Haitus! Be Back Soon...

Aloha from Hawaii! I just wanted to update my blog with a real quick as to my lack of posts in the past month of June. I will be taking a summer hiatus due to the fact that I have several small vacations and trips planned and I just haven't been able to keep up with having regular posts whilst traveling so much. Secondly, I have also put my beauty subscriptions on hold as well partly because of my traveling and also to give myself a chance to work through the large amount of samples and products I have accumulated. That's about all I wanted to say! Thanks to anyone who is visiting and following my blog. I will be back with new posts in August when I can have more time to write!

See ya later! Have an amazing summer everyone!

Julep :: May 2013

 Hello friends, and yay for already freaking halfway through May! OMG this month is going fast! So today I'm bringing my review of my May Julep Maven box. Might I say when previewing this online and opening it up I was really excited. I felt like I was really getting my money's worth month because of the generous amount of products in this box.

 For May most everyone received two nail colors and three mini lipsticks plus four super cute hair pins as the extra.

 Now on the nails colors they are nice and everything but nothing special as I have already received very similar colors from Julep in the past. And while you are able to pick and choose your theme every month this time around there really wasn't anything unique in the other boxes. This time I really went for colors I thought I would like for the lipsticks which I will get into next. But for colors I received yet another navy blue this time called Millie but really it isn't all that different from the others I've received. It just has a slightly greyish almost milky look to it rather than a true navy blue color, nice but not really different enough in my opinion to warrant having three navy blue colors. The second color is a pretty pale lilac with subtle shimmer called Alice. Very pretty and sweet, the shimmer is very subtle you can't even see it unless you're really close up. I find this a bit disappointing with some nail polishes in general, you get a color because it has a really cool looking shimmer in the bottle but you get it on your nail and it just doesn't show up :( oh well, the color is still very nice.

 

Now like I mentioned above I chose this month's theme Boho Glam for the lipstick colors not the nail polish. Unfortunately I was disappointed. They look so pretty and cute in the nice little gold tubes. Perfect size for your purse and they actually feel really nice on the lips. But, with the exception of the red color they have absolutely no pigmentation! I really tried to layer these babies on my hand for you and as you can see above......nothing...not even a hint of color. You can barely see if you look close or zoom in a very slight orangey tint from the middle color but the nude one? Nada! Sooooooooo disappointing!  I am sad :( There was another trio offered in some of the other boxes and I'm super curious to know if they had any color to them. If anyone got those please let me know! The ones I chose are the New York set I believe the other one is called Paris.

So I leave you all with this....here is the red color which is rather nice if you like a satiny red lip... I don't find red lips suit me in my daily life and my husband won't let me near him if my lips are anything unnatural lookin so there you go. After this box I'm thinking of taking a break from my Julep subscription. I do love alot of the colors I have gotten from them, I think its a great service and I do recomend giving them a try if your are into nail polish. But I've had the subscription for a few months and my nail polish collection is just overflowing. I will probably take a break to really start using up the polishes I have and maybe start it up again in the future.

Anywhoooozles, hope you are all having a great month! Share your thoughts with me I'd love to hear from you!

See ya later :D

Hope you all are having a great month.

My Travel Makeup Bag

Hello everyone! Today I thought I'd bring you all my makeup bag picks for when I travel. Packing has become pretty automatic for me due to the monthly trips I take with my husband to his drill weekends and frequent visits to family out of state. I used to grab way more makeup than I could ever wear for traveling but routine, expensive checked bag fees, TSA regs, and a desire to travel light has really streamlined what I take now. Recently I had my sister visit and we spent two days at Disneyland. Since we were visiting a theme park it was a really great opportunity to test the staying power of the makeup as well. So here it is my theme park tested, travel friendly approved makeup bag essentials!

 Now I realize that this picture makes this look like a lot of makeup but I'd like to make a few notes here. Everything with the exception of the BB Cream fits in the small bag pictured. The BB Cream often goes in my quart size Ziplock as it is a liquid. Some of the items which I will point out below are optional and/or interchangeable. Some of what I use is a little pricey so I wanted to make sure I included cheaper alternatives as well. Actually pretty much everything here I will be suggesting a cheaper alternative. Everything here I've purchased from either Sephora or Ulta. Target, Walgreens, and Riteaid carries many of these brands as well.

