Friday Favorites | Lifestyle

Happy weekend! Today I'm sharing some Friday favorites! I seem to have lots of lifestyle favorites at the moment, while I'm slacking on doing my beauty favorites for 2016. Helpfully next week I will accomplish doing it because even though I said this last week it's already almost the 3rd week in January, bere late than never? I'm going to stow promising now. Let's get into my my Friday Favorites!

Favorite Read || I'm currently reading the Fantasic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay. I really enjoyed The Cursed Child screenplay when I read it last summer, so I've been pretty excited about this one too.

Favorite Food || Well, this is actually a drink, but same category. Why I'm not calling this 'favorite drink', I don't really have an answer for. Anyways, my husband and I both have been super into juicing lately. I borrowed my brother in law's juicer and it makes the most amazing juice. It's definitely way better than store bought juice (and healthier!), and I was so amazed by how good and different it tastes from the store bought kind. My favorite so far is oranges and apples combined, or just oranges by themselves. I'm honestly not even a fan of orange juice, but this fresh homemade kind has definitely changed my mind.

Favorite on YouTube || I'm getting back into my fitness routine and have started working out again. I've been loving watching What's in my Gym and Yoga bag videos on YouTube. It's kind of addicting and my nosey-ness comes out like it does when I watch What's in my Purse videos. I don't know why but I've found them to be my source of entertainment on YouTube recently. I especially have loved the Yoga videos, and have enjoyed watching Yoga Essentials videos too. Maybe I'll do my own video someday!

Favorite on Netflix || I've finally gotten around to watching the new Gilmore Girls revival and since it's one of my favorite shows, I'm definitely enjoying it. When it first came on Netflix, I was in the middle of another series and I don't like stopping during a series so that's why it took me so long to watch it. I'm thinking about watching Shameless next, has anyone of you watched it?

Favorite Quote || I saw this the other day and loved it. It's short and cute, and is a reflection of my thoughts right now.

What are you current lifestyle favorites? Share them with me in the comments!

Hello 2016

Did you all have a good New Years? I hope so! I've been doing the goodbye/hello New Years posts since I started blogging. I would do a two in one post but they both always end up being too long for that. 

Tons of people are doing their 'New Years resolution' posts, and I'm here today to not call them resolutions, but rather share some goal and things I'd like to do this year. These goal are also not just for this year, but they will always be life long ones to. This post might get rather personal, but I consider all of you my friends so I don't mine sharing!

2016 goals and accomplishments

Books

I'm going to start this off on a more simple note and talk about books. I already mentioned in my goodbye 2015 post that each year I set a reading goal of how many books I want to read. These goal are usually a little high and I know I probably won't accomplish them, but it helps motivate me to read more! I read 20 books in 2015. This year I want to read 30 books and 15 mangas. Last year (that seems so weird to say lol!) I started watching some anime shows so it's making me want to read mangas too! I bought a box set of the Legend Of Zelda mangas last year and I read a few of them. I chose to start with those ones because Zelda has always been my favorite video game. Also- I already have one manga read this year! After I read some of those, Full Metal Alchemist and Attack on Titans are top on my list. I have tons of books on my list too, along with some favorites I want to re read.  

Travel

Who doesnt love vacations? I try to at least go some where each year. My husband and I at least go to northern Michigan during the spring/summer time usually on a long weekend. We try to go to difference cities each time. We've only been on two out of state vacations together which were Florida in 2013 for our honeymoon, and South Carolina in 2014. Last year we weren't able to go out of state so instead we traveled around Michigan for a week. This year id like to go out of state or even to an all inclusive resort somewhere in the Caribbean. I have a major fear of flying and my anxiety sky rockets when I'm on a plane. Even thinking about this, or typing it out gives me anxiety. I hope I can work on that this year too. 

Health & Fitness

I know everyone and their mother has health and fitness goals during the new year. I also know that you don't need a new year to start being healthy. However, it is a new year so I'm going to try my hardest. I've gotten into fitness and clean eating in the past but I've always been such a yoyo. Even though I do want to eat healthy, and I know I don't eat the heathliest it doesn't bother me much. I'm a believer that you shouldn't deprive yourself, and if I want to eat a donut you better bet your ass I'll eat that donut. However I'm going to try to make some healthier choices while still having a balanced diet. As far as fitness goes, I want to do more yoga and be more consistent with cardio and weightlifting. When it's nice out I want to go for walks outside and be in nature. Just be more active in general.

