Budget Beauty Buys

To the dismay of my wallet, I'm all for shopping at Sephora and other luxury retailers. There is just something about luxury beauty that gets me - that hefty Guerlain lipstick bullet, that smooth Burberry plaid... I can't escape the call of those brilliant high end products. 

Surprisingly, I have gathered a few favorites from the drugstore. Aside from Real Techniques brushes, these are my drugstore beauty favorites. Read on to find out more!  

First off, Rimmel Scandaleyes pencils are just brilliant. While I love the chunky shadow pencil too, these liners are more up my alley and come in a variety of shades. I have black, dark blue, taupe and nude, and I love them all. They're super creamy and long-lasting, and this is a waterproof formula that doesn't irritate my eyes. 

Another almost forgotten product is the lovely CoverGirl LipPerfection lipsticks. I have the shade Spellbound here, and it is the most gorgeous opaque hot pink. Not drying, and wears quite a long time - a perfect choice for those of you who don't get along with my sheer favorite, Maybelline Color Whisper.  

Now on to the eyes - of course I would pick the creamy options! Though the L'Oreal Infallible Eye Shadows are actually pressed powders, in my mind they are just like creams. So soft and easy to swipe on, I have a number of shades. I think Bronzed Taupe is my favorite! On the other hand, Maybelline Color Tattoos are an affordable pick, and said to be dupes for MAC Paint Pots. I wasn't initially impressed with these, but really their neutral shades are quite good. I love Bad to the Bronze, and their LE shades Barely Beige and Rich Mahogany were definite favorites this time last year.  

Last but not least, every girl needs an affordable drugstore bronzer. I prefer mine matte, and this little Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic is a total winner. A potential dupe for the Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons bronzer (see my post here), this bronzer has a decent texture and wears quite well. It takes a bit more blending than Guerlain, but I firmly believe nothing can beat Guerlain when it comes to powder bronzer. However, Revlon lands on the top of my list for a girl on a budget!  

So there you have it, all of my drugstore favorites! Do you have any of these products or have any stellar drugstore items that I must try?  

Affiliate links. 

6 Days With Lush Emotional Brilliance

*Press Samples*

A few weeks ago, Lush contacted me to feature Emotional Brilliance. I was excited, as I had only tried a few products from their makeup line before. 

First up, I went to the store to experience an Emotional Brilliance reading. I had never taken the time to do this in store before, but I think it is a bit fun to do even if it isn't normally your style. (It definitely is not mine, as I generally want to experience a product without frills or just be left alone, ha! Well, except at Lush and Space NK, I could chat all day!)

Back to the color reading! I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, I chose three shades that really stood out to me. The first signifies your strength or weakness, the second your subconscious, and the last your aspirations. So, take a look at my color reading selections! You can also do your own color reading in store, or online! 

My Strength Or Weakness: Passionate*
I seriously love this GORGEOUS fuchsia pink. It is a very long wearing lip color that I nearly have to exfoliate to remove. I love the color and feel super confident wearing it! Do I feel passionate? I sure do, and it totally is a strengthanda weakness! (Those of you who get excited about certain projects or plans will know what I mean!) 

My Subconscious: Calm*
I was immediately drawn to this pretty pale blue. If you've been hanging around the blog lately, you'll notice I've had a thing for blues. Even when I went into Lush, my nail polish AND shirt nearly matched this shade. Anyway, this selection is pretty fitting as I am pretty overly calm and composed most of the time, haha! I find this color to be super summery, and on my skin tone it becomes a pretty shade of turquoise.  Love it!

My Aspiration: Motivation*
Motivation is always my aspiration, isn't it funny how that turned out? I was surprised how much I like this gorgeous dark teal blue shade. It looks almost neutral, and yet it isn't, and that is just the type of liner that I love. Now if only it could give me that extra kick of motivation I'm always looking for…!

I was able to choose 3 additional shades, and this time around I chose colors I knew I would wear. 

Sophisticated* 
This eyeshadow just adds polish and sophistication. It is a great rosy taupe and makes for an amazing every day color. This shade is definitely a unique addition to my collection, and I know that I'll be using this tons. 

Quietly Motivated*
Another eyeliner… It seems that I have a thing for eyeliners! This one is a pretty light brown with sparkle and dimension, and even blends out to a pretty eyeshadow color. 

Decisive*
I was not having a decisive day when I first wore this amazing magenta-red. I totally love the color, but it requires a bit of blotting and careful application to keep it looking perfect. Once you've done that though, this color wears beautifully! 

[Top to Bottom] Passionate Lipstick, Calm Eyeliner, Motivation Eyeliner, Sophisticated Eyeshadow, Quietly Motivated Eyeliner, Decisive Lipstick 

The eyeliner applicator is a bit hard to use, but I chalk that up to my lack of skills with liquid liner in general. I imagine those of you with skills will be used to it quite quickly. Also, these lipsticks are reasonably comfortable. I say reasonably because my lips are quite dry and flaky, and after wearing one of these shades all day I definitely need a bit of hydration. However, I imagine both of these points may not apply to many of you! :)   

All in all, I quite like the Lush Emotional Brilliance lineup. I loved Charisma Skin Tint, am having a go at the Feeling Younger Skin Tint*, and have enjoyed the lip/eye offerings I've tried before. Watch the video to hear about these shades and see them swatched on camera! 

