A Mixed Review

This post is semi late, but better late than never! This month I loved so many new products, and I was super excited to try them all out.

The first thing I loved this month wasn't a tangible item, but an event. I was lucky enough to be able to attend a Sephora VIB rouge event in early June with my best friend and I had the best time! Since I am VIB Rouge I was able to bring one guest so I picked my best friend to come with me. We were there for 3.5 hours getting demos, facials, and just chatting with the beauty representatives to get more info on different products! So informative, and so fun! We got so many free samples of different items, and we of course shopped a ton too. I posted a haul from the event, and you can see it here to see what I bought and more details about the event!
Another event type thing I have loved this month is spin classes! I was lucky enough to be able to take a few free spin classes at a place called Cyc Fitness and it was so fun! I had taken a spin class in the past and really disliked it, but since these classes were free I decided to take them with a few of my coworkers. OMG! I loved them so much! Not only were the teachers amazingly uplifting, encouraging, and super nice but the atmosphere of the place was so cool. The room was dark with only black lights, and colored lights on with music blasting. It was the perfect place to get in shape, and feel so great about yourself afterwards! I want to definitely sign up for more classes there in the future. Cyc Fitness is a chain gym, so click the link and see if there is one close to you! And if not, I did hear that they are slowly expanding so they might be near you soon!


Now on to the actual makeup items I have been loving!

This month I did try out a lot of things, but these were my stand out items! The first thing I loved so much was the sample of Benefits new brow products, and it is the Goof Proof Brow Pencil. I am using shade #3 and it is so perfect for my brows. This pencil is easy to use, and adds the perfect amount of product to my brows. It is really waxy, but not too hard. I have really dark brows, and shade #3 is lighter than what I would usually go for. I realized after using it that I like using lighter colors rather than a spot on match. It is really cool toned which I also am finding out that I love. It doesn't make my eyebrows look too dark, or too crazy!
I hadn't ordered from Colourpop in a while, and earlier in the month of June/end of May I posted about a huge Colourpop order I placed. A lot of the items were new to me, and I have loved them so much! I have been loving the highlight in the color Butterfly Beach! It is a darker, rose gold highlight and looks so great on my tanned skin. If you have light medium to deep skin tones this will look amazing on you! Amazing product, and an even more amazing price! The next Colourpop product I have been loving is a super shock eyeshadow from them in the color I Heart This, and, let me say, I love this shade!! Shimmery eyeshadows are my favorite, and this one is so shimmery. It is almost shimmer overload. It is perfection! I think it is a silvery goldish color, and looks amazing on my paler self, as well as my tanner self. I love to wear it all over my lid with nothing else. And lastly, from Colourpop I have been loving their ultra satin lipsticks. I did buy 4 shades, and I do love all the colors, but my most favorite our of the four is the color Molly. It is super bright, and has helped me branch out of my comfort zone. It is a bright pink, fuchsia color with a little bit of purple in it. I definitely recommend picking up the ultra satin lipsticks. They do transfer on cups, straws, etc. but they do stay on all day. I recently wore one, and it literally lasted all day. Even after eating and drinking it still looked amazing. I will picking up KathleenLights new shades as soon as they are available on Colourpop's site!
I have been loving BECCA's highlight in Opal but in the travel liquid form. It is perfect because it looks so dewy and natural on my skin, and has an easy application. It melts right into my skin. The applicator is like a lipgloss wand so I love that I don't accidentally apply too much. Perfect for summer, and perfect for traveling.
If you saw my last post on my ipsy bag you'll have already seen my review on the Happy Hibiscus blush by Seraphine Botanicals. This blush is so amazing, and I definitely want to pick up the full size of it while ipsy has a coupon code on their site! Their site looks like it's full of amazing products, and if I buy stuff from their site I will post a haul!
And lastly of my random bit favorites is a brush by EcoTools. It is there precision blush brush and I have been loving it. It is perfect for applying blush, and bronzer. I have been using it along side with my Benefit palette, and I bought it because at the Sephora event the Benefit Cosmetics used a brush similar to this one to apply blushes to me. I loved it so much so I found this cheaper alternative. It works wonderfully! EcoTools is a great cheap brand of brushes!

xo, Amy

This month I didn't have as many favorites as last month. Ironically all the things I am going to be writing about are all things that are new to me. I love getting new things that instantly become my favorites!


