To Spend or Not to Spend? That is the question.

Last week I was chatting with one of my boss ladies and she recommended I do a post on beauty products that are worth the $$ and the ones that aren't.

Sounds simple enough right? I thought so too. At first. She asked me on the spot what I think is worth the splurge and I said mascara, lipstick and blush. And after it came out of my mouth, the wheels started turning and I was lost in a land of beauty product-induced ADD. Lipstick is worth splurging on right? Oh wait, Revlon! NARS bronzer is the only bronzer of life. Crap! Sonia Kashuk cream bronzer is the bomb dot com. And then I had to pull myself back to reality and the rest of my work day.

After noodling this around for a couple of days I have the following blog post for you. Thanks for the challenge Wendy!

Okay I will try for the love of Sephora, to keep this short and orderly. I could have gone through every step in my routine to compare products but for your sanity (and mine) I will not do that to us.

First and foremost, you can really find some seriously awesome gems at Target/Walmart. Seriously, I could buy a complete face of makeup and be 100% satisfied. But when I really thought it through and went into my collection and swatched and played, I realized there were some things I think are worth the splurge if you're going to do it.

One thing I think every woman should have is a classic go-to "I am more awesome than She-Ra, Wonder Woman and Storm combined." lipstick. It could be red, nude, pink or black. Whatever your go-to shade is, splurge on it. Go ahead and buy that tiny little tube of awesome at Chanel, YSL, Dior, NARS, or Bobbi Brown. Why should you have this? If you have to whip out that lipstick and reapply at dinner with clients, the boardroom, whatever, it should be classy. And if its something you wear everyday, it's worth the money. My go-to? NARS Audacious lipstick in Audrey. This is obvious if you know me.

Lip gloss is not worth the money. You can find some amazing options from NYX, Revlon and Bonne Bell (yep. I said it.). Same with lip balm or lip salve. My absolute all-time fave is the Smith's Rosebud Salve. $6 of sassy in a tin.

Mascara is another product worth the splurge. There are some AWESOME mascaras from L'oreal, Maybelline and Almay. BUT there are some AWESOMER, all that and a bag of chips mascaras at Sephora. A few of my faves are Benefit's They're Real!, Sephora's Outrageous Volume and my new love YSL Baby Doll mascara (holy-balls Batman!). They last longer, don't smell, don't flake and are just worth it.

Eyeshadow. This is a toughie. You can get some really awesome palettes from high-end companies (LORAC, Urban Decay, Too Faced are some of my faves!) but you can save a bomb and get an E.L.F. palette or the new Maybelline the Nudes palette and have just as great of an end look. It really depends on your budget. If you are going to splurge, get a palette. You get to try so much more and often palettes come with a brush and/or liner or even eye primer so it's a way to try more with less.

Eye liner and eye primer. Meh. Covergirl, Maybelline and Milani all have great options at Target and CVS. Save the cash and hit up your local drugstore for great options in tons of colors.

Face products. This is the area I have the least experience with. I have two foundations from Target that I love (Revlon Color Stay and Maybelline Dream Wonder Liquid Touch). And I just don't feel motivated to seek out $40+ liquid foundation at the department store. I used to be a die-hard Bare Minerals user about 10ish years ago and I still like it, but I have found that it doesn't work the best with my dry skin.

Blush on the other hand is something I think is worth the splurge. I have several great blushes from E.L.F. and Wet N' Wild that I use often, but when it comes down to it NARS, Tarte and Benefit are just better at it. Sorry. I have a NARS palette from last year's holiday collection that I use everyday. The pigment is amazing, the lasting power is perfection and I love all the color options from the higher end brands. Again, it's something I wear everyday so for me it's worth it.

Setting powder, primer and concealer can all be money savers. Check out Maybelline's Fit Me concealer, or the Instant Age Rewind line. My fave is from E.L.F. (it's $3 online). Check out Rimmel for primer and setting powder. The Stay Matte powder is like $3 and comes in translucent as well as some actual colors. The Fix and Perfect Primer is $7 and it lasts forever and does everything the Smashbox primer does.

So if you are going to splurge on products I recommend you do it on blush, mascara and lipstick. Save your money on everything else.

Some other money saving advice:

• Ask for samples at Sephora and Ulta or whatever department store. Or do the free makeovers and request they use products you are considering purchasing. Once you see how it looks on your face, you can decide if it's splurge-worthy.
• If you are looking to try a trend (i.e., the Kendall Jenner lip, Lorde's dark purple lipstick, electric eyeshadow, blue mascara, etc.) try cheaper brands like Wet N' Wild, N.Y.C. or E.L.F. 
• Sephora does a VIB sale in November (roughly) each year where you get 20% off your total purchase. Save larger purchases for that sale.
• Look online for coupons.
• Download Target's Cartwheel app (I have saved $315 so far!) and the Retail-Me-Not app to look for online or in-store coupons.
• Do not splurge on something unless you have the cash in that moment to do it. DO NOT put makeup on a credit card. Don't.
• Splurge on skin care items like serums and moisturizers. Cleansers are only on your face for seconds, the other stuff goes with you through the day or night. Spend money there. Also masks and treatments are worth the money. 
• There are a lot of great in-between brands of makeup to try too! It doesn't have to be Wet N' Wild vs. Dior. Check out MakeUp Geek cosmetics for some of the best eyeshadows and blushes hands down! Eyeshadows are $5.99 each and blushes start at $9.99 each. 

The Three Amigos and Other Updates

Hello lovely readers! It has been roughly three months since my last post. If you've stuck around, I owe you; if not, i don't blame you. But hopefully you'll come back.

It's not uncommon for me to go M.I.A. on this blog for a few months at a time. I wish I could do this full time (and get a full time pay check) but I don't as of now so sometimes life gets in the way and this is one of the first "fun things" to get scrapped. Every time I try to get myself on a schedule or set goals of XX number of posts per week, my inner rebel sits up and says "Whatever." and then I don't post. Plus I want to provide my fabulous readers with worth-while content. I don't want to post just because its Monday (or Mani-Monday, or Woman Crush Wednesday, or whatever day). I just want to post fun and interesting stuff that I would read and hopefully a few other peeps find interesting/helpful too.

So now that my long rambling intro is out of the way, let's talk about what's been going on in my life since August (I'm not engaged and I'm not pregnant, just throwing it out there.)

In addition to Tony's hair, a lot has changed since August 21st. That afternoon three stray kittens wandered out from under some equipment in our front yard, and right into our garage. We fed them, and then we went out to Mendards to buy a litter box, toys and collars. In that moment our subconscious minds were made up: these cats are here to stay.

