I am always excited to see what textures, prints and colors will come to stores, but I am even more excited to see how ladies will be rocking their fabulous face. Harper's BAZAAR has the scoop on what is hot for fall beauty trends. Check it out...

Color

Defined liner

Metallics

Flaunt the bare minimum 

Fresh, flawless skin with a glow

New & improved 'French' manicure. 

I am excited to play with metallics this fall! Which of these trends will you be brave enough to rock? 

Thanks for reading! XO, Carrie

via 

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows: Swatches & Review

Hey loves! Today I am bringing you my thoughts on the Makeup Geek eyeshadows that I own. When choosing single eyeshadows to purchase, I like to think about what shades I don't already own, and which shadows would be nice to have in my collection. (Which is quite tough, since I love palettes!) However, Makeup Geek shadows have continued to amaze me with their pigmentation, creamy texture, and uniqueness in shade range. While I am always drawn to warm neutrals, these particular shadows are much different than any shadows in any of the Naked palettes or even the It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty palette. I own 10 individual shadows from Makeup Geek and have thoroughly been enjoying them all. Take a peek...

Beautiful pigmentation

Unique shade range of gorgeous neutrals

Shimmer & matte shades are equally creamy

Left to right: Shimma Shimma, Cosmopolitan, Homecoming, Moondust, Prom Night,
Peach Smoothie, Creme Brûlée, Frappe, Taupe Notch, Last Dance

Beautiful, right? Marlena has done an amazing job formulating these shadows. She has over 60 exclusive shades, each of which are very unique. Not to mention, the price point is amazing. These are MAC quality eye shadows (if not better) but sold for a fraction of the price. ($15 vs. $5.99) You can purchase these shadows from Makeup Geek. They are sold in pan or compact form. I chose to put mine in a Z Palette, which can also be purchased from Makeup Geek's website. I highly recommend these shadows!

Have you checked out Makeup Geek yet? What shades are your favorite?

XO, Carrie

[editors note: these photos are taken with my new camera. i finally am a proud owner of a Nikon DSLR camera!]

Currently Craving

It's mid summer. And currently the best time to shop...in my opinion. Summer sales have hit stores in attempt to make room for new fall items to fill the shelves. I'm a sucker for a good deal & rarely pay full price for clothing & accessories. However, I still like to window shop and see all the new goodies.

Here are the items I currently have my eye on...

Boohoo Tropical Playsuit // in love with rompers and playsuits lately. this print is playful, yet has a polished structure

Fossil Sydney Satchel // i can see this purse being the perfect transition piece for summer to fall

Jessica Simpson 'Minti' Bootie // loving this stacked heel + peep toe combo

Gap Contrast Sleeve Sweater // i have this in the cream & find it to be the perfect summer sweater

Kendra Scott Danielle Earrings  // 'mother of pearl' pairs perfectly with so many looks

Billabong Dress // breezy & easy 

Free People Mercury Sunglasses // fun karen walker look-a-likes for a great price

What things are you currently craving?

XO, Carrie