Feburary Favorites

It's the time of the month when we talk about all the things I've been loving this last month.

Skin Care

For skin care I've been reaching for Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion.  

I got this as a sample in my January BirchBox and I've really been loving it.  I use the day time formula even at night as my skin can be a little oily.  This absorbs so fast and leaves my skin feeling smooth and hydrated.  The Clary sage makes it smell so fresh!  It's $18 for 1.8oz.  You can buy if from the Burt's Bees site of just grab it at any drug store.

My after bath love has been Lush's message bars. 

This one is Tender is the Night, which I plan on purchasing today (look for a Lush haul soon).  I tried this in store and it smells like heaven.  I love jasmine.  I bought the Valentine one (it smells like Rock Star soap, very much like candy) and I can't stop using it.  My skin has just been so dry this winter.  These are made out of wonderful butters and oils.  Just rub it on the skin and message in the goodness.  You do need to let this sink in some before putting on clothes but I think it's worth it.  These average about $10 and you can get them at Lush online or in store. 

Hair Care

I actually have some hair care products to rant about this month.  The first is another Lush item, Jasmine and Henna Fluff Eaze!  

I already ranted about how awesome this is in my review.  

Safe to say I am still in love with it.

The other hair product I've used a lot of is a dry shampoo by Not Your Mothers.

My hair is very color treated so I try my best to wash it only when it really needs it.  I found that this product works exactly as advertised.  Plus it gives my hair some nice volume.  It also doesn't leave a funny white residue that some dry shampoos have.  A 7oz can is $5.99.  You can get it at Ulta an most drug stores.

Makeup

I've been in a bit of a rut with my makeup but there are a few products that have been pulling me through.  

The first is Benefit Cosmetics Hula bronzer.  

I was not much into bronzer until I found this. I am super pale and was worried about looking orange or muddy. This is pretty much the perfect shade.  It's dark enough to bronze but not so dark I look like a have dirt on my face.  It's also a very neutral brown so it goes with all skin tones.  It is $28 for .28oz so it's not cheap.  You can get it from Benefit online or places like Sephora and Ulta.  

Next a fun drug store find.  

I've been using Milani baked blush in Luminoso pretty much every day.  It's such a gorgeous shimmery, peach (clearly not what's pictured).  It is supposedly a dupe for Nars orgasm but I don't think it's pink enough for that.  The price is way better then Nars, $7.99 for this!  You can get it on their site  or just grab it at the drug store.  

So there they are, this months favorites.  What have you been loving this month?  What kind of reviews would you like to see for March?  

Julep Maven Box

I'm not sure if this box is new or not but it is new to me.  I saw it pop up in my Facebook feed a few times before I checked it out.  Julep makes nail polish manly, along with other nail care related items.  The Maven box is your chance to try some of their newest colors.  You can take a style quiz and they will recommend a box for you.  Some boxes have all polish and some have two polishes and a nail care item.  One is even all beauty items.  Unlike most beauty boxes that doesn't really matter because you can see what's in the boxes ahead of time and pick the one you like the best.  You can even change the box you want every month.  Just log into your account between the 20th and the 24th and preview your box.  If you want to change it up go ahead.  You can also add extras to your box.  Maven box is $19.99.  In addition, you get first chance at their newest collections, 20% of purchases, and free shipping.

For my first box I chose the 'It Girl' box.  This box was an all polish box.  My quiz had me with the 'Bombshell' box that was two polishes and a cuticle serum.  I did want to try it but because I could see the boxes the It Girl colors called to me more.

The first thing in my box was a little extra. Some buffing blocks.

Then on to the polish.

My first color was a bright teal called Libby.

Libby is a flat, gloss finish.  The polish is a thinner consistency but it is really opaque.  You defiantly aren't going to need coat after coat of this stuff.

The next color is called Bunny.  This is a white polish with tiny flecks of gold glitter in it.  I don't feel like the glitter translates well on the nail.  The polish is thicker then Libby so to get it nice and even you need to paint thin coats and build the color.  It's really pretty in the bottle.  

My third color is called Elle. 

This is probably my favorite color that came in my box.  It's a really pretty purple/plum color with a frost finish.  The finish gives it a lot of iridescent.  

The last thing in my box was an add on that I purchased.  Another polish, also from their It Girl collection.  It was a $4 add on and since your first box you pay shipping only I said why not.  The name of this polish is Tracy.  

Tracy is a special effects finish.  It's a dusty blue color loaded with very fine silver glitter.  Because the glitter isn't chunky it goes on very smooth without being textured really.  It does take a few coats to get the full effect.  

All of these polishes retail for $14.  That's about $42 dollars for the box you only pay $19.99 for.  I got all this for right around $9 so I call that a good deal!

What do you think?  Are you into polish?  Looking for a way to try more?  

  

Wantable February Unboxing

It's that time of the month when we do unboxing!  My first box is Wantable.  If you don't know Wantable is a monthly subscription box.  For $36 dollars you pick, either accessories, makeup, or intimates, and they send you a box full of goodies.  If you want to find out more about how this works you can visit my January unboxing.

