Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics Spring 2012 Luminous Creme Blush Review and Swatches

I've been pretty much living in these blushes ever since receiving them from My Beauty Bunny. Read on to find out why.

Taffeta; Tropical Glow; Rose Quartz; Champagne Life

Can you tell I've used Champagne Life more often than the others? It's the first one I tried, mostly because the name is just fantastic. It sounds like what I would've captioned a photo from a high school hotel party or written CHAMP LIFE on my knuckles in Sharpie.

Taffeta; Tropical Glow; Rose Quartz; Champagne Life

What Youngblood says: This oil-free cream-textured blush combines a shimmering glow with sheer, long-wearing color. Can be worn as a cheek color or highlighter, or layered with powder blushes for extra color.

What I like: These shades are so bronzey and gorg for springtime. They have just the right amount of shimmer to brighten up my dull winter skin, without making me look like a disco ball. The texture is unlike anything else I've ever tried; think a moister (real word?) version of the Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush I was crazy about in high school. As an added bonus, Youngblood is a cruelty free, paraben free, and vegetarian company, which we love.

What I don't like: I can imagine the creaminess reading as greasiness, particularly on oily skin. We'll have to wait and see how I feel about these on my combination dry-in-winter-oily-in-summer skin in a few weeks once the Florida summer is in full gear.

Overall: I believe these retail for somewhere around $30 for .21 oz (6 g) of product. To put this in perspective, Mac Cremeblend Blushes are .19 oz (5.6 g) and cost $20. So for the amount of product you're getting, Youngblood Luminous Creme Blush is actually more cost efficient than Mac Cremeblend Blush. Do you need this? If you're partial to cream blush, absolutely. (What are you waiting for? Go now.) If, however, you're a powder blush girl, save your money. There are some really great drugstore options for powder blush, especially Physician's Formula and e.l.f.

XOXO, T

*FTC: I received these blushes as a giveaway prize from My Beauty Bunny.  This in no way affects my opinion of the product, as we pride ourselves in the integrity of our posts.

Julep Maven It Girl Unboxing and 1¢ Promo Code (Pic Heavy)

I know I'm probably the last girl in the blogging community to take advantage of Julep's penny introductory deal. If, however, you have no clue what I'm talking about, click here to take the Style Quiz and enter the promo code PENNY at checkout to receive your personalized Julep Maven box for just one teeny little cent. I have no idea how much longer this promotion is going to be available, so you should hop to it. I realize I sound like a salesperson, but, honestly,

why would you want to miss out on this deal?

Anyway, my It Girl Maven box arrived just four days after I ordered it. My kit was packaged in this cutie little black box, which contained a generous amount of packaging confetti stuff to keep my polishes safe in their little bubble wrap bundle, which was garnished with a sleek black julep.com nail file in a red bow. I was scarcely able to snap this picture before my inner child-on-Christmas-morning annihilated Julep's pretty presentation. (You know you love my overly dramatic similes.)

The polishes I received are:

Leah- vivid and refreshing grass green with a hint of shimmer.

Helena- ultra-saturated fuchsia. Looks great on all skin tones.

Melissa- sheer opalescent shimmer adds a soft glow when used alone and a high-fashion holographic effect when used over another color.

How gorg are these colors? All three polishes are right up my alley, and I cannot wait to try them out. Swatches will be up as soon as I do. Are you a Julep Maven? Did you take advantage of the PENNY promo code?

XOXO, T

Lipstick Fridays' £50 NARS Giveaway

Lipstick Fridays is hosting a really great giveaway. They're giving one lucky subscriber £50 worth of Nars cosmetics. I don't know about y'all, but I've never been able to afford anything from Nars and would be absolutely ecstatic to win this prize.

To Enter:

All you have to do is click here to enter and say I referred you, so we'll both get two extra entries.

XOXO, T

Wet n Wild Color Icon Palettes

I'm not sure if these babies were limited edition, but I hadn't seen any of them in ages until very recently. You already know that I found the Wet n Wild I Heart Matte palette at a random Walgreens about two weeks ago. Well, this afternoon I found their Color Icon palettes in both Petal Pusher and Blue Had Me at Hello at a different but equally random Walgreens.

When the Color Icon palettes first came out, I was on kind of a money saving kick and felt like the only one I really needed was Comfort Zone (the green/gold one). However, after seeing about a million reviews/swatches/tutorials, I regretted having not picked up the others. As far as I know, I now have basically all of the Wet n Wild eight-pan palettes, with the exception of one called Night Elf that I really wanted but never saw in stores. (Side note: Does Night Elf actually even exist?) Do you have any of these palettes? What do you think of them? Of Wet n Wild eyeshadow in general?

