some highlights from the week

A part of my "create" ideas was to experiment more with makeup. I love makeup. I have all my life. I remember as a little kid loving to help my mom put on her makeup. I'd brush my hands all along her modest collection of lipsticks (the majority were MaryKay). When I started acting, we'd always have to wear loads of stage makeup, and while it looked ridiculous, I adored it. I became obsessed with beauty gurus on YouTube and watched hours of hair and makeup tutorials, fantasizing about all the products I wish I could buy. When I started a my first ever part-time job, I spent my paychecks on gas for my car, meals with friends, and makeup and nail polish. I was always hitting up the drugstore and doing so much research on what to buy. One Christmas in high school, my mom bought me the Urban Decay Naked palette, and I was so excited to have nice, expensive eyeshadows.

The problem is: I've gotten lazy. I still wear makeup, but I'm really complacent. I stick with the basics, which is fine! But I want to have fun with makeup. I want to use my eyeshadow palettes because 15 year old me would be so jealous of all my nice expensive makeup. I want to wear bold lips more frequently and not be embarrassed by it. Not that I'm truly embarrassed, but I tend to stick to things that are more subtle. Or I'll be more daring, and then take it off and redo my face. (I mean - I'll still be professional at work, of course)

Today, I wanted to show off some highlights from my makeup experimentation, aka three of the highlighters from this selection of highlighters. I haven't gotten the chance to properly try all of them yet (my broken ankle has been inhibiting so much of my life), but I've had a little bit of fun with them so far. This set was on sale for $25 which was a TOTAL steal, and although everything is trial size but one, there's still a lot of product in each. Plus, I got to sample some brands like Becca, which I was curious about and had never tried.

             

High Beam by Benefit

High Beam is a product I've always been curious to try, but have been timid about. It's so intense and until about 6 months ago, I never wore highlighter! This stuff is INTENSE. I mean you can see the glow is strong. I think with a light hand you can get away with it on a daily basis, but you have to be careful. I really want to try this for a night out, because it could really *shine.* My mom did comment to me that I looked like I was glowing, so it was super effective. This was the only full size product from the set, so I'm happy to have loads of this, because I think it's gonna be fun to play with.

             

 Moonstone by BECCA

I only recently learned about the brand BECCA, when I heard Chrissy Teigen was collaborating with them. Since then, I've been really curious, especially since I heard such wonderful things about the brand. Let me tell you, the hype is real. I LOVE this highlight. I don't have any face brushes with me, so I used my fluffiest eyeshadow brush, which I actually loved using. It was perfect for my nose and brow bone, and worked well on the cheek bone too! The formula was nice and silky with excellent pigmentation. I definitely want to try more shades from BECCA, as well as the blushes and bronzers.

            

Exposed by Tarte

This is actually what I wore today! This highlighter by tarte was definitely the most subtle of the ones I've tried so far. It's definitely going to be perfect for an everyday use. I know the tarte amazonian clay blushes and bronzers have a strong following behind them, and I think for good reason! The formula is great and really easy to apply lightly and layer it on. I have one amazonian clay blush, and am definitely looking forward to trying more more this line.

I can't wait to play around with the rest of this set and share my opinions of them. Sephora has a lot of great sets like this that allows you to sample a number of brands and get a sense about what you like out of that kind of product. For example, this Benefit kit I bought myself on my birthday, which had a great couple of products to try (including a highlighter I love!) plus the makeup bag was so cute. My darling roommate bought me a stocking stuffer of a lip kit, which looks like it is out of stock but this one is somewhat similar, although my theme was "bold." It's a fantastic way to sample new brands and try on colors you wouldn't normally pick for yourself!

[I am not sponsored by Sephora or any of these brands, but if they are interested, I am more than willing to sell out]