Lots of news! Birchbox, haul, and an awesome stilla sale!

Oh my gosh, It has been absolutely Forever since I last wrote- I'm so sorry!
But to make up for it, I have a superlong post today, covering my most recent birchbox, and a recent sephora haul.

Before I get into all that, I have some great news. I wanted to share a couple sales that I took advantage of, and that are still going on at sephora.
Stilla Lipglazes! I love them, absolutely love them. They just feel so creamy on the lips and the applicator is awesome. Normally, they run $22.00 for 0.08 fl oz. That's just one. But right now, sephora.com has a couple awesome sales going on! There are two sets of stilla lipglazes that are selling for a fraction of what they're worth. The glazes in the sets are only 0.05 fl oz, but the difference is barely noticeable. It's still a good amount of product, with awesome prices!
1- Stilla Lip Glaze Trio This one has three colors: Grapefruit, seashell, and raisin. All three for only $12.00.
2- Stilla Lip Glaze Set This one has eight colors: kitten, kaleidoscope, apricot, grapefruit, fantasy, starfruit, dreamy, believe. All eight shades are only $25.00.
(Swatches below!)

If you want to make your gloss collection bigger, or want to start getting gifts for the holidays, those sets are a great way to go! (I am still just so excited about those sales, you don't even know.)

Moving on.

September Birchbox

Last month's box was. Well, I don't even remember. No, wait, that's wrong. There was one thing I loved. I'll be reviewing that later, though.
This months box, I've really enjoyed. I might even be making my first purchase from birchbox once one of my samples runs out. Anyhow, here is what I got this month:

Incoco Nail Polish strips "We all have a wild side. Eye-catching nail strips are the latest trend-try them on your fingers of toes."
I've seen these in blogs, videos, and the store, but just haven't actually gone out and gotten any. No disrespect, but I love the self pampering involved in sitting down and painting my nails with a bottle and brush. I haven't tried the ones they gave me yet (they're bright sparkly blue!) but I'll be sure to leave a review when I do.

Polished Jouer lip enhancer "Why settle for plain 'ol lip balm when you can hydrate, plump, and condition all in one go? Right, we thought so."
Oh, mi, gosh. I love this stuff. It's amazing. It comes out of the little tube a bit thick, almost like a cream, but when you smooth it on your lips, it's like pure water. It spreads so well, and leaves my lips feeling soft and hydrated. It's not sticky, I meant what I said about pure water- there is no stickiness at all. When the just applied feeling fades, your lips still feel hydrated, not parched. There's not much color from it, barely a "bitten" look. It's more of a flushed color. For a balm, it's fine. I'm not really looking for color from a balm anyways.
The only downside, for me, is the smell. This has a very rose smell. I'm more of a sweet fruity person, but this balm is so amazing, I still plan on purchasing it, smell and all. Oh, it doesn't taste good when you lick your lips either, but I guess that's a good way to break that habit.

Eco-Minded LIV GRN perfume "Made from sustainable infredients, this sultry scent is laced with jasmine and sandalwood. Plus, ten percent of sales go directly to Global Green, an enviromental non-profit"
This is just so yummy smelling. Sweet, without smelling too young. I like it, but I'm not so good at describing scents beyond "mmmmmmmmm"

Balanced Pangea Organics Facial Cream "An all-natural moisturizer, with antioxidant-rich grape extracts and essential oils, keeps skin both hydrated and shine-free."
I haven't tried this yet. I opened it and smelled it and, quite frankly, got scared. It has an incredibly sharp smell. it's a natural smell, but very sharp. I'm concerned about my face smelling like that all day.

Treat Birchbox Friendship Bracelet
A string bracelet with the birchbox square for a charm.

Sephora haul

I haven't gone to, or ordered from sephora in awhile. Like, a month. So I was feeling a little tinge of withdrawal and had to take care of that. I went online, a grabbed a few things.

First up- Stilla Lipglazes. I talked about them earlier, so I'm not going to go too much into them again, other than to tout the sales some more and to link swatches. Seriously, go get these sets. Eleven glazes for less than the price of two. How amazing is that?! And here are the swatches. You're gonna notice that there are only ten colors swatched, that's cause if you get both sets, you get grapefruit twice. but that's ok, cause it's an awesome color.

My arm smells AMAZING right now.

Second- This has been on my wishlist for awhile, but I just haven't gotten around to it till now. Nars Nail Polish in Orgasm All their other Orgasm products are amazing, so I've wanted to get the polish. Now I've got it and I can't wait to use it. It's such a beautiful color- a light pinky peach with gold shimmer... I can't wait to wear it. It's my first NARS nail polish, I'm hoping their formula is are great as the color.

I grabbed a couple more glosses as well. These two are from Philosophy.

Kiss Me SPF 20 This one I grabbed for the SPF. The color in the tube looks pretty crazy- a bright red/pink with a hint of purple.

Melon Daiquiri This one.... it just sounded so yummy. In the tube it's a light pinky peach with some shimmer... I actually just held it up next to the orgasm polish, it's almost a match. On the skin... Not so much. You can see the shimmer, but there's no color. Upside, it smells amazing. Just like a melon.

Last up- I saw a ton of reviews, and videos and blogs about this, so I wanted to grab it and try it out for myself. Hourglass Film Noir Lash Laquer I have no idea is this stuff will be awesome or not. I'll post up a review once I try it.

...Such a long post. I'll try not to let it be so long next time. Also, when/if I get enough followers(50!) I'm going to put together a giveaway. Super excited!

Sephora Haul- Tarte True Blood

It has been so long since I last wrote- I am so sorry!

So this last friday I was down in San Diego and had the opportunity to go and hit up sephora. I had read about Tarte's True Blood products, but I wasn't sold enough to just grab them online. Well, I'll take that back. I knew I was going to get the eyeshadow palette. It's what- 17 shades for 50 dollars? I'm terrible as math, but that's really good, especially given the variety of shades in the box.

But I wasn't quite sure about the lip stain and the cheek stain. I swatched them both in the store and while I bought the lip stain, I had to leave the cheek stain behind. Granted- it was a beautiful color. But it was also just so, so, so glittery. Even the little tiny swatch on my hand there was so much glitter. It's just not something I would have ever used. Had there been no glitter I would have picked it up in a heartbeat. I don't have any tarte cheekstains, but I'm probably going to invest in one some day just because I liked the color of the swatch so much.

I don't have swatches of the colors yet because.... Well. I haven't done anything more than open the box. It's just so pretty I don't want to use them yet. It's like those deserts that are so beautiful you can barely bring yourself to eat them. I feel the same about this palette. It's absolutely gorgeous. There's all the shadows on the top with a decent sized mirror, and then a little slide out drawer on the bottom. A note about the drawer: It has a little red plastic piece in there holding the liner, mascara, and primer in place, but you can remove that red piece, and toss more stuff in that little drawer. I actually put the lip stain in there to keep the whole collection together.

I did mention that I decided to buy the lipstain. I only have one or two other lipstains, one even by tarte, and I just haven't been impressed by them. But the color of the swatch was really nice in the store, so I decided to buy it and give them another shot. I haven't used it enough yet to give a good review.

I'll try to get swatches and pictures up later this week.

Elchim 2001

I'm considering biting the bullet and getting a high quality dryer- the Elchim 2001 Professional hair Dryer. I've always gotten cheap $20.00 ones from walmart and have never enjoyed drying my hair because it never comes out good. I just can't seem to achieve salon results at home. But, I've been reading about that dryer, and it seems that this is one of the times where quality will give results more so than technique. When my stylist does my hair, it's all silky smooth and soft, and the movement of my hair is great, with no snags or tangles. My technique is pretty damned close to what my stylist does, and I always end up... fuzzy.

So does anyone have that dryer already? Is it worth all the hype?

NARS Pure Sheer SPF Lip Treatment Review

This is just a quick review of NARS Pure Sheer SPF Lip Treatment- I've only been using this for a few days. So far, I love it. It has spf 15 which is awesome in summer! Also- it doesn't feel like lipstick. I'm not to hot on the feeling that most lipsticks have- the feeling of stuff on the lips. But this I can tolerate- it's a little dryer than a chapstick, and feels thinner on the lips as well. It seems to be softening my lips as well. It gives only a very sheer wash of color, making it ideal for a workplace that only tolerates light use of makeup. The color can be built up, but the max amount of color is only going to make your lips appear bitten- you're not going to get a Ton of color from it. The product doesn't seem to accentuate any cracks, which is also nice.
So far, I'm loving it, and will probably use the whole tube and repurchase. The color selection isn't great, but again- this product isn't really about the color, it's about the spf.

