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!!

Makeup Haul | Christmas + Ulta Beauty Box

Hello! I hope everyone had a nice Christmas!

Today I'm sharing a makeup haul. Most of these things I received as gifts for Christmas, and there's also an Ulta beauty box that I received from their Joy It Forward program during the holiday time. A huge thank you to Ulta and Lupe from A Hint of Beauty  for sending it to me!

 

I got a ton of things from Estée Lauder for Christmas, one of them is the huge gift set they offer during the holiday time, and another is a shadow palette that I also believe was part of a holiday collection.

Holiday Gift Set

These sets always come inside a nice big makeup case, and I really liked the one from this year. It has a ton of room so its great for travel and I love the neutral colors of it. Last year's case was a bright red shiny material and it wasn't my favorite. I definitely like this one a lot more. 

Inside was some skin care items including the advanced night repair serum, advanced night micro cleansing foam, revitalizing supreme+ face cream, and a perfume. I haven't had the best of luck with Estée Lauder skin care, but I'm excited to try out the cleansing foam. 

Next is the makeup. There's usually a big palette included in the set and this year it has some pretty neutral shades with some cheek products too. The set also has two lip glosses, two lip sticks, and a mascara.

*If anyone wants to see a review for this whole set, let me know and I'll put together a post of some swatches and go in to detail of my thoughts on each item!*

Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy Scuplting Eyeshadow Palette

This is another Estée Lauder set I received as a gift that I think is part of the holiday collection as well. This is another neutral palette with 10 shades that comes with a little makeup pouch. I'll be doing a review on this one soon!

Ulta Beauty Box

I was super happy and thankful to be part of the Joy It Forward program and couldn't be happier with the box I received. I have been wanting the Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics palette for so long. I'll definitely be doing a review for this one soon too. The box also had the Nyx illuminator, an OPI nail polish, an It Cosmetics Eyeshadow brush, a Buxom gloss, and a golden glitter eyeliner.

Randoms

Next is two random things I've picked up recently. I needed a new concealer so I picked up the Maybelline Fit Me, which is one I haven't tried before. I also picked up the Elf eyebrow pencil and have been testing it out.

Im planning on doing reviews for the majority of these items mentioned, but if there's anything particular you'd like to see a review on, let me know! I'll also be doing a Lush Haul in the near future as well!

I shared a current lifestyle favorites post last week, check it out HERE if you missed it!

Friday Favorites | Hello July

Happy weekend everyone! I skipped last weeks Friday Favorites post to do my June lifestyle post. It was a nice change, but I'm excited to share some weekly lifestyle favorite today. 

Favorite YouTube Video || I really enjoyed SarahBethYoga's video that she filmed on 5 Tips For Mindful Mornings. I am not a morning person. At all. And ever since I've been staying home, my night owl habits have gotten worse. I've been staying up ridiculously late, and sleeping in too much. It also doesn't help that hubby is on second shift (5pm to 330am), so I'm usually still up when he comes home around 4am and we've both been sleeping in. Back to the point- I really need to not sleep in so much and get up in the morning and utilize the day. This video had some great tips, and I can't wait to try them out. 

Favorite Essential Oils || I know I've been sharing a lot of oil favorites lately, but I can't help it- I'm obsessed! One of my good friends got me a Young Living oil kit for my birthday last week. It came with a diffuser too so I've been playing around with a ton of oils. My three favorites have been Purification, Stress Away, and Lemon. Purification and Stress Away have been my favorite ones to diffuse, and I like to add a few drops of lemon to each of them! Do you guys want me to do a post on my favorite oils and how I use them? Let me know!

Favorite Purchase || I shared this Lorac Light Source Illuminating Highlighter in Moonlight in a recent haul post. I am obsessed. It's so pretty, and I want all of the Lorac highlighters! This one is a bit softer than the ABH Glow Kit I've been raving about, and I'll have a review up in a few weeks! 

Favorite from Starbucks || Has anyone tried the new Granitas at Starbucks? They only sell them after 3pm (boo!!), and I loveee the Youthberry White Tea one! Youthberry is my all time favorite tea from Teavanna and this is is made with lemonade flavored shaved ice. It's so so good, and even if you aren't a tea drinker, give it a try because it doesn't really taste like tea. The Carmel espresso one is great too! 

Favorite Quote || I feel like I'm finding a quote for everything these days, but I love sharing them with you guys in these favorites posts.