My first favorite is the Tartelette In Bloom palette, and it is so amazing! I bought it on a whim because when it first came out I didn't think about picking it up but then randomly I decided I wanted to buy it. The shades in this palette are perfect for everyday and night time looks. Literally the whole month of May I only used this palette. The only time I would use a different palette was if I wanted a pop of color, but besides that this is all I used. I even used the darks shades which is surprising because I usually shy away from dark eyeshadows. One thing I did notice about the palette is that it kind of smells like the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. I don't think it is infused with cocoa powder like the Too Faced palettes so it is crazy it smells like chocolate! My most favorite colors in the palette are 'smarty pants', 'rebel', 'jetsetter', and 'rocker'. I love all the shades, but those are my standouts at the moment!
I am so glad I picked this palette up because it is easily one of my favorite palettes now!

The most hyped brand this month I think was BECCA because this month Jaclyn Hill released her extension of her Champagne Pop highlight collaboration. So as soon as trendmood announced that the Champagne Glow palette was released early on Sephora's app I instantly downloaded the app so I could buy it. Thankfully, I was able to get one because I heard it sold out so quickly!
It is the best highlight blush palette, and I can't get enough of it! I will be doing a separate full review on it in the next few weeks! But so far, I am absolutely loving it!

I gave a review on the Hanalei Lip Treatment in my ipsy bag review, so if you want a more in depth review go read about it here. But I got this lip treatment in my ipsy bad, and I am loving it so much! It is perfect for making my lips feel smooth and not look cracked or crusty. I think it'll be perfect when winter comes too. As soon as I run out of this I will be buying the full size. Luckily ipsy offer's discount codes for all the brands that are featured in that month's bag. If you want to try this lip treatment out (I recommend you do!) the code to get 30% off is "HANALEI30" on Hanalei's website!


These were the only products this month that were really stand outs for me. I stuck with my usual makeup routine, and I wasn't really wowed by anything else this month. I just made two makeup orders for a few things, so I am ready to test out some new things for June! I have my eye on a few new things coming out I want to test out!
What were your favorites this month? Have you tried anything new recently? Let me know in the comments!

xo, Amy

I can't believe this is my third ipsy post! The months are flying by, and I feel like each month I keep discovering more and more amazing brands!
The bag this month is by far my favorite of the 3 I have received! It looks like an adorable envelope clutch bag! And the theme is so awesome for the upcoming summer. I love all the landmarks printed on the bag too.
For starters before I review any of the products I just want to say how pleasing my bag plus all the products look to the eye. I love how everything goes together, and it's mostly pink!

Smashbox X-Rated Mascara
When I first saw this mascara in my bag I was so excited. I needed a new mascara so this came at the most perfect time. The first time I used this mascara I wasn't impressed at all. I have used it for the past few weeks, but I have forgotten to use it a few times. It isn't that amazing to where I am excited to use to everyday. It doesn't add volume to my lashes which is what I like the most. It makes my lashes really separated which is great for people who love that look but because I have pretty short eyelashes separating them doesn't give them the best look. When my lashes have a lot of added volume it gives the illusion that they're longer. This mascara just isn't doing what I personally like, but I don't think it is a terrible mascara. If you like separated lashes then this is the one for you.
So since it doesn't do the trick for me I probably won't buy the full size.
Overall rating: 2.5/5

SLMissGlam Small Contour W07 Brush
I am 3 for 3 on brushes so far with my ipsy bags and I am so happy about it! This is by far my favorite brush I have received! Not only it it a really soft brush, but it is also really beautiful. The pink, white, and gold is absolute perfection. I am so happy with the quality, and I love how ipsy offers discount codes for the products featured in the months bags because I definitely want to pick up more of these brushes because I am blow away with the quality. I have been using it to highlight instead of contouring, and it is the perfect brush to highlight with. It adds it to the perfect place on my cheekbones, and my highlight is on fleek!
Overall rating: 5/5

