What's in my travel beauty bag?

So, as I am leaving for California tomorrow, I thought I would do a "what's in my travel bag", as I forgot to do it last time.
I'm only leaving for 3 days, so I tried not to take too much stuff. Although I have had a hard time restraining myself. I think I did pretty good :) 

 So this is it. My toiletry bag. I like it because it has tones of compartments and pockets( not all shown) and a built in "brush holding pocket" (not shown) than fit 5 brushes.
On to what I actually brought:

BRUSHES:


-Chanel #7 blush brush.
-Sigma mini Blending -E25
-Stila #30 Double ended brush
-Sigma Tapered Blending- E40
-Sonia Kashuk #16 face brush
-Sephora Mineral Powder #45 brush

MAKE UP:
- Urban Decay's NAKED palette
-MUFE Camouflage Palette in #1
-NARS Eyeshadow primer
-MAC Joie-de-Vivre Cremeblend blush 
-MAC Summer Rose Beauty Powder
-Chanel Soleil de Tan Mousse
-Garnier Tinted Anti Dark Circles roller
-MAC Painterly paintpot
-Revlon Lustrous Lipstick in Temptress
-Stila Glamorous Lashes (Birchbox sample)

 SKINCARE & TOOLS:

-Garnier Moisture Rescue SPF 15 
-Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser (transferred to travel bottle)
-Marionnaud Bio Express Demaquillant (french makeup/perfume store. Just needed a travel size makeup remover)
-MUFE Aqua Eyes makeup remover
-Planter's moisturizer ( depoted into a jar)
-Lacross Eyelash curler

So that's it for my 'restrained packing'. Hope you enjoyed!

What are you bringing in your travel makeup bag?

The BeautyFull Mind...

To dupe or not to dupe?

Helloo!

So as I had mentioned ( I think) in my Florida HAUL, I got a Sally Hansen nailpolish that looked like a good dupe for Chanel's new Black Pearl. Surprise, Surprise, when I got home, my mom had gotten it for me :)
So I will today, compare both and tell you if you can get that nailpolish for $2.50! Yep, big savings!

I should probably start by mentioning that the Sallly Hansen nail polish is called "Gunmetal".


At first glance, they are rather similar. They both fit in that steel-y, gray, metallic family. When you actually look at them though, side by side, you can see that the Chanel one is has a green duochrome the Sally Hansen one does not possess. S.H is alot bluer.
Also, the Chanel one is a tad bit darker. 
As to the application, they both went on pretty well. I thought the S.H brush picked up ALOT of product, and even after taking the excess out, there was still too much on the brush. But that is a whooole other story.

Too middle fingers painted with Chanel Black Pearl
Two extremities painted with Sally Hansen Gunmetal

 

I would like to add, I hadn't added a topcoat when the picture was taken. This might contribute to the slight lack of shiny-ness. 
As you can see, on the nails, the difference is hardly noticeable. Chanel's green sheen is only noticeable when the light reflects from it.
I am wearing both nailpolishes (same as in picture) and no one has noticed. Even when I told them. So that speaks for itself.


Overall, I think it is a good dupe. And for the money you are saving, it's really worth it. Unless you express an undying love for that mossy green duochrome ( which I have to say, I quite like). So if you really like that color, but aren't ready to spend 25$ on it, the Sally Hansen is the way to go!


The BeautyFull Mind...
 

Florida Haul

Hello!

When I was in Florida, I did quite a bit of shopping! I went to all the places I can't go to ( or is hard to go to) here. So I stopped at a CCO, Walmart and Target. I know I went a little overboard but oh well! I had packed only the strict minimum (beauty wise) to be sure to have space for the ride back home :)


So first stop was the CCO. Oh how much I love them! I always go a little crazy there. All those beautiful products, that are discontinued and that I had been drooling over for so long!

 Onto what I got. In order from left to right, Joie-de-Vivre Cremeblush, Coral Crepe Paintpot, Shadestick in Taupographic, Blush Ombre in Vintage Grape and Liberty of London Beauty Powder in Summer Rose. Coral Crepe Paintpot. Another item I had been coveting for awhile. It's

 Coral Crepe Paintpot. Another item I had been coveting for awhile. It's once a true coral. I heard it warms up eyeshadows wonderfully.

