January Glam Bag (Ipsy)

After stalking my mailman for a week, I finally got my first Ispy Glam Bag.  Ipsy is a monthly subscription were for $10 a month you receive a bag of 5 beauty items which are deluxe samples and/or full size items. My mom signed me up for a year in December as a birthday gift. Its going to be like its my birthday every month, which is awesome! I thought I would give you all my thoughts on this months bag.

The bag itself is alright. The outside is just a plain blueish black. Inside is cuter. It is blue with white stars. Decent size.

The first item is a Nailtini nail polish. I got the color frappe, a  neutral with slight pink. I had been hoping for the red polish called bloody mary (the other option).  I have a few neutral polishes already and since I tend not to wear them that often, the nail polish was a bit disappointing. Also, even with a top coat I found that it chipped more than some of my other polishes. 

Next we have Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter. I have a ton of lotions so I didn't really need more. However it has been super cold and my skin has been super dry so having the extra moisture of a body butter is definitely needed. Plus this smells super yummy and it is a great size for my purse.

Then when have SOHO "Get a Grip" Concealer Brush. I had been hoping for the Eyeliner or Crease brush, the other two options. I tired using the concealer brush but it didn't really work with the concealer I am using at the moment. I find that using my fingers works better. I don't mind getting a makeup brush though since my collection of makeup brushes is small. I may end up using this brush for something other than concealer down the road.

Next is Joise Moron 100% Argan Oil. I have never really used oils so this product is exciting to try. So far I have only used it once, so I don't have a real opinion yet other than I am looking forward to using it more.

Lastly we have Sexy Hair Spray and Play Volumizing Hair Spray. I mostly use a little bit of hairspray when I want to keep flyaway hair down. I have never been a big hairspray person. However I am excited to try (I haven't tried it yet) this hairspray when I want to have some extra volume in my hair.

So that was January's Glam Bag. Overall not to bad of a bag. Super excited to see what is in February's Glam Bag.  Hoping for some makeup items.

Till next time,
Amber

Outfit Of The Day 1/26/13

Here is my first outfit of the day post. Hoping to start doing these regularly. This is just a simple outfit that I wore on Saturday when I was out shopping/ having dinner/ seeing a movie with my bf.

Sweater: Lauren Conrad, Kohls

Black Undershirt: Target

Black Long Sleeve Shirt: Old Navy

Jeans: Gap

Scarf: Kohls (I think)

Boots: Target

(Thanks to my bf for taking the two above pictures for me.)

In addition to my normal everyday jewelry I wore these cute Paris earrings from Old Navy.

Till next time,

Amber

Products I Regret Buying

Here are some of the products that I regret buying. They just didn't work for me. These were all  purchased quite awhile ago.


1) Clearasil Tinted Adult Treatment Cream.

My biggest dislike of this product is the smell. You can put it on in the morning and smell it throughout the day. I don't know about you but I don't want to smell my acne medicine. Especially one that doesn't smell that great. The other thing I dislike about it is that its tinted. Now it does clearly state that on the packaging, I just didn't really think about it when I bought it. But because it is tinted I was afraid to put it on at night because I didn't want it to come off on my pillow. As far it working on my acne, I couldn't tell you because I only used it a few times. I just couldn't deal with the smell.  

2) Bath & Body Works Fresh Strawberries Lip gloss.

I love Bath & Body Works stuff but I have to say I did not love this lip gloss. It was way to sticky. It did not feel good on my lips at all. 

3)EOS Shave Lotion Pomegranate Raspberry & Vanilla Bliss. 

The pomegranate raspberry smells amazing. But for me these shave lotions didn't work. I prefer the ones that foam. I found that with these ones I needed to use a lot more product than the ones that are gel and turn into foam. 

4) Biore Combination Skin Balancing Cleanser.

I went out and bought this cleanser and then I ended up with another bottle because I ordered the Allure Summer Beauty Box and one came in that.This cleanser didn't really work for me I think because my skin is more oily, with a few areas that get dry in the winter rather than overall combination. A few hours after I would wash my face with this cleanser my face would feel oily again. So now I just use this as a back up in case I run out of my regular face wash. 

Till next time,

Amber

Review: Cosmo Vox Box

Back in December I was lucky enough to receive Influenster's Cosmo Vox Box*.  If you wanna read about my first impressions on the products you can check out my post here. After using the products (and eating) for awhile I thought I would give a review on them.

First up is Two FriXion by Pilot pens (one in black and one in purple)erased. I like these pens. It is great being able to erase if needed. The one thing I did find that I didn't like with these pens was that the ink smudged if you touched it before allowing it to dry.  

