2018 Beauty Favorites

While I was putting items together for this post I noticed that I didn’t really try a lot of new makeup this year, so that is something I want to do different this year. I feel like I wasn’t as excited about buying new makeup as I was clothes and shoes in 2018 since I started my blog. I kind of felt like I “needed” new clothes so I could post them. Since I bought so many last year, I am going to try my best to not get as many clothes and shoes this year. I really would like to try and save more, but I am terrible at saving. Let’s see how long that lasts, haha. One of my goals for 2019 is to pay off my makeup school loans, so maybe that will encourage me to save. I want to try and incorporate more drugstore makeup into my content as well, because I hardly ever use any. I know not everyone likes to spend a lot of money on makeup and y’all know I like to give y’all affordable content, so I want to be able to give you more budget friendly options on makeup too.

Anyways, let’s talk about some makeup. It is probably no surprise that almost every favorite for the year is Tarte. I’m only going to do my top 10 favorites. I am always open and honest with y’all so I am not just picking Tarte products because I work for tarte, they are my favorite products for a reason. Tarte has always been one of my favorite brands even before I started working for them. With that being said, let’s get started. I will share my non tarte item first.

1. Estee Lauder- Double wear foundation. This is one of my favorite foundations and I usually am not a fan of matte, but this one is more of a natural matte. It lasts all day and has a big shade range. For a dewy foundation, I love the tarte shape tape hydrating formula.

2. Tarte- Shape tape concealer. I have talked about this for years, but it is still hands down my favorite concealer ever! There are a couple drugstore ones I want to try for a cheaper price point, but in my opinion shape tape is worth the $27.

3. Tarte- CC undereye corrector. I have terrible dark circles, so I do not do my makeup without this product. It corrects the darkness and instantly brightens. Sometimes I will even wear just this by itself under my eyes if I am going for a more natural look.

4. Tarte- Park Ave Princess bronzer. As I have gotten older I wasn’t too crazy about shimmer bronzers until I started using this one. It also comes in matte and I like both, but the shimmer one gives you more of a glow, and I am all about that life. It is more of a sheen though, not glitter. It gives a really pretty sun kissed looked. I wear it year round, because I love to look warm and sun kissed all year.

5. Tarte- Park ave princess chisel palette. For my bronzer I have going back and forth between this and the park ave princess single bronzer. This one is a palette that has two matte bronzers, two shimmer bronzers, and two matte highlighters which I use to set my undereye. One has a yellow tint that helps brighten the undereye, and I need all the help I can get in that department. I also love the shade ranges because you can use it for your winter color and your summer color.

6. Tarte- Maneater mascara. I have used probably about 4 tubes of it, it’s that good. It has triple-black pigment and it gives you the drama without having to add 10 layers. It gives you 23x the volume with just two coats. It also doesn’t get clumpy because the brush gets in there and separates your lashes.

7. Tarte- Be a mermaid and make waves palette. I wore this palette all summer because I am so obsessed with it. This is one of my all time favorite limited edition palettes. I just loved the whole mermaid collection since we are talking about it. I already can’t wait to bring it back out for spring. The packaging is also so cute, it’s a seashell! I’ve been trying to wear the new pro remix palette lately, but I didn’t add it just because I got it towards the end of December and haven’t played around with it much.

8. Tarte- Love, trust, and fairy dust palette. This is another limited edition palette that I love. I think I still like the mermaid one better, but this is probably a close second. It has a lot of pinks which are some of my favorite colors to wear, probably because it’s just my favorite color in general. The packaging is also pink glitter!

9. Tarte- Maneater palette. This palette is a smaller one, and one of my favorite smaller ones. It has mainly light neutrals, but also a few dark shades if you want to deepen up your look or use them as eyeliner. I think this one is great for traveling since you can do a daytime look and a nighttime look with it.

