July 6th Haul - Shopping Trip for Kylie's Birthday!

Hello everyone,

Kylie and I recently went shopping for her birthday. We traveled to, went all over Phoenix, AZ, to all the different stores that we wanted to visit, especially since none of these shops exist close to where we live. Lets get started!

First stop was Lush! I went in wanting to try Ocean Salt and Dream Cream but the full size products were so expensive when I didn't even know if I would end up liking them or not! Kylie was asking about the Seanik solid shampoo andone of the employees pointed out a promotional item they had right now called the Beach Box:

The Beach Box, the employee explained, had a smaller version of the Seanik bar, and also it had small versions of both Dream Cream and Ocean Salt. It also came with a Sea Spray hair mist and a Sea Vegetable soap. I thought this was perfect! It had both the things that I wanted to try in it, as well as the seanik shampoo which, if Kylie wants to try it then I want to try it, plus some bonus stuff I hadn't planned on getting but am excited to try.

Kylie also introduced me to a new concept which was asking for Lush samples! I did not know you could just ask for a sample, which turns out to be QUITE a lot of product, and they would just give you them in large take home containers to try. I ended up with a sample of Big Shampoo and Retread Conditioner. It's not really shown in the picture, but there's about an inch deep of product in those containers.

Next stop, MAC! I hadn't really known exactly what I wanted to look at or buy there, but I knew I wanted to go. The two or three times I've been in there so far I always end up spending a lot of money on stuff I hadn't planned on but most of the time it works out. We tried on some lipsticks, Chatterbox looked great on Kylie but it was a bit too bright for a noob like me. Kylie suggested I try on a nude lipstick such as Angel, and so I did, and I loved it!

I ended up with MAC Frost Lipstick in "Angel" and MAC Lip Liner in "Boldly Bare." Then, one of the girls pulled out a "Cremesheen Glass" Lip Gloss in "Japanese Spring" which looked really good on top of Angel and also I was told that it's limited edition and so I had to buy it.

Next stop was Sephora! I do get quite a bit irritated when employees in shops keep coming up to me and asking me if I'm doing okay, what am I looking for, etc etc. I just want to be left alone most of the time so I can look in peace. Besides, I have my own beauty expert, Kylie, with me if I have questions! =) We had a lot of fun here looking at ALL of the different brands and products.

I ended up with the Rainbow Sherbet body wash by Philosophy and the Sephora Squeaky Clean Exfoliating Face and Body Mitt that Kylie had recommended. This thing has been on clearance for a while but luckily we still found one in the store! I wanted to get Philosophy's Pink Frosted Animal Cracker body wash but they had Rainbow Sherbet which I decided on instead because it looked like maybe it was an exclusive summer scent or something! It smells amazing!

Next stop was The Body Shop! I'm glad we came here because its become one of my favorite stores and we almost didn't make a stop here since we had to go to an entirely different mall just for this shop!

I ended up with these three products for my husband! He's been worried about his skin lately and he wants it to clear up and behave! Ha. The sales girl said that the Maca Root Shave Cream was the best shaving cream she has ever used. Although I bought this for my husband, I may end up giving it a try!

For me, I ended up with Absinthe Purifying Hand Gel which smells very clean. I got Satsuma and Mango hand sanitizers which was awesome because I didn't know The Body Shop had sanitizers and I've been wanting to find some less harsh sanitizers than some of the ones that are out there. I got some peppermint cooling foot spray which feels really nice!

 I also picked out some Mango Body Scrub because Kylie had it out to smell it and it was like the best smelling thing in there! Then, according to the sales girl I was only a few dollars away from earning a Body Shop point so she gave me some around $3 options and I ended up picking the tea tree face mask. That will be nice to try because I have never tried a sheet mask before.

Next stop was Victorias Secret! On our way out of this mall we saw that Victorias Secret was having a good sale on panties. (Does anyone else hate the word "Panties?") Anyway, we went in for a look. Victorias Secret has so many cute clothes and things! Anyway, Kylie and split on the deal they were having so neither of had to spend as much. It might be a little weird but here's what I got:

Next stop was Nordstrom Rack but we didn't find anything there.

