Current Beauty Favorites

Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Powder Foundation

I am the color 04 in this powder

In combination with my YSL Fusion Ink Foundation this powder keeps me matte all day, and gives me exactly the finish I want. This powder is not heavy and I don't feel like I am wearing a ton of makeup when I have it on. The coverage is great as well. I don't really use a concealer for blemishes because once I go over my liquid foundation with this it covers them right up. I use the ELF brush to apply it after I've applied my foundation and under eye corrector. {Here is a link to my favorite makeup brushes post}

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20

Shade: Nude

My MIL introduced me to Laura Mercier and always gives me her samples she gets and doesn't want/use {she uses many of their products for both makeup and skincare}. The first product I used from Laura Mercier was the Tinted Moisturizer. It provides a little coverage and contains SPF. I use it a lot for when I go to the beach or boating because it adds just enough coverage {especially if I am breaking out} without being heavy and still protects my face. There is also an illuminating version I have heard is better for those with dry skin. 

**This tinted moisturizer is on sale right now at Nordstrom :)

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat

Radiance 

I have used drug store versions of this type of product and I do honestly find a difference. I know this is an expensive item, but the under eye area can be tough. I do alternate this product with Maybelline Age Rewinder for days when I don't plan on having my makeup on that long. I believe I have said this before, my under eye area does have blueness to it and the salmon color of the YSL works perfectly to cover it enough but it remains light and doesn't crease. 

Urban Decay All Nighter Eyeliner 

I love a great cat eye, but I usually reserve those for more dressy or special occasions. If I am using eyeliner every day I reach for this one. I use it to line my upper waterline quickly and that is it. It quickly adds definition and stays for hours. It definitely has staying power, but it does transfer to my bottom waterline {doesn't look amazing at the END of the day}. 

**If anyone knows of an eyeliner that works as well as this one, but doesn't transfer throughout the day I would love to know about it. 

Kiehls Lip Balm

My lips have changed forever after using this lip balm! It is incredible and I will recommend it to anyone. I use it every single day and I cannot live without it. After I discovered it through Catie McCartney's blog, I immediately went out and purchased it. I did a lip scrub with my Mary Kay lip mask and then applied this lip balm. My lips stay soft for days if I continue to use the lip balm AND I can wear really matte lipsticks! That's huge for me. A ton of the ladies who I work with use it now. It comes in a few different flavors {mango and cranberry are amazing}. My Nordstrom always has it in stock thankfully. 

Jordana Lipline in Tawny

I learned about this lip liner through a well known Beauty Youtuber Carli Bybel. It is just a shade or two darker than my natural lips and I love using it by itself or in combination with Mac Angel Lipstick. It is just a great all around lip liner. 

Some of my favorite lipsticks right now are Mac Angel, Twig, and Velvet Teddy. These colors have been made popular recently by Kylie Jenner and other celebrities. I often pair my Gerard Cosmetics lip glosses I talked about in THIS post with my favorite Mac lipsticks. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo

I cannot live without this product anymore! Dry Shampoo is the best invention ever! I use the color Dark and Deep Brown. I love that this has a brown color. Other dry shampoos come out white on brunette hair, but this one blends right in. Washing my hair less often allows my hair to retain its essential oils and not be removed from over washing. 

If you have thin hair that doesn't like to stay curled {like I do}, this product is also a great way to add texture and volume to your hair. 

Living Proof Shampoo and Condition Full

I purchased this Shampoo and Condition after a friend recommended it. I am so glad she did! Their website says it is "Sulfate-free, silicone-free, and oil-free. It is safe for color and chemically treated hair." It is great for fine and thin hair. The only drawback is the price. It is really expensive and that makes the product harder to want to try. If it doesn't work for your hair you won't be very happy you bought it. That being said, I would recommend it if you have thin hair. Products that work well with my hair and allow me to style it the way I want are important parts of my beauty regime. Once I find a product I love I will purchase it again and again {until it stops working or I find something better}.   

Youinque Mascara

This is my favorite mascara of ALL time. I use it every single day because it makes such a huge difference in my lashes. The mascara does come with directions and I stay fairly close to what they suggest for application. I went out and bought a lash comb because it is definitely necessary for me to use one when applying this to my lashes.

My steps include:
1. Curl your lashes
2. Put a light coat of ANY mascara on your lashes {I haven't found any mascara that works better or worse with Younique so use anything you got}
3. Let that first coat of mascara dry
4. Curl your lashes again and comb through them
5. Apply the Younique Lash Gel
6. Apply the fibers to lashes
7. Apply more gel to lashes

You can repeat steps 5-7 as many times as you would like. Just be careful you don't put too much of the fibers on without enough gel. You will see some fiber fall out throughout the day if you don't add enough gel {not a tragedy, it happened to me and I survived :)}.

