Tarte Dressed To The Nines LipSurgence Lip Crème Gift Set

Hey everyone! The blog is back! This time, with a review on the Tarte Dressed To The Nines LipSurgence lip creme gift set. There are a ton of products to show....so I thought it wold be easiest to do a blog post rather than a video. The Tarte Dressed To The Nines LipSurgence Lip Creme Gift Set is $34 at Ulta. This was my first time purchasing this holiday gift set, and I'm extremely glad I did! I have several other Tarte LipSurgence lip products from previous holiday and limited edition sets, which I absolutely love. So naturally, I knew I would enjoy this set! 

(The 9 shades are packaged separately in their own box in a plastic tray)

 I was particularly interested in this kit because of the wide range of shades it provides...9 products (in mini 0.056 oz sizes). Also, the set is made up of brand new limited edition shades-which can be a down fall if you really love a certain shade. Because if you love a particular shade, it unfortunately wouldn't be available in a full size. And in case you're not familiar, these lip cremes are basically like tingly lip plumpers. They don't sting....but they do leave a cooling minty feeling behind, which I really like. These lip cremes are not at all sticky, but some do leave behind a good amount of shine. As far as staying power, even with periodic eating and drinking-I can get several hours of wear out of these lip cremes! Another aspect that I love about these is that even though there are some shades that are slightly more sheer than others, they are NEVER streaky in application. They always hang together and give an even look across the lips. 

Left to right: Ritsy, Pizzazz, Luscious. 

These don't contain any shimmer and some shades are more opaque than others. They have the same overall feel on the lips as the normal lipsurgence lip cremes do and just as much shine. I had only tried a few shades from this line in the past and I loved them-so I am so excited to have more! 

Ritzy

This is a super natural, everyday wear type of shade. It's a great rosy pink shade that would go with anything. Overall, this is a fairly opaque color with not a lot of shine. It has a lot of coverage on the lips, but it's definitely one of those "my lips but better" kind of shades.  I can see this being a good Spring/Summer shade! 

Pizzazz

This is a highly opaque pinky red shade with a slight bit of shine. If I could offer 1 tip for applying this shade, that would be to be extremely careful because this is not a shade that you can just throw on and not have to worry about it feathering outside your lip line. I would recommend applying a lip liner first to maximize staying power. I really like this shade, perfect for the holidays! 

Luscious

This is a great deep berry shade that I would say is mostly matte. This one reminds me a little of NYX's High Voltage lipstick in Hollywood just because of the color. It's very natural and wearable I think. It goes on very opaque and I could see this worn a lot throughout the winter months. 

Left to right: Plush, Stunning, Glamorous 

Plush 

I was very surprised at how opaque this pinky nude shade applied. This is an ideal shade to wear if you have a dramatic eye look going on and you don't want too much attention drawn to the lips. Although I have a lot of this same color from other brands, overall, I really love this shade! 

Stunning 

This shade applied a little less pigmented than I would like for a peachy colored lipstick. Even though it's a nice shade I feel as though I have a lot of this same shade from different brands that apply more opaque than this one. It's extremely natural looking, which I don't mind, but I do feel as though I'm looking at my lip color with just a little added shine to them. So overall, this particular shade wasn't as impressive as some others were from this collection. 

Glamorous 

This shade for me is a very vampy deep plum/berry color. I love how opaque this color is without being streaky, which surprised me a little. I have nothing negative to say about this color, I can absolutely see this worn over the holiday and winter season for sure! I think this is probably one of my favorites from this specific collection. 

Left to right: Luring, Striking, Jazzy

Luring

This one looks a lot like the shade "Stunning" to me. I feel as though it's not as opaque as it should be and I once again have a lot of this same color from other brands that I find are more pigmented. This one is basically my lips with just a touch more color and a little added shine. Overall, not my favorite of the bunch. 

Striking

This shade reminds me a lot of NYX's High Voltage lipstick in Flutter Kiss because it's a very natural, warm nude color. This one is very opaque and can be worn with various eye looks ranging from natural to smoky. Great neutral to have in your collection in my opinion! 

