Products We Can't Get Enough Of!

We all have beauty products that we're obsessed with and constantly find ourselves re-purchasing constantly! Some products are just so amazing, that it becomes difficult to replace it or try anything else really. We decided to write a quick list of some beauty products that we've repurchased a few times throughout the past few years because we just can't get enough of them. Here are our repurchase worthy items:










Beauty Blender

The first product on our list is a no brainer, the beauty blender of course! It took us a while to give in and purchase the beauty blender because we just didn't get how an ordinary sponge would be any different than other makeup sponges out in the market. But after years of using this gem we can honestly say that it's not comparable to any other makeup applicator out there. Although the sponge still absorbs some amount of the product you with it with, the finish it leaves on the skin is not comparable to anything else. You can use it for applying foundation, toner, moisturizer, blending out harsh lines, contour, concealer, etc. The sponge perfectly presses the product into the skin and leaves an effortless and flawless finish every time.





Philosphy "Purity Made Simple" 

This facial cleanser is pure perfection! We've been using it for a few years and it's definitely one of the best cleansers we've tried. It's a nice and simple cleanser for everyday use. It melts off makeup like no other cleanser, and it also tones and hydrates the skin at the same time.










Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray

This stuff is like magic! After you finish doing your makeup, spray this a few times all over the face, and your makeup won't move an inch all day. It locks the makeup onto your skin and doesn't move until you wipe it off. It's a really light spray and doesn't leave the skin feeling sticky or heavy/wet like some other setting sprays. I wasn't sure how effective the spray was until I forgot to use it one day! If I need my makeup to last all day (which is most days), I know I can count on this setting spray without a doubt.














Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Volume Building Mascara

This mascara is a classic and is great for everyday use. It lengthens my lashes and I can add volume to certain areas if I feel like I need more thickness in a specific area. The color is also very black and pigmented so that's definitely a plus. It gives my lashes the perfect amount of volume/length.















Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

Having a good quality brow pencil is definitely a staple for any makeup kit. Unless you've been blessed with thick brows that need absolutely no filling in (lets be honest, which most of us don't have) then you need a brow pencil to give your brows that extra fullness that they're lacking. Although we love Anastasia's Brow Wiz, we think the NYX Micro Brow Pencil is just as good. You can check out our review of the two in our blog post here.
















NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

 NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is the perfect double-duty concealer! We absolutely love using this concealer for multiple reasons. It's great to hide dark circles, highlight under the eyes, and even cover blemishes. It has the ultimate coverage with minimal creasing. Tip for light to medium and medium skin tones: Use the color Honey to cover dark circles, Vanilla to highlight under the eyes, and Custard to cover those pesky blemishes.







 

 MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

To make sure your makeup lasts all day, it's essential to set your makeup with a setting powder. It's difficult to find a powder that serves for both dry skin as well as oily skin. Thankfully, we became introduced to MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural recently. This is a baked powder that provides a medium coverage and lays beautifully on top of any foundation. Because it is baked powder, our girls with dry skin will absolutely love this product. As for my oily girls, don't worry about getting oily throughout the day. The Mineralize Skinfinish Natural powder truly makes your skin look airbrushed!




You can click on the links below to purchase any of the products we mentioned in the post:
1. Beauty Blender                                                                                $20
2. Philosphy "Purity Made Simple"                                                   $11-55
3. Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray                           $14-30
4. Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Volume Building Mascara      $7.99
5. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz                                                  $21
    NYX Micro Brow Pencil                                                                 $9.99
6.  NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer                                                $12-29
7. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural                                              $32


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XO, 
RLS

Nivea Men's After Shave Balm

          If you're a fan of Youtube makeup tutorials then you've definitely heard about the product we're going to talk about today. Youtube beauty guru Nikkie Tutorials introduced the makeup world to her not so conventional primer. She accidentally discovered that the Nivea Men's After Shave Balm can be used as a primer under makeup. And after using it for about a month we can finally tell you if this aftershave balm is worth all the hype.