You do have to purchase this mascara through a personal retailer. The person in my area that sells Younique is Rebecca Diamond. You will have to enter in someone's name at check out. You can purchase online or contact someone who lives closest to you.


I hope everyone enjoyed reading this post! I love doing reviews on Makeup and Beauty products. I have so many I would love to tell you about, but I also want to make sure they are great products before I mention them here. If y'all have any questions about the products I discussed just let me know :) Or if you have any products you think I cannot live without I definitely want to hear about them!

Have an awesome day and thanks for reading!

Must Have Makeup Brushes

Hey there! Sorry it has been a little while since I did a blog post. Life has been insanely busy but I have some good blog posts planned out so I will be getting them up more frequently. 

I thought I would do a post on my MUST have makeup brushes. I base "must have" on what brushes I use everyday or multiple times a week. Most of the brushes are from Sigma Beauty but thats because the price is great and the quality is up there with MAC and other brands. I learned about Sigma brushes through my favorite Youtube Makeup Artist Jaclyn Hill She is amazing and I have learned so much from her including what brushes are awesome. 

First up is the Sigma E25 Blending brush. I don't know how I ever did eye makeup without this brush. It is the best blending brush ever but it also applies color so beautifully! It is crazy soft too. If you could only buy 2 brushes for eye shadow this would be one of them. I will mention the second next. 

 Close up of the E25

This is the BEST BEST BEST brush EVER to put eye shadow on your lid. It reduces fall out so much and really concentrates the color the first time so you don't need to go back and forth trying to build up the color. If I could only choose 2 brushes to do my eye makeup with it would be this one {the Sigma E55} and the one I mentioned above the {E25}

This is the Sigma E35 tapered blending brush and I also love this brush. I use this for extra blending and try and keep it clean most of the time so I can blend away harsh lines if I have already used my E25 for color application. It is tapered so it is great for getting in the crease. 

This is a Sonia Kashuk brush that you can get at Target that is so great. It is the No. 109 pointed blending brush. I used this one every day for applying transition color eyeshadows inside and above the crease of my eye. 

Although I really like this brush a lot but I do want to try the Sigma E40 brush because I just love makeup brushes :) #whitegirlproblems 

Another Sonia Kashuk brush I love is this one below. Unfortunately it does not have any name or # on it.. Sorry :( It is a denser and shorter brush than the 109 above and I use it everyday to apply the blending shade/highlight below my brow. It blends eyeshadow out will applying it so thats why I use it. 

Next is the Sigma P82 Precision Round brush. I use this everyday to apply MAC's painterly paint pot to my eyes. You can get this separately or in the precision eye kit {I think that is what it is called}. I have the whole kit which includes the P82, P80, P86, and P84. You can use it for a ton of things including blending out under eye concealer and concealer on blemishes. 

Last is a brush that I don't use everyday but every single time I apply gel eyeliner I use it and that is the Sigma E65 Small angle brush. Not much to say except that it is perfect for gel eyeliner!

I have tons of other eye brushes that I could mention that I use for more specific occasions {not everyday} but that would make this a really long blog post to include ALL my brushes. Next I am going to show my must have brushes I use for my face. 

So if I am using my bare minerals foundation I will use the Sigma F80 Flat top kabuki brush to apply it. I will use it sometimes to apply liquid foundation but most of the time I use my beauty blender. It is an amazing brush for both types of foundation and it is definitely a must have for me.

This is the Bare Minerals full coverage kabuki brush. I usually use this to blend out my makeup when I need a heavier blend {if that makes sense} I will also use it for a lighter application of my bare minerals foundation. Oddly enough the Sigma Brush applies bare minerals much more full coverage for me so I will use a different brush depending on what is going on with my skin that day. 

 This brush I could not live without! I lost it a couple weeks ago somewhere at Shane's house and I was so upset. It magically appeared a week later which is awesome! But it was a real struggle without it. It is the ELF Large stipple brush. When I need a lighter blending brush I use this. I use it for all over bronzer application, and blush sometimes. I use this thing for so much I love it! I keep it in my purse at all times to apply my Rimmel Stay Matte powder when I am getting a little shinny and I'm in a hurry and can't apply cornstarch. I ordered this one off Amazon and now you can only get it as an add on item but thankfully it appeared again before I bought another. Having a backup really wouldn't be that bad though. 

This is the Sigma Tapered highlight F35 brush. I use this everyday to apply MAC soft and gentle as my high light. Great brush LOVE it!

I just got this brush a week or two ago and I am so in love with it. It is the most perfect blush brush I have ever used. It applies color great and blends it out! Seriously a must have! It is the Sigma Large angled contour F40. It is crazy soft as well feels great when you apply blush to your cheeks. 

