Favorite Foundation -- L'Oreal True Match Lumi Foundation

Photo credit = www.beautystat.com

I'm not a foundation expert since I've only tried a few, but this is a great easy-to-apply liquid foundation that can be applied easily with fingers or a brush. Takes me only a few minutes to apply and blend, so it's perfect for rushed mornings. 

Favorite Concealer -- Milani Secret Cover Concealer

Photo credit = www.storenvy.com

One of my greatest discoveries from last year that's carried over to this year. This goes on and blends in with my skin beautifully and it's still the best concealer shade I've found for my skin. 

Favorite Blush -- Milani Baked Blushes

Photo credit = www.makeupandbeautyblog.com

These blushes have been around for quite a while, but I've only recently tried them myself. I'd say these blushes are some of the best drugstore blushes I've ever tried. At only $8 a pop, they have amazing pigmentation and come in a variety of different shades. My favorites are Rose D'Oro and Berry Amore. The only issue is it's a little difficult to find certain shades in stores, but all of them (and more!) are available online. 

Favorite Eyeshadow Palette - Too Faced Natural Eye Palette

Photo credit = www.xsparkage.com

I decided to give this palette a shot this year after hearing all the great reviews (and especially after losing my beloved Naked palette), and it has now become of my favorite palettes of all time. It's a little pricey at $36, but it's a great neutral eyeshadow palette with a good mix of nudes + shimmers + warm/cool shades. The best part is that it's tiny and compact for traveling, but still has a good amount of product. Easily my most used palette this year, and my top recommendation for anyone looking for a compact eyeshadow palette with a mixture of different shades and textures. 

Favorite Eyeshadow Palette - Wet & Wild Coloricon 8-Pan Palette

Photo credit = www.painted-ladies.com

I couldn't do my yearly favorites without mentioning these babies! I've never been able to find a good quality drugstore eyeshadow palette, until trying these. Very very affordable at less than $5 per palette, and amazing quality. They also have 3-shade palettes for less than $3 with different shades and textures. 

Favorite Mascara -- Maybelline Pumped Up Colossal Mascara

Photo credit = www.aquaheart.net

Best mascara of 2014! Love the pink packaging, and the volume this adds to my lashes without any clumping. 

Favorite Lip Balm -- Chapstick Mixstix in Vanilla Candy Cane Milkshake

Photo credit = www.daisyreviews.blogspot.com

Usually I don't really find a particular lip balm I like more than others, but this one was a unique one I found towards the end of the year. This tasted sooo good, just like a peppermint vanilla shake! 

Favorite Tinted Lip Balms -- Maybelline Baby Lips Crystal Collection

Photo credit = www.theposhpursuit.com

Maybelline finally came out with a range of Baby Lips colors I like! I've never been a fan of previous Baby lips collections because they all go on really opaque and patchy on me, and the colors have looked horrendous on me personally. I love the Crystal Baby Lips because they go on a lot more sheer, add shine, and still retain their moisturizing properties. 

Favorite Lipstick -- Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfair

Photo credit = www.galleryhip.com

I've loved the Revlon lip butters for a while, but this has been my new favorite lipstick shade this season. Really really gorgeous shimmery but still wearable pinky-peach color that looks stunning on medium-olive skin tones.

Favorite Lipgloss -- Maybelline Color Elixir in Rose Redefined

Photo credit = www.makeupandbeauty.com

I usually struggle to find pink lip glosses that suit my complexion, but I finally managed to track down a warm-toned pink that looks stunning on my skin. The formulations of these lip glosses are some of the best in my opinion. Very opaque and tacky enough to stick on all day without weighing down lips. Cannot wait to try out new shades this upcoming year! 

Favorite Nail Polish -- Essie Bahama Mama

Photo credit = www.missbeautybudget.co.uk

For the fall and winter, I decided to venture out and try a purple-burgundy sort of shade, and this has been on my nails for the majority of each season. Very very beautiful, perfect mix of crimson and plum! 

Favorite Nail Polish -- Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Speedy Sunburst

Photo credit = www.productrater.blogspot.com

While Bahama Mama was on my nails all of fall, this polish was on my nails for the majority of summer. Such a gorgeous hot pink shade! I love neon pink nails, and this is the best drugstore shade. Love love love, probably will be on my toes all of next summer too! 

