Friday Faves

Happy freaking Friday everyone! Is it possible for a week to both fly and crawl by? That's how I feel this week has gone. I've been so incredibly busy these last few weeks and so tired/lazy thanks to first trimester, it's been quite the whirlwind as I play catch up and add to my already full plate.

Thank you all again SO much for all your sweet words this week. I'm so happy to finally share the news. I love being pregnant and I'm so excited to be on this journey one more time. I love following other's pregnancies and all the love and excitement as their due date approaches. Are you interested in  bump dates? I want to journal it for myself, but I'm not sure how much I'll share since it's my third one and you guys, depending on how long you've been reading/following, may have seen it all! Maybe just some posts sprinkled in? I'm not sure. Any feedback is welcome!

I'm really trying to get back into the swing of things here on LLP, so far in 2017 I've gone from posting 3-4 times a week to nothing for a week or two. Maybe second trimester will be better for my energy levels! Either way, I'm excited to be back this week with a third post and sharing Friday Faves with you guys, I love putting together these posts and sharing little bits of life, products, shop, etc with everyone.

Best Beauty Purchases 2016

Morning! Some of my favorite posts to read at this time of the year is people’s favorite posts, best of, or recaps. I just love looking back and seeing all the good and positive from one year and heading into the new year with hope and happiness. Another favorite post of mine to share and to read from other’s are their favorite beauty products! When I initially went to write this post, I didn’t think I had too much to share, but then when I reviewed my Instagram and published posts- I had a lot! I was pretty successful in the beauty product department for 2016 and didn’t really have any stinkers, but today I’m sharing just my absolute favorites of the year with you!

Product Review: NIVEA Men Post Shave Balm as Primer

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah! I LOVED seeing everyone's posts on Facebook and Instagram! It was such a magical day for us, I'll be sharing a recap next week!

Today I'm sharing a review of NIVEA Men Post Shave Balm as a makeup primer. Yep, you read that right. When the balms arrived, Matt thought they were for him and I was going to put them in his stocking! Um, no sir, those are mine and I might share with you if you're nice. Using the Balm as a primer became popular with several YouTube beauty vloggers and totally took off! It's made with glycerin which acts as a glue to your foundation helping it last and last. I'm a total beauty junkie and love finding new products that serve multiple purposes. I couldn't wait to dive in!

6 Beauty Products for a Busy Morning!

Good morning!! My mornings can be pretty hectic and I'm working on a post with my morning routine now that I have two kiddos I need to get up and out the door, and I wanted to share my favorite beauty products I use every morning. For hair and makeup, I give myself 20-30 minutes, just depending on what my schedule is going to look like that day. I would love to be able to do a full face every day, but sometimes it's just not doable so here are the six products I rely on for an easy and pulled together look.

Friday Faves- Beauty Products

Hello and happy Friday! I haven't done a Friday Faves in a short bit and I'm happy to bring it back with some of my recent beauty faves, some new and some tried and true. I don't usually have a theme for these posts, but today's just happened to be all beauty items. Do you guys like these posts? Do you prefer a theme? Let me know, I want to make sure I'm creating content you enjoy reading.

What I Packed: Toiletries & Beauty

One thing I think everyone hates doing is packing. I mean, unpacking is the absolute worst, but packing is just terrible. At first it's fun and you think about cute outfits you're gonna wear, and items you bought specifically for a trip or pieces you don't get to wear enough, and then the doom sets in. Can I bring just two pairs of shoes and make them work for everything or do I really need to pack all four? How can I pack such and such without ruining/wrinkling/breaking it?

A few weekends ago, I started this blog post for my beauty items and just didn't get it finished in time to post before we left.  I thought about scrapping it altogether, but I always like to see beauty and travel posts and went ahead with it. Full disclosure, my beauty/bathroom bag tends to be larger than my clothing! Since we were gone for just less than two weeks, had a full agenda including a wedding, I thought out what I’ll be packing that will get me the most use and be versatile. When I first seriously started thinking about what I wanted to pack I promised myself that I wouldn’t overpack and paid attention to which products I used most often and which I could leave at home.

