August Favorites

Hi dolls! So there's only 4 months left until 2014. Just let that sink in a little bit.

Can you believe it? Where did this year go? I remember like it was just yesterday that everybody was freaking out about the end of the world in 2012? haha

I can't believe it's almost Fall! Now where did this summer go? Wow. Time is not stopping for anyone! I figure since we are coming to the end of August, I might as well hop on the bandwagon and do my monthly favorites :)

My first beauty favorite of the month is Tinted Day Cream by KORA Organics. Kora Organics is an organic skincare line created by Miranda Kerr. I absolutely love everything about this product. It is lightweight, contains sunscreen, smells absolutely beautiful, and is very moisturizing. It has light coverage and the pay off is very natural. It comes in one color - which runs quite darker than I thought it was going to be (but nonetheless, perfect for my tanned face). I have other products from the KORA Organics line as well and I have yet to find one product I don't like. This product is a gem. I will continue to repurchase it when I run out.

Since we're talking about face products, my next beauty favorites of this month are the Garnier's Anti-dark circle eye roller in Medium and Tarte's Cheek Stain in Flush.

I picked up Garnier's anti-dark circle eye roller from a local drugstore at the beginning of this month and I've been using it almost every single day. Even though 'Medium' is the darkest shade they have out of the 2 available ones (the other one is in 'Light'), the color is still lighter than my skin tone. I don't use it to conceal my under eye (luckily I don't need to as I don't have a problem with dark under eye circle). I mainly use it to highlight my under eye area and I love the feel of the cooling roll-on applicator.

Next is my Tarte cheek stain. It is the best cheek stain I own, in my opinion, and obviously other people agrees with me because Tarte's cheek stain is the best-selling item and is award-winning! What I like about it is that first of all, it is lightweight (which is what I love for the summer months). But what I love most about 'Flush' is the look it gives me - a natural "flush" like you're blushing or someone just pinched your cheeks :) I love how natural it looks and randomly, I love the way it smells! lol

Next in my August beauty favorite is my Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette.

For the whole month of August, this is the only palette I used. I used Venus (the far left color) as an all-over the lid shade. Then I used Faint (darkest brown, second from the right) in my crease and Naked 2 (third from the right) to blend it out. Then I take an angle eyeliner brush to line my upper lash line with Crave (black, far right) and depending on my mood, I'll switch from Foxy to W.O.S (second and third from the left) to highlight under my brow. This is a very natural everyday look which is perfect for the summer!

Since my eyes are very neutral and it's summertime, I thought a pop of color is needed!

My next favorites are these blue eyeliners. The top one in the photo is Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in Electric, which is a bright blue color (I should have swatch the color for you guys! I'll do it next time). The bottom is Covergirl Liquidline Blast Eyeliner in Blue Boom. It is a darker blue than UD's Electric. I like to line my lowerlash line or tightline my waterline for that extra pop of color with my neutral eyes look. I love both of them because they last all day (the Covergirl one is waterproof) and they don't smudge at all. They're so fun!

My favorite mascara of the month is Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara. 

I heard good things about this mascara so I decided to give it a try. This is the only mascara I've been using this whole month of August and I like it a lot. For someone who likes to pile on coats and coats of mascara, the Rocket Volum' is good because it never clumped on me.

Moving on to favorite lip products of the month, Tarte's LipSurgence skintuitive lip tint and Yves Saint Laurent's Rouge Pur Couture Vernis À Lèvres Glossy Stain in #19 takes the cake.

The Tarte lip tint (once again, award-winning and best-selling) is unique and different from the other lip tints they have. According to the Tarte website, this energy (shade) has a "skintuitive formula [that] responds to your skin's natural pH and energy, giving you a personalized tint that is truly your own younique shade of pink". On my lips, it basically enhances my natural lip color (which is quite pink for an average person) and gives it a healthy glow and shine. It tastes minty and is quite moisturizing as well.

The infamous YSL lip stain is beautiful - lightweight, moisturizing, and has a wonderful color pay off. It is lightly rose-scented (which I don't mind, since the scent I hate most is rose. It always give me headaches but this YSL lip stain did not bother me one bit). #19 Beige Aquarelle is a light baby pink.

Moving on to my next favorite nail polish(es) of the month. For the first 3 weeks of the month I had a "nail detox" where I went absolutely au naturale and polish-free. I figure it was time I give my nails a break (I think we should all do it every once in a while and let your nails breathe). But after my detox was over, I reached for my Essie nail polish in Boom Boom Room which is a cute barbie pink color!

