Smashbox Oil-Free Photo Finish Foundation Primer

Hello my Fellow Beautiful Makeup Addicts!

I hope you are having an amazing Christmas Eve or Christmas with your families. For me this Christmas is very special. I get to spend it with my family, who I am super thankful for. They allowed me to experience things I never thought were possible, which ultimately taught me how to love and be happy with myself as a person. I'm sorry if this sounds mushy but for me, the holidays are supposed to be filled with love and everything mushy. But anyways, onto to the blog. (Sometimes I question how my brain goes from topic to topic...sheesh, I'm crazy haha). 

Now that I got all of that mushy/"feely" stuff out of the way, I can talk about what I came to talk about. Which if you read the title you know that I will be talking about Smashbox's Photo Finish Foundation Primer.

Now for me, I was never a huge primer girl. Heck, I was not even a huge foundation girl until my sophomore year of college. Now as a second semester senior in college (O_O I will be entering the "real world" soon...gasp) I still have not found the purpose of primers. I rarely wear foundation, unless I am going out to an event, and it seems so trivial to put on primers when I just wear concealer. To be honest, I am also super lazy, so any steps I can skip, I will skip them. 

Well anyways, if you have a Facebook account and are obsessed with makeup or certain brands, then you probably like their page. I noticed that Smashbox was having a contest where they were giving away samples of their primers for people who never used them. I decided to try it out even though I had tried primer before (Makeup Forever HD Microperfecting Primer in 0).

Picture courtesy of Sephora.com

Even though I had tried primer before, I just did not understand the hype (well, face primer...I love eyelid primer). I did not expect to win anything but then one day I received an email that stated that a primer was being sent to the address I provided. First, I could not believe I won, then I thought it was a hoax. Whatever, that does not matter.

When I receive the primer, I knew it was nothing like the one I tried from Makeup Forever. The Smashbox one is more silicone based, which I liked. To me it was similar to the Mirabella one I received from an Ipsy bag months prior.

Well to not drag out this blog anymore, I decided to make a good, bad, and will I purchase the product.

Good

• Silicone based: left my foundation very smooth, untacky, and it did not seep into my pores
• Smell: If you do not like the smell of silicone, then you might not like the primer. It was neither good nor bad. It was not something I noticed or thought would impede me from actually liking the product.
• Thick: When comparing Smashbox's primer to the Mirabella one I received in my Ipsy bag, I noticed the Smashbox primer is a lot thicker than the Mirabella one. The Mirabella one was more watery.
• Oil-Free

Bad

• Small sample size: Since it is so thick, it was hard to have multiple trials with the primer.

Purchase?

• Yes...when I get money: On the Sephora website, the primer costs $10 for a 0.4 oz bottle or $36 for a 1 oz bottle. As a college student $36 is pretty steep, but I really do love the primer. Next time I am at Sephora or Ulta, I will definitely splurge on the item.

Smashbox Oil-Free Photo Finish Foundation Primer Sample (.25 fl oz)

Smashbox Primer

Mirabella Prime for Face and Eye (.45 fl oz)

From left to right: Mirabella & Smashbox

Both primers blended in to the skin

Foundation sample on both blended primer sections

Blended into the skin

Have you tried any primers? Which ones do you love? Comment below telling me what are your favorite primers.

Before I go, I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays and that you receive all of the love and support from your family and friends. Also, if you can, please try to support the people who do not have the same love and support you receive from your loved ones. You do not know how a dollar, a sandwich, a blanket, or even an acknowledgement can make someone's day a whole lot better. 

                                                                                              xoxoxoxo

Alternative for the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque

Hello my Fellow Beautiful Makeup Addicts!

I thought that I would provide you with a cheaper alternative product to use for your hair instead of the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque.

The product I would recommend is Aussie Moist 3 Minute Miracle. As of right now it is being sold at Walmart for $2.97 and less than $4 at Walgreens.

This product gives you similar results as the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque. I also love the smell of this product as it smells likes coconut.

If you would like an in-depth review on this product, leave a comment below.

Swatch

Macadamia Natural Oil

Hello my Fellow Beautiful Makeup Addicts!

I cannot believe there is only 2 days left until Christmas. Where did this year go?

This blog post will be different than my previous ones as I will be focusing on hair. Since I am Puerto Rican, you would expect me to have thick luscious hair. Welp, not me. I have thin hair. Not just thin hair, but baby like hair. It is fragile, brittle, "volumeless," and extremely dry. A couple of months ago when I was studying abroad in Australia, I tried Macadamia's Deep Repair Masque. If you are new to the world of beauty blogging or YouTube, then you are probably not familiar with this product. If you are a YouTube/beauty blog junkie like me, then you know how popular this product is.