Jazzy

This shade was very interesting to me because it's the brighter color of the bunch. The color itself is more of a brighter pinky red shade. I see myself wearing this in the winter season as well as in the spring and summer season, it's a very universal shade I think. So nonetheless, it's a beautiful shade and paired with a neutral eye look, I think it would look gorgeous! 

The one thing I wanted to mention is the packaging because each set of 3 is boxed in its own box with "To" and "From" on the back. So essentially you could split up each trio to give to someone or on the back of the bigger outer package is a "To" and "From" as well so you could give the entire set to someone if you wanted to.

The range of the shades in this kit is nice because it has your neutrals but also your deep and dark plum and berry shades as well. As I said in the beginning of this review, the staying power is pretty solid for at least 2-3 hours with eating and drinking. After that time span, you might want to re-apply, especially if you're wearing some of the lighter shades. If you're wearing the darker shades, as it wears off it will become more noticeable so I would be cautious as to how much time you let go between applications. Also with the darker shades you may find that they cling better, to where you don't have to re-apply so much because they're so opaque.

♥

My Favorites: Glamorous, Plush, Pizzazz, Striking

Bottom Line: I think for $34 you're getting a great value, especially if you've never tried Tarte Lipsurgence before. I think the size of these lip cremes is great because they're ideal for those of us that travel. Small sizes are great for those of us who are lip product addicts who rarely burn through a full size anyway. For me, every single shade in this kit is wearable and every shade is pretty. There are just some shades that I like more than others, If you're not a fan of any sort of minty or cooling sensation on your lips-you might want to side-step this kit altogether. I could see this kit being fun to split up between family or friends.....everyone could get a few to try! I think fans of light pinks and dark neutrals would really enjoy this set. I hope this post was helpful to those of you considering this kit! If you've tried it yourself, let me know your thoughts in the comments section!


Daily Nuggets...

• It feels great to be writing a blog post again! 
• Music class finals in a couple weeks (please pray for peace and that I pass my exams for both classes with flying colors!) 
• October and November 2015 product empties will be up today! Head over to my beauty channel: www.youtube.com/mariahsierra94 to watch! 
• If you like random family fun and other fun stuff, come hang out with me and the fam over on my vlog channel: www.youtube.com/offbeatvlogs 

Tarte Colored Clay "Clay of Life" Eyeshadow palette dupes

Hey everyone! I recently got a request from one of my subscribers on youtube to find dupes for the shades included in a QVC TSV Tarte kit from last month. The eyeshadow quad included in the kit is called "Clay of Life" and I absolutely LOVE the shade selection! I have loved Tarte's shadow quality from past palettes but somehow I feel as though this is one of their best.


So, enough blabbing! Lets get started. First of all, here's a look at the palette and shades included:

(from left to right: top left is Classic Cream (matte), top right is Simple Slate (metallic sheen), bottom left is Tantalizing Tan (matte), and bottom right is Breathtaking Brown (matte)

I tried to find exact dupes for all the shades, but I was unsuccessful. So the first shade is the matte cream "Classic Cream". 

I scoured my entire eyeshadow collection (including other palettes) and I came up empty handed. This shade is so unique,you'd think by looking at it that it is just an average "everyone-has-it" cream color. But this shade is buttery smooth  that I couldn't even come close to with another shade. Most of the shades I have in this color family were either a little too white or too dark of a cream. I personally use this shade mainly as my browbone highlight. So, all that to say I don't have an exact dupe for this one unfortunately. But if you wanted a pretty close comparison you could try Wet n Wild's single in "brulee", although in tone brulee has more of a white tone than a cream tone to it. 

This next shade I have an exact dupe for.  "Simple Slate" is a GORGEOUS silvery/taupe shade with a metallic sheen to it. This is one of my favorite shades in this quad, it looks absolutely stunning paired with the deep matte brown on the inner half and outer half of the lid, with this Simple Slate shade popped right in the center of the lid. Just a tip, if you really want to make this shade more metallic, spray some MAC Fix Plus on the back of your hand, dip your brush into the color, and apply to the center of your lid. Combined with the matte brown: STUNNING! 

When I saw this shade I immediately knew which eyeshadow was an exact dupe. The dupe I found is Wet n Wild's single in Nutty.

Although, I feel like Simple Slate is sightly more pigmented nevertheless Nutty is an exact dupe. Here they are side by side together on my hand:

(top is Simple Slate and bottom is Nutty) 

Yet again, this next shade I wasn't able to find a dupe for unfortunately and that shade is "Tantalizing Tan". This is another one of those super unique shades. I looked and looked in my collection because I was sure I had an exact dupe for it, but alas, I came up once again empty handed. 

I find that this shade is slightly less pigmented than the other shadows in the quad but nevertheless it makes a great crease color if you're going for a super natural look.


Finally in this quad is the gorgeous deep, matte brown shade called "Breathtaking Brown". This is the shade that I have paired with Simple Slate and as I said earlier, it is absolutely stunning! The matte brown shade is truly breathtaking. I love a palette that has a matte brown because I feel as though it is such a staple shade.

I searched through my collection and I actually found a pretty close shade match in the LORAC Unzipped Gold palette. The shade is called "Unedited". Unedited is maybe just a little bit lighter than Breathtaking Brown, but side by side they look pretty much identical.

(top is Breathtaking Brown and bottom is Unedited)

Alright, my goodness that was long post but I do hope this was helpful for those of you that were looking for dupes for the Tarte palette. Even though this kit is no longer available at the TSV price, you can still get it. Please click HERE if you'd like to order this kit. 

Also, just a disclaimer I was not paid to do this post nor am I in any way affiliated with Tarte. 

If you're still reading this, thank you!! Again, I hope you enjoyed this post and thank you so much for taking the time to read it. Have a wonderful day! 

♥

Daily Nuggets.....

• 1 more week to go and I'll be completely finished with College Algebra forever, yay!! 

• First teacher meeting tomorrow night for my annual Vacation Bible School camp that starts on July 13th! 

• Well, I suppose that summer is here in Northern California because it went from 70 degrees to 102 overnight this past week....yuck! 

• If you haven't checked out my beauty youtube channel please click HERE 

• If you like completely random, everyday mundane daily life vlogs and also some occasional silliness and fun, please click HERE 

Friday Five: Best Drugstore Neutral Eyeshadows

Hey Everyone! I know it has been a very long time since I've done a blog post, but I'm going to get back into blogging because I miss it! So let's get into today's post, shall we?


I was browsing Pinterest looking for blog post inspirations and I came across a photo I had pinned quite a while ago that said "Friday Five: Best Drugstore Neutral Eyeshadow". I immediately was inspired to do a blog post sharing my top 5 picks. If you want to check out the blog post that was attached to that photo on Pinterest, click HERE

Let's get started!

1. My first pick is a eyeshadow trio by Wet n Wild called "Walking on Eggshells". This was my first palette (actually ever) that I had purchased when I first was getting into makeup  and it is still my favorite palette to go to for a polished, but natural look.

2. The next one is another Wet n Wild trio called "Sweet As Candy". This one is like walking on eggshells, but the pink and brown shades are deeper. I actually prefer this highlight shade over the highlight shade in the walking on eggshells trio.

3. This shadow is great for a "one-shadow look" and this one is by Lo'real. It's called "Bronzed Taupe". It is an absolutely beautiful shade and perfect for summer!

The consistency of these shadows is almost like a cream because they are so soft!



4. My next shadow can be used as a nice base under an eye look or worn alone. It is the Maybelline Color Tattoo in "Bad to The Bronze". This is the only true cream shadow I've used on my lids and it is absolutely gorgeous!

5. The final shadow that has been around in my collection for a very long time is another Wet n Wild shadow single in "Nutty". This is another great shade for a one shadow look or it looks absolutely gorgeous blended out in the crease as well. I bought this single not too long after falling in love with the eyeshadow trios, I absolutely LOVE this shade! If you can get your hands on it, I know ya'll will love it.

Well, that wraps up this post! I hope ya'll enjoyed this, it was fun for me to do! Thanks so much for taking the time to read, I really appreciate it!




Daily Nuggets.....

• If you haven't done so already, please come and check out my youtube channel! www.youtube.com/mariahsierra94 and also please subscribe!

• Also for a peak into what I do daily and on the weekends, please check out my vlog channel! www.youtube.com/offbeatvlogs and please subscribe! 

• Only 30 days left in my high demand college Leadership class, SO excited!! But I have SO much left to do......

• Celebrating my mom's birthday this weekend, yay!! 

Face of the day: Natural with a Fall Twist

Hey Everyone! So sorry its been so long since I last did a blog post. These last few months have been crazy with starting an internship, working, doing my college classes and managing both youtube channels. But needless to say, I love every minute of what I do! SO....with all that said, let's get into my face of the day!

This morning I was singing in my church choir for the service and I needed my makeup to last, so I'm calling this look: Natural with a Fall twist; because I wanted natural eye makeup but still have it contribute to the season we're in. Just to give you an idea of how long I needed this to last,  I applied my makeup at 5:00 this morning and I wasn't finished singing until 12:30pm. Anyways, here's what I used:

Face...

• Hard Candy Sheer Envy face primer

• Neutrogena Visibly Even BB Cream in light to medium

• IT ByeBye Undereye Concealer in Tan 

• Revlon PhotoReady concealer in #004 Medium (spot concealer) 

• Laura Geller Baked highlight in French Vanilla (to set undereye concealer)

• NYX powder blush in Mocha 

• Laura Geller Balance-n-Brighten powder foundation in Medium (all over finishing powder)

Eyes...

• Lorac behind the scenes eyeshadow primer (not pictured) 
• Smashbox Photo Op Cherry Smoke eye palette (details on the shades used below)
• Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara (mini size) 

Eyeshadow How-to...

• I applied that gold/pink shade (number 1) on my inner corner and a little up onto the inner part of my lid with a flat shadow brush 

• With that same flat shadow brush, I applied the shimmery/metallic berry shade (number 2) all over the rest of my lid  

• Next, I applied and blended the shimmery taupe shade (number 3) in my outer corner, the outer part of my lid, and up into the crease with a fluffy brush 

• Finally, with the same fluffy brush I applied and blended the creamy beige shade (diagonally up from that berry shade) under my brow 

Lips...

I LOVE this line of lipsticks! This is one of the Essence Long Lasting lipsticks in #07 Natural Beauty. It's a beautiful nude/pink color without totally washing out your lips, it's that "My lips but better" kind of shade. 

♥

Daily Nuggets....

• Studying like a mad woman for my midterms in both of my college classes next week, yikes!
• I'll be shooting a new vlog on the brain condition I have and how I deal with it, as well as the daily issues it brings along with it hopefully soon! If you haven't subscribed to my vlog channel, you can do so HERE I would really appreciate you subscribing! :) 
• New videos will be coming on my main channel this week I'm hoping! (crossing my fingers!) and if you haven't subscribed to my main channel, you can do so HERE I would again greatly appreciate you subscribing! :)
• About to head off to work for a couple hours, yay! :) 
• Running a 5k "fun-run" with some friends from my college on Saturday, November 1st! SO excited, can't wait!! :D

Laura Geller Sugar Rush Collection

Hey everyone! 

I hope y'all are having a wonderful Monday evening, I just wanted to share a new collection from Laura Geller with you. Its called the Sugar Rush 6pc collection and it just hit Ulta stores last Sunday. This collection sells for $39 ($150 value!) and inside you're getting six full size products! By the way, I ordered this online a day before it came out (last Saturday) and I JUST got this in the mail this morning. So I haven't had a chance to try any of the products yet, but here's a rundown of what comes inside: 

*Balance-n-brighten baked foundation in medium

*Baked Highlighter in French Vanilla 

*Baked mono blush in Bali

*Baked marble eyeshadow duo in Amethyst/Unearthed

*Color Drenched lipgloss in French Press Rose

*double ended face & highlighter brush

Now that you know what you're getting, lets take a closer look at each of the products. 

Balance-n-brighten baked foundation in medium, I have heard wonderful reviews about! I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but this is a great match for my skintone and I'll for sure be doing a review in the near future :) this product is .32 oz which will last you forever! 

Baked Mono blush in Bali, I swatched this earlier and it is beautiful!! This is the perfect medium pink color and I cannot wait to use it! The product size of this is .23 oz

Baked Highlighter in French Vanilla, this is the product I was the most excited about because I've heard numerous people on youtube rave about it and I can see why! Its gorgeous!! :) product size is .06 oz which seems like not very much, but trust me its a lot of product! 

Baked marble eyeshadow duo in Amethyst/Unearthed, this looks absolutely stunning! Amethyst is a gorgeous purple and Unearthed is a gorgeous bronze shade. Beautiful combination of the shades and the product size is .06 oz 

Color Drenched lip gloss in French Press Rose, OMG! I had to swatch this and show you guys, this is a beautiful creamy pink gloss and wait for it.....It smells like vanilla!!! I swear this gloss smells SO GOOD!! :) here's a swatch on my hand: 

and by the way this gloss has no shimmer to it, just a beautiful shine :) product size is .3 fluid oz

All in all, I think this a great buy if you're like me and you've never tried Laura Geller out....get this kit! :) You won't be disappointed! And if you have tried Laura Geller, what are your favorite products? Also, click HERE to go to Ulta's website where you can either order it online or check to see if its available in your stores by typing in your zipcode. 

                                                                           ♥

 Daily Nuggets....

• Started the new semester of college classes for the fall term :) getting closer to being finished with general ed, yay!! 
• Got some new videos coming this week on my youtube channel, stay tuned! 
• Please keep me in your prayers as I am thinking about going in for another brain surgery to hopefully get rid of these constant level 8 headaches I've had for 2 and a half years, I would greatly appreciate it! :)

Face of The Day: Subtle Springtime

Hey everyone!

 I hope y'all are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon, I just wanted share with you a quick "face of the day" post since I hadn't done one in a while. Since Spring is most definitely upon us, I wanted to do a look with "springy" colors but still have it be wearable enough for church this morning. Here are the products I used!

face.....

• Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro face primer 
• Rimmel BB cream skin perfecting 9-in-1 super makeup in Medium 
• Maybelline Dream Wonder pressed powder in #50 Creamy Natural 
• Benefit Cha Cha tint cheek stain 
• TheBalm powder blush in Frat Boy (I applied this overtop of the Cha Cha tint to make it more of a pinky coral rather than an orangey coral) 

Eyes....

• ELF $1 eye primer (not pictured) 
• NYX infinite shadow stick in Flushed 
• NYX Love in Paris palette in Let Them Eat Cake (more details on the shades I used below) 
• Wet n Wild eyeshadow single in Brulee (used as my highlight shade) 
• Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara (forgot to snap a pic of it!)

Eyeshadow how-to.....

• I applied the coral shade (the middle shade) all over my lid
• I applied the shimmery plum shade (the shade directly above that coral shade) to my crease and then blended it out with a fluffy brush
• I then applied the wet n wild single in Brulee to my brow as my highlight

Lips.....

This lipstick I recently rediscovered in my collection and I had forgotten how great this shade is! This the Maybelline color whisper lipstick in Lust for Blush. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it! 

♥

Daily Nuggets...

• Will be studying for my Sociology exam next week! :) 
• I'll be uploading some new videos starting this coming Tuesday, yay! ;) 
• Getting back into being on the worship team at my church, practice starts this Wednesday!! :D 

Skincare Routine: UPDATED!

Good Morning everyone! I hope y'all are having a great Wednesday morning. I asked on Twitter yesterday if any of you would be interested in seeing/reading a blog post about my updated skincare routine, and my friend Staci said she would be interested, so thank you Staci for your interest :) She specifically asked me about the neutrogena pink grapefruit face wash/scrub and I've never used that one. I have sensitive, acne-prone, and oily skin, so I need a face wash that is oil free and that doesn't have any harsh ingredients in it.


I use three different products from Dermalogica, I use a face wash, exfoliant and a clay mask as well as two antibiotic creams from my dermatologist to help with my acne. Now mind you, I don't use all those products on the same day! I wash my face morning and night with the Dermalogica Clear Start Breakout clearing foaming wash, then I use one of my antibiotic creams in the morning and then I use both of them at night. At about every 2-3 days I will use the Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant and I just started using the Dermalogica Sebum Clearing Masque on the days I don't use the exfoliant.


Now that I've given you a run-down of what I use on a daily basis, lets go more in depth into the products.

First of all, the Clear Start wash smells awesome! It has a very citrusy scent, reminds me of oranges :) the bottle has 6.0 fluid ounces of product and it lasts me about a month. The cost of this is $19 at Ulta or you can also get this from a skincare specialist. As far as helping my skin clear up, it's doing its job! I really love the "refreshed" feeling it gives my skin after I use it, so all in all I thoroughly enjoy this product and I would highly recommend it for someone that has acne-prone skin like I do :) The ingredients that is in this is Salicylic Acid, 8 botanicals (Tea Tree, Lavender, and Camellia Sinensis are 3 that are mentioned) and Orange Peel Extract.

Next are the masques that I use, one is a clay mask and the other is an exfoliant. Lets start with the one I've used the most, which is the exfoliant. The Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant is awesome! Once you rub it on your face and neck, it starts to harden and gives you this kind of "cool" feeling on your face. You leave it on for 15 minutes, then wash it off with warm water. I absolutely LOVE this stuff!! The main reason I love it is because I have some dry patches around my nose and other areas of my face, but when I use this consecutively every 2-3 days my dry patches are gone and my makeup application is so smooth! What I love about this product is it goes deeper than just the surface of your skin, it actually goes deep into your pores and removes all the dead skin as well as removing any places on your face that are "dull". The ingredients that are in this is Alpha and beta hydroxy acids and natural fruit enzymes. What is pictured below that I have in my hand is a sample size which has .75 fluid ounces of product inside, the full size of this product has 2.5 fluid ounces of product inside. The cost of this is $40 at Ulta or as I said before you can also get this from your skin specialist. 

And last, but not least is the Dermalogica Sebum clearing Masque. I've used this once in the last week or so, and I've really enjoyed it. As I stated before, it gives your skin a "cool" feeling when you apply it and the it hardens just like the other one. This one you leave on for 10 minutes and then wash it off with warm water. The ingredients that are in this is Kaolin, Bentonite and the active ingredient is Triclosan (0.2%). Once again, what's pictured below in my hand is a sample size which has .75 fluid ounces of product inside and the full size has 2.5 fluid ounces of product. The cost of this is $45 at Ulta or you can also get it from your skin specialist. This masque helps prevent future breakouts and it also absorbs surface oil, which I need for my skin. 

 So that about wraps it up! That is what I use on a daily and weekly basis for skincare, I hope you enjoyed this! As always I am not a skin specialist, so if you're interested in any of these products I would recommend you contact either your dermatologist or esthetician. These products I use are specifically for my skin type so be mindful of that. Anyways, thanks again to Staci for basically requesting this and I hope y'all have a wonderful day! 

Daily Nuggets....

• Spring Break is next week!!! SO excited! So in lieu of that, I'm going to be filming some fun videos for my beauty channel! :) 
• Possibly going to the Ocean next Tuesday with a friend from college, yay!! Girls roadtrip :) 
• Finishing up my last 3 days of school before break starts, yay! 
• I think I'm finally going to get my vlog channel up and running now that I came up with a name: Mariah'sVlogMoments, what do you think? So stay tuned for some videos coming on that soon! 
• Its supposed to be 84 degrees today where I live! I think we skipped spring and headed right into summer, if you know what I mean :)