5 Beauty Tools You Need

1. ARTIS Elite Oval 7 ($65 @ artisbrush.com, spacenk.com) – A new addition to the brand, this one is a little bit smaller than my beloved Oval 8 so it's a tad easier to maneuver and I've almost exclusively been using it to applying my liquid foundation these days.

2. BEAUTY BLENDER Sur.face Simple ($30 @ beautyblender.com) – known for their cult-favorite sponges, I’m really hot on this palette to mix my Cover FX Cover Drops with its medium, tap out some mineral powders out of their tubes, or play around with some different creams to create a new shade for my lids or face.

3. MUA MAKEUP ACADEMY Lash Separator ($10.50 @ cvs.com and CVS stores nationwide) – I recently broke my Holy Grail lash separator but glad I found this one in its place. It is curved the same as your eye so easy to quickly run it through lashes.

4. URBAN DECAY Iconic Eyeshadow Brush ($24 @ urbandecay.com, nordstrom.com) – if you get one eye brush in your collection, make it a great one like this. It’s the perfect width and length and can handle a lot of different products.

5. REAL TECHINQUES #301 Flat Contour Brush ($21 @ kohls.com) from the Bold Metals Collection – this short, compact, and dense brush is great for applying liquid or cream foundations, blush and bronzers.

And I think I'm ready to add one of these to my Holy Grail list! Yup, it's the MUA Makeup Academy Lash Separator. I had one just like it on my list but this one is less expensive than that one and easier to get hold of. As you read above, I was ready for a new one so help me welcome MUA Makeup Academy Lash Separator to the Holy Grail list of beauty products! What's on your list? 

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.

I had a few questions emailed to me from readers after this feature the other day on the hows and whats of COVER FX’s Custom Cover Drops so I wanted to address them here. When it comes to HOW to apply it, I consider this product kind of an at-home beauty experiment; a DIY, if you so please, in the sense that you should apply it however is comfortable for you.

Here are a few different ways I’ve tried: above I'm showing a drop next to some plain sunscreen on a tray I use to mix paints on when I’m crafting. On a side note, literally hours after I took this photo, I got Beauty Blender’s Sur.face Pro, which is great because it’s made just for mixing makeup! Now I have a tray for each.

So you can mix your Custom Cover Drops with your product on a tray or add the drop/s to a product in your hand, or if you’re mixing it with a primer, I’ve also put a squirt of product and a few drops on the back of my hand and then mixed them together with the brand's Liquid Foundation Brush ($38). But I nixed that after I started thinking about how the products might just be sinking into the back of my hand so I switched back to mixing on the tray.

So I guess it’s up to you on HOW you want to mix the drops and a face product together.

The other question I received was with WHAT can you mix it with? I’d say 99% of your face products! Like I’ve been mixing a few drops with products I’ve been trying in the past few weeks - Cover FX’s Mattifying Primer with Anti-Acne Treatment ($38/1oz @ sephora.com), Murad’s Invisiblur Perfecting Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30 ($65/1oz @ nordstrom.com and ulta.com) and Tarte’s Maracuja Neck Treatment ($49/1.7oz @ tartecosmetics.com and sephora.com). And the pigment drops blend in beautifully and tints them all my shade!

If you have any other questions about Cover FX’s new Custom Cover Drops, I’ll be having a Twitter Party tomorrow, Friday, March 20^th from 3pm to 4pm EST, just to talk about them! Join the chat by using the hashtag #dropportunity and looking forward to talking to you then! And I'll be giving away some bottles of the Custom Cover Drops.

Read more @ ulta.com. 

Highlighting and contouring with makeup is all the rage but which palettes do it best? Here are four that are cutting-it for me right now.

KEVYN AUCOIN The Contour Book The Art of Sculpting + Defining - $59 @ sephora.com.

SMASHBOX Step-by-Step Contour Kit - $45 @ smashbox.com and sephora.com.

