Hey guys! Now that things have settled down a bit, I figured I'd take on a new challenge for myself and blog everyday this upcoming month! I know I've been majorly slacking on posting, but this year has just been so intense. But good news is that I recently finished my main clerkships, my acting internship, and Step 2 CK. So just a few more core rotations and Step 2 CS (which is just pass/fail) separate me from being totally completely done....well except for the whole applying and interviewing thing, which should be more exciting than studying for exams. Anyway, I wanted to blog most, if not all, days in August. I really love writing and sharing my opinions on beauty, so I'm quite looking forward to the challenge. I have a few ideas jotted down, so hopefully my efforts will stay strong and I'll complete this endeavor!

Plus August means one month closer to the best season of them all, FALL!

July 2015 Ipsy Bag

I haven't done an Ipsy bag review post in a few months now! The last few months flew by fast and I didn't get the chance to write a blog post in May and June. This month's Ipsy bag was okay, not the best but not the worst. The bag itself was not my favorite, just a geometric multicolored soft-shell sort of bag. The bags in the previous months have been a lot prettier, so not too amazed with this one.

The makeup itself was okay as well. I got a few haircare and skin products like every month.

Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics 2-in-1 Shadow/Liner -- I've been getting into brown eyeliners lately, so this is perfect! I prefer mechanical eye pencils since they're easier to work with, but the formula seems super creamy so I'm excited to try it.

Aurora Gel Effect Nail Polish in 4 Alarm Fire -- Really beautiful red-pink color! The perfect bright summer nail polish I can't wait to try on my nails next. I've never tried a gel nail polish before, so this should be exciting. Luckily this doesn't require UV radiation, so it makes for an easy application.

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Lip Balm in Ruby -- My favorite product in this month's bag! Not going to lie, I would've never picked up this shade in the store myself, but I'm glad this came in my bag this month because it's a really beautiful red-coral lip balm. It's a super buttery, moisturizing balm that adds the perfect amount of color to my lips. Super excited to wear this in the summer and going into fall.

Octavio Molina Hair La Playa Salt Spray -- I've tried sea salt sprays in the past and they don't look too good on my hair since my hair's already super wavy and texturized. It smells super good though, so I may just give it another shot this summer!

Eau Thermale Avene Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser -- Unfortunately, this was my least favorite product in the bag this month. I don't like trying new skincare products since my skin is so sensitive, so this one was thrown out.

ColourPop Haul, Swatches, & Thoughts

A while back near my birthday, I placed my very first order at Colourpop. I've heard so many amazing things about this brand and had to try it out for myself, especially since their products are so cheap and I had a $5 off coupon. I ended up ordering 3 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, and one lipstick, all for $25! Since I bought these around May, I've used most of the products and can offer a review on them.



Here are swatches of the eyeshadows -- Get Lucky (top left), I <3 This (top right), and Smash (bottom).  As you may know, the texture of their products are a cream-mousse-powder hybrid, which is pretty unique. They remind me of the Maybelline Dream Mousse blushes from back in the day.  The formula and pigmentation of these shadows is amazing. They're very buttery and apply true to color. Get Lucky is a bright yellow-gold. I <3 This is a white gold duo chrome. Smash is a bronze-antique gold blend.

As far as application, I've been applying it all over my lids with a flat eyeshadow brush. Get Lucky and I <3 This contain more glitter and go on a bit patchy with the use of a brush. If I try to even out the color with a brush, that just causes the glitter to spread everywhere, which isn't the most flattering look. Smashon the other hand is a much less glittery and contains more sheen. It goes on very smoothly when applied with a brush. It's become one of my favorite products in my entire eyeshadow collection! I've been told that that the best way to apply the Colourpop eyeshadows is by patting them on the lid with a finger and then blending it out with a brush. I may try this method next time I use one and hopefully get a more even application with the more glittery shades. So overall, loving Smash but not having the best of luck applying the glittery Get Lucky and I <3 This with a brush. I'm hoping using my finger to apply these shades will work out better since they are quite gorgeous, brightening lid colors.

