Holy Grail! Too Faced Primed & Poreless Pressed Powder

"Primed & Poreless Powder turns any foundation into high definition makeup. Our high-resolution, reflective, powder technology transforms skin by visually minimizing pores, fine lines and imperfections for an airbrushed looking finish. Our weightless powder can be worn alone, or under and over foundation to prep skin, lockdown makeup and control shine for a complexion smoothing, flawless finish." (From the Too Faced website.)

I doubted it. So many products come with a too-good-to-be-true description and an army of beauty guru's praising them on social media and still don't deliver what they promise once I test them - after spending what I consider to be way too much money for a tiny amount of product. Compared to most women who would classify their skin as "oily", I would say mine is worse. At least this summer. Between the heat and some hormonal issues, my skin has gone into overdrive. I had been using setting sprays and powders in the mornings, going through multiple blotting sheets before late afternoon and returning home after work with my makeup literally sliding around under my finger tips. What could this product do that all the others couldn't?

Answer: everything. 

After seeing one of my favorite Youtube queen's (Claire Marshall - bow down!) rave about this product, I decided to give in and shell out of the $30.00 on Sephora.com. This product does what it says - plain and simple. I don't worry about making my foundation cover every little imperfection because I know that this will finish the job. My huge (and I do mean huge) pores look like a "normal" persons. Plus I'm blotting maybe once at lunch time. If I apply this again halfway through the day, my makeup is still holding strong when I get home at the end of the day. I blot (don't swipe!) this on and trust that it will do what it says. You could have had me sold with that alone, but Too Faced is also one of my current favorite cruelty free brands. Not many high end brands are certified and proudly mark their boxes with PETA's seal of approval. (And yes, I know that PETA is not the strictest with their certifications in the cruelty free world, but Too Faced does pass my personal moral requirements.) The e.l.f. HD Powder claims similar effects and I would just like to go on the record and say that while the e.l.f. powder is much less expensive, it does not even begin to compare. 

Buy it here and thank me later. 

Cruelty - Free Beauty : Newest Favorites!

Hi guys! Long time, no talk! My love of trying new makeup products has grown so much in the last few months and I'm having so much fun with it. I've been really exploring the animal cruelty - free world and have discovered a few new (to me) brands. These are my favorite new products:

Milani Easy-Brow Pencil : Shade 03 Natural Taupe
I went back and forth between this shade and 02 Dark Brown but decided to give the taupe a try since I had recently read that you should buy your eyebrow products in a color a shade lighter than your natural brow color. Plus, my hair recently went to an even lighter shade of bleach blonde and I wanted something a little less dramatic. This pencil  has been great! It is a twist up pencil, so there is no sharpening necessary and it has a spoolie brush on the other end for super quick blending and brushing. It's available for $5.49 on the Milani website, but I found mine at CVS. (I think I payed a little over $7.00 for mine in store.)

e.l.f Studio High Definition Powder : Translucent
I'm a huge fan of e.l.f. products, especially anything from their Studio collection and this did not disappoint. I had been on the hunt for a good loose powder to set my makeup and heard rave reviews about this one "blurring" imperfections. I'm not sure that it blurred as much as I was expecting, but it definitely adds a softening effect. There is also a corrective yellow shade as well as a shimmer version available on the e.l.f. site and all shades are $6.00. I bought mine at Target (I've also seen it at Walmart) for the same price.

NYX Powder Blush : Pinched
I have never been impressed with blushes. I found that even though I have pale skin, they never showed up the way I wanted them to. Then I found the Wet 'n Wild Color Icon blushes, which showed up great but were so highly pigmented I found them difficult to apply. I had heard that this particular shade in the NYX Powder Blush line was comparable to the highly praised NARS Orgasm, so I gave it a go. It is gorgeous! It's a very pretty coral pink shade with some warm shimmer to it. It goes for $5.00 on the NYX website, but it's currently sold out. I found mine on Amazon.com for around the same price.

NYX Round Lipstick : Chic Red
I am a red lipstick collector. I gravitate toward them and I can't help myself. Even so, I was convinced that I didn't own the perfect shade of red worked well with both my pale complexion and my not always blindingly white smile. Chic Red is all of that for me. I was pleasantly surprised that it is also long lasting even though it's not advertised to be a long wear formula. Available for a crazy $4.00 on the NYX website (along with another 123 extremely tempting shades). I grabbed mine on Amazon.com for a bit more.

