Thrift Stores

So on Friday my roommate and I decided to finally visit Port Jefferson. Port Jeff is only a few miles away from Stony Brook University and the S60 bus is actually located inside of campus. The trip over was relatively short but let me tell you Port Jeff was beautiful <3>And hidden between a row of small boutiques and restaraunts was a little shop. It was a thrift store and they sold preowned and new items. They had everything from clothes (although their selection wasn't so great), wallets, bags, shoes, trinquets, wind chimes (just about every store was selling wind chimes), and more importantly (and what I will be discussing is) jewelry.

I am a pretty stereotypical girl in the fact that I love things that are shiny >.< >I bought these cute silver earrings with a sun/flower like design on top and a teardrop with a pink gemstone on the bottom and two silver gemstones sitting on top of the pink one at the bottom of the teardrop.

I also bought these butterfly filigree earrings. They're so light and I've always wanted butterfly earrings, they're like one of the few bugs that creep me out. It has black wiring with silver plastic rhinestones. **********************************************************************
Fashion Tip for Accessories for the Big, Bold and Beautiful:
If you have a large bust opt for a short necklace that stops above your breasts.
A large bag, it'll slime you down in proportion.
Get a long cardigan the narrow fold will allow you to appear much thinner
If you're tall as well, wear a maxi dress that'll cover up your flaws

Fashion Tip in General:
If you have a large roundish face try large chunky earrings to slim it down
Thin faces should have slim hoops and sized medium to small
Look less gaudy by using only 2-3 types of jewelry (ring,necklace,bracelet, earrings), don't go crazy or you'll actually look pretty crazy.

Fashion Tip for the Petite:
Opt for thin or studded jewelry because large chunky hoops will probably over power your face Get a cropped jacket that stops at your waist and preferably at 3/4 sleeves , it'll make you look longer and thinner
Get a coat that stops at the hips any further like towards the knees and you'll look even shorter. Sorry but no long trench coat :( *********************************************************************

And finally i got this lovely fo-pearl necklace <3>Just before we left I got my roommate to buy a medium bag with a flower print for $.
mwahaha making people spend $ my favorite past time.

That's all for my thrift store adventure, they'll definitely be seeing me again :D

Your Skin But Flawless

I love Stony Brook University and their free mall runs to the shopping district. And of course I love the gurus on youtube because otherwise I would have never known about Ulta. For those of you who don't know, Ulta is a cosmetic, perfume, hair care, etc. store like Sephora or CCO or Sally's Beauty Supply. I was so excited when I found it because I was hoping to get some good products to try out (at a low price).
Now Ulta isn't cheap per say, but they sometimes have items on super low clearance or just products you have a hard time finding. For me, I hit the jackpot and got one item on clearance and another I just couldn't find in Walgreens (Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask). But the product I will be discussing today is Sally Hansen's Inspired by Carmindy: Your Skin Makeup Foundation.... Okay seriously they need a shorter name.

I was curious about the product because of the following:
a) Sally Hansen is well known for their nail polish and so forth but how well is their cosmetics section?
b) I need a new liquid foundation because Summer made me tan and now my Max Factor doesn't suit me at the moment.
c) Why is it on clearence? lol

First off let me just say I LOVE THIS PRODUCT <3

It matches my skin color so well! And it has a slightly thicker consistency than my Max Factor foundation. My Max Factor would actually run down when I put it on the back of my hand (that's my way of applying liquid foundation, I use my E.L.F. foundation brush), it was extremely liquidy but I never thought much about it because it was my first liquid foundation. But the Sally Hansen foundation actually stays put on your hand but it's not so thick because when you apply it on your face, you don't feel it. Hence Your Skin Foundation.

Other notes on the product is that it leaves a somewhat Matte finish (no product can handle my T-zone yet, specifically my nose) but once I add my E.L.F. tone correcting Concealer, my skin looks fairly flawless. I'd like to say that when I'm not wearing foundation, the pores on my nose and a little bit on the T-zone actually visible... too visible. But once I put Sally Hansen foundation, E.L.F. concealer and finish it off with my Borghese mineral loose powder foundation (you should always set liquid foundation with powder) I'd like to think that my skin looks so good and doesn't appear like I'm wearing makeup.

