30 Day Challenge: Clothing or Product that Evokes Good Memory

Hi! I am a few days behind the Challenge! Boo! On monday we celebrated by grilling out, going swimming & hanging out with friends & family! Then, I was sick! For anyone that doesn't know, I have asthma, so I have attacks from time to time. I have gained a few more followers since then so welcome everyone! I am so happy to have yah! I will talk more about memorial day part & not the boring sick part below . Let's just get caught up with the challenge, shall we?

#7. Clothing or Product that Evokes Good Memory: I relate scent's & smells to times of my life. There are some scent's that will take me back 10-15 years ago & things I haven't thought of since come rushing back to me. I can pick any one of my scent's & tell you a story about it, so, I am just going to pick something random:

Usher For Women: Surprisingly my uncle who has almost nothing in common with me gave it to me for Christmas! He has amazing taste because it is on of my favorite fragrances. The main notes in Usher for Woman are peach, freesia, osmanthus, jasmine, honeysuckle, peony, woodsy notes, musk and praline. When I smell it, I smell more of the floral notes & the bottom notes- I don't really smell the peach in it. I also smell the office I used to work in at the beginning of 2011. It reminds me of all the people I knew there & things or feelings I maybe have forgotten about. It is so strange to explain but you guys get what I mean by a fragrance taking you back to a certain time of your life.I also love the oil spill effect on the bottle.

I have also decided to do each day 1 at a time. I will most likely post the next "day" later on since I am so behind so I hope you guys don't mind! I am a rule breaker!

On a side note: How was everyone's Memorial Day?! We had such a good day! My whole house (mom, b/f, me, & my mom's b/f was visiting) all went my aunt & uncles house for a pool party! It was supposed to storm but it didn't all day *thank God*! Anywho, I made my Tone It Up Cupcakes & they were a hit! When I told people that they were eating protein powder, they almost died! haha! Afterwards, my bff Alex & her b/f Wes, came over and the 4 of us ended the day with an awesome bonfire. We had all 3 three puppies out with us: her 2, Chloe & Toby & my one Stella which are all from the same litter but Stella ran into a freaking incense! She's fine, she just burned off some of her hair but I feel like a really bad dog mom! :{ No worries, her red spot is gone-- Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't even have kids...They will probably run right into a fire. Please don't judge me (:

Till Later Today,

Erica

30 Day Beauty Challenge: Day 1-4

#1: Your Wardrobe: This is easy enough. We live in an old farm house, FYI. So my closet is shaped quite weird. I hang up dresses, blouses, sweaters, cardigan's & the like on a hanger. The shelf above that I keep: pants, jeans, jeggings, cami's, & other tops that wont be ruley on a hanger! I have a part for belts, scarves, & bags. Then most of my shoes go in the holder. The clothes I wear often are most likely in a basket, which means they are not in the closet- I keep "clean-worn clothes" in it because I am too lazy to hang everything up every single day. (: - too lazy to blog? never.  I guess I just have fucked up priorities

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


#2 A Scent You Can't Live Without: Victoria's Secret's Sexy Little Things.It's not just this scent. My other favorites are Ralph by Ralph Lauren & Paris Hilton by Paris Hilton. all 3 of these scents have every note in common with one another. Fruit on the top. Floral's in the middle. & the bottom note is usually musk. For fun I am going to list the scent description for each perfume:

In common with Ralph Lauren In common with Paris Hilton In common with Sexy Little Things In common w all 3

Victoria's Secret's Sexy Little Things: japanese osmanthus, apple, water lily. honeysuckle, jasmine, lotus. iris, musk, cashmere wood.

Ralph Lauren's Ralph : apple, japanese osmanthus, italian mandarin. magnolia, boronia, yellow freesia. musk, white iris.

Paris Hilton's Paris Hilton:  melon, apple, peach . freesia, lily, lily of the valley, mimose. tuberose,  jasmine. sandal wood, musk, oakmoss, ylang ylang.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


#3 Something You've Never Worn Before: My makeup item is Coastal Scents Camo Quad. It is to cancel out certain colors on your face. I bought it for the green color, to cancel out my redness. All it did was make my face green. It barely covered up any redness. It is much easier to just conceal the redness. I am still looking for a way to use this little quad. And thing is that they are very pigmented & creamy! Maybe I can use them as an eyeshadow. In fact, I think I will.

#3 My clothing item doesn't have a good reason. I bought it on sale from Wet Seal about a year ago (maybe 2 years ago) and I never wear it! It is really cute too. I like the flower detail on the back. I like the way it fits too. I think I will wear it this week. Problem solved!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 #4 Your Favorite Color Eyeshadow: This changes all the time but I have loved Stila's Kitten since I got it. It is a really nice champagne color. Depending on the way the light hits it, it can become a mid-toned gold. I probably wear this color on my lid every day. Over any other lighter color I have, actually. I love this color. Not to mention it is so easy to apply. It feels like silk.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are doing this Challenge, let me know in the comments so I can check it out! If you just found out about it, no need to feel like you missed out, just start when ever and link me up!

xoxo

Erica

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

Birchbox Came!

yay! I love birch box! they keep on getting better and better every month! I am just going to jump right into it:

Kate Spade Twirl- We have all heard of top notes being that first scent when you spray a perfume you smell? The top and only top note to me is citrus! I really don't like citrus scents, so I didn't like this at first. After it dried down the citrus went away and it smelled quite nice. The top, middle, and base notes for this scent are all so very different. Many different dimensions to this! Love the packaging too. I actually wore this today and you know what it reminds me of? the Degree body spray in Classic Romance

Laura Geller Baked Blush N Brighten- First thought: sweet! a full size high-end blush which retails $30 in my box? I need to remind you that everything in this box adds up to ten dollars. Thanx BirchBox! It was originally a cream that was baked which made it a powder. Emily Noel always talks about Laura Geller so I was really exited to try this out.  If you haven't already, go check Emily Noel out! I love her channel! I do have to say its a bit shimmery so if you are going to purchase, I would recommend using a very soft hand with this- and don't forget to tap your brush! My skin is very fair so this was a good color for the summer- It may be a bit dark for those winter months for me

No Flash

Flash

Oscar Blandi Olio Di Jasmine Hair Serum- I have yet to use this but I am exited to try it out! I love hair products! Since creating this blog, I have really been getting into photography, thats why there are sometimes so many pictures! I cant pick just one to show you guys!

Pangea Organics Toner for Normal Oily Skin- I love the idea of this stuff: fair trade, Organic all that good stuff. It's a toner- I mean there's nothing really to this besides the fact that it is a huge sample, basically a travel size which is perfect. I can just throw this in my bag and use it as a refresher after the pool, or on your face throughout the day- If you are familiar with Mist Opportunity from Mark. it is basically the same thing. I also got a sample of the Facial Cream.

Herban Essentials Orange Towelette's -Last but not least (well maybe least) I received these, they are fine. They smell really orange-y! If you don't like oranges, your not going to like these! But the towelettes are really durable actually, and they kill germs so that's good....but yeah, they didn't really stand out too much. I don't want to be ungrateful tho because the box is awesome! nice *extra* touch then, birch box. Not of my best pictures ever but what-ev's you get the picture...no pun intended....actually yes it was intended lol.

This was by far the best BirchBox I have received! I urge you to sign up! for $10 a month, it doesn't get any better, honestly.