So starting off I only carry three brushes. This is an area that has really been streamlined for me. for traveling I've grown to like products that can be applied with your fingers. The three brushes I include are a blush brush, an angled fluffy eyeshadow brush, and a big fluffy powder brush. The angled eyeshadow brush can easily be replaced with a regular eyeshadow brush I just really find the shape of this one and find it to be ideal for blending out the cream shadows I use. I also suggest to always go for the softest brushes you can afford, Sonia Kashuk makes really nice affordable ones for Target but I also really love my Sephora Brushes.

 So starting with my face I can't recommend this Dr. Jart+ BB Cream enough! It is perfect for traveling as it is your primer, foundation, moisturizer, anti-blemish, anti-aging, dark spot corrector, and sunscreen all in one. It lasted all day on me at Disneyland and we were there from open til close without a single touch up. It's really hard to find good American BB Creams that provide the same benefits as this one but Physicians Formula, which can be found at most drugstores, carries a pretty nice tinted moisturizer with some SPF that I will suggest as a cheaper alternative. Honestly though I would say if you splurged on anything from this list it should be this BB Cream. Most days for sun protection the BB cream is enough but for our all day Disney adventure I did layer some SPF 50 sunblock underneath my BB cream. This one from Aveeno is formulated for babies so I find it really gentle and not smelly and can be used on face and body without fear of breakouts. Once finished with my makeup I seal it down with this Rimmel Stay Matte translucent powder. I've only tried a few setting powders but this one works best for me. It keeps my face from getting shiny without giving you that obvious powdery caked on look. The powder is super fine and truly transparent, it doesn't add any color like other powders I've tried which is nice too. Had the weather been hotter I probably would have carried this along with me for touchups.

 Not everyone might find blush and bronzer as an essential item and honestly I didn't either until recently. But when wearing BB creams with SPF and sunblocks you will find that your face can appear washed out and pale, especially in photos. That's because sunblocks are reflective. So to give my ghostly complexion some life back I use both a bronzer and a blush. Here I have my NARs duo compact with Orgasm and Laguna along with my NYX blush in Dusty Rose. As you can see from the pictures both Orgasm and Laguna have a bit of gold shimmer which is nice because I don't include a highlighter in my travel kit. Yes you could just take along the NARs duo alone and sometimes I do but I really love the matte color of the NYX blush better than the super shimmery Orgasm blush plus NYX products are super cheap. For a cheap bronzer there are a lot of drugstore brands that offer great ones such as Physicians Formula and Milani but I really love the color of Laguna. I suits my skin prefectly, doesn't look orange or muddy, and the shimmer is subtle but still gives you a nice glow.

 Next we have the eye makeup. I go real simple and natural with my eyes when traveling. I also go for staying power and everything here really does not budge until you use a proper cleanser. For mascara I use Maybelline Falsies in the waterproof formula on my top lashes. Now this is completely optional, my bottom lashes I've been loving this Clinic Bottom Lash mascara because I've had issues with smudging on my bottom lashes in the past and this stuff really stays on and has a cute little applicator that is prefect for getting each and every tiny lash without getting it all over the place. For eyeliner I use NARs Larger than Life in Via Veneto which is the best black waterproof eyeliner I've ever used. I really only tight line my eyes while traveling so waterproof is important. My cheap alternative would be the Rimmel Scandalize waterproof eyeliners those are pretty awesome as well.

 For eyeshadow I only use one cream eyeshadow. These are interchangeable and usually I will only pack one or the other. Pictured on top is Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze and on bottom is Mac paint pot in Groundwork. Eyeshadow couldn't get any easier. You just sweep these arcoss your lid with your finger and blend the edges with your eyeshadow brush and you are good to go. The Color Tattoo especially has a gorgeous shimmer, I've gotten compliments on it in random places so I know its good stuff. Another good thing to note is that both of these cream shadows don't crease at all. The Mac paint pot doubles as an awesome eyeshadow primer if you were to take powder shadows with you as well, it will make them last all day. Other than cleanser paint pots are the only item that draws me into a Mac store, they have so many lovely colors and I want to collect them all! Groundwork though is a great first choice.

