Posts

Showing posts from November, 2015

November Favorites

Image
It's official, the holiday season has begun. All the trees are being put up, lights are being hung, attics are being explored for the first time since last January, people are shopping huge deals online today for Cyber Monday, and the 25 days of Christmas on ABC starts tomorrow. As I get older I realize this time of the year whips around faster and faster each time. Does it ever stop!? Regardless, I brought all my favorites from this past month together for a little November reunion. Most of these are great stocking stuffers, if you are attempting to multitask like I am, take some notes. Lets get into it! I have separated each product into smaller categories so if you're looking for just palettes, keep on scrolling. Okuur!? Hair Davines Love/Smooth Shampoo This is an Italian brand of hair care that was in my October Birchbox that I have talked about a few times since my first impression was out of this world. I really can't believe how soft my curls are, eve

Thanksgiving 2015

Image
I don't know about everyone else, but I gobbled till I wobbled on home to bed. It was a beautiful day on Thursday for a day with friends and family that I am so thankful for! Before leaving I wanted to play with some of my new makeup from MAC and it ended up being something that I will use as a go-to look. I used simple browns and pinks on my eyes, no eye liner and not too much shadow on the lower lash line. Only a few products were used to complete this look on the eyes and definitely easy on the run! I hope all of you had a beautiful holiday, relaxing weekend, and enjoyed your turkey time with family and friends. Let me know what you guys think about this look and if you try it out! My November favorites is coming up tomorrow, so make sure to come back to read all about it!!

WoodWick Candles

My candle game is strong this year and I just fell head over heels for WoodWick Candles! I needed to tell you guys about these amazing candles that are seriously worth every penny. They are a little on the pricey side, $25 for 21.5 oz which compared to the Bath & Body Works three wick candles that are $22.50 for 14.5 oz, you actually get a lot more bang for your buck. We purchased ours at Cracker Barrel, which is a southern style home cooked meal type of restaurant where they are more known for their breakfast with a general store that you enter and exit through. So of course Nick and I always head over to the candle wall while we wait for a table. This time we succumbed to the scent Sand & Driftwood, which has a musky cologne scent with a hint of a camp fire right in the comfort of your own home. As you may have guessed from the name of the company, each candle has a wick made entirely of wood. The crackling noise is so soothing, especially when I grew up with a nice firepla

Blue-Orange Smokey Eye

Image
This is one of my favorite looks that I have been rocking recently. Since getting the Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix palette, I have been challenging myself to go outside of my comfort zone and try out some crazy colors. For this look, I used a deep navy blue on the lid and a coppery orange in the crease. I brought the navy down to the lower lash line and used a light coating of black eye liner on the waterline. Please excuse the seat belt, the lighting was amazing in the car! Oh, Darling is also the highlight I am rocking in the pics as well. Lovin it! To apply the blue shadow I used a shadow brush spritzed with MAC Prep+Prime Fix Plus and dabbed the brush in the shadow. This made the color way more pigmented and there was little to no fall out, which is always nice when dealing with darker colors like this. Eyes Milani Bella Navy (09) Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Palette - Harpsichord in crease and Skulls on brow bone Lashes Vegas Nay Eylure Lashes - Classic Charm

Favorite Fall/Winter Fragrances

Today I wanted to go over some of my favorite Fall and Winter Fragrances. I decided to do one post with both seasons because the list is very short for both and we are too close to Winter for comfort. I am hanging on to Fall for as long as humanly possible! Please excuse the crazy amount of Bath and Body Works products, but I have put myself on a buy freeze with perfumes and fragrances, so hang in there this year! I have so many beautiful fragrances that I sometimes forget about, so this is a little reminder to those who have forgotten about their fine fragrance mists and body sprays, they are just as nice to spritz before heading out the door! FALL Bath and Body Works Black Raspberry Vanilla (Blend of sweet raspberries & vanilla cream) Honey Autumn Apple (Blend of crisp red apples, nectarine, vanilla orchid and honey) Pumpkin Latte & Marshmallow Comfort (Creamy pumpkin latte topped with fresh nutmeg and a toasted marshmallow) Forever Red Vanilla Rum

Fall Purple Smokey Eye

Image
Hey guys! This look was completely accidental, however Nick loved it, so I figured I would share it with you! This was a very simple look using the Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix palette blending noble in the crease, echo and anthem blended on the lid/crease, and skulls on the brow bone. I then used TooFaced glitter glue to put MAC's loose pigment in Melon on the lid for a pop! On the lips I used MAC Spice lip liner and TooFaced Melted Nude liquid lipstick. New products used to complete this look were all on the lashes, I used Urban Decay Subversion lash primer and Stila Huge Extreme Lash Mascara in black. Let me know what you think and if you would like me to keep up with writing every product used to achieve these looks! This month is going by so fast!!! Lots of apologies for not posting at all this week, I totally lost track of time! I will be posting a little more often to catch up on the posts I should have published for you guys! So make sure you keep checking back for

Skin Care Routine

Image
After going over all the newer hair care items I've been trying, I figured that a skin care routine would be a nice transition. I pretty much use the same items for day and night, besides when I have breakouts. We will go over how I take care of those zits, too, don't worry. I will be using a lot of products, but each one is important to keeping my skin feeling and looking its best. I start off with wetting my face and using a very small amount of Philosophy Purity Made Simple to cleanse my skin. Purity is a gentle facial cleanser used to cleanse, tone, and hydrate. This cleanser is so gentle on the skin that I will use the Olay Fresh Effects Powered Facial Brush to exfoliate and give my skin a sparkling fresh look. If I am full glam, at night I will sometimes start off with Neutrogena's One Step Facial Cleanser to remove the makeup before going in with Purity to cleanse and purify the skin. The reason I add in another step with a different product is because Neutrogena i

