Top 5 Summer Blushes

I get into these moods- I know I have mentioned it here on MBB before- where I am obsessed with outfits, lipsticks, brushes, fruit, home decor, candles, photography, whatever the obsession is for the week- I get into it. Like for reals. Lately I have been obsessed with blushes. Here are my top picks for this summer!

Milani

Corallina

I think the reason for my obsession has been my latest edition in my blush collection. This baby! Oh me gosh- this is just gorgeous! Baked blushes/bronzers are always pretty in the pan, but this is just on another level. When you swatch this it looks a little lighter and brighter of a shade of coral with tiny flex of shimmer. Once applied, it brings a beautiful color to the cheeks along with a highlighting quality because of the shimmer in it- you do not need a highlight when using this blush. This is not one of those blushes that you need to apply twice. The tiniest bit will make your cheeks pop- I gotta be careful with this one, it packs pigment! Not to mention the packaging looks like it should be on the right side of Ulta {are all Ulta's set up with the higher end products on the right side of the store?} but you can find it in CVS for under $10. If you have never tried any Milani baked blushes, I can honestly say you must!

Wet n Wild Color Icon

Heather Silk

This is another banger at the drugstore. One of those blushes that you cannot swirl your brush in over and over. Lightly tap the brush into the blush then tap off the excess- I repeat, tap off the excess! This baby is pigmented and it is only like 2 or 3 bucks! If your not into the shimmer, then this is the perfect blush for you. It is a matte medium pink. It is the darkest color of the bunch. This is an all year round blush for sure. Love this one.

Physician's Formula

Rose

The packaging is adorable. It even comes with a legit brush that I can actually use {I like to use it for contouring my nose because of the shape- it reminds me of a smaller version of the Nars Ita brush} If your new to makeup I think this is a great pick for you. It's not one of those blushes that is so pigmented that it's hard to use but it is surely buildable. Once applied it looks so beautiful on the cheeks. This is a blush that has some shimmer in it {not as much as Corallina}. This blush is magical- It has a highlighting quality without being crazy shimmery. It does have a little bit of shimmer in the pan but on the cheeks it doesn't look shimmery. It just looks brightening. On top of that it brings a nice pink flush to the cheeks. You will see in the swatch photo, it looks almost identical to Dollface. However, if you swatch more of that brighter pink color as opposed to the baby pink (which is how I usually wear it/how its swatched in the photo) you will get a different color. Thinking back I wished I would have swatched it that way. I need to start wearing more of the brighter color because it is so pretty on the back of my hand right now!

ELF Studio Blush

Pink Passion

I am in love with ELF's Studio Blushes. If I could have, I would have put them all in this blog post but because half of them have broken and have the pan showing, I decided it wouldn't be a very cute photo. So here is a review on the line. Anyways, this blush is the brightest of the bunch: a hot bubble gum pink. It is also a matte blush. It is also extremely chalky, which also makes it very pigmented. Tap off the excess, please! With all of these pros and cons, it is a great blush in my collection and it is well loved- I have been using it more than ever this summer. A great pick for any skin tone!

Tarte Amazonian Clay

Dollface
Another matte pink blush. It swatches just like PF's Rose but without the shimmer. It's hard to swatch! It isn't all that pigmented but again, I kinda like that quality in a blush because you can build it up without having to worry about looking like a clown. This one just does something for me. It is that blush that I go to when I don't know what else to wear.

This blog post goes along with The Summer Edit Pt II. I mentiond some of these in that video and also a couple more. The other one's I mention in the video are some of my favorites but they just do not photograph that well because they look used and worn down, to be frank. So check it out!




Thanx for reading!
<3
Erica

Mind Body Beauty's First Give-Away

R u ready?!

