Bath Time!

Okay, I have a new obsession. This happens once every so often. As I've posted about before, I love LUSH. Like, I'm kind of addicted to it. I can't remember the last time I took a bath without a bath bomb floating along side me. Anyway, last week as I was browsing through my other obsession, Etsy, I decided to look into homemade bath bombs. I can't believe it had never occured to me to research this before! Where's my tardy slip?

I came across a TON of shops selling bath bombs. Most of them, unfortunately, were a little too boring for my taste. I like my bombs colorful, fun, and as glitzy as possible. Luckily, I did find a few shops that were offering bombs that are just my type.

Keep in mind, this is not a review by any means. I haven't even ordered any of these yet. I just thought I'd share my findings with you, and maybe some of you have tried them and can give me some feedback before I buy anything. With Lush, I'm familiar with all their products and it's a brand I trust. These are all new to me, so I obviously want a little more info before I go on a buying spree :)

Now this first one is the cutest one. These bombs are adorable, the name is adorable, it's all just too adorable.

 

Feeling Smitten. How cute are these Cupcake Bath Bombs?!

They are made right here in the USA and are Paraben and Sulfate free! They also come in delicious scents...Mint Condition, Vanilla Cake, and Pink Bliss sound especially yummy.



Although I came across this shop looking for Bath Bombs, what really caught my eye here are these Layered Cupcake Sugar Scrubs. Obviously the packaging on these are just too cute to handle. I would be tempted to eat them, I'm sure of it! The Yellow on is Lemon Custard. The Blue one is Mai Tai. I think I'll eventually end up purchasing the Mai Tai just because of the description on the website. Hints of lime, orange, papaya and passion fruit? Yes please!

 

 

The best part of this shop? It is budget friendly! With the exception of maybe one item, everything is under TWENTY DOLLARS!

 

 

Another shop that really impressed me was Antoinette's Bath House.

 

 

This one is even more affordable, and just as adorable! They offer a huge array of bombs and other bath products. This bomb is right up my alley! I love funfetti... mix that into a bath bomb and I'm officially sold!

 

They also have a wide range of Bubble Cakes! I would post my favorite but honestly, I love all of them. You have to see these for yourself! They have the Funfetti Vanilla in Bubble Cake form and several other lovely, glittery, beautiful cakes. I can't wait to try these babies!

 

I've gone ahead and posted the links for both of these shops down below, as well as some other Etsy shops that I found. Not all of them carry actual Bath Bombs, but they are all bath related and that's good enough for me!

 

If you've tried any of these brands or bombs before, please let me know! I'd love to hear what you thought of them!

 

Feeling Smitten
Antoinette's Bath House
The Bathtub Bakery
Sheri's Soap Opera
Smooch Bath and Body
LoveLee Soaps
Two Flamingos 





Marj's Naturals Review!

I was going to write this review a few days ago, but I decided to test some of it out at the pool yesterday and out on the town last night. So now that I have been testing these products over the last week and a half I'm ready to write my honest review!

Marjorie, who runs Marj's Naturals, graciously sent me these products specifically to review for you all, and I'm so happy she did, because this is a brand that I can really get behind. Not only are these products really well made, they are also cruelty free and they are free of any harmful ingredients. These products are like dessert for your skin!

Upgrade Complexion Face Primer. This is so wonderful. I know some girls skip on the primer, I'm not one of them, but I don't judge. Some people don't apply primer before makeup because they feel they don't need it.. or that foundation will do the same job. This product will change your mind! It's not like the other primers you've tried before! This one has a pearlescent finish and light reflecting ingredients! I'm obsessed. You smooth this silky primer over your skin and it totally transforms your complexion. It not only makes your skin look bright and awake, but it gives you such a beautiful glow. I'm almost exclusively a tinted moisturizer kind of girl, but I put this on for the first time and said to heck with TM. This is my new go to. It just makes you complexion look so beautiful and dewy. It also contains vitamins A and E, so it not only looks great, it's great for you!

