My Favourite Beauty Products for Spring 2015

Working in the beauty industry, I like to try out as many different beauty products as I can. I've been really lucky to get some products free or discounted from work and have been able to try a lot of different products over the past several months. Recently, I've discovered (or rediscovered) some products that I just can't get enough of! These are my favourite beauty products going into Spring 2015:

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner

I got a Sephora gift card in a Christmas Yankee Swap and knew I wanted to use it on a new liquid eyeliner. I researched a couple different kinds and decided to try out the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner. It's the perfect eyeliner, and I'm so glad I decided to give it a try! I got the shade "Trooper" which is a basic black. The eyeliner's formula goes on smooth and stays on so well. And what really set this particular eyeliner apart for me is the fact that the tip is a tiny brush instead of foam like most liquid eyeliners. The brush makes it so much easier to draw a perfect line and you can make a thinner line than you could with a foam tip. I have especially loved doing winged eyeliner with this product, and I would 100% recommend it!

Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara

This mascara just came out at the beginning of the year and after hearing some great things about it, I decided to buy it in my company's store. After trying it for the first time I was amazed by how great it looked, and it immediately went right into my everyday makeup bag. The shape of the brush really separates your lashes so they don't clump together, and it makes them look so long! My eyes looked so much brighter with this mascara, and I have worn it almost every single day since I bought it!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

If you've tried any Urban Decay eye shadows, you will know just how amazing they are. I bought this palette discounted from my company store a couple months ago and have used it so much already. There are 12 eye shadows ranging from neutral tan shades to darker browns to black. There is a mix of both shimmery and matte shadows and you can create SO many different looks with them! The shadows are amazing quality and stay on so well throughout the day, especially if you use the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer too. If you want to read more about this palette, I did an entire post about it a couple months ago :)

Garnier Beach Chic Texturizing Spray

I was on the hunt for a good texturizing spray for a while and decided to try this one out. I really like the smell, and it works better for me than other texturizing sprays that I've tried! My natural hair is completely straight and smooth, but this spray has helped bring some more texture and style to my hair. On days I want a different look, I'll spray this into my wet hair, blow dry it, and then put it in a bun while I do my makeup and finish getting ready. When I take the bun out and spray my hair with a little hairspray, it has beachy-looking waves! Usually when I do this my hair stays wavy for about a half hour before looking totally straight again, but the Beach Chic spray has helped it stay wavy for at least a couple hours...really impressive for my hair!

Essie "In the Cab-ana"

I think this Essie shade was new this year, and when I first saw it I immediately fell in love. It's such a beautiful bright turquoise blue shade and is so perfect for Spring and Summer! I'm a big fan of Essie nail polishes, and I know this will be one of my go-tos through the next two seasons!

L'Oréal Eye Defense eye cream

I have always struggled with inherited dark under-eye circles (thanks Daddy!) and am always on the hunt for different products to make my dark circles look a little better. Lately I've been using the L'Oréal Eye Defense eye cream, and I have definitely noticed a difference in my eyes! The skin around my eyes is firmer, looks smoother, and the fine lines are less noticeable. I also feel like I look less tired than I usually do! This eye cream definitely gets my approval!

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate

Next up is another skincare product. I tried this for the first time over the Summer and loved it. But during the Winter when my skin got more dry I tended to use a stronger moisturiser instead. The past month or so, I've gone back to using my Midnight Recovery religiously and have noticed how great my skin is looking! I use two or three drops of the serum at night, and by the time I wake up, my skin always looks so bright, glowing, and well-rested. If you find that your skin gets dull looking from lack of sleep, you have to try out this product! It's amazing!

Tanya Burr Lip Gloss in "Picnic in the Park"

I have been a big fan of Tanya Burr's YouTube channel and blog for a while now, and when I was in London this past October I was so excited to buy one of her lip glosses. I got the shade "Picnic in the Park" and think it is so perfect for Spring! It's a really pretty bright pink shade and the formula stays on really well. I'm a big fan of lip glosses in the warmer months because I feel like they can look more fresh and dewy than matte lipsticks. I know this will be one of my go-to lip products this Spring and Summer!

