beauty – Mackenzie Billington

My Current Makeup Routine

January 28, 2016 by Mackenzie

Hello, hello! If you know anything about me, you know that I absolutely love makeup. I’ve been obsessed since I was in about 6th or 7th grade, and I find playing with makeup just so fun! I get asked all the time about my makeup in my snapchats, so I thought I would share with y’all in detail my current makeup routine. It’s really hard for me to make a set ‘everyday day makeup routine‘ because honestly, I don’t always do the same identical makeup look every single day. It really just depends what I am feeling and how much time I have. For class, I usually just fill in my brows, swipe on a little shimmer brick and concealer, and go. If I go out with friends on the weekend, I will do a heavier eye makeup look with falsies or I’ll opt for a darker, bolder lip. If I have an interview, I usually swap out my favorite bold, pink lipgloss for something a little more subdued and neutral. However, this is my typical daily makeup routine when I am at home in Texas or when I just want to look more polished.

So without further ado, here are the makeup products I gravitate towards on a daily basis. You can click on each item in the picture to take you straight to the product!

I have listed a step by step tutorial below of how I use & apply each of these products:

My Favorite Sephora Products of 2015

January 9, 2016 by Mackenzie

Hello everyone! I hope you all have had a great first week of 2016. This post is a little overdue, but I figured, ‘better later than never’. Sephora is pretty much my addiction. Anybody that knows me knows that I can’t resist walking into Sephora at any given opportunity. I also can never leave Sephora without hundreds of swatches decorating my hands and arms. I try out tons of new products all the time, but these were my favorite from Sephora during 2015. I found myself reaching for these products all the time, and I have repurchased the majority of these products more than once! I have a ton of new products I want to try out in 2016, which I have included at the bottom of this post!

Anthro Beauty

December 16, 2015 by Mackenzie

Perfume (stella)| Soap (poppy) | Cheek/lip Stick (bare rose) | Facial Cleansing Sponge (lavender)

Hello, friends! Greetings from Kapalua, Maui! Last week, Anthropologie surprised me with some beauty goodies to try out. I’ve been loving them so much that I just had to bring them all on my island getaway trip. One of my favorite products would have to be the cheek/lip stick in the shade ‘bare rose’. I’ve tried so many ‘lip/cheek’ products in the past, but I have never been impressed. However, this Albeit cheek/lip stick is a total game changer. It is incredibly creamy and is so easy to apply. It has no fragrance at all (which is definitely a plus for me), and you can throw it in your purse or beach bag for a mid-day pick me up. I also love the shade ‘bare rose’ because it gives a very natural, ‘I just worked out‘, flush to the cheeks and lips. Another one of my favorite products would have to be the Mirabeau Bar Soap in ‘Poppy’. Oh my goodness, this soap smells heavenly. When I showed it to my mom, the first thing she said was “that soap smells so fresh”. I couldn’t agree more. I also found this soap to be very moisturizing, and it left a nice, light fragrance on the skin. The most unique product out of this goodie bag would have to be the Dr. Sponge Facial Cleansing Sponge. I’ve never seen a product like it before. I find that this sponge does an awesome job of really exfoliating the skin and getting off every inch of makeup. I really love the lavender version because it really calms and balances my sensitive (and at times, angry) skin.

Now that I am completely hooked on #anthrobeauty, here are ten more products I am dying to try out next:

Molten Geo Soaprock

Mission Grove Sea Salt Scrub

DuWop Seashell Compact

Mermaid Shampoo

Mini Love + Salt Mist

Albeit Nourishing Lip Balm

Thank you so much ShopStyle and Anthropologie for sponsoring this post!

