Back to School: Freshmen/Dorm Room Must Haves

Hey guys!

August is just around the corner, which means school. Generally, thinking of August and fall would cause me to sigh and groan, but this year is different. This fall, I’m starting my first year of college! I feel both anxious and excited and honestly can’t wait until I get to move in! In order to prep for moving in, I’ve been doing some dorm shopping recently. After buying new things and creating a packing list, I decided to compile a small list of things that I feel are essential for a college freshman.

 

 

1. Urban Decay Naked Palette, $54.00

Though UD Naked palettes are pricey, they’re definitely worth the splurge. With a single palette, you would be able to create looks for any event. A house party, a frat party, date night, a casual dinner, an everyday look, whatever you need. With three palettes available to choose from, I would advise going to your local Sephora or Ulta and to test out the shades against your inner wrist, so you can figure which is the right one for you.

2. Flipper Hello Kitty Hanging Toothbrush Holder, $6.00

I received my toothbrush holder one year as a Christmas gift, and I have loved it ever since. The holder comes with strong suction cups that can stick to any mirror. Not only does this add a flare of cuteness to your room, but it saves space and is more sanitary than a standard toothbrush holder.

3. Sterilite 3 Drawer Organizers, $4.99-12.99

I personally have two of these, a small one and a medium sized one. The small one currently holds my makeup products, and I plan to use the larger one for clothes or food. The top of each of these also offer a nice sturdy surface to store other items. If your bed can be lofted, it would be really easy and convenient to attach the wheels, on the larger one, and store it under your bed. The medium sized drawer, pictured above, is actually on sale in-store at Target for $10.99

4. Equip Your Space Organizer Desk Lamp, $19.99

I got this lamp the other day at Bed Bath & Beyond; it’s actually the coolest thing. Not only does it offer light, but it also has compartments to store knick knacks or desk supplies. On top of that contains a USB charger to charge smartphones and tablets, and a outlet to charge any other electronics. If you go out to get this lamp, don’t forget your coupons!

5. Sisal Shower Glove, $7.35

I have a glove that I got from Bath & Body Works years ago, and I still use it to this day. I like gloves better than loofahs or sponges because they are a bit more abrasive and ensure that my skin is getting a good polish. You can also throw them into the washing machine when they get dirty, instead of having to throw them out and purchase a new one when it falls apart.

6. Glade Wax Warmer, $9.93

Wax warmers are a great alternative to candles since many dorms don’t allow them. My school doesn’t allow anything that operates with a flame, so this is a nice thing to have to create a warm, homey feel. It also keeps your place smelling fresh since the air in the room can become stagnant. No matter what you do, make sure your school allows warmers!

7. FRESHeTECH Splash Shower Tunes BluetoothWaterproof Shower Speaker, $39.95

I’ve used this twice so far, and I love it! This is great, especially if you have a private bath or live in an apartment, but don’t let that stop you if you have community bath! Have no shame! Sing loud; sing proud! This speaker connects with any bluetooth device, and offers great sound quality.

 

Those are some of the items I’m making sure to pack with me in a couple of weeks. I hope this small list helps you with your back to school shopping! For those starting school in the fall, whether it be college, middle school, or anything in between, I hope this year is the best one yet!

♡ Melissa

Let me know in the comments what items you can’t live without for the upcoming school year!

Unboxing: Influenster Spring Fling VoxBox May 2014

Hi guys, long time no see! i know its been forever since I’ve updated, so I’ll just hop right into it.

In my VoxBox this month, I received 6 products.

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara ($5.99)

If you know me at all, you know I’m obsessed with mascara. I’ve used it a few times and I’m different towards it. The wand is pretty large, a little too large for me, and has a curve to it. Right now, I feel like it’s a little too wet and does more clumping than anything else. Also, I does a fairly decent job lengthening, but as of right now, I’m not impressed with its volumizing capabilities.

Kiss Everlasting French Nails ($6.49)

This is the second Kiss product I’ve received from Influenster, but unlike the lashes, I’m not looking forward to these. I personally hate fake nails, so I won’t be using these. Instead I’ll either give them to a friend or cousin.