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream

And my final product is the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream. I typically use this on days that I don't want to do a full face of makeup or if I'm in a rush and don't have time for foundation. I put it on with my hands like I would with moisturiser. It definitely doesn't have as much coverage as my foundation does, but if I put the BB Cream on and then top it with some concealer in spots, it looks really good! Since it's so moisturising, it's also great to use on days when my skin is feeling dry or sensitive because it doesn't dry it out the way foundation can. BB Cream just feels so much lighter than foundation, so I think as it starts getting hot and humid this Spring and Summer, this will become my go-to face product.

We've finally started getting some warm weather in NYC! (Well, we did for about a week, but it snowed again yesterday.) I'm so excited for it to start feeling like Spring, because this Winter has been so cold and brutal! And when it's so cold, I tend to just hang out at home watching Netflix and drinking hot chocolate to stay warm. But now that it's getting warmer, I'll finally be able to get back to exploring my city as much as possible! I will definitely be posting lots more about NYC over the next few months... :)

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

If you like makeup as much as I do, I'm sure you've heard of the popular Urban Decay Naked palettes. There are three palettes in all, each with different combinations of neutral eye shadows. I have been wanting one for so long, and recently, I decided to treat myself by purchasing the Naked 2 palette! 

The Naked 2 palette is so beautiful, and as someone who is obsessed with neutral eye shadows, it's pretty much heaven to me! It's so versatile, and I think if I had to give up all my other eye shadows and just use these ones for the rest of my life, I could deal with that!

The palette features 12 different neutral eye shadows—4 matte shadows and 8 shimmery ones ranging from off-white to black, with different shades of tan, bronze, and brown in between. Since buying this palette, I have been so impressed by it! The quality is amazing. The eye shadows are so pigmented, go on smooth and blend easily, and are long-lasting. The number one problem I've had with eye shadows in the past is that they tend to crease after I've been wearing them for a few hours. But the Urban Decay eye shadows look just as good at the end of the day as they do at the beginning of the day. I've noticed these eye shadows have really brightened up my eyes and just make my eyes look so good. I've gotten so many compliments every time I've worn them!

This palette has endless eyeshadow combinations, and it could be used to create so many different looks. I'm only at the beginning of experimenting with it, and I am really looking forward to seeing how many different looks I can create! I am planning on filming some videos for my YouTube channel on how to create some different looks using the Naked 2 palette, which I'll also add to the blog once they're filmed! Here are a couple of looks I've created so far:

The company that I work for owns Urban Decay, so I was able to get a discount on this palette in the company store. I am so impressed with it, that I think I will have to take advantage of that discount and get one of the other Naked palettes as well before my internship ends in October!

Beauty Products I've Been Loving

Over the past few months, I have really been trying to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to beauty products and change up the products that I use. Since my sophomore or junior year of high school, I had been using almost all of the same products and the same makeup routine. I've tried out countless products recently but here are some of my favourites!

The first thing I've been absolutely loving are the Real Techniques brushes. I watch some beauty gurus on YouTube and so many of them rave about these brushes, so when I saw some of them at Kohl's, I had to try them out. I currently have the kabuki brush, foundation brush, and my favourite, the expert face brush. These brushes are so soft and are really great to apply face makeup with. I use the kabuki brush for powder and bronzer, the foundation brush for applying concealer and powder under my eyes, and the expert face brush for my foundation. The expert face brush is especially amazing because as you apply your foundation, the brush buffs it into your skin, giving you a really smooth and natural finish. And to make the brushes even more awesome, they are really inexpensive (around $10 or less for most brushes) and you can buy them in lots of places like Kohl's, Ulta, and Walmart. I love these brushes so much and definitely plan to buy more! Next up on my "to-buy" list are the blush brush and the eye brushes!

brushes from left to right: expert face brush, kabuki brush, and foundation brush

Another product I've been using a lot are the eye shadow palettes by Wet N Wild. I had never tried this brand out until this past autumn. I think it must be a newer brand since I didn't see it in many stores until recently, but I've been really pleasantly surprised by their products. They're a really inexpensive brand, so I didn't expect much from them, but I really like a lot of their products—especially the eye shadows! They come in really nice palettes that are labelled so you know what to apply to your eyelid, crease, and browbone and the colour sets are really good. My favourite palette is called "Walking on Eggshells" and is a very neutral palette with a shimmery beige colour that goes on the eyelid. Their shadows are really pigmented and they last a long time without creasing (which is a big deal for me, since eye shadow doesn't tend to last very long on my lids!) I also have palettes in "Sweet as Candy" and "Knock on Wood" and will probably be adding more to my collection as well!

