Boudoir Eyes + Traveling

If you follow me on Instagram you know that I have been planning a trip to Florida for a while.  One of my most asked questions is what make up do I take while traveling? I decided to answer the question in a blog post! This post is also to give you a good look at Too Faced’s new eyeshadow Palette: Boudoir Eyes. The palette, bag, and most of the products pictured will be linked at the bottom of the post. A little overview of the products inside of the bag, or the main ones that I consider my ‘holy grail’ make up products while traveling (or in general, really). Have you tried Sephora’s eye makeup remover? It’s amazing.How about a close up of the Boudoir Eyes palette by Too Faced? As you can see, the palette comes with a How-To Glamour guide that shows you how to complete three different looks, in only three steps!You want an even closer view so you can see the names of the each individual shadow? No problem.I think Sugar Walls and Lap Dance are my favorite shadows so far; the names are so riskay! 

How fabulous is this Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Berry? It is my favorite at the moment. Along with this NYX Lip Smacking Fun Colors lipstick in the shade LSS505A SHIVA. I know I mentioned this ZOYA polish in the shade Mason before, but I am really loving it this month with the blush; it is the perfect combo!

Shop my make up bag:

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes Palette

Benefit Booing Concealer

Lancome Foundation

Bare Minerals High Shine Eyecolor

NYX Lip Color

Maybelline Color Tattoo (2)

Waterliner from Michelle Phan’s line em

Laura Geller Blush [similar]

Sephora Eye Makeup Remover

ZOYA Nail polish

Initial’s Inc. Make Up Bag

What are your favorite makeup products to travel with? Leave responses below!

Note: The giveaway is cancelled due to low response and the fact that rafflecopter messed up my entire blog and I could not figure it out for days.

Also, don’t forget to use promotional code FALLMOM10 at Kohl’s to receive 10% off your entire purchase until December 31st. You can combine this code with one other one.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Beauty Organization [Small Space #4]

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Hello there beautiful people,
Today continues the Small Space series with post #3. Let’s talk about inspiration to organize all of the beauty clutter. Earlier this year, I traveled to a bigger city to go to IKEA for the first time. I was beyond excited to explore the many floors and experience the full IKEA shopping experience. It is mind-blowing how innovative and space conscious IKEA is. The furniture is built for small spaces; which is why I had to include this trip and what I bought in the series. I bought a few little things because everything is so considerably cheap, but I was the most excited the ALEX storage system that I bought.
ALEX is a popular furniture line of IKEA’S because of all of the storage it provides.

Pictured below is the ALEX piece that I bought:

[ Image Source ]

This particular ALEX piece has 9 drawers and is tall and skinny so it works perfect for small spaces.
I bought this item in March and haven’t even taken it out of the box until this past weekend.
Why you ask…
1. The box it came in was entirely too heavy for me to lift.
2. IKEA furniture comes in a zillion pieces and honestly intimidates me.
3. My boyfriend attempted to put together a bookcase I bought from IKEA and ended up putting the shelves on backwards so I was not going to ask him.
4. Since I moved into this apartment, I had no clue where I was going to set it up.
Well, my mom came to visit this past weekend and she finally convinced me to dive in and try to piece it together, piece by little piece. So, we did and I have to mention that it looks just like the picture! WOO HOO, SO SO PROUD!
I was going to include pictures of how I organized each drawer but this post is already so long.
Stay tuned for pictures of each drawer in Small Space #4: IKEA ALEX ORGANIZATION tomorrow!

Have you tried IKEA furniture? What are your thoughts on it? Also, do you have a funny story about attempting to build IKEA furniture? I would love to hear.

Tell me in the comments!

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Review: E.L.F. Flawless Finish Foundation

I am here today to give an honest review on the e.l.f. flawless finish foundation I recently purchased from Target. I do not like it, period. Just kidding, what kind of person would I be if I did that? However, I do actually dislike the foundation, for me.

Here is a picture of the product:

I tried it yesterday when  I was getting ready. I used my beauty blender and everything and it still didn’t come through well blended. Maybe some foundations aren’t meant to be applied with a beauty blender but this one would definitely be one if that was the case.

Formulation: A little more on the thick side and it dries rather quickly.

Color: I purchased the color porcelain because it was the lightest shade and it was a pretty good color for my skin tone, at the moment.

Packaging: The packaging was nice and I wasn’t expecting the product to have a pump so when I popped the top off the actual makeup, I was surprised to find a convenient pump. Personally, I like pumps because of the controlled amount of product they provide.

Pros: The pump and the color match capability for my skin tone. It did do a good job of controlling my oil; I have combination to dry skin so I sometimes get oily and have to set my foundation. This foundation is oil free so I do like that aspect. The price was also really good but e.l.f. products are usually on the cheaper side.

Cons: It didn’t blend well and dried too quick for the application technique I was using (Beauty blender). It only contains SPF 15.

Repurchase: No

Why or why not? What do you prefer?

