Whats In My BirchBox?

Yay! My Birch Box Finally came!! I feel like I have been waiting months (I actually have been waiting since mid February, so it has been 2 months) A quick explanation of what Birchbox is: A service which you pay $10 a month and they send you high-end sample beauty products. There's a bunch of brands they teamed up with (Nars, Benefit, Zoya, etc) to let people try out stuff before they really make the commitment to buy something. What ever you like, you can rack up points and get the product of your choice full size (or you can pay for it). Not only that, but you are signed up on the site so there are some other perks you get like little little video on products you receive or how-to's. You also make a beauty profile when you sign up so they know your hair type, skin color etc. so that way when you are sent certain products they will work for you.

 I was soo exited to dig into my box, I used a pen to open up the package and obviously marked my birchbox! lol

OK, on with the Haul:
1. Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel "This organic peel doesn't mess around: natural fruit acids dissolve even the most tenacious dead cells for an immediately brighter, smoother complexion" is what the card reads. After cleansing your face at night your supposed to apply this to your face and leave it on for 10 minutes. It is supposed to give you a brighter complexion, firm skin, and eliminate the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It is an exfoliator as well, it has raw cane sugar in it, which I thought was interesting. They also gave me a little sample of their Stem Cellular Repair Moisturizer to use after I use the peel. The moisturizer claims to decrease DNA damage (what-ever that means) & improve cellular damage. I am really into skin care I feel that is the first, most important step to outer beauty and I am always looking to up my ante with my skin care regimen.

2. LIV GRN Earth Eau de Parfum the card reads: "Made from biodegradable and sustainable ingredients, this lush scent is laced with jasmine and sandalwood." This scent smells so delicious! I smells just really clean and feminine. It is a perfect spring scent. It does have a floral note to it (duh Erica, jasmine is in the scent) but it is a bottom note. The first thing I think about the scent is fresh and clean.

3.LaVanila The Healthy Body Butter (card) "Made from all natural shea and cocoa butters, this satiny cream is lighter than your usual butters - perfect for warm spring weather" They formula is really thick but it definitely isn't greasy. I can say it does feel light-weight. I received the vanilla lavender scent. The scent smells like an aroma therapy candle. If you like that scent, you would like this. Not one my fav.scents I know my friend Alex will love this tho. I like the formula but not the scent, so this one's for Alex.

4. Zoya Nail Polish in Jules Zoya is actually an award winning company for their formula of polish. It wont chip on your nails is what they claim. for me, so far so good. It's been about 24 hours since I applied it, and I like the formula! I think ill will be using Zoya alot from now on. Isnt the color I would have picked, but it is pretty and something different to ply with (sorry if you cannot see the true color of this polish, It was hard to capture!)

5. They also gave me a little something extra to go with this months theme which is going green & being eco-friendly-

How To: Get Clear Skin For The Summer!

Since I was 20, I have been plagued with skin that has a mind of it's own! Sometimes dry, other times oily. I have been trying everything to make sure my skin will remain clean & blemish free! Especially with summer coming up, you really don't want a ton of make-up on your face when your at the pool or if your sweating it off so here's some really great tips and tricks:

1. Wash your face in the morning and at night following these 4 steps:
a. Wash It Off!- Use a Cleanser to wash off all make-up with some kind of tool. I use Loreal Deep Facial Cleanser and I came with a little rubber sponge, which is good to deep clean. Washing your face in a circular motion, concentrating on one area at a time (mainly your T-Zone) is going to give your face an even deeper clean. I reviewed the Loreal Deep Facial Cleanser here
b. Exfoliate: Find an exfoilator that works for you. (I use proactiv) Using an exfoiliator will remove the surface layer of the dead skin cells. Get a cleanser with tiny grains! Big Grains will rip and tear your beautiful skin up!
c. Toner: Kind of like insurance for your face. It will remove all of the remaining traces of dirt, oil, & make-up. 
d. Moisturize: Make sure not to go overboard, it will clog your pores. A good way to tell if you are not moisturizing enough is if your skin feels tight, that means it is crying for moisture!

