Pale Products and More

When Fenty Beauty frist launched I was (obviously ) interested in the foundation (you can read my review of that here), but the rest of the launch kind of bored me. I initially wasn't even drawn to the lip gloss, but I was sold on it literally only after seeing Samatha Ravndahl wear and rave about it.

The Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminzer (was that necessary) retails for $18 for .30 oz or 9 mL of product; comparing to the Tom Ford Lip Gloss which is $28 for .16 oz or 5 mL, and the Too Faced Peach Oil Lip Gloss which is &19 for .14 or 4 mL, it seems like Fenty is really giving us a lot of product for not a crazy price! Props to Rihanna for that.

It claims to have "explosive shine" and be the "perfect rose nude", while plumping lips to make them look "fuller and smoother". I would definitely have to agree on all accounts- it makes my lips looks really nice and full, has a high shine finish. I'm not in love with the shade as it pulls relatively peachy on me, but I do like it.


It feels soo smooth and nice on the lips and fades extremely evenly, as well as leaving lips feeling moisturized. I was initially worried about the shimmer, but when applied you can't even see it. I do like this a lot I just wish the shade was slightly less peachy and more true rose. It doesn't even photograph as peachy as it actually looks when applied to my lips.


Overall I do really like this, but its not something I reach for every day. I'll definitely use it up, but won't repurchase.

I bought a lot of makeup this year let's be honest. I figured I might as well talk about my favorites to try and convince myself that it wasn't all a waste! Most products I have reviews on, and if I do they will be linked.

I only have one product when it comes to foundations and that would be the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Foundation. This gives such a beautiful skin like finish and has a shade I can wear without mixing. Its the one face product I find myself reaching for much more consistently than any others, and I even bought a second bottle, which I don't think I've ever done! I have a full review on it here if you're interested.

In the category of concealers I have two products to mention; the Kat Von D Lock It Creme Concealer (review here) and the Nyx HD Concealer in Alabaster (review here). The Kat Von D one provides serious brightening and coverage, while the Nyx one gives a more natural look. I repurchased each of these and plan on doing so when I run out again!

I'm lumping face products together in one category, and I've got a few products to talk about; the Nudestix Nudies All Over Face Color Matte in Bareback/Bondi Bae, the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders, the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed, and the Rms Beauty Living Luminzer.
I have reviews coming on the Nudestix products, but they are great! Bare Back is a perfect contour shade for my skin tone, and Bondi Bae a really nice bronzer. They blend out great and last really well.
I have two of the Hourglass Strobe Lighting Powders, reviews here and another coming soon. They are my go to highlighters that I know will look beautiful no matter what. I really want to purchase the other shade that will work on my skin tone, Brilliant.
The Tarte Amazon Clay Blush in Exposed (review here) is the blush I wear pretty much every single day. I don't have to worry about matching it to my eyeshadow and lip product, I can just put it on hassle free and know it'll look good. Its my ride or die blush.
I just recently got the Rms Beauty Living Luminzer, so a review will be coming, but I love this shit. Its the perfect glossy/balmy highlighter I've been looking for that looks great and doesn't fuck with my base products.

As far as primers/setting sprays two products really stood out to me this year; the Too Faced Hangover 3 in 1 Replenishing Primer and Setting Spray and the Smashbox Primer Water. Both of these improve the application of foundations when used as primers, making them look more skin like. I don't use the Primer Water as setting spray, but the Too Faced one really settles powder into my skin and gives a very natural finish to my face when it may look a bit powdery or heavy. I can always count on these two products to help my base look great.

When it comes to eye products there's really only one stand out product I can think of; the Nudestix Magnetic Matte Eye in Taupe. I got this as a free gift when I bought some of their lip products (which I promptly returned bc they were shit), and boy am I glad I did. I use it when I just need something on my eyes but am too lazy to really blend an eye look. I just plop it on, blend quickly and done. I really want to purchase other colors but they're a bit pricey so we shall see. (forgot to include this in the picture, don't drag me).

