Mally's Favorite Things Kit

If you remember my January Favorites, I had a bunch of Mally products in it. I bought the Mally's Favorite Things Kit back in December on QVC when it was on the Today Special Value {3 easy payments} of $23. This is my intro to Mally products. I always hear of the makeup and she has such cute packaging that I figured this was my chance to hop on and try some stuff out!

Everything I Got In This Kit:

3 Volumizing Mascaras

3 High Shine Liquid Lipsticks

3 Age Rebel Eyeshadows

3 Evercolor Ultimate Waterproof Eyeliners

Age Rebel Shadow Sticks: 

 These are cream shadows that do not need a primer. Once you apply them, you have 30 seconds to blend them out and they will stay put for the day. You can use them as a base to put eyeshadow on top, or you add them on top of your eye shadows, or wear them alone. I have put them to the test before: no primer, no nothing except the Age Rebel Eyeshadow alone and they stayed put and didn't crease up on me. {yay!} These are also good for wearing underneath the waterline: I like to add the lightest one on my inner half of the eye and one of the darker ones on the outer half of my eye. She mentions you can wear them as a smudgy eyeliner but I have yet to try that.

They come in these mint colored metal tubes and they have weight to them. They aren't like heavy or anything but because they aren't light as a feather it reminds me that they are higher end {is that weird?} You get a shimmery champagne color called Sugar, a deep purple called Burnished Violet, + an emerald green called Jade.

I have been loving to use a matte medium brown in the crease {Urban Decay's Buck and Naked mixed} with a light matte color on the lid {Wet n Wild's Creme Brulee} then adding Sugar to the balls of my lids and in the inner corner lately. It makes for a really pretty, soft {but not too soft!} natural look. Or sometimes I will use Burnished Violet or Jade in the crease and on the lower lash line with Sugar all over the lid for a really quick -no primer needed- look.

Evercolor Ultimate Waterproof Eyeliner:

When I first bought these, I thought they were a dupe for Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips For Blue Eyes. The one thing that sets them apart is the colors. Physician's Formula's For Blue Eyes have more of a bronzed brown and a medium blue. Mally's are waterproof and Physician's Formula's are not. I have used Mally on one eye and Physician's Formula on the other using every color and the black one's were the only one's that matched perfectly. They were both jet black. But, I noticed most days that Mally's faded away quicker! Physician's Formula's were much quicker to smudge throughout the day, however. I am getting knit picky here, but only because I feel like you should know every last detail. Even though I noticed some smudging with Mally's liners, it wasn't much at all and happened at the end of the day. I would really like to try these out in the pool!

  In this kit, I got 3 different colors of liners: Express-O-Lane {Matte Brown}, Navy {Matte}, + Shimmering Black {self explanatory}. All 3 shades are really wearable for me and I seem to gravitate towards Mally's over Physician's Formula because of that. I usually only wear black and sometimes brown but all 3 of these shades are perfect for every day or night. I have worn each of them multiple times. They are all deep, rich, saturated colors. Not to mention the cream-mint tube it comes in with the rose gold writing- She could not have picked cuter packaging!

Volumizing Mascara: 

I got 3 of these so I was really hoping I would like them! When I first open my bottle of this mascara, it was perfect. It volumized, lengthened, and didn't clump up on me and make my lashes look spidery. Now that it is getting older {2 months} I am noticing that if I want to apply more than one coat, it will clump up on my lashes. So, this mascara is best when it is new {unless you like spider lashes}. One coat is all I need, anyway. I still volumizes and lengthens with one coat. I make sure to wipe off the brush and go over them a second time to separate them and it works.

High Shine Liquid Lipstick: 

Not until I read the exact name {aka right this second} did I realize these were in fact liquid lipstick's and not lip glosses! Other liquid lipstick's I have tried are really, really sticky. These are not at all. They feel like a thin gloss on the lips but they really do deliver both color and shine. Mally says that these are your lip primer, lip color and lip gloss all in one and I would say that is a great explanation. I don't find that they accentuate my lines in my lips- in fact, they seem to make them look smoother. Punch has been my favorite and I have been loving wearing it with ELF Essentials lipstick in Flirtatious {and alone too!}. I also got a shimmery berry color called Raspberry, and an orange nude called Peach Sorbet which reminds me a lot of Revlon's Creamsicle Lip Butter.

