From The Queen of Bones: Lush's Caca Rouge Henna Hair Dye

I have just past shoulder length, dark brown curly hair. I don't mean wavy, I don't mean frizzy (I've gotten that under control), and I don't mean "just-past-straight-but-not-pin-straight-so-I-call-it-curly." I mean Mufasa-mane, so-big-its-full-of-secrets, I-used-to-have-a-white-girl-'fro-when-I-was-6 curly. And I like dying all that hair red. I'm fair skinned with freckles so it works. When I first dyed my hair red, my grandmother mentioned that she used to dye her hair similarly using henna, but at 16 I had no idea where to find such a thing. 

Once I developed a love for beauty products and exploring new ones, I saw that Lush had a whole line of henna dyes in varying shades from indigo to auburn and red. I decided I wanted to give Caca Rouge, the reddest shade they carry, a shot. I last dyed my hair about 6 months ago, so I do still have some chemical color in it. With that, I decided it was best to actually heed the directions and perform a test strand to see how the color came out. After leaving the henna in for 45 minutes, it really didn't do much. I waited a few hours hoping that the color would brighten and it did, but not as dramatically as I had hoped and it didn't stick to my roots very well. Luckily, I was going to be in the area of my local Lush store so I could stop by and ask a few questions!

Compare: Left side is dyed with Caca Rouge, right side is not

All of my suspicions were confirmed once I asked what happened. I could have added more water to the henna to make it a thinner consistency (mine was a little chunky and still a bit too dry to apply properly), my associate suggested trying a new test strand right above my ear instead of at the nape of my neck to get a more accurate representation of the color, as well as leaving it in for the full two hours that a full head of henna should be left in for. I was informed to go with my gut and give another test strand a shot, so I did. After leaving it in for a full 2 hours, I rinsed and was hopeful for a brighter hue. Alas, I experienced the same results and was exceptionally disappointed. I do think I'm going to wait for my chemical color to grow out and give it a shot again if I can muster up the energy later down the line. While it's a fairly simple process to break the bricks down into the applicable color, it is extremely time consuming requires being in the kitchen to use a double boiler, then I had to apply the dye where there was a mirror in the room down the hall, blah blah blah. It would have been easier as a two person job.

Luckily, Lush is awesome about returns and I traded in my henna for a few products I was interested in. 

Since the toner tab I grabbed last time did wonders for my face, I decided to try another skincare product called Grease Lighting. The tea tree and witch hazel based spot treatment will be acting in the place of Clearasil for those pesky zits.

The other product that I'm SUPER excited about using regularly is Ro's Argan, a full-body skin conditioner. The associate helping me said it for your skin what regular conditioner does for your hair, and I was not disappointed when I tested it out in store. All you do is rub it all over you in the shower, let it sit, and rinse it off. My arm felt instantly rehydrated, so much so that I didn't realize how dry my skin had really been until I was feeling both arms back and forth.  I can't wait to see how my legs feel after I shave and use it! 

Last but not least, Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter is going to be my regular replacement for hand lotion. No more CVS brand, or Target $1 section hand creams to toss in my purse. This stuff is fantastic. It smells delicious, goes on a bit greasy but soaks in very quickly. I've noticed a marked improvement in my hands, especially since became a serial cuticle-picker when I stopped biting my nails.

Even though the henna didn't work out, everyone who helped me at Lush suggested great products and I'm immensely satisfied with the items that took its place!

Do Ya Blowout

I don't know about you, but I still find it really difficult to get the perfect blowout at home. I always feel really great after going to the salon, and a salon blowout will usually last me about two days. But I have short hair, I can't manage to do it as good as a stylist can. So I need some product help.

Obviously starting off with a great wash is the best way to get great hair. I've been using Redken's Color Extend Magnetics shampoo and conditioner to protect my color, and I love it. I also try to do a treatment once in a while (try Lush's Jasmine & Henna Fluff Eaze ) to keep my hair smooth and well hydrated. This is especially important if you're using a lot of heat with your hair. I blowout and flat iron, so I have to be really careful. My hair is also naturally very frizzy and poofy, so a smoothing treatment helps keep it under control.

Before blowing out, I'm using Redken's Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer to keep my hair smooth and protected while I blowdry, but this also helps speed up the process. I have thick hair and it takes a long time to dry, so I don't want to be sitting here for a half hour just working on my blowdry. Ain't nobody got time for that.

