Makeup Favorites #1

I am so excited to be sharing my first ever Makeup Favorites with you! There will be many more to come because admittedly, I'm a makeup addict. Can any ladies out there relate? I've been trying to up my makeup skills for a little while now and my favorites this month have definitely made it easier on me. I've been on a high-end makeup kick for weeks and these are some of my favorite products out of everything I've tried. Andiamo!

Lorac Unzipped Gold Palette ($42) - I saw this stunner in Ulta about a month ago and immediately put it in my basket. If you're a blue-eyed baby like me then trust me, you need this is your life! I'm part Italian so my skin has olive tones in it and this palette works so well for me. Lucky it's made up of different gold shades, so it'll look nice with any skin tone and any eye color. It's an all-in-one eyeshadow palette. It comes with a few lovely highlights, all over lid colors, and the perfect crease shades. Unleashed is my personal favorite. Lorac eyeshadows are notorious for their powdery consistency but that's nothing to worry about. It just takes some time and practice to learn how to blend them out. Once you do you'll see how beautiful they can be!

tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush ($26) - I'll keep it short and sweet for this one. This blush is the ideal amount of pigmented. You can make it look very subtle for a natural glow or pack it on for a more made up look. I bought it in the color Dazzle, which is described as a soft rose. It was a tie between this shade and Blushing Bride for my personal favorite. If you are more into reds, nudes, or corals, they have those too. Take a peek!

• NYX Wonder Pencil ($4.49) - Ahhh! I can't wait to tell you about this product. Let me just say, this little guy has been a life saver. They're right on the money with the name this one. It really does do wonders for me! Okay, so how many times have you woken up just a liiiitle bit too late to do your usual beauty regimen before you jet off? Five times? Ten times? Oh my, let's hope not. It happens to the best of us though. Whether it be you stayed out too late partying, you had a huge load of homework to do or maybe you just couldn't get off your computer for hours, you have been in the following situation. You wake up, still tired with bags under your eyes and have to be somewhere in 10 minutes. In cases like this I have no time to do a full face of makeup so I opt for this beautiful specimen instead. All I do is put it on my waterline, inner corner, and right below my brow. Blend it out a little bit and voila! I look awake and ready to take on the day. A huge reason why I like it so much is because it's skin toned. I mean sure, you could use a white liner to do the same thing but you're not fooling anyone. With the Wonder Pencil the color blends right into your natural skin tone and tricks all your coworkers into thinking you just had the best 8 hours of sleep of your life. It's a great product for people who just want to get up and go and still look put together. 
• NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette ($65) - I've been trying to experiment more lately with face makeup, blushes in particular, and this palette was a great way to do that. It is quite pricey but I think it's worth it. NARS has very high quality products and this certainly did not fall short. The greatest thing about it is that you get to test out four different shades of their blushes. I hadn't even owned one before buying this so it was a good way to see if I liked them. It also comes with their best-selling bronzer, Laguna. I use this palette frequently when I do other people's makeup because there is a shade for everyone. It's a total crowd pleaser and leaves your skin looking fresh and vibrant. It's limited addition so if you're interested, get it while you can!

• MAC Lipstick in Peach Blossom ($16) - We all know about MAC lipsticks. They may be the most spoken about lip product on the internet and for good reason. If you haven't tried MAC lipstick before I urge you move out of that rock that you're living under, ASAP. For me, this is the perfect shade. It adds just a little something extra to my natural lip color. It's a cremesheen, which is my favorite finish. Not too heavy on the lips and doesn't get all sticky and gross after an hour. It's the perfect balance. If you want a more pinky-nude then check out Creme Cup by MAC. 
• stila Eye Shadow in Kitten ($18) - Last on my list of favorites is this shimmery eyeshadow by stila. It was enormously popular amongst YouTubers like two years ago. Back then I didn't have a job so I couldn't get my hands on it. It all makes sense now as to why it was so raved about. It's a very shiny shadow and it's stunning! If I tried to swatch it and photograph it it would just look like an orb of light on my hand because of how reflective it is. The color is more toned down when you actually wear it on your eyes however. I find it's great as an all over color more so then a highlighter or inner corner shade. I'm sure it would look fabulous on anyone so swatch it for yourself next time you're at a Sephora to see how you like it.