Recent Purchases + #NSale

Yay! My #nsale buys have arrived! Oh wait, I only bought ONE DANG THING from the sale. Everything sold out so quickly! I can’t believe it, next year I’m not gonna wait and instead buy all the things immediately. I did however, manage to buy a boatload of MAC (check out my fave lipsticks post) beauty products that I could have bought at anytime during the year. That’s just how life goes sometimes.

Booties

These booties are a dream! I literally woke up at midnight and added them to my cart as soon as the sale started! I’m so glad I did too, because they sold out so quickly, and since I wear a size 10, there’s typically less of my size in stock. They are so pretty and soft in person and have nice cushioning inside so they should be comfortable for a full day of wear. I’m so happy I bought them, I can’t wait to wear them with skinnies and dresses. I would also really love to add some ankle height flat booties (maybe these?) to my closet too, they had a few pairs included in the sale, but all of them had sold out during early access.

Sunnies

I was so excited about these sunnies, they’re a gorgeous blue and I thought they would be a sure thing. The color and shape are super cute and they were totally perfect, however, they just dominated my face and I ended up returning them. I’m so bummed they didn’t work for me. That’s the biggest drawback to online shopping, you never know how things will fit! Clothing is a bit easier sometimes if you’ve bought that brand before or if there’s a lot of reviews in terms of sizing, but not much can help you with the fit of sunglasses.

Palette

This palette is so pretty!! The shades blend so beautifully together and are a really great mix of neutrals, making it super versatile for different skin tones and events. I’m not sure if I would call this a Holy Grail palette just yet (I want to play with it some more), but it is absolutely fantastic if you’re just starting out. It has fifteen eyeshadows, four permanent shades and four re-promoted shades. I think it’s more versatile than some of my other palettes in terms of every day shadow looks for me, I think I’ll wear more of these colors than I do in other palettes I own- 12 of 15 shades instead of 7 of 12, for example. The pots are full size, so it’s an amazing price point for the amount of shadows you get, and much more cost efficient than building your own palette through MAC.

Springsheen // Dollymix Blushes

So in my Currently Craving post I talked about how I’ve been wanting Lovecloud or Peony Petal and when I checked them out in person, they looked like every other pink blush I owned. If you’re new around here, I own a million pink blushes that all range from light pink, bright pink, cool, warm, blue hued, etc. The colors are gorgeous, but seemed too similar to my faves Pink Swoon and I’m A Lover. Instead, I ended up going with Springsheen, a beautiful pinky peach shade with a golden pearl finish and Dollymix a bright candy pink. Yes, I own a ton of pinks, I just said that, (dramatic pause), but this one is much brighter and has shimmer, where as my other pink blushes do not. SHIMMER guys, I obviously needed it. Honestly though, I felt that it was different enough to add to my growing pile of blushes. Springsheen is beautiful and almost has a highlighter built in, when I wore highlighter with it the first time, my cheecks were like “BAM! Look at me!”. Between the two, I thought I’d be wearing Dollymix every day, but I have found myself reaching for Springsheen more and more. It’s seriously a lovely shade that blends so prettily on the cheeks.

Pure Zen // Crème D’Nude

A few weekends ago, I went through my makeup drawers and cleaned out under my sink and found 12+ MAC products that were empty, expired, or haven’t seen the light of day in I don’t know how many years. If I’m not going to use a bright purple eyeshadow, I may as well turn it in for a pretty nude lipstick right? Pure Zen has been on my radar for a while, it’s a frost warm nude and a lot of my lipsticks are a pink/nude color and I loved that this one had a peach nude feel to it with just a hint of pink. Crème D’Nude is a peach nude as well, but I think it’s more nude than peach and is a warm enough color to keep it looking like concealer or giving me “dead” lips. I’ve been wearing them both a ton and I’m happy to add them both to my beauty drawer.

