Today's post is going to be a review on an eye cream that I've been absolutely loving, and it's the bareMinerals Renew & Hydrate Eye Cream.
According to Sephora's site, this is supposed to be a moisturizing eye cream that diminishes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It is also powered by the ActiveSoil Complex which is supposed to revitalize skin and boost moisture, leaving the eye area looking revived, refreshed and luminous.
This eye cream is also made without parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and dyes, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs and triclosan. That's basically a bunch of nasty chemicals that you don't really want near your skin.
To keep a long story short, I love this eye cream! I've been using it at night and it makes the skin around my eyes feel so hydrated and lovely. It spreads around incredibly well, it almost feels silky to the touch. As you can see above, it's not incredibly thick, but when you put it on, it just sinks right in and works wonders. I personally don't see my eyes being refreshed or luminous as I have really bad dark circles thanks to my dad, but at night that doesn't bother me. I tend to look for a night time eye cream that is a bit thicker because my under-eyes tend to get dry. My allergies are also already in full swing so that doesn't help either. When I wake up in the morning, the skin under my eyes still feels hydrated and I feel like the teeny tiny lines I have look less noticeable.
The size container I have is 0.23 fluid ounces that I purchased in a set with a cleanser, but the full 0.5 ounce size sells for $32. I feel that's very fair for what you're getting and you only need a tiny bit to cover the eye area. I most likely will repurchase when I run out of other eye creams.
Have you tried this product before? If not, what are some of your favorite eye creams? I'm always looking for a good one, so definitely let me know!
Hi everyone! When I saw that Sephora was doing a VIB event where you could get 15% off, I was so torn because I was doing a spending ban. Of course I ended up buying stuff, hence the reason for this post! My mom was even really nice and bought me some things as well during the event, so I'll be showing those as well.
I'll start off with the products I picked up in-store. When I was looking at products online during the sale, I saw a Sephora Favorites Skinnovations set for a little over $40. When I went to the store, I saw this set for only $35. I couldn't tell the difference between this and the one online, so I was really happy to see this in-store. There are some awesome skincare products from Kate Somerville, Murad, First Aid Beauty, and more! I love trying out smaller sized products to see if I like something and I'm a skincare junkie, so I can't wait to try out some of these!
When I was at the counter checking out, I saw this Too Faced The Mascara & Bronzing Holy Grail Set. This was only $23 and comes with a full sized Better Than Sex Mascara and a deluxe sized Chocolate Soleil Bronzer. The mascara alone is typically $23, so getting the bronzer for basically free, minus the 15% discount, was pretty darn nice! I already know I love the bronzer, but I have yet to try the mascara.
I purchased the First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Deep Cleanser with Red Clay on a different day, and I also didn't realize that it was in the set mentioned above! I'm pretty sure I'll like this cleanser because my skin is getting a little more oily since it's starting to warm up some here, and this is supposed to help with excess oils and unclogging pores.
Now for my online purchase! When I saw that Kat Von D had come out with some new palettes, I squealed like a kid in a candy store! I have quite a few of her other palettes, which are all amazing, and really wanted to get another one.
This one is called the Monarch Eyeshadow Palette. Aren't these colors just gorgeous?! I've already played around a bit with this, and so far it's pretty nice. The matte beige-y color in the upper left corner is an amazing highlight, base shade, or even for blending out harsh lines.
Since I had to get up to $50 for free shipping, I ended up getting the TokyoMilk Dark Lip Elixir in the Salted Caramel scent. If I could lick this stuff and have it taste good, I'd be a happy girl! This stuff smells so darn good, like something you'd put on french toast. I look forward to slathering this all over my lips, then looking like a duck because I'll be constantly sniffing them :)
These are the products my Momma got me! She asked me if there was anything I liked or wanted and I gave her a couple options. These showed up on my doorstep a few days later!
I've been lusting over the Benefit Rockateur Blush basically since it came out. I have used this a few times and I'm happy to report that it's a very lovely blush color for my fair skin. It makes my skin glow and has a natural highlighting effect to it which I definitely love.
I was intrigued by the Smashbox Full Exposure eyeshadow palette because it reminded me of Lorac Pro with it being half shimmer, half matte. I tried this out once so far and with my first impression, I'm not terribly fond of the shimmer shades, but the mattes are nice. Not as nice as Lorac Pro, but hey, not everything can be as great as that palette! I may do a review on this as I use it.
That's my haul! I've honestly been doing horribly with my spending ban because I've been seeing so many awesome sales, especially at the drugstores! Expect a collective haul coming up in the next few weeks.