Well that's it for this makeup favorites post! I'll be sure to update you on my new favorites in a couple of months. Let me know about some of the makeup products you're loving right now in the comments below. Thank you your reading.

Stay brilliant world.

Forever 21 Hidden Gems - Outerwear Edition

We've all heard about Forever 21, right? It's a fairly inexpensive American retail store. I personly find I like a big majority of the items the store offers. That being said, it has definitely racked up some "haters" for lack of a better word. I agree, some of the things they sell are pretty low quality. That has never been the case however, with outerwear I've purchased from them. Today I have a list of what I find to be hidden gems within the Forever 21 website. Let me know if you agree down in the comments below. Tell me if you have a favorite from all the jackets I picked out!

Buy this Snap Collar Moto Jacket in mint, light blue, or pink, for $24.90 here.

Let's start out with the least expensive of everything I picked. This is their Snap Collar Moto Jacket in the color Mint. First off, I'm obsessed with this color. It's so cute! The fact that it's more of a pastel mint than an in-your-face green color is perfect. I think you have to be a little careful when styling jackets of this color and they did a lovely job with the model's outfit. This is definitely a gem for it only costing $25. Grab it up before it's completely out of stock.

Buy this Faux Leather-Trimmed Marled Coat for $49.80 here.

Forever 21 stepped up their game with this one. This coat is my favorite from the list. As you can see it's a bit more costly at $49.80 but with the price going up, so did the quality. I've tried this on in person and loved it. They are changing their company as we know it when it comes to the amazing jackets they offer now. This coat is insanely stylish. You'd be turning heads left and right if you sported this in public. I highly urge you to at least look at the other photos of this on their website. Understandably, it's not going to be everyone's style. If you are at all interested in buying it, I'd go to a Forever 21 near you and try it out. You want to make sure the cut/fit is flattering on your body before dishing out $50.

Buy this Quilted & Hooded Utility Jacket for $62.80 here.

This is the most expensive of all the outerwear pieces I picked today. I like this one because I'm drawn to coats with faux leather sleeves. The quilted pattern is a plus too. The olive color would fit effortlessly into my wardrobe but they also offer it in navy if that's more you're style. It has a removable lining and a hood, which is nice. Where I live it could rain any given day so investing in this jacket, even though summer is creeping up on us, would still be a smart choice. What's the weather like were you live? Do you want to fight rain in style with this beauty? I know I do.

Buy this Distressed Denim Jacket for $37.90 here.

Who wouldn't want the addition of a perfectly distressed denim jacket to their closet? No one, I hope. I have about 5 denim jackets in my collection but none of them are distressed. Which leaves me wanting this even more. You can so easily style denim, so it's perfect for people new to the world of fashion. If you don't feel like forking over $38 then you could always hit up a thrift store and find your own to destroy. If you're anything like me though, you're far too lazy for that. This jacket would work great for people going for a boho or grunge vibe. If that's you, go get it!

Buy this Classic hooded Utility Jacket in Olive for $29.90 here.

Last in the line is this stunning Utility Jacket from the plus section of Forever 21. If you didn't know they carried plus sizes now you do! There are so many cute things in the Forever 21+ section. Take a peek if you're a curvy fashionista looking for some new pieces. I have a jacket very similar to this that I got from Target. It's a bit longer though. I stand at 5'7" and the back nearly reaches my knees. The Anorak I'm talking about unfortunately is sold out but I'll link a similar one here. 

Remember to always skim the websites of your favorite stores. You never know just what you'll find. Comment down below other sites I should check out for future installments of this series. Thank you for reading.

 Stay brilliant world.

April Wishlist

I've decided I'm going to start posting a monthly Wishlist of a few things I want. Keep in mind some of these things are pretty pricey so I won't be buying all of them. I may not even buy any of them for quite a while! These posts are more going to be mental notes as to all the random cute things I'm wanting at the time. This month, most of the beauts I've got my eyes on are makeup. I promise it won't be like that every month. My taste changes constantly so there's bound so be some weird things I'll want in the future. For now, these are all the items on my Wishlist for the month of April. Enjoy!

1. tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation ($38) - I was in Ulta recently and I asked one of the lovely people who works there what foundation he recommended for people with acne-prone skin, i.e. me. He immediately went for this foundation. It's made without parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals and a ton of other yucky stuff companies put in makeup now-a-days. It's described to have "skin-smart" Amazonian Clay in it which adjusts to your skin type and is actually formulated to help clear up your skin! He tested two different shades on my neck and after letting it oxidize I found the perfect color for me. Unfortunately, it just so happened to also be the only color that was currently sold out. Just my luck, right? I've decided to put it on my Wishlist so I remember to get it as soon as possible. It's currently the number one thing I want out of everything on the list but besides that, all other items are in random order.
2. BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed ($38) - Incase you're confused by the name, it's just fancy talk for highlight. I saw this highlighter in the shade Moonstone in store for the first time a while ago and I had to hold back from squealing  It's stunning! It's honestly one of the pretty shades of highlight I've ever seen. I get the feeling you'd have to be very sparing when applying it because of how pigmented it is. Don't ever be afraid of that though, it just means it'll basically last forever. At the price of $38 let's hope it does. 
3. Bite Beauty Matte Lip Crayon ($24) - The reason this beautiful lip crayon (in the shade Leche) landed on my list is because of all the Youtubers that keep talking about. I've seen it in many, many hauls. Looks like companies do sponsorships for a reason because I want this, badly. I've swatched a few different shades of lips products from this brand before and was insanely impressed. Their products are all so soft and creamy. Can't wait to get my hands on this.
4. NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base ($25) - This one is a pretty basic product. It's a base to help prevent your eyeshadow that you just spent an hour perfecting, from smudging all over the place. I've tried a lot of different bases in my time and none of them have worked that well for me. I think it's my Italian genes to blame. My eyelids always get oily throughout the day, especially when I wear eyeshadow. TMI? Oh well. Some one recommend this to me on one of my Youtube videos from a loooong time ago and I still have yet to try it out. Oh yeah, have I told you I make Youtube videos? Well...I used to. No worries though, I plan on starting up my channel again sometime before summer. I have to figure out of to balance work, this blog, Youtube, and my free time. I'm also currently saving up to go to school in a near by city. For now everything on my channel is private except one Demi Lovato inspired makeup tutorial I made two years ago. Feel free to take a look if you're interested.
5. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer ($29) - The last makeup item on my Wishlist is this creamy concealer. Everyone and their Grandma raves about it. I've never tested it out, or even felt the consistency but I imagine it's creamy...and radiant...and that it conceals. Okay I need to stop. I'm obviously getting a little tired. So I'll end the makeup part of my April Wishlist off by saying this. NARS always amazes me with the quality of their products so this will most definitely become my go-to concealer. 

Shoesss! I'm a girl who openly admits to having an obsession with shoes. Whether it be a pair of sky high heels or just some no-name sneakers, I want them and I want them now. If I'm being honest with myself, the Converse you spot above will be the first thing I actually buy off this Wishlist. I'm a sucker for Chucks. I want them in every color of every style. I know that's not going to happen in this life time of mine but that's probably a good thing. I'll stop babbling up here now and leave that for the explanations down below.

1. Jeffrey Campbell Suede Rumble Bootie ($155) These shoes. These freaking shoes! Oh man they get me. I've seen photos of them so many times on Pinterest  (I know you think it's for old people but it's fun. So shhhh!) Let me just fill you in, if It's by Jeffrey Campbell, I'm probably already drooling over it. I love all of his creations. I think he is such a fun and daring designer and I commend him for that. Back to these shoes. I've wanted them for around a year and when I saw Urban Outfitters was selling them I just about fell out of my chair. They come in at a whopping $155 before tax. After tax they're closer to $170. I had the funds to get them this past week but something inside me told me to hold off and save my money, which I ended up doing. I told myself if they were still there in my size by my next paycheck that I'd buy them. Of course what happens is I go back two days later to see if they're still there and no. Nope. They are already on back order and wouldn't ship till June 6th if I ordered them now. That's crazy! Within two days their entire stock of these shoes in my size sold out. I guess I'll just have to save them for my June Wishlist.
2. Chuck Taylor All Star High Top ($55) - Last on my list of shoes are the classic Converse I went on about earlier. I already have plenty of low top Converse in my collection but have yet to buy any high top ones. I think that I used to believe they looked weird on my but when I tried them on recently I went crazy for them. They are the perfect amount of style and comfort. You can never go wrong with a good pair of Converse.

