Zoya Nail Polish (Mini Haul & Swatches)

My love for Zoya all started with a bottle I received in a Glam Bag about a year ago, and I've been smitten ever since! I have to say that Zoya is my favorite brand of nail polish, they have a wide selection of colors, finishes, and textures. Their formulas are really good, the colors are super opaque, and they do not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, or camphor, and I find that the polish lasts a lot longer than others on my nails. Zoya has a special every once in a while, where you can get a certain number of bottles of nail polish for free, and only pay for shipping. This is the second time that I've taken part of this promotion, the time before, I got 4 full sized nail polishes and 3 mini ones. This time the offer was for 4 full sized bottles of nail polish. I paid 15 dollars for international shipping I believe? Their nail polish runs for $10 on their website, so it's a pretty good deal, even for international shipping.

The colors I chose were:

• Caitlin
• Natty
• Elodie
• Brigitte

That's all for today!

What is your favorite nail polish brand?

xoxoxo

Thank You Essence Cosmetics!

I wanted to say a big thank you to Essence for sending me some more goodies! As I've said a thousand times before, Essence is my favorite affordable makeup brand. They make such good quality products at a super affordable price! They have a huge selection of products that come in a plethora of colors and finishes.

The items I received were:

• Silky Touch Blush in 60 Life's A Cherry
• Metal Glam Eyeshadow in 05 Chocolate Jewelry
• Long Lasting Eye Pencil in 09 Cool Down
• Lip Liner in 06 Satin Mauve
• Long Lasting Lipstick in 06 Barely There

If you haven't checked out Essence yet, I definitely suggest giving them a try!

Thank you again Essence!

xoxoxo

My December and January Ipsy Glam Bags!

While eagerly awaiting the arrival of my February glam bag, I wanted to share my goodies from December and January. 

As far as I can tell, there was no theme for December's bag, it was more of a thank you at the end of the year kind of thing. The bag is cute, with a red quilted patent leather look (it's plastic) and is a perfect match for the holidays.

December's items were:

• Marc Anthony Hydrating Coconut Oil Conditioning Treatment
• Elizabeth Mott Thank Me Later Eyeshadow Primer
• Jersey Shore Spa Anti Aging Lip & Hand Polish in the scent Vanilla Bean
• Pacifica Power Of Love Powerful Color Natural Lipstick in Nudie Red
• Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder

I'm in love with all these items, but the one I was most excited about is the Tarte finishing powder! This is officially my first Tarte product, so I'm really excited to try it out!

I have a couple of Marc Anthony products, and for me, its hit or miss. I don't care for coconut in any form, but this has shea butter also, so the scent might be ok for me. I'm willing to try it, because I love to try new hair products. Who knows, this could end up being my new holy grail hair conditioner! 

I love Elizabeth Mott! I have various makeup items from their brand, and none of which have yet to disappoint! I really love my Essence primer, but I have to give this a go and see how it fares!

At first glance, I thought that this was a hand lotion. Then I opened the tube, and come to find out that it's an exfoliant! With winter in full swing I can really use this for my super dry lips. It smells delicious!

I love lipstick, so I was really happy to see one in my bag. I've never tried lip products from Pacifica, I have a few eyeshadow duos and I really like them, so I have high expectations for this lipstick. The color is a perfect nude shade for me, it has a subtle hint of red in it, which is perfect for my lips. Plus, how cute is that packaging?

As I said before, this is my first ever Tarte product, and I've heard a lot of good things about Tarte as a whole, so I'm interested in seeing how this finishing powder holds up.

The theme for January was All Eyes On You, and the bag has a cute mod Warhol inspired print.

My January goodies were:

• The Balm Mr. Write (Now) Eyeliner Pencil in Jac
• Pur~Lisse Blue Lotus 4-1 Eye Adore Serum for all skin types
• Mitchell And Peach Body Cream in English Leaf
• Beau Gachis Paris Smudge Brush
• Hikari Cream Pigment in Mink

This eyeliner is a beautiful coppery gold/brown color, which is a perfect shade to make my blue eyes pop! I can't wait to see how well this wears.

I've gotten quite a few different Pur~Lisse items, but this looks like an under eye cream, which is something I haven't gotten before, and it's also something that I would be interested in using. It claims to hydrate, brighten, firms, and decreases puffiness.

I'm always happy to get body lotions, because I have fairly dry skin. I like the fresh scent of this cream, that is supposed to be inspired by the English Countryside. It has Shea butter, English honey and essential oils. I used it on my hands, and it absorbed quickly, without feeling greasy, it left my hands feeling pretty soft, and I like the light subtle floral fresh scent.

