Tag: sephora

Sephora VIB Sale

What’s in my Cart? Sephora VIB Sale – Mini Edition

Maritza2 Comments

I love the Sephora VIB sale, but having it so close to the holidays sometimes makes me hesitate to blow so much money on makeup.

I’ve got a teenage daughter, peeps! Do you know how much shit she asks for? Not to mention the 9 year old boys love affair with Lego’s. Why do those damn things cost so much?

Anyways, I can’t resist a sale and quite frankly, my list this year is a nice mix of wants and needs. Also, all my items came from the Mini section, which really does help bring the expenses down.

I mean, let’s be honest. How many times do you find yourself going through an entire full size product? If you are my mother, that would be every time because she only buys foundation like once every 5 years. Me, on the other hand, makeup is literally coming out of everywhere.

So I gave myself a small budget, and saved some of my Ebates and Ibotta savings for this day to help bring down the expense. Hey, every little bit helps!

Let’s start with the Wants:

Natasha Denona Mini Star Eyeshadow Palette- I swatched this palette while I was in Sephora the other day and I fell in love. The shimmers are brilliant and the mattes are super creamy. Yeah, it’s about the size of a stick of gum, but I don’t care. I WANT IT!

Wander Beauty – Wanderess Off Duty Palette – I have been dying to try Wander Beauty, but nothing about their travel friendly products have ever made me fully commit. Of course, put out a warm toned palette in beautiful bronze colors and suddenly I want it all. Such a sucker!

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Mini Trio – I would consider this a half want/half need. I am actually a big fan of their Photo Finish Primer, but I have so many primers already. However, I’ve been wanting to try their primer water for quite some time, so figured this holiday set with its cute as heck packaging, was the way to go.

The Needs. A much smaller list, but these are products that I am actually missing from my collection at this time.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. Actually, in the long run, if you are a fan of this concealer, it’s actually a better deal to buy the full size version at $30 as you get 2.2 oz vs .05 in the mini, but having never tried a Nars concealer, I’m not ready to commit even though it’s always received pretty decent reviews. I’m a tarte Shape Tape Girl, but I’m willing to give this a try.

Farsali Rose Gold Oil – I’m a true believer in this little wonder and use it all the time, although sparingly, as you don’t need more than a few drops at a time. I always buy the mini as it tends to last me in between sales.

Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara – I am totally loving the Butter London Double Decker mascara that I got in one of my Boxy charms earlier this year, however, I have gone way past the 3 month recommended expiration and I want to see if there is anything else worth looking into. I figure a mini is a good investment seeing that mascara is one thing you should not hold onto for very long.

What are you guys picking up or have picked up during the sale? Any recommendations? If so, leave them in the comments below.

Till next time, my friends!

Maritza

Sephora VIB Sale

What’s In My Cart? – Sephora VIB Spring Sale

Maritza4 Comments

The Sephora VIB Sale is upon us and once again all of beauty humanity is going bananas for a whopping 15% off.

Not judging (only myself) because I have my cart and credit card ready and waiting to hit Checkout.

Most of the time, I usually take the time to stock up on some essentials, but a few non-essentials caught my eye this time and my cart is actually looking a bit fun.

Kicking it off with a definite essential is my beloved Farsali Rose Gold Elixir. I love this stuff. It’s light and makes for the perfect base for my foundation. Honestly, I often use it in lieu of moisturizer and primer. It’s that good!

I’m in the market for a new foundation and I don’t usually buy high end, but I recently saw an article my mom posted on Facebook (you know the LEADING authority on beauty) that says to splurge on skincare, foundation and concealer and go drugstore for everything else (let’s not go crazy Facebook!). Therefore, I’m adding the highly regarded Huda Beauty Faux Filter Foundation and possibly this cute Too Faced Sex on the Peach Complexion set. I heard the foundation and powder are really good!

Do I need both? No, but DUDE…. 15% off!!