Here are swatches of the lipstick and blushes -- Brink Lippie Stix (left), Quarters blush (middle), Fruit Stand blush (right). Brink is a matte dusty rose-mauve. Quarters is a matte burnt apricot. Fruit Stand is a matte bright red-orange. They had a wide variety of blush shades but I chose these two because I didn't have colors like this in my collection. Again, the quality of these blushes are amazing. They're super pigmented and blend beautifully. Fruit Stand looks scary in the pan, but it blends out to a really beautiful bright coral-red shade. I haven't played around too much with Quarters, but it seems like a gorgeous fall shade. It looks much different in the pan than when it's swatched on my hand. Brink is by far the most surprising purchase. I mainly got the Lippie Stix to try out the formula, but I fell in love with the color. I'm not a huge fan of matte lipsticks but this one looks stunning on tan skin tones. Again, it's going to be gorgeous for the fall.

All in all, loving my first few ColourPop purchases. Super affordable brand with excellent quality products. I would recommend everyone try out at least 1-2 products from their line, just to try their unique hybrid eyeshadow and blush formula. I'm hoping to buy a few more eyeshadows and Lippie Stix from their line in the near future. They also have some new lip glosses that I have my eye on. And with just $5 a pop, my wallet won't be cringing!

June Beauty Favorites

Super long time since I last posted! As always, things have gotten so busy lately. I had my Pediatrics clerkship in May, an acting internship in June, and now I'm on a study month for Step 2 CK. So it's been back to back school stuff. Not to mention, residency applications are due in September so I've been working on stuff for that. I'm happy to say that my CV is now done, I've asked most of my letter writers, and I'm almost finished with my personal statement. At this stage, I'm just narrowing down a list of programs and of course studying for Step 2.

I've actually been wearing a decent amount of makeup on most days. I've been especially obsessed with eye looks, blushes, and highlighters and have been experimenting with a bunch of makeup in my collection. Here are my beauty favorites over the past month.

ColourPop Super Shock Shadow in Smash

NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Kalahari

Milani Baked Blush in Rose D'Oro

Milani Baked Blush in Berry Amore

ColourPop Lippie Stix in Brink

Maybelline Color Elixir Iridiscent in Pearlescent Peach

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Nail Coat

Essie Nailpolish in Cute As A Button

Sephora & Ulta Makeup Haul

It was my birthday a few weeks ago and like I do every year, I decided to spoil myself and get some new makeup goodies to try! The stuff I'm going to be showing below is a mix of things I had gotten for my birthday and some drugstore makeup I got a few weeks back for the spring season. I figured I'd show everything here since it's all stuff I'm super excited to try out. And I'll also show my super luxurious birthday makeup treat! The box on the right is actually stuff from Colourpop. I was going to combine the two hauls, but when I saw how many things were in the Sephora bag, I decided to split the two into separate posts.

So this post is all about the stuff I got from Sephora, Ulta, and Marshall's over the past few weeks.

First off, in the corner you see my huge makeup gift this year, the Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette. I'm super super super excited to try this palette out!! I lost my beloved Naked palette last year so I really wanted to get another high-end nude palette to replace it. This palette is perfect, smells like cocoa powder, and has a really nice mix of shades. Too Faced shadows are super nice quality as well! I think this is definitely going to be my reach-for palette the rest of the year. I also purchased the Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Fig/Date. I've had this on my Sephora wish list for the longest time and I finally bit the bullet and picked it up. So far I'm loving how creamy the lipsticks are and the nice neutral shades perfect for everyday wear. Lastly from Sephora, I replenished my Sephora Daily Brush Cleanser, which has become a holy grail product for me. Keeps my brushes clean and soft.

