When do you remove your makeup? + Sephora Cleansing Water

Hi all!

I just came home from spending about an hour or so out doing a few errands and grocery shopping. Its definitely coat weather here in South Dakota. We're even in a winter storm warning. Yay for staying inside, drinking hot cocoa and watching the snowfall (and cat cuddling!).

When I came home I, immediately and without thinking, started to remove my makeup. So I got to thinking: is this normal? lol :P When do you remove your makeup? Right after getting in the door? Or closer to bedtime? Right now I have a weird (possibly hormonal) outbreaks on my right cheek tend so I'm extra careful about making sure my skin can breathe when I'm just hanging out at home.

Photo belongs to Sephora. ;)

Today, I used my Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water. I haven't been using it much in the last two weeks since I've been trying Tatcha products (blog on that later). I forgot how much I loved this stuff. If you've ever tried Bioderma or any other micellar water you'll like this one. It removed my Benefit Roller Lash mascara and Revlon Colorstay easily and without irritating my dry winter skin. Plus the largest size has an easy peasy pump cap! Thumbs up, Sephora! I'll be buying it again.

Time marches on!

My return to blogging has begun! I just have too much stuff to talk about!

Lots planned so far and I will be updating twice a week (Monday and Thursday).

Things upcoming:

• Tatcha skincare review
• my return to the US
• cat toys from Housecats Club
• my Ugg slipper obsession

And those are just a few things in the works! Upcoming next is a review on the December 2015 Birchbox (hint: I think this one is a winner!).

Stay tuned!

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse!

You know the stuff is good since it has sparked my return to blogging!

Nuxe has a product that is nearly liquid gold! Their multi use oil is truly heaven sent in our dry cold weather. Now that I have returned to the US my skin is getting acclimated to low humidity again. If I don't use something moisturizing and nourishing, I itch like crazy! Nuxe to the rescue. I apply the oil once in the morning and my skin feels lovely all day! Tragically I am running low but the bottle last for quite a while! I am quite excited to try more Nuxe products since this discovery!

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse can be purchased directly here: https://us.nuxe.com/multi-purpose-body-skin-care

Any Nuxe recommendations? Comment below!

Perfume Review: Truth or Dare by Madonna

Yesterday I went in to my local Perfumes&Companhia store to pick up some more of my beloved Estee Lauder cleanser (more on that in a forthcoming post) and upon checking out I was given a sample of Madonna's new perfume Truth or Dare.

I have soft spot for Madonna. My parents had the record (actual vinyl!) of Like a Virgin and when I was a kid I loved it. I also played plenty of Madonna when I used to DJ at a gay club. Unfortunately Madge's album sales are not doing that great. In fact, her lastest album MDNA is expected to drop 88 percent in sales from her debut week - apparently the biggest second week drop in music charts history (source: Forbes). Truth be told, I kinda like the album! I'm sure she's hoping to pick up sales from her new perfume.

And an interesting perfume it is!

At first I was taken a back by the heady tuberose/gardenia in it. I really am not a fan of tuberose and gardenia fragrances because now they remind me of Kim Kardashian's awful first scent. Yuck! I stuffed my Truth or Dare sample away and thought I'd smell it later after it dries down.

The evening progressed and I then caught a wiff of it on my wrist. Wow. It softened up quite a bit to an almost musky gourmand floral on me - warm vanilla, gardenia and amber. The tuberose is still there and it smells very "fleshy". If you want to smell expensive, this is a good option! Its a very ballsy fragrance. Madonna was right when she said it takes a daring woman to wear this.

I think a lot of younger people may immediately think "old lady" but I think there is something very different about this perfume for me. Under the strong heady tuberose and gardenia there's that deep dark amber and smokey benzoin pull. Its incredibly mysterious and, dare I say, slightly lecherous. In a good way!

My prediction: this is either going to put Madonna in the "jumped the shark" category or seriously going to boost her image. Either way, I still lover her.

(As of posting this, the fragrance is available at Macy's stores and Macy's website within the US and at Perfumes&Companhia stores and online within Portugal.)

When life hands you lemons...

I know. I hear you. Its been a while. Life got busy. What can I say. I have a couple posts coming up but in the meantime - make these lemon bars! They're so amazing with fresh squeezed lemon juice. (And they're so easy that my non-baker husband can make them!)

Recipe here:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-lemon-bars/

Photo and recipe from AllRecipes.com (photo taken by mominml)

Ebay Fake Lashes: A Mini-Review!

I successfully applied fake lashes today! Yay!

Now, I understand buying fake lashes off ebay seems rather questionable. But after much consideration and feedback, I figured this was the best option since I have never tried false ones before. These came from the seller beauty_space88 on ebay and appear to be from a brand called Cool Flower. 

I envisioned having to mash them onto my eyeball haphazardly until they were mangled beyond all use but it was so much easier than expected. It only took my two tries! I have weird real lashes. They're pretty decent, they're long and the volume is great. Unfortunately a number of them grow straight down, making my natural lashes look like they have a gap in some areas. No lash curlers or curling mascaras have been useful so these puppies help to fill in those gaps.

Apologies for the crappy picture. It was the end of the day and I had terrible lighting!

I have to hand it to makeup artist Lisa Eldridge's fantastic video on how to apply them. She makes it look really easy!

I bought them here from seller name beauty_space88 and they're style number 63. They only cost $2.86 once the auction was over! And that's for a set of ten! So far I'm really happy with them. For those of you wondering: the band on these is not clear but it is very flexible!

I've also heard really good things about the lashes that KKCenterhk carries so hopefully I'll be trying theirs soon as well!

Do you have any feedback or tips on applying fake lashes or is there a certain style you prefer?? Feedback!

Black Rose Minerals Review + Color Images!

(Image heavy post.)

A few months back, I read some glowing reviews about Black Rose Minerals. I used my google-fu to find some swatches and blog posts. All of the images were gorgeous so I had to check them out. Much to my delight they had a sample 10 pack where I could pick out the colors I wanted to try AND they ship to Portugal. Not only that it was all very affordable. Yep, I ordered. And plan on ordering more.

I want to get to the swatches right away! (Note: I took these in natural light and tried to make sure the colors are as true as possible!)

You might notice there are more than 10 colors here. Rosa from BRM sent me two bonus samples (Lunar Shower and Lost) along with this super sweet note!

Everything was packed well (shrink wrapped even!) and nothing broke open or spilled in transit on its way across the ocean.

Another great thing about BRM is that all of the shades are clearly marked whether or not they are vegan or lip safe (I plan on using Black Math in a lipstick!) and the ingredients are listed.

It goes without saying that these shades are stunning. Each is hand mixed and individually formulated - no premade, repackaged stuff here! My current favorites are Vertigo and Mechanize. Keep in mind if you don't use a primer the shades will be more sheer and not stick as well - I use Too Faced Shadow Insurance. You can also use these wet by spraying a bit of water onto your brush first.

Check them out and browse their vast shade collection here : http://www.blackroseminerals.com

Are you a fan of mineral or pigment eyeshadows? Have you ever used the minerals to make your own lipstick/gloss or nail polish shade? If so, give me some pointers!