October Favorites 2017

Well hello hello. I know my October Favorites are extremely late, but hey I got some great products that might make it worth it. October was a bit of a hectic month. I had my beautiful best friend's wedding so a lot of my time was bouncing around between the wedding and work. Nevertheless, I have some favorite beauty products (and tools) from this past month including rediscovering my love for the drugstore products yay!

Dose of Colors Baked Browns Palette:
I guess you can count this as a rediscovered favorite but I purchased this palette back in April at IMATS. I knew though that I would have enjoyed this palette a lot more in the Autumn season. I mean the colors alone are beautiful. It reminds me of a portable version of the Sephora Pro Warm Palette (which I LOVE and I do have a review of it here).

I did get this palette discount when I went to IMATS for around $25 but honestly, the quality of the matte shadows in here is worth the retail price of $32. The mattes are just as creamy and comparable to Kat Von D's matte shadows (which I truly believe she does create some of the best matte eye shadows). These shadows blend beautifully without getting muddy and the colors (used with a good primer of course) last all day. I love that the colors can be a simple everyday neutral eye, to a really define, warm evening eye.

I almost didn't picked this up at IMATS until after I swatched the shades. I'm really glad I did decide to purchase it

Loreal Infallible Pro-Matte Liquid Lipstick in Shakedown: 
Oh my...you guys....this is up there for favorite liquid lipstick formulas (here is my list of the ones that made the cut in my book). I saw that emilynoel83 had this color on his lips in one of her snapchat stories and been hearing the rave all over social media about formula on these including the pro-matte glosses.

There's so many things I love about this product that I'm not entirely sure where to begin.  For starters, I LOVE the shade. It's the brown lip color that I feel like I've been looking for all season but it has that hint of mauve undertones. It gives me major 90's vibes. I also love the doe foot applicator and how precise it is to get  a crisp line and by corners of the mouth. The formula is so interesting. It has a bit of thickness but when it dries down (which does take a while) it's a comfortable matte on the lips. I noticed when I press my lips together, it will slightly stick but it's not too much of an annoyance since I rather not have my lips be deprived of moisture. It's the longevity of this that blows my mind. Even with eating and drinking, there's some fading and a bit of transfer, but the majority of the color is still there and it doesn't come out of the lip line. It's amazing and makes me feel so much better to bring this out with me knowing I don't have to worry about how bad the reapplication process will be. Beyond impressed with this formula and so incredibly happy it's from the drugstore. Even better, try getting this when a $3.50 off $15 coupon for ulta that comes around (which is what I did plus I had points saved up to take more money off).

So good. Ok I'll stop talking about this now (for now)

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer:
Quite a mouthful to say but what a beautiful product. I've forgot how much I love this concealer and the brightener as well. I also just remembered that I did have this in a favorites a while back but I feel like I didn't give it enough love back then. So let's give it some love now.

These concealers are lightweight while still providing a natural full coverage. I love how the concealers brighten up the under eye area. Finally, one of my favorite things about this is because it's so light weight, it doesn't emphasize on fine lines and looks flawless from beginning to the end of the day.

Maybelline concealer, you have been much loved (if you can tell from the little amount of products I have left in them).

Beauty Blender Micro Mini:
Ok so this isn't a necessity, but I can't believe how much I've been liking this small beauty blender . It's a lot softer and more lightweight than the original beauty blender which makes this perfect for the delicate under eye area. Surprisingly, I've also come to love this with cream highlighters as well.

As I mentioned, I don't think this is a necessity, but if you happen to get one, I would definitely give it a shot first before turning it down (like I almost did). Besides, look how cute it is?

sephora.com 

MBA Cosmetics Chromalights in Champagne Toast:
Now that we're getting into the holiday season, I plan on making glitter a part of my daily routine. If you've seen my face at all for the month  of October, then you know I have been drenching myself in this glitter especially ever since I got my hair dyed to auburn again. I also purchased this at IMATS back in April and I've been using this glitter along with the Dose of Colors Baked Browns palette. The great thing about this product is that the adhesion is already embedded in the glitter so all you have to do is press it onto your eyes. There's some small fallout with the first time applying this but throughout the day, the glitter stays put. It as a really creamy feel which I love because some glitters can be too harsh for the eye. For $10, you get a lot of product and a little goes a long way. I've got so many compliments on this color and I really can't wait to go back to IMATS to try out more of their colors.

