Hello and welcome to my blog and my first blog post in what feels like forever. Okay, the second post counting the ‘Meet the Author’ which you can find here. I had been saving my empties for this post since I started working on the show back in August! I took the more borning stuff out but kept things I’ve reviewed or really loved. I’ll be providing links to things I can find links for, they aren’t affiliate and I make nothing off of you using them. I provide them to make the hunt for a certain product less daunting. Let’s jump right into it!

First off we have lotions because they deserve a category to themselves. First the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Vanilla. You can get this for $20 at Sephora. I tried this lip balm for the first time this past year and I fell in love! I love it so much I got the holiday gift set and I’m already on my second mini size but the Vanilla is still my favorite. It’s currently out of stock on the Sephora site but hopefully it will be back soon! Next is the Soap and Glory Hand Food moisturizer. This is by far my favorite hand lotion. You can get it from Ulta, Target, or Wallgreens. At Ulta, the 4.2 oz tube costs $8. The good thing about getting it from Ulta is that there is usually an offer going on. I tried this lotion back when it was only available at Sephora. It’s thick but not heavy thick and the scent is nice but not overpowering. I’m picky with my hand lotions and this one ticked all of the boxes. The other hand lotion I had as an empty is a Bath and Body Works lotion called “In the Stars”. This is a part of their body cream line so it’s not as light as their regular lotions, which I like. The one I’ve linked to is the actual hand cream, this is actually a mini of the body cream. The other Bath and Body Works product I have in this category is the Sleep Lotion in Black Chamomile. This specific lotion is $13.50 and it comes in a nice glass bottle, it’s heavy and feels very luxe. The black chamomile scent is probably my favorite from all of the scents in the sleep line. Last but certainly not least is what is probably hands down my favorite body cream/lotion/whatever you want to call it. I’m talking about the Wild Argan Oil Body Butter from The Body Shop. There are two sizes you can purchase from Ulta, this size for $21 or the Mega size for $36. I will admit that it is pricey for a body butter but, it lasts you a very long time because you only need the tiniest amount. This one lasted me a little over 6 months with daily use! I love to use it after I shower when my skin is still warm from the water because I feel it absorbs better.

I finished a lot of makeup in the past few months! Including two foundations which I’ve never done before, they usually go bad or I give them away. The first foundation I finished is the Maybelline Super Stay Better Skin Foundation in 10 Porcelain. Unfortunately, this foundation seems to be discontinued. It was good but not great, I’m glad to be done with it. The other foundation I finished is the Makeup Revolution Fast Base Stick in F3. You can get this at Ulta for $9, I love this one so much I have two backups! I very rarely by backups but I was so impressed with the coverage of this foundation and how it wears on the skin throughout the day I knew I wanted backups. You don’t need a lot to do your whole face. I wouldn’t recommend this for oily skin because it is a bit oily, I have combination skin and if I don’t use a matte primer it looks very shiny at the end of the day. The primer I finished is a matte on is the Milani Prime Shield primer. I didn’t notice much in the way of pore minimizing but it certainly helped keep my oil at bay on my face during the day. It did have a silicone feel but that didn’t bother me. I finished two mascaras, Too Faced’s Better Than Sex and Urban Decay’s Perversion. Both of these are holy grail products in my book. They make my lashes look full and long and I just love it! I haven’t repurchased yet but I have a backup Better Than Sex but no extra Perversion. That’s okay though, I have a lot of mascaras as it is so I think I’ll wait a bit before repurchasing. One of my favorite concealers is the Makeup Revolution Conceal and Define concealer. This is the one I use under my eyes and it is in the shade C1. This is one of the best concealers I have ever tried and I have backups of this too in both the regular size and the Supersize. It’s light, non-cakey, and sets nicely with any powder. The doe-foot applicator is the perfect size for going after acne spots or scars or for going under your eyes. I finished off the Maybelline Total Temptation eyebrow pencil in 300 Blonde, this is the first brow product I’ve ever finished! I’m still learning how to do my brows perfectly but this was a great pencil and is definitely budget friendly. I finished my Evian Facial Spray (mini). I use this to melt my makeup into my face before I use setting spray as well as with the cake liner I have and love. The two setting sprays I finished are the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray and the Morphe Continuous Setting Mist. I will never be without the All Nighter spray but I have also come to love the Morphe one. They are both quite different but the one thing that’s very similar is their power to help your makeup stay throughout the day. I would honestly recommend both without hesitation.

Last but not least is some skincare with a few last minute pieces of makeup thrown in. Let’s get the makeup out of the way, shall we? First is the Anastasia of Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil in Blonde. This was my first ‘good’ brow pencil and it was a great starter product but now I’ve moved on to bigger and better things. I would recommend this to someone starting out instead of the Brow Wiz. I used the Essence Clear Mascara for Lash and Brow to set my brows in place. It does get dirty but what clear brow gel doesn’t, right? As a drugstore priced choice I think it’s fantastic! The spoolie isn’t too big and it helps the hair stay in place without being crunchy which is nice. The last makeup piece in here is the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer. This was the first concealer I ever fell in love with and I will purchase it again once I run out of mostly everything else. I’m in the shade Fair which oddly enough isn’t the lightest shade. This one sadly went bad so I didn’t get to finish it but I did use a lot of it so that makes me happy and not feel like I’m wasting product. The first skincare bit is my Neutrogena Rapid Clear toner. Depending on where you buy this it can be pretty pricey for a drugstore toner. I felt that while using this my skin looked really good and it didn’t burn when I used it. I only use this in the morning because I have another one I prefer to use at bedtime. I would definitely recommend this for acne prone skin. The next product is the Origins Clear Improvement Charcoal Mask. I wasn’t a big fan of this mask. I mean, it was nice but honestly, if I’m going to use a charcoal mask, I’m going to use my Glam Glow Supermud mask. If you are on a budget, though, I would recommend this over the Glam Glow because there’s a good $20 difference between the Origins one and the standard size of the Glam Glow Supermud. I finished my first eye cream, which was the Laneige Eye Sleeping Mask. In this bottle you get 0.8oz and it comes with this wand to help with application of the product which I LOVED! It was very cooling to the under eyes and really helped to de-puff them at the end of the day. I’m working on another one right now but when I need a new one, I will be repurchasing this one! Last, but certainly not least, is the Makeup Revolution Hydration Boost lotion. This is a combination cream/gel formula, this one is more cream than gel and the other one I’m currently using is more gel than cream. I used this in the morning after my toner and it always made my skin feel prepped and ready for makeup or for a treat no makeup day. You can only get this product online at Ulta, they don’t have it in store. The jar is glass so it feels luxe and it really does hydrate your skin without leaving it feeling oily.

That’s it! If you made it to the end of this post I congratulate you, and thank you. Hopefully I’ll be able to do these more often so there will be fewer products to go through. I can’t wait for you to see what’s in store for the blog. I hope to see you back on Sunday! Don’t forget, be bold, be beautiful, be YOU! XOXO