Wedding OOTD // OOTN // Brides OOTN // The Wedding Experiene.

As you may know, I went to an amazing wedding a couple of weeks ago. Alex and I went with my good friend Donny to Ashileena's wedding. I met Ashley through Alex right after high school and the three of us were really close. When I was in college, Ashley and I were inseparable. Donny was also with Ashley and I a lot of that time in college. We had a really close group of friends and when I went to Las Vegas, it seemed as if everyone went their separate ways. All but Ashley. I would come back to visit and hang out with her the whole time I was in town from Las Vegas. Cut to today, I haven't seen Ashley in what had been a couple years! We really hope to change that though because we had a freaking blast! Her baby Mia and husband Darren are both awesome. 

Let me take you through the day.....

Alex, Donny, + I all met up at my house in our Sunday's best.

We took some pictures outside. Thanks to Donny, I got some pretty good OOTD's photos.

{{**edit. I would have loved to show you the pictures of all of us, but my computer crashed and all of my pictures I didn't upload to FB or MBB were GONE. Dang it!}}

Ruffle Floral Top: Body Central

Mint Fitted Blazer: Body Central

Coral Maxi Skirt:Wet Seal

Coral Sandals with Gold Detailing: Body Central
Scarf: Charlotte Russe
Sunglasses: Tilly's

I love this maxi skirt. I just love the way it moves.

Then we got to the wedding just in time to see Ashley and Darren walk out of the church. She looked so beautiful. This was a perfect time for a photo-opportunity . Her dress was so nice. Cupcake style. Too bad I have no photos. Moving on....

Afterward, Alex went home to change and Donny and I got the party started! We decided to go to a local beer place. Turns out, this place has one of the biggest selections of beer in the US. Right down the street from me. Why didn't I know about this place? You can go in and fill up a six-pack of different flavors of beers, or you can drink them in the bar. They had one called Banana Bread I wanted to try, but I opted out for:

Coconut Flavored. Although I didn't really taste the coconut. 

It tasted like white wine mixed with juice. It was pretty amazing.

Donny looks so cute in this one:


Then Alex came back to my house and we drove to the reception. The reception hall was awesome. The chandeliers were big and blingy, I actually felt formal for the night .

my 2nd OOTN:
All I did was changed my top and skirt, and put on a romper from Body Central.

Necklace: Charlotte Russe
Sugar Skull Romper: Body Central

Arm Candy:
Charlotte Russe  Jewelry:
Pastel Skulls
Spike/Pearl Braclet + Gold Skull Bracelet

The Gold Bracelet: Forever 21

Ashileena's OOTN:

A black peplum mini dress. Screams Ashley.

We drank,
We danced,
We Stole Things 
{Jason Mraz Ref.}

We did the photo booth

Then, it was time to get on the party bus!!

We were headed to downtown Youngstown. My downtown has a ton of bars and restaurants for any type of person. They have a thrift-store-by-day fashion-show-by-night with BYOB place, A luncheon place that turns into a really cool bar with an open mic at night. I once saw a girl play violin, a guy tap dance, and and another free style all at once. It was pretty sweet. They have a martini bar, a hip hop dance club, a bar with live music, and a few more dive's. We started out at 9ine {dance club} and just cruised the rest of the bars and clubs. So yeah, good times.

Ashley and Alex on the bus, talking and laughing. I love this picture. They are so cute!


Me // Ryan // Darren // ??




 Donny

I took all of these while I had too much...Forgive me?

The night ended at Ashileena's and Darren's house. Phil was such a doll and picked Donny and I up from their house about an hour away to take us back to Youngstown.

We had a blast! Thank you to Ashley and Darren for such a spectacular night and for inviting me! I can't wait to get back together again! Congratulations pretty girl! I love you and I am so proud of you! You have a beautiful family and home and I was exited to be apart of your wedding day! I hope you guys renew yours vows some time really soon in the future so we can do it all over again!

I hope all of you MBB reader's enjoyed the blog post! 

If you wanna see more, feel free to go to my facebook page.

even though I had the cutest collages I made on GIMP for this blog post, and my computer crashed so they were lost, it still turned out ok, right? no. I just like things a lot cuter for the blog. Whatever...

Wasn't the bride gorgeous?!

Are you married?