Favorite Hair Product -- Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil

Photo credit = www.mashasmumbles.blogspot.com

Winter is never a fun time for hair, but this oil does a wonderful job at hydrating my hair without making it feel like an oil slick. This product seriously transforms my dry, dull winter hair into gorgeous silky locks, no joke! Definitely would recommend some sort of argan oil hair product for all girls struggling with frizzy hair. I've had frizzy hair for the majority of my life, and this is the only treatment I've found thus far that hydrates my hair. You do have to be careful and apply only a small amount, however, but with practice it's really not a tough feat whatsoever. 

Favorite Face Wash -- St. Ives Green Tea Scrub

Photo credit = www.weekendramblings.com

Another miracle product discovery this year! I used the Clinique acne solutions line for the majority of last year and it didn't really help too much with my acne. I used to be a huge fan of the St. Ives scrubs back in high school and college, but stopped using them for a bit when I started using Clinique. I recently went back to St. Ives and decided to give the Green Tea scrub a shot, and oh my god. The rave reviews on this face wash are really true. The beads are gentle enough that you can use this every day, and it seriously dries up all of my acne, and has given me perfectly clear skin for the first time in years. I can even go without foundation on most days, which I haven't been able to do in forever. Love love love this, so glad I decided to give St. Ives another shot this year! Forget $50 face washes, this $5 scrub is literally all you will need for clearer skin. 

Favorite Hand Cream -- The Body Shop Shea Hand Cream

Photo credit = www.thesundaygirl.com

I usually don't comment too much on hand creams, but this one has stood out amongst others this year. Very very potent hand cream (a little drop goes a long way!), but the best part is its scent. It's a very very pleasant scent that is noticeable, but not overpowering. My hands get dry really quickly since I'm always using Purell and need hand cream to prevent my hands from feeling like a lizard. I've used the Bath & Body Works hand creams in the past, but those are very slippery and have very very overpowering scents. I don't mind strong scents, but at the workplace (especially a hospital), I prefer wearing something that smells more subtle and neutral. This is perfect -- it has a noticeable scent, but it's not strong enough to the point where it's sickening or where you can smell it from a mile away. Definitely will keep repurchasing this baby!

Favorite Candle -- Bath & Body Works 3-Wick Candle in Marshmallow Fireside

Photo credit = www.cyravelasquez.com

I've finally found a candle to replace my cookie-scented candle obsession! Everyone says this about this candle, but it is literally the most perfect blend of smoky and sweet. Even my mom, who is veeery picky about candle scents, loves this one. You really can't go wrong with this candle. It reminds me of roasting marshmallows over a bonfire, which is a very warm and cozy and comforting scent especially for the cold winter months but also translates well for the summer months. Definitely will be repurchasing and burning this one all year long.

Crafting Friday: Scrapbooking 101

So I realize it's past Friday, but I was busy this past week and didn't get a chance to write this post until now. I've been meaning to start scrapbooking for literally several years now, but never quite got comfortable doing it. I started a scrapbook when I was like 16, but it was messy and just not as nice as I wanted it to be. But I think this year is the year that I want to give it one more shot and create a 2015 scrapbook. Tossing around the idea of a scrapbook got me thinking of starting Crafting Fridays, where I take an hour out of my time each Friday to spend doing some sort of crafting project. I really love crafting, but I always get busy during the year and never have time to devote to crafting projects. I think this is a great way to set aside just an hour a week into something I enjoy doing, and it's a great study break as well!

So my first project of the year (and to be continued throughout the year) is my 2015 scrapbook. I was considering making a cumulative med school scrapbook but since my photos thus far have been patchy at best, I decided to just make a scrapbook for the year 2015. This way, I can take photos of certain events I want to keep into memory and add those to my scrapbook instead of digging around for old photos like before.

So for my very 1st Crafting Friday, I found this really quick and easy and really informative video about tips for scrapbooking (embedded below). It has really good tips for what kinds of things you need, the basic tools, and has a demo on how to make a pretty scrapbook page. I really like the idea of layering pieces of paper as "frames" for your photos or text boxes! I really like how much that makes the pages pop, and what a clean effect it gives. I'm hoping to hit up JoAnn later today and pick up a few bits and bobs for doing a practice scrapbook page. I'll probably make it Christmas-themed and add photos from this past Christmas. I'll insert a photo of how that turns out on my next Crafting Friday!

