26 December 2016

HandPicked Beauty Box

Welcome back, little birdies!

I have an exciting post! I've subscribed to my first subscription box! I've been on the hunt for some really good boxes to receive when HandPicked Beauty Box contacted me to check them out. It's a fairly new box that was started by a fellow blogger, Los Angeles Mamma . Now, other beauty boxes are $10 - $20 for 4 - 5 sample sized products depending on the which one you go for. This box is slightly more expensive paying $40 a month. The reason why this box is a bit more expensive is because Alexia (Los Angeles Mamma) includes FULL sized products. So for full sized items for $40 is a great deal. I received my first box just the other day and I was absolutely ecstatic to see everything that was inside.



First thing I pulled out was this Biossance 100% Natural Vegetable Fiber Face Sponge. It looks so interesting that I'm actually so excited to use it and see how it works out for me. It's a hard sponge in the case that says you have to soak for 15 minutes the first time you use it. It's supposed to exfoliate, refine pores, remove makeup and apparently can be used without cleansers. I'm so excited to try this out and see how it works out for me. I've not seen anything like it before.



The second thing I saw was another Biossance product. To be honest, I've never heard of this brand before. It looks like a great plant based brand. This product that I received is a full sized Biossance cleansing oil. I've never really heard of a cleansing oil before. From what I'm reading, it's supposed to be a cleansing oil that dissolves makeup and impurities. What attracts me to this brand is how organic it seems to be. It claims that the formula is plant derived. I'm looking forward to seeing how effortlessly and smoothly it removes my makeup.



Next thing I saw in the box was a Lipstick Queen lip gloss. I was SO excited to see this in the box because I only recently discovered this brand as seen on my previous post. So I was stoked to see that I was able to add another product to the one that I had. I'm not quite sure how Lipstick Queen works but I noticed there "catergories" that the certain product belongs in and then there's the name of the product. My other LQ product says it's "Cupid's Bow" but that the name of the product is "Arrow". This one that I received in my box is a "Seven Deadly Sins" category in the shade "Avarice". When I took it out of the packaging I was in awe. This is a stunning color and right up my street because it's a pinky nude. I'm so excited to use this and see how the formula feels and how well it lasts.



Next, I grabbed the Pur Cheek Stain in the shade Peach Bellini. I've never had a cheek stain before and I can't wait to see how well this works. I hear great things about the brand so I have high hopes for this cheek stain. It looks harsh on camera for some reason but it's definitely more of a peach tone.



The last thing in the box I couldn't believe was actually in there. It's probably my favorite thing in the box. It's a Urban Decay Naked Flushed Bronzer / Highlight / and Blush palette in the shade Native. This looks like the perfect trio for summer. But of course, I will be using it plenty before then!



Overall, I'm VERY impressed with my first HandPicked box. I was just ready to take pictures of it all so I could hurry up and use the products. If you're looking for a subscription box to try out and don't mind dishing out just a little bit more for excellent products I'd give this one a go. Although, I know she just started out a couple months ago so I'm not totally sure if this is international or just a subscription box just for the U.S. for now. If you are in the States I'd recommend looking into this more. I'm so excited for this box and can't imagine the goodies that will be in next months.

Mini Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. I purchased this subscription myself.


Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Jay

22 December 2016

Lipstick Queen

Welcome back, little birdies!

Today I have a grand discovery I've made recently. As you may or may not know, I've made some purchases over at Ulta during Black Friday and Cyber Monday for Christmas shopping. I did however get my hands on something that intrigued me. I got myself a little chubby lip pencil by the brand Lipstick Queen.



I'll be honest and say I've never heard of Lipstick Queen before. I don't really know what they have in terms of products - besides lipsticks of course. They were selling it at Ulta I figured I would just give it a try. The shade I bought is Cupid's Bow Golden Arrow. Can I just start off by saying how much I love that name!? Super cute! The shade is a very dusty mauve color. Perfect for the nude trend and my go to lip colors. I swatched it on my hand and was instantly impressed at how creamy the formula was. I figured it would be perfect seeing as my lips can get a bit try at times.

The packaging of this product I felt was unique and that is a bonus on purchasing something. Something that I found useful was, when I opened up the packaging, they included a pencil sharpener that fits the size of the chubby stick! How thoughtful of them to add and at this rate I'll need to use it quite quickly.



The application was smooth and seemless and the color is absolutely beautiful. It does go on very creamy. The only thing about this is that it sticks to dry patches on my lips if I don't exfoliate before using. But that doesn't go against it seeing as it's a great product.

I'll love to find out other colors and products of theirs to try out as I've fallen in love with this one. Would definitely recommend if you're looking on Ulta for something new to try out. If you have used this brand before, what's your favorite shade?

Thanks for reading!
Until Next Time,
Jay

07 December 2016

The Blogging Friends I Christmas Q+A Tag (2016 Edition)

Welcome back, little birdies!

I have some exciting news. For the past month I've been in a blogging WhatsApp group called The Blogging Friends. TBF was founded by non other than Peta from Pe-ta. She is so talented, goal driven and such a great friend to all the girls in the group. I'm BEYOND happy that she thought of this idea and added me along to it! There's about 19 of us all together and I couldn't be more excited with everyone involved. With speaking pretty much everyday and them becoming a norm in my everyday life, they've become some of my closest friends. The love and support (and banter) that goes on in our chats are some of the best. I'm so glad to be involved. So to Peta, thank you again for your brilliant idea and bringing us all together.


One of the girls from the group, Emma from Emmalanglands came up with the idea to do a TBF Christmas tag. All the girls in the group pitched in to come up with questions for the tag. Although I'm not sure how many questions were originally involved, I think it is condensed down to 30 questions.

