Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette

Good Morning, Gorgeous!
(If  you're reading this at any other time - Good day/ Good evening/ Good Night, Gorgeous!)

Hope you're doing well. Today I have a small review on my new favorite palette at the moment which is Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette. You guys - I'm OBSESSED with this palette at the moment! It's one of my favorites that I own as of yet.

Every time I open this palette to do my makeup it impresses me more and more. Is there a such thing of a palette making you feel beautiful!? Like I've mentioned in past posts, I'm a sucker for nude shades. It's non-failing!

You can never go wrong with natural shadows. This palette has three different "sections" to it. The daytime section is the top row which consists of three shadows. The brow highlight "Heaven". The lid color "Cashmere Bunny" and the outer corner color "Sexspresso". The classic section consists of "Silk Teddy", "Push-Up" and "Erotica". Fashion is the final section which consists of the shades "Nudie", "Honey Pot" and "Chocolate Martini". Can I just say I love the names of the shadows in this palette. They are so girly and gorgeous.. Cashmere Bunny.. Honey Pot!? I love it. It could just be me though.

I was taking a look around my YouTube subscription box and ended up watching Hannah Joelle's video of her Top 5 Products. I was excited to see that she featured Too Faced Natural Matte palette. It looks like there are a couple of these palettes with a bit of difference to them. Like a series of palette's! Hannah's was obviously an all matte palette (it looks absolutely beautiful and I might just splurge and grab one for myself). What I found interesting when watching her talk about the palette is that the Natural Matte and the Natural Eyes have the same 1st section of shadows! (The shadows of the pictures above) So as you would guess, those are the matte shades in Natural Eyes. If you want to know more about the Natural Matte Palette then check out Hannah's video HERE .

I know what you're thinking, what's the difference between this nude palette and all the others?! Well, I'm glad you asked! What I love about this palette is that you get SOO many different looks from these shades. Not only do you have the different sections with the shades that work well with it, but you can also "mismatch" and try different shades from other sections. You'll have a lot of new looks to try out!

So far, it has been my go-to palette and hasn't disappointed me yet. I would say if you're looking to splurge on a higher end nude make up palette and already have Urban Decay's Naked palettes - this is a must. It is $36 here in the States. I'm not quite sure how it would differ in other countries. If you are in the States and looking to buy this I have Ulta's link to it HERE . Mini Disclaimer: I am not sponsored or affiliated with Ulta or Too Faced whatsoever. I just really enjoy this palette.

If you have this palette or are looking to get it let me know. If you have other favorite nude palette's I'd love to know about them.

Thanks for reading!

-Jay

Liebster Award

Hello there, Lovely!

Welcome back to my blog! Hope you're doing well. I'm back with another Liebster Award post. I love the outreach these posts give. Discovering new blogs and even making friends. Who doesn't love to make new friends!? I was nominated by the absolutely lovely and beautiful Leya from Leluroxx to answer 11 questions that she has asked (Thank youu!).

(Source: google images)

If you're new to these posts then hello! I'm honored mine was the first you've read. This online award is designed for new blogs to be discovered and a way of getting to know a bit about the nominees. Once you have been nominated these are the steps you'll be taking:

1.  Answer the questions that have been given to you by the person who nominated you.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Nominate 11 other bloggers of your choice and set them 11 questions to answer.

Easy peasy and a fun little way of getting to know fellow bloggers. So here I go as I dive in the questions that Leya has given.  Enjoy!

11 Questions Asked

1. Where do you find your inspiration for your blog posts?

Honestly, I try to write about things that interest me. Something I would enjoy reading. It's very difficult for me to just write about anything. Seeing other bloggers who write about things that I enjoy reading makes me work harder to try and bring out the best in my blog.

2. If you could pick a curry to describe your personality which would it be and why?

Ah! I have failed you, Leya! I've actually never had curry before. So I don't really know what's out. It's a great question though, definitely made me giggle!

3. If you could bring a celebrity back from the dead who would it be?

Haha this is a cool question. Would you believe I've never thought about it before. I think I would have to choose Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash. There's just something about the men from that era that interest me and obviously these two are iconic.

4. What is your must have beauty product and item of clothing and why?

I would have to say my must have beauty product right now would have to be mascara. I know it's a cliche answer but as the weather gets warmer and "natural" makeup becomes more of a thing, you always want your lashes to look va va voom! My must have clothing item would be rompers (otherwise known as playsuits). I feel like that's what I'm going for now that the weather is getting warmer. I just love 'em!