The rest of the stuff is from Ulta and Marshall's mainly. I got the Almay Color + Care Liquid Lip Balm in Canteloupe Cream which I thought would be a really pretty shade for the spring and summer. I like the color, but the formula is a bit patchy and not as glossy as I had hoped. I've only used it once so hopefully it's going to grow on me a bit more. Next, the CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss in Apricot Twist, which was actually on sale at Target! I believe they may be discontinuing these, but I'm not entirely sure since they're still available at Ulta. I heard such great things about these glossy balms when they first came out but I never bought any since I was so into the Revlon Just Bitten sticks. I actually like these a bit more because they're more balmy and more sheer than the Revlon ones. Plus the color is a super gorgeous for the spring and summer. I also picked up another gloss, the Burt's Bees 100% Natural Lip Shine in Flutter from Marshall's. Again, had this on my list forever but I decided to pick it up when I saw how cheap they were at Marshall's. Really nice sheer, glossy raspberry color that reminds me of The Body Shop's fruity lip shines. I love that it has no glitter or sparkle in it, and it's super "juicy" and sheer...I don't know, hard to describe the formula but I'm in love with these types of sheer juicy glosses for the summer. I can see myself wearing it all year long especially in the later summer/fall months. I picked up one of my favorite mascaras from Ulta, the Maybelline Pumped Up! Colossal Volum' Express Mascara since they were 40% off. I love how much volume it adds to my lashes without any clumping. The hot pink tube is a nice added bonus.

Again from Marshall's, I picked up a nice bright red nail polish for the summer time, the Essie Nailpolish in Lollipop. On the site, it's described as a candy cane red which is a great description. I love bright reds in the summer because it looks so refreshing and sophisticated on both fingers and toes. And again, it's a great transition shade for the late summer/fall. And lastly from Marshall's, I picked up a body scrub for the sweaty summer months, the Earth Therapeutics Loofah Exfoliating Body Scrub in Peaches & Passion. Smells super delicious and a nice treat to get soft, smooth skin in the summertime. Plus, I really like the way my face scrub has been cleansing my skin, so hopefully this scrub will smoothen out and brighten my skin. And as a side note, I'm really really loving all the wonderful makeup finds at Marshall's! They have recently discontinued makeup products and shades at more than half their original price, which is super super super awesome for a makeup junkie like me!

And lastly my biggest birthday treat this year, which you can also see in the picture above....




The Dior Addict Lipglosses!!!! This was a totally random, spontaneous purchase for me. We were in the Duty Free shops at Niagara, and I found this beautiful set of three Dior glosses and a cute makeup bag for only $66 US Dollars! That's an absolutely amazing deal for these since each one usually retails at $29+tax. So I was able to get 3 shades plus a cute pink makeup bag (as you can see in the photo above) for roughly $22 a piece. Less than that if you include the bag! Plus, the makeup bag is pretty good quality and not your typical fake pleather stuff. It's pretty large and can hold a good amount of makeup especially for small weekend trips.

The colors in the set were Delice, Diablotine (which is the color I had been wanting for months!!!), and Princess. Delice and Diablotine are my favorites, but I can also see myself rocking the Princess shade. They're definitely targeted towards fairer skin tones, but I feel like these colors are so natural that they would also look good on darker skin tones. I'm definitely the most excited for Diablotine since it's the shade I had wanted for so so long. Such a gorgeous coral-red shade for the summer. If this shade wasn't in the set, I probably wouldn't have gotten it but when I saw that it was included, I knew I had to get it. These glosses are very pigmented and smooth, but definitely not worth spending $29 a piece. They're definitely luxury items and look so classy in their sleek packaging. Not worth getting on an ordinary basis, but a really nice luxurious makeup treat. Sometimes it's nice to have fancy products and feel like a princess :)

So that is it for my Sephora & drugstore makeup haul. I will be posting about my Colourpop goodies soon. And then I also put in another order at Sephora recently. I've been so bad and makeup crazy!!! Definitely going on a no-buy May and June at this rate. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

My Travel Beauty & Hair Essentials

Whew, talk about massive heat wave this week! It was our "spring break/summer weekcation" and oh my goodness the temperatures have been up to the 90s! Summer is my least favorite season, so I'm not loving the heat that much.  This week has truly been a stay-cation. I started it off with a bang at Niagara Falls, but the rest of the week was spent running errands and finishing up my research data collection. But I did want to take the time out to talk a little bit about the beauty supplies I brought with me to Niagara. This is what I usually pack for a weekend vacation. 

