August 2013 Favorites

If you care about the things I've been loving, then read on... :)

Not as much stuff as usual, I guess I haven't been experimenting with my makeup/beauty routine too much lately.  However, I do love these things and have been using them tons lately!

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewel Beach Spray

Love this stuff! Smells awesome, makes my hair look gorgeous! I've never really used sea sprays before but I may be addicted now lol.

Beauty Blender

This is a must have for all crazy makeup junkies! I love it do pieces.  I hardly ever put on foundation/concealer without this little guy. He is my best friend.  Here is an in-depth review if you're interested!
Blog Post
YoutubeVideo

BBW Mason Jar Candles - Harvest Coffee & Blackberry Spice

These candles are just a perfect balance in my book, to figure out more of what I'm talking about, check out the blog post here!

Cool Phone Case 

Got this on Ebay. Sometimes it's a pain in the butt to use (like when you're doing silly things like calling people) but it's nice for all other things you use your phone for (like propping up to watch THE youtube)

ELF $1 Eyelid Primer 

As long as it prevents creasing, it's good in my book.  And at $1, it's great.

Chella Brow Pencil - Dazzling Dark Brown Eyebrow Color

My new eyebrow product of the moment. Still not 100% satisfied with the color match, but the best I've encountered so far! :)

ELF Eyebrow Treat & Tame

The Treat and the Tame both work great!

Thanks so much for reading! What are some of your monthly favorites? :)
Love,
Alaina

School Spirit - Hair, Makeup, Outfit Ideas!

Watch the video here!


Hey everyone! This is a collaboration with Shay! Her YouTube channel is PrettyinPearls3, so be sure to go check her out.  This is actually my first collab video & these videos were all her idea! Give her some props, I thought this was a pretty cool concept! Thanks Shay!

So... I put together this big ole video including a makeup tutorial, hairdo, and three outfit ideas! I really hope you guys enjoy this one!

You can watch the video here!

For the makeup, I never wore more than just eye makeup and maybe a lip product in high school.  I really didn't learn more about makeup until I discovered the YouTube Beauty World!  And I'm so glad I did! That was in college.

I know some people really don't enjoy wearing colorful eyeshadows, but my recommendation is to use the more wearable school color as the main lid color or just slightly on the upper lid and if the other color is a bit more crazy, use it to accent the look on the lower lash line.  If both of your school colors are a bit crazy, maybe try to use a deeper version of the color to help balance the look.

For the outfits, they are all styled to realize the fact that football games can run past sunset, and at least where I live, in the fall months, it can get a bit chilly after dark.  So I included pants and long sleeves to help accommodate that fact.

I like to call these outfits "school spirited without being crazy," they have incorporated my old high school colors in a casual way, without totally standing out with school spirit. By the way, my colors were dark blue and green, and sometimes I guess silver was one too, lol. 

Outfit 1:

Sandals - Payless

Skirt - Cotton On

Shirt - Old Navy

Necklace - Charming Charlie

Outfit 2:

Flip Flops - Old Navy

Shorts - Wet Seal

Shirt - from my high school

Scarf - Walmart (I'm pretty sure)

Outfit 3:

Booties - Charlotte Russe

Pants - Charlotte Russe

Tank - Old Navy

Vest - Gordmans (I'm pretty sure)

Cuff - made by my mom :) it has my cat's name on it "Anna Molly" so when I turn into a serious crazy cat lady, I'm pretty sure we can trace it back to my mom for making me a bracelet with her name on it :-p

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Lainamarie91

My Attempts at Balancing Oily Skin! :: My Current Skincare Routine (as of August 2013)

Watch the video here!

MORNING:
Lush Dark Angels (AM shower days)
Since Dark Angels can get a little messy, I find it a little safer to use in the shower.
Lush Herbalism (PM shower days)
Although there are bits of herbs and whatnot in this product, I wouldn't call it exfoliating, and it's definitely nothing like Dark Angels' exfoliants.
Yes to Tomatoes Daily Balancing Moisturizer 
Not super impressed by this one.  It does leave less of a shiny finish compared to other moisturizers i have tried. 

NIGHT:
Lush Ultrabland (to remove eye makeup)
I love this product for removing my eye makeup.  It feels so much gentler than what I used to use (Equate Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover) and it doesn't sting my eyes whatsoever.

