2016 Makeup Hits!

2016 Makeup Hits!

Happy 2017, everyone!! Starting Beyond the Swatch pushed me to try new makeup products and brands last year. There were some makeup hits, a few misses, and a few products that I had lukewarm feelings about but I’d still be willing to give another try!

In the spirit of starting 2017 off with a positive attitude, I’m going to be focusing on my personal 2016 make up hits instead of the misses for this post.  I could go on and on all day about all the different makeup products that I like, so if I literally listed everything, this post would go on for ages. The products below are makeup items that I loved so much last year that I either: repurchased, gifted to someone else, bought additional shades/colors of, or added as a staple product in my everyday makeup collection. Here we go!

Wet N Wild MegaGlo Contouring Palette!

My absolute #1 omg I’m so glad I found you last year was Wet n Wild MegaGlo Contouring Palette. This $5 product replaced my $40 Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Palette. This is one of the few products that I have that I love so much that I buy 2 or 3 at a time just so that I have extras when I run out. Click here for my original review of this product!

Why did I continue to love this product? Huge pans which means the product lasts for a long time. Excellent pigmentation- a little goes a long way. Creamy smooth formula. Easy to apply with either a damp beauty blender or brush. Only downside-a lot of fall out so it can get a little messy. Also, I’ve only found 2 different shades of this product. I got lucky that Caramel Toffee works well with my skintone and my makeup preferences/style but I wish they had more shade options to match more skintones!

NYX & e.l.f. & Colour Pop Lip Products.

This year I re-solidified my love for drugstore lip sticks! My favorite drugstore lip products of this year: NYX Liquid Suede ($7 for crazy intense pigmentation…the color you see in the tube is the color you’re gonna get on your lips), and e.l.f. Moisturizing Lipstick and Matte Lipcolor (only $3 a shade and they’re always coming out with new shades). Another affordable lipstick MVP- Colourpop products! Their liquid lipsticks were my favorite in 2016! Lately it’s been tough for me to want to spend more than drugstore price for lipstick because there are so many high quality options from drugstore cosmetics brands!

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara.

I wear fake lashes almost everyday so I don’t buy mascara very often, but when I do, I spend the extra bucks to buy Better Than Sex Mascara! This product makes my eyelashes fluffy and adds a lot of volume. Doesn’t help with my lashes inability to hold a curl but it makes up for it with it’s volumizing power. I love the super fluffy brush and the pink packaging!

House of lashes eyelash glue.

I know I’ve mentioned that I LOVE lashes from House of Lashes, but I have to give a shout out to their adhesive glue ($8) which was a huge find for me in 2016! When I started to wear falsies everyday, I would use Duo Eyelash glue and started to notice my eyes would start to get irritated and itchy throughout the day. I did some research and found that lash glue that has formaldehyde in it can irritate your eyes. HOL glue does not have formaldehyde in it’s formula so I gave it a try and haven’t had any eye irritation issues since! Please note that this is glue stopped the irritation for me personally, but can still have certain affects on other people. This year I want to find and try organic, all natural eye lash glues. I’ll keep you posted! On top of this, the glue is easy to apply with it’s thin brush connected to the cap and is waterproof.

Photo via HOL Website

Paula’s Choice Skin Care Products and Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Cream.

This year I definitely started to take my skin care regimen more seriously (late 20’s will do that to ya). My favorite brand which was recommended to me by my mom: Paula’s Choice! Great quality moisturizers that make my skin feel refreshed and hydrated. The products I’ve been using and loving- Moisture Boost Hydrating Treatment Cream ($29), Resist Barrier Repair Moisturizer with Retinol ($33), and Resist Cellular Defense Daily Moisturizer SPF 25 ($33).

For my undereye area, especially when my eyes are extra puffy, I’ve been using Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with avocado ($48).

A couple bonus favorites are found in this picture below! Hey Honey 24Seven Moisturizing Cream and Cammite Castor Oil for my lahes)

And there you have it! Some of my favorites from 2016. I’m looking forward to sharing more make up discoveries this year!

