Beauty Top Five: September 10, 2014

1. Formula 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask - I spotted this at Ulta a few weeks ago and was really intrigued. I decided to pick it up because $5.99 for a mask didn't seem that bad. And I am absolutely in love with this mask. I use it about once or twice a week. I really notice a difference the next day when I use this. It really does clear my skin up and clear out my pores. I love it. I really want to try out some other things from their line. (but it here)

Beauty Top 5: August 27, 2014

1. DiorSkin Nude BB Creme in 001- I'm really loving the coverage and the feel of this on my skin. I like that it doesn't give the super oily/dewy finish that I feel a lot of BB cremes do. It also works really well with concealer. Sometimes I feel like I can't put concealer on with a BB creme because the coverage would look weird but with this it doesn't. I am a super big fan of BB cremes to begin with so this one is amazing. This one is also pretty buildable. I like that I can put another layer on and get a better coverage. I use just my fingers to apply this, I usually always do.

Overnight Packing

Over the weekend, I went to a wedding in Enterprise, Alabama. Since I live in Atlanta, Enterprise is a 4 hour drive. I didn't really want to drive there and back home in one day so I decided to stay over night. This also gave me the option to get down a couple hours before the wedding in order to get ready and I didn't have to drive the whole way with my dress on and my hair and makeup done. 

I thought it might be interesting to see what I brought with me. 

This is just an overview of what I brought with me. The clothes I brought were: the navy lace dress with embellishment that I planned on wearing for the wedding, a pair of jeans to drive in, two t-shirts for driving, a strapless bra, underwear of course, and pjs (not pictured). I wore a pair of flip-flops to drive in and wore a pair of gold Michael Kors wedges for the wedding. 

I brought my trusty Vera Bradley makeup bag. It is a really good size and it will scrunch up if you don't fill it all the way. It also has a plastic linins so I don't feel like I'm going to ruin the bag if something spills. The makeup that I took included: an Urban Decay Naked 1 palette, a Revlon Lacquer Balm in number 110 Coquette, a Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in number 030 Smitten, a Chanel blush in number 68 Rose Ecrin, Cover Girl Smoothers foundation in number 725 buff beige (yay for tans), Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream in light (? I couldnt find it on the bottle but it's the lightest shade), MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15, L'Oreal Magic Decrease Eyelid Primer, Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner, Wet n Wild Mega Glo illuminating powder in number 345 Catwalk Pink, Benefit They're Real Mascara in travel size, Benefit Hoola Bronzer sample size, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in 011 Creamy Natural, Benefit Boi-ing concealer in 01, MAC Brow Set in Beguile, and finally my revlon eyelash curlers. 

I took all my toiletries in a pink and black polkadot bag that I got from Ulta a few years ago. I really like this bag because it holds a lot. What I brought: gud from Burt's Bee's softening conditioner in Orange Petalooza (on clearance at Ulta), Pantene Beautiful Lengths shampoo, Pantene Repair Light Detangler, Revitalens solution (contacts), contact case, a little travel pack from a hotel that had cotton balls, a nail file, and q-tips in it, DryBar money Maker flexible hold hairspray, Goody clear elastics, Clinique Happy Heart perfume, Benefit They're Real Remover, Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser, Bath and Body Works Daily Trio To Go (shower gel, lotion, fragrance mist in mini sizes) in Endless Weekend, The Body Shop Chocomania shower cream, Crest complete whitening toothpaste, and a toothbrush. (not pictured: my deodorant and my tangle teezer). 

For jewelry, I wore a pari of blush colored rose studs and my Claddagh ring and my wish ring. I fit all of this into one little overnight bag. 

The wedding was beautiful and I was so happy that I was able to be there to support my friends in their new life. 

xoxo, Jennie

Semi-Annual Sale Day 1...

So it's here. Bath and Body Works' Semi-Annual Sale. And being that I can't resist a sale (or super inexpensive stuff from BBW) I did some shopping. And I know that I will get tempted down the line, so I imagine that this will not be the last of my GIANT bags from there in the next month. Here it is, my bag of stuff:

 And here's the stuff out of the bag:

I feel like even though I did spend like $70, I got a load of things for that price. And considering the prices on the original items, it was a steal! So now I will go through all that I bought and tell a little bit about all of it.

I ended up getting 10 of the 3-wick candles. Yes, 10. That is certainly a ton of candles, but at 75% off, I really couldn't say no. The fall/winter scents were 75% off while the more recent releases from the spring/summer are 50% off, but I didn't end up buying any of those. All of the candles I bought were 75% off and ended up being $5 each before my coupons. They were all originally $20.

The first candles that I ended up buying were these Red Velvet Cupcake ones:

I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to end up keeping these or if I'm going to give them as gifts. I quite like the smell of them, but I have so many candles...? The fragrance description on the bottom of the candle claims: "This Southern classic is perfect for the holidays - rich vanilla frosting and authentic red velvet cake."

The next candles that I bought were the Blueberry Pumpkin Patch:

This was one of my favorites from last fall. I have a few left from then, but I really just couldn't say no to $5. It really seems like a strange combination, but it really is great. Although, it's not for someone who doesn't like foody, baking scents. The description is: "Blueberries fresh from the farm are the perfect match for ripe pumpkins in this delicious autumn blend."

These next candles, I went a bit crazy on...

Yes, those are all the same candle. I did buy 6 of them. Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin is definitely one of my favorites so I just had to stock up while they were so cheep. These are all from the Fresh Picked collection. They had a few different collections, all with the same scented candle in it last fall, but they all smell the same. The description for this one is "A fall harvest favorite inspired by delicious treats found at the local market-pumpkin pie, vanilla creme and spice."

Moving on to body care now, I got really excited when I realized that they had brought back one of my favorite seasonal scents from a few years ago, Wild Citrus Sunflower.

I was so upset that this scent was only seasonal and I only had bought one trio of it (shower gel, lotion, fragrance mist). I went a little bit overboard but it's okay. It's just such a light summery, springy scent, I love it so much! It is described as: "a sunny blend of sparkling clementine, cheerful sunflowers and luscious white nectarine."

The next body care things that I got were definitely a gift for someone, but I'll show it anyway. Forever Sunshine was discontinued a while ago so a lot of people are happy that it's been brought back for the sale this year:

It is described as: "a fresh blend of golden apricot, pink peonies, and a hint of praline that captures the romance of warm days that linger into cool autumn."

All of the body care that I bought wast $3 each before coupons, discounted from $11 each.

The last couple of things that I got were a bit of an impulse. They were also with the 75% stuff. I've never tried them before but I quite like the True Blue range:

I got the dry shampoo and the glossing cream from the Shea Cashmere Hair range within the True Blue range. They are both scented with "an addictive blend of vanilla almond, white nectarine, and silk tree flower." They do smell similar to the Shea Cashmere hand creams. The dry shampoo seems to be like any other dry shampoo but it says that it has "natural oat and rice powders and a nourishing combination of silk proteins and cashmere extract" so I don't know if it would have a more nourishing or softening feel to it. The glossing creme says that it "infuses hair with silky softness to control frizz while adding brilliant shine." I have quite dry, frizzy hair so I thought that something claiming to control frizz could be a good investment. Both of these items were originally $16.50 but with the 75% off they ended up being $6.50 each.

Overall, I'm quite happy with all of my purchases and am super excited to get to use them! Stay tuned for maybe another haul from the semi-annual sale :)

xoxo Jennie

**disclaimer: I am a sales associate with Bath and Body Works**