Sephora Haul

I went shopping!!! Yay! I originally wanted to get stuff from both Sephora and MAC, but when I went to MAC, I wasn't impressed enough by my swatches to want to spend money. I mean, I kinda wanted to buy some stuff, but not enough.

But I did buy a bunch of stuff from Sephora. I'm super excited about everything, and can't wait to get some reviews up.

First up: Coach Poppy. I got a pamphlet from Sephora a couple months back that had a bunch of samples in it, and poppy was one of them. I fell in love right away. It was just amazing. And I finally got it! So excited to wear it.

Second: Nail Polish. I saw Sephora's thing with the cherry blossom nails and they were so pretty, I wanted to try it. I ended up getting five colors: What's a Tire Jack?(black) Havana Dreams(a pretty baby blue) Techno Girl(a darkish bright pink) and then Dear Diary and A True Romantic. Those last two and really close to being the same color: They're both really light nudes. Dear Diary has a slight peach hue, and A True Romantic has a pink hue. I'll talk more about these polishes later.

To go with the nail polishes, I grabbed a brush- #17. It's a pointed liner brush.

Third: NARS Peer Sheer SPF Lip Treatment in Angelique. I've always been looking for a perfect summer lippie. Something smoothe, light with a pop of color, and with SPF.

Last: Urban Decay Cannonball mascara. During winter, I wear Maybelline's Full N Soft. It's great. But... During the summer, I kinda always end up with a little under the eyes. So when I saw all the hooplah about the Cannonball mascara, I thought I'd give it a shot.

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Ok. More about the nail polish. I was a little bit disappointed. I have a few other sephora nail polishes, and they all worked great. All five of these, however, were a bit watery. The formula was very thin and difficult to work with. I got it to work, but it wasn't as easy as I'd like. I managed to use almost all the colors I got, except Dear Diary, and got the result at the left. I'll be writing a guide on it later.


(Sorry my feet look a little weird. My camera is just terrible.)

July Birchbox

I've been getting birchboxes for a few months now. I initially considered doing video's.... but I don't have the equipment and I'm not particularly photogenic. So instead, I'm going to write mine up with pictures and links and initial impressions of the products.

For those who don't know- Birchbox is amazing. What they do is send you a box full of deluxe sized samples for a mere $10.00 a month. You subscribe, fill out a beauty profile and wait for your boxes. It's a flat $10.00, no shipping/handling fee's tacked on top of it. In the beauty profile, you list things that you like, categories of products that you're interested that determine what you receive. And the samples? They're not itty bitty little things. These are deluxe samples, and more often than not, the samples received in the Birchboxes outvalue the subscription fee. More than once, I've gotten a "sample" which is actually a full sized product.
Birchbox is more than a subscription, though. On their website, they sell full sized versions of all the products in the birchboxes.
If you're not yet a Birchbox member, you should really check them out and consider joining. It's a great program.

Ok! So my July Birchbox. I am so excited about it. I think this is the birchbox I've been the most thrilled to receive so far. I got a bunch of stuff that I know I'll be using, without a doubt. This months birchbox was put together by Cynthia Rowley. She shares a bunch of her favorite products with this box. Below I'm gonna list the items as they appear on the birchbox card, with their descriptions, and then make comments of my own.

• AHAVA Mineral Hand Cream - Loaded with Dead Sea minerals, this fast-absorbing cream heals dry hands without a smidge of residue.

This product I think I am the most excited about. I've been seeing a lot of beauty gurus raving about it, but just hadn't gotten around to buying it. Well! Now I have a sample of it that is 0.58fl.oz and I am loving it. It was the first item I grabbed from the box, I tried it right away, and I am loving it. It comes out the tube a bit thick, but to smooths down and spreads out so quickly. It sinks into the skin, leaving them super soft and moisturized. I know the description says no residue, but I did find that there was.. not really residue,  not really a film, but there was something left on the hands for a few minutes. It kind of made my hands a little shiney, but that faded really fast. It smells a bit like baby powder, but a slightly floral baby powder. Not unpleasant, not overpowering. It's not really my smell(I prefer fruity) but it's really subtle, so I don't mind it.
This cream immediately replaced the lotion I had in my pocket, and I'll probably be buying a fullsize when this runs out, which will take awhile, because I only need to use the littlest amount.

• philosophy purity made simple one-step facial clenser - This perennial award-winner is pH-balanced to gently clear away dirt, oil, and makeup without drying out skin.

This sample I wasn't so excited about. I already have a sample of it from sephora. It didn't work with my skin and ended up breaking me out. Not saying it's a bad product, just didn't work for me.

• Redken shine flash 02 - A must for all Cynthia's runway shows, this weighless spray gives hair a brilliant finish.

I haven't used this yet, so nothing to say here.

• Zoya Touch Collection Nail Polish in Shay - Neutral gets a sexy makeover in this creamy, slightly metallic nude. Perfect accessory to summer's bright fashions.

I've been hearing about zoya for awhile, but didn't have any of them in my polish collection. Now I do! This color is really pretty, and described really accurately as a creamy, slightly metallic nude. I did try it on one nail and it went on really smooth. Can't wait to wear it. The only thing I'm wistful about with this, is I was hoping for a nice wide, flat brush, like opi does. I just love those brushes. This brush was normal though.

• KIND Almost & Apricot - Snack right with this wholesome bar- no preservatives or hard-to-pronounce ingredients.

I've had bars by this brand before and they're pretty decent. It's not your average "this is stuff thats been run through a blender and squished into a bar shape" type of bar. This bar is essentially ingredients -nuts, berries, grains- stuck together with... I dunno. Something sticky. Honey, I think. It's like trail mix in a bar shape. It's all very simple, and very tasty. A good snack to have around.

And that's my July Birchbox! If you got a birchbox and blogged or video'd it, go ahead and link it below.

St Tropez Review Update

A first/second time use impression wasn't adequate.

Granted- the first couple uses it's great. But! The third time I used the moussse... I kinda turned orange. Ish. It's not a good look. It looks good inside, and under shade, but in direct sunlight, you see orange. Makes me /sadface a bit. Ah well.

Bear in mind, that's not necessarily the result everyone will have. I'm exceptionally pale white, it'll most likely turn up differently on somebody who already has an actual tan.

Stripper to Go review(june birchbox)

Just a quick review of one of the products I got in my June Birchbox:

Stripper to Go - These are nice little travel nail polish remover mitts. It pretty much looks like a uhm... a little oven mitt, but without the thumb.  Or a tiny little tanning applicator mitt. It's about one and a half to two inches long, and you can put your finger in it, and twist your finger around to remove the polish. When you open it up, the little mitt is in there and it's pretty much soaked with remover. The remover smells like lavender, which is nice.

So I pulled the mitt out, and used it to remove my polish. I had two coats of color, one silver shatter, and a clear coat. The first hand, it did fantastical. The second hand on the first few fingers, it started to slack off. The last couple fingers? I dunno, the mitt seemed to have dried out a bit and it wasn't as effective. BUT! I was able to stick it back in the little packet and pick up more remover that had been left in there, and that cleaned up the last few fingers no problem.

I think that it dried out kinda quick because of the shatter. I think that any glitter or larger particles are going to demand more of the remover, and use up the mitt faster. I think that having normal polish on would get the mitt to last longer.

Ordering these- you get 6 mitts for 12 dollars. Each mitt is a one use thing, so 2 dollars for one use... is a bit expensive. That said, if you're really limited on space when traveling, but you Know that you'll be redoing your polish a lot, then go ahead and get these. They do what they say they will and that's all that really matters. But, if your space isn't limited, or you're not going to be redoing your polish, then don't bother.

St Tropez Review and Lotion Vs. Mousse

A couple weeks ago I caved and purchased a couple things from StTropez: Their gradual tan lotion, and their self tan mousse. This is just gonna be a review, and then a comparison of those two products.

Review
Overall, St Tropez is going to come in at the very top of all the sunless tanning products that I've used. In general, I've only used drugstore products, and I've tried them all. Maybe not literally, but it feels like it. All my drugstore attempts to self tan have turned me... orange. Orangey, orangish, whatever. I was always tinted an orange color. Some of them left me crazy streaky as well, but overall, they all left me orange.

St Tropez has an AMAZING color! It's a lovely brown color. Not muddy brown, but a very nice golden brown that makes it look like your skin is naturally tanned. I'm normally pasty white, and both products gave me a nice amount of color, and looked natural. And it's not even close to orange.

