April Favorites

April has been the month of eye shadows for me! I don't remember wearing so much eye shadow this often in a really long time. This month, however, has been all about them! I actually like that. Because now I can, without any discomfort, say that (especially to those who insist on saying that I have soooo much make-up making me feel like I don't use 75% of it) I use what I own! :)

Besides eye shadows, I also religiously used my Milani baked blush in Rose D'oro. I have been absolutely in love with this blush since the day I bought it, it was even in my March favorites! I have wanted MAC's Bite of an Apple blush really bad, but haven't really been using it a whole lot. Well, this month things have changed. It's been my go to pink blush. Don't let its brightness fool you, it makes for a very pretty and light pink blush if applied carefully with a light hand. Urban Decay's Primer Potion in its brand new and improved packaging also made the list, really only because of the packaging! It's just so much more easier to use, there isn't any wasted product and is much more sanitary! Stila's Kajal eyeliners are pretty cool in my book. Topaz, an apricot shade, makes a great liner for the waterline. I am not really one to line my waterline with white eyeliner as it makes my eyes look weird. I have been using Topaz as an alternative and I think it does a fantastic job! I keep mentioning my new favorite lipstick everrr Chanel Coco Rouge Shine #48 quite a bit because it's amazing. It is not an opaque, full coverage lipstick at all, nor is it marketed to be. It's rather on the sheerer side, provides subtle shine and #48 is a super pretty coral shade which is perfect for spring.

Stila Kajal Eyeliner in Topaz

MAC Digit, Nocturnelle, Prussian, Plumage

MAC All That Glitters, Trax, Chanel Coco Rouge Shine #48

For evening looks (which I've done quite a bit this month) I opted for the top row of eye shadows on my swatches. The combination of purples and blues create great nighttime looks for any eye color in my opinion. I usually sweep Digit all over lid, mixture of Prussian and Plumage on crease and Nocturnelle to blend. For day time, I've been loving All That Glitters with a little Trax on crease.

What are some of your April favorites?

Inglot Treats

About 2 months ago I had the random urge to check out Inglot's website...and what do I see?? That they finally have an online store (for U.S. and Australia as of right now)! I was stoked! So I immediately placed an order, without even thinking twice.

I already knew I was going to get eye shadow happy and so I did. I ended up with six eye shadows and a lip paint. The extensive eye shadow selection, while amazing, is a bit overwhelming.

Let me start by saying that I love their palettes! The semi-transparent and totally removable lid has a sophisticated look to it. Palettes come already magnetized and let me tell you that these magnets are darn strong! I am afraid I will not be able to remove the pans until I run out of these eye shadows. There are a number of palette choices in the Freedom System. I think there is a palette for every product; pressed powders, blushes, 2,3,5,10,20 eye shadow palettes as well as 5,10 for round pans.

L-R

Pearl 409

Pearl 420 

Pearl 449 

D.S. 467 

Pearl 439

If you are planning to place an order on Inglot's online shop, then keep in mind that they are using a letter/number system rather than naming their products like most of the other cosmetics companies do. This makes things a little more confusing because number/letter combinations are generally hard to remember for most of us. You can purchase eye shadows individually in their own containers for $12 or you can buy the eye shadows in pans (like I did) which is part of Inglot's Freedom System. Pan eye shadows come in square pans. 1 pan eye shadow costs $7, if you buy 3-9 then each costs $5, if you buy 10+ then each will cost $4.50. I don't know what you think about this, but to me it's a total steal! Their lipsticks, concealers, brow powder/wax, cream concealers also come in pan form, in addition to regular packaging, but they are round.

Pearl 434

The different finishes of eye shadow they sell are; Matte, Pearl, Double Sparkle as well as AMC, AMC Shine and AMC Pure Pigment. I have an unintentional thing for Satin finish in MAC eye shadows and apparently I will have a "thing" for Pearl at Inglot as 5 of the 6 eye shadows I purchased are in Pearl finish.