So to sum it all up:

-Age Rebel Eyeshadow's are great worn alone, as a base, or over any eyeshadow, and what you see is what you get: they are as vibrant/shimmery at the end of the day as they were the second you put them on. These were flawless.

-Waterproof Liners are great staple colors, with deep pigments, they do not tug on the lid, very little smudging and fading although there will be some at the end cap of your day. If your looking something cheaper, Physician's Formula's Shimmer Strips are very comparable. Comparison above. Full review here.

-Volumizing Mascara is volumizing and lengthening. One coat is all you need for full, long lashes.When the bottle starts to get a little older, that's when you have to watch out for the clumping. Nothing a clean mascara wand can't fix! Run one though your lashes after you apply the mascara to separate them.

-High Shine Liquid Lipsticks are truly a primer, color, and shine. They don't accentuate my lines in my lips and they really do pack a punch of color. Just like the Age Rebel Eyeshadow, these were flawless. And not sticky.

-Everything was made with care. The packaging is so nice and you can tell everything is higher end.

-Im glad I took a chance on some Mally products for a really great price!

Have you tried any Mally stuff?
What do you think?

xoxo
Erica

2012 Bestie's: My Favorite Eye Liner

Every time I type that I feel like such a dork! Ha! Besties Awards! Im crazy.

The Bestie's Awards are everything I absolutely loved last year. I may not have something from every single category but all of these products were the cream of the crop. Today I want to talk about my favorite eye liner.

Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Eyeliner Trio $12

What I love about these and why they are the object of my eye lining affection for 2012 is that I never have to worry about them running down my face. Another problem I run into with eye liners is the fact that they just don't stay on my eyes at all, let alone run down my face. I have really watery eyes. Any other eye liner I have used will be gone within the hour when my eyes start to water. The Shimmer Strips give me the best of both worlds (no worlds?) meaning it will stay in my water line weather my eyes are watering or not and will not run down my face. 

 A few hours into my day, I will notice a little bit of the product collecting in the corners of my eyes but it is nothing I cannot fix really quick with a swipe of a little piece tissue. Sometimes I don't even bother, to be honest! I get busy throughout the day and cannot watch every move of my eye liner. With these, I never feel like I have to worry about it too much.

As for lining your lash line with these, your going to be golden all day long no matter what. That eye liner isn't going anywhere. I am not someone that really smudges out my eye liner at all but if you wanted to do that with the Shimmer Strips, you have a couple seconds before it sets. I never ever have to set the liners with any kind of powder or eyeshadow or anything. It just stays. I have put them to the test plenty of times (scratching my eyes) and it never budges. However, taking your makeup off at the end of the day with a makeup remover is easy. 

 These are twist up eye pencils. They don't need sharpened. They have a built in sharpener in the bottom of each one that I have never used before but its there is your wanting a finer point. I can't say it makes much of a difference as far as performance goes. They are just as easy to use weather that fine point is there or not.

The Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips come in a pack of 3 eye liners in different colors. They market them for different eye colors "For Blue Eyes" or "For Hazel Eyes". Even though I have brown eyes, I have tried both For Brown Eyes (comes with a black with blue glitter, a brown, + a purple) and For Blue Eyes (a black with purple glitter, a brown, + a blue).

 What you see in the pictures is the For Blue Eyes set along with the one purple eye liner from the For Brown Eyes set that I had from before.

As you can tell from the swatches, the glitter in the black one is pretty much non-existent. It is there and I can especially see it in a heavy swatch like this one, but once it is on my eyes I cannot tell that there is glitter in it. That is either a good thing or bad thing depending on preference. I personally like the fact that it is so subtle. They are nice liners for every day because it's not like bam-in-your-face glitter.

