Fall Beauty Wishlist 2015

Hey beauties, I decided I'd show you a few makeup & skincare items I've been lusting over for fall and Winter. Some of these may take a while to get but Christmas is coming up, so you never know!  Let's get into it :)

maximize for greater detail!

1. Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick in 09 "Caress Pink" I've been lusting after YSL lipsticks for so long but right now I can not justify paying 34 dollars for a lipstick, I do think it would make a great birthday or Christmas present for any makeup loving girl! For fall I have my eyes on Caress Pink, it's a gorgeous sort of muted pink with a hint of raspberry and it swatches so beautifully opaque! Go swatch it in Sephora and see what I mean, it may quickly make it on to your wishlist too!

2. Nars Blush in "Sin" I've been eying Sin for a whiiiile now, but again I can't justify the price currently. This blush is a great wearable berry tone with golden shimmer. The perfect fall flush, if you will. This or Albatross will most definitely be my first Nars purchase. Plus, I've searched for a dupe of Sin and can never come up with anything so this blush may be one of a kind and therefore worth the money :)

3. Mac Pro Longwear Concealer This concealer is all the rage on Youtube and the beauty blogging community and it's obvious to see why. The formula is super long wearing and has some sort of technology to where it does not settle into fine lines and wrinkles, which makes it GREAT for under eyes. I want it so badly and Fall/Winter is the perfect to wear a more full coverage look, plus I've heard a little goes a looong way so it will last a long time!

4. Peter Thomas Roth Peeling Gel Exfoliant I have to admit I have never been very interested in high end skincare but am starting to develop an interest a few items and this is number 1 on the list! This exfoliater is a gel formula that actually peels off the dead skin cells right in front of your eyes, which I find ideal because you can tell it's working! Look up reviews and demos if your interested, it's super neat and unique and if you're like me you have to exfoliate especially in the Fall & Winter months.

5. Revlon Lipstick "Cherries in the Snow" This lipstick is simply gorgeous, I read somewhere the color has been around since the 1950's and makes even more perfect and lady like. I've put off buying this even though it's inexpensive because I'm not sure how much I'd wear it but I know I really want to, haha. It's a bright, raspberry pink and I know it would look great with just foundation and tons of lashes. Do you ladies have any tips for making a bright lipstick more wearable?

6. Mac Eyeshadow in "Coppering" If you don't already own this shade google swatches of Coppering and see if it instantly doesn't make it on your wishlist. It's a shimmery rusty orange bronze color that's simply incredibly beautiful, I. must. own. it. haha It's also not a common color you see often! I think it would be great smudged under the lower lash line or in the middle of the lip, it's a must have!

7. Clinique Dramatically Different Lotion I read somewhere that a bottle of this is sold about every 10 seconds, which I find completely insane. It's been around forever and it's seems to be a staple for a lot of women and my {normal to dry} skin is always looking for a good moisturizer! It's suppose to quench skin's thirst and I love that it has a pump applicator!

While that does it for my Fall beauty wishlist! What do you ladies have on current wishlists? I'd love to know in a comment below, as always thanks for reading and subscribing! I love my lovely readers & will be having a giveaway in the next month so be on the look out for that :)

Until next time,
Leah xo
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Shop this post:

NARS Face Blush · Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick · Peter Thomas Roth Face Scrubs & Exfoliants

Makeup look for less: Taylor Swift VMA's

If you caught the 2013 MTV VMA's on Sunday I bet you couldn't help but notice how elegant and classically beautiful Taylor Swift looked... am I right?! I love the gray smokey eye and darken red lip, so I thought I'd show all my lovely readers how to recreate this look using drugstore makeup products! This look would be perfect for a special occasion or a girls night out. So, let's get in to it!

