July Favorites

July 29, 2016

July Favorites

I seriously cannot believe we are at the end of July already! I know I said that last month too and that’s what everyone always says. But this last week totally crept up on me. I thought there was still another week to go before we were making our way into August. Time has flown by so fast this summer, I can’t even believe it! So here we are with another monthly favorites post to share with you all the things I’ve been loving lately. I don’t have very many items to mention because I’ve been so busy and sticking to usual things that I’ve featured in past monthly favorites, but I do have a few new goodies that are worth talking about. And I have four favorite lip products! When does that ever happen??

I shared a picture on Instagram of my recent Estee Edit Voxbox from Influenster that was full of brand new Estee Lauder goodies to try out. I’m still putting them all to the test, but the Pore Vanishing Stick was what I was most excited for as soon as I saw it and I’ve been loving the way it performs. I can definitely notice a difference in my pores immediately after applying this and application is so fast since it’s in a stick form. It’s also been controlling my oil nicely, which is very much appreciated!

L’oreal released three new clay masks and I was dying to try them! Not only because L’oreal is one of my favorite brands and I get excited about all of their new releases, but also because I love any clay mask. The one I picked up to try is the Purify and Mattify mask. I’ve used it a few times and am working on getting a detailed opinion of this product to get a separate review published soon, so stay tuned for that! ;) But for now, I will say I’ve been really impressed with it. My favorite part is how quickly it dries while still getting the job done! And call me crazy, but I think it’s making my skin more firm as well.

My review of the Maybelline Color Tattoos wasn’t that great, but I did mention that I still like to use them when I need to get ready fast and won’t have my makeup on for hours. Recently, when I just have a few errands to run, I’ve been reaching for Barely Branded as a quick base to prime my eyelids and intensify whatever shadow I put on top of it. I can’t wear this on its own because of my oily lids, but if you don’t have that issue then these would be a great option for you!

Also featured on Instagram, Almay was able to get in contact with me and was so incredibly sweet to send me some new products in their Smart Shade line. *Sidenote: This is not sponsored and I am not receiving any form of payment for including these items.* I was really impressed with their blush and bronzer the most. The blush is in the shade Pink and the bronzer shade is Sunkissed.

Swatched on my hand, the blush looks a little too baby pink. But when it’s applied on the cheeks, it looks very natural. I typically like to stay in the bottom three shades of the pan to get the darker colors. The bronzer really surprised me because the orange shade at the bottom is what would have typically drawn me away from it, but actually turned out to be my favorite part of it. I love how adding in that extra burnt orange provides a more natural sunkissed appearance and the brighter color at the top works as a great highlight.

I’m not a huge lippie person by any means and usually just stay with my few favorite products. But recently, I dived into the lip stain world and have been loving it. I don’t like taking the few seconds during my day to reapply my lip products, so stains are great for me. I’ve been testing out Revlon’s LA Exclusive, Wet n Wild’s Rico Mauve, and Elf’s Nude Nectar. I think all of the colors are absolutely beautiful. I’ve been reaching for all three consistently this past month. They’re nice and lightweight while providing a bit of a stain to your lips throughout the day. But as far as which one stains the fastest and lasts the longest, Elf has them all beat by a landslide.

I also have been loving the Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil in Cruella. I’ve mentioned this one a few times before, but was so impressed with the way it looked in my Elf Mad for Matte tutorial that I’ve been wearing it a lot more often since then. It has been clashing with my pink hair recently, but I still think it’s a gorgeous lip color.

I never thought I’d see the day I’d be so excited about lip products and include so many in my monthly favorites. But I’m just surprised at myself that I’ve never tried lip stains before. I mean, what have I been doing all these years?! The mask has also been a super exciting find and I can’t wait to keep using it to see the full effects after continuous use.

If you have questions about anything I mentioned, please leave them for me in the comments! I’d also love to know what products have been your favorite this past month or if there’s anything you’re looking forward to trying in this coming month! Hope you have a gorgeous weekend!