Peach Pie Car Freshener from the Labor Day Movie

This cute little extra gift is probably going to end up in my mom’s car since I don’t drive… Still…

Playtex Sports Fresh Balance ($3.99 – $4.99)

If I liked wearing tampons, I would have been thrilled to see this in this month’s box. The box is a set of 16, which is a really good number. Unfortunately, this is another item I will be giving away.

NIVEA Skin Firming Hydration Lotion ($2.49)

I haven’t tested this lotion out yet, but I hope it works. Since I’m only 18, I don’t need much help with “skin firming,” but I’m 99% sure I have Keratosis Pilaris, aka chicken skin. I’m hoping that the ingredients in this lotion will keep my skin moisturized and minimize the appearance of the “dots” on my skin. Unfortunately, this lotion isn’t the most pleasant smelling thing; it kinda smells like sunscreen and bug spray.

Softlips Cube ($3.49)

Generally, I’m a Chapstick person, but I’m still looking forward to test this out. This product is a 5 in 1 that is supposed to hydrate, replenish, smooth, protect, add shine. After coming back from Austin and floating on the Comal River for 4 hours, my lips were extremely dry. Since I’ve been home, I’ve been using this product, and I haven’t seen any changes to my dry lips. The scent of this reminds me of Smackers lips products, which isn’t bad, but gives it a kiddie feel(but hey at least it tastes good). One thing I do like however, is that it makes your lips tingle a little. With this product, I feel like Softlips tried to create something to rival the ESOS lip balms, since they’re all the rave lately. All in all, I’m not too impressed.

So that’s it for this quick unboxing. I know it’s a may box and we’re a week into July, but I’ve been really unmotivated lately. It really is a problem, but hopefully, I’ll get back into the groove of things soon.

♡ Melissa

What did you enjoy the most from your Spring VoxBox? Answer in the comments below!

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

It’s That Time of Year

With spring finally here, the world is filled with hope and rebirth. This is the post New year, “new year.” The flowers are in bloom and the weather is lovely. Or that’s what you would expect. Instead, reality is an ice cold bucket of water to the face. Instead of thinking as the end of March and the beginning of April as joyous times, it is the time when souls are crushed. Especially if you’re a senior in high school. This time marks when almost everyone’s final schools are coming out with their decisions. It doomsday for those that are applying to Ivies and may other schools like Rice, U Chicago, UC Berkeley.

I personally applied to 4 schools: UT Austin, Baylor, Wash U, and Berkeley. While, I’ve heard back from 3 of them, the last one is possibly the worst. My dilemma is that the chances of me getting into Berkeley are slim. And though I know this, hearing about my closest friends getting into Rice, one of their top choices, is slowly giving me hope that maybe I have a chance. This glimmer of hope is my worst enemy. At this point, I’ve accepted that I will attend UT and I know I’ll be happy there. There’s just a voice in the back of my head telling me that it’s not good enough. I know UT Austin is a good, even great school! I understand how fortunate I am to be a future Longhorn and that many would kill to be in my place. Though I know all of this, there’s a part of me that is constantly saying “I’m not good enough.”

Sometimes I feel that because I run in the same circles as my friends, I should be getting similar results. I may not be exactly the same, but I should be comparable. It makes me feel that I should have applied to some of the Ivies, or even Stanford because if they can do it, why shouldn’t I be able to. The feelings of inadequacy and even jealousy make me feel horrible. I am so proud of my friends for getting into Rice! I truly am. I am overjoyed that all their hard work payed off because they deserve it. Unfortunately, some negative feelings have tagged along. Seeing my friends become successful in their endeavors is so amazing and thrilling, but at the same time, my competitive nature drags me down. All I can see is all the ways I don’t measure up.

I know that this mentality is unhealthy and that others success shouldn’t make me unhappy, but I guess I’m just not that big of a person. I am honestly proud of everything that everyone is achieving, but at the same time, it’s hard to be 100% genuine when you aren’t successful in the same ways. Thankfully, I didn’t apply to all the same big schools as my friends. If I did, I think I would have literally become situationally depressed, especially in this time when all the big decisions are coming out.

