Blog Sale and Thirty-One Gifts!

Disclaimer: I include links to my direct selling site for Thirty-One Gifts, for which I am an Independent Consultant. I do not get any compensation unless someone actually makes a purchase through my direct site.

I've got multiple post ideas floating around in my head, but I haven't actually gotten any written up yet. I promise I'll get some up soon.

In the meantime, I finally got around to updating my blog sale. I added a bunch of new items and dropped some prices. I've got several brand new Tarte items listed. I added some L'Oreal Infallible eye shadows (several were LE). I've also got a bunch of mineral eye shadows and blushes up for sale. It's a broad range of products to choose from. I think there's around 40 pictures total.

Teaser pictures:

I also wanted to mention a couple of other things. The first one is that I recently became a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts, which is a direct selling company that sells bags, totes, and other organizing items (most of which can be personalized with embroidery). I personally signed up because I wanted the bags myself! I plan to do posts on some of their products. That being said, I promise to you that I will not do any posts talking up products that I don't like, and I will not let it take over my blog. This is still primarily a makeup blog. It's just something that I am genuinely excited about. For example, I LOVE my new purse:

Retro Metro Bag in Spirit Black with Small Rosette Clip in Pink

It's a great size. I carry way too many things around with me on a regular basis, and this bag holds it easily. If you look at the left side pocket, that's a water bottle sticking out of the top. I have the rosette (a separate item) pinned on because it's cute AND it lets me know which outside pocket has my keys, phone, and sunglasses.

• If you haven't heard of Thirty-One Gifts before, you can check out their products here.
• If you decide that there's something that you HAVE to have (Note: the monthly special for August is if you spend $35, you can get any purse for half price), I would appreciate you shopping through my Online Kick-Off Party (ends on August 30) using this link.
• Otherwise, you can buy it through me using this link.
• If you want a lot of stuff, I can set up an online and/or catalog party and make you the hostess, which means you could earn some Hostess Rewards! 

If you have any questions or would like more information, you are welcome to email me at beautybabbling@yahoo.com.

Enough of that...

The other thing that I wanted to mention what that I'm on a kick again of wanting to get organized with my life, and I think I'm going to start a series of posts about it. They won't be on a schedule yet because the ideas are still forming, and I actually have to make some organizing progress to show all of you (I do want to show all of you my shower solution, but you'll have to excuse the fact that my bathroom/shower are not magazine ready. It needs to be remodeled, but my fiance and I don't have the money for that yet).

To wrap up this post, I'm going to state the obvious. Summer is coming to an end. School has started back up here, which means work will be starting back up for me. It's a good and bad thing. Life will get busier again, but I'll also have more reason to play with my makeup stash since I'll be doing more than going to the grocery store.

Since this was a bit of a rambling update post, what's new with all of you ladies? Anything fun or exciting going on?

Disclaimer: I included links to my direct selling site for Thirty-One Gifts, for which I am an Independent Consultant. I do not get any compensation unless someone actually makes a purchase through my direct site.

Recent Deal I've Scored!

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased. All opinions are my own.

About a week and a half ago, I went to a (relatively) nearby town to run some errands. When I do that, I always end up cruising through several places that have better stock or that aren't available in my town.

When I wandered through the cosmetics area at WalMart, I came across a fantastic deal!

The Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer had a BOGO FREE coupon on it for another face product. Then I saw the Happy Booster bronzer that came with a bonus blush. So, in total I spent around $15 for all three products. I was thrilled.

Then, this week I got a coupon in the mail from Physicians Formula for $10 off a product of $10 or more. How did I get this coupon? They occasionally do promotions where they release a secret code on their Facebook page. If you are within the first however many who enter the code, you get the product they are giving away. After those are out, you can still enter for the chance to get a $10 coupon. That's what I did.

Anyway, I took my coupon with me when I went to go get groceries yesterday. I hadn't checked to see what the sales were this week at CVS, so I was thrilled when I saw the Physicians Formula deal this week was spend $10 and get $7 in ExtraCare Bucks.