What do you think of Lush Emotional Brilliance? Have you had a color reading before? Are any of these shades calling to you? :)

Press Samples* Close up of swatches available on the blog! http://bronzerbunny.com/blog/2013/6/26/6-days-with-lush-emotional-brilliance BLOG - bronzerbunny.com TWITTER - twitter.com/bronzerbunny INSTAGRAM - instagram.com/bronzerbunny Lush Passionate Lipstick* Lush Calm Eyeliner* Lush Motivation Eyeliner* Lush Sophisticated Eyeshadow* Lush Quietly Motivated Eyeliner* Lush Decisive Lipstick* DISCLAIMER: Products mentioned in this video and marked with a * were provided for review.

The Concealer Question

I've never been too concerned about concealer, but the last few months, I'm suddenly finding concealers really interesting. I've been wanting every concealer I see!   

As with foundation, I prefer concealers to have a very natural finish so that anything I am covering still looks like my real skin. I'm not too fussed about having full or perfect coverage either, which is probably fortunate since a full coverage natural looking concealer sounds pretty hard to find!  

For undereyes, I'm loving the Armani Maestro Eraser. I have shade #4, and it just looks good. Not a product for very dark circles, but it definitely brightens the undereye area - I'd say it is somewhere between your typical liquidy concealer and an illuminating pen. 

Koh Gen Do Moisture Concealer  has also been a nice option for undereyes. I haven't tried it much on blemishes yet, but the three shades together using the accompanying application technique brightens my eyes and looks quite natural! Again this one doesn't provide a ton of coverage (not like Laura Mercier Secret Concealer) but it works just fine to cover undereyes or minor blemishes.

Last year, I picked up the Fresh Umbrian Clay Concealer for a bit more coverage on blemishes and redness. I've always been a fan of this concealer, especially since it  generally doesn't flake around my occasional breakouts. (How exciting is that!? Though I imagine for more intense breakouts or pimples that are already in a flaky state, it won't be a miracle product there!) 

I won't talk about the discontinued Sephora concealer palette that I have in the above photo, but I will mention that I tried the Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Roller in the light shade recently which was nice, but I think too light for me. In the last few years, I've also used YSL Touche Eclat, Givenchy Mr. Light, Clinique Airbrush, and Fresh Supernova Brightening Pen. I just picked up the ever popular Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer with some CVS coupons and I'm excited to try that too. :) 

So as my concealer collection continues to grow I'm wondering, how many concealers is too many? How many concealers do you own? I'd love to know! :) 

Hit or Miss: Guerlain Terracotta Skin Healthy Glow Foundation

A few months back, I purchased Guerlain Terracotta Skin Healthy Glow Foundation (affiliate link) in Brunettes. It was a bit of an impulse buy, at least for me, as I tend to research products for multiple days for the majority of my purchases.This "foundation" originally came in 2 shades, 01 Blondes and 02 Brunettes. Recently, Guerlain relaunched this line with the shade 00 Nude. I purchased Brunettes, and it turns out that it isn't quite the right shade for me. As you can see from the swatch photo above, this shade is a bit dark and has some peachy/pink undertones to it. While I do get an even, bronze glow, it does have more pink undertones than I would prefer for any base product on my face.

To me, this product is more of a primer than a foundation. Coverage is light - nearly non-existent, actually. While the bronzing effect does help to even out the skin tone and does look quite nice for bronze lovers, it does not really do anything to change the appearance of redness or blemishes or even anything to improve the visible texture of my skin. The texture of this is quite silcone-y too, so that may be a negative for those of you who dislike or are irritated by silicone. I also really like that the scent is subtle, yet luxurious - for those of you familiar with Guerlain base products, it is really a very light version of the foundation scent.

I tried this on a few occasions as a primer, and didn't find that it provided any remarkable impact to my skin or the wear of my foundation. I do not experience issues with foundation wear in general, so those with more oily skin types may see more of a difference here. My skin did feel smoother, but sometimes all I could think about was all the silicone. LOL! Anyway, I love the idea of a bronzing base product to give my face nice color in the summers, but this one is just not the shade for me. If I do find that one of the other shades works, I would definitely try this again.

If you love the tanned look and don't have any issue with silicone, I think this is a worthwhile product to try. I recommend trying the shades in person, or at the very least purchasing from somewhere that has a great return policy if you do decide to take the plunge. :) Since this has minimal coverage, if you are looking for a foundation I would definitely skip this unless you have very good skin. In all honesty, I am even a bit confused as to why Guerlain even markets it as a foundation! Bronzing primer, or liquid bronzer, perhaps, but definitely not foundation!

I've returned this one as it is pricy for it to not be a "wow" product in performance and shade, and plan to explore some of the other bronzing base options I own. I suspect that this could be a great liquid bronzer, so I urge you to try it that way if you own it or have been curious about this. As you might suspect, I have a few liquid and cream products I can play with that can serve the same purpose, so I'll be reporting on those in the upcoming months.

Have you tried Guerlain Terracotta Skin Healthy Glow Foundation? What did you think of it?? I'd love to know, especially if you've experienced the other shades!

This post contains affiliate links. This product retails for $51 and was purchased by me from Sephora. It is also available at Guerlain department store counters.