Over the course of the next month and a half, I personally struggled with keeping them, giving them away to friends or taking them to a shelter. Our basement was closed off while we kept them down there debating what we wanted to do with them. Now I realize this sounds like they are property and something we could just "donate" if we didn't want. Let me stress to you, that couldn't be further from the truth. We cared for them, played with them and made sure that they had food, water and treats. It isn't like they were down there being neglected. My main concern was that the dogs would be okay with the cats. My number two concern was having the money to give these little babes the life they deserve (vaccine's, check-up, de-claw, etc.). So after about a month or so of that we/I finally accepted that they were our cats and that we were going to go big or go home, so-to-speak.

Fun fact: I have wanted a black cat and wanted to name it Isis (after the Egyptian Goddess) for at least 10 years. Why? I don't know, but one night in my apartment in Madison I was like, "You know what? I would like to have a cat. A black one. And I will call her Isis." and that's just what I named one of them. The other black cat is a boy and his name is Onyx and the white cat is a female that Tony named Dahlia (as in Dahlia from Suburgatory. Yep.).

Anyway, they are so sweet and cuddly. And rowdy. And the dogs and cats all get along great, so long as the cats keep away from the dog dishes at meal times ;-)

So that being said, that is the bulk of what has been keeping me busy in the last few months. Plus it's the holidays now so bring on the craziness! But I love the holidays so it's all good!

In other news:

- We have also adopted a stray rooster. No really, you read that right, a stray rooster. Yep. We thought it was a stray hen (not that it's any less weird we would have any manner of stray poultry running around our yard). But yeah, a couple weeks after having the "hen" the "hen" cock-a-doodle-dooed from the coop, and I realized that explained why the "hen" hadn't laid any eggs yet. This was about two weeks or so after the cats showed up.

- We had a fourth cat show up. A tortoise colored one (at least I think that's what they said), and she was brought into our garage to keep her out of a snow storm and less than a few days later our awesome friends, Jake & Jenny, adopted her.

- That's it for stray animals. Just wanted to clear that up.

- I've gotten back into a regular workout routine now that I have my basement back.

- Maleficent is a fabulous movie and so is The Bling Ring. Also, I am peeing in my pants about Pitch Perfect 2.

- I haven't seen the new Star Wars trailer yet. But I might go do that now.

- I have been sick for two weeks and have discovered a new love for Halls Lemon & Honey cough drops. I have also lost my voice.

- I am making stir fry for dinner tonight and I'm pretty excited about it.

I have lots of new and exciting beauty stuff to talk about but I think I will make that a separate post since this one is pretty long.

Back to School/Office Appropriate Make-Up

Hi Lovelies! It's back-to-school time and I know a lot of you are going to be looking to freshen up your look for school or just looking for a fresh, basic look for the office. This look will work for both. If you are someone who has never worn makeup and are looking to dip your toes in, while still looking like you, this look is sort of a foundation upon which you can build to the smokiest of looks or just leave as is, for a polished, versatile make-up look.

First, start off with a foundation (or tinted moisturizer) and apply to your whole face. Apply in a thin layer using your hands or a make-up brush or sponge. I prefer to use a brush or a beauty blender and this particular foundation in the picture is a great, natural finish that will work on a variety of skin types.

When applying foundation, start in the center of your face and blend out. Typically most "imperfections" are on the cheeks, close to or on the nose, under the eyes, etc. By applying this way you will apply the most product to your "problem" areas and less to those spots that don't really need it.

Another tip here is that if you do not have concealer, take a Q-tip and dip it into the cap of the foundation. Product that is sitting in the lid is usually a little thicker as it sits there when you aren't using it, and is a great alternative to concealer. Go over each spot you want to conceal with a light layer. You can easily build up, but it's a lot harder to remove product without having to start all over.

If you are normal or slightly oily, you may choose to set your foundation with a powder. I don't have one pictured because typically I don't use/need  it. CoverGirl makes amazing pressed powder and E.L.F. has an awesome translucent loose powder for $6.

Now moving on to blush. I love this one from Milani. The color is called Luminoso and it's stunning! A great option for a variety of skin tones. Stick to something more natural looking (pinch your cheeks to see what color they naturally flush and go from there) and apply with a light hand. I prefer using a blush brush and not the tiny ones that come in these compacts but if you don't have a separate brush use what you have! Apply this lightly to the apples of your cheeks and blend into the hairline (there are a lot of great videos and posts about applying blush based on your face shape, just Google it!)

Next is mascara. There are a million and five mascaras out there. You need to decide what it is you want the mascara to do. Do you want length? Volume? No clumping/flaking? Do you need a water-proof formula? The mascara in the picture is a great volumizing and lengthening option. It comes is brown and black and I believe there is a water-proof version of this. If you have never ever worn mascara OR you have fair skin, eyelashes and eyebrows, you MAY want to try brown mascara first as black can be intense, especially if you are new to it. A great natural finish option is the Maybelline Great Lash in the pink and green tube. Or you can even buy clear mascara just to give your lashes a polished, glossy finish.

Finally it's time for lips. In this picture I chose a Revlon Lip Butter. I love these for their variety of colors, the smell and the price. Plus they look a little more professional than Chapstick or Maybelline Baby Lips if you need to re-apply at the office. I love Pink Truffle, Creme Brulee and Red Velvet from this line. It just depends on how dramatic you want the look to be.

And now you're set.

If you want to build on this for an after-work happy hour or special occasion, it's easy. You can go back and touch up your face, add in a little more blush, eyeliner, eyeshadow and freshen up your mascara.

For one more add-on to a more natural look, I would fill in my brows. There are tons of powders, gels, pencils and liquid liner style brow products. And there are a lot of great options from the drugstore. I really like the Milani, Maybelline and CoverGirl pencils and powders. I also love the brow mousse from Blinc Cosmetics (a little pricier option).

Travel Beauty - Skincare!

A couple of weeks ago I did a blog on travel beauty, and I had a request for travel skin care, so today I am going to talk a little about what I take when I travel.

As you can see above, basically my secret to skin care when you travel is samples. No I don't take all of these and no I didn't raid the samples at my local Sephora. BUT when I place online orders (which is not nearly as often as you might think) OR when I do go to a beauty counter, I ALWAYS get samples. Not always of skin care but that's one of the first ones I ask for.

I like to get samples of cleansers and moisturizers as well as eye creams and serums. So when I travel typically I will take make-up wipes. Two of my faves are the Equate wipes (pictured) or the Neutrogena wipes in the blue packaging. Both of these wipes are great for removing everything including waterproof items. And they don't irritate my face. Then I add in samples for other items I need.

