Mint Jeans!

I recently found a pair of mint skinny jeans from Urban Outfitters for $20, I wasn't sure how to style them so I haven't worn for awhile. Here is what I decided to do to make my mint jeans perfect for Summer while not being overly dramatic or hipster!

Tie top - Marshalls ($10)

White Button Up - Marshalls ($12), Boden sweater vest from Savers ($2.99), Polka dot wedges from Shoe Central ($5)

What do YOU wear with mint jeans? Do you have any other colored jeans you wear in the Summer?

Retro Refashion!

A couple of weeks ago I won a vintage dress from ebay for $6 (with $6 shipping), so a total of $12. I knew I'd have to alter the sleeves since I don't like long sleeved dresses. However I didn't know I'd have to alter it THIS much!! It was HUGE on me! But anyway, I wanted to share my before and after product:

I altered the sleeves, took in the sides, and then put a couple of pleats in the back to tighten the back area. I was feeling guilty for buying a vintage/thrift store item for $12, when I know I could get it for much cheaper elsewhere. But now i'm excited I got a project out of it as well!

Giveaway! $10 JewelMint giftcard

I recently used JewelMint's 2 for the price of one code ($29.99) and got some of the best pieces i've ever owned. I love these two items and I wear them almost daily even though they are statement pieces (there are also more simple things on the site for those of you that prefer that.)

While this is a monthly subscription service, you can skip each month (or cancel if you would like!) before the 5th of each month. Otherwise you will get charged a credit in your account for $29.99 to spend on the site in whichever way you which. This is expensive for one piece of jewelry, but luckily there are always codes and coupons going around! So here is a $10 gift card for one of my lucky readers to try out this service :)

US citizens only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beauty Box Challenge

I was reading Pammy Blogs Beauty's recent post  and I think her idea is fabulous and I am hopping on the train. I have been on a project pan/low buy since the middle of January. It has been going well (the low buy part) but it is just taking me FOREVER to use up products. And i'm realizing that I may not have a big enough library to do this to myself, considering I only have a few shadows (all browns...). I'm getting bored!

I canceled Birchbox, Ipsy and BeautyArmy last month so I didn't receive any of these this month. Pammy decided to use her budget that she would have spent on her Glossybox ($21) and instead spend it on products she considers "core," or essential to her everyday makeup collection. Whatever she doesn't spend for that month rolls over into next month's budget.

If I were to do this with my canceled beauty boxes my budget would be $32. However, I AM still on a low buy, so this seems to high. And I skipped beautyarmy the month before so I don't consider this a box that I would have spend that much on monthly anyway. So I'm giving myself a budget of $25.

Unlike Pammy I am not going to include shipping in my budget, since she was buying things in store and I do not have a car, so I do have to buy things online. However shipping still sucks and I am usually tempted to get above $50 to get free shipping...so this budget will make me stay under that limit (unless shipping is somehow $25 and I should just pay the $50...which I can't imagine it ever would be).

So I will be including this month in my challenge....and this is what I bought!

Sally Hansen Maximum Growth and polish in Green With Envy: I Paid $10.50 for these but got $5 in CVS bucks back (which I will probably spend on food...so i'm not going to count that as part of my budget). So I spent $5.50 then.


Cargo Safari 2011 Collection: I got this for $9.95 on Ruelala (I had a $20 referral credit so I just paid the ~$10 for shipping.


Total spent for March: $15.45
Budget rolling over to April: $10.55
Total budget for April makeup spending: $35.55


Seeing as how I spent so little this month (i'm very proud of myself!) I most likely will not spend the entire $35.55 in April. BUT TheBalm is having their 50% off EVERYTHING sale staring at midnight tonight...so we'll see :)

Season's Box - February 2013

Hi everyone! I'm really excited to be posting this review because I actually won a giveaway for it, and an additional 2 months of the subscription. So I will be getting my March box in a few days to show you as well!

www.Seasonbox.com says that "Each box is uniquely curated with luxurious eco-friendly FULL SIZE seasonal must-have products." 

And it costs $34.90 after shipping. I believer you can skip months as well...and you can usually skip them after you've seen what will be in the box (it's not a surprise, but at least you know if it's worth your money beforehand).

Kaia Naturals Bamboo Facial Cleansing Clothing 30 pack. Value = $17.99

- I use cleansing wipes every night. So i'm happy to try another pack/brand.


Bambu Earth Sugar Cookie Body Glow. Value = $18.00

- This smells awesome! It smells like a cupcake!


Dream organics Rose Water. Value = $22.00

- I don't know how I'll feel about this...I HATE rose...so we'll see. But i've heard that rose water is extremely good for you in a variety of ways.


Galerie Au Chocolat Fair Trade Bar in feufire (this has cardamon in it I believe.) Value = $5.00

- I was really hoping for their Cappuccino flavor :( But I'm just happy this didn't melt in our Texas heat!


Perfume Essence Aromatherapy Spa and Bath Shower Bombs. Value = $2.50

- Won't be using this just yet...unless I can figure out how to use it as a shower bomb...I don't have a tub!

The total value of this months Season's Box is $64.59. 