What did your wedding dress{es} look like?

xoxo

Erica

Sunday Funday

#1: A really cute button down chiffon top with skulls at Dots. So cute
#2. OOTN! Ugh! I love that one. I wore it to my friends wedding. A whole blog post's to come on a ton of outfits from that day.
#3. My Ulta was having an event where you could donate money and toys and food for the homeless baby doggies and kittys! They had makeover's too.
#4. Essie's Boom Boom Room with White On by Sally Hansen underneath.
#5. Arm Candy BCBG//Pastel Skulls//Spikes+Pearls//Silver+Gold
#6. Stell-anburg, the Stella Girl with a pink tutu from Old Navy
#7. White Chocolate Macadamis Nut Odwalla Bar. It was ok.
#8. Ashileena + Darren's Wedding. More to come, remember?
#9. A flower tree in my back yard.
#10. An old mansion in my town in the historical district. It is now a 5 plex. My friend Donny used to live in the part with the porch connected to it. It used to be just a dining room and was turned into a 1 bedroom. I love it inside. They still have a secret passage for the butler's.
#11. An operating room at the turn of the century.
#12. Philly and Stella's with a fake bow. The bow is a filter on Photo Wonder.
#13. The Renner's mansion. In the historical district.
#14. Meal 4: Cherries, Naked Chips, + Pico De Gallo from Wal-Mart {pico was so good}
#15. Stambaugh Auditorium. I used to dance in high school and that was where all of our recitals were. Me and my friend Becky would sneak into all of the secret passages and ended up in the attic. It was huge and awesome. If you couldn't tell, I love old architecture.

instagram // twitter // youtube

c yah!

Erica

Update + Favorites

Hey!

 Ok, so it has only been 4 days since I posted a blog but I wanted to update you all on what's up with me. 

Earlier this week, my computer crashed!!!! I had taken all of my photos and filmed the video for the following blogs/videos:

Wedding OOTD's 

Give-Away

Top 10 ELF Products

Curly Hair Products

Favorite Ways to Tan + What's in my Tanning Bag

Empties

Favorites

....along with a million other misc. photos of back-up blog post's that I never use anyways. Not to mention all of my personal photos are all gone, gone, gone.

Lukcily, I am going a guest blog post for someone special and I had already wrote/sent out one of those blog post's and it should go live in the next week or so. As soon as it does, I will alert you guys so you can check it out. The wedding OOTD's: I had already uploaded some of those photos onto blogger but not all of them. Luckily, Ashileena has pictures of her in her wedding dress so I can borrow those for my blog and that will be up as soon as I get those photos. 

So yeah, I am starting from scratch. That's ok! I will just have to put in some extra work. 

I hope you all don't mind! If you do, there's nothing I can really do for you but I doubt you really care. So expect the OOTD's some time this weekend and a blog post later this week. Thank you for your patience!

xoxo

Erica

Now, for a video. I had plans to post this along with some photos here on MBB, but yah no the story. Enjoy

Top 6 Favorite Nude Pink Lippies

Lippies. I like that word. Nude Pinks might be my favorite color to wear. Second favorite would be Pinks. Third favorite would be Nudes. So, obviously Nude Pinks are awesome. They go with anything. Smokey eye, natural eye, colorful eye, loud clothing, etc. Since I have gotten tanner with my tanning salon package, + obsessing over my Beautisol body bronzer, my lipsticks start to look a little weird. It is just strange. Sometimes, I feel like the tan mom if I don't have on the right lip color. Nude pink's seem to never fail, however. Weather I am really tan or really pale, they always look good. Here's my staple nude pinks. My favorites.

Essence Stay With Me Lipgloss

Me and My Ice Cream

Uhm yeah, that name should draw you in alone. Along with that milky baby pink color, it is perfect. This lip gloss smells like a clean floral, as I stated in my previous video, which is ironic considering the name. The scent is quite nice, actually. Aside from the scent, this is my favorite lip gloss, let alone my favorite nude pink. It's not too dull, too nude, too pink, too dark, or too light. It has a sponge tip applicator that is shaped like an hour glass, which makes swatching it a little weird but other than that, I don't mind it. It isn't sticky. It doesn't stay all day. It's not a super gloss, just a normal gloss in the perfect color. You will have to re-apply this after an hour just like you do with all lip glosses.

ELF Glossy Gloss

Pink Candy

Comparing it to Me and My Ice Cream, Pink Candy is a little more nude and a little more dull. It has a brush tip applicator and is also kind of sticky and thick. I personally don't mind it too much but I do not find myself reaching for it as much as my Essence gloss. If your looking for something that is more nude than pink but is still nude pink, this is a good color.


