In-Flight Beauty Essentials

In eight days, I will embark on a 23 hour long haul flight to Singapore. It's going to be madness. I've never been on a flight longer than 5 hours, so naturally I turned to the internet for help. I never thought about bringing skincare products and other things on flights because they had never been necessary for me, but now the time has come. After watching God knows how many YouTube videos over what I should bring in my carry on bag, this is what I've decided to take. The bag I'm keeping all of these things in is the "Beauty on the Fly" bag from Sephora, which I believe was about $4. (I will not be wearing makeup to the airport at all, because the hassle of it all isn't something I want to deal with on this longest flight of my life.)

First things first, I am taking some cleansing cloths. Now, I am taking a bit of a risk because I have never tried these cloths before. According to Sephora, these wipes are magic. I chose these wipes because they are filled with vitamin C, which is amazing for the skin. These wipes claim to: 

Sweep away dirt, oil and makeup as Vitamin c, CoQ10 and Black Currant oil rejuvenate and hydrate for fresh, youthful, radiant skin.

Which is exactly what I want a wipe to do and make me feel after a flight. 
I have high hopes for these, so hopefully these wipes will work. I love cleansing wipes for planes because they give my skin that nice squeaky clean feel, without me having to physically wash my face. I plan on using these only for the flights to and from Singapore as there are only 10 wipes in here, but never say never. 

 The next thing is my Aveeno Eczema Therapy hand cream. I actually do not have eczema, but this hand cream works for me regardless. I usually do not use hand creams as they do tend to make my hands feel sticky and just gross. But something about this hand cream just sinks immediately into my skin with no residue at all, and somehow leaves them moisturized as well. I've tried samples of high end hand creams, but this $5 hand cream beats them all any day. 

Ibuprofen, for obvious reasons. You never know when you'll need a pain reliever. The up & up brand works just as good as Advil does for me. 

The moisturizer I'm taking is the Cetaphil Moisturizing lotion. I didn't want to lug my whole moisturizer onto the plane and transfer it into a jar and all that jazz. Plus, my daily moisturizer isn't intensely hydrating as it's meant for everyday use, not the dry recycled airplane air. The last thing I want is my skin to dry out and then flake out. I've tested this lotion on my skin and it works really well at intensely hydrating my skin. 
And of course, hand sanitizer for obvious reasons. And again, (I think you'll see a re-occuring theme) the up & up brand works just as well as Purell. 

Eye drops! My eyes get super dry on a plane so this is a must have for me. Usually when I'm flying I will not wear my contacts, as the dry air bothers me. But even without contacts my eyes get dry towards the end of the day, so I have to bring this. 

The up & up brand is amazing and works just the same as any other eye drop I've used.

Last, but not least, my micellar water (and cotton rounds for it). In the little blue squeeze tube I have the Simple Skincare Micellar water, as it is my favorite skincare product to wipe across my face for a nice refresher. This water makes my skin feel clean, but not that squeaky clean. I can wipe these all over my face and have my face feel clean but still hydrated, which is nice. I use this daily after workouts, so I imagine that this will be great in the airport. The tube that is holding the water is silicone and very flexible. I purchased it at CVS for I believe $2, and it's really great quality. It was easy to fill, its spill-proof, and very travel friendly. I also got a special travel size cotton rounds in the travel section at target for like a buck. 

Those are my In-flight essentials! I hope you enjoyed. I might be doing other travel-related videos, so stay tuned! I may or may not be also blogging my trip to Singapore. Thanks for reading!

x Anna 

MOFD

Makeup of the Day 

From left to right: Benefit They're Real mascara, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Maybelline Fit Me concealer in Sand, Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Expresso, Benefit Hoola bronzer, Benefit Browzings in Dark 

NYX Micro Brow Pencil Review

NYX brow Pencil in Expresso $9.99

The famous NYX Micro-brow pencil! According to the NYX website, this pencil claims to:

"Build full, beautiful brows with our ultra-thin Micro Brow Pencil.  So precise it coats even the finest hairs with color for a natural-looking finish."

This pencil comes in eight different shades, ranging from red tones to cool tones. As you can see in the picture, it has the ultra-thin pencil on one side and a spooly on the other. 

As for it's claims, NYX did a good job keeping up with their claims. Unlike traditional eyebrow pencils, the ultra fine tip makes the pencil easy to fool brow hairs. 

Above, I only have the Micro Brow Pencil in my eyebrows to my liking. For me, this pencil is a great base and shaper to the brows.  Like it claimed, it did give a very nice natural look to my brows. I personally like very full brows, and this could get me there, it would just take a hot minute. I like using this product on its own when I want a natural brow and don't want to mess too much with filling them in (I have used this product on its own before writing this review) But to give my brows that nice thickness, I like to use a powder. So after applying the brow pencil, I went in with a brow powder from Benefit as pictured below. 

