November 2014 Ipsy Bag

Hey everyone! I received my Ipsy bag sometime last week, but only got around to posting about it til today. Work has been kicking my booty and I'll admit, I'm just tired. Anyways, this month's Ipsy bag is called Girl Meets Glitter, and so far, I'm not as impressed as I was last month.

I'm not sure how I really feel about the look of the bag. It's glittery out the wazoo, but I'm just happy it's got a smooth texture to it instead of being rough. I don't really see myself carrying this around with me.

I'm split on the products too. Half of them I like, the other half I can do without. That being said, the first product is the Temptu S/B Highlighter in the color Pink Pearl. I'm not a highlighter girl. I have oily skin most months out of the year so I have that glow already. Plus I don't own the Temptu airbrush system, so this is definitely useless to me. I'm hoping I can find some way to use it though. 

Next up is the Nicole by OPI Nail Polish in the color Guys & Galaxies. I'm sure I've already said multiple times, but I'm just not into nail polish. Give me skincare and makeup, but all the nail polish I get in these bags goes to waste. I have to really be in the mood to do my nails and I have tons of nail polish that are just sitting around. 

Next we have the Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray. Again, another useless product for me. I've never used hairspray in my life so unless I give this away to someone, this product will sit in my collection gathering dust. 

Then we have the Be A Bombshell Eye Base in the shade Submissive. I'm happy with this. I love eye bases and this one is a pretty taupe-y bronze-y gold color that will probably get good use. Finally something I can use in this bag!

The last product is another good one for me. It's the ClariSEA Sea Salt Solutions Instant Glow Powder Exfoliant. Yes, yes and yes! I love a good exfoliant, especially this time of year when my skin gets drier. I can't wait to put this to use, but I have read comments that it's a bit rough, so we shall see. 

Well, that's my bag. I do wish I had some better products in here, but you can't always have an amazing bag. I have reviewed these products so hopefully they take into consideration that I don't really care for hairspray and nail polish!

If you want to sign up for Ipsy, use my referral link here! It's only $10 a month, plus shipping for some and you get some good products! (Most of the time, at least) 

If you're already subscribed, what did you get in your bag?

Beauty Haul! Feat. Makeup Geek, Sephora, Walgreen's and More!

Hey everyone! I hate to admit, but I've done a bit of beauty shopping. I should really be saving my money for more important things (like rent and bills) but I see so many lovely products, I just can't help myself. I think after this haul I post, I'm putting myself on a bit of a spending ban. I'm going to try and do it until August 1st. That'll be 4 whole months of no beauty shopping! I picked August 1st because my husband's birthday is August 6th, and I'm hoping to get him something nice. Lets hope I can go that long without buying anything, unless it's absolutely necessary! Anyways, lets get on with the haul!

I finally decided it was time for me to buy a Z Palette along with some Makeup Geek eyeshadows! I love this hot pink Z Palette so much, although I'm not sure if I want to de-pot eyeshadow singles I already have. I don't feel brave enough I guess! 

I decided to play it safe and buy six neutral colors. The colors I ended up getting from left to right are Shimma Shimma, Beaches & Cream, Creme Brulee, Moondust, Hipster and Taupe Notch. I've already given a few of these colors a try and I must say, I'm definitely impressed. They're great quality for only $5.99. If you want the pan in the little containers they normally come in, they're $7.99. 

Oh, Sephora. How I love thee! I was so excited when this Too Faced Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette came out, yet I held out on buying it for a while. I needed another eyeshadow palette like I need a hole in my head. 

This palette is wonderful! It's got the perfect amount of shimmer and matte colors, and there are great neutrals with just a bit of color. I left the plastic sheet that came with it in the palette so I can remember the names of the shades. This also has that chocolate scent that their Chocolate Soliel Bronzer has, which is amazeballs! This has quickly become a favorite of mine and I reach for it often.

Then I went to Walgreen's. I had some coupons and points to use, and I found a couple other goodies in the makeup section! I was browsing through their clearance bins when I found one of the Maybelline Eyestudio quads in the limited edition shade, Fall Temptation. This was only on clearance for $5.50 so I snagged it up! There was another quad that had purples in it, but it was opened and messed with. 

Then I decided to pick up the new Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in the shade Fiery Coral. I tried this on already and holy Nicki Minaj, is it pink! Seriously, the first thing that came to mind was Nicki Minaj because she loves her Barbie pink lips. I'm still on the fence of whether or not I like this, but it was on sale, so I wanted to try it.

