July Beauty Favorites

July has now come to an end, and for me it’s quite bittersweet.  I recently moved back to the US from Germany, which is something both exciting and very sad.  Although I’ll miss Germany a lot, I’m happy to be home – especially as I’m sure I’ll be back in Germany next Summer!  Now, onto the favorites…

I made a couple of naughty purchases this month, and a lot of the products have become staples.   The first new love of my life is the Stila In the Light Palette ($39) (review here).  Seriously, this palette is amazing!  Every color is wearable and blends like butter.  It also comes with an eyeliner, which is also fantastic.  It’s such a great value for money – highly recommend.  However, I’ve also come down with a bad bought of hay fever this month.  So on the days when my eyes were too sensitive for much eye make-up, I opted just for the L’Oreal Lineur Intense ($9).  I normally stay far away from liquid liner, but the fact that I can actually use this, is unreal.  I suck at applying eyeliner, so this is really saying something – though I do still need to be careful, it can still easily go very, very wrong.  I've also been loving this sample of the Buxom Amplified Lash Mascara ($19).  It's a plastic wand, which I normally hate, but the cool thing is is that it can be adjusted from a wand with more dispersed bristles, for lengthening, and a wand with bristles that are closer together, for volume, which is really cool.  I do really like this mascara, but I'm not quite sure whether I'll be purchasing the full-sized version or not.

Swatches: Left - Guerlain Bronzer, Right - NARS Penny Lane

I’ve also been enjoying using the NARS Penny Lane Cream Blusher ($29).  It’s the longest-wearing cream blusher I own, and it’s also probably the most natural blush I own.  The peachy-tone gives a really natural glow to the cheeks, and because it is so natural, it makes it quite difficult to overdo.  Not a clown in sight when I pull this stuff out.  I’ve also been setting that with the Guerlain Terracotta Sheer Bronzer in 02 Blondes ($51) (review here).  This is probably the sheerest bronzer I’ve ever used, but again, you really can’t overdo it.  This isn’t for contouring or adding definition or anything like that, this is simply for a natural, warm glow to the face, which it definitely delivers.

Swatch of YSL Dewy Papaya

As for lips, I’ve been keeping it simple this month.  It was far too horrifically hot in Europe for anything heavy on the lips (or in any make-up department really), so I’ve been opting for a couple of different options.  This first one is the YSL Volupté Sheer Candy in 02 Dewy Papaya ($34).  Although not massively pigmented, it works so well with this warm, natural make-up look I’ve been trying to go for this month.  It’s a sheer, peachy-shade, and besides the lovely color, it’s also very hydrating and smells so good!  I’ve used over half of this tinted lip balm in just this month alone!  I’ve also really been loving the Caudalie Lip Conditioner ($14).  I’ve recently discovered that my Burt’s Bees wasn’t cutting it anymore, so I decided to try something new.  This lip balm is so hydrating, and goes on so smoothly to the lips.  I definitely think this is just as good as the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments, plus it’s about $9 cheaper!  My only gripe with it, is that there’s no SPF, which is massively disappointing and could even keep me from repurchasing.

My final favorite is a perfume (of course).  Since I recently moved, I packed up most of my makeup and perfumes at the beginning of the month, leaving only one or two of each type of product in my daily make-up stash.  The perfume that I left out for use was Dior Addict Shine EDT (sadly discontinued).  It is just the nicest, citrusy-fresh summer scent.  I absolutely love it, but part of me also hates to use it, because it is, unfortunately, discontinued.  I did have a poke around and still found some bottles floating on Amazon, but it’s not sold in store anymore.  Seriously, Dior, bring this back!

What have you been loving this month?  Are you also loving the natural, glowy Summer look like I am?

Also - I just want to mention that I'm now having a Blog Sale!  I'm trying to get rid of the makeup that I pretty much never use, so everything is in really good condition.  I'd love for you to check it out, if you're interested.

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