My Favorite Cheap, but Really Good Makeup

I will be the first to say I'm not big on spending a lot of money on makeup, especially if it's something new I'm trying. Now, will that come back and bite me in the rear when I'm older? I'm not sure... but my face isn't too sensitive right now and none of these products or bands have bothered me.

I love trying new products out and seeing which works best - here is a list of the best "cheap" makeup products I'm currently using!

1. Maybelline Master Contour Set $8.99 This contour set is perfect for a quick contour that's not too complicated. The shades work perfectly with my skin tone and provide a flawless, blended contour. For Christmas last year, my mom got me this contour kit and while I loved it, it broke my face out so for a 3rd of the price and no breakouts, I love this Maybelline set.

2. e.l.f. HD Lifting Concealer $3.00 I love using this concealer to hide small blemishes or the occasional pimple that pops up. It hides well and lasts all day.

3. e.l.f. Makeup Mist and Set $2.99 I'm not sure how effective this is - I don't seem to notice a difference if I use it or not but it is refreshing and feels great on my face. I used it after my flights the last few months and it left me feeling refreshed and hydrated.

4. Maybelline Super Stay Matte Lip $7.99 Y'all, I love this stuff! If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat, you might have seen my review and testing of this lipstick last Friday. I wore it for a full 12 hours on Friday and it stayed on so well - I didn't have to reapply and it kept my lips hydrated all day. I have the shades #10 Dreamer and #15 Lover. I used #15 on Friday and noticed the color got darker as the day went on and thanks to Kelsey it came right off with some coconut oil.

5. e.l.f. Triple Tip Waterproof Eyeliner Pen $2.99 I'm not sure why I was only able to find a triple tip pen but mine is a single tip pen (like in the picture). I used my sister's Stila eyeliner pen a few weeks ago but at $22/pen I didn't want to splurge on it. I found this e.l.f. one at Target and felt as if it is no different. It goes on smooth and lasts all day!

6. e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit $2.99 With the eyebrow trend becoming big, I figured I should look into something to give me just a little more fill. I really like this kit because it fills in the gaps, doesn't look like I drew them on and doesn't leave a residue on my eyebrows (I can't stand that!).

7. L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Extra-Volume Collagen Mascara $5.99 April recommended this mascara a while ago and I've been hooked. I think it works really well and give my eyelashes a lot of volume.

8. e.l.f. Duo Concealer/Highlighter $3.00 I've been using this product for a while now and really like it! I hate spending a ton on under eye concealer because I feel like I go through it so quickly. This does a great job of covering up my dark circles (for the most part ;))

What did y'all think of this list? What's your favorite "cheap" makeup product that works really well?

Linking up with Annie

Why I Donated My Hair

I'm sure y'all saw by now, but this past weekend I donated my hair

A little back store - this has been something I've wanted to do for a while. Usually, I have short hair - I think this is the 3rd time in my life I've had long hair. The last time my hair was this long was for our wedding. After the wedding, I cut it and then cut it even shorter a few months later. It wasn't until afterwards that I realized I probably could've donated it if I cut it all at once instead which made me sad.

A few months ago, I noticed my hair was getting fairly long so I started doing some research into what it would take to donate my hair. Originally, I wanted to donate to a children's foundation like Locks of Love but saw some things about that company that didn't sit quite right. I heard good things about Pantene Beautiful Lengths and they also only required 8" when everyone else required 10" which really made my ears perk up ;)

I never thought I'd be attached to my hair because since I don't ever color it, I change it up with different hair cuts but with the thought of cutting it all off, I was suddenly attached. It was really a love hate relationship with my long hair but in the end, making the cut won out. I was definitely ready for lighter, shorter hair! 

I went to my regular salon and they were so excited to help me do this! It was the craziest feeling when my hair dresser cut my pony tail off and handed it to me... it felt so weird!! Since my hair is so thick, we ran out of time for her to straighten my hair so I ran home, showered off and straightened it to check out my new do! 

I'm so happy with how it turned out!! It's definitely shorter in the back (I've never been brave enough to go that short) but I'm so glad the donation "made" me go that short. I shipped out my hair on Tuesday and hopefully will get confirmation they received my pony tail in a few weeks :) 

I'm so thankful I was in a position to donate my hair and help give someone a wig. It was a fun process that was surprisingly really easy! Now I've got to get used to using less shampoo and I can stop having nightmares that I cut my hair and didn't donate it ;) Also, thank you for all the sweet words I received after cutting my hair - everyone has been so kind and it's been so appreciated!

Linking up with Jessi

Weekending

This past weekend was so fantastic - with so many things to look forward to, we really enjoyed it! Friday, I had a big day at work with a breakfast and lunch meeting (I was so full all day) and came home to Stephen and his bestie. Neither of them had to work that day so they were enjoying some guy time. I watched an episode of Southern Charm and then Stephen surprised me with some new, beastly nerf guns. That lead to a fun nerf gun war - we're still missing one ball lol. Afterwards, I got to work on an embroidery order for my Aunt then we relaxed and watched Boss Baby. We thought the movie was kind of weird but portrayed siblings well - definitely pulled at my heart strings some.