Hikari Shimmer Bronzer
This was really cool to get in my ipsy bag because it is full size. And while I love the highlight blocks in this shimmer brick it is not very ideal to use as a bronzer. The actual bronzer square is so tiny, and swirled all together it is an orangy color which isn't bad for an eyeshadow, but not ideal for a bronzer. I have been using the SLMissGlam brush with the highlight to highlight my cheeks. I probably won't use this as a bronzer, but I will definitely keep using the highlight squares, and I might try to use the bronzer square as an eyeshadow. And since there are two of the highlight color squares I do see this lasting me a long time which I am happy about. I am tanner since going to my lake house, so this golden highlighter is great for summer!
Overall rating: 3/5

Hanalei Lip Treatment
Where do I start with this lip treatment? I am so in love!! It smells great, and makes my lips look really plump and smooth. This products comes out the tube and looks like a thick balm but when it hits your lips it kind of melts down to a thin oil consistently. I put it on before I go to sleep and wake up with really soft lips and have no dry patches on my lips at all. I also put it on right after I brush my teeth in the morning so that it'll absorb into my lips while I get ready. The only thing I don't like about it is that it has a really strong smell that I can continue to smell until I fall asleep or until I wipe it off. Thankfully it has a coupon code which I am 100% going to take advantage of. If you don't have ipsy and want to try this lip treatment out use the code 'HANALEI30' to get 30% off.

Formula 10.0.06 Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask
I love any mask that can clear out my pores, and make them appear smaller so this was an excitement when I saw this. Not only is it not a one time use, so I can test it out to see if it really works, but it is in cute pink packaging. But besides the outside, the inside is great. After I used it one time I could really see the difference in my pores. They looked clearer, and I felt like it make my pores look noticeably smaller. The mask is a light pink color because it has strawberries in it, and it smells great. I use it just on my nose, cheeks, and chin only because those are where my pores are largest!
Overall rating: 5/5

If you are subscribed to ipsy let me know what you got in your bag, and what you liked in it! If you aren't subscribed and want the coupon codes for any of the items I got let me know, and I will give them to you, and I will be sure to include all the codes for the items I get in next months bag.

xo, Amy

I apologize for the lack of posts this month! I have been super busy, but I promise the next few weeks will make up for the past few. I have a lot of great posts coming, so be ready!
And I also want to thank you all for 200 subscribers! I feel like my blog is such a great outlet for me, so I love that so many others want to share it with me.
But onto the post!



So I first heard about Ciate London because I knew of their nail polish, but then I heard Joanna AKA bronzedbeautyyy on YouTube rave about the  Olivia Palermo x Ciate London lipstick in the shade 'praline'. Since I really love her channel, and her style I decided to pick it up too. I usually like what Joanna wears since she is a tad darker than me I know what looks good on her will most likely look similar on me.
I am so glad I picked it up!! It is the most perfect dark nude shade. It is so creamy, and it lasts all day. When I wore it to work I got a bunch of really nice compliments, and after drinking a bunch of water and eating lunch it was still on my lips at the end of the day. I was so amazed! I didn't think it would fade easily, but I didn't expect it to last through so much. It is comfortable on my lips as well. I didn't feel like my lips were the least bit dry.
Because I loved the Ciate London lipstick so much I wanted to branch out and try other makeup from this brand. Besides Joanna I haven't heard anyone speak on this brand at all! I wanted to give a brand with not a lot of hype a chance because it could really be amazing. So I picked up the Olivia Palermo Smokey Suedes palette. It is so great!! This brand really is seriously underrated. The shadows in this palette are pigmented, really soft, and glide on my eyelids effortlessly. Then when I saw trendmood1 was talking about Ciate on her snap story I was so shocked! She was talking about the new palettes that Ciate was coming out with, and as soon as they were live on Sephora's site I snatched one up! I decided on The Fun Palette. I wanted this bright palette because I have plenty of neutral palettes, and I love the pops of color this palette has! The packaging of the palettes is so ideal for traveling. They're small and compact and will fit in any makeup bag! I love the outside of The Fun Palette so much because how it has the moving eyes depending on the angle you hold it at. When I see the eyes on the front it reminds me of The Great Gatsby. If you have read the book, or seen the movie you will know the reference!
I love Ciate London so much more now that I discovered their amazing makeup line. But with great things comes a few cons. So the first con I have is the shape of the pans. They are a little weird shaped so it can be difficult to get your brush in. Another con I found with these palettes are the lack of names printed on the actual palette. To know the names you have to actually keep the boxes they come in because the names are printed on the boxes. I don't understand why they did that and it is pretty annoying, but I can look past it. It's nothing major. And another thing to remember if you chose to buy the Olivia Palermo palettes is that they are in the same exact packaging. So if you are in a hurry and grab one you could be grabbing the wrong one.