2. Going out in the sun isn't good for your skin but who wants to stay cooped up? Nobody! If you are going out in the sun make sure to use a blocker that is Non-Comedogenic, Non-Acnegenic, or Oil-Free to prevent clogging pores. Go a step farther and wear only "broad spectrum" sunscreen's which block both UVA & UVB rays. Active Ingredients would be Zinc Oxide, Avobenzone, or Mexoryl.

3. Pamper your skin. Give yourself a facial. I will be doing a post coming up about how to exactly do so, but there are plenty of good masks out there, and alot of good recipes to make your own as well.

4. Try not to pop your pimples. Unless I have just given myself a facial I will "extract" the white/black heads. I never touch the red infected one's, if you do try to pop those it will drive all of the bacteria deeper into your skin. If you have a red pimple, use Visine on it, it gets the red out, as they promise- even with pimples! it's amazing! (any dermatologist will tell you never pop any pimples, but it does work for me but ONLY if I take all of the necessary steps to "extract" them. How to give yourself a facial is coming soon on my blog)

5. Take Biotin! It is a vitamin that is good for your nails, hair, & skin. I have been taking biotin and I have noticed some huge changes! Like with all vitamins you must take them on a daily to notice any changes.It also helps with the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins which is a definite plus!

First of all I am an avid Proactiv user and I really love it but it can be expensive! If you haven't tried it yet, I say to go for it! It really is a small investment for what you will be gaining. Clear skin, clean face, more confidence! Also if you register online, you get a bunch of free steps which include: moisturizer, daily oil control, refining mask, & vitaclear which has biotin in the packets all for around $30 if I am not mistaken. To learn more about it I talked about it detail here

If Any Of You Guys Have Some Great Tips Feel Free to Comment About Them!

Summer Bunny Give-A-Way!!

Hey ladies!! KissAnMakeUp is giving away a bunch of really nice stuff! Alot of Too Faced stuff and honestly even you don't want to enter, follow her! She is seriously one of my favorite bloggers! If you are entering, *Good Luck* & may the one that gets picked, WIN! (:

Here's everything that's up for grabs:

http://kissanmakeup.blogspot.com/2011/04/summer-bunny-giveaway.html    <---Go here to enter!

What I Got: Lush: First Look

hey everybody! I ordered some stuff online from Lush and here is what I got

 (Left to Right Top:) Rock Star Soap, Creamy Candy Bubble Bar, Mrs. Whippy Bath Ball,
    (Bottom:) Honey I Washed The Kids Soap, & Ice Blue Soap (Both samples)

I have hearing about Lush all over this world wide internet and I have really been dying to try it. So I decided to just order off-line since we don't have a Lush in my neck of the woods. Alot of the stuff I got, I researched on YouTube, and Blogs, and of course the Lush website because I obviously couldn't smell anything & I have found out alot of the things I have been hearing about the different scents, I smell something totally different:

1. Rock Star Soap. I love the color of it. It's like a light pink. It is intriguing because the way it is cut it looks all rustic and looks like you can eat it, that goes with everything I purchased tho. It says bubblegum on the site, and everywhere else I researched it I found that alot of people think it really dosent smell like bubblegum. I can smell the bubblegum in it. It smells like sweet tarts or candy or something like that.

2. The Creamy Candy Bubble Bar. it is the same scent as the Rock Star soap. Looking back I should have gotten another scent just to try out different scents, but I didn't! I think because this one looked so cute and again like candy! Looks like candy, smells like candy.

3. My Whippy Bath Bomb: The white "whippy" stuff is like dust. Everytime I took it out of the bag a little would fall off of the bomb. But when it is inside the plastic bag it ships in, It smells like strawberries very much. Once I open the bag or take it out and smell it (be careful if yah take it out tho, it's messy) I think there is some kind of cinnamon smell to it. It smells a little spicy to me, which is weird it wasn't what I was expecting.

4. Honey I Washed The Kids: This was a sample and one I really wanted to purchase because it seems like something I would really like. As you can see in the picture, It doesn't look like it does online. It dosent have the honeycomb thing on the top of it. This was just a sample but I kinda feel like if they wanted me to sample, they should have put a little bit of the top in the bag at least b/c (maybe) I think it does something with the scent. My first thought when I smelled it was margarita. I am not a fan of them (Jose and I do not get along AT ALL) but I did like the way it smelled. It has a citrus note in it as well. To me it dosen't smell like honey. My BFFF (her name is Alex) and my BF (Philly) smelled it and mentioned the citrus although my mom can smell the honey. Everybody has different "taste buds" in their nose meaning not everything smells the same to everyone and I think this soap is a great example of that. Over all I actually really love this for some reason, I cant really put my finger on that other note, and me not being a fan of tequila or citrus I don't no what it is about this, it is mysterious and mesmerizing and I really do like it.

