SONIA KASHUK SPRING 2014

Hi everyone! As you all may know, I am a huge Sonia Kashuk fan. Every product that I have tried from her line has not disappointed. With every new season I always look forward to her Limited Edition collections. This year I got a sneak peek of her new Spring 2014 collection while visiting the Target Pressroom website, and I couldn't wait for it to hit stores. I finally got a chance to pick up some of these items and I'll share those with you in this post.

I absolutely adore the Sonia Kashuk Completely Organized Petite makeup bag. It carries all of my daily essentials with room for more. It's compact size helps it easily fit into my purse, and the number of pockets and zippers on this thing make organizing my "on the go makeup" a breeze. When I spotted this one in mint, I swooned! I think it's an absolutely wonderful colorful for spring and summer, and all year round really. There's just something about this bright, fresh color that always puts a smile on my face. The mint color paired with the gold zippers make this one super cute little cosmetic carrier.

The outside of the cosmetic bag features a zipper compartment with ample room as well as a pocket located right behind the zipper to provide additional storage. There are also two additional pockets located on each side of the cosmetic bag (not shown here), making that a total of three pockets on the front side.

Inside the main zipper there are two large pockets adjacent to an inside zipper compartment. These are large enough to fit most compacts you may want to have with you on the go. For size reference, it easily fits a Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette.

There are also three additional pockets located across the inside zipper compartment as well as two more additional pockets (not pictured here) that run along the sides of the inside of the bag.

The backside of the cosmetic bag features two more pockets. Perfect for storing blotting papers, tissue, business cards or any other item that you may want to store. All of the compartments in this cosmetic bag make organizing your essentials fun and ensures that you know where your stuff is at all times! As for keeping this pretty little thing clean, it's easy! The material is polyester so it can easily be spot cleaned with a damp cloth if it gets dirty. 

To add a little color to my nails this season, I chose the Sonia Kashuk nail polishes in Rain Check and Breakfast at Tiffany's. I already own a couple of her nail polishes from her Fall 2013 collection and I feel the quality of these polishes are amazing for the price. I have been able to get a good 6 days of wear out of them when paired with a good base and top coat.

Sonia Kashuk Nail Colour. Left: Rain Check. Right: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Rain Check is a deep crisp summer blue. I don't already have anything like this in my collection so I am very excited to try out this new color. Breakfast at Tiffany's is a beautiful mint. This fresh shade is perfect for the Spring. It seems that a mint colored polish has fast become a cult classic for every spring season, and this one from Sonia Kashuk is right up there with the more prestigious brands in terms of formulation, wear time and color.

Sonia Kashuk Pearlescence Longwear Creme 

Left: Moonstone. Right: Diamond

This next item is one that I was very excited to try. These new longwear creme shadows are completely new to the Sonia Kashuk line. Just like the name implies, these have a very luminous pearlescense glow. Being a creme shadow, they apply wet but dry and set, much like the texture of the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Shadow Paints. Pair this with your favorite eye primer and they don't budge or crease.

They come packaged with your standard doe foot applicator, making these perfect for travel. You can easily apply these to your lids and blend out with your fingers, but you can also blend out with your favorite synthetic brush. Just make sure to work quickly before they set!

Sonia Kashuk Pearlescence Longwear Creme

Left: Moonstone. Right: Diamond.

Finally, what is spring without a bright lipstick? Sonia Kashuk's Satin Luxe Lip Colour in Parisian Pink is the perfect bright pink for the season! These lipsticks are super creamy and moisturizing. They also come provide SPF-16 to keep your puckers safe from harmful UV rays. The packaging is sleek and really does look high end, but what makes this product stand out from the other drug store brands (in my opinion) is that they are super pigmented, super creamy, super moisturizing, and they are affordable! I just can't rave enough about the formulation of these products! You definitely have to get yourself to Target and try one out for yourself! 

Parisian Pink is a classy rosy pink shade. It's not too loud so you can definitely wear it to the office, and it gives just that perfect pop of pink to amp up your complexion. 

Have you ladies tried out any of the Sonia Kashuk Spring 2014 products? Which ones are your favorites? Please leave your comments and thoughts below. Thanks again for stopping by! 

WHAT'S IN MY MAKEUP BAG

Hi everyone! Today I thought I'd share with you some of the beauty products I've been toting around. I'm sure everyone is well aware that us girls need to have our beauty products at the ready for those touch ups throughout our busy days. When it comes to my beauty bag, I'm a minimalist. While I'm sure that my Sonia Kashuk Completely Organized Maxi Cosmetic Bag can easily accommodate more than what I'm packing, I chose to keep it simple on the daily.

I typically carry items that I feel are essential for my everyday wear and to keep my makeup looking fresh all day. In this post I'll share those with you.

I have oily/combination skin so blotting papers are a necessity for me. I keep a pack of the E.L.F. blotting papers with me at all times. These are very inexpensive and work great for blotting away excess oil before touching up with concealer or powder.

