Brush it on, Blend it out

*I received this free for testing/reviewing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*

Oh man, trying to get caught up on everything and back in my groove after almost a week away is difficult. I am about three days behind on everything still, and new stuff to get done is coming in droves I swear. Quick and easy is the name of my style and beauty game right now, so my latest item to test out and review is perfect for my busy schedule. A tube of foundation with a built in brush sounds quick, easy, and convenient, but does it live up to my expectations?

Faces Beautiful is a liquid mineral foundation that comes in a tube with a built in brush for ease of application. I would call this a full coverage foundation more suitable for normal to oily skin. The concept is really neat, I like the attached brush since that's my current preferred method to apply my foundations anyways.

The brush twists to a locking position (off) to prevent makeup from being squeezed out while in your bag, which was a concern of mine. The brush isn't the nicest one I've ever used but the bristles are dense and worked fine when I was testing it out.

A ordered a shade or two to dark, so if you do buy this keep in mind that they looked lighter in the picture than mine at least was in real life. I recommend applying a bit to your hand then dipping your brush into that till you get use to the flow of the liquid. My first few times using it I squeezed out way to much, so there is a learning curve. But as you ca see from the swatch this has really great coverage.

Way to dark for me, but I did really like the feel and lasting ability of it. The full coverage meant I didn't need to apply any concealer to my face, not even under my eyes. And the swatch I put on my arm one day survived most of my shower till I got the the soapy washcloth bit. Towards the end of the summer the color will match me better and I'll be able to do a full day test of it, but from my wearing it around the house I'm very surprised by it. I'll be keeping my eye on this brand for sure, I see good things in their future.

A Road Trip and a Funeral

Wow, I am really really terrible at getting a whole week's worth of posts queued up. As I mentioned earlier in the week my husband's Grandmother died so we had to go out of state for a few days for the memorial service and whatnot. After a very long trip I am just drained, so instead of writing something witty about blush I'll just tell you guys about our trip.

From where we live to where we were staying was about an 8 hour drive once you factored in food and bathroom breaks. If you've never driven 8 hours with a 4 year old let me tell you it can suck. Especially when you're in a hurry and can't really stop anywhere. Luckily part of our trip followed the Columbia River (in between Oregon and Washington), so it was a gorgeous drive for about 2 hours.

And then the drive became hot, dry, and full of nothing but beige hills and canyons. This went on for about 4 hours. 4 very loooong hours. Eastern Oregon and Washington are not the most exciting areas to drive through, sorry.

We finally made it to Idaho (where we were staying) and I marveled at my packing skills. Seriously guys, if you travel little bags for your items are the best. The pink rectangle is a jewelry organizer, the red/black bag held all shower/hair items, and the peach flower bag was makeup and face stuff. Made it so much easier to find exactly what I was looking for. Bags, they're the best. Especially when packed in my awesome vintage suitcase that I finally got to use. Pro tip, most vintage luggage is heavier than you think, so pack light. No barbells.

The memorial service was the next day, and I'm honestly not going to talk about that here on my blog. It was a deeply personal, private event and I'm just not comfortable talking about it here. That day was spent pretty much with my husband's family, we didn't do any personal (for us) stuff.

On Friday we took our son into Coeur d'Alene Idaho to explore around. If you ever get the chance to I really recommend it. Not only is it a beautiful town around a beautiful lake but there are lots of fun things to do, like the world's longest floating boardwalk. Which if you get seasick on you might want to skip. Or get sick into the lake....again. You'd think I'd learn?

Seriously though, how pretty is that? I'd love to go back and actually rent a boat (and some Dramamine) for an hour or two and just goof around at the lake the whole day. You can even take a trip around the lake in a pontoon, which is that airplane that lands in water for those who don't know.

We did a little bit of window shopping in the fancy mall there and I found the coolest thing ever, a cotton candy vending machine! I wish I had cash on me so I could have tried it out, but alas my cash gets spent on eyeshadow instead. Have you guys ever seem something like this before? Was the cotton candy good?

