Top Three Tag

Everyone loves sharing about the products they love and the best beauty secrets they've discovered. So Jackie Leung from Five Two Certified, Cynthia Del Rio from Cdel Beauty and Shalunya TheChronicBeauty from Shalunya & Boyet have collaborated to create the 'Top Three Tag.'  Tell us about your top 3 in each of the topics below.

Please stop by Jackie's Top Three Tag post to see what her Top Three choices are! Cynthia's post should be up soon.

1. Top 3 Lip Products
Be it long wearing stain, super bold lipstick, ultra shiny gloss, what three shade specific products are the ones purchased time and again?

So this is a really, really easy one for me. I have to give it to Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquers (my review can be found here). These super opaque, wonderfully pigmented lip lacquers are a steal at $4.99!! They are truly amazing! 

Tarte's Lipsurgence are an amazing lip stain with great pigmentation and great lasting power. They have a wide range of selections that can easily provide something for everyone. 

I don't think any top lip products list would be complete without mentioning MAC's lipsticks. Almost every other lipstick on the market is compared to MAC. There selection is phenomenal.  Velvet Teddy, Brave, Cosmo and Hot Gossip are definitely my favorite four!

Below are the swatches of all the above products together. You can clearly see what I mean about the pigmentation of the Rimmel Show Offs. Simply divine!

2. Top 3 Hair Products
Do you rely on an expensive finishing spray, a drugstore conditioner or DIY mask for silky, health, shiny tresses?

I am in LOVE with Fekkai Advanced Brilliant Glossing Sheer Shine Mist which I am sadly out of at the moment. When used with a light hand this glossing spray adds the healthiest shine to the dullest of hair.

L'Oreal's New Total Repair 5 Damage-Erasing Balm has a fantastic deep conditioner.  I use this conditioning balm about once a week to keep my tresses healthy. 

Last but not least we have Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion Smooth and Shine Serum. I always apply this serum to my hair anytime I wash it. It leaves my hair looking healthy and shiny. This is an amazing product and at less than $3.00, it's a steal!

3. Top 3 High End Beauty Products
Have you ever crossed your fingers, opened your wallet and discovered a holy grail product? Please tell us what you would recommend we splurge on.

Hands down it's MAC's Liquidlast eyeliner. I have weepy, watery eyes and this is the only liner that will stay put without budging all day long. It's absolutely amazing and comes in fantastic colors. I currently own black, purple and blue. 

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes are beyond fantastic. I absolutely love the formula of these pigmented blushes and they are worth every penny as they really have great lasting power. 

Personally, I think MAC's Strobe Liquid Lotion is an underdog product. I never hear anyone talk about it. I absolutely love Strobe. As you get older the tendency is for our skin to become drier. I recently blogged about turning 44 and this little jewel is perfect for giving skin some luminosity without looking like a disco ball. You can either wear this under foundation or even mix it in with your foundation. It's absolutely amazing and I LOVE IT.

4. Top 3 At Home Beauty Treatments
Divulge your secrets.  Do you slather on ultra rich creams, don strange masks, or create your own scrubs; tell us we're dying to know?

I love having beauty treatments day with my sister, my friends, or anyone really. I always, always, always have several different varieties of Freeman masks on hand. They are fantastic masks and are super affordable making it easy for any woman to have several on hand. 

I have never read any blog or heard anyone on YouTube speak of the CVS Self Foaming Facial Pads. One of the biggest reasons I have these on hand is because they are easy to use, affordable, do a great job of deep cleaning and are disposable. They are great to have available when we do beauty treatments night. 

Whether or not I am splurging for salon pedicures, I always have a great pumice bar and a really nice foot cream at home. I use the Mr. Pumice Pumi Bar in coarse in the shower every few days. It is fantastic for leaving heels feeling soft and supple. I follow it up with the Gold Bond Foot Cream which sinks into my feet leaving them soft and looking great for sandals. Yes, technically it's two products but I can't use one without the other so in my mind it's only one. 

5. Top 3 Eye Shadow Palettes
Beauty knows no limits but your stash can only hold three palettes. Chose wisely.

I have been so very pleased with the Smashbox Master Class Palette. I love that it contains blushes, highlighters, cream liners (which I use as an eye shadow base) and lippies. This is honestly the only palette I need to take when I go out of town.  It has fantastic color selection and even has shadows I can use to fill in my brows. This is an amazing palette and it gets plenty of love.

Tarte for True Blood palette received mixed reviews; however, I adore this palette. The colors are fantastic. The matte black is so rich and deep. I challenge anyone to find a better metallic silver than this one! I own several and this beats them all by far. Plus it came with an eye shadow primer, Lights Camera Lashes mascara and a black eyeliner. It's everything any woman could need to create capivating eyes. 

This category could not be complete with MAC eye shadows. I own over 40 but these 15 (+1 Orb which is the matte version of Naked Lunch I haven't depotted it yet.) are my absolute favorites. MAC most certainly has a shade for everyone. If there is a particular color you are looking for then look no further than MAC. 

6. Top 3 Makeup Discoveries

Did you know that tightlining is the best way to deepen a smokey eye or that a tea bag is the best remedy for depuffing your eyes?  We all want to look fabulous, so tell us your your best discoveries.

 I learned that you should NEVER pay full price for drugstore makeup. It's super easy to learn how to combine manufacturer's coupons, CVS/pharmacy coupons from the coupon center inside CVS and extra bucks rewards to score great savings on drugstore brands. You will need to have a CVS extra care card which you can get for free from a CVS cashier. Purchase multiple copies of the Sunday paper in order to clip manufacturer coupons. Stop by CVS at least once a week in order to scan your card at the coupon center to receive additional coupons which can be combined with manufacturer coupons. Then check the CVS sales ad or blogs for coupon matchups each week. This week I purchased 2 Maybelline Great Lash Mascaras, 1 CoverGirl Smoochie, 1 CoverGirl Gloss Balm and paid $9.56 for everything or $2.39 each!

