Filofax: How I Set-up my Filofax Planner

Here's a YouTube video on a little tour of my Filofax Planner- including how I set it up and organize everything in my life.  The video gives you a glimpse of how everything fits together to fit my lifestyle.  Remember everything is customized and made by me.   I am happy to answer any questions if you have any! 

Links for some of the things that I mention in the video

Filofax Domino Organiser: http://bit.ly/1FE8dvM

A4 size paper on Staples.com: http://bit.ly/1tpcDAQ

Heidi Swap Sugar Chic 12x12 Paper Pack: http://amzn.to/1zFvKdM

If you want to see some detailed pictures of some of the sections mentioned in the video of the  inside of my planner click the thumbnails below.

CALENDAR (including dashboard): Includes weekly pages, and monthly two-page spread with a notes section on the left side. 

PERSONAL: Online expense sheet, websites, contact list, and personal information 

BLOG: Yourtube/blog notes, MOTD notes, blog post planner, Youtube planner

CREATIVE: Weekly creative themes for planner and Project Life, Project Life layout sketches. 

WORK: Time zone chart, work notes

MUA: Client profiles 

MISC: Blank note paper

Review: Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation

The road to trying a new foundation.. 

I'll be honest- I always use the same foundation (MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC40) since I was 16 years old (over 10 years ago).  I'm not too adventurous with  foundations because Studio Fix Fluid works perfectly for me, so why should I change? But now I am on the hunt to find some other foundations to add to my collection.  Who knows there might be a better foundation out there for me. I have  decided to review one new foundation every month for 1 year to see if there is something out there that I will fall in love with.   To start my foundation adventure I decided to try a drugstore brand that I've read about and watched YouTube reviews from several of my favorite beauty bloggers.  

The Maybelline Dream Fluid Touch Foundation was on the top of my list. I was very intrigued to see how well it would wear and what type of coverage it would give me.  I did my research before heading to Rite Aid (Maybelline was 40% off and I had a $4 off coupon- it was perfect timing). I browsed through the Maybelline website to see what they said about the foundation.  

The following is taken directly from Maybelline.com 

Breakthrough texture fuses with skin. A finish so impeccable, yet undetectable.
Exclusive dropper
Medium to full coverage, ideal for normal skin.

Why You'll Love It

Breakthrough liquid foundation texture fuses with skin. A finish so imppecable, yet undetectable.

For Best Results

Shake well.
Unscrew cap. Holding dropper vertically,
allow foundation to drop onto fingertip.
Apply to face as usual.

I headed to RiteAid to find the shade, which was not a very good experience the first time around.  Watch the video below and you'll see why.  

Here is a compairson between MAC NC40 with Natural Beige 75 and Sun Beige 85 

Here are my thoughts about the foundation: 

PROS

• the foundation literally feels like silk! It glides on effortlessly and leaves a satin/matte finish.  
• the more I layered the foundation it didn't look cakey or look like I was wearing a lot of foundation. 
• even though it was hard to find a color I found that SUN BEIGE worked for me for my NC40 skin tone.  However, I am interested to see how one shade darker would look.  
• I usually don't like foundation that has a SPF higher than 15 because it has that unique SPF smell.  I did not find that "SPF" scent to this foundation.  However, I did find a scent to it.. like alchohol? But it didn't bother me once I applied it. 

CONS:

• I hate the applicator thingy!!! I really wish it came with a pump.  It would make things so much easier. I feel that applying it to the back of the hand and then applying it with your fingers would waste so much products.  With a pump you can pump the foundation directly on to the brush or to your fingertips.  
• The price is a little high ($10.99) for a 20 ml / .67fl oz bottle.  Is this a typical price for a drugstore foundation? I haven't bought drugstore foundation for awhile so to me this is a little high.  Definitely, check if there's coupons on there to lower the price or wait until drugstores have 40%-50% off or even BOGO (Buy one get one) 50% off.  At least this will save you money and can buy a few other things.  

Will I buy it again? 

I think it's too early for me to give an honest answer.  I really want to dry the darker shade to see if that would be a better match.  If it was on sale again I would definitely re-purchase.  I am eager to see what else is out there for me.  Can't wait to share my findings with all of you! 

