April Favorites

April has been a whirlwind of a month, piled full of homework, events, and other busyness. This month’s favorites are also all over the place — everything from old skincare to new skincare to old makeup to new makeup.

My Everyday Makeup Routine

Most days, I’m too rushed in the morning to do anything special with my makeup. I’m so focused on getting out the door and to class on time that I don’t have the presence of mind to deviate from the routine I’ve fallen into. I didn’t really devote any time to developing this in a scientific manner; it just sort of fell into place around the products I’ve been using the most in the past few months. Without further ado, here is that very simple routine (ignore the huge number of products in this photo; all will be explained!).

Princess Anna Makeup Tutorial

For Halloween this year, I went as Princess Anna from Frozen. I love Frozen, and think there are a lot of similarities between Anna and me (although part of the reason I chose Anna is because I was able to cobble together her outfit from things already in my wardrobe!).

 

I’d like to share with you the makeup I did for this costume. I consulted a couple of YouTube videos to develop this, notably tutorials by Alex Poletti and dope2111.

I know it’s after Halloween, but I hope that this look is simple and everyday enough that you could wear it any day and feel like you’re secretly channeling Anna. My main goal was to create something that reflected Anna but that I would still feel comfortable wearing. Therefore, I didn’t add any makeup that I would never wear as myself. This means that, if you normally wear foundation or fake eyelashes, you should feel free to include those into this look and make it your own!

Sephora & Yankee Candle Haul (May)

The first stop I made when moving to a new city this summer was to stop at Sephora to spend a gift card that I’ve been holding onto for almost two years now. On my way there, I passed a 75% sale sign outside of Yankee Candle, and I couldn’t resist poking my nose in.

Yankee Candle | Relaxing Rituals Calm Reed Diffuser Blending Kit – Vanilla, Lavender, Sandalwood

I really love this set. I’ve wanted a reed diffuser for ages, but I’ve never been able to find one in a scent I liked that was within my price range. This particular kit was on sale for $10. It’s three oils that you set next to each other using the provided ceramic plate, and they combine in the air to form a wonderful, calming smell. While I’m away at work with the door to my room closed, the smell builds up a bit, and I love walking into my room at the end of the day to be greeted by it.

Yankee Candle | Relaxing Rituals Refresh Reed Diffuser Refill – Sage

I haven’t used this yet, but it was $5 and buying it was what enabled me to get the Blending Kit for the cheaper price. It also smells great, and I’m excited to open it once the Blending Kit runs out.

My main goal from this trip to Sephora was to get one very specific item: a small neutral palette, ideally a duo with a matte shade and a shimmery gold shade (since those are the two colors that I could wear forever while traveling). I looked all over the store for this, and while I found a couple that approached what I was looking for (Marc Jacobs The Lolita, a couple of the Nars duos, Clinique Like Mink), none of them were exactly what I was looking for.

Another item that I wanted to check out was the Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette. One of Sephora’s consultants did my eye makeup with the Too Faced palette and I really liked it! However, I ended up finding enough other items that I loved that I could no longer justify the $36 price tag this time around.

Urban Decay | Eyeshadow Primer Potion – Original  | $20

An Eyeshadow primer is something that has been on my wishlist for a while; this is just the first time I’ve gone makeup shopping in almost a year. I had heard such great things about Urban Decay’s primer, and so I was excited to try it out. I find that it doesn’t apply very easily – the primer is a little clumpy and gets stuck in my eyelashes and my creases. It takes so much work to get it to approach smoothness! It definitely helps my eyeshadow last longer, though, which was the goal.

Kat Von D | Tattoo Liner | $18

I haven’t bought an eyeliner in years, not since the last liquid liner I bought turned out to be clumpy and hard to manipulate. I always thought that eyeliner was just too difficult for me to apply. I was drawn into the Kat Von D display by their eyeshadows, and when I saw this I was really impressed by the applicator and how smoothly it seemed to work. Well, I haven’t changed my mind – this eyeliner is SO easy to apply! It glides right on, and the tip is so fine that even my unsteady hands can make precise lines. I’ve worn more eyeliner in the past two weeks than I have in the rest of my life combined.

Kat Von D | Shade Shifter Eyeshadow – Devotion | $16

I loved the colors in Kat Von D’s Butterfly Shadow palettes, but I don’t need a whole palette at this point. Then, I saw the Shade Shifter singles on the bottom shelf of the display. I was really entranced by the beauty of this eyeshadow – seeing how it reflects the light from different angles is amazing.

Devotion is a really shimmery golden orange – I still can’t decide whether it’s more yellowy or orangey. It’s very pigmented and goes on easily. A single application gives enough coverage to last all day (especially over my new primer potion). Despite the box claiming that the shade shifting effect is water-activated, I didn’t notice a difference between the colors after applying it wet or dry. I think this eyeshadow looks great applied on its own without being blended with other colors – it’s definitely a bold look! But the Devotion color is also subtle enough for me to wear every day (I usually don’t feel confident enough to wear very brightly-colored shadows).

I wanted to get Love Letter, which is a purple shade, but the only options at this Sephora were Devotion and On the Road, which is a greenish-brown color. Since I’m really liking this shadow, maybe I’ll order one of the other colors from the Sephora website!

Julep | Oxygen Nail Treatment | $18

I have very thin, weak nails and so I bought this hoping to try and change that. I haven’t actually used this yet, as you can tell by the unopened package – I’m almost considering returning it, because it was so expensive (as anything Julep makes is wont to be).

My birthday was in May, and so my birthday gift from Sephora was the following mini duo:

Make Up For Ever | Smoky Extravagant Mascara mini

I didn’t bring any mascara with me since I knew I would be getting this when I arrived. To me, mascaras all seem the same, and so I don’t know if this one is particularly good or not. I don’t wear mascara very often, since it always feels like it’s damaging my eyelashes, and this is no exception.

Make Up For Ever | Rouge Artist Natural N9 Lipstick mini

I really like the color of this lipstick! It’s hard to tell from the photo, but it’s a matte in a medium rosy shade. It’s the type of color I could see myself wearing every day.

So, that’s that! My first time shopping at Sephora in ages, and my first makeup shopping trip in a while.