XOXO, T

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics Spring 2012 Pre-Release Unboxing (Pic Heavy)

First things first, let me say thank you to My Beauty Bunny for selecting me the winner of the entire spring line from Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics.

My Beauty Bunny is one of my very favorite blogs. They have fantastic cruelty free product reviews and giveaways. I highly recommend checking them out if you're cruelty free, vegan, or even just interested in finding out about great new beauty products. (How cute is Jen's business card?)

Go follow:

My Beauty Bunny blog

Editor-in-chief Jennifer Matthews' Twitter

I've been completely ecstatic since receiving Jen's email last week telling me I'd won this amazing giveaway. I spent the next five days anxiously awaiting its arrival. This cutie, little package arrived in the mail yesterday. I immediately knew what it was, but as stoked as I was to play with my new makeup I had a crazy ton of homework last night and had to wait until this afternoon.

After tearing into the box like a hungry grizzly bear, I lifted the packaging paper to reveal the makeup all bundled up in this darling, little black mesh bag, which I definitely plan on reusing in some way.

From top to bottom, I received Youngblood's Lipstick in Tangelo, Luminous Creme Blush (in Champagne Life, Rose Quartz, Taffeta, and Tropical Glow), as well as Eye-Illuminating Duo. I promise to post swatches, FOTDs, and reviews as soon as I get a chance (read: whenever I get around to it).

XOXO, T

P.S. I typically only post hauls and unboxings on Luuux. Do you enjoy seeing these kinds of posts, or are they boring?

Fashion Inspo #1: The More the Merrier

In an effort to blog a bit more about fashion--not just nonstop beauty--I've decided to post about something I've noticed getting increasingly popular in the fashion/blogging community. I'm talking, of course, about layered jewelry. Personally, I love stacking my rings, bracelets, watch, necklaces, everything. So here are a few examples of layered jewelry that I find inspiring. These photos do not belong to me. The source blogs are linked

below each photo.

Also, is Fashion Inspo a completely lame title for this kind of post? Please let me know what you think I should call these.

source

source

source

source

source

XOXO, T

P.S. How does my Mac not accept inspo as a word?

Wet n Wild I (Heart) Matte Palette

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you know that on Friday I randomly stumbled across the famous Wet n Wild I Heart Matte Palette in the most random Walgreens. This limited edition palette received high praise from a lot of popular beauty bloggers and vloggers, includingEmily Eddington, and it subsequently sold out at both of my local Walgreens' before I could get myhands on one. But on my way home from an appointment in Winter Park this Friday, I stopped at a Walgreens I haven't been to in years, with the intention of replacing my favorite Wet n Wild Brulee shadow single. They oddly had no shadow singles on display, but I was able to forgive them as I got my hands on this unicorn of a palette. There was at least one more of these babies at said Walgreens, which I considered snagging for a giveaway, but I passed up on it, not knowing if y'all would even be interested in winning something that cost me a whopping $4.99.

Of course I wanted to tear this palette open and play with it the second I got home, but instead resisted the urge until after I got the chance to take pictures and swatch. These were swatched on my bare wrist and photographed in the artificial light of my second bedroom.

What Wet n Wild Says: A stunning collection of 8 silky, ultra-pigmented day-to-night colors. Mix-and-match for a variety of looks from sweet to wild! All day, crease-resistant color

What I like: I'm impressed by how legitimately matte all of these shadows are. There's not a shimmer in sight, which is practically unheard of with drugstore palettes.

What I don't like: A few of the brighter shades swatched a bit chalky, but I suspect that using a primer may correct this problem.

Overall: The Wet n Wild I Heart Matte palette delivers the high quality shadows I've come to expect from this brand. I look forward to playing with this palette, especially the green "eyelid" shade for St. Patty's Day on Saturday, when I'll be repping Jake and Micky's Irish Pub. Stay tuned for a FOTN post, probably Sunday morning afternoon.

XOXO, T

Win a Flurry of Foundation

Beauty Crazed in Canada is having a foundation giveaway. I'm not telling you this so you'll enter and subsequently reduce my chance of winning but for the extra entry. However, it's very nice of them to do this giveaway, and you should go check out their blog.