Finally for lips, I carry along three lip products. I always have a a lip balm handy and I don't necessarily care what kind it is. Here I have an EOS balm I've been enjoying and for the theme park this is the only makeup item I kept in my bag the whole day. For a lipstick option I love the Revlon Lip Butters, they are moisturizing, sheer, and so easy to apply. My favorite color has been this one in Pink Truffle, a perfect my lips but better color. Lip gloss I go with the NYX gloss in Beige, which is totally not beige, it is a milky pink color which honestly put me off a bit at first but I've come to love. I'm not big on bold lips so the glosses and lipstick I gravitate towards are usually pretty sheer and only offer a hint of color. All of these products are pretty cheap too which is an added bonus.

So to give you an idea of how this all looks on here are a few closeups. And can I say how awkward it feels taking pictures of yourself on your balcony? Oh well! Hope you guys liked my travel makeup essentials. What are your travel favorites? Is there anything you can't leave home without?

See ya later! Thanks for reading :D

Ipsy :: April 2013

To round out my catch up on posts here is my April Ipsy Glam Bag review. You may notice I've completely skipped the March bag and that's because frankly I forgot, didn't photograph and the products were scattered to the four winds once I remember I hadn't reviewed them. From what I remember it contained only a teeny tiny eye shadow sample, a uselessly small empty compact for storing said teensy eyeshadow, tiny pack of face wipes, and a facial mist. The total value barely broke the $10 I paid and overall was very disappointing. It just didn't seem worth my ten dollars for almost no product. I also noticed that the colors of the eyeshadow were boring shades of blah browns and were barely pigmented (they are now in the trash).  This month Ipsy went with a Pretty in Pink theme and for the first time really I saw a beauty subscription really stick to its theme. The bag itself was a plain, cheap looking, asking for a stain, white with a pink zipper. The inside however was a little more exciting with pink and white strips and the Ipsy logo as pictured below.

Product List/Value for the month:
Station Nail Lacquer in Of Corset I'll Call You $5
Two Cosmetics eyeshadow duo in Heartache $5.75
Big Sexy Hair Powder Play approx. $2 (fl sz $15.95)
Be a Bombshell Blush in Sweet Cheeks $16
Total Bag Worth: approx. $28.75

 I fell a bit better this month over last month's disappoint in that there are three full sized products this time around. When I picked this up in the mailbox I was on my way to taking my husband to his workplace which is conveniently close to the beach :D I took the opportunity to photograph my products on said beach and since I had brought minimal makeup with me I went ahead and gave everything a test run. With the exception of the Big Sexy Hair powder I really liked everything I tried. I will try out the powder at a later date but I've heard good things about the brand and expect I will get on with it well enough.

Here is just a close up look at the pink products. The sun was bright so the colors are a little washed out on camera. The pink blush and eyeshadow are very pigmented and the blush in particular has a silvery shimmer.

 Here you can see a swatch of the Be A Bombshell blush in Sweet Cheeks which looks very pale and shimmery on my hand but on my cheeks the color is nice. My hand is a bit tanner than my face so it doesn't look as pale and the shimmer is more subtle than I though it would be but still detectable and nicely highlighty. I would say use a very light hand as well because this product is very pigmented and you can easily hit clown territory with it.

 Next is the Two Cosmetics eyeshadow duo in Heartache. Again the sunlight washes out the color and you can really only see the shimmer. These are very pink on the eye and I would suggest they be worn as an accent color because pink on the eyes can be tricky to pull of with out looking sickly. There is a look I like to do on my eyes when I really feel like playing with color where the inner half of my eyelid I will put a shimmery pink like this one and on the outer half of the lid I will blend into a forest green color. It has a neat affect and not as crazy looking as it sounds. It reminds me of macarons or some other sweet desert. Perhaps in the future I will do a tutorial or something. Anyways I think these pinks will work well with other colors but may not be best on their own.

