Beauty on a Budget: The Drugstore Eyeshadow Palette You NEED

Hello Beautiful Ones!

With Thanksgiving now under my belt, I have officially embraced all things Christmas! (Happy early Holidays to you all!). The Holiday season has me thinking gifts, but also budgeting. It's the dreaded elephant in the room. You want to get a great gift for your special someone (or yourself!) without breaking the bank. Well I have an awesome drugstore eyeshadow pallette for all of the beauty junkies on your list (or yourself!): The Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 Redemption Eyeshadow Palette.

I had never heard of Makeup Revolution until I ran across a display of their palettes during a recent trip to ULTA. It turns out Makeup Revolution is a British Makeup brand based out of London. They have several gorgeous looking palettes available in ULTA, but the thing that really caught my attention was the price tags. The Icon 2 Redemption palette is $7 (yes, you read that right!). I went for this one because it was full of neutrals that I was drawn to, and everybody knows I'm a sucker for a good neutral eyeshadow palette. The pans are very narrow, but pretty long giving you a decent amount of shadow in each one. The packaging is very sleek and thin, it reminds me a lot of the Maybelline eyeshadow palettes released in recent years. Adding a mirror would have made it the ultimate traveling eyeshadow palette, but I guess you can't have everything with a $7 price point!

So far everything has been fabulous, but how is the quality you're asking? Well, as it turns out that's pretty darn fabulous too! I've been wearing this one regularly for a couple of weeks now and there's very little that I dislike about it. Aside from a few of the lighter shades, they all have a decent color payoff. As I said this is a neutral palette, mostly suitable for the day time. But you could still ramp it up for night if you wanted too. I always use an eyeshadow primer, but the lasting power here is really good! I can put it on in the morning and it's still holding strong by the time I'm taking my makeup off at the end of the day (work tested!). I will say that this palette leans more towards shimmer finishes than mattes, so if shimmer shadow is not your thing this might not be the one for you. But none of these are overly glittery, and could easily be worn for work or class.

Bottom line? This palette is AWESOME and the $7 price tag is even better! Let me know if there are any other Makeup Revolution products you think I should try.

XO- Brittney

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Two New Makeup Sets from Maybelline: Lip Gloss Palette + Brow Drama Pro Palette

Hello Beautiful Ones!

It's officially that magical time of the year when all of the beauty brands start releasing their holiday palettes and sets! *screams internally* And the drugstore has some pretty great looking offerings this year (double yay for affordability!). There are two in particular from Maybelline that I just had to get my hands on, so here we are! Today I'm reviewing the Maybelline Lip Gloss Palette and the Brow Drama Pro Palette.

Maybelline Lip Gloss Palette

As soon as I found out this baby existed I started scouring my local drugstores for it, and (as always) Target did not disappoint me. I did however find it on a separate holiday display and not with all of the Maybelline stuff, in case you're also looking. I've enjoyed some of Maybelline's other palette offerings recently, particularly the Blushed Nudes Eyeshadow Palette, and I like the idea of a lip gloss palette. You get a variety of color options all in one handy palette. The first thing I noticed was that in the pan all of the colors look extremely pigmented, but as you start swatching you see that they very much are glosses. Some have more color payoff than others.

The deep red looking color on the right looked the most intimidating to me in the pan, but as soon as I got it on my lips it quickly become my absolute favorite! Just goes to show you that you can't judge a gloss by it's pan color (giggle). What I love about this palette is that all of the shades are extremely wearable. My least favorite is probably the pale pink on the far left side, I just didn't get much color payoff at all. The lasting power is pretty decent, and normal for any gloss. The palette comes with a lip brush, but I didn't find much use for it. I just found it too stiff to do much good. I prefer to apply these with my finger. Since they're glosses you can get away with that! They feel really nice on the lips, not too sticky or too shiny. And the best part? You can get this for $9.99 at the drugstore!

Maybelline Brow Drama Pro Palette

I'm a big fan of the Maybelline Brow Drama brow gel, so I was excited to try this. The palette offers the gel to sculpt, a powder to fill in, and a highlight for the brow bone.

This palette come is 4 shades, I went with Deep Brown because I felt that the Soft Brown had too many red tones in it for me. The set comes with a dual ended brush for the gel, powder, and highlight, and a spooly brush for shaping and softening the look. I do really like both the double ended brush and the spooly. Although they are small, they are useful. The double ended brush is angled on both sides to make it easy to follow the arch of your brow. The lasting power is great, I can put this on in the morning and not have to worry about my eyebrows migrating downwards during the day (yikes!). The only thing I don't love is the highlight, I just didn't find it useful. It was virtually undetectable on my fair skin, but with that being said I really liked this palette. It takes a little longer to apply than my usual brow pencil, but the results are really great! You can get this beauty at drugstores for $10.99.