1. Covergirl Outlast Foundation I simply cannot say enough good things about this foundation. It lasts longer than anything I've ever used, it is absolutely perfect for a long day, or even a sweaty night of dancing! You can read more about my thoughts on it in my summer essentials post , I have put this stuff to the test and it truly is impressive! Plus I thought it was super fitting I used a CoverGirl foundation, considering Taylor herself is a Cover Girl! Cost: $9-12

2. E.L.F. baked blush in "Pinktastic". If you notice Taylor has minimal product on her cheeks, it almost looks like she skipped a blush all together and just used a pink/silver highlight on the top of her cheek bones. Pinktastic is a great way to achieve just a slight shimmery, pink look and if use with a light hand could be used as just a highlight instead of a blush. The elf baked blushes are long wearing and extremely pigmented, they are a great alternative to the Mac mineralized skin finishes. Cost: $3

3. Physican's Formula Quad in "Canyon Classics" This palette is absolutely fantastic, it can work as double duty to fill in your brows {if you have brunette hair or lighter} and the gorgeous matte grey shadow is PERFECT for recreating Taylor's smokey eye! I know what you're thinking... "Leah there is a ton of glitter on her eyes, they're not matte!" Don't worry, #4 takes care of the glitter, just apply the matte shade all over the lip up into the crease and smudge it along the lower lash line. If you want a little more definition put the lightest color in this palette in the inner tear duct area and right below your brows! Cost: $7

4. Femme Couture glitter eyeliner in "Chain Reaction" This is a liquid brush on glitter eyeliner in silver. Now I know that glitter can be intimating for some people, but I think the tiny brush applicator on this wand offers a great amount of control, so the application isn't messy at all {hallelujah!} To get Taylor's look apply the eyeliner right under your lower lash line & in your inner corner. If you're glitter maven, however, by all means... go nuts! Haha {Note: I know that NYX used to make a silver glitter eyeliner too, but I couldn't find it anywhere... not sure if it's been discontinued.} Cost: $7

5. Maybelline Cat Eyes Mascara , I love this Mascara! Not only is the packaging adorable {I'm a completely sucker for leopard print!} but I think this formula is long lasting and holds a curl very well. The curved brush helps my stick straight lashes to curl better, even after curling them with an eyelash curler. Also, it isn't a HUGE brush like a lot of mascaras tend to be now-a-days, so it works very well at getting your bottom lashes without smudging/making mistakes. You can always pop on a pair of false lashes if you want a bit more drama, Taylor didn't look like she was wearing any {if she was they're semi-natural}. Just make sure you curl first and apply at least 2 coats for that dramatic look! Cost: $7-9

6. NYC lipstick in "Sheer Red" this lipstick is absolutely gorgeous, plus for a red... it's such an easy to wear red! It's tad bit darker than your classic "retro red", so I thought it would be perfect for Taylor's look. If you're a little intimidated about wearing a red lipstick just apply this lightly, I almost guarantee you'll like it! It's flattering on so many skin tones, and guess what it's only a buck!? That's right 99 cents. If you're going out for a long night try and apply a lip liner first to increase the longevity of wear. Cost: $1


There you have it an easy, cost effective way to achieve Taylor Swift's VMA makeup look FOR LESS! I really think this is a perfect look for a sexy date night or a special night out! Please let me know if you plan on trying this look out AND what was your favorite celebrity look of the night. Thanks for reading, don't forget to subscribe!

Until next time! xo Leah
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Sally Beauty Eyes Shimmer & Glitter · Walgreens Lipstick · Maybelline Mascara

Mac Brush Cleanser: the lazy way to clean your brushes!

Hello beauties! When I first started this post I was going to "label" it as a product rave, but as I was putting it together I realized the way I clean my makeup brushes really could be classified as the "lazy girls approach". Don't worry it still cleans, sanitizes & conditions your brushes ...just quickly & as painlessly as possible!

What I use:
Mac Brush Cleanser it's 15 dollars, 7.9 fl oz and it'll last you forever I've had mine for almost a year and I'm not even half way through with it [note: I use baby shampoo to deep clean my brushes, though].

 I find the Mac cleanser is gentle and user friendly, and most importantly it spot cleans brushes, amazingly.
Of course, some of you reading this are no newbie to spot cleaning brushes, but others may only deep clean their brushes, which everyone knows is time consuming & annoying. So ladies I'm going to show you how I spot clean my brushes and how simple & easy it really is!

What you need:
1. Your Mac brush cleanser
2. A small spray bottle {look at the dollar store or travel size section}
3. Paper towels or old towel {one you don't care about being stained}

Put some of  the cleanser into the bottle, whatever amount you'd like. Spray your paper towel (or towel) with the cleanser!

Take the dirty culprit, in this case I'm cleaning my blush stained mini stippling brush from elf (which is what use to apply cream blush!) and start swirling the brush in circular motions into the cleanser/paper towel.

Swirl your brush in circular motions!

