Revlon's Latest Lip Products

Another great opportunity from Crowdtap provided me with four lip products from Revlon--all of which I couldn't wait to try. Although some of the colors weren't my cup of tea, all of the products are high quality and excellent for the right makeup lover.

Revlon Kiss Balm (Peach)

This is the PERFECT lip balm for me. I love that it's a stick (one which looks like it would be hard to break, even if you dropped your bag) and that the peach flavor is sweet, but not overwhelming on my lips. I've tried it both alone and on top of another lip product, and it works well in either situation. I can't wait to try out the other varieties of this Revlon Kiss balm.










Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick (Nude Attitude)

Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick is a rich, creamy stick that goes on smooth and has the power to last throughout the day. I like the product itself a lot, however I didn't like the particular shade I tried. Nude attitude would look perfect on someone with a darker skin tone, but it didn't look right with my fairer tone. I will be checking out the rest of the line to see if there's a better color suited for my daily makeup look.









Revlon HD Matte Lipcolor (Seduction)

The Revlon HD Matte lipcolor is a product I never would have thought to try, but once I did I absolutely love it. The color I received (seduction) was just the right shade for everyday wear--and I have been wearing it everyday since I got it. It works really well with any daytime look. It also has a staying power that I haven't seen in any lip product before. It really does stay on my lips all day without worrying about reapplication. My new favorite lip color, for sure.








Revlon HD Matte Metallic (Glow)

Since I loved the HD matte variety so much, I thought I would love the HD matte metallic just as much. Nope. While the product had the same great qualities as the HD matte variety, the color (glow) was terrible. It looked like I had applied gold lame on my lips. Great for a rave, not for everyday use (though a makeup look for darker skin tones could use this as an everyday look).









So, what you do think of these shades? Would you incorporate them into your makeup routine? 

Bold Lashes: #Revlon Mega Multiplier Mascara

Thanks to the folks at Crowdtap, I was able to try out Revlon's latest mascara product, Mega Multiplier. The product promises an oversized lash look with their innovative formula that combines tube technology and fibers to get long, full lashes. The formula is also smudge and flake proof with water resistance. So, does it deliver on its promises?

Here is the before and the after. The version I received is a blackened brown, so it's not the deepest color available. So is it a good buy? I would say yes. It gives the color, length and fullness that we all desire from a mascara product.

Though, as someone that wears glasses, the lashes can get a little too long. They do rub up against my lenses, but it's still worth it to get a bold lash look. 

What do you think of the Revlon Mega Multiplier Mascara? Will you try it out for yourself?

That Photo Ready Finish: Revlon's PhotoReady Perfecting Primer and Insta-Fix Hightlighter & Blush Duo

Thanks to a sampling mission from Crowdtap, I've been trying out some of Revlon's latest products. These three products are part of the PhotoReady line, a collection that let's you look your photo-ready best in any light. Let's take a closer look:

Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer

This product is great because it can work well on its own or with foundation. As the first product you put on your face each morning, this primer helps to smooth and perfect your skin. I like it because I can choose to wear it without a bunch of other concealers and foundations if I want a simple, natural look. I also like the packaging--easy to pump and get the right amount of primer for my face.

This product comes in three versions: perfecting (shown here), brightening, and pore minimizing.

Revlon Insta-Fix Highlighter and Insta-Blush Duo

First, the blush. Although I've been slowly evolving when it comes to makeup, I still tend to avoid blush because I think it will make my reddish cheeks look even worse. I'll admit when I'm wrong. The blush helped to define my cheeks and make the roundness of my face a little less visible. The pinkness of the blush also worked extremely well with my skin tone, giving my face color in all the right places.

This product comes in four shades: rose gold kiss (shown here), candy kiss, berry kiss, and nude kiss. 

The Insta-Fix highlighter is one of those products I thought was just a trend--I didn't think I needed a high-glow look unless I was going full-glam on Instagram. But really, the highlighting stick has changed my mind. Yes, it makes me look bright and glowing in my photos, but beyond that I just have a naturally brighter look in real life. It's something I never thought I would want to use, but I think it's becoming one of my favorite beauty products so far this year.

This product comes in two colors: pink light (shown here) and gold light.

About Those Photos...

Because this is a product line that's promoted to enhance your features when you take a photo, I want to talk about how my photos turned out. I used a Samsung Galaxy S5 and a Fuji Instax Mini 8. Surprisingly, the best (in my opinion) turned out to be the instant photo because it flooded my face with light. It's also the photo that looks the most glam, like I was trying hard to create a look rather than have a natural glow.