Lush 9 to 5 Cleansing Lotion (to remove face makeup)
I'm not super impressed with this product, but it is what I'm currently using.  It definitely feels better for my skin than using makeup removing wipes, it also doesn't leave my skin feeling dried out and stripped like other makeup removers/facial washes I have used in the past (ex. Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser, Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Facial Cleanser, Clean & Clear Morning Burst Brightening Facial Cleanser).  It leaves a moisturizing layer on top of the skin.  It doesn't remove heavy duty waterproof makeup very well, but it does the job most days.

Mask (Catastrophe Cosmetic or Dark Angels) (every third day or so)
I enjoyed using Catastrophe while I had it, then picked up Magnaminty because it has a much longer shelf life.  It's super minty and cooling, so I don't know if it will be good for the winter time lol, but as of summertime, it's great.  I also enjoy using Dark Angels or even Herbalism as masks every once in awhile too.

Neutrogena Clean Pore Oil Eliminating Astringent
I never used a toner before and I now realize why toner is necessary.  My pore size was instantly reduced! Although when I use this product right after cleansing, it does tingle for a minute until the liquid has totally dried.  It doesn't make my skin red or irritated, it's just very tingly.  If I wait longer between cleansing and using this toner, it doesn't sting at all.  Also the scent of this reminds me of Listerine.
After using this toner, my moisturizer absolutely glides on so smoothly!
Yes to Tomatoes Daily Balancing Moisturizer
I use this moisturizer more heavily at night and use it on my neck as well as my face.  It seems to be more suited for nighttime use because it does leave a somewhat heavy feeling on the skin and can take awhile to fully absorb.

Overall, I'm still not 100% satisfied with my current skincare routine, but I hope some of this stuff helps you or gives you some kind of idea about what might help your skin too! :)

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Lainamarie91

Cotton On Fall Fashion Haul

Just uploaded a new video! 

This is a small haul (as most of my hauls are lol) from Cotton On online.  I picked up some super cheap clearance stuff, getting me in the mood for fall!

Lush Herbalism Review

Herbalism is another facial cleanser from Lush catered towards those of us with oily/acne-prone skin.  I don't have really big issues with acne, I get a pimple every once in awhile, but it's not a huge problem for me; however, I definitely I have oily skin.  It's sooo oily, my face just feels yucky after a few hours after cleansing.

So I had been using Dark Angels for about a month or so and I saw some real improvements at first; however, as feared, my skin slowly started going back to its normal oily self. :( So I made the decision to try out Herbalism.

A lot of people have issues with the scent of Herbalism, but it doesn't bother me at all. I really don't think it smells strongly of vinegar, like most say, I think it has more of an herbally/green scent than anything else.

It does have a couple different oils in it, and you can tell because it takes a bit of massaging to get the product to mix with the water in order to create a paste to apply to the face.  However, I think the oil in Herbalism helps to cling to the oils in your face, drawing it out and cleaning it away.  It doesn't leave your face feeling squeaky clean, dry, and tight, which is great.

This product is a little more difficult to work with on your face because of that oil, I believe, it just doesn't glide on like other cleansers, you have to work at it to keep all the bits on your skin from falling off.

In all honesty, however much I do love using Herbalism, I really haven't seen any improvements in my skin.  It didn't drastically reduce my oil on first use, like Dark Angels did.  I enjoy cleansing with it, and I haven't seen any negative reaction, but it hasn't helped my skin either.

Overall, I think it's a good cleanser and I like it, but it hasn't improved the oily condition of my skin.

So... bottom line, I am still on the hunt for a cleanser that will actually help my oily skin over time. :(

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Lainamarie91

ELF Haul

Watch the video here!

When I got the email saying ELF was having a 50% off everything sale, of course I had to check it out.  And once I checked it out, I couldn't just abandon my shopping cart and all of those good deals.  Since on ELF's website, most of the time it's either "free shipping" or a percentage off, you really have to do the math to see which is the better deal.  Most of the time, I find the free shipping wins over 30-33% off, with the small amounts I tend to purchase at one time.  However, with 50% off, that was definitely a better deal than "free shipping."  I just purchased some stuff I had been wanting to try for awhile now, but didn't really feel the need to hurry up and get.  So here's what I picked up! Enjoy & don't forget to check back for better reviews in the future. 