I would encourage you to ask at your fave beauty counters if they have samples or travel size versions of your fave items. You'd be surprised at what they do have.

Drug store skin care items are a little trickier as they usually are in packaging too large to carry on and don't often come in travel sizes. SO I buy little containers and empty product from larger containers into the smaller ones and label them accordingly.

Keep in mind this is what I bring when I am flying and taking only carry on luggage. If I were checking a bag I would most likely just bring everything I would normally use and not worry about samples.

I have found this to be a great way to save space and try out some new things.

FYI - this also works for hair products. Samples of argan oil are super easy to come across so one packet of that and I'm set for the week. Travel size hair spray (John Freida is my FAVE) and shampoo/conditioner are also easy to find. One tip there though is to look up the hotel you are staying at, often times they list toiletries and even more often than that, THEY ARE GOOD BRANDS. I've stayed places that offer Peter Thomas Roth, Bumble & Bumble and other higher end shampoos that are (in some cases) better than what I would have brought. So do your research before you pack.

Travel Beauty

Hello lovelies! I have been doing quite a bit of travel for my job this year and I thought it would be fun to do a little "What's in my travel beauty bag?" post for you. This post will be solely about make-up, if you would like a hair or skincare travel post, please let me know in the comments below.

Regardless of whether I am traveling for work or play (the exception being the cabin, I bring nothing in terms of makeup there), I always like to bring some options when it comes to my make-up routine. I take in to consideration what I will be doing while I am away (is it a conference? will there be a formal dinner or other dress-up type event while I am there? will I be outside in the heat or cold a lot?) in order to plan out what I bring.

For the items pictured above I was attending a one day expo that had a red-carpet, movie theme to the event. SO I upped the glam factor a bit. But in this photo you can also see some of my essentials. We'll break those down first and then go into the glam add-ons.

Essentials:

Lorac Pro to Go Palette - Regardless of whether you are traveling or not, this is a great palette! It comes with 6 shadows, 1 bronzer and 2 blushes. All the colors are neutral but can be used to create a wide variety of looks. You can also use some of the lighter shadows to highlight your face and for some the shadows may even work to fill in your brows. This palette folds up into a sleek compact that can fit into the smallest of bags.

Foundation/Concealer - Above is my new foundation love from Maybelline and a concealer for under my eyes. Jet lag is not fun and neither are bags under your eyes. Conceal that mess. I also brought this great Sonia Kashuk concealer palette just in case I have anything else on my face to conceal (zits, redness, etc). This is a great product because there are three different shades in there along with a setting powder.

Eye Primer - Always a must whether I travel or not, and this one from Lime Crime is awesome!

Eye Liner/Mascara - Again I always use these everyday and right now I am still loving my Voluminous mascara from L'Oreal and my Maybelline Line Stilleto liquid eyeliner.

Eye brow mousse - This is a quick and mostly mess-free way to define my brows. They really do shape your face, I recommend doing this on the daily. Even if you just do brows, mascara, tinted lip balm and a tinted moisturizer. Try it.

Lips - Most days I'm a sheer gloss or Baby Lips kind of girl so I bring those in my purse. But for travel I will bring a couple of options for various looks.

Glam Add-Ons:

False Eye Lashes - For this particular trip, I was going for full on old meets new Hollywood glam so I lashes were a must.

Single shadows - Since the palette I brought only has neutrals, I thought these might be a fun add-on in case I decided to go with a more dramatic eye look. These single shadows from Milani are affordable (from CVS) and such amaze-balls quality. The emerald shade with the gold is STUNNING.

Multiple Red Lip Options - Nothing says Hollywood Glam like a red lip. I used to be terrified of red lips and then they grew on me. Anytime I want an easy glam look or I want to feel a little more badass and powerful, I do a red lip. I brought several options on this trip (lip crayon, lip balm, lipstick and gloss) to create a red lip that would last through the expo and still look good after 4 hours of networking.

I also bring a full array of brushes, which I could do a separate post if you are interested??

What do you bring in your travel bag?

The Weekly Random - Coconut Oil, Shave Cream, Chickens and more!

Hello lovelies! It's time for another weekly random post! It's been a busy couple of weeks, I can't believe I am staring fall in the face again already. Where did the summer go?!

We went to the cabin for the day with some great friends and got some sun and relaxation in. The pups were very excited for a pontoon ride, and Diesel even went for a tube ride with me.

I have several random bullet points below, but before we get super random I wanted to spotlight a couple of standout products.

Coconut Oil - It seems everyone and their mama has hopped on the coconut oil train lately. Of course I have been curious about this too as it seems you can basically replace half the crap in your house with this stuff and it will work miracles not seem since biblical times. I have used it now several times on my hair and am impressed with how soft it makes my hair feel. But unimpressed that it doesn't make my hair smell like coconuts after. Oh well. It also works great to remove eye make-up.

Barbasol Shave Cream - Now this is the shit. My auntie found something on Pinterest that said you can use this shave cream to remove spots in your carpet. All you need to do is dampen the area with warm water, then coat in shave cream (a thin layer, but I do press it in to the spot) and leave it sit for roughly 5 minutes. Then scrub out the spot, and BAM, magically clean carpet. I wish I had some before and after pics of this but I was so impressed that I went on a carpet cleaning bender and only thought about before and after photos as I was lying on the couch in a clean carpet euphoria. I picked up this can above from Target for $1.67 and will be purchasing more. The stains I removed were urine stains and it also helped to get out some of that lingering smell.

Random side notes:

• We are finally getting 14 eggs a day, but...
• An asshole came speeding down our street today and hit one of our chickens head on and killed it. Blood and feathers everywhere. There is no way this piece of shit didn't see/hear/feel that impact. Not to mention there were about 3-4 other chickens in the road at the time. And in true piece-of-shit fashion this asshole kept driving. I am really bummed. 
• I am still managing 4 workouts a week, I am pretty impressed with this continued commitment.
• I really hate seafood. The smell of it. The look of it. Everything about it makes me gag
• I'm off to Atlanta for work this week and I am nervous about fitting everything I need into a carry-on. Someone this into beauty products cannot be confined to one small baggie for all her liquid beauty needs. It's unfair.
• I forgot how much I love the movie Clerks 2. And all of those movies; Mallrats, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, such great movies.

That's it for this week. 

Spray Lotion...is it worth the hype?

