May 2015 Top 5

Well May has come and gone. This was a fun play around with stuff month. Again I had a LONG list of items that I listed throughout the month and then had to go back and narrow down to five, Oye. So far, so good on sticking with five items. Even though I kind "cheat" here and there lol! Here is my top five for May!

June Ambrose Tote with Lock

I haven't talked about bags in a while and I have picked up quite a few in the past few months. All have been relatively inexpensive and all have come from HSN. Maybe I'll do a post. Anywho...I purchased these two of the June Ambrose Totes when they were on clearance on HSN in February. I picked up tan and black. It was also available in red. I could have mentioned this bag in a Top 5 post by now but I kept forgetting. I carried the black for a while and then finally carried the tan in April. At the end of April when I was figuring out what I was taking with me on my work trip, I had a tough time deciding what bag to take on the plane. I usually have a book bag that I stow in the compartment above my seat and then whatever handbag. Of course I usually take something larger. I had my mind set on another bag that I picked up from HSN by Big Buddha (Grayson Hobo). But then this bag popped in my head. It might not look that big but it holds A LOT like a tote but it doesn't look like your traditional tote. I can carry it on my shoulder with ease. It's also easy to get in and out of which is a big plus. You can just about see everything in your bag even though the lining of the bag is black. This was an inexpensive bag but the quality is fantastic. I carry a lot of stuff and it has held up well. I was in Safeway one morning and while I was in line, a lady in front on me went nuts over my bag lol! It was pretty funny. June Ambrose has another bag that I have my eye on but I'm waiting on the price to go down.

Korres Wild Rose Radiant Skin 4-piece Collection

I know, I know more skin items! I told y'all I'm on a skin care kick! I got this set after my no buy when it was a Today's Special on HSN. I hadn't tried any skin items from Korres but I love their bath and body products. What got me about this set is the fact that it's all about brightening the complexion. I have a good mix of products that help with breakouts (which is one of my main issues). But I have been wanting something that helps with post acne marks and brightening the skin. This set is EVERYTHING! Just UGGGGGH! LOL! The set comes with Wild Rose Daily Brightening & Refinishing Buff Cleanser, Wild Rose Brightening 24-Hour Moisturizer, Wild Rose Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial and the Wild Rose Vitamin C Petal Peel 2-Step System. It wasn't available on auto ship when it was a Today's Special. I so wish it was. I've been stalking HSN to see if the set was on event price. I lucked up and ordered another set yesterday when the price of the set was lower. Woohoo!!!! It's rare that I end up liking all the items in a set. I like every single piece! The star of the set for me is the cleanser. I didn't take it with me when I went to San Diego and boy my skin was like ummmm NO! I got a HUGE breakout on my face and my skin just couldn't get back right. This set has not only helped brighten my complexion, it has also helped with the smoothness of my skin, breakouts and gradually fade post acne marks. Rose has so many skin care benefits for various skin types. Do a quick Google search and you'll see what I mean. Also the Wild Rose scent in amaze balls! I can't say enough good things about this set.

Liquid Lipsticks

Here I go cheating again lol! I have been on a liquid lipstick kick during May. I ended up getting three of the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks during the Sephora Beauty Insider sale in April. I picked up Lolita (dusty rose), L.U.V. (rich violet) and Bauhau5 (deep raspberry). I also picked up two more of the Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipsticks that were restocked towards the end of April. I got Celebrity Skin (brown nude) and Unicorn Blood (dark dusty red). My two favorites would have to be Jeffree Star's Unicorn Blood which is and Kat Von D's Bauhau5 . I was also surprised by how much I liked Celebrity Skin. When I first put it on I was like ooooooohhhh!!! This is an AWESOME nude! It is very brown girl friendly! I can't even stand it lol! It's up there for me with Buxom's White Russian and ya'll know I loves me some White Russian. I like these lippies for days when I don't feel like "keeping up" with my lip color. I slap one of these on in the morning and don't have to worry about it until I ready to remove my makeup in the evening. I traveled with the Kat Von D ones and they were great since I had long days and couldn't really worry about touching up my makeup. Seems like everyone is coming out with their version of liquid lipsticks. I'm not really checking for any other brands. When and if I purchase more, they will be from Kat Von D or Jeffree Star.

