YBF Beauty: Your Best Friend Beauty Haul/ First Impressions (pic heavy)

Hey guys! I am not sure if everybody is going to know the brand YBF. It could be because the only place you can buy stuff from the brand would be on HSN. I personally love YBF.  When I first found out about YBF a few years ago I was watching HSN but never ordered anything from the brand. But I did love watching her (Stacy, creator of YBF) using everything on camera and I lusted over it.   Then last year, I got a chance to try the Brow Pencil in Universal Taupe from my Birchbox. I quickly realized it was one of, if not my all time, favorite brow product. You guys have seen it showcased on Meet Makeup many times. This kit was the "Today's Special" and was $25 + $5 for shipping and handling. I think it was a great deal and a great way to try out some new-to-me products from this brand.

Everything Included In The Kit:

Brow Pencil in Universal Taupe

Brighten, Hide, & Scuplt Concealer

Golden Gleam Bronzer & Baby Pink Blush

Neutralizing Pressed Yellow Powder

Illuminating Creme & Neutralizing Creme

The main thing that used to get me wanting her makeup was the mention of the booklet you get which tells you how to use all of the products. I love that kind of stuff (obviously)! Here's some photo's of the booklet you get with all of the goodies. FYI, the booklet is a rubbery paper. It's neat. Some of the things it covered was brows, eyes, face, & lips complete with diagrams and the like. It is an awesome little book that any beauty blogger would love. I also think this would be a perfect little gift for a teenager because of the booklet. Here's some photos of a couples pages

Brow Pencil in Universal Taupe: Like I mentioned, this value pack came with another brow pencil. I didn't open it just yet because my other hasn't ran out yet. If you frequent Meet Makeup, then you have seen this Brow Pencil many times! The product itself is very skinny, making precise application achievable. That last sentence makes me sound very smart (:

Brighten, Hide & Sculpt Concealer: Ok as far as concealer goes, it isnt thick enough to be any type of concealer. I have never really thought of using a creamy product to contour so this was quite new to me. However, I have been loving the results it gives when I use the darkest color as a contour. For night time looks, I can even go back in with a contour powder and it's not going to look like it's too much. In the day, it is perfection. With the lightest color I think it is a nice subtle highlight since it is lighter then my skin color and it does have some sheen to it, but no shimmer. If you guys want a kind of "how-to" of sorts on how I use this, let me know because I would love to show it off!

Golden Gleam Bronzer & Baby Pink Blush: This is the one product that I am really exited about. I have been using it almost every day. When I swatched this blush, I thought it was the most beautiful blush I think I have ever swatched. Im not going explain, im just going to show you

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Neutralizing Pressed Yellow Powder: I do have a lot of redness on my face so since yellow does neutralize red, I couldn't wait to try this out. When used with any powder brush it does not come off yellow on your face. When I swatch it though, it looks yellow.

 here it is, blended in. It looks almost non-existent, like it should.

Neutralizing Creme & Illuminating Creme: 

Neutralizing Creme: This is basically to neutralize any redness and it even mentions that it actually covers up fine lines and wrinkles...im not too sure how that would work though. I don't have any wrinkles just yet but it isn't anything different then your run-of-the-mill neutralizer. This is something I am going to have to keep using however it is much creamier than the "concealer" and will cover up much more then the concealer.

Illuminating Creme: I am one for highlights, it is my new obsession and I think I may do a blog post on my faves. But anyways, I was exited try this one out too. This formula is exceptionally creamy. So creamy that I make a dent from the slightest touch. I think this would be good in a tube/stick. Regardless, I really like it. It's a nice highlight.

these are the swatches from both the Illuminating Creme (top) and Neutralizing Creme (bottom).  The Neutralizing Creme I actually blended out for some reason.

So that's that for my YBF haul. Have you guys ever tried anything from YBF? If so, what have you tried? If not, are you thinking about trying any of these products now?

p.s. Shout out to Alyssa & Alex if you ya'll are reading!!! Shout out to the rest of yah too! love all you guys!

yours truly.

Erica J



Best of Birchbox

So I wasn't able to get a birch box this month and I feel like crying because I see everyone else got theirs!!! As I mention in almost every post I am down to no money and it has been hard for me to find a job!! with all of my whining and crying aside, I thought it would be really fun to do a Best of Birchbox post. You guys always kinda see more of a haul type of thing when I talk about my Birchbox and I never really mention an opinion because I haven't had a chance to try anything.

What Im going to do is pick out my absolute favorites from the past few months.