The smell.... Ok, I know that St Tropez is all "we have aroma guard! you can't smell the fake tan smell!" Well, I can smell it. If you're not overly sensitive, you'll probably just notice the light floral scent of the product. If you're sensitive, you're gonna smell it. In general, because of the smell, I would only recommend applying before sleep. I wouldn't wear either of these out.

Lasting power. They both last a few days, but obviously require upkeep as your skin sheds.

Buy again? omg, YES! These products might be more expensive than the drugstore brands, but the amazingly natural color makes it totally worth it. I personally prefer the mousse, but will use the lotion on lazy days.

Lotion vs. Mousse
Ok, I was going to do a side by side comparison, but I can't figure out how to do columns. Whatever. Anyways:

Everyday Gradual Tan for Body:
The lotion was incredibly easy to apply. You put some in your hands, smooth it around, wash your hands, and you're done. However, there was no color guide, so completely even coverage involved a bit of guesswork, and I kinda messed it up on day one. The color payoff is really good, so any errors are noticeable. But, the second day, I applied another coat, and that pretty much evened out any errors on the first day. The lotion left my skin "sticky" feeling for quite awhile- I wasn't able to get dressed for quite awhile, and certainly not right after application. Day one application left some definite color, without being too severe.
One thing with lotion is that it's difficult to do the tricky spots- wrists, backs of hands, ankles and feet. I always end up overdoing those places, and my wrists always look terrible with horribly obvious lines. This lotion wasn't any different.
Overall: It's good, and it's easy, it has good color payoff. Would be awesome with a color guide. Fades weirdly.

Self Tan Bronzing Mousse:
This is more difficult to apply. You'll *need* a application mitt. Applying involves wearing the mitt, putting the product on it, and rubbing onto the body bit by bit. You can't do whole limbs at once, you can only do small sections. However, it has a color guide, which ensures even application, no streaking, and makes difficult places much easier. This product dries really fast! I was able to get dressed in less than 5 minutes after application. And, with the color guide, you can go out immediately with great color(if you don't mind the previously mentioned smell) When I rinsed off the color guide, the end color payoff wasn't as dark as the lotion. It's still there, but it's more subtle. I'm sure more applications would darken it up. (I only did one before this review)
Overall: It's harder to apply and takes longer, but the more even results are worth it. Fades normally.

I'm UGLY (Response)

Ok, I wasn't actually tagged with this and I'm not sure it's a tag, but I saw the video, and I've been thinking about it(a lot) and I wanted to write a response to it.

I watch a beauty guru on youtube- meganheartsmakeup. I've watched her for awhile and even though she's really young, she is a genius and I learn a ton from her. She also has a vlog channel and I think her sister has a couple channels as well. So when I saw this video from her, I was shocked because I haven't seen any comments like the ones she says she gets(but I don't really read through all the comments anyways)... I think I was more blindsided than shocked. Anyways, here's the video: I'm UGLY.

So. To make everything short and simple: haters are gonna hate. It's what they do and asking them to stop... Well, it will *Never* work. ever.

Alrighty, now that that's done, I'll move onto the long version.
I grew up with haters, I think that there are haters in pretty much everyones life. Every unpopular kid feels like everyone's hating on them, but the popular kids also have haters. If you've got it all, if you don't have anything, if you're ugly, if you're beautiful, if your rich or if your poor. There is always going to be somebody who hates. Even as an adult, I know they're still out there.
My haters... I can't even remember what they hated on me for. I think it was cause I was short and skinny. I also had really pale skin. And after a nice little experience in cheerleading, I became much more selective about who I hung out with and considered friends. Anyways, I had my haters.

Part of growing up for me was realizing that there was absolutely nothing I could do about those haters. I think that realizing was a huge step, and something everyone with haters needs. When I stopped trying to "fight" them, as it were: stopped caring about whatever they said, stopped worrying about what aspect of my appearance they didn't "approve" of, I gained a whole new perspective. When I stopped putting so much energy into the haters, I discovered a freedom I didn't have before and in a sense, found my identity. I was able to do what I wanted, and love myself for it and because of it. Being free of the haters has given me the confidence to really being able to do anything that I want. I can take whatever it is the haters don't like about me, and turn it around into a reason that I'm awesome.

To make this kindof like hers, turning the negative into positive, Imma add this little bit at the end:
Short --> Petite. Granted, it make getting stuff off the top shelf a bit exciting, but being short means I get to rock great heels and not have to worry about being tall than my date.
Skinny --> Thin. There are people who pay thousands and thousands of dollars to look like they have the metabolism that I was blessed with.
Pale --> Creamy. Ok, Yeah, I just bought some self tanning stuff to experiment with. But still, nothing wrong with having pale skin. Plus, with all the vampy movies and tv shows that are so hot, my skin is the new Tan. My skin is so in.
Bitch --> Strong. Yes, I am. I do my job, I do it fantastically, and I don't get messed with. I can handle myself on my own time, and I certainly carry myself in such a way that I am not a target for any shenanigans.
I'm UGLY -> I AM AWESOME!


(omg, I just now realized this is crazy long) Anyways, if you feel like it, go ahead and tell me about your haters, and why you're awesome.

Moroccan Oil

I was on a really big LUSH kick a couple months ago. Their products just smell so amazing, and leave everything so soft and silky, it's just amazing. Amazing. I was so thrilled with their shampoo, conditioner, bombs, soaps, everything.

Well, now I'm on a Moroccan Oil kick. Their products... wow. I first discovered Moroccan oil through amarixe's youtube channel. I watched her hair repair video and tried out the deep conditioning mask and the Moroccan oil for hair. Love em both. Probably very close to the top of my "best purchase ever" list. The mask is just so luxurious, it makes my hair feel like silk. The oil, as a daily thing, is perfect. It's lightweight, smoothes hair, smells amazing. I'll be doing reviews on both those products soon. On sat, I purchased the shampoo and conditioner when I got my hair done. I've only used them once so far, but am pleased with the results.

I'm definitely going to be doing reviews on a bunch of these products, and may be purchasing even more.

Got some Feathers

Friday was.... a horrible day for me. I was originally going to wait until next weekend to go and get my hair done, but after Friday, I needed some pampering. So I called up the place I made my appointment, and the stylist had time for me so I changed my appointment.

I went in, got my hair redyed, with a lot of highlights so I can lighten up the color, since I my color was... close-ish to black. I grabbed a trim, too, just to get rid of any hint of split ends. I didn't really have a lot, because I almost never use any heat with my hair. After all that, I went and started looking at feathers. They didn't have too hot of a selection, but it was good enough. Rather, they had a good selection, but with me being in the military, they didn't really have a good selection of subtle colors. They also didn't have a lot of the grizzle feathers. They had plenty in crazy bright colors, but nothing that I could get.

Oh! Crazy story! So while I was choosing my feathers, I was at the mirror "trying on" a couple different ones, when these try girls came in and bumrushed the feathers laid out on the table, and then tried to snatch the few I had set aside to get(cause they were soooo awesome!) Thankfully, my stylist saw their attempt to ninja my feathers and grabbed them up real quick, telling the girls they were reserved. I ended up with an orangey-red with a solid black line down the center, and a darkened edge, a dark red and black grizzle, and a bright red and black grizzle.

Once I had picked my feathers, my stylist told me about how they would lay on different sides of my face, and the differences between having them forward and having them back and when I picked a spot (part side of my head, about a finger length back from my hairline and three fingers above my temple) and we put em in. They lay nicely, blend well, and if I want them to show more, all I have to do is find the clamp, follow it down with my fingers to get the feathers, and pull the feathers forward.

Feather hair Extensions

I'm not normally one to jump on a bandwagon, but I think I'm gonna at least try these out. Even though work doesn't permit, I think that if I get some muted colors, and place them well, that I'll be able to have them completely hidden while at work, and then style them to show when I'm not at work.
I put myself on a waiting list on one website... Might just grab some from amazon, but I want to make sure to get some good quality feathers.

If anyone already has them- what's your feedback? Also- where did you get them?

Express Crisscross Bra Top (Katherine Pierce)

So in the episode Klaus of The Vampire Diaries, Katherine is wearing this really awesome top- it's this blue color with really thick straps on the front, and like... crossed thin straps on the back. It has a little bit of rouching(sp?) on the sides of the breast, and a squareish neckline. Anyways. My description isn't too hot, but the top is Super cute!

I ordered one in medium and that turned out to be way too big. I even washed it to see if it would shrink. It didn't. So I sent it back, and got a small one instead, and it arrived yesterday. It fits amazing. It's nice and snug where it matters, and loose where it doesn't. The built in bra fits good and holds the girls up. The neckline is kinda square, with a hint of a sweetheart going on. All in all, it's awesome and I can't wait to wear it.

