Chocolate Cranberry Cutcrease

Nothing says the holidays like a bold lip and a golden eye! It's been a while since I've used my Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette, so I decided to bust it out again and do a fun look that's perfect for any holiday parties you may be attending. This isn't a super bold cut crease, so it's great for people who are still not quite comfortable with going that defined!

Before applying any shadow to the lid, I used my NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Milk." I swiped this all over the eyes, stopping at the crease, and made sure to only use a small amount.

Next, I took my Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette, and used the shade "Champagne Truffle" (shimmery, pink champagne shade) all over the lid. In reality, you can simply place it on the inner third, because it gets covered up anyway. Next, I took "Creme Brulee," (shimmery, warm golden bronze color) spritzed it with a little bit of MAC Fix+, and patted this on the center of the lid, to get a vibrant, metallic effect. I then took "Milk Chocolate" (matte, light, cool toned brown) and began adding that into the outer corner, to deepen up the look.

To help the next shade blend more easily, I took a mix of "Salted Caramel" (matte warm, camel shade) and "White Chocolate," (matte cream color) and buffed this into the crease. Then, I took "Cherry Cordial" (glittery deep burgundy) on a small pencil brush, and began to place it in the crease. I took this color pretty far in, almost to the inner corner. I felt that this color was too brown, and not enough of the pop of color that I was wanting, so I added in just a bit of the Wet n Wild Color Icon Blusher in "Mellow Wine," which brightened it up a lot.

I felt that this look still wasn't dramatic enough, so I took "Dark Chocolate" (matte cool, dark brown) and blended it into the outer corner, really focusing the shadow in the outer corner. For liner, I used my Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner in "Blackest Black" and drew a very thin line. Then, I took a clean pencil brush and blended the very edge of the liner in the outer corner into the "Dark Chocolate" color in the crease. I also used the gel liner on the lower lashline, fading in toward the center of the lashline, and then blended the color out. To give everything a clean, finished look, I took my L'Oreal HiP Color Truth Eyeliner in "Black" and lined both my upper and lower waterline. Then, of course, I used my Maybelline The Mega Plush Mascara, following it up with the Maybelline The Rocket Mascara.

For my face, I did my foundation and my brows as usual, using my CoverGirl 3-in-1 Foundation on the skin and "Dark Chocolate" in the brows. I also used my Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer under the eyes, and under the brow bone to help highlight and define.

On my cheeks, I went back to the Wet n Wild Color Icon Blusher in "Mellow Wine," and really blended it out, because it was a bit harsh and contrasted with the rest of the look. I contoured using "Fawn" from the Anastasia Contour Kit, and used "Banana" to brighten up the undereye area. At this point, I felt like I just looked far too pale and that I really needed to add some color to my face. I added just a hint of theBalm Bahama Mama Bronzer on the points of my face that would naturally get sunkissed, to help warm up my face and help me look just a little more alive!

Finally, on the lips, I used Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick in "Divine Wine," although this look would also look amazing with a warm, brown nude lip.

I hope your holidays are going well so far! Let me know in the comment below what you would like to see in future posts!

- D.

Beauty Swap with Diary of a Beauty Padawan!

If you've read my blog for a while now, you'll know that Sarah is one of my dearest internet friends. We initially met after I did my first Johanna Mason look almost a year ago, when she messaged me on Tumblr about how much she loved the look! Not too long after, Sarah started her own beauty blog, Diary of a Beauty Padawan, and since then she has become the Obi-Wan to my Qui Gon Jinn. Although I definitely think she's earned the title of Jedi Knight by now ;)

She and I always rave about various products, often which we can't usually get in our own country (considering she's from Australia). Not too long ago, she and I decided to send each other some products that the other couldn't get! If you want to see what I sent her, head on over to her post.

She sent me some things from three different brands: Australis, Face of Australia, and Kit Cosmetics. Most of them were lip products, because Sarah knows I'm definitely a lipstick junkie, but she also sent me an eyeshadow trio and a brow tint/gel!

