July Favorites

I know this post is so late as its already the end of August but I am loving all of these products and I just had to talk about them. My August favorites are coming as well. Makeup has become a really fun new hobby for me, especially because my skin type is pretty unique in the makeup world (extremely oily, uneven bumps, scars, and a mix between ivory and fair skin tone) I have been really enjoying finding foundation that works best for me and is budget friendly. For more on that check out this post HERE. I am going to start looking at high end foundations but I don't have all the money in the world on makeup so that will have to come later. 

Anyway lets start with the makeup brushes. First a total surprise for me was how much a difference using brushes makes when applying makeup. Before (in my teenage years) I used my fingers/hands and for oily skin touching your face that much just makes the skin even more oily. Brushes totally changed my life, including the amount of breakouts I was experiencing as a result of using my hands. 

E.L.F. has some great brushes, I have almost all of their studio line brushes and they are my favorite. Out of that line the face complexion brush is my absolute favorite one:

Its so big and I use it everyday to set my foundation with the L'Oreal true match powder, my makeup does last all day but I use a little helpful tool for that (mentioned later on in this post). 

Another brush I love is the tapered blush brush (it might just be called the blush brush, not sure)

This brush comes to a pointed top and fits great underneath my eye to set my concealer. Its a great brush for that purpose as well as applying blush (of course). I highly recommend this one as well. 

The other brush I wanted to mention is the Sonia Kashuk number 109 blending brush:

This brush you guys! It changed the way I apply eye shadow. This blends out the colors perfectly and I have received so many compliments on my makeup since I have started using it. 

Alright lets talk about this beauty next:

The Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer. I love it. I use it everyday, for all my makeup looks. Its the perfect primer, not too oily, doesn't crease, and helps the shadow really stand out on my lid. It also lasts all day.

I noticed I pictured a mascara in my original photo and I talked about this product last month for my June favorites. Its a good mascara though. 

This product has really helped with the overall appearance of my makeup:

This is the Urban Decay de-slick makeup setting spray. Its supposed to be oil controlling so that it doesn't show up throughout your makeup wear. It works. I was skeptical at first but it really does help control oil and it helps make the entire look appear refreshed longer. 

Now onto my favorite part. Eyeshadows:

 First is the E.L.F. Prism eye shadow palette in smokey.

These are actually really bright, and metallic pigmentation. I wasn't expecting that as most of the E.L.F. eye shadows I have tried weren't very good. I actually like this one for deepening up an eye look and making it more vibrant. 

Next is my favorite Naked makeup palette. The Urban Decay Naked 3:

I love the rose gold look of this palette. I especially like it because I have pink undertones in my skin so it works really well with my complexion, it brings out my brown eyes in such a way that I could never go wrong when using this palette. I highly recommend that you get one of the Naked palettes. I have all three and they are all great. 

My favorite eye shadows of all time:

Makeup Geek eye shadows! They are amazing. So worth the money and they are (in my opinion) better than MAC eye shadows. I actually just got two more colors so now my palette is full and I love it. This is a Z palette I bought on Amazon which is magnetic and the pans don't fall out. Its really compact and I could easily travel with this for a quick weekend getaway and have the ability to create versatile looks. 

I highly recommend you check out makeup geek and their products, they are great. 

Well there you have it. 

XO

Caitlin

What are some of your favorites? I would love to hear about them! 

Many Uses for the Erin Condren Life Planner

I know back in January I blogged about how I use the Erin Condren Life Planner specifically for school. Well now that I have graduated and I am out of school, I use the planner to help manage all other aspects of life, including this blog. So this year they added some new updates and I just had to get a new one, I love it so much and its so pretty.

I love it! I got the gold edition this year and its so pretty, I got the color spearmint and I just added my name on it. I could have put the Holladay family or something but its just Zack and I so I figured I didn't need it. 

This is how thick it is. I got the 18 month planner so it goes from July 2014 to December 2015. I know it will last this long because I hardly take it out with me and its held up really well so far. Eek I just love it!!!!! 

