April 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag Review

Hey guys! April's Ipsy review is a little late(I should be revieving May's bag any day now!) but I wasn't sure of my opinion on a couple of the products I received, and I wanted to give them all a good try before posting my review. BUT I have had time to try all the products I got in my April bag, and I'm ready to give my opinion! :)

April's Glam Bag theme was Rockstar glam, so the bag looked like a turntable. That was awesome, I must say! Also, before I dive into the product review, I have to mention that the ipsy bags are really great! The designs are cute and the bags themselves are nice quality! On top of that they're a great size for slipping in your bag or suit case for easy travel usage! Bonus!

Swatch of the lip balm

Anyway, on to business. My first product was the Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in the color "Acid Pink". This stuff retails for $19, and I must say, they weren't fooling around when they named that color! It's pink alright! The color pay-off is frankly fabulous, and once you put it on your lips, it stays 'till you take it off. I also thought the packaging was really cute and creative. The pot of balm is at the bottom, and then the lid has a brush applicator hidden in the handle! I'm not one for lipsticks myself, but if lip colors are your thing, this is definitely a product to check out! I must say, though, that $19 seems a little steep for a lipstick.

The next item on the list is called "Looks so natural" Kiss Lashes. "Kiss Lashes" is the brand name, and "Looks so natural" is the style name. They're falsies, in case you couldn't guess ;) Now, my first impression for these was "But I don't wear false lashes!" Seriously, guys. I've never warn false lashes in my life. I don't even really know how to apply them. I have been wanting to try them, though. Not for everyday use....the lashes God gave me generally suffice....but for a play/stage makeup, or a costume of some kind, I could see me needing a little help in the lash department. I haven't had to use this product yet so I can't give my personal opinion, but I like the way they look and I've heard good things from other reviews! On top of that they retail for only $3.99! I think that's about as inexpensive as you can get and still get quality lashes.

so pretty!!!

Up next was something called City Color Mousse Shadow in the color "White Gold". This little gem of a product retails for $3.99, and, c'mon guys. The packaging is totes adorbs. I have this thing about makeup in little pots, and this mousse eyeshadow comes in a little pot! Right there I fell in love with it. But more importantly, the shadow itself is very well-made, and a little shadow goes a long way....which is awesome because there is a LOT of product. This stuff is legit magic. It's white in the pot, but as you apply it, it goes on gold. I don't know how it works, but it's sooooo cool you guys! I must say I would definitely recommend this product. It's well made with great color pay-off, but it's also quite a bit cheaper than any other brand of mousse shadow I've seen, even at the drug store. As of now, the brand is only selling their mousse shadow in this color, but they plan to expand the line soon.

Swatch of mousse shadow

Swatch of Eyeliner

The next product is an eyeliner....but not just any eyeliner...Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in "Black Velvet". Anyone who watched makeup tutorials on youtube knows this product. Urban Decay eyeliners usually retail for around" $20 in places like ULTA and Sephora, so that right there makes me not want to recommend it. No eyeliner is worth twenty bucks....even if it is heaven in a pencil. Cuz legit, you guys. This is the smoothest, creamiest eyeliner I've ever used! I've heard a lot of good things about this eyeliner from all the youtube makeup gurus, and I'd been wanting to try it for some time, so I was extremely excited when I opened my glam bag and saw that I got the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner! It doesn't budge, and it goes on matte. Even though I'm not crazy about the price, I can say that if you are wanting to try a high-end eyeliner, but don't want to pay the big bucks for it, try the Urban Decay eyeliners. They're high-end quality for middle road prices.

Finally, I got the Benefit lollitint lip and cheek stain in the color "Candy Orchid". The lollitint was the sample size product for the month of April. The bottle is so cute and tiny, and the applicator looks like nail polish. To apply you just dot the color on your lips or cheeks and then blend into your skin. The color pay-off is pretty great and, as it's a stain, it blends easily while wet, and doesn't budge once dry. I would like to say I can totally recommend the Benefit lollitint lip and cheek stain, but I looked up the full size bottle, and, while the full size bottle is quite large, the price tag is also quite large. The Benefit lollitint lip and cheek stain retails for $30.....for blush. Eh, yeah it's a great product, but it's not THAT much better than regular drugstore blushes.

And that just about wraps it up for April's Ipsy Glam Bag product review! Join me on ipsy and subscribe to the Glam Bag! You get 4-5 beauty products every month delivered to your door, for just $10. Michelle Phan curates the bags! Check it out here: http://www.ipsy.com/r/7m3t

Show me them pearly whites!

I was talking recently with a friend about teeth whitening. Yeah, we talk about stuff like that...but in all fairness, the entire conversation was about getting to the gym, re-vamping our wardrobes, and just generally giving our A-game, so it applies.

Anywho, in talking about teeth whitening, my friend mentioned that she really wanted to try it, but didn't want to spend the money on whitening strips, which is totally understandable. Those puppies are like $30!!! And for a college student at a minimum wage job that just isn't going to happen. But I told her "No! It doesn't have to be that expensive! Here, let me impart words of wisdom onto you!" Actually, I didn't say that...I thought of it after she left...so I'm posting it now in hopes she'll read it, and for anyone else who thought that white teeth were out of your financial reach! Because they're not, just so you know.