Today's review is being brought to you by request from my friend/co-worker Erin. Close to two months ago I asked on Facebook what you guys wanted to see reviews on and Erin recommended one of the new and really hyped up spray lotions. St. Ives and Vaseline make them now and there might be others I'm just not aware of. Honestly I was pretty curious about these as well so I was more than happy to try one.

Overall this is a good product. I have used this quite a bit now and the nozzle hasn't plugged and I have gotten a continuous even spray each time I've used it. It took me two weeks to get used to putting lotion on via spray bottle and the most amusing this about this is that when you spray it, there is a high pitched whistle that drives my dogs C-R-A-Z-Y. The whine in front of the bathroom door every. time.

Pros: it really moisturizes! and it lasts! It doesn't smell, and a few quick sprays provide plenty of moisturization.

Cons: it's expensive. For roughly $6.50 you only get 6.5 ounces, where as my fave Suave lotion is $4 for 32 ounces. If you don't spray it directly on your body/are trying to reach a smaller part of your body, like your arm or ankle, it gets all over the cabinets, walls, towels, dog, etc.

Bottom Line: While I feel this could be a good thing to bring to the beach or camping or on a road trip (you'd have to check it on a plane) I'm not sure I will be re-purchasing. It's expensive for a little bit of product.

Final thoughts: If you are someone who suffers from dry skin or tend to get dry/ashy throughout the day, this might be a good thing toss in your bag to re-hydrate your skin.

Thanks Erin for the suggestion! If you guys have any other products you want me to try out, leave them in the comments below!

The Weekly Random

Hello Lovely Readers! And Happy Friday =)

I had a pretty brilliantly awesome idea (or at least I think it is) to do a new weekly series here on my blog called, "The Weekly Random". As the title suggests this will be a weekly post (or maybe every other week, it's random) about all sorts of random stuff. Topics that really don't justify their own post, or maybe one long post about some topic, or maybe a bullet point list of random stuff. That's what appeals to me so much is that it's random. What do you think? Do you like it? Maybe? We'll see.

So to kick things off I have a random list of stuff from my week that I thought would be interesting and fun to share. Another fun thing about this series is that it will help us to get to know each other a little more. Maybe we have similar interests or weirdness that we didn't even know.

• One of my guilty pleasures is watching old re-runs of sitcoms from the 70's-80's ish. And my most recent obsession is Welcome Back Kotter. Yes. It's so awesome. 30 minutes of good old fashioned TV goodness. 

• I have run out of my favorite nail polish remover by Zoya. Not to worry, my mom and I are placing an order today. Whew.

• I've been on an apple kick lately (and by lately I mean for about 6 months). Red Delicious Apples. Try one.

• My little brother is amazing. He is a musician and you should check him out on Sound Cloud and Facebook.

• Our baby chicks have started to lay eggs now, only two of them so far, but we will be up to our eyeballs in eggs in no time. Have a great egg recipe? Share it with me.

• I hate dusting. It seems like the biggest waste of time. I spend an hour dusting everything and then when I look around to admire my awesome cleaning work I can't tell a difference. 

• I've worked out 4 times already this week. Go me. 

• I'm on Bloglovin - check out the button on the upper right side of this page. Go there. Follow me there. It will be awesome.

So there you go. Random enough for ya? I think this will be a fun series and I hope you are as excited about as I am!

Tell me something random about your week in the comments below.

Stuff I'm Loving: Hair Products!

I don't know about you guys, but when summer hits, my hair routine gets lazy. Maybe it's because it's so humid and hot in the bathroom that doing my hair results in a sweat sesh of epic workout proportions. Maybe it's because I can actually let my hair air dry without real risk of hypothermia. Whatever the reason, I avoid heat styling in the summer unless I really, really, like really have to.

Assisting me in my summer hair laziness are three stand out products that I thought you should know about.

Dry shampoo. Obviously you can use this all year long, but in summer this is really a go-to for me. I prefer to only wash my hair 2-3 times a week now that it's longer. I don't have crazy oily hair so I can usually go a couple of days before I even need this. There are lots of dry shampoos out there that offer a variety of benefits and features, but my fave is this one by Batiste. You can find this at Walgreens and Ulta for sure, and they have several versions but I like the one for dark hair as it doesn't cast as much of a white shadow in my hair. I typically spray this on the roots around my face and behind my ears let it set in and then rub my roots to make sure the product is fully absorbed and that I get some volume. Then I style it as I see fit (i.e., a bun or pony tail) and move on with my life. Fun fact: curls last better on dirty hair BUT you can spritz some dry shampoo at the roots of freshly washed hair and create some added texture that will hold a better curl. Also, I like the mild scent of this, some dry shampoos are crazy scented and it overpowers everything in my line of smell.

This is a new-ish product out there and I happened to pass by it at Target a month or two ago. This is a shine and anti-frizz spray. It says it lasts for 24 hours and I agree that it does (I am excluding the tropical like humidity we had at the beginning of this week as the only thing that will keep frizz away during days like that is a hat.) I spray this on my hair after I blow dry it OR once it's dry and it gives my hair a nice shine and reduces the frizz BUT what I really like about it is that it makes my hair soft. Like silky, shiny soft and fluffy.

Finally I have a new hair oil that I am loving. This is the new Garnier Frucits Marvelous Hair Oil. There are a couple versions of this and I chose the deep nourish version. I am still one hundred percent a Moroccan Oil lover BUT it's a tad on the spendy side and my bottle is (gasp!) almost empty. So I picked this up to see how it would work and I am pretty happy to report that it's kinda awesome. It's not an overpowering scent (it doesn't smell like heaven which is what the Moroccan Oil smells like) and the pump keeps trigger happy fingers like mine from over-dispensing product. I apply this to wet hair after I get out of the shower; I comb through my hair first and then apply this to the roots and then comb through it to distribute the product through my hair. This also adds shine and helps with the frizz and helps repair damage as well as acts as a heat protectant should you choose that route.

Bloglovin

I'm on bloglovin now! Check me out and follow me (please!) and tell you friends!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

New Maybelline Products!

Hello lovely readers! Today I am talking all about one of my fave brands from the drugstore - Maybelline! They have released a lot of new products lately and I have a few so I thought I would share my thoughts on them with you.

A couple of important things before we get started:

1. My favorite app - Target Cartwheel - has a coupon for 10% off several makeup brands, including Maybelline.

2. If you have a CVS near you, and/or shop there often, you should get their extra care card and do the beauty rewards. I had a coupon for 20% off, a $5.00 off beauty bucks AND when you spent $15 or $20 on Maybelline you earned another $5.00 beauty bucks. Yeah, it kind of rocked my world.

