So I know that summer is now officially over, and it's back to school. But this summer, I did some travelling and spent a few days away from home which required me to pack my travel makeup bag. I thought I'd share with you all what I put in it, since I know that some of you have been curious. I know that this is quite excessive for some of you guys, but hey I like to be ready for any occasion and I found a perfect bag that fits everything I need without being overly bulky.



What I like most about this bag is that it is separated into two sections - one main compartment that holds the makeup and bulkier items and it has it's own zipper. The upper section of this bag is for your makeup brushes. No more packing your brushes all together with your makeup or trying to figure out where to put your brushes so they don't get messed up and damaged. Everything can fit into this bag neatly.


Can we also mention the side zipper pocket? I decided to use that to put my emergency hair removal strips and cotton pads. This makeup bag is from BH Cosmetics and is only $16.99 and can be purchased at FTB Beauty.


Here are some pictures of the front and back of the bag - granted it is not the most gorgeous looking bag but hey it fits everything and I really cannot complain!

I have always had an interest in finding the best in skincare, whether it be a product or tool, so when I was browsing at Sephora with my friend and I saw this nifty device at $36 I thought I'd give it a try. This is the Sephora Sonic Pore Cleansing Brush.

Here's what Sephora has to say about the product:

What it is: 
A pulsating and massaging face brush that assists in improving the appearance and texture of skin. 

What it does: 
Most available facial cleansing brushes oscillate or spin, sometimes pulling the skin, and are not as suitable for more sensitive skin types. The Sonic Pore Cleansing Brush utilizes tiny sonic pulses at a rate of 8,000 strokes per minute to effectively remove impurities while the soft bristles remain gentle on the skin. Made with 150,000 extra-fine, densely packed, antibacterial bristles, it provides both deep cleansing and massage and is great for those with more sensitive skin. The pulsing action removes makeup and impurities much better than manual cleansing. 


What else you need to know: 
This tool is portable and travel friendly. It requires one AAA battery (not included).

My favorite this month are quite minimal compared to most other months here on Miranda Loves, I must have to say. This month I've just focused on the basics and thought that I should share them with you:

1. First Aid Beauty - Ultra Repair Cream
This is my go-to hand cream as you can see from the tube it's almost done. I keep this on a constant supply in my purse and in my home. It is lightweight but super hydrating. It keeps my uber dry and scaley legs at bay and in the colder months, its the only thing that works on my eczema prone knuckles. You must try this! There's no added scents or parabens - LOVE LOVE LOVE!

2. Smashbox - Pore Minimizing Primer
For those of you who like the Benefit Porefessional Primer, you'll love this. I have always loved this 100% more only b/c it has a less greasy/wet like texture. This one quickly dries to a powder consistency and effectively covers my enlarged pores on my cheeks near my nose and keeps my oily nose at bay - better than the Too Faced Primed and Poreless. LOVE! :) And, this one - a little goes a long way, seriously.

3. Sephora - Bright Future Gel serum Concealer (No. 11)
Let's just say I replaced both my Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer and Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer with this ;) LOVE!

4. Inglot - Cream Blush - 82
Perfect dusty rose colored blush :) gives you that flushed look..

5. MAC Shadow - Coquette --> I use it for my brows
This is my go-to brow filler product. It's grey toned, not red at all, so it looks super natural on my brows.

6. Marcelle - Curling and lengthening mascara
I have thin and short lashes so finding a good mascara for me, that will help me make my curl last as well as lengthen them is a process. This has been quite the amazing mascara for my short lashes. The only thing i'd have to say is .. be careful of the bristles. They are quite hard and spikey. I accidentally poked myself in the eye once. super ouch.

7. Sephora - Pro Airbrush Foundation Brush
This brush is in its old packaging as I bought it many years ago - however, the quality of the brush and the application of it is spot on. I use this to buff on any liquid foundation I have and the soft bristles gives me a light and airbrushed finish.

8. Sephora - Pro Airbrush Concealer Brush
The brush I have is the old packaging - I bought it about I want to say 7-8 years ago? It's been my holy grail concealer brush since and I haven't found anything to replace it. It's perfect to blend out any liquid concealers you have.

9. MAC - small stipple brush
This brush is perfect for cream blush. Before this brush, I was always skeptical of using my fingers to apply the blush because it'd be too uneven or blotchy. However, with this brush now, it distributes the perfect amount each time. One dab, into the blush and I'm able to blend it out perfectly and continue to build color if required.