I prefer the Healthy Luminous Foundation by L'Oreal. I prefer the formulation and the coverage it provides more than the e.l.f. one. I have mentioned the luminous foundation  many times before because it is what I use for my everyday foundation right now and I’m kind of obsessed with it. The only thing I don’t like about it is I have to set it with Rimmel’s translucent powder.

Btw, I usually love e.l.f. products and was really excited to try this but unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations and specifications.

Any tips? Don’t use a beauty blender and if you do make sure you get the make up out of the sponge because it dries quickly.

I made a video of my first application, if any of y’all want to see it, let me know and I will upload it.

I will try to apply it tomorrow with my fingers and post a response under this review and maybe some pictures. I might even video that response as well, if I’m feelin’ froggy  

If you would like that, let me know and I will do my best.

Thanks so much for reading and Happy Easter.

XOXO,

Sweet Southern Style

Shopping HAUL

I did a little shopping and decided to do a blog post haul on what I found.

The places I went are SEPHORA, Target, and LUSH.

The first is TARGET.

#1: ELF Beach Party Nail Polish Set. I was really excited about this because of the summery look of the packaging. I haven’t tried the formulation of the polishes but the colors come off very beautiful and tropical like.

#2: ELF Body Glow powder. I’m not really sure the exact use for this, I just found it to be pretty and sparkly.

#3: ELF Flawless Finish Foundation. I have never tried their foundation so if you have any tips or pointers, leave them in the comments below. 

#4: ELF Eyelid Primer. I have never used anything but Urban Decay’s Primer potion, so let me know if you have used this and what your thoughts are on it.

#5: ELF Tone Correcting Concealer. I usually use Maybelline or Clinique concealer. If anybody has tried this, let me know your thoughts on it.

#6: Shimmering Facial Whip. I heard this makes a good highlighter for the tops of cheekbones, with blush and contour bronzer under it.

The next place I went is SEPHORA.

#1: Sephora Mini Travel Brush set. I personally love Sephora make up brushes and when I saw this pink travel set, I knew I had to get it.

#2: Two shades of BUXOM lip gloss by Bare Minerals.

#3: Pink, Black, and Yellow hair clips

#4: Smashbox Primer sample

#5: SEPHORA Mirror (free)

The last place I went is LUSH.

#1: ROOTS Hair Treatment. If you have never tried this stuff, you are seriously missing out on beautiful, healthy, and shiny hair. I just discovered this mask about two weeks ago and am already obsessed.

I think it is really cool how on every LUSH container, it shows the person who mixed the products together.

I bought these from Sally’s Beauty Supply to put on after I apply the ROOTS hair treatment. The package comes with 10 and was under three dollars.

#2: Grease Lightening Tea Tree Cleanser. I had never tried this prior to buying it, but I absolutely love it.

Have you ever tried this cleanser or any LUSH products? Tell me in the comments below.

Let me know if y’all enjoyed this haul type blog post and I will try to do more like it.

I hope y’all are enjoying the quality of my pictures as much as I am. I absolutely ADORE my new Canon. If you are thinking of buying a new REBEL, I HIGHLY suggest it because it is my new favorite toy.

I am still learning all about it, if you have any comments, tips, or suggestions on ways to improve my photography skills, let me know below.

I hope today was everything you hoped for.

XOXO,

Sweet Southern Style

Review: Urban Decay Ammo Palette

Hello lovely people,

How are you on this wonderful Wednesday? The weather is wonderful where I'm at. I am so happy because I just received my Urban Decay Ammo palette from Sephora.

This post is dedicated to the unboxing of my Urban Decay Palette. I will say, I wasn’t as impressed when I tried it but I already had eye make up on so I think that interfered.

Hopefully, I will like it better the more I experiment with it.

Ammo contains the colors: Smog, Mildew, Oil Slick, Last Call, Chopper, Maui Wowie, Shattered, Polyester Bride, Grifter, and Sin. It also came with a SMALL shadow brush and a SMALL eye shadow primer.

The packaging is absolutely amazing for this product; which has never been an issue with Urban Decay products. I love the edginess of the skull with the girly paisley print. 

The price was the only negative side but luckily I had a $25.00 gift card to go towards it. It is originally$34.00. 

(SIDENOTE: In my opinion, for the price, they could have at least included a larger primer.)
BUT also consider the quality and pigmentation and how long they actually last compared to cheaper brands, Urban Decay wins for the most part.

This is the box it came in. I like that Sephora puts FRAGILE on the box so the UPS workers know to handle it with care. However, my box was messed up on the end so I am glad it wasn’t anything too fragile.

This is an overview of the unpackaged palette:

As you can see, the colors are very sparkly and pigmented. The formulation of these shadows is seriously amazing BUT make sure you don’t get too much and are careful when blending it, otherwise, you will end up with sparkles all over your face.

The brush I used is just an elf eyeshadow brush.

Here is the actual look I created using an elf eyeshadow brush then a crown brush blending brush for blending, of course. Hope you enjoy!

And here is a close up of all the colors offered in the palette.

You can purchase this palette on Sephora by clicking here

Have a fabulous Wednesday,

XOXO SweetSouthernBeauty