Spring Empties - 2021

 Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?

Here are my empties for spring.  Again, lots of skincare, BUT I've actually started wearing more makeup lately so we'll be seeing some more makeup empties soon!

Dr. Teal's Relax & Relief Pure Epsom Salt

I always enjoy using epsom salts for baths/soaking my feet.  I have two more smaller bags of this same epsom salt that I will 100% be using.

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

This was nice.  It was moisturizing without being greasy.  I was sent a full size of this from BzzAgent so I'll use it again, but I do prefer the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream.

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter

This smells so nice.  It can be a bit overpowering though.  It was moisturizing but kind of left a greasy feeling on my skin.

 

Dr. Teal's Relax & Relief Body Wash

Smells just like the epsom salt.  Nice and relaxing.

 

 

Dior Diorshow Mascara

I really liked this mascara but it had a strong floral fragrance to it that I did not enjoy.

 

Dr.Brandt Needles No More 3D Volumizing Mask

I didn't see any difference in my skin after using this.  It actually balled up on my face after I applied my moisturizer.  This is a no for me.

 

 

Soap & Glory Scrub of Your Life

The scent is really nice.  My skin felt soft afterward.  Not sure I would prefer this over a regular body wash though.

 

Smashbox X-Rated Mascara

I liked this mascara too.  The only downside for me is that it is a very wet formula and smudged a bit.  Which is unfortunate because I love how it made my lashes look long and full.

 

 

Victoria's Secret Pure Seduction Fragrance Mist

I like this scent but I probably won't purchase it again, at least for quite a while.  I have a lot of perfume that I would rather wear instead, but I've been trying to use up the body sprays that I've had for a long time.  Thankfully this is the last of the older body sprays that I had.  I do have two more bottles of body spray, but they were purchased not that long ago, and I plan to use them up this year so I'll finally be left with only my "nicer" perfumes.

 

Briogeo Scalp Revival Shampoo

I will not be repurchasing this.  It felt like I had sand in my hair and my hair felt so dry after rinsing it out.  I had to use quite a lot of conditioner to make my hair feel soft again after this.

 

 

Ouai Leave In Conditioner

I liked how this made my hair feel, but I'm not at all a fan of the smell.  It's bad enough for me to not consider repurchasing this product.

 

 

Strivectin Advanced Resurfacing Daily Reveal Exfoliating Pads

These were great.  They really helped exfoliate my skin and made it look bright and smooth.  The pads are convenient and easy to use.

 

 

Couture Couture Juicy Couture Perfume

This was fine, but I really don't like the gaudy plastic cap on it.  Also, the name of this kills me.

 

Girlactik Beauty Precise Eyeliner Marker

I didn't like this liner.  It's a felt tip and I prefer brush tips.  This also dried out pretty quickly, and skipped while I was applying it.

 

Benefit Cosmetics Roller Liner

Again, this liner has a felt tip which isn't my favorite.  However, it was very black and it wasn't too difficult to use.

 

IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Cream

This was a really nice moisturizer.  It's a little bit thicker than I'd like, but my skin looked hydrated and soft after using this.

 

 

Moschino x Sephora Sheet Mask

I FINALLY got around to using this!  This made my skin feel very hydrated and soft.  The smell is okay.  It has "ears" attached to the mask which just ended up in my hair, so I folded them back over onto the rest of the mask instead.  I wish this mask would have been just a little bit wider to fit my face better.  It was cute, but the ears were unnecessary.

 

Bare Minerals Fresh Faced Made-2-Fit Foundation

I liked this foundation.  It was a perfect match to my skin, and it looked nice on.  I'm not sure I want to go through the whole process over and over again to buy a foundation though.  I'd rather go into a store and pick one up instead of waiting for it to arrive in the mail (hopefully intact).

 

 

Clean & Clear Essentials Foaming Facial Cleanser

I honestly don't know why I go back to this cleanser.  It dries out my skin.  My face feels tight after I wash it off.  I keep forgetting that I dislike this product and pick it up when I run out of whatever cleanser I'm using at the time.  I need to remember not to buy this!

 

Laneige Water Sleepimg Mask

I did not like this.  My face felt sticky and gross after applying it, and in the morning I could still feel residue on my skin.  This is definitely not something I'd go out and purchase.

 

MAC Prep + Prime

I like this.  It's not amazing and life changing, but it works.

 

 

Origins Ginzing Into The Glow Brightening Serum

I really liked this serum.  It sank into the skin quickly, and had a nice, but light citrus scent.  I do believe this helped make my skin look bright and youthful.  I would absolutely repurchase this.

 

 

That's everything I used up this time!  Thanks for stopping by!

Collective Book Haul

 Hello, everyone!  How was your weekend?

I'm so excited for this post because it has to do with one of my all time favorite things.  Aside from makeup and beauty, one of my other favorite hobbies is reading.  I love to read!  There is just nothing better than finding a cozy place to sit and relax with a drink (preferably an iced chai!) and a good book.  I enjoy holding a physical book, but I don't mind using an e-reader or listening to an audible book.  This post is just going to cover the new physical books that I've obtained over the last few months though.  I can't wait to read them all when I get the chance!