I am waiting on Berkeley and honestly, I’m dreading it. I’ve tried to be more realistic in telling myself I won’t get in because I don’t want to be too disappointed. When the decision comes out on Thursday, I don’t know what I’m going to do. If I don’t get in I’ll still be disappointed, but I’m hoping the rejection won’t have too strong of an impact. If I do get in, I’ll be over the moon! Only time (2 days specifically) will tell.

Thinking about college isn’t always the most uplifting thing and is actually generally pretty depressing, in case you didn’t get that from everything ^ above. Although it seems like there is a dark cloud over my head, which there totally is, I’ll try to end this post with a more optimistic perspective. If you’re a high school senior and are awaiting for all your decisions to come in, try not to worry too much. If you’ve already gotten into a school, be grateful for that, even if it isn’t your first choice. Don’t be like me and dwell on the fact that others are doing better or that you didn’t get exactly what you wanted. Though the disappointment will be extremely real, things will work out in the end. You never know, maybe your “safety” or secondary school will end up being a great fit. Your life at your first choice school could be as amazing as you dreamed it would be, or it could be your worst nightmare. Though college is the next ginormous stage in our lives, it really isn’t everything. Of course it’s important to get a good education, I understand that probably better than anyone, but at the same time, it’s not the end of your life or the end of the world if you get passed up on your dream school. As cheesy and cliché as it sounds, I would like to think that life has a funny way of working itself out. So in case that wasn’t enough to make things a little less gloomy, here are some videos that just make me really happy and maybe they’ll have the same effect on you.

Sorry this post was so long and not about beauty. This blog was intended to be mainly about beauty, but I figured that with my blog being titled what it is, it would be nicer to get a little personal, even though this doesn’t in any way display my awkward tendencies.

Unboxing: Influenster J’adore VoxBox February 2014

Hey guys!

I hoped to do a cute v-day nail look and put it on here, but I never got to do my nails. What’s even worse, all my nails are breaking in the worst way. Once they get healthy again, I’m looking forward to getting a post out. Until then, I have two unboxing posts. This first unboxing is from Influenster. I heard about this FREE program on Youtube and decided to give it a try.

Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolate ($3.28)

I was really happy to see these included in the box! It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without Hershey’s Kisses. I remember when I was younger, actually, up until my sophomore year, I would make little goodie bags with Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses. No joke though, I could eat these everyday and never get sick of them.

Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay Mask ($9.39)

 

Of all the items in this month’s box, I was looking forward to testing this one out the most. This product is a clay mask that “actively removes impurities and deeply cleanses” and should be used weekly. It also has a surprisingly watery consistency. If you shake the tube, you can hear it sloshing around, and it comes out more liquid-y than solid and creamy like most clay masks.  I’ve used this mask twice now and I must say it makes my skin feel really soft and doesn’t dry it out. I’ve only used it twice, and have yet to see any improvements to my skin.

Frizz Ease 3-Day Straight Flat Iron Spray ($9.99 for 3.5 fl. oz )

 

I normally have stick straight hair, but then I cut it. Now that my hair is shorter and I have shorter layers, my hair does flip out a bit instead of laying straight. Though I have more of a reason to use it, I’ll probably just end up giving this product away because on “day 2”, my hair becomes naturally straight.

Red Rose Simply Indulgent Teas ($4.49 for 20 tea bags)

 

Before this year, I was never much of a tea drinker. If I ever did drink tea, it was green because of all the antioxidants it provided. Now, I’m slowly but surely becoming a tea person. Unfortunately, it’s starting to get hot again in Texas, so my tea drinking will dissipate some, but hopefully the cold front comes in soon and I can keep cozy with a cup of tea and a book. When that time comes, I’m really looking forward to testing out these two flavors, Créme Caramel and Lemon Chiffon, because they sound absolutely delicious.

Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes ($3.99)

I’ve only worn fake lashes once before. I wore them for my senior portraits, and they were actually Kiss lashes. They looked beautiful in selfies, but looking at my actual senior pics, they were a little too heavy and dramatic. That makes me happy to try out these… maybe for prom…? As you can see, I got the lashes in Vamp, and they’re nice and long without being too much.

