MAC Matte Creme Review

Hey ladies! 

Hope you like the new look of the blog so far! Still have some things that I am working on however. Just thought I would share what I've done thus far!

Anywho onto the review! About two weeks ago I purchased the Matte product from a MAC Counter. Initially I went to MAC to try the studio fix powder (which I did purchase) and the lady working with me recommended that I try the Matte creme as a primer. My skin is oily in the t-zone area which means throughout the day I get a oily finish on my makeup. Now the shine is not bad at all so I'm told...I just prefer a matte finish for my makeup. To me it gives the illusion that you have a more flawless coverage when your foundation is matte. I never knew about this product so I was super excited to learn more about it! Here is the blurb from M.A.C 's website:

A matte-ifying cream that acts like a powder, M·A·C Matte adds a sheer, no-shine matte texture in one smooth layer. May be used on bare or made-up skin. Use a latex sponge or a 252 Large Shader Brush to apply over the entire face or in the T-zone to reduce the appearance of shine. Apply M·A·C Matte after moisturizer, but before foundation to prime the skin for makeup. Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation applies smoothly and effortlessly over top of M·A·C Matte.

How I use this product:

I apply my Sephora matte primer all over my face and then apply this product in my t-zone. I then continue on with my normal foundation routine--makeup forever matte foundation, studio fix powder, select sheer pressed powder, and once all my makeup is applied I top it off with mineralize skinfinish natural (respectively). 

This product is pretty good! It has reduced the amount of shine dramatically, although all of the shine is not gone! I'm coming to the realization that its nearly impossible to find a product that will keep my skin completely matte throughout the day. I'm finding that most products are designed to reduced oily skin not eliminate it. The lady explained to me that this product creates a thin film layer on the skin that prevents the oil from rising to the surface and penetrating your foundation. I think this product does a pretty good job at this and for $19 I think it's a pretty good investment. 

I am going to change up my foundation routine but eliminating the makeup forever liquid foundation. I'm interested to see how well this product works using only powders. A review for this method will be posted in a few weeks. 

Until next time,

Toodles

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Heyyy!!!

I just want to quickly wish you guys a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

And of course.....

Toodles

Last Minute Shopper?!

Hey ladies!

We all have fall victim to procrastination every once in awhile .....especially during the holidays. Last minute shopping is always the worst--trying to find stuff that's been picked over by so many other people is always annoying. It's nearly impossible to find what your looking for. So, I've decided to give you quick little gift ideas for women/girls that I think would be great for the holidays!

• Stop by your local M.A.C counter and grab one of the gift holiday sets that I talked about in my previous MAC Haul post.....if you cant decided which one you can always pick up the M.A.C Kids Helping Kids Cards along with a gift card from M.A.C. You can't go wrong here--your giving back to kids living with AIDS and getting a great gift to give to your individual!
• Sephora by OPI has a gift set of these nail polishes that would be great for a little young princess; of course you can purchase this at any Sephora.
• Jewelmint has a great promotion going on right now that allows you to buy gift cards for others. The more credits you buy, the more you get (you can buy multiple gift cards, not just one). 1 credit=$29.99 and of course free shipping of the merchandise. Here's how it works:
• 1 credit= $29.99, you get $5 off your next purchase
• 2 credits= $59.98, you get $15 off your next item
• 3 credits= $89.97, you get one free item
• 6 credits= $179.94, you get 2 free items plus a $10 off coupon 
• Urban Decay Naked palettes would be an awesome gift for those ladies that love makeup 
• Clarisonic Mia would be the perfect little item as well (be careful about who you give this one to lol...you dont want to offend anyone)
• You can also go with a $48-$58 Coach wristlet which is easy, simple and every girl would love
• If you're looking for something a little more on the price-er side, maybe go for a Micheal Kors Rose gold watch......these are extremely popular this season.

I've given plenty of gift ideas for the ladies, here are some items for the guys:

• Watch-Kenneth Cole, Micheal Kors and G-Shock all of great watches tailored for every type of man
• Personally, when im buying for a guy I usually stick with electronics or clothes....I've seemed to able to pick the best gifts from these two departments and I have 3 brothers so I've had years of trials and tribulations. Sticking to these two areas seems to be what works like a charm every time! 

Hope some of these ideas work for you! I probably should of posted this blog some time ago but its better late then never right?!

Toodles!

