Empties Ep. 10 May 2015

Here are some of my current empties and mini reviews of each product.

What are some of your favorite products right now?

Rediscovered Favorite #1: Too Faced Palette

In the beauty world we are always looking for the latest and greatest products to try. Often great products are forgotten about until one day when we see them in the back of our drawer. Then we remember how much we loved that product and fall in love with it all over again. That rediscovered loved product is what this new series is all about.

My first rediscovered favorite is the Natural Eye palette by Too Faced. I bought this palette a couple of years ago and used the heck out of it. 

I even did a tutorial using it. (Check it out here.)

There are 4 out of the 9 colors that I am absolutely obsessed with: Heaven, Silk teddy, Push-up, and Honey Pot. They are all very soft and shimmery. All the eye shadows are super pigmented.

My favorite one is Push-up as you can see by the indentation. It is perfect as an all over color and as a crease color.

I don’t use Velvet Revolver, Expresso, Erotica, and Cocoa Puff  because they are just too dark for me.

I don’t use Nude Beach very often because the glitter is super chunky and it can irritate my eyes.

What is your rediscovered favorite product this month?

Ulta 21 Days of Beauty Picks

Ulta is doing their 21 Days of Beauty sale again and I thought I would share with you which items I would purchase. I wish I could purchase them all but I don't have unlimited amounts of cash. =( 

Here is my wishlist. There are links to each item to see pictures and full descriptions. (Not affiliate links)

~March 16 - Stila Smudge Stick WaterProof Eyeliner (Buy one, get one free)

~March 24 - Mally Perfect Prep Under Eye Brightener ($22)

~March 27 - Strivectin Age-Fighting Discovery Kit ($20)

~March 29 - Lorac Chamgane Dreams Eye Shadow Palette ($15)

~April 1 - Too Faced Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush ($15)

~April 4 - Smashbox Original Photo Finish Foundation Primer ($18)

 What do you want to purchase?

I will do a separate post later letting you know what I actually ended up getting.

March Hidden Gem- BeautyByAndriana

This month's Hidden Gem is BeautyByAndriana. 

I came across Andriana's channel about a year ago and fell in love with her videos. Her eye makeup is always flawless and her reviews very informative. Now, let's get to know her a little better.

1) When did you start your YouTube channel and why?

I started my YouTube channel on February 25th, 2013 (my 2 year anniversary just passed!). I decided to finally start a channel because I was obsessed with the online beauty community. I loved talking about makeup products and creating new, exciting looks, so I thought making a YouTube channel would be perfect!

2) What is the main focus of your channel?

My main focus is makeup. This means that my videos can range from tutorials to first impressions to reviews...you name it! And of course, I occasionally post a tag or haul when I feel like it.

3) What and who inspires you and why?

Let's see...I'm going to stick with YouTube and say Marlena from MakeupGeekTV. As many of you may know, she started off making beauty videos on YouTube and then came out with her own makeup company. I want to do the same thing, so to see how successful she has gotten from it, inspires me to work 10x harder than I already am.

4) What has helped your channel grow the most?

I would say that interacting with my viewers has helped my channel a lot. People really like to know when you find them important and that's one of my biggest goals on my channel. I really want to create a friendship with each of my viewers and I want them to know that they can come to me for any of their beauty questions. 

5) What would you like people to know about you?

Hmm...this one is tough. There's only so much people see from watching a 5 minute video of me. I'm going to cheat and write two things. First off, I'm an extremely shy person, but once I warm up to you, I get extremely comfortable and act very funny/quirky. To go along with that, I am also a very loyal person. I will go through hell and back to help anyone close to me. I'm that one person who you can count on for anything you need help with!

Where you can find Andriana

YouTube

Beauty Blog

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

See who the Hidden Gem was last month.

My Foundation Routine - Full Coverage

I recently made a video of my full coverage foundation routine. 

Products Used:
Laura Mericier Silk Creme Foundation in Cream Ivory
Revlon Nearly There Pressed Powder 
Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser
NYX Wonder Pencil
Benefit Brow Pencil
Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara
Milani Bronzer in Hermosa Rose
MAC Blush in Gentle

See the full video here

What is your favorite full coverage foundation?

Walmart Beauty | Winter Box

This is a subscription box service offered by Walmart. It is free and you only have to pay $5 for shipping! It is a quarterly box and the one I am showing here is their Winter box. 

