February 2014 Ipsy Bag

Hello everyone! Yes, I know it's been forever since my last post, but it's been a bit crazy here in Eastern Pennsylvania lately. There have been snowstorms out the wazoo, the power in our house went out when we had a horrible ice storm, and all this nasty weather has been affecting me. I tend to get really down in the Winter, but all this snow we've had has definitely put me in a worse mood than normal. Anyways, I'm back to show you what I got in this month's Ipsy bag. I got this in the mail the day after Valentine's Day. 

The theme this month was The Look of Love, and I absolutely love the bag everything came in! If you know me, you know pink is my favorite color, so I'm definitely happy with how this bag looks and I may actually put it to use. Onto the products!

The first product I received is the City Color Be Matte Blush in the color Fresh Melon. This blush is a pretty color, but I'm not sure how it's going to look on my super fair skin. I usually go for pinker blushes, but this one is a coral-y peach color.

Next up, I received the POP Beauty Plump Pout Mini gloss in the color Peony Petal. This is more of a "me" color so I'll most likely have use for this. I have to say though, this gloss smells terrible! I can't really put my finger on it, but it's like a sweet smell that went bad or something. Kinda off putting. 

I received another Zoya Nail polish in the shade Odette. I'm getting a bit tired of receiving nail polishes in these bags man! I can't tell you how many I've gotten and they're all just sitting. I'm not huge into painting my nails because I just don't have the patience. This is a pretty color though, so I might try and put more effort into doing them more.

Another useless product I got is the J.Cat Beauty Eyelashes + Eyelash Glue. I don't have the best lashes on the planet, but I have never used falsies and probably never will use them. I have pretty sensitive eyes so I don't even want to run the risk of them getting irritated by these.

The last product I received is the Phyto-C Velvet Gel. I'm a skincare junkie, so I was happy to see something I could actually use in here! This serum type product is meant for wrinkles and fine lines, which I don't have, but like to use products to help prevent that stuff. Hopefully this is a nice product!

Overall, I'm disappointed with this month's bag. Looking at all the other products that were sent out, I wish I would've gotten another skincare item instead of the lashes. Oh well, can't win them all! Ipsy is still a nice subscription service and I'll continue to stay subscribed for now, but who knows what the future holds.

Swatch of lip gloss and blush

 Sign up here if you want to subscribe to Ipsy! For $10 a month, plus shipping for some, it's not a bad deal!

If you're subscribed to Ipsy, what did you receive?

January 2014 Empties!

Hey guys! January wasn't too bad in the empties department, but I do wish I went through more products. I'm thinking February might be a tad bit better. Anyways, lets see what I used up this past month!

The first product I was able to use up is the Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser. I'm in love with this cleanser now! I remember using it back when I was probably 16 or 17 and I hated it. It did nothing for my skin then and it felt like it didn't clean well. I'm thinking now that I'm 25, my skin is much different and it now likes this cleanser. I'd probably repurchase this once I go through all the other cleansers I have, which is alot!

I used up another one of The Body Shop's Aloe Calming Toners. I pretty much go through one of these a month now with all the cold weather we're having. Love this stuff, talked about it multiple times that you're probably sick of hearing right now, so I won't go on and on and on about how much I adore this toner :)

I also used up a shampoo from The Body Shop called Ice Blue Shampoo. I purchased this a really long time ago, back when I worked at The Body Shop about 4 years ago. I think this product was around a long, long time ago so they decided to bring it back, along with the Banana Shampoo and Conditioner I've talked about. Of course they don't carry this now, but I actually liked it. It kinda reminded me of an anti-dandruff shampoo because it was very cooling on my scalp and seemed to lessen the amount of dandruff I did have.

I used up another one of the Batiste Dry Shampoos in the scent Clean & Classic Original. This works like the other Batiste Dry Shampoos I've tried, but I didn't particularly like this scent. Nothing about it interested me, but it was nice to try because I'm on a mission to try every scent Batiste makes!

