birchbox post!

for JULY

finally getting around to posting the stuff I got in this month's Birchbox! (I know July is pretty much over, sh). (also, Birchbox doesn't even look like a word to me anymore).

so I've used most of the things so far but here is what I got:

GLOSS Moderne high gloss masque - it's for your hair and it's like the only thing I haven't used and I'm excited to use it!!

Ada Cosmetics bronzer - this bronzer is super great. it makes my face look really nice and the subtle glitter/sparkles is really nice and yep, A+

LÄRABAR über - it's some sort of snack bar that's like good in protein? I think. I would explain more about it but I threw away the wrapper after I ate it. ha. but it tasted really good! it was the banana and something else flavor. so yeah, try those.

stila lip glaze - I got the 'camera' color and I really liked it. it gave my lips a nice gloss but wasn't overdoing it on the color.

Harvey Prince hello - I actually haven't used this, it's a perfume sample, but it smelled fabulous. it has meyer lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia and plumeria. so it's a good combination!

and then I got Birchbox exclusive earbuds in pink and green and I was really stoked on those because who isn't stoked on free earbuds?! they work swell, btw.

so yeah, that was this month's! good stuff, Birchbox, good stuff. keep it comin'.

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hiiiii!!

sorry bloggers, this is a formal apology. I know I've been slacking lately and I'm terribly sorry! I was in Las Vegas from the 20th to the 25th and three of those days was the CosmoProf hair show!! yaaaayyyy woooo!!! yeah so I'm gonna make a post about that later and tell y'all about all the samples I got and stuff. :)

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product rec/review

today's product of the day iiiiissss........ jouer luminizing moisture tint!!

this stuff is super great. I got it in one of my last Birchboxes and just hadn't tried it in a while but I did today and voila, it worked amazingly. it blended in with my skin perfectly and it smelled good and didn't feel heavy at all and it was just great. and also it's SPF 30 so who wouldn't want that?! 100% recommend, A+. everyone go get it and thank me later.

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BEST stuff ever

this product is the most amazing thing ever and I swear by it. all of my clients love it and it smells great and just does great things with your hair. it's a pretty penny but imo it's sooo worth it. I think the little tiny one is like 14 dollars?? but you don't even need to use that much.
it's super good for frizziness and just taming your hair and making it healthy and smelling good!! just buy it. if you knew it was good for you, you'd buy it.

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product rec

for those of you who have dry cuticls and nails and want a little somethin'-somethin' for them I recommend solar oil by CND!

I love using it on my clients after manicures and pedicures and it leaves their cuticles soft. especially after removing shellac/gel because the pure acetone leaves the cuticle and the skin around the cuticle super dry.

I also like putting on the heels after pedicures or like mixing it in with the lotion for the massage.

it's a wee bit pricey especially considering the bottles are usually pretty small but it's worth it since a little goes a long way.

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birchbox post!

for JUNE

so I meant to start a Birchbox post last month in May but I never got around to it for, uh, reasons (cough laziness cough) but here is my June Birchbox post!

BORGHESE eye compresses

John Varvatos Star USA (I think it's a cologne sample? since Birchbox will now be doing men's boxes so that's neat!)

Band-Aids by Cynthia Rowley Bundle - I'm going to be honest here and say this was the thing I was most excited about because a) I am accident prone and b) I love bandages with designs on them

Scalisi skincare anti-aging moisturizer - I'm actually pretty excited about this one too because it's SPF 30 and I definitely need to start using moisturizer a lot more 

theBalm Stainiac lip and cheek tint

Jouer luminizing moisture tint - excited about this one too! it gives you the perfect dewey skin ah yes

so yeah! I'm going to try and use these and let y'all know how they worked, I'm pretty bad at that since I get lazy with my routines. whoops. can't wait for next month's!

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yay new makeup!!!

so today I went to target and decided to venture out into some new things (not really.

maybelline volum'express mascara THE MEGA PLUSH! okay so I've heard nothing but good things about this mascara so I'm pretty excited to try it out. I'm stoked on the fact that it's a gel-mousse formula instead of the regular mascara I use. I got it in blackest black because that's what I always get and this time I didn't get waterproof because a) I already have two waterproof mascaras and b) waterproof mascara is annoying as HECK to take off. so yay!

neeext I got this cream eyeshadow by e.l.f. I absolutely love e.l.f. and I wish I had more products by them. the color I got is dawn and I'm excited because I don't really have any shadows in this color! and I'm excited to try a cream shadow since all of mine are powders.

and finally! the product I'm most excited about: this e.l.f. cream eye liner in midnight. I have a couple pencil liners and a couple liquid but no cream liners! so yeah I'm pretty jazzed on this.
I'll let you all know how the using of these products goes!