And finally on Saturday we packed up, said goodbye to everybody, and started wandering home. We stopped here and there so the trip back home was much more enjoyable than the drive up, we even found a fun indoors farmers market to stop at and get some fun jam. I bought some prickly pear jam and 2 jars of cherry preserves there, can't wait to crack them open and enjoy them. If we didn't have a 6 hour drive I would have bought a bunch of Washington cherries, but they would never have survived the drive home in the heat.

I wish the trip out there had been under better circumstances but it was a good trip over all. I love getting to see where my husband grew up and here the family tell stories, and getting to make new memories with our son there really is the best feeling in the world. But I'm exhausted and ready to sleep for 12 hours straight so I will see you guys on Monday with a brand new manicure.

My Not so Little Lipstick Haul

Somebody asked me once what one makeup product I could not live without and without even having to think about it I said lipstick. I own a fair amount (according to my husband fair amount means I'm like the crazy cat lady but with lipstick instead), and every time I go to Ulta or Target to get some shampoo or whatever I end up buying another lip product or six. And as soon as I buy some I immediately have to start planning which ones I'm going to buy next. I might have a slight problem in retrospect. But can you really blame me? The right lip product can make or break a look, as anyone who has found their perfect shade of red can tell you. Today I'm going to show you the lip products I bought or was wonderfully gifted during June, because what fun is a lipstick collection if you can't show it off?

First up are my NYX lovelies. I've been exploring their entire line for the last few months, picking up a few items here and there. For the most part I really like the company, and they have a great selection of affordable lipsticks. I did a big review of some a month or so ago of their Round Case Lipsticks, so this time I tried to pick some different products (though I did get one more Round Case Lipstick).

The High Voltage Lipstick line is fairly new I believe, and judging by the picked over display at my local Ulta are pretty popular. I only bought one because I wasn't sure how different these would be from their other lipsticks, and of course it was one of the reds. Hollywood is a highly pigmented, creamy bright red that I've fallen completely in love with. These are much more opaque and pigmented than the Round Case Lipsticks, and offer more fun colors like a bright purple I need to buy.

The Round Case lippie I added to my collection is such a non-me color that I'm surprised I bought it, but it has ended up being a new favorite. If you follow me on Intagram you know I love the bright and bold colors, so Cocoa (a soft, neutral brown shade) is way outside my normal. As with all the other lipsticks in that line, it applies well and stays on as long as you'd expect from a regular lipstick. It is a great everyday color and if you love neutral lips I highly recommend getting this one.

The Butter Lip Balm line is newish, came out about a year ago I believe. For some reason these have never interested me, but I finally bought some literally so I could review them. Certain colors that I want seem to always be out of stock at my Ulta, so I settled on Panna Cotta (a very sheer pink) and Ladyfingers (a bright pinky mauve color) finally. Panna Cotta is sheer enough I don't really notice any color on my lips, but Ladyfinger gives me a nice flush of color. They're decent lip balms and they smell really nice, but I don't know if I'd get any more. Maybe if they were on a good sale or the red one was finally in stock.

And lastly is my biggest disappointment from NYX. I've been lusting after certain shades of their Soft Matte Lip Cream line for over a year now, but they are ALWAYS out of stock at my Ulta. Finally one of the shades was available when I was in buying all the other NYX lippies, so I snagged it and rushed home to apply it. The color  (San Paulo) is gorgeous and rich and I loved it, till about an hour later when half of it had dissolved into a patchy mess all over my lips. While I was at work. I really expected better lasting power from a matte product than this. If I do any eating, drinking, or talk for a while (like I do at my job) this fades in patches and really looks awful. I wanted to love this but I really can't. If you have any suggestions on making it work I am all ears.

My second lip haul of June was born out of necessity believe it or not. I finished my favorite lip balm during my Spring Project Pan and the one I was using just wasn't cutting it. The Baby Lips line by Maybelline had a huge cult following so I figured for under $4 I'd give them a try. I bought one of the clear sunscreen ones (Quencher) and one of the Crystal ones (Pink Quartz). I can see why people like these, they're fun looking, smell incredible, and are a decent lip balm. Are they the best lip balm in the whole world? No, but they're better than what I was using and are ten times more fun. They both smell like candy and the Pink Quartz one not only has a light hot pink tint to it but also has little bits of glitter in it. I'll be picking more of these up probably next month, I'm on a strict no buy this month now.

