#blog – Page 23 – Forty, Flirty & Fabulous

Sephora Holiday Beauty Gift Guide 2018

Hi all! It’s time for my first holiday gift guide of 2018! The year has flown by! By I’m definitely ready for holiday shopping and picking out the perfect gifts!

Sephora is such an amazing store for gorgeous beauty products. So it’s not a surprise that they also have amazing gifts for the holidays! Below are fab palettes and sets of makeup brushes, skincare and hair care:

Sephora Collection The Enchanting Colors Eye and Face Palette ($18 USD) — A palette for the face and eyes, composed of eyeshadows, brow powders, and a blush for an enchanting look. The palette includes eight matte and shimmer eyeshadows including two dazzling illuminators, two brow powders in natural shades, and an ultra-fresh blush. A five-step tutorial is included inside the palette to help you create an enchanting makeup look for a magical Christmas and New Year.

Bobbi Brown Infra-Red Eyeshadow Palette ($39 USD) — A mix-and-match spectrum of matte, metallic, and sparkle shades perfect for creating sizzling eye looks.

This set contains:
– 6 x 0.07 oz/ 2 g Eyeshadows in Stone Cold (light warm peach), Red Rock (rich rust-red), Behind the Sun (metallic bronzed peach gold), Slow Burn (sparkling bright copper gold), Interstellar (metallic warm white gold), Solar Flame (rich burgundy brown)
– 2 x 0.06 oz/ 1.71 g Eyeshadows in Infra-Red (shimmering warm pink with gold reflections), Fever Dream (shimmering bright copper)

Sephora Collection Spellbound Brush Set

Sephora Collection Spellbound Brush Set ($49 USD) — A medium size, seven-piece full-face brush set complete with a beautiful compact carrying case to store your brushes while traveling. This brush set has all the essential brushes you need to create any full face look. Includes: Buffing foundation, pointed powder, angled concealer, fan brush, flat shadow, crease brush and angled liner. All synthetic fibers. These brushes are vegan, synthetic, and cruelty-free.

This set contains:
– Flat shadow brush
– Buffing foundation brush
– Angled concealer brush
– Pointed powder brush
– Fan brush
– Crease brush
– Angled liner brush
– Pouch

Ole Henriksen Glow Brightly Radiance-Boosting Super Set

Ole Henriksen Glow Brightly Radiance-Boosting Super Set ($49 USD) — A set of age-defying essentials that delivers ultimate hydration, evens skin tone, and targets fine lines.

Ole Henriksen’s Truth Serum brightens, visibly firms, improves concealer wear, and reduces the look of fines lines and wrinkles over time. C-Rush delivers 24-hour hydration, while creating a smooth, radiant canvas for makeup. Banana Bright, inspired by “banana powder,” targets dark circles and helps improve concealer wear. Goodnight Glow, with bakuchiol—a natural retinol alternative—targets major signs of aging and dark spots.

This set contains:
– 1 oz/ 30 mL Truth Serum
– 0.25 oz/ 7 mL Goodnight Glow Retin-ALT Sleeping Crème
– 0.25 oz/ 7 mL Banana Bright Eye Crème
– 0.5 oz/ 15 mL C-Rush Brightening Gel Crème

IGK Get Lit Kit

IGK Get Lit Kit ($29 USD) — A limited-edition trio of IGK hair care bestsellers to cleanse, refresh, and hydrate on the go.

This limited-edition set is everything you need to get and extend your perfect style. Wash with LOW KEY Cleansing Walnut Scalp Scrub to exfoliate away dirt, oil, and product buildup while apple cider vinegar clarifies and peppermint oil rebalances. Apply MISTRESS Hydrating Hair Balm to damp hair—the coconut oil and shea butter formula will melt into hair for instant softness and frizz control. Extend your style with FIRST CLASS Charcoal Detox Dry Shampoo. It uses charcoal powders and seven percent active cleansing powders to give a deep, detoxifying clean that absorbs oils and eliminates odor.

