Review & Swatches: Benefit Cosmetics Girl Meets Pearl

The Benefit Cosmetics Girl Meets Pearl Liquid Highligher is described as a "soft, golden-pink liquid pearl luminzer." This product can be used by itself on top and under foundation as well as mixed into base products. There's also sweet almond seed extract to help smooth out and firm the skin. It retails for $30.00 and contains 120 mL / 0.4 fl oz.

Favorites: March 2016!

I'm back! I took a short break from blogging to take a small vacation. I've been working a lot and haven't had time off since Christmas, and so I decided to use my boyfriend's Spring Break as an excuse to have fun! I'll be putting up some posts about that later, but here's a quick post about makeup.

I'm easing myself back by doing a favorites post for March. I started off this month doing a lot of darker smokey eyes and then transitioned to lighter no-makeup makeup looks since I was outside a lot. 

I'll start off with the item that can't be swatched - The Pixi by Petra Hydrating Milky Mist! I've been switching between this mist and MAC Fix+, but I recently decided that I like the Pixi Hydrating Milky Mist more. The spray is a bit more fine and it doesn't make me look as wet. It still makes me look dewy but it's more natural and takes away the look of extra powder / cakiness. 

One of my go-to favorites this month was the Etude House Berry Delicious Fantastic Color Eyes Palette in Strawberry Fondue*! I was sent this to review, but I ended up loving it so much that I bought a new one myself and did a giveaway for it. The colors I used the most were Hazelnut Chocolate, Fresh Strawberry, and Dip! Dip!. 

The lip color I loved this month was the Etude House Dear My Wish Lips-Talk in RD302. I kept eyeing these lipsticks on the Etude House due to the adorable packaging and I'm glad I finally got one. The color is a deep vampy shade and is so creamy. The lipstick is very pigmented and so I like to lightly tap it onto my lips to create a stain to make it more work friendly.

I briefly mentioned it in my last favorites post, but I got into subtle brown smokey eyes. My two favorites to use were the Clinique Lip Pop in Cocoa Pop and the Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Crayon in Brown(Out). I would just lay down a base using the eye liner and then blend it out using the shadow. I would then keep layering the shadow to build up the intensity and finish by lining the lower lashline with the some pencil.

What were your March favorites? Please let me know what posts you would like to read! I'm trying to get some more suggestions to give my blog some variety.

I hope you're all doing well! :)

Current Foundation Rotation!

For months, I've only been paying attention to my Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in #54 Beige and the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops in G40. I've somehow collected 10 foundations total and it's about time I start to switch it up or at least clear some out. I'm starting to declutter my collection as well and so I kind of wanted to do this to see which foundations were worth keeping.

The L'oreal True Match Lumi Cushion Foundation in W3 has been one of my foundation loves for the days when I don't have time to break out my BeautyBlender with higher coverage foundations. I usually just dab concealer on my bigger blemishes and even out the rest of my face with the cushion foundation.

I've also been interested in cream stick foundations. My first introduction to this kind of foundation is the Etude House Play 101 Stick Foundation in #4. It's too light for me, but that opened the door for me to see how great they are! 

My roommates got me the Makeup Forever Ultra HD Foundation Stick in 127 = Y335 for my birthday and it photographs beautifully with buildable coverage. For more every day wear, I've using my deluxe sample of the Clinique Chubby In The Nude Foundation Stick in 09 'Normous Neutral. The color match is almost a perfect match for my face right now, but it's not as pigmented or creamy as the MUFE foundation stick. The formula is still great though! The creamier texture from the MUFE Foundation Stick just results in my face looking a bit more dewy, 

Lastly, I've been using the Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in #10 again. I actually really like this foundation, but I liked my HG combo mentioned in the intro more. The coverage and finish is beautiful and also looks great in photographs. I do find that I have to be careful about layering around my nose, but it's probably my biggest gripe about this foundation.

L'oreal W3 / MUFE 127 = &335 / Clinique 'Normous Neutral / Illamasqua 10

Some of my foundations are a touch lighter than the rest of my body, but it's because my face in general is lighter than the rest of my body. I try to find a match between my forehead (darkest part of my face) and chest, but I do find that I can wear most colors in between. 

What foundations have you been loving? What kind of coverage and finish do you prefer?

By the way! Don't forget to enter my international giveaway for the Etude House Fantastic Color Eyes Palette in Strawberry Fondue and Play 101 Pencil in #73 here!

