Things I'm Loving

1. Burberry Pale Barley eyeshadow

I've been trying to get my hands on this eyeshadow for years. I always heard Allison (Amarixe on Youtube) rave about it in her videos from a couple of years ago, but I never found myself in a Sephora that sold Burberry products and wasn't going to order a $29 eyeshadow online without getting to at least see it in person first. Last March, I picked up my Burberry shadow in Nude to dive into their beauty products, deeming them safe to order. Still, I never got around to trying out more colors.


Thankfully, my friend Hannah is a huge proponent of Burberry cosmetics and ever so kindly send me the Pale Barley single for Christmas and I've been in love ever since. I'm not quite sure how to describe this color. It's a simple shade, yet it seems to have layers and dimensions to the colors that go into it. The best way I can describe it is a very light taupe combined with a sort of wheat gold with the slightest hint of a gold sheen. It's a little bit darker than the color of my eyelids, so when I apply the color, it's like a fresh sheen on my lids for a really nice and simple natural look.

I love how the Burberry shadows have the iconic nova check embossed into the product. It's such a nice touch, especially for a product with that price point. I've really been enjoying incorporating this color into my day to day looks!

2. Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme mask

This was another Christmas present that I got from my mom, though I will admit to being at the store to pick it out with her because I hadn't figured out what I wanted for Christmas at that point. On recommendation from, you guessed it, Hannah, I figured why not try out some new skincare bits. The last thing I need is more lipstick, blush or eyeshadow. Might as well invest in some things to improve my face.

The mask is supposed to do three things: exfoliate, peel and polish. All of this is meant to lead to, according to Sephora's website, smoother, younger, radiant and revitalized skin. Now, I don't remember what my skin looked like before I started using this, but I don't remember it ever feeling this smooth. My dry patches, even while I continue to use my Mario Badescu drying lotion, are rare and my skin's texture just feels so smooth, like it's finally evening out after years of my skin rebelling against me. With my own two eyes, I'm not sure what to look for when it comes to revitalized skin, but the mornings of me staring into my reflection poking at my dull skin seem far and few between nowadays.

Okay, plus this straight up smells like a pumpkin pie and while I don't like to eat pie, it sure as hell does smell delicious.

3. Too Faced Chocolate Honey Melted Chocolate liquid lipstick

Never in a million years did I think that I would find a brown lipstick that didn't look absolutely horrendous on me. I've been talking a lot about Too Faced lip products lately and that's for good reason. They're some of my favorite in my collection and I continuously reach for them over others (which, I will address in a potential second wave of my "Great Lipstick Challenge" from a couple of summers ago...). One shade that I grab when I'm unsure of where I want to go lip color wise for the day and have a split second to choose is the Chocolate Honey shade from Too Faced. It is, hands down, the most gorgeous brown nude I have ever tried to apply on my lips. It's a light to medium brown with a slight hint of peach to cut out some of deeper tones that a brown lip could lean towards.

This formula is just so comfortable to wear. These don't dry down into matte lipsticks, so they don't wear as long as a matte liquid lipstick might, but you can get a good four to five hours out of these without reapplying and you don't even need that many layers to begin with for an opaque wash of color! The best part? It straight up smells like honey. Too Faced might, hands down, have the best smelling products of all time. Their Chocolate Soleil bronzer is my holy grail!

What have you been loving lately?