My Beauty Favorites Under 5 Dollars!

Hey beauties! I hope you had a great weekend and this week will be as well! If you have followed my blog for a while now you know I'm big on bargains and also drugstore makeup, I love finding inexpensive things that work just as well as high end or designer! So, I'm going to show my beauty favorites under 5 dollars & also throw in some high end dupes as well! Let's get started :)

1. e.l.f. Studio Blushes, $3

e.l.f.'s studio blushes are great for a beginner to blush or to any blush-aholic {hello, I'm Leah and I have a problem!} the packaging is similar to the coveted Nars blushes but with only a 3 dollar price tag, these are the perfect cheap alternative. These are pigmented, easy to work with and just all around great quality! My favorites are candid coral (top, center), berry merry (top, right) and pink passion (bottom, right)! If you are interested in these be sure to subscribe to eyeslipsface.com's emails because they are regularly doing coupon codes, free shipping, etc. so you can get a even better deal!

2. Wet n Wild bronzer, 3.99

Wet n Wild's Bronzer in a "Ticket to Brazil" is absolutely gorgeous, it's not too dark or too light and I believe would be perfect on a variety of skin tones! It has a subtle golden sheen that is not too over powering, it would be great to had a slight glow to the cheeks or even to contour with! Plus, this baby is HUGE, it's .46 oz {compared a Mac blush is .21 oz} And the best part? It is a dupe for Tarte's shimmery verison of their bronzer Park Ave. Princess which retails for 29 dollars! A 4 dollar dupe for a 29 dollar product? Yes please!

3. Jordana Lipliners, 1.99

Jordana Lip Liners are my holy grail lip liner of choice! First off, they are dirt cheap but they also come in a great variety of colors! They don't have to be sharpened... which a lot of the more expensive ones still do. Most importantly though, they have absolutely great color pay off and they are super long lasting, what more could you want? My favorites are: tawny {a muted mauvey pink, goes with just about anything}, rock n' rose {a light brown, works great to deepen coral lipstick} and cabernet {dark wine color, perfect for plum/berry lips}

4. Wet n Wild Eyeshadow Primer, 4.99

Wet n Wild Fergie Eyeshadow Primer This primer's called "Take On the Day" and really does just that. This stuff stays in place like nobody's business, I've wore my eye shadows for 12+ hours without a single crease or smudge! I did an in depth review of the shimmery version in this post {I also compare the original to the shimmery, etc. they BOTH work great!} I've heard others say this is comparable to the Nars eyeshadow primer, I don't own the Nars one so I'm not positive. I do know for me this works BETTER than too faced shadow insurance and that alone is awesome, considering the price different!

5. Nivea Lip Butter, 3.99

Nivea Lip Butter has quickly become my "can't live without it" lip balm! I swore by Carmax chapstick for 5+ years and I literally wouldn't use ANYTHING else. But, in the past couple months I just thought it wasn't doing much for my lips, like my lips had become immune to it or something haha So I picked up 2 Nivea lip butters when they were 2/$3 at Rite aid and they have CHANGED my lips! They are light weight and creamy, and really do seem to work magic! Plus of course they smell amazing, I love caramel cream followed closely by vanilla & macadamia. These are worth the money even if they aren't on special, plus I have a feeling they'll last forever as well! 

6. Wet n Wild Eyeshadows 4.99 and under

Wet n Wild Eyeshadows are simply the best for cheap, QUALITY eyeshadows! {I know you faithful readers of my blog are probably like "Enough already! We know you love wet n wild!" haha} I'm simply obsessed with most things Wet n Wild, but their eyeshadows truly are wonderful and I've never had a bad trio or palette for them, you can't go wrong! My favorite trios are Walking on Eggshells & Silent Treatment and my favorite 8 pan palette is most definitely Comfort Zone I will be doing a in depth dupes post on this palette soon, pretty much all colors are Mac dupes! If you haven't tried Wet n Wild just pick up one trio I promise you, you'll be back for more!

Well that you have it, my go to beauty products UNDER 5 dollars! Do you love anything I mentioned or will you now try something I showed? Let me know in a comment! Thanks so much for reading, until next time!

xo Leah

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5 Lipsticks to help you transition into Fall!

