Skin Care Sunday: Yes to Blueberries Brightening Eye Rolleroller

I know it's been forever since my last Skin Care Sunday, but it's not very often that I actually add a new product to my routine.
Eye creams are one of those products everyone else always seemed to use, but I never really thought I needed.  After talking to Liz (my person and go-to general knowledge expert), I learned that I actually should be using an eye cream.  She told me she uses Neutrogena and challenged me to find her a cruelty-free alternative.

What Yes to Blueberries Says
Free of Petroleum and SLS.  Paraben-free, naturally!  The Yes to Blueberries collection features products that help improve skin firmness. protect skin, diminish fine lines and wrinkles, and nourish age damaged skin.  Use the entire collection for a recipe of youth enhancing goodness!

What I Like
The metal rollerball itself feels very cool on my eye area.  While I don't have any major eye area concerns, my skin does occasionally get mad about my poor life choices, resulting in dull, dry eyes and a bit of puffiness.  This product does seem to alleviate these issues.  Also, I have very sensitive skin, and this doesn't seem to irritate me or break me out.

Rollerball

What I Don't Like
At $19.99 the price is a bit steep in comparison to most of my other skin care products.

Overall
Regardless of the price, I am quite enjoying this eye roller, and it's less expensive than a slew of designer products which may or may not even work.

Your Turn
Have you tried Yes to Blueberries Brightening Eye Roller?  How about any other Yes to products?


XOXO, T

Naturals...stop!

The last few months, I was on a mission to turn my beauty routine "green."  Yeah, it was good for the environment  and yada, yada, yada; but really, I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't get breast cancer from the crazy ish some companies put in their cosmetics.
I am sad to announce that I have thrown in the towel--the chemical life is for me!  I just couldn't control my want for luxurious beauty items that concealed wonderfully, prevented future wrinkles, and made my eyes so freaking sultry.  I honestly thought I could make-do with the natural products I had found and started using.  I wasn't completely pure--every once in awhile, my old bottle of Pantene hiding in the corner of my shower would lure me with its yummy scent.  Some days, I just couldn't take my hair smelling of flower child.
I think, though, that the final straw was when I started using a Neutrogena "natural" moisturizer.  When I saw it in the store, I trusted it, as Neutrogena is "dermatologist approved" and all.  Let me tell you, over the last month or so, I have broken out more than I have in the last 2 years and my skin was all kinds of uneven.  So today, I chucked what was last of the fail-ogena and happily bought my old, trusted Oil of Olay moisturizer.  I also bought a lot of un-natural loot while I was at it, but that's another post for another time.

(Me, with the failed product...sad face.)

Schick Hydro Silk Free Sample

Schick seems to be the only cruelty free razor brand available at drugstores.  [Please correct me if I'm wrong on either account.]  I've been using their Xtreme 3 Hawaiian Tropic scented razors for ages and have always been satisfied with the results.

Lately I've heard tons of good things about the brand's new Hydro Silk Razors and have been meaning to try them, so I was pretty stoked when I found this free sample offer.  Simply fill out your information and your sample will arrive in 3-4 weeks.

*Image does not belong to me; it's obviously a promo shot.

Nivea Product Review and Giveaway

Shannonof Frugal Beautiful is giving away this great Nivea lip & body care prize pack, full of some of the line's newest lip and body care products.  Nivea is a popular cruelty free drugstore brand that I don't have much experience with but am curious to try/learn more about.  I don't know about y'all, but I'd love to win this.



For giveaway rules and to enter, visit Beautiful Giveaways.

XOXO, T

*This video obviously doesn't belong to me.  It's from Shannon's YouTube.

Project Pan

Chances are you know by now that I'm a compulsive beauty buyer.  Sometimes I feel like I should be on Hoarders.  I rarely finish any makeup, except maybe mascara.  Granted, most of my beauty products are drugstore purchases, but when you have a ton of affordable makeup, it becomes much less affordable.

So I've decided to do project pan as a means of saving some money and actually using my crazy stockpile of products.  For those of you who might not know what project pan is, it's where you vow to not buy any makeup/beauty products until you use up a certain amount of what you already have.  [I know a bunch of bloggers did project 10 pan a while back, but I didn't have a blog--or quite so much makeup--at the time.  Thus my doing it now.]