 All of the eye shadows are buttery soft, I am just blown away by the softness and the texture. Pigmentation is out of this world and yes this applies to all colors. I think Inglot eye shadows are just as good as MAC ones, if not better. Applying these eye shadows is a breeze, all colors are buildable to the intensity you like. I did mistakenly applied DS 467 without a base the other day and it actually did not crease. Applying a base before eye shadow application has been such a habit for me that I probably will never ever stop applying but I thought it was kind of neat that this eye shadow did not crease.

Sleeks Cream Lip Paint in 95  is the only lip product I have purchased as I thought it will be more on the glossy side. I wasn't sure about the shine level and what exactly "lip paint" in Inglot meant. What it is is basically a mix between a lip gloss and a lipstick. It adds a nice color to lips without leaving them looking too glossy. I am loving this pink shade! It's totally wearable during the day as it's not a super bright pink, has just the right amount of color and good pigmentation. Texture is not sticky at all, has a pleasant almost a vanilla/coconut-y scent to it. The subtle shine wears off in an hour or so but the color stays on for a bit longer. I love the glass test-tube feel to these lip paints' packaging. They are quite slim and do not take much space in cosmetics bag. Sleeks Cream lip paints retail for $10.

With Flash

Top : Sleek Cream 95
Middle : 409, 420, 449, 467
Bottom : 439, 434

Natural Light

Inglot just launched their website not too long ago and I am pretty sure that they will have many improvements on their website for customer satisfaction. But I would like to point out a few things based on my first shopping experience with them. I think it would be very helpful for those of us who have never shopped at Inglot, for the website to perhaps offer color descriptions so we have at least some kind of an understanding of the color. Secondly it would again be so useful if they could maybe have a drop-down menu of different finishes so we can narrow down our choices.

I did appreciate the color coordination of the eye shadows, that made my browsing a bit easier. I was also very, very pleased with their lightning-fast shipping! It took only 2 business day for me to receive my order (shipped from NY). I am looking forward to trying many other products now that we have access to their online store. I'm excited!

 Have you tried Inglot? What are your favorite Inglot products?

Sephora 500-Point Perk - Eye Love Too Faced Palette

Hey everyone!

I was just at Sephora yesterday to buy a giftcard for a friend's birthday and while at check out I was informed that I am at 500+ points and was asked if I'd like any of the (the lady shows the boring choices) products. I had been thinking of redeeming my points for quite some time but whenever I was checking out (or pretending just to see what the perks are! lol) at Sephora's website, there were nothing but blah products. I mean for 500 points, it'd better be something that's totally worth it!

Then seeing my shrug, the SA shows me this little beauty and I thought "now we're talking"! Thank you lovely lady at Sephora! :) If you guys are planning to use your points, I say definitely hunt this baby down! Especially if you're a Too Faced lover like I am, or simply wish to try out some of their eye shadows before committing to a the full size product, your wish has been granted!

Eye Love Too Faced kit includes 2 eye shadows from each of the permanent Too Faced palettes (Natural Eye, Naked Eye, Smoky Eye and Romantic Eye). As an added bonus, in the kit there is miniature Too Faced Shadow Insurance as well. You also still get the same Too Faced guides like you'd in a regular palette, except this time they are not in card form, but right under the lid. :)

In the palette:

Heaven & Push up - Natural Eye (click here for my review & swatches)

Silver Spoon & Smolder - Smoky Eye

Satin Sheets & Like A Virgin - Naked Eye

Honeymoon & Ever After - Romantic Eye (click here for my review & swatches)

 I love that this palette is a lot less bulky compared to regular Too Faced palettes which makes it easier to tote around. I think it will be my go-to palette for get-aways as it has every color I would want while I am away for a couple of days.

I think this is the most wonderful 500 point perk product I have seen thus far! It was totally worth my 500 points! I am super happy that Sephora and Too Faced teamed up for this lovely product. I hope Sephora continues to bring out more amazing 500 point perk products, wouldn't we just love to see more! :)

What do you think about Eye Love Too Faced?