[CLOSED][INTL GIVEAWAY] + Haul: Etude House Goodies

Etude House had sale recently and I decided to pick up some things I've been eyeing. I wanted a few more things, but a lot of stuff was out of stock by the time I ordered. I might be placing another order soon since they just released an adorable Cherry Blossom collection!

Keep reading to see a little surprise at the end!

I love trying out new lash products and so I decided to pick up the Lash Perm Curl Fix Mascara in Black and the Dr. Mascara Fixer for Super Longlash. I quickly tried these products out and they hold my curl so well. The Dr. Mascara product is a lash primer to help with length via fibers, but the fibers slightly scare me since I have sensitive eyes. They haven't irritated my eyes yet, but I'll put a review up later to see if that changes!

The other eye product is the Look At My Eyes Eyeshadow in RD302 and it's a pigmented shimmery burgundy shade. I haven't tried it on my eyes yet, but it already looks gorgeous swatched on my hand.

Speaking of burgundy! I could help myself and got another lipstick. I got the Dear My Wish Lips Talk Lipstick in RD302 and it's a creamy oxblood burgundy lipstick. Even though both the lipstick and eyeshadow have the numbering, the lipstick is a darker red.

And here's the surprise!

If you've seen my past couple Etude House posts, you might know that I've been getting new releases sent to me once a month to review. I only have this opportunity thanks to my readers and I am forever grateful about that! To say my thanks, I decided to do a giveaway with some products I've really enjoyed so far. 

From my reviews of the Berry Delicious Fantastic Color Eyes Eyeshadow Palette in #8 Strawberry Fondue (here) and the Snowy Dessert Play 101 Pencil in #73 (here), you can tell that I loved these products! Like I mentioned, a lot of stuff were sold out by the time I ordered but I was able to snag two of my favorites! I bought all of these items myself as well. 

I do have some other samples + mini's that I've been stocking up to include in the giveaway as well. 

The rules are simple and similar to the other giveaways I've done. As always, it is international!

RULES 

1. Must be 18 or older to participate. If you're younger, you must have your guardian approval because I will need your address.

2. You must be subscribed to my Bloglovin' Profile (for haodoyoungo) and the other entry options are optional.

3. THE LAST DAY TO ENTER IS MARCH 28, 2016 AT 12:00 AM. I will e-mail the winner directly from haoareyoutoday@gmail.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Empties #2 - L'oreal, Maybelline, Flower Beauty, etc.

I've been collecting these empties since January and finally sat down to take the photos. It takes me a long time to finish products, but I usually go through mascaras and brow products pretty quickly. Now that I've finished most of these products (just found out how to "fix" the pencil liner while writing this post), I just wanted to circle around to update any first impressions and whether or not I'll be repurchasing them!

Some steady favorites and repurchaes that I used up were the L'oreal Studio Secrets Magic Lumi Concealer in Medium (review here), Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Soft Brown (review here), and the L'oreal Brow Stylist Plumper in Brunette. I really want to repurchase the concealer and brow pencil again, but I already have other similar products that I want to use up first. I do have another L'oreal brow gel on hand, but I've been favoring the Glossier Boy Brow in Brunette more and so I'm not sure if I would repurchase again after that one runs out. 

Another undereye concealer I tried is from Flower Beauty Daily Brighening Undereye Cover Cream in DB3. This shade was pretty light despite being one of the darker shades, but I was still able to use it on my MAC NC35 ish skin tone. Unfortunately, the metal ball applicator got stuck or something and I wasn't able to get any more product. I only used it for 2 weeks at that point and so it was still pretty much full. I definitely wouldn't repurchase it.

The mascaras that I've tried and used up recently were the L'oreal Voluminous Miss Manga Rock Waterproof Mascara in Black and the Maybelline The Falsies Push Up Drama Waterproof Mascara in Very Black. I really disliked both mascaras for the same reasons. Even though these mascaras are waterproof, they were too wet and the bristles were too far apart which led to droopy and clumpy lashes.

The last product is one that I actually haven't finished yet - the Tony Moly My School Looks 4B Liner Pencil in #3 Jet Black. When I first tried to use it, it was so dry that it hurt to apply even on my hand. While writing this post, I found out that you actually have to sharpen it first and then it becomes creamier. I'm going to give it another try, but I'll probably be tossing it soon anyway since I don't want to take a chance of it being dried out and hurting my eyes. Who knows, maybe it'll end up being a favorite but it took me 3 months to take these pictures and so I'll keep this here for now...

Anyway! These were my empties!

What you have finished recently?