10. Tarte- Glam on the go palette. This is another small palette, but comes in a little gift set called ‘Jetset in a jiffy.’ It comes with a makeup bag, this palette that has 6 shades, 3 shimmer and 3 matte, a travel size roller ball perfume, travel sized maneater mascara, and a butter lipstick. I usually tell people that the colors in this palette are fall in a palette. I love all 6 colors and use them all!

    As you can see A LOT of tarte, but that is mostly what I use. As I mentioned earlier I am going to try and use other products this year so I can let y’all know my thoughts on them. I really want to try the Maybelline age rewind concealer because I have heard a lot of good things about it, I just can’t make myself buy another concealer, haha. I also want to try the new Morphe concealer that is coming out. Jaclyn Hill said it is comparable to shape tape, so I want to see just how close and if I like it just as much. I think she said it was going to be $6 or $7, so definitely a better price point, but I’m just wondering if it will be a match for shape tape, pun intended. I have already started a list of stuff I want to try, so I need to start getting a few things at a time so I can start trying them out on tutorials.

    If there are any products you want me to try out just put them in the comments! What were some of yalls beauty favorites for the year??

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Tarte Mermaid Brush Set

Since I am giving away this brush set on my Instagram I thought I would talk about it and tell y’all why I love it so much. I am always honest with y’all so I have to say that this is not my favorite “practical” brush set, but it is definitely my favorite limited edition Tarte brush set! I love all the pink and that the handle is a mermaid tail.

The set comes with a powder brush, cheek brush, highlighter stippling brush, domed eyeshadow brush, and a pencil brush. The powder brush is great for setting your foundation with a setting powder, the cheek brush you could use to contour with or for blush, the highlighter stippling brush I actually use to blend out my blush and highlighter. You could also use it for highlighter if you want a more natural highlight. The domed eyeshadow brush is great for packing color on the lid and I love the pencil brush to smudge out my lower lash line. I think this is a great kit because it has eye and face brushes. The only thing that would make it better would be a fluffy/blending eyeshadow brush. That is probably the number one eyeshadow brush I recommend to people just starting out in makeup or starting their brush collection. This set is also vegan an cruelty-free.

My giveaway on Instagram ends on Halloween, so you still have some time to enter. If you are reading this after halloween you are still able to purchase this brush set on Tarte’s website until it goes out of stock. I hope y’all enjoyed reading more about these brushes, and good luck to everyone entering my contest. Click here if you want to enter!

September Beauty Favorites

I used to do favorite posts all the time, but would always forget to write down what I used the most so I slowly quite doing them. I thought I would give it another try since it’s a new month and I didn’t want to wait until New Years. I’m hoping to get some new makeup this month so I will have new things to talk about for October. Next month I will also try to add in more things other than beauty too if y’all want to see that.

This months favorites are going to be all Tarte products, not because I work for them, but because they truly are my favorites. Next month I should have some other brands, so y’all don’t get tired of hearing about Tarte, haha.

1. Love, Trust, and Fairy Dust Palette $39- This one is by far my favorite out of all the products. I Love this palette so much and have been wearing it nonstop. Just like all of Tarte’s shadows it’s made with amazonian clay, so it is so pigmented and lasts on the skin all day! It also has pink glitter packaging, what more could you ask for? I did a tutorial using this palette if y’all want to check it out. I will link it here or it’s on my home page as well under recent youtube videos.

2. Chrome Paint Shadow Pot in Frose $22- I used this a lot last month too but I wanted to mention it because it will probably always be a favorite! These are so pigmented as well and so easy to use! You can use your finger to apply which is usually what I do. A lot of times I will wear this by itself and just put on a bold lip. If I want a little more color I’ve been using a pink blush in my crease with this on the lid. Never be afraid to try products other places than what they are intended for. Some of these colors are also really pretty as a highlighter. This color is a pinky-gold.