Review/Swatches: ColourPop Lippies and Liners

I've been raving about this brand for awhile now because their products are AMAZING and affordable.  A couple of posts back I shared some swatches of the Colour Pop Super Shock Shadows (view the post here) and a YouTube tutorial featuring the new fall color MOTH here.  Now I am excited to bring you their newest products added to their brand- Lippies (lipstick) and lip liners.  Do you have the problem of matching a lip liner to a lipstick? Well, I do! You find the perfect  purple shade but the lip liners out there are not purple enough (more red) or too dark almost black with a gray tint.  No more worrying about this, ColourPop has you covered.  They were so smart to have lipsticks with matching liners for no more guess work.  Of course you can mix and match to create your own colors but I really think this is great idea. 

Below you will find pictures of the colors that I received from ColourPop along with a review/swatch video that I posted on my YouTube Channel.  Hope you guys like!

Please let me know there are any swatches you would like me to do for future videos and blog posts. :)

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER ROCKET Satin- Pinky Coral

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER FETCH Satin - Midtone pink

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER SCANDY Satin - Bright neon pink

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER FLAWLESS Satin - Deep red violet

COLOURPOP LIPPIE & LINER LBB Matte - Plum Wine

COLOURPOP LIPIE & LINER LEATHER Matte - Deep dark purple

Tutorial: Lorac Mega Pro Sharp Edge

Here's a quick tutorial on my eye makeup featured in the ColourPop Lippie Review/Swatch video using the Lorac Mega Pro Palette.  The look is super easy to create with different colors- just follow the steps and use a straight edge. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of my tutorials and check every week for something new! I'm really getting the hang of posting new videos and building my channel.  Lots of new and exciting things are coming your way!

Here are the products I used to create this look:

• Lorac Mega Pro Palette Cream, Sepia, Camel, Espresso, Black and Fawn
• MAC Cosmetics Vanilla Pigment
• LA Girl Cosmetics Gel Eye Liner Very Black
• NYX Cosmetics Stacked Mascara
• KOKO Lashes Misha
• Lips featured ColourPop Scandy and LBB Lippes

Tutorial: Lorac Mega Pro Palette Soft Smokey Eyes

As soon as I saw a post on Instagram about the LORAC Mega PRO Palette I knew I had to get my hands on this super palette along with a lot of other people.  

I haven't really tried LORAC products and I always wanted to try the LORAC PRO Palettes 1 and 2 but never had a chance.  I see a lot of makeup artists stock their kits with the palettes.  I was about to purchase the originals until I found out this motherload was hitting for the fall season.  It actually launched for their 2014 Royal Holiday Collection but looks like it won't even reach the holidays. 

Because I am a typical makeup addict I stalked the LORAC website, Facebook and Instagram feeds to make sure I didn't miss out. Marked the date Tuesday Oct. 7th in  my Filofax (thank goodness for my planner to remind me of all these makeup launches).  Woke up at 6am PST to purchase the palette.  Told my husband I forgot to send out a work email .. lied but whatever I needed the palette.   So happy I did and got my hands on it. 

The shadows overall are super pigmented! I felt every time I dipped my brush into the shadow I needed to tap my brush.  Also I learned very early that you only need to tap your brush into shadow very lightly and it will pick up a lot of shadow.  I wish there was a variety of colors though.  There are a lot of light and mid tone shades all around the same color (check out the first half of the palette).  With that said it's a good palette to create neutral natural looks and classic colored smokey eyes.  If you are into color/brighter colors you may want to pass this up.  

I knew I wanted to create a couple of tutorials featuring colors from this palette because it can get overwhelming with all the colors provided.  First up is a soft smokey eye, hope you enjoy! 

Here are the details of the look:

Too Faced Eye Shadow Insurance Primer
Lorac Mega Pro Palette Dirty Plum with MAC #224, Cashmere with MAC #239, Granite with MAC #224, Espresso with MAC #226, Sand with MAC #252

LA Girl Gel Eyeliner

Tarte Lights, Camera Lashes Mascara

Elegant Lashes #605 www.elegantlashes.com
Sleek Cosmetics Face Form Contour and Blush Kit Medium
MAC Cosmetics Warm Glow Mineralize Blush
MAC Cosmetics Global Glow Mineralize Skin Finish
NYX Cosmetics Mauve Lip Liner
MAC Cosmetics MEHR Lipstick

Let me know what type of look you want to see from this palette! Don't forget to subscribe to my channel here and like the video! xoxo