For me, the most exciting part of this swap were the lipsticks! As you can see, Sarah definitely knows the colors I lean toward. From Kit Cosmetics, she sent me two incredibly gorgeous lipsticks. The first was "Go Deeper," which is a really pretty plum color that isn't quite like anything I have in my collection. The second, "Night Walker," was my absolute favorite of the bunch. It is a deep, almost brownish plum color. It's incredibly similar to "Black Cherry" from Revlon. The last lipstick is from Face of Australia, and is called "Ruby Delight." This lipstick has an SPF of 30, which is fantastic, and it's incredibly light on the lips. Of course, as the name implies, it is a true ruby color, and is almost like a glossier version of MAC "Russian Red." All of these lipsticks have beautiful pigmentation, and feel light as air on the lips! I think of the three, however, "Go Deeper" has the best texture and pigmentation.

This Pout Paste by Australis is very unique. It's not quite a gloss but not quite a liquid lipstick. The only product I can think to compare it to would be the Maybelline Color Elixirs. However, I almost have to say I find this to be even more pigmented than the Color Elixirs! I'm not entirely sure what color Sarah sent me, but based on the website I would say it's probably "Make Me Blush," and it's a super flattering muted magenta color. The next product is the Lip Paint from Face of Australia. This is one scary product, to be honest. When I first applied, it I expected it to be super sheer, like the Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick. It's nothing like that at all. For one, if you decide to purchase this product, don't try to apply it straight out of the tube. I learned that the hard way. The best way to apply it is in small amounts, with a lip brush. It's tedious, I'll admit. However, if you're patient, and wait a minute or two between each layer, you end up with this gorgeous, glossy, cabernet type color. 

Finally, the eye products! The Tint My Brow Brow Gel is a game changer. It reminds me a lot of the Benefit Gimme Brow Brow Gel, without the fibers. For me, most days, if I'm wearing no makeup but still trying to make my brows look good, Gimme Brow is a bit much, since it does add a bit more oomph to the brows. However, the Tint My Brow deposits just enough color to fill in your brows without making them look filled in! The color I have is "Dark Brown." Finally, the IntensifEYE Shadow Trio (which it seems like they no longer sell), in "Fancy Pants." According to the packaging, these shadows can be used wet or dry, and I would definitely recommend using them wet. When used dry, they are incredibly chalky and blend away in a single swipe, however, when used wet, they are creamy and pigmented and absolutely stunning! 

Huge thanks to Sarah for sending me all these wonderful products! If you are interested in seeing what I sent over to Australia from the United States, definitely go check out her blog post. In fact, go check it out anyway, because she is so fun and absolutely hilarious!

- D. 

Christmas Beauty Gift Guide

I swore I would wait until after Thanksgiving to do any holiday posts, but then I thought, a lot of my readers are international, and won't necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving, so there is no harm in getting this post out now! Besides, I know lots of people who have gotten a head start on their Christmas lists.

Anyway, if you're here on my blog looking for gift ideas for the beauty lover in your life, look no further! Here, I've listed 15 gift items with a range perfect for any budget. Just make sure to get 'em before they're gone!

e.l.f. Very Merry Collection - $30 (OR $3 with $25 purchase, use code MERRY)

If your friend is a fan of e.l.f. Cosmetics, the Very Merry Collection is the perfect gift! The collection comes with a blush quad (and I personally love e.l.f. blushes), an eye primer/liner sealer, a pinky nude lipstick, a baked shadow, a travel-sized brush set, and a makeup bag to put it all in! The best part about this collection is the price. It's only $30 for the ENTIRE set, although you can purchase each item separately, or, if you spend $25 on the e.l.f. website, you can add the entire collection into your purchase for only $3! 