As for the pigmentation, it is really good. This isn't the blackest of black I have ever used but since it stays put all day long, I can deal with it just being black. I usually find myself going around my inner rim a couple times before I get that black-black color I am looking for. So, it is achievable! If I had to work way too hard to get any kind of black line on my inner rim, I would never consider these liners for a Besties Award. As you can see, the brown isn't so much brown as it is a bronzed shade. Just like the black, you can work it up to be a more intense brown but with the brown eye liner, it may be a little bit harder. It's funny because the brown shade is actually the lightest shade of the bunch.

Here's the bullet points:

-Twist up pencil

-Built in sharpener (I have never used)

-Stay's put in the water line

-Stay's put on the lash line, no matter how hard you rub your eyes.

-Doesn't migrate down my face

-Don't need to set with an eyeshadow

-Very little gathering of product in the outer corner

-Comes in a set of 3 for around $12

-Easy to remove with makeup remover

-Pigmentation is pretty good

-The shimmer is nonexistent on the eyes

Ok! So far, I have done:
Besties Award for Best Mascara (another Physician's Formula product too!) 

I will be back in a day or two to fill you in on the rest of everything! 
Get ready for:
 the main Besties Awards (face and the rest of the eyes) 
Besties Awards for Nail Polish 
Besties Awards for Lip Products

Before I go, I wanted to thank all of you for an awesome 2012! Things got crazy in 2012 but the one thing that is always so awesome and growing is Mind Body Beauty! I am so blown away! Thank you times a million! You guys are seriously the best people on this earth and make me so happy (:

Until Next Time
Erica

November Favorites

Wet n Wild Palette - Since I have been working so much, this is such a quick way to liven up my eyes without spending a half hour in the mirror- Although the lightest color doesn't have the best pigment, it is definitely build-able to some degree. As for that medium color...it is my love! It is such a pretty taupe color and has great pigment. Most on-the-go days, I will put this in my crease and the lightest color on lid and brow bone. Voila! All done!

as you can see, they swatch well on my fingers:

but once I transfer (for lack of a better word) the swatches on to my hand, you can barely see that lightest color. But this isnt in my favorites for nothing, they are really beautiful on the lid: you just gotta work for that lightest color! as you can tell...

Revlon Lipstick in Prim Rose- It's just really pretty. I have been wearing this along with the shadow combo almost every day to work- it's easy. I do love my light/nude/pink lip colors and I this color is no exception. This is a "cult favorite" as they say and I can see why.  My latest obsession (Nyx Narcissus basically fell apart which is extremely depressing for me- other wise, I would have never tried to replace her! Prim Rose looks nothing like Narcissus btw I just think with my neutral eyes, a bold lip like that one would go awesomely)

here's a swatcharoo - isnt it gorgeous?!

EOS Lip Balm- My lips have been dry and I can stash this (along with Prim Rose) in my apron and im good to go. Lipsticks never can replace a trusty chip stick so this is a must. I know everything has been centered around work, but I have been working so much! It's nice to find some good products that are easy for this past month. People wonder what it is all the time lol

Nyx Jumbo Pencil in Oyster- This one is more of a sheer color, unlike Milk which is extremely matte (I still love, love, love milk but I have been reaching for this one more!) It is perfect underneath my Wet n Wild combo I talked about above.

here's Oyster (right) next to Prim Rose (left)- I love how reflective it is

just to show you how reflective and two toned it is I wanted to give you guys another swatch. Oyster is on the left and this swatch is with no light hitting it.

Revlon Growluscious Mascara- It took me some time to get used to the wand which is huge but I really do love this mascara. It really grabs ahold of them and expands them to make them longer while separating. It does give volume, but not to the point where there's so much product on my lashes that they look like spidey's. Yuck I hate spiders! c-r-e-e-p-y. So if you look for length in a mascara, this if for you!

so see the wand isnt too bad at all- try it! you wont regret it

The Body Shop Shea Lip Butter- I think it is safe to say that I am obsessed with lip stuff this past month. My boyfriend Phil bought this as an early Christmas present. Even tho I can't throw this in my apron (I do not wanna be sticking my fingers in my lip balm after touching someone's eaten off of plate...that's just gross) I wear this every night after I use proactiv. It has been replacing my Carmex lately so I think it is safe to say Carmex is getting a run for its money! This lip butter is much more smoother than the Carmex but I think they stand right next to each other when talking about dried lips being repaired. It also smells so amazing!  Like an almond buttercream....yeah that it- Almond butter cream it is!