How did your #NSale shopping go? Did you score a ton of great stuff? I literally just bought this top after stalking it daily, I can't believe it came back into stock! I'm so excited, I know literally everyone has bought it, but I can't help myself when it comes to stripes. They're such a staple item for me and so easy to wear and layer. Did you miss out on anything? Keep checking back!

My Favorite MAC Lipsticks

As a self-proclaimed beauty junkie, my two areas of weakness are eyeshadows and lipsticks. I’ve been buying a ton of lipstick lately and during a late night nursing sesh I’ve found two more I just have to add to my collection- MAC Pure Zen and Crème D'nude. Late at night when I can’t sleep, I love to browse shops, Instagrams, and Pinterest and always seem to find more beauty items to check out. I have an ongoing list in my phone’s notes of specific products and colors I want to see in person and that list is just ongoing and revolving.

I recently tried and attempted to clean out my makeup drawer and purse and every time I do that, I’m amazed at just how many lipsticks I own. How could I ever use all of them completely? How could I ever rationalize buying another one? Do I really need another pink lipstick? Yes. The answer is always yes. So, to justify buying those two I found during the late night sesh, I’ve challenged myself to wear a new lipstick every day during my work week. It’s been an easy challenge to do and I’ve loved re-discovering some old favorites. Hello MAC Pink Nouveau, why haven’t I been living in your sweet pink glory??? There were even a few I just didn’t love anymore and tossed out or put aside for Back to MAC. I thought it would be fun to share my favorites, starting with MAC and will do a future post with my drugstore favorites.

Here are my absolute, favorite MAC ones, left to right:

Angel (the lipglass is also my fave!), Creme Cup, Snob, Pink Nouveau, Hue, Silly, Brave, Long Legged & Fabulous, and Lickable

What are your favorite colors? After cleaning out my drawer, I've realized I'm in need of a true nude and a great red. Any suggestions?

Product Review: Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette // Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette

Another palette win with Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette! This is my first blush palette and I am seeing stars! It’s nothing short of beautiful and has something for every day. If you missed my UD Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette review, I mentioned that I was in the market for a new eyeshadow palette and a makeup artist suggested I check out the Gwen Stefani collaboration. She also mentioned, that the blush palette was amazing and I needed to have it too. So as I wandered over to check it out, she couldn’t have been more right! I wasn’t in the market for a blush palette, but thought the colors in the Gwen Stefani palette were gorgeous! I immediately fell in love with Easy (a deep rose with gold shimmer, middle top row), it’s a beautiful shade and I loved the flush look it would give. I didn’t think I needed the palette, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it at the same time.

That night, Matt and I had dinner reservations by the mall and had some time before so I ran into Macy’s to check it out again. I loved the palette, but again, Easy was so pretty and really stood out to me so I asked if it was exclusive to the palette or if it was a permanent shade that was renamed for the collaboration and it was an exclusive color. Their makeup girl was so sweet and she was just raving about how great it was and that she had to apply some on me so I could see for myself. She did and I was sold!

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette

All of the colors are new to Urban Decay and are exclusive to the Gwen Stefani palette. In total there are six 0.09 oz shades- four blushes: Cherry (light pink satin), Easy (deep rose with gold shimmer), Angel (champagne-nude shimmer), and Hush (medium pink with gold shimmer), a bronzer Lo-Fi (soft bronze matte), and a highlighter in OC (soft pink with peach shift). The colors are very pigmented and you need to dust off the brush before application. They blend really beautifully and layer very well together.