ULTA The Perfect Wink - $25

This set is a total steal, and my boyfriend actually purchased this for me as an early Christmas gift! In this collection, you receive 3 full-sized products, two deluxe samples, and an adorable little black wristlet! The full-sized products you receive are the Mally Volumizing Mascara (normally $20), the Lorac Front of the Line PRO Liquid Liner (normally $23), and the Stila Waterproof Smudge Stick Eyeliner in Bluefin (normally $20). And if those three products alone aren't enough to sell you on this set, you also receive the Benefit They're Real Mascara (travel size normally $10, full size normally $23) and the Laura Geller GlamLash Mascara (full size normally $24). It's an amazing $90 value packed into a $25 set! 

Sephora Fragrance Sampler for Her - $65

If you have a perfume junkie in your life, this is the perfect gift! It is a bit pricey, but it comes with 14 samples of some of Sephora's best selling perfumes, as well as a cute little makeup bag. The best part about this set? When she has decided which perfume she loves the most, she can redeem a gift certificate that comes with the set for a full sized bottle of her favorite scent! 

Tarte Chic-to-Cheek Deluxe Amazonian Clay Blush Set - $35

Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes are probably their most well-known products. They're known for their incredible staying power, beautiful color selection, and a little product will go a very long way. Needless to say, this set is on my own personal wishlist! In this $35 set, you get 4 travel-sized limited edition blushes (full size normally $26 each), in colors that will flatter almost every skin tone.

Real Techniques Nic's Picks Brush Set - $29

Sam and Nic of Pixiwoo make some of my favorite brushes, and in this limited edition collection, Nic created 3 exclusive brushes to include with two of her favorites from the permanent collection. The Real Techniques brushes are always incredibly high quality, thus making this set pretty hard to get a hold of. This set is perfect for someone in your life who is just starting out with makeup, and need some great, basic brushes!

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot Box o' Blushes - $36

This is actually currently on my wishlist! Benefit kills it every single year with their amazing gift sets. In this set, you get 6 of Benefit's best selling boxed blushes, as well as one of my favorite highlighters, the Watt's Up cream highlighter! Each blush is just slightly smaller than their individual boxed blushes, which normally sell for $28 a piece.

Origins Your Perfect World Set - $52

The Origins Your Perfect World gift set features all the products from the "A Perfect World" collection. This collection features 4 anti-aging products, filled with antioxidants to keep the skincare junkie in your life looking young and feeling great! This set also comes with a matching makeup bag.

Burt's Bees Beeswax Bounty - $9.99

Everyone knows just how frustrating it is to have dry lips during the winter season. In this set, you get 4 of the best selling Burt's Bees lip balms, for only $9.99! They also have a set of their original formula lip balm, if you know a Burt's Bees purist who always tends to lose their favorite lip balm. Normally, these lip balms sell for $3.30 a piece, so at $9.99 for 4, you are getting an awesome deal! 

Urban Decay TEN 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil Set - $52

Urban Decay is incredibly well-known for their amazing, long-wearing liners, especially their blacker-than-black, super creamy pencil in "Perversion." In this set of ten liners, you get a full-sized "Perversion" liner, as well as 9 other mini versions of brand new liners in shades that have only been seen as eyeshadows before! You also receive the Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener, which has two sharpener barrels, for your standard sized pencils as well as your larger pencils!

Benefit Fun-Size Flirts - $38

Like I said before, Benefit kills it every single year with their amazing gift sets! This set here comes with 10 deluxe sample sizes of their most coveted products, ranging from skincare, to highlighters, to mascaras, and anything in between! If you have multiple makeup lovers on your list, this set would be absolutely perfect to break open and use as stocking stuffers for a few different people! 

Peter Thomas Roth Mini Mask Magic - $20

This set by Peter Thomas Roth is a Sephora exclusive, and comes with three of the best selling Peter Thomas Roth masks. These three masks alone are meant to target any skincare concern -- dull skin, acne, dark spots, anti-aging, etc. This would be another great kit to break open and use as stocking stuffers, if you know people who have very specific skin concerns, or as a whole for someone who loves trying new face masks!

