makeup

Look of The Week; Saturday Smokey Glam

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 2 Comments

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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

 

VIB Sale Haul 2017

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 10 Comments

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As, I’m sure a lot of you know the VIB sale started last week and continues through Monday. Though I’ve been VIB/VIB Rouge for a while this is my first time shopping the sale. These are the things I picked up!

Viseart petit pro palette (pictured above); I wanted to try a handful of Viseart shadows without paying $80 so this is what I landed on. It’s a beautiful selection of dark/earthy mattes and shimmers. I’ll do a full review when I’ve been able to play with it for a while. For the longest time I wasn’t on board with this whole “omg warm tones” trend but now I’m finally getting into it so I thought this was a perfect little palette to pick up!

 

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Becca Prismatic Amethyst: I’ve been debating this one for a while, as I already have rose quartz. With my birthstone being amethyst combined with the collector in me said I have to have this. It is a beautiful more subtle opalescent white highlight with a lavender shift and it is honestly perfect for my skin tone, so no love lost!

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Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in the color sunset cove: This is a stunning holographic eye glitter that is wearable in the daytime. I already had molten midnight which makes a stunning smokey eye; but not something I could wear to work, whereas I can create a super fun look that’s office appropriate (well, at least in my office) with this! Lol.

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Finally, I cashed in 100 points to try this YSL The Shock mascara. I’ll report back and perhaps even do a full review after I’ve tried this!

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So, I didn’t pick up too much as 15% is honestly barely a discount unless you’re buying a lot/very pricey items, so I just picked up some things I was planning on getting anyway. Let me know what you picked up during the VIB sale in the comments!!

XO Amanda

April Sephora Play! 

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 4 Comments

I know, I know I just posted a follow-up on my bag from February and haven’t even mentioned March yet (things slip your mind when you’re fighting for the job you want right before graduation; spoiler alert I got it!). Anyway, here are the contents and my first impressions of my April Sephora Play bag.

The bag itself, I think is pretty ugly. Lmao. I don’t know how to say that kindly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, it’s just not my style.

First things first, the perfume. Almost always this is the “whomp, whomp” of the bag BUT Marc Jacobs Daisy is my holy grail fragrance so I was pretty stoked to get this because I will use it and love it!

Next, I got a Makeup Forever Aqua XL pencil. It’s just a black eyeliner but wow is it smooth and creamy. Love that!

Then, a Smashbox face primer. I’ve tried this before and think it’s okay, I don’t hate it but don’t like it enough to buy the full size. However, Smashbox has a silicone based 24 hour eye primer and that bad boy is worth every penny if you’re in the market. This was a meh sample for me.

Now moving on to skincare (as this was a pretty skincare heavy month).

Sephora collection eye makeup remover: I’m excited to try this, as one of my favorite youtubers (prettypistol86 aka Cherish) loves this stuff and I trust her opinion! // *Edit* I tried it, I hate it. Ugh. It’s so oily and even on my dry skin it’s too much. *sigh*

Finally, I have Peter Thomas Roth and Kate Somerville. Two brands I was pretty freakin’ excited to see, as they’re more luxurious skincare brands and I already really love the PTR face masks. // *Edit* I love love love both of these! The exfoliator is gentle and minty smelling and is doing great things for my acne and the cloud cream is so luxurious on my skin.

Aurora glow kit review 

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 6 Comments

As soon as I saw the first images of this glow kit I knew I had to have it! Everything about it is beautiful the packing, shades, layout, names, etc. I’ve also become a big fan of the Anastasia glow kits over the last year falling in love with first the sun dipped and then the Nicole Gurrerio glow kits. I never picked up the moon child (I probably will in the future because that baby gets raves) so this is my first experience with Anastasia’s highlighters in the square pans. 