Dry Lips=THE WORST!

Hey ladies!

I'm not sure about you, but for me any type of climate change equals dry, chapped lips....especially during the winter months. I absolutely HATE dry, chapped lips....not only do the hurt but its just simply unattractive! It sucks to smile when your lips are chapped because you know as soon as you do they split even more! Its like you just cant win LOL. I know many women (and men for that matter) feel the exact same way I do. I've tried Chapstick, Carmex, and so many more and it still doesnt do the trick! BUT I've found a good solution!! Are you ready for this one??!!! Here it is:

Here's Sephoras blurb about it:

Sugar Fix
What it is:
This pout-perfecting mini duo calls upon the nourishing benefits of sugar for positively irresistible lips.

What it is formulated to do:
The Mini Sugar Lip Polish from Fresh gently exfoliates and conditions, leaving lips incredibly soft and smooth. The Mini Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 nourishes, protects, and hydrates the lips while providing essential UV protection.

This set contains:
- 0.28 oz Sugar Lip Polish
- 0.08 oz Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15

What else you need to know:
The Story of Brown Sugar: "Both of our grandmothers used sugar, a natural antiseptic, to heal our scrapes. Wanting to pass this effective ritual on to the world, we bottled our shared tradition."—Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg, Fresh Co-founders 

This product is AMAZING! It feels sooooo good on your lips! Trust me your lips will soak this stuff right up!! The sugar scrub exfoliates the lips by gently removing the layer of dead skin that exists. Removing the dead skin will eliminate the dry, chapped lips syndrome and you dont have to worry about your lips splitting as you smile. You can smile round year and not be in pain--now how can you beat that lol! After the sugar scrub, glide the lip treatment on the lips to hydrate and revive those perky lips. Then theres nothing else to do but PUCKER UPP!! Muahhhh! lol 

I personally use this every night during the colder months and about 2 to 3 times during the warmer months....but you can use it as often or little as you'd like! You can purchase the gift set pictured above for $22.50 at your local Sephora or the Sephora store online. The products in this gift set are travel size but trust me....a little goes a long way. I highly recommended you purchasing the gift set instead of purchasing these products individually....you get more bang for your buck that way! Try it out!!

Toodles!

Kardashian Kollection

Hey Ladies!

Don't you just envy the Kardashian empire?! You can't help it lol. I will admit there was a time that I was not too fond of Kim, but after watching their many reality shows I've come to love her. The Kardashian's are a family of GREAT, strong business women and I definitely look up to them for that! Anywho, I'm sure we all have heard about their clothing line that launched at Sears in August of this year. If you havent checked it....just stop reading this and run to your nearest Sears.....OK! Wait! Read this and then go lol. No, seriously go check it out, we all know we look in the mags to see what their wearing. Great thing about them launching their clothing line at Sears is you can can't go wrong now with fashion! LOL. I will say that their kollection is more price-ier compared to other Sears brands but still the clothes are quite reasonable in my opinion. I highly encourage you to check it out, they have some really great pieces that is worth the investment in my opinion. I'll be making a few purchases of some must have pieces after the holidays. And of course I'll definitely be sharing with you guys!

Aside from their clothes kollection they also launched a holiday nail polish collection collab with Nicole by OPI. Exciting, right?! Their nail polish kollection is what excites me the most for some reason. Of course Nicole by OPI is available at Walmart so that lets you know these nail polishes are def affordable. The colors are not extravagant or anything, which should be expected. You never see the Kardashians with flasy nails anyway. But these colors are classic and have the cutest names! My favorite color is "Rainbow in the S-Kylie"its a great multi-glitter number with a variety of glitter pieces infused in the formula! It's to die for over a coat of black nail....or any other solid color for that matter. Take a look at the kollection for yourself:

Dont they just make your hear smile! I love this colors! Unfortunately, I havent had time to run to Walmart to purchase any of these yet. But I'll be on the hunt for them some time this week, with a doubt!

Do you have any of these lacquers? What do you think about them?

Toodles!

Ready to get Naked? .....

Hey ladies!

