My Favorite Things (at the moment)

Hello beauty addicts! :) I've been loving so many things lately that I thought I would share them with you all! Recently I've been transforming a corner of my room into my little beauty space, and I made a favorite things section. I used my Birchbox box (haha) to house all these items. Here they are!

1. Eve Pearl Dual- Performance Ultimate Lip Palette

2. MAC Lady Danger Lipstick

3. Laura Geller Blush N Brighten Combo

4. Betsey Johnson Tweezerman Tweezers in Marilyn Monroe Print

5. Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake Shower Gel, Shampoo, and Bubble Bath- this stuff smells amazing! This is coming from someone who is not a scents/fragrance kind of girl. I LOVE IT. I got it free from Sephora as my birthday gift. At first I wasn't jazzed when I found out this would be the freebie because I'm not a bath product type of girl. I definitely don't get excited around Bath and Body Works or someplace like that as I do at Sephora. Nevertheless, I got the gift, and from the second I saw the girl take it out from under the counter, I felt happy! I just felt way more drawn to it then I had expected to it, and I like it so much! I find myself grabbing it randomly when I need a mood lifter. It smells so wonderful, I wish they made perfume of this stuff. :( Sadly they don't. The bad thing about this product is that I don't truly know how effective it is at doing all those 3 things. I suspect it was designed truly to just be a shower gel but they probably added some extra lather (hence being able to pass as a bubble bath), and since shower gel is really like soap in liquid form it can also pass as a shampoo. Oh well. We'll never know! Anyway I adore this stuff but it also doesn't leave the fragrance on your body as much as just smelling good in the shower/bath. I wish it made me smell like birthday cake! It does a little, but oh man I would love it if I smelled delicious and yummy! How awesome would it be to have my signature scent be birthday cake? :D

6. Makeup Forever Glitter in 13! This picture does not do it justice at all, it is so gorgeous and pink rainbow-y glittery! Definitely to be featured in an upcoming look/FOTD. 

Let's start with the perfume. I got all these little samples in a black little pouch from Sephora a couple of months ago when I bought something. I'm not really a perfume girl so I never used them and kind of just left them sitting in the bag. I rediscovered them the other day and they are so pretty! I figured that they would look adorable in my little nook and also that this would be a great way for me to start trying different fragrances. 

I added my favorites and still un-used products from my June Birchbox to my favorites box to tie everything together. I added the Laura Geller Blush and Highlight Combo, the pomegranate bar of soap, the Kate Spade Twirl Perfume Sample, and 1 of the Deborah Lippmann Stripper To Go Mitts. 

My Manicure :)

Last week, my cousin and I went to get manicures and pedicures! It was such a treat for me, because I've only ever gotten my nails done once in my life. I didn't go too crazy and get any designs or anything like that. I just love seeing the difference it makes to get your nails done by a professional! It looks sooo crazy even and your nails are so nicely shaped and it just feels so wonderful. Thanks Christina :) Best Birthday present ever!

I got my hands done in Lovie Dovie by Essie, and my feet (which I hate, just because they're feet and mine aren't particularly nice haha) in Cute as a Button by Essie.

The coral color in Cute as a Button isn't picking up too well on my camera, but I think I'm going to actually buy it! :) So maybe I'll put it on my nails and show the color in a future post.

Anyway, I hope you all like manicures as much as me! I know my cousin loves them :) She got this divine Essie orange color (can't remember the name for the life of me!) with China Glaze's white crackle on top, and it looked amazing!

Just like a Creamsicle ice cream confection haha! I'm already wanting to get another manicure but they are expensive ($15 adds up!) and I'm also so insanely shy. I feel weird getting people to service my hands and feet and always act apologetic and uncomfortable. :x I just do! I feel bad! So I probably won't go unless I have someone to go with haha, and if I have spare money lying around. :) Have a nice week everyone!

Birchbox

Birchbox is a company that you can subscribe to for $10 a month or $120 a year. The service they provided is this: they ship you your "Birchbox" once a month, and in it is a sweet haul of five little products, samples, or deluxe samples. These are usually high end brands. I couldn't resist subscribing. $10 a month for a monthly surprise box of awesome makeup/nail polish/skincare/perfume treats? I was a goner the second I heard about Birchbox. There's a british version of Birchbox called Glossybox which really pulled me in because one of the monthly products was a huge deluxe sample of a NARS product, and their packaging was divine. Girly, pretty, and romantic. However, Birchbox is what we have in the U.S. so no Glossybox for me!

I received my package on June 8th. In it contained one of my new holy grail products :) Here are pictures of the package, and the contents inside!

The back of the card lists all the products for each month's birchbox. They include a description of the product, and the full price and size if you were to buy the product in store (or on their website).

1. Archipelago| Pomegranate Soap (Part of Gift Set) $35

Unlike body wash, this triple-milled soap won't spill in your toiletry kit, plus it has antioxidants to keep skin soft and smooth.

2. Kate Spade| Twirl- 1.7 FL OZ| $65 &3.4 FL OZ|$80

This flirty scent feels carefree and joyful- just the thing to wear on your adventures at home and abroad.

3. Laura Geller| Baked Blush N' Brighten 0.32 OZ|$29.50

Made in Italy, this swirl of warm and cool tones is infinitely versatile- dust your cheeks for a flattering glush or use the lighter shades as a highlighter.


4. Sircuit Cosmeceuticals| Molecular Mist 2 OZ|$36
This high-tech spray uses heavy water to keep your skin hydrated all day. Use it pre-moisturizer, as an in-flight refresh, or to set makeup.


5. Deborah Lippmann| Stripper To Go Nail Lacquer Removers 10 Mitts $12
Fix your mani on the fly! Each handy packet contains a remover soaked mitt that erases polish without drying out nails.

I really liked my Birchbox this month, but had the Laura Geller Baked Blush N' Brighten product not been in there, I don't know if I would be saying that. That was DEFINITELY the stand out product. 1, it was great, and 2, it's huge! It was the FULL SIZE PRODUCT. That itself is $29 and I got it included in a $10 box. That's amazing.

What I would repurchase:
Laura Geller Baked Blush N' Brighten (but if they have just a highlighter product instead of the blush included I would buy that, because I liked the highlighter more then the blush)

That's it I think. At first I liked the Deborah Lippmann mitts but it says one packet is enough for 10 nails and that just wasn't true. It was enough for one hand before it dried out or maybe I just didn't work quickly enough, but I found myself swabbing my fingers inside the packet to try and get more remover (which I did, the packet was dripping wet with it, it spilled all over the notebook I had on the table). Also, it lists acetone as an ingredient, which most certainly does dry out your nails. So I don't know about all the claims it was making. I haven't tried the soap yet, but the molecular mist was interesting (Felt refreshing but smelled really strong) and the Kate Spade perfume is nice, like all perfumes, but I'm not particularly in love/ or attracted to it.

Blush N' Brighten swatched: Blush +Highlighter, Blush alone, Highlighter alone

Hope you all liked this review/first impressions, and I can't wait for next month's Birchbox!