Benefit's "Legally Bronze" Review, New Mac Eyeshadows, & some fun J. Crew purchases!

A couple weeks ago I told you guys about how I purchased Benefit's Legally Bronze kit.

Its all sold out at Sephora now, but there are some new ones on Ebay if you are interested. Its a really great deal & I am happy I bought it, because I seriously love the Hoola Bronzer & Highbeam! The Gilded highlighter is also very pretty, the only thing I am not crazy about is the Bad Gal Lash Mascara. I think the Mascara is really sticky-feeling! I've never felt such sticky mascara - not a huge fan, not the worst mascara I've ever used, but I won't be purchasing that again.

Hoola Bronzer and Highbeam, on the other hand... I can see these becoming holy grail.



The Hoola bronzer is matte, it doesn't have any shimmer or sparkle to it, and it provides a truly natural looking bronzed look to your face. I love it! The color is perfect, not orange or muddy or dirty looking. For a comparison, I have NARS Laguna Bronzer, and I highly prefer Hoola.

As for the Highbeam - its the first time I've ever used a liquidy-sort of highlight on my face, but its surprisingly easy to apply. I just dot it where I want it and then make sure to blend it well. I feel like this stuff provides a really pretty glow that looks like it comes from within, and not just from some product sitting on top of your face. I guess they call it "supermodel in a bottle" for a reason! I read a review that said it may be too icy looking for those with yellow undertones - I have yellow undertones and it works really well on me. Like I said - its extremely pretty, and Benefit knew what they were doing when they put these products together because they work beautifully together, very natural.

Next up, some MAC Eyeshadows. I know a couple people posted their top 15 eyeshadows, so I totally took notes then FORGOT them when I went to purchase! I still really like the shadows I bought.. I think you'll notice a trend... I love browns, bronzes, and other natural shades.



The knight divine is a little outside of my box, because darker colors scare me, as in I tend to be afraid that I won't be able to work with them.. BUT... I'm really glad I bought the knight divine - its a really nice color and easy to use, blending is key of course. I like to use it with naked lunch all over from lid to brown bone, patina and/or woodwinked on the lid, and knight divine mainly on the outer corner and into the crease - and naked lunch again used on the inner corner to brighten. Wish I had a pic for you guys but I cannot get these pics to come out for the life of me! I think the hubby is going to have to help if I ever want to do it.

I've also been using naked lunch, woodwinked, amber lights and antiqued together. Amber lights is a really pretty, peachy sort of bronzey color.

I have yet to use the Indianwood paintpot but I will say it has SERIOUS staying power!! Its a very rich color and will be great base, also will help the shadow to stay longer. All I know is I put the swatch on my arm, used soap and water and it still didn't totally come off.

I know you can barely see the Vex on that swatch... but its a nice color to use with knight divine - thats the only way I've used it so far.

And finally - I took advantage of J. Crew's 20% off by purchasing two more dresses... they very appropriately said in the e-mail its their "perfect excuse to buy both colors" sale... so I did. I bought two different dresses that I already own in 2 different colors! You know what? The price was right and dresses are a must for walking around the city in the heat.

I bought this dress from my OOTD the other day, this time in a dark pewter color (the one in the picture is lighter than it looks in that picture):


And I already own this dress in navy, but bought it in this heather grey color:


That's about it! It rained and made the air quality improve a LOT so we are going out today to explore!

If you own any of these MAC Shadows - what other colors do you typically pair them with? Whats your favorite way to wear them? Any tips for using my first paintpot?

When you find something you love, do you buy it in more than one color, especially if the price is right? I try not to because I feel like its so boring, but these are really perfect for here!

Talk soon!!

Steph

RAVE: New MAC Purchases & an OOTD

This week my Chinese class and I had a farewell lunch at a restaurant near the mall. I, of course, took this opportunity to stop in at Macy's and check out some new products.

First, my absolute favorite purchase in awhile is a new blush by MAC. Its a MAC Mineralize limited edition (translation: hurry up and buy it before its no longer!) blush. I bought it in the shade Sun & Moon. Its amazing. Its a perfect blush for spring and summer. The color is hard to describe but its a great blush for a glowy look. Its the perfect mix of peachy, pinky, bronzey gorgeousness... its highly pigmented and goes on smooth. It works great with bronze eyeshadows. The MAC website calls it a neutral brown and a pink brown.



Trust me, you'll want to run to your local MAC to try out this blush. As soon as I put it on, I couldn't stop looking at myself... and believe me I am usually not that vain! Ha ha ha! Its just that pretty. I have fair skin with yellow undertones, if that helps. I do tan quite easily when I live somewhere where there is sun :)

My next favorite purchase is MAC's Lip Conditioning Balm with SPF 15. This stuff is amazing! I purchased it in the Soothing Beige color. I am usually a pink-lipgloss-wearin' kinda gal, but the SA convinced me to try it, and I am so glad I did! This color is one that looks much better on than in the pot.