10. Make Up Forever - Metal Palette
amazing value for $16! It holds all of my Makeup Geek and MAC eyeshadows/blushes.

For those of you who checked out my Makeup Monday post ft. Make Up Forever Products, you'd see that as promised, my review of the new Make Up Forever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation has arrived :)

On Sephora, the claims for the product are as follows:
What it does:
Developed specifically for the film and TV industry's most advanced technology, Ultra HD Liquid Foundation creates a naturally flawless complexion—on and off camera. Completely invisible under the latest, super-focused 4k lens, this revolutionary foundation features uniquely-coated pigments that provide medium-to-buildable coverage with an even lighter weight, second-skin texture that looks just like skin. This lighter weight formula delivers the very same flawless results as before when applied with a flat foundation brush in a tap and stretch motion (see How to Use tab).

Long lasting with a natural-looking finish, Ultra HD Liquid Foundation is formulated with hyaluronic spheres to ensure comfortable wear on all skin types. Now available in an expanded range of 40 shades to match all skintones, it’s the perfect everyday foundation for a flawless complexion—and an unretouched life. With this shade range, you might find a better match to your skintone than before. 

Please bare in mind that I had never used the original formulation before so my review is strictly on this specific foundation.

PRO's:
- Loved the formulation - ultra light weight and had a very natural skin like finish. Seriously, I didn't look too matte, or dewy - it just looked like my skin but better.
- Buildable coverage
- Big color range so compared to many other companies, the likelihood of you being able to find a shade that matches you is higher. My exact shade, which matches me perfectly is 123 = Y365 Desert.
- Photographs beautifully
- Weightless on your skin, doesn't feel cakey or heavy especially at the end of the day.
- Didn't break me out.

CON's:
There's really only one -  My friend and i both decided to try this foundation out together. She had oily skin, and I had combo skin (oily t-zone). She had a horrible time making it last through the day as she got oily fairly quickly (before noon) and she likes the fuller coverage, last all day matte coverage. On me, I found that my nose got oily midday which kind of bugged me a bit - I had to powder it. To battle this, I used it with the mattifying MUFE primer sample I got at Sephora only on my nose, and that helped significantly.

For those of you girls who have:
- drier to normal skin, you'd love this.
- combo skin - you will like it.
- oily skin who loves full coverage - make sure you prime your face with a mattifying or oil free primer first.

Sephora actually has a very informative "how to use" section regarding this product.
Suggested Usage:
Choose your primer to create the perfect canvas for smoother, more even and longer-lasting foundation. 
-Select the Step 1: Skin Equalizer that matches your skin concern. 
-Normal skin: Apply to hydrate the entire complexion 
-Oily skin: Apply so you mattify only the areas where shine develops quickly. (Use a very small amount that's the size of a grain of rice.) 
-Dry skin: Apply on the entire complexion 
-Enlarged pores: Apply by smoothing onto enlarged pores and fine lines. 
-Apply two pumps of Ultra HD Liquid Foundation in thin layers, starting in the center of the face and stretching outward. 
-Buildable coverage: For best results, apply with a flat foundation brush or sponge 
-Flat foundation brush (Artisan Brush #108): Tap to build coverage where needed and then stretch outward for a smoothing effect. 
-This lighter formula delivers the very same flawless results as before when applied with a flat foundation brush in a tap and stretch motion. (You will likely need to stretch less than you did before.) 
-Using a Sponge, press and roll to build coverage where needed. 
-Light Coverage: Use a buffing brush (Artisan Brush #122), apply in a circular motion.

I personally used a buffing brush as I enjoy a lighter airbrush finish that is natural looking.

Overall, I do enjoy this foundation - I really learned to appreciate it after I found the correct primer to match it to prevent the oily nose situation. It didn't melt off my face or fade at the end of the day. It stayed put and really, there's nothing more that I would personally ask or look for in a foundation. I found this, in terms of coverage, quite comparable to Giorgio Armani - luminous silk foundation - so if you like the look of that, and the coverage, I think you really should give this foundation a go!