Omg I have been collecting stuff for months now.....haha. Here's the deal. I got my job I am at now back in November and it is the longest standing job I have had and I am so exited that I found somewhere that I can be of service. I actually feel like I bring something to the table here. No, I don't make a ton of money but enough to do some fun things. My blog is one of those things I save money for and this is the type of stuff I spend that money on. I am blessed. Which means I want to bless u all. And I am already collecting stuff for a new give-away. I hope to shoot for the middle of summer with that one. When I first started my blog, it was formerly Meet Makeup. I had a giveaway 2 Christmases ago {wow. that long ago?} when I was Meet Makeup.

In light of GFC being done with at the beginning of July, I figured this was the perfect time to give-away some stuff to encourage everyone to follow me on Bloglovin. That's the catch. Follow me on Bloglovin. I am really bummed about GFC closing down. I think every blogger is nervous that blogger blogs will be forgotten about. Maybe I should switch platforms? Like Wordpress? But I like the community here so if your a blogger like me, I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Good Stuff

 Physician's Formula 
Happy Booster

Remember my CVS haul? That was fun. This was the only thing I paid for thanks to CVS extra bucks. That's another story. I figured this would make a great prize because Physician's Formula is one of my favorite brands, especially their blushes and bronzers. You get two in one. Pretty awesome.

Wet n Wild Trio

Silent Treatment

This is probably of my favorite trio from Wet n Wild. I almost bought a Physician's Formula eyeshadow palette but the Wet n Wild one's are more pigmented. They also really know how to pair colors. I never see an ugly color from them. That Lid shade is to die for. The crease shadow is extremely dark. The brow bone shade is a little more sheer but I use a fluffy blending brush to apply it underneath my brow bone anyways rather than a dense pack-it-on brush. It gives a softer finish that way.

Sweet Spun Sugar Candle

Target

I love these candles. I have a few of them. They have a great scent throw and this one smells amazing. I would say it smells more like a juicy candy rather than cotton candy. I figured this would be the most universal fragrance. I hope you enjoy it! (:

Donna Michelle

Caviar Beads

There is a secret about these that I talk about in the video (: I love these and use these all the time. I only do my bling finger as there just isnt enough to do all 5 nails. But it makes for a killer mani!

Kardashian Kolor {Nicole by OPI}

"Sophisti-Cuties"

This is a fun little try-em-before-you-buy-em type of gift set. I have this set and the pink set and I really like these nail polishes. They dry to a really glossy and hard finish. I love using Khlow had a Lam-Lam with the gold caviar beads. So dang cute!

The Official Rules 

{1 is mandatory. You can do both and you will get 5 extra entries.}

-Follow me on Bloglovin.

-Subscribe to the Mind Body Beauty Youtube channel.

once you have done one or the other, leave a comment in the comments section here on MBB or the giveaway video on Youtube.

You can tell me....

what you want to see in future give-aways.

what you thoughts are about GFC and changing platforms.

what you like about my blog/videos

what you think I can improve on

whatever your inspired to talk about, say it!

The comment goes hand in hand with the first two. So pick one, or do both and get the extra entries but I need to know you want to be entered so leave a comment.

Extra entries:

There are a ton:

1 point:

• Like the Youtube Give-Away Video
• Follow me on twitter. 
• Tweet about my give-away {leave the url below}
• Follow me on instagram.
• Follow Mind Body Beauty {or all the boards} on Pinterest!
• Re-Pin the giveaway on a board of your own

5 points:

• Mind Body Beauty now has a Facebook page! Like it 
• Blog about the give-away
• Put the give-Away in your side bar {along with the 1st picture}
• If your a blogger yourself, feel free to add this giveaway to your sidebar, using that first picture.
• Feel free to write a blog post about the giveaway

Comment Template:
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:

Bloglovin' URL:

Youtube Name:

Answer to any question:

Twitter Handle:

The twitter URL if you tweeted about the giveaway: 
Instagram Handle:
Pinterest Handle:
Blog URL:
Blog post URL to the blog post's if you blogged about it:


So leave your info in the comments!

The giveaway will end on July 4th and I can ship to anywhere in the US!