After my blowdry, I flat iron to perfection (read: till it's bone straight) and spray with Redken's Pillow Proof Blow Dry Two Day Extender & Oil Obsorbing Dry Shampoo. Now, I am not a dry shampoo girl. Usually they're too heavy and make my hair really sticky and gross. But this one is nice and light, and if it keeps my hair nice overnight so that I don't have to do anything when I wake my ass up at 6am for work, I am all about that.

The Redken products are a good alternative to Bumble and bumble's Straight Blow Dry cream which I also really love, but is a little more expensive. I've been using this system regularly and I've never been so happy with my blowout.

What products give you the best blowout! Tell me in the comments below!

LUSH Madness: The Sequel

Okay y'all, you know I love me some LUSH products. I actually have been meaning to do this post for a while. I ended up returning a few products from my first haul and exchanging them for the above, and again had a wonderful experience in the store near my hometown.

This time I'm much happier with the products I picked up, and I can't wait to go back for more!

T for Toes is much more useful and practical than the foot mask I initially picked up - it's a fresh smelling powder to put in your socks/shoes and it really does work. I've always had a problem with my sneakers and flats getting a little stinky and so this has been a miracle for me. The only downside is if you're like me and you don't wear socks, it will stick to the bottom of your feet. So make sure you clear it out of your shoes before you put them on and then wipe down your feet before you go padding around anywhere.

The Jasmine & Henna Fluff-Eaze hairmask has been good so far. I don't see a gigantic difference in how poofy my hair is, but it does calm down the frizz. The best part is, the great, floral smell stays for a while, even after shampoo and everything. Every time I showered it seemed to re-ignite the smell, and I was really into that. It's 25 minutes on dry hair, then shower off. Easy peasy.

I also picked up Lovely Jubblies which is not pictured. It's a firming cream specifically made for your ta-tas, but I've been also using it on my thighs. Again, it smells amazeballs. It's one of those things that isn't gonna show immediate results, but I don't want my tits to sag later on, so whatever. Firm them babies up.

Bubblegum lip scrub is pretty boss - not only does it work great as a gentle exfoliant, but it also smells great and doesn't taste gross like my favourite Fresh Brown Sugar Lip Scrub does - cuz I mean, it's on your lips. You can't avoid licking your lips or getting some in your mouth. It happens. This lipscrub is actually totally safe for that, and it even says on the back that you can lick the rest off after you scrub. Nice and smooth lips, good aftertaste. What more could you want?

I decided not to pick up either Dream Cream or Dream Wash again - it doesn't make a huge difference with my itchy skin like I was promised, so I was a little disappointed. But I did get a sample of Charity Pot, which is another body lotion. It smells much better, and the proceeds also go to Lush's charitable efforts (read more here ). It's a good lotion, and for a good cause. Another win for Lush.

I decided to pick up 9 to 5 Facial Cleanser instead of Ultrabland, which I found left a weird residue on my face. And okay those thick balmy cleansers are supposed to be great. But I thought it was weird, so I was recommended 9 to 5 instead. 9 to 5 is more of a lotion, it's much thinner and easier to use and leaves my face feeling clean and naked. It smells nice, works fast, gets off all my lipstick and eyeliner, and I'm very pleased with the switch. I think it's definitely a rebuy.

King of Skin body butter is a game changer. It's a bodybutter unlike any other. I actually picked it up because I saw someone on twitter write that it left her skin "so soft it cried at the end of Armageddon", and if that's not a glowing review than I don't know what is. But seriously, this shit works. It's sort of a thick, moisturizing coat on your skin. So you take it in the shower, get it a bit wet, rub it all over (seriously, do it everywhere), and then you're left with smoothy smooth silky soft super touchable. I was seriously going around telling people to touch me. It was probably pretty creepy. Downside to King of Skin is, there isn't enough of it. It runs out too quickly. GIMME MOAR.

Dark Angels is seriously the most badass cleanser of all time. It's a charcoal based product, and charcoal is the new in beauty thing so of course I had to try it. It's kind of hard to use cuz it comes dry and you sort of have to scoop it out of the thing and then mix it with water yourself, but it goes on black and makes you feel like a jungle warrior. It's punk cleanser, that's what it is. It works great, but you do kind of have to scrub off the blackness. I'm enjoying it, but I will admit it's mostly for the novelty factor. It's not the most convenient thing in the world.

All in all, I'm still pretty satisfied with Lush's products, and I want to give a big thank you to the amazing help I got again, so shoutout to Victoria from Quakerbridge Mall!

Can't wait for the next major Lush haul!

