What makeup is everyone wearing today?   Today I am wearing:   1. Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation in Champagne 2. Benefit Coralista blush 3. TheBalm Mary-Loumanizer 4. Dior Creme de Rose Lipbalm 5. Dior Addict Lipstick in 454 6. Benefit Creaseless Cream shadow in RSVP   and under all this I am wearing Neutrogena Pure and Free Liquid Sunblock SPF 50   So c'mon now...confess!

What beauty moment are you having right now?  Are you currently into the bright lipstick look?  All neutrals?  The bronzed look?  Trying a different hairstyle everyday?    My current beauty moment is mixing blushes.  I'm usually a one and done type of girl, but since I've purchased the LORAC blushes (um, all of them!) that were on sale a while back I've started to mix blush colors- a cream blush layered with a complimenting powder blush; a bright blush muted with a skin colored blush; blush bronzer mix.   Next, I'm gravitating towards lightening up my eye looks.  As it's getting warmer (and stickier in DC) I'm softening my eye looks and layers of colors to one soft color and a bright eyeliner (or just brown or black). What beauty moment are you having?

My older brother is getting married next month to his girlfriend of five years and I would like to get them something different, so I thought what better than matching perfumes? I am thinking D&G Light Blue for Femme and for Homme since they are fresh scents that appeal to most everyone. Is this okay? My other sibling pointed out that they may not like it and thus never use them, but I argued that they are good quality expensive perfumes that neither would ever think of purchasing for themselves. What do you think? Is this a good gift that they will enjoy, or am I way off the charts?

We have the highly addictive "What are you wearing today?" thread- and it got me thinking about how our nails are a sidebar in that conversation.   So, what's on your nails today?   I just swapped Chanel Rose Insolent for Butter London Come to Bed Red.   Nothing on my toes!

So we're always posting on hauls and stuff, and I thought this would be an interesting twist. Lots of us have that one (or more) thing that we eye every time we go into sephora/ sephora website, and we want to get it but we don't. What is yours? What about it tempts you? and Why don't you get it?   I''ll start. For sephora.com, I would definitely say the urban decay eyeliner vault.  All those shades are so tempting, and I am such a junkie for pretty colors. But it is too expensive too buy all of them, especially that I already have too many eyeliners, so I always tell myself that I wouldn't use all those colors anyways.  

Time to confess- what is/are your most recent unexpected beauty love(s)?   That is, what products were you sure that you'd hate- whether it be a color that you dismissed until you tried it- or something you'd written off prior to sampling- that shockingly you not only like, you love ?   I'll start.   For nails, it's Julep Nan. I thought it was the dud of the June collection- some murky tomato red. Even when I got the bottle in person, I doubted I'd ever wear it.  I still thought it was meh when I swatched it and got it ready to file into the collection.  On a whim, I put it on my nails, and it was love .  I still haven't worn any of the other colors I got this month!   For hair, it's Living Proof Nourishing Styling Cream.  I don't need a lot of products, but this just smells delicious and makes my hair do amazing things.   For perfume, it's Aqua di Gioia. I tend to shy away from the mass favorites- and found instead something that reminds me of my first perfume love, Clinique Happy.

