Ulta Haul!

Hi everyone! I love this time of year! There is something about the beginning of Spring that makes me want to go out and get some new products! Nothing like starting the change of season with some fresh beauty items!

I stopped in at a brand new Ulta store over the weekend and let me just say I was way overdue for a visit! You can usually always find me in Sephora or at the MAC counter and I had forgotten how awesome Ulta is! I spent close to an hour browsing aisle through aisle!

Anyway, on with the goods....

I've been really bored with my hair routine lately. My hair has felt dry, damaged, and dull and I thought trying some new products might bring some life back into it. The first thing I picked up was the Perfect Hair Day shampoo and No Frizz Conditioner from Living Proof. I have never tried anything from this brand but it appealed to me as the products are sulfate-free, silicone-free and oil-free. Next I picked up Alterna Caviar's Replenishing Moisture Milk. I have read great reviews on this product and it smells amazing-I can't wait to try it! Spring time always puts me in the mood to try a new nail color so I picked up an OPI shade from their new Spring/Summer line New Orleans. The color I chose is called Got Myself into a Jam-Balaya(I love these names!) it's described as a spice and creamy peach which I absolutely love this time of year! For the last item I finally decided to pick up the Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer. Seriously, everyone on Youtube is raving about this concealer so I will try it out and give you my thoughts soon!

If you would like to see reviews on any of the other products I got let me know!

What have you hauled lately?

Vanessa

Current Flawless Foundation Routine

Hi everyone! Happy Valentine's day! I wanted to get on really quick and talk about my current foundation routine. I am constantly changing my makeup but lately for my day-to-day work routine I keep going back to this one!

Primer: Right now I am loving the Makeup Forever Smoothing Primer. I have HUGE pores and while I'll never be able to completely conceal them this primer does a great job of smoothing them out a little.

Foundation: I love Chanel foundations and my current favorite one is the Perfection Lumiere Velvet. This foundation applied with a damp Beauty Blender is perfection!

Powder: I've talked about this before but if you have oily skin you will love setting your foundation with Laura Mercier's Translucent Powder. It keeps me matte for most of the day and just adds that flawless air brushed finish.

I love trying new products all the time and want to dive into some new foundations, which ones are you currently loving?

Vanessa

Lipstick Love: NARS Audacious

Hi everyone! Hope you all are having a great weekend.  I am LOVING the NARS Audacious lipstick right now. The formula is amazing; so smooth and creamy and with just one swipe you have full pigmentation and the color is completely opaque. The formula is not completely matte but more of a satin finish. Wear time for me is about 5 hours and that's with eating both breakfast and lunch. So far I have not worn them with lip liner or gloss because I love how they look on their own. At $32.00 I know that can be a steep price for a tube of lipstick but in this instance I think they are absolutely worth it! They come in a wide range of colors and I would love to get my hands on a red or berry shade next. I think you should definitely treat yourself to one of these! The colors I currently own, from left to right in both pictures; Vanessa(of course I had to get this one!), Raquel, and Brigette. The swatches below were only one swipe! These lipsticks can be found at Sephora except for the Vanessa shade, this shade can be found on the Nars' website. Have you tried these lipsticks??

Vanessa

From left to right: Vanessa, Raquel, Brigette.

Today's Look! 02/01/2016

Eyes: Makeup Geek shadows in Starry Eyed(all over the lid), Cherry Cola in the crease and Americano in the outer corner. MAC's Soft Brown to blend around the edges. L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara and L'oreal Lineur Intense Liquid Eyeliner.

Cheeks: Tarte's Amazonian Clay blush in Celebrated and MAC's cream color base in Hush for the highlight.

Lips: MAC's Creme Cup lipstick 

Face: Younique's Touch Mineral Liquid Foundation in Velour and set with Laura Mercier's Translucent powder. NARS Radiant Creamy concealer in Vanilla under the eyes.

Brows: Anastasia's Brow Powder Duo in Medium Brown

*NEW* MAC Foiled Eye shadow in Sweet Illusion

Hi all! Happy Monday! I recently purchased one of the new MAC foiled eye shadows. The color I selected was Sweet Illusion which is described as a neutral light color. I always gravitate towards light shimmery shades! Anyway, I thought I would do a comparison with this foiled shadow and Makeup Geek's foiled eye shadow in Starry Eyed. In the photo below MAC's Sweet Illusion is on top and Makeup Geek's Starry Eyed is on bottom. As you can see they are very similar but Sweet Illusion has more glitter and Starry Eyed is slightly more pink. I honestly prefer the Makeup Geek shadow, it's way more pigmented and super creamy. The MAC shadow swatches a lot lighter and I had to build it up quite a bit to get it to the same level as the Makeup Geek shadow. I also tried the MAC shadow with some Fix Plus Spray and while it did help the pigmentation it still did not beat Starry Eyed. Do you need both? No way. Go with Starry Eyed as it is an over-all better foiled eye shadow in my opinion and for $10 less it really seems like a no-brainer! Have you tried any of the foiled eye shadows from either brand? What did you think? 

