First Impressions: That's Heart Palette

I just ordered a palette for my mom on bhcosmetics.com last week because they were having a buy1get1 sale on select products. BH cosmetics is honestly amazing because the have deals and sales everyday on their website. I have their Take Me To Brazil eyeshadow palette already and I adore it. I figured I would give this palette to my mom because she's allergic to fragrance and she would like the eyeshadow colors...and of course I gave the free one to myself (oops).

The 2 palettes were about $14 together but with the coupon code, that was split in half. However, shipping and handling on this website is kind of ridiculous. I recommend only buying from them when there are huge deals or if you plan on spending $50 on their products (shipping will then be free).

On to the swatches!

 This palette comes with 8 eyeshadow shades, a bronzer, a highlighter, and a blush. There is also a cute heart-shaped mirror. By the way, that scrape in the blush and the little bits of blush on the palette were caused by my fingernail accidentally scraping the edge. It came to me packaged securely and pristinely.

 The bronzer, highlighter, and blush. All three look gorgeous and build up so nicely. The highlight is my favorite, but all three look like they would work well with my skin tone.

These eyeshadows are swatched on top of Smashbox 24 hour eye primer. A good mix of shimmers, satins, and mattes. The purple, pink, and white are less opaque than the others but they all seem to build up and blend nicely on my arm.

My first impression is that I love this palette and can already think of looks I can do with it. I will have a look up on the blog soon.

XO Alyssa

Gift With Purchase Review: Sephora Bright Night Out

Last week my friend told me about Sephora giving a free gift with purchase for Beauty Insiders after spending $25 (online only). I bought the First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser for $20 and a Nails Inc. Polish that was on sale for $5. I've been wanting both of those items for a few months now so I figured this gift with purchase (GWP) bag would be a good idea. I got my items including the "Bright Night Out" GWP (there were 2 other GWPs you could choose from) yesterday and I am beyond happy to share with you my thoughts on the sample products and makeup bag that were included:

 The makeup bag: pretty small but I love the color and I'm going to use this to store all of my samples I get when I online shop!

 The giveaways: Pharrell Williams GIRL perfume sample and Marc Jacobs Lust for Lacquer Lip Vinyl in Kissability. I know I won't really reach for these since I don't wear gloss often and already have a bunch of perfume samples, so these are going to be stocking stuffers for a friend or family member.

 Chloe Eau De Parfum: I've been wanting to try Chloe for so long because I love the way it smells at the store. I don't wear perfume often because I break out in hives if fragrance touches my face. I tend to go for lighter scents to spray on my body for special occasions. So this is actually a nice size for me since I already own so many mini/sample size perfumes.

 Lancome HYPNOSE Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara: I love Lancome's mascara samples and this one has such an interesting applicator. It's a slightly twisted bristle brush. This is in Excessive Black.

 Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Shadow Primer: Now, I'm all about my $1 ELF shadow primer, but I figured I would give this one a whirl. It's a pretty decent size for a sample as well.

 Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil: I've been wanting to try this for so long and I'm happy it's in the color Black Velvet! I have watery eyes so my eyeliner tends to go from my waterline to under my eye pretty quickly.

 Philosophy Loveswept Body Lotion. Great size for travel and a soft, light, perfume scent.

 Kat Von D Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Bachelorette: This is the reason I picked this GWP over the other 2 options. I've been wanting this product in A-Go-Go and Bauhau5 for so long but didn't know if the super matte formula was worth the money or looked good on my lips. Finally I get to test it out.

 Here's my naked face with some Maybelline Babyskin primer (~$6)

 Then some of that Smashbox Photo Finish eye primer (full size: $20, GWP size: free)

 I used the shimmery mauve shade and highlight shade from my Tarte Rainforest After Dark Palette (Limited Edition- no longer available but I think it was around $36 when I bought it) on my eye lids

 Added some of that UD 24/7 eye pencil to my tightline and waterline (full size: $20, GWP size: free)

 Then 1 coat of the Lancome mascara (which was amazing, by the way, just compare this to the before picture above) (full size: $27.50, GWP: free)

 Then my normal face routine: Loreal True Match in W2 and W3, mixed together (~$8)

 My favorite setting powder and brush combo: EcoTools Buffing Brush ($6.99) and Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder ($3.99)

 Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser ($6.99) for my under eyes and any other red spots on my face.

 Aw yiss!

 Favorite everyday blush: Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso (~$8)

 I adore this blush for fall/winter! It gives the perfect color to my cheeks!

 Kat Von D Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Bachelorette: Unscented, gorgeous reddish-pink, and truly matte. I put some chapstick on first to make sure there wouldn't be any application problems. The one thing I did notice is the tackiness of the lipstick after it dries. Not sticky, just slightly tacky, like the back of scotch tape. (Full size: $19, GWP: free)

 Finished look! After this I put on a shirt and did my hair. I babysat for a couple of hours and then came back home and had dinner:

The makeup stayed put! After eating chicken, broccoli, and ice cream for dessert of course there was some fading and smudging of lipstick. But the lasting power impressed me! It didn't leave a stain on the glass when I drank water and the color is still vivid enough where I didn't feel like a re-application was necessary. Also, the mascara kept it's curl and nothing leaked around my eyes.

All in all I think this was a great set of samples that will probably last me quite a while since I have a lot of makeup. Mini things are just adorable anyway. Hope you liked this very detailed post!