Saturday morning, I was up early (bleh) so I watched another episode of Southern Charm, worked on the blog then got ready for my hair appointment! I've been so excited to get my hair cut - I'll touch more on this on Wednesday but I chopped 9" off and finally have short hair again.

After lunch, I took a 2 hour nap #allthepraisehands and we headed off to Disney! We have seasonal passes so they're blocked out all summer - this was the first time they've been valid in a few months. The weather was beautiful at our house but then once we got to Disney, it was gross and rainy the whole evening. Thankfully, we had our fun Mickey ponchos that my SIL got us for Christmas 6 years ago.

And of course the day I cut my hair, it rains and I didn't bring a hat... 

The ride stopped in the perfect spot so we were able to max out half way through the ride ;)

The Dole Whip with vanilla ice cream is our favorite and for a while, they only offered pineapple ice cream which we didn't like as much. We were so excited when we went to get one and they had vanilla ice cream again!! It's the small things...

While we were walking at night, Stephen did this weird jump thing thinking he stepped on a rat (lol!!) but the bottom of his shoe fell off half way. We went to a store and asked for a rubber band to keep his shoe together but instead, the employees went out and got him a pair of nice flip flops for free. They knew this was a safety issue and didn't want him to get hurt in the park. This is why I love Disney, they saw a safety problem and went out of the way to fix it. Even though I'm sure this was for liability issues, they took care of it on their own dime and were so nice about it!

We finished up the night watching the fireworks from behind the castle which was super cool! Sunday, we went to church, Publix and did some work around the house before heading back to Orlando to meet Stephen's family for dinner. It was good to see everyone and a nice way to end the weekend.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well! Linking up with Biana

Makeup Review

Disclaimer: I will be the first to admit I don't have a single clue when it comes to makeup. I usually keep things very minimal and don't buy expensive/"nice" makeup (thank goodness for Stephen since he thinks my $12 power foundation is expensive lol)

After following along in the blog/vlog world for a little bit, I had noticed that people had more "complex" makeup routines than I did and the things they did with makeup made a big difference. One of the big things I wanted to try was contouring. My mom got me this contour pallet for Christmas and I loved it, until I broke out from it. After returning it, I didn't want to spend $40+ on another contour kit so I opted for the new Maybelline contour kit and used the extra money to get some fun brushes and chap sticks. I've been really impressed with the Maybelline kit - the dark shade is perfect but I have to admit, the lighter shades were better in the NYX kit.

I love Neutrogena products because they're not harsh on my skin and it's not too expensive. I always use this pressed powder and it gives me great coverage for everyday use. If I wanted a more polished look, I would use Clinique liquid foundation and then add the pressed powder on top. The liquid foundation was very thick and even though it gave me an airbrushed look, I didn't like how thick it was on my face. When I was at home for Christmas, my mom got my sister some Urban Decay liquid foundation - it doesn't give her enough coverage so she gave it to me. I love this stuff!! It is light/medium coverage but it feels so light on your face and still looks super natural. I use this almost everyday under my powder foundation and haven't had a problem! This will probably be my one expensive makeup piece that I will continue to splurge on.



Neutrogena was running a BOGO 50% off when I needed to buy more foundation so I took advantage and snagged a fun pink blush. My current blush is kind of dull and I wanted to spice things up a bit with a new, brighter blush. I really like it and it'll be the perfect shade for spring/summer!

After returning the NYX contour kit, I had some extra money to play with so I snagged this makeup sponge and brush. I wanted to try out the sponge for my liquid foundation application but I was very disappointed with the sponge because it seemed to soak up all of the foundation instead of leaving it on my face. I was about to return it when my sister informed me that you can use it for concealer (which I didn't have - told y'all I don't know much lol). I decided to get some cheap concealer to try it out. I really like using the sponge to put on the concealer and for $3, it's a steal! I also got a new brush which I love using to blend my contour.

I've been using Burt's Bees chapstick for a little while now and right before Christmas, Target ran a BOGO deal on their kits. Stephen wanted to get me some for little stocking stuffers and I decided to go with some tinted kits rather than plain chapstick. I picked out this kit and this kit and so far, I have been really impressed by them. The colors are great and perfect for someone like me, who doesn't usually wear a lot of color on my lips. I'll probably keep getting their lipsticks in the future because my lips are very sensitive and these don't bother them as much. FYI: I read that eos chapstick can really mess up some peoples lips and after seeing some pictures, I realized that's what was happening to mine (although not as bad). I decided to throw out my eos chapsticks and now I don't have as big of a problem.

One last thing that I got for Christmas was the Urban Decay Perversion mascara. I received a sample tube for my birthday and LOVED it but didn't want to buy the bigger tube. I got it in my stocking from my parents and have been enjoying using it. Unfortunately, it seems different than the sample tube that I had but still gives great volume. Honestly, I'll probably go back to drug store mascara after this tube runs out - it's good, not great.

Thanks for bearing with me and my makeup post - there's a first time for everything!

Linking up with Annie.