The Balm!

The other day I went in to Marshalls to get my boyfriend an outfit for his birthday present. (21 woohooo!) Whenever I go in there I always have to walk around the whole store to see if I can discover something amazing. I got him a great outfit there. He thinks it is a combination of hipster/fratty clothes. I just think its stuff he'll look cute in. Although I do call him the accidental hipster. On to my amazing discovery!

I was walking around the beauty department and I saw Essie and OPI nail sets. Once I saw them I started to investigate the rest of the beauty department. I found sets from The Balm. They looked like they were meant for Christmas presents or a birthday gift set. There were multiple sets and I got the one that has the Sexy Mama Powder, Bahama Mama bronzer, and Hot Mama blush. The whole set cost $10!!! All of the products are full size. So if you piece the set out each one is only around $3.34!

I love all three. If you do not like retro packaging/pin up girls you will probably not like The Balm. The packaging is like a cardboard/paper, but so far it is holding up really well for me.

I am going to do separate reviews of each one coming up soon. If I tried to do all three in one post it would go on forever. I just wanted to give everyone a sale alert to go check out their Marshalls.

Emily

Vogue Birchbox

Hey guys! 


Today I thought that I would tell you about Birchbox. It is a beauty box subscription service that you receive once a month filled with 4 to 5 luxury samples. Each sample in the box has been approved by the Birchbox team. There can be anything from moisturizer to lip gloss in the boxes. Also there tends to be a "Lifestyle" sample that can be a new energy bar to a hair band. The service is $10 a month. There is currently a waiting list to join Birchbox. I know that this is disappointing to people wanting to join Birchbox, but they are still a fairly new company. I think that the waiting list is to help them deal with growing and keeping their services up to par.
Here is how Birchbox describes their service: 

"Birchbox delivers the best products and the best insider secrets, without any fuss. Every month Birchbox members will receive a curated box of luxe beauty samples. Each box will span beauty categories and deliver exciting products that fit into both your day-to-day routine, and into those days when you want to turn up the drama a notch.
Co-founders Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp met at Harvard Business School. They created Birchbox to help women cut through the clutter of the beauty world to find products that really work for them."

I know a lot of bloggers and youtubers love Birchbox. This March Birchbox was my 5th box and I for the most part still love the service. There are hit and miss months and then there one ones like this month that blow me away. The March birchbox was a box partnered with Teen Vogue  themed to help you get ready for spring parties, dances, events, etc. I absolutely loved this box. 

The photo is from Birchbox. Depicting what I received in my box.

I received: 

Twistband Hair Ties - I really liked the hairband it is neon green and since I usually end up wearing a headband on my wrist until I put my hair up it gave my arms a little bit of color. Annick Goutal Petite Cherie - I am normally not a flowery scent kind of girl. I normally stray towards citrus scents. But I did really like this it is a combination both. There is a really good description on the Birchbox website. If you click on the link in the name it will take you to their web store. essie® Luxeffects Nail Polish - I recieved a different essie polish than is depicted in the picture. I do wish I had recieved the pinky/rose gold color more than the silver, but I enjoy the silver too. The color that I did receive is the "Set in Stones." I really like the mix of chunky and fine glitter. I also used this in a nail tutorial that I will put up later. Stay tune for that. Shiseido Pureness Oil-Control Blotting Papers  I have heard great things about Shiseido products, but I have never tried any before. That is one of the things that I really love about birchbox is that it gives you a chance to try without investing a lot of money. Back to the blotting papers. I have pretty oily skin and these worked great when I needed a little shine control. Tarte LipSurgence™ lip tint  Last but certainly not least is the Tarte LipSurgence lip tint. I love love love this product. I received the color Amused it is a magenta pink. The tint is extremely moisturizing and has a minty feel and smell. If you do not like mint you might not like these lip tints. The color stays on extremely well. I will more than likely be spending some of my birchbox points on some more of these.