5.  Describe yourself in 3 words.

Loving, Bubbely, Short (haha)

6. Pet Peeve?

I have a couple of pet peeve's but the one that I could think of now is misspelling of words or use of double negatives. Now, I am not the grammar police or anything as you can clearly tell by my blog posts. However, auto correct is my best friend with words that I don't know how to spell. As far as double negatives go, just ask my friends and they'll tell you I've corrected them a couple times on it. I've corrected myself on it plenty of times! Just a small pet peeve of mine. :)

7.  Explain your blogging process,  what do you do first and what do you do last?

I don't really have a set way of blogging. Borrrrinnng. I know. My process just consists of taking photos and writing my post. I've only just recently learned how to attach the labels. Sometimes I have the post ready and just need to take photos for them, other times I need the photos already set before I'm motivated to write the actual post. I'm sure one day my answer will change and I'll have more of a process.

8. Where did your blog name originate from?

Well, when I first started my blog it had a horrendous name that I will not mention (although you can search back through my posts and know what it is. Haha) I went on with that for a while before I really thought about what I wanted. I chose "Blissful" because I feel like I'm a pretty happy and bubbely person. "Beauty" because it's what I wanted to focus on - what's "beautiful" to me and what's beautiful in the eyes of others. "Bird" because they're my favorite animals (Sparrows to be exact). Thus, Blissful Beauty Bird became the name.

9. If you could collaborate with anyone on your blog who would it be?

There's so many I couldn't possibly choose one! There are so many amazing bloggers out there. One fashion blogger who always has great posts is Jessie Chanes from Seams For A Desire and that would be a great collaboration. But again sooo many to choose from.

10. If you could be anyone but yourself for a day who would it be?

Besides the obvious comment about being yourself which I truly am happy with. I wouldn't want to be anyone else BUT myself. If there is someone else who's life I'd take a dab in for one day would be Lucy or Lydia from LucyandLydia. Besides them being absolutely gorgeous, those two are ALWAYS happy and look like are truly enjoying themselves which is always nice to see.


11. Biggest fear in life?

My biggest fear in life would be to not be successful in doing something I love and not being happy in the end. I'm a firm believer in "do what you love" and it certainly takes hard work and persistence to get there.

(Thank you Leya for the questions!)

11 Random Facts About Myself

1. I put my trust in Jesus and the Bible is the only book I've been reading.

2. My favorite "colors" would be anything earth toned.

3. If I could have 1 type of food for the rest of my life; it'd be seafood.

4. I'm double jointed on one of my thumbs

5. I've explored a rain forest in Puerto Rico and took a dip in one of it's rivers under the waterfall.

5. I like room temperature water. If I'm out to eat I'll ask for water with no ice.

6. I can't swim (I am trying to learn!)

7. I'm not too much of a jewelry wear-er. I just like statement necklaces.

8. I have 3 older siblings

9. I speak basic Spanish and understand pretty much all of it.

10. I've had two pets in my life (not including fish).

11. I'm a hopeless romantic.

And that's it! Thank you again to Leya from Leluroxx for the great questions and nominating me for this award! You can go check out her blog post on it HERE . Before I begin to list the people I'm going to nominate, I would just like to add if you would like -  put the link to your Liebster Award post down in the comments so I can take a look at yours also!

Here goes my nominees..

Lucy @ LouJay

Aqy @ Skinny Decxf Latte

Katie @ Katie's Blog

Emily @ Emilina

Hannah @ Oh Hello, It's Hannah

Sofie @ Sounds Like Sofie

Eesha @ Eesha's Glam

Molly Mac @ Molly Mac

Melissa @ Here There Everywhere

Happy to announce those were my nominees! I'm excited to see the answers to the questions I'm about to ask!

11 Questions for my nominees..

1. How long have you been blogging for?

2. What inspired you to start blogging?

3. Which post is your favorite that you've written so far?

4. What's your favorite quote to live by?

5. One place you've traveled too that you can visit over again and not get tired of it?

6. Describe your blog in 4 words.

7. You pick up your phone, what's the first app you go on?

8. What routine do you have to unwind?

9. If you could be a character from any show, who would you be and why?

10. Favorite spring clothing item?

11. Advice / encouragement you'd give other bloggers?

There you have it! Thank you so much for reading and taking a little look at random facts behind Blissful Beauty Bird! Have fun with your Liebster Award post as I'm looking forward to reading your answers to these questions.

