Formula 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Mask Review

Hello! Today we are talking about some skincare! Specifically a mask that I've been using lately.

I heard about Formula 10.0.6 a few years ago and have always wanted to try their skin care but kind of forgot about it for a while. I was looking for a new face mask at Ulta and found a display of this brand. I have to admit that I was kind of drawn on by their packaging because it's fun and colorful but so simple, and that this was a bit of an impulse buy. But upon reading their website, they claim to use fresh and natural ingredients, which is a total win in my book. However, they were a bit vague in this description so I'm not sure how 100% these claims are! This is also a super affordable brand, and that's always a plus!

On to the mask I bought!

When I use face masks, I prefer to use some type of mud mask. I chose the Pores Be Pure Skin Clarifying Mud Mask.

About this mask from Formula 10.0.6 website

"Pores Be Pure is the skin-clarifying mud mask that helps to eliminate impurities and clear blocked pores. With the help of Strawberry, Yarrow, and Rosemary, Pores Be Pure provides your skin with instant complexion perfections. Packed with anti-oxidants for clear skin."

I chose this one because when I was looking at the ingredients, I saw this mask had Kaolin Clay in it, which my skin responds well to. They also had another mask, called Deep Down Detox, which was also a mud mask containing Kaolin, and was orange scented. I chose the Pores Be Pure because I thought the strawberry scent sounded better. 

My Thoughts-

Overall, I enjoy this mask, but it isn't anything special. I really love the way it smells with the Strawberry scent. I can't smell the yarrow (I don't even know what yarrow smells like?) or the rosemary, which is nice. The scent is very light and not overpowering. 

This mask does feel a little bit tingly/hot on my face but it's nothing serious and doesn't bothers me. I've had masks that burn before and I can't deal with those, but this one is okay. The sensation goes away after it's been on my face for a minute or two. 

My skin does feel really nice and clean after using this, but I haven't really seen any changes in my skin. I'll definitely finish this up, and I do want to try more from this brand. I say if you want to try this out, it's worth a try but I'm not sure if I'd repurchase it! 

Have you tried any products from Formula 10.06 before? If so leave your thoughts on them in the comments! 

August Favorites

Hi Friends! Happy September 1st! I'm super excited that my favorite month is here, and that Fall is right around the corner! I'll be sad to see summer go, but there's always so much I look forward to in the next few months to come!

I don't know what's happened to my blog posts lately! Time has been getting away from me and I've been forgetting of plan Friday posts. The opposite had happened to me this week. Everyday I've been telling myself to take photos for my blog and get a post done, and now here I am Friday, with this being my only post this week! Oops!

But regardless, I am here with my August favorites. I didn't have much to share this month, few a few makeup/beauty products and no lifestyle favorites. I've been ridiculously busy and consumed these past two weeks with my Etsy Store and tying to grow my Instagram page for it! Okay, let's talk Favorites now.

-I've been super in love with the L'Oréal infallible Amber Rush shadow lately. It's so easy to just throw on my lid for a simple eyemakeup look with some bronzer in my crease. I showed how I use it in my Current Makeup Routine Post, if you haven't checked that post out yet!

-For blush I've been using my Morphe 9N palette a lot, specifically the peachy shade in the dead center of the palette. This was also featured in my current makeup routine post.

-I've also been loving Bennefit Sugar Bomb blush. I honestly didn't like this blush when I first bought it a few years ago and only used in a handful of times until recently. I thought it lacked color and just wasn't very exciting. Now I've changed my mind because I really enjoy wearing blushes that look very natural and just give some subtle color to my cheeks.

-I've been obsessed with this Tarte Lip Paint in Birthday Suit that came in the Sephora birthday gift for this year. It's the perfect shade and I'm in love.

-The L'Oréal Lash Paradise has becomes my favorite mascara right now (reviewed here) and I swear the more I use it, the more I love it.

-And lastly, I've been using the Burt's Bees Gentle Foaming Cleanser for Normal to Combo skin and I really like it! I bought this because Ulta was out of the Acne Solutions cleanser that I also really love, and I'm super impressed with this foaming cleanser too! I've been loving Burt's Bees skin care lately and my skin has responded really well to everything that I've tried!

So that's all for my favorites this month! I just realized that almost all the makeup I mentioned was products I shared in my everyday makeup routine post. I'm sorry for being repeative, but oh well!

What are you loving this month?

Everyday Makeup Routine

It's been a while since I've share a makeup look here on my blog! I thought I'd share my simple and go to, everyday makeup look that I've been wearing lately. I usually opt for lighter eyemakeup during the week (if I actually do my makeup), and save a full eye look for weekends or if I have go somewhere important.

PRODUCTS I USED

BASE + FACE MAKEUP

I rarely ever use a face primer anymore unless I do my makeup earlier in the day and want it to last, or if I have somewhere special to go so that is why no primer is pictured. For foundation I've been using my Covergirl Healthy Elixir Foundation. For concealer and setting power I use Mac Pro Longwear and Rimmel Stay Matte, these are my two holy grails. My go to bronzer has been the Stila Stay all Day Bronzer, I use it to warm up my face and a light contour. For blush I've been reaching into my Morphe 9N blush palette for this look I used the peachy shade in the very center (middle shade, second row). Since this blush has some shimmer, I skipped a highlight.