Other Favorites:
My favorite guru always seems to change on Youtube but I have had the same 2 favs for a couple months now and in case you guys dont know who they are, I wanted to let you know about them:

EmilyNoel83- Her channel is Beauty Broadcast on Youtube and she is also a news anchor. I just really love her. She has great charisma and is really captivating. She's into the same beauty products I am into- She is always talking about things you would never hear of on any other guru's channel- I get alot of idea's from her so I def. recommend her channel! Another thing about her is that she comes up with video's that honestly nobody else on youtube would- she is really creative when it comes to videos and I really cannot say enough about her. So if your looking for new great products and someone else to follow, Emily's alot of fun to watch. she also has a blog which is a great one too on blogger

Amarixe- I always love the things she talks about in videos and her personality is great- If I knew this chick, we would be cool. She is, Like Emily, really easy to watch and is also really relatable. Her makeup is always so beautiful too which makes me realize I should invest in some expensive shadows. Her blog is also a great read as well

Jenna Marbles- She isnt a beauty guru in the least- she is actually a comedian on Youtube. My personal favorites are how to avoid people and disney movies. I love comedy because you can always tell who has your sense of humor through comedy (obviously) and my boyfriend Phil loves her too. I catch him watching her all the time which is hilarous to me because he dosen't even have a youtube account. Let me know in the comments if you guys like her too! I would love to know your favorites as well!

the pictures of the youtube people were (obviously) not taken by me-

Financial Favorite- My boyfriend won the lottery a couple weeks ago! isnt that awesome?!?!! He won $345 after taxes and bought me some makeup and bought himself a new guitar- So yeah, that didn't last long but it was fun spending it

those are my favorites for the month on November- what have you guys been loving? If you did your own favorites post or video please link it below in the comments- I would love to see what you guys have been loving!

By the way, my give-away is extended till December 14th so you have 14 more days to enter! only 7 comments so far guys! 

Thanx so much for reading, 

xoxo, Erica J

Smashbox Try It Kit

Hey guys! I hope your having a great day - Sept. is almost over and that means November will be here soon, and that means Black Friday will be directly after that! My favorite holiday(s) are coming up Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years! But my absolute fav is Christmas. I went to DG yesterday and there was so much X-mas stuff already! Yay! I am def. getting ahead of myself. Lets go on to my Smashbox stuff:

Smashbox Try It Kit $19

I have wanted this forever, it has been on my wishlist for some time now and I was so exited to try it out. For $19 I dont think you can get any better than this. Even tho they are all mini's, I think it is worth it.

Face Primer: This has a silky texture, just like L'Oreal's Magic Perfecting Base even tho this is a gel. however, I think this might work better to fill in pores and all that. Like I mentioned before, with the L'Oreal primer, I dont think I was using enough of it - so I am using a little more with this stuff. I only have so much of it but I def. think I can get my money's worth out of it.

Eye Primer: I have tried a few so far: Mark's, Elf's & Jesse's Girl and I must say, this is the best one. I think it can double as a second concealer for the lid because it is pretty pigmented- although if you have redness, I think a concealor on the lid before the primer would do you better. ("do you better"?- where's your mind Erica?!) The consistency of this stuff is different than anything else I have tried. It isn't oily (like mark.) or silky like Jesse's Girl. It is the exact opposite of the way the Jesse's Girl one feels. Much more dense, I guess would be a good description. I went to an 8 hr work day and my eye makeup was still there by the end of it, so the primer did it's job too- that's a plus.

Eye Liner: I am not sure if this is kohl, but it does look like one anyway. Either way, I personally have used better ones. Mark has a really good kohl liner that will last longer and is much more pigmented than this one is. I just feel like it takes so many strokes on my water line to even show. Lining my lid I didn't seem to have a problem tho. Fair warning, it does run off of where I lined & onto the side of my eye. You can never have too many back-ups tho, right? I sell Mark if you wanna check the liner out! or anything else for that matter!

