Delayed posting!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been posting. I've been super busy with school but I promise to write a few posts this weekend :)

Nail Therapy (belated) Thursday - Julep Brooke

I forgot to post my nail picture yesterday, I even had it ready to go but was too busy with my work!

Here you go :) This is Brooke - a purple glitter top coat. I wanted to try it with Black underneath but I made a mess of the black with my nails being so short right now. So this is it alone, THREE coats!! I like it because it's subtle and when it catches the light it turns different shades of purple/blue and sometimes pink.

Two days left to enter my giveaway!

Two days left ladies!  Go here to enter :)

Becca Eye Tint in Baroque - Review and Swatch

Yesterday I received a surprise beauty box from one of the members on Makeuptalk.com  We decided that we would send each other things since our usually monthly beauty subs haven't been the greatest. She was EXTREMELY generous and sent me some really amazing products!! I can't say it enough but this forum/website is amazing and the people are so kind and supportive.

Anyway, one of my favorite things (so far) in the box is the Becca Eye Tint in Baroque (.24oz) and retails at $24 that she received in her Beauty Box 5 monthly box. I'm not subscribed to this because $12 is a little too much for a box i'm not sure i'm interested in yet.

The description online says that this is "water-resistant, crease-resistant, long-lasting." 

I'm glad she sent me this because I absolutely love it so far because
1. It's a cream shadow
2. It's long lasting 
3. The color is very natural looking. I don't wear a lot of bright shadows because I prefer to wear bold eyeliners. So this is perfect and I hope to try out more colors from this line (all of the colors in this line are earthy/natural tones)

As you can see, this particular color is slightly darker than my skin color. This works perfectly for me since I don't like a lot of color on my lids (unless i'm going out). Even more, the fact that this is a cream shadow means this doubles as an eye primer for me!

Overall I really like this products so far. However, it's extremely expensive for the amount, and I don't think this would last me very long.

Product: A
Value/Price: C

April Blissmo Box - Beauty, Bath and Body

I received my second Blissmo Box today, and this time I chose the Beauty, Bath and Body themed box, everything is completely natural or organic, some are vegan as well. Here's what I got:

 1. Episencial's Soothing cream for eczema, itches and bothered skin. .75oz
Retail price = 10.99  for 4oz.
My Value =  $2.06
My Initial thoughts: This would have been nice for the winter, since I don't get eczema in the summer. And it would be nice for mosquito season. We'll see if I even get around to trying this until the fall...

2. DermaE Natural Bodycare - Tropical Anti-Aging eye Creme .5oz

This looks like something I would use actually, so i'm happy with it. 

I looks like this retails at around from $14-20, but i'm going to give it the lower price since that's what amazon sells it for. Also this is the full size.

 3. SanRe Organic Skincare 100% Organic Chocolate Lips Moisturizer. This looks like a chapstick, I haven't tried it yet but I will let you know how it works. I'm VERY picky about my chapsticks...so we'll see.
This is sold for $4.99 and is also full size.

 4. Wembe Amazonion Soul Chocolate Cleansing Blend soap bar - 3oz.
This looks really neat actually. I'm not into bars of soap, but I've been meaning to try one with caffeine in it to see if it actually does everything it's supposed to for skin - exfoliate, helps circulation for decreasing cellulose etc. And this is actually a very big bar.
This is the full size, and it costs at $7.50. Also, this company looks REALLY cute, you should check out their website if you're interested in soaps.

Total value of box = $28.55

So this was more than the $19 I spend on the box, however I'm a little disappointed that there are only 4 products. I would have rather had smaller samples and more of them. Granted 3 of the 4 are full size, so it's a pretty good deal. And the company's are natural and organic so i'm glad to be supporting them.

Has anyone else received their April Blissmo yet?

Harvey Prince Perfume Giveaway at I Sold the World's Blog!

Hey everyone, one of my favorite bloggers over at yousoldtheworld.blogspot.com is having a giveaway for Harvey Prince's Ageless Perfume. It's a fruity scent, mostly with grapefruit, which is just up my alley! 

Go here to enter :)

Nail Therapy Thursday

I'm going to start making Thursday's my Nail color day!

This week's is Julep Maven's Jodie, which I got in my 1 Cent intro box along with 2 other polishes and a hand scrub! Go here if you're interested, and use the code COLOR2012 for the 1 cent promo.

 

I originally thought this was a bronze/red color because the lighting in my room is terrible. But when I took it to my office I then saw it's more of a shimmery pinkish red (it also look more bronze in this picture although in reality it's pinker). I love all of Julep's polishes because it takes them about a week before they start showing any wear for me. This color isn't the greatest for my short nails (or that fact that i'm not super girly) but overall I still like it.

Giveaway Reminder - One more week to enter!

Hey guys, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a full size Essie Luxeffects, and a lip liner and eyeliner (with more surprise goodies as well!)

Here my original blog post, go here to enter!

Sample Society - March Box and Reviews

 

So It's been about half a month since I've received my Sample Society subscription beauty box. Sample Society is part of Allure magazine and Beauty Bar. It's $15 a month along with a $15 coupon code towards a $50 purchase on their site (so if you buy something from their site then you pretty much get the sample box free!). The catch is that you have to buy something from one of the brands that was in the box for the month, luckily for me I love Fekkai hair products so this was easy for me!