Finally, I've incorporated this glitter into my Halloween look for work which was an autumn edition of Mother Nature and possibly one of my favorite looks that I ever done. I applied the glitter to my liquid lipstick leaves on my face to give them some dimension.

Every Drop Beauty Spatula:
Ok bare with me but my last two favorites are tools. However, they are amazing tools. This was also another purchase back at IMATS and honestly I will probably pick up two more this coming year. If you care about using your products to the fullest and getting your money's worth, then you need to get this item. I've always contemplated on getting one for years and I'm so glad I finally decided to get one. I've used this for so many things including skincare items (which as we all know can be pricey) and was very shocked at how much product was leftover. I would be able to get another week or two out of the bottle. The spatula at the end of it is silicone so it washes off easily. I'm obsessed and I've saw recently that they also make a spatula for lip products which is something I'm definitely going to look into.

Makeup Paw Palette:
So this isn't the exact one I got off of amazon however I actually got mine at Primark for about $3 and I can't get over how much I've been loving this set. The spatula is perfect on one end for getting product and the other side for mixing. The metal plate makes it easy to remove the content with makeup remover afterwards. I've been using this a lot to mix liquid lipstick colors and I've also been using this with my inglot duraline and my eyeshadows to create an eyeliner. This has been just a really handy tool to have and I think it's going to be a great addition to my makeup routine.

So yes that's a wrap up of my October Favorites. We're getting into the homestretch of 2017 including an ultimate favorites list for the year. I can't wait to get into the chaos of the holiday season. It exhausts me sometimes but I also secretly love it.

Dupe?: Loreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara vs. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

Hi hi. My apologies for being gone for so long, for August has been a chaotic month and not enough coffee in between the days. But with some free time I have right now, I figured I finally give you my opinion on whether this Loreal mascara is the drugstore dupe for the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara.

I was really excited when I first saw this launched because I do love the Too Faced mascara a lot but I also love me a good drugstore dupe (I mean who doesn't?). Especially when it comes to mascaras, I almost never justify buying a high end mascara when mascara expires in 3 months. Unless it's in one of these favorite sets, then it's definitely worth it. 

So to the review. The Too Faced mascara almost gives a false eyelash look and provides great volume to my lashes. I always loved the effect it gave. However, I can sometimes find this to be clumpy and it doesn't separate the lashes as well. So let's break down the comparisons. 

PACKAGING: 

Of course, I do love the pink color on both tubes but the Too Faced tube definitely carries a bit more weight to it whereas the Loreal has a light plastic feel to it. As far as the wands go, I do like that the Too Faced one is a little bit longer but I've also always preferred longer wands on my mascaras. The brushes is when you can notice a little bit of a difference between the two products. The Too Faced hourglass shape is more defined where as the Loreal you can see a slight curve to the hourglass shape. The brush hairs are also a bit longer on Too Faced than Loreal. The Loreal looks more as it will perform by providing soft, fluffy volume to the lashes whereas the Too Faced will have more product on each bristle.

FORMULA:

I find the Loreal formula is a lot lighter feeling on the lashes than the Too Faced one. Both formulas though provide great pigmentation and are midnight black on the lashes. 

PERFORMANCE:

I'm very happy to say though that the Loreal mascara performs just as well or even a little bit better than the Too Faced mascara. Both products provide the length and volume that they claim to give. The wear over time was also great with both. No smearing and no flakes throughout the day. Anyway, you can check out the results for yourself and get close and personal with my eyeballs. Each product was applied with two coats.

Left: Too Face Better Than Sex Mascara
Right: Loreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I will still keep using the Too Faced Mascara just to purely use it up, but I'm really happy to say that I do enjoy the Loreal mascara just as well. I might even like it just a little bit more because 1) it's a drugstore price 2) the formula doesn't feel heavy on the eyes but still provides a great effect and outcome. I still want to experiment with the Loreal one with my Covergirl supersizer to see the effect it would give. 

Well I hope some of this was informative and will help you save a bit of money. I would love to keep doing dupe reviews like this one so if you have any suggestions definitely feel free to shout them out. Stay well dears. 

♥