Mascara: I like my mascara's to lengthen and this one creates more volume than it does lengthen. However, it is a really nice mascara because it has a thicker consistency and it hasn't ran down my face yet. It is a really good mascara, but I guess this just depends on what you look for in a mascara. If your looking for a good volumizing mascara, then you have come to the right place.

Lipgloss: Obviously sheer, but it has some sparkle to it. I think it gives a very light touch of pigment, so if you wore it by itself, it would look natural. It smells delicious, real brown sugary sweet like.

Overall: I really love the eye primer & the face primer. Eye Liner isnt the best & the mascara is a good one, but it depends on what your looking for. Lipgloss is good too. I think it was worth the $19 to try it out. I think they could have got away with just doing 4 products, so trying all 5 for under $20 is a great opportunity.

Ill give this 4 out of 5 stars and that is only because I am not highly impressed with the liner. It's not the worst, but I like my liner to stay in place and when I am applying liner into my water line, it would be nice to see it.  The liner isn't something I will re-purchase.

swatches (obviously)

My Mark Store

have a great day!!!!

Target Sale: BOGOFree! Physician's Formula

Hey People! thanx to  Nouveau Cheap I found out about the BOGO Free on the Physician's Formula at Target! Naturally I got in the car and drove right to Target. The sale is only on certain products and at first I didn't see anything on sale. There is a small black tag on select items, so look a little closer once you get there. The deal includes Shimmer Strips Eye Shadow, Shimmer Strips Pencil Liners, Mascara, & a Powder. I opted for the Shimmer Strips eye shadow for blue eyes, & the Shimmer Strips eye liners for brown eyes. I needed another black liner and even tho I really wanted to try the Maybelline Master Drama Cream Pencil, I heard it was a dupe for the Urban Decay liners. Even tho my favorite liner is L'Oreal's Kohl Liner, there was a sale and I have never tried Physician's Formula liners and I love PF so I wanted to give 'em a go! How can you beat 3 liners, & a palette for $10!??! Know to what you guys clicked on my bloggie blog for:

Shimmer Strips Shadow for Blue Eyes- Even tho I don't have blue eyes I think I probably liked this one the best. I would have probably got the one for Brown Eyes but they sadly out ): That one comes with bronze & purples and those are my favorite colors to use! I barely have any blue shadows so why not?

Shimmer Strips Liner for Brown Eyes- I think this was the only one with a black liner if im not mistaken and I use black liner every. single. day. & like I said I was running out of my black liner. Not only does it have black, it also comes with purple and brown. In a perfect world, I would have wanted a teal/blue in place of the brown since I already have a brown liner, but I can't complain.

Quick Review- Even tho these are called Shimmer Strips I dont really see any shimmer. I was actually hoping there wouldn't be much shimmer because I personally just like solid colors with no funny business. So if your looking for some shimmer liners, I wouldn't recommend these, I actually think that the Avon Glimmer Sticks have fabulous pay-off when it comes to the shimmer/glitter. Not too much, but just enough.

As you know, I can get a bit picture happy (:

FYI- When I was rung up my total came like $20 and they didn't discount me right away. I mentioned the sale and they had to go and double check on it so I don't think this sale is being advertised so make sure your cashier knows about the BOGOFree- thanx for reading & happy shopping (:

June Favorites

hey guys! As usual, my favorites are a little late- I always seem to do mine a few days into the months. Either way, im sure you can see that my layout & header are new- I made them with gimp! So, my blog will be a construction zone for next couple of days.

Maybelline Superstay Concealer- Great for any blemish or under eye circles. This stuff is long lasting, trust me! It really sticks to your skin! For that reason, I think it can really double as a shadow primer for a simple look. A little goes a long way with this stuff! and I also find that if I apply just a bit with the doe-foot applicator and then take my finger and kinda press/roll it into my skin with as opposed rub it in, I find it blends really well into my skin and creates a really even skin tone- no concealer lines on this face!

Victoria Secret Sun Dust Bronze Shimmer Body Powder- This is a very shimmery bronzer for your body as opposed to your face. I do love this bronzer but I do have to go back over where I applied the bronzer with another blush brush. i find that you really can't blend it out w/ the brush it comes with, even when the thing is closed- the bronzer will still keep flowing out of the top of the brush! If you are familiar with the Bronze Beach sexy line from VS, you know this smells like. Sun-Kissed.