I heard this was a dupe for NARS Albatross, and I'm definitely not running out to spend that kind of money on a highlighter, so I decided to give this one a go.  This is a great highlighter and I even love it in the inner corner.  It's a great summertime golden glow.

I use a darker powder to fill in my brows as fall and winter approach, so this lighter colored brow gel really helps bring my brows back down a shade lighter and also adds dimension with the two colored products.  This is also a good product to use if your brow products are running a little reddish for your liking, you can use this on top to cancel that out.  This stuff is also really excellent at controlling my brows, the gel really does its job and keeps them in place.  

I also am a huge fan of the "treat" side.  It's supposed to help sparse areas of your brows grow in better, and I truly truly think it's working. I should have taken before and afters!  I've been trying all summer to grow my brows a little thicker and was having horrible luck at that, they were just doing crazy things and I couldn't control them.  Since I started using this, about every other day or so, my brows are looking sooo much better.  I really don't think it's a coincidence, you should definitely give it a try if you have this sort of issue with your brows. 

I really love this blush & bronzer.  The bronzer is so pigmented and dark, with my light skin, I really have to be careful with it.  The light pink/peach blush is great too.  They give a nice bronzy glow to the face when used together. The shimmer looks overpowering in the pan, but it doesn't transfer so harshly onto the face.

I was not impressed by this shadow.  The color reminds me of ash with a tiny bit of purple in it.  Using it dry, it totally sucks, honestly.  Using it wet is alright.  The shaker cap allows tons of product to come out, it isn't too messy though.

I wasn't super impressed by this shadow.  1) The shaker cap hardly lets any shadow out, unlike the shaker on the matte eyeshadow, where tons come out.  2) It looks bright and nice when applied wet or on a good base, but it was very disappointing applied dry.

This cream shadow creases (not crazy bad, but you can just tell) on its own and when used as a base with shadows on top all by itself.  However, with a primer underneath, the creasing is totally fixed.  This was somewhat disappointing but not a huge letdown since it can be fixed.  This color has some really gorgeous sparkle to it that the pictures don't really show, by the way.

The purple has almost a matte finish once it sets and dries, but in the jar, it looks like it has a sheen.

I've tried these as bases without any eyeshadow primer and they do crease about halfway through the day.  It's not super horrible creasing, but if you're using darker shadows, you can definitely tell.  With a primer, they are fine all day.

I said in the video I would be doing a review/comparison between the cream eyeshadows & cream liners, but honestly, they are sooo similar, I don't think that will be necessary.  They both crease without a primer, but last all day with one.  They have the same consistency, I would almost bet they are the same product just with different labels, honestly. 

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Lainamarie91

Essie Nail Polish Review

 I came across this little duo at Walgreens for $8, the price of one regular Essie nailpolish, pretty much.  I know everyone loves this darn brand sooo much, but I never really wanted to spend that kind of money on a single polish, so I'm glad I found this little set.  I think these are both really good color for fall too, and colors unlike any others I own.  These are the teeny tiny mini bottle of polish, but I honestly don't think I've ever used up a full size nail polish anyway, so minis are good enough for me. :)

Now on to the actual review... Are these polishes exceptionally great, that all the beauty community online has to go crazy over them?  I wanted the answer to be, "no, they aren't any better than any other cheapo drugstore stuff," because I could not justify their price to myself, and surprise surprise, I was correct.

I was not super impressed with this polish.  And I gave it plenty of chances.  Each time I wore them, my results came out the same.  I don't understand what the big hype is over these polishes.  For the price, I was definitely expecting MUCH more.  This stuff was chipping after four days.  And it wore at the tips much sooner than that.  The one pro I have is that they are good to go after two coats, the darker color could even go after just one.  But honestly, that still doesn't mean much to me if the manicure is only going to look great for two days.

I know people just swear by these polishes, but I honestly was not impressed, especially for the price.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Lainamarie91

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Lainamarie91

August 20, 2013 OOTD - I got some new boots

     Today I got some new boots in the mail, so I figured I would show them off in an OOTD.  This is actually my first ever OOTD blog post without an associated video.  Yay! lol.