When it comes to the smartphone photos, I found that the front facing camera (no flash available) didn't quite pick up on the details of the makeup. the rear camera (without flash used, but low light detection on) picked up a subtle overall brightness, but if I wanted the highlights to really stand out, I could have turned on the flash to pick it up. If you are taking shots with a pro DSLR, you can create any level of intensity with the brightness of the makeup. And if you don't have pro cameras laying around, there are always filters. ;-)

My January Look: Showered in Comfort

January in the Midwest is cold. And snowy. Add a few gusts of wind, and you've got a miserable combination of weather. But that doesn't mean you have to put on stretched out, bulky sweaters and ratty socks to stay warm (although, if this is your favorite lounge wear, go for it!). Here are some of the things that I'm going to be wearing and using during January to keep my spirits up, even in the face of an unrelenting winter.

January Style by terrideno featuring a chain shoulder bag

A Comfy Shirt
I received this exact Old Navy shirt for Christmas. This is one of the most comfortable shirts I've owned in a long time. I like that it is made from soft materials and the quilting adds a little bit of wintery accent to it. 

Sturdy Jeans
If you're like me and don't park your car in a garage, you need a good, sturdy pair of jeans to wear while cleaning off all the snow and ice before you leave for the day. And as all the fashion experts will tell you, dark washes make you look like your best self.

Bold Lips
For my makeup, I tend to go darker and bolder in the winter months. This Rimmel lipstick is my go-to when I want to make a statement. I'm also dying to check out darker colors like maroons and dark berries.

Great Boots
Boots are a must in the colder months, but as many of you in snowy areas know, great fashion boots don't always make great snow boots. So these are for walking around the inside, paired with leggings and a long sweater.

Statement Bag
Winter white and furry? Yes please! This bag looks amazing. I'm going to need to find one of these to go with my winter style.

Notebook
Yes. Notebooks are a MUST for a writer. I don't leave home without a working pen (don't you hate it when you find out that the ink is all dry?!) and some type of notebook to jot down all of my inspirations.

What does you January style look like?

Cast Your Blues Away: the #RefrehVoxBox is Here!

I love getting free stuff. And with Influenster, it makes it so easy to try out great new products. I recently received the Refresh VoxBox and wanted to let you know all about the products inside.

SkinnyGirl Tasty Nutrition Bars
I love granola bars/nutrition bars as much as the next girl, but once you find a brand you like, it's kind of hard to convince yourself to try something new. I tried the SkinnyGirl nutrition bars and I fell in love with it. It was seriously good! I received the dark chocolate banana oatmeal flavor and it was great. I'm always wary about banana-flavored products because sometimes it doesn't taste as good as a fresh banana, but this product got it right. I would love to pick up some more of these bars and use them for breakfast on the go (you know, that nasty commute of about thirty steps all the way from the kitchen to the home office).

The problem? I checked their website for a list of retailers. My local retailers that were supposed to carry them didn't have them when I went to look for more, and I wasn't interested in a 40-minute round trip to Target to buy a few bars. Even though they are really, really good. 

Orgain Certified Organic Nutritional Shakes
Locally, this product is only available at Whole Foods, which is more than 20 miles away from my house. I don't have a really good reason to make a trip out that way aside from picking this up, so I haven't redeemed my coupon yet, but once I do, I'll update this post and let you know all about it!

Beanitos Chips

Influenster knew how to pick the food products for this box, because I totally fell in love with these chips! They are made from beans instead of potatoes, and there's a whole list of what they provide (or don't) on the back, such as being gluten-free, no trans fats, no added sugar, etc. The two flavors I tried were the nacho cheese and the seas salt, both made from white beans. The nachos tasted a lot like regular nachos. The only difference was in the texture of the chip itself. The sea salt chips reminded me of the taste of a really good taco salad shell at a Mexican restaurant. It too has a different texture that potato chips, but I'm really starting to like the difference. I tried to buy more of these, but many local stores aren't carrying them yet. Hey... Whole Foods has them. Maybe that's a good excuse to get there and get the Orgain shake too!

Listerine Pocketpaks

I am already familiar with this product because they were all the rage when I was still in high school. I love the convenience of it and since I recently developed a clicking jaw problem (doesn't hurt but it's still not fun!) I can't chew gum anymore. These are great for getting fresh breath quickly and you can slip it into any purse or bag you're carrying with you.

Dentek Comfort Clean Floss Picks and Fun Flossers
I know that daily flossing is important, but for me it's not something I can remember to do every time. With the Comfort Clean Floss Picks, I'm able to remember much easier and it's so quick to use. I like that it can fit tight teeth since I'm an average person without pretty, straight teeth. I also like that is can double as a tongue scraper, which is really important for breath and germs.

