Top 5 Favorite: Highlighters

Highlighting is like an extra luxury step in my makeup routine. I do not feel that it is a necessary step but definitely something that can add an oomph factor to the overall look. I own several different formulas and brands of highlighters but I prefer using powders over creams, liquids and other stick forms. The main reason for this preference is the compatibility and mixing of textures. For example, I own Benefit High Beam, which is a cult favorite of the beauty community, but I do not like it much because usually I forget the highlighter part while working with cream products and if I use it over powder it looks somewhat cakey. 

I have picked up the top five favorite highlighters based on continued preference and the frequency of use. 

Natural Light: ELF Golden Bronzer; Physicians Formula Powder in Translucent; Sephora Illuminating Powder in Rose.Pink; TheBalm Mary-Lou-Manizer; Lorac Perfectly Lit Spotlight

Indoor Lighting: Same order as above

I didn't notice it earlier, but surprisingly all of these highlighters are somewhat different from each other in terms of their undertones. 

ELF Golden Bronzer: I am a huge fan of ELF studio line in general. They have amazing quality products with durable and functional packaging at very reasonable prices. This particular product is marketed as a bronzer but it is so light and shimmery that  it qualifies as a highlighter for my skin tone (NC25). The swatch is of the lighter shade in the lower left corner (since the post is about my faves) but I have also used the other three shades mixed up together. Out of all the other highlighters, this one appears to be a true beige-y champagne shade. Also, I feel that this is a versatile product because it has four shades which could either be mixed up or applied individually so people of different complexions can use it. 

Physicians Formula Happy Booster Powder in Translucent: First of all, the packaging and all the hearts make this powder special for people like me who pay extra attention to such details. Secondly, just like the ELF bronzer, this powder has multiple shades that could be mixed together or used individually. I personally like to use the big whitish heart towards the upper left side (thus the swatch is of that particular shade). I usually go for this highlighter when I want a very subtle glow, and it is definitely not as stark white as it looks in the swatches. Even though it has some shimmer but it is so finely milled that the highlight comes across as a sheen on the cheeks. 

Sephora Highlighting Compact Powder in Rose.Pink: This is a true rosy pink highlight which definitely has some shimmer in it. However, the shimmer just adds up to the beauty of this highlight and does not look tacky at all. I literally used it religiously for at least six months when I bought it, and it took some conscious effort to put it down. I don't know why Sephora brand products are not talked about when they have such amazing quality products at reasonable prices. 

TheBalm Mary-Lou-Manizer: This is a very intense golden-y champagne color, which can be used as a highlighter, shimmer or an eye shadow according to the TheBalm's description. I totally love this brand and all their products just like the rest of the beauty community so there isn't much to say about it. It is super pigmented so you need the tiniest amount to highlight therefore, it is a great investment of $24 because this product is going to last a lifetime. Also, many people say that the Hard Candy Baked Bronzer in Tiki is a dupe of this product. I do not own Tiki but I have swatched it a couple of times and I feel that it is not as smooth and creamy as TheBalm, but would still make a great dupe in terms of color. 

Lorac Perfectly Lit Spotlight: This is a peachy highlight with no shimmer whatsoever, which makes it look very subtle. It gives a very pretty natural sheen making it a perfect highlight for no makeup kind of nuanced look. Many youtube gurus, compare this with WnW Reserve Your Cabana, but I find the WnW version to  be very chalky and powdery. Also, the WnW powder doesn't seem to have the peachy tint like Lorac, and I feel that peachiness is something that makes Spotlight different from other highlighters. 

What are your favorite highlighters? What formulas do you prefer?

Thankyou for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Product I Regret Buying: Skin Care

This post is about skin care products I regret buying and even though these products didn't work out for my particular skin type, they may work amazingly for you. As for some background, I had combination skin for a most of my life but now I have dry, sensitive and acne prone skin. I always had some acne but recently I got an acne rash all over my face due to an allergic reaction which resulted in peeling and flaky skin. 

Lioele Night Spot Treatment: I have tried Mario Badescu Drying Lotion in the past and that one didn't do anything for my breakouts and I knew this product has the same basic idea but still thought of giving it a shot. I used it religiously every night for about 2-3 weeks and instead of drying out the acne, it dried off the surrounding skin resulting in huge dry patches and uneven skin tone. 

Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Treatment Gel: This product is meant to reduce redness and dry out the acne, but it actually makes them look bigger by pulling out the puss onto the surface resulting in huge white heads that are very nasty looking and  impossible to cover with makeup. Also, I absolutely dreaded putting this product on my face because it stings very badly. Even though the stinging goes away in a few minutes, but it is a nightmare if you have several acne all over the face. So, in short, it hurts and makes the acne look humongous and nasty.

