Gift Guide 2014 for the Beauty Obsessed

I love all of the beauty gift sets that come out around this time of year!  There are so many affordable options for sampling high cost brands.  I found a few that really intrigued me, and that had high reviews, to put together this post.

Two years ago I bought a benefit gift set at a great price and I was so excited about it.  I actually ended up hating all of the products, but I was so glad that I was able to try them at well below full price.  After that experience I have started looking at reviews closer and trying to find products that will work for me.

All of the products above had high reviews :)

1. Too Faced Bronzer Wardrobe Collection $22 Sephora

This set comes with four bronzer shades, including two of Too Faced's famous chocolate bronzers and a brush for applying.  It has an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on sephora.com the most common complaint is that the packaging is cardboard.  I don't really care what it's in as long as it is amazing :)

2.  Benefit The Real Steal $24 Ulta

The Real Steal features the cult favorites They're Real mascara and Push Up liner and They're Real remover, the liner has an amazing applicator for precise liner.  The set is rated 4 out of 5 stars on Ulta.com.

3.  Caviar Stone Bracelet $14 Vanity

I know this isn't technically a beauty item, but I wanted to include some pretty jewelry too.  This bracelet is from Vanity.com and I think it is stunning.

4.  EOS. A Ray of Holiday Sunshine Rachel Roy $6 Ulta

I can't get over this price for 3 EOS balms!  The trendy balm's moisturizing properties are up for debate in the review section, but they still earned a 4.5 out of 5 rating.  At this price it would be a great way to try them.

5.  Sephora Favorites Spray of Sunshine Fragrance Sampler For Her $24 Sephora

I read about what a great deal these samplers were over and over again last holiday season.  The set includes samples of multiple high end fragrances.  You use the samples and determine which is your favorite, you then turn in a card that is in the sampler for a rollerball of your chosen fragrance.  The reviews were favorable with the exception that you can only get the rollerball at a Sephora store that is not in JCP.

6.  Tarte Golden Days and Sultry Nights Amazonian Clay Collector's Shadow Palette $24 Sephora

The colors in this palette are so gorgeous!  They apply as more of a sheer shade and are not as dramatic as they appear in the palette.  The palette itself is gorgeous and contains full size shadows.

7.  Gem Stone Head Wrap $9 Vanity

This wrap has some nice chunky stones that would be gorgeous for any dressy look.

8.  Sexy Hair Voluptuous Volume $16 Ulta

Pump up the volume in your hair with Spray and Play hairspray and Root Pump Plus, this kit has a perfect 5 out of 5 stars rating with two rave reviews.

9.  Beaded Dream Catcher Earrings $7 Forever21

These are the most gorgeous earrings in my book!  They have beautiful details and are perfect mini dream catchers.  There are a lot of other pretty jewelry options on F21's site.

10.  Sephora Collection Bronzed and Blushing Face Palette $15

A large mirror and three decent sized powders come in this kit.  The blushes and bronzers are super pigmented and a little goes a long way.  This set has a 4.1 out of 5 star rating on Sephora.com.

11.  NYX Butter Lip Gloss Sugar Rush Set $10 Ulta

These lip glosses are very hydrating and non-sticky and come in three yummy flavors.  This set has a 5 out of 5 star rating on Ulta and the Butter Lip Glosses have a 4.5 rating.

12.  BareMinerals Beauty Obsessed $25 Ulta

This kit comes with trial sized eyeliner, mascara, bronzer and blush duo, and lipgloss.  The set has a 4.5 out of 5 star average rating on Ulta.com.

13.  Faux Crystal and Feather Pendant Necklace $5 Forever 21

I really like the look of these stacked single pendant necklaces that is trendy right now.  I also love the boho feel of the crystal and the feather on this one.

14.  Lorac Party Eyeshadow Palette $24 Ulta

This palette is so pretty!  The shades are super pigmented and shimmery.  Perfect for a party!  It is brand, spankin' new so there are no reviews on Ulta, but searching online I found a rave review and it was enough to convince me to keep it in this guide.

Do you have a beauty wish list this holiday season?  Let me know in the comments below.

