I'll Be Back Soon!

So sorry for the extra-long hiatus! The blog will be back...

1/1/2013!!!

Stay tuned for:

More of my Must-Have Items
A Christmas/Sephora Haul
Reviews
Samples
New Drugstore Products

AND MUCH MORE!

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful NYE and I will see you on the first of the year!

xoxo
Elizabeth 

My December Birchbox!

Happy Hump Day everybody! I'm sorry this post is so late in the day...it's been crazy this week getting ready for Christmas!! I really wanted to get this post out tonight, because by the time I post next, it won't be December anymore! I'm out the rest of the week; tomorrow night is The Killers concert and Friday night is The Bullycide Project Christmas party! Cannot wait! I might post a few short posts if I get something beauty-related for Christmas, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Now for my December Birchbox! What did I get??

Here's how it looked when I opened it:

I do love the way they put their packages together...super cute!

I received:

Amika Obliphica Nourishing Mask

Yet another hair mask...I have yet to try it. However, this particular one is interesting to me and I'm actually really excited to try it. I have never heard of Obliphica oil before and apparently it's filled with natural vitamins and omega acids. Another thing that I really like is that you can use this as a weekly treatment OR everyday as a deep conditioner. I feel like you're really getting your moneys worth if you can use it as much as you want! Speaking of money, the absolute best thing about this product is the price! Definitely can't wait to try this.
AVAILABLE AT: Amika's website
Only $12 for 60ml and $40 for 500ml...I received 20ml

Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream 

Blended in on the left

I was super excited to see this in my box! CC Creams are the new thing (CC = Complexion Correction). Basically, they offer more anti-aging benefits than a BB Cream does, while giving you a formula that looks more like a foundation, but is still very light. The size of the tube is laughable (teeny tiny!) and the bottle is like half-full. Ugh. The shade they gave me is Warm Glow and blends in pretty well! I haven't tried this on my face yet, but just here on my hand you can tell that it brightens up the surface of your skin. Excited to try this as well! There's lot's to explain so go ahead and check out their website!
AVAILABLE AT: Ulta, Whole Foods, or here
$39 for 1.7 oz

Juicy Couture by Juicy Couture 

I love basically all of Juicy's fragrances and like to keep this little sample in my purse but I just think this is lame to include in a Birchbox. I could go up to any fragrance counter at any department store and they would give me this exact same thing for free. Ok enough complaining. I love how loud and bold Juicy Couture's fragrances are! This one has top notes of watermelon, passion fruit, and mandarin combined with middle notes of marigold and green apple, and finally rose, vanilla, and caramel undertones. Definitely a great gift for someone special! I suggest that friend of yours who is trendy and would try anything.
AVAILABLE AT: Department stores or here
Prices range from $19-89 depending on what size you get

ModelCo Shine Ultra Lip Gloss in Strip Tease

There's my phone case in the reflection!

Lord knows I don't need anymore lip gloss, but I can't blame Birchbox for not knowing that. I would be more excited about this if it were a different color. As you can see, Strip Tease is...completely sheer. (I see what they did there!!) It will be nice to wear over a lipstick, and the mirror on the side is cool, but I won't be carrying this gloss around enough to even use the mirror. This is a full-size product though, so thanks Birchbox!
AVAILABLE AT: ModelCo's website
$16 for the size you see in my photo (Not worth the money in my opinion)

Emily's Chocolates Dark Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Fortunes

This was my "Lifestyle Extra" that they include in every box. It's a cute idea, but I unfortunately hate dark chocolate so I won't be trying this. I can't really offer you a review, but I do think they would be great for a New Years Eve party! Their other flavors include, White Chocolate Covered Gingerbread, and Milk Chocolate. They're filled with festive messages, so it could be a great way to start off the new year!
AVAILABLE AT: Their website
$5.99 for package of six cookies

And finally the item that made me LOVE December's Box...

A $50 gift card to Rent the Runway!!!

If you've never heard of Rent the Runway, get on over to their site RIGHT NOW and check it out! You can rent most dresses for $75 so this gift card will be paying for most of my order! Perfect for NYE or an upcoming wedding that I'm attending. Thanks Birchbox!

ipsy vs. Birchbox for the month of December: IT'S A TIE!
Ipsy gave me four full-size products, but Birchbox gave me the gift card, so they are both winners!

That about wraps it up! Have a great holiday and a Happy New Year!!!
xo
Elizabeth

My December "Haute Holiday" Bag from Ipsy!