Next up is the Dollar Tree. I tend to like looking in dollar stores for some reason and I came across these Physician's Formula Baked Collection Wet/Dry Eye Shadow trios. Honestly, I never remember seeing these in store, but only because Physician's Formula tends to be a little more expensive than other brands, so they're not normally a brand I seek out. As you can tell above, I already opened one to try, and I like it, but don't love it. These are good if you're just starting out with makeup because they seem really neutral, but they're not incredibly pigmented so you won't mess anything up. 

I also bought a quick dry top coat that apparently is by Seche Vite, and three Sinful Colors nail polishes in the colors Beautiful Girl, Cream Pink and Ciao Bella. Not bad for a dollar a piece! 

 Last but not least, we have a purchase from Big Lots! They have so many darn nail polishes on sale, it's ridiculous. I found three of the Revlon Colorstay polishes in the colors Spanish Moss, Indigo Night, which I did a NOTD post here and Rain Forest. All of those polishes were only $1.50 

They also had a bunch of the Sephora by OPI polishes strewn all about on the shelves but only one caught my eye, and its in the shade Shiny Dancer, which cost me a whopping $1.80. 

That's everything I purchased within the past month or two! I know I went a little nail polish crazy, but I've been in the mood to do my nails more, so now I have a few more options to choose from. If anyone wants to see reviews of any products I've shown today, please let me know! 

Have you hauled anything lately?

Also, please be sure to check out my blog sale!

March 2014 Ipsy Bag

Hey everyone! I decided to take a mental health day from work today because I'm not feeling too well so I wanted to finally get this month's Ipsy bag post up! I'll start out by saying that I'm not too impressed. Anyways, onto the bag!

The theme this month is called Destination Beauty and the print on the bag is from an artist named Klari Reis. Ipsy is apparently doing an Artist Series asking artists to design prints for upcoming Ipsy bags. I think it's a neat idea but I don't like this print to be honest. It's too busy for me. Now lets see what products I received!

The first product is the Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter. I remember getting one of these body butters in the blood orange scent which I did really like. I'm pretty obsessed with coconut and this stuff smells really amazing, so I'll definitely be using it!

Then I received a bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in the color Get Ready. I don't think I've ever tried these lipsticks before but this shade is really pretty, kinda like a my lips but better shade. I'm more of a gloss girl but I'll try this and see if I like it. 

Next up is probably my favorite product in the bag, and it's the Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow quad in Bora Bora. When I saw we were either getting this or a NYX trio, I was secretly hoping for this and I'm so happy I did! The colors are beautiful and they're actually not bad quality pigmentation-wise. I haven't used these on my eyes yet, but I did swatch them and am very pleased with the colors.

Last product I really just wanna throw away. I got ANOTHER damn nail polish, and it's the Nicole by OPI Roughles nail polish in the shade On What Grounds?. I can't say how many times I've retaken the quiz and reviewed any nail polish I've gotten negatively. Even though I just bought some nail polish today, I really gotta be in the mood to do my nails, and today I actually am, but I really don't want anymore polishes in my bags for a long, long time! If I get another nail polish next month, I'm gonna scream. I probably won't even use this because I'm not a huge fan of the textured polishes anyways. 

Swatch of lipstick and Bora Bora quad

Well that's everything! In the scheme of things, this isn't a terrible bag. For only $10, it's actually a pretty good deal. You get good sized samples and most of the time, the bags are pretty nice. If you'd like to sign up for Ipsy, click here! It's only $10 a month, plus shipping for some!

If you're already subscribed to Ipsy, what did you receive?

Also, check out my blog sale!

I Love Fall Tag!

Hi everyone! Jasmine over at The Happy Sloths tagged me to do the I Love Fall tag, and I'm super excited! Fall is probably now my favorite season. I love the changing colors of the leaves, the weather is still nice, but it's not too cold and it's just beautiful. So here are the questions:

1. Favorite Fall lip product?
I'm not really one to change up my lip products from season to season, but I do use more darker berry toned lip glosses during the Fall. I don't have a particular favorite, but bareMinerals has some awesome lip glosses!

