Oct 18, 2015

It's A Haul Y'all! - Lush-o-ween


Hey There!

I went to Lush for Lush-o-ween! I was excited because I love indulging in the bath products that they have. I'm a bath girl so I really enjoy bath bombs and bubble bars and bubblers. The new Halloween Lushes came out on October 3 (in some places before that date). I try to high tail it into Lush when new collections come out. Halloween was no exception.



I made it out of the store $42 poorer. Or, 5 Lush-ious products richer. You decide. Whichever descriptor you decide on, I ain't mad at it!

The first thing I picked up isn't a Halloween item. It's their Bubble Gum Lip Scrub ($9.95). The kiddo and I split one of these between us. I love using this scrub. It smells good and tastes good and exfoliates your lips gently. I only use the scrub about once every two weeks. I find that more than that is too harsh. I exfoliate and then slather with aquaphor. Ta-da! Smooth, sexy lips.



The Sparkly Pumpkin ($7.95) is the prettiest, sparkliest, orange pumpkin I've ever owned. And it's a bubble bar. And it's supposed to turn your bath water into a gold, glittering pool of energized joy. I wonder how I'm gonna clean that outta the tub.



The Lord of Misrule Bath Bomb ($6.95) is a green ball of herbal fizz. One word - Patchouli. I wasn't sure what Patchouli was until I started spending time (and money) in Lush. Now every time I walk in, I leave with something with Patchouli as an ingredient. It smells fantastic and because this is a bath bomb, it's a green, fizzy foam and it's fun and refreshing.



Yuzu and Cocoa ($7.95) smelled like orange chocolate. It's sweet and is supposed to make frothy bubbles. It's a bath melt (similar to the bubble bar). I am excited to use this because it reminds me of Terry's Milk Chocolate. I love Terry's Milk Chocolate.



Avobath ($6.45) is a lemongrass bubble bar. I love the smell of lemongrass. It's such a fresh scent. It reminds me of clean and fresh mornings. Now the shimmery water, again, how am I going to clean the tub?

No one thinks about cleaning the tub when they use Lush products. The only thing they think about is how wonderful a soak in the tub is going to feel and how fragrant the bathroom is going to smell.


Did you pick up the Lush-o-ween products? Have you used them yet? What did you think about them?

Oct 11, 2015

It's A Haul Y'all! - Trader Joe's


Hey there!!

I have been enjoying my new place and I have been loving all of the grocery stores that are near me. There is your standard (in Georgia anyway) Publix, Kroger and Ingle's but I have an international farmers market near me, several smaller farmers markets from different countries, a Whole Foods, Green Sprout, Earth Fare and a Trader Joe's. I've been taking advantage of all of the great grocery stores.

For sure I've been taking advantage of Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's is one of those grocery stores that works for me. I try to eat natural, organic, healthy foods (TRY! I said try! Don't judge). I also know that I don't have to read between the lines on food packages. They have Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free etc., labeling that is very easy to decipher.

So this past rainy Saturday morning I trekked to the Trader Joe's and "made some groceries". I was actually just purchasing some bonus items. I go to the grocery store once every two weeks and in between I pick up a few extra things.



The kiddo and I like bagels in general. Trader Joe's is big into seasonal foods. They are a pumpkin wonderland right now. These TJ's (Trader Joe's) pumpkin bagels were awesome. It was just the right amount of spices for slathering with cream cheese. I've had them and it's a thumbs up. The kiddo hasn't tried them yet but I bet she gives them a thumbs up too.


I've heard great things about the TJ's Harvest Blend Herbal Tea. I like herbal teas because they are usually great right before bedtime. I like to cuddle up with some tea and a good book right before bed. This tea is good but strong. If you use a Keurig, go for 2 hits of the 8 oz button. It's a warm, spicy drink with hints of apple and cinnamon. At $1.99 it's a must have. 

The Mini Ginger Pumpkin Ice Cream Mouthfuls are really good. They are drops of decent pumpkin ice cream sandwiched between a spicy, ginger cookies. They are, in fact, the spiciest ginger cookies I have EVER tasted. They are almost too spicy. They are also pretty soggy. Not sure if that was just the box that I picked up or not but it was a tad bit messy...but good. 

Salad is salad when it comes to regular lettuce leaves. I picked up this regular bag of salad to mix with the Dole Barbecue Ranch Crunch that I have been LOVING! It is the best salad ever. I'm late to the party but so glad I showed up!


I always keep taco seasoning in the cabinet. I get the low sodium one. I noticed that the Trader Joe's brand has about the same sodium content as the low sodium pack of the regular brand. Score! I'll let you know if it's just as good.

