Subway Sauna Survival.

Summer is in full swing and with that comes days of melting makeup. If you live anywhere with a subway system you may experience the city wide free subway sauna. There is nothing like walking down the subway ramp to be slapped with wall of trapped heat, and if you're a makeup wearing person like myself your makeup will start to melt off. However, I found my makeup savior, the Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray! Seriously I have no idea how my makeup lasted without this product...oh wait it didn't! I picked this up around my birthday because I have heard so many great things about this and after having my makeup melt off on the subway ride to work I had to try something. I picked up the travel size to test it out but will be purchasing the full size once I'm out because its a much better deal!

So if you haven't heard already the Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray locks your makeup in place for they claim 16 hours. Now, I personally have never worn my makeup that long so I can't really say much about that. I have however seen this product last well over 9 hours. This product has been amazing at preventing my makeup from settling in my fine lines. I experience creasing under my eyes and around my mouth [smile line] and once I spritz my face I pat in around those areas to really make sure the product does not move. Since doing this I have noticed less creasing throughout the day. I definitely still crease but I typically notice after 7-8 hours. This product does NOT control oil, and you will have to blot or powder if you have oily skin. I have dry to normal skin but more normal throughout the warmer months and I do have to blot throughout the day.

I have found three ways that I fancy to use this product. The first is a primer to really help your makeup grasp on to your face and then finishing off with it again, so a makeup sandwich with the UD Setting Spray as the bread. The second is as a replacement of powder, if you're not into powders this will help set everything without adding any heaviness. Lastly, the way I typically go out using this product is as the finishing touch. I do my normal routine and I found that this helps get rid of that powdery look you can get sometimes, so this helps make things looks a bit more natural.

This is the first and only setting spray I have used and I'm really impressed! I want to know from all you setting spray vet which is your favorite?

Have a lovely day!
xoxo Franchesca

Lorac Pro 2 Palette Three Ways & Giveaway!

Primer Tag Team

I've never been one to keen on primers. I don't know I just find that most of them make these huge claims that they can't live up to. Like giving you a pore-less face... thats not possible last time I checked. So for me finding a primer that does what it says it does and myself actually liking it is a rare site. I figured since mixing foundations was typical for getting your perfect match, why couldn't I do this with primers? I'm sure someone out there has already discovered this but this is new to me.

The BareMinerals Prime Time primer was the first primer I ever used and I've enjoyed it. It's a silicone based primer and helps foundation glide right over it. About two years ago now I was in the market for a primer and I wanted to try something drugstore so I went into rite aid and picked up the Rimmel Fix & Perfect primer. This primer has a salmon tint to it which helps brighten up your complexion which I really enjoy. However, though this primer does a decent job of filling in my pores the texture was just not for me. It has a slight silicone feeling at first but then it get matte which may be the reason why this does a good job on extending the wear of my foundation. So if you have oily skin this may be a good match for you.

Okay so now as to why these to work do well together. First I use the Rimmel Last&Perfect to help fill in my pores, brighten my complexion, and increase makeup longevity. Second I layer the Bare Minerals Prime Time to smooth out my face, but filling in my pore a bit more and allowing for foundation to glide like butter [though you shouldn't glide butter on your face]. Lastly I apply my base and I have an airbrushed finish!

Have you guys every layered primers before? I wonder how many combination I could get that would allow me to get a flawless face...

Have a lovely day!
xoxo Franchesca

Review: Lorac Pro 2

We have all heard how amazing and loved the Lorac Pro palette is in the beauty community, so when word got out that there would another Pro palette I had to get my hands on it. I may be a Lorac Pro groupie and I'm perfectly fine with that. Now you maybe wondering if you already have the original Pro palette do you really need the second. The answer is no, but if you think like me and I believe most of you beauty junkies do, the answer is yes.

This palette offers 16 shadows, 8 matte and 8 shimmer, same as the original but cool toned shadows. The number of shadows, ratio of mattes and shimmers and the shade black are about the only things these two palettes share...Oh and packaging! You receive the same quality in this palette, they are smooth and buttery. However there are two shades Plum and Navy, that don't have the same buttery texture. In fact they feel a bit chalky but nothing that you can't work with. I've found that these two shades have the most fall out in the entire palette, but they are great pops of color.

I picked this up earlier this week... the day I got back from vaca since I had been cringing to get my hands on it and just couldn't wait any longer. I called up my local Ulta to make sure they still had it in stock and the minute I was told they did I was off. So from playing around with it this week and from swatching, the standouts in this palette for me are Nectar a shade I never really pictured myself using however I gave it a go and its an amazing transition shade and gives such a lovely glow to the eyes. Mocha and Chrome absolutely stunning shades. If you read my original Lorac Pro review [here] you may recall that I ADORE the shade Pewter, and I found that Mocha and Chrome are like Pewter's siblings they're phenomenal. Lastly the shade Jade, I love my green shadows I think they look stunning on brown eyes so this shade is right up my ally and I see this shadow being a favorite in the fall!