My very last lippie of the month was actually given to me as a thank you present by Air Repair. If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen my review of it, but in case you haven't I'll share it with you. This is a bronzey pink lip gloss that is basically a tinted version of their rescue balm. What this means is it's not sticky at all, smells like roses, and will not only moisturize your lips but help repair them. I believe this is the only color available, but if they ever put out more colors I would buy them in a heartbeat. This is how you do lip gloss, not that awful sticky mess most other companies call lip gloss. Air Repair can do no wrong in my book, I've seriously loved all of their products.

Those are my goodies from June, did you see anything you have to have right now? I'm ok being an enabler, and you deserve a new lipstick or twelve. What lip products should I get next? Am I totally wrong on the Soft Matte Lip Cream sucking? Are you a Baby Lips fanatic as well? If you want to see these on my lips I'll be posting them to my Instagram account all week, so make sure you are following me.

Sometimes the Best Manicure is No Manicure

Monday's are normally my day for a fun and bright manicure, but sometimes they just aren't appropriate at all. I will be leaving this week for an out of state funeral so my usual finger flair is not going to cut it at all. Times like this are when I like to give my nails a vacation and focus on other things like helping my family get through this difficult time.

We will be gone Wednesday through Saturday I believe, so I'll have my posts all queued up but I won't be available to answer comments or respond to emails till Sunday night. July is shaping up to be a difficult month so I ask for your patience while we deal with things on a personal and health level. Hopefully this blog won't suffer to much, but I know there will be missed posts for sure. So this is my "I'm sorry" in advanced.

Tea with Benefits: The Slender Blend Detox and Weight Loss Tea

*I received this product free for testing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*

I am an avid tea drinker, especially during the colder months. I have a whole cupboard full of tea right now, and I'll probably grab some more when I go grocery shopping this weekend. The whole ritual of making tea is very soothing, especially if it is a loose leaf blend, so when I was offered the chance to try out some delicious tea that might also help slim me down a bit I grabbed my favorite cup and eagerly awaited the UPS truck.

The Slender Blend by Tea Love Co. is a special green tea blend designed to help stimulate your metabolism, which in turn helps you burn off more calories. And since it is green tea you get the added antioxidant benefits as well. And the most important point is it actually tasted great, which for me in the #1 factor in anything I eat or drink. If it doesn't taste good I'm not doing it, sorry. So I was very relieved see that is wasn't nasty and medicinal tasting.

What I typically did was every night (and sometimes in the morning depending how I was feeling) I'd heat up enough water for 2-3 cups of tea, then I'd place my tea into the pot and I'd let it steep for a big. This was my nightly routine for a 14 day trial. I measured myself before I started drinking the tea then again at the 7 day checkpoint. I had lost half an inch around my waist, which was pretty impressive, and another half an inch around my hips. By the 14 day checkpoint however my personal health problems decided to flare up on me and I'm super bloated and in a lot of pain which means I'm on heavy pain meds which also make me bloat up.

So I can't tell you what the end result was, but I am super happy with just the one week results and I'm going to continue to drink the tea once my health issues have settled down a bit more. While this is a little more than I typically like to pay for tea, I think $18.99 with free Prime shipping is ok enough that I will buy another pack once mine runs out. Being able to debloat and actually look good in my clothes is a big deal for me right now thanks to the health issues I mentioned. I really liked this stuff and I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a slimming tea.

Thursday Thoughts

It's July everybody! This will be probably the hottest month of the summer in my neck of the woods, and is probably going to be a crazy busy month as well. And since today is Thursday you know that means I'm joining Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for her weekly Thursday Thoughts link up.

My posting schedule has been a mess lately, and I'm sorry about that. Between the heat, a busy work schedule, and some personal stuff I've just been unmotivated to blog. Which is silly because I love doing this and can't believe I didn't start doing this sooner. I'll sit down tomorrow and queue up a bunch of posts to use on days I'm to sick/busy/melting to write, and hopefully there won't be anymore gaps.