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is having a great week so far! We are SO close to Christmas! I absolutely cannot wait for Christmas parties, family, friends, and of course seeing the look on my loved ones' faces when they open the presents I bought for them; don't wanna brag but I'm good at it.

Speaking of the holidays and awesome gifts, I received my December ipsy bag in the mail!! The theme for this month was "Haute Holidays" and boy did they deliver! I've tried two out of the five products so far, so I'll be including mini reviews of those! Let's see what I got!

First impressions: The bag is super ugly (again) and smaller than the November one, but once I saw what was inside, none of that mattered.

Mirabella Prime for Face and Eyes

I have been looking for a great primer for my face, so I was super excited to see this. They gave me the full size bottle...I was in shock! I love the fact that you can also use it on your eyes! I had never heard of this brand before, so I was eager to try it. OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS. This stuff is amazing!! I wore it on the day of the Connecticut shooting, and after a day of crying, my makeup was still intact. I was amazed. This has definitely become one of my new favorite products. It's clear, goes on clear, and is sort of gel-like, so your foundation glides over it very nicely.
MY GRADE: A++
AVAILABLE AT: Mirabella's website for $29

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil

I always love me a black eyeliner, so I was happy to see this product in my bag. The full size is .04 oz and the one I received is .03 oz so I'm considering this another full-size product! I had never tried UD's eyeliner before, so I was interested to see if it was worth the money. It's very soft which I like and a true black which I like even more. The staying power was really great and this pencil comes in many other colors, including metallics.  I like this liner, but almost $20 for one pencil is a little hard for me to get behind. I would probably only buy one if there was a color I couldn't find anywhere else.
MY GRADE: B+
AVAILABLE AT: Sephora or here for $19 (It looks like Sephora has a gift set of six of them for $38!!)

Be A...Bombshell Lip Gloss in Hot Mess

You know this bag is holiday themed when there's a red lip product in there! I fully intend to rock the red lips for some upcoming Christmas parties, so I was ecstatic to see this in my bag. I had never heard of this brand before, and I have yet to try this gloss. It looks very promising! The red is pigmented and looks like it will actually give me some color instead of going on sheer. I love the name "Hot Mess" too...makes me laugh. I'll take pictures of it on my lips once I try it and do a mini review for you guys! This is yet another full-size product!!
AVAILABLE AT: Be A...Bombshell's website for $14

NYX Loose Pearl Shadow in Mink

I'm excited to try out another NYX product!! This is perfect for a holiday makeup look: put this all over your lids, wing out some black liner, add a red lip and you're good to go! This is yet ANOTHER full-size product in my bag! I haven't tried this on my eyes yet, but just on my hand it looks gorgeous. Hopefully you can see it in the picture! It's more of a deeper gold which I love and it doesn't seem like I'll have to pack a lot on to get the full effect.
AVAILABLE AT: Drugstores (check your area) or here for $3. It comes in 30 gorgeous shades!!

Mai Couture Highlighter Papier

 I am SO excited about this product! I have never seen or tried anything like this before. You can rip the sheets out individually and you just press and sweep the paper wherever you want to! You can use this on your cheekbones, collarbone, or your decolletage for a pretty glow. The full size is 50 sheets and in my bag I received 25 sheets...not bad at all! This is such an easy way to highlight and just a cool idea all around!
AVAILABLE AT: Mai Couture's website for $28

They also included a gift certificate for $20 off any product in the ipsy Collection on justfab.com. There is some seriously cute stuff in their collection and everything is only 39.95 so I'll basically be getting something 50% off!

Ipsy has amazed me yet again. FOUR full-size products, the most expensive one being $29 which is almost twice the price of the subscription itself! I highly recommend signing up for ipsy, or gifting it to someone for Christmas. You can do that here.

That's all I've got for today folks! For the justice portion for today I decided to include a Christmas quote to remind us what the holiday is really about (spending time with the people you LOVE) and to get everyone in the holiday spirit!

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas."
-Dale Evans

Until tomorrow,
Elizabeth

Two Essential Products For My Beauty Routine

Hello everyone!! I'm so sorry for not posting on Friday, but when I heard of the news in Connecticut, I didn't feel that it was appropriate. I am still in shock about what happened, and I think of those precious little kids every single day. I'll be sharing some links to articles that I find interesting concerning mental health and gun control, and why I think we need to seriously work on both issues!!

But first, I wanted to share with you two products that are absolutely essential for me in my morning beauty routine! With my new job I have to wake up around 5:15 every morning, and it's very important to me to have something that wakes me up, and speeds up my getting-ready time. Let's find out what they are!