Oh, and I got two colors, not just the one she wears. I got the blue, and I got the purple because that people is just so pretty.

Here's the link for it!

Sephora Haul and Initial Impressions

So I made an order from Sephora and it arrived today. I'm gonna run through the stuff I got real quick and give my straight out the box impression. Bear in mind I haven't actually used any of them yet, this is just packaging, smell, and maybe swatch tests.

Body Shop Body Butter Collection - This is a little set of four of their scents: Mango, coconut, shea, and satsuma. I had gotten a pretty good sized sample of the mango and I loved it. I wanted a tub of the mango, and to try some more of their scents, so I ordered the set. They're all packaged cute, with a little bow and whatnot. I opened all of them and sniffed them. The mango, the one I got the sample of, smells aaahhhhh-maaa-zing! So good! It literally smells like mangos. The coconut one, smells like coconut. Shea smells kinda like..... baby powder. The satsuma smells very... tart. Honestly, it smells a little sour. Not the tart kind of sour, the "this is rotting" kind of sour. I suppose it is possible that I got one from a bad batch, but I will never order it again, and will probably never use the pot that I do have. The others are all good, though.

Sephora Collection Sugar Scrub - I needed a scrub to use before the St Tropez stuff I got. I grabbed a basic one because I didn't need anything fancy. I gotta say, this stuff smells amazing. Sweet, tart, and juicy. Like.... a sweetened grapefruit. Can't wait to try it out.

St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse - I chose this one because it had some of the best reviews. I also saw a youtube video showing this stuff in use and it seemed pretty good. I like that it has the color guide in it- that'll make it pretty fool proof. Hopefully.

St Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Body Moisturizer - I grabbed this for in-between days, and days I didn't want to use the mousse.

St Tropez Tan applicator mitt - uhm. I was kinda expecting a bit more for $6. It's essentially a 1/8 inch piece of foam with a thin piece of mesh on the back. It's not even sewn on there. It's like it was heated so it would melt on.
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I'll be using the St Tropez items over the next week- I'll let you all know how it goes!

OPI Pirates of the Caribbean Polish Collection

I initially found the PotC because there was an advertisement in my cosmo. Once I saw it, I knew I had to have it. My polish collection at the time had zero pastels, now it has six, and two shatters!

Without Flash

With Flash

First color, from left to right:

Skull and Glossbones. This is a really interesting white nude color. It looks like newspaper, and I plan to use it to try out newspaper nails.

Steady as She Rose. The magazine advertisement showed this color as a light pink. It's not as pink as all that. As you can see in the pictures, it's a very very light pink, with a lot of murky white in it. It's almost a grey with very light dusty pink in it.

Sparrow Me the Drama. This color came out pretty true to the advertisement color. It's a darker pink with a little bit of a dustiness to it.

Planks a Lot. This color is darker than the advertisement shows, but is still a gorgeous purple shade.

Stranger Tides. I'm not too hot on this color. It's a very murky dusty, dull green/yellow.

Mermaid's Tears. This color is just gorgeous. It's a bright dusty green. It's not as pastel as is shown in the advertisement, but it's still amazing.

Silver and Black shatters.



Ok, So when I got the polishes, I spent FOREVER deciding which one to use first, and went with Planks a Lot, the purple shade. I like it- a lot. The polish is smooth, easy to apply, dries fairly quick, and is just gorgeous.
I topped the purple with the silver shatter. I'm not sure how I feel about the silver shatter. It's really, really pretty, but with these dusty pastel shades, it seems like the silver just covers them up, rather than letting them pop.

Without Flash

With Flash

Ok, forgetting that the camera on my phone is pretty terrible, I just don't think the silver provides enough contrast for the colors in the collection to show through. They seem much better with the black.

Inglot eyeshadow review and swatches!

I've been talking about doing this review for awhile, but was so busy with work I didn't get the chance to swatch, use, play with the shadows, and put together a decent review. Well, I have today off and am finally writing the review.

I first heard about Inglot at this video on amarixe's youtube channel and I wanted to try them. I did some more research, and saw that they got a ton of great reviews from a lot of people- makeup artists and regular consumers alike. That got me really excited. A lot of the time, high end makeup that meets the standards of artists is just so expensive(IE- MAC) The quality is awesome, but it's just too expensive for regular consumers. So when I heard about Inglot and checked out their webpage, I was totally shocked by how low the prices are.

Inglot has a system called the freedom system- you can choose a pallet, and then choose colors to go in it (think MAC pallets and their refills) Whats so awesome about Inglot's system is that their eyeshadows are HUGE(2.7 grams each!) and their prices are really affordable. And, the more shadows you purchase, the more affordable they get.

• 1 eyeshadow= 7.00 usd
• 3 eyeshadows= 5.00 usd
• 10 eyeshadows= 4.50 usd

The pallets list prices are kind of expensive, but when I made my order, the prices for both a 20 pallet and a 10 pallet were lowered to just 5.00 each. That's a whole pallet for the price of one eyeshadow. So yeah, their prices are just awesome. It's incredibly affordable for a high quality product, and because of all the rave reviews, I had no hesitation about making a large order from them. I ordered one 20 pallet, one 10 pallet, and 20 colors.

So far, I've only been able to use a few of the colors, but wow, they're just beautiful and incredibly smooth and buttery. and So, so, so pigmented and dimensional. The colors themselves come out pretty close to the color in the pan, but there are a few that will surprise you, so be sure to swatch them when you get them.

I went ahead and swatched all the colors I got and here are my swatches. The pictures were taken outside in the sun. Some of the colors aren't quite the same in the pictures are they are in person. Possibly because I'm using a cameraphone instead of a real camera. Please forgive the second picture having kinda sloppy swatches. I was going to do them both on my left arm, but there were a couple colors I honestly couldn't get out of the primer side of my swatches. *glances at arm* Yeah... The colors are still there.

Anyways! Here are my swatches:

From this arm I had primer on the top half of the swatches and none on the bottom half..... 352 I have been using as a kind of a highlight color. It's matte, so not very shimmery, but still adds a decent amount of pop to my eyes and helps me look more awake. 46 is a more shimmery highlight. 397 has been getting a lot of use as an allover color for me, but turned out to be a bit too shimmery for work. I haven't really used 407 yet, but after swatching it I'm thinking it's going to get a LOT more use. It's one of those that's not very true to pan color. In the pan it's kind of a shimmery muddy copper looking color, but on my swatch it's not muddy at all. 74 and 72 had to be built up to the pigmentation on my arm. It's not that the color itself wasn't pigmented, but they spread out a bit more powdery and so didn't spread onto the skin as well as the other colors, which are more buttery.

For this arm, primer is on the bottom half of the swatches. I've only really used the 399 from this set of swatches. Very pretty, but again, a bit too shimmery for work. 440 is another of those colors that's not very true to pan color. In the pan it's a light purple, like a light pastel. On the swatch its very light, much lighter than in the pan. It couple probably work as a highlight on a purple eye look. 63 had to be build up a bit to the pigmentation on my arm. Again, it went on a bit more powdery. Of all the colors that I purchased, if I had to pick one that I was totally unimpressed with, it would have to be 63. The color in the swatch is built up, and as you can see, it's just very.... sheer for a black.

As you can see from the swatches, primer doesn't really make too much of a different as far as pigmentation goes. Primer does however, affect how long it will remain crease-less and how easily it can be removed. On both arms, the non primer side wiped off easily with one or two swipes of a cottonball with my eye makeup remover. On the primer side.... It took some scrubbing. The lighter colors came off without a lot of a struggle, but a few of the darker colors are still there, several cottonballs and 5 minutes of scrubbing later.

All in all, I am officially a convert, will be buying more pallets and colors, and would recommend inglot to anyone without hesitation. If you're looking for a high end eyeshadow and don't to pay a high end price, Inglot is the way to go.

Vampire Diaries chenille blanket

This Pier1 chenille blanket is used in an episode of The Vampire Diaries. It's on clearance at pier1 stores for only 10 dollars, so I decided to grab one. Pier1 has an online catalog, but you can't order online, you have to go in to a store. You can't even order over the phone. But, luckily, I talked with a super nice woman at the store closest to me(which was like, three hours away) and she took into consideration me being military and it would have been a three hour drive for a clearance item, and she took the order over the phone and shopped it straight to me! yay!

