Advent Blog: Friendship, Benefit Sugarbomb, and Figs and Leaves

Friendship Quote

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought that no one but myself...'" ~C.S. Lewis

Christmas Song

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by The Carpenters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAkN3nRht7Y

Benefit Countdown to Love Calendar

Day 17: Benefit Lip Gloss in Sugarbomb

This is another lip gloss. It is based on the best selling Benefit Blush called Sugarbomb that is in the matching color. It is a pink nude. It just looks glossy on my lips.

I wanted to compare this lip gloss to the other two lip glosses I got in the calendar (A-Lister and Dandelion).

I was surprised at how different they were swatched. A-Lister is the most pink. Dandelion looks peach compared to the others, and Sugarbomb is more nude. On the lips it doesn't look dark, like it does on my hand. I have so many lip glosses, I really don't need any more. But it is nice to get a high quality one. I will carry this around with me today. It feels moisturizing.

Lush's Figs and Leaves Body Soap

I was surprised to get this with my Lush package. It is a free sample. This is what the full-size looks like:

What is cool is, it has a grape leaf on the soap. This is what the website says about it, "Fruity, exfoliating figgy scrubby soap. Sophisticated, and subtly sexy, our Figs and Leaves soap is understated in appearance and effect. Modestly draped in grape leaves, and demurely creamy beige in color; it's the scent of this soap that draws you in: alluring orange blossom and juicy figs, with an undertone of eastern exoticism. Figs are incredibly nutritious and good for your body, and their scrubby brown seeds exfoliate and really get to work getting you clean. Wonderfully suited for irritated and sensitive skin, organic aloe vera is calming and gentle. Seductive, nutritious, scrubby, and soothing - what are you waiting for?"

Review: I love this! It smells so good, and makes your skin soft. It isn't as crumbly as the other Lush things I got, so I still have some left after the bath. I would recommend this.

January Favorites

1. Covergirl Clump Crusher by Lashblast Water Resistant in Very Black: I had been using a volumizing mascara, so when I was finished with that it has been nice to have this mascara because it helps separate the lashes.

2. Essie Nail Polish in Sand Tropez: I also have Sally Hansen's Strobe Light on top. Stobe Light is a glitter top coat, so it looks more like sand.

3. Sigma Flat Kabuki F80 Brush: I have been using this to put on my foundation. It blends it in nicely. I heard a lot of people talk about it on Youtube. It looked like a really good brush.

4. Philosophy Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath in Fresh Peaches with Cream: This smells so good! It smells like it says, "peaches and cream." I got this in a set from T.J. Max with the matching body lotion and lip gloss. You can find Philosophy products on sale at T.J. Max.

5. Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Pink Ice: This shade looks pretty and natural. It is nice if you have smokey eyes. It feels good on the lips. It is a lavender toned baby pink with silver shimmer.

6. Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Strobe Light: I have Essie's Turquoise & Caicos underneath. It's hard to see, but it is a multicolor glitter. People say it is a dupe for OPI's Teenage Dream.

7. L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base: I've been using this as a face primer for my forehead. My forehead is dryer than the other parts of my face, so someone recommended to me to use a different primer and foundation. This primer is more moisturizing, I think. It works well.

8. Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black: I was using the Physician Formula one, but I liked my brown Maybelline gel liner better. I decided to get it in black. I also heard people on Youtube talking about the Maybelline gel liner. I think this is the easiest way to put on eyeliner. Easier than a pencil or liquid liner. Eyeliner brushes are easier for me to work with.

9. Revlon Nail Enamel in Sequins from Just Add Sparkle Limited Edition for Holiday 2012: I have Essie's Lollipop underneath. I love golden glitter. I think next I'm going to wear lavender with Sequins on top.

10. Eyeko London Skinny Mini Liquid Eyeliner in Black: I got this from the January Birchbox. It is such a fine tip, it makes it easy to put on the liner. I've been doing my mom's makeup and she likes this too.

11. Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow: I've been wearing this shade a lot this winter. It is a classic color. I think I remember reading somewhere this has been a long time Revlon shade. It has a good formula. It is a blue-based red, some may say it is a pink. It looks like a dark pink in the photo. On my lips it looks like a red.

12. Wet 'n Wild Color Icon Eye Shadow Collection in I Heart Matte: This was limited edition. This Christmas they brought the same palette back and called it, "Drinking A Glass of Shine." They are all matte shades. This is a nice palette to have. I like the colors.

Random Favorites

13. Xhilaration Watch: I got this at Target. I needed a new watch. It is my favorite color. It was the first time I looked at a watch and thought I really wanted it. It was on sale too.

14. Perelandra (Space Trilogy #2) by C.S. Lewis: I put the first book as my favorite last month. In the first book Ransom was kidnapped and taken to Mars. In this book he is sent (willingly) to Venus. It is like the beginning of the world with brand new life and the first man and woman. It is like the garden of Eden, and there is an evil that threatens the world, so Ransom is there to try to stop it from happening. It's an interesting story.

15. That Hideous Strength (Space Trilogy #3) by C.S. Lewis: This was my favorite book of the trilogy. Ransom is in it, but he doesn't come into the story til later. The story takes place at a college. The main characters are a sociology professor and his wife. It says in the preface that this is a fairy tale for grownups. I think that is the best way to describe it. This book can be read on its own, without reading the first two books. I'm surprised I liked this trilogy because I normally don't read science fiction. But these were really good book. I like the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe series too.