Typically, I use Easy as my blush with a bit of Hush layered on top and Angel as a highlighter. Angel is a perfect highlighter and looks lovely down the bridge of your nose. For me, OC is much better as a blush than as I highlighter and looks beautiful with Angel layered as a highlighter on top. Cherry looks much more pale pink in the pot than in real life and gives a very subtle, natural pink hue to the cheek. All of the colors have shimmer, except the bronzer, so if you’re not into shimmery blush, this is not the palette for you. I personally love shimmer for blush, but it’s not a must-have for me. I’ll usually layer a shimmery highlighter over my blush anyways so it’s not a deciding factor for my blush choices. The only color I don’t really care for is the bronzer- it has too much of an undertone for me to use it as a bronzer and is better as a blush for my skintone.

My final thoughts on the blush palette is that the value is definitely there for the set, I use five of the six shades regularly and if you’re into blush or are looking for a nice range of blushes and highlighters, I would definitely recommend the palette. It doesn’t offer a wide variety of shades or finishes, so if you’re looking for something more versatile I would skip this. I’m very happy with my purchase and I think it complements the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette beautifully, but you don’t need to purchase both to be satisfied. I love the entire collaboration so far, they sent me some samples of the lipsticks so don't be surprised if you see a review for that coming up too!

Product Review: Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette

A few weeks ago, I posted about wanting a new eyeshadow palette and at the time I was checking out this and this one, but a makeup artist at Ulta suggested skipping them both in favor of the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani palette instead. I had heard about this palette and I didn’t consider it because I thought it would be a lot of bright colors, lots of glitter, and shades that I wouldn’t be able to get a lot of use from. I’ve been in love with Urban Decay Naked palettes (I have One, Two, Three, and the first Basics and they all get a lot of use), so I wandered over to check out the Gwen Stefani collaboration and I was floored, it was not what I expected at all! All of her collection was stunning, the palettes, lipsticks, all of it. The eyeshadow palette had beautiful, neutral colors with three jewel toned ones. The colors were gorgeous and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it!

A big difference with this palette is that there are fifteen shadows 0.04 oz (the Nakeds have twelve 0.05 oz shadows), twelve of which are new and exclusive to the palette and three that are from their permanent line and renamed for the collaboration. In the set, there’s a nice range of matte, shimmer, and pearl finishes. The shape is also different, it’s a large rectangle instead being slim. I do prefer the slim Naked cases since their shape makes them easier to travel with, but the Gwen Stefani set comes with a giant mirror which I really love.

Since my Gwen Stefani palette arrived, I’ve been using it non-stop and I didn’t expect to be using it every single day. I haven’t even picked up another shadow since it came and I’m so in love with it! The colors are gorgeous and blend beautifully, I’ve created different eye looks that are very natural and perfect for work using the top two rows and the first pot in the last row. Punk (a reddish brown matte, last shade in the first row) and Baby (a metallic rose, first shade in the second row) are two of my favorite colors. Punk blends beautifully with the other colors into the crease and Baby is a gorgeous transition color. For some extra shine, I’ll use Pop (a pale coral with iridescent sparkle, first shade in the third row) in my inner lid and blend out to the middle, although I do get a bit of fallout from this shade. Admittedly, I have not used the bottom right four shadows, I just haven’t had a use for them yet. I think Danger (a deep metallic blue, middle of the bottom row) and Blackout (a black matte, last shade in the third row) would be gorgeous blended into the outer lid or as a bottom liner.

Overall, I’m very happy with this collaboration, it really is gorgeous and I love the mix of shades and finishes. I think if you’re on the fence about the shadows, I would suggest going in and testing them out. I thought a lot about this palette and checked it out in person twice before purchasing. I wanted to be sure it offered something different than what I already owned and would be a versatile product to add to my collection. The quality is exactly what you expect from Urban Decay- long lasting, pigmented, and buttery. The colors really outshine my initial expectations of a Gwen Stefani collaboration. I think it offers colors and combinations you don’t get from the Naked collections and provides more than a generic nude, smoky, or bronzed palette. The colors really are so beautiful and make your eyes pop, and I know I sound like a broken record saying that, but the more I play with the palette, the more I love it!