Being more present

How many times are we on our phones and social media when we are hanging out with loved ones? I try hard not to do this but sometimes it just happens. This is something I want to work on this year. I'll always be so thankful that I grew up without cell phones and social media even though it's something I love now. There were no such things as smart phones and Facebook when I had my first phone, and if I wanted to use the Internet (AOL anyone??) I was limited to 2 hours a day. I find it so sad that kids and teenagers now a days don't know what life was like before all of the tech craze. 

Blogging and YouTube 

I hate to say this but I've been super uninspired lately. I sometimes feel that my posts or videos feel half hearted and I don't want that. I don't like to post things when I feel like they are because that makes me unhappy. I think most of this is due to laziness. This year I really want to work on my YouTube channel and learning how to edit better and film different types of videos. And as for blogging, I want my posts to be more creative, and I want to learn how to take better photos for my blog. My friend Becky takes the most beautiful picture for her blog so that is what kind of inspired me to take better pictures. I'm trying to be more conscious of how my pictures look. I'm trying out different angles and settings so they don't just look so blah and standard.  

Journaling 

The last thing I'm going to talk about is journaling. I've been wanting to start a journal for some time now. I haven't started because I've just always felt like I wouldn't know what to write and I didnt want to feel pressured into writing if I didn't want to. I was inspired by one of my best friends Pilar because she wanted to start one this year too. I told her my thoughts of what I just said above, she told me a journal is what I make of it. There's no guidelines to it. That really made me realize how true that is and now I feel less pressured about it. I'm not good at writing out my feelings, unless I'm actually taking to some one so I'm not going to use my journal for that. My goal is to possibly write a little something each day that was good or made me happy!  Plus journal are cute and buying a new one always makes me excited, even though I hardly use them when I do. I'd also like to start drawing again. I'm definitely not an artist at all but I was hoping having a journal would help with that too! 

So I'm going to end this post by saying these are my goals for this year and my current thoughts about life. I know this was super long but it felt really nice to write this all out and talk about things! I'll be back soon with some beauty posts!  I also wanted to thank you all so so much for your love and support. I've made so many amazing friends through blogging and I can never be grateful enough!!

Do you have any goals for this year? If so, let me know what they are in he comments!

Benefit Benebalm

Hello hello!!

Benefit is a well known and loved company in the beauty community, and for good reason. I love their boxes powders and blushes, the porefessional, gimme brow, and I cannot rave enough about the roller lash. But that was as far as my benefit collection went until my good friend Kim sent me a box of Benefit goodies from wining the #curlfriends contest that I was a part of!

Which brings me to Benefit's Bennbalm. 

On Benefits Website Benetint is described as 'a rose tinted kiss of sheer buildable cooler that gives you soft, sexy lips' and it also 'hydrates with mango butter and sodium hyaluronate'.  This's also comes in three different shades, posibalm, cha cha blam, and lollibalm which are pink, coral, and berry toned.

Here is a swatch, and it's definitely a sheer formula like it deacribed. 

My Thoughts-

-I don't find this very buildable, but I do like that it's a sheer formula. It gives a nice wash of color on days where you want minimal makeup, or just want some shine to your lips. 

-It's also a great topper for lipsicks. 

-The formula is very mosirurizing and doesn't feel heavy at all. 

-Overall I'm really pleased with this lip balm. It's $18, but I feel like it's better formulated than the Nyx and other brands I've tried!

Have you tired any of Benefits Balms? Let me know in the comments!

April Favorites + Surprise Video!

Hello!!!

I have a surprise for you guys today!! I made a YouTube video talking about my monthly beauty favorites for April!! Please keep in mind that I haven't made a YouTube video in years and I was extremely nervous while filming this. I also talk fast and ramble when I'm nervous. I'm still trying to figure out good places to film, how to set up my camera and lighting, how to edit videos, etc! I hope you guys enjoy watching it!

April Beauty Favorites 

I picked a few things that I have been using a lot this month. The Semi Sweet palette you have all seen me talk about tons of times but I seriously use it everyday! 

Also, I don't know much about videos and uploading and stuff so many one of you guys can help me out. When I record and process the video on my computer its all in HD but when I upload to youtube, it won't let me watch it in HD. This happened with the document your life video I just made as well. All of my other ones never did this and I can't figure it out. Anyone know why? 

