Hello lovelies! I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Break; today I’m doing my Monthly Product Review!

So I decided last minute to take a break from blogging for Thanksgiving to spend time with family which is why I didn’t post for a few days.

I was also a lazy potato and didn’t get a lot of things done last week school-wise and blog planning-wise, oops haha. After having a rough day yesterday because of all that procrastination, I can finally get back to blogging, so let’s get to the reviews!

This is the Smashbox Photo Finish primer that I talked about in my Ulta Haul. I bought the travel sized version because I wanted to test it before committing to it, and I’m glad I did.

I saw some YouTubers advertising this in their sponsored videos which made me skeptical, but I also wanted to trust their opinion and that maybe it did work. When I looked up reviews, I saw negative comments, but in the end, I gave it a try because I hoped it might control my oily skin.

This is a clear primer and it has a fragrance but I don’t really mind it. It also has a silicone feel, which I didn’t like, but I wanted to see if silicone primers work better on oily skin.

After applying my makeup, I looked matte for about a couple hours, but then I felt the oils coming through. In the end, my skin started getting oily halfway through the day and sometimes my foundation would start separating depending on how hot it was that day.

Maybe it could be my foundation, but I expected a lot more for a primer that’s already $12 for the travel size version.

The pros are that the packaging is nice, they have a smaller version, and it lasts a while; it took me 2 months to get close to finishing it. But overall, I won’t be repurchasing because I don’t think it works for my oily skin (for reference, I have oily acne-prone skin, but it’s not super oily).

This has been out for a while, but it’s my first high-end eyeshadow palette! It was a birthday gift from a friend and as expected, I love it.

It has 5 matte shades and 1 white shimmery color. They’re pretty pigmented and work well for daytime and nighttime looks.

I’ve been using this pretty much every day and I think this is perfect to take with you for traveling. It also comes with a mirror so that’s handy for on the go!

For my eye makeup, I usually reach for Naked 2 (not shown in swatches) to begin defining my crease and to lightly contour my nose and then I go in with Faint to add depth. I’ll also use Crave if I want to make the look even deeper or for a nighttime look. I don’t usually go for Foxy or Walk of Shame because they’re very natural colors on my skin tone.

Overall, I’m so happy to have this palette and I would recommend it if you want to splurge a little bit on a neutral eyeshadow palette!

This is the Essence Pure Nude highlighter. I’m not one to use highlighters because I can create my own glow in a couple hours with my oily skin, but I saw KathleenLights rave about it in a video.

What sold me on it was when she said it gave a very natural highlight and that it was also very affordable. I didn’t want to splurge on a highlighter and the idea of a natural glow appealed to me. I ended up purchasing it and I really like it.

It gives a subtle highlight, which, in my opinion, is a lot better than the very strong highlights that people are currently doing. It is buildable so you can get a sheen if you try, but I like that it makes you look naturally radiant. There’s no glitter so it doesn’t look fake at all.

I like to use this on the tops of my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose; it also works as a natural shimmer eyeshadow if you sweep it on your lids and then right under the brow bone.

I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for that natural highlight and it’s worth a try for only a few bucks!

This is the Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses lipliner in Spice (wow that’s a mouthful to say!). I’ve been loving this lipliner for when I want to look natural but still put together. It’s a warm pink shade and it’s nicely pigmented. On my lips, it adds color but not to the point where it looks like my lips are a completely different shade. My lips are already a light pink, so this just adds life to it.

I would recommend this to people who like lipliners because honestly, they can last longer than a lot of lipsticks and drugstore lipliners are affordable and work well!

Moving on to my favorite lipstick at the moment! I’ve talked about it before in a lippie haul I did recently and I find myself reaching for this one all the time when I want to look natural and I need to swipe on something quick before I run out the door. This is the Rimmel The Only One lipstick in Naughty Nude.

Even though I’ve been reaching for Spice a lot, it takes a little time to put on lipliner since you need to be more precise. With lipsticks, you can put them on without a mirror if they’re natural enough.

Naughty nude is a super pretty pink nude shade and I’ve been loving it because it smells amazing and it’s moisturizing but dries down to a velvet finish. It smells like fruity candy to me and I always have to fight the urge to lick my lipstick off, haha.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about a body lotion I’ve been loving! I bought 2 body lotions a couple months ago at Bath and Body Works and I’ve been using this one consistently because I love the scent. This one is called Hello Beautiful.

The key notes are white gardenia, jasmine petals, and magnolia blossom, so it has a floral scent with some fruitiness. It’s perfect for the spring and summer, but since it doesn’t feel like fall or winter yet, I’m going to keep using this because I love the way it smells.

So that’s it for my November Product Review; let me know what you’ve been loving in the comments! Thanks for reading and I’ll see you lovelies tomorrow!