I thought I'd try the Penne Pepper & Pasta and the Ricotta & Spinach filled Ravioli with tomato basil sauce. The kiddo and I like quick and easy meals. I'm tired after work and just generally feel lazy in the evenings. I hope these two meals will help me continue my laziness. I see using spicy "soy"sage in the ziti and trying the ravioli by itself (or maybe with spicy "soy"sage too. 

In case you missed it when I threw it, I'm a pescetarian. I only eat seafood and meat substitutes. That's why I'm super concerned with food ingredients.

I really enjoy shopping at Trader Joe's. I might do a two week period of only shopping at each of the grocery stores near me and see if it's cheaper, better, different or what. I normally hop from store to store but only going to one store, exclusively, sounds fun...restricting but fun.


I'll let you know how that turns out!

Oct 10, 2015

Empties!


Hey there!

I have really been working on finishing up my bath products. I had waaaaay too many and I felt guilty buying more. I have a 4 shelf standing rack for my bath items and when I was packing to move, it really hit me like a ton of bricks that that bugger was over flowing with shower gels and bubble baths. It was a problem. Now I am down to a third of what I owned. Now I can buy more but very slowly.



I used up a Suave Naturals in Tropical Coconut. I love the Suave Naturals shower gels. They are moisturizing and they lather very well. This particular scent was light and very nice. I would certainly purchase it again.

I found a Philosophy Fresh Peaches with Cream shampoo, shower gel and bubble bath at either T.J. Maxx or Marshalls. This smelled sooo good. Most of the Philosophy shampoo, shower gel and bubble baths smell good. This one certainly was fresh but even discounted, they are kinda pricey. Not sure that I'm going to purchase another one unless it's discounted on top of a discount.

The empty tube is a LancĂ´me freebie that I received almost a year ago in a gift with purchase pack. I almost didn't like it because it reminded me of a manly scent, which is fine but not on me. I used it because I didn't want to waste it but I'd never purchase the full size.

There is a Bath & Body Works shower gel in Honeycrisp Apple & Buttered Rum. Yummmmmy! It smelled delicious. I enjoyed wearing it.

The Naturally For You Bubble Bath in Milk and Honey came in a holiday set. It smelled nice but it didn't lather at all. I ended up just using it as bubble bath so that I could use it up. Don't buy this. It's not good.



And now onto the regular stuff. There's some Crest toothpaste (I float between Crest and Colgate), a razor to keep my eyebrows tame and some Pure & Gentle Make-up Remover Wipes. I've been liking these and using them along with my holy grail Wet n Wild makeup wipes.

I finished a base coat and top coat in my nail polish routine. No, neither bottle is empty but if you know nail polish, you know that base and top coats tend to get goopy before they run out. Yes, there are drops that you can use to extend the life but I don't find that they work well, and my Sally Hansen Insta-dri (that red bottle and the top coat love of my life) is only $5 or $6 so if you get $2.50 or $3 out of it, that's ok. I use one every six or so months so that's not a bad deal, all things considered.



That said, Sally Hansen Insta-dri is my holy grail. I will always repurchase. The Nail Envy by OPI was not worth it (review here). I didn't see that it did anything special and there are many base coats that are cheaper and do the exact same thing. It wasn't worth it to me. And the EOS in watermelon isn't used up, it just went rancid. It's fine but not amazing. I prefer the REVO brand better and that's only if I have to pick up one at all. They are odd shaped so they don't easily fit into your purse. That being said, they are ok. REVO is more moisturizing but not that much cheaper that EOS. Not sure that I'd repurchase.



And here you see 4 different body butters that I had every intention of using and didn't. I just fail when it comes to moisturization. I should do better but I don't. That's why I tossing almost full containers of body butter. Shame on me, I know.

This NSpa Super Fruity Cranberry Rich Body Butter came in a holiday pack. It smelled fine but it was closer to lotion than body butter. The Village Naturals Aromatherapy Energize body butter smelled really nice. I liked it but it was just a tiny tad bit too thick and a tiny tad bit too oily. The Tree Hut Shea Body Butter in Tropical Mango smelled fantastic and had the perfect moisturization factor. I enjoyed using it, the times that I remembered to use them. All of them are at least half full  and I've owned them long enough that they started to turn. That should tell me that I should have left all but one alone. This isn't something I need to have in bulk.

I also had to toss a Pomegranate Noir Body Scrub. This one didn't turn rancid or anything it just didn't smell that good. I expected a sweet pomegranate smell. Nahhh, it didn't smell that way. It was kinda stinky.


And that's my trash! I emptied fewer items this month (I think) but I'm still working on getting my stashes down. What are you empting this month?