 

 

Next up is my new FAVORITE lip balms. Oh my goodness, you guys, these are delicious! Marjorie was kind enough to send me the lip balm TRIO. They are all 100% natural, handmade, and they all contain ingredients with healing properties. I'll give you her description of the three balms, and then my opinion:

*Honey Lemon - citrusy lemon paired with sweet honey makes this lip balm a perfect treat for your lips. Ingredients: Shea butter, Olive Oil, Sunflower oil, Sweet Almond oil, Honey, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Beeswax, Lemon essential oil.

*Mango Orange - sweet, citrusy, refreshing flavor, extra moisturizing, softening and hydrating. Ingredients: Mango butter, Olive oil, Sunflower oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Honey, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Beeswax, Sweet Orange essential oil.

*Choco Mint - with a gentle and mild, sweet, fresh minty-chocolatey flavor. Ingredients: Cocoa butter, Shea butter, Tumaco Cocoa powder, Honey, Virgin Coconut Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Spearmint essential oil.

 

I loved all three! I always have trouble with balms and glosses, especially at work. It's a little warm at work, and after a few hours my lips are always sticky... Not with these. They go on so smooth and silky. You honestly don't even need a gloss over these, they give you just enough shine that you can pull them off alone, but not so much that you looked like you caked on layers of gloss. It's perfect. I can wear these ALL DAY long and they never give me that sticky feeling after a few hours. The Choco Mint was my favorite, it smells delicious, it tastes delicious, it's just an all around win. But seriously, these are all great. My roommate, who is a male, loved the Mango Orange. It's not as strongly scented as the other two, so he felt a little better about wearing that one out lol. Honey Lemon is scented exactly like you would home. It is so fresh and clean and summery. Also, I did wear my choco mint to the pool yesterday. I have issues with chapped lips, especially in the summer time. This stayed on through all my swimming and sunbathing! When I left the pool after four hours, my lips were just as soft and moisturized as they have been since I started using these babies! I highly, HIGHLY recommend these balms. Use them all day and even at night before bed, and I promise, your mouth will be so soft and beautiful! I most certainly going to keep these in my beauty collection from here on out, because after using them for over a week, I already can't imagine my life without them!

Since we are on the topic of lips, I'll share with you another lip product! Moroccan Mystique Lip Veil in Desert Jewel. This is such a great shade. It's just a hint of color, and it's perfect for summer! I have worn this everyday since receiving it. I love that a little goes a long way with this. Just a little bit, and you have the perfect glossy pout with enough color that you don't even need to layer it over a lipstick! I also love that it has SPF in it. Like I said, I struggle with dry chapped lips in the summer, and this gives me that extra protection I need. The other shades she has created are equally as beautiful...I, for one, can't wait to get my hands on Sand Storm and Mirage!

 

 

She also sent me a hair product! I wasn't expecting this, but as with all her product, I was very pleased! This is Shine Coconut Amla Revitalizing Hair Treatment. If you've read some of my previous posts, you'll know I have a crazy mess of hair growing. It's all over the place, frizzy, and big. It is not often I find a product, especially a hair treatment that works for me, but this one did much better than I anticipated. Her decription says:

For their to-die-for shiny hair, Indian lovelies give themselves a weekly coconut oil scalp massage to promote growth and wash away tress stress. Treat yourself to this extraordinary Indian oil blend of Coconut, Amla, Henna, and Avocado—each vitamin-enriched oil with its own agenda for taking the guesswork out of luscious locks. Coconut Oil, with its essential fatty acids, rejuvenates tired hair, while Amla Extract (Vitamin C) and natural Henna add volume and shine. Tiny grape seeds offer oil that protects and helps prevent free radical damage—the result is a more tamable mane. Rich in Vitamin A, Avocado oil penetrates to nourish the scalp, encourage healthy hair growth and quench dryness (a trick overseas women have relied on for years).