And finally is this Station Nail Lacquer in Of Corset I'll Call You.......sheesh what a dumb name for such a boring polish. I know Essie comes of with similar cheeky names but at least they have an awesome color to back them up. This color is just blah....and it's the third such blah sheer pink that I've received. This polish took four thick coats to become opaque and even then its not a good look. Maybe it's just my skin tone and this kind of pale sheer pink just clashes. Either way I'm done with it. In the trash or to a friend it goes! Along with my other ones :D

And that's all for this post. Does anyone else subscribe to Ipsy and get anything different? Let me know what you think? Would you like a makeup tutorial? Love to hear from you, see ya later!

Glossybox :: March 2013

 Wow is this post ever late! I get my glossyboxes so late in the month I'm supposed to receive them that I'm already into the next month and tend to forget about all things of the previous month. But here it is, super late my March Glossybox.

Product List/Value for the month:
Koh Gen Do Emollient Cream approx. $33 (fl sz $123)
ModelCo Cheek/Lip Stain approx. $24
Elite Models Intensity Eye Pencil in  $14
Prestiche Essential Oil Bar Soap approx. $8
(Prestiche $40 gift certificate)
Sebastian Professional Hairspray approx.$3 Total Bag Worth: approx. $82.00 ($120 if you include the gift cert.)

 Definitely some variety this month for Glossybox. First off for anyone interested here is the gift code for the $40 off at Prestiche apparently with no minimum purchase as far as I can tell from the fine print. I'm not sure I will use it myself. The bar of soap I received is pretty stinky and I'm not impressed. It's made of all kinds of organicy natural goodness but I don't know for some reason I like to smell nice after a shower? Throw some lavender or mint or something in there to cover up that mashed up plant goo smell...

 Pictured here along with the Prestiche soap are a hairspray from Sebastian (boring) and yet another ridiculously expensive yet unimpressive moisturizing cream from Koh Gen Do ($123 for a full size product!) I tried a bit of it and sure it moisturizes and all but far to expensive for what it does. See my rant from the Man Repeller box's moisturizer and my thoughts are much the same about this one.

 Now this product was exciting for me. I have been forever wanting to venture into either a cream blush or a cheek stain and had been eye-balling Benefit's stains for a while without the bravery to commit to a purchase. So to find one in my Glossybox I was happy to get to try out something similar in the ModelCo Lip and Cheek Stain in Rosy Red. I must say I'm pretty pleased and surprised to find how easy this stuff is to use and how natural it looks. It certainly looks scary on my hand here but this small amount is more than enough for both cheeks. It blends out pretty sheer which makes it pretty forgiving. You can layer it up for drama or keep it sheer for subtleness. I did try this on my lips but it wasn't very flattering. My lips have been a bit dry so the stain sank into all the little cracks and just made them look like I had been punched in the mouth. Which is whatever for me, I wasn't interested in a lip stain anyway.

Finally I received an Elite Models Intensity Eye Pencil in Secret Gray which is a dark gray with silvery shimmer. This a nice product although a bit smudgy. It would do well for smokey looks that allow for lots of smudgy but would not be ideal for precise lines or the waterline as you would wind up with panda eyes pretty quick. I like it though, I like the shimmer and I don't anything similar so it's a nice addition to my collection.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with this month's box. I feel I got my money's worth especially in the eyeliner and the cheek stain. The soap will get used although it is stinky but could have done without the hairspray. The moisturizer will go in my travel bag.

That's it for this post! Hope you are having a great day! Share your comments or questions with me.
See ya  later!

Julep :: April 2013

 Hello Everyone! Just wanted to catch up on my posts! I've been super busy trying to finish up my Medical Transcription program so my blog had to take a back seat for a little bit. this post will be short but I just wanted to share the awesome colors I received for my April Julep box.

So this month I went for the It Girl option which always features three nail colors. I had been getting the Boho option originally but I've now switched over permanently. I feel like getting three colors a month instead of two colors and a random product suits me best and makes me feel like I am for sure getting my money's worth. Not that the extra products have been bad or anything it's just I don't need them. Probably because I get plenty of beauty and makeup samples from my other two subscriptions. All in all I'd just rather have more nail polish!