Now we are going into non-essential territory. I need another palette like I need a hole in the head, but I’ve been lusting over this Huda Beauty Obessions Eyeshadow Palette since last year and I’m going to go for it. It’s petite, colorful and for $27, you can’t beat the price.

I’m still debating the last two because I am seriously over budget at this point, but they made it to the cart for the moment. I own nothing from Fenty Beauty and my willpower is slowly fading. This Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer and Kilowatt Freestyle Highligher Duo have been driving me crazy and it’s one of those things where if you still want it after so many months, then you have to get it. Not that I need it, but they are so pretty and feminine.

I may not be able to resist!

What’s in your cart? Drop your link below and let me see what you are getting.

Till next time, my friends!!

Maritza

Lip Balm · Smith's Rosebud Salve · Uncategorized

Bah Humbag! Sick for the Holidays- Rosebud Salve to the Rescue

MaritzaLeave a comment

I have been sick since Saturday and I just can’t shake this cold. My head is pounding. My nose is running and I have a fever. Needless to say I have not worn any makeup, except for yesterday when I had to go into the office and I slapped on some mascara and lipstick so that I can look presentable and not like a Walking Dead cast member

For the record, my Hard Candy Velvet Mousse Lipstick in Cherry Blossom actually held strong through all the sneezing and nose blowing at the office. I really don’t know why more people don’t talk about them. Hands down one of my favorite liquid lipstick formulas because they are matte, but comfortable and not drying. The only drawback is that they leave a slight stain to your lips.

Today I find myself at home and I made the HUGE mistake of taking a peek in the mirror and was like “YOWZA! You look beat up, Maritza” To be honest, I feel so bad that I don’t care. My husband and kids will just need to deal with my red nose and under eye circles. However, all the nose blowing and coughing has really chapped my lips, nose and that space in between. When that happens, I turn to my savior. Smith’s Rosebud Salve.

img_0566

I have been using this balm for about 15 years. I bought my first tin when I was in my 20’s and back then, I liked the natural, ever so pinky, glossy sheen it gave my lips. Now, I still use it as a lip balm when my lips are chapped or dry, but I find that it works wonders on my cuticles, rough patches on my elbows and, yes, even the redness that occurs around my nose and upper lips when I blow my nose too much.

According to their website, this little handy-dandy product has been around since 1895 and has multiple uses. For example, I never thought to use it as a frizz fighter for your hair or to tame your eyebrows.  Also, they state you can use it as blush or even as eye shadow base to create a glossy wet look with your favorite eye shadow. I may just give that a try when I feel a bit better.

It has a slight rose scent, which now that I am all stuffed up, I can’t even enjoy. I know that some people don’t like that rosey smell because it’s a little grandma-ish, but I happen to like it. Funny enough, it reminds me more of my 20’s (single, clubbing with no kids) than it does of the Roaring 20’s when grandma was young,

I always stock up on these when I am at the checkout line at Sephora and trust me, a little goes a long way, so this tin will last you from one VIB sale to another. However, if you are a LBA (Lip Balm Addict), it only costs $6, so you are not breaking the bank if you find yourself hitting pan in between.

I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays so far. I am about to curl up in bed, fetal position style, close the blinds, swab some Smith’s Rosebud on my lips and on my nose and go to bed. Hoping that I feel much better before Christmas Day.

Till next time, my friends!

Maritza

Holidays · Sephora Saturday

Sephora Saturday – What to Buy with My $25 Gift Card

MaritzaLeave a comment

I feel awful that I totally missed my Friday post. I will admit the last couple of days have been unusually busy and I was unable to get a chance to sit down and write. Not to brag or anything, but I actually left the house and socialized with ADULTS. It wasn’t a kids birthday party or some school function, but actual events with people who are relatively at my eye level and the beverages didn’t come in a box with a bendy straw, but in glasses and were of the alcoholic variety.

Yes. I mean they had vodka.

