Are you getting sick of me yet? Hopefully not if you're willingly clicking onto these pages!

Another day, another post! Welcome to day 3 of my 12 Days of Favorites!

Can you guess what comes after foundation and concealer? You guessed it! POWDER! I didn't realize how many powders I actually have. Now it's not A TON but it's still more than the average human would need. I've tried various loose powders and pressed powders. So, I've pulled out one of each to talk about.

First, let's start off with pressed powder. I purchased the Kat Von D Lock-It Blotting Powder from Sephora over the summer. It kind of sat in my collection for a hot second just because I had put it away and forgotten about it. Let me tell you what a mistake that was!

I love this stuff (I think you're really going to get sick of me saying that)! This is the only powder I've been keeping in my work bag (or purse if I'm going to be out of the house for a very long time... I'm not really one for touch ups). It's incredibly smooth and I don't know what they put in this stuff but I swear to you it blurs my pores. Legitimately... gone... every. single. time.

I use the shade light. It doesn't have a lot of pigment. It's kind of like how Laura Mercier just came out with different shade for her setting powder. It's pretty much translucent, but a shade close to your skin tone will make it truly translucent on your skin. Another thing I love about this product is that it's refillable. You can purchase just the pan of product once you've used the first one up (or if you'd rather just carry it in a magnetic palette) for $10 less. Now don't get me wrong, $19 is still up there for a powder, but it's not that far off from some drugstore prices (many Physician's Formula powders retail for close to $15).  I would definitely suggest giving this product a go.


Now on to loose setting powder. I've tried a few loose setting powders in my day but none... NONE... have compared to the Urban Decay Velvetizer. The hype is real!

This is marketed as a something you can you as a setting powder or you can mix it into your liquid foundation to make it more full coverage and matte. I haven't tried the latter method yet... honestly, I'm a little scared. Maybe I'll just give it a go one day when I'm not leaving my house... just in case.

But oh. My. GOD. This as a setting powder is PHENOMENAL! My skin has never felt as smooth and soft as when I use this. This is another product that blurs imperfections. It is a very very fine powder, so I would not recommend using this to bake. I've tried. You can get it to work but it takes a while to build up enough product. It just doesn't like to pick up on a damp sponge.

One way I've been using this product recently that I LOVE is to set my eyes after primer/concealer with this even if I'm not using it on the rest of my face. Because it is so fine, I find that it creates the best base for my eyeshadows to blend perfectly.

Have you tried either of these products? Have you used the UD Velvetizer as a mixer? What are your holy grail foundations? Let me know if you love anything (especially drugstore! ya girl's on a budget)!

Welcome to day 2! Today we’re talking all about my go to FOUNDATION and CONCEALER!

I struggle with complexion products for a couple of reasons: 1) I have oily skin, 2) I get cystic acne, and 3) Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) tends to break up and/or look cake-y around my mouth and tip of my nose.  I especially struggle with my skin being oily because I don't want it to look too dry so I have to find a balance between my skin being supple enough to look healthy but matte enough to control my oils.

I've had a couple foundations come close. And I have a foundation that would be my holy grail. I'm talking does everything I want it to AND is from Target. BUT and this is a major but for me.... the lightest shade is too dark. I'm pale AF. I didn't realize how pale I was until just a few months ago when I was trying out the Fenty Beauty foundation. My face is apparently naturally darker than my chest (so are my hands). I would swatch foundation in the store on the back of my hand and it would match my face perfectly. But it was too dark for my neck and chest. So when people tell you to color match to your neck and chest, LISTEN TO THEM.

Anyway, back from my tangent... the best foundation I've found that controls my oils, is as close to the shade of my skin as I can find, and doesn't look heavy or cake-y is the Too Faced Peach Perfect Comfort Matte Foundation. It genuinely pains me to have my holy grail (or as close as I can find to a holy grail) foundation to be one that's higher end. In a perfect world it would be from the drugstore, but what are you going to do?