If I need to touch up my concealer,  I always turn to the Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda concealer palette. The size of this compact is perfect for taking on the go. But what I love most about this is that it offers three different concealer shades. Two for concealing and highlighting (they can also be mixed together to customize the shade), a green based concealer for covering up redness if needed, and finally a setting powder. For me, this is perfect because this one single palette eliminates the need to carry multiple products with me. It also wears amazingly.

For touching up on powder, I turn to my IT Cosmetics Celebration Foundation. The compact offers a very nice sized mirror and also comes with a blotting sponge. Perfect for my T-Zone while also helping to set and blot away any excess oil.

For blush, I always carry a travel sized compact of the Laura Geller Blush and Brighten in Boysenberry. For application I use the Laura Geller retractable Baked Powder Brush. The brush is compact enough to fit into my makeup bag with ease, and because of it's retractable quality it allows you the versatility of two brushes in one. You can use the brush at its fully extended form, making the brush more fluffier. Perfect for a more sheer application of product. When the retractable chamber is pulled down (nearly closed), it pinches the brush just enough to allow for a more concentrated application of product. Just what I need if I'm just touching up the powder around my nose after concealing.  

Keeping my lips well hydrated is a must. I always have with me the E.L.F. Lip Exfoliator which comes in a lipstick form. It exfoliates and hydrates and tastes like sugar cookies. The lipstick form also makes exfoliating on the go a breeze and virtually mess free.  I also carry an EOS Lip Balm and an Urban Decay Lip Primer. 

The only item that usually changes much from day to day is my lip color. I always make sure to toss whatever lip product I applied in the morning in to my little bag so that I have it with me for when I need to reapply.

To keep my hands well hydrated throughout the day I use the Aveda Hand Relief revitalizing vitamin formula. The scent that I'm currently working through is rosemary mint and it smells amazing. This lotion keeps my hands and cuticles well hydrated throughout the day, even after multiple washings. 

Finally, I carry with me a glass nail file. I make sure to keep this with me in the event that I chip a nail and need to file it down before I completely tear it off.

So that's it guys! A quick tour of what products I take with me on the go each and every day. Like I said, I'm a minimalist when it comes to what products I take with me and I only switch out the lip color product daily. The rest are pretty much staples in my make up bag.

What products do you take with you on the go? Is there one that you just have to have with you at all times? Do you have any makeup bag staples? Please share your thoughts and comments below. I'm always glad to read them. 

L'OREAL EXTRAORDINAIRE BY COLOUR RICHE LIQUID LIPSTICK

Hi everyone! Hope you all are having a great weekend! Earlier this week I received a Rite-Aid periodical in the mail and noticed that they were having a pretty good sale on some cosmetic items I had been curious to try but didn't want to fork over the full retail price for either.  So when I saw that all L'Oreal products were on sale for 40% off, I took a trip to the nearest Rite-Aid and picked up two of the L'Oreal Extraordinaire Colour Riche liquid lipsticks in the shades #103 Blushing Harmony and #104 Dancing Rose to give them a try.

After wearing these for a couple of days they quickly became a favorite. Off I headed back to Rite-Aid to take advantage of the sale before it was over and to pick up a few more shades that I was drawn to. I find these to be absolutely phenomenal! These glosses are oil based so they glide on super smooth while also delivering on hydration. The texture is creamy and not sticky and they deliver AMAZING color pay off. I have been able to get a good 3 to 4 hours of wear on these before having to reapply. However because the formula is so creamy, reapplying them is something that I don't mind doing. I also haven't noticed any patchiness or general ickiness from having to reapply product over the remnants of what may be left over from a previous application.

The packaging of the L'Oreal liquid lipsticks is something that I find to be very attractive for a drugstore find. They come packaged in a gold tube and feature a plastic insert on the face of the tube that serves as a fairly accurate depiction of the color for each one. You can also find a sample of the color on the bottom of the tube. The top of the applicator insert features a label, the number of the gloss and the shade name.

The L'Oreal liquid lipsticks come with your standard doe foot applicator that features a bit of a dip in the middle. This gives the applicator the ability to pick up a bit more product so it eliminates the need of continuously having  to dip back into the tube for more product. The tip of the applicator is squared off so this gives you a bit more ease when applying color to your Cupid's bow or if you would like to use this to line your lips before applying a full sweep of the gloss.

 I naturally tend to gravitate towards the pink shades. While I do find the darker shades to be gorgeous, they're not something that I would reach for everyday. The shades I selected are ones that I would feel comfortable wearing to work, so I know that I'll get a lot of wear out of these as they've already worked their way into my daily looks. 

Swatches Left to Right: #101 Rose Melody, #103 Blushing Harmony, #104 Dancing Rose, #105 Pink Tremelo, #201 Rose Symphony, #403 Purple Prelude, #500 Molto Mauve

Overall, I find this drugstore find to be a total hit! These retail for around $9.99 US, so if you're looking to save a few bucks, I would recommend keeping an eye out for coupons if you're interested in trying these out. Also, check your local drugstores to see if they're having some type of sale.

What are your thoughts on the L'Oreal Extraordinaire Colour Riche liquid lipsticks? Have you tried these out yet? What are your favorite shades? Please share your thoughts and comments below. Thanks again for stopping by!