I'm actually going to post a video made by the wonderful Kandee Johnson instead of writing a long blog post, because she's actually how I found out about this system, and she'll probably explain it better anyway. Then, after the video, I'll add a little tid-bit about what I learned as a first time user and teeth-whitener in general, so you don't have to find this out for yourself! Aren't I nice?



O.K. So now that you know all this good stuff, here's the stuff she didn't mention in her video:

-Make sure you get the CHILD SIZE mouth guards. Those ones are 97 cents. the adult sizes are like $8. Big difference. If you can't find them. Ask. At my Wal-Mart, the child size was not with the adult size.

-You could buy that whole whitening system, and it will only cost about $10. The box comes with the whitening gel and then a mouth wash. OR, you could just buy the tube of gel for like $4, and buy a ginormous bottle of regular mouth wash, because they're basically the same thing. Plus the mouth wash that came in the box was tiny, and I ran out of it WAAAAY before the gel.

-Kandee has been whitening her teeth since she was 16, so she only has to do 5 minute touch-ups once a month. I had never whitened my teeth before in my life, and my childhood was not abound with a track record for taking care of my teeth. SO, I had a little more to work through then Kandee does. If you're like me, I would suggest starting with 15 minutes twice a week, until you start seeing results. Then cut back to 10-15 minutes once a week, then 10 minutes every two weeks, you get the idea. Then, when you have your teeth looking the way you want. Do what she does, and just do a 5-10 minute touch-up as needed.

Now go out there with your new pearly whites and smile, darn ya', smile!

How to Organize your Purse in 5 easy steps

Have you ever gone through your purse looking for a pen, but couldn’t find it under all the receipts and gum wrappers? Can your friends and family hear you coming from the rattling of loose change and that pack of breath mints you forgot you even had?

If you’re nodding and grinning guiltily, you’re in luck, because this is How to organize your purse in 5 easy steps!

STEP1: Think about what you need

This seems really obvious, I know, but it’s true.Think about it. What do you use every day? This will be a little different for everyone. For me, I would put things like chapstick, my phone, money, my keys, etc. on that need list.

Similarly, think about the things you don’t need. You’re going to want to bring your chapstick, for sure, but do you really need to tote around your entire lip product collection? I’m speaking from experience, believe me. I used to have an entire pocket devoted to lip gloss…and it wasn’t pretty. 

Sort through all the things that are currently in your purse and make two piles; one for all the things you know you’ll use regularly, and one for the things you put in your purse because you needed it for a party….and never took it out.

STEP 2:Think about size

Even if you have a large purse, you want to utilize all that space as best you can. Size matters! You can go to the travel section of any store and get mini everything. because do you REALLY need to lug around that full size bottle of hand lotion?

    *A tip I learned a while back for you ladies that like to keep some makeup with you is to take that stub of eyeliner that’s on it’s last leg and stick that in your purse!

STEP 3: What do you reach for the most?

You've got everything sorted out now, and you're ready to load up your purse. But first you have to ask yourself this question: What do I grab the most? For me, it’s my phone, so I’m going to want to put that in a place that is really easy to access, like a front pocket. You’ll want to do this for everything you put in your purse. All the things that you know you’ll need, but not very often(perhaps Ibuprofen) should go in a back pocket, or the bottom of your purse. Make sure that everything is still easily accessible, though, otherwise it’ll all get jumbled up when you DO need that Ibuprofen…then you’ll have to start all over!

STEP 4: Take the time.

You’ve followed all these steps up to this point, and your purse is finally clean and organized!(and probably a few pounds lighter, am I right?) But here’s the thing. You can’t just do this once and be done. Life is going to happen and you’re going to just stuff something in your bag and forget about it, and before you know it, you’ve got a suitcase again!

I would suggest you go through this process about twice a year, or whenever you feel like your purse is getting too messy. Take twenty minutes, turn on the TV, and just dump everything out. Get rid of all those receipts and gum wrappers that have been threatening to take over you bag! Remember that lipstick you threw in there for touch-ups at your office Christmas party? It’s July, I think you can get rid of that now.

STEP 5: Don’t be afraid to leave something at home

This is going to be hard to do, believe me, but it’s one of the easiest ways to keep your purse organized! 

AND BECAUSE I'm SO NICE.....

BONUS TIP: No pockets? No problem!

Many of the really cute purses on the market today really aren’t designed for organization. They’re basically one big sack with a couple phone-sized pickets on the sides. You want to keep everything need and tidy, but you don’t want a purse that looks like cargo pants with a shoulder strap!

If you have a purse like this, have no fear! There’s an easy, inexpensive way to fix the problem. Create your own pockets. Group all your like items(lip gloss, hair ties, bobby pins, etc.) and put them in their own pouch. These pouches can be found pretty much everywhere(I personally like the ones at Forever21...so cute!), and they can be pretty inexpensive. By doing this you’re creating your own pockets, and you get to keep your cute purse!

I know that the concept of organization can be very overwhelming, and I hope these tips made things seem a little more manageable!