(my first trip to) Lancome!!!

HELLO!!!! Never thought I would try this brand because it is EXPENSIVE! But they were having a free gift with purchase and we ALL KNOW I am such a sucker for free! Almost (or certainly) to a fault. So I went into Macy's (which I have never liked because the only other Macy's I have been to was kinda lame) and walked by the Lancome stand and I felt compelled to look. And look I did! The woman behind the counter was super sweet and not pushy at all. (Can you tell the kindness and personality of the counter woman is always super important and memorable to me? CUZ IT IS) I started off looking at the eye shadows, because that seems safe to me, and then she helped me look at some other fun things they had.

So here are the things I bought and then I will show the things I got for free at the bottom. Please excuse the stock photos, when it constantly rains there is no good time to take pictures with good lighting.

First, the lipstick. I wanted a bright coral for the summer. I wanted something a little more orange but she suggested one a little more pink first, since it would be easier to match to an eye color. The color is called Rose Boudoir. It is a really pretty color and is insanely pigmented! I just did one swipe over my lips and I was good to go! I forgot to blot when I drank my coffee so some did come off on my cup but I did not need to reapply. It stayed opaque and perfect for hours! It isn't too drying, but if you like wearing lip gloss I would put one over it just to give it a shine since it seems a little matte. But I don't like lip gloss.

The next two things I bought were eye shadows. And you know me, I can't do natural to save my life so of course they are fun and bright! I swatched these at the counter just lightly (because I hate being a swatch hog and messing up the sample for everyone else, ehem!) and the pigment was amazing! It transferred to my hand effortlessly and beautifully. I was impressed. Despite wanting to buy every single color, like I always do, I chose two that I wanted the most.

 All That Glitters (isn't that a MAC color name too? Hmm.) This is a super pigmented silver that I can't wait to put with JUST ABOUT EVERY COLOR or a fun smokey eye for a night out

Designer. Super gorg. olive that has a bit of shimmer to it which would be a fun crease color with some tans or an all over for something more sultry.

I have been wanting to find a better eye liner in gel form since I finally have come to accept that my ELF gel eye liner smudges no matter what I do. That seriously took me months to finally accept and stop using it. It would completely ruin my make up looks but I still used to because it was better than a pencil liner. Anyway, I wanted to try black tracks from MAC but just never made it to a counter so I thought I would try the gel liner from Lancome since I was already there! I love it so much better than that horrid ELF liner. It has not smudged or creased or moved AT ALL since I have been wearing it! I use it with just an angled liner brush that is thinner than the one she suggested to me and more angled than the one that is supposed to be used with the liner. There were a lot of other fun colors that were there too but I always seem to buy colored eye liner and then always go back to ol' faithful black.

Black Fishnets. Yup, it's just black. Who woulda thought right?

I also decided to pick up an eye shadow pallet because it was so pretty! But pricey! AH! I tested every single one until my hand and arm was so swatched I didn't have any skin showing! I decided on a mint green pallet because I figured mint is really in for the spring. I am some what disappointed with the color pay off of these colors, for two opposite reasons! The mint color is not very pigmented at all despite how gorgeous it looks like it might be. And then the brown is WAY too pigmented to use with the mint since it shows up way more than the mint! I have to barely apply any to make it look proportionate. I liked the brown, the light champagne color and the deep green color at the bottom. The high lighter color and mint green are kinda duds. Kinda disappointing considering the price. I still have used it a few times with different primers and bases to try and make it bolder but it seems that nothing is working. I like it for a natural look with a small pop of green. So if you are looking for something more natural for spring and less drama, this might work for you!

Mint Jolie. Meh.

So those were the items I paid for and now for the FREE STUFF!!! YAY! Some of the pictures are of the full size items but they really only came as samples. The only things I got as full size are the lipsticks and lip gloss. Still, the samples look like they will go a long way!

 Pale Lip. Absolutely perfect pale lip color to go with dramatic or natural face look. not too pink or too yellow. just perfect! Love!

 Wannabe. Bold fuchsia color that is similar to a less bold rebel by MAC. Not sure what I will wear this with yet but I am sure I will find something! Fun!

 Vintage Rose. When a nude is not enough! Great as a neutral lip color that gives your lips just a little somethin' somethin' to help complete the look! Versatile!

 Nude. This is an eye shadow base. I really like this because it is matte and helps actually cover any veins or redness on my eye lid. And keeps my make up on very well!

 

 Vissionnaire. This is a corrector. Not really sure what I am supposed to use 'The result: on the surface, wrinkles* and pores* are visibly corrected, imperfections like signs of UV damage and acne marks appear diminished.this for. Was kind od disappointed that the woman didn't tell me. According to the website it says " Sure, why not. I am doubtful that it will cure my ever growing acne scars but it feels nice on the skin.

   

 Doll Eyes in black. This is a really wonderful mascara! It is buildable to create a wonderful flase eye lash look knowing they are your own! I think it was decent on both lengthening and volumizing. If this was on sale (yeah right like that would happen) or in a gift set I would consider buying it again, but it is was too expensive to buy on its own considering I have found a few drug store brands that have awesome mascaras for dirt cheap. Still nice though, no flaking or smudging. Not too drying or too wet. You should for sure take it off before bed or it kinda makes your lashes stiff and gross in the morning. (why aren't you taking off your mascara before bed anyway right! don't judge me!)

  

High Resolution anti wrinkle cream. This seems to be a pretty general anti wrinkle cream. It's light and smells great but obviously don't like it will cure wrinkles (like the one on the top of my nose that I blame on not wearing sunglasses when driving!!! GAH!!!)