With the release of the new Make Up Forever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation and the amount of media and positive reviews surrounding this product, it made me immediately go to Sephora and purchase this product. Its claims are that it is invisible, comfortable and natural looking designed for 4k technology which is the next generation of digital devices that display images with unbelievable detail, stunning clarity and heightened color. It's said to be completely invisible under the latest, ultra-magnified resolution to look completely natural on camera and to the naked eye - I will be doing a full product review this Wednesday, so if you want to see my thoughts on it, make sure you come back Wednesday :)

Moving on to the look I've created for today's post... I of course, had to include the new foundation I got and in turn I was inspired to create a look involving my MUFE products, for products that I didn't have that were MUFE, I included them in a separate photo for reference - I hope you like it!


Products Used Are:
MAKE UP FOREVER
1. Lift Concealer - Color: 3
2. Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation - Color: 123
3. Smoothing Primer (love this stuff, haven't invested in it yet but I want to! this one and the mattifying one!)
4. Artist Shadow - Left to Right: M534 (Oat - Matte), M646 (Latte - Matte) and M608 (Red Brown - Matte)
5. Graphic Liner
6. Lip Liner - 2C Rosewood
7. Rouge Artist Intense: 4 Matte Antique Pink
8. HD Microfinish Powder 
9. Mascara - Aqua Smoky Lash

Directions:
My main focus would be to explain how I created the cut crease look as all other products used are pretty self explanatory:

I took the lightest color of the palette, M534 (oat) and applied it all through my eyelid up to my brow bone. Next, I took a crease blender brush and applied M646 (latte) throughout the crease as a transition color. Finally I took a pencil brush and slowly built M608 (Red Brown) through the crease. I say slowly since you do not want any harsh lines when creating a cut crease look. I wanted a softer, more natural cut crease so I built it to my desired color. Afterwards, I took the fluffy blender brush again and made sure to blend everything together. If you feel like you lost some of the M534 (oat) color after all the blending, take a flat shadow brush and re-apply the color to your mobile lid only to pack on some of that lighter shade to help boost the color to make the crease more evident.

I was recently contacted with the opportunity to try out some products from Coslys. To be honest, I had received these products a while ago, however I was using other products and wanted to give these an adequate time to use and give you all a proper and honest review.  A little background information regarding the company is attached below:


What enticed me to try this brand out was the fact that the products used are said to be organic and sulfate free. In addition, they use plant-based products and really believe in green products. Coslys is located in France and they recently came to Canada allowing beauty lovers like me the opportunity to try it out!

I was allowed to pick a few products to try out, and set my eyes on:
1. Facial Gentle Scrub ($26) 
Advantages noted on the website: Exfoliates softly on the most delicate skin. The gentle scrub contains fine beads of jojoba in cream foam to delicately remove dead cells and impurities. It is the ideal way to gently exfoliate the most delicate skin types. 

My thoughts: 
This scrub really goes by the title when it says gentle scrub. The beads are really fine, but not microscopic. You can still feel it working on your skin when you are massaging it in. I would say that the bead to cream is about 1 to 5. So if you are an individual who loves exfoliators and look for an intense scrub, you might not like this. When first using this, I didn't experience the "foaming" when lathering the cream in. It felt really mild like it was almost doing nothing. However, when I washed it off, and dried my face, I was left with a very hydrated and soft face. I think this is a perfect scrub for the winter time too as it is very hydrating. I think I found my perfect hydrating scrub. I have a scrub for different reasons, yes I know that's excessive, but I am very intense about my skin regiment. I have a scrub containing salicylic acid for when I feel oily a breakout is coming, a brightening scrub, and now a hydrating one!

2. Keratin Shampoo for Weakened Hair ($19.50)
Advantages noted on the website: Hair will become smoother, softer and more protected.  Combined with organic lily and vegetable Keratin, sulphate-free cleansing base to cleanse and care for hair to make styling easier. It strengthens hair fibres, protecting your hair from heat or hairdryer or hair straighteners.

My thoughts:
Again, this product is very gentle as mentioned above. It gives you a good lather, and doesn't weigh your hair down at all. You know how some shampoos, when used makes it feel like you still have so much product in your hair after you dry your hair? This one doesnt. In fact, it feels like this is removing all the gunk from your hair that has accumulated. I quite enjoyed this product and will probably repurchase in the future for when I want a cleanse of my hair. The only thing i missed about this product that wouldve made it perfect, was to have it have some oompf! I felt like it was so efficient as cleansing my hair that it just went limp afterwards however, beggers cant be choosers and overall I do quite enjoy this product!