Ipsy Bag Review - August

Ipsy time!

As always, this is one of my favorite times of the month….I love getting this bag in the mail! As I’ve always said, this is the best bag out there, especially for such a low price.  If you are looking to start a beauty subscription, I would definitely try Ipsy first.

Also, it’s only $10 a month….how can you not go for it? 

The theme of this month’s bag is “Beauty Schooled.”  I don’t quite get the correlation with the items, but that seems to be a normal thing for me.  Is it just me or are they really reaching on the “themes” these days? The little white and orange polka dot bag is definitely cute though!

Anyways…. Here is the August Ipsy bag!  

           1)     Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner Primer  - .25 oz.

            I haven’t really found a primer I love yet. I have tried several different ones and haven’t 

            really seen a benefit to them, so I currently don’t use them. Maybe this will be the one!

Full Size: $45.00 1 oz. My Value: $11.25

           2)    Urban Decay Perversion Mascara  –  .1 oz.

            I am quite excited about this!  I love getting big name brands like Urban Decay in my Ipsy 

            bag and this is definitely a product I can’t wait to try!

Full Size: $22.00 for .4 oz. My Value: $5.50

            3)    J.cat Beauty Eyeshadow in “Half Naked” – .09 oz. (FULL SIZE)

            Normally I would’t use these single shadows (I’ve become addicted to palettes lately) but I 

            actually really like this color.  It is a pretty peachy color with not too much orange, which is 

            really nice.  I still have to test it out though to see how pigmented it is and if it really has 

            staying power.

Full Size: $2.99 My Value: $2.99

4)  Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Lip Conditioner – .15 oz.

I am constantly trying to find the perfect lip product.  I have thyroid problems and I recently learned that with that comes very dry lips.  I hope this will be a good addition to my growing collection of lip conditioners!

Full Size: $5.50 My Value: $5.50

       5) Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk – 1.06 oz.

I have been wanting to try this dry shampoo for awhile!  I have been pretty lazy lately and put my hair up probably 5 days out of the week.  Maybe this stuff will give me the opportunity to do more with my hair down!

Full Size: $19.50 for 3.2 oz. My Value: $6.45

Final Cost: $10.00

Final Value: $31.69

Though this bag doesn’t have the greatest value, I like every single item in the bag! I am really excited to use each item, which I am not sure has every happened before. Ipsy finally got it right for me this time and I am really happy about it.

What are your thoughts?

If you’d like to give it a try you can sign up here!

(As always, I swear I’m not a review blog….I just like sharing these things in hopes that other people will get to have the same fun that I do!  I am not compensated in any way.)

 

Etsy + Weddings = Awesome

A few weeks ago I shared several of the things I DIY'ed for the wedding, so today I thought I'd share some of my Etsy purchases! I seriously think this site is amazing and I love searching through shops and all of the amazing items people hand make.  I actually started my own shop a while back too, so I'll have to give you all more detail someday!

First up, for the popcorn table I wanted to have cute bags for people to put their popcorn in.  Enter BakersBling shop on Etsy.  I ordered adorable white bags with gold stripes, gold chevron and gold polka dots! She packaged them up so nicely too. I can't wait to see people using them on the big day!

Next up was the guest book.  I adore this thing!  We wanted to have something different and something that we could display in our new home. When I saw this guest book from SayAnythingDesign, I knew it was perfect.

How it looks on their shop site

 The shop worked with me to customize the dot colors (browns, tans and creams) and even added little love birds to the tree at my request. I was able to find a frame at Hobby Lobby for 50% off and had it set up to be ready to hang.  I love it!

How our finished product looks!

Next up are the ring baskets.  We've kind of been going for a "love birds" theme so when I saw these from MyRusticWeddings, I knew they had to be mine. The shop owner worked with me again on getting the correct sizes for my ring bearer (who is a little older at 10) and my flower girl (who is quite young at 2). She even created them in a darker color at my request.  I LOVE how they turned out!

C and I kind of broke the theme a bit with our cake toppers, but I love them so I don't care!  Since we are from different states (practically across the country) we decided to use something that would represent that.  I ordered a cake topper set from bragginbags that is in the shape of our states, Arizona and Maryland with a heart.   Maryland is a really weird shape, but I think if we angle them correctly they will look just fine!

One of my favorite things I ordered was a gift for my parents from customsepia. We were able to customize a beautiful platter with our names and wedding date.  I'm sure we could have changed up the message too, but it was just too perfect!  Below is the wording for our plate as well as what it will look like when its completely finished!