 I love shadesticks, I find them great as bases or a quick, light wash of color. This one is a great cool taupe. It's a bit sheerer than I'd like it to be, but I'm quite pleased with this. 
 

 Joie-de-Vivre Cremeblush  is a really nice true, bright coral. I had been wanting this for awhile. It's gonna be great for spring and summer. It will really brighten up the face.

This is my first beauty powder. It's a sheerer type of blush, it's almost impossible to overdo it, which I find great. I wanted a lighter pink, I know it's a staple but for some reason I don't own one. Well now I do, and I'm loving it. Plus the packaging is super cute. 

Blush Ombre in Vintage Grape is a rosy purple. It's a little different from what I usually wear. I'm excited!


I then went to Walmart. We don't have Walmart over here and was super excited to get some HARD CANDY stuff. 

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick Creme in 680 Temptress is a very nice pink. It is bright in a natural way, if that makes sense lol. I really love this so far! It goes with pretty much everything. This is slowly moving it's way up to being an everyday lipstick. 

HARD CANDY First Flush is a little kit with a mini Blush Crush baked blush in Living Doll, a mini Sheer Envy Face Primer, a mini Glow all the way and a mini Plumping Serum lipgloss. All a pretty pink. I think it's a great value at 8$ for the whole kit.


HARD CANDY Just Nails in Matte-ly in love is a matte top coat. I have been wanting one for a while. I love dark, matte nails. This will just about double my nail polish collection. I will keep you updated on how well it works as I have not tried this yet.


Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Gunmetal. I got this because it looks like a pretty good dupe for Chanel's Black Pearl. I will be doing a comparison pretty soon. Look out for that. If they are similar, than it will be a jackpot as this one is only $2.50!

HARD CANDY Walk the Line liquid eyeliner in Night Sky. I really wanted a glitter liner. I heard of a couple of great ones in the UK, but those are inaccessible to me. So I tried this one. It seems a bit sheer, but maybe if I put of a couple of layers on, or maybe over a black liner. 


Lastly, I went to Target! 

I picked up another tube of ELF Wet Gloss Lash and Brow Clear Mascara. I just finished my first tube and really like it. It keeps them in place and is only $1!

Sonia Kashuk Small Multipurpose Powder Brush n19. This is very similar to the MAC 224, maybe a little more tapered at the end. I love these kind of brushes and am very excited to use this.

Sonia Kashuk Synthetic domed multipurpose brush. I got this to try and use it with my Chanel Tan de Soleil, as I am still on the search of the perfect brush that doesn't shed. Both brushes are very soft.


The tights are black with a leopard print. I like these for school because they are more than plain black but still adequate. 


I'm sorry this was so long. I will be reviewing further more some products. Did you try any of these products? If yes, did you like them?


The BeautyFull Mind...

 

How I met Tom...

Helloo! 

I am back from Florida and have a ton of blogposts coming up! So look out for that :)

I'm sure you all know that the this week was New York Fashion Week. I had the chance to meet Tom Pecheux and watch him do the makeup for one of his shows, and I thought I'd share with you the tips he gave me. I was at the Chado Ralph Rucci show. The look he created was VERY matte skin, nude lips and what he described as a "friendly" smokey eye. Very matte, very black. It was gorgeous! 

Tom Pecheux's makeup station

Tom Pecheux doing the "Model Eye"

"Model Eye" (whole face done except for second eye)

 Onto the tips then:


- First of all, he told me that what he though was the most important was the condition of the skin. When the skin looks good, everything else looks better. So girls, pamper yourself a little it will give your makeup that extra oomph. 


- I'm sure you all noticed that mattes are kind of a pain to work with, especially dark ones. To ensure that it doesn't look patchy, and that it blends well, POWDER your eyelid extremely well beforehand. Any sticky spots will create patchiness. If you forgot this step, try layering translucent powder and the shadow to blend it out a bit more.


