Beauty

Empties Part II

I meant to post this back in December, but the month seemed to get away from me before I could! This is the second part in my empties posts. These are the products I used up last year. Some just went unused/bad and some I completely used up. Sorry for the bad quality of the photos – I’ll be using a new camera going forward!

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I’ll just pick out a few of the above to talk about. The Stila lip glaze in Watermelon is one that I just adore. I have so many back ups! But beware – it is uber sticky, so stay aware if that isn’t your thing. Jesse’s Girl [lip gloss fourth from left] is a brand that I’m becoming more familiar with, and one that I often have trouble finding. I found mine at Rite Aid, and I am simply in love with the frosted pink color. I really want to try their eye liner because I heard it is awesome. The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind is a fantastic concealer, but the tip of mine was a sponge applicator, and it really didn’t work for me. I worked with it because I loved the formula, but the sponge deteriorated beyond recognition by the end. I do recommend this product – I hope they have changed the applicator by now! The Tarte lip gloss was ok – nothing super special – although I’m a big Tarte fan. The Make Up Forever HD Foundation is my favorite. The bottle above is before they changed the formulation, but it is still my daily go to.

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The only mascaras that I would highlight above are the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara [third from left] and the Too Faced Queen Sized. Both are super old in my collection, so I had to throw them out. But I adore them. And of course, I love the Anastasia Brow Wiz. I’m working through two other brow products now, but will eventually return to this one.

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I LOVE Bumble and Bumble products. My salon carries the line, so I often pick up products there. The creme de coco shampoo is fantastic, and smells incredible. I plan to pick up another bottle in the near future. The mending shampoo is alright, made my hair too fluffy though. I HATED the Caviar Anti-Aging Replenishing Moisture Shampoo. Doesn’t do a thing and made my hair dry. I use the Organix Moroccan Argan Creme shampoo on the reg, and I think it makes my hair pretty soft. Dry Bar’s Sake Bomb Shampoo is good – not great – but works well for travel. The Tresemme Keratin Smooth Shampoo is pretty good as well. As someone with crazy, curly hair, it definitely smooths out the texture of my hair.

Have you guys tried any of these products?

Birchbox January 2016

Finally – my last subscription box arrived! I will always love Birchbox, even when I don’t always love my box each month. I’ve come to realize that having small sample sized items are GREAT for travel, and since I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, these have definitely come in handy.

I have to say – I adore the theme (and the color of the box) this month. I selected “ambition” to be my word for 2016. I want this to be the year I achieve some serious goals!

This month the items in my box are just OK. I laughed when I opened it because there were two products (shampoo and conditioner) from Beautiful Nutrition. In my Glossybox I just received a bottle of toner from the same brand – so this brand must be blowing up the beauty market. I’m curious to give it a shot! See what else I got in my box below:

Beautiful Nutrition Grapefruit Detox Shine Repair Shampoo

Beautiful Nutrition Grapefruit Detox Shine Repair Conditioner

Cargo Swimmables Shadow Stick – Coral Reef

derma e* Hydrating Serum with Hyaluronic Acid

Peripera Peri’s Tint Water – Strawberry Juice

What did you guys get in your box this month?

Glossybox January 2016

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I’ve seem to hit that point in the month where I finally have received nearly all of my subscription boxes. There is nothing I love more than coming home to a fun box and checking out all the new products in these curated boxes.

Over the past year I’ve had a love – hate relationship with Glossybox. I love that the products are full sized or deluxe sized. Sometimes though the products are all misses for me. But I missed getting it, and took advantage of a deal on Gilt recently, so I’m locked in for the next 6 months.

This month was interesting. I don’t love everything. But I’m willing to try it all out!

Products in this months box:

Beautiful Nutrition Lemon Rinse Gentle Clarifying Treatment

MeMeMe Lip Glide in Playful Peach

-417 Foot Nourishing Cream

Royal Apothic Cream Creme to Go

Emite Make Up Diamond Heart

What did you guys think of this months box?

Empties Part I

I have been saving empty products FOREVER. I hate hoarding trash, but I don’t think there is a better way to share what products I’d buy again, what I regret and what just didn’t work. I have SO many saved up stay tuned for Part II next month!

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First up are two brands of makeup removing wipes. I have a preferred brand that I love, but wanted to give these a try. The Ole Henriksen brand felt great but I couldn’t get past the smell. It wasn’t bad – but it wasn’t good. I want to try another scent to see if I like those better. And the yes to blueberries were TERRIBLE. Smelled horrible and didn’t work. I couldn’t even finish the pack of 8.

