5 Recent Faves

Lately, I've been feeling like I have my beauty routine down pat. My makeup consists of products I trust, and reach for again and again. Here are a few of my favorite products of the moment that has made my life just that much easier in the past few months.

1. CoverGirl Flamed Out Mega Curl Mascara* - My new favorite mascara. It does everything a mascara should in my book - separates my lashes, thickens them, and curls them. The mascara stays on my lashes until I take it off at night, and its formula is really black! A+!

2. Almay Soothing & De-Puffing Gentle Eye Makeup Remover Pads* - There's nothing I hate more than having to rub my eyes with a remover in order to get all my makeup off. I don't want wrinkles! These Almay makeup remover pads are amazing! They don't pull at your lids when you're removing your makeup, just place them gently on your lids, and wipe the makeup away. It's that easy, and it removes every trace of makeup with ease. On top of this, they truly are soothing. My eyes are quite sensitive to makeup remove and this didn't irritate them at all! I'll definitely be repurchasing these!

3. NARS Laguna Bronzer - For a while, I wasn't wearing much bronzer. It's quite silly because it's the dead of winter and I'm pale as a ghost! But recently, I've rediscovered how much I love my NARS Laguna bronzer. It's the perfect color of bronzer for my skintone, and it blends beautifully. Plus, it gives me sculpted cheekbones - I just add a little bit of pink blush and I feel ready to face the day!

4. Estee Lauder Pure Color Crystal Lipstick in Crystal Baby - There has never been an easier lipstick for me to wear. This. goes. with. everything. Smokey eye? Perfect. No makeup-look? Even better. The creamy formula is moisturizing and the nude pink shade is absolutely gorgeous. There's a reason this baby is usually sold out at the Estee Lauder counter!

5. Clinique Superfine Liner for Brows - My absolute favorite brow product EVER. I recently ran out of my Anastasia Brow Whiz and was searching for a cheaper alternative. Enter this little gem in the shade Soft Brown. I have to say, I like it better in terms of formula than my trusty brow whiz because it is easier to use and more pigmented. Only downfall? It doesn't have the brow brush at the end like the Anastasia Brow Whiz. Bummer.

As always, thank you for reading!

*Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

* I have received this product for consideration but my opinions are always my own. I am not being compensated for this review and I always strive to review products with honesty.

September Favorites featuring Nuxe, Vidal Sassoon, Clarins and more!

A little late, but they're here! September this year has been all about using products I already own. But in the name of not making this dull and talking about products I've already "favorited" before, I've added newer favorites as well. Mostly though, I'm using the same products as my last favorites, and the favorites before. Guess I'm a creature of habit?

To start off, I've raved about it, so it's no surprise that the Clarins Be Long Mascara* (reviewed here) is on my September favorites list. It's seriously one of the best mascaras I've used. The brush is tiny and catches every single one of my lashes. I highly recommend this mascara! For lips, my YSL Glossy Stain in #9 Rouge Lacque has been my go-to for bright lips in the past month. It's super easy to apply and I love the glossier (but no-fuss) formula. As for gloss, I've been obsessed with the Almay Liquid Lip Balms which I've recently reviewed. I'm seriously eyeing the flyers for a good sale on them so I can pick up all the colors. Yeah, I'm obsessed. But only because the formula is amazing! My MAC Prep+Prime powder made a surprising appearance this month. For summer, I've been embracing my natural skin which means I have barely used powder all summer. Now that fall is almost upon us, I've been mattifying my skin a little bit with this powder. Let's be honest though, this powder doesn't completely absorb all my oils, but that's one of the reasons I like it. I find it gives my skin a natural finish rather than a made up one. I've made quite a dent in it and I think it's on its way to becoming a fall, even winter fave!

