2015 Year to Date Favorites

It's been an age. I know. I'm finally past one of two certification exams, and I am over the hump of the semester that is mid-terms. So I'm able to chat about some of my favorite things! 2015 has been a year of lazy, no-makeup blah-ness. However, I have managed to try a few new things and rekindle my love for some tried and true favorites.

Jamberry Nails Cuticle Oil: Okay, so since I have started to make a little side business selling nail wraps, I've realized that I should probably take care of my hands a little better. One of those ways is with Jamberry cuticle oil. I am obsessed with this stuff. I don't get nearly as many hangnails (are those the painful skin cracks on your hands right by your nail? Or is the hangnail the actual hanging nail?) and the dry patches around my nails are going away. I usually use it at least once a day, but have been aiming for twice. It's an incredible value for $10. I've used it twice a day for a month, give or take a few days, and it's not even a quarter of the way gone yet. I got this in my starter kit, or else I wouldn't have really tried it... it's incredible, though, and I'm glad I did.

Neutrogena Moisture Smooth Color Stick: Juicy Peach is my favorite lip product right now. First, it smells divine. Second, it's just tinted enough to be subtle, but it gives a pop of color too. It's also really easy to re-apply. And it really does moisturize! I'm not sure of the ingredients on it, but it doesn't make my lips thirsty for more like some lipsticks or lip glosses do, or even some chapsticks. I'm always tempted to wear it to bed like a chapstick.

Davines OI All in one Milk: So, I tried this from a Birchbox way back in October or November and I hated it. But recently I was staying at my boyfriend's place, and I picked it up off of his counter. I used my normal shampoo and conditioner, so I figured I'd give it one more shot. It didn't weigh my hair down at all, and it made it very soft. I loved the way my hair looked that day when I went to work. I've now ruled that part of my hair care routine out and determined that it was either the shampoo or conditioner from the Davines line that weighed my hair down. I'm glad I gave it another shot.

Benefit Moisture Prep Toning Lotion: You guys. I went without this for like two months when my little starter sample ran out and I was so sad. But I sucked it up and spent the $30 and my skin feels much softer now. When I find a skin care routine that works, I've just gotta go with it. No more procrastinating, no more "I'll try something else." Just go with what works, for the most part. Of course, I'll try new things, but when it comes down to it, I need my previously tested awesome toner lotion.

Clarisonic Mia 2: So I love my boyfriend with all of my heart and soul, but I'm certain he is to blame for the death of my first Clarisonic Mia. He wasn't very careful of the little shelf it was on, and kept knocking it over. Every time I heard that "thud", my heart dropped. I tried to charge it one day, and it wouldn't charge. I told my mom, hoping that she had paperwork or something on it, but on Christmas morning, I had a brand new Clarisonic :) I'm so happy! It's no different than the original, really, other than the color, but it works wonderfully and I am grateful to have it again. I'm trying to make more of a consistent commitment to my skin and my beauty routine, so this is a great way to start that!

I promise I'll be back in the next day or so with more posts from the past month or two. It's good to be back!

Top Five Favorite Neutral Lipsticks

I think I mentioned in my last lipstick post that I prefer a bolder lip. For the most part, I do, but there's always times where I also like lipstick on the more neutral side. I wouldn't label these as nude for that reason. My lighter pink choices are what I consider neutral and I have a strong dislike for the concealer colored nude lip. If I do wear something "nude" then I prefer it to be on the pinker side than the brown side. 

I don't own that many neutral tones in my lipstick collection, so pulling a top five out of eight or nine lipstick shades was a lot more difficult that figuring out which pinks I wear more often. The fact is, I don't really wear these lipsticks much. I do try to rotate through colors and not wear the same thing over and over, but I know a couple have been sitting in my "wear soon" holder and I've just been adding colors around them.

Viva Glam V, Mystical, Utterly Frivolous, Marquise D', Fanfare

Viva Glam V is probably the lipstick I've worn the most out of the bunch, which is why I listed it first. This is a Lustre finish, which is common in my neutral lipstick collection. It's a pearl-y nude pink and I really only wear this if I have on eyeliner or running errands. This is not a lipstick I wear to work.

I think my favorite part of Mystical is the packaging. It's from the Alluring Aquatic collection from this past spring/summer. I do like the color and I think it's my runner up for the one I wear the most. This is a color that I would wear to work, so there's that, but because I really do prefer bolder lipstick, I don't tend to reach for it over a bright pink or red. This one is a Cremesheen formula, which is one of my favorites.

Most of the reason I don't reach for Utterly Frivolous more often is that it is a limited edition color from the Fafi collection many years ago. I do really like the color and the fact that it has a little glitter in it. This is another Lustre formula, but I noticed that it's more pigmented than some of my other Lustre lipsticks.

