Ipsy - December 2014

This month's Ipsy theme is "Thinking of You". Ipsy is a subscription service that costs $10 a month. I pay for this subscription with my own money. Some months I absolutely love my bag, others I like only a couple pieces, and some I just don't like at all. This month I think it's probably more of a like. I think I will absolutely adore two of the products and the other three are just okay. I do love that you always get a makeup bag with Ipsy because they are so cute.

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Frosty VoxBox

I scared the crap out of my mail lady today, all in the sake of getting my Influenster box. So my dad has my car right now since his in the shop, so it looks like no one is at home. I was walking to the kitchen which passes the front door and saw her walking up the steps and opened it. She jumped of course. I kind of feel bad but at the same time she handed me my Influenster box so I was really excited.

Influenster is completely free and boxes are kind of a surprise type thing. They don’t occur monthly, or regularly at all. You have to be invited to get a box, and it’s based on your online presence and what you tend to know most about (your expertise). Click here for a link with my post on what exactly Influenster is and various bits and information about. I was sent these items to test complimentary from Influenster.com but all opinions on the products mentioned are my own.

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Frosty VoxBox Preview

So I went onto Influenster.com today to check reviews on some various Rimmel products because I have 2 coupons for $1 off a Rimmel product and am not sure exactly what I want to get (I already have four foundations by them {one complimentary from Influenster}). Anyways I noticed that I had a new VoxBox, which made me extremely excited, because I did the pre-qualifying survey a couple weeks ago. So I clicked into thinking it was probably just a virtual one (which is also uber-awesome), but it turns out I’m getting a physical one, aka the Frosty VoxBox!

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What is Influenster?

Influenster is a website where you can review an extremely wide variety of products. These products are things like makeup (my personal favorite), entertainment (TV shows, movies, and video game systems), sports, food products, etc. It’s amazing and I love that it’s all by actual people who aren’t sponsored to write nice things. On top of that they occasionally send out products to pre-selected people to try out completely complementary.

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Christmas Beauty Bag for 16-22 Year Olds

            It’s almost Thanksgiving & Black Friday. For the next couple days/weeks I’ll be doing gift ideas! I personally still think it's too early for Christmas stuff, but Black Friday is almost here and we are all looking for good sales. For the next 3 weeks I’ll be focusing on beauty & the women in your lives. Each of these weeks will have a similar concept but a different execution. They will all include a single staple piece, a makeup bag.

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My To-Go Cosmetics Bag/Mid-Month Favorites:

So with my non-job & the fact that I’ve been sick since lately, I haven’t really had the time or money to try a whole lot of new products. However, I have been using what I consider to be the staples in my collection for the past couple months a lot. I recently spent the night at a friend’s where we went to a couple of my alumnus school’s hockey games (two days before I came down with strep). So of course I had to look good, because we were going out to the local “club” later that evening. So I brought my staple pieces that are known as my To-Go bag, which also happen to be the items that have been the past couple months favorites.

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Ipsy November 2014

It’s that time of the month again, IPSY TIME! This is honestly what I look forward to each month. Is that sad? Anyways, my Ipsy bag came the day I was heading to visit some old college friends and go to my alumnus school’s hockey games. So I didn’t really get a chance to look at what I got before today. Overall, it’s mixed feelings, since I now know what other options I could have gotten. Without further ado, though, here’s this month’s Ipsy Bag!

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Bad Day Turned Good! - Influenster #VSSportBra VoxBox

            Lately the weather in Michigan has been even more crazy than Normal. Yesterday for example we had a huge thunderstorm at 5:30am and by 12:00pm it was bright and sunny but by 4:00pm it was extremely cloudy out. Today’s just been a hot and humid day, but at about 9:00am it was torrential downpouring. Don’t get me wrong I love rain but not when I’m on my way to go shopping.

            The good news is it stopped raining by the time my mom and I got to the mall. I only purchased three things for a total of $13.96. I got the first two mighty duck movies (in a duo-pack so I count it as one), an essence eyeshadow, and a Freeman’s Charcoal & Black Sugar Mask.

            However, the thing that really turned this day around from the bleak and drab day it’s been is the fact that I came home to another Influenster VoxBox! For more information about Influenster listed at the end of this post.

