♡ Bella's June Favorites ♡
While the month of June this year for me was less party than business—between moving houses, getting my first job, and working through three summer classes—I still managed to scrape out time for both trying out new products and items and reaching for some with which I was already familiar but just hadn’t grabbed in a while. Even a week into July, I’m finding that these June essentials are pretty much still stuck in my everyday routine. Before I get into the post, however, I want to disclose that I am not sponsored by any of the brands that I am listing below, though I will be providing links to each of the products (or at least to the stores if a specific product is sold out). I was not asked or paid to review any of these things, and all of the opinions I state are 100% my own!
Karity 21 Shadow in Matte
This first product I’ll be talking about I actually bought back in December. Around that time, I was starting to grow an interest in brighter eyeshadow looks—prior to this time, I was primarily doing basic, neutral eyes, with the most color being a shimmery rose gold every now and then—and was actually looking to get my hands on the Morphe 35B palette; to my dismay, however, it was completely out of stock when I went to buy it. Impatient as I am, and not wanting to wait for it to be restocked, I immediately sought out a dupe, but was unimpressed with everything I was finding—after all, I was originally looking for Morphe-quality shadows, and I wasn’t about to settle for anything less, especially with a palette full of colors I wasn’t used to. Just when I had all but given up, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, if you can believe it, when I came across an ad for the Karity 21 Shadow palette. I’d never heard of Karity before, but I was desperate, and the title of the article totally caught my attention—something about the online brand turning high-end profits. Not ten minutes after briefing the article, I had purchased it.
In the weeks following my impulse buy, I played around with the palette multiple times, and each time, I was impressed. However, I am a college student, and around the time of the palette’s arrival at my doorstep, I was just coming back to school from winter break; as a result, I was extremely busy, and didn’t have nearly enough time in my tight mornings to crank out a bright eye look when I had to rush straight away to my early math class. Consequently, the Karity 21 Shadow got pushed to the back of the desk in my dorm room, only to be picked up when I found myself with a bit more time and when I was packing up my room to move out.
Fast forward to the beginning of June. As I mentioned in the intro, I was employed for the very first time during this month (yay!), and after the very first week, I was already loving the working girl life. From fun, easygoing coworkers to an environment in which I immediately found comfort, I didn’t think I could ask for more—okay, well, maybe except for a little more excitement in the work attire. While I don’t have a set uniform for my job, I am required to essentially wear all black, all day, every day, and if you’ve seen my closet before—pink after pink after pink with some light blues and purples—you’d know that switching over to primarily wearing neutrals pretty much flipped my wardrobe on its ear.
Then one morning, as I sat at my vanity looking at my reflection dressed head to toe in black, black, and more black, my eyes lowered to the Karity palette that was tucked behind all of my other makeup. That day, if I’m not mistaken, I did a bright coral, rose gold, and maroon eye, virtually using just this one palette. Almost every day after that, I’ve reached for this palette while getting ready for work, each day choosing a different color to base my look on—I’ve found that my favorite one to work with is the hot pink (“Lumbia”), especially when using the bright yellow (“Tweety”) as a transition shade. Of course, as my favorite color is pink, maybe I’m biased!
My favorite thing about this palette—that I was honestly surprised by—is not only the pigment that you get from each shadow but also how easy it is to blend out. The issue with a lot of super pigmented shades is that because they’re so rich and bright, they end up being difficult to blend, resulting in either a harsh line or patchiness all over the lid. However, with the Karity 21 Shadow palette, you’ll get a color true to what it appears to be in the pan without having to blend your life away when applying it to your lid. As pigmented as these shades are on their own, however, if you wet your brush before using it either by running it under some water or spraying it once or twice with a setting spray (the latter being my personal favorite technique), you’ll get an even more intense color payoff—ideal if you’re really looking to make a statement with a bright, dramatic eye!
This palette retails for $29.00 in the US, and is also available in “Smokey” and “Frost.”
Too Faced Glitter Bomb
From what I’ve been seeing on the Internet since its mid-June release, this palette is something you’ll either love or hate—there’s no in between. Because of these mixed reviews, I was a little hesitant to add this to my cart, but the combination of Too Faced—my all-time favorite makeup brand—and glitter was too hard for me to pass up. Since I’ve used it almost every day since I received it, however, I think it’s safe to say I’m glad I didn’t!
