New Beauty Bits & First Impressions

When I run out of out my staple beauty products, I always run out at the same time. I've been scraping out the last remnants of my NARS All Day Luminous foundation with a q-tip for the past few days because the only other foundation I have is a shade that is most definitely too dark for me but kind of works if I blend it out. The key words are: kind of. I also started to run dangerously low on my exfoliating cleanser which with my skin being the pain in the butt that it is, is a must have in my skin routine. I've been without a face primer for months upon months because I was convinced that I didn't need one but let's be real, I do. I need one. And I could feel my Kat Von D Tattoo Liner starting to dry out and if I'm ever without one of those, I feel lost. This all warranted a trip to Sephora, where I tried to keep myself in line, but I always stray just a tiny bit.

I was on the fence of just sticking with the NARS All Day Luminous foundation or trying something new. When it comes to foundation and concealer, I tend to stick to the same just to ensure that my skin doesn't react badly. Plus, when I find a finish and coverage I like, it's nice to stay consistent especially when my breakouts are so sporadic and come at the most inopportune times. Alas, I have a friend who always encourages me to try out new makeup, especially foundations, so I decided to try to branch out. I really wanted the Makeup Forever Mat Velvet foundation, but none of the shades looked like they were my shade at the moment, so I didn't want to choose a color that was less than perfect. I ended up being torn by the Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage foundation and the Too Faced Born this Way foundation, so in a moment of #Whatever, I decided why not both? My friend and I also snuck in a quick trip to Ulta, so in a moment of weakness, I picked up the Tarte Shape Tape concealer that everyone and their grandmother has been using. I used the Tarte foundation this morning and really like the feel and consistency, so we'll see how it wears throughout the day! Also, for reference, in the Tarte foundation I'm the shade Fairly Light Beige, in the Born this Way foundation I'm Pearl, and in the concealer I'm Fair Neutral.

I used 100 of my points to get a small sample of Sunday Riley's Good Genes serum because it's something that I've been toying around buying the full-size of, but the price tag is a bit off-putting. I'm all for skincare though and I'll do anything to ensure that my skin is living its best life. We'll see how the sample goes and I'll assess the investment down the line!

I received a sample of this Makeup Forever Step 1 hydrating primer in a recent Sephora order and despite only getting one use out of it, I knew I wanted it. It just felt so nice applied to my skin and my skin is a weird combination of dry and normal to oily, so I figured that an extra dose of moisture on my skin in the morning that will keep my makeup in place throughout the day is a double whammy that I shouldn't pass up. 

I decided to switch up my exfoliating cleanser and on my friend's recommendation, I picked up the Caudalie Deep Exfoliating Cleanser. It's a white clearer with grainy bits spread throughout. They're very fine, but they actually have a texture to them that polishes the dead layers of skin off. I've had issues in the past with products like this, but my issue with them was that there was absolutely no grit to them. It just felt like I was I scrubbing my face with delicate microbeads that weren't doing anything. I used this this morning and I don't forsee us having any issues. It wasn't overly gritty to the point where it hurt, but it had a great consistency that really scrubbed the dead skin over my dry patches off without aggressively ripping off a layer of skin.

And last but not least, these are just some misceaallenous things I picked up. As you've all seen ten thousand times on my blog, I got a new Tattoo Liner from Kat Von D. I also picked up a Sephora brand green tea sheet mask for the face because, well, why not? I've always been curious about them, so I picked the mattifying and anti-blemish one because my skin gets more oily during the spring time and I'm currently breaking out. I did it last night and man, do sheet masks feel weird. I liked it though! I want to pick up some more just for fun, maybe next time I'm in! And on my way to check out, I saw a smaller bottle of the Ouai wave spray. I contemplated getting the full-sized bottle, but products like this tend to not work on me. But I saw Rachel Whitehurst using it on her Snapchat story and I am just a sucker for seeing people use products in action and rave about them. So, we'll see how  it goes!