XO Alyssa

Hair Product Review: Not Your Mother's Knotty to Nice Detangling Spray

Last month I made a completely unnecessary and yet totally unavoidable trip to Ulta. The nearest one is about 45 minutes from me so I don't go often. But when I do, I tend to buy more things than I actually need. All I wanted to buy hair product-wise was some Batiste dry shampoo (great stuff by the way; if you've never tried it, I highly recommend it). Anyway, I had heard good things about the "Not Your Mother's" brand and wanted to try something out. I chose a detangler because I have medium-length, super thick, curly/wavy hair that is a pain to brush after showering. 

As a detangler, this works but not as well as I had hoped- I wanted no knots left. There are definitely less knots and it's easier to manage, but I still have to work through a few rough knots. But I have noticed after a month of use how healthy and thick my hair feels. I don't wash my hair everyday so I was afraid this would make my hair greasy but it does the opposite: it keeps it very soft. I also have an issue with frizz and I've noticed that has decreased as well. 

I usually put a leave-in conditioner or smoothing milk in my hair after the shower but sometimes, when I'm in a rush in the morning, I only need a few sprays of this and my hair looks just as good throughout the day as it would with the conditioner or smoothing milk. It has a nice, fruity smell to it as well.

The key ingredient in this spray is the keratin protein. Keratin is a natural protein in your hair that can get stripped away by harsh chemicals, sun, heat, etc. The tips of my hair have been dyed for about a year and are very dry but I love the color so I don't want to chop it off. This spray restores the keratin back to my hair that was lost. Keratin leaves hair flexible, soft, healthy, and strong- all things I have noticed as I've been using this product. 

I have been wanting to try a keratin infused spray product for months but the one I wanted (It's a 10 Miracle Leave-In Plus Keratin) is $20 for 4oz. I didn't realize when buying this detangling spray that it would do the things that the more expensive spray does for a fraction of the cost. But I am so happy it does! I believe I spent around $6 for 6oz. 

I want to try some more keratin infused products as well as some more Not Your Mother's products. I give this a 9/10!

XO Alyssa

Current Favorite: Fall Lip 2014

I am a huge fan of bold lips so fall lip colors tend to be my favorite because they are dark and sexy! Here are the ones I've been wearing a lot:

(I don't have a fancy camera or lighting or anything so excuse the low quality) Here we have 7 lip products of various finishes that are great for the fall. I have a bunch of other fall colors I own but these are the ones I've been reaching for the most lately.

Here are my bare lips with some chapstick on. Not in the best condition but I really wanted to get this post up. Also please excuse the face demons, it's that time of the month.

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First up is Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Red Dahlia. This is something I repurchase every year once I use it up. It is just so easy to wear and feels so good on my lips. It gives a subtle wash of color so I don't look dead and can be layered a bit to make it look darker. I just keep this in my bag to throw on whenever. 

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This was an impulse buy from Ulta last month. I've been really wanting a dark lipstick and I saw this and fell in love. It's the NYX Simply Vamp Lip Creme in Enamored. It's this brown toned plum color that has a purple iridescence to it. From afar is looks purple-ish black. It applies very softly and smoothly and it feels like nothing is even on my lips. 

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 Favorite lip color of life right here. I've been searching for a good cranberry color and casually came across this in CVS a few weeks back. It's the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss lipstick in 107. This is a light application I'm wearing, which is what I'll do for daytime looks. At night I use a couple more layers of this and it becomes a dark, rich cranberry color. Also this lipstick smells so good. I don't know if it's cranberry, strawberry, or watermelon scented but it's fruity and delicious. The other Kate Moss lipsticks, the ones in the black tube, kinda smell like clay so this was a nice surprise. In the picture it looks more satin than matte but it person it looks matte. It's not drying but not moisturizing either.

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 My go to work-appropriate lipstick. I got this tiny thing as a birthday gift from Sephora. It's the MUFE Rouge Artist Natural 09. It's definitely a my-lips-but-better color. It doesn't last too long but it feels very comfortable on the lips, almost like a balm.

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Ah. Wet and Wild Cherry Bomb. My first dark lipstick. It can be dry and patchy but I usually just pat it on my lips lightly and wear it with a lip balm. This is another that can be made darker with more layers. It also lasts really long on me.

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This is Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten. I love this pink. It's bright and sultry at the same time. And it really is a balm and a stain. I love the stain it leaves behind and this is so easy to reapply throughout the day and night. It's gotten quite a lot of action in my purse, hence the barely there label. This has a slight minty scent that goes away in 2 seconds and it feels very moisturizing. 

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After watching so many beauty vloggers rave about the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stains, I had to buy one. I bought the darkest color of the bunch because I've been so into vampy colors lately and I swear to you I wear this almost every other day. It's build-able, unscented, comfortable, and gorgeous on. The bottom lip looks patchy but I swear that's just because I've been abusing my lips with this post, haha. The color is Parisian Passion and it doesn't actually leave much of a stain on me but I love it anyway.

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And here are some arm swatches with light coming from my window. From L-R: Revlon Moisture Stain, NYX Lip Cream, Revlon Balm Stain, Rimmel by Kate, Wet and Wild, MakeUp ForEver, and Burt's Bees.

I hope you enjoy this post, I really liked making it for you. Let me know what you liked or didn't like/things you've tried or want to try for the fall. Thanks for reading!

XO Alyssa