3. My Walmart had $2.00 off coupons stuck to damn near every Maybelline product in the store this week. Not sure if that's just a fluke at my store or if that's a nation-wide promo. But you can save some $$ if you are interested in picking up any of these products.

So first off is a new (permanent - thank God) additional to the Maybelline Color Tattoo line, the Leather Collection. Maybelline Color Tattoos are cream shadows that you can wear on their own or as a base for any eye shadow. I use them both ways and for me personally I have no issue with them creasing. However, everyone is different so you may need a primer to help too.

I have a couple shades, but my favorite is the Creamy Beige shade. Alone, it just makes my eyes look fresh and even toned. Under shadow it really intensifies the look of the shadows. I love it! The regular line has shades that have some shimmer to them. Then there is a metal line which has a metallic finish. The leather line is a matte finish.

Alright, now for the biggest news in drugstore makeup history - Maybelline has a 12 shade eye shadow palette!!!! O.M.G. The Nudes is only $9.99 and if you take advantage of the discounts and deals I talked about above you could get it cheaper than a gallon of gas. Random, but true. So as I said this palette has 12 shades that are all neutral and are basically the same formula as their normal quads. Some of the shades in this palette are better than others, but overall this is an awesome value and an awesome palette.

I think this would make a great addition to anyone's makeup stash but especially awesome for those who are new to makeup as you can try a lot for very little investment and/or for those who were interested in some of the higher end neutral palettes but maybe couldn't afford to invest that kind of money. I haven't used all of the shades but in the last week I have used most of them and with a primer or base they stay for most of my day (which is roughly 14 hours). I am impressed.

This isn't super new, but it's newer. The new Pumped Up Colossal Mascara comes in several shades, I have it in Glam Black and has packaging very similar to the Maybelline the Rocket mascara but this is slightly bigger and obviously it's pink. I really, really, really like this mascara. First of all, it comes off easily with eye makeup remover. It doesn't flake, smudge or clump. And it gives really good volume and length. I know mascara is different on everyone, but I feel like this could be pretty awesome for most people. Also I should note that this mascara does NOT have the typical Maybelline chemical smell that a lot of their mascaras seem to have.

And finally, we have the new Dream Wonder Fluid Touch Foundation. This stuff is super cool. Like, I feel like a scientist cool. The bottle is so small and it's glass (consider this your warning fellow clumsy peeps). And it has this cool dropper like wand to dispense the product on your face (it says put it on your finger tips, but I put it directly on my face.) Don't get too heavy handed with this, start light and you can always add more, but when finished this gives about medium coverage. One note, the bottle says shake well and you should definitely shake it first so that they product mixes correctly. When dry this is more of a natural to satin finish, I would set it with powder. It wears pretty good through out the day. If I had a really long day I might add a primer or just wear something totally different, but for a normal day this will work fine.

Normal to dry skin peeps: this could be your new go-to foundation

Oily skin peeps: proceed with caution as I feel like this might be too liquidy for you. A similar foundation to dry is the Magic Touch liquid to powder foundation from L'oreal.

Have you tried any of these products yet? Do you want to? Anything new you would recommend to me?

I really love hearing from you guys so please leave a comment below!

FabFitFun Summer Box Review

I received my FabFitFun Summer VIP box last week! For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a quarterly subscription box that comes with $200 plus worth of products. It's $49.99 a quarter and there are opportunities to earn a discount on each box and even earn some of them for free (all based on a referral system). I have a chance for you all to try this out and get the summer box at a discount and will include that info at the end of this post.

It is worth mentioning that I have cancelled my other beauty subscriptions and am only doing this one. I am super impressed with the value, variety and quality of the products in these boxes!

First off, we received a Slim Fast Birthday Cake bar (I haven't eaten that yet) and Salt & Vinegar Pop Chips (I have eaten those, hence why you don't see them in the photo). We got food last time too and I like that. I like treats in the mail, especially new treats.

We also received this adorable clutch/makeup bag (there were four or five different designs, this is just the one I got) with a $30 gift card to the site to spend on whatever we want. And THEN we got a bottle of nail polish (which it sounds like there were two or three colors sent out). From Zoya. My fave brand of polish. AND...it was a color that I DIDN'T already have. I know. Shocking. The color I received is Thandie, and it's an orangey-coral color that I really like. I posted a pic of my mani using this on Instagram.

Also pictured above is probably my least favorite item out of the box. A duo of lip balm for making out. Um....am I 16? So it's two different flavors that, when mixed together, are really supposed to be delicious and awesome fuel for your face sucking needs. I got sweet and sour. Ew. Not impressed and will most likely toss them or give them away to someone. Kinda lame.

Next up are some hair and skin care items. The first one is a facial that apparently celebrities use. And it's supposed to be awesome (this tiny little bottle retails for $95). I've tried a few times now and I don't see any results. I mean nothing. Maybe I'm not using enough product? Maybe my skin is already so amazing this just doesn't do anything? Whatever.

The middle bottle is hair oil. This is fine. I prefer Morrocan Oil, but hey it's summer and I can always use a good hair oil. This smells a little weird to me, but once I have it in my hair it's fine and I don't notice it.

Then we got a face moisturizer from pur-lisse. I haven't tried this yet, BUT I have tried other products from this brand and really like them so I will give this a shot and let you know. It has SPF 30 in it so I'm excited about that!

And finally we received a water bottle with a diffuser in it for fruit and stuff, shave gel and some feminine hygiene products. Love the water bottle. don't really need another one, but it's so cute. And smaller than the other ones I have so that's cool. I've tried this shave gel before and really like it so I am excited to have a travel size version for all of my upcoming work trips!

The always pads are kind of meh for me. I mean hey, a girl can always use these things and I'm sure I will, but I just haven't had a need for them yet. TMI? Oh well.

All in all I was very satisfied with the summer box. I love trying new things and I love that we get such high quality products and they aren't repeats of what I got in the last box.

And before I forget, the details about the discount are below.

The first three people to use this code 2280115 can get a Summer VIP box like the one I got for $15 off! Redeem at vip.fabfitfun.com!

Stuff I'm loving right now

Hello lovelies!

It's been a while since I've done a favorites post and I have several things I am digging right now so I thought I would share them. I have a lot of new hair products that I am loving too, but that's going to be a separate post.

I told ya it was a lot. Most of this is stuff I've used in the past and a few things are new. I am really into simple beauty right now. When it starts to get hot I tone down the amount of products I use on my face. I don't like to be hot and I like sweaty makeup even less.

