Beauty Spotlight: Reinvented Favorites

When I started this blog, my hope was to connect with like minded people and start a dialogue about clothes and fashion. That being said, as you may have noticed, I’ve started to incorporate more beauty posts into my blog content recently. I have always been a Sephora junkie, constantly trying out new products and experimenting with anything I could get my hands on. I am by no means an expert (I watch Kylie Jenner lip liner tutorials just like everyone else), so have been hesistant to make beauty a regular feature. However, some of the most consistent questions I get have to do with my makeup & skincare routine, so I feel this a content addition that only makes sense. Y’alls opinions mean so much to me (I wouldn’t have a blog without you), so I would love as much feedback as possible! Ok, now that I’ve rambled on, let’s talk War Paint. This week I wanted to shine the Beauty Spotlight on some new products recently released by a few of my longtime favorite brands.

I remember the first time I got my makeup professionally done like it was yesterday. I had just gotten my braces off and to celebrate my mom took me to the Clinique counter. I remember hanging on every word that came out of the Clinique Girl’s (aka Sarah) mouth like it was gospel. She made me feel so grown up and important, like Elle Woods, an experience which has kept me loyal to the brand to this day. I was still recording the EXACT shade of blush, until a little Clinique care package crossed my desk and inspired me to shake things up a bit. While I love a more natural look there is nothing wrong with a little pop every once and a while. These new pop lipstick & blush shades infused some much needed life into my makeup routine. There is something about a bold lipstick that just makes you feel like Woman with a capital W.

When you go a school with a uniform dress code, the options for self expression are limited. I had my Nike shocks, Juicy Couture tube socks, and most importantly a MAC lipglass in my oxford shirt pocket. My level of care concerning which lipgloss was worthy to be squired around in my shirt pocket was aggressive and in my middle school mind there was nothing cooler than MAC. I had graduated a little from my Clinique phase and fell into the waiting arms of the makeup brand that boasted Paris Hilton as a fan. I mean what more did I need to know…beside her favorite shade of course (which is Underage duh)! These days I continue my love affair with the brand for much different reasons. MAC’s breadth and depth of product is almost unparalleled especially in their eyeshadow pallettes, there is a reason most makeup artists swear by them. Not only is the quantity there, but the quality is as well. There aren’t any of those step-child shades that stay pristine while the others have metal peeking through. My current favorite is this limited edition Nordstrom Naturals palette. I got it about six months ago and haven’t picked anything else up since.

I first tried bareMinerals at my first blogging conference a few years ago. I was a tad hesitant to even sit down in the makeup chair. Just like in love you always remember your first, and after ‘Clinique Counter Sarah’ I was pretty spoiled. I thought that the makeup artist was going to force some complex routine of tapping and buffing or whatever, like in those late night infomercials. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a lot more to the brand, including solid compacts! Since then I have sampled pretty much their entire repertoire, but the true standout product is their Complexion Rescue. I have sensitive combination skin, sometimes all I have to do is look at a foundation and I breakout. It’s such a tricky balance between decent coverage but not heavy and dewy but not oily. It’s light like a BB cream, but I still feel like it fully evens out my skin tone. I don’t really care for the brush that it comes with, I prefer to use a wet Beauty Blender instead. I can wear this stuff all day and maybe have to touch up with some translucent power once (which is a huge feat for me). The only other foundation I use is Chanel’s Vitalumiere, but it is a lot more expensive so I try to only use it when I have an occasion. Complexion Rescue is definitely a better bargain for the day to day in my opinion.

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