Angie's picks on super awesome products of 2011! Face Edition.

Happy January 4th everyone! This is around the time that I start feeling guilty about all the stuff I ate during the holidays and I promise myself that I will go to the gym at least 4 times a week..we'll see how that goes haha!
Today I wanted to share with you my favorite face products of 2011, yes I know, Michelle already did a post about her favorites, but since we have different complexions and sometimes different taste, I wanted to share my two cents on some great beauty products of 2011.
Also I am not including any moisturizers or things to wash your face with, basically no skin care, I want to do a separate post for those.

Face Primers:

Smashbox Photo FInish Primer.

Smashbox Photofinish: This is the first primer I ever owned, it truly does make my foundation glide on more smoothly and it even makes my pores appear a little smaller.
Any cons: Price tag!

Hard Candy Sheer Envy: Another winner! This product was surprisingly good on my skin, left my skin smooth and evened out my skin tone a bit.
Any cons: It can feel a bit heavy.


Foundations:

From Left to Right: No.7 Lifting and firming foundation, Estee Lauder Double Wear and Revlon Colorstay

Revlon Colorstay: I have no idea where you have been if you haven't heard about this, but let me tell you, this is awesome stuff. Great coverage, great lasting power, great price! I have purchased this twice now and I don't regret it one bit.
Any cons? Blending can be a little hard at first and it could use a pump.

Estee Lauder Double Wear: This is really similar to the Revlon Colorstay, however this is more blendable and it has a few more shades to select from. Staying power is completely amazing and it is quite easy to create a flawless face with this product.
Any cons? Kind of a hefty price tag.

No.7 Lifting and Firming: When I found this product at target, it completely blew me away. Not only does it have high end looking packaging, but it has a lot of high end quality to it. It is unbelievably easy to blend, you almost don't have to think about it, it has medium coverage but is easily buildable and it lasts pretty good on my skin. The finish is a beautifully natural satin finish, and it makes me look absolutely flawless with little to no help of my concealer. I have heard several people compare it to Dior Skin Nude.
Any cons? Availability, it can only be purchased at Target in the U. S.


Concealers:

From left to right: Pixi Correction concentrate in Brightening Peach, Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer palette

Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Palette: Another Target Gem! As you can probably tell, this product gets a lot of love! It has four amazing shades which you can mix to create your own, and even a green shade to correct redness, also it comes with its own setting powder. What more can you ask for?
Any cons? Only found at Target

Pixi Correction Concentrate: This is my HG under eye concealer, due to its pink hue it covers my under eye circles perfectly. I always look awake and refreshed when I put this on. Plus it does not settle on my fine lines which is always a yay!!
Any cons: it's kind of pricey to be considered a drugstore product and it's only sold at target.


Powder:

Maybelline's Dream Matte Powder in Sand

Dream Matte Powder: This is an amazing product to set your make up, when I apply this, I never ever look greasy, it completely takes away unwanted shine.
Any cons?....not in my book! go get it :P


Blush:

From Left to Right: Milani Blush in Rose D Oro, Illamasqua Cream Blusher in Promise and Milani Blush in Sweet Rose

Milani Blushes: I feel like these blushes can compete with high end ones. I only have a couple, but I can tell you that they are amazingly pigmented and the shades are completely beautiful. I have shades Rose D' Oro and Sweet Rose.
Any cons? I find them hard to find sometimes.

Illamasqua Cream Blush in Promise: Wow, just wow, is all I have to say for this product. Such pigmentation, such creaminess, so easy to blend! This particular shade looks amazing on me :) very beautiful and natural, and a tiny bit of product goes a long long long way. I can tell you this is going to last me for years!
Any cons? Price tag for sure..


Highlighter:

Boot's No.7 High Lights Illuminating lotion

No.7 High Lights Illuminating Lotion: This is my favorite highlighter of all time! It's creamy and makes me look like I have healthy glowing skin without looking glittery.
Any cons? Again...only found at Target.


Bronzer:

Bronzer: NYC sunny

NYC Sunny: This has been my favorite bronzer for quite some time, it's perfect for my pale complexion, completely matte and amazingly cheap. I have purchased this twice.
Any cons? No sir, not for me :D



Well there you have it!! My face faves for 2011. Hope you enjoyed and have a great night. It's time for me to go to sleep and try to get rid of this nasty cold that I've had for over 2 weeks. Oh boy.

-Angie.

Best Beauty Products of 2011!!!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic New Year's weekend and first let me apologize for not having done the New Year's look I said I would. Things just got pretty busy AND the place I was staying at had terrible wi-fi coverage, so once again sorry :(

Although I am very excited to start a new year, there's no way I can forget about all the amazing things that 2011 brought me, including the amazing beauty products I discovered so I wanted to take the time to share those products with you.

