Paris Blog #3: More Location Lies...

Things I've learned: I clearly should not try to plan an itinerary for my trips because that just doesn't work. I told you I was going to see Bill Viola at the Grand Palais but nope. My friend Lucile is in town for the weekend for her birthday and I suggested that maybe we go and see that show, so I had to find other things to do today.

It turned out to be a busy, busy day. I am sore all over from the amount of walking and hell that I put my body through. 

I decided to start my day off with L'Arc de Triomphe. It's one of the attractions included on the Paris Museum Pass and I want to make sure that I break even on the pass before I leave! I think it should be pretty close. First of all, this thing was not where I thought that it was. I kind of saw a lot of arches in my Art History class and so I assumed that the arch next to The Louvre was the Arc du Triomphe because since when does a city need two commemorative archways? I was wrong. This baby is in the west end of the city. Luckily I realized that as I was on the Metro or else it would have been frustrating!

When you get out of the Metro for the Arc de Triomphe, it's not obvious that you have to go into an underground stairwell to get in. I walked around for a while trying to figure out how to avoid the death trap that is the street surrounding the Arc and then realized I had to cross underground. With that mishap out of the way, I finally got to the Arc and I guess I assumed that there would be an elevator to take people up because that's really high.

Well, there is an elevator but not for able-bodied people. So instead, you have to walk up ten flights of stairs. Ten spiralling stairwells. It was taking people on average ten minutes to climb up because we'd all have to stop. With the scorching heat (it got up to 37 Celsius today!) we were all heavily sweating by the time we reached the top and out of breath - gross, but my thighs have seriously never had such a workout. I should probably capitalize off of the fat-camp style introduction that I got to keep working on them. If you're going to do this activity, I recommend bringing some personal freshening wipes and carry your deodorant with you for sure. You'll need it. I also recommend avoiding this activity if you're like me and awaiting knee surgery. Whoops.

Despite the hardship of getting to the top of the Arc, the view at the top was totally worth it. See?

What a beautiful view of the Champs Elysées! You can also see the Eiffel Tower from a different perspective, but I didn't want to put up another picture because I put one up just yesterday of that! I am kind of a nerd for spatial perspective because we covered Paris and the way that Paris was designed for surveillance with long avenues like this one in a class, so it was cool to see how much more imposing the long boulevards are in person than in a photo, even though they are already quite impressive as is!

After spending some time on the rooftop, which was a comfortable height for me even though I am scared of heights, I had to go down the stairwell. This was much easier, but I had to stop because the winding staircase was making me dizzy! With the exertion of the morning, I decided that taking the Metro to the Musée D'Orsay was not in the cards for me. Instead of taking a taxi, I took a bide cab from the Arc to the Musée. It was about a fifteen minute ride and cost me 20 dollars. I have to admit, it's a very rickety ride because it's basically a rickshaw attached to a bike, hardly safe, but it was a great refuge from the heat and allowed me a more peaceful view of the Champs Elysées than I would have had in a car.

Again, it pays to have the Museum Pass at the Musée D'Orsay. You get to skip the long line and go through a "VIP" line where you have no wait at all with your pass. I have to say, I really enjoyed this museum a lot. There are two artists that really got me into Art History - Brian Jungen, a Canadian Indigenous artist, and Edgar Degas - and so to get to see some of Degas' artworks, particularly La Classe de Danse was overwhelming, to say the least. I ended up going to the bathroom and having a little cry after I saw it, which I know sounds silly, but if it wasn't for that painting and Brian's mask series, I probably would be doing something completely different with my life, so to see it in person is just an experience that goes beyond words.

I had lunch at the museum restaurant - shocker, I did not have another ham and emmental sandwich! Instead, I had a vegetarian risotto and a chocolate creme brulée. SO GOOD. The restaurant was gorgeous, too! From what I understand, it used to be a part of a hotel and so the entire place looked as ornate as the picture below. As you can see, I had to up my photo game to match the ornateness of the restaurant!

