Recent Purchases #2

Mario Badescu Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion ($15)

Juice Beauty Green Apple Blemish Clearing Peel ($39)

Freeman Acai Purifying Clay Mask ($3.99)

Mario Badescu Control Cream ($30)

Mario Badescu Special Healing Powder ($12)

Butter London Nail Polish in Knackered ($15)

Benefit Dallas ($28)

Urban Decay Glide-On Eye Pencil in Binge ($19)

Review: Benefit BadGal Plum Mascara

Confession: this is my third time repurchasing Benefit's BadGal Plum mascara ($19). I don't think I've ever repurchased something that much! So why this mascara?

My biggest reason for loving this mascara is the color; I have yellow-green (no I'm not kidding) eyes and plum happens to be one of the colors that really makes them pop. I know what you're thinking- don't your eye lashes look purple though? Not at all! For me, and other fair skinned and light eyed people, black mascara can sometimes be too intense. With plum mascara, your lashes will look less harsh, but will still look dark and lush. The only time you can really tell your mascara is plum versus black is if you look very closely or if the sun catches your lashes just right. Even then it's not scary or fake looking; it's fresh, flattering, and unexpected!

Plum mascara is very hard to find- I've only ever seen a few brands with them! YSL has a good amount of plum mascaras but I don't want to spend $30 on a mascara, something I have to throw away in a short amount of time. Thankfully, I have Benefit.

So how does it perform? As you can see, the brush is nice and fat; it reminds me of the original DiorShow mascara, if you've ever tried it. The formula isn't super wet, which I like. I've found "drier" mascaras are better at providing volume. To my delight, this mascara really does deliver on volume without clumping! While this does lengthen your lashes quite well, if that's your main goal of a mascara then this shouldn't be your first choice. I think it's best applied by wiggling at the root of your lashes then gliding up. After it's dry, I use the mascara only on the tips of my lashes to make sure they're nice and thick.

While I'd love to try other plum mascaras, this little beauty from Benefit has never let me down and I doubt I'll even stray too far from it.

Available at: Benefit, Sephora, and Ulta

January's Beauty Wishlist

FIG+YARROW Cleansing Nectar ($28)

Origins Make a Difference Plus + Rejuvenating Treatment ($39.50)

Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum ($48)

Kate Logan Radiance Day Balm (£15.99)

PS-Don't be surprised if you see a part two to this...

Photo of the Day #1

Bath time featuring Philosophy products, anyone?

Recent Purchases #2

"Another one so soon?" Ah yes, well, I can't seem to control myself if you put me in any store than has a beauty/cosmetic section. Today's culprit: Ulta.

Benefit Brow Zings in Medium

Benefit They're Real! Mascara

Butter London Nail Polish in The Full Monty

Real Technique Brushes (Expert Face Brush and Powder Brush)

My mum (and many, many other women) are huge fans of They're Real! so I'm really excited about trying it! I already love another Benefit mascara, BadGal Plum (review coming soon!), so I'm sure I won't be let down. I am disappointed that when I got home (and after trying the product) I found out Benefit's Brow Zings also came in dark! Since Ulta only had light and medium I assumed those were the only color choices. While the medium is still a good fit for me (and quite gorgeous!) I love darkening my brows to almost black so I would have preferred the dark shade.

If you've never heard of them, look up Real Technique brushes. They are seriously amazing! I have 6 of their brushes and I adore every single one. Don't be surprised if I dedicate a whole post to them one of these days!

Review: Vichy Calming Cleansing Micellar Solution

I think I know your first thought when you saw the title and/or picture of this Vichy Micellar Solution ($16.50): is this like the famous Bioderma Crealine H2o? Is it as good? Is it easier to get than Bioderma? Seeing as I have and use Bioderma, I'm fairly certain I can answer you accurately; the answer is yes- all thee above. How can it be? If that's so, why don't more people know about this amazing product? Now that question I can't answer. However, I can tell you about this lovely product and why I might like it even more than Bioderma.

Enough mentions of Bioderma! Here's what Vichy's website has to say about its cleansing water:

A refreshing cleansing water enriched with soothing Rose Phytopheno to clean the face, remove eye/lip make-up and soothe the skin in one simple step. No rinsing required.
Results: Face, eyes and lips are perfectly cleansed in one simple step. Even the most sensitive skin feels soothed. Ultra-effective: cleanses and removes makeup without rubbing.

And this baby delivers. Honestly, I don't really notice a difference between this and Bioderma. The ingredients are similar and so are their purposes/results. The only real difference I can think of is my skin feels slightly softer after using this. Why? I have no idea, but I like it! However, I would definitely chose this over Bioderma because it's so much easier to find! Some CVS's, Ulta's, and Walgreen's are even starting to carry Vichy products. Plus this is $16.50 for 200ml versus $25 for 250ml. Once I finish my bottle of this and Bioderma, it will be Vichy I'll be repurchasing.

My only complaint is the addition of fragrance. While my skin isn't sensitive to it, I try to avoid added fragrances. Luckily whatever fragrance they used is very light and you'd never guess it was added! But if your skin is finicky about fragrance I wouldn't completely write off this Vichy product, but I would proceed with caution.

$16.50 for 200ml

Available at: Drugstore.com, Skinstore, Ulta, Vichy, and Walgreen's

Recent Purchases #1

MAC Lustre Lipstick in Lady Bug (review coming soon)
Butter London Nail Polish in Trout Pout and Jack the Lad

MAC Cleanse Off Oil / Tranquil (review also coming soon)

These pictures really don't capture how gorgeous Jack the Lad is!