I like to mix it up when I paint my nails, so for my silver-painted nails I reached for OPI's Which is Witch? from the Oz the Great and Powerful collection.

It has multi-colored glitters and shimmers and I just love it. It's happiness in a bottle and go oh-so-well with my barbie pink polish to give it that extra sparkle ;)

My favorite perfume of this month is U & ! by Boathouse.

I've had this perfume forever and I guess you could say that it's a "rediscovered" favorite for this month. I'm really bad at describing scents but I'll say this is very light and floral and sweet and girly all in one (if that makes any sense haha).

Moving on, my 'body' favorite of August is Victorias Secret's Pure Seduction Smoothing Body Scrub. I also have the Body Wash and Fragrance Mist (you could say that I love the Pure Seduction scent). I've never really been one to use a body scrub but since I was trying out different self-tanners, I figure I should exfoliate my body before hand. I picked this scrub up at my local VS store and tried it out. I've been using it all August. It does the job well, leaving my skin super smooth and soft after (plus it smells amazing so I'm not gonna complain :))

I have 2 'hair' favorites of this month. One of them is my Matrix Amplify Wonder Boost Root Lifter. I use it when my hair is a little bit damp - spray a few pumps directly to my roots and massage it to my scalp. It smells amazing and when my hair is fully dried, it gives a little boost to my roots. You can also use it when your hair is completely dry if you want to tease your hair. Spray it to your roots, massage it and use a teasing comb right after, hello Texan-pageant-worthy hair!

I am sooo picky when it comes to hairspray. They are either too smelly or sticky or hard, etc. I never found one I really like so I never really use hairspray much. This month, I reached for my curling iron quite a bit and I figure I needed hairspray so that it can hold my curls in place (I would never use hairspray so my curls would be falling by the time I leave my house). I went to my local drugstore and blindly pick out a random hairspray. I've used the Aussie brand in the past and I remember really loving the smell of their shampoo, so I decided to pick up this Instant Freeze Hairspray. I like it. It doesn't leave my hair too crunchy or sticky and it smells wonderful! Score.

Next August favorite is my Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturizer in Cocoa Radiant. It is quick absorbent, non-sticky, easy to use and smells like cocoa butter. What more can I say?

My fashion favorite for the month of August are from my very recent haul. I am all about demin this month and since the last week and a half has been kinda rainy, windy and cold (hello Fall! :)) I thought these recent purchases are very appropriate.

I got this denim top from H&M. It is form-fitting (very flattering) and super comfortable. I pair this shirt with white shorts or a maxi skirt or even leggings! They're very cute to throw on without thinking too much.

This super adorable jacket is from American Eagle. I snagged it at a deal (40% off store-wide). Apparently this jacket is a best-seller because it was extremely hard to find. But nonetheless, I didn't give up and managed to score one for myself :) I love this denim vest and gray hoodie style. I think it's super cute for the Fall!

I've been wearing my Michael Kors watch every single day since I got it last summer (I am still obsessed lol). I often switch up any bracelets to wear as arm candy to pair with my watch but I haven't found one that I really, really like until I stumbled into Bizou at the mall and found this beautiful gold spike bracelet. I've been pairing these combo together every single day this month and I'm obsessed (what else is new with me lol)! For bonus points, everywhere I go, people always compliment me and asks where I got this bracelet from. Well, lucky for you guys, it can be found here (you're welcome ;))

Now it's time for my random favorites ...

My first random favorite for the month of August is Bath and Body Works Wallflowers. I currently have 3 fragrance plugs (the middle one lights up so i'm using it as a nightlight in the bathroom). I hauled some fragrance bulbs I picked up a couple of days ago so you can go check it out if you're curious to know what fragrance I have.

Next random favorite is this Starbucks Stainless steel chiseled tumbler. First of all I love Starbs, and I also think this tumblr is so unique looking and it makes drinking water fun! hahaha :)

Last but not least, my random food favorite for the month of August is Quaker's Maple and Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal. I'm not one for oatmeals but this is what I've been having for breakfast every single day this month. It is quick, easy and delicious!

So these all my favorites for the month of August. I hope you enjoy :)

What are your favorites this month?

Until later & see you in September! ;)

from Film, with love,

xx