          So why would you even consider buying a men's product and using it as a primer rather than just using a primer that's already made to go under makeup? Well because the Nivea Men's After Shave Balm costs $5-6 for 3.3 oz while most primers sold at makeup stores cost around $37 for 1 oz. You definitely get a lot of product for the amount you're paying.

          After using it under a few different foundations we had difficulty seeing why everyone seems to be obsessed with this after shave balm. It has a silicon-y consistency and it looks like a lot of the primers you probably already own from makeup stores. Nikkie recommends rubbing it into your skin until it feels tacky, so basically until it doesn't have a liquid consistency anymore and feels sticky.

          Although it didn't minimize or eliminate the look of pores much, we found that it does make our makeup last longer throughout the day. Since Glycerin is one of the ingredients in this product it's no surprise that it helped our makeup last longer. Glycerin is actually found in a lot of makeup products including setting sprays because it works like a binding agent, so it helps stuff stick together.

          The main issue I had with this after shave balm is that I have combination skin type, so I usually don't get too dry or oily based on what makeup products I use, but every time I used this after shave balm and applied my foundation over it, I found that it dried out my skin a lot. So my makeup looked pretty matte and started to settle into some lines throughout my face. For someone like me who likes a dewy foundation look, this after shave balm is a little upsetting. But if you're really oily this might help you stay matte all day long!

          One last issue we had with this after shave balm is that it does have a slight men's product scent to it (duh). If you purchase the after shave balm in "Sensitive" the smell is less noticeable. And even though the scent basically goes away after a few minutes of applying it to your face, we think it might still be a bit strong for people who are sensitive to scents.

          So what's our final verdict? We think that the Nivea Men's After Shave Balm is a pretty good basic primer for everyday use and is definitely worth giving a try!    

Nivea Men's After Shave Balm: $5.59  

New Dose of Colors Liquid Lipsticks!

The new Dose of Colors matte liquid lipsticks in Desert Suede, Mood, and Cork have stolen our hearts! Although these 3 colors are currently sold out online, they restock their items quite often. If you've been following our blog you know that Dose of Colors liquid lipsticks are one of our favorite (if not our favorite) liquid lipsticks that are out on the market. Aside from the unique/gorgeous colors that they come in, they also feel amazing on the lips, and last long too. These liquid lipsticks retail for $18 and you can buy them here. If you'd like to check out our review on some of the Dose of Colors products we've loved in the past click the link below!

Dose of Colors Review

From left to right: 

                              Cork: A warm, brown color with slight orange undertones

                              Desert Suede: A muted pink/nude with gray undertones and a little bit of shimmer

                              Mood: A rich, dark burgundy color with brown and berry undertones

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XO, RLS

Morphe Basics!

   Here are some Morphe brushes we think are essential for a basic makeup kit!

  These few brushes can help your achieve perfectly blended eyeshadow,

eyebrows, highlight, and foundation. Morphe has quality brushes at a great

price, so it's definitely worth it to give them a try!

From left to right:

(Click on brush number to see the brush!)

M310

E22

M441

M432

E18

M439

M433

E29

                           If you need some extra help figuring out what brushes you want to try from Morphe,                 check out Jaclyn Hill's Morphe Brush Favorites video below. She gives great, detailed advice on a lot of Morphe brushes and expains what each brush is used for!

                                      Follow us on Instagram: @Simply.tria

XO, RLS

The Ultimate Guide of Where to Buy Discounted Makeup

Lets be real, every makeup lover knows the struggle of wanting to buy every new product that comes out in the market. New products are released constantly and it can be really difficult to not splurge on every product your makeup addicted heart desires! So knowing when to splurge and when to save can really help you save a buck or two. As our makeup obsession has grown over the past few years, we’ve tried to find ways to save money on higher end makeup or just to get a good deal in general. We put together a list of our favorite ways to save some money on amazing beauty products!