Overall, I was really happy with my first VoxBox! I enjoy that they send a variety of products, unlike other subscription services I use. Hopefully, I’ll get to test out more products in the future. How do you feel about this month’s VoxBox? Want more information about this service from Influenster? Check out my sidebar for the link.

♡ Melissa

 

 

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

 

Procrastination at Its Best

What should I be doing right now? School work. What am I actually doing? Sitting on my computer, jammin’ to some some country music. I don’t know what brought it on, but I got into a really big country mood today. I blame Youtube. Or Pandora. Just today, I downloaded Some Hearts and Carnival Ride by Carrie and Same Trailer Different Park by Kacey Musgraves, who actually inspired today’s post.

I heard Kacey on the radio a while back, but recently saw the music video for “Follow Your Arrow.” After watching the video, I was inspired by these screenshots to make a nail look.

With that, I present to you the nail look of the day!

I saw Ms. Musgraves  take out the arrow fortune, and thought it was the cutest thing! After the MV, I tried my best to come with an arrow that would be simple enough for me, but still looked cute. I’d say I was marginally successful. For my thumb and index and pinky fingers, I used Wet N Wild’s I Need a Refresh-Mint.

For my middle finger, I applied one coat of Julep’s Eden. On my pinky is 2/3 (I can’t remember) coats of Essie’s Beyond Cozy. And then for the arrow, I used Reverso from Circus by Andrea’s Choice, which I’m not really a big fan off.

Unfortunately, there was a little bit of smudging. I’m not sure if I didn’t wait long enough before applying my top coat (but really though, I waited over 30 minutes), if I didn’t have enough product on my brush, or if my top coat (Out the Door) just smudges easily.

What music are you currently really into? What top coat do you like best? Let me know in the comments!

♡ Melissa

What’s Cooler Than Bein’ Cool? Stone Cold!

In Texas lately, it’s been getting colder. So cold in fact that I didn’t have school last Friday (resulting in a 3 day week!) or today. While this only means that we will lose Memorial Day or Good Friday, or maybe even have a shorter Spring Break, I can’t bring myself to care. I’ll have to deal with that when the time comes.

In honor of this cold, snowy-but-not-really-snowy-but-snowy-enough-for-Texas weather, I decided to paint my nails with China Glaze’s Stone Cold, which is from their Hunger Games line from a couple of years ago. I got this color when the first movie was coming out, but kinda forgot about it.

It’s so hard for me to take these pics. I can never get the angle or placement of my hand right.

This color is a charcoal matte with teeny tiny pieces of glitter, that almost gives it a chalkboard feel.

The color was created for District 12, and is easily one of my favorites from the line.

This is the first matte polish I’ve ever owned, and it was strange for me to use in the beginning. It dried surprisingly fast, and still gives me trouble from time to time (as you can tell). Besides that, it’s gotten a little goopey since I keep my nail polish in a cabinet near my shower- which I know is bad because the steam and heat will ruin them, but I currently don’t have anywhere else to store them. Though it’s not my best, I wanted to get a post out because I have just fallen in love with the color all over again.

That’s it for another quickly-thrown-together update. I’m hoping to get a more cutesy/fun post out tomorrow, but we’ll see how it goes… It depends how much patience I have.

Do you have any colors from the China Glaze Hunger Games line? And, I know it’s wayy late, but what did you think of Catching Fire? I personally liked it much more than the first one, and am actually looking forward to the next one!

♡ Melissa

Ipsy Bag: January 2014

I was going to put out a post for my November and December 2013 bags, but I figured that it’s been so long that I would just let it go. Instead, I’ll just hop into this January bag and hope that I can finally get a good schedule with getting some blog posts out!

This month’s theme? 19 Reasons 2014 Will Be Amazing

Proactiv Mark Fading Pads 

I’m really excited about this product! I have acne prone skin, and a bad habit of picking. This horrid habit has led to many hyperpigmentation spots. These wipes contain 2% salicylic acid and are apart of Proactiv’s new skin care line. I haven’t tested them out yet, but I’m a little disappointed that I only received two (I know LePooke on Youtube received four). I’m hoping that even though I only got two packs that it’ll be enough to see results.

