Pop Sugar Must Have Resort Box 2014

Hey Gals! 
******Update added May1st******
I just got an email that said:

I thought Wow! cool! I should go update my blog post. When I got here I realized the post was never published!  So now I will make sure it goes live!

I have heard and seen tons of amazing things from Pop Sugar. I am in the process of cleaning out and reorganizing all my makeup and jewelry so I'm certainly not ready to commit to a new subscription box right now. 

However PopSugar has Special Edition boxes from time to time. The first spoiler I saw was for a Turkish bath towel. I was very shocked to see that a light, thin towel retailed for $75 plus shipping! 

The boxes go for $100 and i decided to take the plunge. 

As to be expected the box was well packed and is perfect for gift giving! The eyeliner box was a tad bit crushed but no damage and the face spray was a little leaky on the top. Because it was so well packaged there was no leaking anywhere else :D

First off the towel:

Its just a towel, right? NO!

It is the softest most wonderful thing ever and I don't know how I lived without it. Seriously! Its half bamboo half cotton. It is super absorbent. Yet dries insanely fast. Just draping it on your shoulders feels luxurious. I've never felt so strongly about a towel before.  Its great for travel as a blanket too! 

*cough* 

Sorry I'm pretty excited about the Turkish bath towel. 

The face spray comes from Clarks botanicals. It has anti aging properties and has a nice refreshing tingly feel to it. 

The eyeliner comes from smashbox and is lovely! A nice blue and gold duo. My high school colors were blue and gold so its extra bonus for me! They are limited so it may not be around long. 

The clutch comes from RB of MCD the closest style I could find was here. Its hard to place the value on it but most of their clutches go from 200-450. So lets call it $100 to be fair. 

The lave feels as nice as it smells. Again its great for travel because i also can double as a shampoo. Cruelty free and no chemicals! 

I love love the bracelet stack! Turquoise paired with gold is always something I'm drawn to. Sisco Burluti made this set exclusively for the box. Similar stacks on their site retail for about 200. They have some weight to them and are very well made. 

Last up is the Salt Water Taffy from Salty Road. One word : Yum! 


Values Calculated before shipping and to the best of my knowledge. 

Bracelet Stack- ~$200
Eyeliner- $24
Clutch- ~$100 
Towel- $75

Face Mist- $45
Lave-$25
Taffy- $6.50 

A grand total of $475.50 for $100 :D

I am quite pleased with this box! They really put a great deal of thought into it and I was not disappointed! 

Julep Plie Wand and May 2014 colors

Hey gals!!

Early March Julep launched a crowdfunding campaign for the plie wand.
 If you have ever painted, drawn or wrote on paper, then you know that using a brush, pencil or pen that is this big:
 |----|
 is not as comfortable or easy to control as one that is longer. 
Instantly I was super excited!

But then I found out that Julep intended on changing their cap design and making us buy additional caps  *sad panda*

After some chatter and emails from various ladies Julep changed it up a bit and made the caps fit over the existing under-caps *happy panda!*

I was all over that crowd-funding! Sadly my bank account couldn't allow me to do much more than the $20 pre pay box.

After what seems like YEARS ( only actually a little over a month) I ripped open my box as soon as the mail lady drove away! I won't lie I felt very much like Gollum when he had the ring!

Score! a free Yumi! I wanted to pick that one up last time but didn't!

Nice fancy packaging :D

Pull off overcap:

 Push on Magnetic Cap:

 Click on wand: 

It's fully adjustable so you can make it best for you. I found straight worked best for my dominant (right) hand. And bent worked best for my left. 

I found the brush was much easier to control and was much less stress on my wrist. I think this is a huge hit especially for a blogger or anyone with wrist issues ( Carpal tunnel, arthritis, ect)

 Is the plie a must have? Well no. You can still polish without one, but why would you want to? Two extra magnetic overcaps and an extra brush were also included. 

On to the colors! 

Yumi is the loverly glitter topper. 

Saaya is the golden apricot shimmer that I'm holding.

Laree is the golden pink Taffeta Shimmer on my nails. 

Im super happy with this month and I'm eager to hear what all the other Mavens think!

If you aren't a maven yet nows a perfect time to join! Heres a referral link :D 

GlamST : Looks + new eye features LAUNCH

Hey Gals!

Today I have something super fun to show you!

GlamST

I was invited to try out a new site and I'm really impressed with it!

First and foremost make sure you have some extra time when setting up. The program is really detailed and asks you to place dots in specific places. Once you have uploaded your photo and placed your dots its time to play!

Not only does it show a product on you, but also displays price, colors available, and how you want to wear it. You can see below there is even a place to rate it.

The tested product page shows what you have "on" in case you forget 

You can save your looks, share them, even get a before and after comparison! I do recommend taking your photo without makeup (gasp) That way the results are more true. 

If you are new to makeup the application helps you along! Start with your foundation and on the right bottom will be a little prompt telling you whats next:

 The newest feature for this site is the eyes! 

If you find the virtual makeup is not going in the right places you can adjust your dots at anytime. The site is in pre launch so do be patient. I found a few times I was logged out randomly and I also had an error at the signup. But over all this is a great site and I can't wait to make more looks. 

You can click other ladies looks and give them a go girl if it looks good for them. You can also try out similar looks that others have created. I found the samples to be accurate for the things I own and have tried. This is as close to try before you buy can get. 

Share this with your friends and family! The more people on it the more reviews and look sharing we can do!

Aurora Lacquers

Hey Gals!

Im delighted to present some amazing polishes made by a mother/daughter indie company.
They launched their first polish on Valentines day this year. I know this because I was the first official sale :D And yes I brag because I'm proud!

In just 2 short months the duo has already made over 100 sales! Todays stats:

I was sent four minis for review.  I wore all of them and was not disappointed! All had great formulas, dry time was on point, especially for a glitter polish. Glitters laid flat to the nail and the creme was just heavenly!

My fair Lily is a delicious creme white with just a touch of pink. Bunny grass Pink is tinted jelly pink and loaded with iridescent glitters. 

 Shown is 2 coats of my fair lilly, one coat of bunny grass pink. The hot pink in these photos is by ruby wing tips. I also used hot pink studs.

 Poppy Parade is a glitter topper. It has various circle glitters and flower glitters. The purple shimmer is amazing on this polish! The flower pieces were slightly hard to fish out but nothing that would deter me from buying this!

 Shown is one coat of Lilac coolers by loreal and two coats of Poppy Parade and a top coat.

I also did an easter Mani that I never had a chance to take pics with the light box. However i did get a few shots on my phone!

And here is My Fair Lily all by herself!

You can find this lovely indie polish on Etsy 

Also on Facebook