This kit is $40 and when you buy on the Anastasia website you won’t pay tax or shipping so it’s a flat $40 which is fantastic! There are six shades in this kit:

Eclipse; a peachy orange

Luna; an iridescent silver 

Spectra; a cool tone lilac with pink shift 

Helia; an iridescent cool tone green 

Orion; an icy baby blue 

Lyra; a warm honey with gold glitter 

There’s not too much to say about this; it performs beautifully overall. However, Lyra does have quite a bit of glitter in it that leads to fall out and will emphasize texture/look chunky unless it is foiled onto the skin. I have lots of texture on my skin already so I avoid Lyra if I’m running low on time. The rest of the shades are smooth and stunning; silky and long lasting. I am obsessed with this, just as I am with all of my other glow kits! 
My skintone is probably the third shade in every foundation range I use and I would describe it as fair-light but I think these would be even more stunning on complexions deeper than mine. 

These are also very pretty over lipsticks and to make eye looks pop! After I took the following photo I topped my lipstick with Orion. 


Here you can see spectra as my face highlight in my nose and cheeks! I decided to go full unicorn with the blue lips. 🦄 
Overall, I highly recommend! It’s fun, functional and so pretty to look at! 

February Sephora Play! Bag; Final Thoughts

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 10 Comments

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It’s been about a month (err a little longer) of having these products so I thought I’d share my thoughts on what I received in my February Sephora play bag.

Sephora Lashcraft Mascara– I LOVE this. It adds beautiful length and volume, I will be using this sample to the very last drop and adding this to my to-buy list.

Origins GinZing Eye Cream- This smells nice, feels nice but I notice no special results with it.

Bite Beauty Multi-Stick in Cashew- This is pretty, a bit of a cream to powder consistency. The shade is nice and the product smells lovely, as Bite products tend to but I am so glad I never bought a full size one of these because despite it being a good, pretty product I am just not drawn to it and often let it sit to the wayside.

Tom Ford Neroli Portifino Perfume- I actually really enjoy the smell of this both in the bottle and on me but I can and will not pay $225 for a bottle of perfume unless I become a millionaire overnight, then who knows maybe I’ll have a ~crazy~ shopping spree.

Too Faced Lip Injection Glossy in Milkshake- This plumps my lips beautifully and has a nice shade but burns the hell out of my lips. I do really like the end result so I’ll continue to use the product but I don’t know that I’d purchase a full size at this point.

Clinique Pep-Start Hydro-Blur Moisturizer- I’ll admit, I’ve only tried this on my hand (this is the result of hoarding too many beauty products) but it has a nice scent and a blurring effect really reminiscent of Benefit’s Professional. I will report back once I’ve tried it on my face but so far no irritation on the skin, which is one of the reasons I seem to always love Clinique skin care.

Fiancé buys my makeup

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 3 Comments

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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

Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow-Review

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 6 Comments

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So I’ve had this bad boy for a while now so I thought I’d share my thoughts with you all! I waited in that insane virtual line for hours to get my hands on this only to find out later it’s super easy to get your paws on. This sweet peach glow kit retails for $42 and contains a blush (or blush topper, rather), bronzer and highlighter.

This smells like peach rings candy. While I find this pleasant, I find the chocolate bar and other chocolate scented palettes overwhelming and off-putting so if you’re not into fake peach this is a hard pass. Also, the whole makeup smelling like food thing slightly weirds me out, I always wonder if that means it lessens the life and will expire sooner, maybe that’s be over thinking it but ick!

That being said I really like the blush, I enjoy the highlight and the bronzer isn’t for me. The blush is light and glowy and the perfect wash of peach for my cheeks. It applies well, as the product is not heavily pigmented which I find to be a positive thing for blushes. The highlighter is pretty and gives a natural glow to my face, not quite as subtle as hourglass highlighters but definitely not the crazy glow you get with Anastasia glow kits.

This bronzer could probably be pretty on the right person but for me it is far too orange. I have cool-toned, fair skin and this bronzer gives me more of a soft kiss of Tropicana (no pulp) rather than the sun-kissed bronze I was aiming for.

So if you consider that I’m not really a fan of the bronzer, that’s $15 wasted which is pretty steep. I say if you love this blush color, skip this and scoop up the papa don’t peach blush (which is gorgeous!) and if only the highlighter tickles your fancy, I’d opt for a a single peachy-toned highlighter instead.