Non makeup favorites include my trusty Nuxe Cleansing Milk. I feel like I've overlooked this product when I first got it, but I've been back to using it full time. I love massaging it into my skin with a bit of water. It removes all my makeup, and it's non irritating, even if I get a little in my eyes. For my hands which have started getting drier with the change of weather, I've been loving my Body Shop Almond Hand and Nails Cream. At first, I thought the cream was a bit too greasy for my liking, but after applying it before bed a few nights in a row, my hands were super smooth and my cuticles were looking much better. I'll definitely be repurchasing this gem! Finally, I've been obsessed with my Vidal Sassoon Spray Repair and Finish** since I received it at the Beauty United Launch in Toronto. This spray is meant to be more of a repairing product, but I've been loving using primarily as a finishing spray. It give my hair the perfect amount of texture without making it feel like it has any product in it. I've used it on straightened hair to give my hair a bit of messy texture, as well as on curly hair to re-define my curls and again, create a bit of texture. I usually spray the product directly on my hair, scrunch it gently, and that's it! It also smells absolutely amazing. I had been looking for a product like this in my life, but didn't want to pay the exorbitant prices of the popular texturizing sprays out there! Glad I found a happy medium!

And that's it! I had a lot more favorites this month, but you've seen them before, so I figured I'd spare you. Non beauty favorites include fresh apples, candy corn, chunky sweaters, fedoras, and black booties. Can you tell I'm in fall mode yet?

What are your beauty or non-beauty favorites this month?

* I have received this product for consideration but my opinions are always my own. I am not being compensated for this review and I always strive to review products with honesty.

**Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Need a berry gloss for fall? Look no further than Almay's Liquid Lip Balm in Just Plum Good

When the Almay Liquid Lip Balm hit the beauty blogosphere, I didn't think much of them. They were getting rave reviews, but lip glosses weren't really on my radar at that point, so I didn't bother to check them off in the store. But as the cooler weather rolls in, I'm been thinking more and more about fall colors, and more specifically, berry lips. I had pretty good justification buying a berry lip gloss - I have almost no berry lip colors in my collection. That's really weird coming from a beauty blogger/makeup addict, but I guess I just never gravitate towards those types of colors. However, when I swatched Almay's Just Plum Good on my hand at Shoppers Drug Mart, I was in love. The shade was exactly what I was looking for, and the formula seemed nice upon being swatched so I walked out with it. After a couple weeks of continuous use, here are my thoughts on it!

What I like the most about this gloss is that it's really really nourishing and moisturizing. I'm not sure I've ever used a lip gloss that has had the same effect on my lips (the Buxom glosses being the closest).

Swatched on my hand, picture taken in daylight.

When I say this lip gloss is moisturizing, I'm not kidding. It's as moisturizing, if not MORE than a lot of my lip conditioners. I might be the only one experiencing this with these lip glosses, but I'll sometimes apply Just Plum Good simply because my lips are dry. And they actually feel moisturized, not like there's a layer of goop on top of them! After having worn this lipgloss for a week, I didn't feel like it ever left my lips dry after wearing off. Some lip products seem to dry my lips after continuous use (YSL Glossy Stains for example) but it was not the case with Almay's Liquid Lip Balm.

Almay's Liquid Lip Balms' texture is just that - a liquid lip balm. I think the name of it describes the product accurately - it's not sticky like most conventional glosses, but does have a thicker texture like them, and it dries up to a balmy finish after a few hours on the lips. It's not terribly thin on the lips, but very comfortable. I love the texture and I can't really recall anything in my collection that has a similar finish other than maybe, maybe something like the Clinique Chubby sticks, although those a bit lighter in texture, and feel drier on the lips once they've worn off.

Another great thing about this gloss is that the color is amazing. It has quite a good amount of pigmentation and doesn't leave a streaky application which I find can be the case in some lip glosses. Just Plum Good is the perfect shade for my skin tone as plums that are too purple tend to make me look a bit ill. I also find it goes with any makeup - from almost bare skin to a light smokey eye!

This gloss has taken permanent residence in my handbag, and has since been joined by another shade (Apple a Day), and will I'm sure be joined by more (Cantaloupe Cream?). If you haven't checked these out yet, I highly recommend you do! If you're not usually a fan of glosses, don't let this put your off these. The texture is so different than all my other glosses, you might actually like the Almay Liquid Lip Balms.

Have you tried the Almay Liquid Lip Balms? Which shade should I try next?