I wish so badly I'd known these things would make my life easier!  If this helps even just 1 person, that's what I want.  (If my post helps you in any way, please let me know!)   1. Change your mascara with the change of seasons.  We all know we should change it out every 3 months, but who can remember when that was?!  So, I change mine next month as Summer officially arrives.  Then, another new tube in September when Fall arrives.  That way, there's no doubt just how old that tube really is!   2. Quit picking.  (This is where I'm being brutally transparent.)  For years, it has hurt my head to see a clogged pore or a slight white center to an upcoming blemish.  My solution was to squeeze, poke, prod...whatever I could to get it gone.  What I've found is that LEAVING IT ALONE is actually the fastest cure for blemishes and for the overall prevention of them.  I spent so much time in the mornings concealing, blending, concealing, blending, applying powder.  My battle with cystic acne, I believe, is probably a lot of my fault because I was causing absolute chaos under my skin with all that nonsense.  I've not touched my skin for almost 2 months now.  How many blemishes do I have?  Zero.  How much redness do I have?  Very little.  When is the last time I used concealer?  1 month ago.  Case made.   3. Don't reinvent the wheel.  Instead of sticking with the formula of foundation that truly did work for me, I've sampled about all of them.  YouTuber or blog poster raves about a foundation...I'm on it.  I just tossed a BB cream and a CC cream sampler because I felt so compelled to see if this was the stuff that was going to work magic for me, and...wait for it...it didn't.  Back to my foundation (Lancome's Dual Finish) formula and shade that get it right every time!  I've learned that liquid formulas just don't work well for me, so why waste time, energy, and good skin (experienced a few hiccups of blemishes or just "yuck" skin because of sampler situations) to find that miracle product?!   4. Keep it simple.  Instead of having tons of color products rolling around and coming loose from their pans, I have 1 single eye palette (Benefit's World Famous Neutrals in "Everyday") and 3 cheek colors (Tarte's Dollface, Exposed and then Benefit's Dandelion).  All I do now is make either my eyes or lips the focal point of my look and use one of those cheek colors to brighten my face.  And guess what?  It's simple.  I'm actually using up product before it expires or gets goopy or whatever.   5. Stick to a memorable routine.  I exfoliate twice weekly (Murad's Pomegranate Mask), and I do it every Sunday and Wednesday.  While it sets, I wash my BeautyBlender (I have 2, so this gives me a clean one twice a week).  Once a month, I also wash my face & eye brushes while also doing my BeautyBlender.  If I didn't stick to just those two days for treatments, I'd forget when, then it'd be a week, then a month before I'd realized how time had slipped by without keeping a routine.  It truly does make a difference in my skin!   Hope I helped!

This is a major beauty confession for me.  Although I do get my hair trimmed on a regular basis, I haven't had a new cut/style in a long, long time.  I've had it pretty much the same with only slight differences since HIGH SCHOOL, and I'll be going into my fourth year of college this coming Fall.  Same part.  All cut to the same length.  It's time for a change, especially since my education classes are really taking off.  I'll be observing my mentor teacher next Spring, and I want to be taken seriously.  Some people say I look like I'm in middle school or high school, and that is a very nice compliment.  However, I don't know how school systems feel about teachers who may look more like students.   I want a change, but I'm a bit of a chicken.  I also have no idea where to start!  I'm a chicken because I had my hair cut too short before.  Short hair is a no-no for someone with naturally thick, curly hair.  Heck, I was picked on in middle school just for the fact it was curly, and gum tossed in your hair is not fun.  However, that all completely changed in high school, although I was not quick to believe people's compliments.  I am going to talk to my future mother-in-law about ideas since she does hair, but I need all the advice I can get since I'm a chicken lol.  I mainly wear my hair in these styles depending on the weather and what I'm doing: Completely down down with sections pulled back and secured with snap clips and bobby pins braided pig tails normal pony tail pinned up pony tail messy bun pony tail To give you an idea of the slight changes, here's my Senior year formal picture by the crappy photographer that makes people look really pale (you should see some others in the year book).  I'm a 2010 graduate.  You can see how the curl can be at times.  It can curl differently depending on the weather and whatnot.     A much more recent picture with my hair shorter and sections pinned back.  A new photographer needed help building her portfolio with her new equipment, and Lanndan and I were her guinea pigs lol.  It is still all the same length.  Bangs have also been evil with me lol.     Here's another recent one with Meat Head.    Right as I took the picture, he turned his face to give me surprise sugar.  "Meat Head!" lol.  Anyway, my hair is pulled back in a pinned up pony tail, another style from the high school days.   Hair completely down.     Another pinned up pony tail that shows more of my face shape.  I know face shape can affect hair styles or something like that.     I hope the info and pics can help with any  advice.  I do like my curls when they do what I want, but sometimes they're stubborn lol.  Since I'm wanting a change, I am beyond clueless as to where to start.  