Click Here

I believe that I receive a few things that other people didn't. 

Click Here

Where you can get your box. (This is not an affiliate link)

https://beautybox.walmart.com

As always, let me know if you would like me to review anything for you.

Ulta Haul & a Few Exras

I received a few gift cards from friends to Ulta and this is what I purchased. I also added a couple of items that I got for Christmas. I hope you enjoy this haul!

Watch Here

Let me know if you would like me to review any of the items.

See more hauls here.

Top 5 Beauty Products of 2014

Here are my favorite (top 5) beauty products of 2014. These were all brand new products to me last year.

Click Here

What were some of your favorite beauty products from 2014?

Happy New Year & Goals for 2015

Happy New Year! I can't believe it is 2015 already! I hope you're having a great new year. Today I thought I would talk about some of my goals for 2015 since everyone is talking about their New Year resolutions.

Several years ago I resolved not to make New Year resolutions and instead change things when I felt they needed to be changed. This year I would like to focus on goals for the year. I think it is very important to have goals for yourself and to write them down. So, here are a few of my personal and professional goals.

1) Reach 10k subscribers on my Beauty channel - I know this is a big number but if you don't dream big then you'll never get there. 

2) Walk 3 hours a week - aka I want to be healthier and I believe walking at least 3 hours a week will help me get there.

3) Help my church grow - We are very small and are looking for ways to reach out to the local community. I hope that I can help with that.

4) Grow church Youth Group - Kinda the same idea as above. I am the YG leader at my church and would love to see it grow even bigger.

5) Cook more meals at home - I do love to cook but recently I have gotten lazy and have not been cooking as much. 

6) Read the Bible in 1 years time - I started this last month and am already behind but I know I can do it. I am reading it chronologically to make it a bit more interesting. 

7) Read more in general- I usually read about 50 books a year but last year I read about half that. (Although, several were 1,000+ pages.) I would like to get back to that 50. Follow my progress on Goodreads.

I have many more goals for 2015, but I hope you enjoyed the few that I shared with you. 

What are your goals for 2015?

Influenster FrostyBox

This was day 11 of Holiday Hodgepodge

Yay, I got another box from Influenster. This one is the Frosty 

VoxBox.

Click Here

 If you would like me to review any of the products please let 

me know in the comments.

Not sure what Influenster is or would like to get a free box 

check out this video.

Giveaway Unboxing & First Impressions

This was day 10 of Holiday Hodgepodge.

I recently won a giveaway here on Youtube and I wanted to 

show you the makeup that I received. I also decided to give 

you my first impression on all the products by Valtoria.

Click Here

To learn more about Blacklock Beauty check out this post.

To see how to purchase Valtoria cosmetics see this video.

Hidden Gems - December 2014

https://www.facebook.com/Blacklockbeauty

Our very first Hidden Gem is Courtney of BlacklockBeauty. If you have been watching me for awhile you’ll know that Courtney is the reason I started watching Youtube way back like five years ago. I wanted to learn how to curl my hair with a curling iron and I came across her video. Five years later I am glad to be able to call her a friend. She has great content and I think there is something for everyone on her channel and blog.

Now let’s let Courtney tell us about herself.

1. When did you start your Youtube channel?

I started my Channel back in 2009 and then I took a long break where I did videos off and on eventually stopping, I'm not sure why, I think it was a few things, negative comments, losing control of my weight, figuring out who I was. I just got back into it the beginning of this year.

2. Why did you start making videos?

I started making videos because my dude, now husband suggested that I make my own channel. When I did it just took off, but that was before I took a long break, now it's coming back, but very slowly now that I'm much different on camera.

3. What is the main focus of your channel?

Mainly Beauty, but I do diet and recipe videos as well as fashion occasionally.

4. What or who inspires you and why?

I don't have one person in particular, I would say the youtubers that have consistently made videos despite negative feedback and have made their channel grow.

5. What would you like people to know about you?

This one is hard to answer. I would like people to know of only great things about me, but I also would like them to come to their own conclusion.

6. What has helped your channel grow the most?

I did a lot of Google advertising and a lot of pinterest posts. What I noticed is that the photos make a big difference, an eye catching photo sells. Photos and video quality.

Where you can find Courtney

Youtube

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Oops!

OMG! Have I really not posted since the end of July? I'm so sorry! I seriously did not realize it had been that long. 

