Month: July 2015

Beautiful Blogger Awards

Thanks so much for the nomination for the Beautiful Blogger Awards KAYLEIGH19902013 !

The Rules:
•State who nominated you
•Answer questions given
•Tell us 7 random facts
•Nominate 10 beauty or fashion bloggers
•Make up 10 questions for your nominees to answer
•Let the bloggers know you nominated them

Questions:

1. What is your favourite skincare product?

I LOVE the Clarisonic. My old one actually just died and I had to get a new one!

2. Favourite YouTube Channel?

I absolutely adore Kristina over at PrettyShinySparkly!
3. Favourite Sweet?

I could eat vanilla tootsie rolls or salt water taffy all day long.
4. Dream Holiday Destination?

I would love the opportunity to go to Greece.
5. Your Hobby?

My boyfriend and I go wine tasting at least once a month!
6. Favourite piece of makeup?

Lately I’m loving my Clinique CC Cream
7. Give me a Beauty tip

I keep as many products as possible in a z-palette to save space
8. Favourite Movie?

Steel Magnolias!
9. Sweet or Savoury?

SWEET! 🙂
10. Dream dinner party guests?

Cher, Dolly Parton, The Rock, Aziz Ansari, Joe Maganiello and Reese Witherspoon

7 Random Facts:

I’m 25
Dog lover
I have 2 degrees in Art History
I lived in NYC for 2 years and worked there another year and a half
My favorite city beyond NYC is Nashville
Raised on country music
I’m currently obsessed with buying cute workout gear

My 10 Nominees:

Ten Questions for My Nominees:

1. What is your favorite mascara?

2. What YouTube channel do you watch the most?

3. Hobbies outside of blogging?

4. Most popular makeup brand in your collection?

5. How long have you been blogging?

6. What is your skin care routine?

7. What TV show do you like to binge watch?

8. Favorite type of food?

9. What color lipstick/gloss do you wear the most?

10. What advice can you give about blogging?

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Review: BoxyCharm July 2015

I have read so many reviews of how great BoxyCharm is, and just needed to see for myself! I love that nearly all the products are full size!

MDMflow Greater Than Mascara – (new to American market)

The packaging is gorgeous! I’m excited to try it. BoxyCharm did send an email out saying that you need to prime it before use, which is a little scary. But hopefully if I did it correctly this will be amazing!

Vasanti Professional Blush Brush – $29

This brush is nice and I love getting brushes in boxes. I definitely think I can use this for conturing!

yourMinerals Transparent Veil Setting Powder – $26

I’m not a big fan of this brand, but I’m willing to give this a shot.

gorge I’ll make you look amazing daily spray – $29.95

I’m super excited for this since I have crazy frizzy hair. I saw this was in another box this month too – so I’m hoping that’s a good sign!

OFRA Cosmetics Lip Liner – $13

I don’t use lip liners that often, so I might trade this.

Overall I’m excited with the products I received and am looking forward to seeing what I get next month!

Review: Allure Beauty Box July 2015

This month is the first time the Allure Beauty Box has been put out under its new name – it was previously Sample Society. I LOVED this month! Such great brands, and decent sized products. WTG Allure!

Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Heat/UV Protective Primer – Full Size $27

I found out about this from my salon and already have the full size and a travel. So glad to have another! It makes my hair silky soft and really protects it. I won’t travel without it!

SuperGoop! Defense Refresh Setting Mist Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 – Full Size $28

I feel like I’ve been SuperGooped out, but I saw this product on one of the talkshows recently and really wanted to try it. I’m really into setting sprays and so excited this was in the box.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Synchronized Complex II – Full Size $65

I’ve love these serums forever, and already used a different one. I swear by them and believe they make my skin look so much better.

Oscar Blandi Pronto Invisible Volumizing Dry Shampoo Spray– Full Size $25

I’ve had this in a bunch of boxes, and it works pretty well so I’m always glad to have more dry shampoo.

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Infinite Daring Length + Volume Mascara in Black – Full Size

I just tried this and love it. It definitely brings the volume.

Invisibobble – $8 for 3

This is a clear hairtie that looks like a telephone cord. Super weird, not sure how I feel about it.

Overall I LOVED this box. Keep it up Allure!