BROWS

The only brow products I ever use is Nyx Micro brow pencil and Essence Gimme brow gel. They are just the best brow products.

EYES

I always prime with Mac Painterly paint pot, even if I don't wear shadow. It conceals any darkness or discoloration on my lids. For shadow I honestly just take my blending brush and dip it into my Bronzer, blend it into my crease and under my lash line. Then I've been using L'Oréal Amber Rush shadow all over my lid. It's light, pretty, and gives a little color and shimmer without being too much. I tight line with L'Oréal Silkissime liner so my lashes look fuller, and finish up with L'Oréal Lash Paradise mascara (missed my review? Check it out here!)

FINISHED LOOK

I forgot to add my lipstick in the photo above, so here it is with the makeup look photos. I absolutely love this mini Tarteist lip paint in Birthday Suit that came with the Sephora birthday gift. It's literally the best color of life, and the most comfortable liquid lipstick I've ever worn. I want need the full size.

So there's my everyday makeup look and routine! I probably should have filmed this for my YouTube channel but *shrugs*.

EXTRAS!

I reached 600 followers on my 2nd Instagram account that I have for my Etsy Store! In honor of reaching 500 last week, I'm holding a giveaway over there and I'm over the moon that I already grew to 600 in just a few days. 

I'd love for you all to enter the giveaway, and win some goodies from my Etsy Store! Checkout my giveaway post on my MoonElements Instagram for more details!

End of Summer & Fall Candle Haul

Hello hello!

Today I have a quick candle haul to share. I called this the end of  Summer and Fall candle haul because I got scents for both seasons. The more summer ones are really good for all year, or good ones to transition into Fall with. I'm really excited and can't wait for Fall since it's my favorite season, so I really wanted Fall scents the most.  P.s. Since last Fall, I've finished up 25 candles. I made it a point to finish up as many candles as I could because I obviously had an excessive amount.

The top two candles in this stack are from Bath & Body Works and the bottom three are from Walmart from a brand called 719 Walnut Ave. I swear to god these are exactly the same as the BBW ones. They smell amazing and are only $4.99. Go smell them, buy them, and thank me later.

Top Row (bbw)-

The first candle is called Incense and this is one that my hubby actually picked out. It's Pachouli and Balck Pepper and this smells amazing. It has that incense scent but it's not as strong as when you burn actual inscense. I burn incense almost everyday, so this candle is nice to have if I don't want an over powering scent.

The second from BBW is Pumpkin Cupcake. I had to get at least one Pumpkin Scent and I do like to have at least one sweet scent in my collection to burn.

Bottom row (walnut ave)-

The first one is called Rustic Lake House and is described as cedar, citrus, and green moss. It has a bit of a cologne/earthy scent but it's very light and clean. These types of candles are nice if I'm tired of smelling a sweet or fruity scent.

Next is Country Market, and this is one I picked up last year too and really loved it. This is is described as juicy berries and watermelon, and I think it's great for both Summer and Fall.

Last is Apple Delight. I think this is another one that could be for Summer or Fall, but I'm waiting until Fall to burn it!

The Fall scents at BBW didn't excite me much this year. I love their Leaves and Autumn scents but I just finished up mine that I had from last year. I almost picked up Mahagonay Apple, but the more I smelled it, the more it smelled like beer/hard apple cider LOL. Their website seems to have more scents that I'm interested in that weren't in my local store.

So this is my little candle haul that I'm ridiculously excited about.  Have you picked up any Fall candles yet? Which scents are your favorite?

L'Oreal Lash Paradise Mascara Review

Hello! Happy Wednesday!

There has been a ton of hype and hoo-ha over the new L'Oreal Lash Paradise Mascara lately. I heard it's a good dupe for the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, which I personally haven't tried, but I also heard from some that it's even better. My curiosity got the best of me and I had to try this mascara out. Everyone has been obsessed with it so I had to see if this lived up to it's claims of being the best drugstore mascara out there right now. I've been testing this out for exactly one month today, and I'm ready to share my thoughts on it!

It comes in an adorable baby pink tube, and has a brush thats slightly shaped like an hourglass. I usually prefer wands that are smaller and plastic, but I don't mind regular ones if the mascara is good. I believe I bought this for $9.99 at target. 

This mascara claims to have "a silky smooth formula to glide evenly and easily. Volumizing and lengthening to deliver a full lash fridge that's feathery and soft. No flaking or clumping."

I'm not going to lie, when I first tired this I did not like it. I seriously couldn't understand why everyone was raving about this. I didn't care for the formula, and thought it was kind of dry and sticky. I thought it made my lashes long, but didn't give them any thickness. I'm not a fan of the original L'Oreal Voluminous mascara, so I also wasn't surprised that I didn't like this either. After a week or so, I just thought it was OK, and nothing special.

AND THEN I CHANGED MY MIND.

I'm not completely obsessed, but I kind of am.

So here is the first time I used it. No mascara on the top two photos, and 3 to 4 coats on the bottom two. I know I said I didn't like it at first, and some of you may be wondering why. If I saw this photo of someone else's lashes, I'd probably think it looked great and that they are crazy for not liking it. Let me explain. I'm ridiculously picky when it comes to mascaras. This didn't give me as much thickness to my lashes like other ones do (e.i. Covergirl Supersizer and Maybelline Lash Sensational), so its hard for me not to compare it to ones that I love. 