Have you been buying way too many beauty products lately? Is your vanity overflowing with way too much clutter? If you haven't heard of the Project 10 Pan (which I believe started on Youtube, that's where I heard about it!), let me briefly describe what it is. You select 10 (or however many you'd like) products, whether it's makeup, skincare, hair products or all. You must finish these 10 products in its entirely (or "hit pan", where you have used so much of the product that you see the bottom of the "pan") before you are allowed to buy new makeup products. This really helps with appreciating what you have rather than buying more and more things, leaving older products you have to sit in the dust! *There are also exceptions, for example, if you run out of concealer... you can allow yourself to purchase another concealer even if you haven't completed the Project 10 Pan.   Is anyone else doing a Project 10 Pan?! I definitely needed to control myself after IMATS LA and tons of Sephora gift cards for my birthday and the recent UD sale! So, I started up my Project 10 Pan again two weeks ago! I'm determined not to be good and stick with it!   Here are my items that I've chosen for my Project 10 Pan:   1. Sephora Mineral Foundation Powder in Medium 25 - I've had this since March and I'm barely half way!! I use this daily. 2. Sephora Lip Gloss in Pink Ballerina - about half way through. 3. Clinique Lip Gloss in Bamboo Pink - about half way through. 4. NYX Lip Gloss in Beige - still have more than 3/4 of the product left! 5. Stila Liquid Eye Liner in Black - I'll finish this in about a month or so. 6. BADgal Lash - I have about half a month left til I need to throw it out. 7. L'oreal Voluminous Mascara - still have about 2 months til I need to throw it out. 8. Maybelline One by One Mascara - will be throwing this out in a couple weeks. 9. UD Primer Potion - I have two small samples, but I really don't know how long they will last! 10. ELF Blush in Tickled Pink - I haven't even hit pan with this! and any of my UD eye shadows in my Naked palette, which I haven't even hit pan with!   This will definitely take a long time to complete, but I'm okay with that because I really need to save my money and just enjoy what I have!   Let me know what your list looks like!

I know this has been discussed before, but not recently, so I thought an update is in order! Right now I have a bunch of makeup bags and shoe-boxes, but they just make things difficult to find and so I never put things back in. I organize so often, but my makeup ends up all over the place. I am looking to reorganize everything - so I would appreciate ideas from all you beauty gurus! Thanks! *when I finally do it, I will definitely post a pic to follow up ...

I love the entire idea of the Project 10 Pan. I always get so excited to try new things, but the end result are drawers and bins full of lots of partially used product. I know there have been a few posts about everyone's 10Pan accomplishments, and I figured it'd be fun to also spread the love to those who are also trying to clean house with their deluxe samples (especially with the awesome new 100 pt perks this month!).   I've got quite a collection of minis that have amassed, and I've been storing them in the case that last year's sunkit came in. I really want to try so many of the products in there, but I've GOT to use up some of the ones I've already tried (of which I have another whole makeup bag full...I think I might have a mini-addiction :-p). I will definitely post an update when I have finished my DS 10-Pan. What DS have you used up recently? Are any of them worth investing in the full-sized version? 

I saw a thread a while back on here about counting your makeup products.  It was amazing to see those numbers!  While I was reorganzing and going through my makeup since I have moved on to Sephora, and since some things expired and I learned that the hard way lol, I got the silly idea to take a picture of it lol. So if you're bored or just reorganizing your stash, feel free to take a picture and post it!   My collection is in the little league range at the moment lol   This is my stash after I went through stuff.  I don't use my Victoria's Secret kit much anymore since I discovered Sephora, but I still do use the blushes in it and the lip products when I'm at home for the day.  The main two palettes I've been using are from Urban Decay and Kat Von D, and I love both!       Here's my stash back to organization on my spinny organizer my granny gave me for Christmas.  It works well for the moment, but there's no way I can fit my polishes in it lol.  

My friend sells her makeup castaways on her blog - I was just wondering, would any of you but something from a blog sale? super cheap, but maybe used a bit... I'd be interested in your thoughts

Hey everyone! A while back we started a weekly makeup rotation where we shop our stash and rotate our weekly makeup instead of using the same products daily and give some forgotten items a chance.   Basically you can list or pic (or both) the items you've fished out to use for the week. For me personally the rest of my stash is available for use but these picked items get attention. Others limit it to just the picked items. Your choice! The goal is to go through our makeup and leave no product unloved!  

OK all you beauty lovers, its time for an enablers thread! of course, nothing too dangerous lol here's the question: If someone were to go to sephora to treat oneself to one beauty item, what awesome product would you recommend? It can be anything, from lipstick to body wash...   I think I would say the bite beauty lip library,an urban decay eyeliner in a really gorgeous color, or origins modern friction

I love makeup so much and I was wondering what I need to do about this obsession and if I can wear make up in public. I have wanted to play with makeup for about a year now and i have loved when girls put makeup on me or i use some of my moms. I would love to take this to a new level and start wearing makeup in public or just buying makeup and trying it on at home and practicing. Some day i would love to be a makeup artist. I would also need a way to do this without my parents knowing and how would i buy the makeup i want.