Keep swirling! Don't be afraid to spray a little more cleanser on the towel if it doesn't seem damp enough {or if the brush doesn't seem to be getting clean}

And voila! Clean, pretty disinfected stippling brush! It seriously takes like 30 seconds to clean each brush! There is NO rinsing involved, which is great because you can save water :)

I do recommend that you deep clean your brushes when you can. I only do mine probably once a month and I know that's probably frown upon but I'm sorry it's the truth, haha.

So there you have it... the lazy, easy way to clean & serializing your makeup brushes! Thanks so much for reading, remember to subscribe {follow me on bloglovin' if you haven't} comment and share! Until next time beauties!

xo Leah
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MAC Brush Cleanser

e.l.f. Studio Stipple Brush

e.l.f. Studio Powder Brush

Surprising beauty items you can SAVE on & not SPLURGE on!

Hey beauties! So, I got so excited when I had the idea for this post. I don't know about you but as an active beauty community follower {i.e. blogs, beauty gurus via youtube, review websites, etc.} I've heard over and over again things like, "there's some things you NEED to splurge on" or that you MUST buy the high end version of this or that. Along with that chatter comes the typical list of things that you have to buy the expensive version of because the cheap stuff just doesn't compare! Well, I'm here to tell you that's B.S. and don't you believe it, there are plenty of great cheap alternatives to the things ladies always claim you must splurge on!

Makeup Brushes:
I've heard youtube "beauty gurus" say over and over again, "you have to have Mac brushes" or "No other brushes compare to Sigma!" and obviously both those brush lines both seem great, but do I have the money for them? No. And have I been putting on my makeup just fine without them!? Yes! My favorite line of low cost brushes hands down is ELF. They make a wide variety of brushes for your eyes and face and at a price range of $1-3 dollars, that's right up my alley! Read more about my FAVORITE elf face brushes in this post!

These are some of my other favorite elf brushes L to R: small angled brush, lip defining brush, eyeshadow "c" brush, eyeshadow brush, and blending eye brush. I stand by these brushes not only because they're inexpensive because the quality is pretty darn good and I've had a lot elf brushes for years and they're still going strong! I also have had good luck with  forever 21 {edit: this is F 21 brush set I love! So much so, I bought a second one}.

Liquid Foundation:
I may get some backlash for this one... but I just can't bring myself to purchase a 30 or 40 something dollar high end foundation, that's just me, if you can do it more power to yah! Personally, I think people would never notice the difference if you're using something that works with your skintone and is a great drugstore product!

My choice for top 3 drugstore foundations

1. Covergirl outlast stay fabulous 3 in 1 foundation {whew, is that a mouthful or what!?} is my newest holy grail foundation it's really fantastic and super impressive stay power, read more about it in my summer essentials post! 2. Revlon colorstay was my holy grail foundation for years! Its got great staying power, the only down side to this foundation is that you have to work fast when applying because it sets quickly! But, overall colorstay provides a great, matte finish foundation. 3. Rimmel's lasting finish foundation I used this foundation for about a year straight before the covergirl one came out, if you're seriously broke, this is the foundation for you. lasting finish its only 4-5 dollars at Walmart or Target and it's comparable to colorstay honestly and leaves you with a matte finish, the staying power is just a little less I'd say, best cheap foundation I've used though.

 Brow products:
I know ladies rave and rave about Anastasia's brow powder and gel. But, even if I had the extra cash I don't think I could even make myself spend it on high end brow stuff. Don't get me wrong... I'm obsessed with brows... and making mine as close to perfect as I can. The thing is I can make that happen with drugstore products, so why spend more?

Rimmel makes great brow pencils and so does Milani. My preferred method is using my elf angled eyeliner brush and my Physician's Formula Canyon Classics Palette. It's pretty inexpensive it's an absolute must have eyeshadow palette (regardless of if you use a color to fill in your brows).

Can you tell what color I use to fill in my brows? lol.

  The bottom right shadow is a perfect, natural match for my light brown brows! Then I use my Maybelline great lash CLEAR mascara to set my brows and I must admit I wasn't very impressed with this at first, maybe it's just me but my brow hairs still moved out of place after using this. So I took a few spritzes of hairspray {what women doesn't have hairspray laying around!?} and squirting it into the mascara tube to give the gel alittle more staying power and it worked beautifully... even lasts through a sweaty workout!