Last but certainly not least is my absolute favorite item.....my flower girl dress!  I ordered this from TrendyBambini and I can't get enough of it.  She was so great to work with and was able to customize the dress for us.  The original dress wasn't quite the right color, so she wonderfully made and sent another one once we shipped the first one back.  She was SOOOO helpful.  I can't wait to see this little girl the day of my wedding all dressed up!

Thoughts?  Do you love these things as much as I do??

All We Do is Win!!

I assume from the title you can guess what happened at the Arena Bowl....

THE RATTLERS WON!

A three-peat you guys.  They are champions three years in a row.  It's almost unbelievable.   I am soooo happy I got to witness all of the games too.

They beat the Cleveland Gladiators by 40 stinkin points.  32-72 was the final score. It was pretty incredible.

I know winning is pretty awesome, but this was pretty much the highlight of my weekend:
Seriously, I can't watch it enough! I love that man and now everyone watching ESPN on Saturday night knows he loves me back.

Here's a few more pictures from the weekend and the game!  I will post more when I get a chance!

Dare I even ask for a 4 peat?!?  C has been telling me he was done with Arena Football after this season which bummed me out and he knew it.  Well, after the game he surprised me and told me he had signed again last week!  I get to do it all over again! Yay!

With his son :)

Did you catch any of the game?

Pretty Little Beauty Swap Link-Up!

It's time again for our Pretty Little Beauty Swap Link Up!!!

I hope that you are all continuing to enjoy this swap.....I know I am!  Last round my partner never replied to my emails so I had to sit the round out.  I was extra excited to take part this time!

This time I was paired up with Kelley from One Hot Southern Mess.  Though we are both really busy right now, it  was fun getting to know her a little bit!

I received my box from her today and I am totally in love!

I think the thing I am most excited about is the stipling brush.  I have never tried one and have always been curious about them. She spoke highly of them and made me really consider trying them, so it was an awesome bonus to see she actually included one! Now is my time to try! Thanks Kelley!


So....what did everyone else get this round?  I can't wait to check out all of the makeup goodies....so make sure you link up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Best Bachelorette Weekend Ever....Seriously Though

I am headed to Cleveland tomorrow morning, so first I have to say, Go Rattlers!!!  I can't believe C and his team have made it to the Arena Bowl yet again.  The game will be broadcast on Saturday night (8pm Eastern) if anyone wants to check it out.  It should be a REALLY good game!

Anywho....this past weekend was my Bachelorette party! We planned on going to Sedona (Northern Arizona) to spend the weekend doing wine tastings.  I was told to bring white flip flops, a white cross body purse and a cute white dress for going out.  We left friday afternoon after lunch.

Two of the girls picked me up and we all piled in her small SUV and left to pick up the fourth girl. One other would be meeting us there.  When we got to her house, they gave me a cute little gift bag with a poem.  Also inside were these:

Yep, they tricked me.  We weren't going wine tasting at all.....we were going to Disneyland!

I honestly couldn't believe it...though now it made more sense as to why we were leaving so early!

When we arrived at the hotel, the room was decorated by the fifth girl, my best friend, who lives in San Diego.  It was soooooo adorable!  She had little gift bags for each girl set up as well as snack packs for the park the next day.

That's the bridesmaid who couldn't make it :)

 In my gift bag, I found a cute little backpack for the park, a "night of" kit for going out dancing and a "day after" kit for any hangover symptoms before we hit the park, a little white veil to wear out that night and white leggings.  Why white leggings you ask?  I asked the same question.

It was because not only were we going to Disneyland, we were all going to be sporting the cutest tutu's ever while at the park! Ahhhh!!!!  I'm pretty sure this Bachelorette party couldn't have been more right on and fit for me.

"Booping" everyone on the head while we got ready with my fancy wand!

That night we headed out to the only club around, the girls in black and me in white (with my new mini veil).  It lasted about a whopping two hours before we all decided we were bored and headed back to the hotel to rest up for Disney the next day.  Yeah, I am definitely not the partying type!

After the heat and stupid smoke/dry ice machine got us in the club...FLAT hair!

This is 100% posed and probably the most rebellious/inappropriate thing we did the whole trip

Disney was absolutely awesome.  People loved our outfits and it was so fun to get congratulations from complete strangers.  There were even a couple of people that stopped us to take a picture so they could show someone else back home!

Screaming bloody murder (not faking it) while they point out I'm getting married....I dislike steep drops!

Hearts and showing off my ring :)

Cutest ever!

Finally leaving the park at the end of the day....dead tired!

