Hooked

Hey guys!! I just wanted you all to know that the reason I haven't been blogging much is because I'm still sick-ish (Every time I start thinking that I'm getting better my body like "lol jk" and I start to hack up a lung) but it's mostly because I. Cannot. Stop. Watching. Downton Abbey. This show is so so good! Seriously guys, check it out if you haven't already! Season 1 is on Netflix and season 2 is on Hulu.

Wine Not Wednesday

Hey everyone!  So uh, I'm sick, again.  What's up with that, am I right??  Because of that I don't have a super informational post about some fancy wine tonight but!, instead of leaving you all empty handed, I will tell you about boxed wine.

Wooo!!! Boxed wine!!!  5 liters of pure, cheap, fun.  Right now, my favorite flavor is the Fruity Red Sangria, but a close second is the White Zinfandel.  Any brand will do but I usually buy whatever's cheapest.  Don't judge me, I'm already buying a BOX of wine, I'm not trying to go for classy.  Anyways, it's good and so easy (gotta love those pour spouts!) But watch out!  It'll creep up on you, it's hard to judge how much you've had (unless you're counting glasses, but who does that) and then BAM! All of a sudden, wine drunk hits.  

Anyways, that's all I've got for you today.  My drink of choice for the night is NyQuil and some good old fashion water.  Have a good one!!

Manic(ure) Monday

Sorry I haven't been around much this last week, I've just been too busy/stressed/lazy to do more than the bare minimum.  I promise this isn't something you'll need to get used to but, I will say that it is sure to happen again.  So sorry for all those times too.  Annnnd now I'm off the hook.

Moving on.  This manicure was done using two new Sinful Colors I picked up.  The pink is called "Timbleberry" and the green is called "Innocent".  

How do you guys like the different twist on the two tone?  Typically I'll paint all my nails besides the ring finger one color and then do some sort of design or different color (or both) on the left over finger.  I figured this time I wanted to do something a tiny bit different and I was set on using these two colors together.  They're just so perfect for spring!!!  

Wine Not Wednesday

Ok, so don't be angry but I accidentally deleted the picture of this week's wine but I'll still tell you all about it!!!  It's from TeSoAria, a local winery and it's their Dolcetto.  I know I've said before that I'm not much of a red fan but man, this stuff was good!!  My Aunt Beckie introduced me to this wine and I'm happy she did!  I was trying to find a decent description of the taste for you but I couldn't find anything that I was truly happy with.  A few common words that were popping up were black cherry, vanilla, nutmeg, and almonds.   All I know is that it's definitely changed my mind about reds and if you get a chance to try some, do.  

I did have a picture of the awesome wine glass I was drinking out of though!  My Aunt had a pair of these and I thought they were pretty awesome.   They don't work so good for swirling the wine to aerate it though.  I also learned about that recently... and it really does change the flavor of the wine!

Bonus picture!  Since I deprived you of a picture of the wine bottle, here's a picture of what I'm currently drinking.  I'm on a cider kick.  Get on my level.

Manic(ure) Monday

This week post is short but good. I used the Incoco nail appliqués that I got in my birchbox and I'm really happy with them! They went on nicely and they still look good on my nails and it has been about a week. The design was super cute too! I'll definitely be trying these out again.

Beauty Haul

So I did some shopping over the past couple days and here's what I picked up-

From Bath and Body Works I took advantage of a couple sales.  3 for $10 mini candles, one is Pink Sangria and smells like pink lemonade, and the other two are Lemon Mint Leaf which smells like a mojito.  I know mojitos are made with lime but that's the best description I've got.   And then I got the soaps 4 for $15.  I picked up the always classic White Citues, and then the other three are all new to me.  Garden Herb, Market Fresh Tangerines, and Peach Belini.

I got this from Trade Secret and it's actually just a sample size but it's the Macadamia Nourishing Leave-In Cream.  I've only used it twice but so far, I am loving it!!  It smells really good and makes my hair look and feel soft and healthy.

From The Body Shop I picked up a Mango Lip Butter and it's pretty much the best thing I've had on my lips in a long time.  And, since pretty much every youtube "beauty haul" and "favorites" video includes it, I bought the Strawberry Body Butter.  The peer pressure was just to intense so I gave in.  It smells alright but it makes my skin feel very nice.

E.L.F. Ultimate Eye kit from Walgreens for $5 and it comes with an eyelid primer, lengthening and defining mascara, brightening eyeliner, and an eyeshadow quad in neutral browns.  So far I've only used the primer but I really like it!

This whole setup was purchased from Macy's.  I bought the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess bronzing powder and everything else came as a free gift.  There's the makeup bag, Pure Color lipstick in Pink Parfait Shimmer (it's not really that shimmery and just a nice neutral pink color), Sumptuous Bold Volume Lifting Mascara in black (kind of messy on the brush and takes a little work to get on to the eyelashes nicely but an overall good looking mascara), Advanced Night Repair serum, Resilience firming face and neck cream, and Resilience eye cream.  Talk about a run-on sentence.

And last but not least I went to Victoria's Secret.  There I purchased to Smooth Kiss glossy lip butters in Ooh La La (the lighter pink on the left) and All Mine (the one on the right) and VS High Definition Mascara.  A while back ago I showed you all the makeup bag and goodies that I won from Victoria's Secret and that mascara was in it.  It's probably (and I know I say this a lot) one of my absolute favorite mascara's right now.

March Birchbox

I got my March Birchbox in the mail yesterday and then I made a video about it!!! 

For  your viewing pleasure-

It's ok, you can say it, I'm a mess.  