Here's a look at the haul I made over the past two days from CVS:

Yesterday, I picked up the Physicians Formula eye liners. The original price was $12.29. I used my $10 coupon, and ended up paying $3.15 out of pocket. I got $7 in ExtraCare Bucks, and my receipt also printed out a $5 off of $15 coupon. I also had $5 in ExtraCare Bucks and a 30% off coupon that I had sent to my card. The 30% off coupon expired today, which is why I went back. I would have gotten more cosmetics items, but there wasn't anything catching my interest, which is why I grabbed a book.

Here's the breakdown of today's trip:

Cotton swabs - $1.00
Book - $8.00
CeraVe Renewing SA Cream - $21.99
2 bottles of Mountain Dew (not pictured) - $1.60 each (discounted from $1.74 since I bought 2)

Total before discounts and tax: $34.47
Total after discounts ($5 ECB, $7 ECB, $5 off of $15, and 30% off): $11.11

In total, between my two trips, I spent $14.26 for around $46.76 worth of stuff.

That works for me! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love that CVS lets you stack coupons.

Have you found any good deals lately?

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased. All opinions are my own.

Finished It!!! Volume 10

Disclosure: There is nothing to disclose in this post.

I've had a little bit of motivation over the past couple of days. I've been trying to organize a little better in my office and declutter. Since I also had to take a few blog pictures of new products, I figured I would do an empties post too.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume and Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Conditioners - If you have a good memory, you might remember that I had a tube of the Luxurious Volume conditioner in my last post of finished products, and I said that it was good but I wouldn't buy it again unless there was a good deal. Well...there was a good deal. I believe the deal was to buy one John Frieda hair dye and get a hair care or styling product for free. On top of that, I had a coupon for the John Frieda hair dye AND got a CVS coupon for hair dye. Score! I still feel the same. I would repurchase either of these if there was a fantastic deal.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner - I didn't buy these. A friend of mine gave me a bag of stuff that she didn't like, and these were in there. They were maybe half full when she gave them to me. They were okay, but I mostly just mixed them in with shampoo and conditioner that I have and like better to finish them. I won't purchase them for myself.

Renpure Solutions Cleansing Conditioner in Rosemary Mint - I finished this a while ago. I liked it well enough. It wasn't life-changing. It did the job. I've said before with cleansing conditioners that I keep them around for those nights when I'm feeling really lazy and don't want to deal with two products. I would buy this again if it was a good deal.

Organix Moroccan Argan Creme Conditioner - I bought this in a pinch. I mentioned in a previous post that I had to make a trip to visit my mom that ended up lasting longer than I expected. I ran out of conditioner, so I went to the drugstore and grabbed this. I liked it a lot. Again, this is another product I would repurchase if there was a good deal on it.

HerStyler Shampoo - These were sold at a kiosk in the mall. I got them last summer with a serum and a bottle of conditioner. I didn't really want them. These did spark my brainstorm that I could add tea tree oil to shampoos like this that don't already have it to help keep my flakes at bay. These wouldn't worth the price they "retail" for. I try and avoid those kiosks like the plague because I hate the hard sell that they do.

Kronos Liquid Theory Conditioning Detangler - This is another product that I got last summer. It was in a swap box a group of friends and I passed around. I remember that it was an expensive product because I researched it to make sure I exchanged it with something of similar value. It was nice but not amazing, and I have a couple of other less expensive leave-in conditioners in my stash. I won't go out and purchase this on my own.

Dr. Bronner's Hemp Lavender Pure-Castile Soap - I love the almond version of this soap. It has become my standard hand soap in my bathrooms. The lavender scent was okay, but it wasn't my favorite. I'll continue purchasing Dr. Bronner's soaps, but I don't know that I will buy the lavender scent again.

Bath & Body Works Signature Vanillas Shower Gel in Berry - I really like Bath & Body Works shower gels. They foam up really well and I enjoy the scents. I really liked the Signature Vanillas line, but it is sadly discontinued. I think I have one or two more bottles from the line left in my stash.