So these are not new to me nor are they new to the market. You may recognize these as the Maybelline Baby Lips. I have several from the regular line and a few from the new "Crystals" line. I have tried these several times before and was kinda "meh" about them. But I picked up the clear one at Walmart a month or two (or three) ago now and all of sudden I went from zero to obsessed in 30 seconds or less. I did not buy these all at one time but picked them up using coupons and both Walmart and Target have had these on sale recently. I just like the hint of color and the moisturization they give.

L'oreal Voluminous mascara is an oldie but a goodie. I love this mascara, it volumizes and lengthens and it doesn't flake or smudge. I am brand new to the world of Milani cosmetics and it's fast becoming an addiction obsession  favorite of mine. I find their products at CVS and lucked out and saw them at a Walgreens recently in the southern suburbs of the cities. Pictured above is their eye primer and I am in love with it. It works great and is way cheaper than Urban Decay and Too Faced brands. As for eyeshadow I have been in love with layering the Maybelline Eye Tattoo in Inked in Pink as a base with L'oreal's Amber Rush pressed pigment over the top. The end result is a shimmery, rose gold shade that is stellar for summer. If I had more of a tan it would be more awesome.

From top to bottom is the Physician's Formula bronzer and two Milani baked blushes in Luminoso and Delizioso Pink. Love the bronzer. One of my fave YouTubers, Leighannsays raves about this so I decided to try it when it was on sale at Target (like 4 months ago, I'm slow). The baked blushes are raved about by beauty bloggers and vloggers all around and I can see why. They are $7ish and they are crazy pigmented! Like crazy. Luminoso is by far my fave and if I ever run out I will for sure re-purchase. It's give a great peachy glow to the skin and looks great on a wide variety of skin tones.

These are also two oldies but goodies here. Cover Girl pressed powder is phenomenal. It's been phenomenal since 8th grade and I always go back to it. Pictured above is the Oil Control version in shade Classic Ivory. And then the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer in light is something I've used for a few years now and love.

Finally, I am really digging the Jergens Natural Glow body lotion. I alternate this with my St. Tropez bronzing mousse and it works great. I love how the smell of this has gotten better over the years. I remember using this when I lived in Wisconsin (damn near 10 years ago now, what?!?) and it stunk to high heaven. But now it smells like lotion and it's not over-powering. This bottle came with a free Schick razor and had a $1 off coupon stuck to it so I got a good deal. This comes in fair to medium and medium to dark and there is also face versions of this. I have never used the face ones as they freak me out. 

What are you loving right now? 

Summer Beauty Series: Bronzers and Tanners

[I wrote this literally a month ago almost and am just posting it now]

It is officially summer as of today, and for the love of all that is holy, it is FINALLY frickin nice outside here in Minnesota. It was 80 something out today and not a cloud in the sky. So I busted out my swimsuit, SPF 55 sunscreen and hung out by my pool (yes my pool is a hard plastic kiddie pool purchased from Menards. Judge me. Go ahead.) It. was. awesome. I also took a cat nap in the hammock. Also. Awesome.

So in honor of summer I thought I would do a few summer beauty posts for you. To start off we are going to look at some of my fave bronzers for your makeup routine along with a recommendation and thoughts on self-tanner.

Bronzer. Bronzers can be an awesome thing, when done right. Bronzer is NOT the same as contouring. You can use bronzer to contour, but they are not the same function. Bronzer is something you put all over your face in the spots where the sunlight would naturally hit your face (forhead, cheeks, tip of your nose, etc.), and it warms up your complexion. Contouring is something you do to create shadows on your face that will slim it down and play down larger features. There are several great bronzers you can use for contouring as well as bronzing. Note: If you are going to use a bronzer to do contouring with you have to make sure it's matte. You do NOT want to contour your face with something that has shimmer in it. Trust me.

(clock-wise from top are the E.L.F. blush countour duo, Sonia Kashuk cream bronzer, theBalm's Bahama Mama - this is really dark so I prefer to use this for contouring, I am too pale to use this as an actual bronzer, and Physicians Formula Bronzer)

Some of my fave bronzers for all over your face are:

(Left to Right: Physician's Formula Bronzer in medium, Too Faced Leopard Bronzer and Sonia Kashuk cream bronzer)

Self-Tanner. Okay so we've all seen those people who make you think "Is she part oompa-loompa, or is that self tanner?" Maybe you've been her, maybe she lives on your block. You don't want to be her. But at the same time you don't want to rock the Casper the Ghost look in the summer time.

I have two self-tanners that I actually like and use fairly consistently.

(okay this is really pissing me off. I take the picture the right way and then it uploads side ways. No matter how many times I re-save it and save-as it, the damn thing is still sideways.)

The first one is the St. Tropez bronzing mousse AND the mitt. The mitt is the key. It seriously helps you spread the tanner evenly over your body to include the elbows, knees and ankle/foot area that can be a magnet for all extra product you get on your hand. And speaking of hands, the mitt helps you avoid orangey/brown tan hands. One bottle of this mousse will last me a season and I usually toss the mitt when the bottle is empty and buy both brand new next summer.

For me personally I only apply this about three times a week, but depending on the level of bronze you are trying to achieve you may want to use it more. Of course you have to wait for it to dry before getting dressed and I would avoid swimming or any sweaty activity for the first 24 hours or this will run and streak. Also, speaking from personal experience, do NOT put this on right before bed and climb onto your white sheets. There will be a bronzy outline all over your bedding in the morning and it most likely will not come out.

A little more affordable and accessible is the Jergens Natural Glow lotion. You can buy this at your local Target/Walmart and they do have a face lotion option as well. This works great, but be advised it starts to look weird when you stop using it and the "tan" fades.

What are some of your fave tanners or bronzers?

May Fitness Post - How I (try to) deal with negative self-talk

Hello lovely readers! So I don't know what I was thinking this month. I was totally organized and had a schedule of all these really great posts I was going to write and then shit happened. This is the busiest time of year for me at my job and there were some other twists and turns along the way and I just didn't get to write everything I wanted/planned to. I am considering the frequency with which I post anyway, because I want to give you guys "quality" over quantity. Which segue-ways  perfectly into this post.

Negative self-talk is something most of us deal with. And it's hard to write about. I'm no expert or doctor but I wanted to share with you how I deal with it. What I define this as is the following:

- that negative little jerk voice in your head that is constantly telling you, you aren't enough. You're too tall, too short, too skinny, not skinny enough, you don't make enough $$, you aren't as good as so and so, etc. Male or female and that voice is an asshole.