I just recently learned that it's completely acceptable to use a great primer over a pore filler. I kept thinking that it was either or but not both. We all know that Benefit's Porefessional is a fantastic pore filler but it just doesn't work well for me as a primer. However, I get amazing results when I use L'Oreal's Miracle Blur as a pore filler topped with Revlon's Color Correcting Primer underneath any foundation.

One of the greatest things about modern technology is that we have so many opportunities to learn about products from real people before we buy them.  There are a plethora of bloggers and YouTubers that love to test out all the newest products to review for us. Granted not every blogger or YouTuber is going to have the same opinion on any given product but if several of them are saying to stay away then it's probably a stinker. So take time to do your homework on blogs and YouTube prior to purchasing in order to increase the chances of spending your money on something you will love. 

7. Top 3 Nail Polishes
What do your filangies fancy? A bright fuschia, a subtle neutral, or royal purple.  Glitter, cream or shimmer finish?

I am really loving the Sinful Shine in Most Sinful. This rich cobalt blue comes in a high shine formula allowing you to skip the top coat just in case you're in a hurry. It's such a deep, royal color that compliments my super fair skin; but it also looks great against my sister's darker complexion. 

I've gotta say that this one really surprised me. I bought it only because it came in a promotional pack along with a clear top coat for $1.99 and I had a $1.00 CVS coupon making it only $0.99 for both! But I have absolutely fallen in love with the color and the formula of NYC's Sunburnt. It's an amazing coral pink shade which is perfect for the summer. 

Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength in Sparkling Jewel is a beautiful glittery, shiny top coat with gold glitter mixed with a pink, purple duochrome glitter. It's simply stunning on top of almost any pink or purple shade. It's great for topping all ten or just doing an accent nail or two. 

8. Top 3 Long Bath/Shower Products
When you've had a hard day at the office, need time away from the kids, or just need to luxuriate, what products join ducky and you in the tub?

First and foremost, I love to add Epsom Salt to my baths. I am not overly particular about brand or scent. The cheap stuff works just as well as the expensive stuff but on occasion I will buy the fancy stuff just to mix it up. 

Next is anything and everything by Bath and Body Works. I am particularly fond of their body butters but they aren't really bath or shower products. So I will just stick with their bath products for now. I love all of their products and usually have a two or three scents available so I can use whatever suits me at the moment. 

The last thing I will mention are scrubs. I love to scrub my legs before I shave to leave my legs feeling so soft and silky when I get out of the bath/shower. Again I am not overly particular about brand or price. I haven't met a scrub I didn't like. 

9. Top 3 Drugstore Heroes
We all have heard about NYC's Bronzer in Sunny and Maybelline's Color Tattoos.  What other drugstore gems have you discovered that we should know about?

Garnier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel Cream for dry skin has become my favorite summer moisturizer. I love that it leaves my skin feeling hydrated and smooth without feeling heavy and thick. 

Revlon Photoready Color Correcting Primer has quickly become my favorite. This primer easily beat out several others to become my holy grail. Like I mentioned earlier I have learned to wear a pore filler underneath this primer in order to achieve smaller pores and smooth skin that's ready for foundation. 

We simply could not do top drugstore products without mentioning Wet N Wild shadows. They are so pigmented and are so affordable. Women of all ages and all socioeconomic groups can appreciate these shadows. I love that an 8 pan palette is less than $5.00! Quality makeup at super affordable prices. It just doesn't get any better than that! 

10. Top 3 Worst Beauty Purchases
Ever fallen victim to the hype of the latest beauty product only to get it home and have it do nothing for you? What products would you skip if you could do it all again.

I love the Revlon Photoready line. So when I saw this darling little face palette on sale for less than $3.00 I scooped it up and trotted merrily home. Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed when I discovered that there was virtually NO pigmentation to this palette. Revlon you let me down. :(                  

I've never been a huge Almay fan but when I spied this cute palette on sale and I had a coupon I figured I would take it home. I was completely disappointed when I discovered how little pigmentation there was to the lighter colors. The darker one is ok but it's still only mediocre. So imagine my dismay when I saw a very popular YouTuber singing the praises of this palette. 

I  am going to assume that this Pantene Pro-shaping Spray works fine as a hairspray.  But see, I wouldn't really know because I can't stand the smell of it. I am not overly sensitive to product smells but this is just horrible. It was so bad that I could not bear to actually spray it on my hair. Pantene did anyone bother to smell this before you put it on store shelves? 

I would like to tag the following lovely ladies. My personal friend and new blogger Danica from .dani entirely. My gal pal from across the pond Saffron from Saffy Style. My favorite subscription box aficionado Erica from Reviews Until You Drop. Chelsea from Makeup by Chelsea because, um, hello, wow. She's completely awesome and I'd like to hear her answers. Deanne from Dee's Beautiful Life because I lurk on her fabulous blog but haven't really interacted with her yet. Lisa from Unapologetic because she is such an inspiration to me and I am blessed to consider her my friend. Irene from Missiemania because I have followed her and adored her for so very long.

If you haven't specifically been named but would like to join the Top Three Tag please feel free to join us. 

Thank you so very much to Jackie and Cynthia for their help in creating the Top Three Tag. It's truly been a pleasure working with you two lovely ladies!!! 

Top Three Tag Rules
We'll keep this short and sweet.
- Kindly follow the person who tagged you (and more if you wish!)
- Kindly link the blog post in which you were tagged (feel free to also link other great posts)
- Kindly add your link in the comments section of the post in which you were tagged
- Tag as many people as you would like