I hope you all enjoyed the video and this post! Leave me some feedback or suggestions for videos in the future! 

Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette- Review + Swatches!

Hi :) 

Today I'm going to be reviewing the Too Faced Cat Eyes Palette. I think things palette is pretty new, and was released with two other palettes (rock n roll and country palettes) all of which are gorgeous. I was more drawn to the Cat Eyes palette because let's face it, I am a crazy cat lady. 

I debated on this palette for a while because I have two other Too Faced palettes that I rarely use and was not super impressed with, but after hearing such great things about the chocolate bar palette, I thought maybe their newer palettes were better quality and maybe reformulated? I don't know, if anyone does let me know!! 

This palette retails for $36, and you can purchase this palette from Too Faced's website here.

The packing is amazing. I love the cheetah print! The case is a tin that has a magnetic closure. I love this better than their old palette, which were in a cardboard case. This is also less bulky than the old ones. 

I seriously just can't get over how gorgeous this palette is. And the names of the shadows are all cat related! More on the names later when I show swatches. 

Top row in the palette. From left to right- •Purr- a lightly frosted champagne color. This looks a lot brighter/white in the picture than it does in person. Silly camera flash. 

•Tiger's Eye- a satin bronze color (and my favorite in the palette!). 

•Leopard- a deeper bronze color with small flecks of glitter/shimmer.

Second row in palette. From left to right-

•Meow- a neutral matte skin tonedcolor. This looks a lot brighter in the picture as well. 

•Pussy Cat- a bright fuchsia color with slight shimmer. One of the shades that made me want this palette so much!

•Jungle Love- a deep plum color with flecks of glitter. 

Last row in the palette. From left to right-

•Kitten- a frosted light pink color. 

•Kitty Glitter- a frosted light blueish silver. 

•Panther- dark matte black. 

The cool thing about this palette is that all the end colors (leopard, jungle love, and Panther) can be used as a wet/dry shadow or liner. 

My thoughts on this palette

-I am absolutely in love with this palette. I feel like I haven't really loved a palette that I have bought in a while. There's been a lot that I have liked and thought were great, but this one is amazing and it is just so stunning I can't get over it. 

-The pigmentation is reall great on these too, and they blend really well. 

-I have been using the top row with the neutral colors almost everyday since I got it. They make for a beautiful everyday eye look. 

-The purples in the second row is what really had me drawn to this palette. I don't own anything like those two shades. I do however think that the fuchsia color needs a really good base to make or stand out like to does in the palette.

-I acutually have not tried out the colors in the bottom row yet sadly. I do like black shadows, but I don't use blue that often. 

-I totally think the wet/dry shadows work really well with a wet brush. It makes them pop and I think they would make for great liners as well!

-This was totally worth the money and I know it's going to be a long time favorite of mine! Plus, the cat names are amazing too! 

I will have a seperate post up soon wit some eye looks I created with this! 

Have you tried the Cat Eyes palette before? If so leave your thoughts!

August 2014 Favorites!

Hello! I tried out a lot of new products in August and late July, so a few of them made it to my favorites lisf. I considered doing a end of summer beauty products favorite post, but decided against it because I will do one on December so I can do a favorites of the whole year! 

That intro was super random, so let's just get into my monthly favorites! 

These are the two palettes I've been using all month. I don't even think I used anything but these ones.

I've also been loving the L'Oreal infallible eyeshadow in Amber Rush, and the Urban Decay Heavy Metal glitter liner in Baked. I just got this last week on sale for $5, but I'm obsessed and can't stop using it. 

This is the Hourglass Immaculate foundation. I picked this up about a month ago and I will have a review on it soon!

Lastly I have some lip products. The first one is the Nivea lip butter balm in raspberry Rose kiss. This stuff is amazing. Next is the bite beauty lipstick duo, specifically the darker shade called Musk. Last is the Nyx butter gloss in Madaline. Musk and Madaline have been my favorite lip combo lately! 

What are your makeup favorites this month? Let me know in the comments! 

Vegan Makeup: Emani Blush Review

Hello!! A month or so ago I was in a local nutrition shop and I noticed a display of makeup, and naturally I went to look at it. I also noticed that this was a vegan makeup brand and I was really interested in it! It wasn't too pricey so I decided to pick up a blush and try it out! This brand is called Emani and I will leave some more info about it down below. 

The packaging is really gorgeous with it's holographic detailing. This blush was $16. 