                       
                       

Christopher's Beauty Facial Cream: As I said earlier, I have extremely sensitive and dry skin so I need super moisturizing night creams to make my skin look presentable in the morning. However, the problem is, that I am allergic to Stearate which narrows down my options to minimal. But I found that this cream not only has very simple and nourishing ingredients, but doesn't contain anything that I am allergic to. The color is definitely appalling but the actual product is really moisturizing, however, the scent is so  strong that it is just impossible to put it anywhere near your nose. And mind you I am not super sensitive to scents but this one is a different story. Also, the scent lingers for hours and hours. I regret  buying it because I can't use it on my face, but since it is very moisturizing so  I will probably use it on elbows or other dry areas of my body for the sake of finishing it up. 

Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil Skin Ointment: Tea tree oil is considered very effective for acne so I picked up this ointment as a night cream. Firstly, the product is super hard and solidified, so in order to cover just your chin, you will have to rub your finger in the tub at least 10 times. Secondly, after you put it on your face, it just does not sink into the skin at all for hours. Thirdly, I know it has tea tree oil in it, but it made my face feel so oily and dirty that I literally had to wipe it off with a tissue. So I do not like it for my face, but will probably use this one too on my elbows.

C+M Green Tea Whitening & Firming Eye Cream: I bought this cream because I have dark under eye circles and green tea is known to help reduce them. When I started using it, I absolutely loved the texture because it went on very smoothly and provided sufficient hydration. However, after a couple of hours it made my eyes sting and water very badly. And I guess that was probably because its so smooth and thin that it traveled to my eyes. I tried putting it as far from the rim of the eyes as possible, but nothing worked so I had to stop using it. Since I didn't use it enough for the above stated reason so I am not sure if it actually helps with the dark circles or not.

Oxy Maximum Action Spot Treatment: I always used Salicylic Acid as an acne treatment, but it never gave satisfactory result so I thought of trying benzoyl peroxide this time. I picked up the highest concentration i.e. 10% and it did absolutely nothing for me. I tried it several times as a night treatment and didn't notice any difference in the redness or the size of the acne. 

The Body Shop Aloe Protective Serum: I don't have any major issues with this product, however, the problem is that it doesn't provide any long term benefit to the skin. Also, it has a lot of junk in it. Even though The Body Shop claims to be a natural brand, but if you check the list of ingredients, it is full of chemicals and parabens. 

The Body Shop Coconut Shimmer Body Lotion: This is shimmer body lotion and is good for only that purpose. It hardly  has any moisture so I use it only for a glowing shimmery skin during summer days. And for me, that is kind of a waste because  it doesn't have any real benefit and I get to use it only for a few weeks.

 

The Body Shop Wild Rose Hand Cream: I bought this hand cream because I heard a lot of good things about this line and I absolutely love roses. However, it was such a disappointment in terms of mositurization. No doubt, it smelled absolutely amazing but instead of hydrating my hands, it made them even more dry, which was very weird. Also, the dryness increased with the number of uses, so I returned it within three days of buying it.  

Have you tried any of these? If yes, how did they work for you? If no, do you have any recommendation of the ones that you use?

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!

ELF: Amazing Matte Lip Forumula & A Possible Mac Dupe

ELF. is know for its inexpensive and great quality products. I have several of their products and I like most of them if not all, and most of my favorites are from the studio line. Their Matte Lip colors are my favorite matte formulas I own. A lot of people love the Revlon Matte lipsticks, but I found them very drying and uncomfortable, and never wore them without a gloss. However, these ELF lip colors are very smooth, comfortable and not drying at all. They are matte but definitely have a natural sheen to them. They have average lasting power, just like other normal lipsticks. Also, there is a possible Mac dupe in this line. I do not own the Mac shade but I have seen some comparisons. 

ELF Matte Lip Color

Along with the formula, the packaging of these lip colors is also very nice and sleek. They have a twist up tube and a sharper at the other end, which I forgot to show in the pictures. 

Indoor Lighting - Coral, Nearly Nude, Natural, Tea Rose, Praline & Rich Red

Coral: I won't call it coral, but more of a light peach shade. It is beautiful, goes on nicely and looks really good with smokey eyes. 

Nearly Nude: It is a very light, somewhat baby pink nude. I am not a fan of very light nude shades so I don't wear it much. Also, I have found that the formula of this particular shade is a little bit different. Even though it is not drying or clingy, but it does settle into the lines and crevices of the lips. And oddly enough, this is the only color from the line that does this. 