Now let me tell you what changed my mind. Like most mascaras, the formula changes a bit after the tube is open and you use it for a week or two. After two week I started to like this more and more. It coasts my lashes better now and I get a ton of length, along with the thickness that I like my lashes to be. It also gives me really great volume and curl, and I love the way it looks on my bottom lashes. It doesn't flake or smudge on me like the claims state. You can see the difference in the top to photos (first week), and the bottom two (after two weeks), where my lashes are thicker in the bottom photos. I really like wearing this on days that I don't wear any shadow or eyeliner. Also, like L'Oreal claims, it does give you lashes a very feathery look. 

My only gripe with this is that my lashes seem to 'fall' throughout the day. They don't look as fresh and when the mascara is first applied. But this is easy to reapply if needed, which is nice because I find that some mascaras are hard to reapply after its all dried and such.

So do I think that this is the Mascara God's gift to earth? Not exactly, but it's pretty darn good. The more I use it, the more I like it. I do prefer the Maybelline Lash Sensational still, but I've been reaching for this more than my beloved Covergirl Supersizer.

I haven't decided if I'll repurchase it again yet. I'm going to revisit the Maybelline one after this is gone and then see if I miss the Lash Paradise. 

Have you tried out the L'Oreal Lash Paradise yet? Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments!

Skin Care Haul

Hello! Today I'm sharing a skin care haul! I seem to have run out of everything at the same time, so I made a trip to Ulta and Target. Some of these are repurchases for me, and some a new!

I ran out of my self tanner so I repurchased the NKD SKN self tan from Ulta. I like this because its organic and made with natural ingredients. It's not my favorite that I've ever tried, but it's affordable, dries really fast, and has a minimal scent to it!

I also repurchased the Dr. Bronners Pure Castile soap in the Hemp Almond scent. I use this stuff for body wash and for hand soap in my bathrooms and kitchen. This stuff is amazing, and its seriously the best makeup brush/sponge cleanser!

The next repurchase for me is the Burt's Bees Acne Solutions Toner. I could not wait to repurchase this again, and I'm so excited to have it back in my skin care routine. I was also going to purchase the Acne Solutions Cleanser that I raved about in my July Favorites  post on Monday, but neither Target nor Ulta had it in stock. I was a bit annoyed because I really love it, but I took this as an opportunity to try a different cleansers from Burt's Bees instead since I've had good luck with their skin care. I picked up the Gentle Foaming Cleanser with is for normal to combo skin. I'll do a review on it once I try it out for a bit.

I wanted a new face mask since I ran out of all of mine, and the only one that interested me was the Formula 10.06 Pores be Pure Skin Clarifying Mud Mask. I haven't tried anything from this brand before, but I remember being interested in it a while ago! They had a few different mud masks, and I chose this one because it has Kaolin Clay in the ingredients, and my skin responds well to it. I'll also do a review for this once I try it out for a while!

And the last product I picked up is the Derma E Purifying Detox Scrub. I reviewed this a while ago (here!) when I was sent some Derma E products from Brandbacker. I really loved this scrub, so I wanted to repurchased it when I ran out! 

Have you tried any of these skin care products before? Let me know your thoughts on them in the comments! 

July Favorites

Hello! Happy Monday! 

Today I'm sharing my July Favorites, and this month I have a mix of makeup, skin and hair care, food goodies, and books! I'll keep this intro short, and we'll just get into it. 

MAKEUP 

I have to mention the Naked Heat palette because I'm seriously obsessed and it's all I've been using. I reviewed it last week here in case you missed it, but this is seriously the best Naked Palette that Urban Decay has came out with!

I've also been using the Urban Decay Single Shadow is Walk of Shame, because the Naked Heat palette doesn't have a shade for me to set my eye primer with. Ounce is a bit too light and has a tiny bit of sheen to it, and Chaser works best as a transition shade for me. W.O.S is a tiny bit lighter than Chaser, so its perfect to place all over my lid up to my brow to set my primer. 

I've been trying out the new Covergirl Healthy Elixir Foundation and I really like it! I bought a shade darker than I normally would and it matches my self tan perfect. I'll probably purchase the a shade lighter in the Fall time when I'm not self tanning, that's how much I like it. I'll do a review for this soon, if anyone is interested. I also mentioned a while ago that I will only be purchasing cruelty free makeup from now on, but I cannot for the life of me find a drugstore foundation or concealer thats cruelty free that I like. :/

A nail polish that I've been in love with is Essie Chills & Thrills. It's such a fun blue color for summer time, but this would also be great for fall and winter too. I don't paint my finger nails anymore, but I love this one for my toes!

SKIN AND HAIR CARE

I absolutely love this Burt's Bees Acne Solutions Cleanser that I reviewed at the beginning of the month (click here if you missed it!). I said in my review that I might not repurchase it because of how small the bottle is, but I've definitely changed my mind and will be repurchasing it. The bottle is nearly empty and I will be getting another one soon. This cleanser is seriously amazing and my skin has been looking really great with hardly no breakouts since I've been using it. 

For hair care I've been loving this Not Your Mothers Beach Babe Sea Salt Spray. On days that I wash my hair, I don't like to style it so it can have a break from heat. I will let my hair air dry instead, and I'll use this sea salt spray to give it some texture. It doesn't give me amazing mermaid waves of anything, but I still like it and it smells amazing. 

