10 Makeup Tips to Save You Time and Money!

1. Discount stores: 

Like TJ Max/Nordstrom Rack often have high end makeup items on clearance. It's always a good idea to pop over to one of them before heading to Sephora. You never know what incredible deals you can find. 


2. Half It:

Do you always find your self running out at the last minute to buy cotton round or sponges? I know I do. For whatever reason I never can remember I am running low until its too late. You can save some cash and time running out for them, by cutting them in half. This way you double the amount you have on hand. 


3. DIY Lip Plumper:

Adding a few drops of peppermint oil to any lip gloss will give you your desired look, without the high price tag.

4. Sample First:

Perfume can be expensive. Always ask for a tester sample at Sephora or ulta before deciding to open your wallet. This way you can try it for a few days to be sure it will be a good fit. 


5. Shop Online:

Often you can find items on mark down for less then what you can find in the store. So on your next makeup trip, take a photo of everything you want and look it up online. If you are stocking up you can really save some cash. 

6. Keep old mascara wands:

Many mascara formulas are the same, the difference is in the brush. More often then not the high price of the product is based on the brush style. So the next time you run out of your favorite high-end mascara, try using the brush from it in a cheaper mascara. You will get the same effects. 

7. Avoid Eye level:

This tip is an oldie. Sephora, Ulta, and many other retailers put higher priced items at eye level. Often if you look lower you will find an equally good product for less. 

8.Keep Them: 

Keep your old makeup containers and recycle them for another use. I do this with all of my pump bottles as many foundations in the U.S. do not have a pump. 

9. Instaint Eye Lift:

Simply apply a white highlighter or eyeshadow to under your eyebrow. It will give you the look of a lift with ease. 

10.  Downward Strokes: 

If you have lots of peach fuzz or dry skin, always apply your foundation with downward strokes. This will keep flaky skin and peach fuzz laying down and it will not be noticeable. 

$1 Primer That Will Keep You Matte All Day!

Today I have a great tip for you. Some of you may have heard of this trick before, for those of you who have not, I promise I am not crazy. Milk of magnesia is a common laxative people take for bowl discomfort. It is suspended in water and has great skin benefits.  It combats oily skin and will leave your face looking matte and shine free all day long. Seriously! With summer just on our heels in the states, I wanted to get this out there for all of you. 

Start off by heading to your local pharmacy or store to pick up a bottle of MOM, It is under $5 at most stores for a huge bottle. I suggest going to the dollar tree though, as I got mine for $1 there and it is a 12 oz bottle. A little goes along way and this bottle should last me 6+ months. Make sure you by the regular brand, not flavored. Flavored may irritate your face. If you still think I am a little Coo coo, you can check some reviews on Makeup Alley, you will have to sign up for an account first. There are hundreds of reviews with people swearing by this. 

Image: MakeupAlley

I have been doing this for weeks now. I have noticed that it keeps my makeup on all day, with no melting. I have also noticed a decrease in the amount of breakouts I usually see. If you are looking for MATTE, then here is your answer. I promise you will be matte all day. I recently wore my makeup for 12 hours and had to do no touch-ups. 

When I apply this I shake the bottle and put a very small amount in the cup that comes with it and apply it onto my face with a foundation brush (After applying moisturizer). You can apply this to just your T zone or any areas where you get oily. Then I rub it in until you cannot see it any more.  Allow it to dry. I usually do my eyebrows at this point and its dry when I am done. 

If you put on too much, you will have a white chalky residue on your face. Don't worry just rub it off. It will come off easily. It will feel firm at this stage, but after you apply your foundation it will feel normal. You can apply a primer after if you want and are only doing your T zone areas. But you don't have too.  If you have very oily skin you can do 2 coats also.

When you apply your foundation start by stippling it on. This way you wont rub off the MOM. Once your face is covered with foundation, you can buff it if you want.With this tip, you will no longer have to re-powder your oily spots all day long. This will keep you Matte and shine free. :)

Check out this hilarious video by Macshadowcombos, she does a full review on this technique at 6 and 10 hours and also shows how she applies it: 

Now I know some of you may be wondering if this is safe for you to use. Don't  MOM is less damaging then benzoyl peroxide , hydrogen peroxide, salicylic acid and vitamin A retinoids which are common methods of the treatment of excess oil. All bodies are different and if someone is experiencing adverse effects is maybe due to a sensitivity to the magnesium. So as always, spot test before use, just to be sure you are not sensitive to magnesium! 