 

1. Dermologica Daily Microexfoliant: I have never been able to get rid of my blackheads on my nose. ONE use of this product and they went away! I was absolutely SHOCKED! I try not to use it daily (even though you are supposed to) because I don't want my face to get used to it. So I use it about 2-3 times a week. This retails at $40-50 for a full size. And I believe this sample is about 1/3 of the full size.

2. Ren Face Mask: I was not actually interested in this product and ended up trading it with someone on makeuptalk.com.  But I have honestly heard nothing but great things about it from the other members on the forum. This retials at $55 for a full size.

4. Oscar De La Renta's Esprit D'Oscar Deluxe rollerball perfume: I didn't like this perfume...it smelled like giorgio (what my grandma uses). So I'm sending this off in another trade.  It's an impressive sample size though so I hope to get a different perfume from this beauty box at some point.

4. Skyn Icelandic Eye Relief Pen FULL SIZE: This is full size and retails at $22 I believe. I keep this at my office and it's nice to have since it's so portable. I'm not sure if it's working for my dark circles yet but it's really refreshing.
5. Fekkai Advanced Glossing Cream: This is a cream I have already been using for years. I think they changed the formula a bit but it still works well. I love it, and I use it after I straighten my hair to make it smoother and anti-frizzy. I love this cream and will probably use it for the rest of my life :) So i'm glad I got more of the product even though I already own the full size.


Overall this was a good box, the dermologica alone was worth the $15 since I got to try something that FINALLY gets rid of my blackheads! I also used the coupon code to get some more Fekkai products (which I will soon review). So I definitely got my money's worth out of this box and am excited to see what I get next.

The next box for April is being shipped to me now so i'll review it ASAP!

FOTD! And theBalm Hot Mama review

I decided to do my first face of the day post! This is my second day wearing TheBlam's Hot Mama blush and my 2nd full day wearing Cailyn's black gel eyeliner (that I received in my Feburary Look Bag).

I'm not the greatest at applying eyeliner yet (especially gel) but I'm getting there! I used the eyeliner on my lower lash and waterline, I really like this look and the eyeliner works well there. However I'm always afraid if I wear my eyeliner like this everyday that I'll look strange/nude when I go back to just wearing it on the upperlash line (or when I just wear mascara some days)!

As you can see, my eyeliner is actually a bit of a mess haha. I still haven't gotten a steady hand yet...

Products Used:
theBalm Hot Mama Blush
Cailyn Gel Eyeliner in Black
Origins Full Lash Story Mascara
and that's all!

The Hot Mama blush is REALLY soft. It's definitely an eyeshadow consistency (which make sense that it doubles as a shadow). I really like the color and the shimmer, but whenever I touch my face throughout the day the blush and shimmer rubs right off on my fingers! This means I may have to use a primer or reapply throughout the day.

So at this point I'll give it an A-. It's really quite lovely and I think it'll be my go to blush for awhile now.

Anyone have tips on how to put on gel eyeliner easier? :)

L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish- Safari Chic

I decided to treat myself to some nail polish with my 25% off CVS coupon! This is L'Oreal's Safari Chic. My nails are pretty tiny (and I bite them which doesn't help...) but you can see that this is a muted green/camo color.

I really like this color, however it did take around 3 coats to become this opaque. And it started to chip by the end of the day!! It almost seemed like it just peeled off rather than chipping off which is rather strange.

I'm not sure if this whole line is like this but this one was rather annoying since I had to reapply it the next day.

Color = A+
Consistency = B
Wear/Duration = C

Has anyone tried this line? Do they all "peel" off like this one?  

T.J. Maxx Haul! TheBalm Value Set and Kate Spade's Twirl Review

This weekend my mom came to visit me in Austin, and since I haven't lived here for long (nor do I have a car) we decided to take advantage of the city and SHOP!

I got a few clothing items (a top and some fashion tights) but what i'm most excited about our my beauty purchases.

I got a set (including a cute clear makeup bag) from TheBalm for $9.99:

Hot Mama Blush/Shadow = Retails at $19
Bahama Mama Bronzer = $19
Tinted Plump Lipgloss in Pink my Lemonade = $15
Value of set = $53
My Price = $9.99

So far I really like the blush, but I don't know if i'll actually use the bronzer or the lip gloss, I may trade these on makeuptalk.com.  But for $10 that still half the price of the blush!

I also got a fragrance set of Kate Spade's Twirl for $34.95

 

 This comes with:

3.5oz Shower Gel

3.5oz Body Lotion

1.7oz EDP 

I'm not sure what this values at, but the perfume alone retails from $58-68!! So I paid half of this for the whole set!

I really went on a limb with this purchase since I had never smelled it before, but I'll just say that I LOVE it. It's the perfect fruity perfume for me, I feel that it's great for those that are in their mid/late since it's still fun and youthful but doesn't smell like a high schooler. It also lasts ALL day even with one spritz.