Greenery

I haven't blogged in almost 2 years! Times flies when you're having fun;) It hasn't all been fun and games though! My blog and love for makeup definitely took a back seat to life's setbacks. In April of 2013 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was hard watching my mom, who is a strong woman, fight for her life. I won't get into too much details (waterworks!) but she battled it, had chemotherapy for  4 months and is healthy today! She had amazing doctors, surgeons and staff and I'm truly grateful for her health and wellbeing.
On one of her visits I started reading about health and diet- I was given lots of literature from her oncologist to read and read everything I could about cancer. I changed her diet (as much as I could). Then thought, why stop there? Why not change my skincare and makeup into non-toxic? It is very hard (and a bit pricey!) to go all green at once! I'm nowhere near where I'd like to be, but baby steps! I've found some great green beauty blogs and its encouraged me to start blogging again!
I've found some great non-toxic brands online... Some of my favorite brands are even available in Target and Sprouts! Brands such as Acure, Reviva Labs,  S.W. Basics and Burts Bees.

I'm so excited to find new green brands and talk green beauty:)

Ipsy September 2013

I was so excited to recieve a Butter London Polish in my Ipsy it kinda made up for the rest of the bag! The color is La Moss, a beautiful oxblood vampy burgundy color! Love it! This is my third Butter London Polish (I've kindly been gifted my other two!) and wish I could dole out the dough but alas the older I get the thriftier I get;) 

The bag is a blue printed bag- not my fave so I'll def gift this one. 

Also included: 

-It's So Big Volumizing mascara By Elizabeth Mott. Haven't heard of this Brand but love trying new mascaras! 

-Starlooks Eyeliner in Obsidian. Also can always use a black eyeliner. I can throw this in my makeup bag in my purse and not worry about it getting to beat up. 

-Cailyn Tinted lipbalm in Big Apple. I'd read that this is more that just a tinted lil balm and when I swatched it I could see it def packs a lot of color! It's gorgeous! My lips are terribly dry right now so I won't be wearing it until my lips get better:)

Can't wait for Octobers Ipsy- mg birthday month Ipsy;) 

Ipsy August 2013

This months Ipsy is another great month- the makeup bag is purple and really cute! the makeup bags are a great size for carrying keys and a lippie. Since I can't bring my purse in my work area I use one of my Ipsy makeup bags to keep my cell phone and keys with me :)
This months theme is Glamour Academy. I saw some blogs post some sneak peeks and was excited (but did not expect one myself!) to see a sample of the new UD Revolutionary Lipstick. I received 69 which is a beautiful bright red! I only swatched it on my arm but love it. It took quite a few wipes to remove - which means it probably has great lasting power. Also included was Mica Shimmer powder in Bronze. One swipe showed up beautifully- I can even use this for the décolleté area before a night out.
There was a Pixi Lash Booster mascara- girl can never have enough mascaras! I love the few Pixi products I've tried and look forward to trying this one. I'm not a huge fan of the Smashbox photo finish primer- may gift this one. Last but not least Michael Todd Pumpkin Facial mask. I've seen this brand mentioned in many of my favorite blogs so I was excited they included this one! My oily skin will not let up in this sweltering heat- its been acting up and I'm getting spots more than usual (but that's probably due to stress).
I'm so happy with this months Ipsy!

Fourth of July Mani

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and since I'm a nail (newbie) fanatic lately I decided to do a simple holiday nail. I grabbed my favorite red, Barry M, blue, Sinful Colors, Endless Blue and silver, Love & Beauty and did two red and blue and the middle silver. Nothing too fancy but I like it!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Lipcote

*received in a makeup swap*

I received this in my makeup swap with Claire and pulled it out to use this weekend. It's a lipstick sealer and is toted to prolong the wear of a lipstick. I love wearing lipsticks but hate having to wipe off my lipstick before eating, drinking so this sounded pretty good to me! Decided to try this out this weekend as I was going to be swimming and wasn't wearing any makeup (apart from some cream blush - NYX Tea Rose and lipstick).
To test it out I wore a hot pink (and a MAC Candy Yum Yum dupe IMO!), Barry M #52, which I received from my friend Mags in our swap last year. I applied my lipstick, blotted and applied a coat of Lipcote. It's like applying a clear gloss on your lips! It sank in quite quick and I drank from a cup immediately to test it out- and yup, no lippie color was left anywhere! I think where it lost some of its consistency (which is completely understandable) is sitting out in the 90 degree weather, I was sitting in the shade but it was pretty hot out. I was eating chips and salsa and forgot and wiped my lips and it did smear off, but again I think the sweltering heat had to do with that. I just applied some lipstick on my hand and applied a coat and tried wiping and it smeared very little! I'd read that it had an awful smell and made the lips tingle - didn't notice that at all. All I felt was a cool sensation after applying it! I can't wait to use this with a red lipstick! Below are swatches of lipstick alone (left side) and with one coat (right side). Also added a swatch of the cream blush- which is perfect for summer- its a natural nude but shows up beautifully and lasted while I swam (for almost 3 hours!)
Has anyone tried Lipcote before?

Sinful colors of the week!

It's safe to say that Sinful colors nail polishes are my favorite. They are easily available (now available at Target and Walmart:) I have enough polished to last me a lifetime but I couldn't help picking up these 2 beauties: Starfish (soft pink) and Beverly Hills (pastel lavender). They look almost alike in the bottle but you can see the difference once applied! Starfish applied so easy and I lovelovelove this color! Beverly Hills was kinda thick and messy- I'm not into cleaning up much , the messy parts usually slide off while I'm in the shower:) Sinful colors seems to have new collections and I try and restrain myself from buying them all!

Pictures: BH is in the left, Starfish on the right

Ipsy June 2013

*subscription purchased by me*
This months Ipsy might be my favorite because of the cute leopard and neon bag!! I haven't really liked any of the past bags as much as I love this one! I'm crazy about leopard and neon- and make up bags ;)
Also included in this months Ipsy:
NYX cream blush in Tickled - I love NYX blushes - def think they give MAC a run for their money :)) it's a gorgeous peach with a golden glow!
Psssst dry shampoo - can never have enough of these- especially during summer!
Cailyn gel eyeliner in Purple- have not heard of this brand but am excited to try new brands, and a purple gel liner.
JCat cream sparkle palette- not to excited about this since 1. I would not put this much glitter near my eyes 2. The reviews I've seen/read in this ate not to great. It's streaky and messy. Looks nice in the package but not for me:/
Starlooks Tickle Me lip pencil- another new brand. I've worn this several times already, alone and with a gloss. So creamy and applies like a lip stick. Excuse my dry lips in the picture, but the color is gorgeous!