Target and Sephora Haul

So I have done a little bit of shopping recently and I wanted to share my treasures with you!

First I went to Sephora to buy my bosses daughter a birthday gift, but you know me, once I'm in there I really struggle to leave empty handed. My skin has been the devil recently with the warmer weather. It's been really hot and muggy which means a lot of sweat and my face is usually more oily in the summer.

So I decided to pick up some moisturizers to try out and a cleanser. I am getting through a cleanser by Aveeno right now but once that's done I'm going to try First Aid Beauty's Facial Cleanser. I also picked up a small tube of the Ultra Repair Cream. The tub is $48 and I couldn't bring myself to spend that. 

I haven't tried the cleanser but I really like the moisturizer, it is light but gives my skin just enough moisture. I think it is a good balance for the summer and for my picky skin. The cleanser was $20 and the moisturizer is $12 for 2 oz.

Then I wanted to give the Josie Maran Argan Infinity Cream Intensive Creamy Oil. This is a doing everything and anything product. It starts as a cream and when rubbed turns to oil, but you can use this for any number of things. Here is the description from Sephora.com:

"One creamy oil, infinite possibilities. This makeup-artist must-have delivers all the moisturizing benefits of argan oil in a portable, nongreasy, creamy oil form. The innovative formula starts as a cream and melts into an oil, making your complexion more luminous while tightening facial contours and preventing inflammation. Use it to hydrate and gently soothe undereyes, smooth flyaways, keep eyebrows in place, and condition lips. Mix it with powder blush or eye shadow to instantly transform it into a cream."

I did give this a try as a night time moisturizer but I think it was too much for my skin, I got a little tingly and I got quite a few breakouts. I think this would be a great winter moisturizer but too heavy in the summer for me. However, this is an amazing body moisturizer and great for the lips. It isn't a huge tube so I wouldn't use it all over but it is good for your hands and lips and any bumpy spots. It was $28 but totally worth it and the tube is 2.2 oz.

Lastly, I picked up a new lip gloss because honestly, I cannot help myself. I've loved the Korres brand, their scents are incredible and I love that they are natural. I've had the tubs of the lip butters so I wanted to try something different in a bright color so I picked up the Pomegranate color in the lip butter glaze. It is an orange with a tint of pink so I guess you could say coral. I love it, it is so smooth and not sticky and pretty pigmented if you layer it. It retails for $14 and I really want to try Laurel which is a light peachy pink color.

So onto the Target goodies! I didn't get only cosmetics though, but that's the great thing about Target; you can find so much there! I really want to jump into their women's section there are so many cute dresses and bikinis!

First up is a padfolio by Nate Berkus. I want to write down my ideas on paper most times so I thought this would be a good way to take notes. I don't really need the pad of paper inside but I have a ton of loose notebook paper and the clip board part will come in handy.

I love this bright yellow pattern - it just makes me feel happy!

Then I decided to get this awesome notebook I saw there. It feels so nice and professional and I like the layout of the pages a lot. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet but I was thinking maybe use it as a customizable planner.

Now on to the beauty stuff - which isn't much more than skin care - I guess I'm just on a kick right now.

I've missed using face wipes and I know I tried Simple's wipes before but I thought I'd give them another try.

I've just used the last of my Korres Wild Rose and Vitamin C Advanced Brightening Sleeping Facial - a.k.a one of the best night-time moisturizers I've ever used. However, it is a whopping $48 and like I said before, I can't spend the money. So I decided to give Neutrogena's Naturals Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Night Cream. I am very into natural skincare so I am excited to give this a try. It sells for about $14 which isn't bad compared to $48!

Finally, I found an EOS lip balm that is Pomegranate Raspberry - while pomegranate is okay I'm in love with raspberry anything so I had to get this. I'm currently using the Honeydew one? it is the light green one, but I love this lip balms!

That is all for now! Look for my next post which is going to be a review of the Samsung Chromebook by Google!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

May Birchbox!

Yay for Birchbox time! I'll say that there was some mixed feelings originally going in but I'm pretty happy with this month's box!



 

The first product is a dry shampoo by Klorane, it is an extra-gentle dry shampoo with oat milk. I'm getting a little bored of the dry shampoo craze and it is one of those products Birchbox has been pushing a little too much. However, I do really like this product. It smells amazing, I can't even begin to describe it. I wouldn't say it's the best dry shampoo out there, but I might consider buying a full size. A full size retails for $18 - not too bad. If you spray too close and don't shake through your hair, it will leave a white cast but easy to get rid of. 

I thought this next item was a cool add on to the box. They don't list it as a lifestyle extra which is weird, they just list the main products. They sent an Acroball Pure White hybrid ink pen. The gimmick is that it is gel ink but works like a ballpoint pen and there is no smudging. I got a bright blue pen and the color on the pen correlates with the color of the ink which is cool. On the back of the card is a $1 off coupon on a 3, 4, or 5 pack of the pens. Also, there is a code you can scan with your phone to enter to win a trip to New York Fashion Week, free pens and a shopping spree.