My new favorite brush that has been on my wish list for months and I FINALLY got it last week is the the NARS Ita Brush. I am absolutely obsessed. Sometimes bronzer/contour placement can be a little tricky and this brush just makes it so easy. Super soft too, it is made out of black goat hair I think. Blends beautifully and now I couldn't live without it. It is a little pricey I got it from Nordstrom for 39$ but I think it is totally worth it! Jaclyn Hill has a whole video on her channel on how to contour with this brush. 

Sorry if this post a crazy long but I hope that all my readers enjoy it. I purchased most of the Sigma Brushed off amazon because I have a Prime account and I get free 2 day shipping. I love makeup and I absolutely love trying out new makeup brushes because they really do make a BIG difference. You could be using crappy products and if you have the right brushes it can change everything! Until next time…

xo, Alina

Best Makeup Trick for Oily Skin

As I have mentioned before, I have super, seriously, for real oily skin. Living in Florida doesn't help this situation out, but I have found a way to manage my Oilyness. I actually found this on Pinterest a year ago and I've used it ever since and it really works for me. So here it is...

Cornstarch. 

Yes, cornstarch. The cornstarch you buy at the grocery store in a big bag for like 2$. Yup that stuff! :) 

I have used bare minerals for a long time and I love the matte version of the original powder foundation. It keeps me matte for 4-5 hours depending on if I'm outside sweating a lot or inside. Bare minerals has a product a lot of people are familiar with and it's the mineral veil. I love that stuff but if you look on the back of the jar the ingredients are pretty much just cornstarch. Don't believe me? 

There ya go! 

Right now what's in that jar is cornstarch. I put it in there when my mineral veil ran out. So I keep it in there and in my purse for touch ups throughout the day. To apply it I use a powder puff. I have a small one from Laura Mercier I use. You could use a brush, sponge or powder puff. When I first started using the cornstarch I would mix a little bit of it in with the actually bare minerals powder foundation but after awhile that was making my face too powdery so I switched to just using it when I get oily. 

If you have oily skin try this! If you don't like it then your not out of a lot of money and you can just use the cornstarch to thicken your sauces you cook haha. 

I use a primer sometimes and I'm in the process of trying out new ones to see how they work for me and preventing Oilyness. But some of them are expensive and if they don't work it can be a bummer. Some primers can help to keep you matte longer but I haven't found one that I absolutely love love yet. 

Hope this helps some girls because I know it has definitely helped me :) 

Thanks for reading!  

xo, Alina

July Favorites!

This month I have some really good products that are worthy of being mentioned.

First is.... the naked basics palette.

I just got this a couple days ago and I used it a few times this weekend and I am in LOVEEE. Faint is the most amazing crease color and naked 2 is a really awesome shade to blend with. I got mine at Sephora and it is totally worth the 27$.

Next is 2 lipsticks I just recently bought as well. They are from the Maybelline Vivids collection and they are AMAZEBALLS! They have great color pay off, they tend to stay on nicely at least on me, and they don't dry out my lips.

Here is a swatch. On the left Shocking Coral and the right Fuchsia Flash

Another beauty product I LOVE is the bumble and bumble thickening hair spray. I have very thin hair and I like to use it because it helps add some texture to my hair and make it more manageable. It is a little expensive the small bottle is 9$ and the larger bottle I think is 36ish$. But I love it so I buy it and I just get the little bottle.

This isn't really a July favorite is kinda a forever favorite and that is the Philosophy Take a Deep Breath moisturizer. I just got a new jar of it and I didn't have it for a couple weeks and my skin got so dry. I have really oily skin but in some areas it can get dry and that just isn't cute. I don't even have to use a lot to moisturize me skin, I don't know why this works so well but I love it. I think it was 34$ for a 2 ounce jar at Ulta. 

A non beauty favorite is my new polar watch! I talked about it a little bit in my Sweating For the Dress post. I love this watch and that it comes in cute colors. It is really comfortable and light weight which is perfect for the gym or running.

Last is another makeup product by NYX. It is their eye shadow bases in white and skin tone. Gabby who did my makeup for our engagement photos used the white on me and my eye shadow stayed on all night so I quickly went out and bought it. I like using the white for my eyelid because it makes colors pop and then the skin tone color for my brow bone area. I am pretty tan so the white looks weird to me when I use it in that area. They look like this and I got mine at Ulta for 7$.





Another great option for eye shadow bases are the Maybelline color tattoos. They are really awesome and I use them almost everyday. I have 2 colors, barely branded and bad to the bronze. I think they are about 6-7$ and you can get them at Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens pretty much anywhere.

That is all for this month. Definitely going to try and put one of these posts up for each month. Hope you all enjoyed and go out and try some of these products. I don't think you will regret it :)

xo, Alina





Makeup and Beauty FAVORITES!

