Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm Lip Stains

I've found a new lipstick obsession-- and they're from the drugstore! I've always been a big fan of the original Revlon balm stains but this new matte formula has outdone itself. The line is absolutely amazing and there is a huge range of colors. I picked up three from Ulta today {they were buy two, get one free!} and I've been loving wearing them to work all summer. The colors are gorgeous and the pictures do not do them justice. I highly recommend stopping by your local Ulta or drugstore to check these beauties out.. you won't be disappointed!

Our Lips are Sealed: Winter 2013 Trends

all images via glamourmagazine.co.uk

1. Wine Lips {at Lanvin}: Wine and berry stained hues are the perfect colors for the winter season. A bold lip such as this allows you to keep the rest of your makeup light and let your lips do the talking {no pun intended}!

2. Nude Lips {at Giambattista Valli}: Bold not your thing? Like nude nails, nude lips are always in. Whether you keep your eyes simple or go for a bronze smokey eye, a nude lip pairs well with any look.

3. Red Lips {at Dolce & Gabbana}: This one should come as no surprise to anyone! I'm always glad to hear that my go to lip color, red, is in for the season. Something about a red lip screams classic and put together-- pair it with thick winged eyeliner for an even more fun look!

Nailed It!

Glitz & Glam- {ciaté} {essie} {nails inc.} {deborah lippmann}
Neutral- {ysl} {sephora by opi} {essie} {opi}
Bold- {chanel} {essie} {nars} {butter london}

With all the bundling up and layering you will be doing this winter, it's hard to show your style underneath your scarves and winter coats. This winter, channel these three nail trends (Glitzy, neutral, and bold) to help spice up your outfit and add a pop to your personal style. 

Glitz and Glam- Textures and fun effects are all the rage with this winter on the fingers. From velvet, duo-chrome and even glitter, your nails are sure to be noticed and add some fun to your winter wardrobe. {From left to right: 'Berry Poncho', 'For the Twill of it', 'Noho', 'Across the Universe'} 

Neutral- Not into bright nails but want to still look polished? Nudes, greige and other neutral tones will keep your fingers looking put together while still keeping itsimple. {'Beige Gallery', 'Color Metro Chic' (Unfortunately, this color is now sold out, however, this is a close dupe), 'Little Brown Dress', 'Did You 'ear about Van Gogh?'}

Bold- If crazy nails aren't your thing but neutral isn't either, this deep trend is the perfect middle ground for you. Bold nails are sure to stand out in the winter time and are very seasonally appropriate. {'Rouge Noir', 'Trophy Wife', 'Purple Rain', 'Big Smoke'}

Pretty in Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness 2013

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and this year many beauty and fashion brands are teaming up with various breast cancer awareness foundations to help find a cure.

1. Estée Lauder: Lipstick and lipgloss duo. 20% of the suggested  retail price will be donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation {$29.50}

2. Sonia Kashuk: 5-piece brush set. 15% of each purchase will go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation {$15.99}

3. Smashbox: Photo finish foundation primer. $5 of each purchase will go towards research at The Breast Cancer Research Foundation {$36}

4. Aerie: "The Bridget" bra. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Bright Pink {$29.95}

5. Deborah Lippmann: Nail polish in "Shape of my Heart." 10% of the proceeds of each sale will go to benefit the Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, CA {$17}

6. Rebecca Taylor: Peplum top; not yet available online. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation {$295}

Even if you don't purchase anything from this list, show support to find a cure by wearing pink throughout October!

This Just In...

source: toryburch.com

Tory Burch has officially launched her first fragrance and beauty collection! Tory Burch is one of my absolute favorite designers and I could not be more excited to check out what this collection has to offer! She's even launched a brand new "Beauty" section on her website in honor of the launch, where you can watch videos about the scent, bottle, and what inspired her for the new perfume.

The collection features a perfume in spray {1 oz, 1.7 oz, and 3.4 oz} and a solid, as well as the signature fragrance featured in a candle, body lotion, body cream, and shower gel. The fragrance offers floral notes of peony and tuberose, citrus scents including grapefruit and nerioli and an earthy smell of vetiver to top it all off.