Did you buy anything during the VIB sale?
Hey guys! I know this post is going up pretty late, but better late than never! I used up so many products last month, and that makes me so excited! Who would've thought using up products and keeping track of them would feel so good. Anyways, lets see what I used up in March!
I used up alot of skincare and the first product I used up is the Soap & Glory Face Soap and Clarity 3-in-1 Daily Detox Vitamin C Facial Wash. I used this cleanser in the morning, and it was alright, but sometimes the little beads in the wash felt a little too rough. They are pretty tiny, but I have sensitive skin so I tend to be picky. I probably won't repurchase this.
Next up, we have another one of my well loved Aloe Calming Toners from The Body Shop. I've talked about this toner a million and one times. Still my favorite toner and probably always will be.
Another product from The Body Shop I used up is the Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion. I used this in the morning and mixed it with a hydrating serum when my skin was feeling drier than normal. I love this moisturizer and it's more of a gel consistency, so it's great for oily skin. I've been having decent skin lately, so I don't know if this helped with breakouts. I typically have a few backups of this waiting to be used up at any given time.
I used up a sample of the bareMinerals Purifying Facial Cleanser, which lasted me a good week and a half. I used it in the morning, and I love this cleanser! It made my skin feel incredible and clean but without feeling squeaky clean. I have some more samples, plus a full sized container to use, but once they're all used up, I will definitely be repurchasing!
I finally used up the L'Oreal Eye Defense eye cream. This was a cross between a gel and lotion and felt really nice around my eyes. I used it in the morning and it was good to use under makeup. To me this is a nice basic eye cream that I may repurchase if I don't find something better.
Lastly for skincare, I used up a sample of the Bliss Best of Skintentions Daily Moisturizer. Surprisingly, I really liked this! I did use it when it was freezing out and my skin was drier, so that could have something to do with it but when I'm super oily, I don't see myself liking it as much. It has SPF in it so it was used in the morning, and it also smells citrus-y so I really enjoyed it! I might repurchase in the colder months.
Here we have a few random things of hair and bathroom products. I used up a Batiste Dry Shampoo in the Blush scent, which I am actually a pretty big fan of. I typically don't like flowery smells but this one isn't overbearing. I think I'm going to pick up some more Batiste soon because I just got my Ulta catalog in the mail for the 20th, and batiste is going to be buy 1, get 1 half off!
I also used up an Aussie Split End Protector. The only good thing about this product is that it smells good. It did nothing for my split ends and didn't feel very hydrating. I did start using this when my split ends were pretty bad, so I didn't expect much, but I think maybe it made them worse. I recently chopped off 4 inches of my hair and couldn't be happier! My hair feels so much better, but now I'm going to really make an effort to take better care of it.
Next up we have deodorant! I bought this Lady Speed Stick either at the dollar store or Walgreens. It did the job and it smelled good. I usually just buy what's on sale because I'm not picky with deodorant.
I used up a Vanilla Bean Noel Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap. I know alot of people love this scent, but honestly, I was not much of a fan. To me it smelled too musky and I just didn't like it.
My husband was the main one to use the Colgate Optic White Toothpaste, but I did use it a handful of times. We both weren't fans. It felt weird foaming up and tasted funny. It also didn't help with any kind of whitening either.
I used up the Aquafresh Triple Protection Toothpaste. I try to look for anything that helps with sensitivity and I'm not sure if this helped or not. I have the most sensitive teeth and gums ever so it's hard for me to find something that actually works. The one I'm currently using seems to be nice though.
The next product I used up is the Kat Von D Lock 'N Load Makeup Setting Mist. I like makeup setting sprays, but this one was funky. To me it wasn't very misty, it sprayed big drops instead, which was really weird. I think it helped with my makeup a little but I prefer the Urban Decay one or the Skindinavia one that I used for my wedding.
I used up a little Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer in the scent All I Want Is. It smelled nice, kinda fruity really. I also haven't gotten sick either so this must do something! I always have a good stock of these little guys since I take them to work with me and I keep one in my purse as well.
This next little container held the remains of my Urban Decay Primer Potion that I depotted. There was still so much product left in the original container and I got tons of use out of what was left. Unfortunately, this did dry out a bit because it wasn't spreading as well and went on patchy. I will keep this container just in case I need it for something else.
Last up, we have two lip glosses. The first one is a Calvin Klein lip gloss in the color Bloom. I went to use this one day and it smelled terrible, so out it goes!