I used up the Aquafresh Triple Protection Toothpaste as well. I only try to use toothpastes that are made with sensitivity protection, as I have teeth that are uber sensitive. Sometimes it hurts drinking water or eating soup that's not even too hot. This stuff was nice, it made my breath feel good and my teeth feel clean. Not sure if I notice any of my sensitivity lessening, but I am using another tube of this right now, so we'll see. I'm still trying to find a good sensitivity toothpaste, so if anyone knows of a good one, let me know!

I finally used up The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Lip Butter. I loved how this product smelled! It was kinda like lemonade that is really sweet. I don't think it's incredibly moisturizing but I do like how this particular scent doesn't leave a white cast on my lips. I still only used this at night because I'm pretty much terrified to use these during the day now. I don't think I'll repurchase this.

Now this next product came in an Ipsy bag. It's the Yaby Concealer in the color Buff. I hated this stuff! It was a horrible color for me so I never used it. It dried up finally, so I can toss it now. 

I decided to toss the Fairydrops Scandal Queen Mascara. I really liked this mascara when I first opened the tube, but everytime I use it now, it gets all clumpy and doesn't coat my lashes like it used to. It's going in the trash now!

Last two products! I'm so thankful that I used up the Mirabella Prime for Face and Eyes. This stuff sucked so bad. It didn't make my foundation last any longer and it kinda made my skin more oily than I like. I still used this up because I hate wasting product, but I would never go out of my way to buy this. It came in an Ipsy bag a while ago.

I'm deciding to toss the Aveda Lip Glaze in the color Rubisparks. I can't even remember when I bought this. It was years and years ago. I went to use this one day and it smelled funky and didn't apply nicely either. That's a good sign that this is bad now and I shouldn't use anymore! 

That's everything I used up! 10 products isn't too bad, it's really my goal to use up at least 10 products a month. Hopefully next month I can use up a little more!

What did you use up lately?

January 2014 Favorites!

Hey everyone! This is the first favorites of the year, and I'm really excited to share what I've been loving! I've been able to try out some new products that I've been really happy with and have also rediscovered an old favorite, so lets get into it!

First, I'll start with hair products. I've been absolutely loving the Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner. These make my hair feel so soft and clean and I love how they smell! I purchased these huge bottles a long time ago at BJ's Wholesale, it's like a Costco or Sam's Club, before my husband and I moved in together. Finally glad I decided to use these!

Then we have a Batiste Dry Shampoo in the scent Floral & Flirty Blush. I'm surprised I like this scent as much as I do. If you read my blog, you know how much I love Batiste. I was unsure of this scent, only because I'm not the biggest fan of flowery smells. This one, however, isn't bad or overbearing at all! After I've rubbed this all in my hair, it leaves such a faint smell. I catch whiffs of it throughout the day and it doesn't give me a headache or anything. 

Oh Naked3, how I love thee! I can't get enough of this palette! I did a separate review here so I won't go into detail here about how wonderful this palette is. I just love it!

While putting together my Urban Decay palette collection post, I forgot how great the original Naked Palette is. Even though Naked2 is more up my alley because it's cooler toned, I can still work with this and make the look wearable. I've actually gotten compliments while wearing shades from this palette lately, so it must be a good one!

Time for some lippies! I've been loving the Buxom Full Color Gloss in the color Ruby. I apologize for this, but I believe this came in a kit of different products from the holiday's maybe a year or two ago. I pulled this out again because I love the deep berry/burgundy color for the Winter season. This is a little sticky but I get decent wear time out of it. 

Next up, we have the Revlon Matte Balm in the color Standout. I did a review of this here so again, I won't go on and on about this amazing lip product. If you don't own any of these, seriously, go out and try just one! This is one of the best lip products I've tried! 

Finally for lips, we have the NYX Butter Gloss in the color Vanilla Cream Pie. I know I've hauled these before, but haven't really talked about them. They kinda got lost in my lip product bag and I finally got a chance to pull one of these out to try. I love this color! It's the perfect pinky nude for me and it feels very nice on the lips. It's not sticky to me at all, but the color doesn't last very long at all. I think that's ok because I'm fine with reapplying anyway. 

Swatch of buxom gloss (left) and NXY gloss (right)

 That's everything I've been loving in January! What were some of your favorites?