I firmly believe that you can never have too many makeup brushes! (that is, unless you are washing them!) The bristles feel pretty soft, and they're pretty dense, which is something I prefer in a makeup brush.

I can not get over the gorgeous color of this cream pigment! It's a beautiful rose gold, and I'm in love! I'm such a neutral junkie! I can't help myself!

That's all for today lovelies!

What were your favorite items from the December and January bags??

xoxoxo

December And January Top Boxes! (Benefit They're Real Edition)

It's almost surreal how quickly January has gone by! I have so many things planned for this new year, and I hope to share a good deal of those things with all of you! I had to wait to share my December subscriptions, because I was away from home. So, I decided to couple my December and January Top Boxes together. December's Top Box was what they call a privé box, it's a special box that you can pick from a set list each month, and it features various brands and all sorts of different items. I've only opted for these boxes when Benefit is an option, because I usually don't care for the other items offered. If you decide you don't want a privé box, you can simply choose to have the regular box to be sent to you.

My December Box was the Benefit They're Real Privé Box

• Gimme Brow in Light/Medium
• They're Real Remover
• Roller Lash Mascara
• They're Real Mascara
• They're Real Tinted Eyelash Primer

What drew me to this box was the gimme brow and the tinted primer. I'm really interested in giving them a try and maybe even doing a review.

January's Box was the normal Top Box

• Hask Macadamia Oil Hair Treatment
• Teeze Read My Lips Lipstick in Roulette Red
• SeaRx Birch Sap Moisturizing Lotion
• Elizabeth Arden Prevage Anti-Aging Antioxidant Hydrating Essence

Hair Mask

Penetrates the hair shaft, restores moisture, and strengthens hair. 50g $1.77 Available at HaskBeauty.com

I can't wait to try this out the next time I wash my hair! I'm always into trying out new hair products, and if this is any good, it's super affordable! Win Win in my book!

Lipstick

This long lasting lipstick combines the power of highly-pigmented coverage and unique satin, matte finish. The lipstick's smooth, ultra creamy texture and added coconut oil extract nourishes and hydrates the lips, with color that lasts for up to 8 hours. 2g $28.94 Available at TeezeCosmetics.com

I have a read my lips lipstick and I love it! I'm excited about this gorgeous red, because I'm trying to be more bold in my lip choices.

Lotion

Apply everywhere you have skin, whenever you need moisturizer. Non-comedogenic. 118ml $42.11 Available at SeaRxBeauty.com

I'm not keen on using this, mainly because of the caution label on the tube.. Caution: Keep out of reach of children. For external use only. Avoid contact with eyes. Rinse thoroughly with water in case of contact. Not for use by children under the age of 18. Store at controlled room temperature of 15 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius. Not for use by women who may be pregnant or are nursing. That's quite a list of caution for a cream.. No thanks... 

Elizabeth Arden

From Arden Active Skincare, this refreshing essence infuses the skin with an advanced hydration and antioxidants, It leaves skin feeling soft, smooth ad perfectly conditioned. 140ml $120 Available at Hudson's Bay

To me, this looks like an overpriced toner.. I highly doubt I'll be purchasing this after I use up the sample..

Happy New Year!

Hello there!

It's been a while since my last post, mostly because I wanted to enjoy my time with my friends and family while I was back home. I enjoyed Blogmas, and I hope you did as well! It was at times stressful trying to think of something new and interesting to talk about everyday, and if I decide to do it again next year, I'm definitely making a list of sorts with topics to talk about instead of flying by the seat of my pants haha! I hope you all have had a wonderful new year, I know I did! My sister and I took a road trip down south to visit Disneyland for a couple days, and it was so much fun! It was massively crowded on New Year's Eve, but I don't regret swimming through a sea of people to celebrate New Years with my sister at the happiest place on earth! We had so much fun and made so many memories!

I thought I would share a few goals I want for this new year: (in no particular order)

• I want to travel more, to experience new things, and to see new places
• I want to live healthier by eating better and sticking to a gym schedule (which is something I started around the end of 2015, but I want to be more serious about it)
• I want a career that I love, and that I can grow into, not just a job
• I want to read more
• I want to spend more time with people that matter most to me
• I want to blog more and be more consistent 
• I want to get back into hobbies I used to enjoy
• I want to be the best version of me

These aren't just for the new year, they're lifestyle changes I hope to achieve and carry on. 

What are some things you want to do or change for the new year or just in general??

xoxoxo