Makeup Storage

Hello Everyone,

Today I want to talk about my makeup storage. I don't have a lot of space in my house, so I have to work with what have, which is not much. As a result, I completely took over the master bathroom in our house lol. My poor husband will have a heart attack when he comes home, because the amount of my makeup literally quadrupled since I started beauty blogging. Well.... maybe it's not as bad as I think, because I did have a lot of makeup before but it wasn't all nice and organized like it is now so it seemed like I had less.

My main storage place is my bathroom window. I don't have a before photo, but lets just say it looked pretty similar but without the cool storage units. In other words it was crowded the same way it is crowded right now, but now I can fit more stuff on!

On the left I have two Muji storage units/things, one is completely filled with mineral eyeshadows (but still has a little space left for more!), another is filled with lipsticks and eyeliners. Originally I bought it for lipsticks but I don't have as many, so I filled it up with whatever will fit and stay put since it is pretty low.

Next to Muji's containers I have 2 big brush holders and 4 smaller ones, one of them is from e.l.f. and the rest are plastic cups from a very cute UK store PaperChase. (Not all of them are the same, but I can't find any others on their website) My brushes are organized by big face brushes, small brushes and the rest of brushes. I do not use all of them, but I don't have any other place to put them so I have all on display. Actually, having my brushes in these cups helped with my cats trying to steal them. For some reason my kitties don't bother brushes that are in containers. Go figure.

In  other 3 cups I have my mascaras, eyeliners, lip glosses and lip pencils, as well as eye primers and concealers. You can't see it in the photo above, but there is a cup hidden behind the blinds.You can catch a glimpse of it in photo below.

The place in between, which is currently filled with the Naked Palette and stuff on top of it are my every day use items. Once I get tired of Naked Palette I will put another palette there, and pile up whichever foundation, powder, primer, etc.. that I use at the time.

Here you can see a glimpse of my bathroom mirror, and this is where I stand when I put makeup on. I've been doing it this way for years because I've never had space for a vanity or a makeup table. At this point I don't even know if I would like a vanity, since I'm so used to putting makeup on while standing.

The rest of my makeup stuff are stashed away in pretty white storage towers that I got from Argos. I have the Slimline 4 Drawer storage tower and 2 Piece Rattan Effect storage set. I actually thought they were both the same make, but they are not. Slimline is slightly longer in depth, 24cm vs. 20cm  but I get more units with the Rattan Effect. Not a big deal overall, but a lot of longer items (like hair sprays and dry shampoos) will not fit in the Rattan Effect.

How do you store your makeup? Are you pressed for space too, or do you have a luxury of having a vanity table? :)

~ Lyuba

My Two Absolute Favorite Makeup Brushes

Hello Ladies,

I'm on the roll after I discovered the greatness of scheduled posting on Blogger. Now I can write several posts when I feel inspired and schedule them instead of forcing myself to write every day. And I'm a bad writer because I don't like to write.

I am not sure if I said that before, but I am absolutely in LOVE with EcoTools brushes. At this point I think I have almost all of the ones they released, save some individual ones. Having said that, there are two brushes that I can't live without now and use them every time I apply makeup. Unfortunately these two brushes are not yet available in UK, and on the whole UK selection looks really sad compared to US selection. 

Both of these brushes came from different sets. I have to confess that I bought EcoTools Alicia 5 Piece Brush set only for the duo fibre brush, because I've never seen it anywhere else and I WANTED it. I have no idea who Alicia Silverstone is, nor do I really care, (although her face seems familiar) and I haven't even touched the rest of the brushes in this set. Or the bag for that matter, although it is pretty nice bag.

EcoTools 5-Piece Mineral Brush set gets a little big more love from me because I use the whole 2 brushes from there! I use the Baby Kabuki brush as my primary blush brush, and Mineral Powder brush to apply primer.

Both sets are amazing value for the money, especially if you don't have many brushes. Alicia Silverstone one is $15.99 (but I believe it is a limited edition, and the only place I was able find it online is Amazon.com so get it while you can!!!) and the Mineral 5-Piece set is$12.99 at Ulta.com or $10.49 currently on Amazon. Both sets are probably readily available in stores in US, but I don't live there right now so can't comment on that.