November Birchbox

Image
This is my second Birchbox so far and I am very impressed! They keep sending me these amazing skin care and hair care products that I am so excited to try! I am still using the Davines shampoo from last month with Herbal Essence Naked Moisture Conditioner and it's been amazing, however I really want to find the matching Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner because so far, nothing compares. As for this month there are great samples of products for every part of my routine! The first thing I immediately opened and put on, and something that I am wearing while I am writing this, is the Klorane Smoothing and Relaxing Patches with Soothing Cornflower. The packet came with 2 one time use under eye patches. The card says the patches are packed with fast acting botanicals that fade with fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness. Yes, yes, and yes. This is what I have been looking for in the Sephora brand under eye masks but didn't know it! Peeling the patches from the packet was simpl

Announcement!!!

Christmas came early for me this year and it is with great pleasure to announce that I have officially accepted a free-lance position at MAC! I never thought a passion like makeup could open so many doors, and with the women I have on my side pulling me through and embracing me in this profession, I know the only way to go from here is up! Thank you to those keeping me positive and teaching me as I go. This is an amazing opportunity to learn and grow. I am so excited to educate my readers with everything that I will learn at MAC. Yes, you are going on this journey with me! I have heard so many great things about MAC as a company and their products are top notch, so look forward to a haul some time soon!! My closest friends have supported me in starting this blog as a passion project that will hopefully open some doors and I can't believe what all this positive energy is allowing me to achieve. Thank you to all those friends that receive random photos of looks I am trying out an

Oh, Darling

Image
MAC released their holiday collection, Magic of the Night! It features a wide range of products in beautiful blue and purple packaging. I noticed some products were actually a part of their permanent collection and included in the holiday packaging for the collection. So I decided to only go with products I felt I needed to have in my collection and turned to the internet for help. The product that seemed to be the most raved about across beauty bloggers is the Extra Dimension Skinfinish in the shade Oh, Darling. It is a bright golden highlight listed on MAC's website as a liquid-powder hybrid that gives a luminous, well defined finish. As far as formulation goes, it seems a bit dry, especially since I expected the hybrid to be similar to the soft and creamy Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors. Now regardless of the formula, Oh, Darling leaves an amazing highlighted cheek bone! In pictures it is completely radiant and it has been my go to since the day it came out. I have been

Movember 2015

Image
Movember is a month long event where Men grow out their mustaches during November to raise funds and awareness for men's health! This is completely new to me, I always thought that it was No-Shave November for men and women to let it grow right while the cold weather hits. The research on the cause for Movember is eye-opening and covers a wide range of health issues that are not commonly talked about. Low life expectancy, suicide, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer are all great topics the website talks more on. They call their supporters Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who bring attention to the vital information and funding to the men's health crisis. I love this portion on the Movember website: "This is not just an issue for men. In order to tackle the problem and work towards a world where future generations of men are not faced with the same issues as today, we need to take action at both an individual and community level. This means engaging men and women, businesses

Hair and Skin Care First Impressions

So yesterday I had the day off and with such a rough start, I decided to try some new products that I haven't had the time to try yet. While starting my 8th load of laundry in 24 hours, I was also wearing masks on both my face and hair. For my face I started with Freeman's Avocado and Oatmeal clay mask. It has an amazingly subtle scent. I was so scared of an overwhelmingly harsh oatmeal fragrance and it's not like that at all! The packaging says that the focus is deep cleaning and purifying pores, which is necessary during this time of the month where all I want to do is snuggle with a huge box of Oreos while watching romantic movies. So far I am only missing the Oreos. Ladies, you get me! I am excited to use this mask for the next month, and maybe I can get Nick to try it too. He even mentioned the other day that he is noticing a difference in his skin since I cut him off from the Glamglow. Gotta love him! The hair mask is nothing new, it's actually the last drop out

Halloween Weekend

Image
Halloween weekend was a great weekend to have off from work but definitely a busy one! Nick and I went to Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride the other day, which is not normally my thing, but we were really in the mood! The haunted hayride was probably their best attraction! Less touching from the actors, crazier story lines, creepier setting, and the people on our ride were so funny and made the ride so enjoyable. On Halloween day, my company had a group of us volunteer at the Narenj Tree Foundation, a non profit that ships clothes and goods to refugees from areas affected by disaster with limited resources. We were working in the donation center sorting and packaging clothes. This was my first time working with this group and they all had such high spirits! It felt good to help and have a little fun outside of work. From there I went straight home and got ready! As you may have seen on Snapchat and Instagram, Nick and I were Flo and Mayhem for Halloween! My makeup was

Ashley Benson Inspiration

Image
Hey guys! I am still working on my Halloween Weekend update that will be going up tomorrow. In the mean time I wanted to post a little something beforehand. This is a look I worked on weeks ago but after a few people said they enjoyed the look, I have decided to share it only with you here on my blog! I am a huge fan of Pretty Little Liars and Ashley Benson is always channeling my 16 year old self with her wardrobe (and my 25 year old self, too tbh). Obviously what I would have worn, if I had the unlimited ABC Family closet that she has on the show. Moving on! She was out and about for a panel event, which I believe was held to discuss the upcoming season with the 5-year flash forward. I am SO excited for this, can you tell??? Ashley was slaying with very pale makeup and a dark bold lip! So this is my recreation. I used most of my everyday face products, refrained from contouring and highlighting, and let my hair down. I used the natural and orange shades from the Kat Von D Mi V