Eyeshadow:

Now by now a lot of us beauty bloggers & makeup enthusiasts know that most {not all, but most} drugstore eyeshadows are just as comparable as the high end brands like urban decay, mac, etc and sometimes even better! But... I just had a sweet reader comment on one of my posts saying "I would of never thought wet n wild products were good!" ...well they're not just good, THEY'RE GREAT! And better yet, between my wet n wild eyeshadow collection & some elf palettes I almost positive I have both Urban Decay naked palette's duped and countless mac eyeshadows duped as well!

Some of my all time favorite eyeshadows, details below.

 1. L'oreal infallible eyeshadow in "Amber Rush" this is a must own shade. The perfect rose gold/coppery color which incomparable pigmentation.
2. Wet n Wild trio in "Silent treatment" great smokey eye palette, or you could go very daytime if you just used the eyelid color & browbone shade.
3. Maybelline's color tattoo in "bad to the bronze" is {obviously} a bronzey shade with a metallic finish, it's a gorgeous multidimensional shade that can be easily be "stand alone" eyeshadow.
4. Wet n Wild trio in "walking on eggshells" perfect for that everyday shimmery, neutral eye. Plus all 3 shades in this trio are Mac eyeshadow dupes!
5. Wet n Wild 8 pan palette in "Comfort Zone" this beautiful palette has an array of neutrals and even some darker sultry colors. This palette is damn near perfect and so unbelievably pigmented.


Is there any of your drugstore favorites that didn't make the list? Please share in a comment below! I could go on and on about makeup {especially affordable makeup} all day, so I'd love to hear what you beauties have to add! Just remember you don't have to spend a lot to get a lot, and if you try something new you may end up replacing your 45 dollar foundation with 10 dollar one... and that's money worth saving! :)


until next time!, xo Leah

Wet n Wild eyeshadow

Mac PRICE DROP alert!

Hey beauties! I HAD make a quick post to tell you about this deal I just ran across thanks to {weloveswatches via instagram} it seems that Mac has dropped the prices of all their palettes and palette inserts! See palettes here.

You guys have to check this out NOW so you don't miss out on a great sale! I have no idea if this is permanent or some sort of flash sale- Mac has not mentioned anything about it. I'm assuming it is now permanent or some sort of mistake, considering Mac doesn't not have sales, lol.

This is screen shot taking from my phone so you can see several of the palettes and what they are going for! I know the larger palettes originally start at 18 dollars and the duel sided (which is what I just ordered!!!) normally starts at 27 dollars! Did I mention you get free shipping as well? :)

Get this deal while you can ladies, it may just be a temporary goof on Mac's part!

please comment, share and subscribe!

xo Leah

MAC

Collective Beauty Haul & SALES alert!

So in the past 2 weeks or so I've managed to collect a decent amount of pretty beauty related things to show you AND score some great makeup deals! So I wanted to share, so you ladies can check your local stores and see if you find some of the same great stuff :)

First, am I behind the curve or has L'oreal recently released some awesome shades of lipsticks?! I'm not sure, I've never really kept up with L'oreal as much as the other Drugstore brands. I'm not sure why but I do know that I am NOT fond of the smell of their lipsticks (haha, does it remind anyone else of grandmas?) and usually smells don't bother me! None the less, I picked up 2 BEAUTIFUL shades that are both perfect for Summer!

Look how glossy and pretty they are! Left: Tropical Coral, Right: Peach Fuzz

Besides the smell (classic L'oreal lipstick scent) these are so gorgeous and glossy! They are comfortable feeling on the lips and seem to wear pretty well to spite the wet looking formula! I just can't get over how pretty the colors are, especially Tropical Coral because I don't own anything like it! You may not be a huge fan of these if you despise frosts. I think Peach Fuzz comes across more as a frost than Tropical Coral though.

Left: Yellow Light w/ flash, Right: Natural light, no flash. L: Tropical Coral R: Peach Fuzz

BTW if you're wondering I got these at Walmart for 5.99, I saw them the next day at CVS for 8.99 just a heads up! :)

Speaking of CVS... I'm not a big fan of CVS at all, I find 99% of the time I can find everything they have for for less money else where ...BUT I heard they were have their big clearance sale and when there is a sale I'm there! I don't know if my local CVS had been picked over or if they didn't have many markdowns but I didn't see much on clearance. I still found 2 things both which I had really been wanting to try!