Neutrogena Acne Stress Control 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment - This has been a standard in my skincare routine for a while now. I have a couple more of these in my stash as backups because I can't find this in my area, so when I get it, I stock up.

Clean & Clear Advantage Mark Treatment - I bought this because it was on clearance. I didn't like it as much as the Neutrogena one. I don't know if this product still exists, but I wouldn't repurchase it anyway.

Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Retinoid Eye Repair - This was a deluxe sample from Sephora. It didn't work miracles for me. I won't be purchasing a full size.

Benefit Refined Finish Facial Polish - This was okay. I have face scrubs that I love a lot more than this. I also have to give a short complaint about the packaging. The plastic of the tube was so stiff that it made it practically impossible to get the last of this scrub out.

Simply Lip Balm in Acai Berry - This is the last of these lip balms from my stash. I bought a bunch of them last summer. I would repurchase more if I could only find them!

Darling Girl Cosmetics Sweet Lips On the Go Sugar'd Lip Scrub in Creme Brulee - I loved this product!!! It's a lip scrub in a tube, which makes it really convenient. Not only that: you get to pick the flavor. I haven't repurchased it yet because I've got another lip scrub I'm trying to use up, but I will repurchase it in the future.

Mystery Face Powder - I know the jar says Meow Cosmetics Pampered Puss Mineral Foundation. I finished that off a long time ago (and have another one that I'm using now). However, I refilled this jar with other powders. I think the base was Meow's fuller coverage foundation in a shade darker than I normally use. I then mixed in other random face powders that I had around. It was wonderful to finish it off, even if I can't remember what exactly was in it.

The Body Shop Peppermint Smoothing Pumice Foot Scrub - When my friend gave me the Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner, she gave me this. I already used up one of these. It's not very exfoliating and doesn't do much for my feet. I won't purchase a full size.

Mario Badescu Whitening Mask - The was a sample. I only got one use out of it. I have no idea if it did anything for my skin, and I've had other MB mask samples dry out on me. I don't use masks all that often, so I don't think I'll purchase a full size of any of them.

Luxury Lane Soap Whipped Up Sugar Scrub in Blackberry Tea - I got this small jar as part of a tester program. I loved this stuff! I purchased a full size already in a different scent. I really enjoyed the Blackberry Tea scent; I just wanted to try other scents. I can see this becoming a staple in my shower.

Samples - I don't think I have much of anything to say about these. The jar was Meow's Cat in Tree eye shadow, which was a shimmery deep green.

There we go...more stuff to go in the trash. I need to get back into working on the products that I want to finish. With the summer, I haven't been wearing makeup very often, so I've hit a bit of a wall on finishing those things. School (aka: work for me) is starting back up in a couple of weeks, so maybe that will help...

Have you cut back on wearing makeup this summer too? Have you finished anything lately?

Disclosure: There is nothing to disclose in this post.

theBalm InStain Blushes - Review and Swatches

  Disclaimer: All products were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own.

I have been back home for over a week now, and I still don't want to do much of anything. I have spent a lot of time reading and a lot of time sleeping. Oh yeah...I also watched the Syfy movie Sharknado last night with a friend. It was so horrifically awful that it was amazing. I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.

In the meantime, my blog has been mocking me with my lack of motivation. I have a bunch of pictures downloaded onto my computer - some have been edited, some haven't - and a pile of products in my new product bin. Getting caught up isn't really an option at this point, but making progress is.

This is one of those reviews that has been waiting around for a while. It's another purchase I made during theBalm's 50% off everything sale. I wanted to pick up the entire collection of InStain blushes, but I restrained myself and only picked up two of them.Their regular retail price is $22, so I ended up paying $11 each for mine.

Packaging 

theBalm InStain blush in Argyle

theBalm InStain blush in Argyle

theBalm InStain blush in Toile

theBalm InStain blush in Toile

theBalm always seems to do a fantastic job with their packaging. It's cute and quirky. The exterior of the packaging looks like a magazine from the 1920s. The interior design around the blush pan matches the name of the blush color. The Argyle blush has an argyle pattern surrounding it; the Toile blush has a toile pattern surrounding it. The packaging itself is a sturdy cardboard with a magnetic closure.