-Jay

Without A Shadow Of A Doubt

Welcome Back!

One thing I've noticed about my make up is that I tend to stay with what I know. I've contemplated doing a post on all my lipsticks but honestly, they would all be pretty much the same color from different brands. Or the same kind of blush. Same is true for my eye shadows. I've always and still do favor neutral shades verses over the top colors. I'm not much of a bold make up wear-er.. I know me saying this will not stop me from purchasing more nude shadows in the future - I've just come to a knowledge of it. 

Here comes the long winded background story of how I decided to choose this beautiful palette. You might want to grab a coffee. I came across this YouTube video by Sonia where she did an absolutely beautiful purple look. That video itself led me to my endeavor of a higher end palette with a bit of color flowing through it. With some research I came to the conclusion that I wanted the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette. It has some an array of lovely colors that I didn't already have in my collection. I would also like to add that once I get something stuck in my mind - like buying this palette - I get very impatient and have a need to go out right that very moment and buy it. So by no surprise I found myself at Ulta rummaging Urban Decay's  products looking for it. When I was trying to find this it was the beginning of January 2016, and this palette had came out last year. They had a display of it with a tester of the product but no actual palettes to sell. I stalked the store for about a week trying to see if they'd restock when finally an employee let me know that because it was last years palette, they might not be getting it back in stock. I was super bummed about that because I already had my heart set on that one. Before knowing that the new Urban Decay Vice 4 palette was coming out only a week or two after I decided to go for another palette. I was contemplating between the Electric Palette or this Shadow Box palette. I was really looking for a bit of color but I came to the conclusion that the Electric palette was TOO much color for me. I knew I wouldn't be using them all or even at all. So I went for the Shadow Box Palette.

The Urban Decay Shadow Box Palette is small but packs quite a punch. It comes with 12 shades; 11 of them shimmer, 1 matte. I know a few of the colors in this palette are in some of the Naked palettes such as Sin. They are all shimmer  shades except for Blackout. Blackout is the only matte shade in this palette (mind you the shimmer from the other shades do fall out onto Blackout which is why it looks a bit shimmer-y. I assure you, it's not.) It has a lovely array of neutral shades like Lost, Baked Cowboy, and Smog and if you'd like that pop of color you can add the beautiful purple, pink, green and blue shades. I feel like no matter how many neutral palettes you have, and in my case a whole bunch, this palette although small is a gem in the midst of your collection.

Overall I feel that if you're looking to dip your toes in the ocean of beautiful bold colors - this is the palette for you. It is a higher end product but well worth every penny. I say give it a try and see what amazing looks you can get out of the 12 colors in the palette.

If you have this palette, or if you have another bold color palette that you love, let me know!

Thanks for reading!

-Jay

Updated Skin Care Routine

Hello!

I know I made a skin care post over a year ago but I thought it would be a good idea to update it seeing as I use all new products on my face. I've recently been obsessed with Origins and realized that although it's higher up in price, it's used to take care of my skin which I feel is well worth the hefty price tag.

I have the same morning and night routines. The only thing missing for my routine at the moment is using my Clarisonic Mia 2! Using my Clarisonic is a huge part of my skin care because it's an exfoliator. Unfortunately for me, my need for a new brush head is long over due so I haven't been putting it to good use.

Before I begin, let's start off with what my skin type actually is. I have super sensitive skin. It can get irritated very easily. I have combination skin. It gets pretty oily on my T - Zone and at the same time can get dry on other areas of my face. With that in mind I started my journey to finding the perfect skin care products for me. In the past I have used regular drug store brand skin care but as the years went by I wanted to make my skin care a high priority.

I was using Philosophy for a while (which I absolutely loved! It's great and very gentle for the skin). I stocked up on some of those products for a while. I really wanted a deep pore cleansing mask so I started watching reviews of products on Youtube - mostly looking into those Glam Glo Masks that everyone raves about when I came across someone mentioning that they really loved the Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. After a few days of researching the product I decided I wanted to grab one for myself. When I went to the Origins store to buy it I ended up speaking with a woman who worked there who asked me all the right questions about my skin type and suggested I try out the Mega Mushroom Skin Relief line from Dr. Weil's for Origins. I bought the charcoal mask and she sent me home with samples from that line to try out and that's when I fell in love! Not long after I bought a Christmas bundle with the whole line in travel sized form (It was actually a Christmas present from my mom, she gave me the money to go grab it - haha).

