It's official. BITE has stolen my heart. It's no secret that I'm constantly on the pursuit of the perfect lipstick for me and after trying out one of these little creme lipstick duos I knew I had to get another. This little Luminous Creme Duo is in the combo 'Fig' and 'Date.' These gorgeous neutrals are housed in a small double-ended container with BITE's logo classily displayed on the side.
Now when I say small, I mean small! This little duo is perfect for your purse, however these little lippies unfortunately won't last very long due to their petite size. I suggest purchasing this if you already have one of the colors and want to use this for touch-ups or if you're interested in trying out this brand. This duo is a great way to try out some colors and for only $12, it won't break the bank!
Fig is a beautiful muted pink that is definitely very pink but still classy and understated. Date is a peachy beige color that is one of those colors that goes with every outfit and every makeup look--no thinking required! These lipsticks are ultra moisturizing to the touch and extremely comfortable on the lips. They don't have the best staying power when it comes to eating and drinking but that's the beauty of this compact container! It'll fit in the tiniest of clutches for touch-ups on date night :)
Top: Date, Bottom: Fig
These little lipstick duos are limited edition so if you're interested in trying out the brand then I suggest you get your hands on these fast! Also grab these if you like a particular color combo you see as the combos are changed all the time! Currently this combo is available on Sephora here!
I was looking for a good book to read while on my cruise a couple weeks ago and stumbled across this Nicholas Sparks novel at my local thrift shop. I had never read a Nicholas Sparks book before but thought this would be exactly the type of fluffy read I would enjoy while getting some sun in Mexico, so I made the $0.50 splurge!
This book follows young widow Julie who receives the gift of a Great Dane from her late husband and the promise that he will always watch over her. Julie decides she is ready to date again and that decision comes with some serious complications: a romance with a best friend, new love, and a crazed stalker.
This book was Nicholas Sparks' first attempt at a thriller, branching away from his normal romance novels (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Lucky One... to name just a few!) and I certainly found this to be a page turner. This book had realistic characters who I could connect with and a plot line that made me at times feel just as helpless as our protagonist, Julie. Overall I really enjoyed this suspenseful novel and was even emotionally invested enough to well up a little at the end (shhhhh don't tell anyone!).
Winter does nasty things to my skin and I'm feeling it ten fold during my first winter in New York. One of my favorite products I've discovered to combat the winter time blues are the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments!
These lip products are super moisturizing and are blended with oils, wax, and actual sugar. They have a delectable sweet lemon taste to them that is so delicious! My sister recently bought me this little three pack that has an original, berry, and cherry version of this lip treatment.
These ultra moisturizing lip products also are pretty pigmented! They give a sheer wash of color that's as buildable as you want and leaves a pleasant stain behind. They are also super glossy!
Top: Berry, Bottom: Cherry
The berry color applies a little bit patchy but looks far worse in the photo above because of its shine! The cherry color was surprisingly pigmented and looks like any other bright red lipstick but with a high shine finish.
Left: Berry, Right: Cherry... if you haven't noticed I have a big forehead yet... SURPRISE!
I love these lip products because they're comfortable and moisturizing but pack a colorful punch. I definitely recommend taking advantage of multi-packs of these products or when they're included in a kit as they are pretty expensive. A normal size is $22.50 for 0.15oz of product which is pretty steep! When I run out of my smaller sizes of these guys I will probably invest in a full-size as these have become my holy grail for tackling the dry winter season!
I adore Allison Anderson (formerly known as Amarixe) on Youtube because I feel like she is one of the beauty gurus who still keeps it real. This girl is the queen of eyeshadow tutorials and I feel she is severely underrated. I decided to attempt her 'Sweater Weather' tutorial, coming in at 142,500 views. Here is the look I was going for:
I love watching Allison because we have very similar complexions so I feel like I have a shot at reproducing her makeup looks. The main thing in the way is those eyes! This girl has the biggest and roundest eyes to work with and unfortunately mine are itty bitty!
Here is the list of products Allison used to create this look and in parentheses are the substitutions I had to make if I didn't have the product:
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in RSVP - (Maybelline Color Tattoo in Inked in Pink)
MAC Eyeshadows in Naked Lunch, Soft Brown, Sable, Sketch, Shroom, and Dazzlelight -(I substituted Naked 3's Liar for Sable. They are nearly perfect dupes)
MAC Fluidline in Dark Diversion- (Stila Smudgestick in Deep Burgundy)
Sigma Extended Wear Eyeliner in Boost - (Lorac Black eyeliner)
MAC Blush in Gingerly - (MAC Peaches blush mixed with the Body Shop Honey Bronzer)
Jouer Lipstick in Olivia - (Bite Beauty lipsticks in Musk and Lychee)
Here is the look I came up with!