Final stop was Ulta! Neither Kylie or I had been in an Ulta before and I have to say, my experience at this Ulta (don't know if it was this particular one or if all Ultas would be like this) was awesome! We didn't get pestered by any sales people, we looked around for as long as we wanted and were never bothered! Even when one lady finally came up to us after we had been there for like 40 minutes already wasn't bothersome at all! We told her we'd never been to an Ulta before and she helped us find good sales and coupons and showed us some new products and she was awesome! 

 

 So, yeah, that might be Pink Frosted Animal Cracker that you see there... =) I smelled it again when we got to Ulta and decided that I just couldn't leave it behind. I had wanted it before I even smelled it, I wanted it at Sephora and I still wanted it when we finally got to Ulta. It is dreamy! I got a 1oz size of Macadamia Deep Repair Masque for $4 because the larger size is quite expensive and I wanted to see if I liked it first! Then I got some of the Simple brand cleansing facial wipes since I've heard a lot of people on YouTube's beauty guru circuit mention how much they like them!

I also got these three Essie polishes. The lady who came up to us in the store told me that these were buy 2 get 1 free so I couldn't get just 1, right? Right? So I ended up with "Nothing Else Metals" which Kylie suggested to me and I'm glad she did because it is beautiful! I also got Marshmallow and Ballet Slippers.

All in all it was a great day! We had a fantastic lunch one of my favorite places in Phoenix called Thai Spices. I love the Pineapple fried rice that I always get when I go there now! We enjoyed some frozen mocchi and some boba and I got to visit my favorite asian bakery. (To be fair its the only Asian bakery I've been to but that doesn't mean its not DELICIOUS.) We had pizza later on for dinner and we had lots of laughs and lots of fun. It's great to have my best friend Kylie back in Arizona after she'd been gone for far too long!

Bye for now

-Amber

Haul: Awesome Mother in Law Shopping~

Hello, Everybody!

I went shopping recently with my husband's lovely mother, who bought me early birthday gifts because I will be back in Arizona soon. We went so many places and got lots of clothes too, but I'll be focusing on the beauty stuff for this post.

Doesn't it look so lovely?

  Goodies: Clinique bag, emery boards, Clinique waterproof mascara, Clinique liquid facial soap in Mild, Lush big shampoo sample, Shiseido eyelash curler,  Mac lipliner in "kiss me quick", Rimmel scandal eyes in "Nude", Mac blush in "Fleur Power", Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 107, Mac lipstick in "Ruby Woo", Clinique chubby stick in "Heftiest Hibiscus", Mac eyeshadow in "Humid", Mac 224 brush, and a Sephora hair band.

Just the lip stuff:

Heftiest Hibiscus is a very coral red, it is a balm lipstick, so more sheer but very moisturizing. Ruby woo is very matte and a gorgeous blue-red shade. Kate Moss 107 is a nice vampy red, almost a sort of berry color. Kiss me Quick is definitely long lasting and goes very well with Ruby Woo.

 Just the mac stuff:

Fleur Power is a nice, flattering pink, very pigmented, have to apply it lightly as it doesn't take very much product at all. Humid is gorgeous, goes beautifully with golds, I applied it wet and it showed up very true to color on my eyes. The Mac 224 brush is wonderful, the longer bristles are gentle on the eyes but still doesn't take a lot of pressure to distribute the color, I don't know how I lived without this brush.

Swatches!

 Left swatches: Mac Humid, Mac Fleur Power
Right swatches (top to bottom): Clinique Heftiest Hibiscus, Mac Ruby Woo, Rimmel Kate Moss 107, Mac Kiss Me Quick

And here's the look I did with it. Sorry I look so dead tired, I'll try and look more alive next time!

Overall I love... EVERYTHING, seriously, there isn't a single thing I was disappointed with here. The eyelash curler fit all of my eyelashes and took half the time to curl them, Ruby Woo is so bright but I love it to pieces and Kiss me quick really helps keep it in place and define my lips!

Let me know if anyone wants a more detailed review of anything in this haul :) Thanks for reading!