I am a horrible blogger. I have every intention of posting and then somehow it gets pushed aside. I will try harder! 

So, I guess we have a lot to catch up on. I will make separate post for the videos that have been posted over the next week or so. I guess I'll do them by month. 

It's the start of the busy holiday season and I have lots of fun things planned. I hope you'll enjoy them! 

What fun things do you have planned?

October Glossybox

As some of you may know I signed up for GlossyBox in early October and received my first box about a week later. (Watch September's box here.) Well, here it is November I hadn't received anymore, even though I paid for a 3 month subscription. After contacting customer service they resent my October box and here is what was in it.

For some reason it won't let my add the video here so please follow the link.

My November box has not arrived yet and I hope I don't have to contact customer service again. At least they were super helpful, unlike Julep Maven. (See why here.)

Do you like Glossybox?

June Empties!

These are the beauty and makeup products I finished last month.

What products did you finish?

Sunkissed VoxBox Unboxing

These are the products that were in my Influenster Sunkissed VoxBox. Anyone can become an Influenster just check out their website www.influenster.com and maybe you'll get free stuff too!

*Influenster sent me these products complimentary. This video is not sponsored and all opinions are mine.

Pink Ice Tutorial- Viewers Choice

A couple of weeks ago I asked on Twitter and Instagram which swatch of colors you wanted to see. This is the one you chose. I hope you like it. =)

March Empties

Sorry I have been slacking on here. I am hoping to get at least one or two posts up a week from now on. =)

On to my empties!

Garnier Skin Renew Anti Dark Circle Rollerball 

This is probably one of my all time favorite products. I have been using it for years and always try to have an extra on hand just in case. This is the first thing I use in the morning because it really helps depuff and awaken my eyes.

MAC Mineralized Skin Finish

I really liked using this to set my makeup. It gives you a matte look without making your skin look dull.  After I go through some more face powders in my collection I will definitely be repurchasing this.

Clean & Clear Morning Burst Detoxifying Facial Cleanser

I really enjoyed the way this made my skin feel. The menthol in it gives your skin a really clean and refreshed feel. I tried repurchasing it when I ran out but the store didn't have it so I picked up another one from this line. 

Murad Anti-Aging Moisturizer

I received a sample of this when I had a facial. I liked it a lot. I'm not sure of the anti-aging effects but I did like how hydrating it was. It's a little pricey but Murad has good quality products.

Those are my empties for the month of March. I hope you enjoyed them. 

What products did you finish in March?

February Empties

So, I have noticed a trend on YouTube is to share what products you have finished each month. I like the idea but I hate holding on to the empty bottles. (It makes me feel like I'm hoarding) I decided that I could take pictures of each item as I finish them and then share the pictures here on my blog! So here are the products I finished this month.


Neutrogena Makeup Removing wipes:
      I love these and definitely will buy these again. My favorite are the ones in the purple package. They have a lavender scent that lingers and is a great way to relax as you are going to bed.

Kieh's Rosa Artica Eye:
     This was a sample in one of my Birchboxes. It's a really thick eye balm and it has a cooling feel to it. Since it was so thick I used it at night. I liked it a lot and definitely would consider purchasing a full size bottle.

Givenchy Photo Foundation:
     As you can tell I used the heck out of this bottle. I really liked it because it had a very light feel to it but great coverage. I only used it on special occasions so it lasted a long time. I would consider buying it again but there are so many others out there to try first!! Lol!

What products did you finish last month?

Makeup 101: The First Few Videos

About a month ago I started a series on my Youtube channel called Makeup 101. I decided to create this series because many of my friends and family have asked me about the basics of makeup. I know that when I started sing makeup I had no idea what certain terms meant or what I was doing in general. My hope is that these videos help beginners understand the basic application of makeup, and even some of the more advanced makeup techniques. New videos will be added every week.

The first video is all about foundation

The second video is all about contouring, blush, highlighting, and bronzer

The third video is about the importance of eye primer

I also added a previous video about how to fill in your eyebrows

Future videos include:
~How to apply eyeshadow
~All about eyeliner
~How to apply mascara
~How to apply lipliner and lipstick (with an added bonus)
~Makeup brush essentials
~How to apply false lashes
~How to tightline and waterline
~How to get the look of false lashes without them
~How to wing your eyeliner

If you have any requests I would love to hear them and hopefully make a video about it. =)