The Musings of a Working Mom

Here is another awesome and much coveted gift set from one of my favorite brands - Tarte!  This set features 4 mini (0.1 oz) Amazonian Clay blushes.  The regular size blushes (0.2 oz) retail for $25 each but this set is $35 for 4 amazing blushes (well 3 blushes, 1 highlighter).  Actually one of the blushes could be used as a bronzer/contour powder...but either way, you get 4 awesome shades in an amazing formulation.  And I love that these shades are universally flattering.  In this set, you get the shade Angelic, which is described as shimmering champagne (shimmer); Fantastic, soft fuchsia (matte); Magic, pink coral (matte); and Stellar, shimmering nude (shimmer).  These shades do seem to be limited edition and not part of their regular collection so I would get your hands on them as soon as you can before they sell out! I do love these blushes - just like their full size counterparts they seem to adjust to your skin needs.  If you have dry skin, t...

October was such a busy month for me - planning 2 birthday parties (my father's surprise 70th and my son's 2nd birthday), my husband was out on business for 3 weeks, getting the kiddos ready for Halloween, Halloween parties at school...October truly flew on by.  But the leaves are falling and the air is getting crisper - Fall is finally here! As the seasons change, so do my skin needs and makeup routine. Here are my favorites for the moth of October: For makeup - I am loving the Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation .  This foundation is just as great as the original fluid Colorstay foundation.  The pigmentation is great - a little goes a long way.  I have found that the best way to apply this foundation is not with a brush or damp beauty blender, but rather with your fingers.  Somehow I don't know if it's the warmth of your fingers or what, but using your fingers to apply and blend out the foundation leaves a flawless finish just like using a brush or beauty bl...

Well the holidays are right around the corner and that means...time to start thinking of the perfect gift to give to your family and friends.  Allow me to take the stress off of your shoulders - I have some great gift ideas for all of those beauty loving friends and family members in your life.   The first gift set that I have been loving is the Sephora Favorites In The Glow set. This is a great set of 9 of  Sephora’s bestselling complexion enhancers, including a selection of 3 blushes, 3 bronzers, and 3 luminizers.  They come in an array of different finishes from creams to powders to liquids. This set contains:  - 0.13 oz Benefit High Beam - 0.08 oz Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder - 0.17 oz Tarte Natural Cheek Stain in Flush - 0.07 oz Stila Convertible Color in Peony - 0.11 oz Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Splendor - 0.106 oz Lorac Perfectly Lit Oil-Free Luminizing Powder in Spotlight - 0.02 oz bareMinerals All Over Face ...

Here are my favorite makeup brushes for FACE: FYI - I am not sponsored by Sigma brushes but I do have an affiliate link on my pages, which means if you click and purchase any brushes via my link, I will receive a commission from your purchase.  But I would not mention any products that I do not love to use and would not mislead you in order to make any money.  Having said that, I do love their brushes!  I have purchased both their Premium Professional kit as well as their Essential Kit, and a couple of their Sigmax precision face brushes (F82/F84).  These brushes, in my opinion, are comparable to MAC brushes but are a fraction of the prices of the MAC brushes. For face, I love using a couple of brushes and one "tool".  For liquid foundation, I love using my  Sigma Sigmax F84 Angled Kabuki Brush  and my Real Techniques Stippling Brush.  For powder and mineral foundations, I love using the Real Techniques Buffing brush, MAC 182 Kabuki brus...

Well the month of August had been an exciting but sad month for me...my twins started Kindergarten!  Which is of course exciting, especially to see how far they have come and now they are off to school with the "big" kids - but sad because they are growing up way too fast!  As I say every month, time is flying...too fast.  But in any case, we are all adjusting to our new schedule and the kids are excited to meet new friends and learn new things each day.  And here we are, with fall right around the corner...and here are my favorites for the month of August: 1.  Sephora #26 Mineral Foundation Brush - you know that I love my Laura Mercier mineral foundation for the summer and I have been looking for a great brush to apply my foundation with - I have been using the Real Techniques buffing brush but I was curious to see how a "mineral foundation brush" compared and I have to say that I get great results using both.  The bristles are dense and soft and thus a...

I keep reminding myself that I don't need to buy anymore makeup but then I look on the Sephora site and see things that I've been eyeing for quite some time but just keep skipping on purchasing them...until now. I did purchase a couple of things that I have heard quite a lot of positive reviews for and one items was finally back in stock. On a side note, I generally don't buy something without doing some research on it first.  I tend to go to a couple of awesome and informative websites - mostly http://www.temptalia.com/ and http://www.makeupalley.com/ .  Temptalia's (a.k.a. Christine) site is very informative and initially tended to lean towards MAC products but now features products from all price points and ends of the retail spectrum.  I find that when I'm at the MAC counter, I always check her site before I make my decision to purchase something.  Her reviews are very descriptive, honest and most of the times, spot on.  I won't make a decision ...

So there were quite a few things that I loved using this month on both myself and my kids, as well as a couple of food items.  I'll start out with the products for the kids - 2 of my kids suffer from eczema and all 3 have very dry skin in these winter months despite constant moisturizing but we have all loved using Shea Moisture Organic Raw Chamomile Argan Oil Baby Head-to-Toe Ointment.  We all love the smell - like cocoa butter - and I tease the kids that I'm going to eat their cheeks, arms and legs because they smell so yummy! Their skin stays really soft and moisturized after just one use...I try to reapply it every night and I keep one tube/tub on each level of my house at arms reach.  Now for the products for myself - I am re-loving my Mary Kay Medium Coverage Foundation. This foundation has been sitting in my makeup drawer for quite some time but recently saw the light of day and has now found a place on the counter with the rest of the...