1. Costco

Who knew that this wholesale warehouse (that sells every possible thing you can think of) also sold makeup! Costco doesn’t only carry drugstore brands, but it also carries higher end ones that you can find at Sephora, Ulta, etc. They carry some amazing brands like Glamglow, Beauty Blender, Estee Lauder, Stila, Smashbox, and Kevyn Aucoin! So the trick with Costco is that it is a members only warehouse club, so you need to have a membership to purchase the products that they sell. They sell some really popular makeup items at a discounted rate. For example, the Beauty Blender retails for $20 per sponge but is sold in a pack of two for $30 at Costco. We’ve also noticed that the products that they offer are for a limited time and are not available year round, so if you see something you want definitely grab it!

  Check out this link to view Costco's beauty products!

2. Online Flash Sale Sites

Online only retailers have been all the buzz lately. Hautelook and Gilt are two websites that have flash sales online with discounted beauty products. If you’ve never been on one of these websites before then you’re definitely missing out! These websites basically have sales on specific beauty products that last for just a few days. Often times they carry really popular makeup products like The Balm, Morphe, and other well known brands, and the products are usually heavily discounted. For example, a few weeks ago Hautelook was selling The Balm’s Mary-Lou Manizer that retails for $24 on sale for $12 (which is a pretty good deal!).

  Check out this link to view Hautelook's beauty flash sale of the week!

3. Discounted Chain Retailers 

Other discount chain retailers such as Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Loehmann's also carry many high-end beauty products year round. These retailers often carry a lot of popular higher end makeup products at a discounted rate, but they tend to either sell out or just have low stock for most of the products. Loehmann’s is particularly impressive because they carry brands such as Dior, YSL, LA MER, and LA PRAIRIE! Pretty impressive right? The others are equally as impressive because they carry other amazing brands like Kat Von D, Urban Decay etc.

 
4. Makeup Conventions

Makeup conventions are a beauty addicts dream! There are international makeup conventions throughout the world such as IMATS, PhamExpo, and GenBeauty which sell makeup at discounted prices. These annual beauty conventions often have an entrance fee, but provide most of the makeup at a discounted price. So do some searching and see when the next makeup convention is near you!

5. ULTA and Sephora SALE

You don’t really hear the word SALE at Ulta and Sephora much, but if you go searching you'll notice that they always have products on sale year round. The catch is that they’re probably not going to be the specific products that you want so you might have to settle for the not so new or popular products. Sephora’s website has a lot of sale items online but it seems like ULTA has more options in store. You can check out the links below to see if anything you’ve been wanting is on sale!

Sephora's Sale 

Ulta's Sale

6. QVC

Last but not least we have the lovely QVC on our list! We all know how convenient QVC makes home shopping. You just sit back, relax, and splurge every time you see a product you love on TV without having to leave the house! QVC sells such a wide range of beauty products including Tarte, bareMinerals, Bobbi Brown, Josie Maran, Tatcha, etc. The beauty products that they sell usually have a discount of a few dollars, and/or they provide bundles at a discounted price (which are usually not available anywhere else). While they do have great deals sometimes, we’ve also noticed that a lot of the time the product that they are selling is not discounted at all. So why would you buy that product from QVC? Because of the convenience factor and the fact that they provide a monthly payment system so you wouldn’t have to make a full payment all at once. So next time QVC is on tune in to see if they might be selling a beauty product you want!

                                          XO, RLS

All About Brow Pencils

The year of 2015 was all about the brows and there is no doubt that it will transition into the year of 2016. Whether it was defined brows, arched brows, or full brows, eyebrows became one of the biggest phenomenons in the beauty world. Eyebrows are crucial for any person's makeup routine because they frame the face and define your features.