*Extra Tip:

You can also use MOM as a face mask for acne. Simply apply a thick layer to your face and allow to dry. Wash off in 15 minutes with cool water. 

Magnesium is a natural ingredient that comes from the earth. MOM is just a liquid suspension of it. It is very similar to clay and has ingredients that will help fight bacteria and remove oil better then clay can.  

May Glam Bag!

It's that time of the month again. I got my Ipsy Glam Bag in the mail last week and I finally got a chance to try it all out. I know I have been slacking the last few months, but I wanted to go ahead and post this one. I was beyond excited when I got my sneak peek of my bag this month. Early on I was able to get a sneak peek of 5 items and I would receive only one of them. I saw a blending brush in the list and hoped I would get it. Ipsy bags can be a fickle beast. Some months your LOVE them and others you get a few awesome products and a few so so. Occasionally I get something I can't use and I trade it for something else.  

Well when I got my sneak peek, I got more then what I hoped for. I got all the things I wanted, including the blending brush. Here is what I got:


1. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Lip Pencil: 

This thing works like a charm. It matches any lip stick color and you can use it as a liner or a lip primer. It does make my lipstick last hours longer and is comfortable. 4 stars!  

Urban Decay

2. Luxie Rose Blending Brush:

I am very impressed with this brush. It does a wonderful job of blending out my eyeshadow. Its hard to believe, but I honestly feel like it does a better job then my Sigma brush. I am in love with it and highly recommend it. 5 stars!

Luxie Rose

3. Pixi Bronzer: 

To be honest I have 5 bronzers and I really don't need another one. So I traded this one for a 24 hour waterproof gel liner. My mother also got this bronzer and I swatched it, its very pigmented and goes on really smooth. Based on the swatch I will give this 4 Stars! 

Pix!

4. Breakups To Makeup Mini Clutch: 

I was so excited to see this months bag. It is adorable and is my favorite bag from ipsy so far. I will be carrying this for a long time. I think its the perfect statement piece and it fits my personality well. 5 stars! 

Makeup Clutch

5. Briogeo Rosarco Milk:

 This is a reparative leave in conditioner. I used this on my daughter and myself today. It made brushing her hair a lot easier and it makes your hair smell amazing. I wish I could describe the smell, but I can't. It smells natural and refreshing. Not tropical or floral. However I cant see paying $20 just for these reasons when I can buy some from the dollar store for $1. I don't think the sample is big enough to see any reparative results. I used 5 pumps in my daughters hair and 3 in mine and half the sample was gone. So I can't really say if it repairs or not. :( 3 stars! 

Briogeo

6. It Cosmetics CC+: 

I know I am going to make someone mad for saying this so I will go ahead and apologize. I have received 3 samples over the past year from It Cosmetics and I am not impressed with any of them. 
Now maybe its ipsy's fault but I have ivory skin and they always send me an orange color from It Cosmetics. I hate it, I cant use it, and the next time I meet one of the girls walking around with and orange spray on tan, I'm gonna offer them to her. I just cant do anything with it. My biggest problem with it is that even though it is orange it still does not cover any redness or the darkness under my eyes. However, the company claims that it will and it does. I even watched the video tutorial on the It Cosmetics web page as soon as I saw that I was getting it, so I could put it on correctly. Nope still an epic fail. This brand and I are just not compatible and I will not spend hard earned money to try any of it.  1 star! 

It Cosmetics

Well thats all of it I hope you guys enjoyed a view into my glam bag this month. If you would like to give ipsy a try here is there link: Ipsy It's only $10 a month and that includes shipping. Ipsy is a great way to try new products and see what is out there that you will love. I have found many awesome products this way. 

Mega Savings at ULTA + My Ulta Haul

Hey everyone! I found a huge sale at Ulta.com and wanted to share it with you! I received a $10 off anything in the store or online card in the mail this week and waited patently till payday to order.  I wanted to see how much I could get for under $30 and I spent most of my morning selecting and deselecting items in a crazy random order. I was looking for quantity and quality. Its hard to find both for such a small dollar amount, but we are heading out on vacation in a few weeks and I am being frugal. 