March Indie Gift Box - Squeaky Clean Edition

This was my first Indie Gift Box! It's a themed box that you can choose to buy every month (no subscription required) that send out products from Etsy shops.

So this is what I got!

4 oz bar of soap in pomegranate

probiotic deodorant

two small perfume jars (same scent). Probably has about .2 oz in each? they are super strong though since they're made from real oils

2oz of bubble gum scented lotion (kind of strange but I like it)

a full size lip balm in pink frosted cupcake

and 3 face wash mitts that are made of...knitting yarn?!?! I'm unsure of this one. Does anyone know how to use this?

Overall I liked this box. The value came out to $27 and I paid $26 including shipping. I don't know how often I would order an Indie Gift Box...it depends on the theme and how many products are included (you can usually tell because they will list the shops that are included in each box).

Have any of you had experience with Indie Gift Boxes?

Project Pan Update

Alright, I'm back with an update on my Project Pan. I've been on an extreme low buy, and a NO buy of cosmetics of skincare products! I had originally planned on buying myself an item after I had finished 10 products (including samples), but now i'm realizing how much I really have! I need to save money and decrease my stash! So this is what I have finished in the last two months.

1. Simple Refreshing Facial Wash Gel. I got this as a free sample from the company (I signed up through their site awhile back). This wasn't my favorite, it's unscented (and one of my favorite thing about products are the scents) and didn't foam very well. It'd be great for sensitive skin but I didn't have a need for it. I also don't break out so I've never actually NEEDED face wash, just some warm water. I ended up using half of this product to clean my makeup brushes instead.

2. Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz-Free Hair Cream. I really liked this product. It smells like coconut and I noticed a difference if I used it before straightening my hair. I'm not sure how much better it works than other similar products but I would buy this again if it was on sale.

3. Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter. I really didn't like anything about this. I got it in my January Ipsy and it smelled like a synthetic strawberry banana smoothie. It also didn't do anything for me moisture-wise. I have dry skin and this didn't make the cut.

 4. L'Occitane Almond Oil Shower Oil. This is the first time i've tried a shower oil. It wasn't bad but I didn't like the smell, it wasn't almond...it was more aromatherapy. And I prefer fruity body products.
5. KTO Kelly Teagarden Organics Rose and Cucumber Eye Cream. I didn't finish this, I barely used any at all in the year I owned it. It didn't absorb into my skin and just sat on top of it and I had to blot away excess cream.
6. DermaE Anti Aging Eye Cream. i didn't finish this either. I had it for a year and it just would NOT ever end. I never did like the smell (smells like some kind of weird plastic) and since it has been a year I decided to toss it. I read somewhere that you shouldn't have eye cream for longer than 6 months.

 7. ELF Cream eyeliner in midnight. I didn't even get to USE this. It completely dried up just sitting in it's case. Which is weird because the silver one I bought at the same time is just fine.
8. Stila Smudge Stick in Purple Tang. I LOVE smudge sticks. They're my HG liners. Unfortunately I got this in a trade and the case was cracked. So I used it two times before the whole think dried out :(. I do love the pencil though and will find another one to replace it eventually.
9. The Balm What's Your Type? Black Mascara. I loved this mascara, unfortunately after 3 months of using it it started irritating my eyes. Usually I can get a good 6 months use out of mascara but this one just wouldn't have it.

10. CVS makeup wipes. These were good, and a good price. I'd buy them again.
11. 5 Perfume samples. I liked Juicy La Fluer but wouldn't buy it. I didn't like Coach...it smelled like rose. and Escada was way too sweet. The two Cartier Vole's I used as room sprays since they weren't my style.



That's all for now! hopefully I'll be back in another month with more empties!

IntiMint 60% off your ENTIRE order!

Hey everyone, I got my Ditsies package in the mail yesterday and absolutely love it. WORTH the $12 by far. I'll be posting/taking a picture of them later.

For now, I wanted to let you in on this amazing deal. I've been buying from Jewelmint the last couple of months (they have great sales and I've managed to get items for $9 each!). IntiMint, one of their sister sites sells underwear, lingerie and sleep wear. Right now they're having a 60% off your entire order code: "entire60" 

I got 2 pairs of underwear for $7.99 and free shipping :) I got this pair in both black and sky blue.

This picture was taken from the product page

I just wanted to share...so go ahead and use the code while you still can! IntiMint is a monthly sub that you can skip within the first 6 days of the month. If you don't skip you will be given a 29.99 credit to spend on the site. I've found it very easy to skip each month with Jewelmint (all the sites are connected so as long as I skip on ONE of the sites i'm good to go for all of them) and the CS has been wonderful for me so far.

Ditsies - A new monthly subscription service

A few days ago I was searching for new subscriptions to join, as I have just canceled Ipsy and am contemplating canceling my Birchbox subscription as well. What I came across was Ditsies: a monthly lace underwear sub based in New York!

I was a little skeptical at first (especially for the price of $12 a month). But after doing some research I realized that everyone was raving about the quality, fit, packaging, colors and the fact that 10% of your purchase goes towards a woman's charity of your choice. You chose your size (S/M/L), style (right now they only have cheeky but they are looking to expand soon), and if you would like brights, neutral, or a mix of colors.