Warning: The restaurant is super costly. My food cost me 22 Euros! Yikes! But you only go to Paris for the first time once, right?

The temporary exhibition at the museum was about a sculptor named Carpeaux. As I mentioned, I'm not one for sculpture, especially large monumental sculpture, so I didn't particularly get much enjoyment out of it, but it was well put together and the artworks chosen by the museum to complement the sculptures were wonderful. I definitely preferred all of the paintings! I wish I could have taken some pictures, but the museum staff was breathing down everyone's necks. I did manage to snap a quick pick in the Deco arts section, though, so here you go!

Even though I was exhausted, it was still pretty early, so I decided to take advantage of the stores being open late and headed to Galeries Lafayette and the Sephora diagonally across from it. I was so surprised to see how expensive L'Oreal Paris products are in France! Mascara was eighteen Euros! I pay 10 bucks for the same thing in Canada! Foundation was eighteen pounds, it was absolutely crazy. I did, however, find a few brands that are not in the Canadian (and I presume US) Sephora stores which I was stoked about. I brought an eyeshadow palette and refill five-piece from Les Merveilleuses Ladurée, a Paris based cosmetics retailer. I also bought two items from another French brand called SAMPAR: A Daily Dose Foaming Cleanser and the "Glamour Shot Mat Perfection" mattifying concealer. It's not to be used with liquid foundation, so that's going to be interesting since I haven't used a powder or cream foundation in years (I find that I look cakey with them!) I'm going to give it a try.

Galeries Lafayette is crazy bananas. It's like a Holt Renfrew or Nordstrom in the US (I think that Nordstrom is your High-End retailer, yes?). You walk in and you're greeted by Longchamp, Dior, Louis Vuitton, etc. all as you walk in and the majority of the retailers are high-end. Even on sale, a lot of items were out of my price range. But I did finally get to buy some Agnes B. clothing! They're hard to find here without walking into Holts or Ogilvy and every time I try to get past the makeup section in Montreal, I feel like I'm hardcore getting side eyed by the sales people because I clearly don't look like I can afford to buy a one thousand dollar dress. I also got a cute top from Alice and Olivia. It was a splurge, even at 50%, but I really like it and I need some fancier clothes for upcoming events in the early school semester, so this seems like a good opportunity!

I will probably do more shopping because I have yet to max out my credit cards haha, but this week has been off to a good start. I really want to go to Zara! From what I understand, Zaras in the EU are way better than in Canada! We shall see! Let me know if you recommend any other stores in Paris!

Paris Blog #2: I'm Louvrin' It

First of all, I am sorry not sorry about the terrible pun in the title. I couldn't help myself. Gosh, was it ever hot in Paris today. Me being the genius person that I am, I decided to wear long pants. I wasn't going to go to The Louvre, as you know, I was going to go to Versailles, but it was just so hot that I couldn't bring myself to even think about doing anything outdoors. I was already boiling in The Louvre, and it's inside! I arrived at The Louvre at 11AM and there was a crazy line to get inside. Luckily, with my Paris Museum Pass, I was able to bypass all of that and I didn't have to wait in the sun!

Tip: If you're planning on visiting Paris this summer, I highly recommend entering either by Le Carousel du Louvre on Rue Rivoli or on the entrance at 93 Rue Rivoli. I did the latter and it took me less than three minutes to get into the museum. Le Carousel du Louvre brings you to the bottom floor and the line looked like it was about 10 minutes long. Waiting for the pyramid entry was at least 30 minutes. 

Note: If you're coming by Metro, Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre's line 7 (pink line) exits are closed. I recommend either travelling on Line 1, since that line still works at the station, OR get off at the Pyramides station on the pink line, which was what I did. It's about a five minute walk to the Louvre.