Alright so that is the end of my review. I wanted to touch on a few things that I mentioned in my product reviews that I did not mention in the Birchbox description. They have an online store. The store carries many of their products that have came in their boxes. You do have to watch the availability some times and they have a waiting list that lets you know when something comes back in stock. I love the store because for every product you receive in your Birchbox you can write a review and receive 10 birchbox points. So if you have 5 products in your box you can review all 5 and receive 50 points. Once you reach 100 points you receive $10 off a full size product in their store. Also if you recommend people to Birchbox you receive 50 points when they receive their first box. I think that the points system is a great treat for people that have the box. So not only are you getting to try new products if you like them you can get them at a discounted price if you save your points. 


 Much love, 


Emily

Birchbox has no idea who I am. I buy all of my Birchboxes. I am not affiliated with them. 

My Favorite Foundation.

My favorite foundation is the "even better" foundation from Clinique. It is the first non-drugstore foundation that I have tried and I love it! I even have two bottles of it one that fits me when I am tan (Vanilla) and one that fits me when I am paler (ivory). It retails for $26.00 and I think it is a pretty good price for what you get. Also I only buy my Clinique during there "bonus time" when they give out a make up bag of good sized samples when you spend over $25. It does have spf 15 in it and is meant to even out your skin tone. I need my skin evened out on my face because of my red patches. I have fairly oily skin and I think this foundation stays on fairly well and you can have light coverage or heavier depending on how much you use and how you apply it. I do think that it has help to even my skin tone after I wear it. Lately I have been mixing it with their dramatically different moisturizing lotion to make a tinted moisturizer because I want less coverage and It has worked perfectly. On Clinique the description says:

Wear oil-free, dermatologist-developed Even Better Makeup SPF 15 and something amazing happens: Without any makeup, see improved clarity, a more even skin tone, visibly diminished age spots. For all ethnicities. In just 4 to 6 weeks. For continued benefits—even after you take it off—partner with Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector.

• Skin Types: 2 - Dry Combination, 3 - Oily
• Formula: Liquid
• Coverage: Moderate
• Benefits: Visibly brightens, restores even tone, protects
• Concern: Uneven Skin Tone

A Spring Day

Today was great! Last class of the week and then I walked Mt. Kennesaw with my friend Alyssa. I go to Kennesaw State University and it is only around 10 minutes from the Park. It was a beautiful day today so we went for the mile hike to the top.

Large fluffy clouds.

Really pretty view.

A little piece of green.

Little wild flowers

Some little red ones

View from the top =]

Semi- Formal outfit.

I love Modcloth! They have great clothes and little home items. Modcloth has a great selection whether you enjoy rockabilly, vintage, or modern clothes. I also really like how they have the Be they Buyer option. It gives you the ability to look at items that they are thinking about offering and lets you vote on whether or not to buy it.  I ordered a dress from them last fall for my semi formal. My dress arrived on time and was perfect!

This was my dress! It is called When the Night Comes Dress. I love it! The length is great and I love the lace.

Fletcher By Lyell Peep-toe Heels. I bought these at Urban Outfitters last August when they went clearance, $19.99!!!

This is a picture from that night! This is me and my boyfriend. His friends were making faces on the other side of the room. I tried to curl my hair, but my hair does not like to stay curled for long. Also I tried for a more vintage look and went for a red lip. Which at the point of this picture I think had come off. 

Emily

Skin Challenge Update!

All right this is an update on the challenge that my boyfriend Steve gave me this past week. To go a whole week without wearing make up.The idea for the challenge came a few days before my skin started acting up and I was getting some irritation on my face. Which I am pretty sure now was actually my spot treatment. By removing my make up I was able to determine that it was actually one of my night face products. 

I did my normal skin care routine and used Philosophy Purity cleanser and St. Ives Scrub every other day. I have normal to oily skin but honestly mos of the time my skin is more oily than anything. I have loved the Purity cleanser and it has helped my skin enormously. I also have large pores and some redness on my cheeks. I have begin to notice that my skin is starting to change on its own for the better (Wooohooo!) and I think I am starting to age out of the oiliness. I have for the most part aged out of the acme but I do have the occasional breakout that happens during that time of the month.