My Favorite Drugstore Makeup Products

September 29, 2015 by Mackenzie

I love drugstore makeup. It’s totally my guilty pleasure (besides Taco Bell, of course!). I have tried countless drugstore products over the years, and these have been my favorites:

In general, I typically prefer high end foundations and primers for the face. However, I absolutely love the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer. It does such a fabulous job of really brightening the under eye area and covering up all dark circles. As for powders, the Rimmel Stay Matte powder is ones of my faves for setting liquid foundation. It is especially great for oily skin types! I get so excited about blushes and highlighters. I think they are so fun and really add a nice glow to the skin. My two favorite highlighters can be found at Target. The first one is the ELF Shimmering Facial Whip. It comes in several flattering colors and is highly pigmented. My other favorite is the Sonia Kashuk Chic Highlighter Stick. I love the packaging of this highlighter because it is so easy to apply. The shade ‘Shimmering Sand’ is pretty much an exact dupe for Benefits Watts Up highlighter! As for blushes, I find the NYX cream blushes to be a dupe for the MAC cream blush. For powder blushes, Milani hands down makes the very best. They are similar to the NARS powder blushes. The Milani baked blushes come in several gorgeous colors and are very shimmery and beautiful on the face. My personal favorites are ‘Corallina’ and ‘Dolce Pink’. Corallina would look gorgeous on warmer skin tones, while Dolce Pink would be flattering on cooler skin tones.

My favorite drugstore eyeshadow quad is definitely the Maybelline Eye Studio Color Plus Eyeshadow Quad. I have purchased several of these over the years and have loved all of them. They are very, very pigmented and easy to blend. I also love the color combinations that they come in. My very favorite is definitely ‘Give Me Gold’. It’s a gorgeous quad that has a nice range of golds and bronzes. It’s a very warm toned set of shadows, and it really makes blue eyes pop! I definitely plan on trying ‘Coral Oasis’ next! For cream shadows, I love the Maybelline Color Tattoo eye shadows. They remind me of the MAC paint pots. The Color Tattoo shadows look great layered under powder shadows and also worn on their own. They really do stay on the lids all day without budging. My two favorites are ‘Bad To The Bronze’ and ‘Bold Gold’. Both of those pair nicely with most of the powder eyeshadows that I own. Another drugstore cream eyeshadow that I love is the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil. I have four or five of these now, and they are absolutely stunning. They are very pigmented, easy to apply, and do not crease. The color ‘Milk’ is the perfect base for eyeshadow shades because it makes any color stand out. I also love ‘Black Bean’ because it can be used as an eyeliner or smudged in the outer corners of the eye to create a perfect smokey eye look. One of my powder eyeshadow favorites is the Loreal Infallible eyeshadows. They come in a nice variety of shades and are great quality! ‘Eternal Sunshine’ is my personal fave because I tend to gravitate towards gold, warm shadows. However, I definitely plan on picking up another in the shade ‘Liquid Diamond’. As for mascaras, I am a huge Maybelline fan. I have loved every single Maybelline mascara I have tried, and I actually prefer them over all of my high end mascaras. If I had to choose one specific mascara out of all of my Maybelline favorites, it would have to be the Maybelline The Mega Plush mascara. This mascara makes my short, sparse eyelashes look ten times fuller and longer. It also doesn’t flake or smudge, which is something I appreciate. I have been through probably five bottles or so of Mega Plush over the past year, and I would highly recommend checking it out! My other favorite Maybelline mascara would probably be ‘The Falsies’. Both are great, and you can’t go wrong with any Maybelline mascaras!

