I can't believe it's been like a month since I last blogged. Surprise surprise, this year is flying by and I still haven't adjusted to the fact that it's 2017. January whizzed by in the ED, and February whizzed by in Step 3 study land and vacation. Not sure if I've mentioned this in my last post, but for the past two weeks I have been in Dubai and India with my mom for a bit of sightseeing and catching up with family. I'm planning on writing a separate blog post this upcoming weekend for my travel experiences and photos. For now, let's just say it was a really nice trip and it sucks to be back and have a rough three months to look forward to. The only good thing is that this week is going to be fairly light since I'm on nursery night shift for the next four nights and then I'm on my golden weekend with three days off. So nice slow transition back to work life until my next easy block in three months. I also have my eye appointment this week which I'm nottttt looking forward to.

Alright let's get to some favorites for this month. Sorry it's a tad late, I'm trying to post favorites at the end of each month, but I didn't have my laptop on this trip and it's really hard blogging on an iPad! Not too many favorites this month since I haven't had too much time to try out new products, but all o these are really amazing products nonetheless.

Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette, Nougat

I've been on a cool-tone rampage this month. I've also been playing a lot with my Chocolate Bar palette, especially with the cooler shades like Nougat, Puddin', and Rum Raisin. Of all three, I think Nougat is definitely my favorite. It's a beautiful matte dirty pink sort of shade that's a lighter brown with a hint of pink-mauve undertones. Really unique shade, at least in my makeup collection. And of course, the quality of these shadows is superb and they all blend beautifully. 

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half-Baked

How's this for a makeup throwback. I dug this out of my eyeshadow drawer and have been wearing it quite a bit this month. I used to think this was way too bright of a gold, but I wore it this past month and I loved how it made my tired-sunken eyes pop.

L'oreal Voluminous Volume-Building Curved Brush Mascara 

The L'oreal Voluminous Mascara is at the top of my holy-grail mascara list. However, I usually go for the straight brush. While shopping at Ulta a couple months ago, I accidentally picked up the "Curved Brush" version. I didn't even know they made this mascara with this type of brush. But lo and behold, this ended up being a happy accident since I fricken love the curved-brush version of this mascara...even more than the original! The curved wand boosts up my lashes and makes them look more curled and fuller than with a straight wand, so this is definitely a must-try mascara. 

NYX HD Blush in Pink The Town

This has been my go-to blush this month. It has an interesting finish, it's mostly matte but has a hint of a satin-sparkle finish if you look at it carefully. The color is pretty ordinary but nevertheless it is a brightening peachy-pink blush without making your face look like a disco ball.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Cream Cleanser

I wanted to switch things up with month and try a new acne-specific face wash. I really like Neutrogena products and I decided to try the orange-colored tube of acne face wash from the sea of Neutrogena acne face washes they had at Ulta. I think it's reduced the number of fresh acne spots that have cropped up on my face this month, but I'm going to test out it for another few months before the final verdict is out on that. But like other Neutrogena face washes, it has menthol that makes your skin tingle, has a faint cucumber scent, and it did not cause me to have an adverse reaction.

Ulta Fall Haul ♥

Did I need new makeup? Definitely not. But I couldn't resist! I was going through my makeup collection the other day and realized I hadn't gone makeup shopping in months. Seriously, I think the last time I bought new makeup was back in December. So naturally, I felt like I needed some new goodies to play with, and rushed out to Ulta. None of the products I got are new or limited edition. Drugstore brands haven''t really come out with exciting new collections this fall. So I decided to pick up a few things I've had my eye on for the past few months.

Makeup Revolution Iconic 1 Redemption Eyeshadow Palette -- This palette is a dupe for the iconic Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow palette. I lost my UD palette a few years ago at a hotel, but cringed at the thought of shelling out another $50 to purchase a new Naked palette. When I saw this palette at Ulta for $7, I knew I had to get it. The colors seem identical to the UD Naked palette, and the reviews on these look excellent too. Expect a blogpost with this soon if all goes well.

