Loving Lately #1

Have monthly favorites been outdated? I hardly see any on my dash when the end of the month rolls around these day! I've always been a fan of reading them but never writing them. I always felt too much pressure to 'love' certain products every month and my versions of those posts were always so lame. I still want to share products I've been loving during longer periods of time so I've created this "loving lately" series. I know, super original title, amiright? Instead of doing it monthly, I'll be doing it sporadically when I feel like I have a bunch of stuff I love that I must, must, must share. Hurr we go!

• Bath & Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist in Carried Away | Carried Away is my favorite scent from Bath & Body Works. When I worked there it was the only scent I was really good at selling and I wanted you to go home with at least the shower gel. In an attempt to ration the last bit of my One Direction perfume, I've started reaching for my large collection of fragrance mists. Of course, I reached for this one first with it's delicious notes of raspberries, bergamot, jasmine, and vanilla. MMM, MMM! Just wish the staying power was longer :/
• Benefit's gimmeBrow | I wasn't totally in love with this when I got it because I was bitter about practically being forced to buy it, but now my feelings have changed. Brows still aren't a part of my daily make up routine but on occasion I do enjoy sprucing up my brows to make them look less fuzzy wuzzy and give them more shape. It's especially great for work when I wan to look put together, but not to over the top. I don't know, I can't describe it (which is really helpful for you guys, isn't it? haha) but I do love this stuff!
• Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer | This concealer has been the only concealer I've used since I bought it! I love the coverage and brightness of all the Wake Me Up products from Rimmel. I've raved on and on about them for quite some time and still to this day I won't use anything else. I'm actually running low on it, but may refrain from buying another just to use up the rest of the concealers that are lost in the "forgotten".
• Candy Cane flavored Chap Stick | MMM, MMM! You can't go wrong with peppermint and candy cane flavored things during any time of the year honestly. It's equal parts minty and equal parts sweet which makes for a tasty combination! This crazy cold weather has just been the worst to my lips, so I'm glad this guy not only tastes delicious, but keeps my lips nice and moisturized for hours!
• NARS Narsissist Eyeshadow Palette | I've saved the best for last! I know reviews on this palette from NARS have been mixed, but just know that I LOVE it. It's all I've been using and reaching for as of late to create eyeshadow looks. My thoughts on it are coming really, really soon, I promise, along with crazy model shots of it (LOL) and swatches! It's all set up in my drafts, but school is making it rather hard to write up the dang thing! Long story short; I LOVE IT. MONEY WELL SPENT!

What have YOU been "loving lately" Har har ;)

Valentine's Day Make Up Look

Hello, you gorgeous popsicles (too much Grace Helbig on the brain, haha) Happy February to you all! Have you noticed the sea of red that has no doubt already bombarded some grocery and drug stores? There's no way you couldn't have, haha, cause I swear it just envelops you and makes you stop. The color red will do that to you, as I've come to realize from many a Psych class. February and all this red means just one thing- Valentine's Day is on it's way. So for the next two weeks I figured I'd put together some looks that you could wear for the ocassion wether you're going out on a date, out with your gal-friends, just chilling with me, myself and I, or you know, wear for any ocassion, honestly!

Today's look is a very light, simple, and natural take on a smokey eye. I think this would be great for any day, really, but especially nice if you've made plans in the day time or early evening. In this look there's equal attention placed on eyes, lips, and cheeks, for an all around pretty look. For the eyes I used NARS Smudgeproof Base Primer and NYX's Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk for the base, blending both out with my fingers. Then with a fluffy crease brush I took a little bit of MAC's Satin Taupe and applied it lightly into the crease, ever so slightly building up the intensity and bringing it into the outer-V. Next, I took MAC's Naked Lunch on a flat shader brush and applied that on the inner 2/3 of my lid, concentrating the most color on the center. After that, using MAC's Shroom on a pencil brush I dabbed that into the inner corners to really open up the eyes, making them look a bit bigger and brighter. Who doesn't love looking doe-eyed, haha? Especially on V-Day! Then, since most of the eyeshadows have a satin-y finish to them, I decided to highlight the brow bone with a matte shadow (MAC Vanilla) to balance everything out. Now I debated lining my eyes with a liquid liner and wing, but I really wanted this to be a rather natural and soft look so to define the eyes just a bit, I tightlined the upper and lower water lines with Rimmel Scandaleyes Eye Liner in Black. I realize this technique can close off the eyes (thus defeating the purpose of the bright inner corner) so if your eyes are tad on the smaller size, just tightline the upper lash line so that your lashes look fuller. Lastly, I topped of my eyelashes with Maybelline theFalsies Volume Express, which is a great lengthing and curling mascara, truly recommend!

For the rest of the face, I applied NARS Sheer Glow foundation with a Beauty Blender and Rimmel's Wake Me Up concealer, blending it out with my finger. For cheeks, I used Tarte's Exposed Amazonian Clay blusher on the apple's of my cheeks and NARS Devotee on the cheek bones for highlight. On my lips I opted for Chanel's Rouge Coco in 54 Le Baiser et voila, the look is finished!

Hope you enjoyed this look and stay tuned for the next!