This is the makeup bag I take with me while I'm traveling: 

It's a beautiful Tarte travel makeup bag that I got in a Christmas gift back in 2013. I'm not sure if Tarte sells much of these anymore, but you can find similar bags in other brands at Target, Walmart, etc. These bags are super handy for storing my beauty stuff while traveling -- it holds all of my makeup, some skincare stuff, travel-sized items, hair stuff, etc. I remember before I had this, I used to pack like 5 separate bags for my beauty stuff, or I had them rolling around in my bag, which was a huge mess. This bag has honestly made packing my beauty stuff SO much easier and more convenient. Even when I'm staying overnight at my parent's house, I store my beauty stuff in here. I really like that it's separated into 3 compartments of different sizes, so you can store delicate stuff in the small bag without having to worry about your bigger-sized items crushing it. And it provides ample space for most of my beauty stuff, especially for shorter trips or overnight stays. It has a loop on the top, so you can hang it off of any hook. Usually hotel rooms have a hook on the bathroom door, so it's perfect. Below I've shown what I store in each compartment.

The smallest compartment -- I like using this for more fragile, smaller items. Oftentimes, I'll store jewelry in this compartment, although I didn't take any pieces with me on this particular vacation. The other thing I really like using this small pouch for is for my hair accessories like scrunchies, bobby pins, etc. They don't get lost as easily in small pouches like this. This pouch is also a great size for smaller sized makeup products. For this trip, I packed my under eye concealer, dark spot concealer, eyeshadow primer, a travel-sized Pixi eyeshadow palette, and a mini NARS blush pan. I also put some fragrance samples I got from Sephora for both me and my mom. And then of course I stuffed some scrunchies in there as well. Oh, and I forgot to mention that this pouch is detachable, so you can carry it in your handbag or store it elsewhere if you wish.

Medium-sized compartment -- I use this section to store bulkier makeup products, such as face products. I also like to keep all of my lip products in this compartment, so they're all in one location rather than spread out everywhere. As you see, I fit a large-size bottle of foundation, my bulky face powder, a large mascara tube, and 3 full-sized lip products. I usually take a gloss, a lip balm, and a lipstick with me while traveling so I can wear whatever I'm in the mood for. This time, I just stuck to one color, but if I"m going on a longer vacation I'll pack a few more lip products in various textures and colors. I chose peachy-pink colors for Niagara since they're neutral, brighten my lips, and are perfect for the spring season.

Largest compartment -- I personally like using this compartment for miscellaneous products such as skincare items, body care, makeup brushes, cleansing pads, etc. I've even managed to store some palettes in here before!  I stored a travel-size conditioner, toothpaste, and face scrub. I also threw in a small pack of makeup removing towelettes so I didn't have to drag my large pack of Simple cleansing wipes. I also put my eyebrow and eyeshadow brushes in this compartment, but I usually put my face brushes in a separate brush holder so they don't get super dirty. I could have also fit my travel sized body wash and lotion in here, but those were very last minute additions to my suitcase so they didn't quite make it into the bag! :(

These are the other products I took with me that were larger and didn't fit in the Tarte bag. I try to buy travel-sized products for vacations as much as I can because they take up much less space in my suitcase, and I don't have to worry about carrying around heavy, large, bulky, dripping wet bottles. If I'm going on longer vacations, I usually just buy a bottle of shampoo/conditioner at my destination because it's honestly a lot easier than lugging around a bottle of shampoo from home in my suitcase. Plus, once you're done, you don't have to worry about carrying wet, already opened bottles of liquid back home. I don't know...maybe it's just me, but I hate always worrying about if my shower products are going to drip in my suitcase! Bath & Body Works sells a wide array of travel-sized body washes and body lotions, which I always take with me on vacation (as you see here). I usually take deodorant and hair products from home (except for shampoo/conditioner) because they don't make smaller sized versions of those, and my deodorant is small enough. And as always, my Wet brush goes with me everywhere because that is one of my holy grail hair products.