Romantic Valentine's Makeup Look

With Valentines day just around the corner, I've been thinking about my favorite pink hued makeup products and have been practicing different looks for Valentines day. I've been doing romantic eyes with soft pink cheeks and lips. I went through my makeup and I have so much pink so it was nice to put some items I've forgotten about back into the mix. Nearly all of my lipstick and blush were shades of pink. Does anyone else do that? Buy a lot of really similar items that only you and other beauty junkies could tell a difference of?

I've been mixing up my usual shadows with deep browns and dusted off my Naked 3 Palette too. I have all three palettes, and 3 gets used the least, but I've really been loving it lately and have been wearing it so much! The colors are really pretty and I've been using more of the darker shades on the right side of the palette. Factory (the fourth color from the right) is my favorite right now and I've been using it on a larger part of my outer lid. It's just such a rich beautiful color. It's really easy to wear for day and creating a smokier look for night with the shade.

MAC Lipstick: Snob, Pink Nouveau, Creme Cup, Lickable // MAC Lipglass in Angel

MAC Blush: I’m a Lover Blush // Essie: Ballet Slippers, Fiji, Mod Square

Urban Decay: Naked 3 Palette // NARS: Orgasm Illuminator // Milani Blush: Romantic Rose
Revlon Colorburst in Honey // NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul and Butter Gloss in Strawberry Parfait // Maybelline: Fuchsia Flash

For this look, I used the Urban Decay Naked Palette on my eyes, MAC I'm a Lover blush, and MAC Creme Cup lipstick. On my eyes, I used Strange on the brow bone and inner corners, Dust on my inner lid, Factory on my outer lid and crease, with Buzz and Liar blended between Factory and Dust. Then I just lined my eyes and put on several coats of mascara. I left my cheeks and lips subtle so my eyes would be the standout.

Are you doing anything special for Valentines? I bought the girls cute outfits and small toys and Matt and I will just exchange cards and candy. In years past we've done dinner at home, or dinner with his parents, and this year we'll be camping with his family. It will be nice to get away and spend time outside with everyone. Hope you have a great weekend and holiday!

Holy Grail Beauty Products

One question I get asked often about is my Holy Grail products- what are my favorite eyeshadows, lipsticks, etc. It’s a fair question and I love knowing what other women swear by and trying it out for myself.  When I posted my Drugstore Mascara Review, it got me thinking about what products I couldn’t live without and while most of them have been the same for the past several years, I think it’s time for there to be a dedicated post to my tried and true beauty products. I try to keep my Fave Products tab at the top updated and every couple of months or so I go in and edit, but I’m sharing today my absolute must haves. These are the products I have used countless tubes of and if they’re ever discontinued I would cry myself a river and buy every last one I could find online.

Since there's 15 products on here, it pretty much covers my entire face. I love to try new items, but I continually use these products over and over again. No matter what I've bought, I haven't found anything that better to replace these and there's a little bit of something for every thing except face primer and eyeliner. If you have an HG item for those, please share!

Here's my faves:

MAC Studio Fix Powder in C4 -I've worn this for so many years, I wear it along, over concealer, or for full coverage over foundation.
MAC Blush in Warm Soul - the most perfect and flattering blush ever! It's such a beautiful shade and is truly the perfect every day color.
MAC Eyeshadow: All That Glitters, Naked Lunch, Blanc Type, and Satin Taupe - these colors blend so perfectly together and give me my favorite eye look. They're easy to wear each alone and blend beautifully!
MAC Eyeshadow in Brun for brows - I felt like my brow game totally changed once I started using this shadow. It wear all day and looks natural and soft.
MAC Lipsticks in Hue, Creme Cup - love, love, love these two colors. I've gone through so many tubes, I've started buying them two at a time.