So here is my box.  This box was designed, in part, by Coffee Break with Dani.  For February instead of plastic bags we got little, velvet pouches.  I think that is a huge improvement and something I hear they used to do.

The first thing a got was a necklace. 

It's a very nice, simple piece.  The chain is a bit on the frail side but I wore it to work today and enjoyed the little bit of shine it gave my outfit.  This retails for $15.

The next pouch in my box contained two sets of earrings. 

The first pair is a set of studs.  I like that they have that bright blue pop of color.  I also like that they are enough to add interest but aren't so huge your ears get tired of wearing them. Retail price is $12.  My second pair has some dangle to them.  Just enough that there is some movement.  The multi tone metal makes them versatile.  These retail for $15.  

My last piece was another necklace.

This is defiantly a statement piece!  I love the rope cording and the over all chunckiness of it.  I really love big, funky, necklaces so it made me really happy to see this.  It would cost you $32 retail.  That means that this one piece pretty much paid for the box.  

So there is my February Wantable!  I'm really happy with this one.  Are you interested in seeing future boxes?  Want to see me try one of there others?  Let me know!

Review: Lush Jasmine and Henna Fluff Eaze

On my recent trip to Lush the sales girl asked if there was anything she could make me a sample of.  Of course there was!  I decided to try out one of Lush's hair treatments, Jasmine and Henna Fluff Eaze.  I got lucky as there wasn't much in the pot so she gave me the whole thing.  Lush has a number of hair masks available.  They have one for dry hair, one for blondes, one for fine, and two for frizzy.  The Strokes is the other for frizzy.  It has no henna and is only available from Lush on line.

The idea of these hair treatments is they are like a mask for your hair.  Coat dry hair in the treatment and leave on for 20-30 minutes.  Then shampoo and condition as usual.   I have very fluffy, dark hair so Fluff Eaze was a good pick for me.  

This stuff is just packed full of lovely oils to give you soft hair.  Things like olive oil, jojoba, and coconut oil.  The addition of henna adds shine.  Henna actually coats and smooths the cuticle of your hair smoothing them and taming the frizzy.  The jasmine is just a perfume type of an addition.

They suggest completely saturating your hair in this.  I did not do this.  I have a lot of hair and it probably would have taken a full 8oz tub to do it.  Lush website does say that it may take that much.  I used about a quarter of that.  I didn't soak my hair in in but I did make sure that it had a nice, even, medium coverage.  The consistency reminds me of ranch dressing.  It's pourable and not as thick as I thought it would be.  I let it sit for the full 30 minutes.  It smells amazing!  I love jasmine scented things.  I then rinsed it out and washed and shampooed as normal.  I'm a night time shower girl so it wasn't until the next morning I got to see the results.  My hair was so soft and shiny!  I brushed it out and it just glowed.  It really did calm the frizz well without weighing my hair down and making it feel greasy.  Best of all the scent stayed in.  Even on second day hair I can still smell it and it is still manageable.  It worked so well I'll defiantly be buying a full container and would love to try their hydrating mask. Full sized is $22.95

Do you have unruly hair?  What's your favorite product to whip it into shape?

Follow me around

So I decided to move this out into the social world!  From now on you can follow me on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/simplysynd
Twitter: @SimplySynD

I'll make a Facebook if there is enough interest. So get ready for a lot of great social media!

Lush Valentines Collection

Another holiday another lush collection!  If you love sweet scents and pretty, girly, pink things you'll love this collection.  Lush released a body wash, a bath bomb, a soap, two massage bars, and a lip balm. 

The first thing I picked up was the body wash.  It's called Prince Charming.  

Prince Charming has pomegranate juice, grapefruit oil, vanilla pod, and marshmallow root.  The pomegranted juice gives this wash a tart, refreshing scent while the vanilla and marshmallow add some sweetness.  The 500 gram bottle Iis $29.95.

The next piece of this collection I got was the Neon Love soap.

This also has pomegranate juice in it, as well as soya yogurt.  It's scented with bergamot, sustainable rosewood oil, and cinnamon.  The yogurt makes this a smooth, silky soap and it has such a lovely sweet floral scent.  3.5oz is $6.95. 

I only got one of the two massage bars.  Tender is the Night is going to be a perminate item so I was in no rush to buy it.  I did, however, try it in the store and it's so moisturizing and smells amazing! I will be picking one up sooner rather than later. The bar that I did pick up is called Close to You. 

Close to You is a very meltable bar.  It's made from shea butter and almond oil and just glides on and sinks in to your skin leaving behind a sweet vanilla scent.  It smells like Rock Star soap and a bit like Snow Fairy to me.  This little guy is 1.5oz and is $7.95.

The last thing I bought was the valintine bath bomb Love Locket.

This is a huge bomb!  The idea is you break it in half and use each half and the center for three baths. Of course you could toss the whole thing in!  I love that it's loaded with jasmine absolute. Smells so good.  You pay $10.95 for this 9.5oz bomb.  

So that's lush valintines.  What did you and your sweetheart do?

Spring Lemmings!

Since my tablet refuses to add pictures from my DropBox I decided I'd write a fast little post  about my spring makeup wants!  The changing of the seasons always brings new collection realnd there are several products I'd love to add to my own collection. 