It will be announced....
On the youtube video
On this blog
Twitter
Facebook

Good Luck

xoxo
Erica

Using CVS Extra Bucks {$18 total}

I am not all that great with coupons, but I do know how to save a buck or 2. Thanks to Nouveau Cheap, I found out that it was a great week last week to use extra bucks. The trick is to do separate transactions.

Transaction #1:

Spend $14 on Physician's Formula and get $10 back in extra bucks:

I knew this was a perfect time to buy one last thing for my giveaway coming up. I wanted to get something worth some money. I just felt like it was a sacrifice and that is something I like to do from time to time. Even though it's hard. But you feel good when you buy something for someone else instead of you. And it's karma. It isn't very hard to find something for $14 from this brand. This bronzer was $13.99 but it worked luckily. The first transaction was the biggest one. I paid full price - $14.

Transaction #2:

Spend $10 on Sally Hansen get $5 back in extra bucks:

 I bought 4 nail polishes. This is my favorite brand of nail polish. I have been wanting to try Pacific Blue and the glitter top coat, Perky Pink. Perky Pink reminds me of Julep Maven's Portia, only a pink version. I needed a new Mint Sorbet. Coral Reef was a no brainer. Looking back, I should have also bought Lacey Lilac, the pastel purple instead of Mint Sorbet. Anyways, this totaled out to $12 total. I had my $10 extra bucks from the first transaction. So I paid $2 for this transaction

Transaction #3:

I have been wanting to try this Spray It Curly stuff. I have naturally curly hair and always love to try new curly hair products. I haven't found anywhere that sells it yet except for CVS so I decided to jump on it. It was around $6 total. I spent my $5 extra bucks and ended up paying like $2.

That brings the total to $18. Pretty good, huh?

I would have been $32 if I would have paid full price. Fuck that. I know better! 

Have you ever had the chance to use your extra bucks like this? 

 Do tell! 

and don't forget to check out Nouveau Cheap every week to find out how to get deals like this. It's a fun time.

xoxo
Erica

2012 Besties Awards

 I came up with this catchy name for this short little series I am doing on my favorite products from 2012. There may not be something from every category, but each one of these things I have used and loved all last year. A lot of times, I get swept up in brand new products and love them to death for the first couple weeks {honeymoon phase} then they seem to fall by the wayside. Everything in the Besties Awards have been long lasting romances throughout the whole year. These are things I go back to time and time again.

Best Setting Spray

Urban Decay De-Slick: 

I have tried the All Nighter Setting Spray from Urban Decay and ELF's Setting Spray and this one was my favorite. Surprisingly, I have dry and oily skin. I found that De-Slick made my makeup last longer than any of them and gave my face a nice matte finish. I used this during the summer too and it was a life saver! Here's the full review.

Best Concealer

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Treatment:

Maybelline's concealers are a long time favorite. This concealer is perfect for underneath the eyes. It is really thin but gives full coverage and seriously brightens underneath my eyes. The only down side is that the packaging on mine is broken so I have to work at it to twist up more product. If your looking for a good concealer for both under the eyes and on dark spots/pimples, try Maybelline's 24/7 Concealer.

Best Foundation

Revlon Color Stay:

I have tried so many foundations in the past couple of years and I always end up going back to this. Nothing is as full coverage as Color Stay. When they say color stay, they mean it! It dries rather quickly so blending it right away is a must. Once it is actually set, it makes my skin look flawless and gorgeous and covers everything and will stay put all day long.

Best Highlight

ELF Radiance Enhancer in Spotlight: 

Another thing from the Holy Grail page. This is one of those highlighters that have a duo-chrome finish. I wouldn't say this is glittery, instead shimmery. When it hits the light, it really does radiate. For $3, it really doesn't get any better. The packaging is sleek, it has a brush tip applicator, and is really creamy and extremely easy to blend. Any beginner wanting to dive into the whole contour/highlight process, this would be a perfect place to start. I want to do an updated review and demo using both colors ELF has to offer on the Radiance Enhancer range. Coming Soon (: For now, grab yourself a Radiance Enhancer. You won't regret it!