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who loves weddings?? I do!!!

so my friends got married on Saturday and I was a part of the bridal party. so obviously I had to look good right? I mean, all the pictures and walking and everyone looking at us... so yeah. our dresses were a light purple so I wanted my makeup to kind of stand out but to match.

this was the final product!
okay to start, I used a moisturizer. I'm not sure what kind it was because I don't have my own just yet (oops!) and I used my mom's best friend's. I liked it a lot so I'll have to find out the brand and I'll let you all know what it is! okay so I'm a terrible person and I ended up using most of her makeup because I'm still building up my collection and there's a ton of stuff I need. I also used her concealer (since my Benefit one ran out, boo!), foundation, eyeshadow and one of the blushes. shadow primer, eye liner, mascara, bronzer and the other blush was my own.
alright, so I'm not used to wearing foundation at all, like, I have pretty good skin so I never wear it. but I wanted my skin to look flawless so I used a bit. I think that and the concealer were both Mary Kay but I'm not sure. all I have to say is that the foundation was ahhhh-mazing. it barely looked like I had anything on my face and it just looked great. and the concealer did a very good job at hiding my under-eye circles (we stayed up pretty late the night before the wedding).

this is the primer I used. I've had it forever and I absolutely love it. my eyeshadow stayed flawless and crease-free all day and night. and let me tell you, we started early. from about 8 am to 11 pm. so yeah, love love love it.
also, I applied it with my fingers so it wasn't so thick and I could get it everywhere. works a lot better than with the wand. just a tip!

after the primer I used the gold and purple from this Avon true color eyeshadow quad - vibrant spice. I applied the gold all over and then the purple on the outside almost like a smoky eye but not? and I used a highlighting color from my Victoria's Secret fall makeup kit to add a little effect on the inner corners and under my brows. then I lightly applied some of my VS eye liner and topped it off with my VS mascara!

I really like how those colors turned out together and obviously it looked a lot better in person. pictures seriously never do anything justice.
for my cheeks I used a VS bronzer and blush that I had and then the other blush (not sure of the brand) helped add some dimension and a really pretty glow. so yeah! that was my makeup. I give myself an A+ because I thought I did a pretty good job.
oh and for my hair, I left it straight and added a thin silver headband and just teased my crown so I had a little bump behind the headband. that looked pretty cute too.
now I wish I had weddings to go to all the time so I could get all fancied up.

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product review!

okay so as promised, I'm going to talk about the shampoo and conditioner I recently purchased from the Sebastian Professional line.

I got the two on the left, the Color Ignite Mono shampoo and conditioner since my hair is one tone and not highlighted or lowlighted.
okay so I loved it a lot!! they smell really really good and the second I put it on I got this, like, familiar vibe smell? I don't know how to explain it but it kind of reminded me of my childhood I DON'T KNOW. so yeah, that's awesome. my favorite part of course is that it's sulfate free so my luscious locks don't lose their color as quickly.
the only thing that tripped me out a little bit was the fact that the conditioner comes out like a mousse and not like all the other conditioners I've ever used. I was a little confused but I read online you use like a tennis-ball sized amount and go from there. so yeah!
I give this product a huge A+ and I love it and recommend it.

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I love new stuff!!!

yay I got some new makeup brushes!!!!!!!! ask me how excited I am! (you don't have to ask, you can probably see it from all of my exclamation points) I'm super excited because I definitely needed a powder brush and a smudge brush and you can never go wrong with extra eyeshadow and blush brushes! plus they're super soft.

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for the boys!

want some quality hair products for you (if you're a dude) or for your boyf or hubby (if you're a girl)? try WOODY'S. we've been getting some at the salon and it's FABULOUS. haven't yet tried the shampoo or conditioner but I've used two of the gels and a web (which smells great and works even better). I'm pretty excited to use more of the stuff we've got.

recommended by the pros so you know it's good ;-)

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new product alert!

coming soon...

I recently just bought a shampoo and conditioner from the Sebastian Professional line so I will have a review of it up shortly (aka within the next couple of days or so)!

I loooooove new products

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fave products pt. 1

okay so I have tons and tons of hair products that I've used and there's so many I like, but this is a post on the products I own and use almost daily. there's still so many I want to try as well, so I'll keep making posts on other products I love etc. etc. so have at it.
first of all, I'd like to explain as of right now I'm a big Redken/Pureology/Kenra snob seeing as I was trained in Redken at the school I went to and now I work at a salon that carries and uses Pureology and Kenra. but I'm always open to other product lines!

strengthening control by Pureology is one of my favorite hairsprays ever. it works really really well and it smells really good. you usually don't get a hairspray that smells good. I'd probably use it over any other hairspray because of the smell, tbh.

this is one of my favorites ever!!! it smells SUPER GOOD and it helps protect your hair from the blowdryer (which we all know likes to ruin your gorgeous locks). every time I use it for the first time on a client they comment on how good it smells.

texturizing taffy is wonderful for shorter layers because it gives your hair more texture and you can see your layers more. and it smells great too! (obviously I love good smelling things)

on the days I feel lazy (rarely, duh) and I don't want to do my hair I throw in some full frame mousse. I like it because it doesn't give my hair that crunchy feeling like the usual mousse. it leaves it soft and bouncy.

everyone needs a volumizing blow-dry gel! this one is amazing. it works great with straightening your hair because it gives it that extra hold.

wool shake is my favorite texturizer. I started using it when I cut my hair like Victoria Beckham's asymmetrical and I sprayed it in the back since it was super short and I fell in love with it. it also works great to spray when you're back-combing.