Same thing goes for the Too Faced Mood Swing Gloss. Not only did it smell funky but it burned the crap outta my lips so I had to take it off and use something else. I still need to go through all my lip gloss and toss out what's not good anymore.
That's everything I used up in March! I'm really happy I was able to use all this up, but I have a feeling this month I won't go through so much. We'll see!
What did you use up last month?
Also, remember my blog sale!
Hey guys! So I know I usually post my empties after my favorites, but I got my Ipsy bag in the mail yesterday and (spoiler alert) I'm not so happy with it. Lets get into it.
The theme this month was called Beauty Rocks, which is up my alley since I'm a rocker girl and I love makeup. The bag is cute with a vinyl/nylon feel and a record print on the front.
The first product I got is the Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Pencil in the color Black Velvet. You probably already know I'm a huge fan of Urban Decay products and their liner Perversion is my favorite black eyeliner ever. Black Velvet has that same texture, but Perversion is more pigmented to me, so I prefer that. Not complaining about this though, you can never have enough black eyeliner!
Next up we have the Demeter Jasmine Perfume Oil in a roll on form. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hate perfume and I never wear it. This stuff smells too flowery and old lady like, so this is a big disappointment.
Then we have the Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in the shade Apple Pink. First off, it looks like there is hardly any product in the container. I remember I got one of their eyeliners in a previous Ipsy bag, and there was alot of product inside. I don't know what happened with this one. The color is pretty though, so I'll give it a try and see if I like it.
The next product is the only one I'm half excited for and it's the Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion. I'm a skincare junkie and hear a ton of good things about this brand. I believe I have some other samples from Dr. Brandt laying around that I should probably put to use.
Lastly, we have the Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes The Shadow in the color Champagne. I would've been excited for this since I've been wanting a nice champagne eyeshadow to use but...
...This happened! I couldn't believe it. In my whole time with Ipsy, I've gotten lucky with the fact that I've never had anything explode or break on me before. I immediately contacted Ipsy Care and let them know about it. I'm curious to see if I get a replacement of this or a different product. I may still try and see if I can make this work anyways. I just gotta be careful with how I store it.
Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with this bag. They're usually pretty good and when I get a bag I don't really like, next month is typically better. I have good hopes for next month, otherwise I may consider cancelling :(
Sign up for Ipsy here to get your own bag in the mail!
If you're already subscribed, what did you get in your bag?
Also, don't forget about my blog sale!
Hey everyone! This past weekend and most of last week was nuts. Our power went out and when it was restored, I discovered that the internet modem was basically destroyed and we had to get another one shipped out. It was a bigger ordeal than it should've been because it was sent to the wrong house, but now we are back online and all is well in the world! Today's post is going to be my favorites for March. Lets see what I've been loving!
My first favorite is basically a 2-in-1, and that's the Z Palette and Makeup Geek eyeshadows! I decided it was time for me to get a Z Palette since pretty much everyone and their dog owns one. I love this thing! I actually did purchase this on the Makeup Geek website, and I'm very pleased with it. It's very sturdy and keeps everything in place well. Can't wait to fill this baby up!
Why did it take me so long to try Makeup Geek eyeshadows?! I'm super impressed with the quality of these and they were only $6 for the pan! If you want the whole compact, I believe they're around $8. Seriously, these eyeshadows are amazing!
My next favorite is the Too Faced Chocolate Box eyeshadow palette. First off, this thing makes me want to eat it because it smells like chocolate, and everyone knows I love me some chocolate! It also doesn't hurt that the shadows are amazing too with how they blend and the variety of neutral colors along with a few extras. Overall great palette!
Next up we have the Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream. This is a little baby sample I had because I can't find my full size one anywhere. I've been meaning to try this for ages now and finally decided to pull this out. This is a great eye cream if you have dark circles, but it by no means covers them up completely. It does have a tint to it that helps brighten slightly, but I do need concealer for more coverage. This hydrates nicely and sinks right into the skin. If I can't find the full size one that I know I have somewhere, I may have to bite the bullet and purchase another.
Last favorite is the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. This is a Godsend! I love my Beauty Blender, and when this came out I was reading some awesome reviews, but I was on the fence about getting it because I do have two Beauty Blenders and didn't need this. Personally, I find this to be the best dupe for the Beauty Blender that I've tried. I purchased this at my local Wegmans grocery store, and they sell it for $5.49 but I had a $1 off coupon. I just love everything about this little beauty and I'm definitely considering switching to just this when my Beauty Blenders fall apart!
That's what I was loving in March! What were some of your favorites from last month?
Also, remember to check out the blog sale I have! There are still alot of things I'm selling!