I started my visit off with a quick lunch in the Museum Café. It wasn't anything special... it cost me 12 Euros for a bottle of water and a ham & emmental sandwich (apparently this is some kind of French staple food because it's been the sandwich in both places that I've gone to so far). After lunch, I started in the Richelieu Wing's 2nd floor, which is home to the large French, Germanic, Netherlandish, and and Flanders collections. I have to say, the salon-style hanging was a bit overwhelming at first. I don't know how people in the academy shows used to be able to see anything!

This was the calmest room in the entire floor and there are still a lot of paintings there. As a curator, I certainly couldn't support this kind of hanging style, but I guess that the Louvre has such a substantial collection that they need to do their best to show everything off!

I breezed through the Deco Arts collection on the 1st floor of the building afterwards because I felt like I was seeing a lot of the same thing over and over. I did get to get my first glimpse (and probably one of my only since I'm not going to visit it) of the Eiffel Tower, and so I took the mandatory tourist picture of it. To be fair, I saw the scaled version of it in Vegas last year and when I rode up on that, I thought I was going to puke, I can't imagine going up to the top of the real Eiffel Tower, I probably would just end up having a heart attack before I got up there.

The sculpture garden is by far the most impressive part of this pavilion, and I definitely recommend sitting down there and taking it all in if you can. You can also sit on the steps and practice your drawing skills if you'd like! It's a great way to take a break! I did a sketch but I'm so horribly out of practice that I won't even upload it!

After I finished that pavilion, I knew it was time to do the thing that everybody goes to the Louvre to do: visit Mona. First of all, I have to say, it was hilarious to hear people talk about this painting. They were talking about it as if she were a real human being! "Can you tell me where Mona Lisa is sitting?" "Oh she's left, left, and another left."

I have to say, I have been to a lot of concerts and been everywhere from the mosh pit to the stands to waiting for the celebrities outside before they hit up their bus. I have never, in my life, experienced the kind of hysteria or madness that I experienced in waiting to see the Mona Lisa. To be honest, I wasn't actually that excited about seeing her, but I was fascinated by the hysteria of the crowd. People were pushing and shoving and I'm pretty sure my body has never been as close to another stranger's as in that crowd.

This was the line to see the painting. As you can see, being the short person that I am at 5'1", I literally could not see Mona Lisa until I basically approached her. In the end, I waited for almost fifteen minutes so that I could actually see the painting, and she's encased behind that huge pane of glass, and when I was going to take my picture, some woman pushed me and so this happened:

After all of that, I DIDN'T EVEN GET A PICTURE OF HER. I'm not heartbroken by any stretch because a) that painting has been burned into my memory and my nightmares (I've have a recurring nightmare where I fail my dissertation defence because I concluded that there's nothing left to say about the Mona Lisa) and b) I can just Google it and infinity results will show up. 

After my time with Mona, I had a much better time visiting with Delacroix, David and Géricault. I love me some dramatic French paintings, so I was so excited about getting to see these in person. I didn't realize how big David's Coronation of Napoleon and Empress Josephine was! It was overpowering and overwhelming. Conversely, I was extremely underwhelmed by the size of La Grande Odalisque. I think I've been spoiled by seeing it on such huge art history auditorium screens that it was a little disappointing to realize that it was so small!

I finished off my grand tour with the Egyptian and medieval Louvre sections. I was pretty tired by that point and I'd been looking at art for the better part of five hours, so I thought it was time to call it a day! 

Attached to The Louvre is a series of shops and restaurants, so before I left, I couldn't help but do a little shopping (you'll see what I bought in a Paris Roundup post next week!) - there was conveniently also an Apple Store in the Carousel du Louvre so I was able to right my plug situation! 

To top the day off, I went to Mariage Frères, the famous French tea house. I had a big pot of tea, the limited edition Haute Couture tea. It was 12 Euros, so definitely a treat for the soul, but I have to say that my tea pot was huge and I drank it all so it was worth the price. The tea was lovely and it was the perfect way to rest my feet and do some reading after a long day. I've been keeping a book with me in my bag all week so that I can spend small pockets of time being productive. 