Since this past week was my spring break and I did not have to go to school (Yay!) I was not to concerned with wearing a lot of make up to begin with. What was hard for me was not wearing make up to work. So I decided that I would wear tinted moisturizer and some mascara so I did not look unprofessional. 

After a week I could definitely tell a difference in my skin. All of my spots had healed and it felt good to not have any make up on. 

The tinted moisturizer that I used was the Elf one that is from their studio collection and the

Maybelline Colossal Mascara. This is my second tube of the waterproof colossal mascara. I have found that this mascara does smudge on me and I will probably choose a different mascara next time.  I really would like to find a different tinted moisturizer. The Elf moisturizer is pretty good for the price ($3 I believe at Target) but, it is not very moisturizing and I do not think the product stays for a long enough time.

If you have a tinted moisturizer that you really like please let me know! Also let me know if you have had a no makeup week or plan to do this!

Emily

Want. Wish. Need.

     I did a Want. Wish. Need. post a while ago and I thought it would be interesting to do another one. Right now I am trying to get back to saving money. It has been a little difficult because this is the time of the year that I really want to spend money.So here are a few things that I want, wish I had, and actually need to buy.

Want. 

Marc by Marc Jacobs, Black Leather Studded Mouse Flat

These flats are really fun! I love the stud details and the little mouse just makes the unbelievably cute but with an edge.

Wish.

I love these sandals from DV by Dolce Vita they are called the Archer Sandal. I love how simple they are with the little touches of gold make them special. Especially the gold at the tip of the toes. I think these are on more than just my wish list....I think they are on my save list! I found these on piperlime for $69

Need. 

 

 

RETUR

Recycling bins from Ikea. They are $7.99 for a pack of 2. I saw an idea for my bathroom with these the other day. Since they are fairly small the bins are good for holding make up and toiletries! I think I could use 4 of them against one of my walls. It would be graphic and useful storage.

 This is also my Spring Break week! I do not have an awesome trip planned this year. I am just going to chill out at home and help organize things here.

Let me know about your Spring Break plans!!!

Emily

Skin Challenge

I have been challenged by my boyfriend to not wear any make up this week. It is our spring break and I am not going anywhere besides working and doing a photo shoot so I told him I would take him up on his challenge. I am really lucky to have a guy that loves me more with my make up off than with it on.

What brought this challenge on is that my skin has been acting very funny the past couple of days. It is redder than normal like really aggravated and slightly itchy feeling. I am not sure if it is from a reaction to make up or maybe something else that I have come in contact with.

I thought I would give this a try. I will keep y'all updated.



Emily 

I tried it! (Pinterest trials)

Yesterday I decided that I would finally try hair chalking. I am have medium dark brown hair that is a little bit past my shoulders. It used to be farther than halfway down my back and I miss it! However, I am glad that I chopped my hair off last summer to right above my shoulders. It was the shortest it had ever been!

Here are a few pictures from then!

The first picture is from when I first got it cut (just saying I do not know what is up with my chest in this  picture it is definitely not usually that large looking lol)

 

 

 

This is an after styled and curled picture of my hair then from Instagram. I loved my hair curled when it was short. 

Here is a picture of my hair with the chalking in it. I did not do anything special to my hair this day and just blow dried it. I found out that the green color showed in my hair a lot better than the other colors. Even though surprisingly the yellow/gold showed up pretty well too.

It was a lot of fun and my mom called me rainbow bright because I just used every color in the box to see how it would look. If you are looking for long lasting color I am going to say this is not for you. It literally washed out for the most part this morning. There is a little bit of color left but not really enough for anyone but me to tell.

Color Palettes!

I made these palettes the other day from photos that I took last summer at a farmers market! I can not wait until the weather is nice all the time. It seems to be constantly changing right now. Yesterday we had amazing weather and I almost wore denim shorts. Then tornadoes tore through where I live. Thankfully all of my family is safe and that no damage was done. There were a lot of people who were less lucky. The weather today is so much cooler.

I hope you enjoy my pictures! 

Emily