{Top 5} Favorite Beauty Blogs

Happy Sunday!

Today, as a continuation of a small series I've been doing over the last month or so I am sharing with you my {Top 5} Favorite Beauty Blogs of the moment.  I've been having so much fun with this series and sharing all my  favorites with all of you; but it's harder than I initially thought it would be because there are so many amazing people out there creating such amazing content.

These five blogs are absolutely beautiful and what they all have in common (ie why I love them) is their beautiful designs and gorgeous photography.  Be sure to visit these girls and show them some love; tell them I sent you!

Notes by Nicola

Beauty & Bliss

Chloe's Way

Paint By Numbers

Tattooed Tea Lady

Be sure to check out my {Top 5} beauty related YouTube Channels and Instagram Accounts as well!

There is one week left in my Coco and Lulu Giveaway! Submit your entry here

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xoxo

{Top 5} Beauty & Fashion Instagram Accounts

Good morning! 

For those of you who missed the last one, I've decided to start a mini- series every second Sunday where I share my current favorites; bloggers, their blogs, and other social media outlets.  Last time I shared my Top 5 Favorite You Tube Channels, and today I wanted to share my favorite Instagram accounts.  This was incredibly hard for me to narrow down to only five because there are so many gorgeous accounts out there. 

These girls not only have gorgeous photos, but also post fashion, beauty, and skin care tips on their feeds. Not to mention they're gorgeous themselves. If you don't follow any of them I highly recommend you do!

FAOBEAUTY

SASSAFRASS

CARALOREN

NORVINA

OLIVE&PIPER

If you're on Instagram leave your link below! I think it's such a great way to connect and share your content, and I'm always looking for new accounts to follow.  You find find me at the
link below, or by searching "theloveoflipstick" 

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xoxo

{Top 5} Favorite YouTube Beauty Gurus

I don't normally post on Sundays but I wanted to introduce a "Top 5" series every second Sunday.  Something short and sweet where I share with you my current favorite bloggers, vloggers, Instagram accounts, etc.

I wanted to start with YouTube because these are the five women that inspired me to start blogging myself (and one day maybe even vlogging)  I watch almost every single one of their videos and even get excited when they upload new ones.  Some of them I'm sure you're familiar with (I've definitely talked about Jaclyn Hill a time or two on my blog) however if you're unfamiliar with any of these girls I highly recommend you check them out; hopefully you'll love them as much as I do!

Jaclyn Hill

What I love about Jaclyn is that she tailors her channel to what she thinks will work for everyone.  She posts beautiful and achievable tutorials, and has such a fun loving personality on camera.  Plus, she recently hit her 1 million subscriber milestone on YouTube!!!

Makeup By Alli

Alli was the first YouTube channel I really got into.  I stumbled across her one night and I think I watched every single one of her videos! She's absolutely beautiful, and I have the biggest hair envy every time I watch her.   What I love about her channel is that she posts such a variety of different videos.  I never get bored, I look forward to Makeup By Alli uploads the most!  

Coffee Break with Dani

Isn't she adorable? I find that Dani is so humble, which I love and respect.  She's always talking about how she's a stay at home mommy and has the cutest son you've ever seen ("Tater says hi!") I also relate to her small shopping problem that she totally admits to (she blames the "coffee break research" I blame the blog!)



Leighann Says

I think Leighann is so funny.  She does what she loves and you can tell that she's just being herself.  I also love her little Texas twang (I've always wished I had one)





itsbl0ndie

Last but not least Casey Holmes! She has the most beautiful hair ever (there's that hair envy again) and I love the way she edits her videos.  They're all unique, but she has a definite style (if that makes any sense at all)

I hope you liked this series and I hope you get a chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Happy Sunday!

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My "Secret" to Long-Wearing Comfortable Red Lips

Red is my go-to for lip color, especially at work.  I actually wore a more neutral color recently and had a co-worker take a second glance before saying she barely recognize me without it.

My favorite reds of the moment are MAC Viva Glam I, which is a deep almost burgundy red with a matte finish, and the limited edition Rihanna Viva Glam which is another blue based red with a beautiful frosted finish.  It's the perfect  ruby-red slipper color. 

Viva Glam I (left) Viva Glam Rihanna (right)

However, since I often work 8 hour shifts I find that both of these colors can start to feel dry about half way through my shift...  I know some prefer a more "dry" matte lip and while I do both love and appreciate a matte finish there's a fine line between beautifully matte and uncomfortably dry.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a habit of rubbing my lips together which with a matte lipstick can result in a cake-y looking lip color- and nobody likes that... So sometimes my cherry pout needs a bit of a kick start!


I don't  like layering lip balm over lipstick because I find that it removes some pigment, and can move lipstick around creating an uneven look- that is UNTIL I discovered a solution to all my (first world) problems.

Its so simple, and kind of foolish but I swear by it.  What you need to keep your red lips looking fresh and feeling comfortable is actually a red tinted lip balm (duh Danielle).  I use my Clinique "Almost Lipstick" in "Luscious Honey" almost everyday now.  