A+++++ on this one. all I hear are really good things about this when people first start using it. it does 10 things at once and let me tell ya, ALL OF THOSE 10 THINGS ARE REALLY GOOD FOR YOUR HAIR. so get it.

I feel like everyone needs a dry shampoo and I quite like dirty secret by Rockaholic. it works really well so yeah.
















watch out for more of my favorite products post later on in the future!!!

shout out to...

Nivea lip balm! I used this as my primer for my eyeshadow and it worked fabulously. thanks, Nivea, you rock.

I heart makeup!

so I decided to play around with my makeup today. as much as I love it and all the tons that I have (this picture isn't even close to showing how much I have) I've never really used it enough to love any techniques. but after tonight, I'm in love with my Victoria's Secret fall face kit and my e.l.f. smokey eye palette.
so here's some of my looks!!

first, here's my face sans makeup. I'd like to start off by saying I'm super comfortable being in public without makeup and I wish everyone felt the same! also, I got blessed thanks to my mother's amazing genes and I have only ever had one zit ever and I never have to wear foundation. (I just use concealer because I don't really listen to my mom and I stay up way too late so now I have terrible under eye circles). other than that my face is pretty freaking rad.
also, I'd like to say none of these pictures do my makeup justice because I took them with my webcam since I no longer have a nice camera (thanks to my wonderful little brother). all of these looks looked so much better in person so I can't wait to have something to do so I can do my makeup all cutesy like tonight.

this one was one of my favorites! all I had to do for it was read the inside of my e.l.f. palette for a cute smokey eye.
side note: I'm not going to post the techniques I used on this because this post will be waaaayyy too long but I might do separate posts later on!

I was a bit iffy about this one. tbh, it actually looked better on camera than it did in person. I'm not used to so much eye liner but I guess it'd be a cool look for certain occasions! I'd like to call it an intense smokey eye. my mom said it looked alright though so I'll take it.

this one was actually my favorite and I can't wait to try it again. all I used was my VS fall face kit and voila! amazing. you can't tell but it's a blue-green-tealish color and it's super cute.

lastly, a classic! I enjoy this look a lot because I found a red lipstick that doesn't clash with my skin tone. I just need to work on my wing because I suck at that usually. I didn't do too bad tonight though! more dramatic makes it cooler too.










so yeah! here's all my looks for tonight and I'm definitely excited to get more makeup and watch more tutorials and just invent my own. give me allllll of the makeup.
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am I 5 years old again???

obsessed with nail art (even though I am complete rubbish and can't do crap on my own nails!) and I want these really bad!!

shellac vs gel

shellac/gel nails are big big big right now. have you gotten your shellac manicure yet? there is nothing negative I have to say about this huge trend. okay, I lied. there's one thing: sometimes if you don't shake the bottles enough the gel/shellac doesn't last as long as it should and it chips and that is no bueno. so make sure you shake it up yourself if you're giving yourself a cute mani or make sure your nail tech has shaken the bottle up.
now, CND or OPI?

I absolutely love CND and it has worked wonders for me, but this is the one that started chipping faster when I've used it on my clients. especially when we did a french mani with clear and a super light pink color.

the OPI gel, on the other hand, has been super wonderful. in my humble opinion, I prefer OPI. mostly because I used OPI in beauty school and I'm more used to those colors. most of the nail polish I own is OPI. the main thing about CND versus OPI is the size of the bottles. so this is speaking as a professional. if I'm going to pay $15 or $17 for a bottle of gel or shellac it all depends on the size right? for only two dollars more you get double the amount of color with OPI rather than CND.
but everyone should definitely try a shellac or gel manicure or pedicure at least once. it lasts for almost 2 weeks without chipping and there's no dry time! and those manicures usually aren't even that much more expensive. I know at the salon I work at they're only $10 more than a regular mani :)

this here is my own hand. I used Princesses Rule! by OPI. absolutely in loooove.

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to DYE for

just kidding, this isn't real dye.

but it is one of the coolest new trends to pop up. CHALKING. you can put fun colors in your hair without the commitment and you can always see what colors would look good before you actually dye your precious locks! to achieve the look you just get your hands on water based pastels and go to town on wet strands. seen here is my sister's hair for prom. we used baby blue, blue, green and purple then blow dried her strands, sprayed with hair spray and curled with a wand. fabulous!