Next is Forever Red Eau de Parfume by Bath and Body Works (Size .25 fl oz).  This scent is not bad. Will I be purchasing a full size? Most likely not.  Not because I didn't like the scent but because I have so many perfumes and body spays (many from B&BW). I do want to say that I am not really a fan of the packaging for the full size products. 

Then we have The Gillette Venus Embrace razor and razor handle and also a Gillette Venus & Olay razor. I already use Gillette Venus razors (the original). I like the Venus Embrace razor, the only reason I buy the original over the Embrace is because it cheaper. The Venus & Olay razor I like for when you are traveling (no need to bring shave gel) but I  wouldn't use these everyday because I find that the moisture bars run out to fast and you end up needing shave gel anyway. Also they are kind of expensive for day to day use. 

And finally we have Ghirardelli Gourmet Milk Sea Salt Escape. I already have had dark chocolate Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark and love it. I am more of a dark chocolate person but I still thought this bar was really yummy. I have to admit I ate the whole thing myself (I was going to share it with my bf but we kept forgetting to eat it when he was over). After eating it I did go out and try another one of their chocolate bars. And I will definitely will be getting more in the future. 

 I was very happy to be able to test out these products, thank you Influenster.

Till next time,
Amber

Bargain Beauty Buy: Wet n Wild Makeup Kit

This past weekend when I was at Rite Aid I spotted this Wet n Wild makeup set, originally $9.99 (on the package it said it was a $30 value) it was 50% off so I got it for $4.99. The products are all mini/travel size. The set includes two makeup looks, Hollywood Glam & Beauty Simplicity. Each makeup look comes with a eyeshadow trio, blush, mascara, lipstick and nail polish. All that plus the bag it came in for $5, I couldn't pass it up! I already own a few Wet n Wild products which I really like, and am looking forward to trying out the products in this set. 

Products:

 (top row, left to right)

Nail polish in I Red A Good Book (214C)

Nail polish in Sugar Coat (205B)

Lipstick in Think Pink (901B)

Lipstick in Stoplight Red (911D)

Mascara (Mega Length) in Very Black (C892A)

Mascara (Mega Plump) in Very Black (C893A)

(bottom row, left to right)

Eyeshadow Trio in Sweet As Candy (381B)

Eyeshadow Trio in Don't Steal My Thunder (385B)

Blush in Pearlescent Pink (831E)

Blush in Heather Silk (832E)

What are some recent beauty bargains you have found?

Till next time,

Amber

Nails: 1/12/13

Sephora by O-P-I  Just A Little Dangerous*

Sephora by O-P-I Meet Me At The Disco*

Over all my nails I used Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat.

* The Sephora by O-P-I polishes are from the Tinsel Town Collector's Set. The little bottles do not have the names on them so I have to look up pictures of the polishes in the packaging to get them names. So if I get a name wrong I'm sorry.

                                                                           

Till next time,
Amber

Celebrating My Birthday!

My birthday falls in the middle of December a month that is always crazy (when I was in college my birthday would always fall right between classes ending and finals starting).  Even though my birthday was last month I still wanted to share how I celebrated. My actual birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. So on my actual birthday I had to work. Then I just went out to eat with my mom and step-father.

I celebrated my birthday with my bf the weekend before. We did a overnight trip down to Atlantic City and stayed at Revel, the newest hotel on the boardwalk that opened up in 2012.  Since we stayed on a Sunday night we were able to get the room for a pretty reasonable price which included 2 drinks from one of the bars and room service for breakfast the next morning. If you can travel at off peak times definitely do it,  you can end up saving a lot!

 The hotel itself was huge and gorgeous. Also it being decorated for for the holidays was a added bonus. Unfortunately the weather when we were down there was rainy and cold. So when we did venture out onto the boardwalk and to the other hotels we didn't stay out long and we quickly returned to our hotel.

Our room was pretty awesome too. Very modern. With the TV remote you could control all the lights in the room! Also all the rooms have doorbells. Even though it was rainy out I took a picture of the view from our room.

Good thing I did, the next morning when we woke up it was so foggy you could not see a thing out the window.

I also was super excited to find that the little soaps, shampoo & conditioner, and lotion they leave you in the bathroom were from Bath & Body Works! 

After we checked out our room, we had a late lunch, and explored the hotel.Then we ventured outside but like I said returned not to long after. We then got dressed for dinner. Since I was celebrating my birthday I thought it would be nice to dress up a bit. I wore a lace dress (the belt came with it) that I got at Kohls, some black tights and black heels that I have had forever.