This set contains:
– 6.3 oz/ 288 mL First Class Dry Shampoo
– 0.75 oz/ 22 mL Lowkey Cleansing Walnut Scrub
– 1.7 oz/ 50 mL Mistress Hydrating Hair Balm

So my first gift guide is done! Stay tuned for more beauty and other exciting gift guides.

Do you love getting holiday gifts for others and yourself for the holidays? Have you picked up any fun holiday sets?

IT Cosmetics’ IT’s Your Top 5 Superstars & More! 6-Piece Holiday Collection on QVC!

IT Cosmetics

Hi all! It’s time for another amazing IT Cosmetics Today’s Special Value on QVC! This one is the IT’s Your Top 5 Superstars & More! 6-Piece Holiday Collection, and it’s amazing for treating yourself or giving as a holiday gift! The collection is sold just today for $59.94 and the retail value is $215! Such a great deal!

Here’s how it arrives:

The packaging is so pretty! The collection includes:

0.30-oz Celebration Foundation in Fair, Light, Medium, Medium Tan, Tan, Rich, or Deep
0.40-fl oz Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer
2-fl oz Confidence in a Cream
0.30-fl oz Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara
0.057-fl oz Je Ne Sais Quoi Hydrating Color Awakening Lip Treatment Serum
Heavenly Luxe Dual-Ended Buff & Blend Brush

Here’s more info on the products:

Never creasing or cracking, Celebration Foundation is your 30-seconds-to-flawless full coverage in a talc-free, hydrating powder foundation.

Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer is your award-winning, full-coverage, antiaging treatment concealer, covering everything without creasing or cracking.

Confidence in a Cream is your hypoallergenic moisturizing super cream, instantly giving your skin hydration and helping address the appearance of the signs of aging, including dry fine lines and wrinkles.

Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara gives your lashes super-length and super-volume in a super-black formula that leaves lashes looking fuller and longer for your most dramatic lashes.

Je Ne Sais Quoi Hydrating Color Awakening Lip Treatment Serum is your hydrating, lip-smoothing, perfect pink lip.

The collection also includes the new Heavenly Luxe Dual-Ended Buff & Blend Brush to give you flawless full coverage with two sides for effortless application!

I’ve tried all of these products and think they are all so gorgeous! This would make such an amazing gift to either give the whole set, or break up the products since they are individually boxed.

Are you going to pick up this great deal?

It’s a 10 Hair Care – The Next 10 Contest!

It's a 10

There’s an exciting contest happening with the amazing hair care brand It’s a 10!

Founder Carolyn Aronson is hosting The Next 10 Contest, calling on everyone across the country to design their dream hair product. She will hand-pick 10 finalists and choose one lucky winner with the most innovative concept to produce. Because Carolyn believes everyone should live with passion and purpose, the winner will also receive $10,000 and a lifetime supply of It’s a 10! Entries are open now through November 16 at www.itsthenext10.com, with the winner announced November 16th.

I think this is such a cool idea! So put your thinking cap on (but don’t mess up your hair)!

Are you going to submit an idea? I’m thinking about it…

Get Gorgeous With Natural Brands OZNaturals, Derma E and The Organic Skin Co!

Hi all! How’s your November going so far? Can you believe the holidays are almost here? I’ll be dong my gift guides really soon (like maybe my next post)!

To get ready for the cooler weather, I’ve been trying some amazing natural skincare. The following was sent to me for my honest review.

OZNaturals Vitamin C + Sea Hydration Mask ($19.99) Packed with Vitamin C, Giant Sea Kelp Extract, and ocean minerals, this deeply hydrating formula reduces redness, fine lines, and flaky skin, delivering radiant, youthful skin and a dewy, healthy glow. Formulated using a unique technique called Cold Processing, OZNaturals products are made without the use of heat or petrochemicals at room temperature, which allows the active ingredients to remain fresh and highly potent as intended. Full of antioxidants and fatty acids, this effective, yet natural formula soothes even the most distressed skin and will reduce puffiness and inflammation.