            So far I personally have received three voxboxes before this one. The first was the Uni VoxBox and the second was the Surf’s Up VoxBox and the last was an Ebay VoxBox. I’ve also one a P&G gift box because I completed the tasks and they chose me to receive the complimentary box. So I guess this is technically my 4^th… Anyways onto what I received!

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            So today I received an awesome package in the mail… My P&G Gift Basket, aka the products I won from Influenster.com because I completed the tasks for the P&G part of my VoxBox.

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Mid-Month Favorites - August

         Every month I do a mid-month favorite instead of an end of the month favorites. These are products that I have loved since July 15th to now. These products are ones that I use fairly regularly or am absolutely in love with but don't have the opportunity to use them as much as I'd like but wanted to mention them anyway. Unlike my June-July one this includes only beauty products.

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My Pampered Face Routine

Everyone wants to feel pampered, especially women. Once every week or two I like to do a full pampering routine for my face. It's when I use expensive products that aren't from the drugstore that I've either bought or received in a subscription service that I've subscribed to. I will post a drugstore version of this that I do weekly that doesn't make me feel as pampered but is more of a refresher for my skin, but could be a pamper for you!

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Fab or Fail Friday! - Lip Balms

            Lip balms are the perfect in between product of lipstick and lip gloss. They are often on the sheer side but tend to have a semi-glossy finish. For quite awhile there were no matte lip balms, especially in the drugstore but brands are quickly beginning to change this like Revlon for example, so they are not all completely glossy now-a-days. The reason that lip balms are the in between product is that they aren't drying like most lipsticks are but they aren't as sticky and messy as most lip glosses are. Please note that these are also known as crayons. They are different than lip balm's that can also be considered chapstick because of the color, texture, and lack of health benefits. 

Read on to see a comparison of 4 different lip balm brands.

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My Top 10 Sinful Colors Nail Polishes

            Sinful Colors Professionals nail polish is a cheaper drugstore nail polish. It has outstanding color choices and has decent staying power. Nail polishes normally cost $1.99 at almost any drugstore but some places occasionally have a sale on them for $0.99. I think that’s an amazing deal because I love the formula. I used to be a Wet n’ Wild only girl simply because it was a very inexpensive brand, however, this by far is a longer lasting and smoother formula. I did two coats on all my nails besides Out of this World and This is it which got three. Also these are all Toluene, Formaldehyde, and DBP Free.

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Should You Splurge?

Should You Splurge? 7 High-end Items that May or May Not be Worth the Hype.

So sometimes we all want to feel a little extra special, so we buy those products that might cost a little too much and might be a little bit out of our normal price range. Here are the six splurge items in my beauty collection that I bought with my own money, not on clearance, and did not receive in a subscription service. I've had these products for at least a couple weeks and for some of them I've had them over half a year now. I think that’s a good amount of time to give at least a decent review of them.

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Products I Won't Repurchase

            So for today’s post I figured I would do something along the lines of “Products I Regret Buying”. Except, I don’t really regret buying these products so much as I won’t repurchase them. Most of the products I’m going to show are one’s from brands that I absolutely love but didn’t care for a certain product or two.

            Please note that these are personal preferences, these could work beyond amazing for you. They just didn’t work for me personally due to a multitude of different reasons.

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Lipstick Loves

            So today’s piece is designated a little more towards people with my complexion. I apologize to any readers that might have a different skin tone or undertone then mine. However, just because I’m saying this is towards people with similar skin tones & undertones to me, it doesn’t mean that these colors won’t look fabulous on you too! I recommend all these colors to any girl, they might not according to other beauty bloggers fit your skin tone or undertone but if you like them and you feel beautiful wearing them then by all means wear them!

            I have naturally pale skin, in the pictures I am wearing Rimmel London’s Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation in porcelain. Like I said I'm extremely pale even after trying to tan so much in the summer. So without further ado, here are my top four drugstore lipsticks for paler &/or cool undertones.

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Alternative uses for those makeup bags!

            So I’m going through this massive organization faze (I hate cleaning and organizing!) right now and came across my stack of Ipsy* makeup bags. Since moving home I have reorganized my makeup into actual trays and drawers, so I had emptied all of my makeup bags that were of no use. So I knew instantly that I needed to put these unique and cute bags to use. So what was I to do?