Anywho.... the blanket arrived a few days ago, and it is just amazing. It's 50"W x 60"H, so kinda big, and super, super soft. It's fairly warm- not hot enough for a winter night, but not so cold it feels like nothing. It makes a nice little throw, or wrap for days when you're just lounging around. It has been shedding a little bit, but I think that's just because it's new and hasn't been cleaned yet. And my nightshirt is white, so the little red bits show up really well.

Only downside I can think of is that it has to be dry cleaned. I have a feeling that if I ignored that tag and washed it normal, that it would just fall apart. I don't get... any of my laundry dry cleaned, so I have no idea how much it'll cost.

I totally recommend picking it up at your local pier1 if they've still got it. It's a really nice blanket, very "rich" feeling, and at 10 dollars, it is totally worth it.

Big Haul next week

I've ordered a TON of stuff, and pretty much all of it will be coming in next week, so I'm super excited! I'll wail till it all gets here and do another haul post.

I think that I'm the most excited about the nail polishes that I ordered. I saw a magazine advertisement about the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides nail polish collection and completely fell in love with all the colors. I decided to order the whole collection for a couple reasons:

1. I don't have any pastels in my collection. None at all. This collection is gonna give me 6 pastels, and they're all so pretty!
2. They're all so pretty!!! I looked up a bunch of swatches, and I love all the colors. They look especially good with the silver crackle over them, which I ordered as well. I also thought that they would look great with the black crackle, so I grabbed that, too. 

I just love the colors and am sooo excited to expand my collection.

Oh yeah, and I ordered a little minisize set of the polishes that I think I'm gonna do a giveaway with once I hit like... 50 or 100 subscribers.

Makeup Organization

Organizing makeup is no easy feat. When you first start collecting, sure, it's easy then. Owning just a couple lipsticks, a mascara, and a blush makes organizing simple. But as your collection grows, a little wire basket no longer suffices. And some collections, as though watered with miracle grow, just keep outgrowing organizers bought for them.

My current collection is rapidly approaching that point, so I thought I'd do a quick blog on how I organize it. I am completely open to suggestions, and will be doing another "after" blog once I redo it.



Ok, so by the numbers:

1. This little drawer stack holds all my hair accessories- ties, pins, headbands, clips. The little wooden box on top of it holds jewelery that I don't wear. Well, wear often.
2. This is a nice little jewelery tree that I picked up in a store in the mall.... claires or some such similar store. In front of this is my inglot 20 pallet.
3. My brushes. There's two little jars. The front one holds all my sigma brushes, and a blush brush from another collection. The back one holds just a bunch of other brushes that I don't use too often, but can't get rid of.
4. Cotton squares, cottonpads, and Q-tips. On the left of that is my bikini's and a bunch of makeup bags that I throw stuff in when traveling.
5. Perfumes and my MAC loose powder and kabuki.
6. Various skin and hair products.
7. Nail polish. In the back of this drawer is also a bunch of random stuff- a empty inglot pallet, some plastic brush protector things for traveling, other small odds n ins.
8. Lip products. I'm constantly looking for a HG lippie. This drawer holds all the ones that I've tried. If I truly hate something that I try, I just get rid of it. It doesn't go in the drawer.
9. Eyeshadow and face products. I have a ton of eyeshadows in here, a couple blushes, mascaras and liners, and a few foundations. But mostly just eyeshadows.

And that's it! Unfortunately, my drawers are filling up, and leaving me with no room to put more stuff! So I am looking for a new storage solution. I would love to get something pretty, but I'll more likely end up going with something utilitarian and trying to decorate it.

MAC Prep+Prime SPF50

So I grabbed this product recently to try it out- here's my initial impressions.

I tried it the second I got it. Once I opened the package, I washed my face, and then applied only it to see how it felt. So far.... it's not too bad. Very light feeling on my skin. When I touch my face however(I know I'm not susposed to- oils and whatnot from hands can increase likelyhood of pimples) I can feel... something. I dunno. It's not a greasy feeling, and no grease comes away on my fingers... it's kinda, "balmy" feeling. Thats the best I could think of to describe it. It feels kinda like there's a very thin layer of a balm of some kind on my skin. But, if I don't touch my skin, it feels fantastic. I can't even tell it's there at all- no odor, it doesn't show in the mirror.

It was kindof difficult to spread, the formula isn't nearly as thin as what I normally work with. But so long as I dot it around enough, then I can spread the dots around fairly well.

The bottle is... hard. It's like, really hard. I've read a bunch of reviews where peopl have to cut of end off the bottle and scrape the product out and into another container to use all the product. But if the product itself is good enough, I'm prepared to do that.

The worst thing about it is the price. It's 30.00 for a 1 fl ox bottle. That's *really* expensive. But. Considering that I use two expensive face products daily, and that product acts as three, when I break down the math, this may be a better deal. I've got to go and break down the math.

So that's my initial impression- I'll do a more detailed review in a few weeks.

"Makeup is a supplement, not a requirement"

~missglamorazzi

Haul- MAC, Inglot, Sephora

OK, before I get started, I thought I would let you all know a little about how I shop. I shop mostly online, through recommendations. I watch a lot of videos, and when I see something I like and want to try, I put said item(s) in my basket and wait, usually about a week. That week gives me time to think and consider and decide if the item is really something that I can see myself using. Sometimes I'll see something great in a video and I'll be like "OMG! That's Awesome!" but in reality, it's not something that I would do or wear. My eyebrows are a good example of this. I don't do anything except getting them waxed, pluck the strays, and use my fingers to groom them the direction I want them to go. So while I'll see really great eyebrow tutorials, brow products just aren't something I would sit down and use enough to make the purchase worth it. If, at the end of the week(ish) waiting period, it's still something that I want and will get use out of, I check my budget(which I'm terrible at sticking to, but I do try) and if it fits, I'll purchase it. If it doesn't fit, I'll just wait till the next month.

As with all things, shopping online has its pros and cons:

PROS

• Because I'm usually after specific items, that's all that I grab. I'm saved from seeing and lusting after everything in the store. You know how grocery stores stack like, 50 types of gum right at the register? It's cause they want you to buy some gum. Even if you don't need it, you see it sitting there and you're like "oh, well I might get around to using it" even if you already have a pack in your purse. And so you buy more than you intended.
• I don't spend gas money. My closest Sephora is about 150 miles away. MAC, the same distance. LUSH, about 200 miles. A decent mall, 68 miles. Gas where I am is currently 4.09. I'm saving a ton of gas money. And I don't end up spending that gas money on shipping, because I can usually find sales and coupons online that will eliminate shipping.
• Coupons. retailmenot.com gets a lot of traffic from me. I don't carry coupons in my purse, nor do I go coupon hunting in newspapers or elsewhere. BUT. Before I make every online purchase, I check for coupons. I can usually get free shipping, and sometimes get a certain percentage off of the whole sale.

CONS

• Color swatches aren't as accurate online. They just aren't, and that's all there is to say about that.
• There's not as much people interaction. Sometimes, interaction makes the trip as good as the shopping itself. Not to mention, people watching. So I miss out on a bunch of that.
• Explaining all the packages to my co-workers. A lot of the companies send through UPS or FEDEX, which has to be shipping to my company and signed for at the front desk. I'm usually never there, so one of my co-workers signs for it. And they're always asking whats in the packages. Well.... One time I told them. They just didn't get "it". Now I tell them crazy things like, 'it's porn magazines" or "I'm ordering part to build a bomb" or something else crazy. And you know whats weird? They're way more accepting of those answers than when I told them the truth. Seriously, what is with THAT?! anyways...

So I've decided that the pros outweigh the cons. When I really absolutely must go to a store, I make sure it's in conjunction with a trip that I've already got planned, so as to save fuel. Gas prices are just crazy.

ok! On to the haul! I ordered a bunch stuff and it started arriving today so I figured I would write this as I got the shipments. By the time I publish it, all the shipments will have arrived and been written about.

First up is MAC. I've been buying from MAC for awhile. I just love their packaging and quality. Now, you really do end up paying for that quality. Their prices are crazy! but I really have loved all the purchases that I've made from MAC. Well, most of them anyways. there's a few that I haven't warmed up to and that I just swap away.

