Top 13 of 2013!

Hi Gorgeous!

Wishing you nothing but the best for 2014!  I hope that 2013 treated you as well as it did me, but as they say,"out with the old, in with the new".  As we reflect on the past year I decided to tell you some of my favorites from 2013.  The makeup and skin care that came out this year was great, I can't wait to see what 2014 brings all of us beauty lovers <3

It was so hard to pick my top 13 so I went into my everyday makeup bag and pulled out 13 products that I use almost every day!  Here we goooo :

1. L'Oreal Miracle Blur- such a great base (you could use this without foundation) it literally BLURS any lines and pores :)!!!
2. Christian Dior Nude foundation (in 022)- love this because it provides a nude look but with coverage.
3. L'Oreal True Match Super-bendable crayon concealer (in fair/light W1-2-3)- This is a holy grail.  I have one at work, in my bag and at home.  It covers everything and is super blendable-no need to pat it in you can swipe/rub etc.  Use it under the eye or on blemishes, it is a go-to product (not to mention super affordable)
4. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder ( in Diffused light)- I use this many ways; As a setting powder or highlighter, but mostly to set my concealer.  This is more on the yellow side which is perfect to brighten my dark circles.
5. Maybelline Define-A-Brow (in medium brown)- again, a holy grail and super affordable.  I stock up at CVS when I receive beauty cash or at Ulta when they run sales like BOGO !
6. Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel (in Espresso)- Literally lasts a lifetime and pulls my brow together after filling them in (which i do daily since I have sparse brows :( 
7. Marc Jacobs Bronzer (in 102 Tantric)- Loving this product since its release back in the fall.  Just enough bronze to bring that "glow" to your face.
8. Benefit blush (in Rockateur)- Good blush that matches every look (also smells incredible)
9. Urban Decay Eyeshadow primer potion- I use this regularly to set any eye shadow I apply or if its really hot out, I'll use it to hold on my liquid eye liner as I do have oily eye lids (booo)
10.  L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense (liquid felt tip liner)- Great and easy to control liquid eye liner at a very affordable price.
11. Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Mascara ( in 003 Extreme Black)- doesn't build volume but does build length- great to start off with or to use on days where you are going more natural.
12. Fresh Sugar Lip treatment- DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN?? If you haven't tried any of the Fresh cosmetics products, you are missing out.  I purchase this once a year and MAKE IT LAST (it is pricey), but it seriously feels like a cashmere wrap for your lips!
13. Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colour (in 60's Pink)- Great color for an on the go morning.  No liner needed.  This provides good color for the nude/pink lip we all love.

It was soo soo hard to choose 13 items, especially because I wanted to choose some skin care products (ahem, like the Clarisonic), and I did not include any eye shadows.  Like I previously mentioned, I chose everything based on what I use more regularly.

May you find love, peace, happiness, and prosperity in this new year <3 Let me know if you'd like to see anything specific for the upcoming year :)

Cheers to a beautiful you (especially in 2014),

                    * MKG

Lorac PRO Palette Review

Hi Gorgeous!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season filled with great gifts but mostly, family and love!

I have several posts that I hope to get up for you, as I bought and received several great beauty products this season!  So let's start :)

If I am correct, this palette hit the retail market back in the beginning of the summer.  I passed it often in stores such as Ulta and Sephora but like many kept thinking,"I'm sure that if I searched through all my eye shadow pods that I would find similar products".  Finally, around September I received a great coupon and had some store credit at Ulta that needed to be used and naturally, I caved.

Cost: Around $42 full price
Packaging: Black sleek satin feel.  Light weight and flexible with Magnetic open/close- aka nothing to oo and ahh over.
Mirror: The inside does come equipped with a mirror which is a great size and very useful when traveling.
The product- the eyeshadow!! 16 colors total with a wide range of uses as they are basic colors.  The top row of 8 colors are matte.  The bottom 8 shadows are a mix between a satin finish and some shimmer.

Color pay off- as expected from Lorac the color pay off is great!  Each color is dense and rich while being very blendable.  There is every color you could possibly need to accomplish a wide array of looks- from smokey to natural.  This makes for the perfect travel palette as it gives you night looks and day looks.

Colors from left to right/top to bottom:
Row 1: White, Cream, Taupe, Lt. Pink, Mauve, Sable, Espresso, Black
Row 2: Nude, Champagne, Gold, Lt. Bronze, Pewter, Garnet, Deep Purple, Slate.





My favorite colors are Taupe, Sable, Pewter and Garnet.  All are great crease colors or great to soften any harsh lines when creating that sexy smokey eye.

Final thoughts:  it's worth saving $10/wk to purchase this palette by the end of the month.  Its a great gift and a useful purchase if you just use makeup here and there or for nights out.  For the makeup addicts, such as myself- this palette is a GO.  Perfect to take when doing a makeup application on a client and easy to transport along with your other palettes.

Hope that you all find this useful and please let me know your thoughts if you have this gem already in your makeup collection <3

Cheers to a beautiful you,
          *MKG

GLAM GLOW Review!

Hi Gorgeous!