And WoW! This month I absolutely love every color I got! So beautiful, bright, and cheerful. Also I think they are pretty unique colors that would be hard to find in stores. So starting from left to right I received Mackenzie an awesome bright grass green with a slight shimmer that is visible under sunlight. Next is Eden a gorgeous deep almost royally blue purple color, very unique and also features a satin-like finish when dry. Lastly, the color I was most happy with for Spring is Abbie an sunshine cream yellow. Back in January I had received what I thought would be an awesome yellow color which turned out looking like I had just scribbled on my nails with yellow highlighter, very disappointing. Even over a coat of white polish the color just wasn't very vibrant or flattering. This color however is so much better! It's got a creamy consistency that in just two coats leaves you with a bright solid opaque yellow. This was the first color I chose to wear on all my nails and I loved it! I painted my toes with Eden and that came out really nice too. Next I will be wearing the green either on my hands or feet...not sure yet.

Well I think that's all for this post. Not much to say about the little extra item this month, it was a piece of rock candy which I will probably toss or give away. I don't care for sugary candy too much.

Hope everyone is having a great month! Let me know what your favorite spring nail polish colors are! See ya later :D

Spring Nails! Testing Out Popular Tricks

 Welcome to Spring everyone! I'm not sure about the rest of the world but Spring has definitely sprung out here in sunny California. I've been drooling for weeks over so many of the awesome Spring inspired brightly colored ladylike nail tutorials that have swarmed Pinterest and Youtube. Those sites make it look so deceptively easy sometimes that I just wanted to try it myself and see just if it was a simple as they make it look. I photographed as I went so that I could share what worked with all of you. So let's get started.

 Here are the tools I gathered. Nothing special or professional here. Everyone probably has these things lying around there house. I used two nail polish colors (Essie Butler Please and Blanc), Essie top and base coats, cuticle stick (or a toothpick), Q-tips, scissors, tweezers, freezer bag, and polish remover.

 I started off with a base coat and two coats of Butler Please. I love this color, it's such a beautiful cobalt blue that is great on its own and reminds me of a bright blue sky. Perfect Spring color if you ask me.

 

My first design was inspired by a great little nail tutorial I saw on Youtube by Bubzbeauty who does awesome hair/makeup tutorials. I altered her design a little bit to make it look more like lace. To make the frilly shape start with one stripe of polish (I'm using Blanc) on one side of your nail. Then do a second shorter stripe right next to first followed by a third even shorter stripe next to that one. Make sure to keep the tops rounded and carefully fill in the color with a second coat if it's not opaque already. 

 To make it look more like lace go back in with your base color with a toothpick as your dotting tool and make three dots corresponding to each little hump you made in the white polish. Then making slightly smaller dots place one between each of the larger dots kind of corresponding to the points each time instead of the humps. Finally finish off with a few more small dots in line ...is that making sense? If not hopefully the pictures help :D

Ok so on to the next technique I've seen do several ways on Pinterest. It's the freezer bag technique. basically all you do is either paint your shapes onto a freezer bag or just paint a square of solid color on the bag and then cut out your shapes once the polish is dry. I opted for the second route. I will note too that you definitely should use a freezer bag not just a regular sandwich bag. The thicker plastic makes it easier to peel of your dried polish. After painting your initial swatch on the bag make sure you wait until it dries completely before trying to peel it off. It also helped that I used the cuticle pusher end of my orange stick to get under the edges of the polish and then used the tweezers to peel it all the way off. Also if you have smaller scissors use those instead of these gigantic ones like I used. They were cumbersome to work with. If you have those cool shaped hole punchers those are supposed to work pretty well too. I'll have to give those a try in the future. The way I made my heart in case your interested is I started off cutting out a diamond shape and then I cut V-shape into one of the corners making a sort of sqaured off heart shape (see photo). To finish it off I just carefully snipped away at the sharp edges to make it look more rounded. It wasn't too hard but the polish is very flimsy and easy to tear, hold it with the tweezers as much as you can too because oils from your fingers will prevent it from sticking to your nail later and will cause bubbles.

