How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Happy Single's Awareness Day Valentine's Day!!!

Since today is about love, I thought I'd share the beauty products I absolutely LOVE. I'm talking holy grail, heaven sent, must have, would buy over and over again status. Enjoy!

LORAC PRO Palette $42.00

If I could only have one eye shadow palette, this is it. I can honestly say this has every shade I could need for a day or night time look. The variety of matte and shimmer shades are great and the quality of the shadows are amazing. Super pigmented, blends easily, and a must have in my opinion!

Revlon Colorstay Foundation $9.99

I have tried more foundations than I would like to admit but this foundation takes the cake for performance and price! I have combo, acne prone skin, and for color reference I'm about an NC35 at MAC. I use the shade 330-Natural Tan and I find that this has great coverage (medium but easily buildable to full coverage), lasts all day, works well with my yellow undertone skin, and does not feel heavy on the face. I find that I reach for this over any other foundation including my high end foundations. My only gripe is the packaging...no pump. Why Revlon? Why?!

e.l.f. Studio Powder Brush $3.00

This brush is amazing and for the price, I feel like e.l.f. is getting ripped off. I think everyone and their Mom has tried this brush, and for good reason. The bristles are soooo soft and the flat head shape is great for everything. I mainly use this for powder and contouring and it's perfect. I own like 7 of these, no joke. 

MAC Powder Blush in Blunt $21.00

This matte brown blush has been the perfect contour powder for my face. I've used this for almost 10 years (omg, just typing that made me feel so old). I've used this on fair skintones as well and it looks great. This is a very dark powder so blending is a must, but it really is one of the best contouring powders!

MAC Lipstick in Girl About Town $15.00

This lipstick is described as a bright blue fuchsia and it is exactly that. When I want to rock a bright lip, this is my go to color. I love that it's bright but not neon bright so it's wearable for most skintones. The cool tone of the lipstick is great in helping your teeth look whiter and it has a nice creme consistency. It lasts for hours on me and I usually wear it alone, no liner, no gloss. 

Birchbox Exclusive: Color Club in Insta-This $8.00

I am obsessed with this color! It's a bright cobalt blue that is opaque in one coat but I always do 2 coats by habit. I have nothing but good things to say about this polish but I'll just let the photo do the talking.

Julep Nail Vernis in Vivien $14.00

I love my glitter polishes and when I find a glitter polish that is opaque and can be worn alone, it tugs at my heart strings. I love the mix of large glitter and gold shimmer in this polish. In 2 coats this polish is opaque and the tone of the gold is so nice...it's like platinum gold. Ahhh, love!

Clark's Botanicals Smoothing Marine Cream $115.00

I know, I know...$115 for moisturizer?! I've never used La Mer, but I can only imagine my love for this is equivalent to those that pay for La Mer all the time. This stuff is amazing. It makes your skin soooo soft and the glycolic acid gently exfoliates your skin at the same time! I don't know how this stuff works but my skin is soft, break outs seems to have gone away, and acne scarring has lightened...totally worth it to me!

Salvatore Ferragamo Incanto Shine Eau De Toilette $30.00-$50.00

This is definitely top 3 for me for favorite perfumes. I purchased this back when it first came out in 2007 and I have gone through 5 bottles at least since then. It's a light, fruity/floral scent that's perfect for spring and summer. I'm not good at describing scents but let's just say I always get compliments when I wear this and I wear this year round. And did you notice the bottle?! Loves it!

January 2013 Favorites

I can't believe January will officially be over after today! Seriously, where does the time go, what have I accomplished, did the days and nights get shorter??? Ahhhh, MIND BOGGLING I tell ya!
(I should probably just copy and paste that statement for future end of the month posts because I have been feeling like that after each month goes by for years now...hmph.) Pinkie Pie's facial expression is a perfect depiction of what I look like at the the end of each month when I have realized more time has passed and I still have so much to do.

Anyhoo, so I thought for the end of the month post I would do my favorites for January since I love these types of posts. It's a great way to discover new things and sharing is caring, so without further ado, here are my favorites for January:

• Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water
• Michael Todd True Organics Antioxidant Carrot Multivitamin Serum
• Clarisonic Mia 2
• Beauty Blender
• Clark's Botancials Smoothing Marine Cream
• CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipstick in 350-Eternal

January was mostly about skincare for me. The older I get, the more I realize the importance of skincare and making sure I'm putting my best face forward (pun intended)! No but seriously, with all the make up in the world, it really doesn't matter if your face isn't at its best. I have combo skin which constantly breaks out and a lot of discoloration and scarring from acne in my teens. It seems like an on going battle to figure out what products will actually work for me so I've been ecstatic to find some that have really been making a difference!

Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water
$13-$39 @ Sephora
This was my first time using a micellar type water to remove makeup. To be honest the whole idea of using a liquid on my face to remove makeup without washing it off was not intriguing to me AT ALL. I figured that there had to be some kind of residue left on your face that would not make it feel clean but I was proven wrong after using this stuff. I use about 2 cotton rounds for my face and 1 for my eyes to completely take off my make up. This stuff is magic in a bottle. It takes my eye make up off like no other...even my eyelash glue comes right off! It has the feel of water, no real noticeable scent, and it leaves your face super refreshed and hydrated. There's no weird residue left on your skin, I kid you not, your skin just feels clean and plump. Who woulda thought?! The price is a bit steep but I do think it's worth it. I wouldn't use this every night but for the nights I'm feeling lazy or if I know I'm going to be traveling, this stuff is great!

Michael Todd True Organics Antioxidant Carrot Multivitamin Serum
$37 @ Michaeltoddtrueorganics.com
Dude, could the name be any longer?! Even, if I abbreviate it: MTTOACMS looks ridiculous. Anyways, this stuff has been a great addition to my skincare routine. I've noticed that since I have been using this product my scarring has been fading, skin looks brighter, more even, and no major breakouts (I have NOT had to use any kind of acne cream since using this!) I also love that it is 75% organic because Lord knows we don't need more chemicals in our life. The consistency is more like a lotion and there is a medicine smell but the benefits this has provided my skin have been great and I will continue to use this!

Clarisonic Mia 2
$149 @ Clarisonic.com 
I know everyone and their mom raves about this thing but to be honest, when I first purchased this last year I didn't get the hype. Yes it took my make up off better than just washing alone with a cleanser, but I felt like it was too rough for my skin. I was breaking out in tiny little bumps everywhere so I stopped using it for a few months. I recently started using this again and now I love it! I only use this at night or when I have a lot of make up on and for people like me with acne prone skin, the trick is to not push this into your skin. It sounds like common sense but you want to glide the bristles overyour skin. I think many people with acne prone skin have the urge to want to "scrub" their face in hopes to rid themselves of the acne but that only aggravates and makes the skin worse.

Beauty Blender
$19.95-$25.95 @ Sephora
Not much to say about this except this makes applying foundation and concealer a breeze and no brush marks! I have tried the less costly alternatives and I think they do a great job as well. The main difference is really that the Beauty Blender is a much softer sponge so I think it just comes down to personal preference. I personally like how soft the original is over the less costly alternatives. Of course, you are paying like an additional $15 for soft but who's counting right?!

Clark's Botanical Smoothing Marine Cream
$115 @ Birchbox
This stuff is magic! With the steep price tag of $115 for 1.7fl oz. it better be right?! I received a sample of this in my Jan Birchbox and I have to say, although the price is crazy, this stuff does everything it claims to do. I can't say that about too many products.

Here's what it claims:
"Are you after baby-soft skin? Smoothing Marine Cream gently exfoliates and leaves the skin intensely moisturized. Glycolic Acid and Alage Extracts soften the appearance of fine lines, while Jasmin Absolute helps soothe and nourish stressed-out skin."

Yea, that baby-soft skin they are talking about is no joke. I don't even think my skin was this soft as a baby. I also feel that the exfoliant properties to this cream has contributed to my skin looking brighter as well. It's a lightweight cream that smells like lemon frosting, yum!

CoverGirl Lip Perfection in 350-Eternal
$5-$8 @ Drugstores
This was hands down my most worn lipstick for January. Dinner, drinks, grocery shopping, you name it, I was probably wearing this. It's a cool tone bright/hot raspberry color that was the perfect bold lip for me. The formula is super pigmented and comfortable on the lips (not too dry, not too slippery). The only negative I would say is that this sucker stains your lips. I don't mind this that much as it gives color to my lips all day, but when I want to take it off....it's a pain. There's been many a mornings I have woken up with Eternal stained lips even after trying to take it off the night before... I guess it's a good thing I love it so much!