I've also been enjoying this Ion Titanium Pro Spiral Curling Wand. My Mother in Law gifted me this for my Birthday last month, and it makes such pretty curls/waves! You can find this baby at Sally's if any of you are interested in where it came from. 

BOOKS

I've been struggling to enjoy reading lately. I've only read 2 books so far this year! I read the Fantastic Beasts and where to find them screen play earlier this year and that was it up until last week. I decided to pick up a few of my favorite books that I've already read to try and get me back into reading. Last week I read Looking for Alaska by John Green, which is my all time favorite book (or at least tied for my favorite with The Tea Rose). I've read this 4 times now and I swear I'll never get tired of this book. Now I'm reading The Outsiders, which I've probably read at least 5 or 6 times already since I was 12. It will always be one of my favorite books.

I usually share my favorite Netflix shows in my favorites, but I currently don't have any to share. I watched Weeds all last month, and now I'm finished and can't find a good show to get into. If you guys have any recommendations, let me know!

FOOD GOODNESS

Last month I shared my love for the GFB bars, and this month I have a few new ones that I've been enjoying. First is these Kind pressed fruit bars which are so so good. My favorite flavors are the Strawberry Apple Chia, and the Mango Apple Chia. And the best part about these is the ingredients- all thats in them are chia seeds, apple, and strawberry/mango.

I've also been enjoying theses Larabars and my favorite flavor is the chocolate chip cookie dough. These also have great ingredients in them and they definitely cure my sweet tooth.

My biggest tip for a healthy diet is to look at the ingredients of what your eating. Know whats in your food. If it has a long ingredient list, and there are things in there that you can't pronounce/don't know what it is, then stay away from it!

So this wraps up my July Favorites post. What have you been loving this month?

Extras-

-I think its time to get my wisdom teeth out. I should have gotten them out years ago but I'm a baby. I got a bad infection in my gums/teeth area where a bottom wisdom tooth is under my gums. Thankfully its better now, but I couldn't even close my mouth because it was so swollen and painful back there! 

-My 4th Blog Birthday was as the beginning of June. I completely forgot about it until a few weeks ago. So instead I want to celebrate Pilar whose 4th blog birthday was on the 27th, and Lily whose 4th blog birthday was on the 29th. I love both you ladies, and I wish you many more years of blogging success!!

Naked Heat | Review, Swatches, and Makeup Looks

I'm not going to lie, I went crazy after seeing the new Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette. Everyone seemed to have mixed feelings about it, either they were excited or they weren't. I've been a fan of the Naked Palettes for years, and always get excited over the new UD releases. I don't use my naked palettes often any more, and can agree with many others when they say that there is better quality palettes out there. But I can honestly say, I think that the Naked Heat palette is the best naked palette yet. The. Best.  And forwarming, this post is going to be very picture heavy, and this review will be way too long and detailed will be pretty lengthy!

 What initially drew me to this palette was the color scheme, not the fact that it's a new naked palette. I'm obsessed with warm, reddish, orange, and rusty shades. It's what I wear on a daily basis, so of course I wanted to get my hands on it.

The packaging is nice, it's the same as the Naked Smoky palette (hard plastic with magnetic closure) , rather then the usually metal tin or cardboard like the first three. I like this packaging the best so far. I think that UD put a lot of thought into not only the packaging, but also the box that it came in.

The palette comes with a double ended brush. I think UD makes great brushes, so it's always nice to see them included in the palettes.

Here is photos of the palette without the flash (top) and with a flash (bottom). You get a nice mix of matte and shimmed shades, but what's different about this palette is that you get MORE mattes than shimmers. Usually the naked palettes only have 2-3 mattes. (first 3), and the smoky has equal mattes/shimmers. This palette has 7 matte shades and 4 shimmers. It also includes a satin off white shade that is mostly matte but has a tiny bit of sheen to it (think the first shade in the naked basics palette).

Swatches

And here are swatches with and without the flash.

From left to right (top photos)- Ounce, Chaser, Sauced, Low Blow, Lumbre, He Devil

(bottom photos)- Dirty Talk, Scorched, Cayenne, En Fuego, Ashes, Ember

Formula, Pigmentation, and all that Jazz

Lets talk about about the quality these shadows before I share the makeup looks. The pigmentation is amazing and these shadows have really great formulation to them. These are the best quality shadows that I've ever seen in a Naked palette before. The matte shades are so creamy and blend out amazingly. They remind me of how great the matte shades in the naked basics palettes are, especially the Ultimate Naked Basics. The shimmer shades as also amazing. They apply so well with a brush or your finger. They also foil really well when using a wet brush.

Makeup Looks

I found it easy to create a ton of different makeup looks with this palette. You can create a natural/neutral look using the first few matte shades, or you can go all the way to super smokey with using the right end of the palette. The shades Lumbre (second to last on top photos), Dirty talk (first on bottom photos), and Scorched (second on bottom photos) all look similar when looking at them in the palette, but they are all completely different when used on the eyes in a makeup look.

Here is the most natural of the makeup looks that I created, and this has been my go to makeup look lately.

I used Chaser as my transition shade. I used Sauced and Low Blow in my crease, and Cayenne in the outer corner and to deepen the crease. I used Ounce all over my lid and under my brow bone, and Cayenne on the lower lash line. 