Best Bronzer/Contour Powder

Laura Gellar Baked Blush n Brighten in Honey Dipped: 

I got this in my Birch Box in June of 2011 and it was the sole best thing I have ever received in any box. Even though it has shimmer in it, I find it to be the perfect contour powder for me. Any matte contour powder or bronzer I have tried just looks really tacky and muddy next to my fair skin. In the summer time, this is the perfect all over bronzer because I am a little bit darker. The powder is really nice and is easy to blend. After the 2 years I have had it, it is still my absolute favorite bronzer and I use it more than any other one I have. I have yet to even think about hitting the pan. Talk to me in 2015. Maybe I will hit pan then. Probably not. I have swatched this before here

Best Blush

YBF Golden Gleam Bronzer & Baby Pink Blush Duo: 

The bronzer side is nice, yes, but I want to pay tribute to the blush side. This is the blush I kept on going back to all year last year and will most likely continue to do so in 2013. When ever I can't make my mind up, this is my go to blush. It is such a pretty shimmery baby pink color that creates this beautiful flush on my cheeks. The phrase "lit from within" was made for this blush. I don't hear much about YBF Beauty but the company is a diamond in the rough! Check out HSN. They sell YBF (which is where I purchased it) value kits for a really good prices. Here's everything I got in my value kit when I ordered along with swatches of this duo. It's a really good blog post.

left: ybf blush/bronze duo. right: laura gellar baked blush n brighten

Best Eyeshadow

 Stila Eyeshadows

Yes, I own the Naked Palette and it's great and all, but not as great as the Stila eye shadows I own. The lighter shades in the Naked Palette aren't as pigmented as Kitten from Stila . Same thing goes for the matte shades. Stila's Kitten is my absolute favorite eye shadow in the world and thats because it doesn't take much to get pigment on my eyes. All of the Stila eye shadows I own are always so velvety, creamy and pigmented and I almost always use at least 1 of them on a daily basis. Here's a swatch I did of Kitten, Terracotta + Jezebel.  I would gladly do a blog post on my full Stila eye shadow collection. Those swatches are old. I can do a better job! Let me know if your interested.

Best Eye Liners
Any of the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips

I picked these because they are the only drug store eye liner I used in 2012 that stayed in my water line the whole day and kept the pigment and didn't run down my face. I actually had a lot to say about these, so check out the review I did for them a couple days ago. You can also find swatches there too.

Best Mascara
Physician's Formula Organic Wear

I did a full review complete with pictures of the brush and it on my lashes. Check it out.

Top 10 Nail Polishes and Favorite Lip Products deserve their own separate blog post. Otherwise this blog post would be way too long! It might be labeled "Bestie's Award's" and it might not be. It depends on how long it takes me to get them up (: Don't worry! It will only take a couple weeks, tops.

What was your favorite product from last year?
Would you be interested in a Stila eyeshadow collection blog post?

till next time,
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

2012 Besties: My Favorite Mascara

One of those beauty products that I tend to try out throughout the year is mascara. I almost never stick to the same one. I really love to test out different one's. I usually try out maybe 5 or 6 different kinds through out the year. Of course, 2012 was no different. I tried plenty of mascara's in 2012 and the one that always stuck out to me was:

when I am looking for a mascara, I want one that's:

Going to really get in there and volumize and lengthen. Doing just one or the other isn't good enough! Of course, with the right technique's you can get any mascara to work out to some degree, but it's nice to find one that you know you don't have to work hard at to achieve a certain look.

{Physician's Formula}
 

My lashes aren't sparse. My lashes aren't thick or anything either. I would say I have pretty normal eye lashes. I find that this mascara both lengthens and volumizes my lashes and creates the illusion of them being thicker than they really are without making them look clumped together- while it is on my lashes.
 ♥
I can't really say that I saw lash growth after a couple weeks of use or anything like that but if your looking for a really great mascara that will give you all of the above for the day or night, you've found it!
 ♥
Also, if I curl my lashes before I add mascara, it will hold my curl well. This mascara doesn't weigh down my eye lashes at all.  

