LLPT's Best Beauty of 2014!

  

LLPT's Best Beauty of 2014

  Well, C's and my Christmas vacation is drawing to a close and before we both head off to work tomorrow morning, we will have devoured three boxes of chocolates in four days.  I'll get back on the workout bandwagon tomorrow, as well, but in the meantime, I'll just savor a breakfast (now lunch, lol) truffle or two.and tell you all about my favorite beauty products of 2014, both new launches and products I just discovered this year.

July Favorites and the Return of the Happy Caturday Poll!!

  Happy Caturday, guys and gals!!  August came in like a lion, lol, with a big night-long thunderstorm.  It's though to choose between watching a spectacular light show and sleeping, I must admit, but sleep sort of naturally won out.  It was wonderful to drift off to thunder rumbling, though... Just the coolest thing ever, electrical storms (as long as the lightening doesn't touch down).

  Anyhoo, July was a really fun product month as I discovered four products that I've been pretty much living in.

July Favorites-- L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector day/night cream, Butter London Ladybird, e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder, Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Striking

e.l.f. Essential Line Brush Review

  Hi all!!  I've really been enjoying learning of the magical properties of makeup brushes and how using the right one with the right product and in the right way makes such a difference.  Fortunately, this little obsession of mine isn't costing a fortune, due to the plethora of affordable synthetic brushes and sets available right now.  Leading the way is the e.l.f. Essential line of brushes, available on the brand's website for $1 and select stores for pennies above.  So my question is, can you really get a decent, high quality starter set of makeup brushes for under $6?

e.l.f essential brushes

e.l.f. Lip Balm in Nude

  Hey guys and gals!!  You know I like going super minimalist with my makeup much of the time, and that includes primer and tinted lip balm and that's IT, and I gravitate towards reds (of course).  I was in Target the other day specifically to scope out e.l.f. and to see if they had any tinted balms, and they do-- two.  They're not particularly exciting, either-- a light pink and a nude.  I went ahead and bought the nude balm because, well, e.l.f. honestly has yet to let me down and for around $3, it's practically risk free.  Plus, it's a balm!  If I don't love the tint, I can wear it around the house on days I don't plan on going anywhere and get my money's worth that way.

This Week's Haul and Happy Caturday Poll!

  Hey everyone!!  I know I usually post early, but his morning was busier than usual, on account of getting to watch one of my nieces play little league softball.  The game was super fun-- she connected with the ball for the first time and hit a homer, no less.  Way to make your first matter, right?  C and I are so proud of her.  We all went out for ice cream afterwards (or, rather, they went out for ice cream and I had a salad, HOORAY FOR GOOD CHOICES!!) and after some errand running, we made it home 4ish and promptly took a nap.  I wasn't going to post at all, but I found my mind reeling with fun questions to ask, plus I got some good mail this week, so here we are!

Current e.l.f. Favorites, Small Drugstore Haul, and Happy Caturday Poll!!

  Happy Caturday, everyone!!  I've really been interested in e.l.f. products lately, not the makeup, though I love the matte lip colors, but the tools.  First off, I think it's great that there are now so many good quality drugstore bland makeup brushes available.  I admit that for a long time I did not wear certain makeup until I could afford a brush to properly apply it.  Something about applying eyeshadows, blushes, and powders with the spongey material they're so often packaged with really turned me off and I slowly built up a (very) small arsenal of brushes.  We all know that brushes allow for a much more natural look and I've always felt like we owe our faces the courtesy of treating them with a little more luxury than a two inch sponge tip applicator or foam square can provide.
  The good news is that we don't have to break the bank for high end brushes costing upwards of $20 a piece or settle for a rough synthetic bristled experience.  Technology has improved and this is one of those cases of HOW did drugstore makeup companies not figure this out earlier?  I wonder if it came with the advent of high-def and the realization that with all this new visual technology maximizing every pore and follicle, higher quality products to help all of us look our best became necessity.  Whatever it is, there are some fabulous synthetic brushes available at amazing prices now, and e.l.f. is amongst the most affordable and amongst the best, of what I've tried.  Most their Studio (black label) line retails for $3 per piece, and I have a new favorite blush brush.

Battle of the Matte Red Lippies!!

  Hi everyone!!  One of my new year's resolutions was to start trying a little harder to look put together.  It's been a wonderful thing to feel free enough to show up any and everywhere sans makeup and there's a lot to be said, I think, for feeling comfortable, beautiful, even (though I never really got that far, lol) just as you are.  But, I've felt ready to step it up a little and have some fun with color again.  Besides, I was starting to really miss my red lips.

e.l.f. Matte Lip Color Rich Red

Hi guys and gals!  I got a few comments regarding my red lips on my recent Wantable box review and I've actually had the photos done for a while, it's just taken me a while to get the post up.

It seems drugstore brand e.l.f. has taken the beauty community by storm, thanks to nice products, spare, chic packaging, and a really low price point.  I first learned of this potentially fantastic matte red lip pencil here, via Eating Lipstick.  Target is the only store around me that carries e.l.f., and it's not in a terribly convenient location but when Mommy Does Her Nails and I were out galavanting around a few weeks ago, we ended up at Target and I decided it was time to give this color a go.

The packaging is long, narrow, and satiny and the color on the end is a fair indicator of what the actual color looks like on-- at least, in this case it is.

To wear Rich Red, I prepped my lips as I always do when wearing red-- exfoliate lightly with the edge of a damp washcloth, line and fill in with a clear liner.  Because of the matte factor, I used a tiny bit of EOS lip balm to aid in slip.

 I'm a hunka-hunka burnin' love, behby.

Rich Red is a cool toned blue-red.  As it turns out, this formula glides on quite nicely and behaves all the way around like a matte-creme hybrid, rather than a true matte.  The thin pencil design makes it remarkably easy to apply a precise line (right corner o' the mouth notwithstanding, lol).  Because this isn't a true matte, it doesn't have quite the staying power (still decent, though, to be certain), but it also doesn't dry my lips out as much as, for instance, the true matte red MAC Ruby Woo.  Rich Red is actually a nice, lower maintenance, and lower cost alternative with a nearly identical finish and vibe.

I'm smiling because I'm listening to Rush, and also because I just got back from the salon and my hair looks fabulous.  Believe me when I say it hasn't looked that good since. :/

The only complaint I have about this lip color is the size.  The packaging's quite inefficient for the color itself, which measures about half a centimeter in diameter and about two inches in length.  That's pretty small and makes the great price seem like somewhat less of a bargain.  Even so, it's an affordable, classic, wearable red with a nice formula and a nearly matte finish. 

I bought e.l.f. Matter Lip Color in Rich Red for $3 at Target.

Thank you for reading and have a loverly day!! ♥