Monthly Favorites ::: June-July 2020

It's been a month and a half since my last 'Monthly Favorites' post! In that post, I talked a bit about how makeup has been a very positive distraction from all the chaos in the world during this quarantine. Well, I am still continuing that habit and during weekends, I am creating full face of makeup looks! It is giving me a lot of chances to test out new products that I have bought as well as get a lot of use out of my stash! I am still having too much fun creating different eye looks, but this month, for some reason not a lot of eye product jumped out at me as my favorite!

Check my Instagram @arrru_t to check out some looks I did with these products!

Anyway, onto the favorites:

Rituel De Fille (RdF) Color Nectar Pigment Balm in "Bloodflower": This is a new product in my collection. See my post here for detailed review! It looks like a very strong red shade on the pan but it has a beautiful sheer-but-buildable translucent formula. I absolutely love this product; it is designed to be used everywhere - eyes, lips, and cheeks. I used it once or twice on the eyes and I loved the edgy vibe of the looks I created but I don't think that will be my main application type. I have been mainly using this as blush and occasionally as a lip-shade!  I love that I can wear it as a wash of color (to look more lively) or I can build up the intensity to make my cheeks look super red and editorial! I love it for summer but it would actually look extra brilliant in winter!

Rituel De Fille The Alchemist Highlighter: Along with Bloodflower I picked up a few things from RdF and this was one of them. I haven't talked about this in depth on the blog yet, but I have absolutely fallen in love with this. This is how RdF describes this product "The Alchemist is the highlighter for your highlighters, a transformative topper for your favorite luminous products. This remarkably radiant, glistening crème product enhances glow, adds a dewy finish and creates mesmerizing iridescent glimmer while maintaining the color of the highlighter beneath."  Based on my experience with this for the past 1.5 months, I completely agree with all the claims. When I first swatched it, my heart sung, for a quite some time. I apply it with my fingers and everytime I swatch it to apply, my heart sings again. And when I take my pictures,for sure, my heart sings again :-) Okay, enough romancing a highlighter, Aru! This is very aptly described as the highlighter for highlighters, it has very visible but very intricate, beautiful glitter particles suspended on an emollient base that feels like solid oil. It melts into the skin like butter, and after a minute or so sets beautifully! And granted I haven't been doing day-long rigorous activities during this quarantine, so I wouldn't know strong is its longevity. But for a simple day in a simple weekend, it did not budge the entire. I also absolutely LOVE to wear it on the eyes, it elevates any eye look I do and gives it a very wet, high fashion vibe. And the glitters does not fall-out throughout the day!

Tower 28 Beauty Bronzino Illuminating Bronzer in Best Coast:  This is another new product, I bought it when we first went into quarantine. I have been using it past 2-3 months and I have really started to love it. When I first got it and swatched it, it came across as a bronzer with ton of shimmer and a very strong red undertone. That was a bit intimidating! But upon application on the face, that feeling went away. Of course, it is very red and very shimmery but it really does compliment all the dewy colorful looks I have been creating! I intend to do a more detailed review and compare it against my beloved cream bronzer - RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer. But yes, I have been really loving it!

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liners in "Midnight Cowboy" & "Spandex": Like I mentioned above, I am still having fun with creating eye-looks. And that has ignited a love for wearing glitters in my looks. I am constantly adding glitters to add some extra oomph to my looks! Naturally, I have been reaching out to these two glitter liners from Urban Decay. I love the longevity, ease of application and the glimmer they add to any look!

Laura Mercier Cavier Stick in Plum: Yes, still lovnig this! I have a feeling that this will appear in my yearly favorites. This is a very a soft eye pencil but has quite the longevity. I have been wearing it on my lashline almost every time I wear eye makeup. It gives my eyes such a sultry look; I love it! Read my review here. 

Now this product below is just a honorary mention!