2. Favorite Fall nail polish?
I bought this OPI nail polish sometime last year called Vampsterdam. It's this really dark, almost black color that has hints of dark purple and burgundy in it. It's such a beautiful color, and I just love it

3. Favorite Fall Starbucks drink?
I'm typically a frappucino girl year round, but occasionally I'll get a pumpkin spice latte if I'm in the mood for it

4. Favorite Fall candle?
Any pumpkin scented candle from Bath & Body Works. Seriously, amazing stuff right there!

5. Favorite Fall clothing item or accessory?
Well, I'm not really a fashionista, but I do have some boots I get out for work for Fall and Winter

6. Haunted house, haunted hay ride, or haunted corn maze?
I've never done a haunted corn maze or hay ride, so I guess haunted house by default. Although, I haven't been to one of those in years and I don't really plan on it either for some reason

7. Favorite Halloween movie?
Does the Nightmare Before Christmas count? To me, it's a Halloween and Christmas movie in one :)

8. Favorite candy to eat on Halloween?
I don't do the whole trick-or-treating thing anymore, but I love anything with chocolate. Honestly, stick a whole bunch of different chocolate things in front of me and I'll eat it

9. What are you dressing up as for Halloween?
It depends if my job is letting us do anything that day and if I'm scheduled. I'll probably just do my usual hippy outfit with jeans and a tie-dye shirt

10. What is your favorite thing about Fall?
Honestly, I just love the changing weather from ridiculously hot to comfortable, I love the food and I love how it feels like new beginnings

People I tag:
Blushing Antics
Mail4Rosey
Natalie Loves Beauty
Small Budget Beauty
The Beauty Milk

My Last Haul For Three Months!

Hey everyone! If you read my 2013 resolution post, shown here, then you might have seen that I'm putting myself on a 3 month beauty spending ban that started January 1st. Once I decided I was going to do this, I wanted to kinda splurge a little beforehand because I know this will be hard for me. I will also say that if I run out of eye makeup remover or cotton pads and stuff I absolutely need before the 3 months is up, I will be repurchasing what need. Just wanted to mention that! Anyways, onto this rather large haul!

First, my things from Walmart!

I only got these three things from Walmart and I honestly can't remember if I got these in the beginning or middle of December, but I definitely know it was sometime in December. Anyways, the first thing I picked up is the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara in extreme black. Apparently this is supposed to make your lashes appear 117% longer in 30 days. That's a pretty bold claim for a mascara of any price and this was only under $6, so we'll see if this works.

Next I got the L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in the color Rose Elixir. For some reason, I don't remember ever trying any makeup by L'Oreal so I'm pretty excited to try this. Plus, it's a really pretty pink color that looks like it'll be flattering for my skin tone.

Then I got the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer in the brightener shade. I kept hearing that this one is better at covering dark circles than the concealers with the colors. I have the one in Fair and it actually works pretty well for my dark circles, so I'm interested to see if this one works better than my other one.

Onto what I purchased from Bath & Body Works!

So Bath & Body Works was having a buy 3, get 3 free sale on their body care plus I had a coupon for $10 off of a $30 purchase so these 6 bottles cost me a little over $20 including tax. I got two Coconut Shower Gels and a Coconut Body Lotion to go with it. Then I got an Orange Sapphire Shower Gel, which smells flipping amazing. I'm currently using an Orange Sapphire mini hand sanitizer, which I and everyone I work with loves. I also got a Pink Sugarplum Shower Gel and a Vanilla Tini Shower Gel. Both of these smell amazing too!

Now for The Body Shop!

These were also good purchases. They were having their sale where end of season and discontinued products were like 75% off and I had my 8 point gift to use, which was $25 worth of products plus a free Love Your Body membership renewal so altogether I only had to spend a little over $20, which for all this is pretty darn good! I first got a Vanilla Duo Body Butter which was on sale for $8, when I think normally they're $18. Obviously, I love the smell of vanilla so I had to get this. Then I got the Rainforest Radiance Hair Butter for Coloured Hair. This is just a deep conditioner I thought would be good because my hair is starting to get drier with this nasty cold weather now. Plus it smells awesome! I also got an Eyeshadow Blender brush, because lets face it, a girl can never have enough blender brushes. ;)

The next three products were literally so inexpensive, I don't know how anyone would pass them up. The first product is the Spa Wisdom Africa Ximenia & Marula Oil Shower Cream. This cost me $2. Yep, just $2! I couldn't believe it! I don't think this is going to be a foamy shower gel type thing, but for two bucks, I'll make it work. The next product I got is the Spa Wisdom Polynesia Lime & Coconut Shower Gel. This stuff smells so good and it was only $5. I think this was the last one my store had too because I did look around for more. Then I got the Brazil Nut Shower Cream. I think The Body Shop is getting rid of the Brazil Nut line, or they already did and this was the last they had of it. It only cost me $4. 

Now for Sephora!