This really does make your tresses look so shiny! I've tried a few other shampoos and serums for shine, and maybe one in five will work at all. I was pleased that this is another to add to my collection. It smoothed my hair down enough so that I didn't have to flat iron it last night before going out! Sounds silly, but that is a big deal for me! My hair is naturally very wavy and, as much as I love my waves, I don't often go out with them in full force because I can't handle the frizz! This treatment made it possible to wear my natural hair! I've also noticed that after a few treatments, I am having a lot less trouble with tangling. After the shower, and when I first wake up, my hair is always a rats nest. Just a mess of tangles and frizz and static. After two treatments I noticed a huge difference! I woke up this morning and probably could have gotten away with out brushing it!

Lastly another fave! Let me just say, I am ADDICTED to natural soaps. I have them all over the house. I never but soap at the store anymore, only handmade. They are almost always better. Strawberries and Cream Soap with Shea Butter. At first glance, I was thinking this is just a handsoap with an amazing scent and a cute design that will look great in my bathroom. This was a great surprise. This soap is actually a wonderful FACE bar! It has worked wonders for me! First of all, this does the job of about three different products in my bathroom cabinet. It contains Rose Oil, a natural astringent, that tones your skin and also helps to keep wrinkles at bay! Best of all the Strawberry has properties that do two jobs. It not only exfoliates the skin, making it look smoother and brighter, it also TREATS ACNE. This cute little bar of soap tones, exfoliates, treats breakouts, prevents wrinkles, and strengthens skin tissue! It's a little miracle bar! This is another product that has definitely earned a forever place in my routine. She also has several other face bars that sound equally as impressive. I can't wait to try them!

So that is my honest opinion. I honestly believe, if you try any of these products, you will be as impressed as I am. Sometimes, with handmade, natural brands, the products are cheaply made.. or they just don't work. This is a really strong brand. I hope to see Marj's Naturals grow and grow, because it is well deserved.

To view other products or to place an order: Marj's Naturals

Etsy Shop: Marj's Naturals





 

 

Rainbow!

So I guess I'm kind of cheating. I wasn't actually tagged to do this. I just happened across it on another blog and thought it looked like fun, and since I haven't been able to update super often, what with a new baby in the house (not my baby, my nephew <3), I thought this would be a fun little post to share some of my very favorite products with you! Plus, I thought it would be appropriate with the whole DOMA/Prop 8 victories... and it's also pride week here in my town! 

The Rainbow tag is pretty self explanatory. You pick a product for each color of the rainbow (and pink, if you want). I actually had so many products from each color that this became a lot harder than I anticipated. I especially struggled with Indigo, which ultimately I kind of just replaced with Navy lol. Anyways, here goes :)

RED:
This one was actually really easy, this product was the first thing that popped into my head! It's the Sephora+Pantone Lip Luster Lipstick in Cayenne. I actually bought this shade about three weeks ago on sale for THREE DOLLARS. I'm not sure if they still have it or not, but for three bucks, it's definitely worth checking out.

ORANGE:
I'm very fair skinned, and the Sephora Moisturizing Bronzing Body Lotion is the only thing that works for me. It doesn't give you a huge amount of color, so I don't have to worry about being orange. After 2-3 of application it is the perfect amount of color to look like I have a good natural tan. The other upside is that this has never left me streaky at all. The downside... I don't think they are going to keep making this :( I went to my Sephora a few weeks ago to restock, and they were out. They said they are only getting the spray kind now, which I'm not sure about. Luckily, I have five bottles of this, but once they are gone... they are gone.

YELLOW:
Suave Professional Dry Conditioner has a been a lifesaver! During summer my hair becomes my number one enemy. This little can always comes to my rescue! I cannot stand when I run my hands through my hair and it gets stuck in all the tangles! Sadly, it's almost unavoidable in summer time as I'm always riding around with the windows down, which turns my hair to a rats nest. This detangles, smooths, and generally freshens my hair. If I'm out all day at a concert or festival or something, I like to use it after I use my Psssst! Instant Dry Shampoo.

