Outfit of the Day | Trying to Stay Cool

I may be all smiles in the picture, but inside I was trying not to melt. The weather in San Diego recently has been completely unbearable. We've reached the point that we are having 90ºF+ heat with a little humidity, and that is one horrible combo. While some people try to wear as little clothing as possible, I try to wear loose clothing that will not be sticking to my skin. I can get away with showing some skin every once in awhile, but most of the time I rather protect my skin while trying to stay cool. Can anyone feel me on that? Does anyone get red super easily? I feel like some of you might get me. During the process of finding items that will keep me cool, I've come to learn that mom jeans keep me much cooler than my standard skinny jeans.

5 Products for Lazy Girls

Let's me be honest with you, as much as I love makeup sometimes even the biggest makeup addict can get really lazy. And I always get lazy with makeup during the summertime because I just don't want to deal with a 30+ minute routine and have all my makeup just melt off. You know what I mean? Do you? Well for those of you who know what I'm talking about, I've rounded up 5 of my favorite products for all you lazy girls out there. These are quick products that don't require much maintenance or knowledge about how to "snatch" or "beat" your face (whatever that may mean). As a wise woman once said, "ain't nobody got time for that!"

Full Face Highlight Challenge

Who hasn't dreamed of wearing nothing but highlighter? I know I have! A few weeks ago 18 year-old aspiring MUA Mariya recorded a full face makeup tutorial using nothing but highlighters. And as you can probably imagine, the video quickly went viral thanks to Buzzfeed and social media. Now this isn't exactly an everyday look, but it's so much fun to play around with makeup. Participating in this challenge reminded me of why I fell in love with makeup in the first place. It's very easy to play it safe, but experimenting with new trends or techniques can be a ton of fun. I definitely have Mariya to thank for encouraging the makeup community to have fun and embrace their inner disco ball.

May 2016 Favorites

I think this might be the biggest monthly favorites video that I've filmed to date. I began trying out a lot of new skincare products in mid-April, so because of that I discovered a lot of amazing skincare products for oily/acne prone skin that I'm going to rave about in this video. If you're looking for natural or Korean skincare recommendations, then you're going to be really happy with the things I'll be recommending. Apart from skincare, May was also a great month for new beauty launches and discoveries. I was able to fully embrace light makeup and glossy lips thanks to some of the products that you'll be hearing about in my video. And the fancy Marvis Toothpastes will also be making an appearance because I'm still obsessed with them.

Review | CoverGirl Clean Matte BB Cream and Katy Kat Matte

The drugstore summer launches are coming and CoverGirl has a brand new BB Cream for oily skin and a whole range of demi-matte lipsticks. The Clean Matte BB Cream is the very first CoverGirl BB Cream that's made specifically for oily skin, so it promises to leave the skin shine free all day. Another exciting release is the widely anticipated Katy Kat Matte Lipsticks that were created by Katy Perry herself. The Katy Kat Matte range offers 11 different shades ranging from natural nude shades, to loud and in your face colors like black and lilac. I literally picked these two products just 5 ago and it didn't take me too much time to figure out if they were hot or not so much.

January 2016 Favorites

The first favorites video of the year is finally here! January was such an exciting and productive month for myself. I found myself in a good posting schedule and extremely motivated to create new content. This past month I also introduced the Beauty Bite videos which have become a very fun way for me to quickly review products and share them with you. I did go a little crazy with the reviews, but there were so many drugstore launches in January that I wanted to review as many items as possible before any of you headed out to the stores. Some of the new products were very disappointing *cough Maybelline cough* but I was able to discover two products which became staples this past month.

Makeup for Sick Days

It's flu/cold season and I know that sometimes you're forced to go outside, whether it's for school or work. While you may feel like crap, there are some simple steps you can take so you look your best. I wasn't even planning on filming something like this until I caught a cold myself. When I woke up this past Tuesday I felt like just staying in bed the whole day, but instead of doing that I decided to make the best of it and record an impromptu tutorial. I mainly focused on evening out my face and lifting certain areas with light diffusing products so I wouldn't look as sick as I felt. The end result is a natural look that doesn't feel heavy on the skin whatsoever. Hopefully these quick and simple steps will help you show the cold who's boss!

Review | CoverGirl Plumpify Blast Pro Mascara

The new CoverGirl mascara has arrived and this one has the most interesting brush I've ever seen. The Plumpify Blast Pro Mascara has a rubber brush with three different kinds of bristles to plump and lift the lashes. CoverGirl claims that the Plumpify Blast Pro Mascara will give you 50x more volume and separation. I personally wasn't the biggest fan of the CoverGirl The Super Sizer Mascara so I was a bit hesitant to try another new CoverGirl mascara, but ultimately the strange brush got the best of me and I had to purchase it. In today's review you're going to be able to watch my first impression, as well as get to read about what I currently think about the mascara.

Review | CoverGirl The Super Sizer Mascara and Intensify! Me! Liquid Eyeliner

Last week I received a nice little package from CoverGirl which included two of their newest releases: The Super Sizer by Lashblast Mascara and the Intensify! Me! by Lashblast Liquid Eyeliner. CoverGirl is one of those brands that nearly every girl buys when they're first trying to get into makeup. The original Lashblast Volume Mascara in the orange tube was one of the first mascaras that I tried that left me incredibly impressed with my lashes. And most recently the Full Lash Bloom Mascara became a big winner in my look, so you can imagine how excited I got when I saw a brand new CoverGirl mascara in the box. In this blog post you'll get to see a first impression review on both of the products, as well as a review that will talk about both the formula and longevity of each product. 

