July Favorites!

Favorite Movie

The Lone Ranger: When I first saw the preview to this movie, I was so enchanted. I can't even explain to you. I love Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Armie Hammer. I remember Armie Hammer played Prince Charming in Mirror, Mirror, the Snow White movie with Julia Roberts in it. I fell in love with him in that movie. I marked the date on my calendar when The Lone Ranger would come out. I was so excited. I don't normally do that. I also saw that it was made by the same people who made The Pirates of the Caribbean moves. This movie is what all movies should be. It had great cinematography, a beautiful soundtrack, handsome men, a great story line, romance, and excitement. Johnny Depp is so wonderful in this movie. When I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with him in it that I haven't liked. Same with Helena Bonham Carter. Basically, if you see they are out in a new movie, you should probably see the movie if you want to be entertained. This movie tells the back story of The Lone Ranger and Tonto. I love the morals of the story. I love when a story shows the good winning and the bad side being punished. Justice will be served! And it shows how Native Americans were mistreated, so it didn't glorify history or anything like that. There was also a bit of magic thrown in, which is fun for the imagination. I have a huge crush on the Lone Ranger. I want to watch Mirror, Mirror again, just to see Armie Hammer. <3

Favorite TV Show

The Office: I used to watch this show all the time, but for some reason I stopped watching it. Well, this month I was bored and searching On Demand for something to watch. I saw they had all 8 seasons of The Office on Demand! So I started watching season 8, hoping I would be able to follow the story, even though I haven't been watching it. You don't need to be up-to-date with the show in order to follow the episodes. It is so funny. I like how the characters are all quirky and interesting. The show also has heart. There is a sweet side to the show. For example, it shows the importance of friendship or loyalty or encouragement, etc, but it does it in a funny way, not a preachy way. Some people may not like this show because it is very strange. It's not like your typical sitcom.

Favorite Books

1. The House of Night Series: Marked & Betrayed by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast. I found this book in the grocery store. It is really the first two books of a series called House of Night. It is written for young adults, but I found myself getting wrapped up in the story. It is about teens that are turning into vampires. They stay in a boarding school called, "The House of Night." The first two books are about the main character, Zoey who has been "marked", so she is going to become a vampire and her whole world changes. In this book Nyx is a character, the goddess of night. She favors Zoey, and gives her special powers. There is a lot of magic in this book. There is also romance and mystery. It is written by a mother and a daughter. There are 10 books in the series so far, and the newest book is supposed to come out in October this year. I have to warn you these books may offend people because there are sexual situations and it shows the darker side to people who claim to be Christians. I am a Christian, and I'm not offended, but some people may be. It just shows people being narrow minded and weird, like people can be. Later in the series, Zoey meets Christians that are good.

2. Chosen by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast: This is the third book in the series. After reading the first two books I quickly went to the library to check out the next book. These books keep getting better! I have never liked soap operas, but I think these books are similar to a soap opera. There are a lot of weird drama situations, people die and then get raised from the dead. People are murdered, and there are a lot of lies. The main character, Zoey, has three different love interests! It is all pretty crazy, but I am hooked. I couldn't wait to get the fourth book after reading this one.

3. Untamed by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast: So I finished the fourth book this month! These books weave supernatural themes with Native American folk tales, so it is interesting to me. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away if you are thinking of reading these books. I went to the library and got a lot of these books. It looks like I'm going to be reading this series for the summer.

Favorite Nail Polishes

1. Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez in Confetti Fun: I wore this over China Glaze For Audrey. This is a glitter polish that has big and little flecks, red, green, gold, silver, turquoise. I don't have any polish like this. But it is dupable. It is just a colorful glitter polish. It reminded me of fireworks, and I wanted to wear it for the 4th of July.

2. Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez in Inner Sparkle and L'Oreal Nail Color in The Palace Life: I'm not happy with how this picture turned out. It is hard to see the polish. This is another glitter top coat that is so unique. I don't have anything like this in my collection. It has big and little flecks. There is pink and purple and tiny gold shimmer. I thought this would look good on a pastel pink polish. I like pastel polishes. I think I've mentioned that before.

Other Beauty Favorites

1. Milk of Magnesia: I have combination skin and in the winter time it was on the dryer side, but this summer my skin has been really oily. I tried different things, but I swear it just made my skin produce more oil. I researched what I should do on the internet and I found somewhere people recommending getting Milk of Magnesia from the dollar store. It only cost a dollar! You use a cotton ball and put in on your face before applying makeup. I wasn't sure about it, but then I heard Kandee Johnson talk about it in one of her videos. I don't remember which one. Once I heard her mention it, I felt like I should give it a try. I think it does work! Sometimes it leaves a white patch on my skin, but I just rub it off when I put my primer on. This is a great trick!

