July 2013 Favorites!

Hey everyone! I know, it's been a long while since I've posted anything on my blog here. Not really sure if I have a  good reason as to why I haven't posted, but life just gets in the way sometimes. Anyways, it's the end of another month, which means it's favorites time! I have to admit, I haven't experimented too much with products as I haven't bought much lately, so I don't have a bunch to talk about, but lets get on to the few things I have been loving!

My first favorite this past month is The Body Shop Aloe Cooling Body Gel. I don't think The Body Shop makes this product anymore, which makes me pretty sad. Anyways, my fiance and I went to New Jersey to go to the shore for a day with some friends. I, of course, put sunblock on four times while we were there, yet I still got burned on my right arm and a bit on my shoulders and chest. My poor fiance however got totally burned on his chest and legs. I tried to tell him he should be reapplying sunblock every couple hours, but he never listens to me. Fast forward to the end of the night when we got home, and he was in pain. I found this in the closet and slathered some all over his chest and legs. I also put some on where I got a little burned as well. The next morning, I felt fine. Still a bit red, but this helped soothe me quite a bit. My fiance said he felt better too, but he was really, really red for a while. I kept putting this stuff on him so he wouldn't scratch or hurt himself more. I love how cooling and soothing this feels. I really wish The Body Shop didn't get rid of this :(

My next favorite came from an Influenster VoxBox, and it's the Luster NOW! Instant Whitening Toothpaste. Now I gotta admit, I haven't noticed any significant whitening on my teeth. It could be because my teeth are fairly white to begin with, so if there has been any whitening, I can't tell. What I do like about this product is how clean it makes my teeth feel. It's actually pretty amazing. I haven't had a toothpaste make my teeth feel so clean in ages. I have weird teeth and gums though. I have a prescription toothpaste that I have to use at night, and in the morning I typically use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth and gums. I'm not sure if those kinds of toothpastes don't make teeth feel as clean or what, but I really do like this stuff!

These next favorites have been the lip combo I've been doing for most of July. I make sure my lips are soft and smooth by applying a hydrating lip balm, then I put on the Maybelline Color Whisper in Pink Possibilities (left) and after that I apply the Liplicious Lip Color in Pineapple Juice (right). The gloss doesn't give much color payoff, but the sheen it gives is amazing! And everyone knows I love my Color Whispers, and Pink Possibilities is probably my favorite color. 

Now my last favorite is probably one of my all-time favorite products even though I've only had it for a few weeks. This is part of the Sephora Disney Collection and it's the Storylook Eyeshadow Palette Volume 3. Yup, I got me the Little Mermaid eyeshadow palette! I was so excited when I got the email saying it was in stock and I rushed to buy it. Shortly after I placed my order, I saw it was permanently discontinued. I got a bit worried seeing that and thought I wouldn't be getting it, but I got the confirmation email that it was sent out, and I squealed a little I was so happy! My fiance was even happy for me because this palette was all I could think about since I heard they were coming out with it.

This little baby is all mine, and I've been loving playing around with it, seeing what looks I can come up with. This palette was basically all I used this past month, aside from a few days where I used different eyeshadows. I might try to use this sparingly as I don't want to use everything up to quickly. Also, these shadows are surprisingly pigmented and they last a long time as long as I use a primer underneath. Ahhhh, I'm so happy I have this!

Well, that's everything! What were some of your favorites for July?

Also, take a look at the blog sale I have going! I still have a good amount of products left!

Urban Decay Vice Palette: Look #3

It's been quite a while since I've done a look with the Urban Decay Vice Palette that my dad got for me. I was doing my makeup for work the other day and decided to bust out this palette again and was pleased with the look, so I wanted to show you guys!

 After priming my eyes with Urban Decay's Primer Potion, I took the color Armor and packed it all over my lids, just up to the crease.

 I then took the color Occupy (lower left side of picture) and placed it on the outer half of my lid. After that, I took the color Laced (shown above) and blended that softly into the crease.

Lastly, I took the color Anonymous (shown in lower left side of picture) and used that as my highlight and to blend out any harsh lines around my eyes. This color is pretty much the color of my skin, so it's perfect for blending out harsh lines or toning down bright colors.

And now for the finished look....

I absolutely love how this turned out! For my inner corner highlight, I used a shimmery eyeshadow I got at Ulta that I only use for the inner corners of my eyes. I may have gone a bit overboard because it's such an intense shimmer and it can be hard to work with at times. For mascara, I used Maybelline's Illegal Length, which I have grown to love. I used to not like it, but since I've had it for a while and it's dried out a bit, I love it!