  

I received  it in a free bonus gift with purchase from the Bay and I just may have to repurchase a full size when its gone.  The color is buildable and the texture is silky which adds moisture, but not a lot of shine.  Tons of other lines also have moisturising lip products that provide that sheer wash of color as well so I'm sure many of you probably already have a similar product at home or wouldn't have a hard time finding one in either the drugstore or department store.  I find that the tint of color just adds enough moisture for me to carry on happily without moving around and displacing the pigment from previous applications. 

Left to right: Viva Glam I, Viva Glam Rihanna, Luscious Honey

While I'm sure I'm not the first one to make this realization it was a game changer for me.

What do you do to keep your matte lips comfortable during long days/ nights?

xoxo

February Faves

Happy Friday ya'll!

I've been looking forward to writing this because I feel like I've tried so many great things lately that I wanted to share.  It was actually a challenge to narrow it down to a manageable sized list.  Here are five of the products I've been using this month- almost all of which have become an everyday part of my beauty routine!

...these are a few of my favorite things

1. This month was a great for concealers because I actually found two that I've been using like crazy.  I found the perfect under eye concealer- I honestly don't know why it took me so long to try it because I know I'm not the first one to rave about it but the MAC Pro Longwear (NC20) is everything you've ever heard about it and then some.  I'm a full time student, and a part time employee so I don't always have enough time as I would like for my "beauty sleep." This concealer is great for not only concealing my under eye circles but highlighting as well making me appear more awake then I usually am.  If you're a little unsure for whatever reason go to your local MAC counter and ask for a sample!  The samples they give you last quite a long time (long enough to get hooked) This is what I did and I ended up going back for the full sized product immediately.

2. I discovered another concealer recently that I haven't heard anyone talk about- which is the Sephora collection "8 HR Wear Perfect Cover Concealer." I bought mine in the shade 26 medium peach.  I love this for covering random spot blemishes and reducing redness that I tend to have around my nose.  The blend-ability of this product is flawless! I used my BB and it buffs right in.

3. Speaking of the BB... Let's just take a minute to appreciate the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser. It was recommended to me by a Sephora sales associate when I initially bought my Beauty Blender- but I passed on it at first because I figured soap is soap. Right? Nope. I starting using just regular Ivory soap and I found it left that grimy soap scum feel on my sponge. I would not recommend it.  However when I finally caved and bought it I discovered this solid soap is amazing! You just swirl your sponge into the bar and massage your BB until its residue free.  I also cleaned my other brushes with it and its incredibly simple to just swirl a wet brush on the surface of the soap and rinse it out.  It cut my cleaning time in half! Amazing.

4.  I had been eyeing up the Too Faced Better than Sex mascara (mainly because the gorgeous rose gold packaging) but was really hesitant to spend $30CDN on a mascara I'd never tried before.  When I looked into it it's reviews were kind of all over the place so I went to Sephora looking to see if it was possible to buy a sample size but instead I found a "Beauty Blogger Favorites" little promo pack filled with samples of all the most popular Too Faced products (for less than the cost of just the mascara!) The pack included the mascara, their Chocolate Soleil Bronzer (Medium/Dark), their "Primed and Poreless" primer, and "Shadow Insurance".  While I haven't had the chance to play with either primer I am loving the mascara- it does exactly as it claims and makes my lashes thick and voluminous- plus I'm in love with the hourglass shaped brush. I read reviews that said they thought it was clumpy but I promise it's not.  I like to apply one coat of the Better Than Sex and then one coat of Benefit's "They're Real" to get the best of volume and length. Holy lashes batman!

What was even more exciting (and unexpected) for me was that I loved the bronzer too! I normally lean towards more shimmery bronzers so the matte finish was different than anything I already had.  Initially I hated the chocolate smell but after using it a couple times I find myself reaching for this more than my NARS Laguna bronzer (usually my go-to)! I even love the smell now and the shade (medium/dark) is perfect- I use it for an everyday contour and also as a crease color when I'm in a rush for a quick and easy natural eye look.  If you've been wondering about any of these products I highly recommend this set- the primer samples are small but the price is worth it for the mascara and bronzer alone!

5. Finally, if you follow me on Instagram you know I went a little crazy this month at MAC so not surprisingly my last favorite is another MAC product.  I first saw a swatch of their "Nymphette Lipglass" on Pinterest and fell in love.  It's a pinky-peach shade with golden shimmer in it (the MAC website describes it as a "sunny golden pink").  I've been wearing the hell out of it- sometimes on it's own but mostly layered over top of lipstick.  It makes a killer combo with Fabby Frost lipstick (which is a very similar color but Nymphette seems to just give it that extra oomph it needs) but my all time favorite lip combo is Nymphette layered over Coral Bliss.  The combination of the coral and the pink is perfection.

Have you tried any great products lately?