What are some of your lifestyle favorites this week? Let me know in the comments! 

I'm linking up with 

Lauren from Style Elixir

Amanda from Meet @ the Barre

Top 5 Favorite Neutral Palettes

Hello!! Anyone who reads my blog knows that I'm a sucker for neutral palettes. I can't get enough of them. I wear neutral eye looks everyday, and rarely branch out into more colorful things.

I'm going to share my top 5 favorite neutral palettes with you all! 

Here we have the (original) Naked Palette by Urban Decay, Lorac Pro Palette, the Smashbox Full Exposure Palette, the Sauce Box Creme de la Creme Palette, and the Urban Decay Naked Basics. 

This was my first ever big makeup purchase so this will probably always be my all time favorite. The original Naked Palette is my favorite out of the 3. I almost included the naked 3 in this post instead of the Smashbox one, but I though including 3 nakeds was a little excessive lol! 

The Lorac Pro is probably my second favorite palette. This one is so versatile because there is super light colors, and some darker shades as well. The darker shades are great because they pair so well with the light ones to created a smoked out neutral look. And plus this has half matte shades! 

The Urban Decay Naked Basics is defiently my most used palette. I use this baby every single day, literally lol. These shades are all matte, except for the first one has very faint shimmer. These colors are all gorgeous. The first three make for good lid or highlight colors, and the two browns are great crease and transition shades. The black can be used for eyeliner or to smoke out the look. This palette is just perfect. 

If anyone hasn't heard of or tried Sauce Box's eyeshadows, I really recommend and suggest you check them out!! The shadows are so buttery it's amazing. Even more so than Urban Decay's. These are all so pigmented and gorgeous! The black shade is the best black shadow I've ever used, it blends so nice and has very little fall out. 

I just recently got this Smashbox Full Exposure Palette but it quicky became a favorite. I mentioned that I almost picked the naked 3 instead of this one, because I would say that they are tied for one of my favorites! This one is great because they're are both cool and warm tones shadows. This doesn't have the best pigmentation on some of the shadows but I still like this palette! 

What are your favorite neutral palettes? Let me know in the comments!! 

DIY Holiday Sugar Scrubs!

Hello and Happy December! 

Today I am going to share how to make two different holiday sugar scrubs! These are great for christmas gifts, or if you want to make some for yourself! They are super easy and you just need some ingredients from the baking section of the grocery store or your kitchen! :)

I found these sugar scrubs last year around this time from RachhLoves  on youtube if you want to  see her video. 

The first scrub is a peppermint or candy cane scent, and the second one is vanilla cinnamon. 

For the Peppermint Scrub 

What you'll need 

-3.5 cups of sugar

-1 cup of light olive oil

-3-4 tsp of peppermint extract 

-4 tsp of coconut oil

Heat up the coconut oil on the stove or in the microwave so it melts. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. 

Then put the scrub in a jar. I found these jars at Target in a pack of four. I'm not exactly sure what size they are, but the recipe for this filled two jars worth.

Then I decorated the jar cute for christmas with ribbons and bells.

For the Vanilla Cinnamon Scrub 

What you'll need 

-3 cups brown sugar

--2 cups of oats

-1.5 cups of light olive oil

-2 tbsp vanilla extract

-1.5 tbsp cinnamon

-1 tbsp nutmeg 

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl

Since the oats are large and chunky, I blended it in the blender.

I'm really obsessed with these and they smell amazing. I had so much fun making them and decorating the jars LOL!!

These can also be used as a lip scrub as well!!

I hope everyone has a great December and Holidays!!!

How I Clean my Makeup Brushes!

Hello Everyone!! I mentioned in a few tag posts that I've done recently that I hate cleaning my makeup brushes! It's such a hassle and it's just something that I forget to do and is not on top of my priority list. I try to clean my brush as least every other week/every two weeks. I normally keep up on cleaning my beauty blender more often than my face brushes since I use it more. I'm going to share how I clean them and what I use to clean them as well! 