One of those events was a work party in which I received a $25 Sephora gift card from my co-workers for Christmas (they know me so well!) and I am in the midst of deciding what to buy. I’ve been surfing their website, placing way more than just $25 worth of stuff in my cart and I am simply unable to come to a decision.

For Example, should I get Fenty Beauty’s Stunna Lip Paint in Uncensored? If you have read any of my previous posts, you know how much I LOVE a nice red lip and $24 seems a bit steep for just one lipstick, but it’s literally the most beautiful red I have seen this season. I think it would be worth the splurge.

I could also go for quantity while getting the most bang for my buck and try out the new Sephora #Lipstories Lipsticks. As a Miami Cuban, I feel almost obligated to get Coconut Grove and Hot in Havana. At only $8 a piece, I still have enough to also throw in Popsicle.

I have been dying to try Nudestix pencils. I love the thought of one product that can be used as lip color, blush and even eye color, so maybe I should go with the What’s Your Matte? Nudes + Red ($24). It even includes a sharpener, which is awesome because I am always losing mine.

Maybe I should use the $25 towards a larger purchase, even though I really shouldn’t because my credit cards are still recovering from all the Holiday shopping I just did, and  get the Huda Beauty’s Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette. Those pinky sunset colors are just GORGEOUS and, really, it’s only $2 over the card value, so I wouldn’t be out a whole lot of money.

Similarly, but way more expensive, I can also get the Too Faced Chocolate Gold Palette ($49). Sure it is way over budget and I need another palette about as much as I need a hole in the head, but I can’t help it. I am obsessed with eyeshadows palettes. I love how colorful they are and I swear I would coordinate them with my outfits and carry them as a clutch if it wouldn’t be weird and completely impractical.

 

Also, can I tell you how much I LOVE the Try It On feature on the Sephora App. I had a blast “trying on” the eyeshadows from the Chocolate Gold Palette even though I am a little perturbed that an app can blend eyeshadow better than I could.

Anyone else have any suggestions for my cart? If so, leave them in the cart below.

Till next time, my friends!

Maritza

boscia · Sephora Rewards

Sephora Rewards Review – Boscia Skincare for Your Selfie Kit

Maritza2 Comments

For the longest time, every time I used to go to Sephora and the lady behind the counter would ask me if I would like to redeem any of my points, I would always say no.

Why you may ask?

I have not the slightest idea. I think subconsciously I was waiting for that day that Sephora would decide to convert all your points into dollars, thus allowing me to go on the most EPIC shopping spree of all time!

Anyways, seeing as that day isn’t coming any day this millennia, I have been actually choosing to redeem my points, which I may add, always seems to take the Sephora cashiers aback. They always give me this “For Reals?” look when I say that “Yes, I do want the deluxe sized Tory Burch Love Relentlessly perfume sample.” So I must not be the only one waiting for Sephora to turn points into cash.

However, the last time I was in store, I was feeling frisky and decided to break the bank and select the Boscia Skincare for Your Selfie 500 point reward. As a fan of the Boscia Makeup Melter, I was kind of hoping to snag one of those in the box, but no such luck, they didn’t include it.

Nonetheless, the kit did include samples of the following:

Detoxifying Black Cleanser – right off the bat the first thing I noticed was that this cleanser has a warming sensation when you rub it on your face. It doesn’t last very long and I’m not really sure what the purpose of that is, but it was COOL (in a warm sensation kind of way). The cleanser is black and silky and although it did a good job in removing all my makeup, it left my face a bit tight. I definitely prefer the Makeup Melter Balm because it leaves my face nice and supple.

Charcoal Pore Pudding Mask – made with both Black and White Charcoal, the mask is supposed to minimize the look of pores and leave your skin balanced. It does have a pudding like consistency and applies like BUTTAH! Since we are dipping into a fro-yo like swirl of black and white gooeyness, it goes on gray on your skin and takes about 20 minutes to dry. Once you wash off, your skin is nice and clean, although, once again, a bit tight.