NYX Soft Matte Lipcream
Tokyo
 This product. Your going love it or your going to hate it. It's not a gloss, or lipstick. The consistency of it is a thin creamy formula and all it is pretty much is pigment. When you put it on your lips, it dries within a few minutes. I mean, it dries. It is very drying. Dry lipsticks tend to last longer and I like to put this down then add a lipstick {Revlon Prim Rose} over it. Or a gloss. Any of these lip products I am talking about today go great with this. I use it as a foundation for my lips. I have that nude milky pink color, but I can change it to tone it down, cool it down, warm it up, neutralize it, whatever. It's a nice base for that and a nice base to keep your lipstick used in conjunction lasting longer. Doe foot applicator. Smells like a cupcake.

NYX Round Lipstick
Strawberry Milk
If you like that Nikki Minaj lip color, you just might love this. Strawberry Milk is basically Tokyo in a lipstick as far as the color and pigmentation goes. The NYX Round Lipsticks are very creamy, not drying like the Lip Creams. This one is for my fair skinned girls {or guys. I don't judge} I have recently gotten a tan and I am noticing I hate this color on me now that I am little more tanned. I am still determined to use it though. So I like mixing it with a Chap-Stick. It tones down the color and I am getting that milky pink that I want without looking like some creepy, 80's movie star, frosted lipstick, tan mom psycho. But I think of Nikki and she is obviously black. How in the world does she pull it off and look freaking fabulous? Maybe it's just for darker girls or paler girl- maybe there is no middle ground. I wish I had an answer. These smell and tastes like the Essence lip glosses. A floral clean scent. I like it.

Revlon Lipstick
Primrose
The perfect nude pink for any skin tone. Seriously. It is just pink enough and nude enough and Primrose has a magic to it. I can wear this at any stage of my tan. And when I am paler than a ghost, it still looks great. This lipstick is my favorite nude pink because of that. It isn't drying, but also not as creamy as the NYX Round Lipsticks. Doesn't have much of a scent/taste. It isn't drying either. It's a good one.

Avon Ultra-Color Rich Moisture
Pink Tarifeta
It seems as though most people tend to stick to either a matte finish or a cream finish. Or a satin finish. Frosty finishes seem to be outdated {for now} and lustre's are kind of the same. But, I think if you can do a lustre correct, it will look really pretty! A lustre finish is demi-sheer with a smooth wet-look finish. {ref.} This particular lipstick also has some shimmer in it. It is really pretty. It isn't too loud and in your face and actually can look subtle and draw enough flattering attention to your lips. This is another lipstick that looks good on me no matter what stage of tan I am in. It's a creamy formula. Try a finish like this. I bet you will like it. This is Avon's "lip butter" version. It is moisturizing just like any of those lip butters you will find in the drugstore. I like these. A great nude pink with a unique finish.


Here's the swatches. You can really see for yourself the contrast/comparisons of each lip product from these a lot better than I can explain them!

What's your favorite nude pink?

That's all for now!
xoxo
Erica

Bath + Body Works Candles.

Wow, wow, wow! I have been crazy busy ever since April ended. In fact, even at the end of April was really busy. In the midst of picking up a ton of extra hours at work, working out, tanning, beautiful days for walks, re-decorating my room, trying to make a couple good videos to put up, My blog has been backed up! I have my Give-Away ready and waiting and I promise I will have it up asap. Get exited! I am (:

I love the 2 for $22 sale they have. It allows me to stock up from season to season + share the candles I got. Some girl's collect shoes. Others, bags.  For me, it's candles. And jewelry. And makeup. And tops and blouses. Let's stop there and get on with it.

The 2 for $22 sales allow us to buy 2 for $22, then every other 3 wick candle afterward is $11 each.

Limoncello:

In America this is an alcoholic beverage. I am not quite sure if the same holds true in Italy, but it doesn't smell like alcohol. This was the one I was drawn to the most because it seems like when I am in B+BW sniffing a ton of different candles, the scents all seem to mesh together and smell the same. This one smelled different than the rest. Let's face it, it smells just like Lemonade. But when I got it home, I realized it was my least favorite. I liked it, I did. It had a high scent throw. But after I burned it once, I wanted something else. The beauty of that is your allowed to burn the candle once and if you don't prefer it, you can exchange it for another one.I did just that. I will tell you later which one I got in lieu of Limoncello.

Poolside: 

This is going to be in my current favorites. The scent description in my eyes {nose?} isn't correct. To me, this smells like Coppertone or sun tanning lotion. It reminds me of being in Virginia Beach or Nags Head beach at age 10 on a very hot day, playing in the sand and water. Then going to the boardwalk. I love this one. Truly love it. I bought a Candle's By Victoria candle in Coppertone awhile back and they are comparable but CBV's is more floral and powdery. Almost old lady like. Almost. Poolside is perfect in that it has a high scent throw {I can smell it throughout my bedroom which is big} but doesn't stray away from a Coppertone type of scent. You will either love it or hate it.