Graze Snack Box

I found out about the Graze Snack Box via Facebook. It's inexpensive plus you can get your first and fifth box for free. I was like what the hey, I'll try it. I had thought about trying Nature Box but never looked into it. The snacks they have are so good! They are tasty and healthy. There have only been maybe two snacks so far that I didn't really care for. I have my box shipped to work and leave them there since I really don't snack a lot while I'm home. I even took some with me to San Diego. You can set up how often you want to receive your box and you can delay shipment if you're going to be out of town. You can also rate the snacks that you  receive and tell them what you would like to try from what they offer. They also offer special promo boxes and other special deals too. I highly recommend this snack box. Check them out today and get you a free box!

Urban Decay Revolution High-Color Lip Gloss in Bittersweet

Purple lippie lovers you need this in your life! I can't say no to a purple lippie. Bittersweet is described as a bright purple. I'm so glad I got this. Urban Decay released some new lippies and blushes. I got 3 of the new blushes and they are er'thang! They are up there with Tarte blushes for me and Tarte blushes are in my Top 3 for blushes. Ok back to the gloss lol! I only got one gloss but now I want more. I love the formula. It's not super sticky and it's the wear time on my lips is fantastic. It leaves a nice stain on your lips. I also love the applicator, It's different. It's pointed so you can really get a precise application on your lips. I can't say enough good things about this gloss. I need to see the other colors in store before I picked up any others.

And Fin! This was a good month. Ok time to cool my heels on the spending and play around with I have lol! We'll see how that goes. On to June!

May 2015 Surprise Products of the Month

Christie Brinkley Complete Clarity Facial Cleansing Wash

This was the cleanser I talked about in my no buy post that I wanted to try. I purchased in from HSN. When I first started using it I was like meh. It wasn't bad but I just wasn't wowed by it. I would use it in the evening with my Clarisonic. When I came back from San Diego, I was like ok let me try it on its own. So I removed my makeup with a wipe and then went in with the cleanser without my Clarisonic. I was like oh oohhhhhhh! This is a first for a cleanser to not "work" with my Clarisonic. Now I like it. I have noticed however that my skin does feel kind of tight after using it. I don't plan on repurchasing it once I use it up. If it came in a set, I would use it again. I still have some Olay cleanser and I ordered a set of philosophy's Purity which is an old favorite from QVC on waitlist. It's supposed to ship on June 15. So I'll see if it's still a favorite and if it is, I'll be sticking with it for a good while. It's A LOT of product lol! But luckily I have other uses for it like washing my makeup brushes and shaving. So if I do keep it then it will not go to waste.

St Ives Blackhead Clearing Green Tea Scrub

I'm telling you guys, I'm still kinda on a skin care kick. I picked this up randomly when CVS had a buy one, get one promo going on. I've been having some issues with white heads and blackheads on my nose. I went to check out the Biore strips. I ended up getting the CVS version and then saw the St. Ives promo. I wasn't wowed by this when I first started using it. Then all of the sudden I started liking it and how my skin reacted to it. Even though it says it's says it for blackheads, I think it good for clearing up the entire face. It does contain salicylic acid which is one of my favorite ingredients for my face and keeping it clear. Not sure if I'll repurchase it when I used it up since I've discovered another daily scrub that has been amaze balls on my face from Korres. You'll see it in my May Top 5 post.

Maybelline The Smokes Palette

Ok soooooo most of the reviews I've see on this palette have not been favorable. The same can be said for The Nudes palette when it came out but I still picked it up and I ended up really liking it. I scooped up The Smokes palette from Ulta when there was a 40% off promo on Maybelline products. So I wasn't going to be too disappointed if I didn't like it. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this palette and reached for it several times throughout the month. Of course everyone wants pigmented eyeshadows. But there's also nothing wrong with an eyeshadow that you can build upon. To me this how these Maybelline shadows perform. I've used some really pigmented shadows and I'm there blending and blending and blending to tone them down. I've always been a fan of the Maybelline quads. I had some from The Smokes collection and Chai Latte. They were some of my favorites but I purged them out of my collection since I have similar shades in other shadows/palettes. But I did say I could repurchase them again. So I'm glad I picked this one up. Now I'm on the hunt for The Brights palette that people aren't liking either lol! I believe that The Brights palette is exclusive to Target right now.

Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream & Blemish Ready Foundation

Whenever my face is being "special", I reach for one of my Bare Minerals foundations. I had seen some posts from Bare Minerals saying to use the Complexion Rescue with your favorite Bare Minerals foundation. So of course I was curious. I've used it with the matte foundation maybe once or twice. I can't remember if I liked it or not. I'll have to play around with it some more to see. But when I used it with the Blemish Ready foundation, I was like oooooooooohhhhh ooooooohhhhh!!!!!! I could not stop looking at my face in the mirror. Not being vain or anything but the combo of these two products have my skin looking GOOD! I have oily skin so I damn near leery of anything hydrating or dewy, because I usually end up looking like an oil slick especially during the warmer months. I've used the Complexion Rescue on it's on and I like it. Combined with the Blemish Ready Foundation my skin looks fresh with a hint of dewiness that wears nicely throughout the day. So I think combo will be my go to for the summer.

