My five minute face.

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Seriously, I timed myself. I love makeup and all things beauty but for the longest time I haven’t been wearing anything to work because I get up at 4:45 AM everyday because despite having an office job, I work manufacturing  hours just by the nature of what I do. That’s fine and to be expected and I’ve always been a morning person butI haven’t ever taken my time to do my makeup in the morning because I always say I don’t have time.

However, I recently had a second what would have been emergency surgery had we not caught it when we did and the thing that brought me joy other than my lovely husband, family, friends and videos of my cat were pretty little makeup products and all I could do while I was in there was watch YouTube or listen to Bachelor podcasts. The joy I found in learning about new makeup and playing with makeup I don’t get if I don’t use my products.

So after getting home and getting back to work, I timed myself to do a five minute face and here is what I do in exactly five minutes:

 

-Squirt Urban Decay Naked BB Cream into hands and spread over face
-Use Maybeline Better Skin Powder puff all over face
-Use concealer under eyes, on lids and any acne. I have a L’Oreal Lumi in the picture but actually prefer to use the Benefit hydrating stick concealer because I can use it quicker and has more coverage.
-I then put on my Nivea kiss of color lip balm
-I dust Benefit Hoola bronzer all over my face and in the creases of my lids.
-I pat the Pur eye polish on my lids.
-I quickly use the ABH brow definer and put a line below and above my brows then quickly brush it out.
-I apply liquid liner and mascara (I have Physicians Formula pictured; I find that this fades and prefer Kat Von D Tattoo liner and I don’t really have a mascara preference but this Essence lash princess is pretty damn good and cheap). Sometimes I’ll put a crayon liner in my waterline instead of a liquid on the top or both if I’m feeling feisty.
-I swipe on the Rimmell Provocalips lipstick (this does’t smudge or transfer and is fantastic)
-I then dust on a little bit of Tarte’s Paaarty blush and if there’s time a little of the Makeup Forever Star Lit Powder for highlight (this stuff is gorgeous). If I don’t have time for the Makeup Forever, I just use the Nudestix stick highlighter really quickly on my nose and cheekbones.

I switch up my products sometimes when I want to spice it up or have extra time but I know these things work and work well for me. I skip the steps I find less important when  I just can’t seem to crank out my full face.

And that’s it. I’d prefer six to seven minutes for this just to feel like I’m not rushing but I have proven that this is totally doable and pretty for a work day if you need a quick face!

 

Here’s a picture of my sweet husband watching the makeup he bought for me while I was in the hospital:

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He’s the greatest and I love him dearly.

That’s all for now.
XO

 

-A

Look of The Week; Saturday Smokey Glam

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So I’ve been wanting to highlight a favorite makeup look of mine every week and I’m going to start that this week! Thought this look is from a few weeks ago. The look I created for a lunch out with a few of my fellow MBA cohort members at a local cafe.

 

Products Used: 

Maybeline Master Prime blurring primer

L’oread True Match Lumi Foundation

Maybeline Master Conceal concealer

Physician’s Formula Butter Blush in Plum Rose

NYX Contour Palette and liquid liner

Kat Von D Metal Matte Palette

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter and Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in Molten Midnight

Maybeline Spider Effect Mascara

Rimmel The One Lipstick in Listen Up

Wet N’ Wild Gold Bar highlighter layered with the Anastasia Nicole Guerrero Glow Kit

Clinique Just Browsing tinted brow gel

 

Fiancé buys my makeup

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A few weeks ago I was watching YouTube and I found some videos of watching YouTuber’s boyfriends buying their makeup. It seemed so fun and maybe a way to try things I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. Whilst I don’t have the budget to let my fiancé go ape wild at Sephora, so I opted for CVS and this is what he came up with.

Maybeline Master Prime Blurring Primer

L’Oreal Magic Lumi Foundation

Maybline Spider Effect Mascara

Maybeline Master conceal concealer

Physicians Formula Murumuru butter blush in Plum Rose

NYX Noir eyeliner

Rimmell Lipstick in Listen Up (Because he knows I love bright lipsticks)

Milani Brights Eyeshadow Palette

I ended up paying about $115 for everything my fiancé picked out. I went home and created this look:

 

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I didn’t have the best lighting at the time, so bare with me. At fist application I was over the moon for the mascara, blush and contour palette and that lip color!

Upon further use I am obsessed with the primer and concealer he picked out, quickly becoming some of my favorites. They eyeshadow palette is nice but not my choice for everyday makeup and I tend to reach for my Kat Von D tattoo liner over this NYX liner, though it is nice it’s harder to control.