This mask works well for my sensitive skin. It gently exfoliates but doesn’t irritate my skin. You can use this after cleansing and exfoliating, apply generously and leave on skin for 15-30 minutes. Moisten and gently rinse to remove. Pat skin dry. Follow with serums, and lastly moisturizer. This is so nice, and I love that it’s all natural!

Purchase at http://www.oznaturals.com

Derma E Advanced Peptide and Collagen Moisturizer

Derma E Firming DMAE Eye Lift ($24.95 USD) Visibly lift, firm and tighten the delicate eye area while smoothing crow’s feet with this doctor-developed, multi-action eye treatment cream that contains advanced natural ingredients. InstaLift® Goji Berry glycopeptides add further firming, lifting and tightening antioxidant power. Advanced peptides Argireline® and Matrixyl® synthe’6® work together to soften facial muscles and synthesize new key components helping smooth wrinkles and discourage new lines from forming. Hyaluronic Acid, also known as nature’s moisture magnet, infuses a surge of cooling eye moisture helping leave skin soft, smooth, tone and rehydrated. 100% vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, lanolin-free, gluten-free, GMO-free.

Derma E Advanced Peptide and Collagen Moisturizer ($35 USD) – This revolutionary, double-action moisturizer formulated with multi-peptides, Matrixyl® synthe’6® and Argireline ®, helps to visibly soften and smooth the look of even the deepest wrinkles while plant extract Pycnogenol®, a powerful antioxidant, may help support healthy collagen. Powerful anti-aging peptides with benefits: • Matrixyl® synthe’6®: May help support collagen for healthy-looking tone and texture. • Argireline®: Helps to visibly smooth the appearance of fine lines, leaving skin feeling soft. Enriched with anti-aging antioxidants Vitamin C and Green Tea, this intense hydrating, peptide-infused formula helps to restore the look of your skin for a more youthful-looking appearance. 100% vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, lanolin-free, gluten free, GMO-free.

I was so excited to receive these is my October Derma E PR box! I love trying new anti-aging skincare and these two are amazing! The Eye Lift really smooths out my eye area and it looks so fresh and my eyes look very awake! The moisturizer is very hydrating, but not heavy, which I like. I have only been using these products for a few days, but I will continue use to see what wonderful result’s I’ll get!

Summer Sand

Flame

The Organic Skin Co. Lip Service Lipstick ($34.50 each) — These gorgeous lipsticks contain carnauba wax and nourishing organic oils, and along with supercritical extracts of calendula and rosemary, helps to moisturize the lips and protect them against harsh environmental elements. 12 long lasting shades to choose from, available in matte, shimmer and sheer. Free of parabens, nanos, bismuth oxychloride, gluten, talc and all the other nasty stuff you find in too many lipsticks (and which you can’t help but swallow!). Cruelty free.

First of all, the packaging on these are stunning and recyclable. The lipsticks feel like balms, they are so hydrating, but they aren’t too soft. I love the shade on the left Summer Sand for everyday looks and Flame for a more dramatic fall lip. And I love that they are good for me!

Do you use natural beauty products? Any suggestions? I would love to try more!

Project Pan October-December 2018: First Update

Hi all! I’m back with my first update on my last Project Pan of 2018. You can see my first post here.

I’m attempting to use up 5 skincare and 5 makeup items. And it’s going pretty well. I haven’t used up anything yet, but I am getting close!

I just have a little bit left of my Pixi products. I should use them up in a couple of weeks. Same with the Talika Eye Dream. This is almost gone. The Derma E cleanser is still going strong. I’ve been using this for a while and it is really lasting! The Yes to Cotton mask is the only thing that’s taking me a while to use. I keep forgetting about it! But I did use it 4 times last month. I want to try applying it twice a week from now on. We’ll see how it goes!

I do really like all of these products. They all help my skin look smoother and clearer. I’ll let you know if ‘m going to repurchase when I use them up.

My makeup pan is going okay. I think the Flower Beauty concealer is almost used up. It’s taking a few dips in to get enough concealer to apply. I’ve been concentrating on the concealer, but have used the Colourpop one a few times.

