RiRi ♡ Mac Fall Collection: Overview+Swatches

Well one thing's for certain, Riri really loves MAC.

Yup, another Riri Loves MAC collection. This time, it's centered around Fall. Some parts are great, some parts are, well, a bit redundant. But nonetheless, as a whole, it is a really gorgeous collection.
First of all, the packaging to me is beautiful.

Hot pink and rose gold everywhere. Totally reminds me of early 90's Barbie stuff!

I think the concept is really great- Riri Loves MAC. Riri helps design stuff for MAC. People who love Riri and MAC rejoice and buy the collection.

However, I feel like it's getting a bit repetitive. Don't get me wrong... I think she's created some GREAT stuff. We all love Riri Woo (although already pretty similar to Ruby Woo), but I feel like they may as well make it a part of the permanent line just because it seems like these Riri releases are getting pretty close together. 

Riri Loved MAC in the Summer, now Riri's Loving MAC again in the Fall. Makes sense.

So we've got Riri Woo again. Not surprising. But I was also kind of disappointed (and surprised) that they re-promoted the Hibiscus Kiss blush duo (in the new packaging, of course). I just thought it would've been fun to have that product in a different shade because Hibiscus Kiss is nice, but maybe creating one in some deeper shades? Especially since this is a "Fall" collection. That's such a cool little duo product that I think would be awesome in different shades. It's just confusing to me. Also, a re-packaging of lots of items already in the permanent line (36 & 38 lashes, Extended Play Lash mascara, and a black Liquidlast Liner). These would be a great addition to a large collection, but I just didn't feel like the collection was big enough to warrant that many permanent and re-promoted products.

However, the products that are new are nice. The re-promoted ones are nice too, but I felt like this collection really could've been extra-awesome with even more new stuff.

Ok, so I got a little carried away and did the post a bit backwards... Usually those types of thoughts come at the end of the post.  So let's continue to the products and the swatches of items I have from the collection and I'll share more of my thoughts on the specific products throughout the post.

The Riri Loves MAC Fall collection contains: 
2 Eye Shadow Quads, 4 Lipsticks, 1 Lipglass, 2 Pro Longwear Lip Pencils, Extended Play Lash, 1 Liquidlast Liner, 2 Veluxe Brow Liners, 1 Powder Blush Duo, 1 Powder Blush, 1 Cream Colour Base, 2 lashes, 2 special edition brushes

Extended Play Lash in Gigablack $17.50

One of my favorite MAC mascaras. Especially presh in this new pink packaging.

Powder Blush Duo in Hibiscus Kiss $29.

While I think this duo could work on most skin tones, I think it's especially suited for more fair tones. It would be very subtle and a bit "glowy" on darker skin tones.

Cream Colour Base in Diamonds $22.

This is definitely one of my stand-out products in the collection. Cream Colour Bases are super-versatile. Especially one in a more natural tone like this. I would use this to highlight my cheekbones, maybe even the smallest bit on my eyelids when I want a bit of a more natural look with a bit of shimmer.

 Powder Blush in Bad Girl Gone Good $23.

swatched beneath Diamonds

While it could definitely be sheered out and work for lighter skin tones, I think this blush would look amazing on medium-dark skin tones. Personally, it's a bit orange for moi.

 Eye Shadow x4 in Smoked Cocoa $44

Gotta be honest- Based on these swatches, this quad is not my favorite.  Color-wise, it's nothing unique. If you're into makeup, you've probably got something similar to this. What bothers me the most is that I found the quality of a few of the shades to be a bit off. Especially the one in the lower right. It swatched pretty badly and wasn't smooth at all. Seemed like it would be a nightmare to blend.

The collection also contains another quad, "Her Cocoa". It contains all more natural bronze and brown shades. 

 Lipsticks in Nude and Talk That Talk, $16.50

"Nude" is actually a great nude for darker skin tones. "Talk That Talk" could definitely be sheered out and work almost like a stain effect on anyone, but I think it's definitely best suited for medium to darker skin tones as well.