Duo Fibre brush: 
I have two other brushes in this type, one by Sigma and another by e.l.f. I can't comment on the e.l.f. Stipple Brush because I just got in the mail, but I have been using Sigma Duo Fibre F50 for several weeks now so I can tell the difference between them. I think I will do a comparison post between all 3 of them once I get some use from e.l.f. Stipple Brush.

As I said, I've been using Sigma's Duo Firbre brush for several weeks now and it worked well. Or so I thought, because I never used a brush like that and simply didn't know better. Then I got the EcoTools one and immediately can tell that it works better for me.  It almost seems like I have to use less foundation with it too, and it blends so WELL. My nose is my problem area when it comes to foundation, because I can never get it to look natural there. With this brush I can. I used this brush to apply the foundation in this post, and I love how my skin looks. Natural but smooth and flawless.

Mineral Powder brush: 
Originally I used this brush to apply my foundation because it is just dense enough to blend very well, but after I started using Duo Fibre brush I designated it to being my primer brush.  I dip this brush in the primer (like with Maybelline The Smoother) or deposit a little primer on my hand and blend from there (like with any tube or pump primers). It's a breeze to blend foundation or primer with it, and I feel it gives me an even coverage all over my face.

Another thing that I like about these brushes is how small they are. I apply makeup in my bathroom, standing in front of the mirror so longer brushes usually get in the way as I like to get up close and personal with my mirror. I would probably have less trouble with longer brushes if I used an actual makeup mirror (which I have), but I have no space for it right now. So shorter brushes work much better for me.

See how small they are compared to my hand? Obviously this is not a good measurement since none of you know how big my hands are, but you just have to trust me when I say I don't have large hands. :)

Overall, I can't live without these two brushes now. What are your favorite face brushes?

~ Lyuba

Review: Maybelline Instant Anti-Age The Smoother Skin Retexturizing Primer

Hello Ladies,

This Maybelline Instant Anti-Age The Smoother Skin Retexturizing Primer (what a mouthful huh?) was very high on my TO BUY list ever since I swatched it in Superdrug. Because it felt so nice and looked so cute :) Yes, I'm a sucker for packaging.... guilty as charged.

I wanted to try this primer with The Eraser foundation, but I just so happened to get me the US version of The Eraser and didn't need the UK one. Would you be interested in me comparing those two (US and UK one)? I already can see some differences in the range itself, for example I believe that US has more shades and they are possibly named differently. And their primer is in the tube instead of cool glass container.

I bought it from Superdrug because none of my local Boots had it yet at the time, but right now both stores have it on sale for £7.99 although I paid the full price of £9.99. Like I said, I was in love with the texture and the packaging. I'm not a fan of luxurious makeup (because of the price tag), but this primer feels very luxurious to me. Probably because of the sheer weight of the container. 


So here is what they say: 

Our gel formula retexturizes skin, creating a perfectly smooth, visibly transformed complexion. Our gel formula instantly lifts and diminishes the look of pores; retexturizing skin’s surface for the smoothest looking complexion – with or without make-up.

And this is what I say: 
First I would like to mention to price. £9.99 for a measly 7ml when normally primers come at around 30ml (or is it me who just happens to buy those at 30ml?) is a little steep in my book. Just to illustrate my point, the US equivalent of this primer comes in a 27ml tube. What's up with that Maybelline? 

I love the gel formula and it is clear in color, so you can't see it on the skin once applied. I had a lot of fun photographing it because the texture was coming out sooooo nicely.

See? You can't see it all, but it is there! And not even blended.

I applied it with a brush from this set by dipping the brush in the primer and then transferring  it to my face in circular motion. I have to dip it in several times to get the coverage I like, especially paying attention to the nose area since that's where my foundation usually looks the worst. 

This is NOT how much I use for my whole face. I dip it in several times

I didn't notice any visual difference in my complexion after applying this primer but then it's not like I have a lot of wrinkles and large pores yet. But my face did feel very smooth and nice to touch. However, my face feels exactly the same when I use GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer. They are both very similar in consistency, except GOSH one is more runny when Maybelline is more solid.

The foundation glided on top of this primer very smoothly and lasted the usual amount of time it lasts for me - the whole day with minimal powdering on the nose throughout the day. I also cannot comment on how it would feel for someone with dry or oily skin, since I have a normal skin. I do believe that it might be better for dry to normal skin because it felt very moisturizing.


