2015 Year to Date Favorites

It's been an age. I know. I'm finally past one of two certification exams, and I am over the hump of the semester that is mid-terms. So I'm able to chat about some of my favorite things! 2015 has been a year of lazy, no-makeup blah-ness. However, I have managed to try a few new things and rekindle my love for some tried and true favorites.

Jamberry Nails Cuticle Oil: Okay, so since I have started to make a little side business selling nail wraps, I've realized that I should probably take care of my hands a little better. One of those ways is with Jamberry cuticle oil. I am obsessed with this stuff. I don't get nearly as many hangnails (are those the painful skin cracks on your hands right by your nail? Or is the hangnail the actual hanging nail?) and the dry patches around my nails are going away. I usually use it at least once a day, but have been aiming for twice. It's an incredible value for $10. I've used it twice a day for a month, give or take a few days, and it's not even a quarter of the way gone yet. I got this in my starter kit, or else I wouldn't have really tried it... it's incredible, though, and I'm glad I did.

Neutrogena Moisture Smooth Color Stick: Juicy Peach is my favorite lip product right now. First, it smells divine. Second, it's just tinted enough to be subtle, but it gives a pop of color too. It's also really easy to re-apply. And it really does moisturize! I'm not sure of the ingredients on it, but it doesn't make my lips thirsty for more like some lipsticks or lip glosses do, or even some chapsticks. I'm always tempted to wear it to bed like a chapstick.

Davines OI All in one Milk: So, I tried this from a Birchbox way back in October or November and I hated it. But recently I was staying at my boyfriend's place, and I picked it up off of his counter. I used my normal shampoo and conditioner, so I figured I'd give it one more shot. It didn't weigh my hair down at all, and it made it very soft. I loved the way my hair looked that day when I went to work. I've now ruled that part of my hair care routine out and determined that it was either the shampoo or conditioner from the Davines line that weighed my hair down. I'm glad I gave it another shot.

Benefit Moisture Prep Toning Lotion: You guys. I went without this for like two months when my little starter sample ran out and I was so sad. But I sucked it up and spent the $30 and my skin feels much softer now. When I find a skin care routine that works, I've just gotta go with it. No more procrastinating, no more "I'll try something else." Just go with what works, for the most part. Of course, I'll try new things, but when it comes down to it, I need my previously tested awesome toner lotion.

Clarisonic Mia 2: So I love my boyfriend with all of my heart and soul, but I'm certain he is to blame for the death of my first Clarisonic Mia. He wasn't very careful of the little shelf it was on, and kept knocking it over. Every time I heard that "thud", my heart dropped. I tried to charge it one day, and it wouldn't charge. I told my mom, hoping that she had paperwork or something on it, but on Christmas morning, I had a brand new Clarisonic :) I'm so happy! It's no different than the original, really, other than the color, but it works wonderfully and I am grateful to have it again. I'm trying to make more of a consistent commitment to my skin and my beauty routine, so this is a great way to start that!

I promise I'll be back in the next day or so with more posts from the past month or two. It's good to be back!

What's In My Bag | Christmas Vacation | Skincare

Just wanted to give a quick peek into my bag. These are the skincare products that I brought with me to New Hampshire for a week.

I've been loving all things Missha, as you might be able to tell. I brought the Super Aqua Hydrating toner, the Cherry Blossom Cleansing Oil, and the Chocolate Latte Cleansing Foam. 

I also brought my Neutrogena moisturizer with SPF because I was actually going to see the sun at some point. I made sure to also take along my Clarisonic because I didn't want to use up all Shaun's mom's washcloths.

I'm not following the order of the picture, so try to follow along. More Missha. I finally cracked into my Time Revolution Night Ampoule. Following up with another ampoule, I started using the It's Skin vitamin C ampoule. I brought a lot of Clinique: my acne solutions, repairwear eye cream, all about eyes cream, and moisture surge. I of course had to take along my Alpha Hydrox duo of the AHA Souffle and Retinol. Last thing I brought with me for skincare was my Tony Moly Intense Care Snail Cream, which has basically saved my dry skin.

And last but not least, my hand cream, which I suppose counts as skincare!