It was a good year for lip products; my faves are the Fenty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer, the Tarte Quench Lip Rescue, the Butter London Sheer Wisdom Lip Oil, and the Lorac Alter Ego Glosses.
I have a review on the Fenty Gloss coming soon, but man I love this stuff. I wasn't gonna get it originally but I think Samantha Ravndahl on youtube convinced me. I was weary of the glitter but you can't even see it on the lips, it just looks juicy and beautiful.
The Tarte Quench Lip Rescues are my every day lip product when I don't want to think about my lips, but still want to look amazing. I have a review coming; they are everything I want in a lip product and more. I wish there were more shades!
Butter London really came through with these Sheer Wisdom Lip Oils (review here). They are exactly what I want in a sheer lip product and rival the Tarte Lip Rescues for my all time favorite lip product!
The Lorac Alter Ego Glosses are my favorite lip gloss formula I've found. I have a review coming soon, but they apply beautiful, and wear even better.

I've got one product to talk about in the personal hygiene category and that would be the Lush Aramaco Deodorant (review here). This year was a long journey to finding a non-aluminum deodorant that worked for me (no I'm not avoiding aluminum because I'm afraid of cancer or whatever, it just fucks up my armpits). This product was a godsend after many failed attempts, and many armpit rashes.

And my final category, skincare, has a few contenders; the Corsx Oil Free Moisturizing Lotion, Corsx BHA Blackhead Liquid, and the It's Skin Grean Tea Calming Cleansing Oil (somewhat old review here).
When I started using the Cosrx Oil Free Moisturizing Lotion it was like the missing puzzle piece in my routine. It provides the perfect amount of light moisture after my more liquidy products, and preps my skin for the more heavy duty ones.
I've been using the Corsx BHA Blackhead Liquid since before 2017, but I really started continued use this year. This product really makes a difference in the quality of my skin, texture wise. Even if I skip it for one night, I can physically feel a difference putting on products that night, as well as in the morning applying makeup.
I've also used the It's Skin Calming Cleansing Oil since before 2017, but this is the only cleansing oil I've wanted to use the entire year, whereas before I was still trying out others. This just gets all my makeup off, doesn't leave any residue, and doesn't strip my skin at all. Added bonus it smells nice! I think I'm on my third or fourth bottle of this stuff.

Okay done. That's it for my 2017 favorite products! This year I found some really good shit! I'm looking forward to what 2018 has in store :-)

As soon as I saw Rihanna's shade range I knew I was going to have to try out the foundation, like are you serious. Then I saw official swatches where 100 didn't actually look that light and I was slightly put off, but THEN I saw reviews when it came out where it DID look super light so I figured fuck it why not try it.

It retails for $34 for 1.08 fl oz. which is a little more than standard. It claims to be a
soft matte, long wear foundation with buildable, medium to full coverage, in a boundary breaking range of shades." The shade 100 is for "very fair skin with neutral undertones". I also got a sample of 110 which is described as "very fair with cool undertones" which I'll show swatched. On my skin, 100 looks more yellow than neutral.

top is 100 bottom is 110

I applied this with my Real Techniques sponge, primed my skin with my Smashbox Primer Water, and set my face with my elf setting spray. I didn't powder and wore this for 5 hours for this review. On other occasions I have worn this 8+ hours, but I had things to do later this day and you can probably tell why I didn't want to keep it on, lol.

left side applied

full face foundation applied

It goes on fine, but once I was done applying it, it looked pretty patchy. The color is pretty good, but the product clings to some slightly dry patches. Once I was done with my makeup, my face looked pretty shitty to be honest. My pores were pretty big, and the overall look was patchy and dry, but I tried to give the benefit of the doubt.

full face done

After 5 hours I essentially looked like shit. I've worn this a handful of times and each time I always regret it. I was patchy, dry, textured, etc. (not to mention Urban Decay Perversion is the worst lower lash mascara, which was not helping me from looking a mess). Pictures don't even show how bad it honestly looked. The edge of where my blush is looks super weird, I've never had a foundation do that (it can be seen in the second pic). You also can't tell in the pictures, but it oxidized slightly, not necessarily darker, but the undertones just make it look off. Also it creased in the corners of my eyes like what foundation does that ever.....




And I decided to wash my face before I went to work, so that ends the test. When I wore this foundation before for longer, it just continued to look worse and worse.

Overall this gets a 1/10 from me, simply for the shade being nice and light. Everything else sucked and this is definitely gonna be the last time I wear this, so glad I only got samples.