Review & Swatches: Burberry Eye Colour Contour Smoke & Sculpt Pen in 106 Pale Copper

The Burberry Eye Colour Contour Smoke & Sculpt Pen in 106 Pale Copper (whew! what a mouthful!) is a stick cream shadow that is a shimmery medium copper bronze shade. The lighter shades in this range help illuminate and widen the eyes and the formula is supposed to be waterproof and crease free. There is 1.5 grams / 0.05 ounces of product and retails for $29.00.

My 5 Minute Face! ft. Glossier

A few months ago, Glossier asked me what products I used to enhance my natural beauty without covering it up. I was waiting for my Glossier order at the time and so I queued up the post to think about it again after trying out their products. In regular Hao fashion, I lagged and forgot about it until now when I noticed that I was using a lot of their products.

My personal makeup philosophy is to wear whatever makes you happy (and usually that's tons of eyeshadow and lipstick for me), but I do love a quick and easy makeup routine that I can rely on when I'm low on time. 

As you can see on the left, my bare face has some less than perfect imperfections. Besides the random blemishes that keep popping up, I am pretty happy with my features! When I don't want to wear much makeup or don't have a lot of time, I focus on the base, brows, and lashes. 

After washing my face, I lay down a layer of the Glossier Priming Moisturizer. My skin is pretty dehydrated during the winter and so this product just by itself isn't always enough. When I'm running late, I don't always want to grab my emulsion and essence as well and so I create a DIY tinted moisturizer to add even more moisture. 

I mix a pea sized amount of the moisturizer and 2 drops of the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops. It's optional, but I've also been mixing a small amount of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal as well to liven up my dull skin. I've tried other tinted moisturizers, but most of those have made my skin feel heavy and they never really set. 

This mixture + a damp sponge is great for just evening out my skin. If there are blemishes, I add another drop of the Cover FX Customer Cover drops into the same mixture and dab it over those areas to build up the coverage. 

For brows, I just quickly run the Glossier Boy Brow in Brunette over the hairs and slightly brush the front hairs up to make they look bushier. There are fibers in this brow pomade and so they help make the brow hairs look thicker and I love how there's no shine like how some brow gels give me.  

The last step for my eyes is to just curl my lashes and give them a few coats of the Maybelline Lash Sensational Waterproof Mascara in Very Black. 

My lips haven't been in the greatest shape, and so I've been using a thin layer of the Glossier Balm Dotcom Universal Skin Salve to help them out. I also use this salve on my elbows since they've also been super dry. If I want more color, I do sometimes grab my Dior Addict Lip Glow in Pink or Lipstick Queen Frog Prince (review here). 

Done! My easy peasy 5 minute face that just enhances what I already have and hides what I don't want. If I have more time after doing this look, I add a touch cream eyeshadow on my lids and then run out the door!

Side note - While Glossier did ask me to write up a post about my "Fresh Face" look, I was not required or sent any of their products. It was just a coincidence that I bought their products around that time and ended up really loving them. 

What products do you use for your 5 minute face? How do you feel about Glossier products?

Review & Swatches: Etude House Berry Delicious Precious Mineral Any Cushion in W13 Natural Beige and Cream Blusher in RD301

Part two of my Etude House Berry Delicious Pink Box review! The first part can be found here and it's about the Fantastic Eyes Palette in #8 Strawberry Fondue and the Color in Liquid Lips Juicy in RD305 Berry Very Much. Like the other Pink Bird boxes, I receive these products as PR samples to review and everything I mention can be found on the Etude House official global website here! 

The two items I'll be review today are the Etude House Berry Delicious Precious Mineral Any Cushion SPF 50+ / PA+++ in Natural Beige (W13)* and the Berry Delicious Cream Blusher in #RD301* (this shade is also referred to as #1 on their website). The cushion foundation has special packaging for the Berry Delicious collection, but you can also find refills on the website if you end up loving the packaging like me!

Review & Swatches: Etude House Fantastic Color Eyes #8 and Color in Liquid Lips Juicy in #RD305

Etude House recently came out with their big S/S Collection called Berry Delicious! I was super fortunate to be sent some of the items from this collection since I'm a part of their Pink Bird program. I received a cushion foundation and blush, but I'll just be reviewing the Fantastic Color Eyes Palette in #8 Strawberry Fondue and Color in Liquid Lips Jucy in #RD305 Berry Very Much in this post!

I was honestly so excited about everything in this collection. The packaging is super cute and I love pinky red tones that can be found in almost all the products. I almost even bought most of the collection right when it came out, but I wanted to see what Etude House would send me first.