The Beauty of Louise Giveaway

This is a giveaway offered by a blogger who has been in my favourites folder since August. The Beauty of Louise is running this giveaway where you have to make a list of products you would like under 80₤ from this website. Cool, right? And I do like making wishlists, especially with Christmas around the corner.

Anyways, the items on my list are:

Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic Concealing & Brightening Kit £28.50 

I've wanted to try out some of the concealers from Benefit, especially after I saw reviews on the erase paste.   I've been meaning to try out some highlighters from them, as well. Plus, I'm all about the budgeting and I think you get more for your money in gift sets.

          

Benefit Fast Train to Fabulous Gift Set  £39.50 

Even if I don't win this contest, I think I will save up and buy this set. I've been wanting to try out the Benefit's Porefessional, Benetint, and They're Real Mascara for so long. When I saw this on the website, I knew that it was going to be added to my list.

 
  Eylure Katy Perry 'Sweetie Pie' Lashes  £5.95

These are a personal favourite of mine. I wore them when I took my photo for my license and I think they add that extra oomph! without looking to extreme. I also really love Katy Perry, she's one of my favourite artists.

Lily Lolo Eye Blending Brush   £5.99

    I think that this brush is pretty neat. I need a good blending brush for my crease because I've been using a brush that is too big. I saw it as I was finishing up my browsing on the site and thought I would add it on.

My total is £79.94. What's yours? This was a fun activity and a really nice giveaway. Go check it out! 

Good luck everyone!     

        

Clinique Stay-Matte Oil Free Makeup

This is my current foundation; I'm the shade 2 Alabaster. I have combination skin but I have used many foundations that are either too dry or too oily. I would have to go out and blot at lunchtime because I had such a shine all over my face. This keeps my face fairly matte, but when I get home after school, I do notice some shine. It's minimal and I don't feel the need to blot, so I don't see a problem. This is also over the course of 9 hours. This makeup doesn't sweat off and with the humidity of the Deep South, it still stays.

It works extremely well with sensitive skin. I don't break out because of it, but I wouldn't say it's improved my complexion. I have noticed a difference in the dry patches of my skin. They are moisturized without being oily.

This foundation is buildable and a light to medium coverage that looks very natural. The formula is lightweight too. It blends very easily and I like that it sits inside of a tube. It's so much easier and cleaner to squirt out than pour!

And the same spot blended out. It looks so intimidating and dark in the picture above...

Bioré See The Future Fortifying Eye Cream

This is another product I have been using for a few weeks now and really like Bioré's See The Future Fortifying Eye Cream. This product is has the texture of a lotion and applies transparent. I put it on before I apply the rest of my make up. It feels really nice when I put it on. It has a nice cooling effect; I feel more awake as it goes on. It gives a nice smooth, under eye area. I had no burning, irritation, or milia (those tiny white bumps.) It has a light and pleasant smell too. I like the applicator because I'm not dipping my finger into a pot every morning. It just squeezes out of a flexible, rubbery applicator.

Because of my life in IB, I stay up pretty late some nights writing essays or studying for tests. I use this after long nights when I wake up in the morning. I find that it is most effective in reducing puffiness under my eyes in a few minutes. It also reduces the dark circles, and keeps them gone throughout the day. The moisturizing is also a plus, but I wouldn't use it as one every day. I wouldn't advise it for anti-aging, but if you're looking for something to start your day with after a long night of working, studying, or traveling then this is a cheaper alternative to some of the more expensive eye creams.

This product can be found at Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and sometimes Big Lots.

Clinique Even Better Concealer

I've been using Clinique's Even Better Concealer for about two weeks now. Since I've used Clinique's Airbrush Concealer, I was interested to see how this would compare. I like this concealer a lot. I was a little hesitant to buy a concealer in a pot because I would be dipping my brush in again after applying onto blemishes, but I have't broken out because of it. I've got the colour, "Porcelain." It's a little lighter than my skin tone, but not much. Note that concealers should be a shade or two lighter than your natural skin tone.

This product is easy to apply and covers well. It has a natural finish and brightens so I have no problems using it on my under eye circles. I've bought concealers in the past that didn't really get the job done, so I would apply more and it would look cakey. A little here goes a long way. However, the only downfall of this concealer is the staying power. I think that the Airbrush concealer lasted longer on me - whereas when I come home from school, I've found that this concealer moved slightly, even after I set it with a powder.

Overall, I would still recommend this. It's really a great product and I think that the benefits of this concealer outweigh the disadvantage. 

L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Waterproof Mascara

I think that every single beauty guru or beauty blogger has one of these. They are constantly being raved about and it's claimed to be a fantastic mascara. Naturally, I wanted to try it out and bought the waterproof one in blackest black. I liked the brush because it isn't composed of hairs or fibers - it's rubbery and can separate the lashes easier and give great volume. However, I can honestly say that I really hated the formula. I don't like super wet mascaras because they take too long to dry but this one was like the Mojave Desert. It takes too many coats to get an even look and it is so drying! It flaked on me as soon as I put it on. Maybe I just bought from a bad batch but I will not be repurchasing to find out.

Look! Hardly any mascara sits on the bristles or the wand, even after pumping! 

 And a hint at what just arrived in the mail!

Clinique All Heart and Covergirl Enchantress

Recently, I received a card in the post from Belk. It gave a free, full sized lipstick that I could pick up and redeem at the Clinique counter. I happened to be heading to the mall anyways and was given the lipstick, Clinique All Heart. It's a long lasting, blue based red lipstick. I found it to wear well and apply smoothly. It wasn't very drying like a lot of other long lasting lipstick! I think it's a shade that anyone can pull off because it's flattering on all skin tones and makes your teeth look whiter.

It also has a gorgeous shimmer!

I also picked up a Covergirl's Enchantress at a different store. I've been really wanting to find a barbie pink lipstick to try out. This lipstick lasts a good four hours before I need to reapply it and isn't drying. However, the glitter in it stays when the colour doesn't. It also settles very easily so you need to apply chapstick or lip balm before you apply the product. If you don't mind the glitter and have fantastic lip balm, it's a great drugstore product but I think I'm going to keep looking for a true bubblegum pink lipstick.

Grease Lightning!

So, I did a quick lightning bolt mani today! I used this tutorial and masking tape to get the shape. I didn't cut the tape before I used it, which didn't get me extremely clean edges, but I think it turned out pretty neat! The lightning bolt looks best in the third photo because the gold was hard to photograph.

Here are the polishes I used. Essence matte top coat, P2 Color Victim in 191 Gigantic, Orly Luxe, and OPI Natural Nail Base Coat.