Month: February 2016

Love With Food Gluten Free Review – February 2016

I may have said this before – but I LOVE love with food. I wait patiently each month for my gluten free box to arrive at my door. They have such great brands that I can always find something to enjoy in each box. This month was no different. I literally tore open one of the items the second I saw it. Note the chip clip on the popcorn…

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So what did I get this month?

-Stellar Strawberry non-dairy fruit and veggie blend by Ruby Rocket’s

-Strawberry Shortcake Flavored Instant Oatmeal by Bakery On Main

-Cookies by Labrems Bakery

-Organic Rice Vermicelli Noodles by Explore Asian

-Dark Chocolate + Bing Cherries Popcorn by 470 (AMAZING!)

-Google Grape Organic Lollipops by Yumearth

-Maple Sugar and Sea Salt Pumpkin Seeds by Super Seedz

-Plaintain Stips with Sea Salt by Artisan Tropic

-Gluten-Free Mini Honey Grahams by Pamela’s Products

-Saladpower by Allinone Vegetables

-Savory Bar by Mediterra

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Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

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One of my favorite ways to shop nowadays is through the curated emails I get that are thematically targeted for whatever holiday is approaching. Of all of the emails I received regarding Valentine’s Day gifts, Paper Source was definitely my favorite. I’ve always loved them, and adore their products. I wanted to post this completely because I think this store is adorable – not because I was asked to do so. These are some adorable and sweet gifts for that special person in your life! Below are some screen shots from their website:

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Liquid Lipsticks…

We all know that 2015 was the year of the liquid lipstick. They came out in full force by December, and my list of “must try” brands/colors got massive. As I mentioned in my previous post that I went on a little Amazon binge instead of electing to go to IMATS, I picked up several liquid lippy’s there. I also heard about a few other brands that I just had to try out. Because I prefer the dusty rose shades, these are all variants on my favorite color.FullSizeRender 45.jpg

Of course, this list had to begin with Dose of Colors in Stone. DOC blew up last year, and they are known for their unique color choices. I like it – the formula doesn’t seem to last for me though. Tips on fixing this are appreciated!

Next in line is Lime Crime’s Velvetine in Faded. I really like this one, but it is a little too dark for me to wear to work. I need a liquid lip that works for a multitude of purposes.

Following that is Gerard Cosmetics liquid lipstick in Serenity. This is perhaps the most orange of the group, but I wanted to try it for a few reasons. One, Gerard Cosmetics is so frequently mentioned by other bloggers/vloggers, that I really wanted to try it out. And two, because this specific shade was a collab between GC and Manny MUA from Youtube. I love wearing this! I just have to watch, because on me sometime it turns a bit too orange depending what color palette I have on.

I also heard many people talking about Glamorous Chicks Cosmetics – so I made sure to add them to my list! I purchased the Tame Matte Velvette and I really like the shade a lot. Quite versatile, but can appear a bit too dark at times for work wear.

When I was at the Bobbi Brown counter recently I was shown a lip gloss that was in the color Dusty Rose. While this doesn’t have any staying power like the liquid lipsticks, the color is opaque, and can definitely hold its own in this group.

The Beauty Bakerie is a brand that I heard of via YouTube. The color here is identical to the one I bought from Glamorous Chicks. I got the Versailles Lip Whip, and while the formula is a little strange – I’m not always a fan when formulas are whipped- this one has staying power. And I don’t find that it leans toward the darker side, unlike its GCC counterpart.

The last one on the list is by far my favorite. The color is Clueless and it is from ColourPop and it is perfect for everyday wear. It lasts, and I seriously can’t say how much I love it. I reach for it constantly, and need to try other colors!

See swatches below! (Same order as above starting from the top!)

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Merle Norman

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Back in December when I was on vacation in South Carolina, I noticed that there was a Merle Norman store just down the road from us. This is not a makeup company I’m used to seeing up north, so I wanted to check it out. The only thing I knew going in was that it was a company that had been around for a long time.