Luminizing Black Mask – a peel off mask that, unlike those black masks that had people screaming in pain when they peeled them off a few months back, is quite painless and that is mostly because no matter how many layers of this stuff I put on, I was never able to get a good strip to peel. It was always bits and pieces, which frustrated the crap out of me and made me just wash off the majority instead of picking at it. However, it left my face really nice and glowy and when I applied my makeup, made for a great skin day.

Revitalizing Black Hydration Gel – a cooling gel moisturizer that I will right away say that was just “MEH”. I just can’t get behind a gel moisturizer because it just felt like I was applying that aloe vera stuff you put on when you get a sunburn. It was tacky to the touch, which I suppose would be good if you are going to apply foundation afterwards, but it never felt moisturizing.

Perfecting White Charcoal Mattifying Treatment Primer –  Now this stuff is the shiz-net! It’s milky white and has a slight gel like consistency that leaves your face tacky to the touch. It minimized my pores, helped my foundation go on smooth and left me looking way less oily than I usually do when I use Benefit Porefessional. When I combined this with the Luminizing Black Mask, I felt like a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

All the products had that similar herbal like scent that I found very fresh and different. It wasn’t overpowering and didn’t linger, which I also like.

Would I purchase the full size of any of these? Yes! For sure the Luminizing Black Mask and Mattifying Primer. The others are debatable. They weren’t horrible, but just not to my liking. However, it’s nice to come to that decision without having to actually drop some cash on it.

Moral of the story: USE YOUR SEPHORA POINTS!

Till next time, my friends!

Maritza

Sephora VIB Sale

What’s in My Cart? Sephora VIB Sale

Maritza2 Comments

Ahh… Fall! Cool weather, pumpkin spice lattes, football and the Sephora Semi Annual VIB Sale. I live for this stuff. Not that I don’t buy makeup and other beauty products year round, but I’m saving 20% during this time of year.

Ok. Let’s pause for a second. I will be the first to admit that Sephora has literally bewitched us all with this “sale”. Under no other circumstances would I ever get excited about saving 20%. In fact, I wouldn’t even typically buy anything if they were only offering me 20%. I’d be like, “No thanks, bitches! Call me when these shoes are at least 40% off!”

And if I’m really going to be honest, we typically can get better sales or more consistent savings at the very least if we buy our beauty products from the brand vs. Sephora. For example, in October

  • Too Faced had 30% off plus free shipping.
  • Becca was offering 50% off their poured creme highlighters
  • Boscia was offering 15-20% off select products.

In fact, they offer these types of promotions multiple times throughout the year (if I causally look at my inbox, I would even say it’s monthly) and I hardly ever take advantage. I always say to myself that I will wait for the Sephora VIB Sale. Why?

Brainwashed and bewitched. That’s why. That little striped black and white bag is like crack cocaine. I can’t say no!

Anyways, this year, I’m actually taking advantage and will stock up on some favorites, like Anastasia’s DipBrow Pomade, Boscia’s Charcoal Makeup Melter Cleansing Oil Balm and the Sake Brightening Hydrogel Mask. I’m pretty much scrapping the bottom of the jars on those.

I’m also taking advantage of the whopping 20% off to try out some new stuff, so I’m getting the Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment and Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Cream Mini. Both of these are top rated, so I want to see if the hype of real.

I will also pick up a Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Cocoa and Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Aquaconcealer in Fair Light. These are my splurges as I don’t need a new eyeliner or concealer, but they were calling me.

I’m such a sucker!!!

I know this is not a very interesting cart, but I’m pretty happy. It can’t always be eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks!!

Who am I kidding? If I am going to be honest, I am 99% sure I will also add the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Palette to the cart. Not that I need it, but I want it!!

Till next time, my friends!

Maritza

Beauty Review · Burberry Beauty

Burberry Beauty Bite Sized Review

Maritza2 Comments

Disclaimer: this post was written on my phone as I have no power due to Hurricane Irma. Please excuse any typos.