• MAC Prep+Prime Face Protect SPF 50. This is a sunblock, a primer, and a moisturizer(maybe?) all rolled up into one. Normally, I apply Shiseido's Ultimate sun protection lotion SPF60, then juice beauty's oil-free moisturizer and skip primer altogether just because of the weather out here makes me feel so "ick" about putting on a ton of stuff, and usually I don't have the time while getting ready for work. When I do use primer, it's Too Faced Primed and Poreless. So I got MAC's prep+prime to try out and see how well it did at rolling all three steps into one. I almost started writing a whole initial impression on this and then realized I was doing it, so I stopped. I'll do that in like a week or two. The only thing I cringe about with this product is that it's very pricey. It's like... 30.00 for 1 fl oz. If this product turns out to be awesome, I'll have to do some math and see if it's cheaper or more expensive.
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in light. I've always been experimenting with foundations cause I haven't found a HG foundation yet. I've tried a few other MAC foundations as well as their tinted moisturizer and just haven't hit on anything that I really like yet.
• MAC Paintpot in rubenesque. I already have one of MAC's paintpots in the color bare study. I just love it. It's really creamy, a lovely sheer wash of color, and it acts as an excellent primer. I grabbed this color after seeing a bunch of tutorials using it. The color is kind of bronzey pink and I am so looking forward to using it.
• MAC CUTiE limited edition 4 eyeshadow pallet. I just really liked the colors. One is a kind of a darker pastel purple, one is a light sheer pastel purple with shimmer, one is a light sheer pastel pink, and the last is a sheer pastel green-white. On swatching, the color payoff isn't as great as I'd hoped, but the colors are very light, airy, spring colors.
• MAC Sheen Supreme lipstick in supremely confidant. I saw this used as the lipstick in a really awesome nude lip video and grabbed it to try out. I really don't like statement lips- I prefer to go with neutrals, so if this color works out for me, I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it.
• MAC Lipglass in C-Thru. A nude gloss to go with the lipstick. I forget if this is the same one used in the video or one I grabbed myself.

Next up is Inglot. I've never ordered from them before, but I've heard so much about them. I'm always seeing them in tutorials, hauls, etc and always, always, Always hearing amazing things about them. They're a Polish brand and they have a really amazing system called the "Freedom System". With the freedom system you can pick out of all these different kinds of pallets- there's different eyeshadow pallets, blush pallets, lipgloss pallets. By different I mean you can get like, two eyeshadows, or four, or five, or ten, or twenty. And you can choose between square or round eyeshadow pans. And in the actual stores you can get a pallet that mixes shadows and blushes and glosses so one pallet will have like, five eyeshadows, two blushes, and two lipglosses. Anyways. So after you choose what pallet you want, you get to go through and select the shades to put in it. They have a HUGE selection of colors and finishes. I think there's five(don't quote me) different eyeshadow finishes, and a couple hundred different colors(again, don't quote me!)

Beyond just having a massive variety, their prices are very affordable, and they go down the more you buy. I know that's just a trick to get you to buy more, but the shadows are seriously inexpensive. One MAC eyeshadow refill costs 11.00 and has 1.5 grams of product in it. One Inglot shadow costs 4.50 and has 2.7 grams of product in it. So you might be thinking that the quality of Inglot sucks to get the prices so low? Not so. The quality is retty awesome. I haven't used them on my eyes yet, but I did go through and swatch a few of the colors I grabbed. The color is really intense and vibrant and gorgeous. So gorgeous. I cannot wait to use them. Oh! And another comparison! A MAC empty 15 pallet will put you back 15.00. The Inglot 20 pallet says it's 25.00 on the store, but once you get all your eyeshadows to fill it, the price drops down to 5.00. I really loved that.

• Inglot 20 square eyeshadow pallet. I kinda needed a spot to put the eyeshadows. The eyeshadow pallet is really unique, too. My MAC pallets feel, honestly, really cheap next to these. The MAC ones are plastic, with a hinge top. they're plain black. These Inglot ones are...wow. Incredibly sturdy. I wouldn't drop them on purpose, but if I did, the shadows might crack, but I have complete confidence that the case wouldn't. the lid is also unique. It's a clear frosted sheet the size of the bottom that has INGLOT printed diagonally across it, and it has four magnets, one on each corner. The magnets are fairly strong and hold the lid in place with no problem. in fact, the way to remove the lid is not to yank it up, because of the magnets, but instead you're supposed to slide the lid off.
• Inglot 10 square eyeshadow pallet. The price on the 10 also dropped to 5.00, so I grabbed one of those as well. It's sitting empty at the back of my nail polish drawer right now, but I'm sure it'll get filled soon enough. I may pull my favorites from the 20 pallet and throw them into the 10.
• 20 square eyeshadows. Normally, when making a first purchase of a new brand, there is no way I would make it such a large purchase. However. Because of all the rave reviews and positive feedback, I was completely confidant in making this purchase. I'm not going to list all the colors right now because... well, there's a lot. I'll be making a review later and I'll talk about all the different colors then. Honestly, based off of just swatches, pricing, and reviews, I can see myself switching from MAC to Inglot for all my future eyeshadow purchases.

And last for this haul is Sephora. I usually hit sephora for odds and ends. Various things. They have a huge brand list and consequentially, a huge product list, so I can usually find whatever I'm looking for directly on their page. And they give free samples!

• I grabbed two nail polishes from sephora. First is a deep bright purple with a little bit of an iridescence called Just a Little Dangerous. The second polish is more of a topper. Not a topcoat, but between the second coat of color and the topcoat. It's a clear polish with a TON of different sized copper flakes in it and it's called Traffic-Stopper copper. I cannot WAIT to try it out. I just did my toes yesterday, but I might have to redo them sooner than normal to try out this polish, because it is just so pretty.
• NARS blush in Deep Throat. I got their Orgasm blush awhile ago and loved it, so when I started seeing hot reviews on Deep Throat, I figured I'd grab it as well.
• Benefit 10 box. It's a box that has bronzer and highlighter in it right next to each other. The idea is that you use the brush provided, sweep across both colors, then onto the cheek to contour. I haven't done any contouring, always afraid that I would jack it up. Then Blair did a video guide on it, it seemed pretty foolproof, so I thought I'd pick it up and give it a shot.
• Bobbi Brown Treatment Lip Shine SPF15 in Desert Rose. I saw this in a guide and wanted to try it. I put it on right out of the box and so far, not too bad. I like lip products, I do. I just don't like feeling them on my lips. This is one that I'm not really feeling, but at the same time it gave me some color. We'll see how it goes, and I may be writing a review on this later.
• Benefit BAD Gal Liner in extra black. This is probably one of those products along the line of my brow product rant at the very top. I do use liners, but I use gel liners to tightline, and that right there is my HG of lining my eyes. I'm not sure how I'm going to work this product into some use.
• Samples! I don't normally list my samples, but I'm kind of excited about a couple of them so I thought I would. The Body Shop Mango body butter, Carols Daughter Rosemary Mint purifying shampoo and conditioner, Benefit Girl meets Pearl, and Clinique pore refining solution correcting serum.

And that's it! Really big haul, I know. I'll be writing reviews on a bunch of the products.

Eat according to your stomach.... not according to your plate.

This is something that bugs me but that I haven't really talked about too much. It's a little too long for just a facebook post, too, so I thought I'd put it here.

Anyways. Serving sizes. When you're at home, you can always measure out your serving sizes for what you're gonna eat, right? Well. Sometimes. I got this sandwich bread and all the makings and this bread is huge. I end up with a sandwich that I only want to eat half of because it's so massive and I get full halfway through. But then I'm stuck with this half of an unfinished sandwich. it's not like I can throw it in the fridge because then it'll get all soggy and gross. But it's not just sandwiches! I got myself a can of spaghetti-O's and again, was full halfway through. A lot of the time, I do manage to save the leftovers of meals for later, but who really likes eating macaroni for four days straight?

Ok, now forget about eating at home. Say you go out to a restaurant. Fast food, maybe. Granted, they kinda toned down on their sizes since that movie, Supersize Me, came out but generally the whole thing is too big a meal anyways, with your burger, side, and drink and some of it always invariably ends up getting thrown away because it's just fast food. It's not like you're gonna take half a cheeseburger and some fries home and microwave them for later.

Moving on to higher end restaurants. The meals are freekin HUGE! I went to the cheesecake factory once for lunch and ordered a nice pasta dish. It was delicious. It was also enough pasta to feed about two to four people. The plate it was on was essentially a wide shallow bowl because there was so much pasta and they filled that bowl and then piled it up. Most restaurants will get you a take-home baggie when you ask, but really, why are they even serving us this much? Why not just offer a smaller size with a smaller price?