3. Maneater Eyeshadow Palette V2 $29- If I’m not wearing the fairy palette I am usually wearing this one. I love this palette, obviously, that’s why it’s on this list, haha. Anyways, it is one of Tarte’s smaller palettes so it is great for traveling. I’m usually not the best person to give travel advice because I always overpack, but several times I have went out of town this is the only eyeshadow palette I took. This is also good for so many people because it has light neutrals and dark colors as well to do a smoky/nighttime look and you can use the dark shades as eyeliner.

4. Glide & Go Buttery Lipstick $18- I love all the shades in this butter lipstick, but my favorite shade for August and September was Melon Punch. This one is a coral color shade. This is more of a lip balm so it’s not as bold as a colorful lipstick, so this is great for someone who is new to wearing bold colors. These are also so moisturizing because they have shea butter, murumuru butter, and jojoba seed oil in them. Lately I have been wearing the shade Berry Cruiser since it’s a little more of a fall shade.

5. Busy Gal Brows $18- This is one of Tarte’s new brow products. Normally I like my brows to be filled in, but lately I have been wearing less makeup when I am not at work, so this product is perfect. I also love to use this in just the front of my brows and use something else to fill in the rest. This product is also made with amazonian clay so it lasts all day and it is also waterproof. I use the shade taupe.

6. Arch Architect Brow Pencil & Gel $24- This is hands down my favorite brow pencil. It is a universal shade so it goes with a lot of hair colors. You can change the depth of the color by how much pressure you use. One of the great things about this pencil is it has clear brow gel on the other side. This is the product I love to use with busy gal brows and when I want a more natural brow. I also love that the brow gel is not sticky.

   I didn't have many products for September just because honestly I have been using the same products the last few months. Like I was saying earlier I’m going to try and have fashion and food/drink favorites next month . I will also add in other brands for beauty besides Tarte as well. It is kind of hard to do because Tarte truly is my favorite, but I don’t want y’all to get sick of hearing about it. What are some of yall’s favorite brands?

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Tarte Maracuja Oil: Ways to Use It

I don't know if y'all have ever tried Maracuja Oil by Tarte, but you need to! I call it the miracle oil because there are so many uses for it. I thought I would share all the different ways, but before I jump into it I want to tell y'all more about the actual product. The oil is cold-pressed from the maracuja fruit. It is naturally rich in vitamin C and essential fatty acids to protect and feed your skin. It also helps to balance out the skin, by providing moisture to dry skin and helps control oily and acne-prone skin. A lot of people with oily skin think they can't use an oil since they already have oily skin, and I used to be one of those people before I learned more about skincare. It doesn't clog pores either, so it is good for all skin types, even sensitive. Who doesn't want firmer, brighter, smoother skin?

I also made a YouTube if y’all want to check it out! I will link it here and below.

Now let's see all the uses for it.  

1. For dry skin or during the winter months. You can put the oil under your morning moisturizer.

2. Use it as a nighttime serum under your night cream for the anti-aging benefits of vitamin C.

3. You can apply a few drops to your foundation for a dewy, radiant look. It looks really nice mixed with the Tarte amazonian clay foundation.

4. Press it onto the top of your cheek bones for more glow. Who doesn't love a good glow?

5. Use it for dry, chapped lips.

6. Use a drop to tame fly-aways and add shine to your hair.

7. It can also help strengthen split ends, which I have from always straightening my hair.

8. Apply some all over for a hair mask. I honestly haven't tried this one because I don't want to wash it all out, haha.

9. Put on your cuticles to condition and hydrate them.

10. If you want smoother hydrated skin you can put it on your hands before your hand cream at night.

11. Lastly, you can add a few drops into your body lotion.

Like I said, miracle oil. There are probably so many others that I just don't know about. It is also great if you have eczema or psoriasis because it is a natural anti-inflammatory. It has made some of my dark spots completely go away because of the vitamin C in it. I think it even helps my eyebrows grow! I know a lot of people who would like that! So you can buy Maracuja Oil at Ulta and on tarte.com. The travel sized bottle is $16 and the big bottle is $48. It is a little pricey, but you get more bang for your buck getting the big bottle because mine has lasted well over a year.

