Hola good people. Sorry for the lack of posts. My mojo has been kind of blah. Also I have been in "testing" mode since last month. I have two trips coming up in July that are very close to each other. I come home from one trip and a few days later fly back out for another one. So as usual, the goal is not to take a lot of makeup and to use the same products for both trips. So quite a few items I was playing around with were favorites for June.
Top 5
Wen Summer Mango Coconut Eau de Parfum
This is summer in a bottle! The Summer Mango Coconut Cleansing Conditioner is one of my favorite seasonal cleansing conditioners from Wen. The summer fragrances launched early in June on
QVC with two different scents. It also comes with the 613 Eau de Parfum. I already have the 613 Eau de Toilette which is a favorite. So I'm not made at having more of the 613 fragrance. I ordered when it was at either an event price or at a One Day Only price. When I saw this I was curious about the Summer Mango Coconut scent and ordered it. I was kind of leery because I have tried two of Chaz's previous fragrances and ended up returning them. So I took a chance knowing that if I didn't love it that I could return it. When it arrived I couldn't wait to crack open the box. I sprayed it on and fell in love instantly! It smells SO GOOD! I love coconut scents. But you know how they smell good at first but then they start smelling fake? Not the case with this one. Then I sprayed the 613 Eau de Parfum and they smell amazeballs together. I think I have finally found my go to coconut fragrance that I can live with lol!
Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette
I don't really have a "go to" palette for trips. I was looking over what I had and this palette popped in my head. I've been using it on and off for the month of June and it is a really good all purpose palette. The middle of the palette is quite dark. However the four matte shades on the right and the shimmery neutral shades on the left balance out the dark shades and make it good everyday palette. I enjoyed the looks I did with this palette.
Concealer Duo (NYX HD Concealer & Maybelline Superstay Better Skin Concealer + Corrector)
I've used both of these concealers on their own and enjoy them individually. I have been using the NYX concealer which is a little lighter than my skin tone but not really brightening. It's natural looking with good coverage. Which I do like for days where I don't what a super bright under eye. The Maybelline concealer can be too bright at times but I can work with it and I do still like it. The idea popped in my head to apply the NYX concealer under my eye in the usual triangle shape I do. Then add a quick swipe or two of the Maybelline concealer in the center. So I did that and blended them together and HELLLLLOOOOO!!!!!! The coverage was bomb and it gives a super pretty look and not too bright. I really enjoyed these two concealers together. So I think I have found my holy grail under eye combo. Also both of these concealers are inexpensive. Both together are cheaper than some other concealers I've used for the under eye area and I can use coupons for both. So major score! Once I use the other concealers I have up, I am sticking to this duo. Now neither one of these better not be discontinued! That would be just my luck.
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks
For lippies, I wasn't sure what I wanted to take on my two trips. Liquid lipsticks are a huge favorite of mine. I reached for the Kat Von D ones I own, mainly because I hadn't used them in a while. When I first used these I thought there were just ok. I think these were the first liquid lipsticks I purchased. So I wasn't used to the liquid lipstick formula in general. This go around,I really enjoyed these liquid lipsticks. I have the shades Bauhau5, Lolita and L.U.V. Of the three I have, Bauhua5 is my favorite. It is a very pretty raspberry shade. Lolita is a pretty my lips but better shades that super easy to wear. I'm not sure which version of it I have. L.U.V. is a nice bright purple. They are long wearing and do not feel super dry on the lips. Not 100% if I'm going to travel with them.
IT Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Wand Ball Powder Brush
I ordered the IT Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Complexion Perfection Brush Duo from QVC when it was at an event price. The event price was $32.64. Both are available on their own for $48 each. The duo came with the IT Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Wand Ball Powder Brush and IT Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Dual Foundation Concealer Brush.This powder brush is fantastic. It is super soft, picks up the right amount of product and blends powder into the face beautifully. I also like the shape of the brush. You can get around your nose and under your eyes with ease. It has become my new favorite powder brush.
Yays!
No surprise products this month.
Boos!
52 Week Savings Challenge
This is my second year attempting this challenge and yeaaaa....you can Google it for the table but basically you save ave the dollar amount for each week over the course of year. So week 1 you save $1, week 2 you save $2, so and forth until week 52 and you save $52. At the end, you will save $1,378. Sounds easy enough right? Last year when I did it, I had trouble remembering what to save when. So I set up alerts on my Google Calendar since I did not have a paper planner. This year I bought some stickers off of Etsy to put in my planner. Of course the smaller amounts are "easy" to save. Then you get into the larger amounts and life happens. So I'm noting what to save from previous weeks when I didn't save anything along with the current week which makes it a larger amount to save. Blah blah blah. I've also seen where people switch and start at Week 52, save $52 and go backwards to work their way down to $1. I'm undecided if I'll stick with it or just try and save a certain dollar amount each month going forward. I've also signed up for Digit which automatically saves small amounts here and there. Digit seems to be working well for me and I do like it. I like it because I don't have to think about it. You get updates via text which is cool or you can login to the website. I check my bank account frequently enough to see what they are deducting and it's not a super crazy amount that has made me overdrawn my account. You can adjust the level at which you save and you can also pause saving. There's a lot of flexibility with Digit. So I may just stick with Digit. If you're looking for a savings alternative, I highly recommend
checking out Digit. Trying to be a grown up and save but why does it have to so complicated?
Bath & Body Works Vanilla Buttercream Nourishing Hand Cream
I went to Bath & Body Works just for hand soaps. These hand creams were right next to the hand soaps. I smelled the lemon one first and liked it. Then I smelled the Vanilla Buttercream and I liked it too. So I got both. I put the Vanilla Buttercream in my bathroom to use first. After a few uses I didn't like it so much. When I first smelled it, I didn't think the Vanilla Buttercream scent was all that strong. It's not overwhelming but it's strong enough to were it tickles my nose and it does linger for a bit. I tried it a few more times and I can't deal. So I may see if my mom wants it. I'm going to put the lemon one in my bathroom next. Hopefully I have better luck with it. I think the next time there's an Ulta 20% coupon, I'm going to repurchase philosophy's Hands of Hope. It's kinda expensive for a hand cream ($20) but it's one that I don't have any issues with and I like it. The amount of money I've wasted on other hand creams, I could have just picked up a tube of Hands of Hope. Lesson learned here.
My Makeup Collection
I know right *gasp* lol! I've mentioned off and on that I have been going through my stash and tossing old stuff and passing stuff on that I have not been using. I'm itching to get rid of more but I don't know what and I don't know how to go about it.
Back in June 2013, I posted about my and how I bought a 10 drawer cart from Amazon. My original intent was to have everything fit into the cart and only have one small 3 drawer containers to hold my brushes. Plus lately the stuff on the sides of my cart keep falling over when I'm trying to reach for something and I'm just sick of it. So something has to give. I'm tired of my collection taking up mental space in terms of "agonizing" over what I have and how much I have. I'm also tired of figuring out what to do with the items that I pull that I want to give away. There's only so much I can give to family and friends. Donating is not really an option since the products are used. So we shall see how this all pans out.
On to July!