Harry Potter Illustrated Collection

These were a birthday present.  I've already read this entire series, but I can't wait to see all of the illustrations in these books!

 

DC Icons Series

My husband bought these for me for our anniversary.  I just noticed while taking these photos that Leigh Bardugo (the author of the Grisha series) is the author of Wonder Woman, so now I'm even more excited to read these books!  I find it intriguing that each book is written by a different author.  It will be interesting to see the different writing styles between each of these books.

Crooked Kingdom

This book was part of my Mother's Day gift.  I'm currently reading this book, and my only complaint with this one is that the little "Netflix" sticker on the bottom left corner isn't actually a sticker, it's part of the jacket.  I really wish it was a sticker so I could remove it.

Canterbury Classics Leatherbound

The H.P. Lovecraft and Jane Austen books were gifts from my husband.  Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales was my first leather bound book and the beautiful covers ignited my new obsession.  I have so many of these leather bound books on my Amazon wish list now and I fully intend to purchase every single one.

 

Barnes & Noble Leatherbound

This was another birthday present.  I just love the details on the front, side, and back of this book.  Honestly, photos do not do these books justice.  They are so much more special in person.

Those are all of my new books!  What book(s) have you been wanting to read?  I have a lot of books on my TBR list.  Obviously all of these books are included.

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great week!

 

Branching out...

 Hello, everyone!  How are you?

I've been considering expanding the range of topics on my blog for a very long time now.  I really do LOVE makeup and beauty products, but that's not the only thing I'm interested in and I really want to post different content.  Of course, I'll still upload beauty related posts and my seasonal empties (to help keep me accountable for using up the products I've hoarded over the years), but they just wouldn't be the only type of content I post anymore.  I'm very much into crafting, cooking & baking, decorating, fashion, and of course being a parent.  Incorporating my other interests into my blog is something I've longed to do for a while now, and I've decided to just go through with it.

For my first post away from beauty, I thought I would show you my most recent project.  I recently planned my son's second birthday party.  It was just with close family, so nothing huge and crowded and it happened to be nice out that day so we were able to be in our backyard for most of it.  We didn't get to have my son's first birthday party due to covid, so I was very excited to plan this one.  The party was train themed since my son loves trains.  Also, I saw posts on Pinterest that said, "Chugga Chugga Two Two" and I loved that.  Of course, after I started planning and making decorations, my son got REALLY into Mickey Mouse.  He literally showed no interest in Mickey Mouse until after I started making train decorations.  lol  I *could* have changed the theme, but I hate wasting things (especially my limited time) so we went ahead with the train theme anyway.  My son honestly didn't care.

 

My husband gave me a Cricut Explore Air 2 last Christmas and I'm definitely putting it to use by making all of the decorations myself.  I found a train image that I cut out using my Cricut machine and then adhered pictures of my son throughout the last two years to them to make a picture train.  I love this idea.  In fact, it's still up in my hallway.  I'll probably take it down when it starts to fall off the wall.

I scoured Pinterest for ideas for the train themed birthday party, and someone way cleverer than I am used two glass jars to hold straws and plastic utensils.  For the jar of straws they labeled it "Chugga Chugga" and the utensils were labeled "Chew Chew" and I cracked up like a lunatic.  I knew I had to borrow that idea for my son's party.  I had my cricut draw the outline for the letters and I used a blue highlighter to fill them in.  I tried to cut the labels out to look like steam.

 

 

The next decoration I made was a "Happy Birthday" banner.  I wanted the banner to look like a train and on each train car there would be a single letter to spell out HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

*I'm just going to add this here - My husband and I rent the house we're living in and the walls were painted this green when we moved in.  We do plan on painting eventually (we were given the OK to do so when we moved in) but we just haven't gotten around to it yet.*

 

I was originally going to use red card stock for the engines and cabooses but decided on black at the last minute, so I used an extra red set to add to the wall because why not.  lol  It only occurred to me just now that I should have put a picture of my son in the car.  Oh, well!

 

I had my husband place black electrical tape to our floor to look like train tracks.  My husband did his best, but he thinks it looked more like hopscotch than train tracks.  We only had it in our main hallway from the front door into the hallway.  Having it go throughout our entire house seemed excessive.

 

Finally, I used my cricut to cut out letters to spell "Chugga Chugga Two Two" and adhered them to our wall.  I used card stock when I probably should have used vinyl because I had to use A LOT of tape to keep them up on the wall.

 

I made white and chocolate cupcakes in the shape of a 2 and used green frosting, black gel icing, and Kit Kat bars to make them look like train tracks.  I purchased this little train from Target, washed it, and then placed it on top of the middle of the 2.  This is something else I saw on Pinterest and I'm very proud of how it came out.

 

I had all of the snacks in bowls and was going to label all of the bowls to look like train cars, but time got away from me and I wasn't able to.  But that's everything I did for my son's birthday party.  I can't wait until next year to be able to do it all again!  Hopefully by then more people will be vaccinated and we can have a bigger party with more than just family in attendance.

 

Do you decorate for your children's birthday parties?  What's your favorite that you've either done yourself or seen?  I'd love to know!

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed this non-beauty related post!