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Affordable Organization

            So recently I’ve been doing some organizing, since I’ve moved back home. This includes my makeup and other beauty products. I thought hmm I wonder if others find it hard to organize their beauty products with limited space and a small budget. So if you’re like me and have very limited space and limited money, here are a few useful things that might help you get organized.

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Ipsy Unboxing/Review

            So exciting news my Ipsy bag came in today! I look forward to this package every month. So for those who don’t know what Ipsy is, it’s a beauty subscription service that costs $10 a month. Each month you get a pink bubble-envelope in the mail (normally around the 10^th-20^th) and inside is your Ipsy bag. The Ipsy bag is a makeup bag that changes designs every month. So you pull out your bag and open it up, and there are 4-5 sample or even full-sized beauty products inside!

            The reason I like this subscription and other beauty subscriptions is because it allows you to try brands and products that you might not have known existed or wanted to try but couldn’t afford the full sized product or find the product near you. Now you don’t get to pick what products you get. You fill out a survey and based on that they try to pick the best products from that month that fit your profile. Each product has a survey on the Ipsy site so you can review it so Ipsy gets a better understanding of what you like and dislike. This isn’t a guarantee you won’t get a product you dislike in the future.

            If you’d like to try this subscription service or learn more about it click this link! If you sign-up there is normally a wait period to get on the subscription list. http://www.ipsy.com/r/6ayj

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Mid-Month Favorites

            So if you follow any beauty bloggers, either on an a written blog like mine or a YouTube vlogger than you're probably familiar with monthly favorites. A lot of beauty gurus do an end of the month favorites video. However, I've decided to do things a little differently. Around the 15th or so of each month I'm going to put out a post that describes some of my favorite products and random things that I'm loving.

    Without further ado here's my Mid-July Favorites.

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ULTA's Get Ready for the Party Color Collection Review

            I recently had a little shopping trip to ULTA's  and got the ULTA Get Ready for the Party Color Collection. Basically it's a collection of beauty products that are sold at ULTA that they put together in a set with a similar theme. These sets tend to run cheaper then if you were to buy each product individually. Often these type of sets include trial, deluxe, and/or full sized products.
    This set cost me $7.98. It was originally $30 but was on sale/clearance for $9.97 and I had a 20% off one item coupon making it the $7.98 I paid for it. It included four full sized products, a deluxe sample sized product, and a trial sized product.

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StrangeBeautiful's Colorbloc Nail Polish Review

            So if you read my post from yesterday of my Glossybox unboxing you'll know I recieved a nail polish product by StrangeBeautiful. The product is said to cost $18 for the two nail polishes and is a Glossybox exclusive. I thought I'd try it out and give it a review as well as test designs for the fourth of July. So without further ado the review!

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Glossybox "Unboxing"

            Today I received my Glossybox in the mail. For those of you that don't know Glossybox is a monthly subscription box that includes different skincare, hair care, makeup, and perfume samples. These products are normally deluxe-sized to full size. It costs $21 a month for one box that includes normally around five products. I do pay this from my own pocket, this is not a complimentary box to me.

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CoverGirl Bombshell Mascara Review

            I'm a mascara junkie, if there's one product that I refuse to leave the house without it's mascara. So recently influenster.com sent me CoverGirl's Bombshell Curvaceous by LashBlast Mascara. Aka, I did not pay for this mascara but at the same time I'm not being paid to write this review. I hadn't heard that they had come out with a new version of the Bombshell mascara so I was extremely excited to try it out.

 For me when it comes to mascara I look for a few specific things.
1. Is it clumpy?
2. Is it lengthening?
3. Do I have an allergic reaction to it?
4. How much does a full-sized product cost?

  So #3 is the most important to me. I don't have a lot of sensitivity to make-up products, except for some reason mascara. The only mascara I've found so far that I can't use Maybelline Great Lash. So if this gave me an allergic reaction it would be an automatic no for me. However, this mascara passed the allergy test so we are good to go!
  I've tried the original Bombshell Volume Mascara and I liked it but wasn't in love. Would I use it again, sure I don't let a decent mascara go to waste. Is it one that I would reach for automatically or buy again, probably not.
  So for me it was more of a comparison of the two products. So the mascara is double-sided which is a good idea for different wants.

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About Me: Who I Am

Hey everyone! Welcome to my blog.

(My cousin Laura & I)

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