Though I am satisfied with my purchase, I’d think this one through before dropping $42 on this baby.

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XO

Amanda

TJ Maxx Haul

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 3 Comments

This past week I had the pleasure of doing some shopping with my mom at our local TJ Max and found some pretty cool beauty steals!

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Smashbox LA lights blush and highlight palette $24.99

Too Faced Melted Metal lipstick in Metallic Bunny $5.99

Origins GinZing cream eyeshadow in Blue-tiful Burst $11.99

Estee Lauder Double Wear eyebrow pencil duo $16.99

Alba Bontanica fast fix for a pijmple $3.99

Pearl essence Dry Shampoo in Lavendar Fields $6.99 (this smells incredible)

Bobbi Brown Smokey in Seconds kit $34.99 (Includes liner, shadow stick, makeup remover and mascara)

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Close up of the blush/highlight palette

Total Spent: $105.93 Honestly a pretty good haul for the total, I’ll update in a week or so with reviews of these products!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Palette Review

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 4 Comments

 

Oh my gosh isn’t this thing gorgeous?! Not only is this pretty to look at but it’s also definitely been tons of fun to play with! Mixing new shades has been both fun and oh so wrong (I’ve gotten some really ugly green lipsticks. Lol!). This baby is $48 on the Anastasia Beverly Hills website, which offers free shipping on orders over $25.

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However, I will say the mixing plate and spatula are a pain in the rear to clean, it isn’t just a swipe and be done type of product. The actual lipsticks in the palette are both creamy and have a beautiful matte finish. They’re also incredibly long lasting! I don’t really mind carrying a lipstick palette along with me, as my purse is a black hole but I never seem to want to bring this one because it’s lacking one seriously important thing if I’m using a product this large on the go; a mirror.

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All in all the actual product is beautiful and applies nicely and is also incredibly long lasting. These are traditional cream lipsticks, so they do transfer and don’t have the longevity of a liquid lipstick, as to be expected. However, this is something I would only recommend to a lipstick junkie or obsessed  makeup collector like myself. It isn’t very convenient (although it may be if you travel frequently) and there is no way to store the unique shades you mix up from the palette unless you go purchase small pill containers. So if you do want it, the product quality is well worth it but do realize it does have it’s drawbacks.

 

XO

-A

TooFacedXKatVonD Better Together eyeshadow palette review

~ SeriouslyStyled ~ 4 Comments

This collection will set you back a whopping $65 but also comes with a full size Better Than Sex mascara and a full size Tattoo Liner in Trooper. If you account for the cost of these two items in the price then you’re paying $23 for the eyeshadow palette or about $1.91 per shade.

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On the Too Faced side there are six shades: BFF (matte cream), Lovely (matte baby pink), Friendspiration (shimmery brass) , Heart of Gold (shimmery green toned old gold), Power Couple (dark chocolate brown with gold glitter) and Better Together (deep shimmery purple).

I was pleasantly surprised with all of the shimmer shades on this side of the palette. The only two dudes in the whole palette were the two matte shades: BFF and Lovely. They take a lot of building up to get color payoff, whereas all the other shades glide on like butter. The matte shades though disappointing do work if you’re willing to spend a bit of time blending.

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On the Kat Von D Side we have another six shades: Por Vida (matte white), Darling (shimmery grey), Yours (cool-toned deep, matte grey), Devotion (Deep matte black), Swoon (a gorgeous deep red with gold reflects) and Lovestruck (a light, shimmery, peachy gold).

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Ahh all of the shades on the Kat Von D side are honestly stunning. They blend like butter and do not disappoint. They are the exact same quality I have come to expect from Kat Von D. Not to mention the overall aesthetic of this collection is stunning. The two palettes also are connected via magnet and come apart easily if you only wanted to take one side while traveling.

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Overall, I find this collection a great value if you love the mascara and liner that the collection comes with or have been itching to try them. The quality, pigment and lasting power is all here in this little baby. I’d definitely scoop it up if you’re considering it!