Mind Body Beauty's First Give-Away

R u ready?!

Omg I have been collecting stuff for months now.....haha. Here's the deal. I got my job I am at now back in November and it is the longest standing job I have had and I am so exited that I found somewhere that I can be of service. I actually feel like I bring something to the table here. No, I don't make a ton of money but enough to do some fun things. My blog is one of those things I save money for and this is the type of stuff I spend that money on. I am blessed. Which means I want to bless u all. And I am already collecting stuff for a new give-away. I hope to shoot for the middle of summer with that one. When I first started my blog, it was formerly Meet Makeup. I had a giveaway 2 Christmases ago {wow. that long ago?} when I was Meet Makeup.

In light of GFC being done with at the beginning of July, I figured this was the perfect time to give-away some stuff to encourage everyone to follow me on Bloglovin. That's the catch. Follow me on Bloglovin. I am really bummed about GFC closing down. I think every blogger is nervous that blogger blogs will be forgotten about. Maybe I should switch platforms? Like Wordpress? But I like the community here so if your a blogger like me, I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Good Stuff

 Physician's Formula 
Happy Booster

Remember my CVS haul? That was fun. This was the only thing I paid for thanks to CVS extra bucks. That's another story. I figured this would make a great prize because Physician's Formula is one of my favorite brands, especially their blushes and bronzers. You get two in one. Pretty awesome.

Wet n Wild Trio

Silent Treatment

This is probably of my favorite trio from Wet n Wild. I almost bought a Physician's Formula eyeshadow palette but the Wet n Wild one's are more pigmented. They also really know how to pair colors. I never see an ugly color from them. That Lid shade is to die for. The crease shadow is extremely dark. The brow bone shade is a little more sheer but I use a fluffy blending brush to apply it underneath my brow bone anyways rather than a dense pack-it-on brush. It gives a softer finish that way.

Sweet Spun Sugar Candle

Target

I love these candles. I have a few of them. They have a great scent throw and this one smells amazing. I would say it smells more like a juicy candy rather than cotton candy. I figured this would be the most universal fragrance. I hope you enjoy it! (:

Donna Michelle

Caviar Beads

There is a secret about these that I talk about in the video (: I love these and use these all the time. I only do my bling finger as there just isnt enough to do all 5 nails. But it makes for a killer mani!

Kardashian Kolor {Nicole by OPI}

"Sophisti-Cuties"

This is a fun little try-em-before-you-buy-em type of gift set. I have this set and the pink set and I really like these nail polishes. They dry to a really glossy and hard finish. I love using Khlow had a Lam-Lam with the gold caviar beads. So dang cute!

The Official Rules 

{1 is mandatory. You can do both and you will get 5 extra entries.}

-Follow me on Bloglovin.

-Subscribe to the Mind Body Beauty Youtube channel.

once you have done one or the other, leave a comment in the comments section here on MBB or the giveaway video on Youtube.

You can tell me....

what you want to see in future give-aways.

what you thoughts are about GFC and changing platforms.

what you like about my blog/videos

what you think I can improve on

whatever your inspired to talk about, say it!

The comment goes hand in hand with the first two. So pick one, or do both and get the extra entries but I need to know you want to be entered so leave a comment.

Extra entries:

There are a ton:

1 point:

• Like the Youtube Give-Away Video
• Follow me on twitter. 
• Tweet about my give-away {leave the url below}
• Follow me on instagram.
• Follow Mind Body Beauty {or all the boards} on Pinterest!
• Re-Pin the giveaway on a board of your own

5 points:

• Mind Body Beauty now has a Facebook page! Like it 
• Blog about the give-away
• Put the give-Away in your side bar {along with the 1st picture}
• If your a blogger yourself, feel free to add this giveaway to your sidebar, using that first picture.
• Feel free to write a blog post about the giveaway

Comment Template:
Your Name:
Your E-Mail:

Bloglovin' URL:

Youtube Name:

Answer to any question:

Twitter Handle:

The twitter URL if you tweeted about the giveaway: 
Instagram Handle:
Pinterest Handle:
Blog URL:
Blog post URL to the blog post's if you blogged about it:


So leave your info in the comments!