Is there anything better than getting a great makeup palette at an affordable price? Very little! Maybelline hit it out of the park this holiday season! Let me know if you've tried either of these (or if they're on your wishlist).

XO- Brittney

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Tony Moly Egg Pore Blackhead Steam Balm

Hello Beautiful Ones!

The alternate title for this post is "I'm a sucker for cute packaging." This is a beauty product that wasn't even on my radar, I just happened to run across this little egg shaped beauty during a trip to Sephora and I knew I needed to try it. Honestly I had already made my mind up about getting it before I even knew what it did exactly. So today, I'm reviewing the Tony Moly Egg Pore Blackhead Steam Balm.

Tony Moly is a Korean beauty brand. I've tried one other Tony Moly product before: the I'm Real Rice Face Mask For Clear Skin (review here). I really enjoyed that one, so I was excited to try this. According to the box (which is completely adorable by the way), this product "removes sebum and dead skin cells that clog pores." In case you're like me and you have no idea what sebum is, I googled it and it's an oily secretion (gross right? No wonder they chose the word sebum). And Sephora calls it a "self-heating balm that acts as a steamer to open up your pores. I've never really had too many blackheads, although I do occasionally get them around my upper lip. With that being said, I was really excited to see how this balm might help my oily, acne prone skin, and large pores. 

When you pop open this cute little egg you can see that the balm is a clear gel with very tiny orange beads in it. The other thing I noticed from the sample in the store (besides the packaging of course) was the amazing smell. Seriously, it's so good! It has a very bright citrus-y smell, although it is fairly strong so if scented beauty products aren't your thing then this might not be the one for you. 

According to the box directions you "apply an appropriate amount onto areas with blackheads"(don't ask me what an appropriate amount is) and rub it into your skin for 3-5 minutes, then wash off with warm water. I decided to apply it to my nose and cheeks. As soon as you start rubbing it into your skin it turns from a clear gel to white with a creamy consistency. I found that massaging this into my skin along with the lovely smell was really relaxing! You can feel the small beads, but it doesn't feel too abrasive when you're rubbing it in. I didn't however really notice it heat up too much, but it was still a pleasant experience. 

The first thing I noticed when I washed it off was that my skin was very pink. I would suggest using this at night or at a time when you're not planning to go out right away, it didn't last too long though. The other thing I noticed was that my skin felt soft and a lot less oily. I think this really would do wonders on blackheads because it really cleans out your pores. As far as the size of my pores I haven't seen any major changes but they do look slightly smaller. 

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with this product, but I have to say that I really like it. You can get it for $18 at Sephora, although I just checked the website and they are currently sold out so you might want to snag it if you see it in store. 

So as it turns out that this product is pretty great both inside and out!

XO- Brittney

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Fab or Flop? Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara

Hello Beautiful Ones!

Confession: I'm a little bit stubborn. I know what you're thinking: what in the world does that have to do with mascara?! Well, today's fab or flop feature is a product that has been getting gushing reviews all over the blogosphere lately and I think that's why I've been dragging my feet so much on trying it myself. I just hate giving in to insane hype, you know? I'm not a complete crazy person right? (please agree with me for my sanity!) Anyways, here I am to tell you if I think the Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara is fab or a flop.

I'm usually pretty fickle when it comes to mascara, always trying new ones and flip-flopping on my favorites. But, recently I've been pretty hooked on the Benefit Roller Lash (review here, shameless plug) so I was very interested to see if this drugstore offering could hold its own and back up the hype.

Let's start, as always, with the packaging. It's lovely. There's not much else to say about it. The metallic fire engine red and fuschia colors go together perfectly, and pop next to the black. It's a nice size. Not too big, not too small.

The thing that Maybelline is really marketing as the game-changer here is the brush. The bristles are a "cup shape" that is supposed to perfectly coat and push-up your lashes. I'm not going to lie I thought it would be much easier to see the "cup" shape when I took the brush out of the tube, but it pretty much looks like a normal mascara brush. I kind of wish they would have packaged it with the brush outside of the tube so that you can really see the shape before it's coated in mascara, but oh well! (I could also wash it off myself if I wasn't completely lazy). Here's some brush pics:

So with all that being said: does it actually work? I've been wearing this one for well over a week now and I can definitely say YES! It really does separate and lift the lashes extremely well. I would even compare it to my beloved Roller Lash in that respect. And the lasting power is fantastic. Not only can it survive a whole day of work but it even stayed put after a run! (I know, I did physical activity what a shocker). My only (small) complaint is that sometimes the product can get a little built up in the bristles so you either have to wipe off the excess with a tissue or just patiently work the brush through your lashes until it is evenly distributed.

My final review?  The Maybelline Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara is 100% fab. You can get it for about $7.50 at most drugstores. The quality of product versus the price is phenomenal. Definitely holds its own against a lot of high end mascaras!

Have you tried this one yet? Let me know!

