I first spotted Elin Nordegren (ex- Mrs. Tiger Woods) rocking these chic boots back in December 2009. Apparently, they were the hit of Fall/Winter 2009... okay, so I'm a tad late on this trend. :-)
Summer has arrived in full force! In June, the Twin Cities had rain, rain and more rain. So far in July, it's been all about the humidity.
Change in weather also means a change in your daily makeup routine. Summer makeup routines usually entail fewer products and lighter coverage, especially when you're dealing with the heat and humidity.
Here are the products I use for an everyday summer look...
5 - Revlon Colorstay Active Light Makeup SPF 25 (07-Golden Beige)
Like a tinted moisturizer but offers a little more coverage. I randomly picked this up at a CVS beauty sale for 75% off in January and it sat unused in my makeup drawer for 5 months! I've been using it everyday since I rediscovered it last month. (I think this color has been discontinued.)
7 - Clinique Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector
Picked up from the Cosmetics Company Store, I apply this to areas where pores are large and overexposed to minimize the look of the pores. Definitely a primer for the pores!
4 - Stila Smudge Pot (Black)
Always line the top lid and tightline with black gel or cream liner. I also use MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack and Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Liner.
6 - Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner (Black)
Purchased as a set with the Coffee Bean Quad, this is used to line the waterline for a more dramatic day-to-night look.
8 - Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Eyeshadow primer... what would we do without it?! Primer is placed on the lower lashline and lid up into the brows (the brow pencil/powder stays put).
And finally, the lips... I usually keep them bare except for lip balm. Nivea, EOS, Carmax, MAC Tendertone... whatever is within arm's reach.
When I remember to do so, I'll throw on whatever gloss is available... whether it's Zoya Hot Lips, Milani Crystal Gloss or MAC Cremesheen Glass.
Does your makeup routine change with the seasons? What is your summer makeup routine?
UPDATE: My skin does not like the Revlon Colorstay Active Light Makeup! I broke out along the sides of my face... ugh! I've since replaced the Revlon with the L'Oreal True Match Foundation -- my HG foundation when I was in my early 20s. So far, so good!
Oh, how time flies! My beautiful niece, Helena, attended her senior prom last week and then she graduates from high school in less than 3 weeks! I can't believe how grown up she is now... 18 years old and ready to take on the world (well, not really)! :)
As her only style savvy Aunt (J/K! LOL), I helped Helena get ready for the big event. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day (after several gloomy, rainy days) and the perfect night to PAR-TAY!
Helena and her prom date, Hnia.
Helena
Dress: Tadashi (see Twitpic!)
Earrings: Martin & Osa
Cocktail Ring: ??? (Express or Banana Republic)
Shoes: Nordstrom Rack
Hnia
3-piece Suit: Men's Warehouse
Face L'Oreal True Match Foundation ~W4 (just a tad bit to even out skintone ~ she already has great skin!)
VS Pro Camouflage FX Concealer Palette
Cargo Blu-Ray Pressed Powder ~ Med/Dark
MAC Mineralize Blush Duo ~ Light Over Dark
Rimmel Lasting Finish Mult-Tonal Blush ~ Pink Sorbet
Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil ~ Zero
NYX Smokey Eyes Palette
Coastal Scents 88 Warm Palette
MAC Fluidline ~ Blacktrack
Lancome High Definicils
MAC #7 Lashes
Lips
NYX Slim Lip Pencil ~ Natural
MAC Lipglass ~ Bada Boom
I only had 15 minutes to do Helena's hair... I'm no hair stylist, but I think I did an alright job. :)
She wanted a soft, romantic, undone updo. We randomly sectioned her hair, twisted them back and pinned the ends underneath.
I used lots of bobby pins (regular and mini sizes) and set it with Tresemme 24 Hour Body Finishing Spray.
(Picture of Helena's hair toward the end of the night.)
Helena said she had a great time (although they missed dinner and swung by Burger King instead) and received lots of compliments on her hair, makeup and dress (thanks to her Auntie! LOL). I can't wait to do it again... 5 more nieces to go but I'll have to wait 6 years until the next prom!