Marquise D' is one of those lipsticks that sit in my top drawer waiting to be worn. It isn't that I don't like this lipstick. It wouldn't be in my favorites if I didn't. I just don't tend to reach for neutral lipsticks that don't lean pink. This is a really nice color, but I don't think I would have purchased it if the casing wasn't from the Wonder Woman collection. I've considered selling it before, but I don't think I could part with it. Marquise D' is also a Lustre formula and another I don't wear to work.

Last lipstick is Fanfare, which I have a hard time pegging as a neutral color. It is much pinker than a nude that leans pink, but this is a color I would go for if I don't want a bold lip. Fanfare is a Cremesheen finish, which means it's creamy and more pigmented than the Lustres I own. This is a shade I would wear to work, but don't tend to reach for over a bolder color.

Viva Glam V, Mystical, Utterly Frivolous, Marquise D', Fanfare

You can see in these swatches that Marquise D' is the lightest, which is honestly why it fades into the background of my collection. I do wear all these colors, but I'm noticing how much I like Utterly Frivolous and I don't think it gets enough love. 

For my monthly lipstick posts, I will be doing lip swatches. I haven't worn any of these this month, but I'm sure I will eventually.

Top Five Favorite Pink Lipsticks

Hi, my name is Reggie and I'm a lipstick hoarder. I guess compared to some makeup collectors, 70 lipsticks isn't that many. I mean, it's under 100. That number includes only actual lipsticks, meaning none of my palettes, and lipsticks that I currently rotate and am not planning on selling.

This was supposed to be my top five favorites, but I had to throw in an honorable mention because I've only worn this lipstick once. I don't think something you wear once can really be considered a "favorite." I just felt that since it's going to be worn quite a bit that I would throw it in for comparison's sake.

As you can see, I'm not really into light pinks. Nope. Just bright pinks. I tend to like a bold lip if I'm going to commit to lipstick. Eventually, I'll do a show and tell of my entire lipstick collection. MAC is releasing more Retro Matte lipsticks soon though, and I'm planning on expanding with a couple of those.

The first three: Impassioned, Pink Pigeon, and Red Balloon. I like to keep the points on my lipsticks because I don't like to use a lip brush and I'm too low maintenance for lip liner. 

Impassioned is an Amplified formula which I really like. Amplified, Matte, Satin, Cremesheen are my favorite formulas so I'm sure you'll see a pattern. This is a newer lipstick to me that I bought not too long ago.

Pink Pigeon is a Matte formula. For a matte lipstick it's pretty creamy and doesn't feel too drying.

Red Balloon might be my favorite out of the entire bunch. It was limited edition with the Playland collection this summer. I kept telling myself I didn't need it until it was out of stock everywhere. I did manage to buy it with my Alluring Aquatic things later in the summer. It's an Amplified formula, so it wears great.

The next ones: Relentlessly Red, (which isn't even red.) Girl About Town, and Kelly Yum Yum. Girl About Town is in limited edition packaging from the Manish Arora collection from way back before I used MAC. I purchased this at retail from a blog sale and the tip was already rounded, but I can't complain because I've seen people buying and selling this lipstick for $50 and up. 

My honorable mention is Kelly Yum Yum, which I just purchased 2 weeks ago. I missed every release everywhere for this lipstick and ended up buying it used on Facebook for about retail, which was the cheapest I had seen anyone resell this limited edition lipstick.

Relentlessly Red is a Retro Matte formula. It's drier than Pink Pigeon and you can see here that it dragged on my skin during the swatch process. I don't feel that it's that dry on my lips, but I also exfoliate my lips and used a lip primer before I apply it. This definitely isn't a red. It's a pinky-red I guess, but it leans more hot pink in my opinion. I'll have to compare all my red-pink mattes eventually, but I'm sure I'm getting another in the Retro Matte collection when it comes out.

Just to reiterate, Girl About Town is in the Manish Arora packaging. I don't have a regular Girl About Town to compare, so I can't say if it's different. This is an Amplified formula, so I definitely love it. The packaging is definitely a winner for me since I missed the collection this came out with.

I guess I can't say a whole lot about Kelly Yum Yum. It's a Satin finish, which I've been loving when I don't really have the patience for a matte lipstick. I really like this so far, but I've only worn it once. I have the inspiration behind this lipstick, which is Candy Yum Yum, a matte, but I haven't actually worn that out in public.

And here's all the lipstick swatches together to compare. I guess they're all pretty similar, but different enough that you can tell they aren't the same.

I want to do more lipstick posts, especially favorites and swatches. Eventually I'm going to do some lip swatches, but my lips aren't up for five or six lipsticks being applied and rubbed off over and over.