Beauty: Painterly Paint Pot

If you haven't heard the name Painterly before, you must be living under a rock! I never found a need for the $17.50 skin colored base, until I had my beauty epiphany! My epiphany was basically to wear less make-up on a daily basis! As much as I LOVE a shimmery lid and a deepened crease, on an everyday basis it can be a little too much. My only problem was that I have veiny lids and can't stand them! I felt the need to just cave and buy the most hyped eyeshadow base! MAC Cosmetics states:

"A highly pigmented eye colour that goes on creamy but dries to an intense, vibrant finish. Long-wearing, colourfast. Creates seamless coverage without weight or caking. Blends smoothly over the lids. " 




The performance of this product is spot on to the claims! I find that the pink undertone in this paint pot gives me such a beautiful finish. The creaminess is wonderful, and it isn't dry at all! It gives my lids a good coverage, and hides all of my nasty pink, blue, green, and purple veins. I find that it does not crease on me, but I also do not have crazy oily lids. Even so, I find that some other bases can crease on me, but this one did hold up with out primer or setting it with a powder. I apply this paint pot with a clean concealer brush or super clean fingers. You have to be careful because products like this can be a breading ground for bacteria! Yikes! But as long as you are careful and cautious, you should be just fine! Although this product may seem pricy for something so simple, its worth it! The amount you receive is enough to last you a very long time!  Overall I think this is a fantastic product and recommend it to anyone who needs a good flesh toned base!

xoxo

~Alicia and Abby

Travel: Best Invention ever!

So when preparing for a beautiful and amazing time in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, I came across the perfect travel best friend: A blanket that folds into a pillow! Now it may seem pretty lame and not special, but it has saved my life on countless occasions! The pillow blanket is made up of super soft material and comes in a cute pink or a sleek black! When it’s folded in a pillow, its 11x10x3. So its not super big, but big enough to provide the comfort of a soft pillow! When you unzip the blanket and unfold it, you have a blanket that is 60x37! So it’s very long, and pretty wide! The best part about this is the foot pouch! On the bottom of the blanket there is button and extra fabric that you can slip your feet into to get your toes warm! There is also a pouch that you can hide things in when it is in blanket form. Perfect to hold the hotel remote! It also has a loop and a snap closure so that you can attach it to the outside of your bag, and not have to worry about it taking up valuable room! I got mine in March at TjMaxx for less than $15, but they do sell them online for around $30. I love the time and if you can find it at a discount snatch it up! Overall I don’t think I would be able to travel without it! Its with me on the plane, in the car, and with the nasty hotel sheets!

Is there anything you can't live with out when you travel? 

xoxo

~Alicia and Abby

Beauty: Alicia's Would You Rather Beauty Edition!

Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows? Loose all of my Pallettes and shadows!

Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again? Chop it all off! Nothing worse that straw like uneven ends!

Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek? Pink!!!

If you had $1000 to spend, Would you rather buy clothes or makeup? I'm currently on a makeup ban... well al least im really monitoring myself! So clothing!

Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick? Eyeliner as lipstick!

Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora? Sephora! I mean I'd miss MAC, but really?

Would you rather only use one eyeshadow color or one lip color for the rest of your life? Lip color!

Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter? Winter clothes in the summer, cuz it gets freezing here in the winter!

Would you rather dark nails or bright nails all year round? Bright nails!

Would you rather give up your favorite lip product or your favorite eye product? Eye Product! I could maybe live without eyeliner, but never without lip balm!

Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a pony tail or a messy bun? i'm a pony girl!

Would your rather never being able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss? Never use lip gloss! I love my polish too much!

Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all? or sharpie them in everyday? Why would i sharpie them in if i didnt shave them off? But sharpie! Eyebrows take forever to grow back!

Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish? Nail polish! As much as i love it, makeup wins!

Answer these questions! I want to know what you would choose! :)

xoxo

~Alicia and Abby

Haulin'

We went shopping today and well... we caved! Watch the video to see what we got!

Do you like videos every now and then? Were debating on keeping them!

xoxo

~Alicia and Abby

Fashion: How To Save Money on a Shopping Trip!

Lets face it… we all love to shop! There's nothing wrong with trying on countless amounts of outfits and spending money on things you might only wear a couple of times! Here are some tips that will help you save money, and regret, on your future shopping trips!

1. Set a limit for yourself. Giving yourself a limit of howmuch you want to spend will keep you in line, andsave you from truly regretting that Marc bag on sale that you can't return.
2. Know what you’re looking for. Maybe you have an event coming off and on the shopping trip you are planning on getting stuff for that event! Keep those things in mind as you shop. By knowing what your planning on buying before you go to the mall will help you stay on track and not buy the things you have too many of!
3. Glance over your closet before you leave. This is going to create a mental bank of the clothing you have so when you see that really cute shirt, even at $10, you can save that and put it towards a different purchase.
4. Divide up the cost. While starring at yourself in the mirror in the beautiful $50 dress, quickly take the amount of times that you think you will wear it and divide the price by the number. You say you wear it 5 times, that $10 for every time you’re going to wear it!
5. Add in the cost of accessories. When I try on clothes, or see it on a rack, I think of how I would wear it, including shoes, jewelry, handbag, etc. If I don't own anything that I think will look good with the outfit, I rethink the purchase.
6. Look for deals. This is one of the most obvious ones! If you see a bogo, or a sale, check there first! Also look out for coupons and online codes!
7. Be careful with buying extra deals. Sure those shirts may be 2 for $25, but do you really need them? Most of the time you’re saving close to $3, but your spending extra money because you were sucked into the deal. If you only need one, get one. Don't get something unless you truly need it.
8. Basics vs. One time wear. Why spend your money on something that you might not wear as much? Sure you might see a super expensive basic, but the cost will make up for it in the end!
9. Add in any alterations. Sure you love the dress, but it’s too long. "Oh, ill just get it tailored!" well that will run you extra. So the dress may seem reasonable, but time and money will add to the cost.
10. Put it on hold until the end of your trip. You may love that shirt now, but what if you buy 2 other shirts? Do you still really need that one? Plus, you wont want to go back and get it unless you really really like it!

This system will make sure you don't regret al of the things you buy in your future shopping trips! Happy Shopping! :)

xoxo

~Alicia and Abby

Review: Gold Shadows

I'm in love with gold eyeshadow right now.I feel like it's a color that compliments every eye color beautifully.

Gold shadow works for every occasion too; A light dusting of gold shimmer for the beach or a full out smokey gold look for a night out.

Here are some of my favorites:

NARS Sugarland palette

Pros: Awesome rose gold color, and tons of shimmer

Cons: Not very pigmented and creases and flakes if used without a primer

Overall assessment: It's great to use if you're going for a natural look but you still feel like a little sparkle. I love dusting it on my lids over Urban Decay primer in Sin.

NYX Glitter Cream Pallet in One Night in Luxy

Pros: OOH GLITTER!Doesn't flake too much.

Cons: Uneven application, impossible to get off

Overall assessment: Be ready to live the life of Ke$ha for the minimum of 3 days it takes before you wipe away every last sparkle. It's fun to smooth a layer of this over your other eye makeup if you're going for an especially glam look. Being a cream based shadow, it's easier to use than a more flaky glitter shadow which refuses to stick to your lids.

L'oreal HIP Metallic Shadow Duo in Gilded

Pros: Very pigmented, easy to blend, great color.

Cons: The black shadow isn't as pigmented as the gold, although some might consider

this a good thing as it doesn't overpower in a smoky eye.

Overall assessment: My favorite gold shadow. If you haven't tried the HIP eyeshadows you need to!

They're my current makeup obsession and for the price (around $8 but I found some of the duos at

my local 5 below for only $2.99!) their pigmentation is outstanding.

Sorry for the weird pictures...we're working on getting better pictures of products!

What's your current makeup obsession?

xoxo

~Abby and Alicia

Review: Revlon Cream Shadows!

Khakis Suede

I recently renewed my love for cream products (besides my beloved everyday benefit cream shadow) after I was forced to coat, my eyes in Vaseline. It wasn't that bad, however I loved the sheen it gave my lid and the shimmery creamy texture. The next day in a routine trip to Ulta (with a coupon) I decided to pick up my second quad of the Revlon creams. I was going to pick up two because of the buy one get one %50 off, but I held back and stuck with one. The two I currently own are Khakis Suede and Not Just Nudes.

Pros: One of the pros to these cream shadows is the price. One of the quads will run you anywhere from $4-6 for 3.4 total g. of product. You can also get them on sale and snag them for an even lower price! Another thing I love about these is the shade range. Each quad has beautiful shades that complement each other beautifully, and also has various finishes from mattes to shimmers to high shimmer. Throughout the quads you have many different shades to choose, from purples, to bright summer colors, to neutral wearable shades. I also love the creamy formula. They are creamier than MAC paint pots, NYX jumbo pencils, and my Benefit cream shadow/liner.

Cons: The biggest con is that they crease! This can be avoided if you prime your lids and set it with a powder shadow. If shadows never crease on you could skip setting them, and they will work just fine! The only other con is the packaging. It does come with a mirror, but it does feel a little cheep. But for me, that’s not a big factor.

Overall I think if you have a good primer these are worth a try! If you don’t have a primer go pick on up! I love the NYX and L’oreal De Crease!

xoxo

~Alicia and Abby