Lush Snow Angel Bath Melt Review

Hello hello everyone! I recently purchased my very first bath-type product from Lush and wanted to do a little review on it! I've bought a couple of their lip scrubs before and bought a small slice of their Neon Love soap last Valentine's Day, but I've never tried one of their famous bath products. I really wanted to break the ice this year and finally try one. I wanted to try their Northern Lights bath bomb, but they were all sold out of those. The store was so packed I didn't have a chance to examine everything, but I believe there were mostly bath melts and some not so pleasant smelling bath bombs left. I decided to go ahead and pick up a Snow Angel Luxurious Bath Melt since it was the first item that caught my eye and smelled super duper yummy. I bought it for $7.95 which is quite reasonable since it is one of their larger bath melts. The only one larger and pricier than this was the Holly Golightly bath melt.

First off, the design of this melt is absolutely gorgeous. As you can see in the picture, it has a thick base of gold shimmer with some gold glitter dusted on top of the white angel. If you touch the bottom, you actually flake off tons of glitter so it is bit of a messy product. As far as the smell goes, it's a hit or a miss. It smells like almond ("marzipan" is the term Lush uses to describe the scent of this melt), mixed with a little bit of the classic Mr. Bubble soap scent. So it doesn't smell completely like almond, but more like a almond-bubblegummy mixture (I'm horrible at describing scents but that's the closest I can describe it!).

Now, let me again state that I have never tried a bath melt before, so I didn't know what to expect when I used it. You're supposed to drop the bath melt into warm water and once it settles, it starts fizzing and melting into the water. Since this melt is covered in glitter, you do get very very tiny, micro glitter particles -- it's not chunky glitter, but more like very fine golden glitter particles. Don't worry, you're not going to get glittery bath water from this product! But if you look closely at the water or scoop some in your hands, you will be able to see some flecks of sparkle in there. However, it does give your bath an overall yellow-golden color.

One of the best parts about these melts is how moisturizing they are! I've tried tons of bath products before and none of them really leave my skin feeling moisturized or clean, except for this product. Once I stepped out of the bath, my skin felt very clean and moisturized and I didn't have to use any body wash or even body lotion afterwards! It didn't leave my body smelling like almonds, so that was slightly disappointing :( The cleanup was also pretty easy. It didn't leave any residues in my bath.

I have a fairly big bathtub so I ended up using about 3/4 of the angel. But that was definitely overkill -- you can probably get about 4 baths from one angel if you have an average-sized tub. The only issue is that once you take the angel out of the bath, it becomes a very sloppy, goopy mess so you have to rewrap it carefully.

Bottom Line: All in all, I really liked the way this bath melt smelled and what an amazing job it did at moisturizing my skin. Definitely a fun wintertime bath treat, but I wouldn't keep buying it for regular use. It is a pretty large-sized bath melt and you can easily get 3-4 uses out of one bath melt. I wish it would leave my skin smelling like almonds and maybe even give my bath water a bit more sparkle given that this bath melt is covered in golden glitter. I wouldn't really repurchase this bath melt, but I think it would make a great gift or a fun, moisturizing bath treat in the winter.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope all of you had an excellent day full of laughter, happiness, and joy. I spent the day with my wonderful family. I don't have a very large family, so it's usually just the four of us (my mom, dad, and brother). We had a yummy Christmas lunch, then went to the movies, and ended the day with Chinese food for dinner. All in all a very eclectic Christmas day to say the least!

Holiday Red Lips

It's almost Christmas and that means it's time for lights, food, festivities, family time, and of course lots of glitter and sparkle! This is definitely one of my favorite times of the year -- everything just feels so extra special and cozy! I love decorating, baking, relaxing, and sharing the joy of the season with family, friends, and neighbors. I didn't get to do too much fun stuff this holiday season since school went so late into December but I'm glad that I still got to enjoy some of the season with loved ones.