Here's the inside:

Love the inside, I haven't written in the cover yet because its just too cute, I don't want to ruin it with my handwriting (anyone else have this problem). I love that gold polka dot vellum, its very fancy and just adds a nice touch.

You can kind of see how the vellum works, its just clear paper with the polka dots. 

Next you have the first cover page and I actually use that space to write down my color coding system, yes I have a system and yes I generally stick to it.

Also I love that its made and produced in the USA, I love to purchase products that are made here!

Most of the magic in my planner happens on the monthly view, I use that thing up:

As you can see I have been writing my bills down on sticky notes, then gym stuff and a lot of other lovely things I put down in the book. On the list over on the right I put my cleaning chores, like the bathroom, reorganize the dvds etc. On that card in the middle (its a project life card) I just wrote a list of things I wanted to do for the month. 

Here is the back of that card, I used a new Erin Condren Coil Clip which is a new feature on the planners this year. 

Here is a view of the right side of the monthly view:

I love marking my pay days and in August (You'll see in a minute) I started marking my husband's paydays as well. I also mark of the days of the month as we pass them, its just always been a habit of mine. 

Here is the August monthly view:

This month I marked the paydays using the little neon garage sale stickers. I loved that because it used up less space. Then I used the orange flag notes for the bills and in the upper right hand corner I move the bills over as I pay them. Even though church is always at the same time I always mark it off in my planner, then I put doctor appointments using the stickers Erin Condren gives you and I created my own stickers on her site. The brown sticker says Camping Trip and the Blue one says Temple Trip. 

I decorate the monthly view a little bit with Washi Tape. I get my washi tape all over, Etsy, Amazon, Target and Staples are my go to places. I have recently picked up some nice ones at Michaels and they always have coupons so that is a great place to shop for planner supplies. My stickers all come from Michaels as well. 

Here is what a typical weekly view looks like. On the Martha Stewart Dew Drops I write the chores I need to get done that day, on the lines down at the bottom I right my scripture reading (devotional) and my meal plan. In the night section I typically right my blog ideas and any other plans I might have. I transfer bills from the monthly view as well as paydays and write what is due. I mark the weather up at the top using weather stickers found on amazon and my iPhone. Again on the left hand side I write out a To-Do list for the week. 

Here is what a typical page view looks like without the decorations and colorful pens. I love the clear ruler so you can still see what is going on Thursday and not have it block that day. 

I love that it has a year at a glance calendar (I bet you can tell what I keep track of here). The planner also has a 2016 and a 2017 calendar in case you want to know when certain days are in the future. I always look at this to see what day my birthday is on. My birthday is always on a Wednesday or Sunday, kind of cool on leap year its always Friday. Anyway... onto supplies. 

I carry my supplies in this cute little makeup bag I bought from the clearence section at Target. It works great for planning on the go and I keep page flags, pens, washi tape, and sticky notes in this pouch. Here is the inside:

As you can tell I use the papermate flair pens the most in my planner. They are so vibrant and bright and I just love the way they turn out on the page. I love colorful things. I also use the Staedtler pens, which offer a more refined point but are equally as vibrant. I also have the sharpie pens and I generally switch out between the Staedtler pens and the sharpie ones quite often. 

Next the project life cards: 

This book I bought at Target in the scrapbook Isle. As you can see it came with a lot of different patterns and I just think the they provide a great addition with the coil clips to my planner. 

Next I have a sample of the Neon Garage sale dots I bought at Target. They were $3.00 I want to say and come with 300 stickers so I highly recommend those for things you have to jot down every month. 

Here are there weather stickers I talked about, super cute:

Washi Tape I bought at Staples in a set. I just love how all these colors tie in together and it cost $9.00. 

And last but not least how I store my Washi Tape, in this caddy I found at the Dollar Tree. 

Well there you have it folks, I hope that gave you some great ideas for how you can organize your supplies, and your planner. 