2. Boots No.7 Beautifully Matte Foundation in Cool Ivory: I have been trying different things to get my skin matte. My foundation wasn't doing the trick, so I knew I needed to get something for oily skin. I saw this review by Melmphs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHtcrLeKMC8. And she gave it a high review, so I decided to get it. I don't know if I got the right shade for my skin tone. There were testers there, so I should have used them, but I didn't know. I took the tester to the cash register! They had to go back and get me a bottle you could buy! xD It goes on dark when I put it on my skin, but when I blend it out it looks ok. I think this does help to keep me matte, along with my matte powder and the Milk of Magnesia. This is the best foundation I've tried so far to keep me matte. I don't want to look cakey. And it doesn't look like I have a mask on my face. I still have oil that shines through, but it is more controlled.

3. Revlon Colorstay Foundation for Combination/Oily Skin in Ivory: This is what I used for most of the month before I saw the video about the Boots foundation. I was using the foundation by Revlon for dry skin and I was really happy with it, until my skin got oily. I had at the beginning got one for dry skin and one for oily skin because I wasn't sure which one was for me. When I tried on the combination/oily foundation in the winter, my skin felt so dry and I hated it. I decided to keep it though. I'm glad I did because when my skin changed this summer, this foundation worked a lot better. The only thing is my skin was still oilier than I wanted it to be. I like the Boots one better because it makes me more matte, but I think it is more expensive. The Boots Foundation costs $13.99. The Revlon foundation costs $9.99. You get 1.0 Fl. Oz./30 mL in both foundations. The Boots foundation has SPF 15 which is nice.

4. Maybelline Volum' Express Falsies Big Eyes Waterproof Mascara in Very Black: It was time to throw away my old mascara and get a new one this month. I was curious to try this one. I really love it! I think it does make my eyes look bigger. I like how it has a wand for the upper lashes and a wand for the lower lashes. I put Covergirl Lash Perfection as a second layer on the top lashes, and it really makes my lashes look nice. I have tried Maybelline The Falsies and I knew I liked that one. I thought I would like this, and I'm glad it didn't disappoint.

5. Sonia Kashuk Beautifying Blush in Flushed: This is a beautiful matte, bright pink blush. It really does give a flushed look to the cheeks. I heard Melmphs rave about this blush, and I had to go check it out. It is a dupe for MAC Blush in Pink Swoon, I heard somewhere, maybe I heard that on a Melmph Youtube video.

6. Essence Gel Liner in Midnight in Paris: This is a jet black eye liner. It is a dupe for MAC's Blacktrack Fluid Line. It is very inexpensive. I don't remember how much it cost, and I can't find the price online for some reason. It is a good deal.

7. Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Pop: I heard Essie Button raving about this on one of her youtube videos. It looked really pretty on her, so I was off to buy it. On my hand it looks like the same shade as the Sonia Kashuk blush. It is a new lip gloss. I have other Super Lustrous lip glosses so I knew it would be good quality. This is a bright watermelon pink, blue-based, medium-dark, with a creamy glossy finish. It is a pretty color for the summertime.

8. The Balm Rockstar Palette: I did a whole blog post devoted to this palette. http://beautydiversion.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-balm-rockstar-palette.html But I didn't put it in a monthly favorites. This is a great palette. It has shimmer and matte eyeshadow, a highlighter and blush that I love, and two lip products. The highlighter is exactly the same as The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer and the blush is exactly the same as The Balm's Frat Boy Blush. I use these all the time. My favorite thing about this palette is the blush because it is a matte peach, which I don't have in my makeup collection.

Favorite Songs

1. Tea for Two: I don't know who sings it. It is a young, female voice. I hear it on Youtube, so it must not be copyrighted. It is an updated version of the song. I'm aware that it is an old song, but this version is not sung by Doris Day or Ella Fitzgerald. It's a slower version. Here is a video with this song in the background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXKiOTho5Yg.

2. Let It Be by The Beatles

3. Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner

4. I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

5. Jump Right In by Zac Brown Band

6. Colder Weather by Zac Brown Band

7. Treasure by Bruno Mars

8. White Liar by Miranda Lambert

9. This One's for the Girls by Martina McBride

I have less songs this month! I'm not sure why that is because I love music so much. Maybe I've learned how to narrow it down a bit. If you haven't heard of a song, look it up on Youtube, you may like it. Some of the songs are old and some are brand new.

I hope you enjoyed my favorites! What was your favorite thing this month? Leave me a comment!