KAT VON D Shade + Light Contour Palette - $46 @ sephora.com.

COVER FX Contour Kit - $48 @ ulta.com and sephora.com. 

How awesome is new makeup technology? Well we have some here with COVER FX’s new Custom Cover Drops and they literally made it to go with everything…

Cover FX Custom Cover Drops

It goes with Darla …

It goes with a craft project I’m working on …

But what Custom Cover Drops goes best with are any of your face products. It's pure concentrated pigments made to custom color any of your existing face products. And you control the coverage! 

Click here to read more

From L to R clockwise:

Matte Lippie Love - CAILYN COSMETICS Extreme Matte Tint in #3 Illusionist - $19 @ dillards.com, cailyncosmetics.com – matte lippies are my thing right now, what can I say and this rosy nude goes great with everything.

Shadow Love - DOLCE & GABBANA Perfect Mono Cream Eye Color - $36 @ dolcegabbana.com and nordstrom.com – this is the first go-around in the category of cream shadow for the brand and I must say they’ve done a good job – 14 long-lasting shades with great textures and finishes like matte and pearls to choose from. Color picks: Dahlia (shown here) and Cocoa.

Hot Pink Lippie Love - SHU UEMURA Vision of Beauty – Rouge Unlimited in Fuschia - $30 @ shuuemura.com – I’m a sucker for hot pink lippies and this one from Shu, with its hybrid pigment, is a really nice surprise for fall.

Nude Gloss Love - AERIN Weekday Lip Gloss - $30 @ neimanmarcus.com – it’s not often that I reach for a lip gloss but for some reason, a true nude lippie makes your look, well, look the most polished. And this nude gives color! Nothing worse than a nude that skimps on the pigment.  

Primer Love - COVER FX Calming Primer - $38/1oz @ sephora.com – if your skin is sensitive or you have Rosacea, this face primer was made just for you. The Endothelyol inside relieves redness and they’ve also included St. John’s Wort inside to handle inflammation.

Face Illuminator Love - MIRABELLA Faerie Sparkle Swirling Pearl Brilliant - $40 @ dermstore.com – holiday parties are upon us, so why not add a touch of pearly glow to your cheeks and décolletage? This mineral-based highlighter is one of the better quality ones I’ve seen in some time.  

From L to R clockwise:

Nail Love - CUCCIO Colour Nail Lacquer in Java Va Voom and Cream & Sugar from the Café Cuccio Winter Colour Collection - $8.50 @ hbbeautybar.com - a really great quality nude is seasonless and this Java Va Voom one is the perfect shade of coffee with 2 creams in it and when you need a little extra zhoosh on tips or toes, Cream & Sugar is a darker nude with tiny flecks of multi-colored sparkle.

Cheek Love - BENEFIT Majorette - $28 @ benefitcosmetics.com – and blush that gives you that sexy flush is never out(it) of season and this pinky-peach, cream-to-powder one will give you an instant boost. Wear it alone of under other blushes. And I love the slight tangerine scent to it!

Primer Love - NYX 'Honey Dew Me Up' Primer - $17 @ ulta.com – it’s certainly no secret that I love honey and seek products out that contain it, this one that uses it in a primer surprised me. First it’s in the gel form and it has tiny gold flecks that help with overall radiance. Ok I guess! What really impressed me is the way it felt while applying it and after applying it. Unlike most face primers, this one didn’t instantly disappear into my skin and actually did make it feel a tad dewy until it set. My skin really felt soft, smoothed out and “prepped” for the next step, which is an overall first. Big recommendation.  

Face Love - PACIFICA ‘Perfect Lotus’ Universal Powder - $16 @ smallflower.com – this buildable pressed mineral powder really brightened up my complexion and I was really surprised how universal the Light shade was! It blended in nicely and didn’t sit on top of any lines in my face.