Recent Collective Haul - October/November

I have some things that I've purchased over the last month or so that have collected enough to do a haul post. I just want to preface this post by saying that I definitely went overboard with the NARS blush palettes. I set out to purchase one of the past three, the one pictured here, and the brand new one, also pictured here. But I did end up buying the other two past palettes because I got them for a good deal on facebook. Those aren't pictured because I think I'll do just a post comparing all my NARS blush palettes and I had already taken the pictures for this post.

I'm also probably not going to go into great detail because a few things are going to be included in my favorites post and I'm planning on doing a hauled it but how was it? type post.

I've been blush crazy lately, so that's why all the blush. These are also the last two bronzers that I plan on buying, because unlike blush, they're all pretty much the same. I found that the Estée Lauder one is a bit too dark and orange toned for the winter, so that is getting pushed aside. The Vincent Longo bronzer is perfect for the winter because it isn't too dark and bronze, which is what I'm looking for.

This is the NARS blush palette from Nordstrom, the Joie De Vivre limited edition from a couple years back. I originally wanted the Guy Bourdin one more, last year's release, but found this one first. I will seriously never need to buy a full size NARS blush or bronzer with all these palettes.

These are my Tarte blushes in Fearless, the purple one, and Achiote, the top one. I haven't really worn Fearless because it's so dark. Maybe soon!

I got these two Sigma brushes for a fantastic deal on facebook. I rotate my F50 blush brushes now and I really like this F30 powder brush to blend out my blush and bronzer.

I picked up two more NYX matte lipsticks in Pure Red and Whipped Caviar and got free shipping on Ulta by finally buying this Urban Decay sharpener everyone raves about.

I also bought one lipstick from MAC's holiday collection in Salon Rouge. I haven't worn it or the NYX lipsticks yet.

Everyone keeps comparing the Mario Badescu Rose Water spray to MAC Fix+, so I decided to give it a go. I haven't used a spray since the summer though, so this might sit for a while longer.

I stopped into Bath and Body Works for the first time in ages and bought these two lotions, which I've been using all month. I would consider purchasing other scents, but I have a Cocoa Pink haul to do and I bought six or seven body butters so I definitely don't need any more of those.

I bought two heads for my Clarisonic because I needed to change those out. One is for normal skin and the other is acne prone skin and I've been rotating them.

I also bought another Alpha Hydrox AHA Souffle because it was half off on Ulta and I knew I'd need another one at some point.

Little Clinique haul included here. Nordstrom was doing 10% off a ton off high end brands either early November or late October and I thought that was the perfect time to buy a full size of the Moisture Surge. I should have bought that Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick I was lusting over, but that was $40 and I decided to spend wisely and get some Clinique Acne Solutions instead because my skin had been freaking out.

I still want that Shimmer Brick.

The Repairwear Laser minis were a gift with purchase and I have yet to use those.

These goodies are my latest. I talked about the Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask in my favorites last month and I recently bought the scrub because I liked the mask so much.

I bought another Smashbox Photofinish Primer because I'm almost out of my mini. It was on sale for 20% during Beauty.com's friends and family sale.

I also picked up that NARS Virtual Domination Cheek Palette because I found it new for almost $20 off the original price on Facebook. I was going back and forth about getting it, but who was I kidding? I was going to kick myself for not getting it at $50 and wanting to pay like $80 in a few months.

Then also from Beauty.com, I finally bought the NARS Ita brush! I've wanted this for the longest time, but didn't want to pay the $50 for it. So I waited for a 20% off sale and nabbed it.

Then probably one of the most exciting things I've hauled this month: beautyblender! I've always wanted to try a Beauty Blender, but I had bought a few Real Techniques sponges that I enjoyed for a while. My last order had some really weird sponges in there though and it jacked up my makeup to the point where I spent more time fixing it then actually applying it. So I decided to spend the money on the real deal. I do prefer beautyblender to Real Techniques, but I wouldn't pay the full price! I liked getting 20% off so that they were only $23 for the pair.


Whew. That's it for now! I have a couple separate hauls I wanted to do because it's a bunch of things from one brand. I'm sure the random couple things I buy until next month will collect enough to do another post eventually. After all, cyber Monday is soon and I'd rather buy things at 20% off, especially when I'm going to buy them anyway.