Back to Beauty | October Beauty Favs!

Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the World 
-Marilyn Monroe 

A one month hiatus from this blog was far too long, but much needed. I was (obviously) in a really bad place toward the end of September and I needed the time to myself to press pause and reset. 

During that time I got back into makeup, hair & all things beauty which is a joy of mine that I had forgotten. Making the time to do my hair and makeup in the morning has become my norm again. I find it calming, enjoyable, fun, and it helps me to feel a little more confident in my own skin stepping out in to the world. 

Since taking this hiatus from beauty, I have jumped in head first and have some lovely products to share with you all today! 

Starting with skin care, I've been really enjoying the Garnier Pure Active 3in1 face wash. I use it every morning and the scent really wakes me up. I tend to shy away from products containing salicylic acid despite my acne prone skin because I find it to be really drying. However, this face wash also includes eucalyptus oil and aloe vera which make it a really hydrating and effective cleanser. Not to mention it's super affordable!

I'm not sure if deodorant really fits into a beauty product but I'm going to include it anyways! The Lady Speed Stick Unstoppable deodorant in the scent Charismatic smells absolutely amazing to start! It also keeps my underarms sweat free all day keeping me from having wet patches under my arms. What I like most about this deodorant is that it has aloe vera in it which keeps my underarms from being irritated or dry. 

Please ignore the slight chip on the tip of my index finger. I've actually been wearing this Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish on my nails for eight days in a row now and that's the only chip I have! I think that speaks for itself on why I've been loving this polish. The whole line is fantastic but this shade, Wine Stock, has been my go to recently. Make sure you buy the top coat and use it together with the colour coat or else the polish doesn't really work how it's supposed to! The top coat is what makes the real difference. 

Anytime I've worn foundation in the past two months it has been the Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless foundation. I've recently had to drop a shade from 120 to 112 as my tan slowly disappears (tear). I love this foundation! It's super affordable, covers well, lasts for ages, and doesn't break me out. It's a winner all around in my books! This is a great foundation and I'd recommend it to anyone who has normal, combination, or oily skin (may want to avoid if your skin is quite dry). There is a wide selection of shades for lighter skin tones, some with pink undertones, some with more yellow undertones, and some with neutral undertones. If you are a darker skinned person looking to use this foundation, however, you may find the shade selection to be seriously lacking.

I've been really enjoying using different lip colours to change up my everyday makeup look lately. My choice is the NYX mechanical lip liner; not just to line my lips but as an overall colour! I think they're so smooth and buttery and glide onto the lip like an absolute dream. They last all day and don't smudge or wear away while I'm eating or drinking. The five above have been my favourite shades coming into fall; 12 Dark Red, 06 Nude Pink, 02 Nectar, 08 Sand Beige, and 10 Nude. I'm sure now that November is here and continuing on into December, I will be reaching more toward the darker colours and berry tones. 

I've always stuck by my eyebrow pencils and tended to shy away from waxes as it seemed so daunting! However, I am obsessed with the e.l.f. Gel & Powder Eyebrow Kit. I got mine in the shade medium. I also picked up the dual ended brow brush. This has become my new favourite method of filling in my brows! I think it looks so natural and the colour match is perfect for my hair colour. I start by using the spoolie end of the brush to comb out my brows. I then used the angled end of the brush with the gel to shape and fill my brows, followed by the lighter powder to set the gel using the fluffy end of the brush the duo came with. This product has been a game changer!

I've been on the hunt for a good drugstore liquid eyeliner for ages. I've tried endless products by many brands and all were falling short of my expectations. In a liquid eyeliner I look for it to be a deep, opaque black, easy to use, not irritating to my eyes, waterproof, and precise. All of my boxes were finally ticked by the NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker in Carbon Black. I have fallen in love with this eyeliner pen!

Which brings me to my next favourite; winged liner! If you want a tutorial on this look do let me know as it's been my everyday makeup for about a month now!

Thanks as always for reading & thank you even MORE for being so patient with me and my lack of blog posts. Hopefully I will be able to stick with once per week. 

What beauty products have you been loving this month? Do let me know in a comment!

Maybelline Fit Me | First Impression

I've been meaning to find a new foundation for ages... probably about two years now- ever since the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation started breaking me out like crazy! I read so many reviews about the Maybelline Fit Me foundations but never really payed much mind to them. When I saw my local drug store had them on special for 50% off I decided I'd give the foundation a go.

I chose to try the Matte and Poreless formula designed for normal to oily skin as this is my skin type. The shade selection was pretty good ranging from really fair to deeper brown skin tones. Having slightly more yellow undertones and hint of a tan, I went for the third shade in from the lighter end of the range; 120 Classic Ivory.

Upon first glance, the packaging isn't much. It's easy to overlook it in the drug store as it's not an in your face colour or design. The glass bottle makes it a touch impractical for travel purposes, however it looks nice mixed in with other products on a dressing table. I so wish this foundation had a pump! The formula leans more toward the watery side and so pouring it out from the bottle can be a little messy. I can see myself wasting quite a bit of this product from over pouring onto the back of my hand.

Right now my skin is in a bit of a state. I'm coming off the end of a fairly bad hormonal breakout. I have no active breakouts to cover, but there's redness where the spots once were. I've also had a terrible lack of sleep and my under eye circles are utterly horrendous.

I haven't worn foundation in absolutely ages so I have no idea where my beauty blender ended up. Blending foundation with a brush isn't my favourite method of application, but it ended up looking quite natural- I was so surprised. It didn't get streaky at all! The coverage is light to medium but definitely buildable. I'm sure this foundation could be built up to be full coverage. The colour choice ended up being a seamless match with the skin tone of my neck- my perfect shade! The foundation definitely did a good job at making my skin one even tone as well as making my dark circles and acne spots less visible. 

The foundation blended nicely with my Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer, creating a really great base. It also set really well with my NYX stay matte powder. I wasn't getting any caking or patchiness what so ever!

The Fit Me foundation created the perfect base for this everyday neutral makeup look. 

After an hour of wear I didn't notice any oxidization or movement of the product. It still looked the exact same as when I applied it an hour prior. 

I chose this day to test the foundation because I knew it would be extremely hot and I would be outside a lot. I wanted to see if the foundation could withstand the sun and the heat. Even after working outside and sweating quite a bit, I was six hours in and it still looked great! There was no real difference from when I first applied it. 

I spent an hour laying in the sun, catching some rays. After ward my face was obviously sweaty and so I blotted with a tissue. I was surprised to see that there was very little product transfer- mostly powder! The stay power really proves itself to be amazing!

I decided when my friends and I hit the outdoor patio bar to go dancing that night that I was not going to redo my makeup. I was going to put this foundation to the ultimate test! It stood up to my dancing outside for three hours despite already being on my face all day! 

After 17 hours, my face was still matte, poreless, and the coverage was still definitely there! In fact, when I went to wash my face that night I was surprised by just how much product came off on my flannel cloth. It all stayed all day long! I've got a little hunch that this foundation could stand up to a waterproof makeup test. 

All in all, I'm so impressed by this foundation. I think the poor packaging is a very small sacrifice for an otherwise amazing product. I can't wait to keep using the Fit Me foundation so I can report back with a full review!

Have you tried the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation? What did you think of it? Do let me know in a comment!

Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo