I can't believe it's been like a month since I last blogged. Surprise surprise, this year is flying by and I still haven't adjusted to the fact that it's 2017. January whizzed by in the ED, and February whizzed by in Step 3 study land and vacation. Not sure if I've mentioned this in my last post, but for the past two weeks I have been in Dubai and India with my mom for a bit of sightseeing and catching up with family. I'm planning on writing a separate blog post this upcoming weekend for my travel experiences and photos. For now, let's just say it was a really nice trip and it sucks to be back and have a rough three months to look forward to. The only good thing is that this week is going to be fairly light since I'm on nursery night shift for the next four nights and then I'm on my golden weekend with three days off. So nice slow transition back to work life until my next easy block in three months. I also have my eye appointment this week which I'm nottttt looking forward to.

Alright let's get to some favorites for this month. Sorry it's a tad late, I'm trying to post favorites at the end of each month, but I didn't have my laptop on this trip and it's really hard blogging on an iPad! Not too many favorites this month since I haven't had too much time to try out new products, but all o these are really amazing products nonetheless.

Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette, Nougat

I've been on a cool-tone rampage this month. I've also been playing a lot with my Chocolate Bar palette, especially with the cooler shades like Nougat, Puddin', and Rum Raisin. Of all three, I think Nougat is definitely my favorite. It's a beautiful matte dirty pink sort of shade that's a lighter brown with a hint of pink-mauve undertones. Really unique shade, at least in my makeup collection. And of course, the quality of these shadows is superb and they all blend beautifully. 

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half-Baked

How's this for a makeup throwback. I dug this out of my eyeshadow drawer and have been wearing it quite a bit this month. I used to think this was way too bright of a gold, but I wore it this past month and I loved how it made my tired-sunken eyes pop.

L'oreal Voluminous Volume-Building Curved Brush Mascara 

The L'oreal Voluminous Mascara is at the top of my holy-grail mascara list. However, I usually go for the straight brush. While shopping at Ulta a couple months ago, I accidentally picked up the "Curved Brush" version. I didn't even know they made this mascara with this type of brush. But lo and behold, this ended up being a happy accident since I fricken love the curved-brush version of this mascara...even more than the original! The curved wand boosts up my lashes and makes them look more curled and fuller than with a straight wand, so this is definitely a must-try mascara. 

NYX HD Blush in Pink The Town

This has been my go-to blush this month. It has an interesting finish, it's mostly matte but has a hint of a satin-sparkle finish if you look at it carefully. The color is pretty ordinary but nevertheless it is a brightening peachy-pink blush without making your face look like a disco ball.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Cream Cleanser

I wanted to switch things up with month and try a new acne-specific face wash. I really like Neutrogena products and I decided to try the orange-colored tube of acne face wash from the sea of Neutrogena acne face washes they had at Ulta. I think it's reduced the number of fresh acne spots that have cropped up on my face this month, but I'm going to test out it for another few months before the final verdict is out on that. But like other Neutrogena face washes, it has menthol that makes your skin tingle, has a faint cucumber scent, and it did not cause me to have an adverse reaction.

Beauty Haul!

Welcome to Thanksgiving week! It's officially the week of stuffing our faces with turkey and getting a head start on holiday shopping. November is always the worst financial month for me. There are soooo many amazing deals going on that I tend to overspend every single year in November. December is pretty bad too, but not nearly as bad as November. But how can I resist all the pretty makeup and packaging and holiday decor and ornaments and treats and etc etc?!

As with every year, I got my 20% off VIB coupon for Sephora in the mail earlier this month and of course, I had to go shopping. I was going to buy a lotttt of stuff because I had to spend $200 to renew my VIB status, but after a lot of thought I've decided to just give up on the VIB program. I've been a VIB member for two years now and have finally realized that it's just not worth it. Every year I force myself to spend $350 on products I don't really use just to keep being a VIB member. And to be honest, the rewards just aren't that worth it. Sure you get exclusive deluxe rewards and stuff and yearly coupons, but I just don't buy that much makeup at Sephora anymore to justify being a part of their rewards program. So for next year I think I'm going to switch to Ulta for all of my beauty stuff. You only have to spend $450 per year, which is quite easy to do if you buy all your beauty stuff there -- cleansing wipes, cotton rounds, Q-tips, face washes, etc...it adds up! They carry literally everything I need from drugstore and high-end sides, and I just feel like I have a much more fun experience shopping at Ulta than at Sephora. The Ulta rewards program also seems much more robust with points contributing to dollar values off, 20% off everything coupons 3-4 times a year, and more points earned per purchase. But I barely shopped at Ulta this year so I figured I'd start that in 2017.

