Back To School! Locker & Backpack Essentials.

I know for some, back to school is dreadful. But for me, I always loved coming back and seeing all my friends and meeting my teachers, mock me I know :)

But I thought it would be fun to do a back to school series, and this is my "Locker Essentials." 

For beauty first, I never was and will not ever be someone who will say "bring all your makeup to school." Nah. Nope. It shouldn't be done. Honestly no one has time to reapply their makeup during the day, and if ya put it on in the morning you shouldn't need to lug your foundation, brow products, mascara, and blush to school. And even if you do have time, don't be that girl doing her makeup in the girls bathroom. 

That being said, I do think there are a couple products worth having on hand just in case.

1) Powder. If you get shiny through out the day powder can wear off. I always find myself reapplying powder so I always keep it with me. 

2) A concealer. Concealer can wear off during the day (especially if it's applied over a blemish) and it's good to have one for when you need touching up. 

3) Hand sanitizer. This is absolutely necessary for me. I love the Bath and Body Works Pocket Back hand sanitizers. They are great and they smell super awesome. 

4) Tweezers. I just find these handy to have when needed. They serve a variety of functions and you never know when you might need them!

5) Lotion. My hands always get dry. I keep lotion with me so I don't have that tight feeling all day long. 

6) Mini Deodorant. This is a life saver. Always want one of these close by! 

For the more academic related tips:

1) Have a planner/agenda. I have one of these and I would die without it. I'm a very organized person and I adore having all my lists, tasks, assignments, and reminders all in one place.

2) Stock up on led. (if you use mechanical pencils) No one wants to give away their led, so make sure you have enough that you won't run out

3) Keep a hand held pencil sharpener with you. 

4)Phone charger. My phone always dies when I need it, so having a charger is helpful.

Have a great first day of school and keep and eye out for more back to school posts!

xoxo,

Glimmer

July Loves and Let Downs!

I'm gonna start with the trash... because who likes to end things on a negative note!?

But first I have to say this, just putting it out there (annoying I know). But just because these products didn't work out for me, doesn't mean they won't/don't for you! Everyone has different tastes, preferences, sensitivity, skin type, hair type, lash type, likes, dislikes... I could go on for ages. So please know these are MY personal opinions and I just want to share them with you so if we have any of the above personality traits in common, you know what products to stay clear of! Not trying to offend anyone. 

Whhheew! Glad to get that out of the way! Moving right along...

Let Downs:

It's so frustrating when you try a product that you really hope to love and you just don't! That's why I'm so upset to say I simply hate the NYX Cream Eyeshadows. The ease of this product drew me in and I thought to myself... "How cool would it be to have an eyeshadow like this, that u swipe on, then smooth in, then be done!?" So cool would it have been! But this just didn't work for me. The product separates and clumps up when you blend it. And you have very little time to play with it because it dries quickly. I just don't love this. *Sigh* 

Loves:

Ioni 8hour Wear Eyeshadow Primer:
Okay, can I just say how excited I am about this! I'm tingling inside. Whilst I was on my mini vacation last month I discovered a new love. I have an entire post on the brand and such here. But the product I speak of is the BEST eye primer I have EVER tried. Ioni's 8hour Wear Eye Primer is magnificent. I have an entire review of me doing nothing but raving about it. If you can't find this product near you, I urge you to place an order over the phone. Did I mention it's $2! TWO. It will be the best $2 you ever spend. 

Bare Minerals Pure Radiance:
I actually got this product as a sample size, but I have a feeling it will last me a while.
Bare Minerals describes this as an all over face product that provides skin with a "golden peach sheen." They say you can use it to "illuminate you cheeks, forehead, and chin for an instant goddess glow." I personally don't use it on my forehead or chin, but it's a beautiful summery highlight on the cheeks, and I also like dusting it on my eye lids when I don't wear shadow. It looks beautiful when it catches the light and it's the perfect golden shade for summer! I shot the pics in 2 different lightnings so you could see the different effects. 

                                 

I have been loving the very new PONDS BB Cream. I would have to say this is one of my favorite BB Creams thus far. It offers coverage, but it's still light and the finish is gorgeous  It blends like a dream and last on my skin all day. As always I have to set my makeup with a power to keep shine free, but I also feel like this hydrates my skin without a dewy finish. It's not shiny or greasy and I can't say enough good things about it!