A few weeks ago, Tarte was on sale at ideeli, a sample sale site. With an in-store credit to spend, I decided to order a few items since they were great deals. The order was placed on April 24th and I received the final package on May 13th (two sets were shipped separately).
Tarte Vitamin-Infused Lipgloss, regular retail price: $21 each
Liquid Sunshine (nude) and R&R (plum) were sold as a set on ideeli for $14. For reviews of the lipgloss, check out Sephora.
Tarte hEYE Impact Waterproof Creaseless Shadow/Liner Duos, regular retail price: $36 set
Also sold as a set in Bronze and Plum, these duos were $19. I swatched these babies at work and I couldn't rub them off (even with a wet tissue)! For half the day, I was stuck with makeup swatches on my hand. I would say they are definitely smudge-proof.
Here's a swatch in natural light...
Bronze (top)
Plum (bottom)
Total regular retail price: $78
Total purchase price (including $10 shipping): $43
Total savings = $35!
Sample sale sites are great ways to shop luxury brands at a discount! Sites that I've also purchased beauty products from include Gilt Groupe (another Tarte sale!) and HauteLook (scored an Emjoi Soft Caress Epilator for $47). There are a ton of sample sale sites out there now. Follow them daily as sales change every 24-48 hours. Good luck!
I made several stops into Ulta over the past week to check out some goodies. Armed with coupons and their weekly circular, I think I experienced some savings success (although I'm not quite as good as Nouveau Cheap or Er1ca).
Beauty trip #1:
Here's a breakdown of the goods...
NYX Eyeshadow Palette, regular retail price: $9.99
NYX palettes were on sale for $7.49. I picked up the Smokey Eyes palette during this trip.
L'Oreal True Match Foundation, regular retail price: $8.99 L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base, regular retail price: $12.99
L'Oreal True Match Foundation and Studio Secrets Primer were on sale for 2 for $16. I picked up the foundation in W4 and the Primer only comes in one color -- pink, which applies transparent. I had a $2 coupon for each product (total $4), so I picked up both products for $12.
Nivea A Kiss of Moisture Hydrating Lip Care SPF 4, regular retail price: $2.99
Nivea lip balms were on sale for $2.54 each. I clipped a coupon from All You magazine for buy one, get one free... that's $2.54 for two Nivea lip balms!
Total regular retail price: $37.95
With a $5 coupon from Instyle magazine, total purchase price including sales tax was $18.24.
Total savings = $19.71!
Beauty trip #2:
After watching Fafinettex3's video, I went back to Ulta for NYX's Jazz Night palette -- sale price $7.49 (reg. $9.99).
I also picked up three jumbo eyeshadow pencils -- Cottage Cheese, Pots & Pans and Slate ($4.19 each).
Regular retail total for these four products -- $22.56. I paid (including sales tax) $12.51! Savings = $10.05!
There was an Ulta Reward Certificate/coupon attached to the mailer that I had received -- either Level 1 reward or $3.50 off $10+ purchase. NYX was on sale for buy 2, get 1 free (excluding the palettes). Redeeming the reward during the NYX promo, I ended up getting three jumbo eyeshadow pencils for the price of one!
Beauty trip #3:
I purchased nothing during this stop into Ulta, which was the 3rd trip in one week. My mother and sister wanted to pick up a few things, so I just tagged along -- for moral support. :)
Now, I am officially banned from buying makeup until I have completed "Project 10 Pan" (finish 10 products before purchasing new products). I've already failed miserably at this Project as I first started it on April 4, 2010. It is now May 5, 2010.
The other day I tweeted about major savings at Ulta. It was a small haulage, but I saved buku bucks with a combo of current promotions and coupons. This whole coupon clipping and shopping smart thing is really starting to pay off! LOL
All Revlon cosmetics were also on sale for 40% off. With a $3 coupon from a magazine, I picked up the new lipstick in Blush for only $2.39. What a pretty color!