I didn't try the Fun Flossers myself, and since they are for kids I'm going to pass them on to someone who's more age appropriate for the product.

L'Occtaine Shea Butter Light Comforting Cream

This stuff is seriously good. It keeps my skin soft and smooth. Since it works well for combination skin, I don't have to worry about it giving my skin and oily sheen to it. The scent reminds me of baby powder and can be a little strong for those who are sensitive to fragrance.

I also love the fact that the company sources fair-trade shea butter--making a better world for everyone is important.







CoverGirl UltraSmooth Foundation

I love CoverGirl products, so when I heard about this one coming out, I was intrigued. It comes with an applicator that helps to smooth fine facial hair and also helps to blend and mask imperfections of all kinds on the face. While my facial hair is a little too far beyond the definition of 'fine' it still worked well for me in this respect.

What didn't work was the shade that Influenster sent me. Way too dark! I blame myself--I'm the one the chose the shade in the pre-survey. But all hope is not lost with this product. I just use the ever-convenient makeup hack of mixing face moisturizer with a little bit of the foundation to make it lighter. Once you find the right amount for the shade you want, it's simple!

Montagne Jeunesse Face Masques
I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea how to pronounce this brand name, but that's about the only problem I had with this product. The masque was easy to apply and took the full 20 minutes before it dried. I was skeptical about the ability to peel it off, but to my surprise it worked well! I did have a little trouble with getting it on my eyebrows, but it didn't pull the hair out, so everything is good. I loved that the product is made from a range of natural ingredients. I had the manuka honey variety, and I wasn't  thrilled with the strong smell, but I would still use it again because it left my face feeling great.

Overall, this was a great box! I'm a little miffed that I can't find some of the products in stores locally since trying them out, but I'm sure that they will pop up eventually. If not, there's always the online option. 

Beauty Cheat #1: Great Storage Tip

If you're like me, you probably have a lot of makeup (especially after the holiday season!) but not a lot of storage. I came up with a great solution for tabletops or the top of your dresser. I put all my fun makeup and beauty stuff into an adjustable utensil drawer tray and organized accordingly. What do you think?

Beauty Review: e.l.f. Beauty Book -- Natural Eyes

e.l.f Beauty Book

What's a great way to start the fall season? New makeup, of course! If you are looking for an affordable and educational option when it comes to creating a great natural eye, you may want to pick up one of e.l.f.'s Beauty Books. These eye makeup sets include everything you need to get that natural eye look. The book comes with eyeliner, eyelid primer, six shades of eyeshadow and an applicator. 

Inside Beauty Book

What I found even better than the products itself is the instructions on the inside of the book cover. My mother stopped wearing makeup long before I appeared as a bough on the family tree, so there was no formal makeup education for me. By the time I got into high school, asking for help from friends seemed embarrassing, and some who found out I had no makeup knowledge looked at me strangely. So, up until last week, I thought eyeshadow was a couple of swipes with a single color and off I go. Now with the Beauty Book, I know that a great look is achieved by blending multiple shades in specific areas of the lid. The instructions where easy to follow and the first time I applied the makeup completely, I noticed a stark difference between what I was doing and what this book could help me achieve.

Tools and accessories.

Full disclosure: I don't do eyeliner. I try because I love the look, but I always end up with it way above where it should be applied. The finished photos are lacking this detail, but the other products are utilized in the looks. Also, the beauty book in natural online from e.l.f.'s website differs slightly than the one I purchased online from Target. I probably purchased a previous version of this particular product. The major difference is in the photos and illustrations on the instruction page inside the cover of the book itself—it's seems to have all of the same colors, products and tools included. It also had the exact same price of only $5.00.

The only down side of the Beauty Book is that blending is required to get it looking good. Well, blending requires a blending brush, which is not included in the book itself. The brand does sell affordable blending brushes, but if I had known that this was a necessity, I might have picked one up. Instead, I made do with another brush I had in my makeup bag.

Overall, the makeup works well and is not expensive, which is what I look for in just about everything I buy. I would definitely recommend this for any teen or young adult that hasn't yet learned the best way to apply shadow and wants to do it correctly the first time. 

Below are the examples of how the makeup can be combined to create a number of different looks. The first picture provides a look at all six colors that are in the set. The second picture is a natural eye done with all three of the lighter shades. The third photo shows a combination of the three darker shades. 

I have also bought e.l.f's smoky eye Beauty Book, which I will review soon.