June Beauty Favorites!

AAAAAAAAAAAnd it's July. We are officially past the midpoint of 2013. June was a busy month for me, so I am looking forward to slowing down in July and doing a bit of personal life regrouping. These products have been my ol' faithfuls for the month of June...

Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya
This shade has made it into the permanent collection, thanks goodness! I have a penchant for buying orange lipsticks and this lip butter is a perfect orangey-pink color. The original lip butter collection includes two other orange/peach shades: Tutti Frutti, which I think is a tad too orange and Peach Parfait, which contains glitter particles which tend to dry out my lips, so Juicy Papaya is an orange dream come true. I have used this mostly in the day time, but it is just all around a great lipstick.

Benefit Dallas Box o' Powder
Another Benefit blush in my monthly favorites? Shocker! Not a shocker. As you saw in my friend Ayesha's guest post, Dallas is one of the products that started it all. The gold letters on the packaging give it a nice touch. Since I'm fair, I need to be careful that I don't apply too much, but in the right amount, this blush gives the most beautiful bronzy, rose glow.  Also, this product's tagline totally cracks me up: "An outdoor glow for an indoor gal." Don't get me wrong I love The Nature, but being indoors, curled with a book is where it's at.

Revlon Photo Ready Bronzer
This is a matte, mosaic bronzer that contains 4 distinct colors to customize the bronzed intensity of your look. When I first put it on it looked a bit too ruddy and red on me (not orange, red), but I quickly learned to adjust the colors and apply lightly so I get a really nice "I've been building a tan for days" look. The packaging is nice albeit bulky but the most gorgeous part of this bronzer is hands down the organic pattern embossed in the compact. Buy this!

Simply Smooth Xtend Keratin Replenishing Magic Potion
They were not being immodest by naming this product "Magic Potion" as I have seen it do wonders for my hair! It claims to do several things: "protects from thermal abuse, locks in hair color, controls frizzing, adds shine and volume, hydrates, smoothes, detangles, and leaves hair silky and free of split ends." I would definitely say this product does 6/10 of those things on the regular. Oddly enough, I had never heard of this product and it was used on me in a salon I was visiting in another city. When the stylist was done, my hair felt like a cloud, so naturally this product needed to come home with me. I use it as a leave in conditioner/heat protectant and my hair is left feeling softer than ever. During the summertime I do even more heat styling than normal and my mane needs the extra support. I have never seen this product again in any salon, but it is available on amazon.com and drugstore.com. Invest.

Eco Tools Angled Liner Brush
This was such a bargain! I scored this liner brush for less than $6 and I have no complaints. It is lightweight, ultra thin, and really gives you a precise line. 

And a non-beauty favorite...

Xabi! My sweet puppy has been with me for a whole month! I can't believe it! Xabi is truly a joy. He is just doing so well all around, and although he is still a baby in MANY ways, he is a flexible little chap! Probably my favorite things about Xabi besides the excruciatingly cute way he walks and his soft hair, are his big, beautiful, brown eyes. I am a little embarrassed to admit (as a first time dog person, I never thought in a million years I would write this next sentence), but I feel like I can see his heart in his eyes. They are so expressive and gentle and it really lifts me up. 

Post-Haircut

Romp in the grass.

Sleepy monkey!

Sweet dreams, everyone!
xx. V.

Bonus Bits

• I have been putting together a large wedding post to review the make up I've worn over the last two weekends so look out for that!
• I finished Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare on the plane back from Arizona and on my morning metro rides last week! I have so many feelings about these! Good ones! Oh my goodness, I am hooked! Even now, I can't stop thinking about the plot and the characters and I can say I am knee-deep in fangirl craziness! I have one book left in the trilogy before I tackle The Mortal Instruments series.
• My best friend Annie ordered the Mally at home gel manicure kit, and I am way excited to try it out!....on her, I mean. (*heehee*)