Have you tried any of these products? What do you all think?

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Watch These Talented Makeup Artists Bring our Favorite Disney Princesses to Life!

Hi everyone! Happy Halloween weekend! Can’t believe we only have 3 more days until Halloween! I’ll be scrambling to put together a last minute costume for this weekend. Any suggestions??

This whole month I’ve been enjoying seeing all of the amazing Halloween makeup looks on social media. My Instagram feed has been filled to the brim with mermaids, skeletons, zombies, spider lashes, vampires… you name it, there’s a makeup look out there for it!

One of the most impressive Halloween makeup videos I’ve seen is this one right here! A mix of incredibly talented makeup artists collaborating to bring our favorite Disney Princesses to life with the power of makeup! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! Simply amazing! Check out all their Instagram profiles to see more of their work! (Listed in the caption below)!

Omg this is amazing!! Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do!! ?? Great job everyone!!?? #halloween #halloweenmakeup #makeup #cosmetics#makeupaddict #igmakeup #bblogger #bbloggers #beautyblog #beauty #makeupcommunity #fall #Repost @annalovesu with @repostapp ・・・ ???Halloween makeup collaboration??? : ?? Editing by @charmiejanee ?Hair (Belle) – @sahursart ?Foundation (Elsa) – @monicarosemua ?Contouring (Jasmine) – @paox33 ?Baking (Moana) – @annalovesu ; Powder Contour (Pocahontas) – @charmiejanee ?Eyebrows (Snow White)- @exteriorglam ?Eyeshadow (Rapunzel) -@jasmineregmi ➖Eyeliner (Kida)- @militzayovanka ✨Highlighter (Ariel) – @fraya.beauty Lashes (Cleopatra) – @marisolbautistaa ?Blush (Aurora) – @noemi_problemi 〰 lip pencil (Tiana) – @lawrencialovette ?Lips (Esmeralda) – @amadea_dashurie #muassquad ???

A video posted by Aly Mae! (@beyondtheswatch) on

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5 Cheap Ways to Store Your Makeup! (All under $10!)

5 cheap ways to store your makeup!

I have a confession… makeup organization has never been a strong suit of mine! My makeup storage and organization solution over the years embarrassingly consisted of randomly dumping my makeup in my drawers or keeping them in a messy pile on my bathroom counter. But, I have found 5 ways to store my makeup that are so ridiculously easy and affordable that they leave no excuse for an unorganized makeup collection!

1. Drawer Organizers/Dividers

Drawer organizers like the one pictured below have been one of my best investments and helped me maximize the storage space of my bathroom drawers. Now I waste no time digging through a messy drawer looking for a specific product! You can use these as separators in a drawer or use them on a counter top to store your products. I bought a set of 6 organizers that come in different shapes and sizes at Ikea for $10. Check them out on Ikea here!

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2. Decorative Tin or Metal Buckets

You’ll find little buckets like this one below in the dollar section at Target! I’ve also seen them in craft stores such as Michael’s or Joann Fabrics. Target always comes out with new cute designs all throughout the year. I currently own 2-3 different bucket designs for every holiday and season! 😉

These are perfect for storing your make up brushes, lip glosses, mascaras…anything shaped like a long tube!

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3. Hanging Pocket Organizers 

I have a hanging pocket organizer hanging up next to my bathroom sink. I use this to store beauty tools like eyeliner pencil sharpeners, nail clippers, hair ties, eyelash curlers, bobby pins, hand lotions etc! These are all items that I frequently need and somehow always manage to lose, so having extras stored in 1 spot makes it easier for to me find them when I need them.

I bought this 5 pocket hanging organizer at the Dollar Store.  I’ve seen organizers like this come in many different variations, so you can get creative with what products you can store depending on the number and size of pockets.

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4. Pencil Cases!