Not only has Tory announced a new fragrance, her line includes a lipstick, blush/bronzer palette, cheek and lip tint, and a fluffy face brush. Although there is only one color option for each beauty product at the moment, I'm looking forward to how Tory with expand her collection and what she has to offer!

The collection officially launched in stores and online on September 25. You can shop the collection now here.

Will you be purchasing from the new collection?

Beauty Box Break Down

With so many beauty subscription boxes on the market, how do you know which is the best one to purchase? See how these 4 boxes compare with each other to help you make the right decision!


Birchbox:

source: refinery29.com

Cost: 10$/month

Products: A mixture of beauty {makeup, hair, nails, skincare, etc.} samples from well known brands and also newly discovered ones. There are usually about five products per box plus a Birchbox extra {ear buds, bobby pins, headbands, and more!}. Boxes vary by person and month. Colors may also be different for each box.

This month: You could have received any of the following: Juice Beauty Oil- free Moisturizer, Whish Coconut Milk Correcting Gel, Malin+Goetz Eucalyptus Deodorant, Number 4 Beat the Heat kit, Jouer Cream Eyeshadow Crayon, Whish exfoliating body wash, Jasmine Seven Wipes, Supergoop! Sunscreen, ModelCo Party Proof lipstick, Miss Jessie's Rapid Recovery Treatment, Miss Jessie's Super Sweetback Treatment, Mally Beauty Evercolor Eye Liner, BAGGU Wedge Pouch.

Claim to fame: Birchbox was the first beauty subscription box to be available on the market. They also offer YouTube videos of box previews and tutorials which you can find here.


Beauty Box 5:

source: facebookcom/beautybox5

Cost: $12/month

Products: 4-5 beauty/cosmetic samples from varying brands {high end, new, eco friendly, etc.} Colors of products may be different depending on which box you received.

This month: You could have received any of the following: Be a Bombshell Eye Shadow, H2O+ Micro-Collagen Moisturizer, Nubar Nail Polish, Bask Heavenly Silk Moisturizer, Swissco Nail File,

Claim to fame: Often give out full size products.

Glossybox:

source: theupcoming.co.uk

Cost: $21/month

Products: Pride themselves as the "luxury" beauty box and offer 5 luxury/high end full size or deluxe sample size beauty items a month.

This month: You could have received any of the following: Pandoras Polish, Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush, Novex Hair Care Treatment Cream, Anatomicals Facial Spray, Sue Devitt Pressed Powder, Guess makeup bag.

Claim to fame: Full size products are very common in this box-- Every product in the August box is full size!

Ipsy:

source: ipsy.com

Cost: $10/month

Products: 4-5 beauty products sent in a collectible makeup bag. Each product could be a sample size, deluxe sample size or full size and many products are customizable based off of an online quiz you take when signing up.

This month: You could have received any of the following:  Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick, NOYA Lip Balm, Michael Todd Pumpkin Mark and Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub, Pixi Lash Booster Mascara, Nailtini Nail Lacqur, Chelle Eyebrow Pencil, NYX Blush, Mica Eye Shadow, Smashbox Finish Primer, Pacifica BB Cream.

Claim to fame: Ipsy {Originally MyGlam} was created by YouTuber Michelle Phan. Each month, multiple Youtubers post videos giving you tips and ideas on how to use your products.

Now that you know a little bit about each of the more popular boxes, hopefully you can make the right decision for which is best for you!

Official {and Final} Update + My Favorite Bloggers!

I know my last post, posted about a month ago, was also an update so I apologize for that! I said I would be back then but unfortunately, moving in and getting ready to leave for school were much more overwhelming then I had thought it would be {yes, packing is actually a lot of work}! Now that I've been to school for about a week and know my schedule and have a feel for how much time I will have, I officially will be back on the blogosphere {was that cheesy to say}?! I'm currently working on some posts right now so stay tuned and keep checking back!