Beauty Boxes: The Good, the Bad, and the Glossy

One of the first things I did when I decided to start experimenting more with makeup and skincare was sign up for some monthly subscription boxes. I wanted a way to try a lot of different types of products from brands that might be new to me without having to commit to buying a full size. Plus, I really like getting packages in the mail. I always say it's like Christmas. 

The first one I found was actually Glossybox, through ICovetThee.com, which is one of the first beauty blogs I started reading and still one of my favourites. Glossybox is by far still my favourite. The quality of the products is higher for the price point, and the amount/size of products is totally worth what I pay each month. I always get about 5 products, some full size and some more of a travel size. I have found some really great brands through Glossybox (Anatomicals and Fresh, to name a few), and I always am really pleased with the type of products given. When you sign up, you let them know your skin and hair type and what kinds of products you like (makeup, skincare, etc) so that the products are tailored for you. Like most beauty boxes, you can also order products you like through the website and leave reviews. By far, I've been most impressed by the products I've gotten through Glossybox. It's super high quality, and totally worth it. It's the first box I recommend to people looking to try new products.

This month's box features Puffy the Eyebag Slayer by Anatomicals (their product names are the BEST - my other favourite by them is a rose-scented body wash called You Need A Blooming Shower); City of Angels nail polish by Lauren B (an emerging brand); Truffle Therapy Serum by Skin&Co Roma (great moisturizer); Colour Fanatic Hair Beautifyer for Coloured Hair; and Kala black eyeliner pencil by Sumita Beauty (which is dooooooooope and exactly the kind of dark black badass eyeliner pencil I've been searching for). Other boxes has gifted me with Fresh and Vichy brand moisturizers, great hair products, exfoliants, and even an eyelash curler and the BEAUTYBLENDER! Winner.

Julep was the second box I signed up for after seeing ads for it. One of the best things about Julep is that you can get your first box free with the code FREEBOX when you sign up (use my link here ). You create a profile based on your colour preferences and style, and each month you get two new nail polish colours and a beauty product (three nail colours if you're an It Girl). As a Maven, you'll also have access to special deals and Secret Shops during the month. One of the best things about Julep Maven is that you can preview what will be in your box and change your profile choice if you aren't happy with that month's colours, and often if they're sending out beauty products, you'll also get to pick what colour you want in that too. 

Julep offers high quality nail varnishes (seriously, they last all week) and products. I've gotten lip glosses, eyeshadow palettes, and their new liquid eyeshadow (and this month, a special candy treat! They sent candy corns for Halloween too). I've always been really happy with the colours, and their customer service is great. I received a broken product only once, and they were quick to replace it with a new one. 

Sign Up to be a Julep Maven here

Wantable came to my attention fairly recently, and I wanted to give it a try. It's more expensive than the other boxes at $32 a month, but boasts high quality luxury products and a more selective tailoring system. When you sign up for Wantable, you choose not only what types of products you like but also colours, textures, and styles - as specific as whether you like metallics or mattes, lipsticks or lip glosses, etc on a like-neutral-dislike scale. I was excited about this system because I'm really picky about the colours I use. 

However, my first box (top photo) was a huge disappointment. I don't wear blue or brown as a rule and two of my products were blue tinted, and the lipstick was more brown than I really liked. After contacting customer service with my disappointment, I learned that you can actually return your box - either completely or partially  - and get a refund. I ended up keeping only one product from my first box and then ordering another one (bottom photo) which was much more satisfactory. I'm still not 100% impressed, but the second attempt was better. But if the whole shtick is that you can be selective about colours, at least let me put in what I absolutely do not want! I ended up emailing them after ordering the second box to make sure I didn't get any ugly blue things again. I'm going to give it one more month to see how the next month is. Wantable also has intimates and accessories options for monthly boxes if that's more up your alley. 

Sign up for a Wantable box here

I also tried Birchbox in the beginning but ended up cancelling - the product sizes were small (only "tester" sizes/packets and barely worth it. The only thing I like about Birchbox is that they have a wide range of brands they work with and an online shop where you can buy fullsizes. 

Overall, I cannot sing the praises of Glossybox and Julep Maven enough. Wantable is still a wait and see, but I loved the concept of subscription boxes. 

Does anyone have any other subscription boxes they'd recommend, or great/negative experiences! Share in the comments! 

