February Favorites

Hello Readers,

Hope you are all having a fantastic beginning to March and welcoming this new Spring weather! To send off February and the Winter chills, I have compiled a list of my favorite products during the month. I will continue this trend, and a new ‘Monthly Favorites’ for the previous month will be posted by the first weekend of the new month.

So, below I have my favorite products and items for the month of February:

 

1) Clarisonic Mia – $125.00USD at Sephora, Ulta, or Clarisonic.

I was initially put off by the shear price of this product, however with more research I decided that I would give it a try. I waited until Ulta had a 20% off one item coupon, and lucky for me they were offering double points on skincare products, so I convinced myself to just go with it. So far, the Clarisonic Mia has been my best skincare purchase since the new year.

Clarisonic claims that the benefits of using the Mia include:

The patented Clarisonic Sonic Cleansing Brush uses a sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to deeply cleanse the skin far more effectively, yet more gently, than traditional superficial cleansing or simple rotating brushes. The result is noticeably smoother, more radiant skin. Clarisonic

Personally, I have very dry skin with small pores. Since my pores are so small and my skin is on average under-moisturized, I get a lot of little blackheads and clogged pores. I found that just after using the product daily for only a week that I had less blackheads as well as those pesky sebaceous filaments that I get predominantly around my nose and chin.  Overall, after using the product for a month, my skin has become much healthier, clearer, brighter, and softer.

 

2) Paul Mitchell Forever Blonde Dramatic Repair – $17.98USD at your local salon or on Amazon.

I have always played the victim of fine hair that tends to get greasy by the end of the day (gross right?). Anyway, because my hair is so lame and fragile, I would tend to stay away from any  products other than shampoo and conditioner. Over the past couple years, I decided that I would try to grow my hair long as a change to my usual bob tousled look. However, about 6 months ago I noticed that my hair wasn’t getting any longer. When I went in to get it trimmed and rid of dead ends, the stylist recommended to me the Paul Mitchell Forever Blonde Dramatic Repair. I was hesitant because of my unspoken fear of hair products, however it has truly made a difference.  I spritz just a bit to the tips of my hair, including the ends of my bangs and  not only does it keep the ends of my hair from splitting, but it makes them look healthy and shiny!

The product is formulated with their special ‘KerActive’ protein (keratin), safflower oleosomes, and macadamia nut oil that detangles, smooths, strengthens, and replenishes damaged hair.

 

3) Lorac Pro Pallete: $42.00USD at Ulta and Lorac.

This was honestly an impulse buy…but I have no regrets. This palette is my everyday palette leaving all my other neutral eye shadow palettes in the dust (literally).

The Lorac Pro Palette holds 16 eye shadows, including 8 shimmer, and 8 matte formulas. Since there is such variety in finish and color, the palette is really great for creating any look from a “no-makeup” look, a soft day eye, or even a full on smokey eye. My favorite look to do using the palette is to take White and apply it to my brow bone, tear duct, and center of my lid, then take Mauve and lightly apply that to my crease. This creates a very simple and effortless every day look that I can do in literally 30 seconds before class.

 

4) Sigma F86 Tapered Kabuki Brush – $21.00USD at Sigma Beauty.

 

I purchased this brush after the holidays when I decided that I was much overdue for a brush upgrade. I bought several brushes from Sigma, however this one I use almost every day.

The F86 is unique with its dense and tapered brush head. The brush is made of Sigma’s Synthetic Sigmax bristles so it is Vegan, cruelty free, and suuuuuper soft. The brush itself feels very sturdy and is of good quality. I have washed it several times since I have bought it and so far hasn’t shed one hair or warped out of shape.  Sigma suggests that you use the brush for precise blending and applications of face products including powers, creams, and liquids. Since the bristles are so dense, you wont loose too much product to the brush even if you are using a liquid formula.

Personally, I like to use the brush to contour my cheekbones. Since the brush is tapered, you can get a better idea to where you are applying the bronzer to your face. For someone who is as pale as me, the worst thing that can happen is loading up a powder brush and just slapping that stuff on my cheeks. Using this brush I can precisely apply my contour and blend it out evenly.

 

5) Light Pink Nail Polish – Various

Light pink nail polish for February, so original right? Well I’m not sure what it was, but I really liked the look of a soft baby pink nail polish this past month. Some of my favorites included:

• Butter London in Pink Ribbon – $15.00USD on Amazon
• Zoya in Gie Gie – $9.00USD from Zoya
• OPI in Second Honeymoon – $10.50USD on Amazon (as far as I can tell, this shade has been discontinued and can be hard to find)

 

So there you have it, my February Favorites! Let me know down in the comments or Contact Me if you would like any swatches or in depth reviews of the products above!

XO-