Fragrance Love - CARVEN L’eau de Toilette - $79/1.7, $104/3.3oz only @ carven-perfumes.com – I’ve become quite the eau de parfum snob in that I feel I’m sort of wasting my time by choosing an eau de toilette as that scent is not as concentrated as a parfum version. Well this one may change my mind.
Aside from the lovely fresh, grassy, and totally feminine fragrance this one imparts, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s the more concentrated version as it certainly wears like one! This release is considered the “younger sister” of the Le Parfum that came out in 2013 as they share the same bottle design and some of the same composition like sweet pea, freesia, white hyacinth and white woods, among others, this one is considered the “sweeter,” of the two.

Zit Love - COVER FX Blemish Treatment Concealer - $38/2.5g @ sephora.com – I’m always so hesitant to put any makeup on a blemish for fear of making it worse but thanks to CFX, they want to take that fear away. The formula contains 10% Salicylic Acid to treat and Babchi Seed Extract to increase cell renewal. Check out the other new products in the blemish treatment collection.

More Nail Love - MILANI Color Statement Nail Lacquer in Mauving Forward - $3.99 @   walgreens.com – I’m finding myself not quite ready to jump into the fall just yet but am inching my way towards it with this shade of purply-mauve. 

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes.

Are you buying in to the whole BB/CC cream madness that has cropped up in the past year+? Even though I’m not a big fan of them, I’m glad I came across this one. This is a CC (color correcting or color control cream) cream and is made for those looking to get rid of redness or sallowness and this one has some added benefits than your average CC cream.

COVER FX CC Cream Time Release Tinted Treatment SPF 30 ($45/1oz @ dermstore.com) is tinted, as the name states, and also contains anti-aging ingredients that are released for 8 hours in a time-release fashion. Not even sure how you can get a cream to do that! This one also has a built-in primer and nice high sunscreen of SPF30.

The only negative I can find with this one is the smell. While it’s not that strong and doesn’t last long at all, I do notice a chemical smell when I’m applying it to my face. Kinda like self-tanner.

Available in 9 shades. Not sure which one you would be? Try their wicked cool shade conversion chart here. 

Disclosure: A sample of this item was provided for review purposes.

You’re look ain’t nuthin’ if your makeup is sliding off your face! Here are two that will help keep color where it belongs.

COVER FX Protection Primer SPF 30 ($38/1oz @ sephora.com) – just like the name states, this one is great for daytime as it contains a SPF 30, it’s vegan and contains those light refracting elements to blur the appearance of lines.

PIXI BEAUTY Flawless & Poreless ($29/1oz @ target.com) – if you have prominent pores then you  should try this primer. It helps smooth them out and this one is shine controlling and oil-free. Comes in only one shade – No. 1 Translucent.

New from the COVER FX line is their Pressed Mineral Foundation and this is only the second press mineral foundation I have ever tried, so I guess it’s hard to make a mineral foundation powder in a press form … or am I reading too much into this?!

Anyway, I just love the coverage I get from mineral foundations and a pressed formula is much more convenient to tote around than the loose version.

And is it shallow to be in love with the application sponge? Love when a company splurges in this department!

This pressed one is a medium to full coverage and is available in 24 different shades and you can find your perfect match just by knowing what your undertones are (google it) and then use that info to find your shade: P = Pink, N = Neutral and G = Golden. I think that if there is any part of beauty that is confusing, it’s the whole, “What are your undertones?” part but once you have that down, the rest is pretty easy. $35 @ sephora.com and dermstore.com.

I’ll do just about anything these days to prevent makeup meltdown/fall out/fade away, or whatever you’re calling it so I find myself always reaching for the finishing powder to seal it all in. Lately, I’ve been reaching for COVER FX’s Setting FX Translucent Setting Powder. It’s mineral-based, talc-free and oil-free and comes in Translucent and Dark. $32 @ sephora.com, ulta.com.

Disclosure: A sample of this item was provided for review purposes.