April 2017 Favourites — Chaos & Reason

“Beauty has a lot to do with character.”

— Kevyn Aucoin

This month I don’t have a ton of favourites and to be completely honest a few of these were delivered last week. I will say though that I genuinely like those items and have definitely found every reason to wear and use them. It may seem like I was using all new stuff this month, I wasn’t (though I did buy a lot of stuff). I’ve been using what I guess you could call my staples.

This has been another month where I haven’t had too many occasions where I’m wearing makeup and by that I mean, I haven’t left my house that much. There it is in black and white. What I think I’ll do next month is to apply some makeup in the morning just because, this way I will be able to put to use more of my makeup. Until then here is the short list for April

Makeup Geek, Rimmel, Kevyn Aucoin, The Ordinary, Formula X and Sephora | April Favourites

Highlighter

Jouer Cosmetics | Rose Gold

This guy is new to my collection and it’s my first highlighter from Jouer, I wasn’t too sure about it when I purchased it, but I’m glad that I did.It applies smoothly to my skin and doesn’t contain any chunky glitter or anything like that. If I apply it too heavily then it can emphasize some texture that I have on my cheeks but I prefer to use it in combination with the Makeup Geek highlighter, so a light hand is best.

Makeup Geek | Fireworks

Since picking this guy up last month I haven’t used him much, then I was playing with the Jouer highlighter and I fell in love with the combination of the two on my skin. The Jouer is as the name says a rose gold highlight with undertones of gold, whereas the Fireworks highlight is a warm bronze. I apply the Jouer highlighter first using my dual fibre brush and then I top it with Fireworks. The glow they give me is gorgeous. My skin looks amazing, I do have to be careful though, too much and it can go wrong real quick.

Kevyn Aucoin Neo- Highlighter | Sahara

I truly love this powder. It gives a glowing from within look to my skin. It’s a highlighter but the powder is fine and smooth, so it doesn’t cling to your skin or highlight and texture that you may have. I do have to use a light hand with this, because the lighter end of the palette can look a wee bit ashy on my skin if I’m not careful. I like to apply this on my skin before adding my blush and highlight if I’m going to be wearing any that day. I’m certain that it can built up for a more intense look but I prefer the subtle glow it gives me.

10BuckBrush | Hannah Dual Fibre Brush

I picked this guy up because the brand was having a 70% off sale, I thought why not I love brushes and this guy is $3 US, not a bad deal in my eyes. The shipping was a bit steep to Canada but I sucked it up and hit confirmed. (Please note I did pick up other brushes) I really like the way this brush applies highlighter, other brushes I’ve used left me with a streak on my face, with this brush I’m able to lightly dust the colour across my cheeks, which makes the highlight look more diffused. I prefer my highlight that way as opposed to the beaming so bright you can see me from space look.

Kevyn Aucoin | Neo- Highlighter in Saharan

Makeup Geek Fireworks Highlighter and Jouer Rose Gold

Makeup

Rimmel | Loose Setting Powder

I’d heard that this was a good setting powder when doing my research to see which one I should purchase. I don’t like it for setting under my eyes as it leaves it looking a bit too dry and cakey. I do however like it for setting my laugh lines, I prefer to use it with a damp sponge instead of the pouf that comes with it or a brush. When I use a damp sponge then my makeup doesn’t crease at all and I stay pretty matte throughout the day. I don’t get the same results when I use other tools.

Sephora | Glossy Gloss in Candy Mix

I first tried this gloss in the clear mini version, I wanted a bigger size though so I grabbed this one. It doesn’t have much colour at all just some glitter flecks which I’m really not too fond of. I do however find this gloss to fairly moisturizing and bonus it taste and smells great. I find myself reaching for this so often, after I take my shower in the evening or brush my teeth in the morning. The squeeze tube is nice though it’s easy to over squeeze and end up with too much gloss on your lips.

Sephora Glossy Gloss in Candy mix and Rimmel Match loose powder

Nails

Formula X Urban Bush Babes | Everdream?

Hi my name is Natoya and I love the colour green. So I’ve become slightly obsessed with the colour green, preferably hunter green but I’m okay with other shades too. So when I first applied this nail colour, I was amazed it’s so dark, rich and creamy. I really like it. I know that it’s spring right now and this shade might be best in the fall but I wear green all year round. The wear time was average.

Formula X Urban Bush Babes | Seeing Double

This is a beautiful gold polish. It has a fine shimmer throughout it, but it applies smoothly. It’s a little sheer so you’ll need about 3 coats to real full opacity but it’s a rich gold with slight green undertone. It doesn’t look too much or over the top. It’s perfect as an accent nail or if you want to do a gold gradient effect.

Skin Care

Darphin | Intral Toner

This is a nice toner, I found myself using it a lot this month, probably because of the scent. It just smells really nice, not too overpowering and not long lasting, so after I pat it into my skin I don’t smell it anymore. I received it as a deluxe sample from Sephora. Not going to lie, the deluxe samples get me.

The Ordinary | 2% Retinoid Serum

I don’t have a final verdict on this guy yet but so far I like it but with some reservation. So far I like what it’s doing for my skin, but I need more time to see the long term effects. I’ve had this serum from around the middle of March or so. It seems to smooth my skin but it might also be irritating my skin and causing it to react. It bears further testing.

The Staples

These are the products that I end up using either everyday like my cleanser and face mist or every time I put on makeup. I thoroughly enjoy using each and every one of these items and have no complaints. I wouldn’t give them holy grail status just yet, but they’re working towards it. You can check out my post from last month where I talk more about these items.