L'oreal True Match in W3 Nude Beige - Of all the liquid foundations I've tried, this one is the best. It has buildable coverage, wears all day, and the formula is so smooth.
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer in Brightener 60 - when you're up all night with the kids, this baby gets me looking bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original - I've tried several high and low brand primers, but this little number works best for me. It makes your shadow last all day without creasing and make the colors more vivid without changing the shade of your shadow.
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara - I've used so many tubes of this mascara, it's been in my makeup bag for years.
Maybelline Colossal Chaotic Masacara - this item is the newest to my Holy Grail collection, but I love the drama it gives lashes and the brush is amazing!
NYX Matte Bronzer in Light and Medium - This bronzer is a total dupe for higher ends bronzers and I really like that it's matte (so hard to find!) and that it comes in varying shades. It's one of the few bronzers I've found to leave a warm glow and not and orange glow on your face.

These are my favorite products and I absolutely swear by them and always seem to be recommending them over and over again. I really hope they never get discontinued, I would be so devastated! What are your Holy Grail items? What couldn't you live without?

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water Review

If you’re a long time follower, you already know that I’m a beauty junkie! I love to try new products and trends and when I saw this Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water I had to get it and give it a go. According to the bottle, it’s an all in one product that takes all of your makeup off without harsh rubbing and also cleanses your skin without having to rinse. It’s supposed to lift dirt, oil, and makeup like magnet without drying your skin or having to use additional cleansing products. As a lover of multi-tasking, I was super excited to try this baby out.

For the past few weeks, I’ve used the water daily to cleanse my skin. I’ve gone back and forth for using it first to remove makeup and using it second after a face wash/makeup remover. My skin looks and feels great, really smooth and soft and I’m really happy about it. I thought I would experience some drying since my skin tends to be a bit sensitive and prone to drying out, especially in the winter, but my skin is smooth and moisturized.

Before I delve into my thoughts about the product, I want to say a few things about my makeup that will help in understanding how the product works for me. I don’t wear waterproof makeup, I sometimes wear a face primer, and almost always wear an eye primer, and use 1-2 coats of mascara. I don’t feel that I wear a lot of makeup, but would say I wear a lot of products. That might sound contradicting, but I mean that I don’t wear heavy makeup. It’s not caked or packed on, I use a light hand when applying my makeup.

With that being said, here are my thoughts about this new cleansing water:
- Has virtually no smell at all
- Lots of product for the size/cost
- It takes off all my face makeup
- Takes off eye makeup
- Is not oily and leaves no residue
- No need to rinse face after use
- Leaves skin feeling soft and clean
- Great to spot remove makeup errors

Overall, I really like this cleanser a lot and I think it will be a repeat buy for me. I do have to put in some elbow grease to get all of my mascara and liner off, but I expected that. I have heard that the waterproof version of the cleanser is better for that whether you wear waterproof mascara or not. So I will be buying that bottle next. I typically shower at night (to save time in the mornings) and wash my makeup off in the shower and then will use this cleanser after to remove any remaining makeup/dirt and to cleanse my skin. If I don’t need to shower at night, I’ll use this to clean my makeup off. It takes me three cotton rounds front and back to get all of it off and thoroughly cleanse my face. It’s quick to do and I don’t have to do harsh rubbing, but definitely some work on my eyes. I wouldn’t suggest this product solely as an eye makeup remover, but definitely recommend the water as a cleanser.

What products do you like to use for removing makeup? I also really like Neutrogena’s Natural Cleanser and their wipes for on the go.

Recent Beauty Purchases

As I was taking pics for this post I had to keep taking more pics because I would forget about stuff I've bought and haven't used yet, but wanted to include in the post. I've bought a thing here, an item there, several things have seemed to just jump into my cart at Target. That happens to you too, right? You go to Target for five, maybe six things, and you leave with a full cart. Then you're unpacking and putting things away and realize that you have two eyeliners, a mascara, mousse (which I did forget to include in this post, it's L'Oreal ), a top, and some home decor. It never fails!