What I use to clean my brushes 

I normally use a baby shampoo and some dawn  dish soap to clean my brushes. The baby shampoo is really good for cleaning brushes because it's really gentle and not harsh on your brushes. I use this to clean my eyeshadow brushes and some times my blush and powder brushes. I use the dawn dish soap to clean my foundation brushes. I like using this on my foundation brushes because they get super dirty and more gross than brushes that I just use powder products for. The dawn dish soap clean them better and gets the product build up out of the brushes a lot easier. I also use the dish soap to clean my beauty blender. I was told it's better to use a more gentle cleanser on the beauty blender, but that thing is a pain in the ass to clean. The baby shampoo doesn't get all of the foundation out of it like the dish soap does. I also really like to use the baby shampoo on my powder and blush brushes because it leaves them smelling super good! Lol.

Here is the before picture of my brushes before I cleaned them. 

How I clean my brushes 

I squeeze a generous amount of soap into the middle of my hand and I run my skin water to a nice warm temperature. You don't want to water to be too hot because the heat will dry out your brushes. 

I swish and swirl the brush in the soap so it's really lathered. 

Once I have my brush nice and soapy, I rinse it out under the water and squeeze the brush to get all of the soap and makeup out of the brush. I repeat this step 1-3 times until all of the product is washed out and the brush is clean. 

Here is the after picture of all my clean brushes! I lay them out on a towel to dry. These take a pretty long time to dry completely. Once or twice while they are drying, I go through and fluff the brushes a little bit because that helps reshape them and also helps them dry faster. 

My husband decided to take a picture of me cleaning my brushes as well LOL!

How do you clean your makeup brushes? If you have any tip to share comment and let me know!! 

Drugstore Makeup Haul

Hey Everyone! Today I am going to share a drugstore makeup haul. All of these items I purchased at either Target or Walmart. I was really excited about a few of the items that I picked up, particularly some mascaras that I wanted to try!

These items are just restock products for me. I was running out of my Maybelline Dream Matte Powder, which is my favorite setting powder, and my Elf Golden Bronzer. Then when I went to Walmart I saw that there were a ton of Maybelline Products on sale for $2 so I picked up the Instant Age Rewind Perfector powder which is another one of my favorites.

I picked up this Wet n Wild eyeshadow trio in I Dream of Greenie. I have never tried Wet n Wild eyeshadows before but I have heard that there are great and really pigmented. I have been wanting some really pretty green eyeshadows lately so when I saw this one I decided to pick it up. I will post a picture of some swatches of the colors. 

The colors from left to right are the brow bone color, the crease color, and the lid color on the palette.

I have been wanting to try the L'Oreal telescopic mascara and the new Revlon Lash Potion mascara. I have heard really great things about the Telescopic mascara, and I have not heard anything about the Revlon Lash Potion yet. I just liked the pretty packaging lol. I will do a review on these mascaras once I try them out!

Thank you all for reading and have a wonderful day :)

FOTD + OOTD: City and Bright Colors

Hello Everyone!! Today I am going to share both an Outfit of the Day along with the makeup I wore when my husband and I went to Ann Arbor, Michigan with a group of friends. We love going there because it's a fun city with lots of stuff to do, and since it's summer time I chose to wear some bright colors on my eyes and for my outfit as well. 

Here is a pictures that I took of the downtown area. 

FOTD

Face Makeup:

For my foundation I used the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous. For my concealer I used the Covergirl & Olay simply agless corrector and the Revlon Color Stay concealer on top. I set my makeup with the Maybelline Dream Matte Powder and the Elf HD powder. I use the Elf golden bronzer all over my face for a night bronzy glow. I used NYC bronzer in sunny to contour. I used Benefit's Coralista for my blush, and the Chella highlighter pencil to highlight my face.

Eye Makeup:

I used Maybelline Color Tattoo in Too Cool for my eyeshadow primer/base. The White color really makes the bright yellow eyeshadow I applied more vibrant. This eyeshadow is Three Ring Yellow by Mac. In my crease I used Naked2 and Faint from the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette, with Venus as my brow highlight. I used Satin Taupe by Mac in my outer corners and lower lash line. For my eyeliner I used the Bombshell liquid eye pen for my top liner and Urban Decay 24/7 liner in perversion in my waterline. For my Mascara I used Maybelline the Falsies.

I'm really obsessed with this bright yellow eyeshadow. My lovely friend Danielle at Foxy Lady Beauty gave it to me!

OOTD

This bright orange/coral dress is from Target. I love the bright color for summer! My skull necklace is from a store in Orlando that was in downtown disney. I have seen necklaces similar in alot of different stores lately. My watch and my purse are both from Fossil. 

I hope you all enjoyed and thank you so much for reading!