Okay enough chatting. Now to talk about the goodies I got.

Clarisonic Mia 2 in Gray -- yes I finally got a Clarisonic!!! My skin has been breaking out like crazy over the last month. I don't know if it's hormonal or from inadequate skin cleaning, so I decided to try out the Clarisonic brush. Apparently it's way more efficient than manual cleansing, so let's see if my breakouts are really from me not washing my face adequately at night. Clarisonic recently had a sale where the dark gray Mia 2 was 50% off on their website so I jumped right on it and got it for only $85! Steal of the season.

Beauty Blender with Mini BlenderCleanser Solid -- Another beauty staple that I just purchased for the first time. I've been applying my favorite Clinique foundation with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for the last few months and I feel like I cake on my foundation. I decided to try the beauty blender to help my foundation go on more seamlessly. Plus, using a brush really drags on your skin, so I'm hoping this causes a little less damage to my skin when applying ze foundation.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion -- Okay for some reason this was on sale for $10 (it's usually $20). I thought I was going to get the baby size, but nope I got the huge wonking full size one! I have no idea why this was on sale for half off because this product is definitely not discontinued. Maybe they were just getting rid of product in the old packaging? In any case, this is one of my holy grail, everyday products that I was running out of and looks like I'm going to be good on primer for the next five years!!

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant Light -- Hourglass just came up with itty bitty baby sizes of their lighting powders that were oh-so-raved-about two years ago. I never picked one up when they first came out because I'm not one for fancy highlighters and powders (especially when they cost $46 a pop), but when I saw smaller sized ones for half the price I figured I'd try it out. Plus, the Becca highlighters are way too shiny for me, and this one seems like a much more subtle highlight for everyday wear. It looks gorgeous on the swatch so I have high hopes for this product!

Sephora Collection Push Back Cuticle Pusher -- I love doing at-home manicures, but with the winter my cuticles get really dry and start flaking. I've always wanted to buy a cuticle pusher, but they're sooo expensive! When I saw this one on sale for $7 along with my coupon, I knew I had to get it. Hoping this pretties up my nails for an even better at home manicure!

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Fresh Cut Split End Mender -- I got this as a 100 point perk. I've been meaning to try something for the ends of my hair because they get sooo dry. Not sure if this product is really meant for that. I don't get split ends as often as I used to because I don't heat style as much, but with all the pulling and tugging I do for my curly hair, I'm sure I still rack up a few split ends. The reviews seem good so fingers crossed that my dry hair days have come to an end!



So that's all the gems I picked up at this holiday season's Sephora spree. I know Black Friday is just around the corner and there are sooooo many beauty goodies on the preview ad for Sephora and Ulta. BUT I'm going to be a good girl this year and probably won't buy anything from those sales. Instead my money is going to Kohl's  (and possibly Ann Taylor/LOFT). Kohl's has an AMAZING Black Friday sale every year and I just put in a huge ass order this morning for a ton of wardrobe and home staples I needed.
But anyways I hope you all have a great work week, and expect a blog post up on what I did this Thanskgiving (my first one alone in a new city!).

Quick and Easy Natural Makeup Routine

Hey everybody! At the time I'm writing this, I'm at Rochester, my very last residency interview! This post is pre-written and gonna go up probs later in the month. I wasn't even planning on doing a post like this, but tonight I had to attend the pre-interview dinner and only had a few minutes to get ready. As I was getting ready, I realized that it would be awesome to show you guys my go-to natural, lightweight, 5-minute, quick, easy makeup routine that I've been wearing for most of interview season. I've been driving hundreds of miles to my interviews so by the time the pre-interview dinner rolls around at night, I'm pretty lazy and don't feel like doing some elaborate look. This has pretty much been my standard look during dinners. It only requires a few products, it's easy, and makes me look put-together. Let's get to the deets!