Before

After

We stayed at the park until it closed and then dropped into bed when we got back.  The next day we got up early (for me) and headed back to Phoenix.

It was a short but incredible weekend, one that I will never forget!  I am so grateful that my friends really know me and planned something that I would love!  I can't tell you how glad I am that I didn't have any of the "traditional" bachelorette party items!

Next up......my wedding!  18 days and counting!!  Eeeek!!!

Bon's Book Club - In Cold Blood

This month’s (ok last months….) book for Bon’s Book Club was In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.  This is another book that has been adapted into a movie.  This book also, interestingly enough, is considered the first ever nonfiction novel.  The book reads like a novel, but all of the facts are historically true. Here is the description of the book from Amazon:

“On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.”

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I can’t say I really liked this book.  Actually, about halfway through I almost quit.  Which I NEVER do.  I was seriously thinking about it but I googled the book and decided to push forward based on other peoples comments.  That's why this review is so late too....sorry guys.
 

I think the thing I disliked most about this book was the author’s tendency to include too much information.  He would go into extreme detail about things that to me, weren’t very important.  I skimmed several parts in the book after the first section.

I do think it is cool that this book was the first ever non-fiction narrative.  The story is completely true and Capote learned so much about the crime and each of the men that he wrote the book like a story book.  It was pretty neat. I am definitely going to have to go back and watch the movie again.

Overall I’m glad I took the time to read this book as it has a pretty cool history, but it’s not on the top of my list to suggest to others unless they have some free time and really love descriptive and over indulgent writing.

Next up for Bon’s Book Club is Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Calahan.  At first I wasn’t really looking forward to reading this and almost decided not to purchase and take part this month.  I ended up changing my mind and I am glad I did.  I’m only a few pages in but I am totally intrigued!! 

Have you read In Cold Blood? What are your thoughts?

Boxy Charm Review - August

Boxy Charm time!

But first.....I leave for my surprise Bachelorette weekend later today!  Eeek!!!

Alright back to business.

This box is $21.00 a month with free shipping and is a “beauty box subscription that surprises you each month with the best beauty products from popular and chic brands. Each box contains full size and luxury size beauty samples from preferred well-known brands.” They aim to cover a whole look from makeup to nails, which I really like. 

The theme is “Beach Babe” which isn’t totally portrayed by the products.  It may as well be “Pretty girl” which would fit just as well. Womp womp.

Here is the August Boxy Charm! 

           1)      Enter Pronoun Blowtorch Bronzer  –  10 g. (FULL SIZE)

            Ok I’ve got something to admit…I have no idea what to do with a bronzer.  This stuff looks 

            really dark to me too, I would make a mess of myself!  Can we talk about the brand name   

            real fast?  At first when I read the beauty card I thought they forgot to enter the name of the  

            brand and that was their place holder!

Full Size: $35.00 My Value: $35.00

           2)      Tarina Tarantino Conditioning Lip Sheen in “Floriculture” – 3.5 g.  (FULL SIZE)

I realized after I took all of my photos that I didn’t actually open anything up so you could see the color. Whoops.  This would best be described as almost a maroon lipstick.  In other words, no thanks.

Full Size: $22.00 My Value: $22.00

3)   ModelCo Cheek & Lip Tint in “Rosy Red” – .33 oz.  (FULL SIZE)

I’ve already gotten this stuff from a beauty box and I didn’t really like it.  It turned my finger totally pink and it was just too much of a hassle to use.  The color didn’t last very long either; it wore off in patches on my lips.

Full Size: $22.00 My Value: $22.00

4)   Morphe Brushes Powder Brush  – (FULL SIZE)

I don’t have much to say about this, it’s just another makeup brush. All I can tell you is I would never pay full price for this.

Full Size: $19.99 My Value: $19.99

5)   OFRA Cosmetics Lip Liner in “Silk” – .04 oz. (FULL SIZE)

Another lip liner in some neutral shade. The end.

Full Size: $13.00 My Value: $13.00

Final Cost: $21.00

Final Value: $111.99

Well this looks like a fantastic value, but as always I think that is more due to really high prices of the items.  <------- same sentence I used last month, still true.

I don’t think I will really get use out of any of these products, which stinks.

I wonder if I am just coming to the end of the road on beauty boxes?  I feel like I am always getting the same dang thing.  Is it because I’ve received them for so long and its no longer exciting to me, or because they really are getting boring with the products they send?

If you’d like to get Boxy Charm, you can sign up here!

(Also, I swear I’m not a review blog….I just like sharing these fun things! I have not been compensated for this review.)