Oh November… are you seriously over?

november beauty favorites I howsweeteats.com

I can’t believe I’ve been sharing these posts for almost a YEAR. That’s just nuts. I’m such an old lady and time is flying.

I have lots of stuff to share with you this month but in all honestly, a lot of things on my face have been super boring. For the first time ever, I’ve gone completely crazy over dark lips. It’s been almost all about my lips this month and I’ve been super easy on my eyes, doing nothing too wild and sticking with neutrals for the most part. I’ve fallen in love with bold, almost-shocking dark lips, that are soooo dark on my pale skin that it sometimes frightens people. I don’t care though – I stand by my thoughts on if it’s applied evenly and you wear it with confidence, rock it!

A few randoms: I’m still using all the same stuff on my hair – the macadamia products and the kenra blow dry spray (cuts my drying time in HALF!). I’m still using the cuticle solar oil a few times a day and it’s a saving grace now that it’s freezing out. I’ve also still been loving the tree hut sugar scrub, though I’ve also been using my own too. Almost finished my trader joe’s pumpkin body butter, still dying over my josie maran whipped argan body butter and loving my bond no. 9 and flowerbomb perfumes.

Moving right along…

urban decay shame and MAC rebel lipsticks I howsweeteats.com

Lipstick loves! So as far as lipstick goes, I’ve still been using MAC rebel paired with the MAC nightmoth lipliner. I also bought the above, urban decay shame, and while I really love the color (it’s more burgundy while rebel leans purple), I think that rebel applies more evenly. Shame isn’t quite as dry as rebel though, so there’s that.

I really think that the nightmoth pencil makes a huge difference in these colors and I’m not sure I can explain just how much I love it. It’s scary dark, but awesome.

revlon matte balm in standout I howsweeteats.com

I’ve only ventured into reds a handful of times this month, but my choice has been this revlon matte balm in standout. I bought this one when I got the others last month and I still really love these. They are matte but sort of moisturizing, if that makes sense. I tend to go for cooler toned reds and find this shade works.

hourglass lip gloss in icon I howsweeteats.com

At the Sephora VIB sale I picked up this hourglass gloss in icon. OH MY GOSH. Really liking it. You may remember that I’ve been wearing this gloss in the color fortune all year, and I have to say that this has become my new favorite lip gloss. It’s so smooth and creamy, not sticky at all. It stays forever. Cannot say enough good things.

Okay, I’ll stop.

sugar advanced lip therapy balm I howsweeteats.com

One more lip product that I grabbed at the VIB sale was the sugar lip therapy. I’ve never had any interest in the tinted ones because I always prefer either a lipstick or a gloss – I don’t really care about a “wash” of color. They are also overpriced. I already have my two all time favorite lip balms in the dior creme de rose and burt’s bees, so I’ve never been too interested. And! When I asked about these earlier in the month, the response was 50/50 – half of you loved it, half of you thought it was crap.

When I went to Sephora, they only had one of the dior balms left (I had planned on getting two which would have lasted me a good six months), so I figured that allowed me a little cushion to try this out. WHOA. Loving it more than I ever thought. A little over a year ago I had a weird issue with my lips where they became chapped beyond a point of control. No idea if it was a virus or something, but it was unbearable and I was almost in tears. Nothing was working – not aquaphor or vaseline or carmex or neosporin or chapstick or anything. Ever since, I’ve been extremely picky about my lip products before bed, and this has surely made the cut. I think this is SO worth it. I’m still not interested in the colors, but I will be using this one forever evah.

lorac pro palette I howsweeteats.com

On to eyes! So the only stuff I have been putting on my eyes this month is my NARS smudgeproof base, topped with my MAC painterly paint pot. If I want to do a little something extra (not smoky, just a little color), I’ve been reaching for my lorac pro palette. I love this thing so much. And as you can see… I always go for a little shimmer. Shocking.

silta kitten eyeshadow I howsweeteats.com

If I’m not using the pro palette, I’m sticking with the base, the paint pot and a little layer of stila kitten. It’s super bright and glittery and I think it pairs perfectly with the dark lips. It really brightens up my eyes and leaves room for false lashes, which we all know I can’t live without. This product has been in my life forever (as you can see by the total mess that it is) and a little goes a long way. It’s not too different from urban decay sellout, other than being so much more shimmery. If I’m going out or doing something a little more fancy, I wear this.

NARS eye paint in snake eyes and tatar I howsweeteats.com

Since I’ve been sticking with the dark lips, my eyeliner game has been minimal as well. I haven’t done much black because it comes off a little harsh, but you know I need SOME color in my life. I finally got the nars eye paints that I mentioned in my autumn wish list and have been using them as an eyeliner instead of a base. I bought snake eyes (the green) and tatar (the purple) and love ’em. They aren’t too bold but give a slight hint of color. Hoping I can use these all up before they dry out. Is that even possible?

tarte amazonian clay blush in blushing bride I howsweeteats.com

As for cheeks, I’ve been keeping it pretty neutral with my favorite tarte exposed, but also using this tarte blushing bride quite a bit since it meshes with the season. These freaking blushes. Holy heck. They just have SO much color. I can touch it lightly with my brush and it’s almost too much. I just think they are gorgeous and don’t know if I ever will even want another blush besides these and my estee lauder tease.