Laura Geller Baked Blush N Brighten- When I first got this and was using it, I did like it but I have to say it certainly wasn't my favorite bronzer. When I first got it in my June Birchbox, I was much darker and I guess it wasn't looking it's best on my skin. Now that I dont have as much of a tan, I am in love with it and have been using it to contour every day since then. As I mentioned before it is really shimmery but honestly, I dont think it's too shimmery as I thought it was before. You do have to use a light hand and be sure to tap off the excess & I know bronzers used for contouring arent supposed to really shimmer, but if you are a bit on the lighter side, I think it actually works really well as a bronzer. It does have shimmer to it, but not too much. And I hear once you hit pan, it isnt a pan but an Italian stone that it was baked on, I cannot wait to hit the tile!! yay!

YBF Beauty Brow Pencil- I have seen her on QVC or HSN so many times that when I seen YBF in my box, I was ecstatic. And it really exceeded my expectations. I love how if you apply it just right, it looks like hair and just blends in- I love this damn thing. As I mentioned before too, this really is a brow pencil only- which I think is a good thing because it dosen't look too heavy on your brows- it actually looks more like hair and mess like pencil marks. U could never use it as an eye liner or anything like that but I do think everyone needs one of these babies in their collection.

LIV GRN Earth Eau de Parfum the card read: "Made from biodegradable and sustainable ingredients, this lush scent is laced with jasmine and sandalwood." This is my favorite scent out of any of them I have received- I just am so in love with it- it is so clean and delicious and girly. check this out if you can, you will probably wanna drink it! well maybe not.... haha! I got this in my very first birchbox

On the Fence

these next items I like alot and I am really grateful to get a chance to try them out, but I don't think they are "must haves" or the best.  So I like them, but I don't love them

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Face Wash- This is a really gentle face cleanser and I do have sensitive skin but I personally think I like the L'Oreal 360 Clean that comes w/the scrubbie. They are very comparable, so if you are interested in this Philosophy face wash, I say save your money and opt for the L'Oreal 360. I also do like exfoliators in my face washes. If you have ever used Proactiv or Clearskin from Avon then you know what I mean. I like to mix Purity with Clearskin. I feel like I get a deeper cleaning w/ an exfoliant. So for this stuff, it's a great face wash but you can buy the L'Oreal 360 for much cheaper and have it do the exact same thing. I think that it is a good dupe for this stuff (and you get the scrubbie!) This would get a 4 but because it is expensive and I feel there is a dupe im gunna give it 3/5

Pangea Organics Toner for Normal Oily Skin- I have been using this toner almost every day since I got it. I really do like something about considering I keep on using it. I usually throw this in my bag if im going to be outside running or whatever. So that way when im all sweaty, I can just spray some of this stuff on and my skin feels refreshed. I think that any other toners I have give that extra step of cleansing more then this stuff does tho. Pangea Organics dosen't burn your skin like some other toners may but honestly, I like that sting just because I know it's getting the job done. The company claims that it gets rid of oil and impurities and I think that claim would be true. It also is supposed to help balance and hydrate your skin and also repair damaged tissue. I can't be positive about any of these claims. Also too, if you dont like the smell of like herbal/hippie scents, your not gunna like the smell of this- I personally don't like the scent. So im gunna give this a 3/5.

Stila Eyeshadow in Coco- When I first seen this in my Birchbox I was soo exited to try out a Stila shadow since I never have before. I think the color is really nice and it does have a good color pay off. I really like that it is matte so I can use it on my brows as well if need be. The only reason I am on the fence with this one is because I have an exact color from Mark. and they are identical twins. Mark.'s Espresso has the same color pay off, pigment, etc. So this is a great shadow but it isnt a unique color, & if you can get it cheaper then I say why in hell not? so again 3/5

You Guys Wanna See Whats in my Birchbox?

Im sure you do if you clicked this, so here we go! This month the Birchbox decided to have their first every guest curator, designer Cynthia Rowley. All of these products are her must-haves and let me just tell you, the girl has great taste! I know I say it every time, but this seriosuly is the best Birchbox yet!

ybf beauty automatic eyebrow pencil- I have seen this product time and time again on HSN and I have always wanted to try it, considering my obsession with eye brows. When I seen it in my Birchbox you can imagine how exited I was to try it out! I really like this, my brows look really natural.

 philosophy purity made simple face wash- this stuff has such a great reputation! my aunt stands by this face wash- so exited to try it!!

redken shine flash- another great pick! I tried it, and yes it does make my hair shiny, and it dosen't feel like there's a bunch of product in my hair

korres shower gel- this is something I haven't heard of since Birchbox

So I would say the thing I am most exited for is the ybf brow pencil! I am so exited about that one just because I have seen it so much on hsn and ive wanted to try it out! I also am really happy I got the redken shine flash (that bottle a $10 bottle people!) and also the philosophy face wash. If you get a Birchbox, what did you get in yours this month? if not, sign up! and don't forget to mention that Erica sent yah!