Product

theBalm InStain blush in Argyle

theBalm InStain blush in Argyle

Argyle is a much brighter pink than my pictures (and the pictures on theBalm's website) show. It's a slightly warm, hot pink shade that is completely matte.

theBalm InStain blush in Toile

theBalm InStain blush in Toile

 Toile is also brighter than my pictures show. It is a matte, coral pink shade.

Both blushes are highly pigmented. Do they stain? Sort of. With the swatches on my arm, I could get a little bit to come off with a dry towel. I could get even more off with just water. However, in order to completely get rid of the swatches, I had to use soap and water. On my cheeks, they last on my and look fresh ALL day. The one downside that I've noticed with these is their "staining" aspect makes then a little challenging to blend. It's practically impossible for me to NOT over-apply blush, and I rely on a kabuki brush to blend them out after I apply them. These blushes don't want to blend out as easily as other blushes in my collection.

Final Thoughts 

These are really good quality blushes. If you have trouble with getting blushes to stay, they are definitely worth checking out. There are 6 shades in the collection, and the shades have a broad enough range that there should be a shade that appeals to everyone. I'm happy to have Argyle and Toile in my collection. I may or may not pick up any more in the future. If you are thinking about picking these up, I would suggest waiting until theBalm goes on sale on Hautelook. I haven't seen the InStain blushes show up on there, but since most of theBalm's regular line goes on sale there regularly, I can see them listing these blushes there as well.

Have you tried theBalm's InStain blushes? Do you have the tendency to over-apply blushes like me?

Disclaimer: All products were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own.

My Minimal Makeup Look

Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. 

Well...the summer school I was teaching ended on July 3, and I had big plans for getting a lot of things done at home and getting caught up on blog posts. Sadly, plans changed.

My mom let me know that Friday that my brother was back in the hospital for an issue that he's been having regularly for months. On Saturday morning she asked me to come home to help out because she's not getting around very well because of a broken ankle. I was happy that she was willing to ask for help (it's hard for her to do), and was glad to help out.

However, my trip home ended up up lasting over a week, and most of it was spent sitting in two different hospitals. I didn't really care about looking good, but I also didn't want to look awful either. It gave me the idea to share with all of you my bare minimum when it comes to makeup. These were the only products I used for most of my trip home:

Clearly, concealer is important to me.

bareMinerals Correcting Concealer SPF 20 in Light 1 ($20) - I've got several correcting concealers in my collection, but this is the one I chose to bring with me. I really like the light, almost gel-like texture. I have used a brush for it, but lately, I've just been using my fingers to slick it on. As you can see, I just hit pan, and I will probably end up repurchasing it when I finish it off.

Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar Light Peach ($6.50) - I consider this a holy grail item. I've gone through several jars. I applied this after all of the other products except my blush. It acts as my last defense against my dark circles.

Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in CIA ($19) - If you are familiar with Urban Decay products, you might notice that this is the old formula. I bought it when it was on clearance. I have really been loving the ease of this concealer lately. It is creamy and has pretty good coverage. The pencil style makes it easy to dab it on where I want it. This is another product that I'll probably repurchase after I finish the one I have.

Meow Pampered Puss Foundation in Inquisitive Siamese ($25.95) - The price of this mineral foundation might seem a little bit high, but I want to point out that the size of this jar is HUGE. It's an 85g jar with approximately 22-30g of product, so it will last a really long time. If you aren't familiar with Meow Cosmetics, they have an impressive selection of mineral foundations. They have three different formulas with 86 shades. I used this for a long time as my everyday foundation. Since my particular formulation has lighter coverage, I also regularly use it as setting powder with a liquid foundation.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Exposed ($26) - These blushes are another favorite of mine. I chose to take this particular shade with me because it is such an easy, natural-looking shade to use. I didn't have to think about it too much when I was getting ready to run out the door.

That was my look. I know a lot of you are probably gasping that I didn't use mascara. I know that's an everyday thing for most women. I personally think mascara looks strange on me if I don't do any other eye makeup. I should also point out that there was always a lip balm in my pocket. I never go anywhere without a lip balm.

