Product Reviews?

If you said earlier that you bought some of the products, why haven't you posted any reviews? some people might be thinking.

I did buy the products that I claimed to, and they are sitting next to me as I type, but I haven't exactly opened the boxes yet. I went a little crazy on the new holiday collections for birthday and holiday gifts for myself, but I am restraining myself from opening them until my birthday or the holidays. Its a rough battle, but I'll survive.

You would be surprised how much I'm dying inside to not be able to open them.

Gift Idea: Sephora Favorites

Say what? Most of the products above are not natural! So why are they on my blog, you might ask?

Each one has one or two natural products (Josie Maran Coconut Water Cheek Gelee, sorta the Sephora Collection Falsies, Origins Eye Cream, Josie Maran Argan Oil, Bite Pencil, bareMinerals Lipstick, and Tarte Lipstick) that I plan on taking out of the set for myself.

The other items I will break up and gift to my friend throughout the year. These sets are always the best deals Sephora has on bulk items all year, so I stock up during the holidays. It's so nice not scrambling trying to figure out what to get friends and family members during the year. Really, do you think anytime else in the year you could get 16 lippies (4 full-sized!) for $60?

Shop here!

Ciate Mini Mani Month at Sephora

I was so excited for this year's Ciate Mini Mani Month ($58). I bought last year's and I loved it. Their formula took a bit to figure out how to apply, but once I got a hang of it this stuff would last forever! I could go two weeks with minimal, minor chips (with a base coat, two coats of polish, and a top coat). Last year's colors were so varied and included summer, spring, fall, and winter colors. Some colors were staples, others were trends. I could easily say that purchase was five stars, even though I didn't use any of their Caviar polishes (I could tell they wouldn't work for me as much as I use my hands).

This year's product is different. Looking at the picture, so many colors look exactly the same. I don't know if they were intended to be used for an ombre effect or what, but when I look at those they look exactly the same. Blah! Also, this years set has a bunch more effects, which I'm not a fan of. I can't get used to the idea of shaking straight up glitter onto wet nail polish. I applaud Ciate for yet again being trailblazers of nail trends, but I can't get the image of a little kid playing sprinkling glitter on glue for an art project (and making a mess) out of my head.

Verdict: I still love Ciate and would definately purchase a future set from them, but I think I will be skipping on this year's Mini Mani Month.

Feel free to comment if you've bought any of the sets I've mentioned and disagree with my opinion :) or anything else you would like to say/tell/ask me

Tarte TSV Bow and Go November 18th

Hi guys!

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that QVC will be airing a Tarte Today's Special Value on November 18th. They call it "Tarte Bow and Go" because it is packaged in three beautiful boxes for gifting and even comes with an actual bow. It will cost $49.98 on paper, but with tax and shipping (which I'm kinda mad I have to pay for because every other company I've bought online from like Sephora, Tarte, bareMinerals, and Amazon has a deal where you pay $X and you get free shipping) comes to around $62.

There are videos on Youtube showing/swatching the colors (I love prettydaysies and curlywavydiane). I just want to discuss what I think of the kit.

There are three parts to the kit, and all the products are full sized.

The first pink box on top has four Lipsurgence lip cremes. They do not sell these individually, but I  guess they might start to sell them soon (within the next year?). I don't know this for sure, but I'm making a guess based on what Tarte has done with other products. If they did sell them individually, they would probably be $24 like all the other Lipsurgence products, so this part is worth like $96.

The second box has two chubby SmolderEYES pencils in Brown and Fig. Both of these colors are in the regular line, so I can say for sure that they are each worth $22. One is a matte brown and the other is a shimmery rosey purple. It also has two Light, Camera, Lashes! mascara, each worth $19. This box is worth $82.

The third and final box includes 16 eyeshadows. I would try to estimate the worth of this one, but its kinda priceless. The shades are pretty evenly distributes between light highlights, medium lid colors, and darker shades for the crease and outer-V. The shades lean toward natural colors, with a few pops of green, purple, and pink.

The Verdict: I bought it. It really is a phenomenal value. If you even just like one of the boxes, individually any of them are easily worth the $62 price tag, and you can gift the other two with the handy included bow if you like. I know already that I will give the Lights, Camera, Lashes! mascara to my mom because its her holy grail mascara.

Holiday Sets- Bite Beauty

Hi everyone :)

I guess it's that time of the year again. Magic, mistletoe, and (most importantly) value sets!!! I love the holidays in makeup because so many companies are giving us the best deals of the year.

Generally, my shopping habits are divided into:

60% value sets (eyeshadow, lippies, blush, eyeliners)
35% rebuys/staples (mascara, foundation, powder, concealer, primer)
5% innovations (contouring stick anyone?)

So, during the holidays I basically stock up on eyeshadow, lippies, and blush for the rest of the year. Thats how i justify spending so much hahaha ;)

Today, I will be going over my thoughts on the holiday sets by Bite Beauty. They exclusively sell lippies. Their lip products are food grade, which honestly make sense since you end up ingesting most lipgloss and lipstick. Generally their products exclude many hard metals like in other lipsticks (lead, ect.) but they do have FD&C food colorings (bleh!) and mica.

Bite Best Bite Set ($25) is a great deal. For a dollar more than a single pencil, you get four minis that are over half the size of a single full sized. The colors are varied (a nude, my-lips-but-better, bright pink, and red) and perfect for the holidays. I've never tried their pencils. Also, I don't have any of these colors in another formula. Inside the nice, reusable tin even has a mirror!

Verdict: I bought it for Holiday. However, I am restraining myself from opening them yet.

Bite The Lip Kit ($38) and Bite Collectors Edition Lip Layers Set ($98) are a different story. I'm pretty new to Bite Beauty (I've only bought their tin set last year and recently this year) and was disappointed in the number of repeats. I only have eight total Bite products, but three of the eight colors in the top set are repeats and four of the twenty bottom colors are repeats. The formula of their lipsticks is nice (more long lasting than most non-drying ones) but these just aren't worth it with so many other great lip sets out. Also, I don't really like the double sided thing very much. I'd be happier with some minis.

Verdict: Probably won't buy unless I get a ton of gift cards for my birthday