Back to school season for me means stocking up on cute pencil cases to use as makeup bags! I bought these pencil cases during the back to school sale at Toys R Us. I’ve seen these cases as cheap as $3.00! Perfect for packing makeup essentials when you’re traveling or to keep in your purse/backpack!

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5. Decorative trays 

Decorative trays can be used to store products that you use frequently use to allow for easy access. I have one tray sitting on my bathroom counter with my daytime moisturizer, hair serum, castor oil, and any products that I use daily. I have another tray on my bedroom dresser, with my night time skin care products. Having these products displayed out in the open not only makes it easy to access, but also serves as a friendly reminder for me to keep up with my skin care regimen! 😉

I purchased the acrylic tray in the first 2 pictures below for $6 at Ross and the plastic tray in the 3rd picture for $1.50 from Daiso.

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Friday Favorite: Sephora Rouge Balm!

Sephora Rouge Balm in Delicate Pink $12.50

Guys! It’s fall already! FALL. Where did the year go??

I live in California and it hasn’t quite hit me that it’s fall yet. It has been slightly colder these last couple days (and when I say cold, I mean “California cold” so like…70 degrees) but I heard that it’s going to be in the hundreds this weekend!

So before I completely transition into fall mode, I wanted to share one of my favorites from this past summer!!

Sephora Rouge Balm

I saw this baby from the corner of my eye while I was already at the check out counter at Sephora and yes, I was one of those customers who held up the line while I went to go grab one!  #noregrets because I love this product!

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Quick facts about this product:

  • Comes in 8 shades- a mix of pinks, peaches, oranges and reds. The one I purchased was Delicate Pink. Check out the rest of the shades here.
  • SPF 20
  • Hydrating
  • Creamy, slightly thick texture (Sephora’s website describes it as a creamy gel texture)
  • Shiny finish
  • Has a subtle tint of color

Here’s a swatch of how this shade looked on my skin tone. I tested this shade out on different skin tones and did not see a significant difference or changes in the shade. This product is definitely meant to be a very subtle & light tint instead of a solid shade.

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Reasons I personally love this product:

  • Smells amazing- like strawberries! Kind of reminds me of pink Starbursts! I’m not sure how the other shades of this lipstick smell or tastes, but I can definitely vouch for Delicate Pink.
  • SPF 20!! I took this with me on my trip house boating for an entire week and it was nice to have lightly tinted and protected lips.
  • The packaging is adorable! The tube matches the shade of the lipstick.
  • Super creamy and hydrating! Instantly makes your lips feel soft.

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Downside:

  • This product is labeled as a lipstick but I would personally categorize it as a tinted chap stick.  Which means that at $12.50 a tube, this is little on the pricier side. I’m used to spending about $4.00 for 3 Blistex chap sticks and having those last me for a couple months (or until I lose them all).
  • Although the formula is super creamy, the texture and consistency may be too slippery to add another lipstick on top of it. I would not use this chap stick as a base layer for other lip colors or products. I personally feel like it’s a stand alone product if you want a light layer of color on your lips.

 

What other people are saying about this product:

  • Overall, the comment section on the Sephora regarding this product is pretty positive! Here are some of the things people are listing as the positives of this product: hydrating, casual tint, SPF protection, comfortable to wear, smooth texture and easy to apply.
  • I did notice a lot of comments mentioning that this product isn’t long wearing and that their lips ended up drying out after a couple hours. Because this lip balm is so creamy, it tends to wipe off easily. The formula is similar to the texture of Vaseline. If your lips are incredibly dry, cracking or sun burnt, chap sticks such as Blistex, Burt’s Bees or Carmex would be a much better option to help with the pain and heal your lips. This product makes your lips feel soft and hydrated, but the formula does not seem strong enough to heal damaged or cracked lips.

Now I want to hear from you!

Have you tried this product? What do you think? Send me pics of your swatches!

What are some of your favorite lip balms or chap sticks?

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