Pro Tips & Current Favorites

Hello, interweb besties!

With all the hours I'm clocking online, stalking makeup mavens and beauty belles galore, I've figured out a few ways to maximize my time.  I want to share a few of my own PRO TIPS and current favorite YouTubers and blogs so you can share in my habit!  Let's dive right in (but go feet first in case the water is shallow).

Pro Tips:

1. When watching YouTube videos, use the little icon that looks like a cog to choose Settings for that video.  When you do, you'll see a little menu where you can choose a speed.  I have been enjoying watching reviews and tutorials on 1.25, 1.5, and even 2 times speed.  A review or haul video that was once 20 minutes can now be enjoyed in 16, 13, or even 10 minutes!  I mean, you're welcome.
2. Keep an eye out for YouTubers who are creating sponsored videos or providing affiliate links.  I'm not saying that such reviews are unworthy of your time, but I appreciate knowing which YTers are being paid for the business they send to a company.  It's probably a good idea to not buy a product based on one review alone, whether sponsored or not.
3. Dual screen that mess!  If you are reading reviews on a blog and watching videos to show swatches and tutorials at the same time, you may as well split your screen so that you can see the video and read the blog at the same time.  Especially useful if you really trust the YTer but want to see still-image swatches, or vice versa.  Mute the video if desired, then un-mute if you see a product in a haul that you actually care to hear about.  Boom.
4. Pay attention to cost per unit in addition to the cost of the product.  Some websites provide this in their reviews, but you can also compare prices in stores or by using your calculator!  Examples:  LORAC Pro palette - $42.00 for .32oz = $131.25/oz.  Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Palette - $49.00 for .56oz = $87.50/oz.  NYX Hot Singles eyeshadow - $4.49 for .06oz = $74.83/oz.  Colour Pop single eyeshadows - $5.00 for .07 oz = $71.43/oz.

Current Faves:

1. www.Temptalia.com is a fantastic resource that I'm obsessing over.  Christine is the girl responsible for the pictures, the reviews, the content, etc. as far as I can tell.  I love her approach to rating and reviewing products!  She gives reviews with a 10-point scale on product, pigmentation, longevity, texture, and a 5-point for application.  Then she averages those ratings and gives an overall rating from A+ to F.  She claims to give those ratings regardless of the price/brand of the product, so that an A+ product could cost anywhere from $3 to $71!  High prices do not mean high ratings.  There are a few things on her website I'd like to be a little different (e.g., sorting reviews both by rating & brand, swatches on different skin tones), but overall she seems to have fantastic organization and also INTEGRITY!  Let me know what you think :)
2. KathleenLights on YouTube.  Girl is young, talented, and seems very sincere.  She is talented at applying her own makeup and doesn't intimidate me the way some MUAs (that's fancy person lingo for makeup artist) do.  I especially like that she combines drugstore and high-end brands in her reviews and tutorials.  She makes me laugh when she makes a high-end purchase "tha's esspensive".  I also want her vanity.  I'm going to ask Patrick to build me one :)
3. MakeupGeek who is both on YouTube and her own website.  I feel like I'm late to the game with all three of these faves, but I think they're worth catching up with.  Marlena (MUG) has her own makeup line which Temptalia and KathleenLights both review.  She also does reviews and tutorials of her own.  Her eye shadows (in some colors, at least,) are supposedly comparable to MAC and she also seems like a genuinely nice person.  I have made a list of her shadows and blushes that I'd like to buy, based on swatches and recommendations from Temptalia, but that'll be a while from now based on my $0.00 budget.

Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for other YTers or beauty blogs that I should check out!  I am going to spend more time watching Bailey B, EssieButton, and Kandee Johnson while I practice my own application.  Wee!

Post completed.  Aly out.

~ARR