Start with a clean face (and clean hands!). I skip foundation/BB cream so I don't have to spend time blending anything out. Since you're skipping foundation, you want to make sure you're using a high-coverage concealer. I love, love, love my Milani Secret Cover Concealer in Medium (a hidden drugstore gem!). I dot it directly on any blemishes and blend it out using my finger. I lock in my concealer with the L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder in W5 using my Real Techniques Powder Brush. This also adds a bit of extra coverage and evens out my concealer. Boom, done with the face already! Next, my eyes. I always, always use primer since I have quite oily lids. Right now I'm using theBalm's Put A Lid On It Eyelid Primer, which I received in my Ipsy bag. It's a pretty good primer that gets the job done and keeps my shadow in place all day. Since we're keeping things easy and natural, I just apply a golden eyeshadow all across my lid using a flat shadow brush. The eyeshadow I'm using currently is the Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half-Baked, a beautiful golden shade. I have a duo of it from the Sephora Favorites Bronze Bares All set I got last summer, but the shade is also sold independently and in the Naked 1 palette. I've also been loving the ColourPop Eyeshadow in Desert as an all-over lid color. I don't add anything in my crease or below my lash line, although you can if you want a smokier effect. Of course you need mascara to finish off the eye look! I'm currently loving my holy grail mascara, the CoverGirl Lashblast Volume Mascara in Black. Finally, for the cheeks I like applying a sheer peachy-pink blush since that color best suits my complexion. I used my travel-sized version of the NARS Blush in Deep Throat, which is one of my favorite everyday blush colors. I kept my lips bare because I was going out to dinner and didn't feel like fussing with any lipstick or gloss, but you can use a nude lipgloss or lip balm to finish off the look if you wish.

That's it! Just a few staples and you have an easy, peasy natural makeup look that can be done in just a few minutes. I love this look for work and other professional events. It makes you look nice and bright without looking like you've caked on makeup.

My Favorite Neutral Eyeshadows!

It's no secret that I'm a total eyeshadow junkie. Ever since I started wearing makeup, trying out new eyeshadow combinations has always been my favorite part of my beauty routine. I'm not too afraid of wearing a bold eyeliner or a crazy color in my crease, but neutral shimmery shadows have always been my favorite. Here are some of my favorite neutral eyeshadows, some palettes and some singles. 

Colourpop Super Shock Eyeshadow in Smash

This has been my most favorite eyeshadow color over the past few months. It's a gorgeous, shimmery, light bronzy taupe that looks beautiful all over the lid. It's sort of like a powder version of Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, and it goes with everything, by itself or with a darker crease color.

Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette

My very first eyeshadow palette ever! This is a must-have palette for everyone who loves warm toned  eyeshadows. Although the palette doesn't contain a lot of matte shadows, the shimmery shades it has are all super gorgeous. It's such a versatile palette and you can make an endless number of looks with it. Plus, it comes with an eyeliner!

Urban Decay Naked 3 Eyeshadow Palette

Another great Urban Decay palette! This one contains more rose gold and mauve toned shades. I initially thought this palette would be a little too light for me or the colors wouldn't be good for everyday use, but I was totally wrong. The colors still look very natural, but they're different than your usual bronze and taupe shades. I love using the pink shades in the spring/summer and the mauve ones during the fall and winter. Great palette for those trying to branch out from neutral eyeshadows, but not quite ready for crazy bright colors.

Too Faced Natural Eye Eyeshadow Palette 

Since I lost my Naked palette, I purchased this one as a new, go-to neutral eyeshadow palette. I love love love this palette because it has a good selection of matte shades, shimmery lid colors, and darker crease colors. Too Faced makes really good quality eyeshadows. Whenever I'm in a rush or don't know what to wear, I always reach for this palette. The shadows come housed in a compact tin container that makes it great for travel.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Pan in Glamorous

The photo above isn't quite representative of its actual color. It's a really beautiful coppery bronze shade unlike any other in my collection. It's such a gorgeous all over lid color that really brightens up my eyes, especially when I haven't slept a full eight hours. The quality of these shadows is stunning too, and only $5.99 a pop!

NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Kalahari

Another one of my favorite eyeshadows recently. The shade on the left is a really beautiful milky bronze color. I haven't worn the right shade yet, but when swatched it's a shimmery taupe. I purchased this duo because both the colors make really good all over lid colors. Most days I just wear a single shadow all over my lid, so I tend to purchase eyeshadows that look good when worn alone. I also like that the left is a warm shade and the right is a cool shade, which makes it versatile. And again its compact size makes it great for travel.  

July Beauty Favorites

I cannot believe August is here. This year is flowing by so fast! July was my Step 2 CK month and I'm so relieved that it's finally over. Today I figured I'd chit chat a bit about my July makeup favorites.  Mostly a bunch of rediscoveries that I've been falling back in love with in my makeup collection.

NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk Til' Dawn

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette (Limit, Nooner, Liar)

Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Fuller Fudge

Benefit Bella Bamba Blush

Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Berry Pop

Dior Addict Lipgloss in Delice

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Hot Shot

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in Apricot Twist

March Beauty Favorites ♥

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