Summer Makeup Kit

Summer makeup is a bit of a different animal.  You don't particularly want to look made up, but you want to look radiantly gorgeous.  You want to look like your absolute best self.  Like, "Hey!  Look how good the sun and this gorgeous summer weather has been to me."  

These are some of my favorite products to help you get this kind of a look and to make it last through sweat and summertime adventures.

e.l.f. Studio BB Cream $6- This BB cream has the best coverage out of the BB creams I have tried so far.  It is still lighter and more moisturizing though than foundation, which makes it great for Summertime :)  Also it has SPF 20. e.l.f. Essential All Over Color Stick in Persimmon $1- This is great as a blush and you can use it as eyeshadow, I really like it best for blush though, and I tried it on my lips once and it wasn't cute at all.  Ha ha!  Pink Lemonade or Golden Peach would also be great shades for Summer. e.l.f. Complexion Brush $3- This brush works great for powder for setting your foundation, for blush, and for bronzer.  It is very soft and dense and has a great shape. NYC Mosaic Face Powder in Pink Cheeky Glow $3- This is an amazing matte (not sparkly) pink blush that is very flattering on all skin tones.  It has great color payoff and because it is a mosaic you can very your color slightly depending on where you sweep your brush.  Applying this over the apples of your cheeks over the color stick helps your makeup set and last even longer. e.l.f. Studio Baked Bronzer in St. Lucia $3- I love this bronzer for adding a touch of warmth, I used to contour my jaw line and everything with it but realized it's not quite the right shade for that.  Use the complexion brush with this and apply it just below and slightly on the bottom of where you applied your blush.  Then around the top of you forehead, a bit on the bottom of your chin and along the sides of your nose and a bit down the sides of your neck if your face is looking darker than your neck.  So use it kinda as a contour and kinda as a bronzer and it will be great :) e.l.f. Mineral Eye Shadow Primer $3- This is a great primer for eye makeup.  Apply it all over your eyelids and it will keep makeup from creasing and help it last longer.  For Summer proof makeup apply this then your eye  e.l.f. Essential Smudge Pot in Cruisin' Chic $3- You can use this for a one color eye look that is multidimensional and perfect for Summer.  Just use your fingertip to pat it onto your lower lid from inner corner to outer corner then smudge into your crease. Avon Kohl Eyeliner in Intense Brown or True Black $3.99 (on sale)- This eyeliner is so easy to apply.  It glides on smoothly and you can smudge it out a bit for a great almost smokey eye look.  It does not smudge or smear throughout the day though. Maybelline Define-A-Lash Waterproof Mascara $7- This is a great lengthening, defining mascara.  It gives more of a natural look that I love for Summer.  The waterproof formula is great for a pool day. e.l.f. Studio Eyebrow Kit $3- Gorgeous defined brows will take your makeup to the next level.  This brow gel and powder will make perfecting your brows easy-peasy. I did not include it in the picture, but a great setting material for your makeup in summer is cornstarch.  So if you are not a fan of the dewy look that this BB cream may leave you with, use that same complexion brush and dip it in a bit of cornstarch and tap, tap, tap the excess off and then apply sparingly to your t-zone and wherever else.  Sparingly is the key here.  See more here.

Thanks so much for reading!! Comment below with your favorite Summer makeup products. Linking up with Makeup Monday here, and #MondayFunday here, and Peacoats and Plaid here.

Birthday Spending Money

This year for my Birthday I had a really hard time deciding on specific things that I wanted.  I've been really, really good at not spending money on myself this year.  We set a budget for almost everything and anything we would want to or need to spend on and I have tried really hard to make sure we come in under or at budget on everything.

I feel like it is like a starvation diet.  Anytime I am in a store I see all of the pretty things and if I weren't naturally a very frugal person, I know I would have a crazy binge shopping spree.

I had some birthday coupons, a leftover gift card from my birthday last year, and some birthday money.  So I took myself on a much needed birthday shopping spree!  Jackson and I went to three stores and got a lot of fun stuff.

First we went to Ulta.  I wandered around the store, but couldn't really find anything that I really wanted that was less than $30.  I didn't want to spend all of my money in one place so I used my free birthday mascara code and moved on.  