Lipglass in Riri Woo $16.50

Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Riri Woo, $21.50

Liquidlast Liner in Pointblack $21.50

Veluxe Brow Liner in Deep Dark Brunette, $21.50

I just really love Riri Woo. Not usually the biggest red fan (I should say, red wearer), but I've really always loved this cool-toned, beautiful red. Just an all-around good, super solid red lip gloss. The Riri Woo liner and lipglass have really awesome color payoff.

I personally cannot wear the Liquidlast liners. I've never been really sensitive to any other eye product but these irritate my eyes. No fun.

I'm actually really impressed with the Veluxe Brow Liners. The color payoff is great and they're super soft, yet have that sort of "dry" consistency that of a brow pencil.

all swatched below

xx, J

August GlossyBox Products & Review

 August was a super long time ago, but I figured better late than never. Last month, I finally succumbed to purchasing the GlossyBox and trying it out for the first time because of all of the good reviews it was getting. The box itself was adorable, and I discovered many new products and brands. 

 In this box, I received the Anatomicals Spray Misty, the Novex Brazilian Keratin Hair Care Treatment Cream, a Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush, a Pandora's Nail Polish, and a Sue Devitt Triple C-Weed Pressed Powder. 

The Spray Mist is very similar to the Evian Facial Spray, but has calming lavender and refreshing peppermint extracts. This spray helps rehydrate skin throughout the day and is very suitable for normal to dry skin. I carry this with me to yoga and Pilates.

The second product I tried was the Novex Brazilian Keratin Hair Care Treatment Cream (that was a mouthful!). I did not have any high hopes for this product, because I've tried so many with no results. However, this treatment really impressed me. Let me just say, this is AMAZING. My hair was extremely soft and easy to manage after just one use. 

 The Sue Devitt Triple C-Weed Pressed Powder is a very soft, silky powder. While it is recommended for setting makeup, I find that this powder actually has enough coverage that I can just wear it by itself. This powder was perfect for setting makeup in the summer, but now the color is just a tad to dark for me. 

The Lip Blush was another product that I was vying to try. These lipstick/balm/gloss hybrids are slowly becoming more hyped up in the beauty community, so I've been trying many of them out. This specific lip blush was definitely not a color I would wear on an everyday basis, but the color is almost an exact dupe for Mac's Ruby Woo. While the Mac is more dry and matte, this has a more shiny finish which is perfect because I always apply a balm under and a gloss above the Ruby Woo lipstick.  

Last but not least, the Pandora nail polish. This was my first time time using a Pandora product, and I think that this is most similar to Essie polishes. This light pink shade is right up my alley (City Girl in PINK, duh) so I immediately put it on after I opened the box. It took 3-4 coats for the color to become opaque, which is quite common with lighter colors. Even though it took 2 episodes of Gossip Girl for my nails to look presentable, I am in love with color and will be wearing it a lot this season. 

Overall, I really like the GlossyBox. Out of all the subscription boxes that I have tried out, this seems to be the one with the most products that I like. I already opened this month's box (post coming soon!). Speaking of subscription boxes, I also will be ordering and reviewing the PopSugar boxes and Julep Maven Boxes this season, so stay tuned!

 ♡ xx, J ♡

Sleep Yourself Pretty

Recently, I've been breaking out on just one side of my face. WHAT?!? 

Confused, I asked my dermatologist and learned that people tend to beak out on the side they sleep on. To counter this, many sleep on satin pillowcases or put towels on top of their normal pillow and switch it out every day. Intrigued by the idea of satin pillowcases, I researched them to find the best one. 

I finally decided on the Morning Glamour Signature Box Pillowcases- Link! These are SO amazing! They are silky and easy to wash. At first, I purchased the pillowcases in 'ivory' and  even went back and repurchased them so I would have two sets of pillowcases to switch in between. Now, I'm wanting the ones in pink!