Because it's so hot in the city (it's going to get up to 32 degrees by Friday) and then from Saturday on it's going to rain, I don't think that I will end up going to Versailles, alas. I won't be able to stand the heat in the gardens and there are too many exhibitions that I want to see! Tomorrow, I'm going to try to make it a four-stop day, since a lot of the museums are open until 9pm! Wish me luck!

Paris Blog #1: Musée Rodin - Rodin/Mapplethorpe!

Bonjour! I am writing from the beautiful 9e arrondissment in Paris. It's currently 2:41 AM here, but I basically slept for 8 hours so I'm wide away (yay jetlag!) I arrived safely in Paris yesterday, thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes! I was pretty tired when I got in because it'd be about 3AM in Montreal even though it was almost 10AM in Paris. But I didn't want to waste any time seeing this beautiful city!

I've decided that I will spending most of my time visiting museums and historical sites - because what else would an Art Historian want to visit? So each day you'll get to see what I've been up to and where I've gone. I'm excited! And don't worry! I've left some shopping time slated for the end of the trip so that I can come home with lots of goodies for a special Paris shopping blog!

Rodin/Mapplethorpe exhibition at the Musée Rodin.

Yesterday's trip was to the Musée Rodin. I was interested to see Rodin's sculptures in person because I've only ever seen photo slides as part of Powerpoint presentations and it's really not the same. I am not generally wowed by sculpture (I'm much more into graphic arts and photography), but Rodin is one of the few exceptions for me, and I was so excited that Rodin was being paired with Robert Mapplethorpe. My friend was doing research in Paris a few weeks ago for her thesis and she mentioned that Mapplethorpe was one of the highlights of her week. Girl was on point because it was an amazing exhibition. I have to say, I think that it did more for Mapplethorpe than it did Rodin, but they were an interesting combination to be put together. I commend the museum and the Mapplethorpe foundation in New York!

I thought that the glass presentoires were an incredibly smart way of displaying the work. Rather than traditional solid walls, this allowed you to see into all parts of the exhibition pretty much at the same time, so that you could kind of formulate your own connections and walk through in any way that you wanted. I'm partial to that kind of exhibition, as it gives me the freedom to do what I want!

The highlight of the Musée Rodin for me, however, wasn't the actual sculptures themselves, it was the amazing gardens and all of the architecture. Hello, gorgeous! Seriously, walking through the garden and getting to look at all the sculptural work was amazing. 

A bonus: I got to try macaroons for the first time yesterday! I know, how does one get through 24 years of life without trying macaroons? I don't know either, but they were delicious! The museum café had such cute presentation for them that I couldn't help myself! I'm glad that I was enticed.

Overall, a great first day. Today's location is Versailles! I'm stoked! I'm bringing a book so that I can spend most of my time reading in the gardens, though I'm sad that I'll probably have to leave a bit early. I didn't realize that my travel adapter was only two-pronged, so I can't charge my laptop, grrr. Here's to hoping that the pharmacy near Versailles has the travel adapter that I need, otherwise I'll have to leave almost two hours early just to make it back into the city! Boo!

Review: July Ipsy Bag

I've been ordering the Ipsy Glam Bag for about three months now and the last two, I'd been disappointed. It wasn't that my products were bad or anything - I loved the Nyx gloss that they sent me, but a lot of the other things were either tiny or just not what I would usually use. This month, however, I was so happy with my bag! The pouch for this month wasn't quite my style and I'll likely end up throwing it out, but the products themselves are great.

First up: This bronzer from Pop beauty. I love that it's got some shimmer to it because that's perfect for the summer to make your skin look nice and glowy. The color is a nice brown-orange and it's a pretty decent size. I've yet to try it, but it looks promising so far, and if I do end up liking it, this will probably last me for a while! Full sized products, yay!