I am very into this next sample, which is the Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner. "Inspired by traditional Indian formulas, this velvety liner glides on easily and lasts for hours". I completely agree with this statement. It is so creamy and smooth but once it is set on your skin it does not smudge. A set of 4 mini pencils is $21. The four set is exclusive to Birchbox and has 4 colors - Suman (a rich classic black - the one I got), Jamun (a deep plum), Raina (a smokey grey), and Saletti (an eye-popping navy). I would kill to try to grey and navy! You can buy single eyeliners for $11 but some colors are different.

The last two products I got were in the new cardboard box sleeve. First is the Classic Face SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face by Coola. I had been skeptical because I usually have seen this apply on others very white. But I tried this on the back of my hand and it wasn't white and it blended beautifully! The description says, "This mineral sunblock is infused with organic anti-aging ingredients like evening primrose extract and borage seed oil". A full size is $32 which I think is a little steep but if I got another sample of this in the future I would not be disappointed!

Lastly, I got a sample of the Marvis Classic Mint Toothpaste, which I LOVE! I am sold and will be buying a full size which retails from $6 to $10.50. It is an Italian toothpaste which I kind of love because I am Italian. This wasn't too severe in taste and my teeth felt so clean after I used it!

All around not a bad box, the sample sizes were really nice, and there were no packets!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Did you guys get anything different in your boxes?

Drugstore Haul 5.4.13

There was one point to my entering CVS but obviously I got sidetracked. I may have needed consoling for the scam I was about to pay for which is my first product: Abreva. I had a cold sore pop up on me so my first thought was to get something to cure it. Well me and the sales woman looked in every aisle in the store...the only thing they had was a tiny travel size of Abreva for, get this, $20! Twenty freaking dollars? Ridiculous, but needless to say I bought it because that thing hurt! I hate cold sores, I'd rather have the actual cold than a cold sore.

So I picked up some other fun things like this foundation by Almay, Smart Shade Mousse Makeup. This is a more white mousse that matches your skin tone once it is rubbed in. I would say this has light to medium coverage, and you can get away with using just a tiny bit. The only thing is I don't like how this sits under my eyes, so I avoid the area and just use concealer. This was about $10 to $12 dollars.

I really liked that it came with a cover so that it doesn't dry out.

I have heard nothing but good things about the Nearly Naked line by Revlon. So I decided I wanted to try something, but I have so many flipping foundations I couldn't bare to buy the liquid foundation. I opted for the powder foundation though, which is huge because I haven't used one since early high school. I hated powder foundations because back then I did not know better and did not know what worked for me. However, I've been having a lot of redness and a few breakouts lately and this gives me a great boost of coverage over my liquid foundations.

This is the shade light, but the line pulls a little darker. This is a perfect shade for my skin right now. The texture is so silky smooth it is incredible.

It comes with a puff but I find using my Real Techniques Powder Brush, which is perfect for it.

Hard to see but that is because the color is perfect!

Now I have to fan girl over this next product because I am IN LOVE.

I got the Revlon Photo Ready Concealer which is not only great for marks on your face but under eye circles! I love love love this product it is so creamy and blends in like a dream. I totally recommend this for anyone!

This next product has totally surprised me and is another product I'm in love with. I got this palette from Forever 21, of all places. Now I love their clothing but sometimes they are pretty crappy quality so I did not have high hopes for this. However, this is a set of four colors of perfection. I couldn't be happier with this palette. Best part? I paid $3.80!

Spinning in all directions

That title describes life for me just about perfectly. Life as been a whirlwind that I've been trying to keep up with and I am not sure if I'm doing a good job of that or not. Work has been work and nothing more which is fine by me, but the work that is finding a "real" job is excruciating. No one wants a noob and they don't want to take a chance on giving them an experience. Yes, I did just use the term "noob".

I know I just need to keep applying and keep searching but my school loans are closing in and I won't lie, I'm terrified. I've never had a lot of money and I've never been able to save a lot because I've always been paying for bills or prescriptions or gas or something. I just simply don't make enough money and I know everyone else is in the same boat with me. I just don't want to fail, I don't want to put the burden on anyone else and I want to be able to take care of my own financial problems.

But then I remember how bitter I am about wasting all those years in classes I didn't need or enjoy and all the money I didn't need to spend.

It sucks.

On the other hand I'm incredibly happy and motivated! I've been doing a lot of design stuff and churning out some pieces here or there. I'm taking extra classes on top of my certificate which is incredibly awesome. I'm learning a lot, and I think I've figured out that I really want to learn about branding and that area of marketing. I believe I'd be really great at it.

I also have met this guy and I don't want to say too much, but oh my goodness I'm crazy about him. We're really great together and we love spending time with each other. It's only been a little while but we know we were meant to meet and there is just something there. It's crazy and I know it sounds a little unreasonable but that's how it is. If only he weren't leaving soon for work! He's gonna be away for four months! But, we've agreed that this is something worth working on and we'll figure it out :)

I just thought I'd give you guys an update, and look out for some new posts, I'm even putting together a summer fashion post!

<3 Jen