Hello there, friends! I feel like I owe you all a bit of an apology. I've barely had time or energy to post, or engage with my social media, or respond to comments and it's totally bumming me out. Work has basically been sucking all of the life out of me, and by the time I get home I only seem to have the capacity to lay in bed and watch Pretty Little Liars reruns. I am so. SO tired. So tired I almost left the house today without realizing I hadn't put pants on. When you start forgetting how to dress yourself you know you're more than overdue for a break! Anyway, I know that I've been posting late or infrequently, but I hope you'll all understand and bear with me until my life returns to some level of normalcy. Anyway, on to the favorites! Even though I was a little sparse with my posts in May, I had no shortage of new beauty products to play with. It's always so hard to narrow my list down to just a few standouts! Fortunately I was able to get my act together and pick a few of my favorite products from the past month to share with you.
With May marking what felt like the true start of spring here in New England, I was all about using light and bright colors on my face last month. Everything has been sort of soft and feminine, with maybe a little boho twist.
First up is my Holy Grail eyeliner discovery, the LORAC Front of the Line Pro. I've already written an entire review post/giant rave session which details all the reasons why this is so great, so here's the short version. This sleek pen will seriously take your eyeliner game to a whole new level. The brush tip has the perfect balance of flexibility and firmness to give you a ridiculous amount of control as you apply it, and the formula is spot on. Seriously, if you're a liquid eyeliner fan, you need to check this out.
When it comes to eyeshadows I tend to gravitate towards large palettes that give me lots of flexibility and options. However, I've found myself reaching for this simple duo a ton in the past month. The Julep Feels Like Velvet Full-Coverage Eyeshadow Duo in 5th Avenue & Broadway is absolutely perfect for everyday wear. Broadway, the matte peach shade, looks lovely all over the lid, and then I'll create a subtle shadow in the crease with 5th Avenue, the shimmery rose gold shade. It's so simple, and yet incredibly pretty. I also think the warmth and brightness of these shades make your eyes look a little bit more energized and awake, which I totally am in need of lately!
In case you haven't noticed, I seriously cannot recommend the Bite Beauty Luminous Créme Lipstick Duos enough. I wrote up a full review of all of the them last month in case you'd like to hear some more of my specific thoughts and see swatches of all the available colors. However, I've become particularly smitten with the shade Fig, which is the most perfect soft pink. I basically feel like Goldilocks trying to describe it. It's not too cool, but not too warm. Not too bright, but not too subtle. It's just that perfect your-lips-but-better pink that I could seriously wear everyday. Of course I had a very unfortunate accident with my duo a few weeks back which resulted in the bullet almost being completely ruined. It was salvageable, but it definitely doesn't look to pretty. Fortunately, Fig is the one shade from the new duos that is part of the permanent collection, so I can always upgrade to a full size when this one either runs out or becomes unusable.
This cleanser. OH MAN, this cleanser. It smells so darn good I almost don't know what to do with myself. The NUXE Rêve de Miel Facial Cleansing and Make-Up Removing Gel is a beautifully gentle, amber hued cleanser with an intoxicating honey fragrance. Cleansing-wise it does a decent job of removing dirt, oil, and makeup without being overly harsh on your skin, although I would probably recommend using an additional makeup remover if you're wearing anything heavy duty or waterproof on your eyes. While it may not be anything completely revolutionary performance wise, I still totally look forward to washing my face just to have those couple of minutes of reveling in honey scented heaven. This cleanser was one of the samples I received in my May Ipsy Glambag, and I am so glad that I was introduced to this brand! It looks like they also have some really amazing skincare products that I would be interested in trying at some point.
This next product has actually been a long standing favorite of mine that I've found myself using a lot in the past month. The MAKE Satin Finish Powder Blush in Geisha is probably the one blush in my collection that I keep coming back to. It's a soft poppy pink with a peachy sort of undertone that I think would look beautiful on just about every skin tone. The formula is also to die for. It's got just the right amount of pigmentation to give your cheeks a natural looking flush and blends SO incredibly well. I think on the whole MAKE is a brand that sort of flies under the radar, but they make some really excellent products and definitely deserve more recognition than they get!
Even though I already gave some love to one Bite product this month, I'm so into this lip mask that I had to include it as well. The Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask has been a total life saver for my lips in the past month. I apply at night before I go to sleep and I wake up in the morning with super soft, happy lips. You could wear it as a balm on its own anytime, but I think the texture is a little bit too thick and heavy for me to find it comfortable during the day. I also think it sort of smells like play-doh, which is weird and yet somehow slightly enjoyable. The formula is packed with ingredients to soothe and heal chapped lips, including medical grade lanolin (yep, the stuff that's in nipple balm), so it's not surprise to me that it works so darn well.
My last favorite is actually not a beauty product at all. I recently subscribed to Wantable Accessories, and I've been really loving some of the pieces I've received. At first I wasn't so sure how I felt about this Ellie necklace, but it's quickly become one of my most reached for items. I love the built in layered look, and the arrowhead pendants add a funky but polished touch to my outfits. I have a few flowy tops and dresses that I think this looks particularly amazing with. Definitely one of those pieces that I never knew I needed until I had it! You can also check out the rest of my May Wantable Accessories Collection if you'd like to see some of the other awesome bits and baubles I was sent.
And that about wraps things up! I think I'm going to have some amazing things to share with you in June, and I really hope to be able to be more active here on the blog in the coming weeks.
What products were you loving in May?