I don’t really know too much about Burberry Beauty. In fact, the only things I know about the brand is that they are known for their trench coats and beautiful patterned and plaid scarves. Also, once when I went to New York with one of my friends she was prepared to pay $900 for a Burberry clutch in a gorgeous plum color until she saw the look of horror on my face and then told the salesperson she would think about it.

Don’t worry. I’m sure she ended up buying it without me present.

So when I was surfing the Sephora site and came upon a special promo for a Burberry Beauty Box, I decided to hit purchase. Luckily, it was only $35 and the hit to my wallet was negligible.

When I first got the box, I was surprised by how tiny it was. It was bite sized!! Maybe I am delusional, but somehow I thought it would be bigger (that’s was she said..ha, ha!!!).

Nonetheless, it came with 4 items:

  • Burberry Kisses Lipstick in Russet No. 93
  • Light Glow Dark Earthy Blush No. 11
  • Fresh Glow Nude Radiance Luminous Fluid Base
  • Burberry Cat Lashes in Jet Black No. 1

I’ve been playing around with these items for a few weeks, off and on, and I must say that the verdict is still out on Burberry Beauty for me.

Let’s start off with the item I most liked, the mascara. Those of you who have seen my older posts, know that I love feathery curled lashes. When I first saw this wand, I was a bit skeptical. It’s flexible, which means that the slightest pressure with your hand can jab the wand into your eye. However, the mascara is lovely. It lifts and separates your lashes. Gives them a nice bouncy curl and no visible clumps anywhere. My only gripe would be the bristles. They are made of spikey rubber and if you are not careful, they can sting.

My next favorite is the “blush”. Honestly, I’m not sure what the hell this is. It says it’s a blush. Looks like contour or maybe bronzer. However, I use it as eyeshadow. It’s a beautiful tan shade, similar to their traditional trench coat, that I’ve used as a transition shade with other palettes, but also on its own. I particularly love using it to smoke out the lower lid. It makes my green eyes pop!

Falling short on the love list is the lipstick. The shade is a lovely terra-cotta color, but it’s just too damn sheer. It just gives you this wash of color that does nothing for me. I mean, if I am personally going to wear anything red, you better see me from space. Know what I mean?

Last, and for good reason, is the Luminous Base. As a girl with oily skin, I tend to stay away from primers that make me glow, because genetically I’m like a greasy lit Christmas tree, so this stuff just made my foundation slip and slide all over the place. No thank you! I’ll stick to my Benefit Porefessional.

I must say that overall, the price tag for all these full sized items individually is not that bad. Ranging anywhere from $30 – $48, I’ve paid more for less and I do have to admit that the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. All the items have the signature Burberry plaid woven through the packaging and even stamped into the actual side of the lipstick. Nothing can look fancier than touching up your lipstick after dinner with one of those tubes.

However, it’s the actual colors and products that failed to impress me. I suppose Burberry can be categorized as a brand that sells that posh, minimalist look, but if that’s not your thing, then I say skip.

Till next time, my friends.

Maritza

Storytime

Tales from the Beauty Crypt Vol. 1

MaritzaLeave a comment

Like most beauty lovers, I love nothing more that looking in the mirror and seeing an upgraded version of myself. Since I am not a makeup artist, I do find that I struggle in creating some of the looks – I mean you wing eyeliner – that are popular or making the rounds on Instagram these days. So, I do what any red-blooded woman in the midst of a midlife crisis does. I schedule a beauty appointment at Sephora in the hopes that one of the experts can help me achieve major cat eye status.