GREEN:
Not only is this my favorite green eyeshadow, it's one of my favorite eyeshadows of all time.Tarina Tarantino Eye Dream Hypershadow in Tokyo Hardcore. The packaging is what initially drew me in, but the product is BEAUTIFUL! It's the most intense neon green, with the most amazing sparkles in it. I'm a sucker for anything that glitters and sparkles. I wish I could find more ways to wear this, I just love it that much.

BLUE:
Like I said. I really love glitter! I actually have this eyeliner in almost every shade available. This is shade 06 Teal. Not exactly Blue, but close enough. This is perfect when I go out at night.

INDIGO:
This one I was at a loss for. Apparently, Indigo isn't my color because I own pretty much nothing in this color! So instead of Indigo, I give you Navy-ish, It's closest I could get! This is OPI in Russian Navy.

VIOLET:
I recieved this from Influenster and Mary Kay a few weeks ago in a Vox Box for review. I love it so much! I had never tried Mary Kay before, but this was a great introduction to it. This product is not only beautiful ber pretty versatile. This one is in the shade Violet Storm. I'm not sure what other shades they carry, but if they are as good as this one I will definitely buy a few more!

PINK:
This is one of my all time favorite lip products. I use this every single day and it never gets old. I'm addicted. Soap And Glory A Great Kisser Lip Moisture Balm in Juicy Peach. Seriously, I cannot express through words how much I love this stuff. Oddly enough, it's the only Soap and Glory product I've every purchased, but since buying it, I want to hugely expand my S&G collection. If they make this, I have to see what other life changing things they make!

If you've ever done this tag, let me know! I wanna see all of them! And if you haven't done this, then I tag you!

7 Deadly Sins of Beauty!



Well this post has taken longer than expected. With a new baby in the house and summer just getting started, I have been a busy bee. Better late than never, though, right? So here it is... And I promise, I'll try to be quicker with the updates in the future!

Before I start, I'd like to apologize for some of these pictures :/ Since I'm new to blogging I never had a reason to get a great camera. Mine is decent but honestly, I have no idea how to really use it. So my pictures are pretty hit or miss. Hopefully I'll figure out how to rectify that in a timely manner!

So I was tagged by Glitz, Glam, and Zebra ( Check out her blog. It's so much fun, I swear!) to do the 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty Tag. It was actually a lot more thought provoking than I had thought it would be, but it was a lot of fun going back through my collection! I had actually totally forgotten I even had some of these! So thanks for tagging me!


1.) Greed: What Is Your Most Expensive Beauty Item?
This is one of my very favorite palettes, shows and brands, so, naturally I had to have it! When I purchased it, I think I paid around $70 for it. My sister, however, bought it a few months after it's release and she only paid $35. I don't even care, it was so worth it. As you can tell, I use this one quite often. It has some really great neutrals and some really beautiful dark shades if you like a super dramatic look. I'm a sucker for a vampy face :)

 

2.) Wrath: What item do you have a love hate relationship with?
This was an easy one. Blush. I love blush, adore it, but often it looks ridiculous on me. Sometimes I will find a perfect shade that magically works with my skin, but it doesn't happen ofter. I have very fair skin and my cheeks are a little pink naturally. Basically, in the winter, when my cheeks aren't so flush, I love blush. In the summer, when my cheeks get pinkish, I hate it.

3.) Gluttony: Which brand takes up most of your collection?
This one surprised me. I have ALOT of Too Faced and a lot of Benefit. But as I was combing through my collection, I realized that what I have most of, is the actual Sephora brand! I guess it makes sense, every time I go into Sephora looking for a specific product from another brand, I always end up buying a few things from the Sephora brand (especially lipstick, it appears.)

4.) Sloth: What product do you neglect the most due to laziness?
Makeup Primer! I always use moisturizer and foundation but sometimes, especially for a typical day, I skip the primer. For some reason, it doesn't make a huge difference to me. I don't have a ton of trouble with makeup not lasting or staying in place on my face. Now, if I'm going to be outside all day, or if I'm getting dolled up for something fancy, I try to remember this step. But 70% of the time, it gets passed over.