I love the Soothing Beige. It is very versatile, works extremely well with bronzes, and it actually is pretty sheer with a little splash of color that just enhances your natural lip color. Its also supremely moisturizing, its not sticky, felt great on my lips and once it wears away my lips are left soft. It has a really light caramel-y sort of taste. And it has SPF 15. The only thing I can say is try it before discounting the color - its a GREAT color! I love this balm so much, I might go back and pick up one of the pink colors, too.


Finally, my last purchase was another gorgeous blush. Its a regular edition blush in the shade Springsheen. MAC describes it as peach with pearl. I think its a very pretty peachy tone, also has some pink tones in it... again, hard to describe but it gives a pretty peachy, golden flush to the cheeks.


This isn't the best pic, and it actually looks darker in person.

I'm still learning how to take pictures of myself in the best way to showcase my makeup, and, well, when I figure it out... there will be pics on here. Any tips for me? I can't seem to get it right.

And my OOTD... I woke up and had 15 minutes to be out the door for breakfast with friends.

The color of the cardi and the stripes in the shirt are actually navy.

I'm wearing a Banana Republic top, J. Crew Jackie Cardigan (not totally my style, but its chilly here), 7FAM straight leg dark wash jeans, J. Crew fireball necklace, and my wine colored Rebecca Minkoff Morning After Clutch. I love the red, navy and gold together! Subtly nautical. Gold sandals. And excuse the mess... I'm moving to China, people!

I also did the braid look & I'm digging it. BTW I am not wearing the new blush or gloss in this pic. I actually have barely anything on.. like I said, was rushing out the door!

Well that's its for now! In the middle of typing this post, actually, closer to the end than the middle... I accidentally deleted the entire thing. Yeah. Had to start all over again from scratch, and you guys know how long it takes to put in pictures and links! AHH!

Enjoy!

Steph

Stocking Up for China

You might be wondering what someone's house would look like if they were planning to move to China really, really soon. Well, I can tell you, the answer is... somewhat of a disaster. It sort of looks like a tornado blew through my house. As if this house wasn't small enough already, we also have a ton of stuff we are collecting & stocking up on so we can bring it to China with us. As a person who is really particular about my products, you can bet I've been stocking up on certain things! My husband keeps reminding me that we are not moving to Mars.... but, I have friends in China whose Sephora orders have been returned and who have found it to be really expensive to buy anything that is foreign and makeup related. I'm not taking any chances.

The closets in this place are way too small. Let this be a warning - when moving into a new place, don't just look at square feet - look at closet space! I apparently wasn't thinking when we moved into this place... our condo in San Diego was smaller than this place, but with much better storage space and walk-in closets. Since we've moved here, the second bedroom has doubled as my closet. Now, its our moving-to-China storage room.

So what's on my must-bring-to-China-with-me packing list?


Apparently - 300 pounds of tampons and other feminine products. LOL. We are also bringing some snacks - Cliff Bars, Zone Bars, Power Bars, granola bars... if you know me, you know I am a monster when I am hungry. To spare my husband and anyone else we travel with, we decided it would be a good idea to have some of these bars on us at all times, just in case!

You might also spy a Kerastase bag and an Aveda bag - which means, yep, you guessed it, I am bringing some of my coveted shampoo & conditioner with me! Can you blame me?! With dyed blonde hair, quality shampoo & conditioner is key! Friends have also told me that these foreign brands of hair products are also extremely expensive there. There are also a lot of limitations on shipping liquids into the country, so I am going to bring as much as I can with me during our move.


BTW I haven't actually tried the Kerastase green line yet, but comes highly recommend by some Fashion & Beauty Nesties, and I can't wait to try it! I also bought an item from the pink line - Chroma Thermique - its supposed to be really great for color treated hair, very nourishing, and also gives amazing shine.


In this you see my Mac sheer pressed powder, Makeup Forever HD Foundation, various DDF cleansers that I love to use, my La Roche Posay daily moisturizer that I've already blogged about, and my go-to dry shampoo by Oscar Blandi. To sidetrack a little bit - I love this Oscar Blandi dry shampoo. This small container is only 11 dollars, and I've had it since December and have used it about 3 times a week since then. I still have over half left. This not only takes away oiliness, but it also adds volume for that just-washed look. I love this stuff!

And finally, the really fun stuff...


Various over the counter medicines, primarily including, as you can see, medicine for GI discomfort! I hear while in China, Immodium is your friend, at least for the first few weeks.... haha。。。免得措手不及！

I know once I am there, I may look back at all this and laugh... but, maybe not!

I have some really great MAC products to RAVE about really soon!

Thanks for reading -

Steph