For this look I use Chaser as a transition, Sauced and Low Blow in my crease. He Devil and Cayenne to deepen my crease, and Dirty Talk all over my lid, with Ounce as my brow bone highlight, and Cayenne on the lower lash line. 

This next one is my favorite look that I created with this palette so far. 

I used Chaser for transition, Low Blow in my crease, Cayenne and En Fuego to deepen my crease, and Lumbre all over my lid. En Fuego on the lower lash line. I think Lumbre is my favorite shade in the palette. 

And for this last one I used Sauced and Low Blow as a transition/crease shade, He Devil to deepen my crease, and Cayenne and En Fuego in the outer corner. I used Ember on the outer half of my lid, and Scorched on the first half. I used Ember on the lower lash line. 

My Overall Thoughts

-Overall I think this is an amazing palette, and like I said It's my favorite naked palette yet. I also think its the best quality of them all. The pigmentation is great, the formula is buttery and smooth, and they blend really well. 

-I love all of the shades, and I think they work well with my green eyes to make them stand out. That's probably my favorite thing about the palette. 

-I love the fact that there is more matte than shimmer shades.

-If you are thinking about purchasing this palette, I definitely recommend it! Its definitely worth the money!

Have you picked up the Naked Heat palette yet? What are your thoughts on it?

Burt's Bees Review | Natural Acne Solution Cleanser + Brightening Refining Tonic

Hello! I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! I'm excited that it's almost the weekend again!

Today I'm sharing some Burt's Bees Skin Care reviews. I'm a huge fan of their Natural Acne Solution toner, as it's one of the best I've ever used for my combo-oily and acne prone skin. I accidentally picked up their Natural Acne Solution Cleanser, because the packaging is pretty much identical to the toner. It's the same size and label. I actually wanted to try out this cleanser anyways so I wasn't that upset about it. BUT I did realize I bought the wrong product after I arrived on vacation in Maryland LOL. To shorten this long story, I went to walgreen across from our hotel to purchase the correct toner, which they didn't have, which led to me getting the Brightening Refining Tonic instead. And here I am doing reviews for both products.

Natural Acne Solutions Purifying Gel Cleanser
Product claims via Burt's Bees website -
Our best acne face wash is clinically proven to help cleanse away acne-causing bacteria, excess oil and impurities without over-drying or irritating skin. Salicylic Acid, derived naturally from Willow Bark Extract, penetrates pores to help reduce acne and prevent future breakouts, in our natural purifying gel cleanser, while Evening Primrose and Beet Root Extracts help calm acne prone skin. The result is naturally clear and healthy-looking skin.

• Clinically proven to wash away acne causing bacteria, excess oil and impurities
• Soothes acne-prone skin
• Non-irritating
• Helps reduce acne and prevent breakouts with Salicylic Acid from Willow Bark
• Noncomedogenic
• Dermatologist Tested

This Cleanser is recommend for oily skin. I have combo normal to oily and and sensitive skin and this works well for me. It can be drying so if you have dry skin, I wouldn't recommend this. I totally agree with it's claims of being non irritating, and  helping to soothe and reduce Acne. It's honestly a great Cleanser and my face feels amazing and clean afterwards. My only issue with it (and the Acne Solutions toner) is that the bottles are small, and I run out of them fast. I do really like this, but I haven't decided if I'm going to repurchase it yet due to how quickly I use it up. If you have a skin type similar to mine and you skin responds well to Salicylic Acid, then I definitely recommend trying this (and the toner!) out!

Brightening Refining Tonic
Claims from Burt's Bees website
Clinically proven to help improve the appearance of surface dullness, revealing a more even skin tone in as few as 4 weeks,* our tonic is infused with Daisy Extract and effectively removes lingering traces of dirt oil and makeup. Use as a part of your daily regimen for a brighter and more even complexion, naturally.

*When used as part of a regimen with Brightening Facial Cleanser, Refining Tonic, Eye Treatment, Dark Spot Corrector and Even Skin Tone Moisturizing Cream. Product’s color is derived from natural ingredients and may vary.

• Helps visibly even skin tone
• Creates a brighter, more luminous complexion
• Removes lingering traces of dirt, oil, and makeup
• Dermatologist Tested

Like I mentioned earlier, I only picked this up because the store was out of the Acne Solutions toner and this was the only other Burt's Bees toner, and a more natural brand of skin care, avalible. This doesn't have a recommend skin type, but it's a pretty gentle toner. It's not my favorite, as I like the Acne Solutions ones much better. However, this hasn't irritation or broke out my skin, so that's a definitely a plus.  It claims to brighten and even out skin tone in as few as 4 weeks. I've been using this for about 3 weeks and haven't noticed much different in my skin tone. My only issue with this one is that the color of the toner is yellowish, so its hard to tell if it removes any excess makeup from my skin. I probably won't repurchase this because it's not my favorite, but it is a decent toner and worth trying.

So those are my thoughts on the Burt's Bees products that I've been testing! Over all I've been pleased with what I've tried from Burt's Bees skincare, and I have a few others on my wish list that I want to try out, especially from their acne solutions line! It's also a huge plus that in average Burt's Bees products are 99% natural, and over half of them are 100% natural! Natural skin care has worked wonders for my skin!

