Category: first impressions

Urban Decay All Nighter Foundation

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So, while I won’t be posting a video on YouTube this week as we are gearing up for guests to stay with us and  a housewarming party, I did want to write a blog post or two. This one is about the new All Nighter Liquid Foundation from Urban Decay. Now, I am an avid Urban Decay lover. I use their eyeshadow primer potion, setting spray, B6 spray, have many of their palettes… When I saw that they launched this completely matte foundation, I knew I had to give it a try. I purchased it last Saturday and have worn it the last three days.

Unfortunately, this is one of the worst foundations I have ever purchased. I have tried with with different hydrating and moisturizing or tacky primers, but this foundation leaves my skin cakey, flakey and makes me look 30 years older than I really am.

When I first apply it, it goes on smooth – and when they say a little goes a long way, it really does. I applied a pump and a half on my damp beauty blender and dotted it all over my faced and then proceeded to tap it into my skin. It goes on flawless. Adding the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer in the shade Light Warm (one of my new faves) ties the whole look together.

After setting my face (just a little since it’s a full coverage concealer) my face looked really amazing. Flawless, even. Fast forward five hours later and the foundation has started to come off around my nose and chin (my oiliest points of the face) and has cracked and looks cakey. My not-deep laugh lines look deep (I’m talking, I need botox deep) and it just doesn’t look good.

Here’s a right after application photo (from Sunday) and a five hours later photo (from just now):

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As you can see from the first photo, it looks really pretty when it first goes on. The second photo is only after five hours of wear! That’s ridiculous. My chin looks all cakey and my laugh lines look so deep. Mind you, this is after blotting the oil away from my face.

Looks like I’ll be sticking with the Born This Way foundation from Too Faced for a while.

Have you tried the Urban Decay All Nighter foundation? Do you like it? If you have any advice on how to avoid the cakeyness, please leave me a comment below.

August Ipsy Glam Bag | Haul & Swatches

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Hey guys! Check out my video for my latest ipsy glam bag! Loving the products I received this month, especially the 12-in-1 haircare. If you don’t know what ipsy is, it’s a $10/month subscription service where you receive customized beauty and makeup products. Plus you get to keep a super cute makeup bag, perfect for travel. If you’re interested in trying them out, here’s a link to get you started: http://bit.ly/2bBZMuA.

If you already receive ipsy I’d love to know what you got in your glam bag this month! Leave a comment below. 🙂

First Impressions: Andalou Naturals Coconut Water Firming Toner

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It’s been a whirlwind the last few weeks. We finally moved into our new house, but my office is still getting set up, so in the meantime I’ve been unpacking boxes and getting other things organized, but I wanted to do a first impressions on a product I received at my full-time job yesterday.

So if you recall from a previous post, I work for Marin Magazine based in Sausalito, CA (10-minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge) and in the July issue we featured a local beauty company called Andalou Naturals in our Made By Marin section. Andalou Naturals is a 100% Non-GMO verified beauty brand, using fruit stem-cell science in their products. Another great note is that they are certified organic, fair trade, gluten free, cruelty free, and certified vegetarian and vegan.

One of the founders and CEO’s dropped off a box of goodies to the office yesterday and what first caught my eye was Andalou Naturals’ Coconut Water Firming Toner. I love anything that has coconut or rose water in it, so I knew I had to try it. My coworker tried it the last time Andalou sent us a package and she says she loves it, so I had to try it.

First off, the packaging is super cute. It’s simple, clean and since it’s a quenching product, the coconut water is in a blue bottle (my favorite color!). After removing my makeup and cleansing my face, I followed the directions and shook the bottle well and sprayed all over my face and neck. My face had an even complexion and felt hydrated just minutes after use. I used it this morning prior to using my moisturizing primer before applying my makeup. I definitely will keep using after cleansing my face each morning and night. I cannot say enough great things about this product.

I have also used Andalou Naturals’ shea butter hand cream in clementine and it’s amazing. It hydrates my skin without feeling greasy and smells amazing.

Andalou Naturals is available in more than 22 countries and carried by Target, Whole Foods, Ulta, Pharmaca and others – and online.

Have you seen or tried Andalou Naturals products before? I’d love to know. Leave me a comment.