Here I am applying the heart to one of my fingers. I found it helps the polish stick if you have a layer of top coat between the sticker and the base polish. Resist the urge to press the sticker to you nail with your finger because again the oils from your finger will cause bubbling when you go to put your top coat on. Instead your your toothpick or cuticle stick to gently press the sticker down. Once you like the placement seal everything with a top coat, if you notice any edges coming up ever so gently use your toothpick again while the top coat is still pretty wet to nudge the edges down.

Now the I had meant to have a heart on each hand but I messed it up by bumping it on something while the top coat was drying and smudged it hell. So instead I thought I'd try making those cute dot flowers. I also wanted to challenge myself and give you guys the photographic evidence that this stuff can we done with your less dominant hand (LDH)! It's not that bad if you are careful and have your hands anchored to the table or you work surface. Another tip on doing fine work with your less dominate hand is to keep your less dominant hand steady and rested on a surface and instead focus on moving your dominant hand to create the design. It's not as hard as it sounds I promise! With anything practice makes perfect.

Here I'm just taking my Q-tip and some acetone polish remover to clean up my messy edges. I wanted try the lotion trick where you apply lotion to your cuticles around the nail so that polish wont stick but it wasn't as easy as it sounds since you have to keep the nail clean for the polish. This way was just easier for me.

All finished after sealing everything off with a good top coat. I love how fun these turned out! I usually wait until I have a leisure day to do this kind of stuff. A day when I want to catch up on my various TV series. I find it helps the waiting time go a lot quicker. Between each step I would sit back and watch an episode of Vampire Diaries or some other cheeseball show on Netflix while I waited for nails to dry. I would not do this in a hurry or if I didn't have a few hours to spend on it. Also invest in good top and base coats, don't let your hard work go to waste. Essie makes great top and base coats. And pull the top coat all the way over the edge of your nail to prevent chipping and even if its a fast-dry top coat really give it at least a good hour to set (or an episode of Mad Men) before doing things.

So that's it! I hope I'm not leaving anything out. Let me know if you have questions, tips, or suggestions. I'd love to try new techniques.

Please share and let's be friends! See ya later!

Julep :: March 2013

First beauty box of the month is an exciting one! It's my Julep Maven box and it's extra special this month because I've earned enough 'Jules' to receive a free upgrade and I chose their 'Luck of the Irish' set of three polishes. That is almost like getting an extra box this month. So a lot of colors to talk about and I'm loving every single one :D

Fist lets look at the colors in the box. From top to bottom I received a gorgeous pale lilacy purple called Simone which features a barely there blue shimmer. On the nail you really can't see the shimmer unless its in direct sunlight (even then you really have to be look closely to see it). Next we have a pastely peachy pink called Teri. This is a nice color for everyday spring wear and will match a lot without being in your face. It has no shimmer at all, just a basic cream polish. And on the bottom is a gorgeous mint green called Shenae which also features a slight blue shimmer (again only noticeable in sunlight, extremely subtle). 

Here's how they look on the nail. They all have great application, very smooth and only two coats needed to get them opaque. I think I will get lots of wear out of each of these colors and they are perfect for Spring.

Dupes this Month:

I wanted to start mentioning possible dupes for the polishes I receive. This box in particular I noticed that I had some pretty close dupes to all three colors. It can be considered either a good or bad thing to get colors you already own. For me I'm ok with it if they are colors I love and will use often which in this case is true. I also want to mention any dupe in case any of you are interested in color from Julep but either don't want to shell out the $14 for one, don't want to subscribe, and/or Julep just isn't available to you in your area and just maybe a dupe is. So this time around I pretty much found identical colors in Essie polishes I already owned. Starting from the right the mint green Shenea color's dupe is Essie Mint Candy Apple, a cult favorite in its own rights. Everyone freaking raves about this color on YouTube, Pineterest, and other Blogs. The only difference between them is that the Essie polish dries ever so slightly darker and does not have the blue shimmer (which honestly you can't even see anyway). In the middle, Teri's dupe is Essie Tart Deco. These are pretty close as well however Tart Deco does dry a bit darker as well. Lastly for Simone's dupe is Essie To Buy or Not to Buy, crazy name huh? The colors of these are exact matches, the Essie color even has the slight blue shimmer which is a bit more noticeable but still pretty subtle.

