Favorite Fridays: drugstore vs. name brand (round 2)

Happy Friday all!

So excited about it being the weekend, this week was long and majorly cray.

For my FF post, I decided to do a mini round 2 of drugstore vs. name brand. I had a few friends share that they enjoyed it and I felt that I had more favorite products to share, LOL!

We will be comparing face highlighters. I love them! Face highlighters give that perfect, dewy glow and can make your skin shine (in a good way). I personally have to be careful, because I end up too shiny.

It's Elf Lilac Petal facial whip vs. Benefit's High Beam:

I love Benefit makeup, ESPECIALLY their packaging. I am not a huge fan of how much everything costs, but I still buy it regardless. In a gift set , I received a small version of the face highlighter, High Beam. It was nice, had a rather really wet texture, but did the job. I noticed it would virtually disappear by the end of the day. I did like it, and I considered buying the full product, which costs $26 for 0.45 oz. Hmm....

On a Target trip awhile back, I  discovered Elf's facial whips, which is basically a face highlighter. The cost?? A mere $1. Now, lets see how they stack up:

1. First, these are the applicators:

The Elf version is the tube, high beam on the right. Personally, I like the tube better as you can have better control over blending. I feel like the Benefit kind is pretty much putting on paint, which leads me to the next...

2. Consistency...Elf is thicker, and I noticed it didn't blend as easy. Benefit is much more watery and like I mentioned before, it is gone by the end of the day.

So...how do they stack up side by side? You be the judge:

See a difference? I don't think so! They both (after being blended properly) are the same friggin' thing! Yes, I am in the business of saving $25!! Elf's Lilac Petal is my new official fave!!!

Happy Friday!!

thoughts on 30

This is one of my famous, rambly posts...
In exactly one month, I will be turning thirty, and I am not sure how I feel about it.
Now, I should clarify, before people start getting pissy.

No, I don't think thirty is "old". Let's get that clear.

For the youngsters reading, it may seem like that's billion years old, but I promise you, you won't think that when you get close to 30, TRUST ME on this one.

I think for me, I have been in my 20's what seems like forever. I truly feel like I'm still 18, and still trying to figure it all out. I feel like turning 30 means that being a grown up is more real now when before, I just felt like a kid. There are some regrets, things I wish I had done or accomplished in my 20's but overall, I feel thankful and grateful for the life God has blessed me with.

I will say I am looking forward to what my 30's will bring. I have heard that people say their 30's are way better than their 20's. If that's true, then it can only get better from here!

Me as a baby                  










       Me at 15                           

Me at almost 30 (LOL)

11 random things...

I have been seeing this type of a post in a lot of blogs. I thought I would try a fun facts post myself. It may be hard because many of you already know me, but hey, I'm up for a challenge to find a thing or two that you may not know! Herrrreeeee we go:
1. I detest Mexican food. I know, I am the only one in the world. My family hates this about me. And before you say, "but aren't you Mexican?" Nope, I'm Salvadorean.
2. If I could have an alternate career, I would 110% be a stylist for celebrities. I love fashion and putting together outfits. Not to toot my own horn, but I am usually the go-to girl for many of my friends and family asking for fashion advice, and I LOVE helping. I seriously love clothes.
3. Popular to contrary belief, I do want to be a mom someday. My past posts don't reflect it, but I do. Just not now. I have loved every second of being kid-less and I am savoring every minute with my fabulous hubby. And no, there isn't any health issues. The end.
4. From time to time, hubs and I have full blown conversations in British accents. Yes, we are strange. I blame it because we watch a lot of British TV. We think we have pretty awesome accents. Sometimes when there is a little bit of downtime, I even speak in a British accent to my students to be silly and they think I am cool. I'm positive to actual Brits we would sound like complete idiots, lol!
5. I'm obsessed with all things Europe. Like borderline crazy-obsessive, lol! Our honeymoon trip to Ireland put the bug in me, and I have been crazy about wanting to go to Europe. I find joy pouring over potential tours and figuring out costs of flights online. I turn GREEN WITH SERIOUS ENVY anytime I see someone on facebook head over to Europe. My goal is to go visit the "big ticket" cities: London, Paris and Italy. Preferably before having children. I would die happy if I could even visit JUST ONE of these places.
6. I have never officially admitted this, but I have been diagnosed with Androgenic Alopecia . For more on this crazy a-- story, start here: losing it
It was horrible and awful (considering 2 years before I had the thickest hair known to man), but I realized there are more worse things in the world. No, I am not bald, and won't ever be (well, knock on wood big time, lol!). Luckily, I think I have it somewhat under control and for face-value, you can't tell.

7.  I look like an idiot when I don't smile in pictures. Case in point:

I have to smile. I just look a major weirdo when I don't. I wish I could look fierce, but I look ridiculous. Guess a modeling career is out, LOL!!!!!

8. I am obsessed with pickles, but I will vomit if you even offer fried pickles (fried pickles=BAD TUMMY EXPERIENCE)

9.   Is it sad to say I am still a little bit afraid of the dark? When I sleep, I sleep under the covers, because that way, I am untouchable, LOL!!!!

10. I have a weird quirk about giving people nicknames...for example one of my students  Gustavo is "gus", Abigail is "Abbs", etc. etc. I don't know if people like their nicknames as much as I do, lol.

11. Another weirdo quirk is I abbreviate everything. Like jelly for jealous, cray for crazy, you get the idea. Drives some of my friends cray (lol) but I don't care, lol!!!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed these random tidbits about myself! Happy Monday!

Favorite Fridays: drugstore vs. name brand

To my faithful 3 readers....

Wowza, another dry spell. Holy Moses!

I feel bad for neglecting this little blog, but here we go. As many of you know, I am a true makeup junkie! I know, I know, makeup doesn't make person beautiful, yadda, yadda, yadda.

However, I am a sucker for cute brands and especially cute packaging. I am definitely a brand whore, but as many of us ladies know, fancy brands come with a big cost at times. Since I am not making 150 grand a year, I have had to find great products that could rival the name brand products. 

After testing out some brands, I found some work just as good as the name brand products. Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

 

Okay, so here we have Bare Minerals flawless definition ($18) on the far left, Maybeline falsies (in the middle) ($6) and Time Balm what's your type on the end ($19)...the best one hands down is Maybeline falsies...I love my lashes bold and long, and this mascara takes the cake. Honestly, the other 2 basically suck. I am down with saving big bucks that way!!

Next, we have ELF high definition powder( $6) compared to Bare Minerals mineral veil ($20...sorry I don't have my own pic of it, left it at home). Now I love my mineral veil, but I found the elf one for so much cheaper. The elf is a little lighter, but has that same shimmer that my mineral veil provides. For $6 bucks, its not a bad deal.

We have Revlon's peach petal ($5.50) compared to Benefit's Life on the A List ($18). I love me a good nude lip color!! Benefit's color is a little more pink, but I noticed that the color was basically the same. Both give off that pretty, nude color that goes great by itself or under/over a bold lipstick.

Lastly, we have Elf's little black book in warm on the left ($5, and I am not even showing all the other colors on the other side!) compared to Cargo's Essential nude palette on the right ($34...yikes!!). Now to be fair, I got my cargo as part of set, because normally I wouldn't spend that much. I absolutely love nude colors, as it complements my poop brown eyes (sorry, my color is boring, LOL!). Now, the cargo is prettty amazing. However, the elf book is also just as amazing. Honestly, I couldn't see much of a quality difference! I love and use both but I am down to save $29!!! 

 

 

 I'm hoping to test out more products and post more as I find good discoveries! Hopefully this helped, as saving money is always great!!!