Almay Smart Shade Lip Butter in Berry Medium -- Back about five years ago, I was obsessed with the Revlon lip butters. Last year, their sister company Almay released their own line of lip butters. I owned every single color in the Revlon lip butter line and thought nothing could come close to their formula...but I was mistaken. The Almay lip butters are so much creamier and apply seamlessly on the lips. I already own two colors in this line, but picked up this gorgeous berry shade for the fall and winter season. As with the Revlon lip butters, my favorite part is that they are the perfect consistency between a lipstick and tinted lip balm, and are not too sheer but not too opaque either.

Palladio Shadow & Liner Herbal Crayon in Iced Coffee -- Palladio is another makeup brand that is new to Ulta. The crayons were on sale at Ulta, so I decided to pick one up and try it. The color is a cool taupe that I think would look pretty as a liner brighten up the eyes on a no makeup day.

NYX Cosmetics Hot Singles Eyeshadows in Sex Kitten and Gold Lust -- NYX makes some of the best drugstore eyeshadows. This particular formula is one of their older ones, but is my preference over their newer Prismatic eyeshadows. Mainly because I can depot these and pop them in my Z-palette. Second because the packaging and product is more sturdy. I picked up these two shades because they're gorgeous, everyday colors that make an essential addition to my Z-palette.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blush in Flushed -- How gorgeous is this blush. Such a beautiful bright, watermelon pink color that's like a mattified version of Benefit's Bella Bamba. I definitely don't have a color like this in my collection, which is why I had to get my hands on it this fall. It would make a gorgeous color for the summer, but I could also see it giving that just-came-out-of-the-chill flush to the cheeks.

Nivea A Kiss of Milk & Honey Soothing Lip Care -- I have no shortage of clear lip balms. In fact, I have an embarrassing amount compared to how often I actually remember to apply lip balm. But I was shopping at Ulta, and I couldn't help but pick this baby up. It's one of my favorite lip balms out there. The scent is uber yummy and cozy, and the most hydrating balm I've ever tried. I prefer it to the EOS lip balm, Chapstick, Burt's Bees, etc.

Soap & Glory Rich & Foamous Body Wash
Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk Lotion

I swear I had no intention of picking up this product when I first stepped foot in Ulta. But of course I was perusing the aisles, saw that Soap & Glory products were buy one, get the other half off and had to get this. I hate the classic S&G scent. Most people love it, but it makes me nauseous. So I thought no way in hell will I ever use any S&G body products. But I was wrong. I am obsessed with their Smoothie Star line. It smells like oats, almonds, and brown sugar...the most cozy, comforting scent for winter time. Luckily, winter also happens to be the season when my skin becomes parched and cracked and in desperate need of body lotion. I used to get the Bath & Body Works body lotions and butters, but they're all so richly scented it's sort of become off-putting to me. So I decided to try the S&G body lotion this winter because of the pleasing scent, the fact that the lotion comes with a pump ( I hate greasy lotion hands), and of course the cute pink packaging. As I was picking up the body lotion, I of course decided to get the body wash with the same oatmeal sugar scent. Cannot wait to use these babies this winter <3

Ulta Haul ♥

Hey everyone, hope you are all having an excellent weekend. I, for one, have had a pretty lousy weekend :( Lots of shitty stuff happened, and I just felt like de-stressing and writing a bit on this beautiful Sunday. The sunshine outside has honestly been my saving grace today! Given my crappy weekend, I decided to go ahead and do some stress-shopping at Ulta this afternoon. I was actually quite proud of myself for behaving and not getting every little thing I eyed. I also spent $62 at Sephora last weekend on a YSL lipstick and eye cream (post soon...maybe?) so I had a bit of a tighter budget. I also had a few Ulta coupons and some of the products above were on sale, which brought my total down to $30 for all these goodies!