With eyebrows being all the rage, beauty companies were releasing multiple brow products. Of all the products, mechanical pencils were a must-have for achieving polished, yet natural eyebrows. Here are two that deliver similar results with different price points.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz has quickly become a staple in every makeup lovers kit. It is also one of the most popular items at Sephora. It was one of the first mechanical pencils released in the beauty industry that featured a spoolie brush. The Brow Wiz comes in 9 colors ranging from light to dark with cool and warm undertones. The ultra-slim pencil has a waxy feel and allows you to fill in sparse areas, outline your brows, and mimic natural hairlike strokes. It's easy to apply and the formula lasts all day.

NYX Cosmetics recently came out with their Micro Brow Pencil and we can't help but notice the similarities it has with the ABH Brow Wiz. The NYX Micro Brow Pencil is also a mechanical brow product featuring very similar packaging. It comes in 8 different colors and also features cool and warm undertones. The creator of MakeupGeek, Marlena, filmed a video on her YouTube channel and made a very interesting point about the two brow products. She noticed that both products were made in the same country and that it is likely that both are manufactured in the same exact factory due to the similar formula and packaging.

So what's our conclusion after using both pencils? The NYX Micro Brow Pencil seems to have the same exact formula and packaging as Anastasia's. Same formula, same waxy feel, and the same exact consistency! We haven't noticed any difference between the two after months of using it which is mind blowing! So if you'd like to save a few dollars on your brows we would definitely recommend NYX's brow pencil over ABH Brow Wiz. Anastasia's Brow Wiz is $21 while NYX's Micros Brow Pencil is half the price at $10. Also ULTA usually has buy one get one 50% off for the NYX Brow Pencil, so you would be getting 2 for about $15. Next time you're at ULTA give both a try at the same time and see if you agree with us!

 

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XO,

RLS

Our Must-Have Eyeshadows

Who doesn’t love a good, neutral palette? Even though Winter is in full swing, we can’t help but grab onto these warm, brown colors year round. Don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of great palettes out on the market, for example Tarte’s “Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette.” It has a perfect blend of pre-picked colors for a warm, eye-look. But if you’re a bit more selective with the colors you like, customizing a palette might be a better idea. Also, keep in mind that you can slowly build a custom palette overtime and don't have to buy all of the eyeshadows at once. You can purchase a palette for as little as 2, to as many as 15 eyeshadows.

Here's one palette we customized using MAC Cosmetics and Makeup Geek shadows. The color selections, pigments, and texture of both brand's eyeshadows are like no other. MAC eyeshadows are a cult-favorite. You can purchase them individually with packaging for $16 or the magnetic pans for only $10. Makeup Geek shadows can only be purchased in pan forms and retails for only $6 a pan.  They are nearly half the price of high end shadows without sacrificing quality. Bonus: MUG shadows are talc, paraben, and cruelty-free. Despite the price difference between the brands, they're very similar in quality and color range.

The palette in the picture is one of MAC's pro palettes that can only be purchased at pro stores. We also like using Z palettes for storing eyeshadows, but MAC's palettes are a bit more sturdy.

Here are the links you need to customize a MAC palette:
1. Choose a palette and eyeshadow insert
2. Choose your favorite shadows!

PS. If you'd like to put any non-MAC eyeshadows in a MAC palette, you have to add magnets to the bottom of the eyeshadows so they stay secure in the palette.

From Left to Right:

Top Row:
 Makeup Geek “Corrupt"

Makeup Geek “Cocoa Bear"
Makeup Geek “Latte"
Makeup Geek “Crème Brulee”
Makeup Geek “Shimma Shimma”

Middle Row:
 MAC “Carbon"
MAC “Brown Down"
MAC “Espresso”
MAC “Swiss Chocolate”
MAC “Saddle”

Bottom Row:
 MAC “Brown Script"
MAC “Texture”
MAC “Cork"
MAC “Soft Brown"
MAC ”Bamboo”



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XO,
RLS