Also, the foundation he picked is my new holy grail, as a dry skinned girl it just applies beautifully! It was honestly such a fun experience for a different kind of date night (we went to a pizza buffet then to the drugstore then he edited photos while I put on this face and let him tell me his final thoughts). I love that he supports my hobbies and it was something we could do together. So, if you’re thinking about it, it’s totally a fun challenge to work with all new products and you could even find new holy grails!

Hopefully in the future I can save a chunk for us to do this again at Sephora!

 

XO

Amanda

Face of the Day-New Years Eve

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Here’s What I used to create this look:

L’Oreal Magic Lumi primer.  $12.99

Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Contour Kit in fair as foundation and concealer.  $40

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer in soft brown. $23

Lorac Mega Pro 3 palette. I used the shades glacier, deep fog and mist. $60

Lancome Art-liner $30.50 and Hypnose Drama Mascara.  $27.50

Besame cosmetics lipstick in American Beauty. $22

Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow for blush, bronzer and highlight. $42

I set the whole face with Urban Decay All Nighter spray.  $15

 

2016 Empties-Annual Total

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You can see my empties from January- August at my previous blog, here.

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lightening Conditioner- $7.63

L’Oreal EverPure Blonde Brass Banisher Shampoo= $5.99

Garnier Whole Blends Green Apple & Green Tea Conditioner- $3.49

Regis Hydrating Balm- $13.59

Nexxus Color Assure Shampoo- $13.99

Mango Mandarin Hand Soap-$6.50

Equate refreshing cleansing towelettes- $3.48

Ecotools makeup cleansing cloths- $6.98

Impress nails- $6.99

CHI 44 Iron Guard- $9.83

Redken Satinwear Blow-dry lotion-$15.00

Venus Olay travel shaving cream- $2.97

Psssst Dry shampoo- $5.47

Japanese Cherry Blossom Sugar Scrub- $16.50

Aussie 3-minute Miracle- $2.97

John Frieda sheer blonde highlight activating conditioner-$4.97

Stress Relief Foaming body wash-$13.00

Olay cleansing cloths (2 packs_- $2.00

Old Spice Deodorant-$1.59

Clinique chubby in the nude foundation stick deluxe sample-$5.00

Tea Tree cooling foot scrub-$2.00

Mahogany Driftwood candle-$5.19

Smashbox 24-hour eye primer-$21.00

Makeup forever mascara sample-$12.00

Ulta flawless face prime- $4.00

Avon lipgloss-$5.00

NYX lush lashes XXL mascara-$6.99

L’Oreal butterfly mascara-$7.99

ELF Eyeliner- $1.00

Escada perfume sample-$0.00

Josie Maran mascara travel size- $12.00

Ouai Hair treatment mask- $4.00

Sephora travel size mascara-$5.00

Johnson&Johnson Baby Shampoo-$0.99

Fresh Soy Face Cleanser sample-$2.00

Not pictured: Lancôme eye serum-$2.00

 

September-December Total-$239.10

Annual Total: $1,504.12

This year I used $1,504.12 worth of beauty, hair, makeup and lifestyle products. I’m so glad to actually be getting use out of the things I purchased.

L’Oreal Miss Manga Rock Mascara-Review

I first heard of this mascara from one of my all time favorite beauty Youtuber’s/bloggers Livloveshermakeup (You can also find her blog here). She is so bright, positive, delightful and I honestly just want to be her best friend. She’s a professional flutist (a quite talented one at that) and a fellow makeup enthusiast, and I always feel I am able to trust her opinions.

A few weeks ago she was wearing this mascara in a few of her videos and her snapchat (and oh my gosh did her lashes look incredible) and mentioned that it was discontinued. However, I happened to find a surplus of this mascara at my local TJ Maxx (for only $3.00 to $3.99 a tube). If you can’t find it there, you can also buy it here.

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When you apply this mascara the formula is on the dry side and it dries very, very quickly. However, this mascara does wonders at lengthening and volumizing your lashes. I really like the way my lashes turn out when using this. However, be warned that when I say it dries quickly, I mean it. This mascara is good for layering if it’s the top layer but does not perform well while layering if it’s the bottom layer due to this.

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I find this mascara holds up rather well through the day and doesn’t move around or make me look like I have raccoon eyes but after 8+ hours of wear it does begin to flake off. This mascara is easy to remove with micellar water and never leaves my lashes feeling brittle. If you see this in your local TJ Maxx I’d recommend picking yourself up a tube.