As you can see in the pictures I’ve included, this palette comes with two matte shadows, a black and a white, labeled respectively as an intensifying base and a brightening base. Though their names should speak for themselves, what these bases essentially do is transform the look of the glitter shadows—it was actually these bases that pushed me over the edge of my skepticism in buying this palette! While I was still in the process of making a decision, I watched a video of a girl who was able to get her hands on the palette earlier than the general public, and when she showed the same glitter on both eyes but on top of the two different bases, the difference in their appearances was enough for me to hit “proceed to checkout.” This palette comes with eight glitter shadows, but because of how different they look alone, brightened, and intensified, you pretty much get triple that amount! Of course, I don’t want to be misleading—I’m not saying they look so noticeably different that using different bases is going to give you two different color payoffs—but the versatility of this palette was something that I had never seen before from another product, and it was definitely something that I wanted to work with myself.
The issue that people have the most with this palette—and with Too Faced glitter shadows in general—is fallout, fallout, fallout, and as much as I love Too Faced, I’m not going to debunk that. Dipping your brush in these shadows and then passing them over your lid like you would any other eyeshadow won’t do the trick at all if you’re going for a super sparkly look, which I’d assume you’d want if you buy a palette called Glitter Bomb. However, what I’ve found helps the most is, again, wetting your brush beforehand, and tapping your brush on your lid, packing on the shadow rather than rubbing it in. I’ve also heard that using the Too Faced Glitter Glue can also help a lot, though I haven’t yet tried that out for myself. On a more positive note, the best thing that I’ve found in my experience with this palette is that its pigmentation is a lot better than any other Too Faced glitter shadow that I’ve tried before—the only real issue is keeping the glitter and pigmentation in place. My personal two favorites of the entire palette are the two on the very left: the white (“Fairy Dust”) and the rose gold (“Rosé All Day”). Though I haven’t been able to try it out for myself, I think that Fairy Dust would look awesome layered over a shiny white highlight, like the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl. However, if you use these glitters on your face, you’re definitely going to need to use a glitter adhesive just to make sure it doesn’t travel down and all over your face throughout the day.
Overall, while I’m not blown away or anything by the Glitter Bomb, I don’t regret buying it at all, and highly recommend it to anyone else who might be a sucker for glitter. The Glitter Bomb retails for $45.00 in the US on the Too Faced website.
Sew Classy Designs Snow White Bikini
The Disney princess swimsuit line from Enchanted Swimwear went viral a couple months ago—I can’t remember exactly when—and as cute as I thought it was when I first saw it, I wasn’t really drawn into buying it. However, when I found out that a Delaware-based Etsy shop called SEW Classy Designs (username ckpdance) sold her own line of Disney swimwear with RHINESTONES, I couldn’t say no anymore. Without thinking twice about it, I bought the Snow White bikini with high-waisted bottoms. Snow White isn’t even my favorite princess, but in my opinion, her swimsuit was the cutest one in the shop, which says a lot as all the other bikinis are just as to-die for. Looking at all of them now as I go into the shop to get the link to the bikini for this post reminds me of how much I want to get friends together and buy more Disney princess bikinis so we can be cute and match at the beach (whenever I’m not working!). It’s too bad that Sally lives five hours away from me when we’re both not at school, otherwise we’d definitely already be doing just that.
As adorable as this swimsuit is, what I find the most impressive about it is the quality—not only does it fit me perfectly and flatteringly, it also feels sturdy while looking as stunning as it did in the picture when I bought it. Though I’ve only gotten to wear this once during the one beach trip I’ve taken this summer (so far), I’m hell-bent on going back to the beach at least once or twice more before I have to go back to school just so I can wear it again.
If I’m not mistaken, all of the bikinis from this Etsy shop can be purchased with either low-waisted or high-wasited bottoms, and start at $50.00 to $66.00 (at a women’s size extra small, I got mine for $66.00). Stylized with the right accessories—I ended up purchasing a red headband to complete my look—your royalty will be unmistakable even at the poolside!
GoJane Feathered Friend Smoking Flats in Black
My fourth and final favorite for this month is, once again, work-related. Like I briefly mentioned above when talking about Karity, I’m not used to having black in my wardrobe, and when I found myself in need of a neutral-colored pair of shoes for my job, I figured I might as well go for something that at least keeps with the theme of my closet. So, naturally, I ordered the first pair of feather-accented black flats I could find. What I was pleasantly surprised by with these shoes was not only how true to the picture they looked once they arrived but also how comfortable they are to walk in. These past few weeks, I’ve been working nine-hour shifts almost every day, during which I spend almost all my time on my feet, and by the end of the night, my feet still aren’t crying for help. Even so, what might be the overall best thing about these shoes is actually the price—I got these for $19.50 (before shipping) from GoJane!
Though these shoes are still in stock right now in both black and “natural” (re: tan), it seems that more and more people are buying the exact ones that I have, with the only sizes left being five and a half, six, six and a half, and eight. If you’re interested in them, I’d highly suggest going now before they’re all gone!