The giveaway will end on July 4th and I can ship to anywhere in the US!

It will be announced....
On the youtube video
On this blog
Twitter
Facebook

Good Luck

xoxo
Erica

Mind Body Beauty for Elle See's // Favorite Curly Hair Products

Eeeek! I am really exited to have my blog post on Elle See's, right now. That's right! I am a guest blogger over there for the day! Elle is seriously amazing. If you haven't checked out her blog and love beauty blogs, what are you waiting for? I really mean that- When she announced she was looking for guest blogger's, I was all over it. I feel humbled - haha! Elle, I can't thank you enough!

Elle's Blog
 Here's my blog post

Ok so when I get out of the shower, I do not towel dry my hair {thank you to Elle for that tip} I dry my body, then wrap a towel around my shoulders after I wring my hair out of it's excess water. As soon as I do that, I use John Frieda's Frizz Ease Serum. I also really love Paul Mitchell's Skinny Serum, but Frizz-Ease is targeted towards extra frizzy hair/curly hair. Works like a charm to really tame any frizz you might have. It starts the foundation for sleek, soft hair.

Directly after that, I take a good amount of Miss Jessie's Quick Curl's Curl Cream. I got this in my Birchbox awhile back and at first, I hated it. It made my hair so sticky! It's because I wasn't using it right. The trick is to use it while your hair is really, really wet. Don't waste any time letting your hair dry. I use a tablespoon amount {or 2} and scrunch it through my wet hair. This is when waves start to turn into curls. The curl cream is sticky, but don't let that throw you off. If you apply it to wet hair, your hair won't feel gross once it dries. Did I say apply it to wet hair yet? (:

Big Sexy Hair Root Pump is my next step. I may or may not use this. It's really 50/50. I do think that the mousse's I use after really help to give my hair volume, but if I am feeling I want a little more lift, I apply this directly to my roots and scrunch my hair upwards. I don't like to use this in my hair when I am not blow drying it. It makes for some serious product build up and does nothing for my hair if I do not blow dry.

Paul Mitchell's Round Trip is my favorite of this bunch. When my hair wasn't bleached blonde, it worked even better than it does today. It gives me really pretty, defined spiral's. It isn't sticky like Miss Jessie's Quick Curl's Curl Cream either. It's pretty awesome. I actually use a bunch of this stuff. I don't think there is any limit. The more, the better. Again, I scrunch it through my hair.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Thickening Mousse. Anything that says thickening on it, I am sold. This mousse really helps to hold to curls in place and also builds a ton of volume. I use 1-2 palm fulls of it and start at the roots. Really work it in! Then start working it down my hair shaft in a scrunching motion.

Suave Mousse Extra Hold: I have been using this forever. Since the 8th grade for this hair style. Even though this hair style has changed dramatically over the years, I never do my hair like this without this mousse. I use 1-2 palm fulls and scrunch it through my hair.

Now I blow dry my hair upside down. But I don't blow dry all the way. I do it until it is 3/4 of the way dry. If you saw me at this point, you would think I did this all on vain. Then another half hour or so passes, and you see that my hair has actually gotten more voluminous and it dries to really nice tousled curls.

Here's some examples:

2nd or 3rd day hair:

Let me know if your inclined to try this out! I love it because it is easy, fast and fuss free. In the summer, I don't want to mess with hot irons only for my hair to get damp/wet or just fall from the humidity and heat. I never have to worry about my hair becoming flat or looking awful mid-day. I can even take it into a few days without washing it. After a while, you wont have to work as hard for tighter curls. It's the beginning of the summer {the start of when I do this hair style} and by the end of the summer, by curls will be even more defined. After months of styling my hair like this my hair starts to know what it is supposed to do, and will look better the each time I do it. I swear you can train your hair.

Thank you so much Elle for letting me take over for a blog post! Elle See's is one of my favorites yah no!
xoxo
Erica

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