October Favorites!

Happy end of October!!  Such a cliche - but I seriously cannot believe how fast this month went.  September and October flew by for me.  I blame it on being so excited to share Halloween and the upcoming holidays with my favorite little girl :)  (My little one is going to be 8 months old this week.  How did that happen??)

The end of October also marks a first for me...my first YouTube video to share with my readers!  I love watching monthly favorites videos, so I figured now would be a great time to take the plunge and film one.  Besides, it's way better to see a product than to just read about it.

And onto the beauty products I've given a lot of love this month!





Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation ($12.99 at Ulta)
Love this for the great natural glow it gives your skin.  I have oily skin, but this still does great things for me.

Makeup Forever Mat Velvet+ Foundation ($36 at Sephora)
This really does stay matte on me most of the day, plus the color match (I am shade 30) is spot on.  It gives a good medium coverage but can be built up.

Beauty Blender ($19.95 at Sephora)
A ridiculously expensive makeup sponge, but I've found nothing that beats it.  When you use it damp, it applies any foundation flawlessly and keeps it looking so natural.  I've been using mine basically every day this month.

Mac Prolongwear Paint Pot in Soft Ochre ($20 on Mac's website, but I found mine at a CCO!)
This is more yellow than the cult-classic shade Painterly.  It's the same shade as Urban Decay's Primer Potion in Eden, which really works well with my skin tone.  This works very well to block out redness and even out my lids.  Paint pots do crease on me, so I layer them over Primer Potion.

Nars Bronzer in Laguna ($36 at Sephora)
I've had my Laguna bronzer for-ev-er.  It's time for it to go, and I've been working on it for months now.  I LOVE the shade, but it's a bit dark for me in the winter, and I just have so many other bronzers I want to use.  I've been using this literally every day to try to use it up!

Burberry Blush in Russett ($42 at Nordstrom)
I absolutely love this color for fall - it is the perfect peachy brown.  It's actually the same exact shade as Mac's blush in Gingerly ($21), which I learned personally when I purchased Gingerly and compared them.  I have to say - Burberry's texture and blendability win by a mile, but the price is a little hard to stomach.  (In full disclosure, I received this as a gift...I did not purchase it myself.)

Mac 222 Brush (~$20, found at a CCO)
I love this brush because it is more dense and compact than a 217.  It deposits color more precisely in my crease, and I've been using it with a 224 to build up color and define my eyes more.  Mac no longer sells the 222, but Sigma's E35 brush ($14) is basically a dupe.  The brush that comes with the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette is also very similar.

Loreal Lineur Intense Liquid Liner in Carbon Black ($7.94 at WalMart)
No liquid liner will ever replace my beloved Fluidline, but I have been reaching for this one quite a bit this month!  It is by far the easiest liquid liner to apply (I use the felt tip version, not the brush version) because the tip is just firm enough to give you a nice, straight line.  Plus, it's ultra black so you don't need to keep going over it.

NYX Setting Spray in Matte Finish ($8 at Nordstrom)
I forgot to include this in my video, but I have been absolutely loving this spray.  It's the first setting spray I've used that actually does keep my makeup in place all day, let alone keep my face from getting shiny after a few hours.  One thing I didn't expect that I was so happy to see was that this spray really keeps my eye makeup from budging.  I typically get a lot of black smudging under my eyes from mascara, but this keeps them looking perfectly clean all day.  

Formula X Polish in Ignite ($10.50 at Sephora)
Holy cow - I never expected to love a nail polish as much as this!!  I will do a full post reviewing these polishes when I grab a few more with my VIB sale coupon, but for now, suffice to say that these are AMAZING.  They wear much longer and better than typical polishes, and you absolutely don't need to topcoat them.  They're just as shiny with Seche Vite as they are without it.  These things are going to be a new addiction for me, I can feel it!!!

What are your favorites this month?  Let me know what I'm missing out on!

 

As always, everything in this post is my honest personal opinion.  No affiliate links were used.  I have not accepted any consideration for sharing these items with you.  Unless indicated otherwise, all products were purchased by me with my own money.