     These boots were just one pair being sold on Ebay and I can't find any others on there, but here is another link to them ---> Bare Traps Trudy Slouch Boot in case you were wondering :)

     They were $12.99 with $8 shipping or so, which is a pretty good deal in my opinion.  I am really the chick who only buys things when they are on clearance, so these boots sounded like a good deal to me, because when I looked them up they were running around $30-something on most other sites.  These were the "display shoes" at wherever they were being sold before I got them, but they are in perfect brand-new condition. 

     I wanted some new boots because fall is coming!  I love fall and winter; best seasons ever in the whole wide world!  And my other pair of black boots are just totally on their last leg.  I should really throw them out, they are just falling apart.  They're at that point when you step in a puddle, your foot gets wet; not cool!

    These boots have a teeny tiny baby heel, which I'm like whatever about.  The bottoms actually have like tread grippy bits, so I will be safe while walking. :-p  The calf section is a little snug, so I don't think wearing jeans with these is going to be an option, I guess I'll have to give in and find some jeggings some day.

In case you are concerned... I do listen to Nirvana.  I am not that chick who wears band tees just because they are "cool."  I actually haven't worn a band tee in a long long time.  This thing is probably from my middle school days. 

Other clothing items information:

Tights - on clearance at Target for $1.50, they had tons of other colors too! Go to Target and find yourselves some cheap tights!  They are also "capri" length tights.  All the ones I saw at my Target on clearance were "capri" or "footless," I didn't come across any "footed" tights; is that the proper way to say that?

Shorts - Amethyst brand, probably purchased from Deb

T-Shirt - Hot Topic, from years ago, and I cut the back up myself & also cut out the neckline

No accessories cuz I'm just hanging out around the house mostly.  The whole point of this post is just because of the new boots. :)

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Lainamarie91

Bath & Body Works Mason Jar Style Candles Review :: Harvest Coffee & Blackberry Spice

     Just thought I'd give you my thoughts on these candles, just in case anybody out there in the world kinda cares and wants my opinion on them.  Pretty much the things candles need to be graded on, in my opinion, are...

How long will they burn?

How scented are they really?

(and super importantly) Do they burn evenly?

These candles are 6 oz and they say they will burn 30-40 hours.

The large size of BBW candles are 14.5 oz and burn 25-45 hours.  I found this somewhat interesting.  So these little ones could potentially burn and last longer than the big giant ones.  Judging by the multiple times I have burned both of these candles, I believe they will last a very long time, just like the packaging claims.

The scent on these are not super strong.  And I don't think it's just because of the small packaging, because I have small BBW 4 oz 20-30 hour candles that can fill up my room no problem.  I think it's just the formula on these ones.  This can of course be a huge bummer to some who really want everything to smell like their new candle, or a better alternative for those who really can't take super overpowering scents.  I have my days when a burning candle will give me a headache and just bother me all day, so I understand that side.  These candles have never once given me a headache from the scent, because it is light enough not to bother me, but you can still actually smell it, so it's not a waste of money, it all just comes down to your preferences. 

Blackberry Spice: There is definitely a spiciness in this scent, like cinnamon, I would compare it to BBW Leaves, which is one of my very favorites.  It's less powerful than Leaves though, like I explained before.  There's just a hint of berry and some kind of greeness.  Man, I'm bad at describing scents, the label on the candle, is much better lol.  It says "fresh picked berries, crushed cloves, cinnamon bark, and vanilla cream."

Harvest Coffee: I'm not really a coffee drinker, though I do enjoy it once in a blue moon.  However, I do so love the smell of it!  I must say the cold throw (scent of just the candle when not lit) is sooo good, but once the candle is lit, it's not as awesome, which of course is a bummer.  Not that when it's lit it sucks, it just doesn't even do justice to the unlit scent.  Described as "roasted coffee beans... & creamy vanilla foam."

I've always had issues with the small BBW candles not burning evenly and tunneling, one thing I absolutely hate hate hate about candles.  I usually use my small ones on a candle warmer for this reason.  However, with these, they burn so perfectly and evenly, I haven't had a single problem with tunneling on these.