Lastly is a non-makeup but still totally worth mentioning favorite. Bath and Body Works fall candles are now out and about! Although summer is not over I'm so excited for fall! (as I have mentioned more than once!) And my all time favorite fall candle is Bath and Body Works Pumpkin Cupcake. I can't even describe how delicious this smells. I swear I burn this from August to January. It's sweet but not too overpowering, it has those notes of spices fall is all about, of course a pumpkin like essence, and I swear if i was eating a home-made pumpkin cupcake it would smell just like this! 

Do Recommend!!

Talk to you soon, 

xoxo,
Glimmer 

Review: The BEST Eye Primer EVER (IONI 8hour Wear Eye Primer)

Long time no talk! I missed writing and I'm glad to be be back! I have a few very fun posts coming up for you guys, and I apologize for my absence. I guess life just caught up! 

But while I was overwhelmed with less Glimmer related subjects, I discovered a new love! I did a haul and an explanation post on the IONI makeup line. This was one of the items I hauled and I'm so excited to finally get to sit down for this review! 

I love this eyeshadow primer. Dare I use the words... Holy Grail!? 

I think I do.

                           

I am so in love with the performance of this primer. But I want to start off by saying I use this for POWDER PRODUCTS ONLY! 

This product has a white doe foot applicator, which is nice for easy application. I know some people prefer squeeze tube type products but I myself am fine with either.

                                

The product inside is a smooth clear formula that leaves no color behind what so ever! 

This claims to be an 8hour wear product but I've worn it for 10 and it still looks as amazing as it was when I first applied my eye makeup. And even then I'm sure I could have worn it on for longer.

The consistency of this product is really smooth. Once it sets on your eye for a few seconds it develops a tacky feeling. At first I thought this might be an issue, but that's what makes this so amazing! The shadow instantly clings to the primer and it stays ALL DAY. It also doesn't crease or fade and even though the primer is clear, it still intensifies the shadow! 

I think this is also one of the best primers for loose pigments. Nothing can make applying a pigment product to your eye than this.

Now the only con to this product, as I mentioned before, is I can only use it with powder products. It's very hard to blend a cream shadow over your lid, because of that tack it has. The primer will move with the cream product and then it looks cakey. Although this is an amazing powder shadow primer, I skip it when I want to use creams.

Top: Shadow with Primer
Bottom: Shadow NO Primer

As you can see below, this primer doesn't let the shadow budge. In the smudge test below, I rubbed on my hand pretty forcefully and the swatch with primer barely moved.

(I used the shade Serious from The Balm's Nude 'Tude Palette.)

Top: Shadow with Primer
Bottom: Shadow NO Primer

I loved this product so much I purchased a back up before I left Texas!

Definitely Holy Grail! Do Recommend!

xoxo,
Glimmer

Essie Fall Collection NOW AVAILABLE!

Essie's soon to be raved about Fall 2013 Collection is now available online at Ulta.com! With 5 dashing new shades, you'll sure love your nails this Autumn season.

I myself can't wait for fall... Who doesn't love it? I can already smell the leaves falling and the Bath and Body Works fall candles burning in my living room.

xoxo,

Glimmer 

I Heart Drugstore Makeup Tag!

I've been dying to do this tag for ages now and I'm just now sitting down to share it with you. This tag was created by Makeup By Ali (ages and ages and ages ago) and I thought it would be super fun to share with you my answers to these questions!

Before we hop right in, I just want to tell you how hard it was to do this tag. Especially if you love drugstore products, like me! So I definitely had to narrow some stuff down!

1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand overall?

Okay, how is this not the hardest question of all time!? I love at least something from every brand! It's so hard to choose! I also feel like it kinda depends on whats new. But if I absolutely have to choose I'd say Maybelline. There's very few products I've tried from them that I haven't liked and I feel like they have all their bases covered. They have great Face, Eyes, and Lip products and I know if I could only use Maybelline products, I could still be happy with my makeup! I also really love NYX, and I've stated before that I think their quality and variations of products really compete with high end products, which I think is a quality that every drugstore brand should aim for.

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?

Face: I don't wear "base" makeup on a daily basis, i.e. foundation, BB Cream, Tinted Moisturizer, so I wanted to tell you about some things that I find truly necessary/important. I've mentioned my Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette way more than once. I included it in my HG Concealer post a month or so ago. I also included my E.L.F. Maximum Coverage Concealer in that post. I have to have these concealers around always. 