1940's Makeup Tutorial

A few weeks ago Abby, one of the YouTubers that inspired me to start making videos, contacted me to see if I wanted to do a collab. The challenge: Create a video inspired by a decade. Since I have been told several times that my features remind them of old actresses/1940's style women, then I decided to do something inspired by the 1940's. In my newest tutorial I'm going to walk you through the look I created so you can achieve a very feminine and retro look yourself. As I previously mentioned, this video is a collab, but not a regular collab- it is a big one! Myself and six other YouTubers are part of the #DecadesCollab, all the links will be listed down below.

December 2014 Favorites

I know I'm late to the monthly favorites party but better late than never. In December there were many face products rediscoveries, including a powder that I had completely forgotten about for a few months but is still a YouTube cult favorite. I also discovered a few amazing drugstore products that recently hit the shelf across the country. *Pssst those products are also going to be part of a brand new video series* And last but not least, I finally discovered the perfect long-wearing, opaque, and matte lip product. If you're interested in finding out a bit more about my most-used products of December just watch the video below.

Walmart Fall Beauty Box

The beauty boxes trend seems like it's not going to die anytime soon. By now we have a box for nearly everything so it's not surprising that the big chain stores want to get into the subscription box game. I first heard about the Walmart Beauty Box a few months ago when I saw Emily Noel's video about the service. She seemed pleased with the box so I decided to go ahead and purchase my own subscription. What really interested me about this subscription box was that I would be able to try out more affordable products that I can easily go to the store to pick up. As much as I love trying out new brands sometimes it's hard to find a physical store where you can go and see more of their products, so that's why I think the Walmart Beauty Box is an amazing concept.

Lucky Fabb West 2014 Diary

I may still be under the weather and voiceless but that doesn't mean that I can't blog! In fact that's one of the few things I can do apart from taking medicine and sleeping. I had a blast at Lucky Fabb this past weekend and got to learn a lot of things during the different sessions. While I mostly hung out with my San Diego Style Bloggers crew, I did get to meet other bloggers from the state of California and even out of state. It was really cool to just observe other people's style and get inspired by them. There was also another pixie cut girl who looked effortlessly cool à la Tilda Swinton. If you want to watch the vlogs or gain some knowledge about blogging then just keep reading.

Face of the Day | The Bare Minimum

As much as I love makeup there's just days that I feel a little too lazy to do something intricate. Whether you have to go to school, run errands, or have the perfect opportunity to film a video- sometimes you just have to put your laziness aside and slap some makeup on. Today was one of those days that I felt like doing the bare minimum on my face in order to film a video because my house was completely quiet. This look requires little time, your fingers, and a bright lip to liven up your face.

Review | Covergirl Clump Crusher

Lashblast mascara has been a favorite among consumers and bloggers alike for years now. It has a big brush with rubber bristles that does an amazing job of coating every lash. Since Lashblast is such a popular mascara, Covergirl has released variations of this mascara to perform functions other than volumizing. One of the most recent members of the Lashblast family is the Clump Crusher mascara which has received many great reviews from people in the beauty world, but this one will certainly not a rave review.

Review + Tutorial | Born Pretty 7pcs Brush Set

A few months ago I was approached by Born Pretty to review an item of my choice. Picking that one item I wanted review was certainly no easy task because they literally have everything from nail art supplies to iPhone cases! And the best part is that everything is well organized and there's free shipping worldwide. I began to look at all the brush kits they offer and this one caught my eye because of the case. It just looked like something I can easily travel with without having to worry about damaging my brushes. Another thing that attracted me to these brushes was the color combination because by now you should know that I love both gold and orange. In this blog post you'll find a review on the brushes as well as a makeup tutorial featuring the brushes in action.

MY BIGGEST HAUL EVER!

It is finally time for me to show you all of the things I hauled during December and January. I did quite a bit of damage but good thing both my birthday and Christmas are in December so I usually end up with quite a bit of shopping money by the time the sales begin. In this haul I have a little bit of everything from drugstore items, to beauty tools, and even some high end products. I'm a bit proud and ashamed at the same time at how many products I have in this beauty... can I use the whole "being a beauty blogger" excuse for this haul?

Empty Products #2

It is that time again, time to share with you which products worked for me and which ones were a complete waste of money. You've guessed correctly, it is time for another empties video! Check out my latest video for mini reviews about all the products I've finished since June.

The 5 minute makeup CHALLENGE!

I saw the 5 minute challenge around YouTube and decided to give it a go. When I was watching the videos I was like "Man, I can do this. It looks so easy!" But try it for yourself and you'll see that 5 minutes really isn't much time to do anything, especially when you're used to taking your time. Click below to see how well (or bad) I did in 5 minutes.

Empty Products #1

I've been a good girl when it comes to using up products so I've finally collected enough products to film my first empty products video. Check out whether I recommend or tell you to avoid a certain product.