Welcome to the first ever monthly Faves & F#^k No's!
I started this because I have an addiction to buying things, especially when I go to Walmart/CVS/Walgreens/Target/etc, and I try so many things out looking for the perfect item that I thought I would share to you what I liked and didn't like! Now, every month might not have a ton of stuff that's new on the list, so please forgive me if a blush shows up three months in a row, or there's only three things that are my favorites, because I'm trying to keep it fresh and new. I'm going to do my best to be as real and honest with you guys as promised, so don't be getting your feelings hurt over your favorite products, should they show up under the F&#k No's; this is just how they worked for me. Other than that, I hope you enjoy! Let's get started.
Faves
HOME
The Mahoghany & Vetiver candle from the Candle-lite Company
Image from midlandhardware.com
This candle is everything, y'all. I got the Mahogany Teakwood candle from Bath & Body Works and it's amazing, but it also costs $22.50, so I'm reluctant to burn it. So you can imagine my pleasure and surprise when I rolled up in Kroger and found this puppy, which smell exactly the same for half the price. It's not as strong as the Mahogany Teakwood candle but the throw is still great, and it smells like a handsome, debonair White man with money clips and monogrammed flasks. I named Mahogany Teakwood Jameson; this one is named Riley.
HAIR
OGX Extra Strength Hydrate + Revive Argan Oil of Morocco Conditioner
$9; Image from onestopshop.nl
Okay, so, I'm natural, right. But I'm a lazy natural; I like to throw my hair under a wig or some crochet braids and forget about it, literally until it's time to take it down and wash it again a month later. I forget to moisturize it often, because I'm bad with keeping up routines, so my hair is a mess every month when wash day comes back around. But when I tell you guys that this conditioner made my hair super uber soft? I have the Argan Creme conditioner (I'm an OGX fan) and it just doesn't do the same work as this one. It's amazing, and it's like $8 at most in drugstores (which is where I found it), so try it.
BODY
Bath & Body Works Midnight Pomegranate Body Cream
$13; Image from bathandbodyworks.com
I'm quickly learning that the type of scents that I'm drawn to (outside of stuff that smells like a straight up cupcake, like, ahem, the item directly beneath this one) are juicy, fruity kind of scents. But not citrus; I hate citrus scents. It's something about a scent that mixes a fruit, a flower and some sugar together that really wins me over, and that's where this body cream (or the entire fragrance line) comes in. It's a very sultry kind of fruity scent, not adolescent but not White Diamonds, either. I don't know, I just love this scent, and I'm addicted to body creams, and I hate that Bath & Body Works retired this. I'm going to be pissed if they discontinue it altogether.
Bath & Body Works Vanilla Buttercream Nourishing Hand Cream
$5; Image from bathandbodyworks.com
It's a hand cream; I think we all know what hand creams do. Extra moisturizing, yada yada, but this shit smells like a cupcake. That's why I love it, because I'm a foodie, and I like things that smell like food, and this smells like a cupcake. It's $5. Buy it. Make your hands smell like a cupcake.
Bodycology Sweet Love Body Wash
$5; Image from bodycology.com
This body wash is more floral than anything else, but it's a nice, sweet floral scent, not too much of that grassy overlay that I always smell when someone sticks a flower in something, or the sickly perfume smell, either. But the best thing about this body wash is that it leaves my skin soooooooo soft I'm not even kidding. I feel like a baby's booty after I use this, every time.
Calgon Parisian Charm Body Cream
$5; Image from calgon.pdcbrandsusa.com
Again, with the florals. This is a deeply sweet, floral scent, but somehow the perfume is just enough, and it lasts forever. I work freight in a warehouse type setting during the week, and I'm lifting boxes and climbing ladders for hours on end, and still smell like a cloud of roses when I move, and I'm always soft and buttery after using it. Love it.
SKINCARE
E.L.F. Nourishing Night Cream
$12; Image from eyeslipsface.co.uk
This night cream isn't a miracle worker or anything like that, but considering that it's from a company that does not specialize in skincare, and a company that is known for its uber affordable prices and sometimes crappy products, this night cream is really nice. It feels really amazing on my face, and leaves it moisturized, but sinks into the skin very quickly, which I like. Plus, the packaging is awesome; it feels like something from Clinique or something, and makes me feel like I shelled out some serious money for it. Also, there's a ton of product in this thing, and a little goes a very long way.
FACE
L'Oreal Paris Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base Primer
$10; Image from lorealparisusa.com
I'm a bit sensitive about the texture and pores on my cheeks, and a part of me hates taking close up pictures of the looks I do, because I feel like, besides the crappy quality of the pictures (I use the camera on my phone, sigh), all of the effort I put into my face gets overshadowed by the imperfections you see under the makeup. I went to Sephora with this issue and was directed to the Tarte blurring primer, but was hesitant to buy it because of thewhite cast that it left on the sales associate's hand (and she wasn't Black, okay). So when I went to look at reviews of it, I saw a lot of people were basically calling it an overpriced version of this item listed above. Now this product is $10, which, compared to the $30 that Tarte was charging for theirs, isn't bad at all. I like the way this looks on my skin; I feel like it fills in my pores and makes the texture on my cheeks not as obvious. It doesn't completely erase the texture, but for ten dollars I'm not complaining.
Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Foundation (340 Caramel)
$12; Image from drugstore.com
I did a post about this on Instagram when I bought it, because I had been hoping that, like so many of the other foundations I had tried from Walmart or other drugstore-type places, this wouldn't match my skin color, or it wouldn't look good on my face; I mean, Estee Lauder looked liek crap on my face, so why should this be any better? But I was disappointed (and simultaneously elated) to find out that it matched my skin color perfectly - so perfectly that I was wondering if the makeup was actually staying on my face - and, when applied with a damp makeup sponge, sat on my face wonderfully as well. It's not too heavy or anything like that; in fact, it feels the same as when I wear my Maybelline Matte + Poreless, which is a medium coverage foundation. It claims to be full coverage, and I've had people tell me that my face looks like porcelain when I wear it, though I still feel like I can see some of the hyperpigmentation when I put it on, but overall it covers up the vast majority of everything on my face, and I love it.
Black Radiance True Complexion Contour Palette (Medium to Dark)
$8; Image from nouveaucheap.blogspot.com
THIS. PALETTE. IS. EVERYTHING. It's fucking everything. EVERYTHING. I have never lucked out and come across a palette with colors so perfect for me in all of my days. I've used everything in this palette: the contour for contouring (duh), the sculpt powder for the base powder over my eye primer, and the highlight for highlighting, and it's so useful and multi-functional that I can't imagine my life without it, and I can't imagine buying another palette, because of how perfect this one is for me. The only problem I have is that the highlight powder hardened into some kind of foiled, marbled substance, and I can't really get any color payoff from it. But who cares? 2 out of 3 is great for eight dollars!
Milani Baked Blush (Bellissimo Bronze)
$7; Image from amazon.com
I'm not a girl that's very partial to having really colorful blush on my cheeks, so I tend to shy away from very deeply pigmented, berry toned blushes, and this is the very first blush I picked up when I started on this journey, and it's great. It gives me just enough color so that it looks like I'm truly blushing from within my skin, meaning the color matches my skin color wonderfully. I've been trying out other blushes (namely the Hot Spice palette from Makeup Revolution), but this will always be the real MVP for me.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminator (So Hollywood)
$28; Image from ebay.co.uk
I'm late to this party, so I'm sure you guys already know about the illuminators from ABH. But So Hollywood is such a gorgeous pure gold color that it makes you look like you took a detour through El Dorado before coming to wherever your destination is. Wonderful pigmentation, and a little goes a long way, but when it comes to highlighting, who's really trying to do just a little?
L'Oreal Paris Brow Stylist Definer Pencil (Dark Brunette)
$8; Image from drugstore.com
Okay, so I have big ass eyebrows. I'm sure we all know that by now. And I'm too lazy to get my eyebrows waxed; we all know that by now, too. So, using a big ass pencil on my brows is just not a good look for me; it looks like EYEBROWS was written across my forehead, and I don't feel like you notice anything else, no matter how little I use. Which is why this certain brow pencil is absolutely perfect for me, because the size of the actual pencil is tiny, like...0.5mm in pen size tiny, which allows me to define the outline of my brows and fill them in without it becoming too much too soon, and, considering that I don't understand the concept of brow pomades and using brushes on your brows and whatnot, I don't think I'll ever stray away from this product here.
EYES
Alriiiight, now we're getting into the good stuff.
Alriiiight, now we're getting into the good stuff.
LORAC Unzipped Gold Palette
$42; Image from loraccosmetics.com
I literally just did a haul-post about how you don't necessarily need high priced eyeshadow palettes to have bomb ass eyeshadow looks, but THIS PALETTE IS AMAZING. The pans of shadow are like marshmallows, and it smooths on your lids like butter, and the pigmentation is AMAZING. AMAZING. A-FUCKING-MAZING. I love it so much and it's so beautiful and there are so many sparkly golds which is why it was the first on my list to get (the Unzipped original was after it, once I had the chance to appreciate the rose-gold and berry-mauve type tones in it) and why it and its sister (and the Tartelette 2, because it's the Tartelette 2) are the only high priced palettes I own now, and will probably ever own. SAVE YOUR DAMN MONEY AND BUY IT. If you like gold shadows you WILL NOT be disappointed.
Morphe 35T Palette
$22 (on sale); Image from morphebrushes.com
I literally gasped when I opened this palette, because of how breathtaking it was. I had gone to the Morphe site with the intention of buying the famous 35O palette, but I just couldn't bring myself to order it; the 35T kept calling my name, and I gave in and answered it, and was NOT disappointed. I own three Morphe palettes right now, the others being the 35P and the 35B (which kind of sucks, if you ask me), and this has the best pigmentation out of all of them, I feel, and the actual shadows feel the best. It has a little bit of everything for a really great neutral palette, and I love it the most out of the three of them, though the 35D is calling my name now, too...