Hey y'all! I wanted to make this post all about makeup and other beauty products that I am currently obsessed with and one's that are staples in my makeup and beauty routine. You may or may not know this about me but I have an unhealthy obsession with makeup. Seriously, Shane will tell you I have a problem. I LOVE watching youtube videos especially Jaclyn Hill. She is AMAZEBALLS. I cannot get over how amazing and what a great teacher she is. I have watched all her videos probably twice :) she is the bomb no joke. Everyone should go check her out. 

My first favorite makeup/beauty product right now is the EOS lip balm. I just got this one the other day and I think the flavor is strawberry sorbet. This may seem like a lame product for one of my favorites but I have the WORST, absolute worst chapped, dry lips EVER! It is so annoying. I just bought this at Ulta the other day and just using it for a couple of days it has made a significant difference. I think it has coconut oil in it and my momma is always raving about how amazing it is for you so I thought that was cool I think it has all organic products in it too. 

This next product is one of my HOLY GRAIL products! Philosophy's Purity face wash is so BEYOND amazing! It gets all the makeup off once and makes your skin feel so freaking clean its crazy! I have really oily skin and using this just makes my face feel so clean and fresh. I don't even need to use toner anymore. I can't rave about this product enough. This size bottle I think is 22$. It is totally 100% worth it. A bottle usually lasts about a month or more. Depends on how often I am wearing makeup. But a lot of times I just use it as my regular face wash. 

 This next product is something I use when my skin is breaking out or I need to dry it out because it is super oily. My skin responds best to Salsalycic acid and this has a pretty good percentage of that in it. It isn't really like a foaming wash its kind of like a lotion. A lot of times I just put it on my forehead and chin and let is sit for a couple of minutes and then wash it off. 

As of right now this is my favorite full coverage liquid foundation. I have the colors 120 and 123. I have been using the 123 recently because I have been tanning for our engagement photos. I use a sigma F80 Flat top kabuki brush to put this on. For how much coverage this foundation gives it feels really lightweight on the skin, which is a reason why I love it. 

These are my two favorite browns to do a smokey eye with. They are both by MAC. The darkest shade on the right is Brown Down and the shade on the left is Saddle. 

These are my two favorite blushes and I usually mix them together. The blush on the left is by ELF and its called Fushia Fushion and the one of the right is my Milani and its call Luminoso 

I really have been craving a baby doll pink blush and Illamasqua has one in a shade called Katie. That will definitely be my next purchase. 

. 

 This is my favorite eyeshadow base to use from MAC. :)

I tried the UD primer potion and I HATED it! It dried my eye lids out so bad and no eyeshadows would stick at all. It was the weirdest thing especially because so many people rave about how awesome it is. 

 If I am having a break out this is my go to concealer. It is from Physicians Formula and I used the color Natural Light.

 So this is my go to foundation to use when I am not going out like anywhere special. I would wear this to class, to run errands, or just regular things. I will probably wear this a lot this summer because Naples is outrageously hot during the summer and liquid foundation is a joke. I use this in the color Medium Beige. Before I put this on I use the Laura Mercier radiance face primer, which is one of my of favs I will talk about below. 

 This stuff is crazy amazing! I love Laura Mercier products. Since I have oily skin I really like my makeup to look Matte but I don't like it to look dull. I used this and it gives my skin a glow without making it look oily or too dewy. Its really hard to look dewy without looking oily for me and this product helps me achieve the look I like. 

The next couple of things are my favorite lip products right now. This is one of my favorite lip combinations. I wore it to graduation and its the perfect light, shimmery, pink color. The lipstick is called Sky Pink and the lipgloss is Gold Pink. These are both from NYX as you can see and they are super cheap!

 This is probably my ALL time favorite barbie doll pink lip color. The lip glass is a MAC pro long wear and it seriously lasts forever. It is really sticky and thick which I do not mind but I know some people do not like that. The lipstick is in the color Snob (love<3) and the lip glass is in Infinity Likable. I would recommend this to any girly girl. You will love it if you don't mind the lip glass. 

My favorite bronzer! Its NARS Laguna and its amazing. Enough said :)

 Favorite Highlighter. DUH ;) MAC MSF in Soft and Gentle. 

 This is probably another holy grail product (maybe). I used this almost every time I do a full makeup routine with liquid foundation. It is in the color Radiant Rose. It just brightens under my eyes so well, I cannot live without it. I use my beauty blender and a smaller sigma brush to blend it in. I also hides any blueness under my eyes because of the slightly pink tint to it. 

 Hope this post wasn't too long. I had a lot of favorites to share :). After I move back home and have all my makeup set up the way I want I may do a post of all my makeup and storage. 

Toodaloo y'all 

xo, Alina

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