Ipsy Glam Bag Unboxing - April 2014

Here's what I received in my April 2014 Ipsy Bag.

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil - Travel Size - Value $15
dr. brandt Microdermabrasion - Deluxe Sample Size - Value $9.75
Elizabeth Mott Pop! goes the shadow (Champagne) - Full Size - Value $12.99
Mary Kay At Play Jelly Lip Gloss (Teddy Bare) - Full Size - Value $10
Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse - Travel Size - Value $6

Total Value of this my Ipsy April 2014 bag - $53.74

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I definitely received my money's worth and then some, I just wasn't extremely thrilled about the products - it all seemed a little... basic for my taste. I like to experiment with makeup and I have so much that a neutral eyesahdow (although I love the quality, a nude lip gloss, an exfoliator, a black eye pencil and a hair mousse really isn't very thrilling. I can't say I loved the bag but I also didn't dislike it. I'm using it in my purse currently because it's the perfect size for me to store coupons.

I received this Teddy Bare shade of the Mary Kay at Play Jelly Lip Gloss. I am happy this is a full size product but extremely bummed that this nude is a color that completely washes me out. I also didn't like that this product stuck to any dry patches on my lips and really accentuated them, it was also very sticky and thick in consistency. I would not repurchase this lip gloss, especially at the high price of $10!

I was happy to receive an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil in their new Velvet line (color: Black Velvet).  This is a similar size to the travel pencils that they sometimes include in their Book of Shadows (various editions) and other palettes. I have quite a collection of these and was happy to see this one smudged well, clearly being intended for a smokey eye. It's more of a charcoal black rather than a pure dark black due to its intended use. The value of this product was $15.

This was my surprise favorite item in this bag. I have received a couple of other Elizabeth Mott products in the past and also enjoyed them thoroughly (through Ipsy, Glossybox and Birchbox). I'm a fan that I'm always receiving something different from this brand, rather than just the same product sent out in all my subscriptions! Also, this eyeshadow reminds me of Stila's Kitten (which is an amazing compliment). I absolutely love this shade, it's very universal and wearable, super glowy and extremely buttery. This product is worth the $12.99 price tag, I would purchase it and I'm glad that it came in my bag. 

The last 2 products are my absolute duds for this month. I have plenty of exfoliators and although I've heard great reviews of dr. Brandt's products, I just can't seem to get myself hyped about cleansers. It retails for a fortune so even this extremely small sample is valued at $9.75. I also received the BigSexyHair Root Pump Mousse (valued at $6) and this will be an okay product that I can put in my purse if it's very humid out and I really want to control my hair. These two products are the reason why I unsubscribed from Birchbox, I want a purely makeup subscription and not really cleansers and hair products. With that being said, Ipsy usually does the best job of the affordable makeup subscriptions of sending primarily makeup products.

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Should I floss before or after I brush my teeth?

I don't know if you've ever thought about this topic, but the other day I found myself wondering: Should I be flossing before or after I brush my teeth and use mouthwash? So I researched the topic and found out some pretty logical results. 

When we're young our dentists tell us just to floss once a day, because that's good enough, if you're doing that you're staving off gingivitis and potential periodontal disease (severe gum disease) and removing unwanted plaque from building up. It takes plaque 24-48 hours to "settle" and solidify in your mouth, if you are flossing once every 24 hours you will not form floss in the areas that you agitate with your floss. 

My personal favorite tools to floss with are flosser dental picks. I think they make the job so much more enjoyable, and I make sure to leave them out somewhere very visible so that every single day I will see them and be reminded to use them. To top that off, I even have an alarm which sets off every night before bedtime to remind me of Flossy Time.

After much thorough research, I saw that this is a highly contested topic. Some dentists apparently don't care when you floss as long as you do floss once a day, specifically at night. It's important to floss at night before you sleep because during the night, since you aren't using or opening your mouth quite so much, and your saliva proliferates at much slower pace, the bacteria have their reign in your mouth. Bacteria are free to settle, move around, and cause disturbance in your mouth undisturbed as you sleep. So it's important that the majority of your dental care routine happens before you sleep. 