♥
When they mention 100% of people saw enhanced lahes instantly, it makes me go "hmmm." Of course you would see an enhancement instantly. That is why we all wear mascara, right? I think they are really trying to hammer in that idea of it actually growing your lashes over time. Im sorry but I just didn't see that.
♥

What I also really love about this mascara is the fact that it doesn't make my lashes look clumpy or spidery. If you apply several coats, it's inevitable but I never find my self needing more than 2 coats. The first coat always looks pretty. The second coat is when I start to notice those lashes I didn't even know I had being brought out and lengthened.

♥

I would call this a creamy consistency (not a wet formula).

♥

About the brush:

The brush on this is a modern plastic one. I think I can attribute the finish of my lashes to the wand as much as the formula. It really does have a way of grabbing even the shortest, thinest eye lashes and bringing them to a new height.
♥

*edit / disclaimer: I have had this mascara for months and months because I was planning on reviewing it but never got around to it. The pictures you see are from a couple days ago. The mascara looks a little dry on the wand, but it's not. This is just an old bottle

♥
Here's what it looked like on my lashes. This isn't the best picture (I took it months ago!) but you can see it really lengthens and separates my lashes. In real life, it seems like I will get even more length than that. My lashes will just touch the bottom of my brows.I wasn't even going to add this picture because it doesn't do my words any justice, in my opinion. But, a picture is worth a thousand words and I figure you may benefit more from the picture than any words I can type out.
♥

This is the only PF Mascara I have ever tried. I am wondering if the others are just as good {or better}.
 ♥
If your wanting to check this out for yourself, they sometimes have coupons stuck to the package of products. This mascara is somewhere around $10 and I paid less than $5 with a coupon and a BOGO deal.
♥

That was for sure my favorite mascara from 2012.
♥

Mally's Volumizing Mascara is giving Physician's Formula a run for it's money, honey!
 ♥

What was your favorite mascara in 2012?

Take Care,
Erica

CVS Beauty Clearance Sale

This is a really quick heads up on the CVS sale along with some of the stuff I bought that wasn't on sale. I am doing a video on all of this stuff + some holiday items (gifts, decor, cookie boxes!) which I have yet to film but I will link it here as soon as I do it so you can hear more about each item. I really wanted to get this up quick so you guys know what your going to find at CVS. The sale usually goes pretty quick!

1. Milani Lipstick in Orange Gina $1.49 ......................................................................................................................................I saved $4.50
2. Wet n Wild Bronzer in Princess $1.49......................................................................................................................................I saved $1.50
3. Wet n Wild Single Eyeshadow in Creme Brulee (matte cream color) $0.99....................................................................I saved $0.83
4. Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish in Cupid $1.45.......................................................................................................................I saved $4.34
5. Rimmel Eyeshadow Quad in Precious Crown $2.89...........................................................................................................I saved $2.90
6. John Frieda Root Booster Blow Dryer Spray $5.46 (not on clearance).............................................................................I saved $1.83
7. Physician's Formula Trio Eyeliner for Blue Eyes (the best drugstore liner! It wasn't on clearance but they did have the 3 packs of cream liners on clearance!) $11.49

I spent a total of $27.97

some stuff is 75% off while other items are 50% off. Go get it before its all gone!

Thanks for reading!