This shade is also a bit shimmery while most of my other tarte ones are matte. It doesn’t have huge chunks of glitter though.

tarte tinted moisturizer + it cosmetics bye bye redness I howsweeteats.com

On my face, I’ve still been sticking with my tarte tinted moisturizer. However, I think I was a little spoiled by wearing foundation a couple times earlier this year, and even though I don’t really care for it, I liked how even it made my skin look. I found this it cosmetics bye bye redness cream at ulta and have been mixing the slightest drop with the moisturizer. I’m talking like barely a dip of the tip of my pinky in the jar. At first I thought it was under eye concealer (it might be?) but it didn’t work out that way for me. So I did this!

It’s super messy and on it’s own, a little too dark for me. But when mixed with this moisturizer? Flipping out. Love love love it.

P.S. is there a new word for love? I’m overdoing it.

it cosmetics bye bye redness I howsweeteats.com

So.

At the beginning of November (actually on my birthday), when I went to the VIB sale, I was lured into Lush. I still use their lip scrub but have shied away from using most of their products on my face just because I have things I really like already and don’t want a ton of crazy scents. I also think I’m too old for it. Ridiculous? Am I too old for it? I think, maybe. But I’m also beauty product stunted. (except with hello kitty. no way to hello kitty. never. not a fan.)

Anyhoo. I smelled this little facial scrub and almost died. IT SMELLS LIKE A BAKERY!

LUSH let the good times roll facial cleanser I howsweeteats.com

It’s so crazy. It’s like cookies and cake and popcorn and cinnamon rolls all rolled into one, but not in a sickly sweet way. It’s warm and wintery and just… comforting. I can’t get enough.

I’ve only been using it about once per week since I use my clarisonic daily and have been on a face mask binge, but it’s fun. I look forward to using it. And then I want to eat my face.

LUSH let the good times roll facial cleanser I howsweeteats.com

Speaking of faces, I also grabbed the glam glow youth mud mask that I had mentioned. So far, I have used this six times. I like it a lot – but is it worth the ridiculous price? The jury is still out. I’ve been using it in conjunction with my (super cheap favorite) queen helene mint julep mask, and I think they are sort of similar. Even though I have slightly sensitive skin, I don’t break out very much (thank you universe) so I may not be the best judge.

For me, face masks have a lot to do with the whole “experience” of pampering yourself and relaxing, and I’ve tried a bunch that I’m not a fan of. This one definitely wins in my book, but I’ll give you more deets once I finish the jar. It’s also become a little ritual of sorts for my husband and me… and we definitely do face masks together twice a week or so.

Yeah.

glam glow youth mud mask I howsweeteats.com

Super cold weather means I’ve been lathering up under my eyes. I know I’m boring and mention it all the time but I just love the kiehl’s avocado eye cream so much. Nothing crazy – just moisture. It’s reliable and wonderful.

kiehl's avocado eye cream I howsweeteats.com

Also!

I bought a bright pink body wash. Talk about being too old for things. I’m semi-embarrassed but am unable to hold anything back. When I first discovered Lush a few years ago, I bought snow fairy lip gloss. I’m a sucker for the scent – it’s sugary sweet, a mix between cotton candy and bubble gum. Man do I love it. It’s only available around the holidays so I bought this big honking container. Happy birthday to me.

LUSH snow fairy shower gel I howsweeteats.com

Finally, let’s talk about nails.

Before I even posted about my VIB sale suggestions, Eddie gave me some birthday gifts and had two of these formula x polishes wrapped on top. Does he know me or what? Okay, I think he got lucky since they were on display when he walked into Sephora, but still… he made a good choice. He bought me the two colors on the left. Love them. I ended up buying the “system” since so many of you recommended it to me and it came with one color of your choice.

I am SUPER impressed with the wear time of these. I do a good amount of work with my hands and these have been put to the test. I’ve also worn the base and the topcoat with a different brand of nailpolish (color) in between and have been impressed by that as well.

Also… the COLORS. Damn. I can’t believe the selection they have.

sephora formula X nail polish I howsweeteats.com

I’m also all about metallics right now and I definitely have enough that I didn’t purchase any new formula X ones.

This sally hansen shade in guilty party is a great mix between silver and rose gold. I want metallic everything!

sally hansen guilty party nail polish I howsweeteats.com

Annnnnd that’s it. Lots of new stuff I’m liking, thankfully. One thing I did purchase at the VIB sale was a new brush head for my clarisonic and they sold me on the cashmere luxe brush? Not a fan. It feels like nothing on my skin – like lighter than my fingertips. It barely removes my makeup so I just don’t know how it could be removing more residue. I’m gonna go back to my sensitive skin brush head and call it a day. The end.

november beauty favorites I howsweeteats.com

Now share share share and tell me what you’re loving this month! I’m a junkie and need my fix.

[as usual, none of this is sponsored and i purchased everything myself. i am not affiliated with any of these companies and don’t receive anything for talking about them. there are a handful of amazon affiliate links above. THANK YOU!]