I’ve since come to find out that this company was launched in the 1920’s, thus making sense why I picked up on a vibe that they were skewing their products towards a more mature audience. However, my saleswoman was fantastic, and helped me find great introductory pieces to their lines. And you know what? I really LOVE their products. My favorite is the creamy concealer – I got a sample for making a purchase over a certain price – and my color is medium light warm. I use it for under my eyes, and it blends really well.

The lash primer and retinol night complex also came with the sample set, but admittedly I haven’t tried those out. Their Found Primer Plus SPF 15 however – is def a fav of mine. It has a silicone feel, and definitely gets into my pores to hold my foundation on well. Great consistency. I also fell hard for their Lip Pencil Plus (lip liner and lipstick pencils that are two in one pencils). Mine are in Wild Berry and Hussy. Hussy is sparkly and red – perfect for Valentines Day! Wild Berry is a darker wine color that I love to wear pretty often.

I just stumbled across a Merle Norman store, but I highly recommend checking out their products!

 

January 2016 Favorites

Between having pneumonia and then things being crazy at work, my time has been pulled in a million directions. But I didn’t want to miss mentioning some of my favorite products from January! My goal is to do a favorites post every month – hoping I can stick to it!

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January brought me a super random group of favorites. I made the decision not to head to IMATS again this year, largely because once you factor in the ticket price and the train tickets, the discounted makeup doesn’t seem worth it to me anymore. Once that decision was made, I decided to use an Amazon gift card from Christmas to pick up some of the items I would have picked up at the show. I’m looking to try out and explore new makeup brands, and also brands that have been pretty hyped, so this seemed like the best way to do that. One of the pieces I picked up was the Morphe blush palette (Morphe 9B The Blushed Blush Palette) that Jaclyn Hill talked about a few months back. Note: my camera massively darkened the blush colors above, see below for true colors.

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I haven’t stopped using it since I bought it – the colors are gorgeous. I’ve become a blush-a-holic, and this has just fed the addiction. Conveniently I also received a Target gift card [to feed my massive Target addiction] and this allowed me to purchase the Sonia Kashuk 10 piece Facet-nating Brush set. This was put out around Christmas, and I tried forever to justify buying it. The brushes are mixed between goat hair and synthetic – I love many of the goat hair ones. It really completes a brush collection, plus the gold handles are gorgeous.

And then there was the L’Oreal True Match Lumi Liquid Glow Illuminator in the shade Ice. I tend to like liquid highlighters, so I was excited for this one, and it didn’t disappoint. Plus, lets be real, their packaging is enough to make you buy one.

Every so often I get brave and decide to try a new dry shampoo. Strangely enough, although I’m blonde and it shouldn’t be so bad, I find they make my hair look gross.  The Bumble and Bumble Pret-a-powder smells amazing, and truly does the job of refreshing your hair. Because I have natrually dry hair, a product like this is perfect for me. I know some people have problems with the idea that this is a powder and not a spray, but I actually like that. This way it doesn’t make my hair clumpy or sticky like some do.

I found the CoverGirl Eye Shadow Quad in Blooming Blushes on one of my many trips to the drug store recently. The quality of the shadows isn’t amazing, but blendable enough to really work. Plus anything with a pink smoky eye is right up my alley.

Whenever I can I like to support fellow bloggers or Youtubers that I like to watch. When I saw Dani from Coffee Break with Dani released the 5 slot clear organizer in a collab with Zahra, I was happy to pick one up. I use it to store brushes, but I’ve seen posts from other bloggers where they bought upwards of 5+. These really are great. In a recent video Dani said they are almost sold out!

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And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to include two of the jewelry items I’ve been wearing on the reg lately. For our anniversary (which is at the end of December) my boyfriend got me this amazingly sparkly Michael Kors watch that I had been eyeing. It fits my wrist perfectly, and I’m obsessed with the sparkles! I was so surprised – and I know I’m quite blessed to have such a generous boyfriend. In addition he gave me the gorgeous necklace above as a Christmas gift. I’ll be sparkling year round!

What products were you loving last month??