Though I only had four favorites from this past month, each and every single one of them has definitely benefited me in more ways than I had expected them to when I purchased them. Hopefully July blesses me with the same kind of fortune!
If you have any questions or comments about any of the products I listed or just anything in general, go ahead and leave them down below!
Á bientôt,
Bella
♡MAKEUP♡
Karity 21 Shadow in Matte
This first product I’ll be talking about I actually bought back in December. Around that time, I was starting to grow an interest in brighter eyeshadow looks—prior to this time, I was primarily doing basic, neutral eyes, with the most color being a shimmery rose gold every now and then—and was actually looking to get my hands on the Morphe 35B palette; to my dismay, however, it was completely out of stock when I went to buy it. Impatient as I am, and not wanting to wait for it to be restocked, I immediately sought out a dupe, but was unimpressed with everything I was finding—after all, I was originally looking for Morphe-quality shadows, and I wasn’t about to settle for anything less, especially with a palette full of colors I wasn’t used to. Just when I had all but given up, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, if you can believe it, when I came across an ad for the Karity 21 Shadow palette. I’d never heard of Karity before, but I was desperate, and the title of the article totally caught my attention—something about the online brand turning high-end profits. Not ten minutes after briefing the article, I had purchased it.
In the weeks following my impulse buy, I played around with the palette multiple times, and each time, I was impressed. However, I am a college student, and around the time of the palette’s arrival at my doorstep, I was just coming back to school from winter break; as a result, I was extremely busy, and didn’t have nearly enough time in my tight mornings to crank out a bright eye look when I had to rush straight away to my early math class. Consequently, the Karity 21 Shadow got pushed to the back of the desk in my dorm room, only to be picked up when I found myself with a bit more time and when I was packing up my room to move out.
Fast forward to the beginning of June. As I mentioned in the intro, I was employed for the very first time during this month (yay!), and after the very first week, I was already loving the working girl life. From fun, easygoing coworkers to an environment in which I immediately found comfort, I didn’t think I could ask for more—okay, well, maybe except for a little more excitement in the work attire. While I don’t have a set uniform for my job, I am required to essentially wear all black, all day, every day, and if you’ve seen my closet before—pink after pink after pink with some light blues and purples—you’d know that switching over to primarily wearing neutrals pretty much flipped my wardrobe on its ear.
Then one morning, as I sat at my vanity looking at my reflection dressed head to toe in black, black, and more black, my eyes lowered to the Karity palette that was tucked behind all of my other makeup. That day, if I’m not mistaken, I did a bright coral, rose gold, and maroon eye, virtually using just this one palette. Almost every day after that, I’ve reached for this palette while getting ready for work, each day choosing a different color to base my look on—I’ve found that my favorite one to work with is the hot pink (“Lumbia”), especially when using the bright yellow (“Tweety”) as a transition shade. Of course, as my favorite color is pink, maybe I’m biased!
My favorite thing about this palette—that I was honestly surprised by—is not only the pigment that you get from each shadow but also how easy it is to blend out. The issue with a lot of super pigmented shades is that because they’re so rich and bright, they end up being difficult to blend, resulting in either a harsh line or patchiness all over the lid. However, with the Karity 21 Shadow palette, you’ll get a color true to what it appears to be in the pan without having to blend your life away when applying it to your lid. As pigmented as these shades are on their own, however, if you wet your brush before using it either by running it under some water or spraying it once or twice with a setting spray (the latter being my personal favorite technique), you’ll get an even more intense color payoff—ideal if you’re really looking to make a statement with a bright, dramatic eye!
This palette retails for $29.00 in the US, and is also available in “Smokey” and “Frost.”
Too Faced Glitter Bomb
From what I’ve been seeing on the Internet since its mid-June release, this palette is something you’ll either love or hate—there’s no in between. Because of these mixed reviews, I was a little hesitant to add this to my cart, but the combination of Too Faced—my all-time favorite makeup brand—and glitter was too hard for me to pass up. Since I’ve used it almost every day since I received it, however, I think it’s safe to say I’m glad I didn’t!
As you can see in the pictures I’ve included, this palette comes with two matte shadows, a black and a white, labeled respectively as an intensifying base and a brightening base. Though their names should speak for themselves, what these bases essentially do is transform the look of the glitter shadows—it was actually these bases that pushed me over the edge of my skepticism in buying this palette! While I was still in the process of making a decision, I watched a video of a girl who was able to get her hands on the palette earlier than the general public, and when she showed the same glitter on both eyes but on top of the two different bases, the difference in their appearances was enough for me to hit “proceed to checkout.” This palette comes with eight glitter shadows, but because of how different they look alone, brightened, and intensified, you pretty much get triple that amount! Of course, I don’t want to be misleading—I’m not saying they look so noticeably different that using different bases is going to give you two different color payoffs—but the versatility of this palette was something that I had never seen before from another product, and it was definitely something that I wanted to work with myself.
