Rekindled Love // #1

MAC, Too Faced, Smashbox, Sumatra, Bare Minerals

I have a terribly bad shopping habit and am overly drawn to having new things (as are most people). One thing I'm definitely trying to work on is holding back on buying things I want, as they are probably products I don't necessarily need. I chose to live at home as an alternative to paying large sums of rent each month, thus saving a ton of money each month. I've turned to validating the spending a good chunk of change on new beauty products/clothes/shoes/etc. with this saved money. However, I'm trying to save some money, clear up some space, and go through my stash and really use up products that I've had for a while. And thus, with that, is a new series I'll be featuring on the blog - Rekindled Love.

Back in my early makeup days, I was extremely simple with my makeup. I started off using Bare Minerals products, and one of my favorite products was the Bare Minerals Clear Radiance highlighter. It's described as a product that gives a 'lit-from-within' appearance. It has specks of pink and shimmer and is great for giving a touch of brightness to the cheeks, nose, and face overall. Bare Minerals has much upped their packaging from previous years and now has a twist-lock to prevent product from piling into the top (like seen above). Very little product is needed and this stuff just adds the healthiest glow to your skin. Definitely recommend it for the pale-skinned gals out there! 

Another product I've been reaching for to add a soft glow would be the Too Faced Snow Bunny Luminous Bronzer. This was one that I was obsessed with years ago, and have re-discovered this product this Summer. One wonderful thing about this is that the 4 colors are placed in strips rather than as swirled together - so you can choose which colors you'd like to emphasize on. This product does have a decent amount of shimmer added to it, so if you're looking for a matte glow effect this may not be for you. BTW Too Faced has really upped their packaging with the new gold outer shell - gorgeous.

Last weekend I spent my time in Southern California with my friend from college and got a bit of sun. To compliment my new found (ever so slight) tan, I decided to reach back in my drawers for my MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Medium Plus. This is one of the few products that I've ever hit pan on, and I really just owe it to the fact that I used to buy one product at a time and use it to completion. Now I love to try new products and I've been racking up a rather large amount of products without using them up - and this is where shopping your stash really comes into play. I use this in place of foundation/concealer and it does a wonderful job of evening out my skin tone. It leaves a lovely finish and feels light and easy on the skin which is perfect for the warmer seasons.

Dark brown eyeliners used to be my thing, I avoided black liners like the plague and went for a more natural looking with the brown liners. I've recently tried to return to these au natural looking days and have temporarily retired my black liquid liners for the soft smudged brown liners. The Smashbox Always Sharp liner in Sumatra is a lovely deep brown color, it isn't the one I previously used but let's just go with this one as the category. This liner is a twist up and the cap just happens to sharpen the tip to a nice point for perfected application every time. I try not to think about how much product gets wasted each time it sharpens on its own, but the ease of the pointed tip makes liner application a breeze.

MAC, Too Faced, Smashbox, Sumatra, Bare Minerals

The clean freak in me is getting extremely excited at the idea of finally using products up, and of course clearing space and making way for new products. What are some products you have rekindled your love for while shopping in your stash?