Sephora Run

Hello fellow earthlings!

I just wanted to quickly show what I picked up at Sephora a few weeks ago. Speaking of Sephora, Does anyone else just horde their points? It's a combination of nothing catching my eye and wanting to just collect them. Anyway! My main reason to go in there was to purchase two specific items. Of course with my frantic "In a Store" mindset, I completely forgot to try and find the BeautyBlender. I was even willing to find a sales associate since I can never find what I'm looking for in that store.

I did however pick up the main product I was in there for and that was Origins Super Spot Remover. I recently had such a bad break out, that it left me with a sour feeling towards some of my facial/acne products. Before purchasing this product, I was using two spot treatments depending on what I wanted to deal with. I decided that at $15.50 USD, I needed to finally try Origins for this product. I must say after one use of this product I'm highly impressed. The acne that I put it on had reduced greatly just within the hour. I'm excited to continuing using this product to see if it lives up to the great things I've heard. In truth, I'm indifferent with this. Sometimes it works really well and other times it's just okay. Either way I'm still glad I picked this up because when it does work for me it's an amazing result. Warning though be careful with application because it will extremely dry out the skin around the area that you've applied it to.

The second thing I picked up was on the verge of a necessity and an impulse buy. As I was heading to check out, where they even had BeautyBlenders new mini sponges that didn't remind me, I found Smith's Rosebud Salve. I was suffering from really chapped lips and everything I have only gives temporary relief. It smells amazing, softens my lips, and at $6 USD I can see this being my lip balm for awhile. I've almost lost this product and planned on going to Sephora the next day to pick up another before I found it again. I'm so in love with this product.

A week later, I decided to stop at a different Sephora to finally locate the BeautyBlender, which I was finally successful. I've used other brands makeup sponges, but they never absorbed the water that was always described with the BeautyBlender, leaving application less than okay. This leave my face flawless with the MAC Studio Sculpt I was using. Now that my summer color is finally gone, I'm excited to try it out with some of my bb creams!

November Birchbox

Hello Fellow Earthlings!

Once again it's time for my monthly Birchbox! I will say that this months birchbox is probably my favorite I've gotten so far. To update those who don't know, Birchbox is a monthly box for $10USD a month that sends five samples plus a bonus lifestyle sample. No boxes are completely the same because you can customize them depending on what you personally enjoy. I believe I have every option open because I just love testing new products. You can leave reviews on products you've tested to earn points, which can then be put towards full size products on their site. Check out Birchbox.com for more information on this boxes!

Okay first product on the list in Bain de Terre argan oil & passion flower Color Therapy Styling Oil. It's an essential oil that nourishes your hair and adds shine. Full size product is $14. This is a product that I'm excited for. I love hair serums to keep the wildness at bay. Bonus: It smells amazing.

Up next is Eslor Firming Collagon Day Cream. The info card the box comes with says this day cream boosts elasticity and keeps wrinkles at bay. The sample is a surpisingly good amount at .34oz. Full Size is 1.7oz and will cost you $85. Since I not really looking a day cream that is meant to keep wrinkles to a minimum, as long as it's moisturizing I'll use it. If anything I can try passing this along to my mom. Although I can see her taking that as an insult.....

Back to the box! I got another perfume in this box. This time it's Jolie's Folle de Joie eau de Parfum. That sure is a mouth full. The scent is blends of mandarin, rose, and sandalwood. Full size of this product is $98. Sadly I'm so sick of perfume samples, I probably won't use this for awhile, but I must say it's the best smelling one I've used in a while. I could even throw it in my purse in hopes I use it.

Also found in the box is Not Soap, Radio's Joy Inducing Body Wash. Full size is $16 and it's a lemon scented wash that smells amazing. I'm so excited to use this. It's a very natural smelling lemon so it in no way smells like lemon pledge or any other gross lemon smelling cleaning product.

The last sample product is theBalm cosmetics Cindy-Lou Manizer. Oh this product. I can fully say this is the best sample I've gotten in my box so far. I already owned their Mary-Lou Manizer which is a champagne highlighter I love using on my brow bone and inner corner of my eye. I usually didn't use it on my cheeks because I felt it was too shimmery for me there. The Cindy-Lou Manizer is theBalm's soft pink highlight. This is actually perfect for my cheeks. With my fair skin, it gives the look of just walking outside in the brisk cold morning. I've even used this as an eyeshadow when I forgot mine and it was gorgeous. Full size of this product is $24 and definitely on my to buy list!

My Bonus Lifestyle sample was Dang's Coconut Chips. Birchbox sells a pack of 6 for $18. It's basically coconut meat dried out, but these were so dang delicious my fiancé and I went to the website to see where they were sold. The day after I got my box, we went to the closest Whole Foods and picked up their original and Caramel Sea Salt flavor. They have only three ingredients and are the best thing I've ever snacked on. If you're interested click here to see which stores carry them.

That's everything in my box! I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got in my box and I'd love to hear what products you'd be excited to try or what you received in your November Birchbox. I can't wait until next month's box now!

Wedding Planning Stress

Hello Earthlings!

I was thinking about what to blog when I had a conversation with my Mom about some wedding plans. I'm not a person who like the attention on me or to plan something as simple as going to the movies. So when I realized it was time to start planning, I had a slight freak out. There's just so much to do! I made a wedding binder to stay organized and hopeful lessen the stress. I wanted to share my journey through planning a wedding to hopeful help someone else who also doesn't care to plan things.

I had a nervous feeling when my fiancé and I were looking at places for our ceremony and reception. Everywhere we went, all the Saturdays in October for next year were taken. I started to feel like we were going to have to push it back more than we wanted. Finally we found a golf course we both liked and our parents approved of. I thought that was going to take away a lot of the stress, but oh dear how wrong I was.