colour sets from left to right: Sweet as Candy, Walking on Eggshells, and Knock on Wood

Next, I have been wanting to try out a new foundation for a while. I had always used the same one from Covergirl, but in the winter when my skin gets paler, I found that my normal shade was too dark and the next shade lighter made me look too pasty. So I decided to try something totally new and bought L'Oréal True Match Lumi foundation. The first time I used it, I was so amazed at how great my skin looked that I found myself just staring at it in the mirror throughout the day haha! Something really cool about this foundation is that it comes in "undertones" (warm, neutral, and cool) so you can really get a shade that's perfect for you. I use the Neutral 1-2 shade. The only critique I have is that it is not oil free, so for oily-skinned people, it could make their skin look even more oily. But, I tend to have oily skin and I've found that if I use a matte powder and then reapply once or twice later in the day, it's not a problem!

Another product I hadn't branched out with in years was mascara, so I recently decided to try out something different. I have heard so many great things about Maybelline The Falsies mascara, so when I heard about Maybelline The Falsies Big Eyes, I decided to try it. I absolutely LOVE this mascara! It makes your lashes look so full and long, doesn't clump, and really does make your eyes look big! My favourite part is that it comes with separate applicators for your top lashes and your bottom lashes, so I don't need to worry about getting too much product on my bottom lashes and make them smudge. I would really really recommend this to anyone looking to try out a new mascara!

As I mentioned in my 25 Things About Me post, I am a huge fan of red lipstick. The most recent red lipsticks I have tried out have been the Rimmel Kate Moss collection. There are a ton of colours, not just reds, and they are all so gorgeous, but I especially love the red ones! I currently have shades 01 and 10. 01 has a darker tone and seems to have warmer undertones and 10 seems to have cooler undertones. If you apply this lipstick, blot it, and then reapply, it lasts for so long. There are also some really pretty coral and pink colours that I will probably try out for Spring!

In both photos, shade 01 is on the left and 10 is on the right

Next up is another product from Rimmel—their 60 Second nail polishes. I've tried a bunch of other nail polishes that claim to dry instantly, but have smudged even after an hour of drying. But this nail polish actually does dry pretty much instantly. After I apply a second coat, I let it dry for about 5 minutes and then can do literally whatever I want and don't need to worry about it smudging. I am someone that gets so impatient waiting for my nails to dry so this nail polish is so perfect for me! The nail polish lasts a while without chipping, and to make it even better, it's so cheap! Less than $3 for a bottle. The only problem is that I haven't been able to find it anywhere other than the Walmart near my school in North Carolina. I wanted to buy some for my sister while I was home in Massachusetts at Christmastime, but couldn't find it in any of the stores near my house. I'm going to have to research some more about where to buy it at home, but I think to be safe, I'll probably stock up on all the colours before I graduate this May! :)

colours from left to right: Red Steady Go, Caramel Cupcake, and Mintilicious

And last, but definitely not least are the Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain (which I believe are now called ColorBurst Balm Stain). I actually tried this product for the first time in the summer of 2012, but I love them so much and use them almost every day, that I had to include them in this post! I have the colours Smitten, Sweetheart, and Romantic. The Smitten (magenta) and Sweetheart (bright pink) are super pigmented so I only use a light amount of those, but the Romantic (red) isn't quite as pigmented so I find that I need to apply quite a lot to get the colour dark enough for my liking. These are a balm stain, so once you apply it, you don't need to worry about it creasing in your lips at all or making them look dry, and it lasts super long. More recently, Revlon released more of these balm stains in matte and lacquer colours, so I'm definitely going to be getting more for the spring!

Colours from top to bottom: Smitten, Sweetheart, and Romantic

I hope you've enjoyed reading about some of the products that I love at the moment! Once I start buying new products for spring and summer, I will likely be posting again with some of my warm weather favourites! If you have any products that you absolutely love, please tell me about it in a comment. I love to hear recommendations on products to try :)


xo Christie