Birchbox November

I got my sample pack from Birchbox last week and it was a pretty good one this month!

Masqueology Revitalizing Eye gel masks: This is a pack of gel masks that go under the eyes and are supposed to de-puff and brighten your eye area. I haven't tried them yet but we are leaving to the East Coast next week and figure it will be a great time to see if they can actually "brighten" my tired airline eyes!

MCMC Fragrance Phoenix: I tried this and its actually a very nice fragrance. Based out of Brooklyn, MCMC has created a lovely and feminine scent that I would definitely use.

One Love Organics Aromatic Body Serum: As many of you know, I have a love-hate thing going on with the craze of oils that have invaded the beauty market. This little gem, however, had me at Aromatic! It smells SO good! And it absorbs into my incredibly dry, northern skin like nobody's biz! Its a good size container too, which is always nice in a sample.

Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer: I have several of these glittery fluids and honestly-I don't use them much. I think I'll pass this one along in someone's Christmas stocking....

Masqueology Cleanse and 7D Moisture Cream: I tried both of these. The cleanser is foamy and my skin doesn't do well with foamy cleansers.  The lotion is nice, but I don't know if I'd ever purchase either. I didn't hate them, but didn't really love them either.

Thats it for this month's Birchbox. Remember, you too can get these fun little monthly goodie boxes! Just go to Birchbox and sign up, its only $10 a month and you can try out their newest products! Birchbox also offers excellent online information, tutorials and sales!

Next time, I'll blog about my upcoming trip to Philly and NYC!

Happy Holidays to all!

The Long and the Short of it...

So as many of you know, I decided to make a change in my appearance a few weeks ago. After years of long-ish hair, like this.....

I cut several inches off and now it looks like this:

I have to say, I'm loving short hair much more than I thought I would. I think I have always had a bit of a misconception that cutting off my long hair meant I was getting "old", no longer having the flowing locks of youth.

But the reality is, I have received MANY more compliments on my hair than I ever did when it was long, and most of my friends and family said that shorter hair actually makes me look younger and more carefree (my dad even said it makes me look thinner, lol!)

I'm still kind of figuring out how to style my hair and which products work best, but every day I love it a little more. I'm really glad I did this, and for me, its a reminder about not being afraid to take a chance once in awhile-even the little things can make us feel better about ourselves and give us a boost!

I'm off to start the Thanksgiving prep! This weekend I'll try to post about our Thanksgiving celebration and all the goodies we ate (and maybe give some post-turkey day workout tips...we are ALL gonna need 'em....)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers. Hugs.

Two Great Drugstore Finds!

I had to share these two new beauties I came across at good old Target....

This is from Maybelline, their Eye Studio collection:

The color is "Mocha Mirage" and I absolutely LOVE it! Such a pretty shade, metallic but not screaming metallic, and the highlighter/lid shade blends into a really pretty peach color.

And this is from Rimmel-

Their Glam Eyes line in "Smokey Brun" is another really pretty palette with suprisingly good pigment for a $5.00 eyeshadow quad!

While I will probably always be a Sephora girl at heart, I do enjoy finding a good drugstore bargain. And I especially enjoy being able to share it, because when I'm out shopping its sometimes hard to know which items are good and which are lame. Its always great to get other opinions!

Off to the day job, those of you who aren't working today should go see what kind of fun stuff YOU can find at Target!

Favorite makeup tips and tricks!

As I was getting ready for work the other day, I started thinking about all the little makeup tricks I use. Things I've learned, either from magazines, friends, family or simple trial and error. I thought it would be fun to share some of them here, even though many of you may use the same tricks and its nothing earth shattering!

Applying mascara:

I'm always on the lookout for the newest, greatest mascara (honestly, the cheaper brands like Maybelline or NYC are some of the BEST!). When I put on mascara, I always always curl my eyelashes first-I have long lashes that are straight as a stick. Then before I apply, when I'm putting on my dusting of my favorite Jane Iredale mineral powder, I brush just a touch across my eyelashes. Just a tiny bit (you don't want to get it in your eye). You can buy actual eyelash powder for the same thing, but really the powder serves the EXACT same purpose. Why spend extra money if you don't have to? The powder gives a bit of additional thickness to your lashes when you put on mascara.

I also always start with the upper lashes, putting the brush as close to the base of the lashes as I can, and kind of wriggling it a little bit to set the mascara on the base of my lashes before I sweep upwards. I put one coat on, let it dry, then put another coat on the upper lashes and a light coat on the lower lashes. If I'm feeling extra glam, I do THREE coats!

Foundation

I don't like the heavy look and feel of foundation, but I do need to cover up those age spots (ugh!) and fine lines. I prefer a tinted moisturizer instead. There are a lot of good ones out there, Clinique is my favorite. To make it even lighter, since I also use a light dusting of mineral powder as a finish, I mix it with my daily moisturizer. This provides even coverage without any weird facepaint looking sheen.

Nails

I like to paint my nails but I am not the most patient person in the world so waiting for them to dry is like...well its like watching paint dry!

I buy quick dry polishes when I can find them. I also have been known to apply polish right before  I walk out the door (coat, boots everything on before you do this. And purse over shoulder!) Then it dries while I'm driving to whereever I'm going. Sometimes the air vents in the car speed this process along.

I'm sure I have other little tricks that I can't think of right now. And I'm sure YOU have some too! What are your little makeup secrets? What do you do to streamline your own regime?

Next time, I'll talk about this:

Me before:

Me now:

After much thought and consideration, I decided I was ready for a change and cut off all my hair! I am loving it, but it takes awhile to get used to short hair! Anyway, more on that later....