I hope everyone (that celebrates) is having a wonderful Easter with their families, have a lovely Sunday! ♥

HanaAir Professional Hair Dryer

I was recently contacted by Misikko asking me if I'd like to try out and review Hanaair Professional Hair Dryer. It's now been couple of weeks since I started using it and my experience has been nothing short of excellent. I had no idea that a blow dryer that dries long and thick hair like mine this quick even existed, well, perhaps at salons. And that is exactly the result Hana gives, a salon quality, shiny and beautiful hair in the comfort of your own home!

Box of goodies

Hanaair Professional Hair Dryer offers a sleek Italian design that features a scratch resistant shell and a black metallic finish which makes it more durable and easy to clean. It features three heat settings, two fan settings and a cold shot which can be used to hold a curl. For pinpoint styling and accuracy, it also comes with a concentrator nozzle. On my hair using the nozzle makes a huge different especially when I'm straightening my hair. I was surprised to see (because every other drier I've ever used had like 5") that it has a 12" cord which I can literally take from one room to another, it gives me more freedom to move around. It is noticeably less noisy than any other hair dryer I've used in my life. Another important thing I want to point out is the fact that it is much more environmentally safe as it has low EMF.

Quick facts about my experience...

Decrease in drying time - went from a good 20 minutes to a great 6:41 minutes!

More volume and less static - thanks to the ion technology!

Leaves hair softer - Hair  feels softer to touch especially compared to my other dryer that left my hair coarse which I then had to fix by adding more products to my hair to make it look/feel smoother.

Results in shinier hair - My hair is visibly shinier both after blow drying and after styling.

Reduced noise level - Quieter than all of the other blow dryers I have used in the past.

Natural, wet hair

My hair after fully blow dried

L - half way styled R - fully styled

 In summary, it takes me approximately 6 minutes to fully blow dry my hair and an additional 15 minutes to style it using Hana. In total of 21 minutes, I have shiny, healthy hair I absolutely love! It usually takes me (or rather used to take me with my old hair drier) close to 20 minutes to dry my hair and an hour to flat iron. I'm stoked to be saving so much time!

I'm so excited that I had the chance to try Hanaair. For me, it's the perfect hair dryer as it has everything I would ever need in a hair dryer and more. Before, I wouldn't really expect a hair dryer to provide additional volume and shine as long as it dried my hair in as little time as possible, but this product does it anyway! Even my hubby approved of it and was amazed at how soft my hair feels! I can't find a single thing I don't like about it and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is tired of cheap hair dryers that just don't perform, like I was. While this dryer is sort of an investment with its $314 price tag (it is currently on sale at Misikko's website for $194.99), I honestly think it's worth every penny. I can see myself using this hair dryer for many, many years as it totally transforms my hair!

Misikko carries many different professional brands of blow dryers, flat irons as well as other products for all your haircare needs! They also offer free shipping on order of $50+ ;)

Have you tried this hair dryer? 

Disclaimer:  Products mentioned in this post were provided by Misikko for reviewing purposes. I was not paid to blog about these products.. My reviews about any product on my blog are and will always be written in total honesty.

Current Beauty Obsessions

I was due for a current obsessions post as I love doing them and reading others' as well, I think they're so much fun to read!

It's pretty self-explanatory, I am addicted to cosmetics but as we speak I don't want to imagine my life without the following.

Orly Rage

I don't even know what got into me, but apparently I, all of a sudden, have a thing for foiled nails. Rage doesn't only give the foiled appearance to nails but it's also rose gold which is a whole another obsession I am currently suffering from. 

VS Pink Aloha Wild & Breezy All Over Body Mist

If you are living in an area of the world where spring is being so stubborn and just doesn't wanna come out and play then you need this in your life. Chicago hasn't seen an ounce of spring yet (minus the nearly non-stop showers) and I needed something to feel spring-like. My current ritual to feel springy/summery is: spray this all over, close my eyes and imagine I am on a breezy, sunny island sipping on Piña Colada, though momentarily, it seems to do the trick!