Nourish Organic Face Lotion

It’s been colder here in Texas lately, and I was glad to be able to test out a new moisturizer. This one has a very lightweight formula and also contains moroccan aran oil, rosewater, and shea butter. When I used this lotion, it absorbed into the skin quickly and my skin feel  soft despite the cold weather. Unfortunately, I think it has caused me to break out, so I’ve discontinued use.

Briogeo Deep Conditioning Mask

I’ve never been much into hair masks. Even when I had long hair, I never really cared about maintaining it. Whenever it happened to get dry or I would get split ends, I would just cut it, which I did on Sunday. Now that my hair has been chopped off and is now healthy, I don’t think I’ll be reaching for this product much. It contains avocado, almonds, argan oils, rosehip oil, and hair essential vitamins. The plus side is that the directions say to use it specifically after shampooing, so it’s really more of a conditioner that has mask-like benefits. This seems to be a lower maintenance hair mask, so I’ll be more likely to give it a go.

MicaBeauty Tinted Lip Balm

This is probably my 4th or 5th product from MicaBeauty, and I’m not sure how I feel about the brand. This product I suppose I’m indifferent to. I received #6 Fiesta, and  the only good thing I have to say is that it’s very pigmented, especially for a “tinted lip balm.” Besides the pigmentation, I don’t have much else to say. It’s a lip balm, but it offers no moisturization. When applying the product, it doesn’t feel like anything, just that you’re rubbing your finger on your lips. I would say that it even sinks into cracks and makes lips look worse. Whenever I wear it, I apply Buxum’s Dolly lip gloss on top of it and that makes things better.

Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow Pencil

Right off the bat, I was excited about this product. I got the color Pearl and anything nude-ish/champagne-ish I’m down to try. This product surpassed any expectations I had. I really love it. I haven’t used it as a shadow base but as an eyeliner. I use it on my inner corners and bottom lash line. I also tested it on my lower waterline, but it doesn’t stay put. It’s the first product that I’ve used in a while that lasts all day around my eyes. It’s shimmery, but not too shimmery and the perfect color for my skin tone. It really helps you look more awake and gives you that bright-eyed Korean look that I love! I’m considering repurchasing this when I run out.

So that’s it for this month’s bag. Overall, I give it… a B-. Though I’m not crazy about all the products, I’m happy that their doing more than just cosmetics. I’ve received skin care products before, but never two in one bag!

If you’re subscribed to Ipsy, let me know what products you got this month!

♡ Melissa

OOTD: Starbucks/Book Run and Book Haul

Happy late New Year’s everyone! As a New Year’s resolution intention, I’m hoping to get back to blogging, book reading, and beauty things. Since I’m going to be a SECOND SEMESTER SENIOR, I’m looking forward to having more free time. Unfortunately, only time will tell. BUT! Because I have 3 more days of freedom until I have to return to the hell that is school, I going to try to crank out some new posts- starting with an OOTD.

Bear with me and my mirror selfies. Hopefully one day this will change :/

What I’m Wearing:

• Shirt- American Eagle
• Jeans- Super Stretch Skinny American Eagle
• Jacket- Abercrombie
• Scarf- American Eagle
• Flats- Lucky Brand from Off 5th: Saks Fifth Avenue

In case you can’t tell, I’ve recently fallen in love with AEO. When the store first opened up, I wasn’t to crazy about it, but now, it seems to be the only place I want to shop.

On My Face:

• Face: E.L.F Tinted Moisturizer / Em Michelle Phan Shade Play Concealer Palette / Pixi Summertime Bronzer
• Brows: Chella Brow Pencil and Gel
• Eyes: Be a Bombshell Onyx Liner / DiorShow Lash Primer / Fairydrops Scandal Queen Mascara / Em Michelle Phan Ro’s Gold Waterliner
• Cheeks: Nars Orgasm Blush
• Lips: Em Michelle Phan Creamy Color Lipstick in Misty Mauve

Book Haul

I’ve been reading a lot during my winter break, and it’s made me SO happy. I haven’t been able to read for pleasure in what feels like ages. Though, I don’t have many more free days, I still went a little crazy and have a bunch of books to sitting on my table. These books include:

1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
2. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater*
5. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare*
6. Pivot Point by Kasie West
7. Just One Day by Gayle Forman

On top of those books, I also have quite a few e-books to read:

1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell*
2. Legend by Marie Lu
3. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness*
4. Rebel Heart by Moira Young

*Denotes the books I’ve started. I have two, TWO chapters left of Clockwork Prince but I refuse to finish it because I can’t handle what I think is going to happen. 