So in this post I wanted to give you some examples of the things my inner voice tells me sometimes and what I do to stop that bitch in her tracks. (I apologize for the language in this post, I am passionate about this and it's been a long week)

I am 5'0 short and weigh roughly 130ish pounds, which means I am not "thin". I have what I consider to be a big nose, big hips and my face is too "red". I am also extremely NOT tan, and not toned or fit. I have cellulite, and sometimes when I walk fast my thighs rub together.

That description above pretty much is the executive summary of what my negative self-talk revolves around. And based on that description my self image is sometimes that of an ugly disgusting troll. More or less.

Now, here is how I fight back. It may sound stupid, cliche' or cheesy, but I really don't care. It works for me and I hope by sharing this it might work for you. And if by chance you happen to be reading this and you are perfect, then stop now as this clearly isn't intended for you.

The least offensive thing in that summary is the fact that I am short. I have been short all my life and my family members are short too. It doesn't always bother me, but sometimes when I see you tall girls strutting around in your long legs I get a little pissy. So I wear heels, or wedges or say fuck it and wear flats because I'm short and proud of it. I can buy pants in the kids department that aren't too long and are cheaper than women's pants. (Incidentally, I can also buy shoes in the kids department because I have small feet. Plain black flats or flip flops for less than $10? Yes please!) As my mom always told me, "The best things come in small packages."

So next on the list is my weight. Without getting too in depth and too into social norms and expectations around what a women should weigh, this is what I tell my self "You can't change your height, but you can change your health, so get off you squishy butt and get to work girl." The key to this is the word health. It's NOT about being skinny. Not at all. It's about being healthy. Is that cupcake really giving my body the nutrition it deserves? No? Then put it back. Is sitting on the couch watching YouTube videos or TV for 5 hours really how you want to spend the night? Would 30 minutes of exercise kill you? No. So slap in that DVD and get that workout in. I try to look at it as a positive thing. And once I can get myself on a regular work-out schedule I actually really enjoy it and I totally feel better. Which reminds me of another great quote "Exercise releases endorphin, endorphin makes you happy. And happy people don't kill their husbands. They just don't." Points to you if you know where that's from.

The weight thing has been an issue for me since 6th grade. I was one of the first girls in my class to get both boobs and a booty over the summer and holy crap did people remind me of it DAILY. But I really try to focus on this being about me being healthy and not skinny. That has taken me all of 21+ years to work on and it's still a work in progress. Focus on your health not how skinny or not skinny you are. Be healthy. Your body deserves it.

My nose bugs the crap out of me. It's big at the end and sometimes when I turn to the side, I think "Good Lord girl! Look at that nose!" But here's the thing, who cares? I know I would never get plastic surgery to fix it so I just try not to think about it. Or I contour it with bronzer so it gives the illusion of being smaller.

The big hips, cellulite and rubbing thighs along with being not as toned as I want to be are easy to group together. If I work out more I jiggle and rub together less. My hips are big, if I worked out 10 hours a day and ate salads they would still be big. It's just who I am. Some of us have hips, some don't. And no matter how many creams, lotions and potions I buy that damn cellulite is going to stay there. So I try to keep on that work out schedule and use self tanner on my legs in the summer as that reduces the overall appearance of it.

And finally, I'm pale. Like super pale. Like vampire pale. Which some people think is "yucky". But here's the deal, I have porcelain skin. It's not going to be super wrinkly and dry from over-tanning. And if I can prevent one type of cancer then I'm damn well going to do it. I do use a self tanner in the summer (when I remember) but really I have embraced my un-tan.

If turning that negativity doesn't work for me and I am still really down, I do one of the following two things:
 - stay on the couch and have some ice cream, because fuck it,
- OR I look at what my "imperfect" body has accomplished and when I start to look at the things I have done and am doing in my life that do actually matter more than the size of my nose in the big picture, I start to feel a little better. This is not to say that it works every time, or that I don't have bad days but it's what I try to do most days.

So what I hope you take away from this is that we all have issues with how we look. How you deal with those issues is what makes the difference. Embrace your quirks, be healthy and don't let someone else's idea of what you should look like overshadow you. Historically society has shown it doesn't always know what's right and ideals have been shattered repeatedly. Life is too short to worry about how tall you aren't or how slim you're not. Be proud of who you are and what you've accomplished. Only you could do it.

How do you deal with negative self-talk?

Time to Recharge the Batteries

Life is crazy. Everyday we are pulled in a million different directions. We get up, get ready for the day, head to work, take the kids to school, clean the house, prepare meals, take the dogs to the park, help the kids with homework, etc. There are millions of tasks to take care of and get wrapped up in each and every day. And while in the moment those things seem important, and some of them are, it's easy to get lost in the day to day hustle and bustle of life. 

In keeping with the healthy theme of this month, I wanted to spend sometime today to talk about taking a time-out and recharging your batteries. I know you don't have time, I know you need to reply to that email and call your sitter back. Trust me, I know. But at some point you need to stop and smell the roses a little bit. 

I truly believe that taking a "mental health day" is necessary for survival. Life can be tough and crazy and if you don't take a time out for yourself, no one else will take it for you. You are an amazing person who does a million and five things for everyone else, but what have you done for you lately? 

If you can take a whole day to yourself, I highly recommend it. I just took a week off of work to relax and recharge. It rained all week and was cold. It was perfect. The crap weather forced me to sleep in, read books and take care of myself. I was also able to get some projects done around the house that have been bugging me for awhile. But at the end of the week I experienced something I forgot about. Calm. I was calm. I was no longer frazzled about everything. I finally had the time I needed to unwind. Calm. 

I realize that not everyone can take a week off and "do nothing". So try to find some time each day or each week that's just for you. It could be 15 minutes, it could be a couple of hours. It's hard, but I try to find some time each week to recharge my batteries. Sometimes it's in the car on the way home from work, I crank the radio and belt out my fave songs as loud as I can, or while I make dinner I crank up iTunes and have a dance party (which is extremely amusing to those who happen to be in the house at the time). Or even now as I sit and write this, it's quiet in the house, the dogs are snoring, I have some green tea steeping beside me and I am writing.  

My point is you have to relax and calm down. You can't hurry up through each day waiting for the weekend or next weekend or summer vacation. Enjoy today. Enjoy right now and relax. Find your happy place. It's amazing what you can accomplish and get through once you have recharged.

May Fitness Post

I have never been a fan of going to the gym or having a gym membership. It just seems to require too much commitment/dedication and sets expectations too high for me. I just can't commit to going somewhere every day at a specific time (besides work), because I just don't know if I'll feel like it. Ya know? 

So in order to get my fitness routine in, I am a huge fan of at-home workouts. I LOVE the workout routines in magazines that you can rip out and keep handy. And I LOVE workout DVDs.