When I saw this, I got a little overly excited. This is the new BareMinerals eyeshadow duo, mine is in the colors muse (l) and passion (r). When I flipped over the packaging it made it look like a purpleish color so when I opened the actual package and saw what the colors were, I was stoked. A few years ago, I was obsessed with the Estée Lauder duo palette in Raisin - so much so that I went through it all. I was never able to find it again, I think because it was limited edition, and while there are palettes that have come close, they've never been quite the right color. I think that this is the closest that I've come so far and I am so over the moon and excited to try this!

I'm not nuts about the packaging on this product, but I like that Ipsy obviously thought about the fact that it's summer and that they should consider products with SPF. I only use BB cremes when my skin is doing alright, and summer is generally not a good time for my skin, so I probably won't use this until September-October, but it looks to be promising from the bit that I squeezed onto my hand.

I've never used Pixi products but I love things that remind me of Clinique's chubby sticks and this definitely fits the bill! It's a nice corally pink and it doesn't look like it'll be too dark, so I'm curious to see how this actually goes on.

I've definitely gotten something from Pur-Lisse before and I feel like it might have been this exact product. With the built in SPF, this seems like the perfect under product for makeup, as it can keep your skin protected from the sun while also helping to moisturize, two of the most important things to consider in the summer.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this month's products and I can't wait to use them all! 

Don't forget to enter my giveaway with The Red Bow, and keep checking in! I'll be blogging from Paris every day!

Stylish Sundays: The Red Bow ft. Giveaway

This week's Stylish Sunday is very special! I've been touting companies so far that are international and awesome (Poketo, thanks again for sending me something special, you are the best. I very much look forward to using my agenda when the one I'm using now is all spent!). But sometimes, a little homegrown love is necessary, and for me, The Red Bow is really the creme-de-la-creme of Canadian online retailers. A quaint little e-shop based out of Toronto, I think I want just about every single thing on this website.

For those of us who have, like, grown up and lived and breathed Hello Kitty merch, this shop is a go-to. They have a lot of great Hello Kitty pieces, and also a lot of pieces that are inspired by her iconic red bow (which is where the shop gets its name).

I recently purchased some of their prints a few weeks ago for my new room in my new apartment - three weeks to move in date, so excited. I've been silently stalking for a while but never had a reason to buy and so I was thrilled that my space was going to need some prints, and what better than a little tribute to perfume? I even posted up a photo on my instagram! Aren't they adorable?

Each and every purchase with The Red Bow comes with a lovely little handwritten letter and the kinds of touches that make you feel like you're a person whose business is appreciated, not just some invoice number for a huge CEO who has bought their 10th car with your money. It's the little things that make a big difference for me in a shop and The Red Bow knows exactly how to make me smile.

Can we please also talk about that gorgeous website design? There is nothing worse than a shop selling cute things disguised in an ugly storefront. Am I right, ladies? Of course I am. Bad design is icky, to stay the least. The site is easy to navigate and all of the products are awesome. I also purchased one of their scents, the apple pie one, and it is delicious. The scents can easily be layered for an all around great scent combination.

Like what you see? GUESS WHAT? The Red Bow generously accepted my invitation to partner and so I'm hosting my first giveaway for you guys. You can win a $25.00 gift card for The Red Bow. They ship internationally, so it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can have a little red bow goodness for yourself!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Sale

I'm doing a blog sale! I have a bunch of items that I either no longer want/swatched once and no longer need, and so I am selling them. I will ship internationally - let me know where you are and I'll give you a shipping quote. NOTE: If you purchase before July 13th and are in Europe, I'll bring your stuff with me to Paris and ship from there so you don't have to pay as much to ship! Prices are negotiable.

Disney collection limited edition Cinderella perfume. Sprayed twice, 50ml 35$. 

From L-R: Kat Von D dark purple lipstick 18$, Kat Von D nude color 15$, Maybelline plum lipstick 4$, Rimmel bright pink lipstick 3$, Rimmel Kate Moss 113 $4, Rimmel Kate Moss l03 $4, Maybelline liquid lipstick 5$.