My bf had on dress pants and a nice button up shirt. I kept my makeup and jewelry pretty simple, and just wore my hair down. 

We ate at one of the many restaurants in the hotel.The food was very good, (sorry I forgot to take a picture but I had meatloaf). We also had some yummy Sorbet for dessert. After dinner we walked around a the hotel some more. This hotel has so many lounge type sitting areas, we joked that we should have tried to take pictures of us sitting in each area. Then we had our drinks that came with the room package. 

I told the bartender what kind of drinks I like and he made me one that he had come up with himself so it has no name. It was very good though!

Once it got past midnight we decided to call it a night. The next morning we had room service for breakfast. My first time ever having room service. It was also yummy! The picture I took on my phone didn't really come out so I am not going to post it but I had waffles and my bf had french toast and we split a order of turkey sausage. 

After we checked out and put our bags in the car we came back in so we could get each other a memento from the gift store. I got my bf a shot glass because he has a collection and I usually get him one when we go somewhere new. And he got me this t shirt. I thought it was fitting since we had room service for breakfast. 

 He also got us each fake casino chips with Revel on them and I got a postcard with the hotel on it.

And that was how I celebrated my birthday with my bf. I will leave you now with a picture I took when were driving there of a restaurant we passed.

Till next time,

Amber

Book Review: The Future of Us

 I finished reading the book I had started last year, so I am excited to be able to start reading books for my challenge. But first a review of the book I just finished. The book is called The Future of Us and it is by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.

When I first heard the plot for this book I knew I wanted to read it. It takes place in 1996. I was a 90s kid. When Emma gets her very own computer her friend Josh gives her a America Online CD-Rom, (remember those?).  Somehow when they log in using the CD-Rom they are able to access their Facebook profiles fifteen years in the future.

This is a YA book even though its 356 pages long once I actually had the time to read it I was able to get through it pretty fast. 

I loved that the book took place in the 90s. I grew up in the 90s so I am always going to think of that time as being awesome. It is amazing how much has changed since then! There are a ton of 90s references including the Discman, beepers, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and YM magazine. I think you will probably have to be in your 20s to fully appreciate all the references. For those younger it will give you a glimpse into what growing up in the 1990s was like. 

Then there is the whole knowing your future and how that then affects your present. The two characters in the book quickly realize that knowing their futures affect how they act in the present which then in turn keeps changing their futures. I have always found the concept of the butterfly effect very interesting. One small change now can result in a big change(s) later on. 

I definitely recommend this book. If anyone has read this book let me know what you thought of it. 

Till next time,

Amber

New Years Eve Nails

Hello, again I know New Years Eve has come and gone but I really like the nail look I came up with for it. Plus this look can be worn throughout the year, so I wanted to share. One of my presents from my bf for Christmas was the Sephora by O-P-I Tinsel Town nail polish set. The little bottles don't have the names on them, the names are only on the packaging, so I might not have the right names.

I started off using from the set, Sephora by O-P-I, I Don't Bit.

Then over that I used Sephora by O-P-I, Justa' Pinch Of Glitter.

 This was my first time using Sephora by O-P-I polishes and I am loving them.

I did a accent nail using Revlon's Scandalous (761).

And finally I used my Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat over all my nails.

Till next time,

Amber

Christmas Nails

Hello all, I know its way past Christmas but I still wanted to share with you all the nail look I did.

I started off with Sinful Colors in Ruby Ruby (369). And did a accent nail with Sinful Colors in Exotic Green (1105). Then over the red I used Sally Hansen Crackle in Antiqued Gold (06). Over the green accent nail I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Diamonds (05).Over all of my nails I used my regular top coat Sally Hansen Strengthening Top Coat.

                                                                                       

                                                                                                             

Till next time,

Amber

Happy 2013!

Hello everyone! I know its been awhile but as I expected December was crazy with work. Now that it is January I am going to have a lot more time to blog. I am hoping to (some weeks may be more and some may be less) post twice a week. Most likely Mondays and Thursdays.

I want to mention a new Page I am going to have on this blog. It is called Amber's Bookshelf. I will explain about the challenge I have set for myself on the page. But basically I am going to keep track of all the books I read (start to finish) in 2013. I also will then link any of them that I do reviews for.

I am also excited to have joined ipsy (MyGlam) for the this year. A birthday present from my mom (thanks mom!). I can't wait to do what's in my ______ glam bag and review posts. Speaking of my birthday, look for a post all about how I celebrated and what I wore for my birthday dinner with my bf in the next week or so.

 Happy New Year everyone!!

Till next time,
 Amber