Clean & Clear Deep Action Exfoliating Scrub 

Words cannot express how much I love this product. I use it in the shower about twice a week...on the back of the bottle it says you can use it everyday, but I just don't think that would be best for my skin; it depends on the person! When I first tried it, I just expected it to be a regular exfoliating scrub...I didn't know how my face would feel afterwards. As you're rubbing this into your skin, your whole face starts to tingle and there's this crazy cooling sensation. It's almost like you're rubbing toothpaste all over your face. Weird, I know, but IT FEELS AMAZING!! It instantly gives me that wake-up call that I need, and I feel like my skin is seriously being purged of all that awfulness. I'm not joking when I say that you HAVE to try this. You'll be buying it again and again.
MY GRADE: A++
AVAILABLE AT: Drugstores for around $5-6

Turbie Twist Super-Absorbent Hair Towel

Love love love these! My mom first got me one of these because she thought it looked cute, and I have been using them ever since! I'm about to sound like an infomercial, but don't you just hate it when you have a huge towel on your head after the shower, and it keeps slipping off? Introducing, the Turbie Twist! You can kind of see the diagram on the box: basically you put it over your head so that the side with the elastic strap is at the back, then wrap and twist your hair into the long hood part, and finally pull it back and stick it through the elastic hoop. So easy and so much better than that huge towel! It is insanely absorbent, so it takes me less time to dry my hair which means healthier hair and a faster morning routine! So so great. It's also machine-washable so you can stick it right with your laundry, just like you would with a towel. They also come in super cute colors and different prints. I think these would make the perfect stocking stuffer!
MY GRADE: A++
AVAILABLE AT: Drugstores for around $6-7

That about sums it up for the Beauty portion so now I want to introduce these articles that I was talking about earlier. We have had way too many shootings lately, and every time something like this happens, the same argument arises: Mental Health vs. Gun Control. I don't even want to get into it, but just know that I feel that BOTH are necessary for this epidemic to change.

Here is the article exploring mental health and options for someone who is mentally ill. It's extremely interesting, heartbreaking, but above all, scary. Read it here.

This article about gun control and why it is so insanely needed at this point in our society, is also extremely interesting. I love this quote from it: "American schoolchildren are protected by building codes that govern stairways and windows. School buses must meet safety standards, and the bus drivers have to pass tests. Cafeteria food is regulated for safety. The only things we seem lax about are the things most likely to kill." Read it here.

Please know that I am not trying to force my opinion on anyone! I do feel strongly about this matter however, and I think we all know that our country needs a serious change.

I'll end with a quote from President Obama on the day of the shooting:  
"The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful, little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams."

Hold your loved ones tight and be grateful for everything and everyone that you have.

Love you all,
Elizabeth 

A Guest Blogger and Clarins 7 Wonders Gift Set

Hello everyone!! We are so close to Friday!!

Today's post is going to be a little bit different. I am going to talk about my Clarins 7 Wonders Gift Set, and then I'm going to hand it over to my friend Brittney. She loves makeup just as much as I do (maybe more) and after she told me about a mascara she recently discovered, I came up with the idea to do a guest blog post. Comment if you have any tips, tricks, or reviews to share and you could see your post up here next! Let's get started!

Clarins 7 Wonders Gift Set

Clarins has been around for a long time and is an insanely trusted brand that I've been wanting to try. On Black Friday at Macy's I came across this gift set and knew it had to be mine. It gives you a great variety of products and is an awesome value.

You get seven products for only $48! These products aren't full size, but you still get a good amount of product for the price. I forgot to take pictures when I first got it so that's why everything is all used...oops! I've tried four products out of the seven, and so far so good! Here's what I've tried:

Moisture-Rich Body Lotion

I am OBSESSED with this lotion! When they say "moisture-rich" they are not joking. It is so unbelievably hydrating without being greasy. I also love the smell...I can't describe it but the lotion contains Peach Milk, Shea, Candlenut Oil, and Orange Blossom...so whatever you think that would smell like. Mainly Orange Blossom. It really does leave a healthy-looking glow to your skin and it stays smooth all day.
MY GRADE: A+
AVAILABLE AT: Any Clarins counter (Macy's etc.) or here.
$40 for 6.7 fl oz (twice the size of my bottle in the picture)

