April 2011 Favourites!

It’s a new month so that means a new favourites post!  There was tons of stuff that I loved this month, and a lot of it I have featured on here already, but nonetheless, they are so good, I’ll feature them again!

So let’s get started!

MAC Candy Yum Yum Lipstick

I absolutely love this colour!  I picked this up the day that Quite Cute came out and I am so glad that I did because it sold out fast both in store and online.  The colour is so vibrant and bold that it can be a bit tough to pull off, I personally have always worn it with a high fashion bun so the focus always went to my lips.  It’s a matte finish so there is no shine to it, but you can easily add a lipgloss over top or even a nude lipliner underneath to really make this colour pop even more.

For a lot of limited edition colours, I am often kicking myself that I didn’t get a back up, I don’t think I’ll have a problem with this gem because since I got it I have maybe worn it twice (the collection came out on April 7).  This one lipstick will last me a very long time, I can tell already.

MAC Pro Longwear and Bare Minerals Original Mineral Foundation

Okay so for the longest time I would only wear liquid foundation because I found that it gave me more coverage.  I don’t have bad skin at all, heck I hardly have blemishes, but I want my skin to look flawless.  Around Christmastime I needed a new foundation because the one I had was my summer shade and it made my face look darker than the rest of my body.  I went to Sephora and managed to narrow my choices down to the Laura Mercier one and the Bare Minerals one.  Laura Mercier’s foundations are extremely expensive for such a little tube (I think they retail for $55 CDN), and although it gave me great coverage I opted to go with Bare Minerals because a) the Sephora SA said that it was a good product and b) it came as a gift set with the foundation, mineral veil, bronzing powder, and three brushes.  I’m not a big fan of powder foundations, but this one I can make an exception for.  This product is fantastic.  It goes on so nicely and your skin looks so great after.

Now fast forward to about a month ago when I watched many YouTube beauty gurus rave about MAC’s Pro Longwear SPF 10 Foundation.  I figured I had to try it, so when I got a coupon from The Bay in my email I went straight to the MAC counter.  Okay, so do I love this foundation?  It’s okay, I don’t think it lasts 10 hours, or however many hours it promises, and it delivers medium coverage I would say.  Also, if you have dry skin I would stay far away from this product because it can give your skin a cake-y look to it.

So why is it on my favourites list?  Well I love the two products together.  I use the MAC one as my foundation and then use the Bare Minerals one over top as a setting powder, and voila! Perfect skin!  I also use NC 15 in the MAC one, which is very light, and I find that the Bare Minerals foundation over top adds a bit of colour.  Both work great by themselves, and if I am short of time in the morning I will just stick with my Bare Minerals. If you have both products, give them a go together, they complement each other very nicely.

Urban Decay Eyeshadows in Naked, Sin, and Virgin

I have to be honest here, I have not used all the colours in my Naked Palette as of yet.  However, with that being said, that’s because I have my daytime look down-pat with three of the colours from the set.  I use Sin on my lids, Naked in my crease, and Virgin as a highlight.  This is a perfect daytime look, great for the office, school, or wherever.  It’s just so basic and neutral and pretty!  It’s usually the combo I use everyday of the week.

Essie Sand Tropez nail polish and Spa Ritual Knowledge is Power nail polish

Okay so I reviewed these polishes before in my Spring Nails post, but I am actually obsessed.  Right now, as I’m typing this I’m actually wearing Sand Tropez with OPI’s Black Shatter over top.  It’s like one of those “you nails but better” shades.

As for Spa Ritual’s Knowledge is Power, oh my gosh, I am obsessed with this shade.  It’s just such a gorgeous pink.  It reminds me of Hello Kitty to be honest (does that even make sense?).  It’s so vibrant, so girly, and so summery!  This is a must-have!

E.L.F. Angled Contour Brush

Alright, I loved the e.l.f. C Brush so much that when I was at Target last month I wanted to pick up a few other e.l.f. brushes.  I didn’t need a lot of the ones they had at the store because I already had similar ones but I thought I would give this one a try.  I use this for my crease and although it may look kind of awkward, it’s so perfect.  It fits right in there and gives you a flawless application.  And the best part?  It was $3 USD, can’t get a better price than that.

I recently just discovered e.l.f. and I really like the brand.  I also picked up their makeup wipes and they also work fantastic as well.  I wish they sold individual e.l.f. products in Canada.

Bare Escentuals Retractable Kabuki Brush

I picked this up in Las Vegas at the Bare Escentuals outlet and I love it!  I really wanted a kabuki brush but they are often super expensive.  I think I paid like $14.99 USD for this and it came with a gold shimmer powder as well (it was actually cheaper to get the set then to buy the brush by itself).

This brush is so soft and it works like a charm.  It’s not the largest kabuki I have seen but it gets the job done.  And the best part?  It’s retractable so you can keep it nice and clean and it makes for easy travel too.

I have a few brushes from Bare Minerals/Escentuals and I found one of them, the Flawless Face Brush (I believe) to be a bit scratchy and shed a bit, but this one is nice and soft with minimal shedding.

Forever 21 Gold Chain Necklace I had been looking for a gold chain necklace for a long time and then I stumbled across this beauty the last time I was at Forever 21.  I also featured this necklace in my gold jewellery post, but I actually have bee wearing it close to everyday.  Some days I even have to stop myself from wearing it because I’m like, “hey, I wore this yesterday.”  I know a few other places make similar pieces, but with Forever 21’s prices, you can’t get better than this (I think this cost me like $9.80 CDN).

Candles

Okay so totally unrelated to fashion and beauty, but I have been loving candles this month!  I never have been into candles too much, but lately I like having one going beside my bed.  They smell so nice and are so soothing.  Now I just want to go out and haul a bunch of them, but they are so darn pricey!  However, I got two little ones from Bath and Body Works for $5, so I was pretty excited about that, and they have awesome scents!

So that’s all!  Whew, long post!  What were some of your favourites for April?