A good chunk of this haul was actually skincare items. Especially, moisturizers. I've never had issues with dry skin, but my skin's been scaly and patchy over the past few weeks and in desperate need of some moisturizing. I absolutely hateeeee applying body lotion because it leaves my hands so greasy and yucky, so I decided to try out the Nivea Cocoa Butter In-Shower Body Lotion. I'm hoping it really does work and hydrates my scaly skin! I also needed some more hand cream for my backpack, so I picked up the Pacifica Malibu Lemon Blossom Hand Cream. It's thick and moisturizing like my favorite Body Shop hand lotions, at a reasonable price of $9, and smells soooooo yummy and perfect for the spring season. Plus, how cute is the tube? Lastly in the moisturizing department, I got the cult classic EOS Smooth Sphere Lip Balm in Strawberry Sorbet. Let's be honest, I'm a sucker for anything packaged in pink, and I love strawberry-scented things. I've gotten sick of my Burt's Bees lip balm and so decided it was time to finally invest in this baby. I tried it in the car and it smells sooooo good, exactly like a strawberry milkshake. This is one lip balm I'm sure to be sporting all spring and summer.

I also picked up a few other bits and bobs. I needed an eye makeup remover, but they were all out of my usual Neutrogena Eye Makeup Remover. However, the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water was on sale and I decided to give it a go because of all the rave and hype I've heard about this product on Youtube and beauty blogs. I also got a pack of my favorite Ulta Premium Round Cotton Pads to use the micellar water with. I normally just clean my skin with Simple Makeup Wipes at night, but I wanted to get something that cleaned my skin deeper. I don't like using my St. Ives Green Tea Scrub more than once a day, since it is quite exfoliating and you generally shouldn't use a scrub more than once a day if that. Since the Simple wipes do a  good job at taking off my makeup and don't break me out, I'm hoping that the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water will work with my skin. Lastly, I got some makeup products to try out. The NYX Cosmetics Glitter Primer is something I've had my eye on for a while. I own a ton of glittery pressed eyeshadows, but I hate that they never stick on eyelids and fall out over the course of the day. That includes my L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows. So I'm hoping that this glitter primer is tacky enough to keep those types of shadows on all day with minimal fallout. And lastly, I've been obsessed with wearing smudged brown eyeliner on a lazy makeup day. I love the NYX retractable eyeliners so I decided to pick up the NYX Cosmetics Retractable Eyeliner in Bronze, which is a beautiful bronzy color with a ton of sparkle. It looks like it would be perfect for everyday looks.

There you go, my stress-shopping Ulta haul. I'll have my updates from the Skinny Jeans challenge sometime this week or next week. It was a bit crazy last week, which is why I have to wait another week before posting the results. They will be up soon I promise :) Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Massive Winter Haul: Drugstore Beauty

Good afternoon, loves. I'm just sitting on my couch relaxing, drinking a cup of coffee, watching some Kardashian's and thought this was a good time to do some blogging before the weekend. This is part two of my winter haul, featuring all drugstore goodies. Most of the stuff was bought at Ulta, but a few of these things were from Rite Aid. The drugstore has definitely been stepping up its game recently! Like the Sephora stuff, I haven't used many of these products but I have swatched them so I can offer my first impressions at least.

Physician's Formula Argan Wear Blush in Natural -- The packaging on Physician's Formula stuff always gets me, and that's exactly what happened with this blush. It's a pretty ordinary pink blush, buttttt what makes it stand apart is the gold outlining, gold embossing in the center of the product, and the gold packaging. Just makes it seem so luxe! I also love the quality of the Physician Formula's blushes so I'm hoping this one lives up to the standard despite the inclusion of Argan Oil in the product.

