April Favorites

It's over! I'm finally done! I finished my final exams yesterday and I could not be happier. I will still be working a lot, but at least my free time will be my own and not dedicated to studying/writing/homework.

I have a surprisingly large amount of beauty favorites this month, along with my usual random pop culture favorites, so lets get started!

YSL Gypsy Opale Face Palette
Fleur de Force featured this gorgeous pink marble compact on her channel ages ago (Spring 2016) and for some reason I just now remembered it and started lusting after it. Not gonna lie, mostly for the packaging, but I haven't owned many luxury products before and I really wanted something special. I've been using this illuminating/correcting powder every day to set my face and it's lovely. I'm sure YSL has something similar in their permanent line and I'm going to keep my eye on the brand from now on! I feel so happy every time I use this, even though to be honest I think you can get a similar effect from the drugstore.

MAC Blankety
Oh, nude lipsticks, how I love you. This isn't my first or my last, but it's definitely something special. It's more nude than pink and it's more of a neutral tone than my usual warm-toned shades. The amplified formula is also so creamy, it might be my new favorite finish from MAC!

Elf Mad for Matte palette (review)
I wanted an all-matte palette to use alongside my Morphe 35O Shimmer palette, and this affordable neutral palette fit the bill. The shadows are also amazing and have made me fall in love with matte shades; I'm now thinking about getting the Urban Decay Naked Basics because of it.

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipstick in Pillowtalk
I got such makeup envy seeing this all over the blogging world. I've always wanted to try a Charlotte Tilbury lipstick, but no shades really called to me until this one came out. I'm so glad I own it. The coppery/rose gold packaging is luxe and beautiful, and Pillowtalk is a perfect lightweight matte pinky nude.

Tarte Shape Tape concealer
If you're looking for coverage, this is freaking incredible. It's not the easiest to blend (I have to use a damp sponge, not a brush) but it covers my dark circles and completely eliminates blemishes. I don't know how beauty gurus can spread this all over their cheeks and then blend it in, however; a little goes such a long way!

Gone Girl (movie)
I took a Psych and Film class last semester and we had to write a review of a film involving a psychological disorder or psychological condition. I was reading Gone Girl at the time and I thought it was a good example of Antisocial Personality Disorder, so I took that angle when writing my paper. I've seen this movie before but I'm impressed with it all over again!

The Vampire Diaries
My all-time favorite show for years was the Vampire Diaries. I own all the seasons on DVD, I have posters, I was a big fan back in the day. I think the past few seasons have been kind of lackluster, but the series ended this year and I finally caught up with it. I loved the finale and it made me cry. It also made me want to binge-watch the entire series all over again. Time to break out those DVDs!

13 Reasons Why (book)
Everyone and their dog has been talking about Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, and I'm one of those people who has to read the book before I watch the movie/show, so I bought the book and I'm gearing up to watch the show. I have a few problems with the premise of it, but so far it's really interesting and I can't wait to finish it and see what all the hype is about.

A World Without You
I have a big list of books that I want to read, so when I ordered this I didn't really look into what it was about because I figured I would like it if I wrote it down. I think that was the best way to go into this book: not knowing the real story behind it. It's about a boy named Bo who recently lost his girlfriend, Sophia, and he tried to bring her back by controlling time. It's a really good story and I recommend you go into it the same way I did if you decide to give it a read!

YouTube: Beauty News
Rather than get all my news about the beauty world from Instagram, I just subscribed to this YouTube account and watch their long, informative videos about all the newest beauty releases. They post update videos about once a week and I love to listen to them while getting ready in the mornings. They also have cool "Makeup Breakup" videos where they destroy, weigh/measure, and repress makeup to show you how much product you're actually getting.

App: Charity Miles
I'm not a runner, walker, or jogger by any means but I really like the idea behind this app and I've been using it when I walk to classes every day. You get to pick a charity that you want to support and then every mile you walk with the app donates a small amount of money to that charity. With options ranging from animal welfare to clean water charities, there's probably one that everyone would be happy to support and since I'm already walking the distance, I might as well give back.

Speaking of giving back, I think this month people all over the world were emotional from the videos of the awful chemical attacks in Syria. I usually wait until the end of the month to do my monthly donations but I wanted to do something to help right away. I donated to the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer search and rescue group that helps to save lives. You can donate to them here!

And those are all of my favorites this month! Hopefully my uploading schedule will be getting more regular from here on out, I've got some new products on the way that I'm excited to test and review.

What have you been loving this month?
Xx Katie