N.Y.C. Matte Bronzer, regular retail price: $2.99
Several N.Y.C. products were on sale and I picked up Sunny (the last one in stock!) for $2.39. Numerous beauty gurus (including KJ Bennett) have raved about this bronzer, so hopefully it lives up to the hype.
Curel Continuous Comfort Body Lotion (13 fl oz), regular retail price: $6.99 each bottle
All Curel products were buy one, get one 50% off plus each bottle had an attached $1 coupon! I ended up paying only $8.50 for both bottles (that's $4.24 each!).
Total original retail price: $30.95
With a $3.50 off $10 Ulta coupon (clipped from their weekly circular), the total purchase price including tax was $13.66!
A few weekends back, my sister and I made a visit to the local outlet mall (one-hour drive door-to-door!) with one goal in mind --
The Cosmetics Company Store (a.k.a. CCO)!
The CCO houses over-runs, discontinued or slightly damaged goods from the Estee Lauder family brands (Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, MAC, Clinique, Prescriptives, Origins). Products are marked down 20%-80% from retail. It's paradise for a beauty junkie such as myself!
Our local CCO's shelves were fully stocked! With so many products to choose from, I tried to be a smart shopper... it was a total FAIL!
Here are the products I ended up with during this trip...
Not great savings, but I was running low on eye makeup remover. Lancome Bi-facil is my holy grail of eye makeup removers
but it's $26 for the same size product!
Please note: Savings calculation didn't include sales tax, which is 7.125% in that part of town.
Check out your nearest CCO for even greater deals! Inventory is varies from store to store, but if you're looking for limited edition products or discontinued products (Prescriptives!), it's definitely worth a visit.
On another note...
I stopped into my local Ulta in search of the infamous Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush. They were completely sold out and have been for several weeks! I wasn't going to leave empty-handed -- especially since I had a $5 coupon to use (check your InStyle magazine!). So, I ended up with these...
Maybelline Define-A-Brow (Dark Brown)
Maybelline Stylish Smokes Quads (Natural and Charcoal)!
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those are affected by the recent earthquake near Haiti.
Please text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross. The donation will appear on your next mobile bill and 100% of the donation will go towards American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
Hello! Sorry, I've been MIA for the past few months.
Work has been busy... company stock went from 60 cents per share two weeks ago to close at $1.10 per share (as of Friday, Oct 9, 2009). Whoo-hoo! Maybe I will actually exercise my options soon...
At the beginning of October, we vacationed and celebrated my birthday at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. We stayed at the Swan/Dolphin resort, which is a beautiful resort located near the Epcot.
It was great to be able to get away for a little R&R. I said "good-bye" to my twenties and have officially become a member of the "thirty-something" club... don't know if I should smile or sob... !?!
On the trip, I felt great and healthy. Then, I started feeling ill just days after we returned from vacation. Is it just a seasonal cold or could it be H1N1?!? I'm not sure... the symptoms have been mild, but in order to not infect anyone else, I have been unproductively lounging at home.
Then, on the morning of October 10, 2009, I wake up to find this...
I recently vacationed in Las Vegas with my mother and four sisters. We scored an awesome (what felt like "all-inclusive") 4- day/3-night package (included 2 FREE buffets per room for breakfast, lunch and dinner!) at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. It has been almost 5 years since my last trip to Sin City and, boy, have things really changed! Several skyscraping magnificent hotels & casinos have popped up all along the Strip... the Wynn/Encore (2005), Planet Hollywood (2007; previously "The Aladdin"), the Palazzo (2008), Trump Hotel (2008)... and who can miss "City Center" -- the enormous billion-dollar multi-building complex currently under construction in the middle of the Strip between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo!
The weather forecast during our stay in Vegas -- sunny skies, high temperatures and extreme heat! While we were blessed with sunny days in Vegas, the temperature rose above 100 degrees every single day! My skin felt like it was burning after being outside for just 5 minutes. It was almost unbearable!
Mental note to self: Do not visit Vegas over the summer! :)
Even with the extreme dry heat, I had the most memorable, awesome vacation in Vegas! There was so much to see and do, you may almost forget to sleep (I actually slept early every night!).