Have you tried the maracuja oil before? If so, do you love it or not crazy about it?

All About Those Brows

I always get so many compliments on my brows and so many people think they are microbladed, so I thought I would do a post on how I do my them. I have seriously thought about getting my them microbladed, but I am way too picky with my brows. I would much rather do them everyday than have them not look the way I want. Also, I'm not sure how true this is because I haven't had it done and I don't know anybody personally who has, but I heard that it leaves little marks on your skin if you quit doing it. I definitely would not want that either, so I'll just stick to doing them myself.

I'll start out by telling y'all about my three favorite brow products. The first one I think would be best for beginners because it is so easy to use and it only comes in one color, so you don't have to worry about getting the right shade. It is a universal color and you can make it darker or lighter by how much pressure you apply. This product is the Arch Architect Brow Pencil by Tarte. I use this product whenever I am doing a quick or more natural look. Before I use any product I will take a spoolie and comb through my brows to get off any foundation and to put my brows in place. With the pencil I start out by outlining the bottom of my brows. When I fill in the front of my brow I will turn the pencil sideways and make hair-like strokes to make it look more natural. After I fill in the front I will outline the top of my brow, then fill it all in. Once I feel in both brows I will go in with a spoolie and comb through them again to make sure there are no harsh lines. This will also soften the color if you made your brows too dark. A spoolie is a blending brush for your brows, so that is my biggest tip for doing your brows is to get one. Most brow brushes will have a spoolie on the other side, but if you don't have one you can by a spoolie by itself from Target or Walmart.         

The next two products are very similar. One is the Amazonian Clay Waterproof Brow Mousse by Tarte, and the second one is Ka-brow by Benefit. They are both a creamy-gel like texture and super easy to work with. The Tarte one is waterproof, so it stays on all day and does not smudge. It is easy to take off though, unlike a lot of waterproof products. It also comes with a full size brush. Most products like that you have to buy a brush separate. The Benefit one is not waterproof but still stays on all day. Sometimes I do have a problem with it smearing though. One cool thing about Ka-brow is that it comes with a brush inside the lid. The only downside to that is you have to be careful when placing the brush back in the lid so it doesn't get messed up. The brush is also a lot smaller too. I will say though, the Benefit color matches me perfect. I am in between colors in the Tarte brow mousse unless I just got my brows tinted, then the medium brown is perfect.

Whenever I use either one of the cream products I fill my brows in very similar to the pencil. The only difference is the front of my brows. I still start out by outlining the bottom of my brow, and when I don't have much product left on the brush I will sweep it up in the front. Whenever I outline the top, I don't start all the way at the front of my brow, I start a little further back, then once again when I don't have much product on the brush I will go all the way to the front. After I have outlined the top and bottom I will fill in the rest. The last step is the same as with the pencil, go in with my spoolie to blend everything out and soften any harsh lines.

In case it is hard to envision what I am talking about I also did a youtube video showing how I fill them in with a cream and with the pencil. I talk about each product in my video as well. I will post my video down below if you want to check that out too. You can also shop each product by clinking either one of my pictures here in this post. 

 I hope y'all enjoyed this post and it helped you out if you are new to filling in your brows. If you have any questions I didn't answer you can comment them down below or you can ask it in my contact tab.

Summer Makeup Look

If I'm not working I usually don't wear much makeup, unless my husband and I go out to eat, to the movies, or something like that. If I am just running errands or teaching my Dance2Fit class I will wear very simple, more natural makeup. A no makeup, makeup look. This is the makeup look I live in during the summer. I also have a YouTube tutorial on how I get this look. I will post it below.

Most of the products are Tarte Cosmetics. One reason is because tarte is my favorite brand, and two because they have an athleisure line which is great for summer/workouts. I start out using the tarte amazonian clay BB tinted moisturizer. It has an SPF 20, so it gives you that sun protection and it keeps you hydrated. I have oily skin and I still love this product.