This tutorial was extremely easy to follow along with and I found the look I was able to achieve was really close to Allison's example!
I can't quite capture the same lighting as Allison Anderson (she has studio lighting and a far nicer camera than my iPhone 5!) but I can assure you that this look turned out as it should have, deep burgundy eyeliner and all!
Time: 7 minutes
Difficulty of tutorial: 2/10
Likelihood to wear this look: 10/10
Similarity to Tutorial Example: 9/10
Availability of Products needed: 8/10
Clarity of Instructions in Video: 10/10
Overall grade: A
This was a fantastic makeup look using some MAC eyeshadows I haven't reached for in a while! I love it for its simplicity and Allison's clear instructions make this tutorial a win that I think anyone can achieve as long as they can find comparable colors.
If you want to try this look out yourself, watch Allison's video! It's only 4 minutes long. The screenshots from this post were taken from there:
Today's nail of the day is Butter London's 'Goss' nail polish. It is a rose gold color that leans a little coppery in tone and I must say this is my favorite metallic polish I have ever worn. I tend to stay away from metallics since I tend to get ridges in my nails and metallic polishes can emphasize the ridges. It's not a cute look at all, but this polish managed to camouflage the ridges more than normal metallics do.
This polish was also great because it was perfectly opaque in only 1 coat. It dried super fast and somehow the color hid application mistakes quite well so I think this would be a great out the door polish to apply on the run!
Butter London polishes are a luxury polish brand coming in at $15 a bottle. Try this color out if you're looking for a wearable and not distracting metallic rosey hue to sport on your nails this season!
In Someday, Someday, Maybe, Lauren Graham takes us back to the 90's where instead of cell phones and laptops, fax machines and pagers ruled. We follow the story of Franny Banks, an aspiring actress who has given herself a time limit on her success in New York City. Either she succeeds or she has to move away and give up her dream. Franny has only 6 months left when we first meet her as we follow her through auditions, callbacks, embarrassments, successes, and romance. Armed with her precious FiloFax (which has handwritten pages included in the novel so we can keep track of her busy (and sometimes not so busy) schedule), we watch Franny as she not only grows in acting skills but also in reflection and understanding what's really important.
I found this book to be such a fun read. Graham created a character who is incredibly likable and relatable regardless of if you understand her theater aspirations or not. I found myself consistently rooting for Franny and was really invested in this character's success! I also of course enjoyed the New York aspect to this novel which was my main decision for choosing it. I've been loving being able to understand the NYC vibe the authors try so hard to capture in all these novels I've been reading set in the city. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quirky female lead. Think Lizzie McGuire plus Princess Diaries plus Friends!
It's time for a new series! Nearly all makeup lovers out there have discovered the value of watching Youtube tutorials for step by step instructions on how to do things as simple as a smoky eye or as seemingly unachievable of how to look like a Victoria's Secret model! These tutorials are such amazing tools for makeup lovers for tips, tricks, and inspiration. I find, though, that tutorials very rarely turn out as you expect them to, even when you follow them step by step with the greatest of concentration and skill. I'm starting this series called Tutorial Try-It where I will follow some top makeup tutorial videos and show you my results and grade the tutorial in a variety of categories. My first pick is Jaclyn Hill's 'Bombshell Makeup Tutorial' with 1.5 million views:
Jaclyn Hill is seriously gorgeous and she has completely different coloring from me in every way which brings us to the first reason why tutorials can sometimes go a little wonky. She also has a super nice camera (which I don't have) and uses really blown out lighting in her videos adding to her flawless complexion. Nothing I create will ever quite look like what's on her face but lets give it a shot! Jaclyn describes this look as something you used to see Playboy Bunnies wear and something Pamela Anderson made famous.
