Hey, Beautiful Blossoms!

I’m glad to be able to sneak in a blog entry today – between working my regular and overtime hours, shuffling between the old apartment and the new house, and trying to get my licensing exam in order, it’s nice to be able to talk about something that’s completely unrelated to all that: makeup.

I hate to admit it, but I realize that that there is a bit of a monotony in my life, but what surprises me is that it’s coming from the last place I expect it: my makeup. I may get picky with the eyeshadows I use, but when it comes to the rest of my face, I tend to use nearly the same product every time and I hadn’t really taken notice until today, when my mind has too much time to muddle over things.

But then again, when you have something that you consistently rely on, you don’t really give it much thought until it’s time for it to go to greener pastures. yep, we just went a tad bit dark with this one

I don’t know if it’s because I always told myself that I’ll pan the crap out of my eyeshadows or using everything I have to the last drop to feel that I-have-empties satisfaction, but the following have been pretty much my staple beauty products for everyday use (see the BBA Instagram for visuals):

*In no particular order*

1. Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Sake (exclusive to Sephora. Available in-store and online) It’s no secret that Bite Beauty is a cult-favorite brand for their Amuse Bouche Lipsticks, but what may be surprising is that I only own 2 shades from their line (I’m too much of a Kiko Milano baby). One of them is Sake, which is a cool-tone nude (at least on my lips). I’m a warm-toned person, so me using a cool-toned lipstick seems kinda counter-intuitive, but that’s actually why I bought it in the first place.
2. I wanted something that would clash against my warm skin tone but still be in the nude color range – the other selling factor for the BB ABL was the fact that it was a creamy lipstick bullet. It’s definitely comfy to wear on my lips when I don’t feel like going au naturel or wearing lip oil.

   The only downside is the price: at $26, it’s definitely expensive for me to consistently buy. I’m sure the fact that it’s 95% natural is a contributing factor to that, but it’s not the only nude lipstick available for me to get.

3. Revlon Ultra HD Lip Lacquer in Fire Opal (permanent, available wherever drugstore beauty brands are sold)I did a vlog review on this (along with a blush and another lip product) on the YouTube channel. One of the big downsides to this product is the sticky texture, but for my personal preference, it gets trumped by the fact that Revlon wasn’t kidding when it promised that your lips would look drenched and wet looking after you finish applying the stuff.
   When I want that glossy, Marilyn Monroe-esque look to my lips, this one delivers. Sure, I have to wear a lip liner to keep it from feathering, but it’s a small price to pay when you got bomb-ass looking lips in red.

   It’s definitely not drying and it comes off easy, but that might be a plus for the product because it makes reapplication fairly easy. Just wipe it off and then apply again to your liking.

4. Kiko Milano LE Heatwave Lip Oil # 3 (discontinued)This bugger is from the second collaboration between Kiko Milano and Ross Lovegrove. It’s vanilla scented and even though the color inside the container is pink, it actually applies clear. I use this when I want some shine on my lips but still keep them natural. I don’t know if it’s just me, but lip oils seem to be trending a bit after Too Faced released the Sweet Peach line with lip oils, since e.l.f. released their own line of lip oils albeit tinted.
5. NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Spice Cake (available on NYX’s website, standalone NYX Stores, and wherever drugstore brands are sold)Like the Revlon HD Lip Lacquer, this was also featured in a vlog review on the BBA YouTube channel. I use this when I want that pink hue on the lips but I still want them hydrated. The color on my lips is exactly the same as in the tube and, depending on how I layer it, can look wet or drenched. I also gotta use the lip liner with this because it’s prone to feathering.
6. Kiko Milano Invisible Lip Liner (available in-store and online)I snagged this one when it used to sell for $3.90. Milani’s Lip Liner is more expensive at regular price! Unfortunately, it seems like this will no longer be the case as the lowest I’ve seen it go is around the $7 mark (normally retails for $9) now.
   The beauty of this is that it applies invisible, so you don’t have to struggle with trying to match your lip products to each other – pick any color lip product without worrying about finding a lip liner that matches.

   Fun fact: I just noticed that it’s also marketed as a lip primer. There’s my doi! moment of the day.

7. e.l.f. Brow Wax Pen (available wherever e.l.f is sold and online)I actually bought this out of frustration over my inability to find the ABH Brow Wax pencil. The one thing I like about e.l.f. is that it always comes for clutch when I’m in a bind, and for $3, it’s hard to go wrong with it. It does what I need it to do: prime my brows for filling in and eyebrow mascara application, though the staying power doesn’t seem to be as good as the ABH one. Or I just have a really oily forehead.
8. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pencil in Granite (available online and in store)After I ran out of my Benefit Precisely, My Brown Pencil, I decided to give this one a go since it’s been consistently hyped as a really good product. Granite was, unfortunately, too dark (ironic because my brows are black for fuck’s sake), but if I use it with a light hand, it’s not so bad. It’s a bit more stiff than Benefit’s brown Pencil, but I find that it’s overpriced for what it’s supposed to do. I use it to get the most of what I shelled out for it (and I’m pretty sure it’s halfway finished at this point). Once I finish it, I’m switching to a drugstore version.
9. Essence Make Me Brow Eyebrow Gel Mascara (available online and in-store. Ulta exclusive)
   I heard so much hype about Essence as a brand that I decided to give it a try when it was time to throw away my ABH Brow Gel (those YouTube ads featuring Anastasia working on a model’s brow got to me). I definitely get the same finish that I used to get with the ABH Brow Gel, but it seems to suffer from the same issue as e.l.f. Brow Wax Pen in the sense that it can’t seem to keep my brows in place.Perhaps I really should invest in blotting my forehead more.
10. L’Oreal Voluminous Lash Out Butterfly Waterproof Mascara (available wherever drugstore brands are sold)
    When it was time for me to pick the next mascara to use for the next 3 months, I decided to give this one a try because it’s been sitting duck amongst my Korean rubber mask tubs. I was a bit hesitant because it was waterproof (I don’t like waterproof mascaras – they are a bitch to remove), but it seems that it was exactly what I needed because it didn’t smudge when I expected it to smudge through the fry-and-bake summer days.The downside is when it’s time to remove it – even with an oil cleanser, there is still some mascara left. -_- But the price is also a bit of a deterrent for me – drugstore prices have been creeping up to the point where I feel like they’re trying to outmatch Sephora’s house brand. #staywoke

And there you have it! The BBA Makeup Workhorses. If you’re wondering why I didn’t list a foundation or BB cream, it’s because I can’t be assed to wear it for the summer (no, not even powder. I’d still need a primer for that shit. They cling to my dry areas no matter what moisturizer I use and yes, I exfoliate). Not only that, I get oily pretty fast in humid / muggy weather and if I try to blot it by layering a thin layer of powder, I just end up with cake face.

So I just forgeo foundation / BB cream / powder for the summer. It’s just too much work.

I hope I’ll have a chance to blog again. Take care, Beautiful Blossoms!