-Now, I know I'm probably one of the only ones but I just can't stand nude lips. On me at least. They just make me look so unhealthy. Now this tip might help you nude lip haters like myself. Instead of your usual foundation or zombie colored lipstick, dab on a foundation TWO tones DARKER than your actual shade. This will "erase the color of your lips but not your lips themselves." 


-One last tip. Now this might only happen to me, but I find that when I try to do a really dark, black smokey eye, I end up looking a little mad. When I expressed my concern to Tom about this he advised me to concentrate the color on the outercorner of the eye. 


Hope these helped! I had an amazing time there! It was great to see how it all went down backstage! It's pretty intense. I did not know so many people worked on preparing a fashion show! It's about 3h-3.30h to prepare a 15 minutes show! 


'Till next time


The BeautyFull Mind...

GARNIER Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Roller ( Tinted)

Now I don't have an actual problem with dark circles. I even recently realized I could go out of the house without concealer and not look like I had been awake for 5 days. Yay. 
That said, I have noticed that recently my under eye area has been rather dry and concealers, no matter how creamy they were, caked up. 

So after reading a couple ( more like a dozen) of reviews, I have decided to try the Garnier roller ( see complete name above, because it is quite a mouthful.) It contains caffeine, lemon essence and mineral pigments to "Instantly correct dark circles and brighten." Well I'm not sure about how well it works to help for dark circles but it sure does brighten. I have been using this instead of concealer. I don't have that flaking problem, the coverage is enough for me, and anyways I find it quite build-able. It makes my undereye area look extra bright and fresh. This is great for me because I have recently been into darker eyeshadow looks, which we all know tend to highlight our dark circles. 
 I have heard pretty good things about this about the whole dark- circle correcting properties. Used under concealer it will bring extra brightness and a little bit more coverage.

I do have a couple of complaints though. First the applicator gets very messy since it rolls. 
Also they have only one color which even though they say "fits most skin tones" I'm pretty sure that isn't true as it is quite a light shade. It wouldn't fit very light skin tones nor darker ones. 

Overall, it's quite a good product. I love it for it's brightening effect and it really refreshes the undereye area. 
It retails at $10 to $15 for 15ml. 

The BeautyFull Mind...

In and Out

IN:

- Darker, smokier eyeshadow looks. I am so over the no makeup look I have been wearing since September. The fun of it faded away with my tan...

- Lipsticks! I'm going in a bit of a lipstick craze ( which is quite good as I have a lot lipsticks that need to be shown some love). Dark, light, bright. I love them all!

- FLORIDA! My February break started today and my friend invited me to Florida with her! Finally some sun!


OUT:

- Cold, icy, crispy weather.

-Too much HW.

-Valentine's day frenzy. It's not because I'm single, I swear, I just people get way too worked up about this. lol




  
The BeautyFull Mind...

 

Winter Skin Saviors

Hello! 
  
Is it me or is this winter particularly long, cold and overall rather dreadful? With minimum one snow storm a week I think this year will be remembered for a long, long time. Thank you global freezing! 
I had to take out my whole cold weather arsenal. My beauty routine has not escaped it. 
Before I start, as a reference: my skin is from normal to oily, I don't have crazy acne but I do have a couple pimples here and there. During the winter my skin doesn't really get dry, maybe a little bit, but it still stands in the 'normal' category. What I find to be my biggest trouble, lately at least, is brightness. Maybe it's the cold, or my lack of sleep (oops) but I find my skin to be a little bit less awake and bright than before. That said body wise, my skin is extremely dry, especially my hands and legs. Year-round. 
Enough rambling now and on to my "winter skin" staples:

  
Aveeno Intense Relief Hand Cream: I am very picky about hand creams because my hands are so dry. I can put Vaseline or lip balm ( which I have done in some desperate case) on my hands and they would still absorb it! I slather this on in a thick layer before I go to bed and when I wake up they are hydrated and supple. Of course they don't stay that way the whole day but I need to reapply all the time with any hand cream. One of the cream's best assets is the fact that it doesn't leave a greasy feel: BONUS!


Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Body Oil: My mom uses this and got it for me as I kept complaining to her that my legs were very dry and nothing kept them moisturized for more than an hour or two. Well I found it! Thanks Mom! This moisturizes like crazy and stay that way for about 6 hours AT LEAST. Plus, it regenerates and firms the skin. All is covered! The only bad things I could find to say about this are the smell isn't the loveliest but it is by large bearable and also the price isn't the loveliest at about 23$ for 100ml it could be categorized as on the pricier side. That said, it is COMPLETELY worth it.


Planter's Crème Réparatrice: I've talked about this already. It's amazing, total HG. It protects from the weather, regenerates and hydrates like crazy. Mine is almost done so I cut the top to scoop out what's left :( The only con about this one is that it's only available in France. Why do they always have the really good skincare?


Smith's Rosebud Salve: You probably all know this already, it's a really thick, Vaseline like balm that smells like roses. I use it on my cuticles every night right before the Aveeno cream It works like a charm! I have seen a serious improvement in the state of my cuticles since doing this. Be careful though it gets very greasy! That combo requires me to sleep with my hands crossed above my duvet not to get stick to it. My mom once entered and asked if I was praying lol.


Homeoplasmine: I found this recently while going through my bathroom cabinet and remembered I had just read an article somewhere that said many makeup artist use this as lip balm. I tried it a couple nights ago and I'm completely hooked! This keeps your lips hydrated for a super long and time and makes them soo much smoother! 

Benefit's High Beam: So remember how I was saying my main winter skin problem was dullness? Well this is how I combat it ( as well as a little Rosewater spritz every morning). This pinky highlighter is great. It's quite subtle but really brightens up. It melts into the skin perfectly! I pop it on the top of my cheekbones and brow bones (sometimes), the bridge of my nose and my cupid's bow. Tadaaa. It's an instant pick me up.   


So here my Winter Skin Babies. What are yours?


The BeautyFull Mind...

DAY 6: Your Favorite Animal

Hello!

I would say my favorite animal is my cat or my dog but that just sounds so boring. doesn't it? 
Honestly, I have recently had a little obsession of OWLS. The cartoon kind. It still counts though right? Lucky for me, I started liking them just when they became popular and were everywhere. I just found them really cute! My mom has caught on to the fact that I love them and at one point kept on buying me a bunch of owl figurines and such. Now my room looks a bit like an owl lady's home but, oh well, I quite like them! 

Image Source: cuteheaven.com

There's a movie called "The Legend of the Guardians" about owls also. I looved it! It was so cute! It was that kind of kids movies that is still fun to watch! The characters were really funny. Especially the little one that says jokes!
Enough rambling. 

What's your favorite animal?

 Have a good night/day!

The BeautyFull Mind...

DAY 5 REMIX: Anything Hello Kitty

Now, Day 5 was supposed to be something I like to do but right now it just wasn't inspiring me AT ALL. So maybe I'll get back to it, or maybe I'll just skip it!

Now, I am not a huge Hello Kitty fan. I like her I just never find myself buying Hello Kitty stuff for some reason. The new collection at Sephora for example, it just doesn't appeal to me! It reminds me of the makeup I had when I was little. Not a very good association. 

So I will show the only Hello Kitty item i own. I know I am a sad excuse for a girl...
  My MAC Hello Kitty makeup bag. I got this before I got into makeup. I didn't even know what MAC was, I just saw this and really liked it. 

It is a very good makeup bag. It finds a TON of stuff.

What's your favorite Hello Kitty item? Makeup bag?

The BeautyFull Mind...

DAY 4: Your Favorite Foundation

Helloo!

I'm very weird when it comes to skin stuff. I crave perfect, flawless looking skin but cannot wear foundation. I cannot stand wearing it. I feel like everyone can see my skin is "fake" and it freaks me out. Weird I know. So when I really need the "coverage" I'll use a tinted moisturizer. Never thicker though. I have the Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer which is okay, but I find it very hard to blend and a little powdery looking. In comes my new favorite one. I am subscribed to Birchbox and a month or two ago they sent a deluxe sample of JOUER Luminizing Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20. Now I know I haven't been using it for a while and that it's just a sample but I love it soo much I know I will be purchasing the full size once my other one runs out. 

I love this because it's very sheer. It doesn't look like you have anything on your skin. Yet, it evens out your skin tone and makes your face glow, in a good way lol. It looks very healthy! 

Can you see how sheer it is and the beautiful glow? Now it does have TEENY TINY shimmer but I don't find that they show up on my face, at least. They just reflect the light. 


It probably doesn't have enough coverage for most people but you are like me or if you have pretty good skin I recommend it! As a reference I have normal to oily skin. It didn't break me out in anyway, which is always a plus. 
It retails for 38$ which yes is quite pricey. It all depends on how much you are willing to put in a tinted moisturizer :)

Have a good night 

The BeautyFull Mind... 

DAY 3: Your favorite brush

Hello!

30 Day Challenge- Day 3. I think I'm doing pretty good at keeping up with regular posting. 
Today's theme? My favorite brush. Well I will be talking not of one brush in particular but more a type of brush:

 Fluffy eyebrushes.  ( Excuse the not so very clean look, haven't had time and I wanted to get this up today)

The one shown above are the Sigma SS224, Sigma Blending E25 and Sigma Tapered Blending E35. 

I love these kind of brushes because they are so versatile. You can use them for pretty much anything: eyeshadow, creamshadow, concealer, even contour. They are all fluffy and soft. It's the kind of brushes that no matter what I am wearing, I will find myself using it. 

What is your favorite brush?

The BeautyFull Mind...

DAY 2: Your favorite bag that you own

Hello!
30 Day challenge, day 2's theme is your favorite bag.

This is mine:

I got this at ALDO back in October ( I think), when I went to see my brother in college. And I have not stopped wearing ever since!
I'm pretty sure it's plastic but it has a lived in brown leather look that I love! It has a bunch of pockets .
I know it looks tiny, but this actually fits a lot of stuff. I manage to get my headphones, book, wallet, keys, and all my toss ins in there. Also it is very versatile, it goes with pretty much anything!

What's your favorite bag?

The BeautyFull Mind... 
 

30 DAY CHALLENGE- DAY 1

While browsing through Christine Iversen's blog, I saw she was doing a 30 day challenge and thought it would be a fun thing to try and would help me keep up with my blogging :)
So basically, there is a list of post to do, one a day for 30 days, about your favorite things, things you want, etc.
So on we go for day one: Your favorite eyeliner




I love a lot of eyeliner depending on their color. I have to say though their is one particular brand/type that has caught my attention as an overall, and that is : MUFE Aqua Eyes. 
I really really like these! The colors and the payoff are great and most of all the staying power is isane! 
I have to say they are a bit pricey at 17$ THE eyeliner, but soooooo worth it!
Anyways MUFE always has great deals were you can get 3 or 4 for the price of two. 
I highly recommend these!

Image Source: Mac-uponmymind.blogspot.com

What is your favorite eyeliner?


The BeautyFull Mind...

Expensive Pink Look ( Great for blue eyes)

Hello,

I went beauty shopping this weekend as it had been awhile. I stopped at MAC and finally decided to get Expensive Pink, which I had been wanting for a long time. I had heard it was gorgeous and great to bring out blue eyes. Well they were right!
It's a gorgeous peachy-pink with gold flecks. I know it sounds a lot like NARS' Orgasm lol. But it really isn't! It's very wearable and doesn't make you look sickly at all (something that could be expected from wearing pink eyeshadow). I thought I would share a quick look on how I have been wearing this shadow. I have to say a quite like it! I have worn it a couple days in a row, something not at all common for me! lol
I have also gotten a lot of compliments on it, which is ALWAYS a good sign :)
I'll stop rambling now and carry on to the look.

Products used:
 NARS eyeshadow primer
MAC Painterly paintpot
UD Buck e/s ( crease)
MAC Expensive Pink e/s (lid)
Lancome Duo eyeline is ruffles pink ( waterline and tightline)
MAC False Lashes Mascara


The BeautyFull Mind...