Watermelon Lemonade: 

I have not burned this yet because my mom said she liked it {it's going to be a Mother's day gift} and it has taken me a little bit of will power to not burn it because it smells so good. I have the lid off sitting next to my bed and every once and awhile I will catch a whiff of it even though it isn't burning. It smells just like watermelon. But sweeter. Like watermelon juice.

Gelato: 

I exchanged Limoncello for this one. It was the one I initially wanted but didn't see it at the store the first time. OMG this one is amazing. Just like Watermelon Lemonade, weather it is being burned or not, you can still smell it. When I took my first whiff of it, it brought me back to middle school or high school. I don't why. But I do it reminds me of a body splash or soap I used to have. It's killing me because I cannot think of what it reminds me of. Grrr! It smells delicious. I am going with the description on this one mixed with a juice, popsicle, or gelato. You know that kind of scent. Food scents are my favorite.

That's it! I want to get some Wallflowers too eventually in a few of these fragrances. They have some really cute plug ins right now.

xoxo

Erica

Favorite Healthy Meal Bars

I love taking Luna Bars to work with me. I have breakfast when I wake up {which is in the form of protein} and meal 2 is always made right when I am running out the door. I bought myself a cute to go tumbler to take it with me to work. By 1pm, I am still at my job. A pizza and wing restaurant. If I don't grab a bar to eat around this hour, I will cave and go for a flat bread or burger. Bars are perfect to throw in my bag and take with me so I don't do that. Here's some I currently have {had} lying around.

Luna Bars:

are anywhere from 200-300 calories.{?} They do fill me up and are equal to a full meal for me. I never really finish a whole bar. Unless I am really hungry.

Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar:

This is my favorite Luna bar. It does kinda have that meal bar taste/texture, but it is the closest healthy thing I have had to a brownie. It is so rich and dense, like a brownie would be. There is a layer of caramel on the top of the bar and that part is perfection. It is just caramel perfection.I found this flavor at Wal-Mart for $1 near the vitamins.

White Chocolate Macadamia Luna Bar:

Before I discovered the Caramel Nut Brownie Luna Bar, this one was my favorite. This has white chocolate coating on the bottom, like the bottom was dipped in white chocolate. It is delicious. It reminds me more of a dense granola bar

Peanut Honey Pretzel Luna Bar:

I was expecting to find pieces of pretzel in the bar but I didn't find any. It does mix sweet and salty, however. It has a peanut butter type of coating on the bottom, like the white chocolate in the macadamia bar. The texture is also a type of dense granola bar. This one was pretty good.

Perfectly Simple Bar:

This reminds me of a plain Lara Bar. The texture and mixture is the same. I can't say it tasted like coconut cream or coconut for that matter. It has very few ingredients, all good ones. There was only one ingredient that was different from the Lara Bars. Evaporated Cane Sugar. I personally don't mind a little sugar. These were on sale last week at Target for 80 cents.

Coconut Cream Lara Bar:

This on the other hand was not a plain Lara Bar. It really tasted like coconut cream. Lara Bars are known for their very few ingredients and all this had was dates, almonds, coconut, coconut oil, and maybe I am missing a couple nuts or or something. The texture of these if you didn't know are a little firmer than a no bake cookie.

Other Delicious Bars:

Home Made Fudge Brownie Lara Bar:

If you have never been to Chocolate Covered Katie and you love Lara Bars, you need to check her out. She is where I get all of my Lara Bar recipes/ideas. She calls them Fudge Babies. Damy also has some good Lara Bar recipes too. You can make your own Lara Bars with whole, healthy ingredients. Nuts. Seeds. Spices. Oats. Dates. Raisins. Coconut. Awhile back, I posted a recipe for a Lara Bar called Fudge Brownie Balls.

{the rest of the photos were taken with my iPhone}

 Kind Bars:

These were recent discoveries and can I tell you about the Coconut + Almond one? OMG it was like eating a gooey coconut macaroon! This was my favorite bar I have had. I am serving these next Christmas instead of my coconut macaroons. Nobody would know the difference. The Blueberry + Pecan one was pretty good too. I know the Kind bars are not as filling as a Luna Bar but they do hold me over.

Odwalla Bars:

Another new discovery. I get these at Wal-Mart. These are also pretty filling but nothing is as ever as filling as a Luna Bar. those babies are dense.