Have you tried any Burt's Bees skin a care before? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

June Favorites

This month went by so fast! It's only the start of summer but I feel like time is flying by. Today I'm sharing my makeup and lifestyle favorites for June. Last month in May I combined beauty and lifestyle favorites together, rather than doing weekly lifestyle favorites like I was in the past. This works out for me because my makeup favorites seem to be at a minimum these days!

Makeup & Beauty Products

You are going to see a peach toned theme here- but I've been reaching for my Too Faced Semi Sweet palette a lot, along with the Kat Von D Everlasting blush in Wish, and Mac Velvet Teddy lipstick. These have all been staples for me recently, and my go to foundation has been The Estee Lauder Double Wear. This has been my holy grail for a few years now. The Semi Sweet Palette is such a great warm toned natural palette and I used the heck out of it when I first got it a few years ago. I'm pretty sure these KVD blushes are discontinued, which makes me sad because they have a great formula. Wish is a peachy neutral shade that's great for everyday. Lastly, Mac Velvet Teddy has been a favorite of mine for years. Again, great peachy nude shade!

I've been trying out a new self tanner, and have been really loving this one. I bought the NKD SKN self tanner at Ulta a month or so ago. I love that it's organic and that it looks really natural on the skin. Plus it's super affordable, only $20! Does anyone want a review on this? Let me know and I will do one!

Food

I found a new favorite protein bar! These are the GFB (the gluten free bar) protein bars.  These are vegan, soy and dairy free, gmo free , and gluten free. They have some good ingredients and aren't loaded with a bunch of crap that other standard brands are (Quaker, special k, etc). I love the peanut butter flavor the best!

I've been making these tofu wontons so much! My hubby and I are obsessed and can't stop eating them. I crumble up come tofu and fry it in a pan with with veggies and teriyaki sauce, stuff the wontons and fry them, and then eat them with coconut aninos or soy sauce. You can put whatever you want inside these wonton wraps, they are so good!

Netflix

I binge watched the crap out of Riverdale and I'm completely obsessed with this show. It's soooo good! If you haven't watched it yet, I definitely recommend it. I've also been watching Weeds, and I think there are a few shows coming to Netflix in July that I'm super excited about. 

What are some of your favorites this month? Share them with me in the comments!

Travel Diaries- Ocean City MD + Over the Weekend

Hello! How's it going?

I wanted to start a series here on my blog called 'Travel Diaries' and share the trips that my husband and I take together.  If you follow me in Instagram or Facebook, then you've probably already seen these photos, so this might be boring. But in this blog post series I wanted to go into more detail about what we did, detail about the photos, etc. that I don't share on social media.

Last week we took a road trip down to Ocean City, MD. We wanted to go somewhere that was close enough to drive to and also by the ocean. We almost went to Virginia Beach, but Ocean City seemed to win from what I saw during my Google research.  We drove through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a little bit of Delaware to get to our Destination in Maryland. After 12 hours in the car and a huge mishap with our hotel, we finally setteled in. I'd also like to day that Pennsylvania is one of the pretties states to that I've driven through!

We had an ocean front room which was really amazing. When we were in our room it was so nice to have our balcony door open and listen to the waves. I seriously love the Ocean and huge bodies of water like the Great Lakes of Michigan, so I really felt happy and peaceful.

Our hotel was on a boardwalk with a ton of cool shops and a nice beach. The water was super cold, and I found a huge seashell that's almost as big as my hand. There were seriously no seashells besides broken tiny pieces, so it was cool to find this one buried in the sand.

We also went to Assateague Seashore where they have wild horses. It was super cool to see the horses and the beach there was sooo prettty. It was way less crowded than the one at our hotel, and it  just looked way more pretty and natural. I found a ton of seashells here that were being washed up by the waves, it was so fun looking for them and trying to grab them before the waves took them back into the water.

I always remember if we had good food on our vacation. We honestly had the worst food in Ocean City and it was pretty disappointed. With he exception of one place! Across the street from our hotel was a little Juice and Smoothie shack, that also had a Sushi Bar and bubble tea inside. This was was sooo freaking good, we ate there twice. The first time we went I had a delicious veggie Báhn Mì sandwich (vietnamses sandwich) and some bubble tea. We went back in the morning so I could try one of their Acai Bowls, and it was seriously so good! It has granola, bananas, strawberries, and honey and I was in smoothie heaven. I even bought a shop sticker from there to put on my laptop LOL.

After three days in Maryland we drove home, we relaxed for a day, and then the next we took a drive over to Grand Rapids MI for an Anime Convention. It was super fun and they had a lot of cool stuff! It was a great way to end our vacation!

I hope you all enjoyed this Travel Diaries post, and I hope to do more of them in the future!!

 If you like the type of post, please let me know! And if you'd like to see some smaller posts like this, for some cool places here in Michigan then I will do some of those as well!

Travel Makeup Essentials

Hello! And Goodbye (but not forever)!

On Sunday my husband and I are leaving for vacation, so there won't be any blog posts next week. I thought I'd pop in and say hello and share what makeup I'm bringing with me on our trip! If you want to see some pretty photos, where I'm going, and such- check out my Instagram!

Base makeup

3 foundations? Yes, you are seeing that correctly. It's a bit excessive, but since I am self tanning I am bringing my Milani foundation which is way too dark, so I use it when I self tan. The Maybelline Better Skin is to mix in the the Milani because it's honestly too dark even when I self tan, so I mix them together because the better skin is too light (what?). And the Este Lauder is for days when my self tan fades a little. Yeah, I'm crazy high maintenance.