I usually buy my underwear from Victorias Secret (for 5/$25) but after having bought them for years I realized that they fade far too quickly and are very lacking in their lace department (i've heard they the lace is scratchy or just doesn't last long). So for $12 a month i've decided to try out this service and invest in some HIGH quality underwear for myself :)

ALSO: YOU CAN SKIP! I love this option, being able to skip a month (or cancel, or course) whenever you want.

Interested? Try it out with me! And i'll report back with my findings. My first pair comes in on February 15th.

Here's the link if you are interested

Nail Therapy Thursday: NCLA Dirty Martini Swatch

Alright, another session of school = lots of nail biting. I'm in need of more nail polish therapy to stop biting my nails. This is NCLA's Dirty Martini (Retails at $16). I was expecting this to be as neon as it is, I thought it would be more olivey...but since I have a ton of olive polishes already this may be something more unique. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I LOVE dirty martinis and it goes decently with my skin tone.

Thoughts?

Project X Pan

I'm sure almost everyone knows what a P10P is, but just in case you don't...I just moved bathrooms yesterday since me and one of my roomies have adopted the stray neighbor cat. We put her litter in her bathroom and figured since she's "our" cat we should be the only ones dealing with her mess in the bathroom lol.

Picture of me and kitteh. She somehow found her way under my arm while I was sleeping, no idea when that happened. She just had surgery for an abscess :(

Anyway, as I was moving my items into the SMALLER bathroom (sad face) I realized how many things i've accumulated over the past year. I KNOW all of these items were from the past 12 months (from monthly beauty boxes, impulse buys, and swaps with friends) since I had almost zero makeup and only one nail polish at this time a year ago. 

The makeup bags in the back are designated for 1. blush 2. lip and eye products, and 3. for nail polish (which I have a second bag for underneath the sink...yet somehow only have 27 polishes total). And my 5-6 perfumes are hidden in the back so they don't fall off the shelf.

The Julep tote is filled with hair products (most of these i've actually had for a couple of years)

These are perfume samples. I usually get 3-4 every time I make an order at Sephora

I was actually curious and had made a list of what I have 2 months ago (so it PROBABLY has increased a bit since then, but not too too much. Now i've been told I really don't that HAVE many items compared to other girls (most likely because i've only been buying makeup for the past year). But needless to say, I have enough to feel as though I have been buying more than I can use.

Polish: 27

Shadow Palettes: 5 (one is so old I desperately need to throw it away)

Shadow Pots: 6

Glosses: 9

Lipsticks/crayons: 5

Blushers: 12

Bronzers: 3

Eyeliners: 29.... :-/

Foundation: 2

Concealor: 5

Mascara: I THINK about 10 now. I keep getting samples!! Only 3 are full sizes. Of these two I only actually bought 2!!

Perfume samples: too many to count, probably 25?

Also, I have a LOT of primers, especially for someone who does not use them. I got a ton in beauty boxes and the Sephora It Kits.

So these are the items I've decided to have a project x pan on, a have a TON of small skincare samples so I should probably include those as well.

1. CVS Makeup Wipes (pretty sure i'm down to the last one or two anyway)

2. Josie Maran Makeup Wipes (haven't opened this yet)

3. Willa moisturizer (got this in my Birchbox, it's a sample size but has been lasting me a few months already, even with daily use)

4. Buxom cream shadow in Collie (got this with a Buxom box set and i've only used it once)

5. Not Your Mothers anti-fizz cream (should be almost done with this too, from my influenster beauty bloggers box)

6. Sephora Anti-Shine Primer (used once, from sephora it kit)

7. The Balm BodyBuilder mascara (got this in my Ipsy two months ago and will probably toss in 2 more months)

8. Apothederm Stretch Mark cream (should be almost done with this)

9. Urban Decay Makeup Setting Spray (from sephora it kit)

10. 3 perfume samples

11. (because it's small) Bareminerals Stroke of Light (again from a sephora it kit)

As you can see, most of these things I did not buy myself. So it'll be nice to use them up and decide what I would repurchase or not. I will keep you updated :)

Have you guys done a project pan? how long did it take you? What did you reward yourself with?

Julep Greens - Lisa and Haylee

I decided to post the two greens i've been wearing lately from Julep. Lisa is from my October Maven's Choice box (the month was crackle themed and I chose the box without any crackle polishes).

Lisa is supposed to be a pebble grey, but it's actually more of a green khaki. This reminds me of the L'oreal Safari Chic I got a few months back but with more hints of grey to it. I like it a lot and I think it suits olive skin well.

Without Flash

With Flash

Haylee was from the November box, which included holiday themed colors in suede matte finishes. This is a really lovely color for the holidays, and I am in LOVE with it. HOWEVER, even with the matt top coat that I received chipping began immediately. And by immediately I mean within 3 hours. I tried the sandwich coating that was suggested on a forum (matte coat, regular top coat, and then matte again), but the polish still began to chip the next day. Overall this was a fail, even though I love the color :(