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I also was not a fan of the BareMinerals Prime Time. It definitely didn’t help hold my makeup. I did love the NYX Shine Killer though! It was GREAT and filled my pores so makeup didn’t sink in. I’d absolutely put that on the re-buy list. The ology body wash smells amazing and is so natural. I’ve bought this a few times and fall in love with it each time. I usually find mine at Walgreens. The Origins Ginzing Eye Cream is great too. That sample lasted for so long! The Urban Decay setting spray is a cult favorite, and I was so sad to be out. If I didn’t have my Model in a Bottle I’d definitely grab this again. And Serge Normant can do no wrong – this hair spray got used up so fast! I bought more products to try from the line.

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You’ll have to roll with me on these – some of them are SO old! I finally did a mascara clean out, and these are just a few that went in the trash. Instead of going through them one by one I’ll pick out a few. The Josie Maran Black Oil is amazing. I’ve blogged about it before – it does wonder for my lashes. The Lancome eyeliner (second from right) has been holy grail status for me. So sad it’s out of commission. The Roller Lash mascara went in the trash pile after 2 uses. I couldn’t stand it! Super disappointed since everyone raved about it. The other products are great, but not worth detailing nor picking up again.

Have any of you used any of the products above? Thoughts?

VIB Sephora Haul -UPDATE

This weekend I was at the mall, and found myself in the Sephora inside JC Penney. I had totally forgot to check there before thinking my sale shopping was over. I came across two sets, that I believe are exclusive to these Sephora’s. SO glad I went and checked it out!

I picked up the Sephora Favorites Beauty Unmasked – and I couldn’t resist the group of products they put together for this: FullSizeRender 26.jpg

I also picked up the Sephora Favorites Skin Wonderland, and again, the group of products is amazing. I had been thinking I hadn’t picked up any skin care items, and now I rounded out my haul! Can’t wait to try them out!

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VIB Rouge Sephora Haul

The Sephora VIB sale is my FAVORITE time of year. This year I hit Rouge status (which is both thrilling and embarrassing) and I couldn’t wait for my 20% to arrive. I went a little crazy picking things up since I took a bit of a Sephora hiatus in recent months. What better time to buy then when the entire store is on sale?! I prefer buying value sets because I feel like I get a lot for my money and I get to try everything I’ve been eyeing without dropping tons of money.

I just HAD to pick up the makeup bag above, because it is in my favorite color combo, gold and white. I also picked up the Burberry BURBERRY KISSES lipstick in Military Red No. 109, because the packaging is gorgeous in gold, and the red color is perfect for the holidays. I can’t wait to try it! I also love anything that smells like almonds (although strangely I don’t like almonds) and fell in love with the L’Occitane Almond Delights set. Their hand cream is my favorite, and I was so excited to see the almond scent.

There are SO many sets this season, and I had to think hard about what I could really use. I ordered the Give Me More Lip set which has some pretty great colors that I can try, and I picked up the Extend Your Style set in store. I love dry shampoo so it will definitely be used.

I would normally pass right over the perfume set, but once I found out that it includes a certificate for a full size perfume (from those included in the set) I went ahead and picked it up. I already have a few of the samples, but wanted to try a few more. I wound up throwing out about 5 of them. I think I might pick up Prada Candy in the full size version. (I’m in love with it!)

I was thrilled to see that one of the 500 point perks was from YSL. I love Black Opium, and I’ve been wanting to try some more of their products. The Touche Eclat looks fantastic and I can’t wait to try it.

Beyond what is pictured I picked up:

-Beautyblender Solid Bar

-Miniemergency kit (Black studded version)

-Burberry Eyebrow Definer

-Estee Lauder Be Envied: Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick Collection

-Kat Von D Studded Lipstick in Lolita

I will definitely post about the items that I love! What did you pick up at the sale?

IMATS and VIB ROUGE SALE HAUL

I’m so excited to share my IMATS and Sephora VIB Rouge sale haul (and a few products from CVS too)!

Brands:

Becca, Marc Jacobs, Bite Beauty, Nest, Milani, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Model in a Bottle, Esquido Mink Lashes, Z Palette, Tarte, Stila Cosmetics, LA Girl, Buxom, Benefit, Makeup Forever, Josie Maran, Smashbox, Korres

IMATS NYC 2015

Last weekend I decided to head out to IMATS, the International Makeup Artists Trade Show. It is held in various locations throughout the year, and I was able to attend the show in NYC. I wanted to write about my impressions, advice and what I would do differently next time.