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine #48 Évasion

Must be one of the most hydrating lipsticks I've ever owned. It's great for people who aren't crazy about/applying lip gloss because Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine line offers the perfect amount of shine that you don't even need a lip gloss. The color is perfect for me because it's coral! :)

CG Lashblast

I was using and swearing by Lashblast many, many years ago until I met L'oreal Voluminous which stalled on me a while ago. I, then, tried MUFE Smoky Lash, which I absolutely loved but just couldn't bring myself to spend $22 on a product which I'd need to buy every quarter. So I came back to this old faithful of mine, can't believe I ever left it.

Inglot Eye Shadows

I am so happy that I finally had the chance to try Inglot eye shadows. I have been enjoying them so much, I don't want to wear anything but. I do have a special Inglot post coming up soon so I won't overreact about them on this post, I'll save it for the other post.

What are your current obsessions?

Hard to pick only 5! / Blushes

This post was initially going to be about my top 5 blush picks but I just couldn't leave any one of these babies out, so here I am with 6 of my favorite blushes!

NARS Lovejoy

This is a very unique color for a blush, it's not pink, nor red or brown. It's a reddish brown with a touch of pink! Lovejoy has been my go-to blush in fall/winter season, it's perfect for both seasons but I can still see myself rocking it during summer nights!

NARS Taj Mahal

Newest addition to my ever-growing blush collection. I knew I would immediately fall in love with Taj Mahal at first swatch and I did. It does look a tad scary in swatches, both because it's not blended out and because it is a powerful color.

Benefit Coralista
Coralista is made for summer; it's a pretty light coral/peach with just the right amount of shimmer to give a beautiful glow to the face.

MAC Blushbaby

Love me some Blushbaby paired with heavy black/gray smokey eye make-up. It really brings the whole look together!

MAC Dollymix

Dollymix was my first pink MAC blush and it's now my favorite pink blush! I enjoy wearing this when I feel extra girly, I mean look at it, it has 'I am such a girly girl' written all over it!

Illamasqua Lover 

Anyone that knows me knows that this is my favorite blush ever. It's almost identical to MAC Peaches. Click here to see comparison of the two! If I was to have only one blush on a stranded island, Lover would be the one!

With Flash

Top L-R - Illamasqua Lover, NARS Taj Mahal, MAC Dollymix, Benefit Coralista

Bottom L-R - NARS Lovejoy, MAC Blushbaby

Natural Light

If you could have only one blush in the world, what would you pick?

ORIGINS Be Bright

I love Origins. I have been loyal to their facial care products for several years now and my experience has been nothing short of excellent. They have a wide range of products for all skin types and concerns. The main reason of my loyalty (apart from the fact that their products work really well with my skin) is because their products are free of some harsh chemicals that are in most of the cosmetics I use daily.

Last week I visited my Origins counter at a local Macy's to purchase a new moisturizer. I just ran out of my A Perfect World moisturizer. I do have some acne scars therefore some discoloration as a result. I've been looking forward to finishing up A Perfect World that way I could try a skin-correcting moisturizer. So I tried Brighter By Nature SPF 35 for a week and loved the way it felt on my skin and how my skin looked as a result. I also wanted to up the SPF since I'd be using it throughout summer.

I was informed at the counter about these special edition boxes. Regularly Brighter By Nature alone retails for $42.50 and this box, which comes with a full-size Brighter By Nature AND other goodies, sells for $46.50. I didn't even think twice about it.

What's in the box?

Full-size Brighter By Nature SPF 35 1.7 oz
Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask 1.7 oz
Never A Dull Moment Skin Brightening Cleanser 1.7 oz
GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream .17 oz
Facial Sponge

There are a total of seven Limited Edition boxes. I picked the Be Bright one because I want to brighten/correct areas on my face that need this. If you are on the lookout for new skincare products or simply want to try Origins, I think these boxes are a great deal than buying each product individually and not knowing whether they will actually work for you. (And of course there are always samples!:))

I will eventually report back on how these products perform. Brighter By Nature, so far, seems to be a keeper!