Here are the products she used for this bombshell look and in parentheses I'll include the products I had to substitute:
Brown now greasepaint stick (Mally eyeshadow stick in Rosey Taupe with Twinks MAC shadow over it)
creme brulee eyeshadow - makeup geek Garnet eyeshadow- Lorac (MAC Antiqued eyeshadow -she mentions in the video this is a dupe) Cocoa Bear e/s - Makeup geek Coppering eyeshadow - (Naked3 Buzz and Dust) Smolder eye kohl - (Urban Decay Perversion eyeliner) Black eyeshadow nude eyeshadow Makeup Forever HD - 123- (Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Rose Ivory) Anastasia Brow wiz - soft brown ProLong wear concealer NW20 (Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla) Emphasize MAC pro highlighter (Rimmel setting powder) Shroom e/s (Naked Basics Venus) Bobbi Brown bronzer - golden light (Hoola Bronzer by Benefit) Lancome hypnose (Tarte Lights Camera Lashes) MAC peaches blush Hard Candy - Tiki (Ambient Lighting Powder in Incandescent Light) Costa Riche eye kohl (Stila Smudge proof eyeliner in Burgundy) Kardashian Khroma Joystick - babydoll & Au Natural (MAC lipstick in Angel)
Jaclyn used false eyelashes in her look as well which I decided to go with out. Here is what I came up with following her instructions:
So a couple things to start: Right off the bat I didn't have the first product she uses which is the Brown Now Greasepaint stick from MAC. This rich color is what she blends all over the lid to give some richness to the eye look as well as that purple hint. I did my best with the substitutions, but I don't think I nailed it. Also, I do not own an eye kohl pencil. Jaclyn uses the eye kohl to smudge along her lash line then uses black eyeshadow to smudge it all over her entire lower half of her eyelid. I couldn't quite achieve that look with the eyeliner I had.
Overall, I do like this makeup look. It's sexy and really smoldery with the smudged out liner effect rather than the sharp liquid liner I generally go for. I could see myself wearing this look out to date night or a night out on the town.
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty of tutorial: 5/10
Likelihood to wear this look: 8.5/10
Similarity to Tutorial Example: 5/10
Availability of Products needed: 7/10
Clarity of Instructions in Video: 10/10
Overall grade: B
I really enjoy the look I came up with from this tutorial. It is something different that I wouldn't normally have come up with on my own so for that, I think it serves a great purpose. I am bummed that it seems much of the overall look is dependent on that first product Jaclyn lays down in the video (the MAC greasepaint stick) followed by having the correct consistency of eye kohl to be able to smudge it out.
If you want to try this look out on your own, check out Jaclyn Hill's tutorial! Screenshots used are from this video:
Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most luxurious brands out there and I have been lusting after their beautiful lipsticks for quite some time. The brand has a couple of different lipsticks but I received the iconic Rouge Volupte Silky Sensual Radiant lipstick. The packaging is a sleek gold tube with a banded center accented with the color of the product inside. The metal tube is quite heavy and feels weighty in your hands. This packaging is so iconic and is something I would imagine fabulous moviestars from old Hollywood carrying in their beaded and sequined clutches. Does anyone else romanticize makeup like me?
It isn't just the packaging that's gorgeous, however. The product inside is a richly pigmented and silky smooth lipstick that is so buttery soft to the touch that it feels a bit slippery. As an added bonus, this product also comes with an SPF of 15!
I have the color 3, 'Beige Ultimate.' This color is described as a 'mauve taupe' by YSL, but I have to say, it is really more of a pure beige brown. When I swatched this color on my skin I was concerned of how it would look on my pale complexion. It is a trendy color (90's style browns have made a comeback thanks to Kylie Jenner...get it gurl), and I hadn't yet tried this trend on myself.
Here is the color on my light skin. I think the brown color takes on some peachiness on my own skin and I really like that effect! It adds a warmth and richness to my makeup that I enjoy and feels unbelievably light...so much so I kept checking my mirror to make sure the stuff was still on! My lips are CRAZY dry right now due to being thrust back into the dry and cold climate of NYC. I feel like this lipstick does a fantastic job of masking the dryness and adding some moisture back into my lips. For the first time in a week my lips actually felt comfortable and I would use this as a chapstick if it weren't so expensive! This ultra pigmented lip product needs a light hand when applying otherwise you'll end up with quite a thick layer on your lips. It doesn't wear for a super long time (it won't stand a chance against eating or drinking) but for me, I don't mind having to reapply because the color and quality of the product is so spot on otherwise.
This lipstick is $35 for 0.12oz of product. There's no skirting around the issue, this is silly expensive. I can't really justify this cost other than saying its a luxury brand and you are purchasing not only high quality but also a brand name (kind of like buying a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses over cheaper Forever 21 ones). If you're a collector or enthusiast like me, and have been wanting this lipstick, I think its great and would eventually like another one, therefore I would say go for it and take the plunge at the next Sephora sale! This lippie will be a gorgeous addition to your vanity and clutch... I already find myself ogling at it every chance I get. Buy one for yourself here!