And on the the meh....

M·A·C 'Prep + Prime' 24-Hour Extend Eye Base

This isn't pictured about since I forgot to take one before I returned it. I ordered this from Nordstrom since they do free shipping and returns. I'm still on the hunt for THE primer. This was just ok. I don't hate it but I'm not wowed by it. On its own, I got about maybe 5-6 hours (sometimes less) before my shadows creased. I got maybe an extra hour if I used a base like a shadow stick or Maybelline Color Tattoo. This isn't a huge deal but I don't always use a base for my shadows. Some days I just want to slap on some eyeshadow and go. So the search continues *sigh*. I may try Nars again since that was my holy grail. I'm thinking that the tube I had probably started to go bad. So next 20% off sale I see, I'll probably scoop it up. If that doesn't work then I'm never wearing eye shadow again lol! #ikid

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

This mascara has been all the rage on YouTube. Everyone seems to LOVE this mascara. I'm like meh. I did like what it did to my top lashes. It did give them volume and some serious curl. It reminded me of one of my favorite mascaras from Bare Minerals, the Curl & Lengthen mascara. However, it smudges something terrible on my lower lash line and it is a BITCH to remove! So I'm glad I scooped it up during a 40% off sale at Ulta. In the trash it goes.

There you have it. Next up May Top 5!

#ManicureMonday China Glaze Sexy in the City & Point Me To The Party

Today I'm wearing China Glaze Sexy in the City and Point Me to the Party. Sexy in the City is a pretty bright frosty blue and I can't say no to a blue nail polish. This is my second time wearing it this month. Point Me to the Party caught my eye during an Ulta trip. It's part of their current summer collection with some fun bright neon colors. I'm trying to talk myself out of getting anything else from the collection. I didn't get Point Me to the Party when I first saw it. I said if I ended up back at Ulta, I would pick it up if it was still there. I picked up the last bottle in the display last week. It's an unusual glitter polish and I don't have anything similar.

So remember I said I wasn't going to buy anymore nail polishes unless it was something unique? Well that got shot to ish. Especially since I ended up buying EIGHT Cult Nail polishes. I got them mainly due to them going out of business and they were have a sale to get rid of their remaining inventory. I'm sad to see them go out of business. I haven't used the two Cult Nail polishes that I pulled out for this month. So I may carry them over to next month and use the other Cult Nail polishes that I have coming. We shall see.

#ManicureMonday - OPI Dulce de Leche & Strawberry Margarita

I'm going to try and post more of the nail polishes I use on my nails. A novel concept right? LOL! I used to post more nail pics but then I got kind of lazy. It happens. Manicure Monday is a hashtag I've seen floating around for a while now. Also one of my new favorite bloggers The Posh Blog posts her weekly nail polish looks. So I think it's doable for me to post one a week. We shall see.

Anywho...here I'm wearing two OPI polishes I got from a recent HSN purchase. Here we have Dulce de Leche and Strawberry Margarita. Both are very pretty. OPI has some really nice nude polishes. Several others have caught my eye but I'm trying to be good and not get them. Whenever I find the time to get a pedicure, I'm going to take Strawberry Margarita with me for my toes.

I swear I can't say no to the sets OPI brings to HSN. They're always a great deal. These are from the OPI Greats Lacquer and Nail Care Set. It was a Today's Special that was $39.95. The Nail Envy alone is $17.50. See what I mean about a great deal? I passed two of the nail colors and a couple of the other items along to a friend, since I already have them from a previous set. Even with what I kept, the set was still a good value. OPI is becoming my favorite nail polish brand. I've always liked their polishes but I've been really enjoying them more so within the last year. If you're an OPI, then you should definitely keep an eye out for the next time they're on HSN.

See you next Monday!

Book Lovin - The Time Has Come

Some earlier pics from when I started purging my print books.

I think I'm ready to do my FINAL purge of print books. I was talking to friend earlier this week and she talked about making the transition from print to ebook for some of her books. So you know it got me the thinking again about my book mess.  I went on Amazon to see if I could return 2 print books from a series that I'm reading, but I'm past the return period *sigh*.  I've talked about my "dilemma"/issues with print books vs ebooks back in July 2013. I'm revisiting it again since I'm still in my declutter/lightweight minimalism phase.