As a Sephora VIB, all I have to do is make a $50 minimum purchase to get a “free” beauty consultation. Since I was turning the BIG 40 in August, I strategically schedule it on my birthday thinking:

1. I get to look all glam for my birthday celebration that evening

2. Spending $50 would be easy seeing as I was going to do a mini-splurge anyways on myself on my big day.

This is the first time I was going to go for a makeover at Sephora, so I was pretty stoked. I walk in at 12pm sharp and I am greeted by one of the ladies as I walk through the door. She asks my name and promptly sits me down in one of the vacant chairs next to the cutest girl. She was fresh-faced and calm and she smiled at me through the mirror. I smile back seeing my reflection and the first thought that came to my mind was that the lights beaming down on me made me look like I didn’t have any eyebrows.

Damn, my fair-haired ancestors.

My beauty consultant comes by and asks me what look I am going for today. I told her, that I typically aim for a more natural look, but since it’s my birthday, I might want to take it up a few notches. She wishes me a quick Happy Birthday (wonder how many birthday makeovers she does in a day?) and then takes my color IQ or whatever you call it with that little machine that they place all over your face and then proceeds to fly around the store finding all the things to make me look beautiful.

As she picks up products, she drops them off on the counter next to me. So far, she has landed on a Lancôme foundation, Laura Marcier pressed powder, Nars concealer and Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Dip. She also must have noticed my browless forehead.

Fresh Faced Beauty next to me looks down at the Lancome bottle and tells me that foundation is very expensive. I ask her if it’s any good and she just shrugs and leaves it at that. I am so not good at the chit-chat thing. Her beauty consultant has all the products laid out in front of her and the first thing that caught my eye was the Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette. It looked so fiery and sexy that I immediately thought maybe I can request to have a look made with that palette.

My consultant comes back and places the NARSsist Unloaded Palette in front me. This is where it starts to go downhill. You see, if I were more of an assertive person, I would have told her that I already own that palette and that for that reason, I wanted to try something new, but I let it go and this is, precisely, also where everything started going wrong.

Narsisst palette

The NARS palette has a range of earthy and fiery colors that are right in line with my look, but she immediately went to the darker colors and when she began to smoke my eyes out with the darkest brown shade in the collection, I knew immediately I didn’t like it. I sat there watching her dip into that color repeatedly and never told her that dark colors are not my style or that I’m really not looking to go for a look so outside my comfort zone. Just sat there, silently watching her pack on that color.

It didn’t matter that when all was said and done she created a beautiful wing liner or contoured my cheek bones to perfection. That the NARS lip pencil in Cruella she put on my lips was the perfect red for my skin tone and that I added it to by online basket the next day or that when I got a Sephora gift card for my birthday, I also ended up buying the very same Anastasia Beverly Hills Cheek Trio blush she used. All this didn’t matter at that moment because all I wanted to do was get the hell out of the store.

She must have picked up on how uncomfortable I was because when she finished with me, she asked me if I would like her to lighten the eye look a bit, but desperate to just be done with this experience, I told her no. That it was fine and I thanked her and went to pay for some items I had picked out in advance.

This is ultimately more of a tale of caution, that a beauty horror story and it’s not because this consultant did a terrible job, it’s because I was a terrible customer. I told her what I wanted and never expressed any of my concerns during the process or guided her to the colors or products that I liked. All I did was sit across Fresh Faced Beauty and lament how beautiful her makeover was going compared to mine.

That really was not fair to myself or to my beauty consultant. In the end, I told her I liked the look. I led her to believe that I was a happy customer and that I was going to give her a good review. She would never know that I felt so uncomfortable with the amount of black eyeshadow I had on that I put on my sunglasses before I even left the store or that I washed off all the makeup the minute I got home.

It’s been about a week since my failed beauty consultant and I have decided that I will give myself another chance at redemption. Yes, you read that correctly. Not the beauty consultant or Sephora, but myself. I am going to walk in there and ask them to create a look with a few products I have been wanting to try and prove to myself that I am not a pushover or people pleaser because in the end, it’s not always about makeup, right?

Till next time, my friends.

Maritza

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stila

Bring Back The Stila Girl

Maritza4 Comments

Back in the 00’s, when I was in my early 20’s ….

Me: Geez why do I suddenly feel so old?