So I'm clearly really enjoying this palette and I hope you all will too! Look out for posts that feature the this palette. Plus I may have picked up two... did someone say giveaway? Its available to Ulta [here] and Lorac [here].

Feeling 22!

It's My Birthday!! Okay so this isn't what is on my face today, but what I had on yesterday. Today I'm actually traveling so yesterday my family threw a BBQ for myself and my sister [we share the same birthday along with 3 other cpusins]. Since it was just a backyard party natural makeup was the best way to go. But for myself a lot goes into natural lol. 

So for my base I have been loving th combo of the Rimmel Fix&Perfect  along with the BateMinerals Prime Time timer... More on this pairing for another post. For my birthday I wanted bronzes glowy skin so I tried out the Bonnie Bell gel bronzer all over my face and then went in with my FA-VOR-IT BB cream the L'oreal Youth Code, seriously love this stuff!! Used my favorite concealers the NARS radiant creamy concealer for my spots and to highlight and the MAC prolong wear for under the eyes. Add a bit of the Tarte blush on blissful a shade thy seriously goes with everything, if you want to try a Tarte blush goes for this one! 

For my eyes lepta thing simple, as usual. Used the shade champagne all over the lid and took taupe I'm the crease, both from the LORAC pallet. Smudged some of AVON luxury liner I'm the brown shade, I've worn off the actaily name. Finished off the eyes with the Make Up For Ever. exaggerate smokey eye mascara. I got this in the birthday kit from sephora, and so fat I'm not to sure about this one. Finished off the look with Angel from MAC on the lips. To make sure myakeup stayed all day I used the Urban Decay all nighter makeup setting spray. Have you guys used it before? What are your thoughts, on any of the product I mentioned? 

Hope you all have an amazing day! And a Happy Birthday to all the Cancer babies! 

xoxo Franchesca 

Peachy Pink

Father's Day is here and the weather is just lovely! So I wanted to add a bit of color to my look. I went in for a pop of pink on the lips and bronzed face. For the lips I used the Milani lipstick in fruit punch topped with Bare Minerals lip gloss in pink prosecco. For the face I used my true match lumi foundation, MAC prolong wear concealer under my eyes and my Nars creamy concealer for my spots. I did set my and prime using the Rimmel fix&perfect primer and Lancome photogenic loose powder. I bronzed up my skin using the Cover Girl clean pressed powder in soft honey, I then used the shade preious posy from Clinique A Season's Worth of Pretty Palette, which was one of their holiday limited edition pallets. For the eyes I used the champagne shade from the Clinique A Season's Worth of Pretty Palette, and then did a very small winged out liner, and finished off the eyes with some benefit they're real mascara.

Hope you all had a lovely day!
xoxo Franchesca

Memorial Day Makeup

For the past week I have been sick and I have been waiting for Memorial Day! Today I may have not be 100% better but I was going to celebrate!

Face Products:

• L'Oreal True Match Lumi [current favorite]
• NARS radiant creamy concealers 
• Shiseido Luminizing Color Powder 
• Covergirl Clean pressed powder in soft honey [I use it as a bronzer]
• Tarte Amazonian clay blush [blissful] perfect for a long hot day!

Eyes:

• Anastasia Dip Brow [dark brown]
• Studio Gear Impactful mascara
• Avon Eyeliner in chestnut 
• Lorac Pro palette
• Taupe in the crease
• Gold on the lid and lower lash line 
• Nude in the tear duct

Lips:

• Maybelline Baby Lips [cherry me]
• Maybelline Color Whisper [petal rebel]

Have a lovely day!

xoxo Franchesca 

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

This is one of those products that YouTube made me get, not really but you know what I mean. I have been testing this out since March and well I'm converted. MAC was a brand I had stay cleared of since high school after purchasing a foundation and breaking out like crazy! However, after hearing so many raved reviews of this product I took the plunge and purchased it.

I went to a MAC counter and was matched to NC30. This has 15 hours wear so they claim, however I don't wear my makeup that long so I can't really say it last that long, but it does last a good 8 hours. This is a lightweight super pigmented concealer, that means a little goes a long way meaning it can last for ages. One pump is to much for myself, however after much practice you can control the pump a bit. Because this is super lightweight its perfect for under the eyes. Like most people I experience creasing a ton! However, this product though eventually it will crease on me it tends to last longer then my other concealers. This is also great for pin point concealing, with this concealer you get a nice natural look. All in all this concealer was a great buy and I completely recommend it, my only issue with this product would be the pump but like I said above after some practice one can really learn to control it. This is another great concealer for all over the face.