For cheeks I couldn't not tell you about Milani and NYX. I couldn't choose one or the other because they are both so amazing. Milani's baked blushes are down right gorgeous in the pan and on your cheeks. And NYX is just impeccable. I love both their powder and cream blushes. If you've never tried either of these brand's blushes you are missing out! And I know I'm piling on the products here but I really wanted to mention Sleek blushes. This is a UK drugstore or High Street brand but it is available online for those of us living in the US. They recently lowered their shipping cost so I highly encourage you to give their oh so incredible blushes a go!

Top: NYX Powder Blush in Peach, NYX Stick Blush in Orchid, NYX Powder Blush in Pinched
Bottom: NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Tickled 

Left: Corolina Right: Luminoso 

Lips: Oh my. This was unbearably hard to narrow down. I could write a novel about all my faves. If you've read any number of my posts you know how obsessed I am with lippies, I love so may it's hard to choose! 

But I do truly love my Revlon Super Lustrous Shine Lipsticks, as well as the Revlon Lip Butters. They are a must have in my collection. Revlon really knows their stuff when it comes to lip products! I also have a deep love for my NYX Butter Glosses and my Rimmel Stay Glossey Glosses! Another product I simply can't live without is my Nivea Lip Butter in Raspberry. Not only is it super hydrating it smells amazing. 

Fuchsia Shock

Vanilla Cream Pie & Peach Cobbler 

3. Least favorite product?

This was not hard for me to decide. At all. I love E.L.F. but this product was beyond a fail for me. The E.L.F. Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon is a complete waste of money. I can't express enough my DISLIKE for this product. The only reason I still have it on hand is so I can eventually do a "Products I Regret Purchasing" post. Don't waste your money girls, there are WAY better products worth your time. 

4. What is the best makeup bargain?

I plan on having a whole mini-series up soon about this particular topic. I'm definitely one to go and find a great deal if there is one. One bargain that is unbeatable is the price of E.L.F. Studio Brushes and the quality you receive.  If you walk into the drugstore sure, there are some great brands like EcoTools and Real Techniques that make great brushes for an affordable price. Don't get me wrong I love both brands, but their brushed aren't $3. If you're speaking of deals, you can't get better brushes than E.L.F's $3 Studio Line brushes. I have an entire post on my must haves from their line that you can view here.

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often 

gets overlooked?)

The Maybelline Full n Soft Mascara is one of my favorite mascaras. I never hear very many beauty bloggers or YouTuber guru's mention it! It's such a great product I really do think it deserves some more hype! And the waterproof version is perfect for summer because it is waterproof, but it's not too hard to remove. 

WATERPROOF VERSION

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?

Hhmmm... That's a hard one. Over all I think drugstore foundations are becoming a little too pricey these days. You don't want to go to the drugstore and pay $16 for a foundation, that's silly. But if I had to pick something more specific that is... I think Physicians Formula makeup as a whole is a little too pricey. depending on what drugstore you buy it from you can pay close to $20 for their products. That's way too close to high end money for drugstore makeup. But I do absolutely love some of their items so sometimes its worth it. 

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!

I actually have an entire post dedicated to this dupe coming soon, but I found an almost if not exact dupe for the oh so famous, and most commonly duped blush, NARS Orgasm. That post will be up soon! 

But for now, I will share with you a few of my favorite dupes of the moment. 

Boots No. 7 Illuminating Lotion is an exact dupe for Benefit High Beam. You get way more product with Boots No. 7 and the finish is identical. It's also a lot cheaper, obviously, and it is available at Target. 

ELF's Mineral Lipstick in Natural Nymph is almost an exact, exact dupe for MAC's Creme D' Nude, although the formulation is a bit different.  

My next dupe is for Stila Lip Glazes. They retail for are $22! For $1, yes $1, you can get the ELF Hypershine Lipgloss. They have the same twist up brush tip applicator, and the same slightly thick, sticky consistency. 

Lastly, ELF's Eye Refresh is $3 and is basically the same product as Clinique's All About Eyes Serum (deluxe sample size shown below) And the liquid-y products inside has the same consistency and the roller balls both have that same cooling feeling. 

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?

I am almost 100% Convinced that when I buy a product that everyone raves about, and it just doesn't work for me, that I've gotten a bad tube or pan or pot or whatever. Because that must be the only solution right? If everyone on earth loves something and it isn't as amazing when I try it, I must have gotten the rotten egg of the bunch, so to speak. However, I don't think that was the case with the Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara. Unfortunately I no longer have the actual tube to share with you, but chances are you've seen it. I loved the wand on this and when I opened it up I was so hoping to love it. And I tried and I tried and no matter how I applied it I just couldn't love this mascara like I wanted to! *sigh* 

I hope this was informative and fun for you guys to read :)
Talk to you later! 

xoxo,
Glimmer 

NEW NOVELTIES!? Urban Decay NEW RELEASES!!