Real Techniques Makeup Brushes : Expert Face Brush
I have been hearing rave reviews about the Real Techniques brushes and always assumed they would be pricey - good thing I finally looked into them! This particular brush sells for $9.00 on the Real Techniques site and has quickly surpassed every other brush I own. I have been applying my foundation and blending in my concealer with the Expert Face Brush and am noticing that I'm using so much less product than I did with a sponge. The bristles are stiff enough to blend the product in but soft enough to be comfortable on skin. I will definitely be buying more of these brushes - I'm itching to order the whole Core Collection. I found mine on Amazon.com for a similar price as the website.

While, I've got you here :  I found a fantastic article on animal testing. What exactly it means, why it even exists, and what to look for in a product to ensure that your money isn't being used to pay for these tests to be done. Check out The Truth About Cruelty Free Beauty - Part One : What Is Animal Testing? And don't worry, the article is truthful and informative without being too graphic.

Shopping Cruelty Free

It is fairly well known that eating meat has never settled well with me, even when i was very young and didn't know what a vegetarian was. I'm sure it was no surprise to anyone when I cut meat out of my diet nine years ago. Since then, i've also introduced a lot of milk substitutes into my diet and started eating eggs almost exclusively from my own chickens. In the past couple of years i've also started buying products (mostly beauty) that don't test on animals. I won't get into detail about animal testing and all it's horrors, but I will say that unnessary, cruel, and pointless tests are happening to animals in the United States every day. I know that it is easy to turn away and pretend that these things aren't happening or that your purchases don't affect the problem, but they are and they do. For more information on animal testing, take a look at the links at the bottom of this post.

Unfortunately, there are some gray lines when it comes to your shopping trip. Many brands buy ingredients for their cosmetics from other companies that test and then claim that their products are cruelty free. Check the label, if it says something along the lines of "this final product not tested on animals", it's ingredients probably were. Additionally, cosmetics companies seem to change their stance on testing often. L'Oreal, along with Mary Kay and Avon, are currently resuming testing on animals so that they can lawfully expand their sales to China. For the most accurate list of "safe" products, visit the Leaping Bunny Website. Although strict, you can trust that each company with their approval is okay to support. When i started to transition into animal friendly products I was happy to see that many of the things i already used were against testing!

LUSH Coconut Deodorant Powder, e.l.f. Studio Blush, Physicians Formula Bronzer,

Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturizer

Essie Nail Polish, Toms Toothpaste, Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain, Bath & Body Works Shower Gel

Jane No Show Concealer, Yes To Tomatoes Clear Skin Daily Balancing Moisturizer,

Almay Eyeliner, Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Finishing Powder

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Baby Blossom SPF 30 Sunscreen, EOS shave cream,

Victoria's Secret Sexy Little Things Perfume, Almay Oil-free Eye Makeup Remover

Revlon Lip Butter, Paul Mitchell Instant Moisture DailyShampoo,

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, Paul Mitchell Super Clean Hair Spray

For now, I'm still on the lookout for a good contact solution & nail polish remover. I am hoping to support only cruetly free companies (in all products I buy) once we find a house and are purchasing more of our own cleaning products. I would strongly suggest that anyone with a heart look into the labels of what you are buying at the store!

The Humane Society of the United States
"Animal Testing" Wikipedia Page
Cosmetic Testing Facts

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Does anyone else buy cruetly free? What are some of your favorites? What are the products that you haven't found a good alternative for yet?

Vintage Aprons & The Girl On Fire

This past week i found a bunch of adorable aprons at a thrift shop! I was so excited! I love aprons and had never found any vintage ones in decent condition. They were $1 a piece but i had a credit because i bought a faulty item a few weeks ago so i got them all for nothing - can't beat that!

I can't choose a favorite, but the pineapple holds a special place in my heart!

Friday night i had tickets to see The Hunger Games with my mom, aunt, and cousin. We got there a half hour early and still ended up sitting only three rows from the front. (I even ended up in the seat against the theater wall...) I went into the theater expecting AMAZING because of all the great reviews i had heard and ended up being just a teensy bit dissapointed. I thought they left out a few small but important details from the book. Even so, the movie was great and we had some great debates on it on the drive home. I'm already making plans to see it again next week so i guess i couldn't have been that disappointed, huh? 