The first thing I want to tell you is that they are having a memorial day offer. 
You can get 2x or 3x points from 5/22-5/30. Platinum members get 3x. This is amazing because you can save up the points to receive dollar amounts off of future purchases.  You have to activate this offer to receive extra points to do that: Go to the top on the page, next to your name click the downward arrow and select "my account". When that page opens click the "my reward tab" above the big welcome text that says "WELCOME YOURNAME" it is toward the top of the page. Then scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and you should see this:

 Just click on the button to the right and activate the offer. Now you will get the extra points when you place your order. Here is a breakdown of the point system:

Image: Ulta.com

Ulta also has a huge sales going on in all departments. Here is a breakdown of their sale items You can also find it HERE on their site:

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

 I took advantage of the NYX eye cosmetics buy 1 get 1 50% off. But there are so many options depending on what you are looking for.  

Image: Ulta.com

 I was able to score some pretty amazing items for very little money here is what I am getting: 

1. Tarte Eye Opening 12-piece Amazonian Clay Eyeliners:  

This Is my most anticipated item. It was on sale for $25. Which is a steal because usually 1 Tarte eyeliner is in the $20 range. The manufactuers suggested retail price is $192.00, so I jumped on this deal. I believe QVC had it on sale a few months ago for $50. I can't wait to get these and swatch them for you guys. 

Includes:
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Nude
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Bronze
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Brown
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Chocolate
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Plum
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Antique Gold
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Hunter Green
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Jungle Green
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Navy
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Charcoal
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Black
0.0423-oz eyeliner in Golden Plum
Sharpener
Roll bag

Image: Ulta.com

It comes in this adorable case. 

Image: Ulta.com

2. Nxy Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in the color Milk: 

This was $4.49 but I used the buy1 get1 for 50% off so the total was $2.25 for this. This is a multi use item and I can't wait to give it a try. 

Image: Ulta.com

3. NYX Automatic Eyebrow Pencil : 

This was $ 4.99. I have heard rave review about this item so I decided to go ahead and give it a try also. 

Image: Ulta.com

4. Pixel Single Pan Eyeshadow & Build in Applicator:

I have never heard of this brand before. When I was looking around I noticed each pan was on markdown from $3.99 to $0.49 each. Then I looked at the reviews, it has 4 1/2 stars on ulta, which says a lot about it. I rarely see items over 4 stars. They currently have 15 shades and I bought 7 of them. I couldn't help my self with the price. 

Image: Ulta.com

Here is the review category and ratings from Ulta:

Easy to apply (30)
Good value (28)
Good pigmentation (26)
Long lasting (25)
Versatile (18)

Here are the colors I bought:

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

Image: Ulta.com

Once I get a hold of all of these items I will swatch and review each one. :) So all in all I got 10 items (if you count the liner, case and sharpener separate I got 24 items) and with my $10 off card, the only thing I actually paid for was the Tarte 12 piece eyeliner set. My total order price was $25.67. I think I did pretty well considering my budget price. 

Makeup Brushes on A Budget!

Can's afford Sigma brushes, or maybe you  wanna save your cash for a new eye shadow pallet? Then I have the solution for you.

A few months ago I was looking for high quality makeup brushes at a decent price. I have just delved into the brush world completely. I have always used brushes to apply my shadow and blush, but never for my foundation, powder, and contorting. I really wanted to give it go, but on the off chance I did not like it. I did not want to have a huge dent in my wallet. 

While looking through Amazon I came across a set of 10 brushes the 

"Premium Synthetic Kabuki Makeup Brush Set". You can find them HERE. They are $11.98 with free shipping. 

I ordered these bad boys and they came in about a week. This item has been reviewed over 1200 times and 841 of these reviews are 5 star. I myself gave them a 5 star review. They are very dense and are so so soft.  They work like a charm and now I am hooked on my brushes. 

Now these babies are not labeled and because of that I did create the image above and a chart that I will post below this. If you do decided to buy these you will see my images in the review section, but I thought I would post them here as well. So you all can know exactly what you are getting. 

As mentioned in the reviews, the brushes do have a slight chemical smell from the paint on the handles. Its really not that bad though. I had the brushes for a few days before I used them and the smell was gone before I did. 

Here is the description chart I made as well so you can see what each is for. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this review. I hope that if you buy the brushes you love them as much as I do.

e.l.f.'s New Brushes have Arrived.

e.l.f. has just released their new brushes. I am really excited to try these out after watching a video from e.l.f. about them. As always these brushes are set at a terrific price range that's easy on our wallets. I use e.l.f. products daily in my makeup routine and find that they are both affordable and of decent quality. The brushes released are the Studio Eyebrow Duo ($3.00), Studio Ultimate Blending Brush ($6.00), and the Studio Contouring Brush ($6.00). You can purchase these brushes HERE from e.l.f.'s web page. I am digging the black color of these new brushes. So what are you waiting for? Go get your beauty on!