Now these purchases were exciting! I placed an order online and of course like 2 days later I got an email saying their clearance section was an extra 20% off with a special code, so I placed another one. The first picture is my first order and the second picture is the clearance items that were 20% off. So first I bought a Super Hand & Cuticle Cream with Yogurt Probiotics. It seems like I'm using alot of hand cream lately because my hands are just so dry and chapped. I really hate winter because of that so I wanted to check out another hand cream and see how it works. Then I got the Nails Inc. Neon & Nude nail polish Collection. I love the colors here, except for maybe the yellow, (not a big fan of yellows) but I might try it and see how I like it. This next product I was super excited for, and it's the Jack Black It's the Balm Limited Edition Lip Quad. I've heard nothing but amazing things about these lip balms and although the brand is geared toward men, I can't wait to try them.


So like I said, the second picture is my second purchase. I was so excited for the Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town nail polish Collector's Set because it was only a little over $25 with the 20% discount. I don't remember what this originally cost, and it's now sold out on Sephora's website, but I thought that was a pretty good deal. I'm getting more into nail polish and these colors looked amazing! I have to leave them in the box to remember the names because they're not on the bottle :(. Then I got the ClickR Skin Care Diamond Dust Skin Polisher. At first I thought it was an exfoliator, but when I read it, I found out it's actually a serum that "polishes your skin, refines pores, and controls moisture to eliminate dullness and restore radiance." That's what it says on the box and I'm pretty excited to try this out. I love finding good skincare but of course, this was on clearance which usually means Sephora isn't going to carry this anymore so if I end up loving it, I gotta find it elsewhere or be sad because the whole line will disappear. I also got my Fresh birthday gift, a free Origins White Tea Moisturizer with a code, and the Hourglass face primer everyone talks about for my 100 point perk.

Finally, my favorite of the haul... stuff from my momma! :)

Yes, these are from my momma's stash and yes, she let me keep them! Love you mommy! So on Christmas when my fiance and I were at my parents' house for dinner my mom wanted me to look through her makeup and pick out some eyeshadows that I thought would look good on her. Then she basically said, "take what you want." I was like "O.O, YAY!!!" If you know me, you know I love my bareMinerals eyeshadows. Yes, they can be messy, but they're still awesome. Anyways, she let me have a bareVitamins Eye Rev-er Upper, which is an amazing eye cream (and she had three of!), and the colors she let me keep were Bikini, Mermaid and Fog from the first picture and Angel, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Amethyst and Summer in the second picture. 

I realize this post is incredibly long, and I apologize but I wanted to show you everything I got before I did my 3 month beauty no-buy. I purchased everything before January 1st, and I can't wait to use up what I have in my stash! It honestly will be pretty hard not being able to buy anything beauty related for that long, but hopefully I'll be able to use up things and write reviews for you guys on what I like and don't like. I have some posts planned for this month but if you want to see anything specific, please comment below what you want me to write about!


Love you guys!
Katy

October 2012 Favorites!

Hello everyone! I finally have power back on and my internet is fully functional so I'm officially back to posting again! But this is probably going to be a sad favorites post, only because I haven't really experimented much with anything new I've gotten yet so they didn't really get a chance to be considered for this favorites post. So basically I'll talk a little about what I've been using for most of October and felt they deserved mentioning.

My first favorite of October is the NYX Eyeshadow in the color Aloha. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in a previous post but this is such a pretty highlight color for the browbone. I bought this back in I wanna say August, but I wanted to use it enough to say how much I love it. It's just this really pretty, shimmery champagne color that's also good for highlighting the inner corners of the eyes. To me, this is very similar to the color Virgin that's in the Naked Palette. This one is just a tad more shimmery, but the color payoff is pretty much the same.

My next favorite that I'm surprised hasn't been in a favorites post before is the bareMinerals Flawless Definition Mascara in the color black. I know I've mentioned this in other posts too, but not a favorites post. I've gushed about this before so I won't go into it again, but this mascara makes my lashes look like my lashes, but better.

Next up is something that I haven't mentioned before and that's the Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Intensely Smooth Leave-In Conditioning Cream. Boy that's a mouthful to say. Anyways, I haven't really talked much about haircare because honestly, my hair isn't that much to talk about and I'm not fussy with the products I use. My hair is pretty fine, doesn't have much damage now, but can frizz once in a while. My hair used to be pretty damaged until I got about three inches chopped off so now I'm better about using this stuff after my shower. I run this through my damp hair with my fingers first and then comb it through. When I wake up in the morning my hair is so soft and doesn't get knotty anymore. I'll actually be doing a full review of this coming soon.