(Lancôme La Base Pro)



5.) Pride: What gives you the most confidence?
This one has two answers, because I couldn't choose just one. Red Lips is kind of a given for a lot of girls I think. This specific vampy red is my favorite confidence booster. I think red lips immediately makes a girl look so much sexier and more dramatic. The hard part is finding the right red for you. Believe me, I know how difficult that can be!
The other answer is hot pink fingernails. It seems silly, but when my nails are perfectly manicured and this hot shade of pink, it always puts a little something extra in my step!

(Essie Bachelorette Bash and Kat Von D Beranice)

6.) Lust: Which item is at the top of your beauty wish list?
I'm sure I'm not the only one dying to get my hands on this. It's so much fun! The colors are amazing and it's Disney! I'm so glad Sephora is doing these Princess collections because I'm in love with Disney and Sephora. The two combining is just a dream come true. Here's hoping that after the Princess collection they can do a Villain collection!

7.)Envy: Which makeup product/ look is great on others but not on yourself?
I have purchased SO many blue eyeshadows hoping that I could find the perfect one for me, but it always ends in tears and wasted money! I love blue eyeshadow on other girls! For some reason, no matter how little I apply, I always end up looking like Mimi from the Drew Carey show. I've come to terms with it though, and have found something to ease the pain. Electric Blue eyeliner. It's as close as I'll ever get!

(Sephora Prisma Chrome in Sapphire Shine)

I hope you guys enjoyed that as much as I did. I tag ALL OF YOU! Seriously, I love this tag and want to see everyones answers on my desk tomorrow morning! Honestly though, I wanna know!

Country Music and Babies

I have finally have a day to sit down and update my blog! I tried to do it last night, but every two minutes I started dozing off, so i decided to wait until today so I could be a little more alert.
It's been a very hectic week!

 I left for Nashville last Wednesday. Nashville is about a five hour drive from my place in Ohio, so alot of being stuffed in a car, but totally worth it. We got to Nashville around ten and checked into our hotel. Then we went to Play Dance Bar. It's a dance/drag bar right outside of downtown Nashville. The drag show was AMAZING and a little heartbreaking, because those drag queens are BEAUTIFUL. On my best day I couldn't compete with those glamazons. While we were there we also got to listen to the new Wynona Judd dance track and she was there as well to help promote it! Really exciting for a country music fan!

The next few days were spent walking around Nashville, day drinking, rubbing elbows with celebrities, listening to great music, and very little sleeping. Oddly enough, I didn't wear ANY of the outfits I had planned on wearing. The weather was a little different than I had planned for, so I just rearranged some of the pieces I had brought and made it a little more suitable. The last two days we were there, I wore tshirts that we had bought at Fest. What can I say? Sometimes I just choose comfort over looking fabulous.

We came home late late Sunday night/early Monday morning, and I still couldn't get any rest because they were inducing my sister! We went to the hospital at 9:00am and at 11:50pm our baby boy arrived! I'm such a proud Aunt. I cried the whole time and now I am absolutely head over heels in love with him. He's perfect!

Anyway, Expect more updates now that I'm home and I have a little more time. As an apology here are some pictures!

Nashville Prep: Day Two (What I'm Wearing)

We are down to six days until we are Nashville bound. As I'm writing this I'm listening to my CMA Fest playlist on Spotify to get myself in the right mindset. It's boiling hot in my apartment, which normally I hate, but it actually helped me today. The atmosphere in my place today is about the same as it will be in Nashville (yes, it's that hot in here) so it was actually beneficial while planning my outfits!

I took a few pictures on my phone while I was getting things together. Nothing, of course, is set in stone yet. I won't be 100% unil tomorrow night, when my roomie gets home and gives me his opinions. Needless to say, things could change quite a bit at that time. Also, I didn't take pictures of the jeans I'm wearing, mostly because I couldn't really fit them in the picture using a small camera phone. But, if you were wondering, I'm wearing basic denim capris and shorts everyday. It's really the only way to go in this heat.

