August Favorites and 1 Regret

August was a month of makeup minimalism for me. I have decided to henceforth channel my inner Padma Lakshmi by focusing on flawless, glowing skin and favoring fresh blush and lip colors instead of over-done eyes. It's just what works for my skintone and sense of style. On to the current obsessions:

First up is YSL Rouge Volupte in #23:

After wringing my hands many times over the sticker price ($34!), I finally bought this lipstick thanks to my husband, who loved how it looked on me and talked me into it. And although I'm a proud frugalista, I have to admit that this lipstick covers so many bases that it's well worth the price and hype. It's full of moisture, yet it dries to a matte finish so it is smooch-friendly. The pigmentation is so great that a few dabs on my lips gives me a my-lips-but-better look. A few more dabs and we're in a peppy bright mode.  The packaging is of course heavenly and has finally taught me that packaging. does. matter.

In keeping with my minimal makeup look, I've been loving Benefit's Georgia beauty powder. I love using this as a blush substitute because instead of making my cheeks pink, it just lightens up that area by a few shades. That looks like a genuine radiant glow because I've noticed that after a solid workout, my cheeks are lighter, not necessarily pinker. I love this stuff. Tan ladies, seek this out.

This month I finally figured out how to conceal my undereye circles! I put a small amount of Smashbox photofinish foundation primer on my undereye area, and then blend thin layers of MAC select cover up on top. The primer prevents the concealer from settling into my fine lines. I set the whole thing with a loose translucent powder or MAC Studio Fix powder foundation. The look stays put without settling into fine lines.

As for my regret, I completely regret buying Rimmel's Gentle eye makeup remover. It's like having a Smart Car when you want a Rover. Ugh. This stuff did take off my eyeshadows with ease, but throw ANY waterproof formulations at it, and it quakes in its pants and runs home to its momma. I have been tugging and pulling at my eyelashes trying to get off my mascara, and it just does not budge it. "Gentle" would be the understatement of the year for this mascara. Stay away. My top recommendation for an eye makeup remover is, and will always be, Boots Eye-Makeup Remover with Icelandic Moss.

Sorry this was an uber long post, but I thought I'd come back with a bang. That, and I didn't want to have a backlog of 10 products I need to write about, so I thought I'd get them all out of the way so I can let new ideas take the stage soon. Thanks for reading chicas.