America gripes and whines about obesity, but in reality, we're doing it to ourselves. Somewhere along the line it got engrained into us that we had to clean our dishes before leaving the table. Somewhere else on that same line, we all decided that bigger was better and we've got all these gigantic plates and bowls. And not only are we making ourselves fat trying to clean our massive plates of every crumb of food, but when we literally can't get another bite in for fear of simply bursting open, we invariably end up throwing it away. Forget about obesity, what about all the people who are hungry because of the economy and whatnot? All that food we don't eat could be going to soup kitchens or food pantry's, but instead, it's going in the garbage.

It's just frustrating to me. When I finally get my own place, I'll be getting small dishes, so that I automatically give serving sizes that I can finish. Nobody likes to put food on a plate and have the plate mostly empty. But if I have small dishes, then the plate will look fuller. Kindof a mind trick. If the small dish doesn't give me enough to eat, then I can always get seconds, which is better than filling a big dish and not finishing, imo.

I'm considering starting a youtube channel- reviews and Birchbox's once I start getting them. Opinions?

I was looking for a pair of boots worn by Katherine Pierce in episode Know They Enemy of the Vampire Diaries. Somebody else found them first- they're BCB generation Sandra Ankle booties.

George Foreman minigrill review

I got a little george foreman grill because I've been wanting some steak, but I can't cook worth a damn. One of my co-workers mentioned that it cooks the meat well while still leaving it juicy and tender. And key- it's easy to use. According to them, all I have to do is throw the meat down on the grill, close the lid, and wait a few minutes.

After a description like that, I had to get one and try it out. I ordered the smallest size off of amazon, which came out to 17.99 plus tax. Fairly reasonable, imo. The picture showed it cooking two nice little steaks, with vegetables. It arrived kinda quick, and I left it in the box until I could go shopping and get some meat.


For my first use, I purchased a set of three little rib eyes and some hickory and brown sugar steak sauce. I also grabbed some pam grille cooking spray since my co-worker mentioned there was a problem with sticking. For the very first steak, I didn't let the meat sit in the sauce, I just slapped it down in a puddle of the sauce, flipped it, spread a bit around the edge, then threw it on the grill for five minutes. While that one was cooking, I sauced up the other two pieces and stuck them in a ziplock baggie, then put that in the fridge for later.

My first steak, when completed with its time, came out a nice color, with neat little grille lines. It ended up looking a little burnt on one end, but didn't taste burned. The sauce didn't really get a lot of time to sink into the meat, so it wasn't exceptionally flavorful, but I could still taste it a bit. The meat was a little(very little!) dry, but my five minute time was a guestimation between the two times in the book: 4-6 minutes for a 3/4 inch steak for medium-well. I went with 5 minutes, and ended up much more well done than I had hoped. I think a little less time will give me the juicy steak I'm looking for. All the grease had drained off, thanks to the slope of the grill.

Cleanup of the grill was actually pretty easy. It comes with a nice little grill sponge cleaning thing, which was effective at pulling off all the juices from the meat and getting off any crusty bits. Right now it's sitting and air drying.

Escada Taj Sunset review

Ok. First perfume review. I found this nice little gem on a shopping excursion to Sephora. Well, more of a browsing excursion. Anyhow. I was walking down the perfume isle and you know how sometimes you smell a scent that just stops you in your tracks and has you looking around for the source of it? This is one of those scents. I smelled it and was completely stopped in my tracks. And then, being in the perfume isle... I proceeded to go down the isle, smelling each and every bottle in an attempt to find the correct bottle. But, even though I had the right one, I hadn't really budgeted for a perfume, so I put it off.

Then, while at a school, I was in the PX and found it again. I was sooo excited, because I remembered what it smelled like at sephora, and when I tried it again, it didn't disappoint. I ended up purchasing a little 1.0 fl oz bottle.

On to the actual scent. Sephora's webpage describes it like this: "A scent of tropical sensuality, it opens with a burst of citrusy blood orange and the exotic, fruity aroma of the Alphonso mango—the first fragrance to capture this unique note. Next, floral and fruity heart notes emerge, including watery blossom, sweet primrose, and raspberry. The scent lingers on a sexy, beach-inspired base of coconut cream, musky notes, and sandalwood. "

I gotta say, that seems fairly accurate. It is a very fruity smell, but definitely more in the citrus and mango end of the fruit spectrum, without being tart or sour. And, I completely agree with it being a very beachy smell, without smelling like the ocean. It's fantastic, and light, and sweet. I've never had anybody compliment on my perfume before, but with this one, I've gotten multiple compliments and inquiries as to what I'm wearing.

And, rather unfortunately, it appears to be a limited edition scent. It will only be available to purchase during 2011. I know I'll be stocking up.

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel for Sensitive skin

I got a fairly decent size of this as a sample... Well I tried it today. Just now. and uuuhhhhh....... anyways.

So it says to apply for ten minutes, then rinse. I applied it. After about two minutes I noticed a tingling reminiscent of my allergic reaction to some proactive stuff, and went and checked in the mirror. I then proceeded to freak out and stick my head in the sink to desperately wash it off. My skin where I had applied it had turned bright red. Bright red. No swelling that was noticeable, just really bright red.

A quick browsing of the interwebs turned up that turning red is a fairly common reaction. And that it goes away. A re-read of the box turned up a "IMPORTANT: A mild tingling sensation and slight redness are normal with the Green Apple Peel."

I'll be trying it again later.... Overall, once it was rinsed off and my skin dried... My skin was softer and smoother. If also redder.

Ok. So I waited till the next day, and tried again. Now that I know the redness is normal and not an allergic reaction, I didn't freak out and rinse it all off early. I waited the time limit, rinsed it and moisturized. Skin is soft and smooth. It feels a bit tight, but it's not unbearable.

Birchbox

Ok, so I was catching up on my subscriptions on youtube, specifically- Missglamorazzi. Anyways, she did a box-opening/haul from birchbox. I'd never heard of them before, so I followed the link and checked them out. Here's what they do- they send a box of deluxe fullsize highend samples each month for a $10 subscription, with no shipping fees. And I'm not talking itty bitty samples that is like... a drop of product squished into one of those tiny little packets. Judging based on her video, these are massive samples. Bound to last maybe a month. They also sell the fullsize products of the samples they send, some of them with completely free shipping.

So I subscribed and am gonna try them out. What's really awesome- no cancellation fee. So if I don't like the first box? I'm only out ten bucks. Not too shabby, imo. I am super excited for my first box from them- It'll arrive sometime next month and I'll let you guys know how it goes.

CC Skye Double Wrap Bracelet & Calypso polish

I ordered this, and it arrived today. I'm really liking it. Very cute and unique. At the 85.00 I paid for it, it was expensive, but not the most expensive piece of jewelry I've purchased. This is also something that I can throw on nearly any of my outfits and it'll work great. It probably wouldn't go too great with something exceptionally girly. On the other hand, maybe it would work, especially if I wore my black heels that have the gold studs all over them.



I also purchased this, and just now got a chance to use it. I did my toes, they're so cute now. The color is kind of an orangey-pink, more orange than pink, with a lot of sparkle. A lot. I love the color, but on my initial use, I kindof wish there was a little less sparkle. I might feel differently in a few days. Another thing I like about this polish is that it dries really fast. That's supernice. I don't feel like it'll smudge when I rack out for sleep. This is my first time using any of perfect formula's polishes and so far it's really great.

More on Jungle Conditioner

Ok. So after using it for.. almost two months? I've come to the conclusion that I won't be buying more.

Don't get my wrong, I love it. Love the smell, love how it makes my hair feel when it's dry. But, I can't stand that it doesn't make my hair manageable when it's wet. I guess that's the lack of silicone stuff. But when it's wet, it's just difficult to work with. I feel like I'm yanking my hair out by the roots. So I'm gonna be using up what's left, maybe gifting some, and then going back to a silicone conditioner, one that makes my hair unbelievably silky both wet and dry.

I did try using the jungle to "perfume" my hair.... I used the silicone conditioner, rinsed, then used the jungle. Jungle just wasn't strong enough to beat out the smell of the other conditioner. Oh well. /sadface.

Peep Toe Boots

Ok. I'm sorry. But who the hell came up with that idea? I've seen them on celebs, and on regular people.... and I really don't know how they get the courage to walk out the door. In my opinion, it's a terrible, horrible fad. You either wear cute little peep toe heels, or you wear boots. Combining the two does not work. It defeats the purpose of the boots. Little booties with a peep toe I can almost get past, but then I see full on boots with that little cutout and it's just hideous. To make matters worse, there are also boots with both the toe and the heel cut out. Seriously- what is that?!

Rant done.

Moving on-

I did my very first coolspotters spot the other day, and liked bringing that shoe to other fans so much



that now I'm hunting for another shoe to spot. It's not really a shoe that I would wear, but I would love to help other people rock Katherine's fashion.

