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cosmetics

Beauty

Tartelette in Bloom

Posted on July 11, 2017

I have a confession to make.  I have an obsession with palettes…eyeshadow palettes to be specific.  I must have at least 6 of these by now.  What do I need 6 palettes for?  How many eyes do I have?  Confessions of a cosmetics junkie.  Makeup palettes are just so darn pretty – it’s hard to pass up.  I have the first 3 Urban Decay Naked Palettes (I LOVE the Naked2 Palette.  If you’re ever going to try one, this is the one to get hands down), 2 Charlotte Tilbury ones, 1 Bobbi Brown one and now….this wonderful, beautiful tarte one.  In my defense, I travel a lot for work.  Wouldn’t these be great for travel?

First of all, look at the swatches.  They’re gorgeous!  I am very into neutral tones in case you couldn’t tell.  I like how this has a blend of matte and luster finishes.  These eyeshadows are pretty pigmented and easily blend-able.  As I was using my finger to swatch the colors, it was like touching butter! When I went to Sephora to purchase this palette, the associate ringing me up said “This is my current FAVORITE palette.  The colors are beautiful.”  Thank you Sephora employee for verifying my absolute NEED for this.  ha!

In conclusion, if you’re looking for an eyeshadow palette that you will reach for every day, this is it.  The price point isn’t too terrible either.  Luckily, I had a $50 gift card that I received for my birthday back in May so all I had to pay was 3 pennies.  Yes, $0.03. What a steal!

tarte Tartlette in Bloom Clay Eyeshadow Palette | Sephora $46

Beauty

June Birchbox Review

Posted on June 28, 2017

It’s been awhile blog friends.  Hope there are still a few of you out there.  I just started my 2 week staycation and I have to say…I’M BACK!!!  So far on this staycation I have, worked out almost every single day (I’m going to lose some pounds damn it!), I went to the Born Free Motorcycle Show with my boyfriend (and now I know what’s it like to go to a festival in the desert – it was 100 degrees), and I helped save a kitten and find it a forever home (I have done my good deed for the month and I think I want to foster kittens now….).  So that’s what I have been up to on the other side of the computer screen.

Now, on to the blog – I have so many new reviews and I am so excited to share them with all of you.  Now, let’s get back to business.  First up…

This month’s Birchbox had a mix of really great products and some that were not so great.  Let’s begin with the good…

Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray | Birchbox $46:  If you get Birchbox, you know that each month – you get to pick one of your samples.  This is the one I picked.  It is one of my holy grail products that I use on my hair every single day.  I am a “messy hair don’t care” type of gal and this stuff gives it just the right amount of texture and grit.  Plus, it has a lovely smell.  Well worth the money.  I must be on my 5th bottle!

Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45 | Birchbox $39:  When BB cream was all the range a few years back, Dr. Jart+ was one of the first BB creams I used.  This was actually the same exact one.  I loved it, except I realized after awhile that it was clogging my pores.  That’s just me though.  If you’re looking for a premium BB cream, this is it and it comes in 2 different shades.  I’m Shade #1 if you are curious.

Vasanti BrightenUp! New Skin Amplifying Moisturizer | Birchbox $34: I love the Vasanti brand.  In one of my first Birchbox’s, I got a sample of the Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator and it was life changing.  I love this exfoliator. So when I got a sample of this moisturizer, I was super excited.  It’s lightweight which is good for a day time moisturizer (make sure you put on your SPF too!) and for the hot summer months.  Great if you have oily skin and need a light moisturizer.

Now let’s get to the not so good products…

Benefit Cosmetics Goof Proof Brow Pencil | Birchbox $24:  I feel like I’m always saying this with these types of reviews but…I had high hopes for this.  I was so excited to see that it was coming in my box.  However, the sample was the SMALLEST SAMPLE EVER!  When I tried it on my eyebrows, I couldn’t get a good grip on it.  I can’t even give you an honest opinion on this because the sample was so small.  No Benefit Cosmetics…NO!  How could you do this?  Very poor marketing on your part….

Manna Kadar Cosmetics Eye Candy Priming Shadow Stick | Birchbox $24:  This thing came to me broken.  I didn’t even want to open the cap and deal with the stick falling out and making a mess.  So I just took a picture of it and threw it in the trash.  Amazing that it is of such low quality, it broke going through the mail.  I didn’t even get this during the heat wave… so I can’t say that it melted in the Southern California heat.  NOPE.

3 out of 5 were winners.  YAY!