What do you guys think of this look?

July 2013 Ipsy Bag

Hi everyone! I feel like it's been a while since I've posted anything on here! My work schedule has been kinda crazy and on days off my fiance and I typically have things to do so I've rarely had time to post. Sorry guys! Anyways, I received my Ipsy bag in the mail a few days ago, and I'm pretty excited for it! This month's theme was Beach Beauty.

The bag everything came in is so adorable! My favorite color is pink and I think this is so cute for travel or just to put a few things in your purse without having them get lost. I also love that we got some skincare goodies too!

The first product I received is the Coola Mineral Sunscreen with SPF 20. I've heard of the Coola brand before but have never tried anything of theirs. I'm a little hesitant to use this only because the SPF is a bit low for my liking. I usually go for at least SPF 30, but I typically use SPF 50. I do like that this is unscented so hopefully it won't irritate my skin.

The next product is the Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray. I'm excited to try this if I go to the beach at all this Summer, or if I go to a friend's house to go swimming. My hair tends to dry out from the chlorine in pools and with this having argan oil in it, I'm hoping it helps with conditioning my hair. I'm definitely taking this with me on my honeymoon too.

Second skincare goody! I get so excited when I can try out new skincare products. This is the derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub. I've never tried any products from this brand before but this looks promising as it's supposed to help diminish the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and acne scars. I love how this smells too! Kinda like a minty lemon, which is awesome to me and perfect for Summer.

Next up is the POP Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in the color Coral Crush. This is just another one of those twist up lip crayons everyone's raving about. I've tried the Covergirl ones but not this one. I think this is a UK brand but apparently you can find it at Ulta. I've never seen this brand at my Ulta, but then again I've never really looked for it. 

The swatch of this came out nicely pigmented and it felt nice on my skin. It seems to be pretty moisturizing. I'm not the hugest fan of corals, but this color looks more pink on my skin, which I'm totally fine with. If it's an orange-y coral, I'd probably not use it.

The last product I received is the BH Cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Sample. I was actually really excited to get this because I have quite a few BH eyeshadow palettes and I love the quality of them. Their prices are also really good and there are always sales going on the website. I love the colors in this little palette, but wasn't impressed with the swatches...

These barely show up on my skin! Granted, I didn't use a primer underneath these, but still, the other palettes BH has are amazing! I was super disappointed in the purple shade because it looks so dark in the palette. The yellow was the most pigmented and the bronze color is alright, but I'll have to try these on my eyes with a primer to see how they really look. I probably won't get the California palettes. I'll stick with the 88 and 120 color palettes, since those have never disappointed me.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this bag! I'm really happy to have finally gotten some skincare and I can't wait to try out everything. Ipsy has come such a long way since I've been with them, and I feel it's a good investment for only $10 a month, especially since I've gotten to try products from brands I've never tired before. If you've never tried Ipsy and want to, I'd love it if you used my referral link to sign up! Thanks for reading!

What did you get in your Ipsy bag?

Update on Hautelook Fiasco

Hi guys! If you don't remember me bashing on Hautelook back in May, you can check it out here. Basically, I never received an item from my very first Hautelook purchase, and the eyeshadow palette I bought already looked used. 

Anyways, It's been a while now so I wanted to do a little update post on what happened after I posted my little rant. I did contact customer service with my issues, and I was so surprised with how amazing my experience was. No lie, it was uh-may-zing! I know I've mentioned a bazillion times before that I work in retail, so I know about giving good customer service. I was given a full refund for the product that was never sent to me, which I was honestly expecting.

What I didn't expect was, someone else from customer service contacted me through email, mentioned my blog post bashing Hautelook, and credited me $5 back to my credit card for the eyeshadow palette that looked used. That totally was completely unexpected. I was also given a $10 credit to my account with Hautelook to use up by the end of August. I can say now that I will purchase again from Hautelook and use my credit, but I am a bit worried that something like this will happen again. I couldn't believe that happened to me when I've always heard amazing things about the site, especially with it being my very first time ordering from them. 

I'm just extremely pleased with the outcome of everything and I actually look forward to placing another order with them. If anyone from Hautelook reads this, I really want to thank you for the amazing customer service I received. It went beyond my expectations and I know why people love the site so much.

Has anyone else had great customer service from Hautelook?

Review: Hydroxatone AM/PM Anti-Wrinkle Complex

*Disclosure* I was sent this product complimentary from iFabbo for review purposes.