NYX Milk Jumbo Pencil- As everybody else does, I like to put it in the inner corners near my tear ducts to brighten em up a bit. I also like to put this on after my eye-shadow primer and before my actual eye-shadow, I find it really makes the shadow pop. I haven't had to sharpen this thing yet, Ive had it for about 2 months now & use it daily. At around $3-4 it's pretty much a steal. Here's a pic demonstrating how this pencil can make any shadow pop:

Mark. London Bridge Eye Shadow- I used this in my Kourtney Kardash FOTD it has been one of those shadows that ive had for months but haven't picked it up in a while- love. this. color. Its a taupe color but with a silver dimension to it. I think it is a really complex, beautiful color- I love it! (swatches above) I think this shadow is exclusive to the Flip For It London Palette but I am pretty sure you can still purchase this on either the Avon or Mark website- If your interested, I would recommend checking Avon first, honestly. I sell mark so click here to shop

And Lastly True Blue Spa Shea Cashmere Hand Cream- I lather this on my whole body after the shower or the bath- I could really put this stuff on a piece of toast- yummy! It smells really buttery and cashmere-y. This has been my favorite since I purchased it! Love this stuff!

Just another favorite it using a Sponge instead of a brush to apply foundation. Wow, I wish I would have done this all along. I like to put some of my liquid foundation right on the sponge and dot/smudge it on my face in circular motions (if that makes any sense). It really blends beautifully and isnt streaky like how it can be when applied with a foundation brush! The foundation also goes on really even when applied with the sponge- if you haven't tried a sponge for foundation, give it a try! A downfall is that it kinda sucks alot of foundation up, so you may need to use more foundation but I dont care- i would rather have an even tone face!

So thats all for my favs (: did you do a favorites post for last month? if you did, please link em in the comment! Thanx for reading guys and have a great night! (or day, depending on where you are in the world)

Small NYX Haul

Hey everybody! They just opened up an Ulta a few days ago where I live and I was so exited to go and check it out. I really have been wanting to try NYX products for some time so I thought this was a perfect chance- For NYX products its Buy 2 Get 1 Free for the whole week at Ulta. Plus I did have a %20 off coupon! So here's what I got: 

   Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo, Lipstick in Summer Love

From left to Right (or) Top to Bottom Milk, Tokyo, Summer Love - I could pick just one swatch! you notice how Summer Love Varies a bit?

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil- I like this alot. I have seen it in many You-Tube videos and I have been wanting to try it for a highlight and for the inner corner. I really like it alot. It has great pigment to it and now that I have purchased this, I have been using it as a highlight under the brows,  I dont think I would be able to live without it! it blends pretty well I have also been putting it above my cupids bow, I think it's perfect to shape my lips. 


Soft Matte lip Color in Tokyo- It is not lipstick or a gloss, It's a lipstick cream that goes on silky but looks soft matte is what the bottle reads. I love this color! it's a really pretty pink as you can see. The only thing about this is it can be kind of drying to your lips after a while & the color fades slightly. I have been carrying a lip balm along with this lip cream and that helps the dryness throughout the day. I just love the color. Just a side note it smells like cupcakes! yummy!

Lipstick in Summer Love- This is a nice nude lipstick in the respect that it is really soft. I can only speak for this one lipstick but with Summer Love it is more sheer than matte, which is fine- as long as it isn't to sticky or glossy.  I really wanted to post a pic of it on my lips but my camera wouldn't cooperate because the swatch differs a bit on my lips. it looks darker on my hand than on my lips. I like the color it gives off, I like lighter color on my lips. Not the perfect nude for everybody- I have a tan and I like it on my tan skin. I am not sure if I didn't have a tan if I would like it or not. Looking back I wish woulda tried Strawberry Milk...but I decided to step outta my pink box!

I love this Brand! They are so generous on prices and the product's are great! i was really impressed with the jumbo eye pencil with how much pigment it gives off.. Anybody else have anything they like from NYX that is worth checkin out? Thanx too for stoppin by!