Beauty Flash Balm

I mainly bought the set specifically for this product after I had read about it in Allure. You can use it two different ways: as a thin layer under your makeup, or as a thick mask that you leave on for 15 minutes and then wipe off. It's supposed to brighten and tighten your skin to give it a youthful glow. Basically, it's a very fancy face primer. It contains Olive and Witch Hazel to smooth the skin's surface. For some strange reason, my face has been kind of oily lately, so I haven't had much luck with this product. I've only used it under my makeup, not as a mask, and by the middle of the day I felt like my makeup was halfway down my face or something. It does give your face a slightly dewy look, which I like. I'll just have to keep trying with this one!
MY GRADE: For now, C+
AVAILABLE AT: See above
$45 for 1.7 fl oz (the bottle pictured is 1.06 fl oz)

Toning Lotion with Camomile

I had never used a toning lotion before, and was not disappointed! I used it after the exfoliating cleanser (coming up next) and my skin looked as smooth as glass. It was really great to use after exfoliating, because it helped my skin to not get extremely dry. It felt very soothing and not irritating at all. It contains camomile, alpine herbs, and linden extracts. Pretty good!
MY GRADE: A
AVAILABLE AT: See above
$21 for 6.7 fl oz (the one pictured is 3.4 fl oz)

One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser with Orange Extract

I'm super into exfoliating my skin lately. Not too much though! Only twice a week in the shower...any more and my skin would be raw. They call it "one-step" because it takes away your makeup, embedded impurities, and dead surface skin cells all in one step! My skin felt super refreshed after using it. It really does feel like it went in and scooped all of the gross stuff out of your face. That image is scary...sorry.
MY GRADE: A
AVAILABLE AT: See above
$35 for 4.2 fl oz (the one pictured is 2.6 fl oz)

I haven't tried the other three products yet, but even without knowing if they're good, I still believe this is a great gift set. If you have any Clarins lovers on your list, or someone that just loves skincare, this would be perfect! I'm gonna turn it over to Brittney! Love you all!
Elizabeth

Hi everyone! I’m Brittney: 22, part time nurse, part time student, full time beauty junkie. Elizabeth offered me a guest post and I jumped on the opportunity.

I'm here to talk to you about three of my favorite affordable mascaras. Eyes seems to be everyone’s favorite part of their face, and you can have so much fun playing around with new looks to showcase your peepers. Luscious lashes are the perfect thing to top off any eye look. And being someone who is plagued with thin short lashes, I’m always on the lookout for magic mascaras.

Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express is awesome. The formula is very buildable, and doesn’t flake; it can get a little clumpy though, so be careful. The spoon brush really grabs all of your tiny lashes, even the ones in the corners. It leaves you with long, full, defined, and curled lashes.
The waterproof formula is great too, and one of the only waterproof mascaras that is actually waterproof. A lot of other ones I’ve tried won't smudge and leave me looking like a raccoon, but still wash off in the water. This one you almost need a power washer to fully remove, which is why I only use it when I REALLY need the waterproof factor. You can get any mascara in the Falsies line for right around $6.

L’oreal Voluminous Million Lashes is another great one. It’s very buildable, flake and clump free. The giant brush has tons of tiny silicone combs. It gives you lots of definition and volume. You can find it for close to $7.

E.L.F. Lengthening and Defining mascara is one I just discovered. The tiny brush makes it easy to coat all of your lashes. It left me with long, full, well-defined lashes. And at only $1 you really can't go wrong.

Now for a little justice. I want to share with you all the story of my amazing little brother, Jason. Jason became a part of our family after my parents adopted him when he was 5 months old. He had been severely neglected and was basically kept alive by his 8 year old brother those first 5 months of his life. Because of this he was very malnourished and had multiple infections. The kid was fighting a losing battle from the start, but today he is your average 16-year-old high school sophomore. To others he seems a little off, a little slow, and a little weird. Over the years Jason has been diagnosed with: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Bipolar disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Aspergers, and Epilepsy. On top of all the usual teenage woes, Jason has to manage all of this too. He has seen countless doctors, specialists, neurologists, psychologists, and therapists. He’s completed speech therapy and occupational therapy, had dozens of tests and procedures, and has taken some form of medication almost every day of his life. He has worked so hard from the second he was born for everything he has accomplished and overcame. The truly remarkable thing about my brother is that none of this matters to him. He sees himself as a normal teenager, who just has to work a little harder than everyone else, and that’s the way he wants others to view him as well. He is the funniest person I have ever met, and has the biggest heart. He is the best brother a girl could ask for, and growing up with him has made me a better person, and taught me many lessons in patience and acceptance. The point I’m trying to make is don’t be too quick to pass judgment; you never know what battles someone else is fighting.