Review: Stitchfix July 2015

I decided to try this based on a friend’s recommendation. Basically you sign up and fill out an extensive profile and link your social media and pinterest to the site. Then a personal shopper selects items for you and ships you out a box based on your likes. I was really intrigued by this idea. At $20 it costs significantly less than Le Tote (which I hated, btw) and seemed like a good idea. I even wrote my stylist a note at their prompting telling her my favorite colors and what I was looking for. What came in my box was far from what I wanted.

They send this card describing how to style your pieces:

This was the first piece I pulled out. I’m not a fan of the pattern and its cheaply made. They were asking around $50 for it….

I included that I have a really short torso, and things like this next piece wouldn’t be possible. Not great:

I did say I liked dresses, but due to being bigger on the bottom this wasn’t the best choice for me, but nice color though:

This next shirt wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great:

The only thing I LOVED was this necklace. Gorgeous color! I purchased it for sure. The nice thing is that the $20 you pay for the box goes toward the price of the item. So it was $34 and I paid an additional $14. If you buy all the items you get 25% off the order.

Who else has tried Stitchfix? Thoughts?

Review: Southern Lilly Lady

On Instagram I follow @southernlillylady, a blogger who recently started her own subscription box. She dresses primarily in Lilly Pulitzer in her photos, and I thought I would fall IN LOVE with this box without ever even knowing what was in it. It is $20 per box and you need to commit to three boxes (I got so excited I only read the fine print later…) You can buy the box here. FullSizeRender 18

Anyway, when the box arrived it was totally crushed and partially opened. So that was bummer #1. Then I opened it and was super bummed with the contents. There is no booklet or anything, just the products.

It came with a mason jar with a lemonade recipe, a bunch of paper straws, some tropical bath powder, pineapple earrings and a sparkly bracelet. The jewelry aside I’m not that into the other items. Its not like the drink came with a mix or was immediately useful. I can go to the store and buy a box of mason jars for nothing. I adore the concept though and am hoping next months is much better, and perhaps a little more luxurious to reflect the title of the box.

Review: Birchbox July 2015

This month I absolutely hated my Birchbox. Super disappointing. I either have the products already, or can’t use the new ones. I really wish I had done the curated box, and regret missing the deadline for it.

Bumble and bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil – Full Size $39

I love this B&B line, but I have SO many samples of this stuff that it will take me forever to get through it!

Harvey Prince Hello Body Cream – Full Size $22

I have so many bottles of the harvey Prince perfumes, and I’m not a huge fan of the scents. This lotion is no different. The smell is long lasting, and I’m just not into the citrus-floral scent.

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive – Full Size $39

I have this already, and might be able to use another tube. I barely use the one I have because I’m not fond of the scent. But I think I might be able to use this.

stila look at me liquid lipstick trio – Set of 3 $20

I received the bright red version, and the color won’t work well with my skin color. I wear a lot of red, but I just don’t see this working. Its going in my swap pile!

Supergoop! Anti-Aging City Sunscreen Serum SPF 30 – Full Size $42

I feel like all boxes send Supergoop! in the summer and I’m incredibly overloaded with it! I definitely like the brand but I need to unload a few of the products.

How were your Birchboxes this month?! Let me know in the comments!

Review: Sephora Sun Safety Kit

When I first heard this was being released, I was so incredibly excited. I love sets like this, and appreciate the chance to test out products before I make a big purchase. [Note: This is the full kit, not the one from JC Penney which was smaller]. Now that I’ve had time to play with some of the products, I want to offer my mid summer opinion. Those I know or have tried are in bold.

The Sephora Sun Safety Kit includes 16 products:

– 0.2 oz AmorePacific Natural Protector SPF 30

– 0.3 oz Clarins UV Plus Anti-Pollution Broad Spectrum SPF 50

– 0.5 oz Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 30 in Light Medium

THIS IS MY FAVORITE. Okay, so I got a little excited, but I’ve been using this as a foundation because it covers so well and I absolutely love it. It makes my skin look flawless, and it is definitely full coverage.

– 0.25 oz Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare™ Dark Spot Sun Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Sunscreen

– 0.17 oz Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45

– 0.08 oz Fresh® Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15

I LOVE THIS. I had never tried a Fresh lip treatment before, and generally don’t wear lip balm type products. This has the BEST smell, and I always through it in my bag to head to the pool or beach. Can’t be beat.

– 0.5 oz Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 47

I love the consistency of this, but haven’t used it enough to have a strong opinion.

– 0.34 oz Korres Yoghurt Nourishing Fluid Veil Broad Spectrum SPF 30

– 0.17 oz Murad® Invisiblur™ Perfecting Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30

This felt pretty great when I applied it. I’ve never tried a Murad product before this. Anyone have any thoughts?