I felt as if this pencil really helped shape my brows, making filling them in and the overall look more precise. 

But as you probably know, NYX didn't come up with this idea for an ultra fine tip brow pencil. If you haven't heard of this pencil being compared to the Anastasia Brow Wiz then I'm shocked. Quite similarly to the NYX brow pencil, the Brow Wiz claims to: 

"An ultraslim mechanical pencil to shape, define, and fill in your brows for a natural, polished look."

I'm sure most people who buy this product are looking to find a dupe for the Brow Wiz. So when purchasing this product, comparing the two was my intention. I have had the Brow Wiz before, but I used it all up, hence no pictures of the Brow Wiz. Long story short, even if I were to picture my brows with the Brow Wiz, it would have looked the exact same. 

The Micro Brow Pencil and Brow Wiz both have/do:

• ultra fine/ultraslim brow pencil tip
• dual tips, one side containing the brow product the other a spooly end
• create the "natural" looking finish both claim 
• are a nice base to a powder
• Last all day, with a setting gel 

Micro Brow Pencil

• creamier than the brow wiz
• $10 
• 8 shades

Brow Wiz

• drier formula than Micro Brow 
• $20 
• 9 shades

They're isn't much of a difference between the two. If there were to be a difference between the two, I would say the NYX brow pencil is a lot more creamy than the Brow Wiz. Not so creamy that it feels like an eyeliner, but the Brow Wiz always felt a little dry to me, like it needed a bit more pressure when applying. The Micro Brow Pencil goes on really smooth, giving nice definition to the eyebrows. $10 also seems a little pricey for NYX, I don't know if they've bounced up the price because of the hype, but it's still cheaper than the Brow Wiz. You could buy 2 Micro Brow pencils for the price of one Brow Wiz. The only thing the Brow Wiz has against the Micro Brow is that the Brow Wiz offers a color for people with grey eyebrows. 

Overall, I think this is an amazing brow pencil and a dupe for the Brow Wiz. If this isn't a dupe, I don't know what is! 

Rating: 9/10

 

Makeup of the Day

Rosy Tones 

BHcosmetics itsjudytime palette, Colourpop eyeshadow in La La La, Benefit Hello Flawless Powder in I'm as Cute as a Bunny Honey, Urban Decay primer potion in Eden, Milani Rose Powder blush in Romantic Rose, and Benefit Rollerlash mascara

Milani Rose Powder Blush Review

Romantic Rose on the left, Coral Cove on the right

I have finally found these blushes!  I have searching high and low for these blushes. According to drugstore.com, these blushes come in four different shades: Romantic Rose, Coral Cove, and Tea Rose. (I believe there are is an additional shade, but I can't seem to find the name of it for the life of me.) They run for $7.99 on drugstore.com, but I purchased them at my local grocery store for $5.99 on sale. I purchased Romantic Rose and Coral Cove because they appealed to me the most, Tea Rose was a little too pink for me.

These blushes have a beautiful rose imprint (hence the name), and no smell that I can detect. Unlike most of their baked blushes, these blushes are completely matte. When swatched they feel a little powdery, but that doesn't come off onto the cheeks. They are decently pigmented; I think these could be built up intensely or sheered out. In the swatches below I've sheered out the blush on the left, and built up the color on the right. 

Coral Cove

 Romantic Rose 

I really like these blushes. They give amazing color to the skin without looking like a streak of blush and blend beautifully. Coral Cove obviously is going to be more of a pop of color than Romantic Rose, but as you can see, blended out Coral Cove is a little more natural. Romantic Rose is that blush that'll go with almost any eye/lip look. Romantic Rose is a little bit harder to build up than Coral Cove. I don't prefer one over the other, I think they're both equally fantastic. After testing and playing with these blushes I wouldn't be as hesitant to buy Tea Rose. In some brands, blushes with the same formula can sometimes vary color to color, but between these two colors I don't see any variation. They both have the same consistency and pigmentation. 

Overall, I really like these blushes. I would buy more of any color they came out with. Good blushes at the drugstore can be hard to find, but these are a total gem. These have definitely made their way to be my favorite drugstore blush! 

Rate: 8/10

x Anna 

Makeup of the Day

Classic Winged Liner

From left to right: Benefit Hello Flawless Powder (I'm as cute as a bunny honey), Benefit brow zings (dark), Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer (medium), Benefit They're Real Push Up liner, Mac blush (Harmony) and Benefit Rollerlash

I had  my driver's test today, so I wanted a fuss free makeup look. 

Today also  felt like a Benefit kind of day. Four out of the six are Benefit Products!