Overall, I have seen a huge difference in my skin. The breakouts are diminished and the rate in which they occur are gradually slowing down. While I did bought these pillowcases solely for skin improvement, I also saw the breakages in my hair going away and my hair is now less frizzy. I highly recommend changing over to satin pillowcases versus cotton pillowcases because they not only benefit your skin, but your skin and your sleep pattern. 

xx, CGP

Kate Somerville Oil Free Line: Products + Review

I'm back! After scrolling through all of your amazing and fun suggestions for future blog posts, I've noticed the pattern of skincare. As the weather is getting cooler and less humid, we all put away our oil-controling products in anticipation for fall. I've recently switched over to Kate Somerville's oil free products because of the multiple claims that it clears up skin while still balancing the moisture levels. Plus, the overall aesthetic and packaging is to die for!

 The first product in this line is the Detox Daily Cleanser. While this product does purify the skin really well, it also dries up your skin. A LOT. After using this product for 2 weeks, I have noticed peeling and dry patches, clearly not the sign of a good product. Unless you have incredibly oily skin in the fall/winter, I would not recommend this product.

 The next step in this skincare regimen is the Clarifying Treatment Toner. Personally, I felt that I made a gigantic mistake purchasing this product. The insane of amount of alcohol in this toner makes it practically impossible to balance the PH level in my skin. My favorite toner at the moment is Tea Tree and Lavender, which I will continue to use because it really does work!

Somehow I lost the picture (how?) of the Oil Free Moisturizer. This product is probably the only good product in the entire line. However, I have used better products, so I will not continue to use it. The Oil Free moisturizer does do a good job of not under or over moisturizing your skin. But it does claim to clear up acne, which I have not experienced. This would be a great product for someone with sensitive, combination and semi-clear skin. 

Last but not least, the EradiKate sulfur acne treatment. Several companies over the past few years have sold this product, and having tried most of them, they are basically the same compared. This does not do a tremendous job at banishing breakouts, but instead dries it out and leaves a scar. Overall, I would stick to other spot treatments instead of this product.



Kate Somerville's line, albeit adorable in packaging and radiating a sense of calmness, does not make my skin calm. At all. I have used so many other good products at a fraction of the cost of these. Do keep in mind, however, that my skin is nothing like yours so this review is just giving you a suggestion. These products could potentially work out for you, but it certainly does not work out for me. Now I'm switching back to more natural products which I will absolutely blog about in the near future! I hope you are all having great start into fall and enjoying all of your delicious fall Starbucks drinks!

xx, J

New Posting Schedule

Tans are fading, highlights are going dark, and we are all getting sick of sand in our shoes. But summer is the beginning of a new season, so we find ourselves looking to the future. Fall is nearing, and days are getting shorter. 

Your truly is back in school, but have no worry, there is a new fall posting schedule. There will be new posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so email (don't comment!- they're disabled) me with suggestions on posts you would like to see. 

I'm off to celebrate my birthday (September 16th!) with my family now, so check back tomorrow for another post.

Love and Light,

J

A Little Chanel Haul

 Long time no post! I've been traveling a lot this month so I didn't get to blog a lot. Speaking of traveling, I'll post pictures of my recent trip to Mykonos soon! 

As we all know, I'm a sucker for Chanel Beauty so I decided that I would share what I recently purchased. My Mac Mineralized Skin Finish Natural is basically gone and I needed a new powder. Chanel makes really good foundations, so I chose one of the powders to try out. The packing was gorgeous and I love that it has a velvet pouch. Needless to say, I fell in love with it and it is now one of my holy grail products. The finish of this powder is very natural and keeps your makeup on all day. Plus, it has SPF!

This packing is so hard to photograph! Chanel Double Perfection Lumiere and Le Volume De Chanel. 

By recommendation by Slone at OMGivenchy (one of my favorite blogs, btw) and her amazing lashes, I also picked up Chanel's Le Volume De Chanel. It has a really wet formulation, so if you like drier mascaras, I definitely would not try this one. I found this mascara hard to work with because it was clumping up my lashes a lot. However, people with shorter lashes might enjoy this mascara because it is super lengthening.

Even though this mascara wasn't really working out for me, I was determined to make it work for me. Two weeks into using this mascara, the formulation was a lot drier making it easier to use. I like using this mascara under Maybelline's Falsies because it adds volume while the Falsies adds definition. I will continue to use this product until I finish it up, but I probably will not repurchase it because of the price ($26) and because I have many other mascaras that are very similar. 

xx, J