Thought I should share with you guys my next two investments--The NAKED PALETTES from Urban Decay. The original Naked Palette has been out FOR EVER. But for some reason I never had the urge to purchase it until now. They were selling like crazy though....so I'm assuming its the next best thing since sliced bread lol. I guess I didnt want to deal with the hassle of having to wait for it, I'm more of an instant gratification type of girl when it comes to my makeup products lol. Anyway, Urban Decay recently released the Naked 2 palette and this palette I am definitely IN LOVE with!! I love them both because they are great to travel with. And they're a perfect combo--the first palette has more shimmery eyeshadows and the second one has more matte shadows so they play off each other quite well.

Here are the palettes::

Both palettes are extremely versatile--you can get some many different looks out of them. The first palette comes with Urban Decay impeccable eyelid primer and a eyeshadow brush and the Naked 2 palette comes with a the same brush and a lip gloss/tint. These palette are like makeup porn lol....it's just great! I cant wait to purchase them and play around with these shadows! Do you have either one or both of these palettes? What do you think about them?

Toodles!

Ambi Even and Clear Targeted Mark Corrector

Hey ladies!

I've been using Ambi on and off for years. At one point my skin loved this stuff; it kept my skin absolutely flawless! But now my skin is kind of weird when it comes to their products. For the first couple of weeks I start to see good results but after using it for months my skin stopped improving. Weird thing is, if I stop using the product and then start back I get the improved results that I want. So, its not like my skin rejects these products after a certain time. I guess it just likes to take breaks from it every now and then. It's a pain not too be able to get the continued results that I use to get with their products.

So for that reason, I really can't give great reviews about this product. Like I said I did get good results in the beginning, it just wasnt the results that I was looking for this time around. I have hyper-pigmentation on my face, meaning I have dark spots left behind by preexisting pimples which are simply annoying! I CAN NOT take it! I didnt always deal with this, in fact, it pretty much started when I got to college. Before college, I never dealt with hyper-pigmentation, so these products really worked to keep my skin even and simply beautiful.

Over the years, I've tried coconut butter, ambi products and some other products that I wont even bother to mention. Ambi products and Proactiv really keep my skin the way I wanted it. But then everything changed. I dont blame my disappointment on the products per se but I have to be honest with you guys on my thoughts about it. Now this is my first time using this specific product from Ambi, so I am not knocking all of Ambi's prodcts. All I am simply saying is that I am not happy with the results from this particular product but have been a fan of Ambi over the years. I have tried to go back to the other products from Ambi that I've used prior to trying this one but I still experienced the same thing. Now my hyper-pigmentation is not extreme but it's not that subtle either. So, in terms of hyper-pigmentation, the condition of my skin compared to how it was when I got the results that I was looking for is alot worst. Before I had no dark spots on my face I just had issues with uneven skin tone. So with all that said, I believe Ambi works best for evening out skin tone and can clear up a few dark spots here and there. But I do not believe its good to clear up moderate to extreme cases of hyper-pigmentation.

But one pro for Ambi is that it is affordable! Try this product if you will.....but I recommend you save your money!

On the flip side of the coin, now I'm using my brothers Even Better formula from Clinique (hopefully he wont read this--he doesnt know ive been using it lol). I wont say my thoughts on Clinique Even Better just yet because I have only used it for two days. Dont worry a review of those products and other face products are coming soon! I'm still in the process of testing them for you guys. Be patience with me! :)


Toodles!

Disclaimer: These are my honest opinions and thoughts. You do not have to take everything I said for face value. Everyone's skin reacts differently toawrds different products. So what works for me, might not work for you and vice versa. Please do not think that I am forcing you to not try this product. If you think this product is something that may work for you, by all means, try it out! I would love to learn about your results! :)

Sorry I havent been posting! :(

Hey ladies!

For those of you that frequent here pretty often I am EXTREMELY sorry for not posting in awhile. Last week I was ridiculously busy. For those of you who don't know I am working on my Masters in Psychology so you can imagine I had to buckle on the studying to finish up my classes!

I definitely missed you guys and have some great posts coming some time this week. I haven't planned out my schedule throughout the week just yet, but I will make sure that I make time for you guys! I've dealt with some crazy blog withdrawals....it was pretty awful lol! But I have videos and other things that I want to share with you guys. The posts are planned and layed out, I just need the time to share :).