Grab your hot chocolate and let's get into the questions, shall we!?

1. What is your favorite Christmas song?
My favorite Christmas song has to be Santa Baby :)

2. What is your favorite Christmas film?
Elf! For sure. Either that or Home Alone 1. Classsic.

3. When do you start feeling festive?
Normally right after Thanksgiving, but this year I started feeling festive on November 1st!

4.What is the best Christmas present you've ever received?
I'm not to sure which is the best. I'm thankful for anything I receive. :)

5. What is the worst Christmas present you've ever received?
The worst present I've ever received was when I was like 5 years old and my sister gave me COAL! The worst thing about it is she wrapped it in a box and bow. We laugh about it now ;) haha

6. Do you prefer traditional or modern Christmas decorations?
Can I have a mixture of both? What I grew up with and some new ones as well.

7. What is your favorite Christmas Advert?
I don't think they're as big here in the U.S. but I have been watching the much hyped John Lewis ones that I can find on YouTube. :)

8. White, muliti-colored or something completely out of the box when it comes to Christmas tree lights?
We've always had multi-colored lights on out tree. I leave the white ones for my room :)

9. Have you ever been on a Christmas holiday? If so, where? If not,where would you like to go?
I don't know if I'd call it a Christmas holiday. I did go to Puerto Rico for Christmas one year to visit family. It was so weird being somewhere where it was hot for the holidays!

10.  Do you prefer going out or staying in at Christmas?
Definitely staying in unless we're going out to see more family. Nothing is open on Christmas anyways :)

11. Who cooks Christmas dinner?
My mom! It's always very delicious.

12. When did you stop believing in Santa?
At a very young age. Don't remember the exact age but believing in Santa didn't last long haha.

13. How did you find out Santa wasn't real?
When I was younger when I saw my dad and uncle bring in my Christmas present that said "from Santa" on it haha.

14. What is your favorite thing to do to get you in the Christmas spirit?
Wrap presents while listening to festive music. Never fails!

15. When do you put your Christmas decorations up? When do you take them down?
Usually beginning of December to the end of December. 

16. When do you start Christmas shopping?
I started kind of late this year but I like to start slowly in September so I'm not broke by December haha

17. Do you go see a pantomime?
I'll be honest, I didn't know what that is. I had to google it. From the definition on google, I think it's safe to say I've never seen one. So I certainly haven't this year :p

18. Basic or patterned wrapping paper? or gift bags because #GirlHasNoTimeToBeWrapping
Patterned! I love cute designs on wrapping paper. Sometimes I'll wrap it AND put it in a gift bag.... #ThisGirlHasTOOMuchTime hahaha

19. What is your favorite winter tipple?
I did have to ask the girls what this was haha it was explained to me that it's like a Christmas-y drink? Well mine would have to be hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmellows. YUMM..

20. What is your favorite Christmas smell?
Hmm, good question. Well, I like my Bath and Body Works candle in Roasted Marshmellows. Smells delish!

21. Do you have any festive family traditions?
Unfortunately, we don't have any! Maybe when I'm older I'll have a festive tradition with my future husband.

22. What has been your favorite Christmas so far and why?
I don't think I have a favorite. Any Christmas I spend with my family is a good one :)

23. What is your favorite Christmas food?
That's a tough one because we really don't have a traditional Christmas meal. Whatever mom decides to make I guess haha

24. What's your favorite part of Christmas Dinner?
Just like Thanksgiving, my favorite part of Christmas dinner is spending time with the fam! Like I said before, we don't have a certain meal we eat every Christmas so Family and whatever the food is on that day :)

25. What is your favorite Christmas product?
My favorite Christmas product would have to be a bath bomb... does that count?! I tend to love it much more during these cold holiday months rather than the summer.

26. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
We don't really have a tradition. I guess just as everyone else, waking up in the morning to exchange gifts together.

27. What is your most treasured Christmas memory?
I treasure every memory spent with family and friends on Christmas. I really love when I spent Christmas in PR with my brother. I also love my group of friends, we have Friendsmas. Just a couple out of many.

28. Did you ever look for presents before Christmas to see what your parent's had stashed away for you?
Absolutely!! All the time when I was younger! I would pretty much always find it. My sister and I once, we very carefully removed the tape to open the presents to see what it was and then would re-tape it. Haha that was the sneakiest I've been to have a peek at presents haha.

29. Online, highstreet shopping or handmade?
I'm not very good at handmade gifts. This year it's pretty much all been online! It's made it THAT much more simple for me!

30. What time do you wake up on Christmas Day?
Probably around 7am. It's the only day that I wake up that early and can't fall back to sleep! haha.


So those were all the questions! I hope you've enjoyed and that it put you in the festive spirit of Christmas! I'll link the girls that are part of The Blogging Friends that took part in the tag down below so you can check out their answers to these questions. I recommend that you take part as well!

Peta - Pe-ta
Emma - Emmalanglands
Holly - A Branch of Holly
Char - Maltesers and Mumblings
Jenny - Beauty Behind Illness
Emily - EmiMarie
Em - Emmjoy
Shannon - ShanyLou
Elena - Elena Isabelle (YouTube)
Claire - Claire Petersen (YouTube)

Go check out their fun answers to the questions!
This girls are amazing and I can't wait to continue to grow in friendship with them!
If you're reading this, I tag YOU to answer these questions as well. :)

Thanks for reading!
Until Next Time,
Jay

(Sorry if you notice the color on the wording got weird. Don't know why they won't go normal haha)