Oct 8, 2015

Lippe Love (continued...)


Hey there!

I hadn't been pulling out my lip liners that much. I knew that I needed to pull them out and show them some love so I decided to wear the first one that I saw. That was my Make Up Forever Aqua Lip in 2C.

I knew when I purchased this that it was a pink liner. I also knew that it was a bit lighter than I normally wear. I knew that I could mix and match with glosses and lippies to make it work.

It's a pretty color. I have no qualms with it at all. The formula is just ok. It's creamy and glides on. It has good pigmentation and the color goes well with my complexion. It's not super fantastic and it's not the best I've ever had. It really is just ok.



And that's where the problem comes in for me. This is a $19 lip liner. Most of the other lip liners in my collection are $5 and less. They are creamy and glide on and are heavily pigmented. Why on earth would I spend $19 for one when I could spend that for 3 or 4 lippies (5 or 6 if I'm couponing right).



I know that the colors of the liners I have aren't exactly the same as the MAFE liner but they are still good colors. Rimmel (which appears to be my favorite), NYX and Jordana make wonderful liners in wonderful colors.

So, while this "often hauled on the web" liner is nice, I still prefer my others. My fave of the group is my NYX in Nude Pink with my Rimmel in Eastend Snob coming in second.


What liners have you tried and how much are you willing to spend? Do you see a difference in your highend liners and drugstore liners?

Oct 6, 2015

Lippie Love


Hey there!

Yes, I've been a bit of a naughty girl. I don't need new lipsticks but I like lipstick. I didn't pay full price though. I used hella coupons so I didn't pay anywhere near what I should have. They aren't new colors or a new formula or anything, I just saw them, wanted them, had a coupon for them, so I bought them.

And, I want to tell you all about them!



I really enjoy wearing Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks. When it comes to Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks, I prefer the creme ones. They are smooth and silky and I rarely need lip balm underneath. I don't mind having to use lip balm underneath a lippie but I'd rather not have to do it. With most of the Revlon Super Lustrous creme lipsticks I don't have to.



So I picked up Wine With Everything, Sassy Mauve, Mauvy Night and Rum Raisin. Yes, they do look very similar in the tube but in the swatches you see that they are not quite the same. Wine With Everything is more orangy brown, Sassy Mauve is just a deep pink, Mauvy Night is a brown pink and Rum Raisin is a brown.

My fave is the Mauvy Night. I've been slathering this on for the past 4 days. I like it. My least fave is Wine With Everything because the oranginess is a bit much on my skin. I do a thin layer and then add some lip gloss on top. I try to make everything work cause that's just how I am.


I already own several of the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks so these new ones will feel right at home. 

Oct 3, 2015

Does it make scents?


Hey There!

Last month I talked to you about the Krispy Kreme candles that I found at the Dollar Tree (link here). I was super excited about them. Well, I've burned them all and there will NOT be a wedding.

First things first, they do burn 25 hours like they say they do. I burned one of them for 29 hours. It burned like a champ for 22 or so hours and then it began to burn dirty. They still burn well and they still smell ok but the original scent changes.

And the scents aren't bad. They do smell sweet, almost like the donuts they mimic. The only problem is that the room throw is very minimal. It only throws a few feet but it's a $1 candle. I'm perfectly okay with a $1 candle only throwing a few feet. What do you expect?! I'm super happy that they threw any good distance. Would I purchase them again? Probably not, but they were fun this time!

The next two candles that you see are Target candles that I was trying to use up. I had to burn them before I could pull out the fall candles. I burned a Marshmallow Pop and a Lemon Meringue candle.

The Marshmallow Pop was sweet and smelled so summery. The room throw was a bit off (I expect Target candles to throw very well) but it still smelled good. I don't know if I would purchase it again because there are so many other sweet, candy like scents that I prefer.

Lemon Meringue was weird. It smelled kinda sweet. There was no lemon scent. If I had to describe it, it did smell like what sugared meringue smells like. It smells great in the kitchen, not so great in a candle. The room throw wasn't good at all. Even though this one is a Target candle, I purchased it from Home Goods. That probably means it was discontinued from the Target line. Yeah, because this would not make my purchasing cut.

I also finished 3 Bath & Body works wall flowers. I know that one was Guava Colada and one was Watermelon Lemonade. I don't remember what the other one was. All of them were very nice and I enjoyed them. They are sweet and you know I like food scents. I don't know if I'd repurchase the Guava Colada but I know that I have repurchase the Watermelon Lemonade several times. The kiddo and I reach for them a lot.

Easy peasy, that's what my home has smelled like in the month of September -- sweet and delicious.