Benefit Stay Flawless primer, about half used, 15$.

Benefit High Beam, used once 25$. Sold to Anna.

Anastasia Brunette Brow Gel, barely used, 8$. Sold to Anna

Maybelline hip pigment duo 4$

Michael Marcus black shadow brand new, 10$

Rimmel London Quad #036, 4$.

The Body Shop shimmer cubes $5.00

One Direction Our Moment body lotion, 15$.

Laura Mercier eye shadow swatched once, 15$

Kevin Murphy Easy Rider, BRAND NEW, 30$.

Kevin Murphy Night Rider, used once, 28$.

Almay Smart Shade Perfect & Correct Primer, used twice,  5$. 

Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush, used twice, 4$.

Benefit some kinda gorgeous lite, usage shown, 15$

Sephora cream blush, used once. 8$.

Too face melted, limited edition sephora color x2, used once, 20$

Seacret Ocean Mist body butter, UNUSED, 15$

The Body Shop Satsuma body butter unused, 10$

Victoria's Secret Endless love body butter, usage shown, 5$

Maybelline Dream Bouncy blush, 3$ 

Urban Decay Vice 2 palette, minimal usage, brush included. 40$.

Product Battle #1: The Falsies vs. Miss Manga Mascara

I am a mascara fiend (no, seriously... my drugstore had a sale on mascara $4.99 instead of $8.99 for some of my favorites so I stocked up and bought like six because I go through mascara crazy fast). But just because I have my favorites doesn't mean that I'm not always trying new things to see if there's something that I like better. I'm a fan of dramatic lashes. I try to get them as full and long as possible without wearing falsies, even if I'm just going out to the shops or something. I can leave my house with pretty much no makeup on and only feel mildly self-conscious, but I feel naked without my mascara done.

So... I bring you the battle of the mascaras.

On my left eye is Maybelline's The Falsies in Black Drama and on the right is L'Oreal's Voluminous Miss Manga. Both eyes received the same treatment: I first curled my lashes at the root, the middle, and the tips. Then I put on three coats of mascara on the top lashes, one coat on the bottom lashes, some liquid eyeliner from Rimmel on top, and under the eye black liner. I'm also wearing some neutral colors across my eyelid. I think it's safe to say that the difference is quite dramatic.

I'm not wearing a lot of other makeup because I really wanted the focus here to be on my eyes.

The clear winner for me was The Falsies.

So here we have my lashes done with the Falsies. I use pretty much all of the different kids of this mascara, but Black Drama had to be near me and so that was what I picked up. As you can see, now only does the mascara greatly voluminize my lashes, but it also greatly lengthens them - almost to the point that they touch my eyebrows. The length that this mascara helps me achieve is almost double of what my eyelash length is sans mascara. Pretty incredible, right?

And here's my other eye, which is done with the L'Oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara. I don't know if I'm the only person who is finding this to be annoying, but I really, really hate all the new mascaras with the wiggly brushes. I think that this is the "new" mascara trend, brushes that are not firm and instead allow some flexibility, but I find them much harder to use. I found that to be a bit tedious in the first round of application, but I have to say that this brush is a lot easier to use than the one on some of the other mascaras with the same type of applicator.

I think the biggest problem with this mascara is the brush. In some ways, it's great. I think that it does a better job of separating the lashes and definitely doesn't clump as much as The Falsies, where I have to sometimes separate my lashes with a tweezer. You can see that in the  photo of my other eye. But, I absolutely hate the brush and in terms of lengthening capabilities, I really think that this is where this mascara falls short. The cone shape of the brush really doesn't allow for the equal lift and pull that gives you the crazy lengthening on The Falsies. Yes, it does give you the very separated lashes that look like manga lashes, but the models in the commercials also have lashes that go on for days and though I tried three different times I could never get the length that I enjoy in my other favorite mascaras. 

