Dre Does a Stila 'In the Know' and 'In the Moment' Review

So on Friday I mentioned that I bought two Stila Eyeshadow palettes for half price thanks to Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty event going on now until the 27th of September. All of these palettes retail for $39 but last Thursday they were only $20 each! The 'In the Light' palette is probably the most well known of this bunch, but since the shades reminded me a lot of the original Naked palette that I already own, I decided to be rational and only get the two palettes...(that's rational right? Haha). The 'In the Garden' palette is also a part of this little Stila palette family but the Ulta I work at was out of them before the beauty steal began.

I knew I wanted the 'In the Know' palette for sure because it has some really warm and really cool tones that are all matte. I love the texture of these shadows and that they blend really easily. While there is a little fallout with them, I don't find these shadows chalky at all which is great! You can see in the swatches below some of the unique shades that it offers. I knew it would be a good one to have in my kit. 

The swatches below are in the exact same order as they are in the palette and the smudge stick in Halfmoon is that swatch on the end!  I love the slate cool toned shade of the smudge stick. I think it really complements the palette and it's a unique color that I didn't already own.

While both palettes do come with an eight page look book for inspiration, I wanted to play with the colors before I looked at it. I created the look below for work last week the day after I bought these palettes and I love how it turned out. It's a warm and deep neutral look that I love for fall! I used Desert on my lid and Wind on my brow bone. Then I slowly worked at darkening my crease, inner corner and outer corner by first going in with a fluffy brush and Clay. Then I used Fire (the shade I'm most excited about in this palette) and Earth. I love how the extra warmth from Fire really changes the overall look. 

Next up we have the 'In the Moment' palette! As a woman with big brown eyes I'm always looking for beautiful purple shades because they make my eyes pop! I love the shades in this palette because when half the shades are neutral, it gives you the ability to make the look more wearable without having to use another palette! I have to be able to create a whole look with a palette in order for me to buy it so I love that I can with this one. 

This palette has a good mix of satin, matte, and shimmery finishes. The satin shades are my favorite because the texture is so buttery. While the shades are soft like the other palette and do create a little fallout, I don't think it's that bad and I like working with them. 

Once again the shades are swatched the same as in the palette and the smudge stick in Tetra is on the end! This smudge stick is so beautiful because it is pretty dark with some purple shimmer. It's not too colorful for everyday wear and adds a nice pop of color when the light hits it right. 

I have yet to create a look with this palette but I will make sure to do one soon and share in a Looks of the Week post for you all! I hope you enjoyed this review! 

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does a Drugstore Lipstick Must Have

Rimmel London does some amazing products. Everyone knows the cult favorite Stay Matte powder and if you know me, I've probably recommended the Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara to you before, but I've never really mentioned any of their lip products. 

Since we are entering fall and the time for dark vampy lipstick, I figured I would share my favorite dark lipstick from the drugstore. It's my favorite because of not only the shade, but the formula as well. Rimmel teamed up with Kate Moss to create the Kate Moss line awhile ago, but the lipsticks haven't left stores yet and I'm hoping they don't anytime soon! 

They created both a Lasting Finish Matte line (in red tubes) and a Lasting Finish line (in black tubes) as well. My personal favorite is the Lasting Finish formula in the shade 01. It's a deep red shade that has a pretty neutral undertone and I just love it! 

The formula of these lipsticks is awesome because they are the perfect inbetween matte and glossy finish. You get great pigmentation, no drying, yet the look isn't too shiny. I own multiple shades in this formula and I highly recommend trying them out. At only $4.99 how can you not? Haha 

Let me know what your favorite shade and formula from the drugstore is below!

Have a beautiful week,

Dre

Dre Does a PSA!

Ok this isn't actual PSA but I wanted to make sure all of you knew what's going on now until the 27th of September at ULTA beauty! 

Incase you haven't heard, currently we are in the first week of 21 days of Beauty! Every day there are different products spotlighted! Every day there's a beauty steal which means you can get amazing deals on expensive items! Yesterday I picked up two Stila Eyeshadow palettes which retail for $39 for only $20 each (which I will obviously be reviewing and sharing some inspiration looks next week haha)! 

