What I Got For Christmas: Beauty

I cannot believe it's almost 2016. I also cannot believe that Christmas is over and there still hasn't been snow! But anyways, I had a great Christmas with my family and I love this time of year because it really is all about spending time with the family and appreciating each other. But also, I love receiving and giving presents out because it's always nice knowing that you can make someone happy with a gift. I got other things for Christmas this year like books and clothes but I decided to only show the beauty products I got.

December Favorites

I'm so sad that December is coming to an end because it's one of my favorite months. Time flew by fast! But this month I learned to use some of my older products instead of reaching for the same ones I always used.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette I used to be obsessed with this palette because of how it smelt and because it had very neutral colors. Ever since I got my Urban Decay Naked 2 palette I feel like I've pushed this palette aside. This month I've been reaching for it a lot more and I'm so in love with it. Sometimes I'll use just the matte brown shades for my crease and then sometimes I'll just use a shimmer all over my lids. I think this palette has a lot of versatility which was why I loved it in the first place. I rarely use eyeliners but I've been trying to use them more and I love the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil (Whiskey). It's a matte brown shade and I found that using brown eyeliners made my look appear softer and not as harsh as it would whenever I did use a black eyeliner. These glide on so easily and they don't smudge throughout the day at all.

I used to hate highlighting because I thought it was only meant for people with dry to normal skin types. But obviously I realized that it is for every skin type and I've been obsessed with highlighting ever since. The MAC Mineralize Skinfinish (Soft and Gentle) was actually my first highlighter (I think) and at first I didn't think it was the greatest so I kept buying new highlighters, completely ignoring this one. I was running late one day and I reached for this highlighter then fell in love with it. It looked so glowy and I have no idea why I haven't used it much before.

Of course there will be a lip product mentioned, I mean....I am always using lip products. The Too Faced Perfect Lips Lip Liner (Perfect Nude) has been one of my favorites for a while and I feel like these lip liners aren't talked about enough! They are really pigmented and feel really smooth on my lips. They also last all day and can last through my meals. These lip liners are the ones that you twist up and I usually hate those kinds because they always break whenever I try to apply them, but these didn't break that easily which is also another reason why I love it.

I've already written a blog post (here) about the Lavanila The Healthy Deodorant (Vanilla Lavender) and why I love it so much. I am starting to love natural deodorants and I can't wait to try some more with new scents. These feel great on my skin and prevent me from smelling like a sweaty mess. The only thing I hated about this particular one was the scent, next time I would definitely get a different scent.

What are your favorites this month?

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Start The New Year With Spongelle

Let me start off by saying Happy Holidays! This is the greatest time of year so I hope you got to celebrate with family and friends. I always look forward to this time of year because I love hanging out with family and I also love trying out new products. Whenever it's the holiday season there are always new products that launch, and I always tend to want them. But these Spongelle products are completely new to me. I don't typically use scented body washes so these were fun to try.

One of my favorites is the Boxed Flowers Body Wash Infused Buffer in Coconut Verbena ($16), the scent is actually what drew me into it the most. I love coconut scents and this one smells quite strong but it isn't extremely overpowering which I love. The boxed flowers infused buffer is actually meant to moisturize, rejuvenate, and restore your skin. It is also formulated to cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate, and massage. I can definitely feel all of that except for massage, but it doesn't really matter. After using this I felt like my skin was smooth and definitely moisturized. I didn't even need to use a moisturizer after this and I love that the my body still smelt like the sponge. It didn't smell too strong though which is great, I hate scents that smell way to strong and it's impossible to get rid of it. This sponge can be used 14+ times, and I love that it comes with a hanging ribbon. I have so many sponge products that actually don't come with anything to hang a sponge which is ridiculous in my opinion. When I first opened the box and peeled off the wrapper I thought that the sponge felt really sticky, of course I knew that it should've since it is infused with body wash but I didn't expect it to feel so sticky, that was the only thing I didn't really enjoy bout it.

The Wild Flower Body Wash Infused Buffer in French Lavender  ($12) is similar to the Boxed Flowers Buffer but it definitely doesn't feel the same. This sponge definitely felt a little rougher and this sponge is designed to moisturize and rejuvenate your skin.  It's also formulated to cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate and massage. Just like the other sponge I felt all of those things except for the massaging. I did feel like this sponge wasn't as soft as the other, it definitely exfoliated but wasn't as gentle. I feel like people who don't have extremely sensitive skin will enjoy this more. This sponge can be used 14+ times just like the Boxed Flowers Buffer and it also has a ribbon to hang it up by (YAY).