In case you were wondering, my brother is doing better and is back at home. They did a different procedure that should help him manage his issue better. 

When you are in a huge rush, what products are must-have items for you?

Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

theBalm Balm Jovi Palette - Review and Swatches

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. I used my Hautelook invite link in this post.

Everyone else seems to be doing it, so here's my reminder that Google Reader is going away after this weekend. If you want to make sure you still see my new posts, which should start going up more regularly again, I highly suggest following me on Bloglovin'. It's a simple site to use. I'm also loving a new feature on Bloglovin' that allows you to mark posts as favorites. I know I'm going to use that feature a lot to check back on posts because I want to see if my comment was responded to or if I'm interested in the conversation going on in the comments.

Now that I got that out of the way, on to the review!

I'm a child of the 80's, so I grew up with Bon Jovi. Then I had one of my first experiences feeling old when I was in college. Bon Jovi had released their album Crush with the hit single "It's My Life." One of my friends was in WalMart and overheard some younger kids talking about Bon Jovi saying, "That Bon Jovi band is pretty good. They're going to make it big." D'oh!

With my affection for 80's hair bands, and Bon Jovi in particular, I was immediately drawn to the cute concept of the Balm Jovi palette. I resisted for a while but caved when theBalm had their 50% off sale. The full price for the palette is $39.50, so I got it for $19.75. The nice thing is that theBalm shows up on the website Hautelook (affiliate link) frequently, and their permanent products are marked down around 50% on there as well, so it's not too difficult to get a really good deal on this palette (or any of their other palettes).

Packaging

 
theBalm always has fantastic packaging. They are creative with it, but they don't make their packaging bulky.

One of the best packaging features for this palette is the divide that you can see about 3/4 of the way down the palette. Why is that a good feature? The top flap covers the powder products, and the bottom flap covers the cream products in the palette. This means that you don't have to worry about powder getting into the cream products. Love it! I hate when palettes combine powder and cream products because it creates a huge mess.

Another nice packaging feature is the mirror on the inside. It isn't a great mirror, but it would work in a pinch. Besides, they integrated it into the design so well that it's super cute.

The flap that covers the cream products has four suggested looks formatted to look like a Top 20 hits list, which is cute and helpful if you aren't sure how to combine the colors in the palette on your own.

Product

 
This palette includes 12 eye shadows, a highlighter, and a blush (and the two cream lip/cheek products that aren't pictured here but will be pictured later). The eye shadows are divided into three color groups: Heavy Metal, Classical, and Alternative.

Heavy Metal Shades:

From left to right: Metal-ica, Iron Maid-in, Lead Zeppelin, and Alice Copper

Metal-ica is a classic silver shade, and Iron Maid-in is a soft gold shade. I think I've used Iron Maid-in the most out of the all the shades in this palette. It's a great, easy lid shade.

Lead Zeppelin

My camera has a bad habit of dulling down shimmer and complexity in shadows. If anyone has any tips to help with that, I'd love to know. Here's a better shot of Lead Zeppelin to show that it does has shimmer in it. There's muti-colored shimmer, but most if the shimmers are gold like the ones you can see in this picture. The base shade is a dark forest green.

Alice Copper

Alice Copper is a burgundy purple shade with silver shimmers, that didn't even show up well in this picture. There is less shimmer in this shade than there is in Lead Zeppelin.

Classical Shades:

From left to right: Adagio, Allegro, Moderato, Presto

The classical shades are all matte shades, which is great. Adagio is a classic matte cream shade. It's a little too dark for my vampire-fair skin, but for most people, it will be a perfect highlight shades. Allegro is a great mid-tone brown that leans slightly warm. These types of shades are my favorite for the crease. Moderato is a deep purple, and Presto is a dark chocolate brown.

Alternative Shades:

From left to right: Blink 1982, The Stroke, rem, and Third Eye Blinded

Blink 1982 is a dusty light purple shade with subtle shimmer. The Stroke is a deep navy blue with blue shimmer. rem is a light lilac shade with a gold sheen, and Third Eye Blinded is a dusty soft pink shade.