So here I am with skin products that I love. I start off by washing my face with the Mega Mushroom Skin Relief Face Cleanser after I make sure my make up has been taken off. When I'm done with that I put some Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Toner on a cotton pad and dab that all over my face and let that dry. This Neutrogena product is the only drug store skin care product I'm using right now and I feel like it really helps to fight off any of those pesky spots. When my face has dried I take the Mega Mushroom Skin Relief Advanced Face Serum and apply that all over and let that dry. (I don't know the science behind it but I feel as though serum's can dry the face a little - like tighten it. If anyone knows why please let me know!) Right after that I move onto the Mega Mushroom Skin Relief Soothing Face Cream and apply that all over. This is one of my favorite products, one reason being the smell of this cream is absolutely amazing. It's so fresh and clean. All the products in this line smell relatively like this but I feel as though I can smell it more in this one. I don't know why :) Also, it's more of a face lotion than it is a face moisturizer. It is a bit thicker in consistency.

After all that my skin has never felt cleaner! Kind of like it's never been touched by impurities before! It takes fresh and clean to a whole new meaning! At least once a week I like to pamper my skin and put on the Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I warm up a towel by placing it under hot running water and then placing that on my face to open up my pores. When I'm done with that I slab on the good stuff! I layer that on and sit around and watch Netflix or do something actually productive while that sits and hardens on my face. Now I'm not sure how long you're actually supposed to leave this on for but I keep it on until it feels like my face is going to crack.. After that feeling I rinse it off with the same warm towel and then moisturize my face as needed.

As of right now I'm loving my skin care routine. I feel like I'm really taking the time to pamper and nourish my skin. I would also like to add that these products (except for the Active Charcoal Mask) are travel sizes and I will be purchasing the full size of each product once these run out.

Let me know what your skin care routine is and if you'd tried any of the Origins products! If you want to check out my old skin care routine, you can find that HERE !

Mini Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I bought these products myself (with the help of my mother :) )

Thanks for reading!

-Jay

Eimi Volumizing Products

At the salon where I work, we've recently converted over from being a Paul Mitchell based salon to a Wella based salon. Wella is a European based hair care company. For some reason I was beyond excited when our massive shipment of Wella products came in. They have hair care as well as hair styling products and thats what drew me the most. Wella's hair styling products are called Eimi. Cuuutteee! Eimi has products that are catergorized such as Volume, Smooth, Texture, Shine, and Fixing Hairsprays. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in a post before but I loovvvee big hair. The more volume the better. I, however, don't know how to style my hair to give it more of a lift. My hair is quite fine, flat, and lifeless so when I have a chance to get it styled by someone I jump at the chance.

I'm highly influenced by how well a product is packaged and I'm loving Eimi's simple yet girly style. I'm slowly building a collection of the volumizing products. The first that caught my eye were the Root Shoot and the Sugar Lift; both in the volumizing category.

I have very fine hair especially on the top of my head so it's very easy to for my hair to just sit flat. I picked up these two simple products to help me during my styling process. Root Shoot is pretty self explanatory. It's a root lifting moose that you apply to damp hair and then blow dry accordingly. Sugar Lift is a... well let me explain it the way Wella does. It's a "rich flexible spray infused with sugar to provide lift, shine and touchable grippy texture". (You have to admit you'd be interested in anything called Sugar Lift!) You can apply it to damp hair or dry hair to give it some texture.

It's all trial and error as I test these out and learn more on how to style my hair the way I'd really like it to be. I'll put up an updated post on how these turned out for me.

Have you used Eimi before? What's your favorite styling product?

Thanks for reading!

-Jay

Date Night Outfit

I love to shop. When it comes to clothing, I like to shop for things that are more dressy rather than casual. So here I have a Date Night Outfit idea! This might be much for a first date (I know darn well I contemplated wearing it for one then talked myself out of it) but I figured if you've been with your significant other a while and planned a date night out to a fancy restaurant this would certainly be something to wear. It doesn't just have to be a "date night" to wear this out either, it's perfect for a night out with the girls as well! Best part about it was I didn't spend a lot on this outfit!