The issue that people have the most with this palette—and with Too Faced glitter shadows in general—is fallout, fallout, fallout, and as much as I love Too Faced, I’m not going to debunk that. Dipping your brush in these shadows and then passing them over your lid like you would any other eyeshadow won’t do the trick at all if you’re going for a super sparkly look, which I’d assume you’d want if you buy a palette called Glitter Bomb. However, what I’ve found helps the most is, again, wetting your brush beforehand, and tapping your brush on your lid, packing on the shadow rather than rubbing it in. I’ve also heard that using the Too Faced Glitter Glue can also help a lot, though I haven’t yet tried that out for myself. On a more positive note, the best thing that I’ve found in my experience with this palette is that its pigmentation is a lot better than any other Too Faced glitter shadow that I’ve tried before—the only real issue is keeping the glitter and pigmentation in place. My personal two favorites of the entire palette are the two on the very left: the white (“Fairy Dust”) and the rose gold (“Rosé All Day”). Though I haven’t been able to try it out for myself, I think that Fairy Dust would look awesome layered over a shiny white highlight, like the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl. However, if you use these glitters on your face, you’re definitely going to need to use a glitter adhesive just to make sure it doesn’t travel down and all over your face throughout the day.
Overall, while I’m not blown away or anything by the Glitter Bomb, I don’t regret buying it at all, and highly recommend it to anyone else who might be a sucker for glitter. The Glitter Bomb retails for $45.00 in the US on the Too Faced website.
♡FASHION♡
The Disney princess swimsuit line from Enchanted Swimwear went viral a couple months ago—I can’t remember exactly when—and as cute as I thought it was when I first saw it, I wasn’t really drawn into buying it. However, when I found out that a Delaware-based Etsy shop called SEW Classy Designs (username ckpdance) sold her own line of Disney swimwear with RHINESTONES, I couldn’t say no anymore. Without thinking twice about it, I bought the Snow White bikini with high-waisted bottoms. Snow White isn’t even my favorite princess, but in my opinion, her swimsuit was the cutest one in the shop, which says a lot as all the other bikinis are just as to-die for. Looking at all of them now as I go into the shop to get the link to the bikini for this post reminds me of how much I want to get friends together and buy more Disney princess bikinis so we can be cute and match at the beach (whenever I’m not working!). It’s too bad that Sally lives five hours away from me when we’re both not at school, otherwise we’d definitely already be doing just that.
As adorable as this swimsuit is, what I find the most impressive about it is the quality—not only does it fit me perfectly and flatteringly, it also feels sturdy while looking as stunning as it did in the picture when I bought it. Though I’ve only gotten to wear this once during the one beach trip I’ve taken this summer (so far), I’m hell-bent on going back to the beach at least once or twice more before I have to go back to school just so I can wear it again.
If I’m not mistaken, all of the bikinis from this Etsy shop can be purchased with either low-waisted or high-wasited bottoms, and start at $50.00 to $66.00 (at a women’s size extra small, I got mine for $66.00). Stylized with the right accessories—I ended up purchasing a red headband to complete my look—your royalty will be unmistakable even at the poolside!
GoJane Feathered Friend Smoking Flats in Black
My fourth and final favorite for this month is, once again, work-related. Like I briefly mentioned above when talking about Karity, I’m not used to having black in my wardrobe, and when I found myself in need of a neutral-colored pair of shoes for my job, I figured I might as well go for something that at least keeps with the theme of my closet. So, naturally, I ordered the first pair of feather-accented black flats I could find. What I was pleasantly surprised by with these shoes was not only how true to the picture they looked once they arrived but also how comfortable they are to walk in. These past few weeks, I’ve been working nine-hour shifts almost every day, during which I spend almost all my time on my feet, and by the end of the night, my feet still aren’t crying for help. Even so, what might be the overall best thing about these shoes is actually the price—I got these for $19.50 (before shipping) from GoJane!
Though these shoes are still in stock right now in both black and “natural” (re: tan), it seems that more and more people are buying the exact ones that I have, with the only sizes left being five and a half, six, six and a half, and eight. If you’re interested in them, I’d highly suggest going now before they’re all gone!
Though I only had four favorites from this past month, each and every single one of them has definitely benefited me in more ways than I had expected them to when I purchased them. Hopefully July blesses me with the same kind of fortune!
If you have any questions or comments about any of the products I listed or just anything in general, go ahead and leave them down below!
Á bientôt,
Bella
Girl, I'm planning on going to Florida for Spring Break in a couple years, we can match there!
ReplyDeleteomw already
DeleteWhy Florida?
Delete