Hey everyone! This is a product that I was so excited to try out when I saw it was available on the iFabbo website! It's the Hydroxatone AM/PM Anti-Wrinkle Complex. I'm super excited to be doing my review now as I've gotten to try it out for nearly a month.

Now what makes this product so effective? I have my little info card handy, so I'll tell you!

- Hyaluronic Acid: Incredible ability to retain moisture in the skin which results in increased smoothness, softness and decrease of facial wrinkles.

- Matrixyl3000: Helps skin promote natural levels of collagen, hyaluronic acid and fibronectin. 

- Argireline: Anti-aging peptide specifically designed to provide fast results.

- SPF 15: To help protect the skin against the sun's harmful rays.

As you can see, you use this day and night. Personally, I only have been using this at night because it is very rich and moisturizing and makes my skin feel oily. I don't mind that when I'm sleeping, but during the day it'll be too much. I might be able to get away with using this in the morning during Winter. 

 
When I first opened the jar, I loved how creamy and whipped it looked. To me, it looks like whipped butter. Once I put it on my face and let the product sink in, I was amazed at how soft my skin felt. When I wake up, my skin feels pretty oily, but when I look in the mirror, my skin looks even, soft and fresh. It's actually pretty amazing. I don't have wrinkles yet, so I can't really say whether or not this product helps with that, but if you have wrinkles, I think over time, it may. It's incredibly hydrating and feels like silk on the skin. A little bit goes a very long way as well, which is why it doesn't look like much has been used. This little jar retails for $69 at Ulta and I know that's really pricey, but it's worth it in my opinion, especially when you only need a little bit of product for your whole face and neck. If you have normal to dry skin, you can definitely use this morning and night. For oily skinned peeps like myself, I recommend using this only at night.

Have any of you tried this product? If not, does it look like something you'd try?

June 2013 Empties!

June was an awesome month in using up products! I'm really happy with what I used up and I finally feel like I'm making a dent in my stash. I also wanted to mention that I'm doing another spending ban as of July 1st. It's going to be another 3 month long ban, and I feel like I can do it, especially since I did so well on my last one. Anyways, let me show you what I used up!

I'm incredibly happy I was able to use up a bunch of skincare products! I used up The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner. I know I've talked about this toner before, but it's amazing to use in the Summer because it really helps to control my oily skin. I used this in the morning after my cleanser.

I used up a toner that I used at night after cleansing, and it's the Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion. I prefer this toner to one of the 3 step system toners because this one doesn't have alcohol in it. I used the Clinique 3 step skincare program before and the toner I got burned my face so bad because of the alcohol in it. This toner is very gentle and made my skin feel clean and soft.

I also used up another product from The Body Shop and it's the Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion. I used this in the morning and it helped my skin stay matte and soft, but didn't dry it out either.

I used up one of the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblocks with SPF 55. I won't ramble about this as I've mentioned it a ton but it's definitely my favorite sunblock of all time. 

The Body Shop has gotten a bunch of love from me this past month and I used up the Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask, finally. I did a full review of it here, and I'm not quite sure why, but it's the most viewed post I have on my blog. This isn't the best mask on the planet, so if you're interested in it, read my review of it. 

The final product I used up from The Body Shop is the Tea Tree Oil Blemish Fade Night Lotion. Honestly, this is nothing special. It's a fairly basic moisture that definitely has that tea tree oil smell and I don't think it helps much with blemishes.

Now I'm not too sure if you guys care about replacement brush heads for the Clarisonic but I'm throwing out the Delicate Brush Head that I've been using for I don't know how long. I know you're supposed to replace them every 3 months if used daily, but there was a time when I didn't use my Clarisonic for like a month, so that's why I don't replace the heads that often. I use my Clarisonic only when I wear a full face of makeup during the day, which is rare. I'm currently using the Deep Pore Brush, but you might not see that in an empties post for a long while.

Now for makeup empties! I'm throwing out the container to the ELF Daily Brush Cleaner, but technically it's not used up. I actually had to pour this cleaner into the Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner because the nozzle on this just did not work. I can't remember if I mentioned that I used up the Sephora Cleaner or not, but I used that up and poured the ELF cleaner in that container. 

I finally used up the Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover. This got my eye makeup off pretty well, but my all-time favorite is the Lancome Bi-Facil. It's so flipping expensive, which is why I purchased this. I was hoping it would be comparable to the Lancome, and it kinda was. It's the same concept where it's a dual-phase liquid that you have to shake the bottle before you use it. I just think the Lancome one is better.

I also used up the Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray. I think this is alright. I just have insanely oily skin and it's been tough finding products to keep my face looking matte. I have repurchased this though as a backup once my Kat Von D setting spray is gone.