Yours Truly,

Erica

Current Beauty Faves

I have not done a favorites blog post in so long! I have had lots of different favorite products in the past few months, but I never did get around to talking about them. Here we go:

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam Foundation:  
After using it a time or 2, I wanted to take it back! I couldn't get used to the peculiar packaging. After using it a while, I started to really love it. I already love the Dream Mousse Foundation in a jar. That one is much more creamy and keeps my face really matte and gives really great coverage. This 1 is really much more airy although it doesn't give as good coverage as the the original Dream Mousse foundation does, it give nice coverage and dries to a nice velvet, almost matte, smooth finish. 

how to find your color

The actual product is hidden in the jar and the color they paint the actual can isn't the color of foundation that comes out. I ended up picking the perfect color match. I knew I am cool toned and I am also on the fair to the light side of the spectrum, so I chose the lightest shade with red/cool undertones. The color on the can looked nothing like my skin tone but the product inside did. Happy camper

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer:
I am a little bummed that mine keeps coming apart from the base because the product gets twisted up to the shaft, not the sponge tip, and there's a bunch wasted! Maybe I got a dud but concerning the actual product, I have been really loving it! You need only a very thin amount and because of the sponge applicator, it dictates how much is being applied to the face which in turn makes it pretty much fool proof. A really thin layer really covers a lot of ground and even outs and blends in nicely. I really love this. I may even love it better then Maybelline's 24/7 concealer!

Maybelline Mega Plush Volume Express Mascara:
I must be loving Maybelline! I am always looking for a mascara that will volumize, but more importantly a mascara that will lengthen. This one, will volumize more and I am not impressed with the length it gives. It gives some, but the ultimate is Revlon's Growlucious. The reason I love this is because of the formula. Once it dries, it doesn't make your lashes brittle or dry. It actually makes them smooth and "bouncy" would be I guess a good way to describe them. I am convinced, because of these points, that it is healthier for your lashes. Take that last comment with a grain of salt as I have no evidence of this. Purely speculation.

Tarte Blush in Dollface:
I wont go too much into detail because I did a whole blog post about this blush. I just love the color and I haven't found a blush yet that lasts as long as this one does on the skin. I love it.

Suave Dry Shampoo:
In the past, I have tried Oscar Blandi's dry shampoo. It was a huge disappointment! I tried and re-tried Oscar Blandi's version reading and re-reading every single word in the directions, convinced that a) I was obviously not doing it right or b) that dry shampoo just wasn't for me. Oscar Blandi's made my hair even more greasy than before. Suaves actually works well! It sucks up all of my oil and keeps me going for another day with gorgeous hair. It even adds volume to it! It say's it's for fine and straight hair, but I have thick, curly hair and it works great for me.

Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Eye Liner's for Brown Eyes:
A great deal. You get 3 eye liners for $10. They really are great eye liners too. I have been into the purple and brown ones a lot lately! Nicely pigmented and they last on my eyes. The swatch you see lasted on my hand all night. I tried washing it off with just water and my rubbing it with my hand and it still stayed. I would have swatched the black one, but it was down to almost nothing, then the liner fell out of the tube so, yeah.

ELF Eyeshadow:
This is totally random and I feel a little bad because this eyeshadow duo doesn't even have a name. I got it in a Christmas Pack from last year and also gave one of them away too. Life as a Southern Girl won so maybe she will be the one to benefit from this being added to my faves for inspiration for herself-lol. The eyeshadows are ok quality but with a primer, I have been loving the bronzed color on the lid with the brown color in the crease. Particularly, the bronzed color is actually a pretty good dupe for Urban Decays Smog. Next to Smog, The ELF one is much prettier with more silvery taupe finish, actually. It has more depth. I like it. If you can find it this coming Christmas season, they are really cheap! I found it at Target last year.

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray:
I bought this mega size at Sephora when it was on sale for $17. I really love the De-Slick (a Holy Grail) but I ran out and since this was so cheap, I figured I would try this one out! This 1 only keeps your makeup lasting and doesn't keep your face from getting oily like De-Slick does. De-Slick to me is better because of that but this one really does make your makeup last which was my favorite part about De-Slick anyhow. It's one of those products that I can't believe I have been living without it and now a good setting spray is a must. I have only tried Urban Decay setting sprays so far but you have tried another good brand that's a better price, let me know!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion:
I got this last year for Christmas with my Naked palette. I have never had a high end primer until this one and it keeps my makeup lasting longer then any other drug store brand. It also keeps it from creasing better than any other drug store one too. It creases slightly if I have too many layers but I have really oily eyes lids and I have hooded eyes so that may be why. It also really makes any eye shadow color look that much more distinguished and vibrant.