 

Inner Me: Umm…cause it’s 2017 and that was over a decade ago, you old geezer.

 

Me: Thanks, Inner Me. I appreciate your daily reality check. (Goes to cry in the shower)

Anyways, as I was saying. Back in my early 20’s, Stila used have a series of palettes, which contained an eyeshadow and blush combo, that was built around a theme. Like, Summer in the Hamptons or Striking in South Beach. All these palettes also had a cute, model type cartoon girl in the midst of some activity (i.e. rollerblading down Ocean Drive), dressed super trendy and looking like everything I wanted to be at that time: thin and beautiful with perfect hair.

Stilla-The-Color-of-innovation-fall-2010-Pretty-in-Paris-palette.jpg

She had many looks and came from different parts of the world, but she was known simply as the Stila Girl. I used to go to Sephora and swatch the palettes every time a new one would debut and drool over how cool I would look taking out this thin wallet type palette for a touch up when I went out with girlfriends.

To be honest, I don’t remember if the pigmentation was any good or if the colors lasted all day, but the Stila Girl was the only persuasion I needed to shell out my hard earned money. She was like the Instagram Model of the day. If she looked like she was having the time of her life on that cover, then I wanted buy it, because she obviously knew better than I did.

I mean, don’t we all roller skate on South Beach in a blue romper in 90 degree weather? Forget the humidity and chafed thighs. You won’t be bothered with that looking like you do in your smoky blue eye.

Stila Girl South Beach

I think it was sometime around 2011 that Stila dropped the Stila Girl. Not surprising, that’s when I stopped buying Stila. I’m not saying that their quality declined , but the Stila Girl reminded me of my youth. Of the good ole days, when I was young and had the metabolism of an Olympian. I know if she was real, Stila Girl is probably married now, with a few kids. Probably blogging and doing the school drop off looking super chic in skinny jeans and cool v neck. Her hair, perfectly balayaged and in beachy waves. I still  want to be her.

So Stila, if you are reading this, consider bringing back the Stila Girl. I know that there others like me that would spend money for the opportunity to relive their past a bit.

Sincerely,

Maritza

 

 

Lipstick Battle

Lipstick Battle – Lip Gloss Edition

MaritzaLeave a comment

About a week ago, I stopped by Sephora and saw the new Becca Liquid Crystal Glow Gloss. I swear the display was haloed because it was calling to me. I glided over to the case and swatched this golden peachy perfection called Champagne Dream x Bellini and even under the fluorescent Sephora lights was mesmerized by their glittery goodness. I was sold!

I managed to snag the last one in that color (a sign that it was destined to be mine) and went to the register and happily shelled out my hard-earned $22. I even got some samples from the nice Sephora lady. This was the perfect day.

You would think the story ends there, but, my friends, you are wrong. Little did I know that a Lipstick Battle was brewing, because not even two days later, I received my order of  BH Cosmetics goodies, which contained a possible Contender for the title of Lip Gloss Champion 2017.

Lipstick Battle pic 1

Entering the ring at an impressively light $5.99 is the Nude Rose Lip Gloss in Marilyn. A gorgeous rose toned lip gloss with flecks of gold that shimmer in the sunlight like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Ohh…the Battle is on!!!

Both lip glosses work well as a topper or alone as a gloss and they both smell divine. Becca smells like vanilla cupcakes and BH like an orange creamsicle. Becca does have a little more staying power on the lips, but BH is almost a 1/4 of the cost.

Lipstick Battle pic 2

It’s almost a tie and I’m beginning to sweat here trying to make a decision. It seems that after each round neither has a real advantage over the other. However, after much deliberation, the winner, by the tiniest of margins, is Becca. Overall, the shimmer payoff is just slightly better than BH.

But there are no losers in this battle, my friends. Both lip glosses are winners and both deserve a spot in the top shelf of your vanities this summer.

Who will be battling it out next time in the ring? Stay tuned and find out!

Maritza