Be sure to visit ULTA.com for more details, like what the daily beauty steal is! You don't want to miss these amazing deals to try fantastic products! 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Dre

Dre Does a Fashion Haul

I had some time to kill the past two nights and somehow ended up in both Forever 21 and H&M on separate nights. While I didn't get much, I did find some good things so I figured I would share because I love both the items and the prices!  WARNING: I live in black clothing so that's 99% of what you're about to see. I just can't help it guuuuuuys! 

First up, H&M! I did get a lose v-neck black sweater with quilted leather paneling on the shoulders but I can't find a link online so sadly I can't show it to you! It's my favorite piece that I got though and I highly recommend browsing your local H&M to find it. It is long and covers everything to wear leggings so I'm excited to add it to my fall wardrobe! 

I saw this pencil skirt and immediately fell in love. At $17.95 and the perfect fit, I couldn't pass up a pencil skirt with the perfect leather detailing. I can't wait to style it! 

This was another basic that I couldn't pass up because a black circle skirt is a fashion must have. Once again at only $17.95 you can't beat H&M's stylish pieces at a fraction of the cost.

The following night I stopped in Forever 21 and like usual I tried a million things on but only ended up liking a few. 

This sweater was only $19.80 and super comfy and soft. I bought it in a large mainly because I couldn't find any smalls or mediums but I really liked how baggy and loose it was on me. It screamed fall and I love the lace trim on the bottom. It gave me an excuse to buy another comfy cream colored sweater so I can't be mad about that!

Next, I bought this simple black dress for 3 main reasons. First it was only $13.80, but it also fit really well. Since I am the definition of an hour glass figure, it's really hard to find dresses that are fitted enough in the waist without being too small everywhere else. I also loved that I could wear a regular bra with it because that's just 100% necessary when you are too well endowed! Also, it is not this short on me because I don't have 2 mile long legs like the model sadly...

So that's what I picked up this week! Let me know if you got any good finds recently for fall! 

Have a beautiful day,

Dre

Dre Does a Quick Tip

Happy Monday friends! I'm here with a quick tip that involves your lips as we transition into the fall. 

The summer is all about bright lipstick shades like pink and coral, but just because fall is almost here doesn't mean you have to store them away until next spring! Try applying them differently. I love using my finger to apply my bright summer shades to my lips and really pressing them in so that they look more like a stain. They won't be as bright and will give you a lighter wash of color. I especially love pairing this trick with darker and more intense eye looks because it's more fun than a nude lip! 

Have a beautiful week,

Dre

Dre Does an Ipsy Review

It's that time of the month already and I'm back again with another Ipsy Glambag review for August! Here is a photo of everything I got this month. 

The bag this month was school themed so I liked that they switched up the shape of the Ipsy bag and made it a round pencil case-like shape! 

But now for the good stuff that came inside! 

First up was this Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk. I really loved this dry shampoo. The dispenser was awesome because it sprays out a very dense mist which is great at getting all of your roots. I also love how it doesn't leave my hair feeling really sticky and dirty like most dry shampoos. It also doesn't smell that bad so it works well in my book! I even found that while it was a white product, it wasn't that hard to work into my scalp to get rid of any sort of white cast that you traditionally get with dry shampoos.The full size is valued at $19.50 so this 1.06 oz size is worth $6.46!

The Jersey Shore Sub Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-Aging Lip Conditioner was the next item I found in my bag. It's in the flavor Mandarin Green Orange Ginger and it's a great moisurizer. I've been keeping it by my bed to apply at night before I sleep and I've been loving it! This is the full size chapstick and it's worth $5.50 bringing the total to $11.96!

Next, I received a Flying Solo Individual Eyeshadow from J.cat Cosmetics in the shade Half Naked. While I thought it was very cool that the packaging includes a mirror if you flip up the shadow, I wasn't very impressed with the shadow. The shade is awesome but the pigmentation isn't quite there. It took me a few swipes to get what you see above which is not what I like in a shadow. This is a full size shadow but since it retails for only $2.99 I'm not very surprised with the pigmentation and quality. This brings the bag value to $14.95.