Natural: It is a beautiful everyday nudey pink color, which goes on nicely and looks good with everything. Is is no brainier kind of color, that can be used with or without other face makeup.  

Natural Lighting - Coral, Nearly Nude, Natural, Tea Rose, Praline & Rich Red

Tea Rose: This is one of my first purchases from this line and I absolutely love it. It is a purple toned mauve, which is not too overpowering and definitely appropriate for everyday looks. 

Praline: This is a true chocolate brown shade. I am personally not a fan of this color in general, whether in clothes, nail polish or anything so I don't wear it much. But it goes on nicely and feels good on the lips. 

Rich Red: This is a true red color. I do not have the Mac Ruby Woo but this is a possible dupe for that color. I haven't seen both of them together personally, but I have seen some comparison pictures and videos. So, if you have both, then please let me know if it is actually a dupe or if there is some difference between the two. 

Overall, I really enjoy the formula of this line. The only issue that I have is they do not have enough color choice. There are only six shades and I own them all and if they ever come out with new shades I would definitely get all of them. 

Thank you for taking time to ready this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day! 

Products I Regret Buying: Hair Care

This is my first post of this kind and I hope I don't offend anyone since everyone has different liking and preferences. This post represents my personal experience with these products, if you love them, it is awesome but unfortunately they didn't work me. Just for reference, I have dark brown mid-length naturally curly fine hair, which can get frizzy at times. Sometimes they are really difficult to manage as they are frizzy but get weighed down really easily because they are fine. So, the products mentioned in this post didn't work for my hair type but they can definitely work for yours.

One n Only Argan Oil Smoothing Cream/ Styling Cream: This brand is available at Sally beauty supply and I received the sample sizes of smoothing cream and the styling cream when I bought their Argan oil, which works really well for me. However, recently I started noticing excessive hair fall but I wasn't able to put my finger on the culprit. My hair were literally falling out in huge chunks whenever I ran my fingers through. Few weeks ago, when I ran out of the smoothing cream I realized that the hair fall stopped completely suggesting that it was the cream behind the said condition of my hair. Even though I didn't buy it but I definitely regret using it.

Wella Professional Ocean Spritz: I have naturally curly/wavy hair so I usually do not use salt or any kind of texturizing sprays, and after using this one I am definitely not going to use any again. This spray literally made my hair feel very crunchy and dirty. It was just impossible to comb or even run my fingers through. Also, I tried it multiple times to see if I was doing something wrong. I tried it on wet hair, dry hair, freshly washed hair and also a day old hair but nothing worked. So I am definitely not going to use this spray or probably any salt spray again.

Garnier Fructis Style Curl Shaping Gel Spray: I have natural curls so I bought this spray to give them a more defined look, and since it is a gel spray so I expected it to be a little heavier but definitely not to the extent that it makes my hair look like third or fourth day dirty hair. Also, it made my hair feel hard and stiff, so I do regret buying it.

Schwarzkopf Got2b Dazzling Shine Hair Spray: I bought this hair spray to use as final touch up to add some extra shine. It has a very distinctive sweet smell, which is not bothersome to me as I am not very particular about smell of hair products unless it is super repelling. However, the problem is that even though it adds shine for the moment but that shine disappears within 10-15 minutes and your hair are back to where they were. So if you are like me, then under such scenario you will repeatedly keep spraying it and will end up with weighed down dirty looking hair, and that is why I really regret buying it.

Schwarzkopf Got2b Glossy Anti-frizz Shine Serum: I bought this serum because it claimed to get rid of the frizz along with providing shine and it does calm down the frizz and gives shine if you use enough product. However, it is very thick and heavy so it weighs down hair and the shine disappears after a while so I don't reach for it often. But the shine does stay longer with this product as compared to the shine spray.

Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo: I really love this brand in general but this dry shampoo really sucks. Dry shampoos are supposed to give you a day in between hair washes but this one takes away the possible in between hours too. Instead of making the hair look fresh, this dry shampoo makes them look a lot more oilier, weighed down and dirty. I tried using it a couple of times and got the same result without fail. Also, I tried rubbing it with my hands, with towel, with paper  but nothing at all worked.

Sunsilk Captivating Curls: I got this mousse in a set along with the shampoo and conditioner of the same line. It just didn't do anything for my hair. Even though I have naturally curly hair, I didn't see any more definition or texture than I usually have. So I regret buying it.

Have you tried any of these products? If yes, how did they work for you? If no, are you planning to try any?

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!