the favorites | august 2014

It's time once again to talk about my favorite products from the past month!

makeup

I decided not to mention favorites from last month as you'd quickly tire of my waxing poetic for the NARS Pure Radiant tinted moisturizer. This month has been a month of rediscoveries and new discoveries: I bought the Bobbi Brown Corrector in Extra Light Bisque last fall, but I didn't get the hang of it until recently. I just dab a bit of this on the inner corners of my eyes—wherever I am bluest—and follow it up with my beloved NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly. 

As far as new products go, I made a bit of a haul a couple of weeks ago to pick up the Kat Von D Tattoo liner and the Hourglass Veil mineral primer. Both of these have turned out to be holy grail products for me: the liner is brilliant to use, and the primer suits my base of choice perfectly. Additionally, I won a giveaway on /r/MakeupAddicts and received a box of goodies, including this exclusive blush from Hello Waffle in But At Least I'll Look Pretty. Although I received it for free, I'd happily pay for this. I'm unfamiliar with loose blush formulas, but this one is soft and gorgeous: imagine MAC Syrup in blush form.

skincare

As summer is starting to wind down—at least in theory here in the South—I'm beginning to get back into my more moisturizing products. The CeraVe Hydrating cleanser has thoroughly impressed me so far with its creamy, non-foaming, and non-irritating formula. I've only had this for about the last couple of weeks, but I am chuffed so far.

tea

Ah, tea: the elixir of life! I drink tea regularly, but since I've moved back on campus, I've been guzzling the stuff. Barry's Tea Gold Blend is my favorite! I've been drinking it since I first picked it up in Dean & DeLuca three-and-a-half years ago. It brews beautifully with milk: it's robust but never bitter. It's becoming easier and easier to acquire, too, at least in the States, so snap some up the next time you see it.

What have your favorites been this month?

the collection | pencil eyeliner

Top to bottom: Cynthia Rowley Beauty Silver, Rimmel Nude, M.A.C. Coffee, Urban Decay Perversion, Urban Decay Ransom, Urban Decay Mushroom.

Left to right (once swiped, once smudged): M.A.C. Coffee, Rimmel Nude, Cynthia Rowley Beauty Silver, Urban Decay Ransom, Urban Decay Mushroom, Urban Decay Perversion.

Oddly enough, pencil eyeliner is one of the things that has taken me the longest time to master when it comes to makeup. I first learned gel eyeliner and was very content with it, but I felt the need to branch out a few years ago, and here we are now.

I have swatched all the pencil eyeliners I own in the above photo. Each swatch is one pass using the same pressure I would on my eyelid. In every second swatch, I have smudged the liner by stroking each swatch three times with my fingertip.

As you can see, half of my pencils are Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On pencils. I love the creaminess of their formulas, and they make some of the most unique shades. Sadly, Ransom has been discontinued, but there are plenty other options to satisfy your purple cravings. Mushroom is my favorite shade: I have a thing for unique taupes. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it adds just enough subtle definition to rock. Its only downside is that it smudges rather sheerly, so it needs a little more layering than, say, Perversion, which is blacker than the dark of ages past.

My two least used eyeliners of the bunch are the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Nude and the Cynthia Rowley Beauty eyeliner in Silver. I bought the Rimmel liner for my waterline on sleepy days, but I can't stand tightlining, so it was a waste of $3. It is a nice formula, but the shade isn't even that great for me: it looks orange on me. If you like brightening up your waterline, though, this could be the product for you—you could even use it as concealer in a pinch if it's close to your skintone. As for Cynthia Rowley's lovely Silver, I simply don't have much need of that shade. I received it in a Birchbox a couple of months ago, but I haven't used it other than swatching it admiringly. It really is gorgeous, though: whenever I decide to use it, I'm sure that I'll love it.

Finally, the pencil that really started my foray into flick-less liner: M.A.C. Coffee pencil. I'm quite a fan of Tanya Burr, and I love the look that Jim gave her in one of her "My Boyfriend Does My Makeup" videos, which included this pencil. Tanya raves about it pretty consistently, so I decided to try it out. At first, I was taken aback by its stiffer texture, but it seems to have aged rather well in the year I've had it. As you can see, it smudges rather well. If I want to use eyeliner but I don't want a cat eye, I run this along my lashline and smudge it out with a pencil brush. It's a great standard liner, but I may try Demolition from Urban Decay once I'm out of this.

Which pencil formulations are your favorite? Do you prefer pencil, liquid, or gel?