I also grabbed another piece of Vampire Diaries jewelry- Katherine's bracelet. Can't wait for

it to arrive!

Bath Bombs!

So I've never used one before, but I've been liking the rest of LUSH's stuff so far and since they have a really large inventory of bath bombs, and those all seem to get great reviews, I thought I'd try out a couple bath bombs. Now, I gather the concept is to drop the bomb into the bath as it's filling, and it's supposed to disintegrate into the water and make the bath absolutely epic, while at the same time making the skin super soft and yummy smelling. We'll see. I got these all and since they were kinda expensive for one use items, I'm gonna open them all and cut them down.

Initial Impressions!

Mmm Melting Marshmallow Bath Melt -ok. This isn't quite a bomb, it's a melt. Supposed to have oils and moisturizers in it. On opening it, it smells really sweet, like strawberries. And some vanilla. And marshmallows. I put it on my little cutting board and cut it down and... well, the product feels powdery. It cut ok, but it kinda crumbled at the same time. Anywho. It smells fantastic, and left a sugar sweet smell on my hands after handling. In addition to all the tasty smells of strawberry, vanilla, marshmallow, and sugar... I feel like I'm detecting a hint of the Fairy godmother Soap scent. Anywho- Moving on.

Mrs Whippy - Uhm. This is way more powdery than the other one. It's uhm.... Like powdered sugar. very fine powder. It arrived and the outside shell had kindaof already crumbled away pretty badly. In the picture you see a white swirl... well thats just a soft outside shell. Inside is a harder pink Ball. I tried to cut this one down and couldn't the outside just crumbled away, and the inside was incredibly hard. The smell... Sort of a sweet baby powder, with strawberry and a hint of cinnamon. There's kindof a smokey, almost musky scent to it, but not overwhelming like some more mature perfumes.

Blackberry -Woah. ok. I just opened it and sniffed it... It is a MUCH more masculine scent than the other two. The other two were definitely girl bombs, this one could be marketed to boys. It's not a hardcore male scent, but definitely not as foufou as the other two. And this one, just like the last one, couldn't cut down. It seems the actual "bomb" part is a incredibly hard ball.

Whipstick - Not a bomb or melt. I've been mixing the double choc and honey trap so much and kept thinking how great it'd be if I mixed them. Well whipstick seemed to be pretty much that- a mix. So i got it to try. I applied it and yeah, it's pretty much a mix of the two. A hint of color, and lots of moisture.

 

...ok. Time to go take a bath!

 

Products to consider

As I grow out my hair.... I'm gonna have to start styling it. Which means I'll need some products. So. Here's a few straightening ones to consider:

Bumble and Bumble defrizz

John Frieda 3-day spray

Frederik Fekkai balm

HG and More!

As promised, a brief list of a couple of my HG's. Also.... a couple things that I'm craving right now.

 

First up- sunscreen. Anyone who knows me knows that my skin has a slightly delicate... temperament. It tends to burn at the slightest provocation from the sun. I did go through a phase of trying to tan, but that also turned to a burn, and the color never held. And so, with all the vampire stuff coming out, and pale rapidly becoming the new "it" skintone, I'm embracing my what I've got. And that means sunscreen. Drugstore sunscreens... they'll work. I've gone through a lot of them. But. They tend to be thick, heavy, greasy, pore clogging monstrosities whose only redeeming quality is their SPF. So, courtesy of reviews at www.makeupalley.com, I decided to go out and try a higher quality brand name sunscreen.

I would like you to meet Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion Sunscreen SPF 60+++. Quite a mouthful, huh? Shiseido is a fantastic sunscreen. The formula is thin, and spreads easily. You don't need to use nearly as much as any drugstore brand. It also has cooling properties. When you apply it, if you apply after you've already started to burn, it instantly cools the skin. I remember applying it to myself at a range, and when one of the guys was bitching about the price of it when I told him, I slapped my hand, which still had a bit of sunscreen on it, on the back of his neck. He instantly shut up, and then commented about how just that one area on the back of his neck had stopped burning, whereas the rest of his skin where he had applied a drugstore brand felt like he had applied tanning oil. Shiseido also lasts forever. I can put it on at the beginning of the day, and it will provide protection all day with normal sun exposure. (with extreme exposure, I suggest more applications) Shiseido also lightens my entire skintone slightly, evening out any redness, and smooths the skin out a but, acting almost like a primer. It's never greasy, and after it sinks in and dries within a few minutes of application, you can hardly tell sunscreen was even applied. At 40 dollars a bottle, I will acknowledge that it's expensive- very expensive. But for me, it's perfect, and definitely a 40 dollars that I am willing to part with.

 

Next up, a bedside lip balm/treatment.

Again, at the suggestion of reviews on makeupalley, I tried out Rosebud Strawberry Lip Balm. I was blown away. It smells delicious(but not overwhelming) applies easily, smooths out and softens lips, and soothes any chapping going on. I love it. I would carry it everywhere, but the tin is too large, and the product consistency is very prone to melting. Those flaws don't really make it ideal for a pocket or purse, but as a bedside balm, to apply before sleep, it's amazing and perfect. This product gets a short entry just because it's the simplicity that makes it so great. And the pricetag of 7 dollars is perfectly acceptable. The tin itself is huge and will last quite awhile, even with daily use.

 

Ok. That's it for HG's for now. I have a lot of products, and a ton of them are fantastical, but they haven't quite made it to HG status like those two have. I do, however, anticipate that a couple of my LUSH products might make the cut soon enough.

Moving on- a couple things I want:

An orange polish. Last year was all about the bright pinks, with some greens and purples and blues thrown in. This year, for the toes, it's all going to be about the oranges. Calypso is a fantastical orange that I think will look great on the toes. I'm probably gonna pick up a bottle within a couple paydays. It's a very bright, airy color, with some sparkles/shimmer which will be incredibly eye grabbing with a pair of sandals or open toe heels.

A lush bath bomb. I think I'll have to actually go to the store to pick one. They do seem a bit expensive for a one time use thing, so I'll be cutting it down to try to get more uses out of it. I've never used a bath bomb, but I do hear great things about them.

and of course.... THE Dress and shoes. *sigh* I'm kinda just eyeballing the sites, and crossing my fingers hoping for a huge sale or something.

Coming soon: HG Products!

That's right, I'll be putting together a list of some of my favorite, can't live without, holy grail products.

You can spend a lifetime searching for a HG product and when you find it, there's hardly ever a need to move on. It's a product that you go back to time and time again and that always works right, all the time, everytime.

Bear in mind- everybodies HG products are gonna be different, because everybodies chemistry is different, items included in my list are just things I've found that work miraculously for me. What works for me won't necessarily work for you.

Stocking up, and trying new things.

So I made another order from LUSH. I stocked up on a couple of the basics, things I just love- Honey I washed the kids Bar Soap and Jungle Conditioner.

I also grabbed a couple new things to try out. Since Schnuggle didn't work out so well, I was a bit doubtful of the body bars. But, I decided to try an give another one a shot. I got a bar of King of Skin to try. First out of the box impression- it's massive. Larger than the round shampoo and conditioner tins, and also a bit too large to fit comfortably in the soap tins. The smell if very... clean. A little bit of a powdery smell. I rubbed a bit on the back of my hand, and it certainly does seem to moisturize.

Next up is Double Choc lip tint. On the webpage, the pictures show a nice, deep pink color. When I opened it, it was brown. Not a little bit. But a solid brown, and smells like chocolate. Well, more like cocoa. Simply delicious. Despite the color, I decided to give it a shot. After a bit of a workout to break through the initial solid layer on top, I was able to get to the meat and potatoes of the product. The color presented with a very nice sheer tint, just slightly darkening the lips. The darkening was did not cause my lips to become red, red, but instead just darkened the natural color a bit. It also provided a small bit of a sheen. All in all, very nice, and it has a good possibility of becoming a staple.

Finally is Honey Trap lip balm. I've tried LUSH's tints and really like them, so I decided to try a balm. The tints, while they provide excellent color, don't really meet my expectations in the moisture department. The color in the pot is a clear/white color. It smells a bit honey-ish, and a bit minty. Thus far, it provides decent  moisture. The texture is nice and smooth, and application is easy. Lips are left soft, and not overly "goopy", although you can feel the product a bit.

Oh, right. and I grabbed their perfume sampler. Soooo NOT impressed. One of them leaked a wee bit, and the smell of that one is sooo overwhelming that I can't really bring myself to try them. Maybe I'll try giving them away or something.