Moving on, I wanted to include my free add-on this month which came in a separate package from the main box but arrived at the same time. This is Julep's Luck of the Irish Trio. I am head over heels for the green and copper glittery polishes. I will definitely be wearing the green for St. Patty's day this weekend and my bit of green!

Here I painted my index and pointer fingers in the lovely, metallic champagne color called Sienna. My middle and pinkie finger I painted in the green and gold solid glitter polish appropriately called Lucky. Lastly, my thumb I painted with the coppery solid glitter polish called Jane. I really didn't expect the glitter polishes to go on so solidly in just two coats. I thought they would be glittery top coat style where you would need a polish underneath but I was presently surprised. No dupes here!

As an extra I almost forgot to mention. The March box came with a Strawberry-Mint Lip Balm. Nothing to special about this balm it applies alright, smells like fake strawberry (not so much mint), and nothing really notable about the ingredients. I like a lot of the natural/organic lip balms out today like the Botanics one in my Feb Favs and the EOS lip balms. In fact it's so forgettable I think I have already lost it :) Ooops! I have lots of good lip balms, this one would probably just have sat in my drawer only to be discovered years later and tossed out.

So yeah overall extremely satisfied with March! Let me know what you guys think? Do you like the dupes I've listed? Let me know in the comments and share you favorite spring nail colors!

Let be friends, see ya later!

February Favorites :: 2013

Alrighty time for some monthly favorites! February went by quick and I have far less favorites to share this month because I was sick most of the month and my skin was in terrible shape. I had breakouts, dry flakiness and general irritation going on. So most of my standout products center around natural, gentle skincare and blemish fighting power. So let's get started shall we?

 

 First off I've really liked this Expert Sensitive Gentle Refreshing Toner from Boots (supplied by Target). I'm loving the partnership with Boots that Target has going on. Boots is England's go to drugstore similar to a Walgreen's here in the states I believe but they seem to have a bit higher quality beauty and skincare lines than what we find at drugstores here in the States. Anywho about the toner... I haven't worn much in the way of face makeup this month just because my skin has been so crazy so since I haven't needed heavy cleansing I've been using this in the evenings and in the morning to freshen up and gently remove dirt and oil. This doesn't irritate my skin at all and doesn't leave it feeling stripped or tight like other toners can. I highly recommend it for gentle cleansing or even an extra step after cleansing a face full of makeup.

And to help fight my blemishes I've been using this awesome charcoal mask from Origins. The activated charcoal works like a sponge to extract impurities from your skin and help to prevent blemishes. I use it about once a week and as a nighttime spot treatment for especially troublesome spots. It helps dry out the pimple and clear it up. Because of that though it can be a bit drying on skin and my skin this past month has been especially dry and flaky. So to combat that see the next product.

 Another Boots/Target buy is this Botanics Organic Face Hydrating Day Cream. Gotta love something that is Organic and kicks ass! This moisturizer is just awesome. It's full of good nourishing botanical oils and extracts most notably Almond Oil. It does have nice light scent of almond which some may not like but I happen to LOVE! It's nice and thick but goes on smoothly and sinks in super quick. I've been applying this night and day and it has really helped a lot to bring my skin back under control. At $14 its not a bad price too, I've tried way more expensive creams (check out this $225 from a Glossybox!) and this one just beats them all! Another thing to note is that this soothes my blemishes and doesn't aggravate them at all or more importantly add too them. Good stuff, go buy it!

 Yup I'm loving the Botanics line. This is their Organic Lip Balm. Has a grand total of four ingredients: Olive Oil, Shea Butter, Beeswax, and Lanolin. Nothing to complain about there. It moisturizes my lips nicely and doesn't feel sticky or greasy. It has a light scent of honey probably due to the beeswax. Maybe not the absolute best I've ever tried but lately I've been trying to go for more naturally derived and organic products. Like the food we eat its I believe the stuff we put on our skin is just as important. Now I'm sure plenty of the products I use currently are full of tons of crap but it's baby steps for me. I'm going to make the effort to slowly replace those bad for me things I love with better for me things that I love just as much!