Makeup Revolution The Matte Blush in Beloved -- I have never tried Makeup Revolution products and heard good things about it on Youtube. Ulta recently started stocking Makeup Revolution products so I thought I would add one of their products to my online order (they aren't sold in my local Ulta store). At the time I was in the market for a matte peachy-apricot blush and this one looked decent and got decent reviews. However, when I swatched it, I honestly was not impressed. It's chalky and swatched as more of a whitish-orange color. I'm not sure if it will even show up on my skin. I'm still going to try it out on my cheeks, but unfortunately I'm not expecting much after the disappointing swatch :(

L'Oreal Voluminous Volume Building Mascara in Blackest Black -- Not much to say about this one. It's one of my favorite mascaras ever and I needed a new tube, enough said :) one of the best volumizing mascaras at the drugstore!

Essie Nailpolish in Ballet Slippers -- SO excited to wear this Essie classic this spring! I've been wanting this shade for literally two years now -- two years it has sat in my Ulta shopping cart! I decided to take a plunge and buy it this year since interview season got me in the mood for neutral polishes and this is a beautiful sheer pink.

Wet & Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio in Bohemian Wrapsody -- Another product that I was super pumped to try but am super disappointed with after swatting. Wet & Wild released some new eyeshadow trios as part of their holiday collection. I picked up this one because it had all neutral colors. They are obvious glitter bombs in the pan, but I did not expect them to be as poorly pigmented or chunky on application. Even after three swipes, they barely left any color. Just chunks of glitter :( I'm not sure if these are meant to be used on top of other eyeshadows? Definitely not the same quality as other W&W trios, and like I said a huuuuuge disappointment. I'm afraid to even try them on my eyes because I can see these having a huge amount of fallout.

NYX Prismatic Eyeshadow in Liquid Gold -- NYX shadows are one of my favorites at the drugstore. They're incredibly pigmented and perform at the level of high-end eyeshadows. My biggest problem with NYX shadows is the packaging. My singles aaaalways fall apart --I've had the plastic breaking off, the pan falling out, the shadow cracking, pretty much everything with these eyeshadows. As for this one, the pan fell out, causing the product to crack :( I probably won't be getting more of these in the future because of the packaging issue, but gives these shadows a try if you're in the market for drugstore eye makeup because the product performs quite well.

Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipgloss in Always Lovely -- This is another product I've had in my Ulta shopping cart for a long, long time. I have so many lip products though that it was hard for me to justify getting yet another gloss. But I decided to pick this up when I saw that it was 50% off at Rite Aid (maybe they're discontinuing the line?). These glosses are good, but they're nothing out of the ordinary. They are very high-shine and come in a nice range of colors. The shade I picked up is a classic pink that leans a bit more cool and has some micro-shimmer in it. Quite a pretty shade for the spring and  nice one to toss in your bag on the go!

Almay Smart Shade Butter Kiss in Berry Light-Medium and Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm in Blooming Balm -- While I was waiting for my prescription to get ready at Rite Aid, I was scouring the makeup aisles and saw this product. It's a Almay lip butter with a free liquid lip balm. The whole package was $6, which is the regular price for one of the lip butters...so pretty much you get the lipgloss for free. I've been wanting to try one of the Berry shades and the gloss seemed like a pretty sheer pale pink, so I picked it up. The lip butters are beautiful and one of my favorite lip formulas, so I'm really excited to try that. However, I've tried Almay's liquid lip balm before in the shade Canteloupe, but have not been a huge fan of the formula. The color doesn't go on very smoothly and streaks/patches up on my lips. I'm going to give it another shot with Blooming Balm and hopefully I have good things to report!

Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex Hair Masque -- I was in the market for a hair mask since my hair has been atrociously dry over the winter, which is pretty bad since my hair is veeery course and prone to tangling very easily. I was ready to buy an expensive hair mask, but then I saw excellent reviews for this mask and decided to give it a try. Ohhh my gosh, if you have dry coarse hair you need to try this mask. Unlike the other drugstore masks I've tried, especially the L'Oreal and OGX ones, this one is SUPER thick and moisturizing, and really sticks to my strands. I put a shower cap on top and leave it on my hair for about 10 minutes and my hair is soooooo soft afterwards! It's only $13 and Shea Moisture often runs for Buy 1 Get One 50% off at Ulta. Definitely new holy grail product for me and something you will see for sure in my monthly, if not yearly, favorites!