If you want to get your own Birchbox, click here!  Until next time!

 

 

 

 

Beauty

May Birchbox Review

Posted on May 23, 2017

May has been a super busy month for me so far.  I had a few work trips that have been keeping me busy and the oh so important –  my birthday!  After you turn 30, you’re like your parents where you don’t remember your age/you don’t want to tell anyone your real age. HA!  I hate getting a year older but I love celebrating my birthday with friends!  I had to work on my birthday but I have made it a tradition to go to Ruth’s Chris with my colleagues and it’s worked out great!  Who can say no to steak and sizzling butter?  Absolutely no one.

I know I skipped out on April’s Birchbox review and I thought I wouldn’t even notice.  Well, my desk sure noticed.  After May’s Birchbox came – I saw that I was starting to accumulate samples and had no plan to ever try them.  BAD!  So here I go, continuing with my monthly Birchbox reviews.

OUAI Wave Spray | Birchbox $26:  I have been wanting to try out OUAI brand products for so long.  I am a closet Kardashian fan and have been following Jen Atkin for awhile since she does their hair.  Also, SoulCycle now carries her products in their restrooms, so it must be good right?  Well, maybe I need to try a different product from her line.  This stuff smells great but gives hair a crunchy feel.  I will be sticking to my LUSH Sea Spray.


Whish Firming Body Cream | Birchbox $36:  This stuff is supposed to target the appearance of stretch marks and blemishes.  Do I believe this?  No.  Did I like using it as a normal body cream?  Yes.  It has a nice, light, floral scent and isn’t too thick.  Would I purchase this?  Nope.  For body lotion, I like to stay with the middle of the road ones.  Typically because they smell nice but I don’t usually spend too much money on body lotion.

MAC Cosmetics Strobe Cream | Birchbox $33:  I am on highlighter overload right now.  However, I do like that you can dab dab dab on the parts of your face that you want to highlight and it will blend perfectly.  It’s not too shimmery and won’t make your face look like a disco ball (unless you want it to, then you can keep on adding!). I actually really like MAC’s skin products and think this is a great buy if you want a glow from within (add it to your foundation or lotion) or if you are looking into a liquid highlighter.

The Beauty Crop Fabulous Flocking Lashes | Birchbox $22:  I wish I could tell Birchbox to stop sending me mascaras.  I always hope that a mascara will work for my eyelashes, but they never do.  The only one I can use is Cover Girl Lash Blast Very Black Waterproof.  The Beauty Crop Fabulous Flocking Lashes looked promising.  I loved the packaging, it’s waterproof and contains argan oil to help moisturize your lashes.  However, immediately after curling my lashes and applying this stuff – my lashes went straight. The good news is that they were looked really long.  If you have stubborn straight Asian eyelashes like me, skip this.

COOLA SPF 30 Organic Makeup Setting Spray | Birchbox $36: I like the idea of this.  I sprayed it on and immediately thought to myself – “this stuff smells weird.”  Now all day I have the smell on my face and I get whiffs of it as I sit at my desk. It’s supposed to give a matte finish, but after about 1 hour – my face was back to being a bit oily.  The best thing about this stuff is that it has SPF.  I like the other SPF products from COOLA that I have, but I don’t think I will be recommending this one.

Unfortunately this Birchbox was a bust for me this month.  However, I still love trying out new products and maybe I would have bought the full size version of any of these and then figured out I didn’t like them.  This is so much more fun!  haha

If you want to get your own Birchbox, click here!  Until next time!

 

 

Beauty

March Birchbox Review

Posted on March 30, 2017

This past weekend I was up in NorCal for work and had a blast!  If you follow me on my Instagram, you would have seen that I went to Kittea Cat Cafe in San Francisco.  I had so much fun, the cats are adorable. Maybe I will do a review on my visit.  Let me know if you want to know what it was like.  Other than that, I ate a lot.  The food up there is amazing and it’s fun to see the different variations between SoCal and NorCal.  For example, I saw a huge line for Boba Guys. Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley – we have a ton of boba places.  I couldn’t believe why there would be a line at this place. Well, it’s the hip, organic, delicious version of what we have down here.  I approve.

Now back to the real reason for this post – March Birchbox review!  This Birchbox was curated by Reese Witherspoon and her lifestyle brand Draper James. This one had some great products in it and I was super excited to try everything out.  Also, I love Reese!

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream | Birchbox $27.50:  This is a no-brainer.  I love Kiehl’s products.  This is right in between being lightweight and creamy.  It’s great for an everyday face cream.  It has no scent which I do like.  This is the best every day no nonsense face cream!