Above are two of my faves! The first one is the Quick Fix Total Mix DVD and I bought this about 14 years ago. Yeah, I'm loyal like that. And what I love about this DVD is the fact that you can customize the workouts. There are three workouts for abs, buns and arms & legs. Each workout is 10 minutes long, you can do the set of three for each targeted area and go through the whole thing or you can pick one from each (my fave choice) or just do one. I love this because it doesn't get boring, I can create a workout based on my needs and time each time I do this. I bought this at Target originally but have seen this on Amazon recently too. When I was at my peak of fitness I did the abs, and arms & legs combo 5 days a week. 

The second DVD is one that I purchased as a set on QVC about 7 years ago. It was part of a Winsor Pilates special that came with like 5 DVDs and a workbook or something. This is my fave of that set and its a 20 minute Pilates workout that I can do without sweating (or not too much anyway) so I can do this and shower but not wash my hair AND not feel gross about it afterward. 

It really works your whole body and you can totally feel it the next day. I love that you can also start to see results within a week or two. I'm not a patient person.

Both of these DVDs are great for anyone in the beginner to intermediate groups as you can customize the workout and work up to the harder stuff. 

What's your fave workout? 

May - Let's Get Healthy Together!

Hello lovely reader! I cannot believe that we are already in the fifth month of the year! Maybe that's because I'm busy, or maybe it's because its frickin May and we are still experiencing winter weather in Minnesota.

It's been raining for 5 days mom. WTF?

I have been off for the last week and I have had a lot of time to myself to relax and re-charge. And one of the things I noticed is that in the last week I have worked out every day and been eating a little better (not tons) and have reduced myself to one cup of coffee in the morning. And all of this got me thinking, when I have the time, I really do enjoy working out, and when I eat healthier, I feel better. Which brought me to the theme for my May blogs: Let's Get Healthy Together!

This month I want to focus on getting healthy. Mentally and physically. This is NOT going to be a diet blog, nor will it be about weight loss. I want to try to eat healthier snacks AND meals, and I want to try and be more active. I know many of you are in the same boat as me, you commute to work (sitting) you work in an office for 8+ hours a day (mostly sitting) and then you commute back home (more sitting) and besides light household activity, you watch TV (and even more sitting). And I am sure we all know that being sedentary is not good for your body. I also know that with all the daily grind activities we tend to lose sight sometimes of who we are, what we want and what we need to maintain general happiness.

I am not a health professional nor am I a mental health professional. But I know what works for me and I wanted to share it with you and hope that you will feel inclined to share with me via the comments.

Over the next month I will be posting about:

• de-stressing tips
• Short, but effective workouts for the beginner to intermediate level person
• healthy "habits" including how I (try) re-train my brain when I have negative thoughts about my body and the food I feed it
• recipes and snacks
• And some fashion and beauty posts in the mix as well.

I am really excited about this idea, so I hope you are too! 

April Favorites

I apologize for the delay in postings, but life gets crazy every now and again so what's a girl to do? 

Anyhoo...I hope you all had a great month! I surely did :-) It was my birthday month and right now I am currently on "vacation" so April has been awesome. 

So let's talk about favorites. Above is a picture of all my April faves. These are products that I used a lot and really stood out for the month. 

Above is my Tangle Teezer, Batiste for dark hair, Kai perfume oil, Loreal Damage Erase Balm and Vaseline Rosy Lips lip balm. Really none of these are new, but all of them have saved my butt this month. First off, if you do not have a Tangle Teezer, please stop reading and go immediately to your nearest Target and buy one. It has made a HUGE difference in combing out my wet (and dry) hair, I can't even tell you. I think that if you have kids you really need this and I know brushing kids' hair can suck and be down-right painful for them (and you) and I am telling you this makes a difference. Life changing. Seriously. 

The Batiste dry shampoo for dark hair is awesome! I love the smell and the fact that it doesn't turn my (formerly) dark hair white or ashy. It won't stain you hair, but if you have dark hair you know what I'm talking about. 

The Kai fragrance oil is so frickin fabulous I can't stand it. I received this in my spring FabFitFun box and am so in love. It's so light ad fresh (smells like lilacs, but is apparently different on everyone). 

The rosy lips lip balm from Vaseline is super. It keeps my lips really hydrated and the smell isn't too intense. It's like $1.50 at Target. Go get it.

And finally my Loreal hair mask. I've talked about this before so I won't get into too much detail other than to say that if you heat style or color your hair you also need this. I recently dyed my hair blonde again and holy lifesaver. Seriously awesome, add it to your shopping list, you will not be disappointed.

So I apologize that this photo is lopsided. I tried for 20 effing minutes to get it to turn and saved and re-saved the damn thing like 1,007 times and it wouldn't work. Ugh. Moving on. These are my make up faves for the month. The E.L.F. HD Powder is $6 at Target and it's so amazing. The powder itself is white, but it doesn't  leave a color behind (so I guess that would make it translucent, duh.) and is so great for setting your makeup and your concealer. I use this in my T-zone and under my eyes. I am also in love with the E.L.F. HD lifting concealer. This doesn't do much to actually conceal, however it brightens like nobody's business. If I were a betting gal, I would bet that this product rivals other products twice or three times the price. I am also digging my Loreal Voluminous mascara. I had to ditch the Maybelline Rocket mascara because the last two tubes I bought flaked like crazy. This mascara is a tried and true product for me and I always go back to it. 

And finally, drum roll please........the best palette known to (wo)man...the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. And yes, it does smell like chocolate. Yes. Yes, it does. You get 16 shadows for $49 on Sephora. And it is worth every.damn.chocolately.penny. I treated (haha, get it?) myself to this for my birthday and couldn't be happier. I wish I would have had this before the Naked palettes. Or any other nude/neutral palette. There is such a variety of neutrals along with a burgundy, a purple and a greenish brown and a couple of pinky shades in here. It is glorious. Glorious I tell you. The outside packaging (to include the box it comes in) is all designed to look like a chocolate bar. And the shadows are made with actual cocoa powder (hence the smell, which does go away when you put the product on your eye, but for allergy purposes you might need to know that). And just ugh, admire the awesomeness will you? All the shades are really pigmented and blend well. A couple of them are gritty-er than others and have a little fall out, but overall this palette is phenomenal. A great buy for the makeup enthusiast, the chocolate enthusiast, your mom, grandma, yourself, or your niece who is just learning to use makeup. I just. I need to stop before I get too carried away. It's awesome, check it out the next time you are in Sephora or Ulta.