July Favorites

Is it just me or did July go by really, really slowly? It feels like it was months ago that I was celebrating the Fourth of July! Anyway, this has been the best month of the summer so far as I’ve had a lot of fun, and I’ve also fallen in love with a lot of new products which I can’t wait to talk about.

Usually in these posts I also like to talk about pop culture things I’ve been loving, but honestly I haven’t been reading or watching anything new. I’m about to start Stranger Things on Netflix so hopefully next month will be a bit better in that department.

The only recommendation I have is a movie called ‘Staten Island Summer’ which a coworker of mine suggested to me. One of my jobs is a lifeguard so this movie was super relatable for me! It’s a great, kind of crude comedy and it was fun for me and my coworkers to compare the movie characters to ourselves.

In the beauty department, it was all about the eyeshadow for me! A great summer palette that I’ve been using a lot is the Tartelette in Bloom (review). It includes mostly neutral shadows but it is easy to get a lot of different looks out of the palette, and the formula is incredible. I’ve had this for a while but I dug it out of my eyeshadow drawer last month and I’ve been using it a lot more.

For doing my makeup on the go, which I have to do several times a week, I like to pack smaller single shadows or duos/trios. Two of my current favorites are the NARS dual intensity eyeshadow in Himalia and Wet n’Wild Walking on Eggshells trio. Himalia is a gorgeous taupey bronze shade whereas the Walking on Eggshells palette includes a shimmery cream, a shimmery chocolate and a shimmery rose shade. I have to say, the Wet n’ Wild formula is amazing considering this little guy is so inexpensive! I want to try out a few more of their trios.

Well everyone, I finally did it. I found a drugstore primer that I like. I haven’t tried many primers as most of them seem to be for oil control and I have normal/dry skin, but the only one I liked was the Hourglass Veil Mineral primer which is about $60 for a full size bottle. The Nyx AngelVeil was supposedly a dupe and at about $15 I decided to give it a go. Texture wise, these feel the exact same from what I can remember! It smooths out my skin and doesn’t make it feel dry. I’ll most likely do a full review of it or I might get all experimental and see how it compares to other primers/no primer!

A lip product I’ve been obsessed with this month is the new Maybelline Color Jolt (review here). I have the shade stripped down, which is a darker pinky nude than I usually wear. This isn’t exactly a summer color, but it’s so gorgeous I couldn’t save it for autumn! This has the pigment of a liquid lipstick but it doesn’t dry down matte, which I prefer. Definitely check these out the next time you’re in the drugstore!

The final beauty item I’ve been loving is another recent purchase from Becca. I tried out their Undereye Brightening Corrector a few months ago and had it in the back of my mind ever since. I finally gave in and bought it! It doesn’t have enough coverage to completely erase my dark circles, but I like to apply it under my concealer as a color-corrector/illuminator. I would recommend this mostly to people with fair skin who don’t have incredibly dark circles, but find regular concealer to be too light of coverage for the undereye area.

Swatches from left to right: Himalia, Undereye Brightening Corrector, Stripped Down, Walking on                                                  Eggshalls browbone, crease and lid shades

Lastly, as I watch a lot of YouTube videos, a few new trends have completely captivated me. I’m not sure why but I love watch 100 layers videos (of liquid lipstick, nail polish, highlight, you name it) and people using children’s makeup. Whenever I start watching YouTube I seem to gravitate to those videos! They’re quite interesting to watch and I like to see how professionals work with makeup that is generally poor quality. Am I the only one?

Anyway, hope you all had as fun of a July as I did! What products, movies and videos have you been liking lately?

Xx Katie