I’ve been wearing one or a combo of the lip glosses every day in October. I don’t know if you can see from the photo, but it looks like the lightest one is separating on the bottom. I might have to stop using that one. If I don’t use them all up by the end of the year, I’m going to toss them. They are over a year old and it’s either use them up or throw them away!

I think I should get through most of these products. I think the interesting thing I’ve learned so far this year is that I have way more makeup than I will use up! I’ll talk more about that at my end of year round up.

Have you done a Project Pan this year? What are you learning from it?

October 2018 Beauty Favorites

Hi all! It’s November! This year has gone by so fast! Soon it will be Christmas.

I have a few items I’ve been using almost every day in October. Here are the items and links to my first review or post about it:

IT Cosmetics Secret Sauce ($68 USD) — My skin has gotten so dry lately. This moisturizer is thick and hydrating, perfect for colder weather! The skin-loving, powerfully potent secret lies in the Secret Sauce™ Fermented Complex: 7 clinically advanced, penetration-enhancing fermented ingredients that help to increase absorbency and maximize the ultra-hydrating, anti-aging benefits of Secret Sauce™. Also featuring anti-aging peptides, hydrolyzed collagen, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and licorice root, Secret Sauce™ is perfect for all skin types and reduces the look of discoloration, lines and wrinkles. I used this at night and in the morning my skin is soft and glowy!

BECCA Under Eye Brightening Corrector is a full-coverage creme that color-corrects the appearance of under-eye darkness. It is infused with ultra-fine, light-reflecting illuminators. I like this a lot. It’s just the right shade to go under my eye, it’s a little bit lighter than my skin tone. It helps cover my dark circles and give us a bit of a glow. This was a favorite earlier in the year, but I’ve been using it again and love to apply it every day under my concealer.

Wunder2 Wunderkiss Gloss Lip Liner ($11.95 USD) — This liner is created to be used with lip gloss! The liner is very smooth and easy to use. The claim is that it can be used to create a beautiful, long-lasting lip contour that keeps your lip gloss in place. I find that it does just that. My gloss looks fresh for longer. Available in 3 shades — Nude, Rose and Berry. I love the Nude. I have been trying to use up three Lorac glosses in my current Project Pan, and this lip liner helps them stay on longer and my lips look more polished.

Urban Decay Elements Eyeshadow Palette ($52 USD) — Inspired by the elements – Air, Earth, Fire and Water – a constellation of unique colors orbit around Luna, an ultra-iridescent transformer shade. The 19 new multidimensional pigments include bright mattes, holographic shimmers and molten metallics. This is gorgeous and I’ve been testing out these shadows. It’s perfect for fall and holiday looks.

Morphe High Impact Highlighter in Extra ($14 USD) — At first I wasn’t the biggest fan of this, but I really like it now. The color is gorgeous, it’s a lustrous peachy gold. Just a little goes a long way with this. It’s very intense!

Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation SPF 20 (LC1) — This is full coverage, but it looks natural on. I don’t have the correct shade, I purchased it online and I guessed on the shade. They all looked pretty dark on the Ulta website so I bought the lightest shade. It’s just a bit light for me. I will purchase this again in a darker shade.

Have you tried any of these products? What are your faves from the month?

I Won a Giveaway!

Hi all! Sorry for the dark photo above, but I wanted to share the amazing giveaway I won from YouTuber Allie Glines. She has a really fun e-magazine called the Afterparty. It’s $3.99 a month and you can check it out here.

Allie has a giveaway each month and all subscribers are entered. And I won for September. I just receive my prize and thought I would share.