I have talked about this before but I have terrible dark circles, so I always use concealer no matter what kind of makeup look I am going for. Shape tape is hands down my most favorite concealer of life. I have been using it for probably about 2 years or more and I have never used the same product consistently for that long.

Since I am going to use powder products I set all this with a translucent setting powder. I feel naked without my brows so even with a natural, simple makeup look I have to do my brows. I love the tarte arch architect brow pencil. It is super quick and easy to use and has clear brow gel on the other side. I love multipurpose products! So if I am just running errands or running short on time I will do my mascara and go. For this look I love the lifted mascara also by tarte. It is sweat-proof and a brown-black so it is more natural looking. If I have somewhere else to go and want to look a little more put together I will add some bronzer, blush, and highlight. 

For bronzer I have been loving the tarte amazonian clay waterproof bronzer in the shade park ave princess. It has a little bit of a sheen so it's beautiful for summer. Next, I add some blush in the shade glisten. This is also by tarte, their amazonian clay 12-hour blush. Everything with tarte made with amazonian clay is going to last for 12 hours or more. The blushes are my favorite because the color does not fade throughout the day like some other blushes do. Highlighter is probably still my favorite makeup product and this is the only product I'm using for this look that isn't tarte, champagne pop by Becca and Jaclyn Hill. It is the perfect champagne/gold color and it definitely pops.

You can use pretty much anything you want to for lips. Normally I will just throw on some baby lips chapstick. You could add a color lipstick if you wanted the look to pop a little more since you have simple eyes. That's the good thing about this look is you can customize it however fits you best. Definitely check out my tutorial to see more. I show you the look stopping with the mascara and I show you what it looks like adding bronzer, blush, and highlight. Let me know your favorite go-to summer makeup products!

Top 5 Favorite Tarte Products

I feel like I have talked about this before, but in case I haven't my all time favorite makeup brand is Tarte. That is actually why I wanted to work for Tarte, because I love them so much for so many reasons. Since I'm doing my top 5 favorite products I'll list my top 5 reasons I love Tarte Cosmetics.

1. They are very philanthropic. Tarte is always giving back and even have an anti cyber-bullying campaign called Kiss and Make Up. 
2. They are cruelty free, even PETA certified. That means all the way down to the manufactures they don't test on animals.
3. The quality of the products is great. Great pigment and the products last on your skin all day.
4. They always have the cutest packaging!
5. It is a good price point for prestige products.

Now that I have told you a few reasons I love Tarte, let me show you my top 5 favorite products I'm loving right now.

1. Shape tape contour concealer is hands down my favorite concealer of life! I have been using it since it came out and will continue to use it until something better comes out, which will probably never happen. I am pretty excited about the new packaging of the maracuja creaseless concealer though.
2. The tarteist lash paint was my favorite mascara, but now it is the Maneater mascara. I still love lash paint, but to get the drama with that you have to put several coats and with Maneater I just have to do one coat.
3. My new favorite palette for summer that I have been using almost everyday is the Be a Mermaid and Make Waves palette from the limited edition mermaid collection. Once again Tarte killed it with their packaging. That may be another reason I love it so much because it's in a sea shell. The colors are so pretty too. There are some neutrals along with some pops of color.
4. I have also been loving one of the newer shades of the chrome paint shadow pots in the shade frose. It is pink with some gold in it too. The best part about the shadow pots is you can use your finger to apply them, so they are super quick and easy to use.
5. I love a good orangey-red lipstick for the summer, so when they came out with new bright shades in the rainforest of the sea color splash lipsticks I was so excited. My new favorite color is called Sundaze. It is the perfect orangey-red!
6. Ok, so technically this is 6, but I thought I would share my all time favorite palette, Tartelette 2 in bloom. It is a permanent palette, so that's why I wanted to share that one too. I actually wore it for my wedding, so that's how much I love it.

Next time you are in Ulta or Sephora check out these products if you haven't already! You can shop any of these products by clicking on any picture or under my shop tab, What is your favorite Tarte product??