This foundation has great coverage. It covers up most of my acne and acne scaring. I have minimally spot conceal. I'm in the lightest shade Snow. It is a tad yellow for my complexion but it's not something that's outrageously noticeable, which is fine by me. The first couple times I used this I was hesitant because it felt almost too dry on my skin. But I just go in with a hydrating primer or my Elcie Cosmetics Glow Enhancer (this is a dry oil) and it sits perfectly. It's also transfer proof. I'm going to say it again because this is one of my favorite aspects: IT'S TRANSFER PROOF! I have a significant concern about my foundation disappearing in patches (I don't mind so much if it just fades) or getting foundation on someone else if I hug them. This prevents all of that! It also smells faintly of peaches so ya know... bonus. I highly recommend going out and getting a sample of this to try. You can check it out on Sephora.

Next up concealer. Now I bet a few of you are thinking, "but Kristin, what about Tarte Shape Tape?!" And I feel you. Tarte Shape Tape, which you can get at Ulta, is one of my all time favorite concealers. I would be in heaven if they came out with a Shape Tape foundation... which spoiler....


But the concealer that I've reached for hands down the most (because I mostly just go to work and don't want to waste my $27 concealer on sitting in my cubicle for 8 1/2 hours) is the Colourpop Cosmetics No Filter Concealer. I love this stuff! It covers what I need to. It NEVER looks cake-y. I tend to reach for my fair neutral, but in the summer I would sometimes use light neutral. Urban Decay's Naked Skin concealer used to be my everyday go to. And I still reach for it. But I feel like my No Filter Concealer goes on smoother. It's not a dry of a formula (for lack of a better descriptor). Also, this stuff is only $6. It's available here. You really can't go wrong. I've never found a concealer from the drugstore I've liked as much.


What are your favorite concealers this year? Do you find that you've reached for the same one for the past few years? Or do you regularly change it up? Also, if you have any foundation recommendations for a girl who's pale AF, let me know!

Hello, my loves!

Long time, no talk. It's been a hot second since I've dabbled in the blogging world. I've been focusing mainly on Instagram lately. It's just been one of those phases I guess. But I've found a renewed desire to blog!

To reintroduce myself, I've been working on 12 Days of Favorites (or #12daysoffavorites if you're on the gram)! I decided to end the year with a bang and post my favorite beauty products for the year from now through Christmas Eve!

Without further ado, day 1 of 12 days of favorites!

PRIMER!


For me, a perfectly primed base is a must to get the best makeup application I can. I have oily acne prone skin, so if I didn't prime, my skin would be horrific by the end of the day.

The primer that I've reached for the most over the past year has definitely been the Becca Firstlight Priming Filter you can get this at Ulta or Sephora. I love this because it gives me a glow but it's not too much for my oily skin. I do prefer this over the Backlight Priming Filter. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but it's just better. Maybe it's because purple is my favorite color. It also smells like lemon pez so... ya know... bonus. This is pretty much my standard go to that I would grab in the morning before work. It's just a good solid primer.

Over the summer I was browsing through Ulta and was intrigued by the Stila One Step Correct primer. You can get it here and here. This was something that was on my Sephora loves list for a while but I never got around to purchasing it. I love this because if my skin is slightly red or irritated it will help cancel that out prior to applying any of my other complexion products. It's not a mattifying primer, but I wouldn't say it's a hydrating primer either. It works really well for my oily skin (are you seeing a pattern here.... I apologize to my dry skin ladies out there... if you're super dry I'm not sure if this would be hydrating enough for you, but I see this working for dry to normal skin).

The most recent addition to my primer collection was the Revlon Photoready Pore Reducing Primer. You can get this anywhere Revlon is sold. I purchased my at Ulta, but it is available in most drugstores. I LOVE this stuff! I've tried so many pore filling/smoothing primers in my time and nothing has worked as well as this! I apply this to my nose and just between my eyebrows and let me tell you, my skin looks F.L.A.W.L.E.S.S.

I have quite a few primers in my collection but these three are definitely the ones that I've been gravitating towards the most. What are your favorite primers? Let me know; I love trying new products!

See you tomorrow! Can you guess what Day 2 is.......