Genifique. This is a serum with an eye drop applicator. It says to use it in the morning and at night. For now I am just using it at night because I feel I have so many different kinds of moisturizers and primers and foundations that go on in the morning that I really don't have room to add more thing during my make up routine. A little goes a looooooong way without feeling greasy before bed.

Again I probably won't buy any of the skin items because I don't really feel I need them and am more concerned with acne right now and have a few anti aging products that are gentle and meant as a start to my anti aging routine to come. But still have no complaints about the skin products.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience at the counter, the woman was wonderful and honest and I felt that what she suggested to me was trustworthy and informative. She wasn't pushing products on me even though clearly I was ignorant to anything Lancome and was open to suggestion. I really consider these things with sales people. I, myself, feel when I sell products at work I am honest with their needs and don't push anything, even though there are quotas to meet and my performance is monitored. I feel I sleep better at night doing this and feel that I am respected by clients more. So I for sure consider this when getting suggestions and help from anyone in a store or counter. I seriously am that annoying customer that asks at least one employee their opinion before buying anything, sorry ladies.

Yay for trying something new. I for sure am happy with my purchases and don't feel I need to return anything or regret buying anything. all in all, loved it!

See you guys next time!

New foundation + no make up day

Hey guys!
I am doing a no make up day today and tomorrow (or trying to) so I won't make a video blog this week since no make up= not pretty on camera. I'm doing this to give my skin a rest and to hopefully clear up. My skin has really been freaking out on me lately so I have been trying to go lighter on the foundation and also going back to my Aveda foundation since I know this foundation doesn't freak my skin out and actually helps clear it up.

BUT
I did find a new foundation that I am (for now) IN love with. I went to Sephora for the first time in hopes to find some help in finding a foundation since my MAC one was a bust. The woman who helped me was super porcelain and knew exactly what I was looking for. Surprisingly I was a bit darker than her so that made me feel a little better that there might be something out there that works. She suggested the Tarte 12 hour Amazonian Clay Foundation.

I wasn't sure about it because I have heard mixed reviews and also when I tested on my skin on my own felt it was too yellow and the next color up was too dark but pink. She tried the fair shade and the light shade on me and we agreed the yellow undertone but lighter one worked better. I was shocked the yellow toned tint actually counteracted the pink in my skin. This can go either way, if it is too yellow I look like I have jaundice and too pink and it makes my pink look worse. This was perfect though. I like how I didn't need very much at all and a little went a long way. I did use it alone and with Urban Decay's De slick spray. Both times I felt my oily skin reacted well and I could go longer with it on without feeling like I needed to blot (which I don't like to do) or reapply powder (which I don't like to do). With the De slick, my skin went a whole 9 hours without feeling oily and by itself maybe 6 or so hours. This is great! in the past no matter what primer or foundation I used, I usually had to re powder every 3 hours! I know, my skin hates me! I am super impressed and will for sure repurchase this foundation. I did put my Aveda powder over it with just a light dusting with a brush just to make it a bit lighter and to ensure there would be no dewy look. Plus, I was so happy that she gave me a sample first because it is spendy. In other great news, emilynoel on youtube turned me on to QVC which has this foundation for 5 dollars cheaper AND comes with the brush (which is 36 bucks on its own!) So when I do run out I will probably purchase it for QVC instead. Even though I don't like buying things online because I am never home to receive packages and my fedex/ups package handler doesn't like leaving things on my door step! Humph! All in all this is awesome. Super pumped to continue using it.

Now if only my skin would stop reminiscing about being in high school and breaking out!

Who doesn't love free stuff?

So today I had a few hours to waste before going into work. Starbucks: check. gas station: check. Ulta: CHECK! I went in with barely any intention on buying anything unless it caught my eye. Well cheese, I found something awesome. Ulta had a free gift with a purchase of 17.50 of any of their Ulta brands. Considering I feel that the Ulta brand cosmetics are over priced for their quality, I realized it wouldn't be too hard to buy 18 bucks worth of stuff. But their free gift was so adorable! AND IT WAS FREE! I'm such a sucker for things like this.
So here are the three eye shadows I bought so I could get the free 13 piece gift.

I really like the bright purple and wanted to try some neutral colors for funsies. The color on the far left is a golden olive, the one in the middle is a taupe/gold. and of course, the bright purple!

So here is the free gift!!!

There is quite a bit of awesomness going on here. 2 eye shadow quads, two eye shadow brushes, one contour brush, a blush, mascara, double sided lip gloss, lip stick, 2 double sided eye liners and a nail polish. fwew. That is a lot of stuff. All of it came in this cute green canvas bag. There were two other gifts in either purple or pink but I liked the bright colors of the green one best. They threw in some peachy colors for the lip stick and lip gloss. The quads don't have very good pigmentation but after I swatched it, I had to scrub them off my hand, so at least they have staying power. I am really excited to try and do a one brand look with this as well as incorporate them into my collection. Tutorial and reviews to come!

The last thing I got was the NYX stay matte not flat foundation powder. I was watching emilynoel on youtube when she did a one brand tutorial on nyx and was super impressed with the color and look of the powder. I got number 04 which I guess is the second lightest? I was confused by the numbering system because 01-03 were yellow undertones going from light to dark and then 04 and 05 were pink undertones. 05 was really dark though. I swatched and swatched to make sure I was getting the right color and I like 04 a lot better than 01. And I think it's a lot lighter too. I don't know what kind of coverage it will give me considering I like very heavy coverage. I might try it on it's own first and if it is not enough I'll dust it over a liquid.

 Well I must say that was an awesome way to spend my morning before work. I'll put a look up soon of all the colors I got.

Until next time!