So that is what I pack for a weekend getaway. Of course the makeup products may change, but overall the types of things I take stay the same. I didn't mention any specific products in this post, but they've definitely all been mentioned in previous beauty posts on my blog, so check those out if you're curious! :)

Travel Diaries: Niagara Falls

I'm super excited to be writing my very first travel post on this blog! I don't get to travel too much anymore since school has become so crazy busy. So naturally, I was beyond excited when I got a spare weekend to travel to Niagara Falls with my family. I've been to Niagara so many times since that was my family go-to destination during my middle school and high school years. However, I was surprised that I actually had a great time and really enjoyed my visit to Niagara despite having been there loads of times before. The falls are just breathtaking each and every time I visit. The picture above was taken on the Maid of the Mist that takes you directly to the falls. So beautiful.

We left Pittsburgh on Saturday morning and reached Niagara after a 5-hour car ride. We got to our hotel, the Comfort Inn Suites, around 3pm. I had driven the entire journey, so naturally I needed a little refreshing before exploring. After washing my face and putting on some makeup, we headed out to Clifton Hill. We went on the Sky Wheel, which was a really nice experience. Even my mom and dad, who are both scared of heights, joined my brother and I on the Sky Wheel! It was a bit scary at first, but the view of the falls was really nice. It was just a really good experience, and one that we hadn't done before on our previous trips to Niagara. 

Here are some pictures from the Sky Wheel:

We walked around Clifton Hill a bit more, and made our way down to the falls which were a bit of a walk from the bottom of the Hill. Really gorgeous, but super duper cold since it was the evening by the time we got down there. For dinner, we went to Rainforest Cafe, which has a really nice tropical forest feel and has really delicious food. Really fun experience.

After dinner, we retreated back to our hotel for the night. My brother and I went down to the drugstore a few blocks from our hotel, the Shopper's Drug Mart (the Canadian version of CVS). I was hoping to find some makeup to try, but they didn't really have anything I couldn't find in Ulta here. 

The next day was reserved for the Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist (now called the Hornblower, actually) which is one of the most fun experiences in Niagara Falls. Got super wet, but it was so refreshing! We also walked around the Falls as well and snapped many photos. We then drove to Niagara On The Lake, the lakeside "suburb" of Niagara. On the way, we stopped at Southbrook Winery and I picked up a bottle of Framboise Wine, a raspberry-flavored wine. We got to taste a few types of wine, and that one was by far my favorite. I think it will be a nice treat on weekends after a rough week, plus a nice little memoir from the Falls. My mom picked up a bottle of dessert wine as a little treat for herself. Niagara On The Lake was a gorgeous view, but there were so many dragonflies around, oh my goodness! Kind of dulled the experience, but it was still breathtaking nonetheless. 

We actually didn't spend that much time at Niagara On The Lake. We stopped for a few minutes for the view, but then we decided to continue our drive up north to Mississuaga for some Indian food. It was a much longer journey than we anticipated! It took about an hour to drive there, but it was a really nice drive. The roads were open, wide, and empty. The views were spectacular as well. We ate Indian food for dinner and then went to an Indian supermarket to pick up some snacks and delicacies for back home. We also stopped at Shopper's Drug Mart since I wanted to bring back some Cadbury chocolates for myself. By the time we got back to our hotel that night, it was 10pm and we were all beat. 

We woke up the next morning, our last day of the trip. It was a lazy morning. We ate breakfast, relaxed by the pool, and walked a little bit down Clifton Hill. We stopped at Tim Horton's after breakfast for some coffee and croissants. 

We then decided to leave for back home early since we all had work the next morning and my brother had school. We stopped at a Duty Free shop before crossing the border back to America, and I picked up a little birthday treat for myself (post coming up soon!). We then drove back home with a stop at Chipotle in Erie for dinner.

Overall, it was a really really really fun trip! Even though I've been to Niagara Falls a billion times, I still have fun every single time I go. The views are just so breathtaking and there's so much to do there. It's a really beautiful spot and the views never cease to amaze me. I'm actually quite sad to be back home, but I'm already looking forward to our next family vacation. I absolutely loved the time I got to spend with my family after such a long time. This year has just been so crazy busy, it was so nice to have a week to relax and spend with loved ones, and to get away from Pittsburgh!