~Kylie~

Quick Review: Sephora Squeaky clean exfoliating mitt

Quick Review: Sephora Squeaky clean exfoliating face and body mitt.
Link: http://www.sephora.com/age-defy-kit-P376189
Rating: 5/5

Hello Everyone!
Since I do so many tutorials, this time it'll be a review instead.

Here's the product!

I bought this from Sephora and I liked it so much I went and purchased a second one as a backup.
I typically don't like using loofahs, or shower puffs, because I feel like they don't exfoliate very well and I tend to use a lot of soap with them.

One side of the mitt is exfoliating and the other side is soft, there is a thumb hole on either side so it makes switching between the two very easy. There is also a little cloth loop for you to hang it up with, it's smaller than a loofah's loop, so keep that in mind.

I like the softer side for relaxing showers to rinse off after a long day.
The exfoliating side is super scrubby and will stimulate your blood into flowing and making you feel awake and refreshed after using it. I get ingrown hairs on my legs and arms and this helps to minimize the amount, they are much less noticeable now!
I also found it very easy to scrub my feet with as you can easily conform it to the shape of your foot.

And if you need to quickly use the opposite side for any reason, I like to ball my hand into a fist and use my knuckles to scrub, like so.

Overall, I was very happy with this mitt, and I hope they keep making it forever.

Thanks for reading! <3
~Kylie~

Removing makeup

Hello, Everyone!

I always found taking off makeup to be a chore, I avoided wearing makeup so that I wouldn't have to take it off. I have found a way that makes the process a bit more bearable though! (I apologize for the bathroom lighting!)

First I pull my hair back so I don't get it wet.

I take a cotton pad with micellaire water (or typical makeup remover) and hold it on my eye for about 15 to 30 seconds, and gently pulse the pressure on my eyelashes. It helps to remove the mascara without irritating my eye or pulling out my eyelashes.

 Making sure I got all the eyeliner and mascara off, I then run the pad underneath my bottom lashes. I reuse the other side of the cotton pad for the other eye.

Taking a fresh cotton pad I use some more micellaire water on the rest of my face, don't forget your eyebrows and neck too.

I wet my face with water and get a pump of face wash.

I massage it in circles on my face, then use my scrubby to exfoliate and make sure I get all the residual makeup off.

After my face is rinsed and pat dry, I apply my face lotion. Applying it directly after washing helps to keep the moisture from the water in my skin. Don't forget, dehydrated skin produces extra oils to compensate, so even if you have oily skin, don't forget to moisturize!

Then I like to take a cotton swab and coat it in a thin layer of face lotion, I run that along my bottom lashes and it gets any leftover make up and prevents panda eyes the next morning.

Look at how much came off! So gross!

Thanks for reading, and I hope that this chore became a little easier for you, too!

~Kylie~

Products used:
Sephora Micellaire Water
Clinique Extra Mild Facial Cleanser
Sephora Facial Cleansing Brush
CeraVe Face Cream

Dual Review: Precision Pore Cleansing Pad by Sephora

The Product

Amber Says:

I think this is a good product, especially for the price being only $5. It adds a nice element to washing your face. Instead of just pushing face wash around with your hands, these little scrubbies help massage your face and get the cleanser nice and worked in while still being quite gentle.

The only downsides for me are that the suction cup on the back is both the only thing to hold on to, and it doesn't stick to my mirror for as long as I'd like. Neither of these things is a huge deal, it's not exactly that hard to hold onto, just a tad flimsy while you're scrubbing, and I just store it in my medicine cabinet instead of hanging it up.

I would recommend giving this product a try. It's probably the most inexpensive, basic facial cleansing tool out there but it works quite nice!

Kylie Says:

I liked this product so much that I gave it as a gift to my mom. My husband keeps stealing it too!
The bristles are not too soft or too firm, and it's got a little section of shorter nubbies that can be good for more sensitive areas. Exfoliation is great for minimizing blackheads and this really keeps the ones on my nose barely noticeable (since it's pretty much impossible to get rid of them completely).

This scrubby turns any face wash into an exfoliating one and thanks to that I can save money on additional products, and it also helps with my dry patches. Afterwards my face feels stimulated and I feel like my lotion really soaks into the clean skin. I love this product and until I can afford to splurge on a Clairisonic, it really keeps my face clean and clear of makeup.