Have you tried anything from the Ciate London makeup line? If so, what have you tried, and do you like it? If you haven't tried anything I recommend their lipsticks for sure!!

xo, Amy

This favorites post is kind of late, but better late than never!
Each month has been flying by, and April came and went too! This month I liked so many new things! Since it was the Sephora VIB sale I got some awesome new things that I have fallen in love with!

I finally used my Hourglass Ambient Bronzer, and I am beyond happy I picked it up during the sale! It adds the perfect tanned glow to my skin. I am so glad I picked it up in my VIB sale haul. If you are a beginner to bronzer like myself this is perfect. I heard the Too Faced 'Sweet Tea' bronzer is pretty similar so I might have to pick it up for a similarity post!

This month I loved 3 different highlights! The first one I loved was a rekindled love, and it was my BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in 'Champage Pop'. This highlighter is a collaboration with Jaclyn Hill, and it is so beautiful. It is the perfect light gold highlight. I am skeptical to see how it looks when I am darker, but for the moment I am loving it! It was limited edition when it first came out but it's now permanent which is great because it is really loved! My next highlight favorite is a new one. It is the highlight trio by City Colors Cosmetics. It came in my ipsy bag and surprisingly it is so amazing! I did a review on it in my April ipsy bag review, so I won't talk too much on it, but it is so great. It's 3 colors, and super thin which makes it the most ideal highlight to travel with! To read my other review on it, click here. And my last highlight favorite has been my Anastasia Beverly Hills glow kit in 'That Glow'. I also have a review on this highlight kit, so read it here. It is amazing, and I really recommend it. Even if you get the kit in 'Gleam' it is such a great value. I have seen preview pictures of another kit coming out, and I really want it too! So far from what I have seen it looks great!

I have slowly been becoming more and more obsessed with blush palettes, and because I missed out on the Tarte holiday blush palette as soon as I saw the tarteist blush palette was released I bought it immediately! I am so glad I picked up this palette because the blush shades are all so beautiful. All of the colors look great on my skin which is amazing because in most palettes there is always one color that I hate. Not in this one! The blushes are super pigmented and you only need to tap your brush in ever so gently. I love the hot pink packaging! It is my favorite color, and really convenient for travel. Go grab it if you don't have it already because it is limited edition!

Matte eyeshadows aren't usually my thing, but I wanted to have some more matte shadows in my collection to use as transitions shades. I decided on the Too Faced Natural Matte palette, and it is the best! It has the right amount of cool and warm matte shades so it's versatile!

I have been wanting to try out more brands that are less talked about on YouTube and one I decided on was Ciate. They are known for their awesome nail polishes, but they also make makeup. I grabbed a lipstick from the brand, and it is in collaboration with Olivia Palermo. I bought the Satin Kiss Lipstick in 'Praline'. I plan on having a full review on the Ciate brand makeup, so I won't get too much into this. But if you haven't tried it, I recommend it!

With all the online orders I make I get more samples than one person actually needs. I am so late to the bandwagon because I literally never hear anyone speak about this primer anymore, it is the Urban Decay Primer Potion. It is in the original formula. I love it so much!! I had been strictly using my NYX eyeshadow base but I am slowly liking it less and I found this sample in my collection. I am glad I started using it because it doesn't feel sticky on my lids. I noticed that primers that feel sticky on my lids tend to make my eyeshadows skip when I apply them. With the primer potion it doesn't skip at all and goes on smoothly. I will probably buy the full size when I run out of my sample!

And the last thing I have been loving is the L'Oreal Brow Stylist Definer. I saw this and got really excited because I already love the brow mascara by L'Oreal, so I figured I would love this too. It is so amazing! The spooly at the end is perfect for brushing out my brows before I fill them in. The actual product is so great too. It is very pigmented, and easily glides on to make my eyebrows look darker, and more defined. I thought at first I wouldn't be that great at filling in my brows, but the tiny pencil makes it really easy, and I love that. I haven't ever tried the Anastasia Beverly Hills brow wiz, but with this affordable, amazing product I don't plan on it! I just plan on using this great brow pencil!