• Pages Old Book Scented Candle ($26.95) The last and also one of the coolest things on my Wishlist is this candle that smells like old books. Guys. This is not a joke. This is an actual candle that you can actually buy that is actually scented to smell like old book pages. Sorry, I got a little word happy just then. I don't know about you but when I first saw this was a real product I flipped my shit. What a genius idea for a candle scent! Since it sits at the price of $26.95, it might be a while till I invest in this. It's hard for me to justify burning 26.95 of my dollars. Until that day though, I'll just spend my time awing over it. If you like the smell of a book store, or a library, or those ancient books your Mom keeps locked behind glass and basically never lets you touch, this candle is made for you. If you prefer the smell of a fresh new book, don't worry because they have that too! You can get it here for $26.95 as well.

Thank you for reading another one of my blog posts full of babbling and drama queen moments. Please be sure to follow me if you enjoyed. 

Stay brilliant world.

Powell's Books

On my trip to Portland I stopped by a very well-known book store, Powell's Books. They have a few locations and I ended up going to the one in Old Town. Let me just warn you now, if you ever feel like venturing to Oregon and going to this store...you will want everything! At least I did. So be sure to bring some extra spending money. The prices aren't bad in my opinion. I know some people have different views on that (according to the lady who scribbled on the bathroom stall "This shit's expensive!") but I'll let you that decide for yourself. Prices for everything I bought will be listed down below. Anyways, let's get on with the books!

You can buy This is Portland here for $4.50! I bought it for $5.95 in store, new.

I thought it would just make sense to start off with one of the books I bought my first time to the store, This is Portland. This is one of the few I've started to read through and let me just say, it's so good! It is full of a lot humor, a little bit of information and the truth about Portland. It's written by Alexander Barrett who at the time had lived in Portland for a year and felt the need to tell people what Rip City is really all about. Though I love all my purchases, I definitely recommend this cute little book to anyone who is interested in a inside look at the city.

You can buy World War Z here for $8.00. I bought it for $14.95 in store, new.

 This next book I bought partly because of my love for the movie but mainly because of the recommendation from my sister. She's told me many times this is one of here favorite books and she has good taste in books so I figured, why not? You'll find that with a huge percentage of the books I got on my trip to Powell's, that her recommendations had a strong influence. Now this is slightly embarrassing to say but I've only recently gained a love for books. Reading used to drive me insane and bore me to no end but all it took was finding that one book that sparked a whole lifetime of great reads. I'm so grateful I found a book that did that for me because I have so much to catch up on! With all that being said, I'm still trying to find out just what genre's tickle my fancy. I am always up for anything involving zombies, so I'm sure this will go right into my pile of most loved books soon enough. "BRAINSSSSS!" *Not an actual quote from the book

You can buy If I Stay here for $7.95 and not simple here for $8.95. I bought If I Stay on sale for $6.98 and my sister purchased not simple for $8.95 in store, both used. We're sharing it!

As I said earlier, I'm still trying to find out which type's of books I like. That should explain why there are some random purchases in my haul today. Take not simple for example, I would normally never reach for anything in the realm of manga. Not because I don't like it but because I feel like I just don't connect with it on any level. Obviously, I'm trying to change that. For some reason though with this book, I did. I think it was the art that really sucked me in to be honest. Sometimes it can be good to judge a book by it's cover. My sister has read not simple and loved it. I gather it definitely isn't a book about rainbows and sunshine, but I'm okay with that. I can't wait to read it. I also snatched up If I Stay. It recently became a major motion picture as the big sticker on the front says. I find that that plays a big role in books I'm interested in. I think it's because it exposes me to the story. It puts it right in front of my face and makes it hard to ignore. By the way yes, I'm one of those people that likes young adult novel's like The Fault In Ours Stars but don't worry. I won't be buying Twilight any time soon.

You can buy The Perks of Being a Wallflower here for $8.95. I bought it in store for $9.95, used.