I'm bringing my Mac Pro Longwear concealer and Rimmel Stay Matte powder because those are things I use everyday. I'm also bringing the Too Faced Hangover Rx Primer, and the Hawaiian Tropic face sunscreen for days that I need to wear them. For my brows I'm bringing the Nyx Micro brow and the Essence gimme brow gel.

Cheeks

For bronzers I'm bringing the Stila Stay All Day Bronzer and the Too Faced Sweet Tea Bronzer. The Sweet Tea has been my favorite Bronzer lately, and it looks really awesome when I self tan. I'm also bringing the a Tarte Bronzer and Highlight duo, mainly because the highlighter in there is my absolute favorite highlighter. For blushes I'm bringing the Wet n Wild Rose Champagne blush, and the Kat Von D Micky and Mallory blush duo. These are my two most used blushes, as you can see from how much I've hit pan on both.

Eyes and Lips

I'm bringing the Tartelette in Bloom palette because it's my favorite, and for primer I'm bringing my Mac painterly paint pot. For liners I have the L'Oréal liner intense, a L'Oréal pencil liner in black, and the Urban Decay 24/7 liner in smokeout. For mascara I'm bringing Covergirl Supersizer. I'm trying to keep it minimal for lip products, so I'm bringing Mac blankety and Mac Velvet Teddy. I also have Whirl in my purse, so that will probably come too.

It's super hard not to overpack on makeup! I was going to bring my Morphe blush palette too, but I made myself out it back. I didn't include my brushes in this one, but If anyone wants to see my everyday makeup brushes that I currently use, I can do a separate post on that when I get back!

What are some of your must have Travel makeup essentials? Share them with me in the comments!

May Favorites

Hello and happy Friday!

Today I'm sharing my makeup and lifestyle favorites for May. I can't believe it's already June. May flew by and June is going to be kind of a busy month! I didn't have many favorites for May but I thought I'd share a few random things I've been enjoying!

 Makeup

I stated using the Too Faced Sweet Tea Bronzer again recently. I honestly forgot about this, but I really do love it. It really screams summer to me! I've also been using NARS Deep Throat blush, which is another prefect cheek product for the spring and summer time.
I haven't been doing much eyeshadow lately, but when I do I've been really liking simple looks. I love using a Bronzer in my crease for some quick definition and then using Colourpop Sunset Blvd on my lid. I've also been using the Lorac Starry-Eyed Baked trio in Superstar. I'm not even sure if these are still being made, but it's a nice baked shadow trio that's also great for simple and fast eye looks.

Lifestyle

My hubby bought me a new Fossil purse and I'm completely obsessed with it. I know the photo doesn't show much of it, but that's because I want to do a what's in my purse video/post soon! I had to include it in my favorites because it's seriously my favorite purse that I've ever owned.
I've also been really loving the Eden's Garden Tranquility oil. I showed this in my Essential Oil Haula few weeks ago. It smells so good and I've been putting it into my Lava Bead Bracelets  and it's definitely been my favorite oil to use on them.
And last is a book that I've been reading. Last month I mentioned I was obsessing over The Magicians on Netflix. I loved the show so much that I went out and bought the first book in the series to read. So far the book is really great too!

What have you been loving this month?  Share your favorites with me in the comments!

Foodie Friday | PB&J Breakfast Smoothie

Hi Friends!

I know this week's blog posts were kind of unexciting. I did a quick Essential Oil Haul on Wednesday, and today I'm sharing a quick smoothie recipe that I've been loving. I was super busy this week, so I didn't plan much for blog. I did, however, make an amazing smoothie earlier this week that I was obsessed with. I shared photos on IG, but I thought I'd share the recipe with you guys in more detail.

This PB&J smoothie is super healthy and perfect for breakfast!

Ingredients and Directions
-Add 1-2 frozen bananas into your blender. If you don't have frozen, just use fresh.
-Chop up 5 strawberries, more if you want and less if you don't. Add into blender.
-Add a scoop of peanut butter. I use a tiny bit less than a tablespoon. Again, add more or less if you want.
-1 pitted date. You can leave this out of you don't have one, but it adds some good sweetness.
-1 tbsp of both chia seeds and hemp seeds. If you don't have these that's okay too, but I encourage you to try them- they had tons of great neutrients!
-1 cup of rice milk, or milk of your choice. After you add in the milk, fill up with water as needed.
-Optional- add in some protein powder if you like it in your smoothie! You can also add in some greens for some extra vitamins and minerals.
-Blend away and enjoy!

This is sooo good and tastes just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe? Share it with me in the comments!

Eden's Garden Essential Oil Haul

I think one of my favorite things in life has become Essential Oils. I've done a few hauls in the past for them, and today I have another one. I've been ordering from Eden's Garden , they are super affordable, great quality, and 100% therapeutic grade!

The first three on the top are Peppermint, Tea Tree, and Lavender. These are all repeat purchases for me, and my most used oils from my collection. I literally use these three on a daily basis. The last one in this row is called Tranquility, which is a blend of Lavender, Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang, Sweet Marjoram, Chamomile, Vetiver, Sandalwood and Vanilla. It smells SO good! I'm super happy that I picked this one up. I've been using it on my Lava Bead bracelets from my Etsy Shop that hold essential oils for a personal diffuser. 