Hey beauties! I hope your week is going well AND that you are looking forward to having a fabulous weekend! Today I am bringing you 5 lip colors that are PERFECT for transitioning into Fall, they're not too bold or too summery ...they are just right! Plus all of them are from the drugstore and 2 are only a one dollar! So let's dive in!

L to R: Wet n Wild Wine Room, Revlon Rosewine, NYC Sheer Red, e.l.f. classy, Maybelline bit of berry

{maximize for more detail} Top picture: natural light. Bottom picture: with flash

1. Wet n Wild "Wine Room" This shade is great mix of pinky, berry tones with a hint of red. The formula is a matte finish and is super opaque with just a swipe! Since it's matte it's super long lasting {especially for a drugstore formula} without being overly drying. This is a beautiful shade and I think it would be very flattering on a variety of skin tones! Price: $2

2. Revlon's "Rosewine" If you're intimidated by red lipstick this is a great color to ease your way into reds! It's a softer, more brick or tomato color! It's Revlon's super lustrous creme finish, so it will give you the perfect amount of shine without having to add a gloss! Try this for a "no fuss" way to rock a red lip! Price: $5-7

3. NYC's "Sheer Red" This lipstick is exactly like it's name... a sheer darkened red color! {for your reference the swatch above is 2 coats} I'd like to think this lipstick is kind of like a marriage between a Revlon lip butter and a lipstick: it's creamy and buttery but also has great color! This again, is a great way to wear red if you are just starting out with bold colors or just want a sheer wash of color! Price: $1

4. e.l.f.'s "Classy" I like to think of this shade as a great drugstore alternative to Mac's "Up the Amp" it's a mix of pink and purple tones, but it's still very wearable {more wearable than up the amp IMO!} I don't think I could pull off up the amp, but I do think this lipstick is very flattering for having purple tones! If you're all about baby pink lips, try this out for a hint of pink, with darker tones for fall! :) Price: $1

5. Maybelline's "Bit of Berry" If you just can't wait to rock a plum/berry toned lip, this lipstick is for you! Bit of berry is a super wearable berry shade which darkens the lips without being too much. Think of it as a darken version of your favorite pink! Again, a great tone to ease yourself into wearing berrys and plums! P.S. I just swatched this beside Mac's Craving and it's a dead on dupe! 5 dollar Mac dupe, score! Price: $5-7

There you have it, what do you think of my color choices? Do you have any lipstick recommendations that are perfect to ease into the Fall season? Please, share in a comment below! Until next time!

Leah xo
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Review: Wet n' Wild Fergie LE Shimmer Eye Primer!

Hello beauties! I'm back with another review, I'm making sure to bring you this promptly since the Fergie Shimmer eye primer is limited edition! I believe it is exclusively at Walgreens, so if you are interested get your hands on it now while you can! Since the Wet n Wild "take on the day" original formula eye primer is my holy grail primer, I was so excited when I heard this was part of the fall collection! Note: this post is picture heavy!

The deets:

Wet n Wild Shimmer Take on the day Eyeshadow Primer
Claims: Prep & Prime, Lasts All Day, Never Creases
"Shade": A little party...
Amount: 0.34 fl oz
FYI, it is also cruelty free! :)

Just wanted to point out something I found rather interesting:

 I don't know if it was just the tube I bought but there was noticeably LESS product in the Shimmer formula primer compared to my original which has been used quite a bit. This kind of annoyed me, but I will probably be using the Shimmer formula less anyway (since I love matte shadows!) so it's all good! Just a heads up. Now on to swatches!

The color of the primer comes across as a shimmery champagne, almost rose gold color. But it also changes in the light it looks almost silver toned on the eyes. It's interesting and would look pretty cool just on it's own IMO!

Primer lightly applied on my eye without shadow. Note: you could get more color payoff if you used more product.

Next step was to test this baby out! First, I wanted to see if it was just as good as the original formula! So, on Saturday I primed my left eye with the shimmer primer and my right eye with the original.

Shimmer formula on left side eye, Original formula on right side & eye.

