October Favorites
I know I say this about every month, but October literally flew by. Between the wedding at the beginning of the month, the honeymoon, and then coming home trying to get everything back in order, November is making its appearance before I even knew it! You would think because I was so busy I would have a lot of products to mention, but it’s not actually that much. I only used a few of the same items the entire month for convenience. However, I do have a few new finds that I am so stinkin excited to share with you!!
Obviously my first favorite is going to be our wedding!!! October 6th, 2017 was the most magical day of our lives and sometimes it still feels like a fairytale when I think back on everything and how perfect it all was. Literally every single thing about that day was complete perfection and now I’m the happiest married woman alive. We have all the pictures and since things are starting to finally get back to normal, make sure you keep an eye out for a wedding day post with more details coming up very, very soon! ;)
After the wedding came the honeymoon, so of course that’s my second favorite and something that took up a decent amount of our month. We left for the Sandals resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica two days after our wedding and were out of the country for an entire seven days. We had the most fun I think I’ve ever had on a vacation! The resort was absolutely amazing, the locals there were so nice, the food was delicious, and omggg don’t even get me started on that heavenly Blue Mountain espresso!!
I’ve had this Vera Bradley backpack for years and I always use it when I travel through airports. It was a gift, so I have no idea what the style is or if they even still make it anymore. But it’s perfect for holding the essentials while letting your hands stay free to do other things. Travelling internationally for our honeymoon, this was a life saver. It’s small enough to not make me feel like I’m carrying too much and it’s super easy to get things in and out quickly when you need it. Plus, it also has a compartment that touches your back for items that you want to keep extra safe. If you can find this anywhere, I’d definitely recommend it!
I can’t remember if I’ve ever mentioned this, but I decided a few years ago to start collecting coffee cups. I love getting any kind of coffee cup that catches my attention, makes me laugh, or reminds me of where we’ve been so this was a perfect choice as we were browsing the gift shop at our resort. One of my favorite things was when the locals there said, “Jamaica no problem” because it just left me feeling happy inside. I also really like the design on this and grabbed it the second I saw it.
About a year ago, we got this same Ikea Micke desk for Jacob’s office and after putting it together I was immediately jealous and wanted one of my own. It wasn’t very difficult to put together and is only $80. If you have an Ikea store around you, I’d highly recommend this one. If you don’t have a store near you (like me), then shipping can get ridiculously expensive. We’re talking like a few hundred dollars expensive...for an $80 desk. Which is why I’ve had to wait for it for so long.
Thankfully some of our awesome friends passed by an Ikea on their way to the wedding and picked it up for me. If you saw my old blogging post where I shared my work station, then you might understand how happy I am having so much more space to work with. We’ll be painting soon and then everything will come together beautifully. I can’t wait!!
I mentioned this Royal & Langnickel BMX-250 Chisel brush in last month’s favorites and I’m still loving it so much. The size, shape, and bristle density make it perfect for blending in concealer. I haven’t tried it yet for contour (like they advertise it for), but it’s definitely my new favorite for blending concealer around my nose, eyes, and blemishes. When it gets dirty, I just wash it and start using it all over again.
For a while, I was trying to use through brow products that I didn’t like very much but ones that needed to be used before adding more to my collection. However, that totally changed when I got this MAC Brow Pencil in the shade Spiked. It’s not too creamy or too dry of a formula and it’s super fine tip makes it incredibly easy to work with. This is even the brow pencil I used on my wedding day, I love it so much! If you have thinner brows like me, I definitely recommend trying this pencil.
If you’ve been on my blog at all before, then one thing you probably know about me is that I hate wearing false lashes. I don’t find them very comfortable, I’m not good at applying them, I’m scared of damaging my real lashes, the list goes on. But for my wedding, I knew it was something I had to do. I’d say it took me about ten minutes on each eye that morning trying to get it right, even though I had tried practicing a few times beforehand. Another reason I haven’t worn falsies much in the past is because I’m always irritated by eyelash glue. It makes my eyes water so much, which is a pretty common effect from the latex.
If you haven’t worn many false lashes before and you’re trying to do it yourself for an event, I highly recommend picking up this Kiss Strip Lash Adhesive. It’s super affordable, made with aloe, is latex free, and dries clear which is something that is extremely important in case you mess up. I’ve looked for a good lash glue for such a long time and I’m so happy I have this one now.
I feel like this Pür Cosmetics palette is gonna be one of those things that I annoy you with because I talk about it so much. This is another item that I used on my wedding day and I’ve really been loving it all month long. The quality of these eyeshadows is amazing, it’s not very expensive, and they included a great color selection. In case you missed it, you can check out my previous tutorial where I created an eyelook using just this palette alone. And also make sure to come back on Wednesday for my full, detailed review of this palette including swatches of each shade.
I’ve talked about both of these StudioMakeup eyeshadow palettes many times before, so I won’t spend too much time here. I’ve been going back and forth between the Cool Down (purples) and the Warm Up (browns) a lot this month. These are the only two palettes I took with me on our honeymoon and they had everything I needed for whatever kind of look I was wanting to create. If you’d like to see more about these palettes, just search “studiomakeup” in the search bar on the left side of the page.
Okay, this is one of my new finds for this month and although they’re not new to the beauty community by any means, they’re new to me and I am so excited about them. I’m sure you’ve heard me complain so many times about the texture of liquid lipsticks and other long-lasting lip products. I just don’t like it, I’m the most picky person when it comes to lip products. If they aren’t comfortable, I’m not wearing it.
But these Rimmel Provocalips, y’all. Omg! I found these when trying to find a long-lasting lip product for the wedding that wasn’t matte. Do you have any idea how hard that is nowadays?? This is a two step process where you put the color on first, let it dry, and then apply the balm. The first step is sticky, I’m not gonna lie. But as soon as you layer the balm over top, it feels like nothing’s even there! I have the shades Wish Upon A Berry (the one I wore for the wedding) and Just Teasing (the darker of the two). Wish Upon A Berry is definitely my favorite because it’s such a flattering shade, but Just Teasing is perfect for Fall.
I’m so excited about all of these products that I just mentioned. Between the wedding, the honeymoon, my new desk, and these amazing lippies, I can’t control myself. Fall has always been my favorite part of the year, but now I love it so much more because of all the amazing memories that have been made over this past month. I can’t wait to share more details with you! Stay tuned! ;)
~Mani Monday~
This week I decided to take the natural route and not wear any polish. I had my acrylics on for three weeks and just got them removed last Tuesday. Every time I get acrylics done, I know that I’ll have to spend some time getting my nails back to a healthy state again and not wearing any polish is definitely a critical part of that, along with biotin supplements and keeping them manicured. I miss painting my nails though and can’t wait to get back into it next week!
What’s on your nails this week?
~Christina~
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