I received:

Influencer by Brittany Hennessy Capture Your Style by Aimee Song Dermablend Original Loose Powder Thrive Causemetics Lashed in Kristy Olay Whip Active Moisturizer Too Faced Melted Matte Liquid Lipstick in Drop Dead Red Lancome L’absolu Lacquer Lipstick in Smile and Shine Morphe X Jaclyn Hill The Vault Collection

I’m excited about all of these prizes, but especally the books and the Vault. I have been wanting to read more books on social media and I have been thinking about picking up one of the palettes to test the formula, but couldn’t decide which one. Here’s a photo of all four palettes:

The palettes are (clockwise) Armed and Gorgeous, Dark Magic, Ring the Alarm and Bling Boss. I have tried all of them once except for Dark Magic. I like them okay, but they take some blending to get a nice look. I am going to keep playing with them and then do a review.

Have you tried any of these palettes? What do you think?

I am so excited about my prizes and want to thank Allie Glines for the fun giveaway!

Urban Decay Elements Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hi all! Happy Saturday! I’m so glad it’s the weekend. And the weather is beautiful in Kansas City today.

I had to return a foundation that didn’t work for me at Ulta, so I exchanged it for this beautiful palette (and a 20% off coupon). This palette is $52, but with coupons or sales coming up, you could get it for less!

Here’s the inside of the palette. There are 19 shades. Here’s some info from the Ulta website:

Inspired by the elements – Air, Earth, Fire and Water – a constellation of unique colors orbit around Luna, an ultra-iridescent transformer shade. The 19 new multidimensional pigments include bright mattes, holographic shimmers and molten metallics.

Shades include:

Silver Burn (smoky purple w/ pink iridescent sparkle)
Electric Air (pinkish silver w/ iridescent micro-glitter)
Tectonic (chocolate brown w/ iridescent micro-sparkle)
Volcanic (bronze metallic)
Earth Bound (forest green satin w/ tonal micro-shimmer)
Hex Remedy (bright purple w/ iridescent sparkle)
Fool’s Gold (metallic gold w/ tonal sparkle)
Antidote (soft warm nude)
Dream Weaver (bright pink matte)
Ego (soft pinkish-purple w/ blue micro-shimmer)
Fortune Teller (metallic pink-red w/ green 3-D sparkle and shift)
Moon Rock (metallic copper w/ iridescent sparkle)
Secret Keeper (bright green satin w/ gold shift)
Luna (white shimmer w/ iridescent micro-sparkle)
Lioness (smoky burgundy satin w/ bronze sparkle)
Elemental (sienna matte)
Heavy Water (bright metallic teal)
Sapphire Dream (bright navy blue metallic)
Fire Starter (deep red w/ gold micro-shimmer)

Here as swatches:

Sapphire Dream, Electric Air, Antidote, Secret Keeper, Earthbound, Elemental. Elemental and Antidote are two of the three mattes in the palette and I use them with a lot of different looks.

Volcanic, Lioness, Fire Starter, Dream Weaver, Ego and Heavy Water. I’ve been doing a lot of bronzey looks and Volcanic is gorgeous on the lid. Ego’s also another one of my favorites. Heavy Water is beautiful but I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe I’ll use it for holiday looks.

Fortune-Teller, Silver Burn, Fool’s Gold, Moon Rock, Tectonic, Hex Remedy and Luna. These are the inner circle shades and they really call to me! So beautiful. I love purples and bronzes, and that gold looks amazing on the lid!

What I liked: The packaging is gorgeous! The out box and the compact itself is well made. The palette has a large mirror and is easy to open. I love the shades. I picked it up for the purples, but the other shades are beautiful, too. The mattes are easy to blend and the metallics are creamy and really pigmented.

Not so much: I haven’t tried all of the glitters, but I put Silver Bullet on my lid in the morning, and by evening all of the glitter was gone. It just looked like I had a smokey eye at the end of the day. I did use a glitter glue. The same with Tectonic. I’m going to keep trying these out.

I do recommend this. Especially if you can get in on sale. I do like the Urban Decay Born to Run palette more, but I will use this for glam holiday looks.

Have you tried the Urban Decay Elements palette? What do you think?

Ulta Fall Haul!

HI all! After Ulta’s 21 Days of beauty, which has a lot of higher end makeup deals, they had their more affordable products on sale in their Fall Haul. I picked up few and got some great deals!