If you’ve read any of these books, please feel free to share your thoughts and give suggestions! I’m always looking for new stuff to read even though there’s so many books and so little time.

I apologize for not updating for so long, but I am working on making up for it! If you’re on a break/vacation, I hope you’re enjoying the time off! What are your New Year’s intentions? Post them below!

♡ Melissa

Ipsy Bag: September and October 2013

Again, I know I’m really behind on getting these Ipsy posts out, but I’m having a really hard time prioritizing right now. I’m trying to get these out so that my blog isn’t neglected, but I also need to do driver’s ed, study for the SAT, write college essays, and do my regular homework on top of that. With that being said, instead of giving a review of each product I received in each bag, I’m only going to mention the ones I especially liked or just the ones I was able to test out.

September 

• Cailyn Cosmetics Tinted Lip Balm
• Freeman Beauty Facial Paper Masks
• NYX Single Eyeshadow in Nutmeg
• Starlooks Obsidian Kohl Eye Pencil

Cailyn Lip Balm 

I enjoy this product. I’ve used it a few times, around the house and for spirit week. It’s relatively easy to use, but it’s hard to distribute the color evenly. I don’t know if I don’t pack enough product on the brush, but it can sometimes come out a little streaky, and I’ll have to go over it. Another thing, is it wears off a little weird. The color stays on the center of my lips, but wears away on the sides. This isn’t really that big of an issue, but if you like to make weird Snap Chat faces, then it’s noticeable. I would also say that this is more like a lip stain, then a lip balm. It’s not very moisturizing, but has decent lasting power and stains the lips some.

https://www.instagram.com/p/f-zugiow-q

A day in the life.

Freeman Beauty Paper Masks

Of the three masks, I have only used the Rose one. I love the idea of paper masks, but to be honest, I’m often too lazy to deal with them. And, the standard face shape is so different from mine, so it has hard to get the mask to say sealed to skin without ripping the mask or getting into my eyes. It doesn’t help that I was trying to read with it on. It was just a disaster.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ejQxWCIwwo

Starlooks Kohl Eye Pencil

This pencil is really large, basically a full sized product, which would be amazing if I liked it. I think I tried it once, and had high hopes since I loved their Lip Pencil, but this product fell short. The day I wore it, it transferred to my undereyes. I already have dark circles as it is; I don’t need help enhancing them. I do have to say that the pencil is pigmented and buildable, but just not suited for my oily skin.

NYX Eyeshadow

I haven’t gotten the chance to wear this color yet, but I had to share it! It’s absolutely bee-eee-aye-yootiful!! Not only that, but it is incredibly smooth. Unfortunately, I dropped it in my excitement :/ It was a bummer, but almost everything was still intact, so it was okay.

Swatches

Please excuse the dry skin, but as you can see, the lip balm is a very red/artificial cherry color.

The bottom three are all swatches of the Starlooks pencil. As you can see it’s buildable and pigmented. The top one is one swipe of Urban Decay’s Perversion for comparison.

This color is a little too light to show up on my arm, but it really is gorgeous. Als you can see, it’s very buildable.

The swatches in different lighting. You can really see the color of the eyeshadow.

Again, different lighting.

October

• Zoya Nail Polish in Mason
• Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush
• La FreshEco-Beauty Oil-Free Face Cleanser Wipes

Zoya Polish in Mason

When I saw this baby in my bag, I got excited. This is my second Zoya polish. This polish is sooo pretty. It’s a nice, jewel tone purple with small pink glitters. I haven’t put in on yet, but I can’t wait! I’m buzzing with anticipation. Gahh it makes me so happy. I also think it’s the perfect fall/winter color.