This whole thing is taking up a good chunk of my mental space. So I think over Memorial Day weekend I'm going to tackle what I'm hoping to be my final print book purge. Then I'll see what's what from series and authors that I've slacked on and go from there. I probably will make some good old fashion lists in a notebook I have.

My friend also mentioned that she misses the reader that she used to be and I was like YESSSSSS!!!! Ugh! There were months that I would read like 10-15 books like it was nothing. Reading was fun and not a chore like it is now. It was also a release, form of relaxation, an escape from the day to day grind, so on and so forth. So I just gotta be serious and have a come to Jesus meeting with the print books that I haven't read. Deep down I know that I will probably never get into them. Then I'll tackle the ones I've read once and have no desire to read them again. Shoot they're taking up space for the GOOD stuff. That's prime real estate...ha!

This whole thing makes me want to bang my head against the wall repeatedly! :D But it must be done!

*ends ramble* :D

TTFN - Ta ta for now!

Product Play May 2015

Happy May!

Back from the west coast and tired as all get out. I kind lost my mind after my no buy lol. I picked up somethings here and there. Now I'm kinda putting myself on another no buy until my birthday. Keyword being kinda *shifty eyes*. I have my eye on some stuff that's limited edition. So you know how that goes with some brands. You can't wait too long on it or it'll be gone. But I'm hoping that I lose interest in what's currently in my Sephora cart. One can only hope...HA!

Anywho...here is what I'm playing around with this month!

Palette Play

I was watching a video on new the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye palette and the Balm's Meet Matte Nude palette popped in my head. It's not an exact dupe but similar in that it's a all matte neutral palette of sorts. I kind of want the Kat Von D palette but then again I don't NEED it. I'll have to look at it again in store. With the warmer weather upon us, I want to play around with some brighter lippies and the Meet Matte Nude palette is great for keeping the eyes simple. But you definitely can go dramatic with this palette as well. The Balm is currently on sale on Hautelook until Tuesday. This palette is part of the sale. I picked up their eye primer and two lip glosses since I had a credit on my account.

Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, I pulled Mally's I Love Color palette. Again it's that time of the year for some brighter and fun colors. I have another colorful palette in mind for next month. The colors in the palette aren't super crazy and are wearable enough for everyday. Well they are for me and my day to day activities including work.

Alsooooo...I hinted about this palette in my April Top 5 post. I picked up the Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist's palette that came out during the holidays in 2013. It was re-released on Sephora's website. Then I heard that it was popping up in stores. I have the palette from 2012 and love it. I had wanted this one but I didn't get it at the time. So when I saw that it was back, I said I'm getting it this time. Luckily I saved a few dollars on it during the Spring Beauty Insider sale. I used it before I left for San Diego a few times and took it with me for the week. I LOVE IT! I'm going to keep it in reach this month to use along with the other two palettes. This might show up in my May Top 5 post. If you've had your eye on this palette, get it. Just get it. It's expensive but it's worth the price.

I also didn't touch the Lancome palette and Bobbi Brown quad from last month. So I'll keep them out too.

Polish Play

Top: Chanel Black Pearl, Chanel Holiday, Cult Nails Time Traveler, Cult Nails Seduction, Bobbi Brown Turquoise, Bobbi Brown Twilight
Middle: OPI Hello Hawaii Ya?, 7th Inning Strrretch, China Glaze Sexy in the City, China Glaze Oxygen, China Princess Grace
Bottom: Funky Fingers Bling Dipper, Funky Fingers Pep Rally, Funky Fingers I <3 U

I had no clue what to pull out for this month. I went to put away my Butter London polishes and stumbled across the polishes I have from Chanel, Bobbi Brown and Cult Nails and said why not *shrugs*. Thhhheeeen I went to Sally's to use a 15% off coupon that expired at the end of April and I also had a gift card. So these were kinda "free". Right? :D I knew I wanted to get OPI's Hello Hawaii Ya? from a recent collection. Then I spotted another OPI polish and some China Glaze polishes on sale. They China Glaze polishes were on a buy two, get one free promo that included sale polishes. I've played around with some of them and wanted to play around some more with them. Then I got some more Funky Fingers glitter polishes from Five Below. Jeez! Didn't I say that I wasn't going to buy more nail polish! Oye! But I didn't avoid Zoya's recent Earth Day sale. So I guess that counts for something.

Out of My Face

I finally used up the Elasta QP hair moisturizer from February. Woot! I'm not adding anything new to the list since I'm still working through previous items *sigh*. The struggles of a beauty junkie HA!

And now play time!