My opinion on this product, the hype is true. My hair felt luxurious, smelled incredible, and it was not brittle nor dry. In Australia I also tried the Healing Oil Treatment, which is now one of my holy grail products in my hair care routine.

When I came back from Australia, I did not repurchase the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque or the Healing Oil Treatment. I noticed that my hair started to become brittle and dry again. I decided to contact Macadamia and they were kind enough to send me a sample kit of all of their products. I used them again at my school and I fell in love again. If I was not a broke college student (insert tears here) I would definitely repurchase all of the products, especially the deep repair masque and the healing oil treatment.
I apologize for not having any pictures of my own but I forgot to take some of the packets and the masque treatment bottle.

If you are looking to try out any of the Macadamia Hair Treatments, they have a sampler you can purchase on their website. As of right now the sampler is sold out, but I will try to contact them to figure out if they will restock this product.

Taken from the Macadamia Natural Oil Website *No Copyright Infringement Intended*

Deep Repair Masque

Taken from the Macadamia Natural Oil Website *No Copyright Infringement Intended*

Healing Oil Treatment

Taken from the Macadamia Natural Oil Website *No Copyright Infringement Intended*

Click on the pictures for the link to the products.

For other products, please check out the Macadamia website at http://www.macadamiahair.com/. Trust me, the products will do wonders for your hair.

Disclaimer: I was not paid to review these products. While some were sent to me, I previously purchased the product with my own money to test it out. These are my honest opinions.

Sad Moment

The Sad Moment when your Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette falls and shatters.

BH Cosmetics: BH Floral Blush Duos

Hello my Fellow Beautiful Makeup Addicts!

I know it has been 2 months since I last blogged. I was busy with college stuff (e.g., homework, graduate school applications, work, etc) aka boring stuff but I am back now. During Black Friday/Cyber Monday I decided to purchase some new makeup since I had not purchased any new makeup since October. I have been eyeing the BH Cosmetics site for years, but never actually brought myself to buy something. (UGH...why did I wait so long?) I decided to take the plunge and purchase two of the floral blush duos as well as the 6 Color Concealer and Corrector Palette. So what better way to get back into blogging then to talk about the blush sets. (I will have a separate blog for the concealer & corrector palette).

Since I never tried any of BH Cosmetics products before, I decided to only get 2 out of the 5 floral blush duos. The colors they have are Tulip, Rose, Lilac, Iris, and Daisy. The Two I picked up are Tulip and Rose.

With Flash

Close up without flash

From left to right: Tulip & Rose (No Flash)

From left to right: Tulip & Rose (Flash)

Tulip:

The Tulip blush duo is amazing especially for the summer time. The blush on the left is a more pinky coral that would look good on medium/olive skin (MAC NC40). The blush on the right is a coppery/orange bronze. If you want that Jennifer Lopez glow, that blush would look perfect. While you can use the blushes separate, you can also mix them together to get a beatiful pinky/orange blush.

Flash

No Flash 

Swatch (No Flash)

Swatch (Flash)

Rose:

The Rose blush duo is definitely a blush set I would use in the fall or winter. The blush on the left in the palette (right on my finger swatch below) is a beautiful dark pink blush with gold shimmer. I do not know about you ladies, but I am constantly in the summer mode (even though there is still snow on the ground in New York). I think this dark pink blush would look beautiful on every skin tone, whether you are fair or very dark. The blush on the right in the palette (left on my finger swatch below) is more of a beautiful highlight color. In the pan it looks like a peachy nude, but in swatches on and the skin it is more pink. I love it for highlighting the cheeks as it is not too bold for the winter time and it gives me just the right amount of glow.

Rose: Flash

Rose: No Flash

Swatch (Flash) 

Swatch (No Flash)

Overall, I am in love with these floral blush duos. They are highly pigmented and are amazingly priced ($4.95 on the BH Cosmetics website). If you are trying to expand your collection like I am, these palettes are a great way to start. I will definitely be purchasing the rest of these palettes as well as the Galaxy Chic Baked Eyeshadow Palette that I have been eyeing since it came out. If you want to know more about these palettes or any of their other products, check out the BH Cosmetics website at http://www.bhcosmetics.com/.

Disclaimer: I purchased these products with my own money. These are my own opinions.