White Chocolate Macadamia:

This one just looks so yummy and it was pretty good. This is more of a chewy bar.

Banana Nut:

This was my favorite of the 2 Odwalla bars. It's even chewier than the White Chocolate Macadamia and has little chunks of nuts or oats or something. It was delicious. It will be my new every day bar.

 There will be more to come on my workout routine, diet, meals, grocery lists, organization, and other ways I stay on track soon enough if I thought that's what you wanted. Let me know if any of that intrigues you.

<3

Erica

How to Get Free Stuff for Your Blog + A Beautisol Tan Glow Review

Hey yall!

I hope that title drew you in because I know it would for me. I have had this blog for over 2 years now, and as you may know, I never have anything sponsored or anything like that. I have always wanted to go down that road {hey! It sound's like fun to me!} but don't really know how. I signed up iFabbo last year and every {week I think} they send out newsletters for Beauty + Fashion Bloggers. How to grow your blog, Spotlighting different bloggers, just a bunch of good stuff like that. It intrigued me.

Just recently, iFabbo had this great idea to open up a shop. iFabbo Shop. But you don't buy stuff with money. You buy it with points! You start out with so many points. You put in your order. They send you the stuff. And you review it to get more points by using hashtags. This allows me to think outside of the box and utilize more platforms for promoting Mind Body Beauty. If your a blogger, sign up! It's a fun challenge. You get free stuff. You do what you love and review that stuff. It gets the word out about the SHOP. This kind of stuff excites me. I don't have to feel weird because I know you love it too!

I figured the actual card they sent might be more helpful for those who are interested.

On to my humble review.

On my part, I messed up. I was so exited about the new SHOP that I didn't realize that this was actually a wash off body bronzer and not a gradual tanner. So even though this isn't perfect for building a tan, it is really awesome to use for a special night out. Or day out. Weddings. Picnics. Get together's. Let's face it. I will most likely use it when ever I am feeling frogy. Because it really is that easy.

When I first opened the box I noticed that iFabbo included a pink Starburst {so cute}. With that it also came with 2 instruction sheets: 1 for how to use the product and 1 for how to incorporate iFabbo and get involved.

Weather your using Beautisol Tan Glow Wash-Off Bronzer or not, the instruction sheet is still a good rule of thumb to go by for any type of self tanner/body bronzer. It tells you exactly where/how much to use in every area on your body.

It also came with a mitt! I have always wanted one of these! Again, these are great for any type of self tanner/ body bronzer. I will be using this even when my Body Bronzer is gone. I pumped X amount onto the mitt and I could not believe my nose...

This stuff smells amazing. Like a nice, clean body splash or soap. It smells nothing like a self tanner. Even after I have had it on all day, the scent still lingered.

As I started applying it to my body with the mitt, there wasn't any streaking. I waited for it to dry for a couple minutes {if that} and started working out. At this point, I really wanted to test it. After my workout, I didn't have any streaking or weird fading. So even on a hot day, I won't be afraid to wear it. Later that night I washed it off and I came off just fine.

I am still skeptical though. It says to avoid water and sweating so I have no idea how it stayed on when I was working out. Whatever! I'll take it.

It does say to exfoliate but honestly, I didn't do that. Oopsie! It didn't even matter. I worked perfectly without me taking that step.

As you can see, you get a subtle tan. I didn't want anything too crazy but sometimes I do go there. I did not re-apply this time, but next time I will. I will check back in with you on that once I do the tanning video.

So, yeah great product! If your looking for something that is a gradual tan, look elsewhere. I know Beautisol has gradual tanner's and if this is a prelude to the rest of their products, then I would love to try any gradual tanner they have. I have not though so I cannot tell you about those. Banana Boat makes a great gradual tanner if your looking for one!

I almost wish I could have an indifferent opinion about it, as I don't want to sound all sale's-ey but fortunately, I don't. It even exceeded the limits it said it could not {no sweating, exfolite}

My favorite thing about all of this is iFabbo SHOP. If your a blogger, check it out!

Plus,

Beautisol has given me a link to use a promo code to get 20% off! I feel really cool, haha!

 ifabboglow

I hope you liked this review and more importantly, I hope you join iFabbo. It's a blast. And by the way, I do get more points if you use my link to buy it. Even if you don't buy and your interested, check out the link anyway! I'm not that beauty blogger that will hide behind any type of disclaimer, I got it for free and that's exiting for me! If your a beauty blogger, you can also get it for free too! Check out iFabbo.

xoxo

Erica