Note: This certainly doesn't mean you should expect any shortage of my beauty posts, as I still have a million products I've never reviewed, including the ginormous  e.l.f. order I placed during their bogo best sellers sale a few weeks ago (that I've barely even unboxed), not to mention whatever products I end up receiving for my birthday in a fewweeks.

The Specifics:

I've yet to decide just how many items I'll be including in this project, but it'll probably end up being somewhere in the field of Project 15 Pan.

A lot of girls are satisfied with "hitting pan" (like the NYX blush above), but one tiny sliver of pan just isn't good enough for me.  I plan on finishing my products completely.  You can expect to start seeing Monthly Empties posts updating my project pan progress.

Your turn: Do you have an overabundance of makeup/beauty products?
Have/would you ever do project pan?

Wish me luck.

XOXO, T

*FTC: This image does not belong to me; I borrowed it from Makeup+Music=<3<3<3

Birthday Wish List

I'm turning 23 on May 19, and I can.  Not.  Wait.  Not because there's anything particularly cool about turning 23 but because, as anyone who knows me can tell you,  I'm kind of obsessed with my birthday.  I've been bookmarking since February, but since my birthday's officially only a month away now, I hope I'm not completely insane in choosing today to broadcast the carefully selected items I hope to be receive from my family and friends.  [A lot of bloggers seem to do this.  Is it utterly strange/narcissistic of me to participate?]  In an attempt to remain at least somewhat organized, I've divided my wish list items into three categories, each in ascending order from want/need to I am going to die if I don't get this:

Cosmetics

9. The Body Shop Satsuma Body Polish 

8. Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in FBI

7. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Trollop
6. Make Up Forever La Boheme Aqua Eyes Eyeliner

5. Coastal Scents Smokey Eyeshadow Palette
4. NYX Butt Naked Eyes Makeup Palette

3. Benefit Cabana Glama
2. Sigma Mrs. Bunny Travel Brush Kit

1. Tarte Glambag

Accessories

6. Neon Rosary

5. ASOS Pack of Two Bunny Rings

4. Topshop Peace Charm Ring

3. ASOS Filigree Pearl Capped Necklace

2. Sugalite Yoga Bracelet

1. Deje Vu Coral Trinket Necklace

Rando

4. Whoops-a-Daisy Dome Umbrella

3. Forever 21 Trouble Maker ASPCA Tank
2. TOMS Heather Grey Ballet Pullover

1. PB Teen Branch-Out Ring Holder

Your turn: What do you think of my wish list?  Do you want (or have) any of these items?  What do you want for your birthday?

Raise your hand if you're surprised that my wish list contains mostly cosmetics.
XOXO, T

*FTC: None of these images belong to me, as I don't yet own any of these items.  Each picture is from the number 1 source link in its category.

Fashion Treasures

Today, Refinery29 presented a post on some Chicago natives and their most prized fashion treasures. Some of them were designer, some old family heirlooms, some precious gifts. But the post got me thinking about what my fashion treasure would be. I don't own anything of a big designer name, but I do have a watch I bought about a year ago, which I adore. I'm proud of it, because it was sort of a gift to myself, yet I found it as an excellent steal. It's everything I could hope for in a watch: classic, able to be dressed up or down, a solid make. I'm pretty positive this is my most treasured fashion piece. What's yours? Share a pic!

Fashion Inspo #2: Pretty Pastels

Happy Easter!  While I can't say I subscribe fully to the whole zombie Jesus thing, I happen to be borderline obsessed with pastels.  So regardless of religious beliefs (or lack thereof), and without further adieu, here are a few of the cheeriest springtime trends the internet has to offer (in no particular order, as I couldn't bear to pick favorites):

Glitter Guide

Lindsey Calla is one of my very favorites.

Cheetah is the New Black

Blonde Bedhead

Dear Marguerite

*None of these images belong to me.  I've bookmarked them from a few of my favorite blogs.  Sources are linked below each picture.  [Please don't sue me; I'm broke.]

New Treasures at Target

Almost every designer collaboration at Target has been pretty successful (an understatement for the riot that was Missoni for Target); I'm always tempted to buy at least half of the pieces in each line. And now, I have another collection to look forward to--according to Style.com, The Webster's CEO and co-founder is releasing a Miami Beach-inspired line on May 6th. I'll be setting my alarm for 6am that day to make sure I get into Target right when it opens.