Wet 'N Wild Au Naturel Palettes
$6; Image from themake-upblock.blogspot.com (hey girl hey!)
Wet 'N Wild as a whole is perfect, and these eyeshadow palettes are no exception. The pigmentation on these shadows is excellent, and they last just as long as a higher priced brand, and I reach for these so much, either by themselves or in complement to another palette (usually the mattes, because the mattes in this are fantastic). There's really not much else I can say about this, except that they're awesome, and Wet 'N Wild is awesome, and they have a forever customer in me.
Milani Length in Seconds Lash Extension Fibers
$8; Image from milanicosmetics.com
Hey, you. Yeah, you. Have you tried wearing lashes but you suck at putting them on? Or say you got them on, but you felt like you looked like an oversized doll after the fact? Do you want nice, long lashes without all of the BS? Get this. The application of these fibers freaks me out a little bit (especially when I'm wearing contacts), and they just look weird as hell on the spooly, but they work amazingly (the proof is in the pudding - click here!). It's perfect for people like me, who don't do lashes but still want to add a little drama to their overall look. I recommend using them to enhance the L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara for a really great set of lashes.
LIPS
Milani Amore Matte Lip Creme (Devotion)
$9; Image from cosmeticos.cz
This is the standard edition of the Amore Matte Cremes that Milani has out. Everyone seems to love the limited edition ones, and a favorite YouTuber of mine in particular hated these, but I adore them. I don't mind the creamy texture of it, because it's a lip creme (what did you expect?), and I feel like it works just as well as any other liquid lippy or lip creme that I've tried, but the beauty is in the color. I got the most amazing blue based red lips when I wore this, and I felt so sultry and sexy and sophisticated with it on, that I can't imagine anyone not liking this. It's beautiful to me, and I love it so much.
TOOLS
My Makeup Brush Set Big Fan Brush
Mine is black, but...you get it.
$10 (it says it's on sale but I honestly think they were never full price in the first place); Image from mymakeupbrushset.com
This brush in particular is the only reason why I bothered to buy the MyMakeupBrushSet 24-count brush set when it was advertised on Instagram, because of how thick and fluffy it looked, and it's just as thick and fluffy in person. And big as hell. I like to use it to apply my highlight, because it feels dramatic as hell, and I like being dramatic as hell. I mean, a fan brush is already dramatic, but why not amp it up a little bit with a big ass fan brush?
F#^k No's
Too Faced Primed & Poreless Primer
$30; Image from toofaced.com
I got this at Sephora, with the hopes that it would mattify my face and blur my pores a little bit, since that's part of what it claims to do (the pore part), but when I put it on my face it was dry and crusty and just not cute. I put it under the Estee Lauder foundation when I tried it, and we all remember how that went. Maybe I got a bad bottle, but after seeing the paleness of the foundation color range that they have (I always gage a company's interest in customers of color by how many foundation color shades they have), I'm not too interested in giving Too Faced any more of my money, anyway.
Milani Prime Shield Mattifying + Pore-Minimizing Face Primer
$10; Image from milanicosmetics.com
Sigh. Just...sigh. Okay, we all see the title. It's supposed to mattify and minimize pores, right? It claims it right in the damn title. This did none of that. None. Of. That. I put this on my T-Zone for work one night, went to work, and when I got home my face was a grease ball. Like, you know those velvet pillows or whatever that you rub one way and then rub the other and it looks different? That's how my face looked; I swiped my finger over my face and it damn near changed colors. Like, Milani. I love y'all to death, I honestly do. But stop with the lies; this is what I mean when I say some lines just don't need to come out with everything.
Hard Candy Fierce Effects Lipstick (Galactica)
$5; Image from walmart.com
I'm not even going to be nice about this. This lipstick was trash. Pure trash. I was iffy about which lipstick to get, out of Galactica or Glisten to Me, because I was in the market for a nude-y kind of lipstick, and I was worried about them being too light on me, so I decided on Galactica because it looked darker. Something told me to try it on as soon as I got in the car, and thank baby Jesus that I did, because it's trash. It literally felt like I tried to rub my dry ass lip across a dry ass window pane, like, the lipstick would not glide across my lip. And all of the color in the actual lipstick is a bold-faced lie, because it gave nothing but a frosty finish to my lips once I finally managed to get it on. I guess that's what they were going for, with the whole Galactica name, and if they were then they succeeded, because I looked like an extra for Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Terrible, just terrible. No.
Alright, that's all I have for this month! As you know, I've already bought some stuff over the course of this month, so I'm sure I'll have quite a few things to talk to you guys about at the end of #NoMakeuMarch! See you then!