16. Bath and Body Works Scentportables in Farmstand Apple: This makes your car smell like apples. I love it. I want to get some more of these. I have a lavender one, but I feel like it is too early to have that smell in my car. It is more of a springtime scent. I also need to bring the container with me to the store because I can't figure out how to put the scent portable into the container. I've done it before, but it doesn't seem to work anymore. Maybe I need a new one. They come in a variety. I got the cupcake one.

December Favorites

I'm not going to say the year has gone by so fast because for me it hasn't. It was a good year though. I'm not complaining. I just feel like it has been a year. I'm happy that 2013 starts tomorrow! I'm going to  try to be really good on my diet, and lose a lot of weight. I think if I am so into beauty, I would focus more on eating well and exercising than on makeup. I look better in my face when I am thinner. I'm not saying this because I'm acting like everybody in the new year. I really do need to lose weight! I'm not in denial. xD Anyway, here are my December favorites.

1. Splenda! That is right! I found a very amazing beauty trick this month. One day I was putting on my foundation and the skin around my forehead was really dry. I didn't understand why this was because I had moisturized my skin. I asked my question on Yahoo! Answers. I got a lot of replies very quickly. Some people said I needed to wash my face before putting on makeup. I knew that wasn't right because I always did that. Some people said I needed to moisturize, I knew that wasn't right because I did moisturize. Some people said my skin was dry and I needed to use a different foundation. Even though patches of my skin were acting dry, I didn't think my whole face was dry. I think I have combination skin on my face. But one person suggested I exfoliate those areas of my face using either sugar or something else (I forget what it was.) I decided to do this. I used a Splenda sugar pack and water. It felt sort of weird, but I scrubbed on the areas of my face that were acting odd. Then I washed and moisturized my face like normal. My foundation went on like a dream! It was dead skin, that was why my foundation wasn't going on right on those areas. I guess by now I should already know this secret. But I didn't. Maybe it is new for you too. My skin hasn't done that since I exfoliated which was about a week ago, so it lasts a long time.

2. Real Techniques Buffing Brush: I got this brush awhile ago with a collection of face brushes called Your Base/Flawless Core Collection by Real Techniques. I got this at Fred Meyers. I don't remember what gave me the idea to use this for a powder brush. It is small and so soft! It fits nicely under my eyes for when I want to set my under eye concealer. I have really been loving it, and decided to share it in a favorite.

3. Hard Candy Sheer Envy Skin Illuminating Primer: I have mentioned the original Hard Candy primer in a favorite blog already. That one works good too. I wanted to try this one because it says it was illuminating, so I was curious how that would look. It doesn't leave my face looking really shiny. It is just a really nice primer. It makes my skin look nice. It is inexpensive. I found it at Walmart. I used this 30 days this month!

4. ORLY Nail Lacquer in Ingenue: This is a beautiful rose gold color. I heard about it on a Youtube video (I don't remember which one). It looked pretty, so I ran out to buy it. I wore this at the beginning of the month.

5. Aczone: I got a bunch of little samples of this from my dermatologist. It is an ointment to put on pimples. I just use a little bit, so the samples have been lasting me a long time. These really zap pimples away. My doctor said this medicine is good for the kind of pimples you get around the time of your period.

6. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero: I was so happy to get this in my December IPSY bag! I was not expecting it. I feel like the IPSY bag got really good! I'm not subscribed to it or Birchbox anymore. I have heard people talk about this eyeliner for a long time. Probably as long as I have been watching Youtube videos. I now understand why everyone loves it. It is a really great eyeliner.

7. Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in The Bold Rush: This caught my eye in the store. It has purple and gold glitter. The colors fade into each other. It is a really cool effect. I got a lot of compliments on it.

8. The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer: I got this from my October Birchbox. This is a beautiful golden highlighter. I was using Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki as a dupe. Now that I have both products I can say for sure they are very similar. The Balm packaging is so cute. The girl is having her head shot taken like she was arrested, then at the bottom it says: "Offense: highlighter, shimmer, eyeshadow, Charge: too pretty, too popular, Antonym: womanizer." lol! The Balm products are so cheeky.

9. Milani Liquif'eye Metallic Eye Liner Pencil in Black: Before I got the Urban Decay pencil, I was using this just about every day. This is a really great eye liner too. You can get these at the drugstore. Milani makes really great eyeliners.

10. Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Stay On Lip Contouring Pencil in Red Dynamite: I like Rimmel lip liners. I think I wore a lot of red lips this month. I lined my lips with this pencil.

Random Favorites

11. Bath and Body Works Scentportables in Spiced Cider: Last month I included my favorite car scents, so I decided to do it again. This makes your whole car smell like apple cider! It is so delightful! One of my favorite things in life is entering my car and being greeted by a wonderful smell.

12. Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy #1) by C.S. Lewis: My Dad really loves this trilogy, so I decided to read it. It is a science fiction book, which I normally don't read, but this was rather interesting. It is about a man who gets kidnapped and taken to a planet. I forget which one, but the book doesn't tell you at first, so I don't want to give anything away. He has all kinds of adventures. I'm reading the second book now, and it is really good too. It probably will be in my January favorites.

13. The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long: This is a fantasy novel. It's about a girl who loses her brother in the woods, and she tells everyone that the trees took him. So they think she's crazy. Seven years later, when she is 17, she gets taken into the magical world in the forest that her brother go taken into. So her mission is to find her brother. She has all kinds of adventures. It is also a love story. At first I felt annoyed at the book because I felt like the girl kept having troubles. But I needed to finish it to see how the story ended. I'm glad I finished it because it has a good ending. This is for young adults.

I hope you liked reading about my favorites! Tell me what your favorites of the month were! Feel free to leave your blog in the comments! I love to see the favorites of the month.