Thank you for reading, I hope you all have a wonderful week! ♥

e.l.f. Studio Golden Bronzer

Hey everyone! 

I'm alive! I've been spending every single one of my minutes with my sister hence the inactivity on my blog. She returned to Turkey on Wednesday and shortly after that I got a ridicilous cold. Today I have finally found some strength to get up from the bed and be a productive person/blogger! :) Hello new followers! 

If you're make-up obsessed and happen to be at Target, you know you cannot leave that store without checking out aisle with elf products! I don't own many elf products but I hear a lot of good things about them. I have been happily using their liquid concealer/highlighter duo as well as the blush/bronzer duo. But I was in the mood for trying a new e.l.f. product and that's when this bronzer caught my eye. 

Just for the record I did not need a new bronzer. I am currently going back and forth between, Benefit Hoola, e.l.f. bronzer/blush duo, Sephora blush me twice's bronzer side etc. But the $3 price tag of this bronzer just will not let you go, believe me! It's so affordable that you automatically think "Ah it's only 3 bucks, who will that hurt??" Good technique there e.l.f.! :)

Golden Brozner consists of four gorgeous shades. Top left is copper, top right is light peach, bottom left is off white/champagne, bottom right is taupe. They are all shimmery and quite pigmented. I love that they are not too powdery and they have almost no fall-out during application.

L- Natural Light R-Flash

P.S.: This product currently holds the "most difficult product to take photos of"! Wow, I cannot even believe how many photos I took of it before deciding on these two.

I do like this product but it just doesn't work as a bronzer on my skin tone. I would categorize it more as a highlighter than anything else. My sister also purchased this "bronzer", she's NC20 in MAC/Desert Beige in Estee Lauder Double Wear and she loves using it as a bronzer. So if you're anything like her and are looking for a bronzer, then you're in luck! :) It does give me a healthy, subtle glow and I gotta love it for that! I think it's a good drugstore product, especially for those of us who don't want to spend a fortune on a highlighter/bronzer. It just wasn't what I was expecting it to be, a bronzer.

What do you think about Golden Bronzer?

 Here is a collage of some of the photos from our trip, we did spend a day in Toronto hence the photo of CN Tower. (I know a day in any city isn't enough, will definitely return! :))
I ♥ Canada, I wish I could be visiting as often as I used to back when I lived in Seattle!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend! ♥

Back to MAC Treats

Hello from Niagara Falls!

I'm currently away in a little getaway to the gorgeous Niagara Falls, Ontario but because I didn't want to leave my blog post-less while I'm gone, I prepared one beforehand so here it is :)

Here are some goodies we accumulated  from our back to MAC trip the other day! My sister had 12 containers (which she actually brought from Turkey as MAC there sadly doesn't have this program!) and I had only 6, I could have waited but meh. I got rid off them anyway since I'm skipping the upcoming  Quite Cute collection and ok I just needed to pick up something, it was one of those days! I'm sure a lot of you can relate :)

 

I had been wanting yet another all-over-the-lid type of color and Orb did it for me. Grain will always be my favorite all over color but sometimes you just want variety, nothing wrong with that! Orb can also be used as a subtle highlight color. MAC describes Orb as soft peachy-beige, it's in Satin finish. While browsing through the colors, I thought I'd check off a color from my long make-up-to-buy list and that color is none other than the gorgeous Sumptuous Olive! :) Sumptuous Olive is khaki with pearl and it's in Veluxe Pearl finish.

Orb & Sumptuous Olive

Since I had just run out of my beloved MSF Natural, I had to pick up another one, nothing too exciting here.

My sister also purchased Orb. She uses it all over her lid and finishes off the look with a simple winged out liner, Orb is now part of her daily routine. She back to MAC-ed for Girl About Town lipstick and also purchased a lip liner in Magenta.

 L-R: Orb, Sumptuous Olive, Girl About Town, Magenta

Have you back to MAC-ed anything lately? If not, when it's time what are you planning to get?

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! ♥