The difference is visible. Because my lashes are so much longer and seem so much more lifted on my left eye, that eye looks a lot bigger than my right one. My lashes are also a lot more visible and turn my eyes into a focal point for my face (which is good because it distracts from a lot of the parts that I don't like about myself, such as my pudgy cheeks) whereas the other mascara makes my eyes fall flat. It's still better than no mascara whatsoever, and for those of you who prefer a natural look, I'd definitely go with the Manga mascara because that's a lot closer to what you're searching for, but for the drama and flare that most girls crave, The Falsies is the clear knockout.

June Favorites!

Hello! Apologies that this post is coming late. I've run into some health issues over the last week or so and then I wanted to post this last night but the internet at my hotel wasn't working. Boo. Here is my much-awaited June favorites post, yay! I have a lot of products this month and a lot of photos of products this month, so make sure to look under the jump!

From bottom left to right:

1. Clinique Turnaround Instant Facial, $45.00 from Sephora. I've loved this product for a long time, but I've recently rediscovered it and started loving it again. My skin's been going through some issues lately - I think it's summer combined with stress - and so I'm willing to try just about anything to get me through my days right now. This product is great. You leave it on your face for 5-10 minutes after cleansing and then you scrub in the beads and you get a nice, clean feeling when all is said and done.

2. Laura Mercier's Translucent Loose Setting Powder, $44.00 from Sephora. For a long time, I really did not like this powder. I found that it just sat on my skin weirdly. Then I started using the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation (which I would have featured here, too, but the foundation that I chose just slightly beat that one out for reasons I'll talk about below) and it just made my skin so oil-free for the whole day that I couldn't turn back. I'm sorry, Rimmel powder!

3. Marcelle DD Creme, $25.00, local drugstores. I don't know if they have Marcelle everywhere or if it's a Quebec-based brand, so sorry if you can't get this outside of Quebec! The DD creme can be used on its own if you're having a good skin day, or with a BB creme on a bad day. It's a nice, lightweight cream that you apply to your face. It's basically tint free, so it can be used on any skin type. It has SPF 25, so it's a great base and a lovely way to keep your skin free of the sun's rays during the day without using something as heavy feeling as sunscreen!

4. Essie polish in Mint Candy Apple, $10.00, local drugstores. I featured this last month too, but... I'm still loving it. I know, I know, it's bad to repeat favorites, but if I'm still loving it, then it's gonna be in here two months in a row! Oops! 

5. Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation, $41.00, Sephora. Like I said above, I almost put in the Laura Mercier foundation here but this one edged it out just by a bit. What I like about this foundation is that it feels so light on your skin but it covers absolutely amazingly. Even when I have redmarks on my skin, I don't really have to add concealer over it because this just covers everything up, and I'm all about efficiency and minimizing the number of products on my face. The full-coverage formula feels like it's lightweight and almost like a tinted moisturizer, but it's got the rigour to stand up to the best of them. It never creases, and one pump of it is enough so it will last a really long time.

6. Marc Anthony Beach Waves Beach Spray. I got this in my Ipsy glam box for the month and I've been loving it. Basically what I do is when my hair is wet, I spray a few pumps of this into my hair from root to tip and I gently scrunch my hair so that it gets some natural volume to it and this just helps it along! I don't know what the full price is, though I imagine it can be purchased at the drug store.

7. Stila eye palette, limited edition. I can't find this on Sephora's site anymore so I think it's no longer available, regrettably. I used to use this palette every single day, but then I started using other products and kind of fell out of love with this one, as is the way that things go! But I was cleaning out my makeup drawer to get ready for another post and I stumbled upon this one and it was like hitting a goldmine, I've been using it all month. I really love reddish-brownish shimmer shadows, so this definitely played into my loves. It lasts really well, even without a primer, and it's the perfect size for your purse!

Thanks for reading! I have some non-beauty favorites as well as individual photos of the products under the cut for you!