Coastal Scents Shadow Brush

I’ve used this brush a couple of times. It’s nice. The hairs or “natural fibers” are soft and don’t seem to shed. It’s a medium sized brush, but I have really small eyelids, so it basically covers the whole thing. I use it to pack color onto the lid. In general I like it, but I probably wouldn’t have purchased it myself since it reminds me of the E.L.F shadow brush.

La Fresh Wipes

I’ve received this brand of wipes before, and I complained. I think I said something about wanting more “special” products, or some garbage like that. Little did I know that those La Fresh wipes were some of the best ones I ever tried, and I was happy to see that I got more! First off, these wipes smell amazing! Well that’s probably an exaggeration, but I enjoy the smell. They contain “a luscious blend of Aloe, Cucumber, Papaya, Pineapple, Marshmallow, Jojoba, Vitamin C & Vitamin E.” I’ve probably used up half of these wipes and what I like the most about them is that they don’t sting my face or eyes. They do a fairly good job at removing my makeup, though I don’t like to use them on my lashes.

Whew! I’m finally caught up! I said previously, I think, that I would do more in depth reviews on things that I’ve “unbagged.” Instead of sticking with that, I think I’m going to do first impressions/thoughts, and then post a more in depth review of things that I particularly enjoy. Hopefully, this will help with the scheduling of these posts.

♡ Melissa

Ipsy Bag: August 2013

I’m definitely more excited about this bag than I’ve been about any other one so far this year!

This month’s theme is “Glamour Academy” and the products I received were:

1. Michael Todd True Organics Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub
2. Chella Dazzling Dark Brown Eyebrow Color Pencil
3. Pacifica Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream
4. Noya Cherry Lip Balm
5. Pixi Lash Booster Mascara

Michael Todd True Organics Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub ($5.40)

This is the product that I was most excited about this month. I know Annie has been raving about this line, so I was looking forward to testing it out myself. After trying it, I wasn’t crazy about it. I didn’t find that it did anything spectacular for my skin.

Chella Dazzling Dark Brown Eyebrow Color Pencil ($18.00)

I’ve been using this brow pencil every day instead of my cheap NYC one, and I do like it. I like that I don’t have to worry about sharpening it because it’s a crayon. I also like the color; it matches with my brows perfectly and looks great with the Chella brow gel, which I got from a previous bag, over top. The only thing about this pencil is that it is easy to go a little overboard. Overall, I like this pencil, but probably isn’t one I’d repurchase since it’s on the expensive side.

Pacifica Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream (≈ $5.40)

This is the other product I was excited to test out, and I’ve been wearing it every day. The first time I used it, I wasn’t impressed because it didn’t help my skin at all. It offered no coverage, and didn’t even out my skin tone. Thankfully, with some time for it to oxidize, it came out looking nice. It really did adjust to my skin tone, which I was skeptical about, and added some nice, subtle sparkle to my face. It has has a surprisingly nice scent. A little of this product goes a long way. I use a slightly larger than pea size amount for my face and neck, and there seems to be plenty more in this sample. The only downside to this product is that it doesn’t contain SPF, which is strange since most BB Creams do. I do like using this product, I use it everyday, but the name is really deceiving. It doesn’t act like a BB Cream at all, there are absolutely no skin benefits to it.

Noya Cherry Lip Balm ($3.99)

This lip balm has the scent of a Smackers lip balm, the taste of cherry candy, and the moisturizing power of a ChapStick. It’s very smooth and smells great!

Pixi Lash Booster Mascara (≈ $8.50)

I’m not too crazy about this mascara. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t the best mascara I’ve ever tried. It doesn’t add much volume, but gives decent length. The biggest downside is that it makes my lashes crispy. I think this might be from my primer, but without it, the mascara doesn’t stay; it smears under my eyes.

TOTAL BAG PRICE: ≈ $41.29

I’m sorry that this has literally taken months to get out! I know all of this info is kind of irrelevant because it’s so old :/ I wasn’t even going to post all of this in an individual post, but I already had it saved up as a draft, so I thought I might as well. I just received my November bag in the mail today, so I’m probably going to just highlight the products that I used the most in the other bags so that I can get caught up.

♡ Melissa