Overall, I would recommend these and they're super cute too. :)

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Lainamarie91

     

LUSH Dark Angels Review

On my third visit to Lush, I believe I have found the product that will make my silly skin happy, along with a couple other products I'm really loving too!
I always heard that exfoliating oily skin would only make it produce more oil.  But I've always exfoliated my skin, regardless of this information lol.






DAY 1:
I used it last night and when I woke up this morning, my skin was HALF as oily as usual. And that's only with one use!

It did make my skin red for about 45 minutes or so after using it, but not bumpy red, just kinda irritated red, and it really wasn't that bad.

My skin did feel softer after using it, but I have not seen any improvements in the tiny little pimples deep under the skin.  They don't look like zits, they just look like teeny tiny bumps, but I know what's under there!

Holy cow, my oil stayed under controll all day! I washed my face with this first thing in the morning at about 6 am.  At 2:30 pm my face felt pretty much fine.  It felt a tiny bit oily, but nothing at all like it would normally.  I didn't even feel the need to blot at lunchtime, like I usually do.  At 5 pm I blotted just to see what the sheet would look like afterwards lol.  And it wasn't bad at all, not at all like my face normally.  It looked like my skin would normally look after like 3 hours, but it had been 11 hours!  Amazing!  First thing I have ever tried that worked this quickly for my poor skin.

DAY 4:
I love this stuff! My skin is so happy. lol. I've been using it daily, my skin still gets red looking afterwards for about a half hour, but I am ok with that because the oiliness is like nothing compared to before. :)

I wanted to get a small amount of this product because 1) it expires in 3 months & 2) I didn't know if I was going to really like it.  And as an exfoliator, it shouldn't really be used every single day, making half the time for using up all of the product.  I got $8 worth and this is definitely going to last more than the 3 months even by using it every other day.  I guess I'll have to get my sister to start using it too lol.

2 WEEKS:
I reduced my use to every other day and my skin started to get oily again.  That is not cool.  It no longer makes my skin red after I use it, but this experiment of using every other day makes me worried that if I keep using it every single day, what if my skin just gets used to it and stops being less oily anyway over time? At least I can see that it's really doing something good if my skin goes back to being bad after I skip a day of use.

When I use this in the shower, I like to use the leftover bits on my hands on other spots that get rough and it smooths them and exfoliates really well on my body as well, which is great, since, like I said, this stuff expires in just a few months and $8 worth is a TON of product lol.

I also enjoy using this as a mask every once in awhile too. I never experience a stain left behind on my skin, like some reviews have mentioned.

1 MONTH+:
I don't know if my skin has just gotten used to this product or what (like I feared) but my skin is back to its typical oily ways.  However, I've changed a lot of other things about my skincare as well, so who knows what is really attributing to this.  The teeny tiny bumps/pimples under the skin haven't really improved, when I really thought they would due to the exfoliating factor of this product, but I must say, I haven't really experienced any acne problems while using it. Although my oiliness is back, I'd still recommend this because it definitely showed major improvement when I first started using it.  Let me know how you like this product, maybe I'm just crazy lol.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone with oily skin, it really began helping my skin immediately after my first use.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Lainamarie91

FOTD + OOTD :: End of Summer

Watch the video here!

Products Used:

Eyes...
ELF Eyelid Primer
ELF Cream Eyeshadow - Dawn
Sephora Dark Magic Palette
ELF Plum Purple Cream Eyeliner
Benefit They're Real Mascara

Face...
Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer
Revlon Colorstay Oily/Combo Foundation
Milani Multitasking Face Powder
Rimmel Brow Pencil - Hazel
ELF Treat & Tame Brow Gel - Ash
ELF Mineral Blush - Blliss
NYX Blush - Taupe

Lips...
NYX Auto Lip Liner - Natural
NYX Round Lipstick - Iced Honey

Lenses...

http://www.pinkyparadise.com/?Click=25260

G&G GBT Blue

What’s on my nails?

Essie – Demure Vix

Items Worn:

Shoes - Ross

Pants - Charlotte Russe

Shirt - H&M

Necklace - Body Central

Earrings - Body Central

Bracelets - Body Central

Cuff - made by my mom :)

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Lainamarie91