Orly nail polish - Rage, Covergirl simply ageless concealer

Orly Rage is one of those nail polishes that I've heard about a million times AND looked at just as many but just never bought, but as soon as I saw it was 50 percent off, I knew that today was the day! I also got the Covergirl & Olay simply ageless concealer in "very light" to use under my eyes to have a sort of highlighting effect. I've worn it once so far and it seemed to hold up really well, plus I've heard amazing reviews about it so if you see this (its on clearance at rite aid & cvs) I'd snatch it up!

Next up: Rite Aid ... I stopped in on a whim just to look and see if they had gotten in the limited edition 8 pan Wet n' Wild palettes (sadly, they hadn't) but I found some MAJOR SCORES! Attn: SALES ALERT: if you missed out on any of the latest collection of the Summer limited edition Maybelline color tattoos go to your local Rite Aid because if they have any left (mine had plenty) they are 50% off!!! Heads up: the colors at my rite aid were NOT marked on clearance, I picked out "Icy Mint" and a few other things and checked out. When the cashier told me my total I thought it was cheaper than it was suppose to be, so I looked at my receipt and sure enough the the color tattoo was half off! I immediately went back and get the second one I had be eying haha Remember, only the limited edition shades are half off, not the colors in the permanent collection.

Waves of white: beautiful iridescent shimmer, Icy Mint: true mint & like nothing I have in my collection

I also found something I had been looking for literally months and months, possibly a year and had never manage to find. When I saw it I literally squealed with excitement! (and my fiance can atest to that haha) I found Pinkerbell lipstick from Wet n' Wild also known as the dupe for the Mac's Viva Glam Nicki lipstick! I was so excited to finally find this dupe! Wet n' Wild must be making more of an effort to get this lipstick to more stores because I just spotted it in a different Rite Aid yesterday!

Note how it's 2 different colors, if you own this shade is/was yours the same way!? So bizarre, as soon as i swatched it the coral seemed to disappear from the top.

Pinkerbell: It's so much brighter in person!

Honestly, I don't know if I can put this color off but I'm going to try! Plus if I can't it was only 1.99! Also from Wet n Wild I got there gel eyeliner, I've heard a lot of good things about it {some people say its as good, if not better than Bobbi Brown!} so I figured why not?!

Lastly I got I went to big lots and get this 3 piece brush set from Ecotools for $4.50! Which is awesome considering I just saw the same exact kit in Rite Aid yesterday for 12.99. I don't really need any brushes but I'm obsessed with stippling brushes so that was my excuse, plus I do need a new "eyelash comb" brush -or whatever they are called!

That raps up my beauty bargain haul! Found a lot of good stuff for super cheap and that's always fun! What's your latest makeup score!? Let me know in the comments :)

Please subscribe, pin and comment! xo Leah

Rimmel Show off: First Impression!

So as most of you beauties may know the UK based Rimmel apocalips lip lacquers have made there way over seas (as well as had a name changed) and landed in the US! I somehow did not know much about these before starting to see beautiful swatches on some of my favorite blogs/youtube channels, right away I was so impressed with how pigmented they seemed and decided I MUST get my hands on some!

Amazingly- my sweet future sister-in-law surprised me with the 2 I had be lusting over the most and made my whole day!

Left: Luna, Right: Celestial

Left: Luna, Right: Celestial

Gorgeous aren't they!?

Rimmel Lip Gloss ·

Luna- matte light peach, light coral (my new OBSESSION!)
Celestial- mauvy, dusty rose pink

And -hold on to your compact!- they are just as pigmented as they look! ...

With flash.

Natural light, no flash.

I can say these are FOR SURE the best lipstick/lip gloss hybrid I have ever tried! Usually, in my experience, extremely pigmented liquid lipsticks are drying or very uncomfortable on the lips. I found these to be extremely comfortable on the lips AND non-sticky, it truly is the best of both worlds! For me these last a considerable amount of time (around 4 hours). They also seem to leave a light stained affected, in a flattering way!

Where to buy: So far they seem to be limited to Wal-greens and are 4.99

Over all I think these are great and beautiful! I want more colors, they're all so pretty! Have you picked up any shades? Have any color recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time my beauties! Please share, comment and subscribe!

xo Leah