5. Ice Blue Soap: It smells like a piece of winterfresh gum. I love winterfresh so I do really like this scent. I guess I never thought of winterfresh as a soap. I think when I do try this it is going to be cool to the touch.

I really am happy I ordered from Lush, although I wish I could have went to the store and picked stuff out, just because I could have picked stuff out with my nose as opposed to my eyes! Lush is definitely one of  a kind, I cant wait to try it all out!

Review: Loreal Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser (Sensitive Skin)

Hey Guys! This has been a long time coming! I know I promised it a long time go but I have been having mixed feelings about it so I will tell you all of them.

So first off I got the cleanser for sensitive skin (it's in the blue bottle) That was initially why I picked it up. Usually your options for cleansers are dry vs. oily. My face can be both at the same time! Trust it has a mind of it's own and it is very sensitive. I guess you can always get the combination option but my skin is truly sensitive.

This cleanser was pretty average for the first couple of weeks. I do wash my face day and night and when I was using this I wanted to really see what it was like so I didn't use my old stand-by Proactiv. I wanted instant gratification with this and I didn't get it. I know that you do need to give your skin and the cleanser a couple weeks to really start working, so I just kept using it but I didn't really have high hopes for it for some reason.

After I got half-way thru the bottle I really notice I change in my face. I do have acne prone skin and my pimples were really diminishing in a way. Not that every pimple was cleared off of my face but it did make them a little smaller.

The best thing about the formula tho was that my face was very smooth after using it for a few weeks as well. Like I said my face can be dry and oily all at the same time and I find if I do use this it makes my face soft and kind of evens the combination of dry and oily out. It meets exactly in the middle and makes my face really smooth! With this formula, they did as they promised and it was very sensitive on my skin. I cleansed it with out going over board by making it dry as some cleansers can do.

I also liked how it came with the little scrubbie which is made out of rubber. I think that this was my favorite part. It isn't too rough on your skin like a loofah or a washcloth would be but it's isn't too easy on your face, it gets more work done than your hands would get done! I think this little thing was what alot of people have been looking for, including myself

I dont really have any negative things to say about this. I really liked it, It is around $5 if I am not mistaken so it is very affordable.

Overall thought is I will still be using this to take off makeup and really cleanse all of the dirt out of my face before I use my Proacitv daily. Since this doesn't have any kind of exfoliator to it I do like to use my Proactiv still. But it is a very good face cleanser. Will I be purchasing this again? Yes I probably will, but if I dont purchase this again soon, I will be keeping the little scrubbie that came with it just because I think it really helps with getting all of that dirt out of your skin. Although the formula is great, I loved that scrubbie! I think the scrubbie and the formula go hand in hand. I say if you have sensitive skin, definitely try out this cleanser.

Thanx For Reading!!

March Favorites!

April First is here and gone, so that means March Fav! My first march favorite is about hair, Ive really found that jelly works well for hair gel. im serious i mean like grape jelly! your hair stays in tact, and plus your hair smells fabulous all day. After a while, your hair feels smoother....im serious...Sike! Im JK!!! April (belated) Fools! You guys didnt think I was serious, did you? Is this the latest april fools joke you have ever seen? Who pranks on the 9th of april and calls it april fools?! In all seriousness (to an extent) on to my true favorites for the month. I am so late on all of this, I have been trying to revamp my blog (as you can see) And it has been alot of research and what not. still not done but it's looks ok for now, to invite a new post! So...

#1. ELF Brow Kit. For $5 it doesn't get any better than this. You get 4 different stencils (only 3 in the picture, where's my other one?), a consealor brush (for some reason), Brow Gel, and Brow powder/cream duo. Oh yeah and tweezers which i didnt realize were missing! but what sold me, were the stencils and I needed more brow gel. when i got the kit home I realized the brow color cream stuff was awesome. The dark color is cream to define and shape, & and the light color is powder to fill out your brows. I love this little kit, My eyebrows are forever on-point.