I wanted to dedicate this post to a bit of Christmas makeup, since this is definitely my favorite season for experimenting with different looks. I tend to go a tad overboard when it comes to buying holiday makeup, gifts, clothes, candles, etc. but it's just so irresistible with all the cute holiday stuff out there. One of the classic winter makeup trends is of course cherry-red lips and sparkling eyeshadow looks. I love love love trying out new eyeshadow looks, but one of the things I shy away from every single year are red lips. For some reason, I have no problem wearing green eyeliner or donning a shocking blue smokey eye, but when it comes to wearing vibrant shades of lipstick I always get really nervous and self-conscious. However, being the beauty addict I am, I still like to get my red-lip fix in during December and so, over the years, I've discovered the perfect solution for this problem -- sheer lip glosses!

The one pictured above is the Philosophy Tinsel Town Lip Shine (which I picked up last season, but I believe is no longer available). It's a gorgeous sheer berry-red lipgloss with tons of sparkle that is perfect for this time of the year. It gives my lips a wash of red color, but without going overboard to full-on red lipstick territory. There's tons of other sheer red glosses out there (some of my other sheer red favorites are Sephora's Glossy Gloss in Cocktail On The Beach and L'Oreal Le Gloss in Red Ravishing ) that are equally good for those of us afraid of venturing into the red-lipstick territory. Even when it comes to other "bam-in-your-face" lipsticks (hello plums, hot pinks, and corals), I recommend trying more toned-down versions of the colors in a lip-gloss or even a tinted lip balm format. That way, you can still enjoy the color without going fully opaque and flashy.

I hope you're all having a great Christmas Eve! Despite this holiday season being craaaazy, I'm still got to enjoy one of my favorite Christmas traditions -- our annual family trip to Oglebay, the most beautiful and cozy winter/holiday lodge!

Happy Holidays everyone! :)

Staying Hydrated, Staying Positive

I personally think one of the best ways to stay healthy is to stay hydrated. Unfortunately, it's often one of the easiest things to forget especially when it isn't a habit and you have a busy lifestyle. During school, I easily get sucked into drinking multiple cups of Starbucks a day without much water intake, hence why I have never been able to keep up the habit of drinking 8+cups of water a day. However, I notice that whenever I'm drinking water throughout the day, I feel so much more refreshed, energetic, focused, and just more positive in general.
Here are some tips I've learned over the years to help me drink more water on a daily basis.

1. Flavor it up
Who says water has to be plain and boring? It's really easy to pop a slice of lemon, lime, or even different fruits in your water bottle to jazz things up. For even more flavor, I like adding a quarter to half packet of Crystal Light to my water.

2. Time yourself
I've learned that it's best to sip water throughout the day rather than just chug a whole bottleful at once. In fact, every time I drink large quantities of water in a short period of time, I actually end up feeling bloated and uncomfortable. So instead, I make sure to drink about 1 glass (or 8 oz) every two hours or so at the least. That way, I'm not running to the bathroom every 5 minutes and I don't feel like a water-chugging machine.

3. Herbal tea counts as water
Some people may say that herbal tea doesn't really count as water, but I beg to differ. In the winter months, I cannot bring myself to drink large amounts of cold or even room temperature liquids. I love warm, cozy drinks during the colder months so I switch over to drinking herbal tea during this time of year. Make sure the tea isn't caffeinated as these types of tea have a dehydrating effect. Celestial Seasonings and Tazo are some of my favorite tea brands and they both make a variety of yummy herbal teas!

4. Buy cute drink ware!
If you're a sucker for packaging like I am, an integral part to drinking any type of liquid is the container it comes in. I've tried various types of drinkware and I find that a sippy water bottle like the Camelbak works best for when I'm out and about. Whenever I'm at home I like using either a tumbler or a cute glass with a straw -- you can find some adorable mugs and cups at Target! The Camelbak is definitely one of the most convenient travel water bottles out there, but using attractive mugs/cups at home makes drinking water a lot more fun and something that you'll actually do more frequently!

First Post!

Welcome to my new blog!

At the beginning of 2014, I created a blog that I actually managed to update pretty frequently. I was thinking of continuing that blog into 2015, but then I decided to create a new blog instead since I had some issues with the previous blog, and have some fresh new ideas for this blog. I'm hoping I can update this blog a bit more frequently than I did my old blog, and feature some more content, especially travel-related stuff in addition to beauty, fashion, lifestyle, fitness, etc.

Here's to an (early) exciting, fresh, and healthy 2015!