– 0.1 oz Ole Henriksen total truth™ eye crème SPF 15

I used this every night before I picked this bag up, and am thrilled to have another sample.

– 0.5 oz Origins VitaZing™ Broad Spectrum SPF 15 Energy-Boosting Moisturizer with Mangosteen

I am a huge fan of Origins face creams, and this one is just as good as anything I’ve tried.

– Peter Thomas Roth Max Sheer All Day Moisture Defense® Lotion SPF 30

– 0.6 oz Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 50+ WetForce Broad Spectrum Water Resistant (80 Minutes)

– 1.69 oz St. Tropez One Night Only in Light-Medium

Can’t wait to try this! I’m a little afraid it might transfer, but St. Tropez is a favorite brand of mine.

– 0.34 oz Supergoop!® City Sunscreen Serum SPF 30

Supergoop! is always great. It does its job, but this doesn’t make me jump up and down.

– 0.34 oz Vita Liberata Passion Flower & Argan Dry Oil Broad Spectrum SPF 50

– Travel bag

I threw this out after I unpacked it. It is large, and could definitely store a lot of stuff, but I just didn’t have room for it.

16 products for $32! I’m working my way through the other products. Who else picked this up? Thoughts?

REVIEW WEEK!

Hi Everyone! I’ve decided that since I have SO many boxes/things to review this month that I will make this review week! I’m going to post a review everyday starting tomorrow!

Room Tour- Southern Style

My parents live part time in South Carolina, and when they built their new house over a year ago they gave me the loft as my bedroom. Due to my work schedule I don’t get to go down there that often. Last summer I picked out furniture and the color scheme (gray and yellow). The skeleton came together over this past year, and on my recent vacation we went shopping to pick out some finishing touches.

The bed and dresser are from a local furniture store in SC, and I fell in love with the mirrored style right away. All of the pillows and the comforter are from Home Goods, as are both of the night stands.

The nightstand on the right I picked up first, and it had awful drawer pulls. I instead found some on sale at Anthropology, and the piece now matches the decor much better!

I still needed another night stand, and when I went back a year later I found many more mirrored options. This one was perfect:

Last year when I was shopping I also found this gray chair at Home Goods, along with the lamp and table pictured below. When I went back last week I found that ottoman in Target, and thought it would highlight the yellow on the bed.

The dresser us gorgeous and has large drawers for storing clothes. I found a lamp this trip that matches the lamp I picked up on my last trip. Home Goods also had fun mirrored boxes, and I picked up one for the dresser. The jewelry hanger I found at Target. (Sorry for the yellow quality of the picture!)

I found this gorgeous piece of art at the local Ross – it was apparently hand made in Indonesia, and I can’t wait to have it hung on the wall:

There was one wall that had me stumped. I thought to put a large mirror there, but considering everything else is so heavily mirrored, I instead opted for a desk. I found a white desk at World Market, and it wound up being their last in store. We got it heavily discounted (score!) and picked up one of their dining chairs that had a fun pattern for the room. Click on the words “desk” and “dining chair” for links! The elephant, lamp and flowers are of course, from Home Goods.

I hope you enjoyed my room tour and design thoughts!

Review: Sample Society June 2015

June was the last month that this would be the Sample Society box. I was hoping for a nice ending before they switch to being the Allure Beauty Box solely, and this didn’t disappoint.

St. Tropez Self Tan Express – Full Size $44

I love St. Tropez, and have purchased other products in the line, so I was ecstatic when I saw this in the box.

ESalon Perfect Ending Leave In Conditioner – Full Size $15.00

This smells FANTASTIC! And I really believe it helps my hair feel softer. Total Win.

E.L.F. Studio Small Stipple Brush – $3

I like E.L.F enough, but I always question the quality. I will probably swap this brush.

Lauren B. Beauty Nail Couture in Polo Lounge Punch – $18

Gorgeous color! I can’t wait to try this in an upcoming pedicure.

Completely Bare Wax Strips for Face, Bikini, Body – $12.99

I can’t use wax of any kind because it usually makes me break out. I will be swapping these as well.

Cotz Face Sunscreen SPF 40 in Natural Skin Tone – Full Size $19.99

I haven’t tried this yet, and can’t decide if I will purely because I have so many sunscreens for my face.

Can’t wait to receive this month’s box!

GabGoesGlam

Beauty. Lifestyle. Fashion.