Sorry that there aren't any links. To be honest most of this stuff was either no longer listed, or I got it at thrift shops and have no idea where it originally came from. Most everything is really easily duplicated though :)

I really really love pink and I also have an obsession with leopard print. The top came from DEB years ago. And the cami came from WALMART for only $5, I bought it about a month ago, so these actually might still be available! They are super comfy and come in a million different colors!

 

The top was from DEB also, as I used to shop there all the time when I was 19-21. The cardigan is one from a thrift store a few years ago. It's jersey knit, so it's light and airy and perfect for somebody who hates to go sleeveless, but still doesn't want to burn to death in the sun :)

 

I don't know why I love this look so much. The button down is from The Avenue, but you can get them pretty much anywhere. The bustier underneath I got on sale at Torrid last year. I don't think they carry it anymore, but I know they have some that are very similar!

 

I got both of these pieces at DOTS. I bought these both on sale also (that vest was $3.) Unfortunately, because I buy most things on sale, they are usually gone pretty quick, and I've never seen another vest quite like this one :/

 

The cami is just a basic white one that you can get pretty much everywhere. The jacket is from the Avenue. I love the lace strip down the middle of the back, it just makes it look a little prettier and gives it something extra.

 

 

After I get my outfits completely ironed out and set in stone, I will start accesorizing and adding some finishing touches. Overall, I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with... especially since I didn't have to purchase a single new item, these were all already in my closet. Some of these I had never though to wear together. Luckily, I decided to try to mix things up a little bit for this post, and it paid off as far as I'm concerned!

 

Nashville Prep : Day One (Face)

Today is officially seven short days until I head out of Ohio, with my three best friends, for Nashville and the CMA Fest. As much as I hate waiting and hoping for the next few days to pass by, I do enjoy the pre CMA planning. This next seven days are the days for planning my makeup, nails, hair and outfits for each day at Fest, and I genuinely enjoy it!

 Knowing how to paint my face is not as simple as it sounds. I have to be careful about the makeup I use because, A.) I have very fair, easily burnt skin, which means I have to lather on sunscreen before applying my makeup and B.) Nashville is very hot, and we spend pretty much the whole day outside walking around to different stages, so I need a face that is going to stick with me. I won't have time to reapply every hour or so. Some girls are naturally pretty enough to hit the streets with the BARE minimum and get by with it, I am not that lucky. I can't leave that hotel (no matter how much I may want to) without a full face on. From SPF to eyeliner. So today, I spent several hours on Youtube and other blogs looking at different tutorials that I think will work for me. There were soooo many to chose from, which is really nice. There is something for every skin tone, type, and problem. These were my favorites. Keep in mind, you don't have to follow these to a T. Certain colors that work for these girls, may not work for me, or you... These are just some general ideas, and with a little tweaking, I think they will work just fine for me :)



Summer time, for me at least, usually means late nights. Especially during CMA. We spend a lot of nights out at bars and partying with friends. So, needless to say, this one is especially important for me.


I don't know that I could pull this one off. I look a little bittle crazy without a good solid eyeliner and some color, but I know a lot of girls prefer this look, especially in the summer. So here's to ya :)


Coral is my favorite color. I don't have blue eyes, which this video is mostly geared towards, but I still think it will work for me. I plan on trying this look on one of the days when none of my clothing or accessories are coral.

I'm excited to try this one on one of our nights out. I love the bright colors, but I'm a little scared to wear this during the day in Nashville. I'm afraid after a few hours in that bright Tennessee sun, this will wind up all down my face. Once night falls, and the whole town cools down a little, I'm going to give this one a whirl!

This look is one of those staples that really can look great on anyone. You might have to go a shade or so lighter, or darker to make it perfect, but it works for everyone!


Lastly, I chose this one, because In the summertime I love a little pop of color in my classic eye makeup looks. The little dusting of that minty shadow just makes this look feel so much more appropriate for summer!

So those are my general makeup plans for Nashville. As always, I'll follow each look with a misting of hairspray. I always hear mixed reviews on that step, but I swear by it!
Ps. If you are a country music fan, make plans to hit up the CMA Fest next year! It's the best party of the season! Anyone else going?
XOXO