If you say you don't exfoliate your feet then you're definitely missing out. I mean, who doesn't want smooth feet? This is the Pedi-Buffer in Beach Grass and it's supposed to soothe aches & pains while massaging away your stress and strain. Well....that didn't help with any of my stress but I didn't really expect it to anyways. I don't really believe in products that claim to take away stress and etc. This sponge is formulated to cleanse, buff, soften and rejuvenate the skin and it's supposed to soothe and heal rough skin. The reason why I was excited about this sponge was because I think it's a great concept, and because I own other exfoliators but it's kind of annoying to exfoliate my feet without a sponge or whatever else I'm supposed to use to exfoliate my feet. My feet did feel smoother and moisturized after this, I think it's time to stop using the other exfoliators I had because those didn't work so great while this one seemed to immediately give me smooth feet. I will definitely purchase more of this in the summer.

Spongelle has tons of products and they have different scents as well so if you're interested in purchasing something from their website http://spongelle.com you should definitely give their products a try, it's so worth it. They were also nice enough to give me a 20% off discount code to share with you guys! Use the code 'mauve20' for 20% your purchase.

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me by the company for a review. As always my opinions are 100% completely honest.

Christmas Party Makeup

It's that time of year again and I'm excited because I have an excuse to wear red lipstick now. I mean, yeah I could wear that whenever but when I think of Christmas make up I think of red lips. Usually I don't wear bold colors on an everyday basis so when I have an opportunity to wear it, I will.

Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation

I haven't used powder foundation in years and the only reason why I wanted to start using them again was because there were days where I didn't need that much coverage. Sometimes I would dust some translucent powder onto my face and wear some bronzer...that's it. But I knew I would need a powder foundation anyways so after doing a bit of research on powder foundations I found this Cover FX Pressed Mineral Foundation.

My First Kiko Haul

When I first heard all of the buzz surrounding Kiko I've been wanting to try some of their products. But when I actually went to the store I wasn't feeling very inspired to buy a lot of things, because I just spent a ton of money on Christmas presents. I ended up purchasing the Infinity Eyeshadow (236 Pearly Champagne) and the Soft Touch Blush (105 Dark Rose). There were so many products in the store and it really impressed me that there were so many different products to choose from but of course I ended up buying a new blush and eyeshadow (something I own too much of in my collection).

I was really loving all the eyeshadows they had, I actually wanted to buy about five but I decided not to. Instead, I went for this shade since it wasn't like anything I had. It's a champagne color but not too dark and not to light. It is actually a perfect inner corner highlight shade which was why I got it in the first place. $8 isn't that inexpensive for a single eyeshadow but it's definitely cheaper than a single MAC eyeshadow, and the pigmentation is great. The shadow wasn't chalky and it definitely lasted me all day.

There were a lot of blushes to choose from but obviously not as much as the eyeshadow variations. Once again I knew I didn't need this many blushes but it was too affordable not to get one. It was $12 and it reminded me of the Becca blushes. The pigmentation is amazing, one swipe and it looked exactly like it does in the pan. I'm actually really impressed with this blush and I might even go and buy more. The only thing I don't like about this blush is that it didn't seem to last that long on my skin, that might be due to the fact that I have really oily skin. 

Have you tried any Kiko products?

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My Christmas Wishlist

So Christmas is just around the corner and my parents have been asking me "what would you like for Christmas?" and honestly...I knew what I wanted but I didn't want to ask for it. I love getting gifts, don't get me wrong but sometimes it's nice to be surprised and sometimes I do like baking and watching a marathon of Christmas movies much better than receiving presents. I also love seeing the reaction of others when they open up the present I got for them because it's nice to see someone so happy over something you got them.

Sephora Rouge Infusion Lip Stain

For a while I've been wanting to test these out because I love lip stains, I mean who doesn't? I actually like Sephora brand products because they're just as good as some of the higher end brands carried at the store. The first time I tried these Sephora Rouge Infusion Lip Stains, it was from a sample.

Saying Hello To Smoother Skin!