Before we left for the movie I was at my cousin's salon waiting for her to get off work and one of the stylists asked if he could "borrow" my face to practice some makeup styles he'd learned. He wanted to practice a technique with orange and it ended up working out well because it looked like i was attempting to be "the girl on fire". It was far more makeup than i ever wear, but it was fun for a night - even if i was only in a dark theater.

A bit of shocking news for anyone who knows me personally - one of our dogs, Dolce, is a bit overweight after a winter of hibernation so we are trying to walk her as often as possible. I figured it would be a good excuse to get myself in gear for shorts weather so i've taken to walking her in the mornings. I even run with her for a short distance! This is huge for me because i am not in the least bit athletic, have awful strange legs, and asthma - but i'm doing it! 

My "too-early-sunscreen-only" workout face.

My saturday has so far been filled with breakfast buffets with Christopher, my brother, and mom, thrifting for records, lamp lusting at home stores, and two drive bye's to the house that we are looking into. The house is so perfect and i can feel my hopes rising by the moment. I can just tell that this is going to fall through, the perfect houses always do!

 Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

-Brittany

What's in my bag?

What's in my bag posts are always some of my favorites. Maybe i'm nosey or maybe i just like to see that most girls are alike - we carry most of the same stuff and a few things that are completely out of the box. A woman's purse is almost like a diary in some ways. It's off limits. I hate to go into other peoples bags! I'm not even sure why, it just seems like i'm invading their privacy! Anyway, here is what you might find in my bag on any given day - or more specifically today. 

1. - My day planner. My iphone is amazing, but i've never been able to get rid of this thing. I write everything in it - appointments, reminders, birthdays. It also holds my receipts, notes, and business cards. (Why do i have so many pens?)

2. - Silver clutch. This was a freebie my cousin was giving out at her salon a few years ago to customers who spent a certain amount of money on hair product. I snagged one and have been using it ever since to hold all of the things that get lost in the bottom of my bag. 

3. - Headband. Since cutting my hair short, headbands or bobby pins are necessary for the days that i don't wash or blow dry. 

4. - My inhaler. I've had asthma since i was really young. It's under control now and i really only feel like i need it when it's especially cold, hot, or i'm pushing myself too hard but i always like to have my inhaler handy. 

5. - Hand sanitizer. This is a red apple scented one from Bath & Body Works. After sifting through wracks of gross smelly jeans or musty records at thrift stores, this is a must for me until i can get to a sink. 

6. - Floss. I'm terrified of the dentist and avoid going at all costs so i try to keep up with my teeth. Even so, i still end up with cavities. 

7. - Mini hair brush. Self explanatory. I have fine short hair that likes to tangle and look gross if the wind even considers blowing...and i drive a convertible.

8. - Keys to my '87 Volkswagen Cabriolet. Her name is Lady Goodman and she is one of the main loves of my life. Keychains include a purple Buddha man and Gigi from Kiki's Delivery Service. This ring also has keys to both of my jobs so even though i carpool during the week (and all winter for the most part), i always keep my keys with me.

9. - Red lip stain. This is the Revlon Just Bitten one. FYI - I started using a lot of Revlon when i started to use exclusively cruelty free products. There has since been some controversy over if they really don't test on animals. I need to do some research on that.

10. - Roll on perfume. I got this one on sale at Anthropologie in New York City. It's labeled "extract of poppy". I can't remember to put perfume on before i leave the house. Ever.

11. - Burt's Bee's lip balm. It's a must.

12. - Eye drops. For when i wear contacts and realize that i have a giant smudge on one after i leave the house. 

13. - Notebook. I'm a list person and i write everything out. Mostly, this is for writing down all the vintage dish ware pieces i buy so that i remember what pieces i still need to complete sets. (I'm currently in need of large dinner plates in the Butterfly Gold pattern, but have 15 tea cup plates - do NOT buy more tea cup plates.) I also write down how much i pay for things while thrifting/antiquing so that i can figure out how much profit i make if i end up listing it on my Etsy.

14. - Wallet. Nothing special. I think this is an XOXO brand one with a snake print texture that i got on sale at Marshalls. It's got my credit cards, license, checkbook, and discount cards in it. 

15. - Iphone. I love this thing...Instagram and Draw Something are my favorites right now.

16. - Sunscreen. This one is an SPF 30. Its actually made for babies but it doesn't test on animals, it was on clearance, it had a  high enough SPF level for me, and shockingly it smells nice!