If you are in the tri-state area, I hope you are staying warm and enjoying the beauty of this light snow fall :)

Many of you are familiar with the Glam Glow skincare product line.  Recently made available in 2011, Glam Glow has been the talk of the town.  I went into Sephora and decided that I would look into possibly trying 1-2 of their products.

I had heard good things about their masks and so that was my first stop.  At Sephora they have testers made available which ultimately let me decide which product I would actually invest in.  Currently, GlamGlow has 3 products available for retailers: 1. SUPERMUD Clearing Treatment, 2. YOUTHMUD Tinglexfoliate Treatment, 3. BRIGHTMUD Eye treatment.

The Packaged Product!

Unfortunately, its a bit hard to make a tester out of the Brightmud Eye treatment which ultimately knocked it off my purchase list (for now).  I placed a bit of the Supermud Clearing treatment and the Youthmud Tinglexfoliate treatment on the back of my hand and walked around the store.  Almost immediately, I noticed that the Youthmud Tinglexfoliate treatment became SUPER tight on my skin.  Now, I've used many a-masks in my days but nothing ever got as tight and tingly as this did.  After chatting with one of Sephora's beauty associates, I decided to go ahead and purchase the Glam Glow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate treatment.  I purchased the tiniest one, 0.5 oz at $19, which now that I've tried it is just a bit too small (see left)

After 2 uses!

I've used the product 2 times now, and must say I LOVE it.  It leaves your skin feeling super clean,smooth and looking refreshed.  BUT for me the best part is the removal of pores!  I have many tiny black pores on my nose and chin- something I have hated since middle school.  I've used spot treatments, special cleansers, and every brand of pore strips.  Now with pore minimizing primers and powders on the market, I figured that was going to be as close as I would get to concealing my pores.  Not anymore! This product literally lifts the dirt and oil out of enlarged pores.  Granted, this is not a permanent fix but for the few days it lasted I was more in love with my skin then ever.  The only complaint I have is you need a lot of product each time.  As it is not thin in consistency, it takes quite a good amount to cover the entire face.  The second time around, I only used in my T-zone.

I'm just starting to dabble in the skincare arena as I am getting older and it is important to me to keep my skin looking fresh and healthy!  I have recommended this product to several of my friends, and have even suggested to purchase the GlamGlow GiftSexy value kit that Sephora currently has, as a great gift for the special woman in our lives.

Don't be hesitant to ask a Sephora Beauty associate to provide you with a sample to try at home before you go ahead and purchase anything (especially since it is not cheap at $69 for 1.7oz).  They are typically so kind and helpful, and generous with their samples!  You WONT be disappointed.

Cheers to a beautiful you,
             *MKG

Sephora Haul !

Hi Gorgeous!

About 1 month ago Sephora had their infamous Friends &Family / VIB 20% off promotion!  As a complete and total beauty junkie, this is like Christmas in November!
Naturally I prepped myself for the items I was interested in trying and any items I wished to purchase for others, as the Holiday season was fast approaching!  I will try and review most of the products that I purchased to try myself but unfortunately, since Christmas is 2 weeks away I wont be able to show/review any of the items I purchased for my friends and family (whompwhomp).

Sephora Haul Nov 2013 (minus the items I will use as Holiday Gifts)

YEY! Look at all that beauty -->

So here is the Haul list (clockwise):
1. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette (unfortunately, this was a limited item and you can no longer get it from Sephora)
2. Dior Holiday Couture Collection (again, limited and no longer available)
3. Stila Magnificet Metals in Metallic Merlot
4. NARS Single Eyeshadow in Cairo # 2042
5. BUXOM full-on Lip Cream in White Russian
6. MARC JACOBS Lip Gel in Strange Magic #102
7. NARS Single Eyeshadow in Nepal #2016
8.  OCC Lip Tar in Vintage
9. NARS Lipstick in CATFIGHT #1050

<-- Here are the products currently available at Sephora.  I just wanted you to see their colors a bit (I deff. didn't notice when purchasing that everything is in the pink/rosy tones).






My over all thoughts ....
The STILA metallic foils are beyond gorgeous and their color payoff is fantastic.  It comes packaged with the Stay all day liquid eye primer and a mini mixing plate- very handy!

The NARS shadows are great, and I am not a new purchaser of them- but after receiving and swatching both- they are far too close in color so I will be exchanging the Nepal #2016 for another shadow.

BUXOM's White Russian lip gloss is great over almost any color lipstick- it just seems to liven any color.  I don't typically use it alone as I have rather pigmented lips and it doesn't show much :(  It also has a cool tingly feeling, which is rather enjoyable.

Love the Marc Jacobs products in general.  The packaging is very nice (although the lipstick package concept is almost identical to that of Bare Minerals).  Color payoff is perfect and it wears off well, as in not too messy or too quickly.

The Lip Tar by OCC is crazy!  The Color is fantastic and rich, but I have yet to master the application technique that is best.  NOTE: this product stains immediately - which is great for your lips especially at an event or night out, but bad if you get it anywhere else.

  I hope this was as interesting for you to read through as it was for me!  I am loving all the products I purchased, and apologize that this post made it just short of you all being able to find the Hourglass and Dior Holiday limited palettes.  I have another mini haul coming up with a few items from Sephora and a few from ULTA - STAY TUNED!

Cheers to a beautiful you,
           *MKG