Overall I am impressed with this primer, but I will not buy it again. Why? Because to me GOSH Velvet Touch works in exactly the same way and for £12.99 I get 30ml of product vs. £9.99 for only 7ml with Maybelline. Yes, it lasts a long time and a little goes a long way, but so does GOSH and at 30ml it will last a LOT longer. 


What do you think? Have you tried Maybelline Instant Anti-Age The Smoother Skin Retexturizing Primer? 


~ Lyuba

Review: e.l.f Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Raspberry

Hello Ladies,

Usually e.l.f. products are hit and miss with me, and I still have a LOT of products to go through after my two Black Friday and Christmas orders. Today I'm reviewing e.l.f Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Raspberry and it is a hit. You can see me wearing it here.

I realized I misspelled lipstick in every photo lol, but I didn't feel it was worth the trouble to redo the whole thing

I wanted to try some e.l.f. lip products, and since I'm not a big lip gloss girl I didn't feel bad about spending the whopping $1.00 (except it was half off when I bought it lol) on a lip gloss that potentially wouldn't work for me. This is what e.l.f. says:

e.l.f Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Raspberry therapy is here. Intensive hydrating agents along with natural pigments leave lips with long-lasting color and moisture. This luscious liquid lipstick creates wearable color that flatters a multitude of skin tones and looks.

This is what I say:
I had my doubts about it, well... because it is a lip gloss even if they call it liquid lipstick, and I always have my doubts about lip glosses. However, this liquid lipstick really impressed me. First, the color swatch on the website is off, but the little square of color is closer to real thing. The smell is sweet minty something, but I'm very bad with smells so I can never describe them precisely.  Either way, the smell is not very strong and disappears almost instantly.

It took a lot of turns for the product to finally to come out, but to e.l.f's credit they do tell you to twist 10-12 times before first application. By the time something came out, it looked like half a tube was gone. Maybe this is a product waste, but for that price I will not complain. Plus, I like to feel like I can actually finish the product. I do not enjoy spending a lot of money for little of product, but for a $1 bargain it is not that big of a deal to me.

I am happy with the color pay off too, it makes my lips look nice and pink but still natural. I like my lips more natural looking, mostly because I can't be bothered to reapply the lip products except a lip balm. I actually reapplied this without a mirror and it worked just great. I love that, because I rarely have a mirror on me.

The staying power is ok too, it lasted for at least 2 hours until I ate something. The color was gone after eating, but moisture was still there.This is probably the most important consideration for me, because I am obsessed with my lips being moisturized at all time.

So overall I am pretty impressed. The quality of the product for the price is amazing, and you can have lots of colors without breaking the bank.

Have you tried any of e.l.f's Luscious Liquid Lipsticks? If yes, what do you think?

~ Lyuba

First Look with UD Naked Palette

Hello Ladies,

Few weeks ago I was finally able to get me the Urban Decay NAKED Palette after month of waiting for it to come back in stock. I didn't use it right away because I was on a general no makeup hiatus (or makeup hiatus?), but now I feel like I'm back to normal so here is a FOTD look using Naked Palette. Actually I have to confess that it's not my first look, but it's my first look that I photographed.... :) :) :)

I will not review the palette since it was already done numerous times, but aren't these colors just GORGEOUS? For someone who likes crazy colors, I sure like my nudes too :)

I desperately need a haircut, so I hid my terrible looking fringe by pulling it back with this cool headband/fascinator from Primark. I love me some Primark for accessories ;) I think it looked pretty cute, but sadly it doesn't have anything to hold my hair down so it's only good for a short time.

Face:

• MAYBELLINE The Smoother Skin Retexturizing Primer
• MAYBELLINE Dream Satin liquid Air-Whipped foundation in Ivory
• No 7 Instant Radiance Concealer in shade II 
• e.l.f. All Over Color Stick in Percimmon on cheeks

Eyes:

• NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Auburn/Red - used Auburn
• URBAN DECAY Primer Potion
• UD Naked Palette
• No 7 Exception Definition Mascara - black

Lips: 

• e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Raspberry

So what do you think? Show me your looks with Naked Palette :)

~ Lyuba