My next favorite is actually a newer product I tried this past month and that's the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Treatment Concealer. I've heard so many good things about this product but was skeptical because nothing has ever totally gotten rid of my dark circles. This product is amazing! It doesn't totally 100% get rid of the darkness but lessens it quite a bit. I'm super impressed with how it works. It's also very creamy and easy to blend in with my ring finger. It even matches my skin perfectly too! I never thought I'd get to say that!

My last favorite for October is also another newer purchase I've made and that's a nail polish by OPI called Vampsterdam. This color is so stinking beautiful in the bottle and is even more beautiful on the nails! The picture makes this look black but it's actually a very dark, almost black, plum-y purple color. This is just such a beautiful color for fall and I gotta admit, I'm not a huge fan of the dark burgundy, oxblood trend that's going around. I feel like I'm way too pale to be able to pull it off but this Vampsterdam color is stunning for my paleness.

Well those are my favorites of October! I know it's probably nothing exciting, but I'm going to try and make an effort to try out some of the new makeup I've bought over the last month or so and let everyone know how I like them.

What are your favorites for October? 

EDIT: There was an issue with my posting date, but it's been fixed. It had said October 29th was the posting day but really it was supposed to say November 3rd. I think I fixed everything!

Collective Fall Haul! Walmart & Ulta

So once again, I have another haul for you guys. I'm so bad for buying stuff that I promised my fiance that I'm not going to buy anything beauty related until Black Friday (womp womp :(). But you know what? I really am gonna try to keep my promise, so wish me luck! Anyways, lets get started with this haul!

Everything I bought combined

Suave, Rimmel and Maybelline products from Walmart. Real Techniques brush from Ulta

The first thing I bought is the Suave Dry Shampoo. I got this at Walmart I'm pretty excited to try this because I've heard a ton of good things about it, plus when I was in line to check out, the girl in front of me noticed I was buying it and she said it's the best thing she's ever tried. Plus, I only paid $2.50 for it, so even if I don't like it, it doesn't break the bank. Next, I bought the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. This is probably the most exciting thing I bought at Ulta. I've been looking for this brush for a really long time because every time I would go to Ulta, they didn't have it in stock so when I noticed they did, I snatched it up right away. The next thing I got is the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser for dark circles Treatment Concealer in the color fair. Obviously, I bought this because I get horrendous dark circles, especially this time of year with the weather getting colder. Plus, I work in retail, so the crazy holiday hours are fast approaching and I'll need all the help I can get! I've also heard a ton of good things about this too so I'm pretty sure I'll like it. Then I got the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in the transparent color because the next color they had was too dark for me (I really am paler than Casper). Again, I've heard a lot of nice things about this too and I think it'll be good for my oily skin.

Maybelline eyeshadows and OPI polishes from Ulta. Revlon and Pure Ice from Walmart

I'm going to talk about the nail polishes I bought at Walmart and the first one is by a brand called Pure Ice and the color is called Iced Merlot. It's a bit hard to tell in the picture, but it's a pretty wine red color with tiny hint of plum and it has silver shimmer to it. This polish was only literally under $2 so I don't have the highest hopes for it being the best, but I might do a review on it when I try it out. The last polish I got at Walmart is from Revlon Colorstay and it's in the color Cafe Pink. This is such a pretty light pink color and I know it's probably not the best Fall color, but I love light pinks like this and I think it'll look nice with my skin tone. Then at Ulta I bought two nail polishes and a top coat. They were having this sale where you bought 2 OPI polishes and received a top or base coat free, so I thought that was a pretty nice sale. I absolutely love the two colors I got! Probably my favorite one is from the new Germany Collection and the color is called Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorf's. I just love that name and it's this really pretty metallic purple color that's not too dark. the last polish I got is called Vampsterdam and this color is so stunning! It's so dark it almost looks black but it's a very dark plum color. I can't wait to put this on my nails! Lastly, I got two Maybelline Eyestudio quads. The one on the top in the picture is called Mad For Mauve and these colors look like they're going to compliment my hazel eyes nicely. The one on the bottom is a bit bold for me because I do love my neutral shadows but I really want to step out of my comfort zone a little. This quad is called Smokey Night and I love, love love the first two purple shades! I'm excited to really try these shadows though and see what looks I can come up with!

Well that's everything guys! I'm a little sad that I can't buy anything for nearly two months but hey, I think I can do it! (hopefully...)