I bought my ticket months in advance, and planned everything out – which vendors I wanted to hit, which products I wanted – a day or so before. I packed light, and unfortunately this time I went alone. I had a notebook with the items and the original prices so I could compare, and also kept in mind that anything I could find at Sephora I could pick up with the VIB Rouge sale that started the next day. I took a mid-morning train, attempting to beat the hundreds of people in line at Pier 94. I walked right in, and initially it didn’t seem that bad. However, once I started to head over to the brands I wanted, the lines were LONG. Some were shut down, some were an hour or longer. To avoid this, I walked around to understand the layout, and then headed over to the less crowded lines. I set a low budget for myself, and didn’t overspend because I missed some of the brands I wanted due to the lines. If I stood in the line for Sigma or NYX I would have been there all day and only left with those products. The line for Lime Crime was bad too – and Anastasia was shut down. I wanted to pick up some Ben Nye – but I can find it way cheaper on line, and I’m not in need of any at the moment.

I REALLY wanted to hit Lady Moss, but I couldn’t get a good view of the booth, and didn’t want to wait in line to see what they had.

I was able to get to the following tables:

-Tarte (all mascaras, blushes and lipsticks were $10!- I did snag a pic of their price list!)

-Zpalette

-Model in a Bottle

-Stila

-Esquido Lashes

-One table that sold LA Girl Cosmetics (I can’t remember the name of the stand!)

I made it a bunch of others, but they either didn’t have a decent discount, or were sold out of what I wanted (ahem, MUFE…)

I advise planning ahead and take a friend. If I wasn’t alone I could have waited in the longer lines. I also only stayed a few hours, but should have stayed much longer. Knowing the products you want ahead of time helps too – so you budget for what you want, and bring extra for the fun things you find on the way. Oh and DRESS COMFORTABLE! You are waiting in lines and wearing heels and fancy clothes doesn’t make that any easier. I forgot to take pics during the day – but I did snag a selfie!

My next post will be a haul!! Were any of you at IMATS NYC???

Carmindy & Co. 5 Minute Face

Last September I received the Carmindy & Co 5 Minute Face kit for my birthday. I’ve always been a huge fan of Carmindy’s on What Not to Wear, so I was hoping I would fall in love with her products. And for the most part, I do.

The kit comes with 5 beauty products, plus the adorable bag – all in a gorgeous tiffany blue color. The packaging is fantastic and I love the cosmetics bag.

One of the best items is the elevating mascara in black. It isn’t anything overly special, but it is one of the items I use most often. And is perfect for day to day use.

The item I use ALL the time is the love struck blush in Universal Pink. I literally use this everyday, and the color mixes and blends beautifully. I can’t recommend this blush enough.

The Carmindizing Highlighter is great. One side is powder, the other is cream, and the color matches my pale skin perfectly. I don’t use a highlighter everyday, but this is the one I reach for whenever I want to use one.

The Kiss Me Lip Butter in Rose Passion is just ok. It is a coral/red color, and is extremely sheer. More of a balm consistency. Perfect to run errands with, but not so great for work or for going out with friends. It isn’t that pigmented, so I find it similar to chapstick consistency. I’m a lip gloss kind of gal.

The product I don’t like at all is the Ever After Eyeliner in Espresso. It isn’t dark, rubs off easily, and I can’t stand the brown color. I love dark, black eye liner, so this naturally doesn’t fit my routine. If you use brown eyeliner though, you might really like it for a soft look!

Overall I love the brand. This kit is sold out at HSN, but I believe you can buy the products separately if you want. I know she has many other products in her line, and I can’t wait to try other products from Carmindy!

*Edit* I found this kit on this site: http://www.softsurroundings.com/P/Carmindy_5_Minute_Face_Kit/

Hair Care: Fresh from the Salon

This past weekend I went for my standard hair appointment, and as always, brought along my latest Pinterest hair obsession. I should note here that I have naturally curly, thick, unruly, dark blonde hair. I prefer to have it straight, light-platinum blonde (working on the platinum part). While my stylist worked to get my hair the perfect shade of blonde I wanted, she also showed me products that will help protect and prolong my color, and keep my hair healthy. Below are a few of the products I’ve picked up as a result of her fabulous suggestions over the past few months:

Bumble and Bumble’s BB Repair Blow Dry $30 – This is quite new to me, but I felt like I had to add a thick cream to my blow dry routine. I’ve used it a handful of times, and it seems as though my ends feel better after being subjected to heavy heat.

Bumble and Bumble’s BB Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Primer $27- I’ve had this now for several months, and I LOVE it. I’m obsessed with the entire line, but this product is great to use before doing my hair.

Hairkop’s Obliphica Professional Intensive Hair Serum $38- I received this in a Birchbox ages ago. I purchased a similar product from my salon’s line, and this is the closest item I can find in stores. The smell is so fantastic and my hair is the smoothest its been. And it works great after a blow out to keep it smooth.

When I choose to curl my hair I use the Big Sexy Hair Spray and Play Hairspray ($10.99). It gives the hold I need, and the can lasts me a while.

Soon I’ll do a post on the hair tools I use, what I’ve used in the past and what I absolutely adore.

GabGoesGlam

Beauty. Lifestyle. Fashion.