Special thanks to my bestie Mia who takes all of my outfit photos for me. She's an amazing photographer and I couldn't be more proud or thankful!

I bought my top at a Charlotte Russe in New York over a year ago. I think it was priced at $25 originally but it had a sticker on it that said it was $10 not once but twice on the tag. When I went to ring out, the lady at the check out said it wasn't supposed to be with the $10 items but because it was she was honoring the price. So I got this beautiful top for ten bucks. Whhhhaaat!? That's an absolute deal. I fell in love with it the second my friends showed it to me. They know me so well! ;) I've always really liked peplum style shirts but the detailed lace on this one is what I love most about it.

I got all these items quite a while ago so I'm not 100% sure when or how much my skirt was, but I'm know I bought it at Savers for a bargain! You can find many like it around, it's just a regular black pencil skirt. My heels were bought for me for $15 bucks at Charlotte Russe and they're one of my favorite pairs. They only come out on special occasions.

This outfit is easy to put together and I think it came out perfectly for a night out. 

Just a disclaimer for future outfit posts; I would like to start writing down not only what I'm wearing but what makeup I have on. Unfortunately, this photo shoot was done during the summer months and my routines and products have changed since then so I don't remember what I was wearing during this one. I will be mentioning it from here on out.

Let me know what your favorite outfit for a night out is!

Thanks for reading!

-Jay

New Year, New You

Happy 2016 everyone!

I know for the past almost 2 years, I've been off and on with my blogging which isn't convenient at all and I truly apologize about. I can sit here and list excuses but I won't do that. ;) Instead, I can tell you all about how I am setting goals for myself for this new year. I really enjoy New Years because I feel like it's a clean slate. You're starting off fresh and to me personally that thought is just really motivating. I know it's a cliche to insist on "New Year, New You" type of deal as I know I'm going to have the same habits that I've had the past year. What's really been driving me this new year is the thought of my personal achievable goals. What I mean by that is, I know myself and I know if I set the goal of working out and clean eating all year, I'm setting myself up to fail. I'm not big on working out (which I know is a habit I need to change but I'm sure I'll slowly get used too.) and let's be honest I'm not the best "clean eater"; I like my chinese food, and my fries, and my pizza. Although I can work on bettering myself and how I take care of myself, I know I won't be hitting the gym all week. The goals I'm setting myself this new year are a bunch of small things to better improve myself and my habits and even get used to making new habits.

I'd like to share a few of these personal goals that I'm setting for myself for 2016.

1. Blogging

I've made it a personal goal of mine to do better with my blogging. Even if it's a small post I want to be able to gather more content for my blog and also just get used to setting up times throughout my week to devote to blogging.

    2. Night Routines

We've all had those nights where you got home late, either from work or running errands or even hanging out with friends, and have not taken off your makeup, washed your face, or brushed your teeth before bed (Yikes!). I've done that more times then I'd like to admit. I've made it a goal to do night routines every night before bed. I have a new skin care regime that I'd like to stick too, it seems to be working so far. Hopefully that will be something I'll be working on for a post pretty soon.

    3. Budget Planning

I've been super excited about budget planning recently. Although it doesn't sound fun, it's pretty rewarding. I know there's quite a few app's out there for your phone that can budget for you, but there's just something about writing it all out. Or maybe that's just me? I went on Etsy (my obsession with Etsy lately has been unreal) and I bought a decorative budget planner and it came with all the stops. It was less than $10 bucks and all I had to do was print them out after buying it. I've also been reading some awesome blogs that have a lot of great posts about budgeting. One of them being The Budget Mama. She has great content, I would recommend a read!

     4. Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

I'm a pretty shy person when you first meet me. Once I'm comfortable with someone I'll start to break out of my shell a bit. I feel like one thing about me is I never let loose too much because I'm afraid of what people might think. It's stupid but it's true. That's something I'd like to change this year, to let loose and have as much fun and try new experiences as much as I can. To step out of my comfort zone.


That's all my goals thus far. We have a whole year to add on more amazing goals to look back on by the end of the year. Hopefully by the end of this year I can do a goals update and let you know how I did on these. I'll also keep you updated if more have been added and if I did well on those.

Happy New Year :)

-Jay