 

Next up we have the Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner Primer. I really liked the texture of this primer as I applied it. However, I felt like it was very drying as I blended it into my skin. Almost as though it felt a little rougher as I blended it in which I can only imagine it feels worse on dryer skin since I am very oily. It's more expensive than my holy grail primer Benefit's Porefessional so I don't think I would ever repurchase it. I did like how my foundation blended over it though so I think it does a good job of filling in your pores. The full size will set you back a good $45, so this .25 oz deluxe sample is worth $11.25! Now we are at $26.20!

Lastly, we have a deluxe sample size of Urban Decay's new Perversion mascara. I have been curious about it so I was excited to be able to try it out. I was shocked at how much it didn't do for my lashes though! It felt as if the brush was too dense and my eye lashes couldn't properly get through the bristles to pick up any product. I had to do three coats of it to notice any difference on my lashes which honestly just looked like one coat of any other mascara. The worst part was that by the end of the day I couldn't even see any remaining mascara on my lashes. It wore away to the point of looking like I hadn't put any on. Let's just say that I'll be sticking with my favorite Benefit's They're Real Mascara! A full size Perversion mascara is worth $22 so this deluxe sample is worth $5.50 and brings the final value of August's Ipsy Glambag to $31.70!

While this bag was technically the lowest valued bag I've received so far, I wouldn't say I was disappointed with it. The products I liked made the value still way over $10 so as long as I'm getting my money's worth, I'm happy!

As usual, here are the previous months' reviews and values!

August Ipsy Review ($43.73)
May and June Mini Review ($37.67 & 37.36)

March Ipsy Review ($46.71)

February Ipsy Review ($45.02)

January Ipsy Review ($38.17)

December Ipsy Review ($57.17)

Click here to subscribe to Ipsy yourself!

Have a beautiful weekend,

Dre

Dre Does a Shaving Routine for Sensitive Legs

I probably should have shared this in the beginning of the summer but since we shave our legs all year round this is something I'm always dealing with and you may be too!

I have extremely sensitive legs. It's something I've experienced ever since I started shaving in middle school. If I try to use any kind of shave gel, soap, or lotion during or after I shave, I get terrible a razor burn that's probably on the verge of a mini allergic reaction. Bumps and burning that sometimes make me think I'd rather just not have shaved at all! As an esthetician, I tried going the waxing route which for a while was amazing. No razor burn, my legs stayed smooth for longer and the hair was coming back looking much finer because you're seeing the tip of the hair versus the blunt middle of the hair shaft that a razor cuts at. However, the hair started coming back so fine that I was getting a huge amount of ingrown hairs on my shins due to the hair not being strong enough to break through the surface. So I was back to having bumps on my legs that no amount of exfoliation could prevent. So after 6 months of trying it I picked my razor back up and shaved my legs. 

I'm happy to report though that I think I've got it down to a science now. The right products and what exactly causes the problems. I figured I can't be the only person with this annoying smooth leg issue, so I'm here, ready to report what I've found gives me silky smooth legs! 

 

The Exfoliation: Since I cannot use a shaving cream or lotion, I have figured out a way to moisturize and smooth my legs without using one. I take a good moisturizing exfoliator (the one I show above is a shea butter sugar scrub from Tree Hut) and give my legs a good rub. I find that this moisturizes them enough to give me a good shave after but doesn't irritate anything because most of the product gets washed off before I shave. The sugar helps get rid of dead skin cells which will help with over all smoothness.

The Razor:  I have used all sorts of razors. Expensive ones with 500 blades, ones with the moisturizer all around the edges, and I find that the ones that are the best for my sensitive legs are the good old cheap BIC Silky Touch Disposable ones you see in the picture above. Normally they're in at least a 10 pack for $3 or $4 and they are good for a few shaves. Since they are so cheap, I don't mind only using each one a few times, which I think is also a secret to getting a close shave; I'm always using newer blades. No shave cream, just water.

The After-care: Now this is where I typically see the most irritation. My legs hate all lotions after I get out of the shower, so what I'll typically do is skip the lotion for a few hours. I find that the shea butter exoliator gives me enough hydration to last this time until my legs heal a little from the shaving. Then I'll add my favorite body butter later on which is usually either the Satsuma or Coconut Body Butter from The Body Shop.

So there you have it. This is my perfected shaving routine to give me smooth legs when dealing with high sensitivity! Let me know if you have any tricks and if you try this out!

Have a beautiful week,

Dre