XOXO, T

Natural Beauty (part 2)

This is the second installment in my natural beauty product installment; since I have a short attention span, I'm only featuring one product (or related products) a week. A month or two ago, I bought a tube of mascara from The Body Shop because everyone knows about The Body Shop's great reputation and, honestly, it was on sale. Anyways, I brought the Super Volume Mascara home, a little nervous of how it might hold up. So far, I like this product, and I will most likely buy it again because it is such a decent price. It does a great job of spreading the lashes out, so my eyes look enormous when paired with eyeliner. The only complaint about this mascara is that it easily smudges within the first five minutes of application. So when I apply, I try not to blink or close my eyes until it dries. One morning I had an episode with my contacts and watering eyes...it was an awful mess of raccoon eyes.

Eleven Random Things Tag

I haven't been tagged for one of these type posts in ages, so I must admit I was pretty excited when in reading Bre's first Natural Beauty post I discovered I had been tagged by Sunnie from Sunnie's Obsessions.

The Rules 1. Post these rules. 2. Post a photo of yourself. 3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post. 4. Create eleven new questions and tag eleven people to answer them. 5. Go to their blogs/twitters and tell them you've tagged them.

So here are the questions Sunnie asked me:

1. What nail polish are you wearing now?

Milani Nail Lacquer in Tip Toe Pink

2. What's your favorite blush?

e.l.f. Studio Blush in Candid Coral

3. What’s the most expensive beauty product you have?

My Chi flat iron (Do hair appliances count?)

4. What’s your favorite mask?

5. A random fact about yourself.

One of the walls in my bedroom is bright coral.

6. Sephora or MAC?

Sephora, although there isn't one in my town. (I've never owned/been to Mac.)

7. What magazine(s) do you read?

Vogue and Lucky

8. What’s your favorite perfume?

Coco Madamoiselle

9. What’s the best base coat you have ever used?

I've actually never used one.

10. What’s your favorite foundation?

Physician's Formula Tinted Moisturizer

11. Where do you want to travel the most?

Bali, Italy, and back to Hawaii

My Questions:

1. What is your all time favorite, holy grail, couldn't-live-without-it beauty product/item?

2. How often do you honestly wash your makeupbrushes?

3. What is your quintessential favorite article of clothing?

4. If you could raid anyone's wardrobe, whose would it be?

5. What are your favorite blogs/YouTube channels?

6. Why did you start your blog, and how long have you been blogging?

7. What high school stereotype are/were you?

8. What is your biggest insecurity?

9. If you were a fictional character, who would you be and why?

10. What is your current favorite song(s)?

11. What is your guilty pleasure(s)?

I Tag:

1. Amy

2. Anna

3. April

4. Bre

5. Darcy

6. Elise

7. Holly Ann

8. Jo

9. Karly

10. Sammi

11. Sunnie

Gah it's hard to pick only eleven. So to everyone I didn't tag, I would still love to see your answers to my questions.

XOXO, T

Fashion Friday: March 3-9

All week long, I bookmark pretty fashion finds to share with you each Friday. After seven days of this my "Weekly Favies" folder is usually overflowing, however, I just opened it to find it almost completely empty. I'm not sure whether this is because it's spring break and I've been busy (read: drunk) or because I can't seem to get excited about Fall/Winter Fashion Week when it's so lovely outside. So instead of scrambling to half ass-ly pick two more links, this will have to be my first ever Fashion Three Friday:

Sources:

1, 2, 3

Natural Beauty (Part 1)

For the last couple years, more and more companies have developed cosmetics made from natural ingredients. The thought of natural mascara and foundation never appealed to me because I have had several experiences with products that smelled like weird herbs. However, lately I have been transitioning into these cleaner cosmetics as I have female relatives on both sides of my family with breast cancer, so I'm a little more wary of what I put on (and in) my body.

For about 2 years now, I've been going to the Aveda salon to get my hair cut. Not only is it a salon that uses their own, all-natural products, but it's also cheap because students are cutting your hair. The herby smell of the shampoo and conditioners take some getting used to, but they actually work fabulously. I've even had my hair colored here (again, all natural product) and it turned out great!

Many times when I get my hair done, I buy the product they used so I can use it at home. So far, I have the Color Conserve Shampoo and Conditioner, both of which work well and can get me through 2 days without my hair feeling greasy.

I also use the Aveda Smooth Infusion before blow-drying, in hopes of protecting my hair from damage.

And sometimes, I put the Aveda Brilliant, Universal Styling Creme on after I'm done styling to add some shine and smooth it all out.

Fashion Five Friday: 2/25-3/2

5. Although not fashion related, I should probably get this done to protect from inevitable future party fowls.

4. These photos are so incredibly beautiful.

3. How cool is this tee?

2. Jess' vintage leopard print coat.

1. This Tom Binns necklace would be insane with an LBD or a white tee or freaking everything.