The next row is all 5 ml bottles, and the first three are Peppermint, Lavender, and Blood Orange. I own larger bottles of these 3, but I wanted mini bottles for when I set up at farmers markets and craft shows this summer for the Lava Bead bracelets that I'm selling. This way, who ever buys a bracelet can leave with some essential oils soaking in their lava beads. I thought these 3 were pretty good choices to pick from.  The last oil is another mini and it's Pachouli. I got this one to share between my self, and bring to the craft shows as well. It's not one that I would use everyday like my others, so I figured it would be good to bring with me as well.

I know I've said tons of time that I'll do more posts on essential oils, giving info about them, how I use them, my favorites etc. and I still want to do those posts, I've just been really lazy when it comes to preparing them! There's a ton of info to share!

Do you use essential oils? What ones are your favorite?

Chai Tea Latte | The Best Homemade Chai You Will Ever Drink

Happy Friday!

I'm a huge lover of Chai Tea Lattes, they are the perfect treat if you don't feel like drinking coffee, but still want something sweet. Since Starbucks and other coffee shops can be expensive, I wanted to try and make my own Chai Latte, and I found an awesome recipe that is way better than ones from coffee shops!

What you'll need:
-2-3 Chai tea flavored tea bags. I use the Bigelow Vanilla Chai Tea (Teavanna has amazing loose leaf Chai if you can get it! If not just choose one from your local grocery store).
-1 to 1.5 cups of water (1 cup for 2 tea bags, 1.5 cups for 3)
-1 tsp of cinnamon
-2 cups of your choice of milk (I use rice milk)
-Sugar your taste (I use raw cane sugar)
-Vanilla Coffee creamer of your choice to taste
This recipe is for 2 servings. The extra tea bag/water is use depending on how large you coffee mugs are.

Directions:
-Use your coffee maker to brew your tea. Place your tea bags and tsp of cinnamon in a coffee filter. Add the 1 to 1.5 cups of water and press brew/start on your coffee pot. You can brew them on the stop top but this method is super easy and only takes a minute or two.
-In a sauce pan heat up the 2 cups of milk. Add in your sugar to taste and stir. If you are using liquid coffee creamer, add this in as well to taste. If you are using a powdered kind, wait until the milk is hot and then add it in to taste. I use a tbsp or two or each.
-When the tea is done brewing and the milk is hot, pour them both into a mug and it's done! You can add whipped topping or extra cinnamon on top of you want.
-If you want an iced chai latte, put this into the fridge to cool down and then pour over ice!

This recipe is super delicious and I definitely recommend trying it if you love Chai lattes!

Do you love Chai tea or Chai lattes? What is your favorite recipe?

April Favorites | Beauty + Lifestyle

Hey! Happy Hump Day!

Remember last week when I said I was going to post every Wednesday and Friday? And then I didn't post on Friday? Opps. Hubby's birthday was Thursday so I was super busy all day and didn't have time to sit down and write a blog post. I was going to do a Friday Favorites post, but since today I'm sharing my favorites from April, I'm just going to include some lifestyle favorites in this post that I was going to share on Friday. 

MAKEUP

I've been into my Lorac Pro Palette lately. I forgot how much I love this palette, and it's super great for everyday looks as well as something a little more dramatic!

I've been using the Stila Stay All Day Bronzer almost every day for the past month or so. I will admit that I gave this a not so good review when I first bought it. I've since changed my mind about it, and think its great for bronzing up my face. I don't like it for contouring, which is why I originally didn't care for it. I also love how big the pan is!

For foundation I've been using the Sonya Kashuk Soft Focus Matte Foundation a ton. This is the newest edition to my foundation collection, and I bought this as an attempted to replace my favorite drugstore foundation with a Cruelty Free one. I do like this, but I'm not going to go into much details because I have a review for it coming soon!

The lipsticks I've been using the most are the Nyx Liquid Suede in Soft Spoken and Maybelline Nude Lust with Nyx Lipliner is Natural. Both are great everyday shades, with the Maybelline one being more on the neutral side.

HAIR AND SKIN CARE

I've been loving this Pura D'or Organic Argan Oil* to help with super dry ends on my hair. This was sent to me awhile ago from Pure D'or along with some shampoo and conditioner that I didn't care for, and never gave this oil much of a try until recently. It's a light oil so it doesn't feel too heavy on my hair.

I recently started using the Burt's Bees Natural Acne Solution Toner again and I forgot how amazing this stuff is. It clears up my skin so fast if I have any problems!

LIFESTYLE 

I've been enjoying these Satwa Sandalwood Incense lately, and they smell super amazing. 

I bought this little piece of Rainbow Fluorite at a crystal shop a few weekends ago and I'm absolutely obsessed with it. 

On Netflix I recently watched 13 Reasons Why and overall really loved how the show turned out. I read the book years ago, and I hope they make a season 2. 

Right now I'm currently watching The Magicians on Netflix and its super good. I'm almost done with the series, and I'm also hoping for a season 2 of this show as well! This one was also made off of a book too, and I'm thinking about picking them up to read. 

I definitely recommend watching both of these shows if you haven't already!

So this concludes my favorites for April! What have you been loving and into lately? Share your favorites with me in the comments!

Check out my Etsy Shop if you haven't already! Also, I have a giveaway up on my shop Instagram right now and I'd love for you all to enter!