There you have my beauty favorites! 

If you have Monthly Favorites up on your blog, please link us so we can check them out too! 

as always,
thank you so much for reading
xoxo
Erica

Physicians Formula Eye Shadows

Keeping up with the 30 Day Blog Challenge, (which I ditched weeks ago! oopsie!) the next topic is My Favorite Brand. That was where I stopped doing the 30 day challenge. Simply because this was a tough one. How could I pick just one favorite brand? I just could not do so. There are so many brands I love I wouldn't wanna leave any out! However, I would love nothing more then to make a recommendation.

One of my favorite brands is Physician's Formula. Even though they do not have many lip products, which may be my favorite beauty product ever. That is also debatable. PF has some really awesome eyeshadows! And awesome blushes but that is a whole 'nother blog post!

Top 2 Bottom: For Blue Eyes, For Brown Eyes, The Nude Palette

Top 2 Bottom: For Blue Eyes, The Nude Palette, For Brown Eyes

Overall, each palette always has great colors that coincide with each other. I think they are an ok price, somewhere around $10. I found 2 of these on sale for $6 a piece. Score! 

Today I will be going over "For Brown Eyes" only. To see the Nude Palette complete with dupes and swatches, click!

The eyeshadow pigmentation is nice. They are not as velvety as Stila eye shadows, but I would say they are very comparable to Urban Decay as far texture and pigmentation goes.

The "For Brown Eyes" palette has to be my favorite one out of the 3. That's just by chance I guess because I do have brown eyes. But, blue colors really flatter brown eyes too! Im just a sucker for cooler colors and purples. Yummy. I could go on and on about the color combinations. Here's my favorites:

If I could have one complaint for my readers, I would say the fact that some of the colors in the palette take up only a small space wouldn't be ideal for everyone. It's not really ideal for me either, but you will only find darker shadows in the smaller spaces. I don't have any problem getting my crease brush into those smaller/darker colors, but I am brushing it's neighbor color by a hair. Keep that in mind. Usually I find that I don't need as much of the darker colors than I do the lighter colors anyway, so I am cool with it. For 2 reasons:

1.  In most cases, darker colors are more pigmented then lighter colors. PF shadows would be one of those cases. Looking back I wished I would have swatched the lighter ones, but again, I do have swatches of the nude palette here. It's not that the lighter ones aren't pigmented, they are! It's just that I find that I have to pick up color twice with lighter colors. I will only need to stick my brush in the darker colors once.
2. I need more of the lighter colors and less of darker colors anyway. I think most people would agree. So if I get less of the darker colors in the palette, it's fine because I only need that much.

The packaging is nice and durable. It comes with a slanted sponge tip applicator which I think is nice to have. You can use it for any of the darker colors to put over top your eye liner to seal it on. The brush also comes in handy when I want to add some eyeshadow to my bottom lashes as well. 

Lastly, here's my Stella puppy who needs to be in the middle of everything. She loves to stand right in front of my light source when I am trying to take pictures! Then I start snapping pictures of her and she runs away! lol!

Complete hit! Obviously your color preference may vary but I guarantee you will find a PF palette that you will love!

So if you learned anything from this blog post it would be:

1. Physician's formula eye shadows are the bomb &

2. I am extremely indecisive.

you learn something new every day!

About the 30 Day Challenge that I started 2 months ago (lol) I will still be finishing that challenge, but I will do them sporadically (yes, I learned that word from Clueless). So be on the look out for those. 

do you learn vocabulary from movies?

whats your favorite eyeshadow at the drugstore?

 Have a fab weekend, girl (or boy)!

till next time

xoxo

Erica

p.s. Have you checked out my first video?