From the Queen of Bones: Testing Too Faced Bronzers, Scrubs, and Julep Polish

A while back, my good friend the Evil Queen passed some product my way. I’ve yet to repay her for her kindness but this is a start! Her castaways ended up being some of my favorite products. Now, I’ve never been one for a daily makeup routine, but when I do wear makeup, I go all out. 

A bit of background:

My mother has blessed me with three things; decent skin, big boobs, and a fast metabolism. Only one of those is relevant to this blog post. My skin is neither dry nor oily, I only use face wash 3-4 times per week, and I only break out around that time of the month. I’ve been using Kimberly Sayer’s Almond & Lavender Face Scrub for the last year or so with awesome results. It’s an organic product (you can actually see the chunks of almond in the scrub) and is gentle but effective for all skin types. It’s a great exfoliator and smells fantastic. The Sayer scrub just randomly appeared in my house and no one was using it so I obviously claimed it as mine like any good Queen would. Unfortunately I’ve run low and since I’m an adult still living on a college student budget, I’ve reverted back to St. Ive’s Pink Lemon & Mandarin Orange Scrub, available at your local drug store. It’s not bad. Less exfoliating but still satisfactory for my skin, plus I prefer the smell of citrus in the morning.

 That being said, I don’t do a lot to my face in terms of foundation. I have awesome freckles and I don’t like covering them up. Regularly, I only use my Eucerin moisturizer +SPF and maybe a little bit of concealer under my eyes and on problem areas. I started using BB cream when I do put on a full face of makeup because it gives me light coverage and a nice healthy glow. This is where Christina’s presents come into play. She gifted me a Sue Devitt pressed powder, Too Faced bronzer, Julep polish, Too Faced Beauty Balm, and Marchesa perfume. I began using the Sue Devitt Triple C-Weed Pressed Powder in replacement of my crummy NYC translucent powder with miraculous results. It was still sheer and shine absorbing but gave a much smoother finish on top of my BB cream. 

 I tended not to use bronzer outside of the summer months because I’m so pale it just makes my face look dirty. I also haven’t used bronzer since I figured out how to use it correctly. Now that I’m educated its been working out much better for me. I look less dead in the winter now. I really like the matte finish of the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer and it smells like cocoa powder. No joke. Its amazing. 

The item I was most excited about that Christina sent me was a Julep nail polish. It was supposed to be the only item I was getting but she tossed in the others for funsies. When I was working much less back in May/June than I am now so I spent a lot of my free time experimenting with nail art and new polishes. A majority of my polishes right now are Revlon or Wet-n-Wild so I was thrilled to have a polish in my collection with strong pigment that I didn’t need to apply 5 coats to achieve the color it was supposed to look like. I was gifted Julep’s  “Brielle,” a really nice, rich pumpkin color. The picture here is literally one coat of polish and then topcoat. My final decision on it is that I’m in love and when I have spare money to sign up to be a Maven (Sign up for monthly Julep Maven boxes here!) , I’m taking that opportunity to chuck all my junky polish and start anew with some more sophisticated colors.

I’ve yet to try the beauty balm (saving it for a special occasion since its such a tiny tube) and I’m not a big perfume person so I can’t speak to the actual notes in Marchesa but I can say it smells really nice. I’ve also tried Not Your Mother’s Kinky Moves Curl Defining Cream as per the Evil Queen’s review and I’m in LOVE. I don’t get the sticky residue I got from other products after touching my hair and I get nice soft curls instead of that gross crunchy look. An added bonus is that it’s affordable and readily available at drug stores.

Stay beautiful,

Evil Queen Beauty's Favourites of 2013 Part 3: ELF palettes, Serge Normant, Bumble&bumble, Not Your Mother's, and Fragrance picks

So I posted a little bit about the major E.L.F. hauls that I had this year, but I want to talk more about the palettes. ELF has a lot of great palette options that are so inexpensive it's insane not to stock up. There are a ton of their geometric palettes in all sizes and colours - mine is the 32 piece - which are coordinated for every kind of use - lots of great neutrals for everyday in varying shades, plus great bright colours for something special. They're just the right amount of shimmer, and the great thing about all of these palettes is that they can fit in your purse. The Prism Eyeshadow Palette are perfect jewel-tones which are great for going out looks and are completely my colours, and is my favourite palette out of the ones I have. The 22 piece Mini On-The-Go Pallette is smaller than your cellphone and is great for travelling. It comes with 12 eyeshadows, 4 lip colours, 3 blushers, and a mascara with a wide range of colours. If you're looking to get some colours into your makeup kit without buying individual eyeshadows, these are a great option.