 On with that note, I've still been loving the Bare Minerals Blemish Therapy Concealer that I talked about last month. Bare Minerals is all about natural minerals and good for skin ingredients and this concealer features natural blemish fighters such as sulfur, willow bark, and tea tree oil. you can smell the sulfur but that doesn't bother me too much I think sulfur smell is one of those thing people either can't stand or don't mind at all. Since I haven't been wearing any kind of foundation or BB cream I've been relying on this to give me some coverage so I'm not too scary when I leave the house.

 And for brightening up my sallow sick face skin I've been relying on this Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer from Maybelline in the color Nude. I sweep this under my eyes to cover dark circles and just to brighten up my face. There is a bit of shimmer but not much, its barely noticeable. It's creamy to apply, non-drying, blends well, and doesn't settle into creases.

When I have worn makeup I've been reaching for my sample of Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara that I got out of a Glossybox. It's a really nice mascara. It's not clumpy, defines each lash, gives me length and volume, doesn't smudge and is easy to remove. Still not sure if I will purchase this as I do have lots of sample mascaras to get through but it's on my radar that's for sure.

 I love getting use out of my beauty box subscription samples and along with the Estee Mascara I've been using this Coastal Scents sampler from my Ipsy bag. I particularly like the shimmering gold and the olive color together. Nice and springlike and fun to play around with some different colors.

 Now this was my favorite splurge/purchase of the month. Its the newest eyeshadow palette from Nars called And God Created The Woman set. Sheesh Nars you have some crazy people in your naming department. Anywayz...I had leftover store credit from some returns I made and it was enough to purchase this palette set. I love my Naked Palette but for traveling this slim compact will make it that much easier.

The shades are some lovely natural taupe and browns and easily everything you need for a variety of natural eye or smokey eye looks. The two middle shades are matter and go well together. The top shades on sides are shimmering and so pretty on the eyes. And the bottom outside shades are matte with super fine gold flecks. The darkest shades I use for soft eyeliner looks. the lightest shimmery shade is a great inner corner and brow bone highlight. The top matte shade is a great crease color....I could go on and on about the versatility of this compact. Just awesome, I'm a happy camper with this purchase :) The set did come with a brush and a sample of the Nars eye primer but I don't really use either of those. Any eye priming I do I use my Mac Paintpot in Groundwork not to say that this Nars primer is good its just I'm happy with what I got.

While I haven't been wearing much makeup I have made up for it with my nail polishes. I loved my Julep colors this month featured in the bottom right. I also played around with the nail strips I received in my Glossybox. My favorite though has been the new nail polish french manicure strips from Sally Hansen. I am crap at DIY  French Manicures and these are so AWESOME! I'm wearing gold glittery ones in the top right picture over Peach Daiquiri by Essie. The other cool thing about the french mani strips is that it comes with full clear polish strips to lay over the top of the entire nail. I'm so excited about them I'm thinking I'll do a little tutorial on them soon. Regardless I'm going to be stocking up on some different colors and some plain old white ones. Nail art is just so much fun for me right now, I swear half my Instagram pics are of my nails!

Finally, last but not least to go along with all my manicures I've been utilizing this simple hand cream from Bliss. Bliss has a few different scents but this is there most basic one which I like. It has a fresh clean scent that is just a bit citrusy. It's a thicker cream but not as thick as some creams I've tried from L'occitane but it absorbs quickly and is not greasy like L'occitane can be. I like the Bliss brand in general. They have a great blemish clearing mask as well cleverly name No Zit Sherlock which I've used and love in the past. The only reason I haven't used it lately is because I want to use up the Origins mask first. I don't know though, now that I think about it the Bliss mask isn't as drying so maybe I should get a new box. Who know maybe you'll see it in my March Favorites ;)

And that's all I have for this month! Lot's of good stuff, my skin has been clearing up and improving slowly but surely. Getting sick can really mess you up! Drink lots of fluids everyone and wash those hands!

Until next time, share your favorites with me and let's be friends! See ya later :D