Soap & Glory Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub -- Lastly, but certainly not least, I finally got this bad boy!!! I've wanted this scrub since Soap & Glory released it a couple years ago. They recently pulled out of Sephora and have been available at Ulta for $10 cheaper so of course I decided to pick it up. It doesn't smell as good as its body butter counterpart, but it's still divine and I can't wait to use it this!

January Favorites!

I honestly cannot believe January is gone! I spent most of the month out of the country on vacation and it was a really nice, relaxing time. Sad to say that on my very last day in New Delhi, I got sick :( I had a cold with a mild fever that's resolved, but now I'm having major stomach cramps. I think I have gastritis from all the rich, spicy foods I had been eating in India. I've been sleeping most of the time since I've  can barely keep any food down without getting cramps and have zero energy because I haven't been eating much. Tums, omeprazole, and eating really light foods like toast and tea has been helping a lot though and I'm feeling a little bit better. The worst part of it all is that I can't tolerate coffee right now, so I'm going through maaaajor caffeine withdrawal. I've been drinking green tea, but it doesn't contain nearly as much caffeine as coffee does and I'm still having major headaches. Can't take ibuprofen either since my stomach's irritated, blargh.

Anyways, back to favorites! I haven't been wearing too much makeup this month and when I have been wearing makeup, I've been sticking to tried and true products.  So not a whole lot of new beauty discoveries this month. I'm hoping to try a bunch of new products this upcoming month, so I should have a ton of beauty products to show in my next monthly favorites!

EOS Shave Cream -- Never thought I'd feature a shaving cream on my favorites, but I picked this up last month and I've been in love ever since. This is the only shaving cream that has left my legs super soft and moisturized afterwards. I don't even need to lather on lotion once I get done shaving and get out of the shower! I've tried this in Lavender and Pomegranate Raspberry, which are both really pleasant, non-overpowering scents. Plus, the bottle has a pump for mess-free application, which I love. At only $2.99 a bottle, this one is a must-try bath product. 

Bonita Cosmetics Nail Polish Remover Pads -- I stumbled upon these at Rite Aid when I happened to be looking for nail polish remover pads for traveling - how lucky! These were only $1, so I was a bit skeptical on how these would work. But, oh my gosh these are amazing! The pads remove nail polish really well, leave a nice scent on your nails, and hydrate your cuticles since they contain a bit of cuticle oil. The small tin is perfect for traveling. Needless to say, I'll be buying a couple more of these and using them every time I take off my polish, whether it's at home or at a hotel!

Bath & Body Works Winter Candy Apple Shower Gel -- This one is a oldy, but a goodie. I love this scent so much during the winter time and this season was no exception. Very classic apple-candy scent without being too powerful, and the scent lingers on your skin for hours after your shower. Love!

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Smokey Look -- Another oldie but goodie I've been reaching for a lot this month. This lipgloss is just the perfect nude (although it looks a bit pink in the picture). This is one of my favorite lip gloss formulas -- they're so shiny, lightweight, moisturizing, and have such a pleasant cherry scent. Highly recommended drugstore lipgloss!

Trim Slant Tip Tweezers -- I decided to start plucking my eyebrows again this month and purchased these tweezers at a mere $2 from Walmart. I've always been really bad at plucking my eyebrows, so I was a bit scared that these wouldn't work either especially with the low price tag. To my surprise, they actually work really really well and allow me to pluck my eyebrows really easily. I know everyone raves about the expensive Tweezerman tweezers, but I think these work pretty darn well for $2. Definitely give these a try if you're new to eyebrow-land like me. 