Now for my favorite part- the lips. Adding a bold lip color can really change your entire look. Revlon makes the best lip color products! One of my favorites is the Colorburst Matte Balms. They come in so many vibrant, bold colors that are beyond easy to apply. I actually think they are super fun to apply as well! My sister, Allie, is constantly stealing mine from my makeup bag. I am dying to pick up the shade ‘Shameless’ for fall. Another one of my favorite Revlon lip products is by far the Colorstay Moisture Stain. The shade ‘Parisian Passion’ is absolutely incredible- especially for fall and winter time. It is that perfect dark, berry shade that isn’t too ‘vampy’. I also think it would look nice on a variety of skin tones. It’s very moisturizing, but actually lasts on my lips for hours and hours. I literally have to scrub it off to remove it completely. One time I even fell asleep with Parisian Passion on, and it was still on in the morning. This stuff doesn’t budge, and that’s perfect for special events, concerts, going out to dinner, or going out with friends. I recently ordered a MAC lipstick in the shade ‘Rebel’, and I think they will look great paired together. If you are looking for that perfect shade for fall, you have to check out the Colorstay Moisture Stain in the shade ‘Parisian Passion’. Okay, now for the two fun shades. I recently picked up the Milani Color Statement Lipstick in the shade ‘Rose Hip’, which is a gorgeous, neon pink. It is totally a dupe for MAC ‘Candy Yum Yum’. The main difference is that ‘Candy Yum Yum’ is matte, while ‘Rose Hip’ has more of a sheen (but not shimmer). The Milani lipsticks have a delicious scent and are not drying on the lips whatsoever. Even though summer is over, I still think neon lips are awesome year round! My other neon lip favorite is the Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids Lipcolor in the shade ‘Shocking Coral’. This shade was initially out of my comfort zone, but it is seriously fun. It is a little bit more on the pink side than coral, but I like to layer it with an orange lipgloss just to make it a little more of a coral tint. I really wish I owned the entire Vivids collection because each shade is so unique and exciting!

Let me know what your very favorite drugstore makeup products are- I always love trying out new ones and finding new favorites !!

August Favorites

September 6, 2015 by Mackenzie

Now that August is over, it’s time to share my favorites from the past month with y’all! August was such a busy month between moving out of my dorm in London, to moving back to Texas, to finally moving back to the sorority house at college. I am so glad life is starting to finally slow down a little, and that I am getting into the routine of things once more. Here are some things I have been loving this past month:

The Beauty Faves:

I picked up this gorgeous coral blush back in London. I purchased it previously a few years ago, and I remember really loving it. It’s that perfect blush for the end of summer because it looks nice with a tan. When I saw that Too Faced released a new eyeshadow palette called ‘Star Dust’, I ordered it right away (and even picked up one for my sister as well). The color selection is just stunning and the shadows are so pigmented and easy to blend. The palette is only sold on the Too Faced site and on Ulta. It also comes with a small size of their popular ‘Better Than Sex‘ mascara, which I’ve been using and loving. Another favorite eye product of the month has been the Jumbo Eye Pencils by NYX. I now have three, and I really enjoy using them as an eyeshadow base. My current favorite is ‘Pure Gold’ as I find it looks beautiful layered under gold and bronze powder eyeshadows. I also repurchased another La Creme lipstick in the shade ‘Naughty Nude’. I’ve always struggled with finding that perfect nude lip shade that won’t wash me out, but I finally discovered this holy grail product at Sephora last fall. I also ordered the lipstick in another shade called ‘Juicy Melons’, and I am super excited to try it out. As for skincare, I have been obsessed with this Clinique moisturizer gel. My skin has been very dry and angry because of my topical acne creams, but this gel based lotion has really helped clear up all of my dry patches without breaking out my skin. It can also be used as a moisture mask, which I think is really interesting. I will definitely repurchase another bottle when I run out!

The Fashion Faves:

I am in love with the brand Show Me Your Mumu, which I’m sure is not a surprise to y’all. I recently purchased one of their tunics in this gorgeous map print called ‘A Whole MU World’, and it such a unique piece (with a super cute name). The print couldn’t be any more perfect especially because I love travel! I usually pair this bold tunic with white shorts, but I think it will look awesome paired with white jeans and denim when it starts to get a little more chilly. I also picked up some more shorts and a co-ord set recently because they had an online sale- I just couldn’t resist! As for shoes, I have been living in these super tall, metallic wedges. I get so many compliments every time I wear them (and they are only $30!). I’ve also been loving my rockstud sunglasses. My mom found them at Nordstrom Rack a few months ago and gave them to me. They are super sassy, and I really like the cat eye frame! Speaking of sassy- I recently got some white tassel earrings that I’ve been wearing all the time. They are on the heavy side, but they are perfect for any nice occasion, gameday, or night out with the girls. My final fashion favorite for the month of August has been my Daniel Wellington watch. I love the classic look of this watch and the great quality. It matches any outfit! Y’all can also use the code ‘MACKENZIEKENN’ to get 15% off any Daniel Wellington product (but only for the first 50 customers)! If you’re looking for that perfect, classic watch, definitely check out DW.