Vegas Highlights (in no particular order):
**Eiffel Tower @ Paris Hotel** $10 will take you from zero to 50 in just a few minutes! My two younger sisters, my mother and I decided to venture up 50 stories to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Casino & Hotel.
There are great views of the Strip from the Eiffel Tower, and if you time your trip right, there is also a perfect view for the Bellagio Fountains show!
**Las Vegas Premium Outlets** Though the Strip offers tons of great shopping, there's really nothing like outlet shopping.
Located between the Strip and Downtown, the Las Vegas Premium Outlets is by far one of the best outlet malls that I've ever visited. What a huge variety of shops -- from Gap Outlet to Dolce & Gabbana, Adidas to Stuart Weitzman, Coach to Kate Spade! For the mall directory, click here.
Bonus... misting stations! Sporadically set up throughout the mall, the misting stations helped us cool down while shopping in the Vegas heat.
**Madame Tussauds Wax Museum @ Venetian Resort~Hotel~Casino** Become Paris Hilton's new BFF, play 1-on-1 with Shaq or take a snapshot with Prez Obama... all for only $25 at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum! We had a blast at this interactive wax museum (you can physically touch the wax figures!). We were even brave enough to step inside Scream! -- a "scary" mini maze within the wax museum.
We took a ton of silly pictures with all the celebrities, professional athletes and politicians, but some are way too embarrassing to post.
**The Buffet @ the Wynn** One must refuel in-between sightseeing and shopping! Vegas certainly offers many, many places to eat... however, we found much comfort in the abundant buffets!
We ate primarily at the MGM Grand because the food was included with our rooms. However, we did make an effort to have dinner at The Buffet at the Wynn. Costing at over $40 per person, this buffet is definitely not for budget-friendly travelers (unless you only eat once a day!). King crab legs, prime rib, sushi, pasta, dessert bar... did I mention king crab legs?!? Overall, the food was excellent, the environment was clean and the service was mediocre. The Wynn Buffet is worth checking out -- even if just for the crab legs!
**Cirque du Soleil -- KÀ @ MGM Grand** I have a confession... I'm addicted to Cirque du Soleil! Ever since seeing Alegría years ago, I've been wanting more. The shows are always so spectacular... you must ask yourself, "How did they do do that?"
KÀ was so spectacular -- it blew my flip-flops off (I wasn't wearing any socks)! Everything about the show was amazing, including the theater, the main stage of two huge hydraulic platforms that rotate and the speakers built into the headrests. I was "oohing" and "ahhing" throughout the entire show -- which reminded me of an old school Hong Kong kung fu type of movie! :)
Tickets for KÀ range from $69-150. We took advantage of the 25-year anniversary special, so our tickets ended up costing $73 per person. Our seats were kind of far from the stage... but it was still a great show!
**Bootleg Canyon Flightlines** While in Vegas, we hopped over to Boulder City (25 minutes from the Strip) to zip-line with Bootleg Canyon Flightlines.
Definitely the ultimate highlight of my vacation, zip-lining was thrilling, extremely fun and the views were breathtaking.
No experience necessary! As an inexperienced bunch from MN, BC Flightlines taught us everything we needed to know to zip-line over the desert. The hardest part was the 15-minute hike up to the top of Red Mountain. Talk about being out of shape... I didn't think I was going to make it to the starting run!! :/
The heavier you are, the faster you go! On Run #3, my skinny lil'est sister couldn't build enough momentum and slowed to a stop about 100 feet from the platform. One of the instructors had to pull a Sly Stallone/Cliffhanger move to "rescue" her. Funny thing was the instructor looked like Sean Penn!
The entire excursion was about 2.5 hours long. There are 4 runs and 4 lines per run. Three instructors helped us along the way, provided much-needed water and even gave us a little history of Boulder City and Bootleg Canyon Park.
Props to our excellent instructors -- Brina, Nate and Ryan!
Total cost per person: $149 per person ($159 on weekends)! Yes, it is expensive... however, the experience is worth every penny!
Thank goodness I brought along my Flip camcorder to record memories!!