I discovered that it's important to floss before you go to sleep, the reason behind this is that it will dislodge any rogue food particles or impurities. After doing this, it is the opportune time to floss with a fluoride toothpaste and use mouthwash to ensure your mouth is clean for as long as possible throughout the night.

Mariposa - Glinda Eyes of the Day

My eyes of the day were inspired by the butterflies in the Mariposa palette and the ethereal look of the Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz (and Urban Decay palette infamy). I'm excited that spring is here and the weather is finally starting to warm up, so bright colors and pastels will be the norm!

Here are the products I used for this look (as always I'll let you know exactly how to achieve this on your own):

I really wanted to do something with purples and pinks, but rather than sticking with just the violet color family, I wanted to incorporate the end of frost on my lower lash line. I did this by creating an icy blue on the inner corner that gently melds into the purple. I kept the eyeliner absolutely minimal because I didn't want it to overpower these beautiful colors, as a bold cat-eye can usually make an overwhelming statement and clash with very multicolored eyeshadow.

Primarily I used the Urban Decay Mariposa Palette, which is not part of their permanent collection, but you can still purchase it on eBay or Amazon. I also used some accent colors from the Glinda eyeshadow palette (these pop out of the palette and are full sized shadows, they are very convenient to work with). I finished the look with some bold colored purple and icy blue eyeliners, which I set with powder foundation for long-lasting wear.

1. Skimp (from the UD Mariposa Palette) all over the brow-bone up to eyebrows
2. Limelight (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the inner 1/3rd of the lid
3. Money (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the middle 1/3rd of the lid, blend with Limelight at border
4. Rockstar (from the UD Mariposa Palette) on the outer 1/3rd of the lid, blend with Money at border and apply all over crease generously, making sure the color is as deep as you want it
5. Infamous (from the UD Mariposa Palette) used to blend out top border of Rockstar into the brow-bone
6. Apply a creamy black eyeliner to the upper lash line (I used Sumita Beauty's Kala Black Color Intense Pencil)
7. Line the outer 2/3rds of the lower waterline and lash line with a deep purple (I used Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Ransom)
1. "Set" this eyeliner with Rockstar, same eyeshadow used in step 4 above
8. Line the inner 1/3rd of the lower waterline and lash line with an icy blue (I used Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal 008 Light Blue)
1. "Set" this eyeliner with a light blue eyeshadow (I used the blue half of the shade Aura from the UD Glinda Palette)
9. Feather out any parts of the makeup that are too harsh, for me this was the inner corner transition, so I went in with a very light peach to fade the pink eyeshadow I used into my browbone color (UD Glinda Palette "Illusion")
10. To finish off the look, I used the black mascara Jordana Best Lash Extreme!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hautelook Exclusive Pucker Up! Lip Beauty Bag

I've got a great deal to share with you guys today but it's exclusive to Hautelook members (Hautelook is free to join, by the way, so if you aren't a member, go sign up!). The best part of this "mystery bag" is that it's no mystery at all! I will give you the whole list of products and even the colors they come in! Talk about smart shopping! I will also be providing you with the retail prices of each single product. As a bonus, everything comes in a cute lipstick case as a freebie bonus. The only catch is that with Hautelook, you do have to pay for shipping (which depends on your location I believe, but mine was around $7.00). Hautelook values this bag at $160 worth of products and we can buy it for the absolute steal of $24! You can purchase the bag here.

The bag contains the following items (sources are linked for the retail value):

1. Laura Geller Italian Marble Lipstick, Sugared Maple (glazed caramel with creamy vanilla) - Retail: $18
2. LORAC Lip Lustre Gloss, Ruby - Retail: $15
3. Mirenesse Glossy Kiss, Flirty Kiss - Retail: $29.95
4. Mirenesse Lip Bomb #2, Siren Red - Retail: $39.00
5. Swoon Lip Gloss Reusable Wand - innovative cosmetic tool that is designed to retrieve every bit of gloss from a lip gloss tube - Retail: $15.00
6. La Fresh Lip/Eye Makeup Remover Packette - just 1 of these - Retail: 0.83
7. Lord & Berry Shining Lipstick 20100, Fire (orangey red) - Retail: $16.00
8. Allegro Lip Gloss Case - couldn't find this anywhere
9. Crown Brush Lip Liner Brush (synthetic hair) Retail: $3.00
10. NYX Retractable Lip Liner, Ruby, Fruit Punch, Nectar, Nude Pink, Citrus (as far as I can tell, this is the only product with variation) - Retail: $4.50

So when everything is totaled up, I get a value of $141.28, the price Hautelook has of $160 is definitely a little bit over-inflated. But I'm not adding in the values of the lip gloss case or the makeup bag (because those, to me, with any mystery bag or subscription box, are essentially freebies).