XO- Brittney

P.S. Thanks so much for stopping by, it means so much! Follow me on Bloglovin' or Twitter to know every time I make a new post! <3

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The PERFECT Fall Nail Color

Hello Beautiful Ones!

There is soup in my crockpot, apple cider in my mug, and fuzzy socks on my feet. I have finally decided to fully embrace fall! What better way to do that than with a gorgeous fall inspired nail shade? Nothing! Today we're talking about a color I'm officially obsessed with: Essie's Frock 'N Roll from their Fall 2015 collection.

I actually hesitated on buying this one, because it is just so much darker than the nail colors that I would normally gravitate towards. But as soon as I got it home and put in on my nails I was so happy. It is absolutely beautiful. 

Frock 'N Roll is a gorgeous deep plum, but what I think makes it really interesting is that it has an unexpected silver shimmer in it. It is a subtle enough that your nail doesn't look like a disco ball, but still gives the color a little extra dimension. 

It applied very easily and the coverage was great. I only needed one coat. The finish has a shine, but it's not too shiny. I've never met an Essie polish that didn't have good lasting power and this one is no exception. 

I am definitely going to be LIVING in this one this fall! What fall nail shades do you have your eyes on? I hope you can enjoy it with a cozy warm drink!

XO- Brittney 

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Maybelline Called Out Makeup Shaming on Twitter and It Was Awesome

Hello Beautiful Ones!

So this is a post that has been floating around in my head for a few days and I can't not write it out. The other day I was mindlessly scrolling through Twitter (as one does) when a post caught my attention and made me scroll backwards. It was a tweet from the makeup brand Maybelline's official twitter account responding to a tweet they had been mentioned in:

www.twitter.com/Maybelline

The original tweet is from a Twitter user, who appears to be a male, and says: "Girls remember that if you're wearing the entire counter of @Maybelline, you can't claim to be all naturally #beautiful #lessismore #makeup"

Maybelline's response: "Oh yes they can sir. Our girls are #bornwithit beauties whether they wear makeup or not."

There are so many things I want to say about this I don't even know where to start. But let's try to break it down beginning with the original tweet. I appreciate the fact that there are people out there male or female who want women to know that they don't need to wear makeup to be beautiful. That is a completely true statement and one that I stand behind 100%. With that being said, the argument for natural beauty does not excuse makeup shaming. I am a feminist and to me feminism means to support equality for women and to encourage them to do whatever it is they want. Basically to me, feminism means not telling a woman that she can't do something simply because she is female. By telling a woman that she shouldn't wear makeup (no matter how good your intentions might be) you are telling her what to do. Instead of telling women that they should or should not wear makeup, why don't we just tell women (and everyone for that matter) to just do whatever the heck makes them happy. If that includes makeup awesome, if not that's also awesome. It is never right to shame someone for doing/wearing something that makes them feel positive and happy. 

That brings us to Maybelline's response. I was practically screaming at my computer as if Maybelline was my favorite Football team and I was watching them make a touchdown during the last seconds of the game. I think that their response was perfect. They expressed that women are beautiful makeup or no, without attacking the Tweeter who said otherwise. When you have a difference of opinion with someone I feel that it is so important to address it with as much understanding and patience as we can. Attacking someone back is not going to solve the problem, only escalate it. Here's how this interaction played out incase you were wondering:

You could argue that Maybelline just wants to sell more makeup and that certainly is their business (by the way, this post is 100% unsponsored), but at the end of the day I think they made a great point. Makeup shaming is something we should all be talking about and I appreciate the fact that they were willing to open up an honest dialogue about it on a very public forum. 

So what is my point here? Let's stop makeup shaming. Instead of telling each other what we should or should not be doing, let's just encourage each other to embrace the things that make us feel confident and happy. There is nothing more beautiful than someone who is genuinely happy. 

XO- Brittney

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Lush - The Comforter Shower Cream

Hello Beautiful Ones!

I have to admit I was a little sad when I heard that Lush was retiring some of their old products (the You Snap the Whip Body Butter and Space Girl Bath Bomb were two of my favorites!), but I was also pretty excited to hear that there was a whole slew of new products coming! As soon as I started hearing about the new things available at Lush's Oxford St. store the one that really caught my attention was the Comforter Shower Cream and I finally got my hands on it.

This shower cream and a few other new products are now available on Lush's website and are starting to be available in stores as well. The Comforter is one of Lush's best selling bubble bar scents and for good reason! Comforter is a strong blackcurrant scent. The perfect thing for fall/winter!

This is a shower cream and not a shower gel so it has a bit of a thicker consistency. It doesn't lather up right away, but it does create a nice lather after some rubbing. It left my skin feeling extremely moisturized and soft.

You can get the Comforter Shower Cream for $9.95 (3.3 oz.). It's absolutely perfect for anyone who loves the Comforter smell, but doesn't have the time (or the bathtub) for a bath!

Let me know if there are any new Lush products you have your eyes on!

XO- Brittney

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