#2. Mark. Gloss in Sexy. When I seen it in the catalog a million times, I looked passed it every time. I just always get pink colors for my lips. It wasn't until somebody ordered it off of me that I got to see the true color of it. I fell in love and had to have it. It's really pretty. It's almost gone and I just got it not even 2 weeks ago! It's a bit hard to capture the color of it on camera, but I think this is the truest color I got. Although It's a bit lighter in person.

#3. LOreal Tanner Sublime Bronze- I am pretty pale, my skin is quite light. (NC15), yeah very light. I do get nervous about self tanner's. With this one, so far so good I have to say. I have been putting a layer on a day, although it acts instantaneously. It's not like the Natural Glow in the respect it isn't gradual. It comes as spray. It doesn't make me orange. Although you cant put it on your face which would be nice. My only gripe about it is that it is quite hard to get off of your hands. I had to scrub and exfoliate...hard. Right before I put it on tho, I exfoliate my skin to make sure it looks even. And another thing about it, is that it takes really long to dry. It may feel dry, but it's not. I don't suggest leaning on anything, it will come out darker in that area...if that makes any sense. If you do have any questions about it, just ask.

#4. B&BW Candle. Strawberry Patch. It smells so delicious. Sweet & Fresh. Kind of like a laffy taffy if I had to choose one thing it smells like. It has a really high throw too considering I got a small one. the 3 for $5. I can even smell it when it isn't burning. If it's sitting next to my computer, I have to look over to see if it's lit. It's divine.It was so awesome, It's all gone!I found this pic online

#5. Dark Kiss from B&BW. I got a body butter & a body spray. I liked it so much I went back and got a small body wash. The body wash smells a little bit different tho. It smells really sweet but girly. My current favorite scent. I think I love the butter the best, It soo smooth and yummy! I wanna eat it!

#6. Maybeline Super Stay Concealor. I just bought this a week ago and it is a favorite. I usually shy away from concealor in a tube with a doe foot just because the one's I have bought in the past, the formula is just really watery. My BFFF purchased this and I tried it and I really loved it. She is a shade darker than me but I still loved it. The shades they do have are good for any skin color. I do have a hard time finding the right match for my skin, and this was good for me. I got the cream color. I really wanted to try the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage but on sephora.com my color is always sold out! I couldn't wait any longer so I bought this and I love it! It is not watery at all, it is wonderful!

So there's my March Favorites. If you did a favorites post, they are my favorite to read so feel free to post a link in the comments so I can check yours out!!

The Many Uses Of Coffee Grounds!

Hey ladies! I have been trying to put up my favorites for a couple days now, but as soon as I took the last picture my camera died!! So gimme at least 48 hours and I will have it up, but I thought this was really cool and I am a huge fan of coffee so I hope guys like!

INVIGORATING COFFEE BODY SCRUB:
-Brew a fresh pot of coffee. Make sure to have a cup!
-3 tbsp of coffee grounds and make sure it's caffeinated!
(Use grounds within 20 minutes of brewing before oxidation occurs.)
-1 tsp salt in a small bowl.
-1 tsp of oilve oil
-Scrub mixture over entire body while in the shower.
-Rinse.

-you can even mix it up and add more ingredient that you know are good for skin, be creative! I'm not a professional here, I am just really creative (or so I like to think)

It's best in the morning, considering it's caffeinated. Since it works as an exfoliator it will remove all of the dead skin cells, which results in better looking skin!

Extra Tip: Use it in your hair (be sure to rinse out of course) and your hair will become very shiny and soft. If you dye your hair often, mix a bit of coffee in your shampoo. It acts as a color enhancer.


Another Extra Tip: Coffee Grounds is even good for cellulite! or should I say isnt not good for it!
Ever notice the ingredients in cellulite treatments? the main one is always caffeine! Mix a small amount of used grounds with your moisturizer – something like a teaspoon to an entire bottle. The coffee grounds will stick to your skin until the lotion dries, which is what is supposed to happen! So don't rub off!

-Until I researched this, I had no idea about these versatile grounds. You can even replace coffee for espresso for an even better effect!