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick Set - $39

This is yet another set that has found its way onto my own personal Christmas list, and is absolutely perfect for the lipstick junkie in your life. This set comes with 9 mini sized lipsticks from the Studded Kiss lipstick collection by Kat Von D, which is known to be incredibly creamy and pigmented. This set has a great range, from nudes to deep, dark purples, which makes it the perfect gift!

Too Faced La Belle Carousel - $49

This set is actually made to be a stocking stuffer set for all the makeup lovers in your life! It breaks apart into 6 different pieces, 5 of which are palettes featuring eyeshadows, bronzers, and blushes, plus one piece that features their best selling Better Than Sex mascara! Too Faced always has incredibly high quality products, plus the bronzer in this set is their famous Chocolate Soleil bronzer. 

Lorac The Royal 3D Liquid Lustre Set - $28

The Lorac 3d Liquid Lustres are essentially a glittery topcoat for your eyes. Normally, they retail at about $16 a piece, This set comes with 4 full sized limited edition Liquid Lustres for only $28! Obviously, this set is a total steal, and comes with the high quality product you would expect from a company like Lorac.

Charlotte Tilbury The Rock 'n Kohl Smoky Cat Eye - $80

If you have a special someone you really want to spoil with a luxury brand, Charlotte Tilbury is the way to go. This set comes with 3 super smokey products: the Full Fat Lashes mascara, Feline Flick eyeliner, and Color Chameleon eyeshadow pencil, which I've heard amazing reviews on! While this is definitely a pricey set, Charlotte Tilbury is known for being indulgent and luxurious, and worth every penny!

I hope this helps you find something for that special someone in your life! Let me know in the comments what your favorite holiday set is!

- D.

Top 3 Must-Have Fall Lip Products

I know I just did a Fall Favorites post, but I decided to do a series of my Top 3 of various products! I chose to not include my holy grail fall products, since I already discussed them in my last post, but if you're looking for some more variety in products, these will be the rest of my favorites in each category! Let's start with lips.

The first product is one of the Revlon Lip Butters, which is perfect for the chilly fall days. It is in the shade "Red Velvet," and is great for adding some color to your lips while hydrating them! The shade "Red Velvet" is a cool-toned, chocolatey red shade, that is pigmented, but not so opaque that it is at all high maintenance.

Next is a Lime Crime Unicorn Lipstick, which is their classic, best selling lipstick formula! The color I chose is "Poisonberry," which is a super vibrant, violety red color. I would almost say it's a very dark magenta color, but in reality it isn't all that dark. However, on dark skin tones, this lipstick is absolutely amazing! I personally love it, though, because I quite like the effect it gives on my pale skin.

Finally, who says that bright lips are only for the springtime? The Urban Decay Super-Saturated Lip Color in "Punch Drunk" is a vibrant, true red-orange color. It definitely leans more orange than red, though, so if you are self-conscious about any yellowing in your teeth, be careful with this color. However, if you love a statement lipstick that will really catch anybody's eye, try this lip color out!

What lip products are you loving this fall?

- D. 

Favorite Fall Things Tag!

For the month of October, I didn't feel like I had much in the way of favorites. So instead, I decided I would just do a tag of my favorite fall things! I saw that +leighannsays did a video on this, so I thought I would go for it as well.

Fall Beauty Faves

1. Face Product 

• My favorite face product for fall is definitely the color "Fawn" from the Anastasia Contour Kit. It is the perfect shade to really sculpt out your face, and a little goes a long way! "Fawn," which is the lower, middle color in the palette, is just the right neutral tone to contour with, without making you look dirty or orange.

2. Cheek Product

• Wet n Wild's Color Icon Blusher in "Mellow Wine" is one of my favorite blushes year round, but in the fall, it's especially beautiful. It is a gorgeous mauvey pink color that is perfect for brightening up a dull complexion.