The top picture is without a flash, the bottom with a flash. The color is called Lime Light. 

And here is the swatch. This blush is on the lighter and more natural side. It works very well with my fair skin complexion. 

About Emani Cosmetics 

From Emani's website 

"Exclusively designed and specifically formulated to benefit sensitive, acne-prone, and aging skin, each of our products enhances the appearance and well-being of problematic skin.

Emani uses only all-natural ingredients to create natural beauty.  We combine natural minerals with certified-organic botanicals, oils, and waxes to create quality makeup that enhances your dermatologic health.

Emani is vegan and cruelty-free.  We believe in beauty without cruelty.  We are committed to manufacturing our entire line of products without harming any animals.  Additionally, we do not use any animal-derived ingredients in any of our offerings."

My thoughts on this product-

-Well if you saw my July Favorites post, then you might recognize this blush from that. So obviously this is a blush that I love!

-Like I said before, this blush is super natural looking and on the lighter side. It works well on my pale skin, but if your complexion is darker, then I wouldn't recommend this shade. They do have 7 other shades to choose from. 

-This blush blends super well and is a tad bit shimmery. The shimmer is very subtle and give your skin a nice glow.

-The staying power is really good and I've been super happy with the way this looks throughout the day. 

-In addition to blushes, the company has Bronzers, loose blushes, primers, foundations, powders, concealers, eye shadows, glitters, mascaras, makeup brushes and more! 

I was be doing another review on a different makeup product from another vegan makeup company soon! 

Have you ever tried Emani cosmetics before, or any other vegan makeup brands? Let me know in the comments! 

Drugstore FOTD Featuring Maybelline 'The Nudes' Palette!!

Hello everyone! I've been meaning to do a drugstore FOTD post for a while! I feel like I've been using a ton of great drugstore products lately, and this is a great way to share them here on my blog. The only two things I did not use from the drugstore are my primers, and eye brow products and that is because I don't own any of those that I like! Other than that, everyone I from the drugstore! 

Let's get started! 

For my Face 

-For my foundation I used the Nyx Invinsible Fullest Coverage Foundation. I was testing this foundation out at the moment, and will do a review soon! 

-For concealer I used the Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous concealer. 

-For setting powder I used the Rimmel Stay Matte. 

-For my blush I used the Physicians Formula pH Matchmaker blush in Natural. 

-My bronzer is Nyc Bronzer in Sunny. 

-I used the bronzer from the Elf Ariek collection for my highlight. 

For my lips 

I used Nyx butter lipstick in the color Pops Explosif and Nyx butter gloss in the color Madeleine. 

For my Eyes

For this eye look I used the new Maybelline The Nudes Palette. I did a review on this in one of my last posts, so check that out! 

-I used the second to last shade on the top row and blended it all over my lid and crease. I used the last shade in the top row directly in my crease and blended it a little into the outter corner. I also used this shade on my lower lash line. I used the second to last shade on the bottom row (light champagne color) all over my lid. 

-I finished off the look with my usual L'Oreal liquid and pencil liners, and the Miss Managa Mascara!

I hope you all enjoyed this post and thank you for reading! 

Makeup Haul #12- Small Drugstore Haul

Happy Monday everyone!

I did some shopping over the weekend at a few different places so I thought I would share the makeup items I picked up!

I got these things from Walmart, Target, and Meijers. 

I was super excited when I went into Meijers and found a display of Nyx products! I have never seen them anywhere but Ulta before. They didn't have a lot, but I have been wanting to try the butter glosses, so I picked one up in the shade tiramisu. 

The mascara is the new Revlon Bold Laquer by Grow Luscious. 

I picked up two Covergirl Foundations. The first one is the True Blend, and I have tried this out and this might be a shade too dark for me. I can't decide yet. 

The second one is the new Ready Set Gorgeous Fresh Complexion. I heard someone on YouTube talk about this and I instantly wanted to try it out. I found mine at Meijers but I have heard it's a walgreens also. At Meijers the display only offered like 4-5 shades. I'm not sure if that's all the make or if it was just the store. I got the lightest shade and it matches my skin really well. 

The next is the Aveeno Positivly Ageless lifting and firming eye cream. I am almost out of the eye cream I'm using, and I have been really loving Aveeno lately so I thought I would try out this eye cream!

That's all for my drugstore haul from over the weekend! I will more than likely be doing a review for all of the products! 

Have you picked up any new drugstore products lately? Share them with me in the comments!