2014 Spending Ban

Okay, okay, I know that new years eve and day are still a ways away but I've already started thinking about one resolution I'm going to try really hard to keep.  Enter, the spending ban on anything but non-essentials in the makeup and beauty department.  By non-essentials I mean if I run out of shampoo (unlikely) or deoderent (unlikely because I have tons).  I have so many beauty products and hair products that are half used that have gone to the way side that I would like to get back to.  This spending ban will start officially on the week of January 13 and go until the 22nd of March.  Why those specific dates? A) easier to keep track of (B) That is when I start school, which is when I impulse buy most products, and the end is the start of my spring break for which I shall be headed towards the Big Apple.  I've been saving and saving for this trip and I want to make sure it's memorable, definitely by stopping in MAC and Sephora in Times Square.  This isn't going to be easy because I LOVE trying new products and no matter how hard I try, I always wind up leaving the store with one new beauty product (or four).
What about you, dear readers, will you be doing a spending ban? XOXO

Urban Decay Glinda Palette: Review

When the movie The Great and Powerful Oz was released, Urban Decay jumped right on the bandwagon and created two GORGEOUS palettes based off of the two female characters- Theodora and Glinda.  The Theodora palette was darker and more mysterious, while the Glinda palette is lighter and more magical.  I immediately knew I needed to get my hands on the Glinda palette and after going to store after store, I finally bought it from the Ulta online store.  I had a lot of points racked up and a coupon, so it wound up being less than twenty dollars.  It came with a pretty lippy, which I'll review when I have it with me, a mini of their eggplant colored 24/7 eye liner, and eight beautiful eye shadows.  One reason I love Urban Decay is because of the formula's they use in their products.  Everything I have bought from them has been creamy and easy to apply, including the eye shadow.  With these I had almost no fallout except with the total glitter color 'OZ' which is a half dish of gold, half dish of silver but the consistency is still very creamy and easy to apply.  Maybe creamy isn't the right word, soft might be better... anyway.  As you'll see in the pictures below they are highly pigmented, and the swatches I did without primer to show how pigmented they are.  They are all shimmer colors, either with glitter or iridescent shimmer.  I've rambled long enough, here is the Glinda palette:

 Top from left to right: Tornado, Aura (dual color), and Magic
Bottom from left to right: Illusion, Oz (dual color), and South

  From left to right on my arm is: Tornado, Auro (yellow, left, blue, right), Magic, Illusion, Oz (gold, left, silver, right) and South.

As you can see, the colors are really soft and shimmery (I love that word, SHIMMER) but pack the color that they show in the pan especially if I were to have put primer on my arm before swatching the colors on my arm.  My only complaint, and it's not actually a complaint more of a 'hmm, this could be better but I still love it', is that the color Oz does have some fallout when it's being applied because it is the most glitter packed of the bunch.  Coincidentally, because they are the most glitter packed they are also my favorite color in the palette only to be rivaled by Magic which is really pretty because it's iridescent. 

All in all, being my first palette purchase from Urban Decay, I was not disappointed at all.  I use this palette to travel because it came in a very pretty and handy tin, and the colors can be transitioned easily from day to night.  5 gold stars on my rating scale all the way.  Did you try either of these palettes? XOXO

Target E.L.F. Haul: Video

I was in Target the other day doing some last minute Christmas shopping and wound up picking up quite a few new products for myself.  I will be doing full reviews of the products soon, so keep your eyes peeled! XOXO

No Heat Wavy Hair with Volume

Firstly, this is my 100th post on this blog! In honor of this momentous occasion, I will be showing you how to get wavy/ volumized hair without using any heat or styling tools. I am going to try and do a series of either picture or video tutorials of different, simple, ways to do your hair as by request of the lovely Kat at Matte Kat.
First, wash your hair because you will get the best results with damp hair.  I let my hair dry almost completely before doing this because otherwise my hair will never dry completely, and then I've really got a mess on my hands.  Then split your hair as if you were to be putting them into pigtails, then take one section and start twisting and twirling it, and make a mini bun.  Then tie it off with a hair tie wrapped around the base of the mini bun a few times.  Repeat with the other side.  This is what it should look like when you're done:

I left my hair like this practically all day, from about 11 AM this morning to about 9:30PM.  I mainly left it in that long because I was doing other things, and this kept my hair out of my face and out of the way.  This is what the finished product looked like: 

As you can see, it doesn't necessarily curl your hair but it does give it some wave, body, and volume.  It was a lot more poofy, for lack of a better term, before I brushed it out.  If doing this for a look at night or during the day, I would definitely finish it off with a light spritzing of hair spray to be sure that the body and whatnot holds throughout your daily or nightly activities.  I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial as to one of the ways I do my hair, I would love your feedback and suggestions for what else you would like to see! XOXO

LUSH Sunny Side Bubble Bar: REVIEW

This week I had the fortune to go to Universal Studios with one of my best friends- it's like my Disneyland. Anyway, at Universal City Walk there is a Lush Cosmetics store so OBVIOUSLY I had to stop in!  One of the things I picked up was their Sunny Side Bubble Bar.  I've never tried any of their bath bombs or bubble bars, so this was a new venture for me, and I was not disappointed.  Here's what it looks like:

I've used it twice already because I cut bits of it off and put it in my bath.  There's a lot of glitter on this bar and I didn't feel like having to clean glitter out of the tub.  Anywho! This baby really bubbles up with just using a few chunks, so I can't even imagine how many bubbles there would be if I used the whole bar in one go!  The smell is lovely, it's a citrusy smell- kinda like Soap and Glory.  It makes the water a gold tint and really soft.  I don't know if that makes any sense, soft water, but it does! It makes my skin feel really nice before I even put on my after bath oil to lock in moisture.  This bar far surpassed my expectation of any bubble bar and once again I was not disappointed by Lush.  If you can, order it online or go and pick one up in stores- they are $7.25 each, which, with getting multiple uses out of it I don't find to be too terrible.
Do you have any favorite Lush products? XOXO