July Beauty Favorites

I cannot believe August is here. This year is flowing by so fast! July was my Step 2 CK month and I'm so relieved that it's finally over. Today I figured I'd chit chat a bit about my July makeup favorites.  Mostly a bunch of rediscoveries that I've been falling back in love with in my makeup collection.

NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Dusk Til' Dawn

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette (Limit, Nooner, Liar)

Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Fuller Fudge

Benefit Bella Bamba Blush

Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Berry Pop

Dior Addict Lipgloss in Delice

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Hot Shot

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in Apricot Twist

March Beauty Favorites ♥

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March Ipsy Bag

Woo! My second Ipsy bag is finally here :) I subscribed to Ipsy back in December and finally got off the wait list in February. I got my first bag last month but I didn't make a blog post about it given all the crap that was going on around the time. But from now on, I'm hoping to post a monthly Ipsy bag post. For those of you who may not know, Ipsy is a monthly $10 beauty subscription. Each month, they mail you a package with 5 deluxe size beauty samples inside a patterned makeup bag . My favorite part about this subscription is that it's ALL beauty items, which makes it different than Birchbox or Pop Sugar where you get a bunch of different kinds of items. I love discovering new makeup brands and different types of makeup, so the Ipsy bag is perfect for me. There is a similar monthly beauty subscription box called Glossybox, which is a bit pricier at $21 per month but has higher-end beauty samples. I thought about subscribing to that box, but I wanted to first try a cheaper beauty subscription and Ipsy was one of the best, most affordable ones by far. 

This month, I received products that I think I'll get a lot of use out of! I haven't gotten the chance to play with any of them yet so can't speak as to the actual quality of these products. However, watch out for them in my monthly favorites if I like em! So starting things off, I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of this month's makeup bag. I absolutely LOVED the pink February makeup bag, but this one's a bit of a flop for me. The design just looks cheap-ish to me and the quality isn't as nice as the February bag's. For the products, I'll start off with the skincare items I received this month. The first thing I got was two packets of the Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels. This product sounds heeeeavenly! I can definitely see myself popping these babies out during my next spa night or when I need a bit of pampering. Next up, the Coolway Glow Oil Treatment. I don't particularly like putting oils on my hair since they can sometimes weigh it down. I'll give it a shot, but I have a feeling I may not like this product and it's gonna go straight in the garbage can :( 

The rest of my products are all makeeeeeuppp, my fave! I really liked the Crown Brush Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush that I received this month. I'm pretty sure I've heard good things about this brand before. I think this brush will be really nice for my travel makeup bag that I take to work. I'm glad that it's a good sized brush, not a dinky sized one, and it's dual-ended so it's perfect for traveling. I'm hoping this brush gives decent eyeshadow application because it may just become my new on-the-go makeup brush! Next, I got what looks like a full-sized NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick in Hunk. In the tube, it looks like a really scary vampy purple but when I swatch it, it comes off as a really nice purply-berry color. I tried it on in front of my mom and she said it looked pretty good on me. Plus the formula goes on smooth and is very hydrating. She tried a bit of it too and it looked stunning on her, so if I don't get much use out of this one, then it's definitely going straight to her! Lastly, my favorite product this month, the Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo. Ohhhhh my god. It's a tiny tiny eyeshadow palette, but the colors are absolutely stunning, everyday shimmery browns. Right up my alley. I swatched these bad boys on my hand and they're quite buttery, pigmented eyeshadows. Not as good as Urban Decay or Makeup Geek of course, but definitely up there. Again, I'm loving how perfect this will be for my work makeup bag since it's so compact. You guys have no idea how excited I am to try this duo!

So that is it for this month's Ipsy bag. Overall, I'm loving the nice mix of products I got and can see myself definitely using 4 out of the 5 products. The sizes of the products are pretty generous (although I wish my eyeshadow duo was a big bigger!), and I think well worth the $10. I'm hoping Ipsy keeps it up with the amazing round of products they've been sending!