W3LL PEOPLE Expressionist Mascara | Birchbox $21.99: It doesn’t matter what kind of mascara it is.  They  never work on my stick straight eyelashes.  However, I try every single mascara that is sent to me and sadly, this did not work for me.  *insert sad face*

Davines Naturaltech Replumpling Shampoo & Conditioner | Birchbox $26.50 each:  I know I say this a lot, but I was really looking forward to trying this out.  I love Davines.  However, this smelled musky and like an old lady.  AND when I used the shampoo my hair didn’t feel clean.  When I used the conditioner, my hair didn’t feel soft.  PASS!

Davines Naturaltech Replumping Hair Filler Superactive | Birchbox $40:  I was skeptical about this.  What is it supposed to do?  Fill my hair?  Well, other than the smell which I didn’t like (it’s the same as the shampoo & conditioner) – it did what it said it was going to do!  My hair is full and plumped.  I wish it didn’t smell like an old lady, but I will be using this whole sample bottle up!  Who doesn’t love fuller hair?

Real Chemistry Fresh-Start Foaming Cleanser | Birchbox $24:  I loved the Real Chemistry Luminous 3-Minute Peel that was in my December Birchbox so I was really looking forward to trying this out.  It doesn’t dry your face out like normal foaming cleansers do and it’s moisturizing!  Not bad!  This would be perfect if you have a Clarisonic.

Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Double the Lip in Lusty Rose| Birchbox $20:  This product is really cool.  It’s a lip liner and lipstick in 1.  You can see in the photo that there are two layers.  However, even though I was super excited to see this and try it – it was a bust for me.  The first problem, the color.  It just wasn’t a good look on me.  Also, having to put the “liner” part on your bottom lip is a bit of a task.  It’s a great concept and Benefit is some high quality stuff – but this just wasn’t for me.

I liked 4/7 of the products sent to me.  I say that’s a win!

If you want to get your own Birchbox, click here!  Until next time!

Beauty

Bite Beauty | The Lip Pencil

Posted on February 6, 2017

I was chosen by Influenster to try out the Bite Beauty VoxBox.  In case you don’t know what Influenster is, it’s actually really cool.  You sign up and it does require a bit of work, but you can get picked to try out new products for free!  I got the Bite Beauty The Lip Pencil.  It’s exclusive to Sephora and was just released on 2.2.17 (also my dad’s birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!).  I received 2 lip pencils, 2 lipsticks and 1 Sephora pencil sharpener.

I have the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in Champagne and love it, so I was excited to try their new lip pencil.  I did some research on the brand to get more familiar with it.  Turns out that they use food-grade ingredients and some of their products smell good enough to eat!  This definitely intrigued me.  Read on to find out my thoughts on the lip pencils!

Bite Beauty The Lip Pencil 020 Beige Nude| Sephora $18:  This is the PERFECT nude color.  I have to say that this is comparable to my favorite Charlotte Tilbury Lip Liner in Pillow Talk.  The pencil itself is creamy and lightweight. It has shea butter in it!  I did pair this with the Amuse Bouche lipstick that they sent in Honeycomb and it was lovely! AND did you know that their lipsticks are hand made in small batches?  LOVE!

*lip pencil on top, lipstick on bottom*

BITE Beauty The Lip Pencil 044 Rich Mahogany | Sephora $18: If you have been reading my blog, you know that I love dark lip colors.  You put it on and look put together – like you spent all day getting ready.  I love it!  When I opened up the box, I thought this was going to be my favorite color of the two pencils. Well, I like both equally.  Don’t hate me ok?  This pencil is super pigmented which is a good thing when using a dark lip pencil.  I was sent the Amuse Bouche lipstick in Whiskey to pair with it, but holy cow!  Whiskey looked almost black on me (it’s supposed to be a Rich Mahogany with Red). The lip pencil itself is beautiful alone, which is how I wore it.  Doing this actually really impressed me with how nice the lip pencil is.  Lipstick is not needed.  LOVE!

*lip pencil on top, lipstick on bottom*

Final thoughts?  I need to head over to Sephora to look at the other colors in person.  For being brand new, this product is really great.  I would just be careful to now throw it in your big handbag (or mine).  I did that and the cap fell off…of both pencils.  You do NOT want Rich Mahogany all over the place.  Other than that, this lip pencil is great.  I highly recommend it!

*I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster and Bite Beauty*