It has been so hot and humid here lately that I actually created a skincare summer travel kit to keep in my bag. I've had it for a few days and I've already used it a ton, so I highly recommend you create one of your own. I basically included different SPF products, lotion and skin balms, face refreshing spray, deodorant, and some stuff to combat acne and oily skin thanks to the humidity. Skin care lines should make pre-made little kits like this, these are seriously a lifesaver right now.

One perk of being a beauty blogger (besides getting sent goodies like the above) is my makeup skills have improves seven fold. So much so that now friends are constantly saying I should do their makeup. In fact I've been told that so often I'm going to start (slowly) building a professional makeup kit and doing makeup as a side job. I'm really excited for this new opportunity and what it means, and some extra income won't hurt obviously. For right now I'll be practicing and building my portfolio on friends and probably after Christmas I'll start doing paying gigs.

I realized the other day that I'm almost done with my face powder, which is one of those things I've never finished before in the past. In the last year I've used up so much makeup, its kind of crazy. But at least I'm using things up instead of them spoiling. And used up makeup means I get to go to Ulta and buy new stuff! NYX is 40% right now (till Saturday) so I'm getting the contour palette I've been going back and forth on for months. It works out to like $14 with the sale and my coupon so I'm comfortable pulling the trigger and getting it. And worst comes to worst I'll return it and get something else. Love when things you want are on sale, did you get anything super awesome this month?

June 2015 Empties, My Push to Finish Products

Today is the first day of July, and that means it is time to sort through my mountain of trash and see what I used up in June. Now last month I set a goal of 25 finished products, which admittedly is quite a lot of items. I not only met that goal, but I ended up 5 above it if I counted correctly. 30 items finished in one month, that's pretty good I think. So because there are so many items I'll divide them into "Yes, No, Maybe" and talk about a few of the stand outs in the group.

These are my "Yes, I would repurchase them" pile. I've talked about everything minus the clay mask before so I'll mainly just focus on that this time. I love Freeman masks and the lemon mint one is my favorite of the clay ones. This dries out my acne and leaves my skin looking so nice. I've already got a back up of this. The brush is an ELF studio small stippling brush, and I actually ran out within an hour of breaking it and bought another. They're only $3, so I don't mind that the studio line isn't as sturdy as some of my other brushes, all but one of mine broke within a year of buying it. I'll probably talk about that more later.

These are my "Maybe" items. The Liz Earle soothing eye lotion was really nice, as was the Demeter Jasmine perfume, but they're both a bit spendy for my current budget. Maybe in the future when I have some extra cash for goodies. The two ELF blushes I really liked, but I'm kind of sick of the powder one after making it my Project Pan item. And the cream blush dried up after a year, which was a bit frustrating. I will probably pick these up in the future but right now I need a break from them.

My "No" pile is huge this time, which surprised me. All of the hair care products just didn't step up to my expectations of them, even the Beauty Protector shampoo and conditioner. All the lotions are a no because I own to much lotion currently and cannot justify buying more anytime in the next year. The makeup items were either way overpriced (Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Gel and Smashbox Primer), or I just didn't like enough to want more of. The two tools in the no pile, the beauty blender dupe and the cotton swabs, actually really disappointed me. The sponge would NOT come clean, no matter how or what I washed it with and I eventually ripped it trying to ungross it. The cotton rounds were suppose to be my Dollar Store regulars but they switched them for these awful, shedding things and I didn't notice till I was home. I may have to start getting my cotton swabs somewhere else until they switch back to the ones I liked. And lastly, that Dove body wash gave me a horrible rash, so if you have sensitive skin I suggest avoiding it like the plague. An itchy, hive covered plague.

The last month was really great for empties and I'm super happy with my progress. I won't set any goals for July since I have a feeling I won't be wearing a whole lot of makeup that month. I do want to finish another thing of lotion and all my stockpiled hair stuff, but other than that I'm not going to push myself. If you see an item in the pictures you want me to talk more about please let me know down below in the comments.