What did you use this month in the way of smell goods? Are you ready for the fall smell goods? Have you picked yours out already?

Oct 2, 2015

September Faves


Hey there!

I must say that September was a pretty chill month. I didn't deviate from products most of the month. I was sick a few days and then super duper busy other days so it was just easier to keep to the status quo. So, the favorites are things that helped me stay on task.



The number one task is keeping moisturized. It's important and when you become my age, it's super important. My favorite moisturizers are my Laneige Water Bank Serum for my face and Nivea Moisturizing Creme for everywhere else. Laneige is a new favorite and Nivea is an oldie but goodie. They have both stayed on my body all month.


The key to a well moisturized body is also good bath products. You want to use bubble bath and shower gels that don't dry you out. My new first love are The Body Shop products. Anytime I see them in Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Homegoods wherever, I have permission (from myself) to pick them up. They smell so good and lather so well. I currently have a Vineyard Peach (repeat purchase!) and Honeymania (new purchase). They don't look used do they? That because you only need a little bit!



The other non makeup item that I've been loving are these new earrings that I picked up from the Atlanta Apparel Mart last month. I always run into Golden Stella and grab several pairs of earrings. They are cheap as chips and so comfortable. I think these were about five bucks and I have worn the heck out of them. I love them.



Makeup wise I've been highlighting the "BAM!" outta my cheeks. I've been using my e.l.f. Baked Highlighter in Pink Diamonds. I use this so much and it still looks brand new! That's because you don't need much. Some people say that there is too much fall out and that it's too chunky. That has not been my experience. It's smooth and stays where you put it. I find that I get many complements when I'm wearing this.

My lip color practically all month has been my Revlon Superlustrous lipstick in Blushing Nude. It's a gorgeous warm, pinky nude. It's creamy and I don't need to use a lip balm beforehand. I keep this sucker in my purse and I'm always ready to go!

And my last favorite is currently gracing my toes. I am wearing the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polish in Berry Magical. A-MA-ZING. I wanted to wear a dark color to get my head ready for Fall (it takes a lot of prep work for me to prepare). I knew it was going to be pretty but nothing prepared me for this! I'm ready to paint my nails with this again!

These have been my faves for September. I really have been using the heck out of these products and it's going to take a lot of me to switch it up...but I will.


What have you been loving this month? Are you going to keep it in rotation or add something new?

Oct 1, 2015

October Nail Polish



Hey there!

It's easy to get lost in fall home decor. The season begins early and there are always aisles and aisles of goodies to sort through at every store. I take pleasure in going up and down each aisle seeing what needs to come home with me. 

Picking out fall nail polish colors is just as fun. I have quite a bit of nail polish so I don't have to shop for anything new (but I still manage to!) but it's just as fun sorting through what you have and deciding what will help you transition into fall. 

I pulled all of my Halloween colors to play with. I pulled greens, purples, reds and oranges that I felt were appropriate for October nails. As you know, I like to change up my polish and I've been trying to live a little more seasonally. Naturally that means seasonal nail polish!



This week I decided green would be my friend. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off but it seems to work ok. I used Zoya's Gemma as my regular polish and then Revlon's Elusive on my party nail. If you are new to my blog and aren't familiar, I call my accent nail my party nail. I tend to use glitter polishes and fun embellishments on that nail. 

I don't have many purples. That's odd because the kiddo's favorite color is purple. Maybe she has them! Seriously though, I don't have many darker purples. What I do have is Revlon's Gwen's Crush and Zoya's Roxy. I have used Gwen's Crush and it's so pretty. I haven't tried Roxy but I am pretty sure that I will this month!

Let's be honest. Orange looks cray cray with my complexion. Orange scares me for that reason. I bought many of these for nail art. I can probably use them on my toes or for a party nail but I probably won't use them as finger nail polish. I have Wet n Wild's Luck a l'Orange, Revlon's Charmed and 2 by SinfulColors, Orange Crush and Ring The Bellini. Again, pretty colors...on my toes.

Apparently I like deep red colors. Why yes I do! I like to paint my tootsies with nice, deep burgundy colors. That is a great color against my skin. My faves (because yes, I have more!) are Wet n Wild in Taking The Red-Eye, Sally Hansen in Flirt, Sally Hansen in Wine Not, Wet n Wild in Under Your Spell and the color gracing my toes right now, Sally Hansen in Berry Magical.

Yep! You see a theme here as far as brands go. That's another blog. The other thing you see is a love for beautiful nail polish colors. Deep, rich, bold, strong nail polish colors are a love of mine. October begins the bold nail polish colors.


And I love it!