The Random Faves:

Now that school has started again, I’ve been loving my new backpack and my planner. In the past I’ve always had Lilly Pulitzer and Kate Spade agendas. While I did love them a ton, I was dying to try something new. I discovered the Day Designer earlier this summer and knew it was ‘the one’. Target also sells the Day Designer, which is super exciting and affordable! It’s perfect because I can plan out every single hour of my day, and it helps me make my goals and stay on task. A school related post will be up later this week featuring my new planner, so keep your eyes out for that!

Honorable mentions:

For the month of August, I’ve been obsessed with the show True Detective. I finished the first season earlier this summer, and I am now on the second. It’s definitely a ‘must watch!’. I also recently finished Sex and the City, and I can’t remember the last time I loved a show so much. I know it’s a little late, but I’ve been reading the Lauren Conrad Beauty Book that my friend, Miranda, gave me to borrow. Lauren Conrad is one of my hugest inspirations, and I love everything that she does.

Now that I am back in the states, I have been trying to get back in to working out. I’ve been doing yoga for the past four to five years, and it has always been my passion. I took a break from yoga due to a hip problem, but now I am back doing what I love most. When I was in high school, I went to Sunstone Yoga Studio and loved it. Lots of the other members there used these yoga mat towels called ‘Yogitoes‘, and I always thought they looked super cool. They are quite pricey, so I always hesitated splurging. But I finally decided to buy one, and I really, really love it. They also come in such a fun variety of patterns and colors. I would highly recommend the Yogitoe towel mats for any yogis that love hot yoga.

Thank you so much for checking out my blog. Let me know what your August favorites were!

Dermstore BeautyFix Box

September 2, 2015 by Mackenzie

Dermstore BeautyFix box | August (c/o dermstore & shopstyle)

Hello friends! I received this awesome box from Dermstore last week, and I’m beyond excited to finally get to share it with y’all! This Dermstore BeautyFix box is basically a monthly subscription box where you receive a collection of professional skin and hair care products, handpicked by beauty experts and delivered straight to your door. I was excited when this box arrived because the packaging was so cute, and it was stuffed with more products than I even expected.

As most of y’all know, I am obsessed with beauty products, and I am constantly trying new things out all the time. I absolutely loved getting this BeautyFix box because I got to try out so many really cool products, and I even found some new favorites. The best part about it is that you really get your money’s worth with Dermstore. Some of these products are full sized and retail for up to $60 each. The total box is worth about $158- which is insane that is costs only $12.48 for your first box.