On Sunday, I cleaned out a spare makeup drawer and threw out a few items so I don't feel quite as bad about my totally unnecessary purchases. I really need to toss out so much more. I try a lot of new products and brands it really starts to take up a ton of space. It's not as bad as it used to be when Nordstrom, Ulta, and Sephora were all just around the corner from me. Now Ulta or Sephora is a 20-30 minute drive and the closest Nordstrom is a solid 45 minutes away. For some reason, I don't really buy makeup/hair products online, so my beauty hauls have slowed down. Plus, taking a toddler anywhere that has beauty samples is a nightmare!!! Maybe I should just order online...

Anyways, here's what I've bought the last couple of weeks. Some of them are repeat buys, but a lot of them have been purchases to try something new. I've tried a few of them already and have shared my first impressions about them below.

Meg tried this and liked it, so I bought it. Did I need it right now? Nope. I haven't used it yet, but Meg gives great reviews and tries a ton of stuff and when she mentioned this I snagged it so I wouldn't forget! I always really, really, want to try NYX HD Concealer which is supposedly a dupe for NARS so that will be making it's way into my makeup bag on my next Ulta trip.

I have a lipstick from this collection in Blushing Beige 915 and really like it so I wanted to try the shade darker and about Nude Lust 920. I'm super happy with them both! I don't know if I have a preference of one over the other, they both are creamy and great shades. 920 does have warmer pigmented color to it. I usually top them both off with MAC Boy Bait or Urban Decay Walk of Shame.When in doubt, wear nude I always say!

As you can tell from yesterday's mascara review post, I love mascara and wanted to give this Lash Sensational one a try. The wand's bristles look like they could really help in pushing up your lashes and giving extra length. I don't typically care for short bristles on a wand, but I think that the mix of long on one side and short on the other might me a good mix to really coat your lashes. I've heard good things, will report back.

The NYC Eyeliner is a re-purchase, it's an amazing eyeliner! I never would have tried it, but makeup artist Brittany Layne (Jason Aldean's wife) raves about it so I tried it and fell in love. It's true black that doesn't fade and lasts all day long. I've heard good things about NYX so I picked this one up too.

Typically, I like Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair conditioner, but I've been liking a lot of L'Oreal's hair products lately and thought I'd try this Damage Erasing Balm a whirl. The bottle that one use can repair up to a year of damage? That sounds like a challenge to me!

L'Oreal has some really great hair products and one thing I hate doing is blowdrying my hair. I don't know why, I just style the front and crown and flip my head over for the rest and it takes me all of 7-10 minutes to do the whole thing. Still, I loathe it. Obviously, this Quick Dry Primer Spray needed to make it's way to my bathroom. I've tried it twice and the first time I felt a difference in time, but not so much the second time. I'll keep using it to see if it was just a Jedi trick or if it really works. It smells incredible though.

Another repeat buy for me. I really dig a light leave-in conditioner for my ends. All of the bleach, styling, and heat can be killer and I need a little extra to save my tresses. I don't love this one, but it's light weight and works for now. I swear a few years ago every brand had a leave-in conditioner, but I can't find any now! It seems like they're a thing of the past. Do you use one? What do you like? What should I use instead?

So I've been using a stretched out purple scrunchie around the house and to separate my hair while styling since 1995. 1995!!! It was a Christmas gift from my dad (aka, grandma) and I only know the year because it was the first year my parents had separated. I'll hold onto the scrunchie forever probably, but I really needed some new ones that had some actual stretch. Laugh all you want about it, but these are so soft and don't pull your hair at all. These feel like heaven when your hair is pulled up in them.

My favorite moisturizers are from Image, but I've also been using Aveeno and it had just ran out so I picked this Neutrogena one up to replace it. Veronika recommended it and I really like it so far. I use my Image ones at night and have been using this one in the mornings.

What are some of your favorite beauty products? Have you tried anything new and loved it lately? Hope you're all having a fantastic day, thank you for reading!!