I honestly love Benefit, I think they are a great company. The Push up Liner is probably the only thing I've tried from them and not liked. Something with the applicator makes the "gel" liner easy but difficult at the same time. It's really easy to twist a bit to much out of the applicator, as you can see below. 

It takes a long time to come out of the applicator, which can cause you to pump to much out.   It wears forever. Which is amazing when you need something to literally last all day, but a pain in the booty to take off the eye. I definitely need a couple pumps of my cleasing oil to take this off. I didn't want to worry about my liner today, hence this product. When taking the time to do your eyeliner and being super careful this product isn't too bad. Sometimes I can get the liner in one swipe, but sometimes I need to whip out the tape. 

 This is my first time trying the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer- and so far so good. I've worn it for a couple hours now, still same coverage when applied and no creasing, so a thumbs up for me! 

Sorry, I had to fit in a couple of product reviews. In the future I'm only going to post the specific names and shades of the products I'm wearing, and not a whole product review!

x Anna 

(P.S. I passed my test!!)

Tarte Showstopper Palette Review

$38 on Sephora.com

  Recently, one of my wonderful friends gifted this to me as a late birthday present. After using it for a couple of weeks, I've officially decided that I am in love with this palette. The palette comes with their signature Park Ave Princess Bronzer, a blush, a highlighter, and six eyeshadows. The face products are pigmented as the eyeshadows are, and they all work well together. There's plenty of looks that can come out of those six shadows, and I like the choice of colors given. The warm peach blush is amazing, it gives that summer warmth to the cheeks. Overall, there isn't one pan in this palette I don't like. Here are the products breakdowns and swatches! 

The Face Products 

Colors from left to right: Park Ave Princess Bronzer, Fame blush and Champagne Pink highlighter

  I had never tried the Park Ave bronzer before, and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. This bronzer has a really warm undertone without it being straight up orange. It gives a wonderful warmth to the face, either by just dusting for color or contouring. I personally use this just to add a little color to the face; I haven't tried it full on contouring. I love the look it gives to my skin. 

  I love this blush. I am a sucker for peach blushes, and this one is right up my alley. Like all tarte blushes, the formula is uber pigmented and lasts forever on the cheeks. No complaints about this blush! 

  Now the highlight. I will be 100% honest and say that this is one of two highlighters I own. I don't have much of a thing for highlighters, but this one does give a nice glow to the skin. Its not overly pigmented for a highlighter, so when applied it doesn't give that streak of highlight to the cheekbones. It's amazing as an eyeshadow as well. Even though this is probably the only non-warm color in the palette, it works. 

All face products from the palette on my cheeks

The Eyeshadows 

Colors from left to right: Dim the Light (black brown, semi matte), Rose to the Top (rose gold, shimmer), Steel the Scene (steel taupe, shimmer), You're a Natural (nude, matte), Go for the Gold (gold, shimmer), Showstopper Copper (copper, shimmer)

 I have very little experience with Tarte eyeshadows, but after these eyeshadows I would definitely buy more. Each shadow is creamy, non-powdery, and pigmented. I had no problems with creasing as well. My favorite shadow out of the bunch is probably Rose to the Top. In the caption I gave this a shimmer finish, but it's borderline metallic. There's a beautiful balance between rosy and gold undertones in the shade, and a beautiful all over the lid color. While each of these shadows are beautiful on their own, they are colors you could find anywhere. The consistency makes them unique, but they aren't outstanding jaw dropping colors. Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful eyeshadows and make beautiful eye looks. If you were to buying this only for the eyeshadows and have a lot of palettes with similar colors, I would skip. 

On me: You're a Natural in the crease/transition shade, Rose to the Top all over the lid, Showstopper Copper in the outer v, and Dim the Light as my liner

Overall

I don't have many, if any, complaints about this palette. Each product is beautiful and very high quality.  Out of the whole palette, I have to say the face products are my favorite. Each one brings a beautiful look to the cheekbones. If you've been eyeing it, I think it's worth checking out. However, if you have a lot of palettes in your collection then this might just be another neutral palette. The face products make this palette worth it to me, I would recommend. 

Rate: 7/10

Thank you for reading my review, I hope it helped!

x Anna 

May 2015 Favorites

June has finally come alas, which means a May Favorite post is due. 

May was the month I focused on face products. I've been experimenting with a lot of different face products, because I used to do full on eye makeup and nothing else. 

It was bad. 

But I think I've found some good face products that work for me, and also some other things last month. 

First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Daily Face Cream- $20*

I've been struggling to find the perfect moisturizer, because I have dry patches but oily ones as well. Moisturizers either give my face no moisture at all, or too much and breaks me out. This one is the perfect balance for this upcoming summer weather. The texture is really light on the skin, but still gives a lot of moisture, the right amount. The Skin Rescue line is fantastic; since it's meant for sensitive skin it has a very low chance of breakouts. It's the perfect day cream! 