Out of the hair products, the Keranique Scalp Stimulating Shampoo was my favorite. It was super cleansing and really removed any buildup I had in my hair. I also really loved the Alterna Daily Densifying Foam. I scrunched it into the roots of my hair to add some volume, and I was really happy with the results. As for the skin care products, I’ve been using a new routine with the products. I’ve been using the Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash with my Clarisonic brush twice a day. I find that foaming face washes work best with the brush. I especially love the Bliss face wash because it has a very nice scent that leaves my skin feeling refreshed and smooth. The Bliss face wash comes in a travel size in the BeautyFix box, but I definitely plan on purchasing the full size when I run out. After cleansing my skin, I apply the Paula’s Choice CLEAR Regular Strength Daily Skin Clearing Treatment. I have very, very acne prone skin, and it can be very difficult to find skin care products that work for me. Most acne treatments dry out my face or cause burning- this one doesn’t. I love it because it also looks nice under makeup, which is something I haven’t found before in an acne treatment. I apply the Medicell Labs Redness Relief Hydrating Cream to my cheeks and the outer perimeter of my face. It adds a nice layer of hydration to those drier bits of my face and really does a nice job at combating redness. Lastly, I apply the SmartFX SmartEye Wrinkle Lift. I have been using anti-aging products since I was about 16 years old. I believe that it’s important to start early with anti-aging products instead of later once you start noticing actual signs of aging in the skin.This SmartFX Wrinkle Lift is really nice because it is tinted, so it provides a nice hint of coverage. It also makes the area under my eyes super smooth and even, which makes applying under eye concealer so much easier.

I have absolutely loved getting to try out these products from the August Dermstore BeautyFix box. I would highly, highly recommend checking out these fun subscription boxes! They are a fabulous way to try out new products without breaking the bank. Sadly, this specific box seems to be sold out at the moment, however, hopefully the September box will be out soon! You can check out the Dermstore BeautyFix box here. I linked the individual products from the August box below if you want to check them out!

Thank you again, Dermstore, for sending me such an incredible BeautyFix box to review!

May favorites

June 3, 2015 by Mackenzie

As the month of June begins, it’s time to share my beauty favorites from the month of May. I am a little bit of a beauty-junkie, and I am constantly trying new products. These are my favorite beauty products I have been loving this month:

1.) NARS Key Largo eyeshadow duo

These NARS eyeshadow duos are my favorite, especially for travel. I picked this little duo up on a whim, but I have been loving it so much. It’s a perfect peach and bronze combo that works for both day and night. I find myself wearing it pretty much daily with black liquid liner and mascara. The peach shade is matte and looks really nice with a tan. The shade on the right is a rich bronze that looks lovely in the crease of the eye. I think ‘Key Largo’ is a great duo for blue eyes! I will definitely be bringing this perfect summer duo with me when I head abroad.

2.) MAC ‘Margin’ blush

When I am picking up a new blush, I usually go for warm peaches and pinks. I was just browsing around at the MAC counter in Memphis, and the makeup artist there suggested that I try this blush. Initially, I was very opposed to giving this blush a try. It does look muddy and dull in the pan, however, it actually looks very natural on the skin. It really adds a nice glow and is perfect for everyday use. I think this blush would be especially perfect on tan skin and works great as both a blush and bronzer.

3.) Revlon colorburst lip balms

These Revlon lip balms are brilliant! I have three shades- Sweetheart, Cherish, and Mischievous. ‘Sweetheart’ is a bold, hot pink that is super bright and stays on the lips all day. ‘Cherish’ is a cool toned pink that is a little more wearable for daytime because it is more sheer. ‘Mischievous’ is a pale orange stain with a matte finish. Something that I love about these balms is that they are so easy to apply and require no sharpening. These Revlon balms also have the nicest scent. They smell so minty and fresh, which is great because I can’t stand lip products that smell bad! I definitely plan on purchasing more of these fun Revlon lip balms in the future.

4.) Bath & Body Works ‘Maui scrub’

I got this summery, little scrub for my birthday and I’ve been loving it! With notes of coconut, hibiscus, and mango, it smells so tropical. This body scrub also does a fabulous job of exfoliating (which is great if you spray tan and/or use self tanners). I am a little bit in love with everything from the Bath & Body Works Hawaii collection, especially the lotions and body sprays!

5.) Essie ‘Bikini So Teeny’ nail polish

This has been my go-to nail polish for the past month. It reminds me of the beach and really flatters any skin tone. This cool blue polish also looks great on the toenails as well! It’s a really nice color for the season, and I would highly recommend it for anybody looking for the perfect summer nail polish!

Thank you so much for checking out my blog. Let me know what your May favorites are!