A few weeks after that, We went to a tasting there and spoke with some of the recommended vendors. We had an idea of who we were using, but were still lost on some things. We put a deposit down for the cake, flowers, and my dress. I feel like we've already got so much things done since we've gotten engaged, but last night I finally got everyone in my bridal party and realized how much there's still left to do. Making our invitations/save the date cards, finding a photographer, booking a dj, and dealing with the guest list.

What else is becoming stressful is décor. We wanted our wedding based on the colors of the British Show Doctor Who. Trying to add Doctor Who into our wedding without making it uncomfortable for our guests who are not fans is harder than I thought. Our color for the wedding is Royal Blue. That makes the decorations easier, but dealing with flower choices very limited. Thankful looking at Etsy has given me some ideas to throw Doctor Who into our wedding. For example, Our cake will be a space theme with the TARDIS on top and I've been looking into getting a guest book that's doctor who themed.

As for now, There's still a lot to do, but I'll be excited for the end result. I know that the stress is worth it to be able to marry my best friend and celebrating the start of our life with our family. Now if only I could get him to help decide on a photographer and dj.

October Birchbox

Hello fellow earthlings!

**I just discovered this post written from awhile ago and knowing it's way past relevant, I wanted to post it anyway since I just received my November box!**

It's Birchbox time once again! I skipped posting on September's box because I had too much going on, but now that it's back let's just review what Birchbox is for those who don't know. It's a subscription service for $10 USD a month and you get samples that you can almost customize depending on what you use. They even have a men's box that I believe goes for $20 USD.an review what you get in your box to get points, which can then be used on birchbox's website towards their full size products. Onto the products of this month's box!

The first product is Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream. It feels light weight and I'm excited to try this out. It says it helps "smooth away" dark shadows and reduce the appearance of fine lines. I'm always switching between my eye creams and now I just added another!

Next product is Coastal Scents Revealed Eyeshadow sample. Its four small samples with two matte and two shimmer shadows. They feel really creamy, nice natural colors, and rather pigmented. However I'm still loving my Naked2 Basics palette, so this won't be used for awhile.

The lovely Dr. Brandt is up next. I was excited to see another of their products because I really enjoyed their last sample. This one is their Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner. It's meant to clear out pores for fewer blackheads and smoother skin. I have used this once already and I'm so far impressed. It may not be a miracle worker, but I was able to see a difference.

I also received Essential Elements Wake Up Rosemary Shower Gel. The smell is herbal, citrus, and mint all at once. Usually I'm not the biggest fan of citrus and mint scents together, but this smells amazing and I can see how this could help you wake up.

Last in this month's box was another Harvey Prince perfume. This one is their Petaly Noir and I must say I've never liked any of the perfume samples I've gotten from them. I think this is the third perfume of Harvey Prince's that I've gotten (the second from birchbox itself). I almost hate getting perfume samples at this point.

That's it for this months box! For the most part it was a good box, minus the indifferent perfume. I love getting these every month to try out new products. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got in my box and I hope you'll share what you got too!

Bare Minerals

Hello Fellow earthling!

 

Today I wanted to talk about one of my favorite companies to get a foundation from. About a year and a half ago, I decided to step away from liquid foundations because they never set into my skin correctly and I always felt like I was wearing a mask after a few hours of wear. So I stepped into my local Ulta to pick up Bare Minerals Matte Foundation in Fair for $27USD and Bare Minerals Well-Rested Eye Brightener for $18. I went with the Matte formula of this foundation because I felt I had extreme oil that I had to cover. I loved the coverage of this foundation. My skin concern was to mainly cover up the redness on my face without making my face shine. However I noticed that the matte finish on my skin made my skin look unreal almost. I still continued using it and would spritz on Mario Badescu Facial Spray to liven up my skin.

 

No point in cleaning up a product I used daily just for this picture!

 

 

Last week I finally decided to purchase Bare Minerals Collector's Edition Deluxe Size Original Foundation in Fair for $39.50 USD since I had a $20 VISA Giftcard. I knew I'd be running out of my Matte Foundation soon and figured since I loved the brand, why not? After visiting 2 Ultas, 2 Sephoras, and store locating my shade, I had to do what I hate doing with make-up and order it. After using it for a few days, I've figured out the differences between the formulations and wanted to compare them.

Coverage

I feel like I can get better coverage with the Original foundation. I wasn't expecting anything different from the Matte, but I was honestly rather surprised by this. The Matte foundation is also more difficult to blend and makes dry patches stick out on my skin. The original foundation is incredibly creamy, making it so much easier to blend onto the skin.

Finish

I think I've come to the realization that I may not have been as oily as I thought I was. That or my choice for foundation had changed. I started thinking the matte foundation made my skin look fake and would use a facial spray. The original foundation perfectly matched my skin and almost gives it a glow.

Staying Power

I generally use a Smashbox primer everyday with my foundation just to make sure I'm good for the whole day. I've also starting using a setting powder. That being said I do think the Matte has a slightly better staying powder because it is a matte foundation. With the original, while I don't feel like an oily mess like I do with liquid foundations, I do notice I need a few touch ups here and there on my t-zone.

Overall, I think the original foundation is better for my skin. Since the Deluxe size doesn't have that turning safety seal on it, I've decided to only use the Matte Foundation while traveling so I don't waste any product. Other than that, I think the packaging on the Deluxe Size is adorable this year. I only jump around on my liquid foundation to find the perfect one for me, but BareMinerals will definitely be in my makeup bag for an extremely long time.