The first is a lip and cheek palette from TheBalm cosmetics. 

These are cream colors you can use as both Iipstick and a blush.  Obviously,  some are better suited as just lips in my opinion,  like cobbler, but I'd be interested in trying them out. I found I really love cream blush.  The package is really cute but I could due without the 'sexy' cowboys.  

The next thing I've been wanting to try is a pretty hyped up product. 

The Hourglass Ambient lighting blush.  These blushes are swirls of blush pigment and one of their ambient lighting colors.  The one I love most is called Luminous Flush.  It's a champagne rose blush combined with Luminous Light.  It's suppose to evoke candlelight glimmer. I don't buy this as an oh my gods change your life blush but it does look really nice. I've wanted to try their ambiant lighting powders for a bit now and i though this product would be a good first one.

Next on to my naked obsessions.

Naked Skin.  The foundation is said to be ultra light weight yet still have amazing long lasting coverage. The setting powder is suppose to blur lines, cover redness and give back luminosity. Sounds too good to be true but I want to find out.

My last set of makeup lemms is off course from MAC.

Update

I just wanted to make a little update.  The move is going well but I've discovered that it's really difficult to upload pictures on my tablet.  I do plan on trying to write a post.  It's just a bit of a process.   Stay tuned!

January Favorites

Everyone does these right?  A little recap of all the things I've been in love with this last month.

Skin Care
          I think I finally settled into a good skin care routine with products I'm really enjoying.  The thing, or things rather, that have made my skin go from alright to great is Philosophy's Miracle Worker miraculous skin care collection. 

This comes with a face wash, a moisturizer, and a retinal treatment.  This is an anti-ageing system to fight wrinkles, discoloration and improve texture.  The cleanser is a lactic acid cleanser that you can also use as a mask.  Just leave it on your face for 3-5 minutes then rinse.  It really leaves my face super clean but not tight feeling.  The retinoid pads come in this two part mix before use thing.  The first time you use them you pour the solution into the container with the pads.  They claim this makes it more fresh.  I don't know about that but I do know it has really helped to fade out the hyperpigmentation I had from old acne scars.  The moisturizer is is pretty thick but it soaks in fast and doesn't leave me a grease ball.  You can get this from Philosophy online or from Sephora.  At $115 it is not cheap but it has been worth it to me.  If anti-ageing is not somewhere you are in life I've read rave reviews for the Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser as well.  If any one is interested in my full skin care routine let me know and I'll do a write up.     

Another Philosophy product for the skin I have been loving this month has been their whipped body creme.  

I bought this Christmas set when it went on sale after the holidays.  It contains two 8oz containers of lotion.  One in Raspberry Glaze and one in Almond Glaze.  Not only do these smell absolutely heavenly they are so hydrating on dry winter skin.  They absorb right in and leave you nice and soft and the scent last for hours.  I love this before bed.  The set I got is still available at Sephora for $24 dollars.  It's a steal when you consider that these normally go for $32 a piece!  

Makeup

        What have I been loving in my makeup drawer?  I picked up a find this month that I'm not sure how I lived with out.

The Benefits Cosmetics Erase Paste.  This is an amazing under eye concealer that brightens and hides those circles at the same time.  It's a pretty thick, creamy consistency but I find it very easy to blend out and haven't noticed any settling.  I really love how perfect this covers my dark, blue, circles.  Really, I have panda eyes so bad but this covers all that.  It's .15oz for $26 but this is going to last you a long time, a little goes far.  You can get it on the Benefit website or at Sephora.    

Another thing I've loved is my Diorshow Black Out Mascara.  

If you read my mascara versus then you already know all about my love for this product.  It's just so black and clump free.  I'm addicted to to volume it gives me.  I've tested out a lot of other mascaras over the last couple months and I just keep coming back to this one. Buy it at Sephora for $25.  Worth every penny.  

This winter I have discovered I really do like cream blush.

I have several I bought from NYX and they apply so easy and leave you looking like you've been out playing in the snow.  Cream blush just looks so natural.  I got this one from Ulta for $6.99.  You'll see my collection in and upcoming NYX haul.  I also plan on doing a versus with NYX cream blush and Stilla convertibles.  

My last makeup love is another NYX product.  

This is the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme.  It's like a liquid lipstick.  Very pigmented, glides on smooth, and last for several hours.  I love that when it dries it's nice and matte but doesn't feel dry on your lips.  These are only $5.99 at Ulta and come in a bunch of different colors.

So there are my January favorites.  Of course that's not all I've been using but these are the things I find myself reaching for everyday.

I do want to toss a thank you out to all my readers.  I really didn't expect so many people to read this.  Thanks for helping me stick with it.  

Speaking of sticking with it....I'm going to be moving!  What does this mean for you?  Well, I probably won't get a chance to post as much for the first couple weeks here in February.  I have pictures and things for another couple all ready to go but I will be writing off my Note tablet so it won't be as easy for me.  So hang in there, I promise I'll be back to a regular schedule soon.  

Tell me about your January favorites.  What were some hits and misses and what are you looking forward to trying for February.