Danessa Myricks Beauty Color Fix Cream Color Matte in Primary Red: This is a VERY new product to me, honestly I have only used it once or twice. But this red is a TRUE RED, and that's enough to make me very happy. I will continue to work with this but I have a feeling that it will definitely be a favorite.   

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Have a good week ahead and I will talk to you very soon!

Love,

~Arrru

Monthly Favorites ::: March-April-May 2020

I have been having a lot of free time during this quarantine! And I have been participating in a lot of different beauty challenges - some are just about eyeshadow swatches, some are on different makeup looks! I have not really been buying a lot of new makeup and as such I have been shopping my stash heavily and I have been loving it. Honestly, I have been loving this entire process! It is giving me an outlet for my creative energy and honestly, it is saving me from a lot of depression during this trying time!

Check my Instagram @arrru_t to check out some looks I did with these products!

Anyway, onto the favorites:

Base concoction: I never really talk about base products because I dont really get much fun out of them; not really much interest in foundation, primers or concealers. Whatever works, is good enough for me :-)! Lately though, I have been loving a glowy look! I have been mixing and matching these few products for my base! MUFE Ultra HD Foundation is my go-to foundation! The CoverFx Custom Infusion Drop adds a little bit of moisture to my foundation and the CoverFX Custom Enhancer Drops (read my full review here) adds that summer-y luminous sheen to my foundation! On a simpler day when I just want a lighter coverage, I use the Becca Backlight Priming Filter (read my review here) just bare face or underneath foundation! It gives me an health glow. I use the Smashbox Primer Water as primer or as a finishing spray! 

MAC Fix+: Do I need to say anything about this iconic product? There are so many new sprays in the market, but nothing like this! Read my review here. Off late, I have been using this to create liners out of pressed eye-shadows or have been using it as a finishing spray after I am done with my makeup! It just makes the whole look tie together and makes it a little more dewy!

Stila Aqua Glow Water Color Blush in Water Lily: Yep, blast from the past! These blushes from Stila were awesome! It has consistency between liquid and cream and is a godsend for my dry skin. I used it when I first bought it (read my full review here), and I recently pulled it out from my stash! I am loving the soft look it provides. I almost finished it up it though!

Becca Mineral Blushes in Hyacinth, Songbird, Lantana (reviews linked): There was a time when I used these blushes non-stop! Then my cheeks were buried in adult acnes so I stopped using blush all-together; it made me sad! But lately, I have started to use blush again! I have been layering these over other matte blushes; they have a subtle sheen to them! I just love how they add to my glowy-dewy #motd vibe! 

Laura Mercier Highlighter Palette: Another shop-my-stash discovery! I love the undertones of these highlighters! All these colors work on my medium tan skin-tone; the darkest I can use as a bronzing sheen! These are so soft and buttery; they dont really emphasize my textured skin and yet packs a punch! Read my full review here.

On to the fun stuff ---- a.k.a Eye stuff!!!

Laura Mercier Cavier Stick in Plum: This is such a soft eye pencil. So easy to apply on the inner rim , stays put and appears less harsher than a black kajol liner. Read my review here.

Urban Decay Electric Palette and Viseart Dark Matte: Viseart Dark Matte is my jam; I will never stop raving about it (read my full review here). I love wearing colorful looks and I use this palette 7 out of 10 times to use to these shades on the crease, lash-line or on the lid to ground my looks. This palette will always remain a favorite. I am also getting a lot of use out of my Electric Palette; I bought it on sale just before it got discontinued! I am so glad that I got my hands in the palette! I love the vibrancy of these colors - they are brilliant; pigmented, soft and easy to work with! There is not one shade that is dull! I love all the shades, my personal favorites are Chaos, Savage and Slowburn. And Freak!

MUG single eyeshadows in Voltage, Pixie Dust, Lemon Drop, Whimsical, Daydreamer and Colourpop in On The Fence, Sandbar: I think these shadows restarted my love affiar with makeup and creating new looks! I was building a spring palette for a makeup challenge and loved how cute these shades were! I created quite a few looks with these - basically these colors are bringing me so much joy! Really!

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Eye Liners in Emerald, Paradise Pink, Turquoise, Intense Amethyst & Cobalt : I have been a fan of these liners for a long time now! They are awesome. Waterproof and stays all day long! Lately, I have been using them to create shape and small lines here and there in my eye looks! I am loving all these colors for adding brightness and novelty to my eye-looks!

So, this was my rekindled love for makeup. What have been keeping you busy during this quarantine?

Love,

~Arrru

Monthly Favorites ::: January 2020!!!

Because I have been having lot of fun playing with makeup again, I thought I will talk about some of the product I loved during January. There are only a handful of products; some of them are rediscovery and rest are new to my collection.

STILA Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Twig: I bought a set of these shimmer and glow and Glitter and glow eyeshadows from Stila a year ago. I reviewed it (you can find it here) and then forgot about it. Then during holiday season, I ordered a mystery bag from Stila which included this “Twig” shade in full-size. I have been regularly using it since. You can see that there is already dent in it! First of all, the color is stunning; it is dark coppery brown that immediately makes me feel and look sultry. I LOVE it. It is also so very easy to apply; I pat it on and just blend it with my fingertips. I do one eye at a time because it gives me enough time to blend it without having any sharp edges in my crease area! I think it has the perfect drying time. You have a little bit of time to play with it but you don’t need to wait forever to move your lids waiting for the eyeshadow to dry! I typically wear it all-over my lid and blend it on the crease with a dark brown and cream crease shade. It is fast, super easy and yet it looks as if I spent a lot of time and effort in creating the eye look :-) It also has tremendous staying power. I am very impressed and absolutely in LOVE!

ATELIER COLOGNE Clémentine California ColognePure Perfume Travel Spray: Yes, it is a sleek travel bottle and it has a FREAKING spray. Isn’t that great? I have loved perfumes from a long time. It’s such a niche beautiful house of fragrance. Among all the different type of scent they offer, I think I love “Clémentine California” the most. It is very fresh, florally but it is layered and complex. The reason to love it even more is because of its packaging. It is such a sleek bottle and just perfect for travel! It almost does not take any space in my makeup bag. I got a great value set quite some time ago and I am still finishing them up. I love them all, almost! And I am definitely taking 2-3 of these travel sprays for my upcoming travels.

HOURGLASS Ambient Lighting Blush in Luminous Flush (read full review here): Oh man! Another product that I have of rediscovered. This was a limited-edition palette from Nordstrom some time ago, but early in January I was doing a full makeup with re-discovered products and I pulled this out. And I have been using this blush almost non-stop. It is a refined rosy-shade and it immediately uplifts my look! Brings a certain spring and joy in the look actually :-) As it is typical for Hourglass powder, it has that subtle sheen but it does not emphasize any of my acne scar on my cheeks. This is available in their permanent line in full size or in mini travel size as well. 

LAURA MERCIER Velour Extreme Matte Lipstick in Fresh: This is new to my collection. My mom wants a new lipstick and I have been trying a few different products for her. This is a set I bought from Sephora when they had some sale on sale thing going on. The one thing I loved most about this is the shade. On Sephora website it is described as a deep pinky nude but on me it appears to be a very mature light plum shade – I love it, especially for wearing to work. I have gone through an entire tube of Mac Satin Lipstick in Amorous and I am trying to find a cruelty free replacement. Shade wise “Fresh” comes close enough! It is an “extreme” matte formula, so I do not use it 3 or more days consecutively but it has decent staying power.

From Top to Bottom: Hourglass "Luminous Flush", Stila "Twig", Laura Mercier "Fresh"

Wearing Hourglass "Luminous Flush" on cheeks, Stila "Twig" on eyelids, Laura Mercier "Fresh" on the lips

Hope you enjoyed! Anything that you have tried? I am not sure if I will be able to have February Favorites as I will be in India towards the end of February so. We will see!

Love

~Arrru