Onto other news, I did want to make an announcement!! Are you excited?? I am!! LOL. Anywho, I will be revamping my entire blog! Originally, this blog started out as a way to document my natural hair journey but I believe it turned into a lot more. I would still document my natural hair process and give you guys tips and advice about transitioning but I will also continue to focus on my other interests like fashion, makeup and the like! I am drafting out a new format for my blog too but honestly I am not a techy so its going to be a learn as I go type of situation. But I am a perfectionist when it comes to things like this so I will be planning every little detail out. Also, you may notice little changes here and there as well....but I will still post the same type of content I post now!! I promise! I am also incorporating new things to the content that I think you guys will be happy with as well.

As far as the change in content (actually its more like an addition to the content) that will happen immediately. I want to make sure that I'm adding things that interest you, so interact with me! Let me know what you want me to add, I would love to here from you!

More importantly, the biggest change to this blog that you guys need to make a note of is the change in url....meaning this blog's address will no longer be transitioningglamour.blogspot.com after January 1, 2012 !! However, I will make it so that you if you forget for any reason the new address, the old address will redirect you safely back home lol.

The new address and full makeover of the blog will launch on January 1, 2012!! Again, the format changes will happen subtly leading up to that point so technically the makeover part and the content part will not be all that new to you! I just want to be clear that the main change that you need to worry about after January 1st is the url change!

Again, check back here some time this week for more posts! Think you guys for supporting this blog so far!

Toodles! 

Haul: All Dolled Up!

Hey ladies!

Since I am a VIB (very important beauty) member at Sephora awhile back I received a 10% off on my next purchase coupon. So today while I was at the mall I didn't to pop in Sephora to see what I could find! I had been looking at one particular product there for awhile but never brought myself to purchase the product until now! It's nothing other than: NARS The Multiple in Orgasm!

According to Sephora's website:

What it is:
An all-in-one, cream-to-powder, multipurpose makeup stick.

What it does:
NARS The Multiple beautifully highlights, sculpts, and warms the eyes, cheeks, lips, and body in an array of shades, from sheer accents to mauve and bronze. 

I love the versatility of this product, it's what really drew me to it. I've used it to accentuate the apples of my cheeks. It's the perfect touch! Orgasm is a highly pigmented fairy-like pink and gold combo with subtle but sexy gold reflectives in it. It's great for all shades of color as well! I'm more on the darker shade of brown with a reddish undertone so it really compliments my skin well, especially the gold reflectives. But I have seen lighter shades use this product and it looks just as good. Granted, it does produce a different look on different skin tones but it's versality still allows it to be the perfect touch! 

I encourage you to stop by your local Sephora to try this product out! For $39 you have a blush, eyeshadow, lip stain, and highlight all in one product. 

I also bought two products from MAC : Satin lipstick in Media and Pro Longwear Lipglass in Lasting Achievement..love them! Great for the fall and winter months!

Until later,

Toodles

Water Marbling !!!

Hey ladies!

Looking for a super cute do it yourself nail design... that's SUPER easy? Well, water marbling might be the thing for you to try. Trust me when I say it's super easy! Here is what it looks like:

The process is easy....everyone will think you got your nails professionally done!

Items you need:

• plastic cup
• the nail polish colors of your choice....you can use as many or little as you like!
• a stick (or I used a stretched out paper clip because it was what I had laying around lol) ...all you need is something straight that you dont mind messing up and throwing away
• clear tape

Here are the steps:

Tape is also around the top of my finger. It extends across one side of my cuticle, around the top and then to the other side. And another piece of tape wraps around my finger at the base of my cuticle...basically cover all the skin around the nail lol!

1. Use the tape to protect your skin around the nail....it should look like this^^^^^
2. Fill the cup up with water (temperature of water doesnt matter)
3. (Optional) Put one coat of your base color on the nail 
4. Take your nail polish and allow one drop of the polish into the cup of water
5. Repeat step three as many times as you like while alternating between colors
6. Once you have the number of concentric circles that you like take your stick (or whatever) and create your design. It can be a swirl-like design or simple lines....use your creativity here, make it your own! 
7. Once you have the design you want, dip your finger entirely in the water. 
8. Use your stick to remove all the excess nail polish from around your finger. It's important to make sure that you remove all the nail polish so that it does not mess up the design on your nail.
9. Allow it to sit for a few minutes and then apply your top coat 

And that's it!!! Simple enough right?!

I made a video to show you guys the exact details of the details....ENJOY!

Sorry I shot this on my iPhone and forget to shoot it widescreen

Here is a close-up of the final look:

Hope you guys enjoy!

Until later,
Toodles