I've heard so many good things about this book. Once again, It's a book that was made into a movie. I personally see no harm in that though. In most cases with myself, I haven't actually seen all these movies that are made from the books. They just merely make me want to read the book because I know what the story is about. Almost every time I see a new trailer for a movie that looks interesting and realize it's based off of someone's novel, I go out and buy the book. I much prefer to read the story first. I like to create my own visions and scenarios. It's what makes reading, well...reading. You're mind gets to explore places that your eyes never could. Back to the book. It's about a boy who is socially awkward and feels like he's just watching life go by. I can relate to this book greatly in the sense that for many years of my life I was the weird awkward kid who couldn't do anything without word vomiting nonsense all over myself. I think that's why I have such an urgency to read it. Even now while typing this I'm wishing I could be reading it till I fall asleep. This one will be a keeper.

You can buy Choke here for $8.50. I bought it in store for $8.50, used.

This is another of my sister's favorite books. The first trip I made to Powell's I asked her to tell me all the books she thought I should read and this was one of them. Based on what she explained to me it's basically about a guy who's a sex addict and goes around to different pricey restaurants pretending to choke so that people will save him. That's all I know about it. I am one to like not-so-conventional stories so I'm almost certain I will really enjoy this book. It was also written by the same man who wrote Fight Club and I mean come on, this is Fight Club we're talking about. How could this book not be great?

You can buy My Age of Anxiety here for $11.87. I bought in on sale in store for $11.87, new. It's still 30% off, get it while you can!

My Age of Anxiety is exactly what it says it's about on the cover. Fear, hope, dread, and the search for piece of mind. It's a self-help book. I've never steered towards those types of books but this one sort of spoke to me. Ever since I can remember I've struggled with anxiety. Every aspect of my life has anxiety hovering right above it. I'm really hoping that reading this book will help me to not only understand more about the anxiety and worry that cloud my life but also how to overcome it. Now I'm not sure if I'm expecting too much out of this book but I'll let you know when I find out. For now, it's in the line of many books I need to read.

You can buy Men, Women & Children here for $9.95. I bought it in store for $10.95, new.

This book caught my interest for a few reasons. Not gonna lie, the main one being Ansel Elgort plays Tim Mooney in the movie that was made after it. I haven't seen it but once again, the trailers I saw for it looked pretty interesting so I bought myself a copy of the book. It would take too long to type out a huge paragraph on what this novel is about so instead I insist you Google it. Or Bing it, if you're one of those people. It's going to be hard to not watch the movie before reading the book on this one.

You can buy The Theory of Everything here for $9.98. I bought it on sale in store for $9.98, used. It's still on sale, go get it!

I picked up this book because I saw it was on one of Powell's "If you liked (fill in the blank) then you'll like..." papers. I had been eye-balling it on the sale table for about ten minutes so I decided to walk over and see what it was about. Turns out it's another young adult novel so naturally I had to buy it. This is another one that's a little hard to explain so I'd look up a summary of it if you're interested. If you liked TFIOS than you'll probably like this. At least that's what everyone keeps telling me! I'm excited to read this. I'm sure it'll be an easy read and end perfectly happy, but I'm okay with that. Also pandas are my favorite animal so that miiiight be why I kept looking at it on the table across the room.

You can buy Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging here for $4.50. I bought it in store for $7.50, used.

I remember growing up my sister owned this book. I thought it was so cool that she read books and I wanted to be just like her. Ironically she spotted this book on the shelf while we were on the search for a different one. So I decided to get it, just for fun. She picked it up and told me about how she loved reading it when she was younger, so I said okay and threw it in my basket. Now I've seen the movie that was made after this called Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. It was pretty funny from what I recall. I'll zip through this book in no time. I already have a connection to the movie so this book will for sure be added to my list of favorites. Also, how fun is the word snogging?

$7.95

It's pretty much impossible not to grab a few random journals and such on your way out of Powell's. I got two journals, a bumper sticker, a birthday card, a Cards Against Humanity Expansion pack (Yes I know, I'm a horrible human being) and some thank you sticky notes. Check out their little stationary section, there's tons of great stuff.

$9.95 here.

$4.00

Well that's it for my Powell's Books Haul. This was what I picked out to refrain from buying the whole store. I love all my little goodies and am so pleased to have a ton of new books to read. I'll make sure to do an update post on my favorite books soon! Thank you for reading. Stay brilliant world and don't forget, KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD!