It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Sorry I've been MIA on the blog front this weekend, it's been crazy for me. I've got so much schoolwork it's unreal. But, in two weeks the semester will be over and it'll be back to my blogging schedule. Anywho, the fam decorated the tree this weekend (while I sat on the couch working sadly) and I thought I would show you! We went very rustic this year. I'm more partial to classic silver and white trees, but it's cute. How do you decorate your tree? Tweet me a picture @ameliaahh :)

Speak to you all soon!
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The BeautyBlender

Yet another trip to Sephora during which I walked out with a much lighter wallet. I decided to buy a beautyblender. It's been raved about for years, and for years I've thought "as if a sponge could be THAT good." All these years I've been wrong, because this is magic. I know I've just done a post about tools, but oh my god is this a new holy grail so I had to talk about it.

I'm sure you guys already know the deal, but the beautyblender is an edgeless, non-disposable sponge. It is latex and fragrance free and is also non-allergenic. Their site says that this sponge features an open cell structure, meaning that when you get it wet, it holds water. This means that the sponge doesn't absorb your foundation, thus not wasting your money. In order to use the beautyblender, you run it under cold water squeezing a few times, then squeeze it in a towel. When squeezing the sponge, remember not to squeeze TOO hard. The beautyblender is incredibly soft and if you're not careful or squeeze with your nails, the sponge will tear. Getting it wet causes the sponge to grow almost double in size and it becomes even softer. I apply my foundation to the back of my hand, then dip the sponge into it. Then you just bounce it on your face. It's really quite fun and feels good since the sponge is damp and cool. It's important that the sponge is damp not wet, otherwise it will not work how it's supposed to. If done correctly, the sponge provides a flawless airbrushed foundation application. It's also a wonder on under eye concealer (I use the pointed side) and blends the product in without being cakey or settling into lines.

I've been a hardcore Sigma Kabuki Brush advocate for years. I always thought that was a super flawless finish, but recently I've been unhappy with how my foundation looks on my skin (aka streak city). This is what spurred me to purchase a beautyblender, because lets be honest? A $20 sponge? I was a little reluctant. I'm in love with it though. It does sheer my foundation out quite a bit so that I can apply a few thin layers, making my foundation look SO natural. Honestly I can't even express how flawless this makes your skin look. I'm a total convert and will, I'm sure, be purchasing for life.

The beautyblender retails for $19.95 alone and you can find it at Sephora, on Amazon (only $15.40 as of 11/27), and on Beautylish (one of my absolute favourite retailers). You can also purchase cleansers, which I haven't tried yet. I did purchase the set that comes with one blender and a solid cleanser which costs $25.

Have you tried out the beautyblender yet? Will you? Let me know your thoughts!
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Most Used Makeup Brushes Edit

I thought for today's post I would talk to you about my favourite brushes. After all, you get the best results with the best tools. The majority of my brushes are Sigma, but before we start I want to let you know that you do not have to purchase expensive brushes. A majority of the brushes I use every day are from elf and cost me $3. I've featured some of those here and you can definitely find similar ones to my Sigma favourites.

Anyway, let's talk brushes. The first brush there is one that I used to never ever use. It came with the Essential Kit, so I had it but rarely used it. Recently though I've been using the Bare Minerals Mineral Veil to set my foundation instead of a setting powder and the F30 Large Powder is perfect for it. It's super soft like all of the sigma brushes and is so easy to use because it is HUGE. Next up is one that I've used every single day since I got the kit for my birthday ages ago, the F40 Large Angled Contour brush. I've used it so much in my old YouTube videos that I didn't even need to look up the name. It's sad that I'm proud of that. Anyway, greatest blush brush ever. It is obviously white bristled and stains, but I'm not bothered because I love it so much. The holy grail Kabuki collection is another that I fell into, but my favourite is the F84 Angled Kabuki. I use it for my liquid foundation every day and it buffs to perfection. I prefer the angled shape because it is easier to reach contours in my face like my inner corners and around my hairline. The F60 Foundation is another that I never used to use, but I find it perfect for applying a precise contour. I like to really carve out my cheekbones so I'll apply the powder with this brush to get a straight line and then blend it out with a fluffy brush (usually the elf Studio Blush Brush). The last face brush is the elf Studio Small Stipple Brush which I really like to use to blend out my Benefit Highbeam.

I use a plethora of eye brushes daily but these are the ones I really can't live without. The E60 Large Shader is perfect for applying all-over lid shades and picks up the perfect amount of product. For a typical eye brush, I love the E55 Eye Shading brush. I use it for applying my inner corner and brow bone highlights. The elf Studio Eyeshadow C Brush is great too (I own several). The E30 Pencil I love for detail work in my crease. It's also white bristled and really stained, just so you know. For my beloved Anastasia DipBrow, I use the E65 Small Angle. I have found that this one has lost its shape a bit, but I still love it. The elf Studio Flawless Concealer Brush is a newer holy grail. Seriously, buy this. I have like 6 of them. I use it to blend eyeshadows, apply concealer, apply my paint pots, put best freind colours through the crease, literally they are the bomb. I also had to include my little disposable spooly because my unruly brows would be lost without them.

So, those are my can't-live-without brushes. What are yours?
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Mint Julips

As temperatures drop, my skin becomes drier, particularly my lips. But this year, I'm armed with LUSH's Mint Julips Lip Scrub so no more flaky lips! They have several other flavours like Popcorn and Bubblegum, but this one definitely appealed the most to me. It tastes like sweet mint and I could really just eat it as disgusting as that sounds. Like with any sugar lip scrub, it can be quite messy if you apply too much. You really only need a small amount to buff into your lips. As is to be expected from LUSH products, all of the ingredients are natural which means you can literally eat it. Win. It's also pretty gentle on your skin and extremely moisturizing thanks to jojoba oil. I love applying this everyday honestly, but it's perfect before a bright or matte lip.

They also release Santa's Lip Scrub with their holiday line, which apparently tastes like Coca-Cola? You can find the Lip Scrubs at LUSH stores for $9.95, or £5.50 in the UK.

Have you tried this baby out yet?
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The Camel Coat

Okay, awkward self-taken posey poses aside, I am in love. If you followed me on Pinterest then you would know that all I've been pinning for the past two months is camel coats and ankle booties. It's bad. So, I've been on the hunt for an affordable one. Some of you may know that I work at Banana Republic and this beauty FINALLY went on sale this week so I snatched it up. It's originally $170 which kind of makes me want to be sick, but with 60% and my discount I got it for $40. And let me say, wearing this on campus today I felt FABULOUS. It reached record low temperatures but I wasn't even phased because this baby kept me warm, I felt like I was on the runway. Okay I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but seriously people get on this trend. All black with a tan coat (and I threw on some leopard flats cause I needed a little somethin' somethin'). BR Factory doesn't have an online store but I've found some cheaper options here, here, here, and here.

What's your favourite outerwear style for this season?
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Bite Beauty Best Bite Remix

 Um, I think I win the prize for finding the cutest holiday set out there because I am in love with the Bite Beauty Best Bite Remix Set. So I went a little crazy with the pictures, don't judge me. I wandered into Sephora the other day to pick up another BadGal Lash and saw this in the checkout line. So you know I bought it without hesitation.

The set contains four mini High Pigment Lip Pencils from Bite and costs $25. A full sized pencil retails for $24 and contains .09 oz, each of these babies contains .05 oz so you're getting almost $55 worth of product. They come in the cutest little red tin with a massive mirror that makes them perfect for traveling or carrying around in your purse. The colours it comes with are Pomegranate, Rhubarb, Sable, and Winterberry and they are GORGEOUS. Pomegranate is an almost-neutral slightly cool-toned red. Rhubarb is a rosy shade with brown undertones, think MAC's Syrup and Kylie Jenner lips. Sable is a pinky nude, and Winterberry is  a bright raspberry. The colour selection here is seriously perfect, you pretty much have a full lip wardrobe. I've never tried Bite Beauty because I can't ever settle on a colour so this is perfect if you're wanting to try out the brand. The lip pencils themselves are incredibly pigmented and moisturizing. The formula is creamy and lasts well throughout the day, the darker colours wearing down to a stain. The finish is described as a "modern-matte" but I find that they dry down to a satin-like feel.

The odd thing is that it's definitely sold at Sephora, I just bought it the other day. Temptalia and several other blogs have done reviews recently, but I can't seem to find it online anywhere, and definitely not on the Sephora website. So I guess you'll just have to duck into the store to pick this beauty up!

I'm thoroughly impressed and will definitely be picking up some more Bite pencils in the future! What do you think? Have you tried anything from Bite?
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Covergirl Ready, Set Gorgeous

So I'm going to say right from the start that I hate this packaging. It's ugly. In fact, all of CoverGirl's packaging is ugly. I think that they need to get on the modern, sleek packaging trend. I understand it's drugstore but look at Revlon and NYX, they have beautiful packaging!

Okay, rant aside. The product inside is AMAZING. I've recently been using my Clarisonic again and with that comes the phase of oily skin while it tries to rebalance. My dewy, glowy foundations unfortunately do not like oily skin and they have been sliding off of my face all week. So, I needed a matte foundation and my poor MUFE Mat Velvet + is on its last legs. Enter Ready, Set Gorgeous. I think it's made out of magic. The formula is creamy and lightweight, it blends out easily but does dry quite quickly so keep that in mind. It dries to a beautiful satin-matte finish that looks so natural but provides an amazing amount of coverage. It's really buildable as well so if you prefer super full coverage just add a second layer! It honestly feels like I'm not wearing makeup and looks so natural. I've worn it all day today (a good day to test it as it was pretty hot!) and it's lasted well.

My only complaint is the shade, this is 110 Creamy Natural. Apparently there's one shade lighter that I've never seen, but it's supposed to be yellow-toned. Now, I'm super-pale so finding a shade light enough for me is pretty impossible. I will say that the shade range of this product is pretty good compared to other drugstore lines (it has 12 shades). I've ordered the Manic Panic White Dreamtone Foundation so I can start mixing it into my foundation so I'll let you know how that goes. Just keep in mind that this shade is light, but really not light enough if you're paler than an NC 20.

You can find the foundation in most drugstores, the price ranging from $6.99 to $8.99. I paid $8.99 at CVS which I'm rather annoyed about so look out for the $6.99! Target sells it at that price.
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MAC Syrup

 I know I'm always saying I've found the perfect everyday lipstick, but every other time I've lied. This is the perfect shade. MAC Syrup. I really don't know why this colour isn't more hyped up in the beauty world. It's a gorgeous mauve-based pink, but isn't too pink because I'm not really a fan of pinks. It's also a lustre finish which is my personal favourite. It can be applied quite sheerly but can also be built up. I like the lustres because they wear so beautifully, especially because I rarely have time to touch up. Rather than go all patchy, it just fades away, leaving your lips moisturized. I don't know what it is about this colour, but it literally looks good on everyone.

Head over to MAC and pick this up, Kylie Jenner lips for everyone!
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DIY Stacking Rings

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not posting this weekend, life kicked me in ass. Secondly, I would like to apologize for my chipped nails and ink stained hands, art major probs. Lastly, I would like to warn you that there will be a LOT of pictures in this post. Onwards.

So, I really really really love stacking rings. What I don't really really really love is that the cheap ones turn my fingers green. And it would be nice if I could buy expensive ones from esty but I can't, so what do I do? I make my own. For two dollars and twenty cents. Sweet justice. What you'll need is 22 gauge wire in gold or silver or copper (or all of them). I say 22 gauge because anything smaller is way too flimsy, and anything bigger is too hard to bend properly. I found this "Artistic Wire" at my local craft store, so I'm sure any big brand craft store will have it. It's important that it is "permanently coloured" and "non-tarnish." Otherwise, it will turn your fingers green. You also need wire cutters and needle nose pliers or tweezers (probably not your expensive ones though). If you wanna get fancy you can solder the ends of the wire together, but I'm lazy and impatient so I'm just loopin' and clampin'.

The first step is to turn the end of the wire back on itself. Simple enough. Make sure the loop is big enough that you can thread wire back through it later.

Next you want to press the loop down with your pliers, again make sure the loop is still big enough to be threaded.

 Now we need to cut the wire, make sure you cut a decent length so that your ring doesn't turn out too small.

 Thread the end of the wire through the loop and size it to your finger. This can be a knuckle ring or a normal ring, you can literally make it whatever you want!

 Once you've measured, loop the end of the wire around the other loop using your pliers.

 Then you want to clamp the loop down, this time don't worry if you crush the hole, just make sure it's secure. Also, don't press too hard or you could break the metal.

 In order to shape the ring after all that bending, push it onto something cylindrical (like the end of a brush).

 And ta da! Your ring is finished. Make as many as you like, sell them to friends. I have 8 yards of wire so pretty much endless rings for $2. I'm onto making some silver ones next!

Try this out yourself and tweet me pictures!
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