3. Eye Product

• I absolutely love my Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner in "Blackest Black" during the cooler months of fall. A classic black winged liner is something you can never go wrong with, and this liner stays put! I also love this same formula in "Eggplant" as a subtle pop of color without going too bright.

4. Lip Product

• Currently, the lip product I am in love with is Kit Cosmetic's Lipstick in "Nightwalker." I received this lipstick as a gift from my lovely friend Sarah, and I absolutely love the color and formula! It reminds me quite a bit of Revlon's "Black Cherry," but I much prefer the formula of the Kit lipstick. Unfortunately, this lipstick can only be purchased in Australia. 

5. Hair Product

• To be completely honest, I can't think of any hair products I have been loving recently! Since I've been so busy with school, I've just kind of let my hair do it's thing.

6. Fragrance/Candle

• As always, I adore the Bath & Body Works "Leaves" candle. Although I do have a new favorite this year! The "Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin" candle by Bath & Body Works is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I'm not supposed to burn candles in my apartment, so I usually just break up the wax and melt it in my wax burner!

7. Nail Polish

• Like last year, I am still loving my Essie "Vested Interest" nail polish. This was a favorite of mine last October, and I am still absolutely loving it. I also have fallen in love with OCC's "Black Dahlia" nail lacquer, which is this incredible, deep oxblood color!

Fall Fashion Faves

1. Trendy Clothing Item 

• I'm honestly not too big on "trendy" pieces, so I'm struggling to find an answer to this question. I typically stick to more classic clothing pieces so that I can wear them for years to come. I suppose I would have to go with flannels, since they can make such a simple outfit look put together!

2. Comfy Clothing Item

• Basically every hoodie I own! Hoodies are my favorite for the cooler months, since I can just throw it on and run out the door. However, I also adore my black fleece-lined tights. They make literally every outfit so much comfier, since they're almost like wearing fleece pajamas, and go great under skirts, dresses, and even shorts!

3. Shoes

• As gaudy as this may seem, I recently bought a pair of classic Timberlands at my local thrift store, and I am obsessed with them! For one, they're super comfy. Plus, it rains all the time here in North Carolina (not to mention the snow we'll be getting soon), so these are awesome because they are waterproof, non-slip, and pretty warm! And on top of all that, I only paid $10 for these bad boys. 

4. Accessory

• My favorite fall accessory is definitely my classic black Neff beanie. My ears tend to get really cold, really fast, and I find myself wearing this beanie nearly every single day. It goes with any outfit, and keeps my head warm! Not to mention it keeps my hair tame on dry, windy days.

Fun Favorites

1. Halloween or Thanksgiving?

• Halloweeeeeen! Come on, I'm a costume design major. Of course I love Halloween! Plus, I'm not too big on Thanksgiving food. I love coming together with my family, but I don't eat meat, so the whole turkey thing isn't all that great for me. This year for Halloween, I was Alice in Hysteria mode from the video game Alice: Madness Returns! 

2. Favorite festive food and/or drink

• My dad's fudge. Oh, it is absolutely to die for. Technically, it's a Christmas treat, not a fall treat, but I'm gonna make it count anyway! My dad makes the most amazing chocolate fudge (and peanut butter fudge, but I like the chocolate better) and it's just so rich and melt-in-your-mouth amazing! I don't really have a favorite festive drink, since I almost always hate warm drinks.

3. What's the happiest part about fall for you?

• Currently, the leaves! I grew up in a part of the country where the leaves don't really change. We mostly have evergreens in San Diego. Out here, in North Carolina, we have the most beautiful red oak trees, and they turn so many beautiful fall colors that I can hardly stop myself from taking pictures every time I leave the house.

4. Who do you tag?

• I tag anyone who reads this post! Link back to my blog if you decide to do it! :)

And that's it for my fall favorite things! What did you dress up as for Halloween? 

- D.