To the trained eye you can see it's definitely more shimmery on the left side, it's was even more apparent in person! I also used a matte shadow in the crease, so it will turn your matte shades into slightly shimmery ones from what I've experienced thus far. So I wore this look from about 10 am till 6 pm on Saturday, then our power went out (for the night!) and I had to make a mad dash to the shower before the built up hot water was gone! So here is the look at 6pm:

After 8 hours of wear! Left pic: Shimmer eye Right pic: Matte eye (L), Shimmer eye (R)

So after 8 hours there was no creasing or even fading! I knew the original formula could do that, no problem but I very happy to see that shimmer formula could do it as well!

So the next day I put the shimmer formula to the ultimate test: 12 hours! It was actually a little more than that but I had a busy day of family time and running around! So let's how the primer and my shadow fared!

Sorry about the different lighting 9am: natural light, 9pm: artificial light

As you can see there is no creasing! The bottom picture appears that the eyeshadow may of faded a little bit, but it is the difference in light source for the photo! I made sure to examine the shadow through out the day and it held up very well! Better than my eyeliner in some places as you can see from the 9pm picture lol

ignore my ratchet eyeliner haha

Over all I am very impressed! If you need a great, cheap eyeshadow primer I would recommend the shimmer and the original! If you're a glitter girl I would say you definitely want to try and get your hands on the Shimmer formula while you can! Any primer that can keep your eyeshadow on for more than 12 hours without ANY creasing, is a winner in my book.

What do you ladies think? Are you interested in the shimmer version? How do you think the eyeshadow wore on my lids? Please comment below and let me know :)

Thanks so much for reading, if you have any questions feel free to ask! Until next time,

Leah xo          Follow me:  Google Friend Connect     |     Instagram     |       Bloglovin'
 

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H54F: Cosmetic Job Interview, Mac Dupe & more!

Hello beauties! I hope everyone had a good week and is looking forward to a fabulous weekend, this is my 2nd installment of high five for Friday {H54F} which, if you don't what that is, a lovely blogger by the name of Lauren Elizabeth recaps her week and encourages others to do the same! It's quite fun... plus I had some beauty related things happen to me throughout the week, so let's get started! :)

Wednesday I got a called from my dream beauty & retail job... Sephora! Wanting to know if I had time to interview on Thursday, uh... of course! I've been trying to score an interview there for months, so to say I was excited was an understatement! So I took pictures of the eye makeup I wore to the interview because I was really happy with the way it came out! I stuck to neutral eyes because I didn't want to be too over the top since it was an interview, but still wanted to show off some skill level! Haha

No edits/no filter

My shadows appeared slightly darker/more smokey in person, just an FYI. I was super happy with the way it came out and I was really impressed with the false lashes I used, they are pretty natural and looked great!

How to get the look:

[Maximize for more detail!} L to R: Wet n Wild Vanity Palette, Wet n Wild "walking on eggshells", Mac's naked pigment

1. First I used middle shade on the left side of  Wet n Wild's Vanity palette  it is a light brown matte shade and I applied this in my crease, I know a lot of people do their lid color first but I've found I can blend things out easier and get a better effect if I apply my crease color first {I can always add to it along the way if I want} it's just what works for my slightly hooded eyes!

2. Next I applied the eyelid shade of Wet n Wild's walking on eggshells trio {on sale right now at Walgreens for 2 dollars!} to my eyelid, this is a gorgeous slightly pink champagne shade a supposed dupe for Mac's Naked Lunch I believe!

3. I then went back to the Vanity Palette and applied the dark matte brown shade on the bottom left to the outer v of my crease and outer lid as well.

4. I then took Mac's Naked pigment on a slightly damp flat shader brush and applied this just to the center of my lid to add some extra sparkle and dimension, I HIGHLY recommend doing this, it really brightens and opens up the eye. A good drugstore alternative to this I think would be L'Oreal eyeshadow in Iced Latte.

5. Next I popped a little bit of the matte cream shade in the Vanity palette right below my eyebrow for a highlight, then I couldn't help but to put a tiny bit of the naked pigment there as well!

