I hope everyone has had a great month so far. For me, July was a crazy busy month and so far August hasn't really been much less crazy. I have my final for my summer class tomorrow and I turned in my final project today. It was such a relief. I was trying to write this (and other posts) while I was studying and working on my project, but I was very quickly falling behind in school. So I chose to put this on the back burner while I worked on my class work. Now that I see the home stretch I wanted to get back to the blog.
Anyway, I had a lot of things that I genuinely loved this past month. Unfortunately, I had one beauty fail in July but we'll get into that later. So without further ado, here are the best of the best for July.
FAVORITES
I wrote a bit about the Odacite Baobab + Sarsaparilla Serum Concentrate for Eye Contour in my post on my skin care heroes. This was a new product for me in July, but I saw pretty quick results. The dark circles that I've struggled with my whole life are actually starting to diminish and I use less of a dark circle corrector. I use one drop for both under eyes and it's ability to de-puff is pretty miraculous. It absorbs quickly and layers well under makeup and eye cream. I've been really impressed with this brand. I really like the natural essential oils for skin care thing.
I'm going to give everyone a break from my waxing poetic about the Hourglass Illume Sheer Color Trio for another month and instead share the love I have had for two foundations this month. The first is the Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Makeup Stick. I love the finish of this! I've always loved the flawless airbrushed look that Lancôme foundations leave. I also adore foundations in stick form. The texture is always super blend-able and the ease of application makes it ideal. This formula specifically is super buildable, so you can swipe on a super light layer or amp it to a medium to full coverage. I was pretty excited for this before I even used it and I was not disappointed. I've used a lot of this month and it still hasn't gone below the barrel so this is going to last forever.
The other foundation that I loved with month is the Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer. It is a thicker foundation with a lot of coverage and it literally lasts all day long. Despite its texture once it's applied it feels super light and you forget that you're wearing anything on your face. A light foundation this is not though so user beware. I purchased the shade that the Sephora Color IQ matched me to, 6.5 Buttermilk. It was a good match if slightly dark. I apply it all over focusing on the outer part of the face. Then I go in with the deluxe sample that I had received in a shade that was too light, 2 Alabaster, on the places that you naturally highlight; the nose, forehead, chin, and cheekbones. It's really easy to use the applicator to dot it on the places you want and then it blends in really nicely with a buffing brush. It also lives up to the claims of doubling as a concealer, I barely use any concealer with this foundation. I really really love using this everyday. I feel super confident all day long because I know that everything is covered and this isn't going anywhere.
I have been all over the place with eye shadow this month. I have worn all sorts of different palettes and formulas (a lot that I've been really over the moon about) but the one thing that has remained a constant is my NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. This primer smooths on the lids as a clear base that shadow adheres to it all day long. This primer also magically makes any eye shadow vibrant. The lack of color base makes it so this primer can also double as a base for concealer under the eyes. This definitely is worth all the hype that surrounds it. This is a must in my collection.
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| Buxom Wildly Whipped Soft Matte Lip Color in Instigator (Not pictured: Centerfold) |
I love a lip product that applies like a lip gloss and wears like a lipstick. Buxom Wildly Whipped Soft Matte Lip Color is that exactly. It's super easy to apply. I love the larger, flat doe-foot applicator. The product goes on with a mousse-like texture and then wears like a really comfortable matte lipstick. It's not an all day liquid lipstick, but that's preferable to me. It wears for several hours and it feels so nice on the lips. Centerfold (not pictured) is a really pretty warm, peachy nude color. It has some micro-shimmer that you can see in the tube, but one the lips it gives a nice finish without any noticeable shimmer. Instigator (pictured) is a nice neutral fig color. It's nice but in a slightly darker more amped up nude color way. It works for me because of my naturally pigmented lips as almost, but not quite, my lips but better. . I really love how easy these are to wear. A++
I dug out an oldie but goody from the collection this month. One of my long term favorite lip glosses has always been the Buxom Full On Lip Polish in Sugar. It's described as a pink truffle. It is a really full bodied gloss that is a sheer pinky-brown nude. There's a lot of sparkle in the tube, but once it's applied it translates into just really glossy. It does have the plumping effect but the tingling doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable. It doesn't multiply the size of your lips but rather plumps them enough to remove any lip lines or crevices. The sheerness of the gloss makes it adaptable so it takes on the shade of the lip liner you pair it with. I've been pairing it with Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillowtalk for a really nice nude lip. This pairing looks great and has been easy to wear with just about any makeup look.
I remember my grandma always wearing sandals. I don't really ever remember her wearing anything else although I'm sure she did. Sandals are pretty tough on your feet, so I also remember that her feet were always cracked and dry. I'm pretty much the same way. I could wear sandals and flip flops every day of my life, but I always vowed that I wouldn't pair them with cracked, dry feet. That declaration left me on the hunt for the perfect foot routine and I've tried a lot of products over the years. I've tried the pumice stones and cheese graters and a lot of creams that were really thick and greasy, or smelled weird, or had disclaimers not to expose your skin to the skin after applying - I kid you not. Even after trying Baby Feet this year, which is a chemical process that forces your feet to peel and reveal new soft skin after you soak them, I still had a pretty deep crack on the heel of my foot.
All of this lead me to Sol Janiero Samba 2-Step Foot Fetish Care. I'll admit that I was gung ho on purchasing this because I love the Bum Bum Cream. I expected this to be pretty much a clone of that, but it's not at all. spoiler Alert: obviously, if it's a favorite so I'm not too disappointed. I use the Spongeables scrubber to clean and soften my feet. Then I use the file that comes in the 2-Step system. It's shaped like a surfboard and it's adorable. This smooths out all the callouses and rough spots and just makes everything super smooth. Then you apply the Foot Fetish Cream. It's pretty much the opposite of what I'm used to. It's not thick. It's not overwhelmingly scented. It's not greasy. It absorbs quickly so you can walk around after applying. My feet are the best that they have every looked and this is really the reason why. They really just need to make a super jumbo size bottle of this cream.
All of this lead me to Sol Janiero Samba 2-Step Foot Fetish Care. I'll admit that I was gung ho on purchasing this because I love the Bum Bum Cream. I expected this to be pretty much a clone of that, but it's not at all. spoiler Alert: obviously, if it's a favorite so I'm not too disappointed. I use the Spongeables scrubber to clean and soften my feet. Then I use the file that comes in the 2-Step system. It's shaped like a surfboard and it's adorable. This smooths out all the callouses and rough spots and just makes everything super smooth. Then you apply the Foot Fetish Cream. It's pretty much the opposite of what I'm used to. It's not thick. It's not overwhelmingly scented. It's not greasy. It absorbs quickly so you can walk around after applying. My feet are the best that they have every looked and this is really the reason why. They really just need to make a super jumbo size bottle of this cream.
FAILS
So those were the things that I loved in July, and my one sad disappointment. I've made some pretty big changes to my routine so expect August favorites to be a lot different than what I've done in the past. I'll have a post up explaining soon...
What did you love in July?
Do you have any thoughts on these products? Share in the comments below.