If you would like to know as soon as a new post is published, be sure to check out my Twitter, Facebook and follow me on Bloglovin'.

In the mean time, heres a list of some of my favorite blogs that I've been tracking lately!

1. Southern Pearls and Curls {Caitlin tweeted me once and let me just say-- she is a total sweetheart!}
2. Love, Lauren Elizabeth {Also check out her fashion blogs}
3. The Beauty Department
4. Katie's Bliss {She does videos as well!}
5. Mariannan

More in vlogs? Here are some of my favorite fashion and beauty vloggers I've also been checking out recently!

1. Sarah Belle
2. Carly Cristman
3. Dani Austin
4. Caitlin {she's from the same state as me, yay!}
5. Kelly
6. Jackie Wyers

And unrelated to fashion/beauty but I couldn't mention video bloggers without talking about my two favorites.. Daily Grace and Tyler Oakley! If you need a good laugh, definitely check these two out!

Keep checking back... tons of new posts to come!

Thank you to everyone for consistently staying with me!

Clinique Free Gift: Spring 2013

Every once in a while, typically when the seasons change, the Clinique counter at Macy's {and sometimes other retailers} offers a free gift with purchase. This event is probably what me and my mom look forward to most in the spring. This year, there were two choices of gifts: The pink set or the violets. Naturally, I went with the more natural, pink choices {shown below} and love how beautiful the shades of the palette and lipstick is! Although I haven't been able to use much of the set yet, I'm looking forward to giving everything a go!

This years "pink" set included: Dramatically Different Moisturizing lotion, 7 Day Scrub cream, a blush and eyeshadow brush, Long Last Lipstick in the shade Bamboo Pink, High impact mascara, a makeup palette, and a small bag, all included in a larger makeup bag in the same, springy print.

The pink palette include: Soft-Pressed Powder blush in New Clover, a matte eyeshadow duo in Pink Slate duo {which includes a baby pink and deep brown,} and a Pressed Powder Bronzer in the shade Sunkissed.

This lipstick in Bamboo Pink isn't quite showing up true to color here but take my word when I say it is a beautiful color. It's like your lip shade.. but better!

Now obviously this gift wasn't just given to me for free. I had to buy a couple of products in order to receive it. Here's what I chose:

First I picked out the Chubby Stick for eyes in the color 06 Moss. My eyes are brown but in certain light and with certain colors can appear green! I'm hoping this shade, which I'll be using as liner, can help brighten my eyes. I also picked out the Chubby Stick for lips in the shade 04 Heftiest Hibiscus. I love, love, love bright lip colors.. espcially for the spring time! This orangey red will be so fun for the upcoming months.

Swatches:

Left to right: 06 Moss, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus

Make sure to head over to your Clinique Counter at Macy's!

Valentine's Day Beauty

Valentine's day is the perfect time to celebrate friendships, your relationships, and even your family.Whether you're single or in a relationship (congrats!) you can still have fun and enjoy the day. Sit back with a box of chocolates and test out one (or all) of these three accessories to help you get in the spirit of this years V-Day.

 The Classic

source: wildfoxcouture.com

Wildfox Couture Sequin Heart V Neck Sweater ($178)- Valentines day is the perfect excuse to wear hearts. Instead of going over board with a big, tacky sweater (save that for Christmas), this sweater gives a classic twist to your valentines day outfit.

The Bold

source: sephora.com

NARS Lipstick in "Heat Wave" ($26)- Not into wearing your heart on your sleeve? Go for a bold lip this Valentines Day. This matte orange-red gives the perfect pop of color to any look or outfit with out going completely over the top. Be careful not to mess it up when you smooch your valentine!

The Subtle

source: butterlondon.com

Butter London Nail Polish in "Disco Biscuit" ($15)- If you're looking for a more subtle way to show your love of Valentines Day, a sparkly pink polish is the perfect way to add a hint of color to your look. This pink polish can be worn any day, but is especially perfect for this day of love.

Will you be sporting something pink or red tomorrow?