My First Impression - February IPSY Bag

Hello Beauties!

My February IPSY Bag arrived last weeks and I got to swatch and use a few things before work and wanted to share my first impressions with you. Ipsy is a monthly subscription service priced at $10.00 a month including free shipping ( this is a plus for me since I live in Alaska) I love getting to try new products every month and a beauty subscription box is a great choice to spend your lunch money and get a few beauty products. Every month I normally receive anywhere from 4-6 samples.

Onto my February first impression,

• POP Beauty Plump Pout Mini- For being a mini its a really good size lip gloss, the color was a lot brighter when applied then in the tube so much I ended up taking it off because it was a little to much. The worst part of this lip gloss is the SMELL it didn't stink but it didn't smell good either, it reminded me of the smell of cheap makeup you play with as a kid

• Zoya Nail Polish- I love Zoya nail polish so this was a thumbs up for me! It was full size in the color Odette
• City Color Be Matte Blush- I'm not sure what color I got.. It was kind of coral but it doesn't matter because I didn't care for it. I don't know what I was thinking to try something new before work we all know that's a NO NO!! The color was way to bright and powdery for my liking and I normally love all things matte, coming from someone with oily skin!!
• Uberliss RituOil- I cant really say to much because I didn't get to use it in my hair as I was on the way to work, but I can say it seems like its a nice light hair oil and has a nice soft scent. 
• Tini Beauty Cream Shadow/Base- This is ok, not something I will reach for but i wont complain since it is a full size product 

Over all I wouldn't say this is my favorite bag, but it wasn't my worst either. Including three full size products in a $10.00 subscription bag is pretty freaking good!  I just didn't feel anything I received made me feel like I HAVE to go out and purchase this, but I for someone who inst into beauty products like me may feel otherwise. 

Giveaway!!!

Angie over at My So Called Chaos is celebrating her 5 year blogiversary!!!  To show you how amazing you are, I teamed up with a handful of my friends to offer you a BIG giveaway!  There are three blogging-related prize packs you can enter to win!  Check it out!

Prize Pack 1 includes all of the above for a value of roughly $423!

Winner's outside the US will get all of the digital goods and a $20 Amazon/Paypal credit for the books.

Prize Pack 2 includes all of the above for a value of roughly $178!

Winner's outside the US will get all of the digital goods and a $20 Amazon/Paypal credit for the books.

Prize Pack 3 includes all of the above for a value of roughly $73!

Winner's outside the US will get all of the digital goods and a $20 Amazon/Paypal credit for the books.

Enter the Giveaway

Giveaway is open worldwide and ends 3/4/2014

All prizes will be sent directly from shop/source/sponsor.

Winners in the US can choose to have the physical books or Kindle versions.

Winner's outside the US will receive all digital items (not including books) & a $20 Amazon Credit.

Entering the Rafflecopter below agrees to all Terms & Conditions within.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

January Favorites

Hello Beauties! Can you believe that January is over? I feel like we just celebrated the New Year.. time goes faster then I can keep up with. Over the last month these are the products I have been using repetitively!

1. MAC Turquatic I find it hard to describe the smell of perfume because perfume smells different on everyone, but if I had to describe this scent in a few words it would be fresh, floral, with a little musk. I have been LOVING this a lot I have it in the roller ball and the regular bottle and have pretty much worn it everyday since I got them on Christmas.

2. Beautyblender/Beautyblender solid cleanser I have been using the Beautyblender for a little over a year and its one of my go to products for applying foundation, however cleaning it can be on the tricky side. When cleaning my makeup brushes I normally use Baby Shampoo or Dawn dish soap which normally gets the job done, however with my Beautyblender I will wash it until the water runs  clear but the sponge itself is stained which can be annoying. This Beautyblender solid cleanser must have something special in it because after I used it by little sponge was solid pink!

3. MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter I use this highlighter under my eyes and T-zone. This highlighter is a like a light concealer it highlights without shimmer and really adds a nice glow to your face with out being to dramatic. Its very blend-able and creamy. I use the color Radiant Rose which works with a lot of different skin tones.

4. Josie Maran 100 percent Pure Argan Oil If your anything like me your thinking OIL on my FACE...umm no! I thought people wore insane to jump on this cleaning oil/moisturizing oil hype. I couldn't believe anyone with acne prone/oily skin would want to rub even more oil on there face, but somehow I let the girl at Sephora talk me into buying this Josie Maran Cleanse & Nourish To Go Duo which is like a travle size of the two. I feel in love with the Josie Maran
Argan Oil and use it a few times a week before bed. Its very light and blend-able and reveals super nourished skin the following morning. I don't think I could use this as my morning moisturizer because I get more oily during the day, but if you have dry skin I believe you could.

5. NYX Butter Gloss These have been my go to lip glosses the past month, and I just cant get enough of them! These glosses soften and condition your lips and have great color pay off and glide on the skin like BUTTER (hints the name).

6. Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette This little palette is my go to palette for everyday make especially when going to work. This palette allows you to crate simple looks but also has colors to spice things up!

7. Sock Bun I love this faux sock bun hair accessory, it lets you get the look of the old school sock bun but with a products that blends a little nicer and stays put! I use this all the time especially when I'm crunched for time but what to look like I put some time into getting ready. I called this my lazy hair-do!!

Comment below your January favorites if you had any, I would love to know what they are!

GIVEAWAY over at My So Called Chaos

Hey beauties!

Check out my Top Five Beauty Tricks and Giveaway over on Angies Blog: My So Called Chaos :)
Giveaway ends 2/11/2014 and is World Wide !!!!!

Sephora Favorites: Customized Skincare set

Hello beauties!!

I bring to you... the Sephora Favorites Customized Skincare Set (only at sephora inside JCP)
I'm a little late but last night  I saw a picture of someones custom skin care kit on instagram *my instagram and thought to myself I have to get one of these!

For $29.00 you get to pick out 5 deluxe size samples! You can choose 5 different or 5 of the same! Its a value between $44.00-$133.00 This kit is an amazing buy whether or not your stocking up on things you LOVE or trying something new. If you are interested in this kit I suggest you RUN because this deal has been out for a week or two and some items may be sold out! I personally was really sad that both GlamGlows wore sold out at my store :(

GlamGlow: Supermud Clearing Treatment
GlamGlow: Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment
Algenist: Retinol Firming & Lifting Serum
Dr. Jart: Ceramidin Liquid
First Aid Beauty: Ultra Repair Cream
St. Tropez: Gradual Tan Everyday Body Moisturizer  Med/Dark
Josie Maran: 100% Argan Oil
Ole Henriksen: Truth Serum Collagen Boosters
Peter Thomas Roth: Laser Free Retexturizer
Murad: Clarifying Cleanser
StriVectin: StriVectin-TL Tightening Neck Cream
Philosophy: Purity Made Simple Facial Cleanser
Boscia: Tsubaki Beauty Oil

My Customized Kit:
1. Boscia: Tsubaki Beauty Oil
*value $16.30
2. Peter Thomas Roth: Laser Free Retexturizer
*value $19.00
3. StriVectin: StriVectin-TL Tightening Neck Cream
*value $13.40

4. Algenist: Retinol Firming & Lifting Serum

*value $32.35

5. Philosophy: Purity Made Simple Facial Cleanser *value $11.50

TOTAL VALUE: $92.55 saving me = $63.66 !!

Model in a Bottle: Long Lasting Eyebrow Sealer

There are many things I LOVE in this world and my eyebrows are one of them. This hasn’t always been the case, I didn’t notice how important well groomed brows were until I got older and more into beauty.

The saying "brows are the frame of your face" is my new beauty motto! Your eyebrows can either make or break your everyday look. I would rather leave the house with a coat of mascara and a little powder to fill in my brows than anything else in my makeup bag.

 Now onto the OMG this stuff is AMAZING... *drumroll* Model in a Bottle: Long Lasting Eyebrow Sealer. I like to think of this stuff as hairspray for your brows. It comes with two applicators a spoolie for thicker fuller brows and a brush applicator for finer more precise brows.

The eyebrow sealer is a liquid consistency that is placed over your finished brow look to keep it in place all day! This stuff can be used over pencil, powder or wax and only a small amount is needed.  It dries quick and matte, no one will ever know it’s on and you will have eyebrows that will last for hours!! The picture above was taken after a 12hr work day!!!

It comes in a .5 FL OZ glass bottle similar to the size of a nail polish bottle and retails for $14.00

L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector

I recently purchased the L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector serum and day/night moisturizer, because my favorite youtube beauty vlogger Nicole Guerriero raved about how much she LOVED it in her recent Skin Care Video

I did what anyone does when Nicole raves about something.. I made it a mission to get it that night! I did a Google search to compare prices and found that it was the cheapest for me to pick it up from target, each one was $19.99 which is a little pricey for drugstore items but well worth it if you ask me.

On to the good stuff!

The Youth Code Texture Perfector was created to perfect the appearance of skin which I know what your thinking, isn’t everything we use on our face to perfect it BUT this stuff isn’t just to help even out skin tone or help keep you moisturized. While it does do both of those things, it really does WONDERS on the quality of the skin's surface. It tightens your pores, diminishes fine lines and wrinkles to reveal smooth almost velvet skin!!

L'Oreal said:

-In 1 week, over 70% of women experienced tightened, less visible pores.
-In 1 week, over 80% of women saw smoother, softer texture.
-In 1 month, women state that pores appear smaller, fine lines are reduced and texture is smoother.
-79% of women report seeing an improvement in skin quality.

Its been 5 days since I added this to my morning/night routine and I already have been seeing amazing results! My fiance even noticed how great my skin was looking which is a huge PLUS in my book if a guy notices something like skin care!