I'm pretty weird when it comes to fragrances. I think of scents as colours and the colours have to match/coordinate with what I'm wearing. My standard is Pink Sugar which is obviously a pink scent, then I also use Wild by Ralph Lauren (red) and Fame by Lady Gaga (black). I got a sample of a Tokyomilk Dark scent in with a Sephora order and immediately fell in love - they're dark, mysterious, sexy scents and I've loved all the ones I've picked up so far. Right now I have both Destiny #79 which is a very musty, woody, midnight floral scent (Jasmine, Fresh-Cut Ginger, Honeysuckle, Rose, Davana notes - a black or purple scent) and Tainted Love #62 which is lighter, more fruity (a pink or lime green scent). I carry both in my purse. I love them, I want to have their babies, I want to smell like Tokyomilk Dark forever. 

BCBG's Bon Genre is definitely a pink scent, it's floral and spicy, and very light. It came in one of my Glossyboxes, which is great because I love having the little rollerballs or spritzers to travel with. I forget to put perfume on sometimes so I carry them in my bag and spritz on the train (probably much to the annoyance of my fellow travelers, but whatever).

This year has definitely been a huge development in the haircare department. I have huge, frizzy, poofball hair that has always been hard to manage. I was just flat ironing the hell out of it and hoping for the best or curling and ending up looking like Shirley Temple, without much thought to finding the right products.  I'm glad I made a real effort this year to help my poor poofball head.

The Serge Normant products are amazing, especially the Meta Silk Shampoo and Meta Velour Conditioner. I also really love the Meta Luxe Hair Spray and the Meta Sheer Dry Oil which is great for calming frizzies and flyaways without being too oily. I can't WAIT to try the Meta Revive Dry Conditioner, cuz I think it's going to be a haircare gamechanger. Definitely worth the investment.

At some point I'm going to do a full post about Not Your Mother's, but I cannot rave enough about Kinky Moves Curl Defining Hair Cream. It has been quite a search for a curl cream that appeals to my laziness - I want something that I can just put in, scrunch a little, and let air dry and it'll come out with great curls/waves. This is it. I've tried a few other curl creams and the Not Your Mother's is by far the best, plus it smells amazing.

The Lock Luster Oil Treatment also smells amazing and is great for pre-styling heat protection. It gives my hair a nice and sleek look without being too heavy or oily, and I only need a very little bit to get the effect I want.

I posted before about my temporary pink hair which I totally loved, and it was all thanks to Bumble&bumble's Spraychalk. So easy to use, great colour payoff even on my dark hair, and it completed an absolutely perfect look.  I want to try all the other colours. No. I want to dye my fucking hair pink. I will do it one of these days!


And that concludes my 3 part 2013 favourites! Back to your regularly scheduled EQB posts soon!

Goth birthday + pink hairspiration

It has always been my dream to have pink hair. I really do want a full head of cotton candy, but a) since my hair is so dark we'd have to bleach the crap out of it and that's expensive and b) I was always at a place of work where that wasn't allowed. So needless to say, I was really stoked to find Bumble & bumble's Spraychalk in Blush, which is the perfect light pink. It's a temporary spray-in colour that shampoos out, and after reading reviews about how good it was on dark hair, I gave it a try. Needless to say, I was stoked about the results. There isn't a ton of colour in one can but I think doing the tips looked really cool, and it was absolute perfect birthday hair. The only problem was that I was too drunk to shower after we got home so the colour got all over my boyfriend's pillows, but since it washes out, its no matter! I wore a beautiful Elizabeth & James dress, and I even matched my nails to it:

(Nails Inc in Onyx Rush, Essie in Sugar Daddy, and Julep in Chelsea. Become a Julep Maven here! I love their monthly boxes, it's so much fun to get new nail colours!)

Unfortunately it's only temporary hair colour, so I'm still dreaming of a full head of pink. One day it'll happen!  Here are my favourite pink hair looks:

Abbey Lee's dipdye

Audrey Kitching is totally to blame for my wanting pink hair

The wonderful Angelina aka ALB

Bad bitches, the lot of them.

Back to Black

I do love dying my hair, and I do this colour a lot. I think it's my signature. Actually it's gotten to the point where I hate my natural colour, and feel so relieved when I'm back to black. I use L'Oreal Feria in "Bright Black"  which, I know, okay, box dye is bad for your hair. But I'm lazy and impulsive with colour and the last time a salon did my colour, it came out all on the top and none on the bottom and looked weird. So I did it myself, and y'all can just deal with it. I think Feria doesn't make the Blue Black that I used to do, but this works just as well, and the blueyness doesn't wash out.