Benefit Hello Flawless Powder- "I'm as cute as a bunny" Honey $34*

After hitting pan and changing colors on my Too Faced Powder Foundation, I was on the hunt for a new foundation. When I set out for Ulta I actually had my eyes on the Urban Decay powder Foundation, but after putting both on each side of my face, I really liked the side with the Hello Flawless better. Benefit doesn't really market this as a powder foundation, but as a buildable coverage. You know how with some powder foundations you have to put, what seems to be, so many layers on in order to see any difference in the skin? This isn't the case with this powder. What I love about this powder is that it's really light on the skin, and it is buildable without getting cakey. It evens out my skin tone, and doesn't leave me shiny. I love the packaging as well. It has a magnetic clasp, which prevents the case from flying open and the powder flopping everywhere. It comes with a nice brush and little sponge as well, which the brush isn't too shabby when it comes to touching up. (If you are familiar with their boxed blushes, its that same brush). For the price tag, it's a really good powder (as it should be). 

Burts Bee's Intense Hydration Eye Cream- $17.99*

On my quest to have the perfect under eye concealer, I watched a video by Nikki Tutorials on youtube on How to Stop Concealer From Creasing. One of her suggestions was to have the under eye area as hydrated as possible, so naturally I went out and bought an eye cream that was targeted towards hydration (I will buy and do anything Nikki says, she's amazing). Not only did this help my concealer from creasing, I've noticed over the course of May that the darkness underneath my eyes has lightened! I feel as if I don't have much of  dark circles anymore, which is an A+. The Cartwheel app by Target has so many coupons on top of the sales they already have instore, so I managed to snag this eye cream for only $8.99. 

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer- Sand $6.99* 

I have always loved this concealer. It's amazing at covering up anything that needs to be covered up, blends flawlessly, and lasts all day with the right powder. Only since last May I started to put it underneath my eyes. It covers my under eye darkness in the most natural way. It isn't full coverage, I would say it could be light to medium. It conceals the darkness underneath my eyes without making my face look like I have pounds of makeup on. You can not beat this concealer for the price. 

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge- $5.99*

Going along with the under eye concealer, this sponge is amazing at blending out concealer, foundation, anything worth blending on the face. I had previously been using a sponge from Ulta in the little travel section, which was okay. It was doing the job. Oh how I was wrong! This sponge I believe was cheaper than the one I was using and does the job 10x better. I have never tried the Beauty Blender, but I certainly am not anytime soon because this sponge blends everything out flawlessly, no lines. I also use this sponge if I put a little to much powder underneath the eyes. I dab the sponge on top of the powder and it takes all the excess off. 

China Glaze Nail Polish- Too Yacht To Handle $7.50

I simply only love this polish because of the color. It is legit Tiffany blue. It's so vibrant and almost electric. This polish chips on me relatively fast all by itself, but with the right top coat it can work. Love this polish.

Essie Nail Polish- Peach Side Babe $8

Essie polishes are my favorite nail polish formula hands down. This color I believe is part of their Summer 2015 collection, and is a beautiful warm peach color. The formula lasts so long, and gives a beautiful finish. 

Elizabeth and James Nirvana Perfume- White (This is a 100 point perk from Sephora)

I have been eyeing and eyeing this perfume ever since it came out, but never have shelled out the money for it. So when I saw this perk at a Sephora, I picked it up in a heart beat. It's such a nice floral scent, perfect for the summer time. The black version was just a little to musky for me. I want to say I'm going to purchase the full size after this, but it'll probably just go on my Christmas wishlist (yes I know it's June).

Thank you for reading my monthly favorites! I hope you enjoyed the review.

*Prices pulled off of Sephora.com and Ulta.com

Hello lovelies! 

I have moved over from tumblr to here to write my indepth reviews on products, monthly favorites, makeup of the days, etc. The set up on this website is a lot more practical for reviews instead of my tumblr. Do not worry- my tumblr will still be there! I have just migrated the reviews over to blogger. 

For anyone who was wondering, I got the this premade template off of Etsy for $2.99. Usually the templates are $25, they're on major sale right now. I think it's a steal! The templates come with really easy to follow guides and all of her templates are really beautiful. Here's the link to the Etsy shop I bought it from. 

As my instagram grows, I thought this would be a great option for followers who want to know a little bit more about a product. With more a more indepth review will also come more photos! I tried to get the domain name to match my instagram username, but alas it was taken. The blog hasnt been updated since 2011 though! Depending on the sucess of this blog I might buy the domain name. I hope you all will enjoy this blog more than the previous- tell me what you think! Do you like the blog? Should I change my instagram name, or fight for the one I have now?


x Anna