This product (according to the website) is very good for oily skin types because it has oil absorbers. Which I agree because my T-zone looks exceptionally less shiny. It's also paraban free for those who are concerned. Parabans may or may not be linked to Breast Cancer so many consumers want paraban free cosmetics, lotions, etc. (look at your ingredient list on products you'll probably end up seeing a paraban or two). You'll usually find paraban free products with mineral products so not only do mineral product last forever, that's right no such thing as an expiration date, but it's also paraban free.

And now I'll just break it off with the Pros and Cons.

Pros:
-Matches my skin type perfectly! I'm Filipino and the color i got was Spice.
-It stays on my skin for most of the day (it starts to wear off I'm guessing around 8 hours)
-It's weightless on your skin.
-It gives Medium to Full Coverage
-It comes with a PUMP! Take that MAC! trying to get people to pay ~$15 for a pump smh
-You only need a half a pump-one pump for application.
-paraban free, all natural mineral makeup
-absorbs oil so especially perfect for people with Combination to Oily Skin
-full of Vitamin A to improve skin (which I kinda agree because my skin is soft but i could also give credit to my skin care routine)
-It was on clearance so I only paid $3 and that's dirt cheap for liquid foundation (plus it'll never expire) makeup

Cons:
-there are only 12 skin colors so your choices are not that great. worst comes to worst, you'd have to mix colors to get your color and that's too annoying for me
-It has such strong staying power, that it actually stains your foundation brush, my E.L.F. brush is now a different color but I don't care because it only costs a $1 anyway :P
-The bottle is frosted so you either:
a) look up the colors beforehand
b) look under the bottle which has a clear sticker to see the color of the foundation
-The Carmindy line is hard to find if you don't have an Ulta. You may have to try your luck with a CVS
-It's full price is $12.99 which is around what other liquid foundations cost like L'oreal. So not that cheap but not that pricey either.

Overall:
PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT! IT may cost $12.99 but it'll last forever because it's a mineral makeup. The staying power is very good for me because the most touch up I do is with my concealer. It's great for Oily and Combination skin, my skin seems to have calmed down a bit with the oiliness. And it's medium to full coverage for those who need it, and I need it (pimples and giant pores are not fun).

So try out his product. Who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with it like me :D

For more information check out:
product:
http://www.sallyhansennaturalbeauty.com/products/skin/Your-Skin-Makeup-Foundation

About Parabans and the Sally Hansen Natural Makeup Line:
http://www.sallyhansennaturalbeauty.com/paraben-free/

Product Review

This week's post is: all hail NYC ( New York Color) Creme Blush Sticks!

New York Color is a drugstore brand that can be found in virtually everywhere: Rite Aid, CVS, Walmart, Target, etc. But if you really want a good deal watch out for Rite Aid and CVS's BOGO (buy one get one 50% off) or better yet BOGF (buy one get one free) sales.

The creme blushes come in 6 shades of colors: Big Apple Blush, Mauvin' Uptown, South Street Sea Shell, Urban Spice, Berry New Yorker, and Plazza Pink. The last two colors are limited edition and I could only find them at my currently local Ulta (near SBU).

These creme blushes are incredible for 5 reasons:
(1) they're hugeeeeee! you get 8grams or 0.28 oz.
(2) easy usage, it's a retractable stick (like a lip stick)
(3) nice pigmentation, it can easily be built up or sheered out depending on your preference
(4) the texture is creamy so it will glide on with your finger, so a little will go a long way
(5) it's cheap especially if you get at during a sale. It costs $3.99 at regular price.

Now i only have two colors specifically and it's Big Apple Blush and Mauvin' Uptown.
Big Apple Blush is a nice baby pink and would like best as a flushed color on your cheeks. A classic blush color. While Mauvin' Uptown is a more burgundy color and would probably look best on darker skin tones.

*the amount of product*
Now for me there are two Cons:
(1) you would have to reapply approximately every four hours (and this is if you didn't set it with powder blush, which I don't use)
(2) the limited edition ones are hard to find and sometimes I can't even find the regular ones like South Street Sea Shell.

Overall:
Try out the product! It's great for the price, pigmentation, texture and just about everything. And at $4 a pop, what do you have to lose?

*Left to Right: mauvin' uptown and big apple blush*