Is the excitement boiling inside you too?

Now available at Ulta Urban Decay has just released a few new products I can't wait to share with you.

Anti-Aging Primer Potion:
A new spin on their original primer potion, Urban Decay promises crease free shadow while minimizing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in just 8 weeks! Oooh La La. Sounds great to me. For an extra $4 on the already pricey primer, Urban Decay says their new primer contains "Optical blurring pigments minimize flaws while Dermaxyl and Kalpariane fight the signs of aging."

Revolution Lipstick:

Urban Decay's new lipstick is: "Badass luxury in a tube." Is it now? I just might be interested. Urban Decay promises insane color and crazy shine that plumps lips and makes them cushion-y soft. Can we just take a minute to discuss the names of these lipsticks? I posted the cleanest one down below, but all though they are a bit naughty... come on you gotta laugh a little.

Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder:

There has been buzz about this new powder for months now and if I do say so myself I'm a little bit intrigued. You see, Urban Decay says this is no ordinary pressed powder. "The next evolution in Naked Skin, Urban Decay's addictively silky, weightless finishing powder has a luminous, demi-matte Naked finish that blends flawlessly to set makeup and cut shine." I can't wait to see what "demi-matte" means. Sounds very luxurious.

Nail Color:

Lastly is Urban Decay's new and "EXTREMELY Limited Edition" nail colors are here. Since these are extremely, and not just regularly, limited edition, I suggest you grab these while you can if you're interested.

What will you be trying? Anything strike your fancy?

xoxo,

Glimmer

Mini IONI Makeup Haul:

Today I'm going to share with you the few IONI items I purchased while I was on my mini vacation! If you haven't already, you can read my post that explains IONI and gives you more in-depth details of the brand here. I didn't buy very many things at all but I thought this post might be helpful for many people who are new to the brand.

I purchased 2 blushes in the shades Affair and Miss Bliss. I've used these a couple times and I plan on reviewing them soon!

Left: Affair Right: Miss Bliss

Like I said, this is a super short haul, the last thing I purchased was their 8 Hour Wear Eyeshadow Primer. I went home, tried this, went back and bought another before I left Texas. Again, I will have a review up soon! One I'm very excited to write that's for sure!

What to you think? Reviews coming soon!

xoxo,
Glimmer

Review: NEW Clean&Clear Morning Burt Gel Moisturizer (comparison)

I was SUPER excited to try this brand new moisturizer Clean&Clear released this month. If you haven't spotted it yet, don't worry, it's coming! 

I have combo/oily skin so I prefer to use gel moisturizers rather than lotions and cream. That's why I was dying to give this one a go. Clean&Clear is one of my favorite skin care brands and I use a few of their products in my daily routine. 

At the top in the picture above is the Clean&Clear Moisturizer. At the bottom is the Garnier Moisture Rescue Gel Moisturizer for dry skin. (I use this at night because it's just a tad more hydrating than the original) As you can see Clean&Clear's is a transparent white-ish shade. The consistency between the two is very very similar.

Another similarity between the 2 is they both smell amazing. Clean&Clears is a fruity, melon-y, cucumber scent where Garnier's is a semi-fruity refreshing scent.

This product comes in a generous sized squeeze tube and contains 3 oz. of product.

I find this is best to use in the morning. It's light weight, and cooling to wake you up. It doesn't make my skin feel greasy at all and it absorbs into my skin fairly quickly. It's a slightly thin consistency and after you blend it in a bit it feels like you're smoothing slightly thick water into your face. I know that sounds odd but what I'm trying to explain is that it's very refreshing, like water, and feels like water, instead of oils or creamy solutions.

As far as hydration goes, I like this as a light splurge in the morning to refresh, wake me up, and hydrate my face slightly before I apply my makeup. I use the word slightly because it's so light weight, it's not the moist hydrating moisturizer. The Garnier version is a bit more moisturizing, both the oily and dry skin versions, but I think this is great for the morning because it's not overly hydrating.

I do really like this product and recommend it for oily skin as a lighter morning time moisturizer as the name initials.

Tell me about your favorite moisturizer down below!

xoxo,
Glimmer