6. I then used Jordana's Metal Rocks Eyeliner in "Purple Prism" on the outer half of my bottom lash line, the color is more of a dusty plum with slight shimmer. It's so pretty and extremely long lasting {12+ hours without coming out or smudging!} It's one of my absolute favorite pencil eyeliners and it's 3 dollars!

7. Then I used my Revlon Precision Lash Glue {which is great because it has a tiny brush to brush the glue directly ON the lashes!} waited 30 seconds for the glue to get tacky and applied Modlash Andrea 21 false eyelashes with little to no problem! These lashes are great if you are looking for something more natural or you have smaller set/slight hooded eyes because they do not over power or eye or hide all the work you put into your eyeshadow!

What do you ladies think!? The lashes gave me an extra boost of confidence since I rarely wear them, but if I get the Sephora it would be the perfect opperunity to wear them regularly! Btw, I think the interview went really well, the manager I interview with was super nice and friendly, so cross your fingers for me! :)

Mac Lipstick Dupe!:

I accidentally discovered a Mac lipstick dupe yesterday, I swatched Milani's Plumrose and instantly thought of  Mac's Craving sure enough when I compared them side by side they're pretty much identical! I know the Milani shade looks a bit lighter in the picture, but trust me it's just the lighting! This is the perfect berry, plum shade for fall I'm so glad to of found a cheaper dupe!

Mac swatch on top, Milani on the bottom

 That about wraps it up ladies, I hope all of you have a super stellar weekend! Please let me know what your think of my interview makeup look in a comment! Until next time,

Leah xo          Follow me on:  Google Friend Connect     |     Instagram     |       Bloglovin'
 

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A lesson learned from finding makeup dupes on the Internet!

Hello beauties! Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and holiday if you're in the US... I did with my family and mah main squeeze! On to the post ... if you know me you know I'm a makeup dupe freak! I make lists of them, I post them almost daily on my Instagram {follow me!} and I will also have SEVERAL prepared makeup dupes/alternative posts coming up this month, so be on the lookout! {Lots & lots of Mac dupes, ladies!} But, along with the searching for dupes, the excitement of finding a new dupe comes this: slowing finding out that lots of "supposed dupes" you find on the internet for high-end items, are not dupes at all. Does this infuriate anyone else but me? I. don't. understand. It's bound to happen, I guess and it just happened to me ...TODAY!

I was researching different products last night and pretty much stumbled across how a 3 dollar e.l.f. blush was a dupe of the 28 dollar Benefit Coralista. This instantly got my attention, because 1. I (the drugstore queen) actually have a smaller sample size of Coralista to compare the e.l.f. one too and 2. I know what a popular brush this among makeup lovers so I thought this would be GREAT dupe to report! So, I went out to Target and picked up Candid Coral blush by e.l.f. ...truth is, I have no idea why I haven't bought this blush earlier, I'm obsessed with coral makeup. I just always assumed it was the same blush that was in their Contouring Blush & Bronzer duo because they looked similar... but this is not the case!

Anyway, I got the home with the e.l.f. blush and instantly opened it and I was excited because looked very similar to Coralista in the pan!

Left: e.l.f. candid coral Right: benefit coralista

Looks good, right!? Looks really, really good. But then I swatched them...

Left: e.l.f. candid coral Right: benefit coralista

Turns out... they're pretty freakin' different. candid coral is much more coral and has a beautiful golden iridescence, almost duo-chrome & coralista is more frosty and definitely more baby doll pink. Honestly, this made me dislike Coralista even more... why is it called coralista if it's a baby doll pink? I don't get it and honestly, I think it's overrated haha. ANYWAY, it is truly crazy how these blushes look so alike in the pan and so different swatched... they really aren't comparable at all once swatched.

So the lesson learned is always do your homework before believe or reposting a dupe, unless you see swatches side by side, I'd proceed with caution in actually believing something is a dupe for something else! Unless, of course, it's a friend or blogger your really trust, etc.

I hope this was helpful to you ladies, it certainly was a learning exprience for me! BTW, if you don't have candid coral I do recommend getting it for 3 dollars {obviously, I just got it today} but it looks utterly gorgeous swatched. Until next time!

xo Leah                Subscribe via GFC | Follow via bloglovin' | Follow on Instagram!

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