I'm obsessed with all of Lush's face masks. It's so bad because I always end up leaving the store with about 3 new masks and since they're fresh masks there are expiration dates. If I buy more than one mask I never finish them before the expiration date (bad habit). This mask is the Cup O' Coffee Face and Body Mask, the great thing about this is that it doesn't need to be refrigerated so it lasts longer than the fresh masks. I was skeptical about this at first because seeing the word "coffee" made me imagine a really harsh product that was full of fragrance.

As soon as I took the lid off, I was greeted with the strong smell of coffee. Don't get me wrong, I like coffee (sometimes) but the smell was way too strong for me to handle. It gave me a headache (maybe I'm over exaggerating) but the smell made me not like the product as much. When I smelt it, I suddenly felt regret. Did I make the right decision buying this?

Luckily I didn't make the wrong decision, the smell was horrible but the actual mask was great. Actually, it was wonderful. I really did notice a difference to my skin and this was much better than the other more expensive exfoliators I purchased in the past. This is kind of like an exfoliant but it isn't harsh at all. My skin felt soft and smooth afterwards, I didn't notice any dry patches anywhere. Sometimes after using a mask I will feel like all the moisture has been sucked out of my skin but I didn't feel this way with this mask. I'll definitely repurchase this after I run out.

Have you tried any of Lush's face masks before?

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November Favorites!

Time flies when you're excited for the holidays. November went by so fast and now it's almost Christmas! I love December which is why I'm glad to finally be writing my November favorites. This month has definitely been a makeup filled month, not only because I wore a bunch but I also bought a bunch (someone please stop me from buying more!). My routine did change a few times in November but I always stuck to the same few products.
Ever since I got the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette I've been obsessed. I used to always go for a matte eye look but with this palette I find myself branching out more and I love it. The shades are all so pigmented and I think this will be used a lot in December since there are so many different looks I can create with it. I bought the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade a while back and didn't use it much, but I've been trying to use it more. I found that it definitely made my eyebrows look darker than the brow wiz did, this also lasted much longer. Sometimes I would use this first at the ends of my brows and then go in with the brow wiz and blend everything else in.

The MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in "Oh, Darling" has been talked about so much since it released and I'm still going crazy over it just like I did when I wrote about it on this post. It adds such a pretty glow onto my skin and I've been reaching for it every single day. I do try and switch things up but I can't stop using this. It's a limited edition product so I should probably try not to finish it so quickly. There was a time where I had been obsessed with full coverage foundations because they made my skin matte and the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Foundation was great for my oily skin. I don't like full coverage foundations anymore so I'll use my beauty blender with this to soak up a little more product and it'll give me medium coverage. Plum blushes have also been an obsession of mine for the past two months and I realized that I had a sample of the Lancome Blush Subtil Powderblush in Aplum so obviously I had to use it. All I have to say is that the color is gorgeous and the formula is amazing, when I run out of the sample size I will definitely buy the full size.

I'm someone who always sticks to the same shades of nail polishes and it could be horrible at times since I don't really have a lot to choose from. But ever since I got the OPI Nail Lacquer in Tickle My France-y I've been wearing it a lot. It's a neutral mauve shade, and I'm obviously a huge fan of mauves. OPI has a really great formula because their polishes last longer on my nails than other brands (sometimes) and it's a good thing that it lasts long because I hate having to redo my nails.

What are your November favorites?


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Tarte Fanciful Favorites Deluxe Discovery Set

When I saw this on the Sephora site I knew I had to have it. It was only $10 and I already knew that it was going to be a good deal because the mascara costs $10 by itself. It wasn't only the good deal that drew me in, it was the blush. I don't think I have any color like it but I thought that it would be a perfect color for the fall/winter. This set is no longer available online but they still have them in stores so if you haven't gotten it yet then you should.

I've been a huge fan of the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara for a while now so I was bound to buy a new one eventually. This mascara isn't clumpy and it doesn't smudge which is why I love it so much. I haven't tried the Maracuja Oil before but I'm not a huge fan of oils so I might give this to someone instead. The star of the palette was definitely the blush, I believe it is exclusive to this set.

• Maracuja Oil - 0.23 oz
• Fanciful Blush - 0.05 oz
• Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara - 0.13 oz

Tarte's blushes are very pigmented so I wasn't expecting any different from this one. I feel like it is darker in the pan than it is swatched, but it's still a really pretty color. I think this would be great with any makeup look and definitely appropriate for this season.

This set is a great value and I love the mascara and blush that comes with it. For only $10 this set would be a great gift to give to someone.

Did you buy any of Tarte's holiday sets?

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