Hi everyone! I'm a week away from my Florida vacation, so exited! Of course that means I have to pack ): it's hard deciding what beauty products to take and what to leave behind! I was wondering if any of you other Beauty Insiders/VIBs had vacation plans, and if so what beauty products are you bringing with you? It would be lovely to hear what everyone is doing for the summer! I'm taking: Neutrogena sunscreen SPF 50 Smashbox BB Cream Benefit Porefessional mini Cover FX Matte Setting Powder mini Sephora Sun Disk Bronzer  Nars Blush Anastasia Eye Brow Pencil Buxom Lash Waterproof Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner Urban Decay Primer Potion Urban Decay Naked Palette Eos Lipbalm Korres Lip Butter Benefit Benetint mini Benefit Girl Meets Pearl mini Stila Afterglow Lip Color Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Marc Jacobs Daisy rollerball Viva La Juicy/La Fleur rollerball duo B&B Surf Spray    

As May nears its final days, I figured it was about time for everyone to share their May favorites.   Mine mainly deal with the change in the weather.  Hello, Tennessee summer! lol.   Neutrogena Shine Control Primer Neutrogena Healthy Skin Compact Makeup in Soft Beige:  I love the way this feels; it has a silky touch to it.  The coverage is also custom. Urban Decay De Slick Mattifying Powder:  Keywords: TN Summer lol. NARS Bronzer in Laguna Biore scrub and facial wash:  Love, love, love!!  This actually works better for me than Clinique.  I'm still working on my Clinique moisturizing gel, but once I finished it, I'm going to see what the Biore moisturizers are like. 

So I bit the bullet and drove to the nearest store that still had the Sun Safety Kit in stock, which was an hour away. While I was there, I spent quite a long time just browsing and swatching lip colors (trying to find a suitable dupe for Dior's It Pink) and there was a Cast Member who repeatedly approached me. Normally, I don't mind this. They're always so friendly and helpful, but I kept trying to avoid this one. I felt so bad, but her makeup was just terrible and every time she spoke to me, I couldn't help but gawk. I have a very telling face and I can't help it, but my expressions say a thousand words and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable under my stare.. But her lilac eyeshadow was clumped on thick from her bushy eyebrows to her flakey, spidery black lashes.   Has anyone else had this experience? Is it just me or is it difficult getting makeup help from someone with terrible makeup? Same with skincare.. I just can't accept help, even if I need it, from someone who has bad skin. Am I too much of a snob? Too judgey? Am I terrible human being? Because it makes me feel horrible, but I can't help it!

OK, here's a fun one! I did a search but didn't see a similar thread within the top 10 pages- if there's one, my apologies!   We all have those great "gone but not forgotten" products- whether it was discontinued, replaced, or Sephora just stopped carrying the line.  What are your Sephora favorites of yesteryear that you'd love to be able to buy in-store again?   I'll have to think about something a bit older, but I'm bummed that I didn't discover Tarina Tarantino before the brand was on its way out! Her eyeliners and eyeshadow palettes are among my favorites.

For me, it'd have to be would have to be eyeliners that require sharpening, especially when the eyeliner itself is sort of soft and creamy. I can never get it back into a nice tip, and it always end up very blunt. I hate, hate, hate sharpening eyeliners, they always clog the sharpener and, let's be honest, so much makeup is wasted that way. Retractable crayon eyeliners are usually what I use, but I hate when there's a color or brand of eyeliner that I want to use, but requires sharpening. The same thing goes for lipsticks or basically any creamy pencil. Ah-noy-ing! 

Since a few of us are on a "no-buy" it might be a good idea to "shop our stashes" again and encourage eachother to behave!    Today I dug out my Too Faced "Fun in the Dark" palette for eyeshadow and blush and then also used two new swap items NARS lipstick "Tzigane" and UD shadow pencil "Rehab".

We can all dream, can't we?   For me, If it were a beauty product, i would say the Dior L'Or de Vie skin care line! Especially the la lotion...I heard such fantastic things about it, and i got to try it out once when i got a Dior makeover...   For fashion, its so overwhelming to narrow down...maybe hearing your ideas will get me going

I have my Nexxus Frizz Defy shampoo and conditioner,Redken All Soft shampoo,Frederick Fekkai glossing conditioner,Macademia Oil deep treatment mask,Nexxus Humectress hydrating treatment,H2O lavender-sage shower and bath treatment,Caress evenly gorgeous body wash,Bliss Fabulous foaming face wash,Skintimate shaving gel for sensitive skin,Tree Hut olive and she a sugar body scrub.What's in yours? ;P