Hope you guys enjoyed this and I hope it helps you decide whether or not you want to purchase the bag!

Also, please keep in mind what it says on the bag (at least when I'm looking at the page today)!

Happy shopping!

Monarch & Chrysalis

Monarch & Chrysalis by lethalglam featuring Kat Von D's brand new eyeshadow palettes, exclusively available at Sephora, called Crysalis (purples) and Monarch (oranges)

Butterfly hair pin
etsy.com

Butterfly bangle
amazon.com

Vintage mini dress
ladyvlondon.com

Kat Von D matte palette eyeshadow
sephora.com

Kat Von D matte palette eyeshadow
sephora.com

Stila long wear eyeliner
beauty.com

High heel shoes
etsy.com

Kaiser Craft Enchanted Garden Collection 12"x12" Single Sided Glitter...
franticstamper.com

DIY Concealer or BB Cream! Super fun and easy

Hi everyone,

I'm so excited to bring you this DIY. It was a really fun project that I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of. I've always wanted to make my own concealer, so I read up on various methods and came up with the easiest and most efficient one made out of things I'm sure we all have in our households! Let me know if you like this DIY and I'll do more!

Product Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Lavish Palette

Woohoo, I'm so excited that I finally got this palette after eyeing it for half a year! It went on sale, as I mentioned in a previous post about offers from cosmetic companies. I was so happy to be able to pick this up for just $24 (shipping was free). I've seen bloggers and vloggers rave about this palette so I needed to see what all the hype was about.

Here's a closer look at the shadows (picture taken in natural light):

I'm happy with the range of colors, this is definitely a gem-toned palette.... I love the inclusion of pink, green, various light shades and even a black (albeit sparkly), plus there's definitely a good range of transition shades.

Here are my swatches:

Cream: Light peach beige, matte finish (very close to my skintone so you can barely see it) but it had great color payoff

Antique: Grayish taupe, frosted finish, great pigmentation and color payoff

Rum Cake: Copper brown with orange undertone, frost finish, best color payoff in the palette

Moss: Olive green with golden flecks, frosted finish, decent color payoff

Truffle: Reddish brown, pearl finish, so-so color payoff but good pigmentation

Ballet:  Peachy pink with silver sparkles (on the larger side), sheerest of the palette with fairly poor color payoff because it is the second most powdery

Orange Soda: Light orange, matte finish, most powdery shade with the poorest color payoff even though it has good pigmentation - it tends to blend away 

Sienna: Coppery reddish brown, matte finish, decent color payoff

Pink Sapphire: Pinkish coppery  brown, frosted metallic finish, good pigmentation (disappointing, however, because it is a lot less pink than I had hoped)

Black Diamond: Medium to dark brown with copper and gold microglitter, texture is a little dry and it tends to skip so it's more difficult to blend out, but it has good color payoff

I'll have to do a look to let you guys know how I feel about the shadows overall, but from the looks of it you can get very nice brown, copper, or orange-based looks with this palette.... I definitely think it's a great little beginner palette since the colors are very smooth and buttery and none of the pigmentation is too intense (a la Urban Decay Electric Palette) so you won't mess up your look by accidentally applying too much.

I think the value was very good, it came to about $2.40 per eyeshadow (0.031 oz each) compared to a MAC eyeshadow which costs $10 per pan (at 0.05 oz each) - so you're getting shadows for about 2.6X cheaper per quantity. I do have to say that I was hoping the shade Pink Sapphire was going to be more of a saturated pink rather than copper leaning, but it's still very wearable and one of my favorite colors in the palette.