So far I have used everything besides the shave cream.  I'll post about the nail appliqués on an upcoming Manic(ure) Monday.  My thoughts on Serge Normant Dry Shampoo- I have only used it once but so far I like it more than the Treseme.  I don't really love the feeling of my hair after I've used dry shampoo but I'm going to do some research and see if maybe I'm just not using it right.  The headband is a headband, whatever.  And the nail file is a nail file.  It does seem to be a good quality though and that floral print is super cute.

Wine Not Wednesday

WIIIIINE!!!

3 Blind Moose Merlot- I bought this bad boy for $2.99 at Bi-Mart and it's absolutely disgusting.  So bad that I didn't even finish the partial glass you see there.  I took like 3 drinks and then dumped it because even Aaron didn't want anything to do with it.  I'm all for cheap wines but this just proved to me that cheaper isn't always better.  (People say that right?)

But this one was goooood!!  It's a Riesling that Ariel had and I unfortunately don't know anything about it.  I will say that for a long time Riesling was my favorite type of wine until I tried Moscato and since then I never looked back.  I was quickly reminded by this wine how good Riesling is though and plan on doing a full post on one in the near future.

Manic(ure) Monday

I realize now how bad of a job I did on these nails...

Oh well.  Anyways, this is Color Club nail polish in Wild Cactus and it's the polish I got in my February Birchbox.   Normally I wouldn't buy this color.  I have a couple greens but their lighter kind of lime-y greens but I was really digging this!   According to Birchbox, emerald is "on-trend" right now.  This polish went on really nicely and it took a while before it started chipping.  My only complaint is that it stained my nails.  I know, I know, maybe I should have used a base coat but ain't nobody got time fo dat!  I would recommend this brand of polish to anyone but at $8 a bottle, I'm not sure I'll be buying more myself.  I'm getting dangerously tangled in the world of OPI, I don't need another expensive addiction.

Influenster Sweetheart VoxBox 2013

Ok- new plan for Sundays.  I'm still into the Nailed it or Failed it themed post but I'm no good at being crafty so often so I'll go ahead and keep trying to do it but it won't be an every Sunday thing.   

On to other news-
A week or so ago I received a Sweetheart VoxBox from Influenster.  Some of my first few posts on this blog talked about Influenster, you can catch up here and see the posts about my first VoxBox here and here to get an idea on what these are all about.  

Here's the twist though, I made a video about my box!  And then I realized that I filmed it in portrait mode instead of landscape mode on my iPhone and supposedly people hate that.  Well guess what, YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT!   Ok?  

How did you guys like the video?  Should I do more?  I don't think I'd do it regularly but just kind of as an added bonus.  Please leave me a comment with your opinion!!  (Also, if I do another one I'll be sure to rotate the camera.)

Now on to the fun part, the reviews.

First up is the Olay Fresh Effects {Va-Va-Vivid} Powered Contour Cleansing System and the Fresh Effects {Shine, Shine Go Away!} Shine Minimizing Cleanser. I'll start with this- it does what the box says.  The brush is a battery powered triangle type thing that just vibrates on your face.  Honestly I could take it or leave it.  I do use it daily now but my life would have been perfectly fine had I never tried it.  Nothing to complain about but nothing to brag about.  The cleanser was the same way.  As I said in the video, I breakout, so I need something for that.  This cleanser doesn't have any acne type medication in it at all BUT my face is definitely not shiny at all when I get done washing it.  My routine right now is to use my normal face wash and then use this.  I was browsing at Walgreens and saw that there were a few more washes in the Fresh Effects line and I think I saw one that is for acne prone skin so maybe I'll give it a shot.

Next we have the Not Your Mother's "She's a Tease" Volumizing Hair Spray.  I like this hair spray alot!  Here's a quick example of its amazeballs magical powers- First look at my hair in the video.  Now, check out this picture-

Sorry about the poor quality, I was using the front facing camera on my phone.  But anyways, I added like 2 more curls to each side and then flipped my hair over and just sprayed the crap out of it with the hair spray and this was what I got!  Fuller looking hair!!  Now, to be perfectly honest, I have never pulled that move with any other hair spray so I don't know if it was the flip that did it or this stuff but I was impressed either way.  Also, my hair stayed like this til i went to bed about 5 hours later and wasn't at all crunchy!  

The third thing in my box was a Skinny girl Daily On-The-Go Bar.  Meh.  It's whatever.  It tasted good but not good enough to want to spend $9.99 on a box of 5.

And the fourth and final thing in there was the Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response.  TMI alert- (well kinda, but not really)  I don't have a sweating issue.  Like, at all, but I still wear some form of deodorant almost daily (don't judge me, I sometimes forget).  So when I saw this was in my box I was a little let down.  I have since changed my feelings.  I can't tell you if it works well or not but I can say that it smells cussing amazing!  So, so good.  It's not like an overpowering strong scent that other people can notice but the amazing smell lasts all day (no judging).  The only downside is the price.  Since this is from their Clinical Strength line it runs around $10 instead of the normal $4 dollar range so I can't say that I'll for sure buy it again but I'll definitely recommend it to someone looking for something a bit stronger.

Lastly- I need to put this on here.  I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.  I think I was also supposed to say this in the video but I didn't even think to do that until after and I still haven't downloaded/figured out how to edit videos so I apologize but for those of you who are worried about it, I also put that same written disclaimer in the description box on YouTube.  Now lay off, alright? ;-)

Don't forget to leave a comment with your opinion about me making videos!  And if you have any ideas for video or blog posts please let me know!   

Taking a quick time-out.

Hello everyone! I just want to give you all a heads up that I'm gonna take a tiny break from blogging. I'm dealing with some family stuff but I promise I will be back either later this week or first thing next week. And it'll be good, I got another Voxbox from Influenster and I made a video! I still have to figure out how to edit it so I can't guarantee I'll post it but I'll at least have a post about all my new goodies that I've gotten a chance to test.

Anyways, that's all I've got for now. Have a good week. :)