They give you a free full sized CK one mascara for your birthday.  It usually retails for $18.  There was something wrong with my code, but they had amazing customer service and made it work for me.

Next we went to Rue 21.  They had a whole table full of $5 shirts.  I almost went crazy and bought a bunch of them.  There were so many cute ones!  It is Rue 21 though and I have had a bit of bad luck in the past with their stuff holding up, and my little closet is already bursting at the seams.  So I reigned myself in and got the most practical cute shirt.  This one with black and white stripes and the long back.

Then I wandered around the store in search of some cute colored or floral skinny jeans.  I didn't find any that fit me, but I did find this really dark simple denim pair for $10 that actually fit well.

I had to check out their jewlery.  They always have cute stuff that is within my budget.  I found a few things I kinda liked that were not on sale.  Then I found quite a few necklaces that I really liked and realized that they were all on sale for $2.  So I got these three.

When I rang up I used the remainder of a gift card that I got last year.  So I paid $4.96 for a pair of jeans, a shirt, and three necklaces.  Wahoo!

My last stop was Victoria's Secret.  They had a few bins already set out for the Semi-Annual Sale.  I found a gorgeous bra for $19.99 (I thought).  $10 for an awesome bra!  I was so excited, so I went to ring up and realized that I had been distracted with Jackson and in a hurry and the sign actually said $19.99 and up.  The bra was still thirty odd dollars with my $10 off coupon.

I had to awkwardly tell the lady that I had been confused and that I didn't want the bra at that price.  Jackson at this point decided that he had had it and started screaming.  The cashier tried to hand me the bra and I probably was kind of rude when I said, "No. I don't want it."  Props to her because she was really cool about it and not rude at all when I came back to the register a few minutes later.

I was able to get him calmed down, which was nice, because I thought we were just going to have to go home at that point.  I found a concealer that was regularly $15.  It was on a 30% off sale and with my $10 off coupon I bought it for 53 cents.

So I went on a crazy fun little shopping spree and spent...$5.49

Thanks for reading!! P.S. I'm linking up with Beauty and the Greek and Manic Monday.

Mascara Review: Maybelline Define-A-Lash Lengthening Washable Mascara

4.5 our of 5 stars

Best uses: lengthening, no clumping, clearly defined lashes, helps hold curl for stick straight lashes


Why I love it:

This is my favorite mascara!  I have stick straight lashes that do not like to curl.  They are long, but not noticeable because they aren't thick and because they don't curl up.  Even when I skip using my eyelash curler, Define-A-Lash helps my lashes curl and stay curled. It is not clumpy but does really intensify my lashes, it blackens, thickens and lengthens them without sticking them together.


How I use it:

I apply it slowly from the base of my lashes pulling them up, wiggling my wand just slightly from sided to side.  I use about three original sweeps to get the middle lashes, outside lashes, and inner lashes, then do about two more long slow sweeps to really pull the lashes up and help them curl.  I apply it to my bottom lashes by wiggling it back and forth and slightly pulling down.


note: I do always get it on my skin, I use a wet q-tip to carefully remove it or smudge it into my crease color of eyeshadow. (I have this problem with all mascaras).



Thanks for reading!  Comment below with any questions or with your mascara recommendations.

Testing, testing 1 2 3: Mascara contact solution fix

So there have been a lot of pins on Pinterest about adding contact solution or saline eye drops to old mascara. This is supposed to fix the dry, clumpy, old mascara you already have so you don't have to buy a replacement as soon. Sounds great to me!

Here's my test of this mascara fix. I added about five drops of contact lens solution to my old mascara.

So far it's great! I will update this in about a week with whether it is still working.

If you want to test this out now...

Take your kinda clumpy old mascara and add four drops solution (contact lens or saline eye drops). Put your wand back in and twist tightly shut. Shake it up. Start untwisting your wand then twist back shut, do this a few times to continue mixing. Don't pump the wand in and out to mix. This introduces more air and dries mascara out.

**It's been a week now and my mascara is still working just fine.  It is starting to slowly thicken up again, but it is about perfect and not clumpy.  It was getting to the point that it was clumping and flaking before I "fixed" it and I haven't had any problems since :)

It works!