I got:

BH Cosmetics Desert Oasis – 19 Color Shadow & Highlighter Palette

Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Lip Color in Driver

MEMEBOX I Dew Care Mini Meow Trio

Ardell Duo Brush-On Dark Adhesive with Vitamins

Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation SPF 20 (LC1)

Clinique Dramatically Different Hydrating Jelly — I got a free deluxe size w/any foundation purchase

BH Cosmetics Desert Oasis – 19 Color Shadow & Highlighter Palette — Ulta had their BH Cosmetics palettes on sale for 40% off and I had my eye on this one. It was released in the summer, but I think it works as well in the Fall. It has mostly neutral shades with some pops of blue. BH’s shadows are such great quality. This blends so well and the shimmers and metallics are so buttery! I will be reviewing this.

MaybellineSuperStay Matte Ink Lip Color in Driver. I’ve been wanting to try this. The shade is pretty, but this is pretty drying on my lips. I usually don’t wear matte liquid lips, but I wanted to try this formula. I can wear it, but I need a gloss on top.

MEMEBOX I Dew Care Mini Meow Trio — This is such a cute little peeling mask trio! The masks are all shimmery and are so fun to use. I have tried the purple one because it is meant to be hydrating! It did leave my face moisturized, but also made my pores look smaller! I still have to try the other two, but so far so good!

Ardell Duo Brush-On Dark Adhesive with Vitamins — I haven’t tried this yet, but I picked it up because I have a few sets of lashes, but no glue. I don’t wear lashes, but it I do decide to try them, I have glue! I do have a lash review coming up, so I need to try them out!

Physicians Formula The Healthy Foundation SPF 20 (LC1) — I got this foundation on sale and got a free Clinique Hydrating Jelly.

I think I’ll review the foundation, too. So far, I really like it. Since I did purchase online, I guessed on the shade. They all looked pretty dark on the Ulta website so I bought the lightest shade. It’s just a bit light for me. So if I buy it again, I would have to go just a bit darker.

So that’s my fun Fall Haul! I got everything on sale and paid about $40 for all of this and tax. That’s a pretty good deal! Did you pick up anything from the Fall Haul?

Maybelline Super Stay Multi-Use Foundation Stick Review

Hi All! I hope you are having an amazing weekend! I’m back with a foundation review. I don’t review a lot of foundations, because I only have one face!

I was so excited to get the Maybelline Super Stay Multi-Use Foundation Stick for my honest review. I’ve been wanting to try this! Here’s a close look at the shades I received:

These are 110 Porcelain, 120 Classic Ivory, 130 Buff Beige, 220 Natural Beige, 312 Golden, 330 Toffee, and 360 Mocha. You can probably tell that I have been using 120. It’s a really good match for me.

Here’s close up of the stick and sponge:

And here are a few swatches:

The Maybelline New York Super Stay Multi-Use Foundation Stick ($11.99 USD) allows you to perfect the ‘no-makeup’ makeup look by offering a lightweight formula to create a flawlessly natural complexion.

This foundation is easy to use, I just swipe the stick on my face and blend in with a brush or sponge. It gives a natural look, I’d say it’s a medium coverage. I did try to blend with the sponge end, but it’s really rough and I didn’t care much for it, even when I wet it. It will work okay in a pinch, though.

I also want to say that darker and lighter shades can be used for concealer, highlighter and contour. They are so creamy and blend out really well!

I have to say that the only con in this foundation, besides the sponge, is that there is not a lot of product. It’s only .25 oz or 7 g. I do know that stick foundations can’t carry a lot of product in them, but if they removed the sponge there would be more room. I have used it exclusively for a couple of weeks, and there is only about half of the stick left. I am saving it for a trip I’m going on soon because I know it will travel so well!

I can say I will probably purchase this again, but I do hope they change up the packaging and add more product!

The Maybelline New York Super Stay Multi-Use Foundation Stick is available now at mass market retailers in 16 shades.

Have you tried this foundation? What’s your favorite stick foundation?