Check out the Erin Condren planners and use this link to get $10.00 off your first order. (To get the $10.00 off you must sign up with an email account using the link, the coupon code will then be emailed to you)

XO 

Caitlin

(PS this post was not sponsored, I bought all products and supplies with my own hard earned money)

Favorite Drugstore Foundations

I am excited to do this post for you guys! I have been researching for this post for about a month now, trying a different foundation every week to see what I liked and more importantly what my skin liked. These have made the list, so without further ado:

First up I am going to start with Concealer's. My all time favorite drugstore concealer right now is the Maybelline New York Fit Me Concealer. I have the color fair and I love it. 

It works as a great under eye concealer for my dark circles and great as a highlighter as well. I love the finish it gives and it lasts all day long (I tested it). Highly recommend this product. 

Next is my Nyx concealer in the flesh tone color. This works as a great all purpose cover up for those occasional blemishes we all get. 

It offers full coverage and really helps make my blemishes appear less threatening, always a plus. I usually apply this after I apply foundation but before I add my finishing powder. 

Next is my NYC Smooth Skin powder in the color fair. I use this to set my under eye area and really help make the makeup last all day. 

I haven't tried Mac Shaping Pro Powder so I can't give an opinion on how it compares to that for setting the under eye area, however for me, this product works great. 

Next up is highlighters. 

This one is the Loreal Magic Lumi highlighter in the shade light. This was my first highlighter I ever tried and it was great for a beginner. It really was easy to apply, blended well and gave a really great glow to those areas that light hits more naturally. 

Something very similar in comparison is the Dream Lumi highligher by Maybelline. The formula for both of these products is very similar and I feel that it would be a great addition to your collection. 

FOUNDATIONS!!!

My all time favorite drugstore foundation for Oily Skin is: Elf acne fighting foundation. This product gives you a very natural matte looking finish with a full coverage. When I want to hide all blemishes I go for this baby, its perfect, my skin doesn't break out and its $6.00! If you have Oily Skin you have to try it. 

My next favorite and sort of an equal in my opinion to the ELF one is Revlon 24 hrs ColorStay foundation for Oily/Combination Skin. This is a dream. It gives a good moisturizing feeling to my skin, provides a medium coverage and makes me look youthful. I just can't really describe it but its awesome. 

My next two products are pretty much the same. Both are from the Loreal True Match line and the first one gives more of a matte finish and the second one gives more of a dewy finish. They both work great for me and depending on what primer I use that day helps me decide what foundation to choose. 

And my finishing powder. I have been using this Loreal True Match powder as my finishing powder for about a month and a half now. I love it. It works great, helps to set in my foundation and makeup and I find everything lasting for a longer amount of time. Love this product. 

Well there you have it, my favorite foundations for Oily Skin. 

Stay Tuned for tomorrow when I do a post about the new Erin Condren Life Planners. 

XO

Caitlin

Weekly Catch Up

Well this week has been one wild ride. Zack and I were able to go camping for a little bit, get away and just have fun. I also branched out in my makeup comfort zone and tried an awesome blue eye shadow look.
Here are the pictures from this last week:

Wicked cause I forgot to post pictures last week about the play. These are the jeans I talked about in my plus size style post which you can find here.  I really do like them and they make my legs look extra long. This is also my motivating before picture as I start my workout and diet plan today! More on that of course later. 

All details about my wedding ring. The band is really the most special to me, it means a lot because Zack bought it for me when he had no money and he sacrificed a lot in order to get it for me. The ring itself is gorgeous and is a Green Amethyst. I love it. Its unique yet pretty at the same time, just like me. (That's what Zack told me anyway)

A photo of me and my blue eye shadow. How I achieved this look was I applied ELF smudge pot in "Hit the town" all over my lid. Then on the center part of the lid I added Mercury from Makeup Geek eye shadows. Then as my brow bone highlight and to brighten up the inner corner I added Shimma Shimma from Makeup Geek. For my gloss I used maybelline's color whisper in Bare to Be Bold as my lipstick and on top of that I used Nyx's butter Gloss in Creme Brule. Loved the combo and how it turned out, the blue actually worked out great for my hooded eyes and made my brown eyes really stand out. 

And finally some photos from our camping trip:

It was a fun week but I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home and we are finally going to go see Guardian's of the Galaxy. I seriously can not wait! I am so excited. 

XO 

Caitlin