Let me start with a few general products, Nars blushes. After the first one I got, I was hooked. The quality of these blushes is fabulous. Blend like a dream, very nicely pigmented, and a wide variety of shades. I know that at first glance they may seem overly glittery but somehow the glitter doesn't transfer the way it looks in the pan. I don't know if I'm making sense, but trust me, they're beautiful. Now I'm itching to try their cream blushes ;) Next product is EOS lip balms. I love that they're 95% organic AND simply adorable to look at (I'm a sucker for cute packaging). Moving on, NYX jumbo pencils. They're a cheap but effective option for eye shadow base to make any of your eye shadows really appear true to color and last longer. They have such an incredible range of colors too, you're bound to find at least one that catches your eye. So now Revlon lip glosses, these are so great I just can't believe it took me this long to try them. They have the perfect texture, not too sticky but not too thin or watery either. Plus they are so nicely pigmented, will definitely continue buying these. Also in the world of lip glosses I have to include the Buxom Big and Healthy Lip Polishes. Oh. My. Gosh. These are by far my all time favorite lip glosses. They're supposed to be lip plumping so they give your lips this lovely tingling sensation which I personally really like. I'd say they are a little bit thicker in texture to say the Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Glosses, and sheerer as well, beautiful nonetheless. Last for my general products, but definitely not least, are the Real Techniques brushes by Samantha Chapman. Personally, I prefer these over Mac brushes. Mac brushes seem scratchy to me and the Real Technique brushes are ever so soft. They feel lovely on the skin and don't shed AT ALL. My Mac brushes shed all the time, that is why I wouldn't say they are the best out there. I look forward to getting more of the Real Technique brushes in the near future! Oh gosh I forgot about Essie polishes! This year I was able to pick up a few shades from Essie and quickly fell in love. Each polish applied beautifully and honestly all you need is one, yes one, coat of the varnish for a completely opaque nail.

On to the more specific products I'd like to start with my Urban Decay Naked palette. What can I say, its a gorgeous palette that's worth every penny. As I'm sure you've all heard tons about it, I won't ramble on and on, but if you're an eye shadow type of girl, this palette is a must. So this year I ventured out into trying different foundations. I have very sensitive, acne-prone skin, so I was basically scared to try other stuff but I'm very glad I did. I found two foundations that I can no longer live without. The one in the picture is Neutrogena's Skin Clearing Oil Free Liquid Foundation. I use the shade honey beige 110 and it matches me perfectly and using my Real Techniques stippling brush it blends so well, you can't tell I'm wearing foundation. I'd say it has medium coverage, but it's definitely buildable, and leaves a matte finish, not overly matte though. This is my staple every day foundation. The other foundation I've run out of the sample's I had of it and it is the Make Up For Ever Matte Velvet + foundation, and I wear the shade #45. This is the foundation I use when I want a completely flawless look. The coverage is amazing! Covers absolutely everything you want to cover and lasts all day. I apply this one with another one of my favorite finds this year which is the Beauty Blender. The combination of my Beauty Blender and the MUFE Matte Velvet+ foundation has been such a life saver for me, love love LOVE them!!!!!! Simply can't say enough. Another MUFE product I found was their HD Microfinish Powder. Put this stuff over your foundation, concealer, blush, bronzer, etc. and it makes everything just blend in together giving your face a more natural look, without looking cakey. A little goes a long way with this powder so I don't really believe it to be pricey at all.

Speaking of bronzers, I finally found a matte, non-orange bronzer that suites my skin perfectly, and that is Too Face's Chocolate Soleil Bronzing Powder. This powder is perfect for contouring, and smells deliciously good! Ok, so the last face make up product is the Sonia Kashuk concealer palette. The texture of this concealer is perfect for covering blemishes, creamy but not too creamy, and very well pigmented. I wouldn't recommend it for under eye concealer though. The last two products are eye shadows. One is Mac's Naked Lunch eye shadow. There's nothing really special about this eye shadow, but I love that its the perfect all over eye shadow for the days you have to rush out the door, also, it is a very nice highlight shade for when you're doing a natural eye look. The other is Chanel's Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Eye Shadow in Illusoire. The moment I swatched this at the Chanel counter I knew I had to buy it. It's a greyish/purplish/taupe color with silver sparkles and has a mousse like texture. This eye shadow lasts alllllllll day and is so easy to use, I don't even use a brush with it, just my ring finger. It's great for nights out! Now for the last product, Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. They also have this in the lotion form, but since I have oily skin, I use the gel. This provides the perfect amount of moisture without leaving your face feeling oily/greasy. Also it leaves your skin feeling really soft and is one of those products where a little goes a long way. I only use one pump and it's enough for my whole face.

Well that's it guys! Those were all my new finds of 2011 that I have learned to love and probably can no longer live without haha hope you enjoyed!

What were your favorite finds?

-Michelle