Hitting pan and finishing a product feels like a major makeup accomplishment, especially when it is something that has been neglected for a while.  So, I figured why not have a thread where we can share this accomplishment.  Perhaps we can all inspire one another, and probably discover a new product or two to replace the finished one lol.   I am about to run out of a few items.     My Buxum Lash mascara is getting low, and my Mega Plush mascara has maybe a couple of uses left.  I wore the Mega Plush a lot this summer.  The Neutrogena concealer feels like it is getting low, but I gotta give it some credit for being a drug store product.  I bought it during the Spring semester, so it has lasted quite a while.  TheBalm BalmShelter TM, which I bought last summer, is almost at the end of its days.        I've used my Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting a lot this summer as well, and that is what remains of it.  The nub is what remains of my Sephora Retractable Waterproof Lip Liner in Nude.  I need to replace it ASAP!!  Although no where near finished, I have made a small dent in my Buxom lip gloss in April that came in a 500 point perk.       Another item that I need to replace ASAP: Victoria's Secret Pro Lip Scrub and Balm.  It has helped my lips out a lot since I bought it sometime in February.        

I just finished going through my HUGE makeup bag and I discovered a lot about myself...  I found things that I haven't worn in years and now I'm thinking of taking them out and sporting them during the next two work weeks!  I first started looking because I bought 7 NARS blushes and was filling up my Sephora shopping cart looking for colors to go with them.  Then I just decided to look through the stuff that I already had to see if anything matched up with them.  Wow!  What a Pandora's Box I opened.  I had stuff that I haven't seen in some cases 10-15 years.  I found my very first Chanel lipstick (do we all remember the Vamp rage?  I still have mine and it still looks incredible).  I found 2 black lipsticks that I've rocked out on occasion (with my blood red Dior Addict Ultra gloss... and I found that Illamasqua makes the best Matte Black but MUFE's lasts longer).  I found 2 pink Dior lip glosses that probably haven't been worn in 6+ years but look amazing on (there was a thread dedicated to pink lipsticks and glosses but I didn't think I owned any)!  Those will be worn this week, LOL!) and I found 6 additional NARS lip glosses, some never taken out of the original box.  I also found out that Dior Show waterproof really is waterproof.  I've washed my hands with soap after swatching some lipsticks and the mascara to make sure it wasn't dried out (I bought the Dior Show 7 months ago so it's still good, I think).  I didn't realize that I had so much Dior and Lancôme hiding right beneath my coffee table (that's where I keep all my make up.  The bathroom is too small and the steam ruins them.  The living room coffee table is where I do my make up and I like to store my makeup in a cool, dry place).   All that made me think, what's lurking in your make up bag that you haven't seen for a while but still love the same as when you purchased it?  What are you holding on to because you love it but you haven't had a reason or occasion to wear it or you just love to look at them (I tend to do that too!)?  Is there anything you would love to wear but you're waiting for the craze to come back?  What's in your makeup bag?

Ok, so my skin is super light and I typically do not get much tan at all. (Only burns, and I prevent it because its dangerous) ). With the summer up ahead, I'm trying to figure out what to do when everyone else is getting glowing tans. Is such pale skin considered ugly or nerdy? Honest opinions please.

Hey dolls I just wanted to see what your preference was when it came to a fragrance. Are you a spray bottle lover or prefer the Roller ball? Lately I have found myself collecting Roller-balls-- I have always bought the full size perfumes but for some reason I feel that the Roller-balls are better for me.  For one I hate that when i spray the bottle some of my clothes would stain with oil spots, I couldn't take with me or touching up, and I never finish the bottle.  With the Roller-ball on the other hand I only apply to the areas where i want it and for some reason I feel the scent stays on me longer.. Not to mention that ranging between 20-25 bucks i have so many more different fragrances to play with!   So what do you prefer and why?

For all the skincare items out on the market, there are many price points that go from a couple of dollars to a few hundred.    For me, my splurge item would have to be my Lancome alcohol-free toner. It smells so refreshing and feels the same when applied. I save on masks, using Queen Helene's Mint Julep Mask.    In theory, the most expensive things work the best but that's not always true. What do you all have to say?

I have a ton of things on my shopping list that i want to buy but i can't afford it all right now! I want to know what is in your shopping list!   Here are some of my things   -Beauty Blender -Clarasonic Mia2 -Nars And God created the woman -Silk'n Flash and go   Does anyone have these things and should i get them? or leave them on the shopping list?