Vanessa

January 2016 Favorites

 Hi everyone! The first month of the year is already close to being over, how are your 2016 goals going so far? One of mine was to start this beauty blog as a fun outlet to talk about products I like and other beauty related things! I've been one of those "behind the scenes" beauty girls watching all of my favorite You Tubers for YEARS and thinking to myself how I would LOVE to chat about makeup as well. As far as Youtube, I'm not really an on camera type of person(maybe someday) but for now I figured a blog would be a perfect way for me to ease into this giant community. Today I want to talk about my stand out products for the month of January. These products were used multiple times(if not daily) and I love them!


Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder: I'm sure you have heard about this item as it seems to be floating through the beauty community. This was one of those items that I had bought over a year ago and it somehow got shoved to the back of my drawer never to be used again! That is, until I started hearing everyone RAVE about it and remembered how I had it and how un-loved it was. I love this stuff so much! I have combination skin with an oily t-zone. After applying my foundation I like to buff this powder on top to set my makeup and also to set my under eye concealer. I find that this powder makes my foundation and concealer last ALL day and it does a really good job at keeping my oil under control. I usually only have to touch up once throughout the day. This powder goes on completely translucent(hence the name) and is so finely milled and smooth. As a side note I could see this powder being a little too dry for my dry skin ladies/guys so keep that in mind when checking this out! You can get this here!

MAC Prep & Prime Fix + Spray: Have you ever bought a product and felt like you were the last person on Earth to try it? That's how I felt with MAC's Fix Plus spray. After my makeup is completely done I like to mist my face(mostly my cheeks) as a setting spray. I love the way it gives the flawless look to my blush and contour area. I try to steer clear of putting too much on my t-zone as this spray is moisturizing and I have issues with oil. I'm glad I finally gave this a try! Find it here!

Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Highlight: Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVE this highlighter! Seriously, stop reading this post and go buy one now, you will not regret it! This highlighter is perfect for all ages as it gives that beautiful "glow from within look" without making your face look like a disco ball. Now don't get me wrong, I love plenty of shimmer on my face, but sometimes I want that subtle glow look, especially for my day to day work appropriate makeup. It is currently sold out on Sephora.com so keep a look out for it at your local Sephora!

NARS Lip Gloss in Chelsea Girls: I love a good basic lip gloss. This color is described as a pink beige and literally looks good with anything. I like to wear this on its own or put it on top of MAC's lipstick in peach blossum. It's a creamy formula without any glitter or shimmer chunks. The wear time for me is a couple hours before I have to re-apply. Get it here!

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet Foundation: I have been using the foundation for a few months now and I'm absolutely obsessed. I like to apply it using a damp Beauty Blender and it gives a wonderful smooth, flawless, finish. It definitely helps diminish the appearance of my large pores. It has an SPF of 15 and I love that it comes in a plastic bottle, perfect for travel.  Available here!

MAC Blush in Gingerly: This is a staple in my blush collection and I think I reached for it everyday this month. Perfect warm color for everyday wear.

Makeup Geek Eye shadows in Starry Eyed, Cherry Cola,Vintage and Americano:  I love, love, love Makeup Geek shadows and think everyone should try them. They have wonderful pigmentation for the price and I love how you can customize your very own palette. Starry Eyed is one of the foiled shadows and the pigmentation is amazing! I have been using this all over my lid with Cherry Cola and Americano smoked out in the crease. Vintage is a unique medium brown color with mauve undertones and it also looks great paired with Starry Eyed. Check out these colors and other Makeup Geek products here!


That wraps up my favorite beauty products for the month of January! Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more posts to come!

-Vanessa

Introduction

Hi!

Welcome to The Shimmer Fix! A place where I(Vanessa) can spread my addiction for makeup and beauty and help other junkies get their "fix".  My love of makeup stems back to 2008 where I discovered the then new YouTube beauty channel trend. Since that time I have watched thousands of videos, read hundreds of blogs and indulged in multiple beauty outlets. I love trying new things and recommending products to others! So stick around, I hope you enjoy my little corner of the internet, and remember-it's just makeup.

Vanessa