What did you love in the month of May? I always love to know for recommendations on things I should try! Let me know!

xo, Amy

This was my very first time ordering from Beautylish, and I must say I am very impressed! Not only is it speedy it is also free with purchases over $35! Even if you don't spend $35 shipping is only $5. So that altogether is a huge plus for me!
With Beautylish you can opt in for text alerts regarding your package, so I got texts of when they received my order, when it shipped, and when it was delivered. I love that! It made me feel really valued as a customer. Another great service with Beautylish is after I received my order an employee from Beautylish texted me asking me how I was enjoying my order, and even told me I could text her anytime to ask her questions. It was so helpful because I asked her about some other stuff I ordered (review coming soon!).
My first order I placed was for the Rae Morris Makeup Masterclass. I saw this book on trendmood's snap chat and instantly fell in love. It might is the most beautiful book I own. I call it my makeup bible because it has so much detailed information plus gorgeous pictures. It is helpful as I navigate through my makeup obsession. I think even if you are a makeup artist you can benefit from this book because of all the information and knowledge Rae Morris shares. The book costs $55 which sounds expensive, but considering how big it is it's worth it. The book is quite large in size, but also volume. It has close to 500 colored pages in it! Impressive!
 I haven't read through the whole book yet, but I hope I can improve my makeup skills from reading, and practicing. And I love the images in this book so much I hope it inspires me for my future goals and dreams in life.
Also with my order I got two Bioderma samples! I hear so much hype around Bioderma so I am pumped to try it!

If you haven't ever placed an order with Beautylish I highly recommend it. They ship to so many countries all over the world, and literally have the best customer service I have ever had, and that includes actually shopping in stores too.

If you have the Rae Morris book let me know what you think of it! Or if you have read any other makeup book that is great let me know what they are so I can pick them up!

xo, Amy

April's ipsy bag was so amazing! This is only my second month being subscribed to ipsy, but I am loving it! This month's bag was even better than March bag! I love the bag too! The bright tye dye colors make me so excited for summer!!

The hype is real, and the buzz hasn't stopped!
I bought the Kylie Lip Kits a few weeks ago, and in the post I posted about them I promised a review on them. So here is the review, plus swatches of all the colors that I have!
When I originally picked up these lip kits, I only picked up Dolce K and Candy K. I didn't want to go over board with ordering because I didn't want to spend a ton, and I didn't want to buy too many if I didn't end up liking them.
But to say the least I am obsessed with these liquid lipsticks. They are the best liquid lipsticks I have tried so far. And I am not going to lie, when these first launched I didn't want to buy them because I didn't want to fall into yet another "hyped" beauty item. But after watching countless hauls and swatch videos showcasing them I knew I had to have one.
After placing my first order, and seeing how amazing it is, I waited patiently for the next restock and ordered Kylie's newest shades Posie K and 22.
Candy K, Dolce K, and Posie K are great everyday colors and depending on you skin tone they will either look darker or lighter. Originally, I thought I would like Dolce K the best, but my favorite of the four I own is Candy K. It is the perfect nude for my skin tone. I like Dolce K but it is much darker and browner on me. It looks great, but I don't think it is the best everyday shade for me personally. But for someone who is a little bit darker than me, it'll be perfect. Posie K is a great purply, rose, mauve pink. It actually is great for everyday. I wore it to work a few times and received really nice compliments. 22 is a firey orange shade, and is perfect for special occasions! I am not a red lipstick wearer so this is the perfect bold color for me! I think orangey colors looks great on every skin color.
If you haven't tried any of these liquid lipsticks I highly recommend it! Stalk either Kylie's, trendmood1, or kyliecosmetics insta pages. They will keep you up to date with any restocking releases!

PRO's:

• Long lasting (very long lasting)
• Unique color variety
• Kit comes with matching lip liner
• Easy to apply
• Great scent
• Durable, not cheap feeling packaging
• Doesn't make my lips feel super dry