This product isn't old, it's just terrible. It's the Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara. I can't even begin to say how much I hate this mascara. I tried using this for as long as I could, but it kept making my lashes clump together, I never got an even application, and it flaked like crazy on me. I'll never repurchase this atrocity! 

The final makeup product I used up is by a brand called Love & Beauty and it's a Minty Lip Gloss. Now I had to do some research on this because I actually got this from a co-worker, and it looks like it's a Forever21 brand. I don't own any makeup from Forever21 but I kinda liked this lip gloss. It tasted really good and it was a nice color. It also wasn't sticky at all which is pretty awesome.

Here's the final mish-mash of products I used up. I finished off the Herbal Essences Dangerously Straight Shampoo for my fiance There was maybe only a quarter of the bottle left and he didn't want to use it up so I used it up for him! I'm in love with how good Herbal Essences Shampoos and Conditioners smell, and I'll probably end up buying some after I use up more of my stash.

I used up the Bath & Body Works Pink Sugarplum Shower Gel. I love how this smells but I think I may be allergic to this. It kinda made my skin itchy and I couldn't wait to put on moisturizer once I got out of the shower to calm it down. I've used other BBW shower gels and haven't had that happen to me, so I'm not sure why I had a reaction to this.

I also used up another Bath & Body Works product and it's the Fresh Picked Tangerines Antibacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap. I loved this stuff but it took me ages to use up. I promise you guys, I wash my hands on a regular basis, but this stuff lasted forever. 

I used up the Colgate Optic White Toothpaste I received in an Influenster VoxBox. I like this toothpaste, but the mouthwash to this is terrible. I feel like I'm foaming at the mouth using it and it burns like hell. The toothpaste didn't do that, fortunately. I won't repurchase this though as there are way better toothpastes out there.

The final product I used up is the Similasan Allergy Eye Relief Eye Drops. I know I've talked about this before, but this is my favorite brand for eye drops and I'll never purchase another brand. 

That's everything I used up! Not to bad, huh?

What did you guys use up in June?

June 2013 Favorites!

Hi guys! I know last month I was slacking a bit in the beauty posts with the blogging challenge I was doing, and I'm sorry for that. There is a challenge for July, but I won't be taking part. I want to focus more on beauty related posts, as this is what this blog is all about! Anyways, since it's now July, that means it's time for my monthly favorites, so lets get into it!

Starting with non-makeup related products, I've been loving the Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. This is such an amazing mask for clearing up any breakouts I've been having and It's been amazing for controlling the oiliness of my skin. With Summer now in full swing, I'm a big oil slick and this is helping wonders!

I found a tube of this Neutrogena Clear Face Sunscreen with SPF 55 hiding with all my other sunblock. I know I've mentioned a bazillion times how much I love the Dry Touch sunblock, but I wanted to use something different for once. I'm actually really impressed with this! It's so light and blends in incredibly well, and like the front of the bottle says, it doesn't cause any breakouts. At least not yet. I've only been using this for about 3 weeks, but so far, so good!

My next favorite is the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Serum. I've heard so many different reviews on this, and I'm really surprised with how much I like it! I haven't noticed too much growth with my lashes to be honest, but I have noticed that they're much stronger and when I remove my eye makeup at night, my lashes don't seem to fall out as much as they used to before I started using this. That's good enough for me, but I'll see if it helps with growth as I use it more.

Now onto the makeup goodies! I came across these NYX Love in Paris eyeshadow palettes from a Youtuber, so I wanted to look into them. I went on the Ulta website and NYX was on sale, buy 1, get one 50% off, so the first one was $9.99 and the second one was $5. The palette on the left is called Parisian Chic and the one on the right is called C'est La Vie. I love these eyeshadows! They're pigmented and they're a great price for what you're getting.

My next favorite is the Real Techniques Buffing Brush. With the same Ulta order, Real Techniques was also buy 1, get one 50% off so I decided to buy two sets and this particular brush is in the Core Collection. This brush is amazing with my bareMinerals powder foundation. I have tried it with liquid foundation and don't like it as much. I prefer the Expert Face Brush for liquid.

My last favorite is the Be a Bombshell Liquid eyeliner pen. This came in an Ipsy bag, but I can't remember which one, sorry! I've been trying to get better at doing eyeliner, especially doing the cat eye look with a little wing, and this has helped me immensely! I still think I suck at doing eyeliner, but this product is definitely helping me get better at it. 

Those are my favorites for June! I hope everyone liked this post and if you want to see a review on anything, let me know!

What are your June favorites?