Here's a picture that shows the shimmer in The Stroke a little bit better.

Another picture to show the gold sheen of rem. Sadly, even though this shade swatches really nicely, when I tried using it on my lids, it applied really patchy, and it was hard to work with.

Highlighter and Blush

Left to right: Solid Gold and Don't You Want Me?

Solid Gold

Solid Gold is a standard gold highlight shade that is almost identical to theBalm's Mary Lou-manizer highlighter. Don't you want me a a standard peachy-pink shade that is matte.

Lip and Cheek Colors:

 

Left to right: Milly and Vanilly

Milly is a dusty rose shade, and Vanilly is a sheer red. 

I've never been a huge fan of cream lip products in palettes. There's the mess issue when they are in the same palette as powder products (thanks for solving that one theBalm!). There's also the convenience factor. I don't want to take a big palette with me to touch up a lip color. Because of that, I like that these cream products can be used on the lips or the cheeks. I haven't used them much yet. I think I've tried both once on the lips, and I used Milly on my cheeks one day (I applied it with a stippling brush). It was actually a nice cheek color that seemed to last pretty well. I wouldn't consider these a selling point for the palette, but they aren't a detractor from it either.

Final Thoughts 

Overall, this is a really nice palette. It's got a great mix of shades and finishes. theBalm's powder products are good quality, and the cream products in this palette are decent and are stashed in their own section, so they don't make the entire palette look like a mess. Since it is somewhat regularly available on Hautelook for around $20, it's a great steal.

Will you be picking this up the next time it goes on sale? What are your favorite products from theBalm?

Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. I used my Hautelook invite link in this post.

Luxury Lane Soap Triple Care Hemp Body Wash and Whipped Up Sugar Scrub - Review

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased by me. I am not being sponsored for this post and all opinions are my own.

I've been slacking. I still haven't gotten to replying to comments. I have a ton of pictures to edit and a lot of posts that I want to write. Sadly, I've been really busy teaching summer school and too tired when I've been home to do much of anything. Summer school is done soon though, so that should help.

I figured I'd go ahead and do a quick review post today about two of my new favorite shower/bath products.

A while ago, I did a haul post and showed the products I received for being part of the Luxury Lane Soap Test Team. I used the 15% off coupon included in the box to purchase a few items.

Triple Care Hemp Body Wash in Vanilla Oak - $9.95 for 8 fl oz

I love this body wash! It lathers really well, and the lather sticks around long enough for me to wash and shave with it. I also love the Vanilla Oak scent (there are currently 18 scents available on the website). It's vanilla, but it isn't super sweet. I would also suggest the Blackberry Tea scent, which I have in a couple other products. According to the website, it is thinner in consistency than most body washes because there are no "chemical thickeners, filler, or silicones," so I was expecting it to be watery like the Dr. Bronner's soap, but it isn't. It's thick enough that it sticks to the top of my loofah until I lather it in.

Whipped Up Sugar Scrub in Dark Kiss - $7.99 for 6 oz

Again, I absolutely love this product! It combines the Luxury Lane Soap whipped soap with raw organic sugar to make an excellent scrub. I love that it's so thick because the sugar stays evenly distributed, and I'm not let with a few grains of sugar and a bunch of oil at the end of the jar. I also don't lose half the the scrub just trying to get it from the jar to my body. It's not super scrubby, so if you are looking for an intensive scrub, this isn't it. However, it is nicely moisturizing, so it would probably be really good for dry skin.

Additional Information and Final Thoughts

Kylee Lane, the owner of the company, clearly takes pride in all aspects of it, from the jars and labels to the way things are shipped. Everything looks professional (and in some cases nicer than professional). The prices are reasonable and compare with prices at places like Bath & Body Works, and shipping isn't terrible ($5.95 flat rate shipping with free shipping on orders over $75). So far, I have really enjoyed the things I have tried, and I will happily continue to purchase from this company.

Have you tried Luxury Lane Soap products? What are your favorite indie bath and body companies?