What I don't like about the Feria is that the conditioner that comes with smells gross. Fortunately, a spontaneous mall trip resulted in my ending up with two samples of Color Protecting Caviar Shampoo and conditioner from celebrity colourist Kelly Van Gogh (I mean, totally randomly some salesgirl came up to me and asked if I coloured my hair, and I was about to do it that night. What luck!). Both the shampoo and conditioner were really gentle on my hair, left me feeling soft and silky without stripping any of the colour out. And they had a very light, clean smell which was nice, so my hair didn't smell like the dye or like a shit ton of flowers trying to cover up said dye.

Fortunately, my every day Serge Normant Meta Silk shampoo and Meta Velour Conditioner are also sulfate-free and colour safe, and have worked wonders for my hair. My hair naturally is very thick and frizzy, but the Serge products make it so soft and just UGH, like I'm touching my hair constantly and making other people touch it too to see how good it feels. It's such a huge difference and I'm so happy to have the chance to use these products. The conditioner is good and thick too so I've been working it through my hair, then running a comb through in the shower just to detangle. It's really really great stuff. And my Bright Black is still bright!

-Christina

Review: Embelleze Novex Keratin cream

Okay. I am officially swearing by this shit.

My hair is nuts. It's frizzy and thick and hard to manage, and I've never really gotten the hang of styling it without it still looking like I've stuck my finger in a socket. I've used quite a few different shampoos over the years and some get my hair softer than others, but I've had a really hard time learning to control frizz and get it to style the way that I want it to.

This. Shit. Works.

It was one of the first things I wanted to try out of my Glossybox, for sure. So the directions tell me to "apply to slightly dry hair", wait three minutes, then wash out. I have no idea what "slightly dry" is so basically I dipped my head in the sink and wet it a little and then put this in like any other cream. I probably waited a little longer than three minutes (I have no idea if this makes a difference or not) and then washed it out in the shower without using shampoo or anything else. Probably I should have shampooed first, I don't know, that isn't in the directions. I blew it out straight and did a little flat ironing to fix it up.

BUT ANYWAY. My hair was so silky smooth and soft and easy to work with, I was making everyone touch it when I was at work. It really is kind of a miracle. I mean, my hair naturally is basically a big poof ball on top of my head, but I've used this twice since I got it, and my hair still feels really great, even after washes and everything. So, I'm really down with this. Will definitely keep using.

xx
C

First Glossybox delivery!

In anticipation of blogging,  I signed up for three separate beauty box services - Glossybox (reccomended by I Covet Thee ), Julep's monthly box, and Birchbox.

Glossybox was the first to arrive and I AM SO EXCITED! The best thing is getting product testers that I wouldn't know about or have thought to try. I'm especially excited about the Keratin hair treatment cream (which is in my hair as we speak), the lip color from Jelly Pong Pong (a brand that I know of because they work with Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud, who I LOVE), and the facial spray. I'm not really sure how to use it yet, but that's part of the fun of trying it out!

Anatomicals Spray Misty For Me facial spritz / Novex Brazilian Keratin Hair Treatment Cream / Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush / ModelCo Eyeshadow Duo in bronzed goddess / Sue Devitt Triple C-Weed Pressed Powder

First Sephora Haul

Since I'm just starting out on this journey of trying new products, I decided to pick up a bunch of tester sizes and boxes to get a feel for everything without spending big money. I need a new mascara since mine flakes a little, and I regularly use Urban Decay foundation, but it's hard to find in stores anymore since I think they're phasing it out in favor of the Naked line. I'm also really excited to try some facey glowy things and the dry shampoo (which was as per the Sephora lady's recommendation). So we'll see how this goes!

From top left:  Benefit Goodtime Gals: Posietint lip & cheek stain, Girl Meets Pearl face brightener, That Gal brightening face primer / Smashbox Photofinish Foundation Primer with SPF 20 / Benefit Ooh La La Lift under eye brightener / Buxom Lash Mascara / Too Faced Beauty Blogger Darlings: Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer, Primed & Poreless face primer, Better Than Sex mascara, Shadow Insurance eye shadow primer / Oscar Blandi dry shampoo / Bumble and bumble straight blow dry / TokyoMilk Dark eau de parfum Destiny #79 / Urban Decay Naked Skin Liquid Makeup / Soap & Glory A Great Kisser lip balm