Entertainment Tuesday #5

Today I bring a to you a repeat offender; Ear Biscuits! I've been absolutely loving podcasts this week, but Ear Biscuits, Rhett and Link's podcast, in particular is what has been helping me get up in the morning! In the morning, I'll typically watch YouTube while I drink coffee before I walk my dog, but sometimes I don't always want to watch videos, but I still want to hear some kind of a dialogue to get my brain up and running. That's where podcasts come in! And the great thing about podcasts is you can take them on the go so I typically will continue listening to the podcast while I walk my dog as well.

I've been enjoying Ear Biscuits the most because, first of all, Rhett and Link have wonderful podcast voices, if I'm honest. LOL In all seriousness, I think the quality of the audio really does play a role in how much I enjoy a podcast or not; I like that the guests they have are always in the studio so the dialogue is super clear and crisp. It just makes for a much more enjoyable listen. I like that Rhett and Link interview their guests about their back stories and we get to hear more in depth detail about where the guest came from, whether that be a YouTuber or an on-screen actor, Rhett and Link get down to the nitty gritty. In certain episodes, you'll even hear the guests compare the podcast to a therapy session.

Ear Biscuits has been around for quite some time now so what's great is that to a new listener, there's a plethora of amazing episodes to hear! I've started from episode one where they interviewed Grace Helbig, one of my all time favorite content creators,  and today I listened to their interview with Philip DeFranco who I've never watched on YouTube before, but I was still able to enjoy the interview, maybe even more than if I had watched him before. It's just so amazing to hear someone's life story and how they got to where they are now. Phil, for example, went through a truly turbulent life growing up, which you'd never guess from the sense of humor that he conveys; he has a truly incredible life story. If you've got some time on your hands, check out some podcasts on Spotify, Soundcloud, or iTunes, particularly Ear Biscuits!

I hope you enjoyed tonight's Entertainment Tuesday! Ta for now! xx

My Morning Skincare Routine

Aloha! I thought now would be a good time to write about my current skincare routine because my skin is better than it's been in a very long time. It's nowhere near perfect, I still get a few spots here and there, but still my skin hasn't been this smooth and clear in years. To start us off, I'll tell you a bit about my skin type. I have combination skin, meaning I'm oily in some areas, but very dry in others. I typically get quite a few hormonal spots, but I've mainly been battling my acne scarring for the past few years. So now you have a bit of insight into how my face likes to function.

Some of these products I've been using for over a year, but the newest additions to my skincare routine are what I believe have made a difference! I start off by dragging myself out of bed and into the bathroom where I start with my Philosophy Purity One Step Cleanser. I splash some water onto my face and then rub a dime size to a quarter size amount of the cleanser onto my skin for a minute and then rinse off. I pat my skin dry and then I take one of the Nip + Fab Glycolic Acid Pads and run it gently all over my face. The glycolic acid gently exfoliates the skin by removing dead skin cells along with any impurities that the cleanser may have missed. This is one of the new awesome items that I was referring to earlier. For months I had a problem with little bumps all over my forehead and a bit on my cheeks and my esthetician suggested a chemical exfoliant. The Nip + Fab pads completely got rid of the bumps after a week of daily use and they're amazing because they don't break the bank.

I sort of flap my hands at my face to dry off what's left from the pad without removing the magical stuff and then I move on to my serum which may surprise some of you. Every other day, I use the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum by taking about a pump and massaging it into the skin and a bit down my neck. The label clearly says night repair (and in next week's post you'll see I do, indeed, use it at night as well), but ViviannaDoesMakeup mentioned how she uses it in the morning as well as night, so I figured if she can, I can! I've found that this serum has helped immensely with my acne scarring. I wish I had a before picture to compare to an after picture to show all of you, but you'll just have to trust me. 😋 I finish off my routine with my all time favorite daytime moisturizer, Cetaphil Oil Control Moisturizer. It's moisturizing enough to hydrate my dry areas, but combats the oil in my t-zone at the same time. It also goes under makeup very well and I'm just absolutely in love with the stuff. This is probably my third bottle of it!

Let me know if you've tried any of these products and how they work for and also feel free to leave any recommendations you have in the comment section below! All the best! xx

Pacifica 7 Free Nail Polish Review | 2014 Blogger Challenge

Hello gorgeous readers! The topic for the 2014 Blogger Challenge this time around was to review something so I decided to review something I received in my September Ipsy Glam Bag! This is the Pacifica 7 Free Nail Polish in Red Red Wine and I've been absolutely loving it!

Left: One Coat
Right: Two Coats

I did not expect to love this nail polish as much as I did. I absolutely loved the color because I surprisingly don't have anything like it and it's perfect for the Fall season, but I assumed it would just be your standard nail polish. I was wrong! Now I'm not too sure if it's all of the colors in the range or just this one, but this nail polish lasts on the nails without chipping for ages! It lasted on my nails with a base and top coat for about 5 - 6 days which is amazing for me! Most nail polishes only last about 3 - 4 days before majorly chipping on me, including Essie polishes.

The color is a gorgeous wine-y red (as the name would suggest) and I'd go so far as to say that it leans towards that "ox blood" color that is ever so popular around the holiday seasons. It goes on quite smooth, there isn't much of a fuss about it, so this gets a big thumbs up from me! The range is $9.00 a pop and I'll definitely be purchasing more to test them out. :) If you'd like to take a look at the range or purchase any of the nail polishes, you can pop into your local Target or go to their website! Xx

Makeover Essential Cosmetics - Review and Swatches

Hello lovelies! So this is the first time I've ever really reviewed anything and that is because this is a company that I've never heard of before and thought I would give you my thoughts on them! A few weeks ago, my mom was in the car waiting for me and apparently this man who works for the company was going around selling these kits to advertise the company and it was 2 for $20 so 2 individual bags were $10 each which is pretty good considering the product is actually quite good! I've tested out the products that came in the bag for the past few weeks so I can now give a proper review of them, so I hope you enjoy!

This little black box and brush with product built into to already came in this adorable pink bag.

When you completely open the box, you see that it comes with a mascara, an eyeliner/lipliner duo, 5 lip sticks, 5 eyeshadows, 3 face powders, and 3 blushes.

The box also comes with built in mirrors on each panel, so when you first open it, you'll see the mirrors, and open it further to get to the products.

The face powders, two of which are supposed to be bronzers, and the blushes are my absolute favorite parts of this kit! I've been using them basically everyday the past few weeks!

Please excuse the fingerprints, I didn't initially know I was going to review these so I got overly excited and swatched them on my hand straight away. :P

The blushes come in three very summer appropriate shades. The left shade is a slightly berry pink, but the berry is very understated so it's still great for summer. I thought it would be difficult to wear on my skin tone, but I actually really love this on my cheeks. It gives a beautiful flush. The middle shade is a burnt orange-y red with a bit of shimmer in. I'll admit, I have yet to wear this out, but I do think it's a beautiful color. The last shade on the right is a pale baby pink, which again, I thought wouldn't work on my skin tone, but on the cheeks it gives this gorgeous natural flush that really livens up my complexion! All three blushes are quite buttery (a word I found best describes it that I initially heard in this context from the beautiful Jaclyn Hill) and not chalky at all. Love these blushes!

These face powders look shimmery when swatched, but when blended out onto the skin, the shimmer is not noticeable AT ALL. I've been using the darkest, middle shade as an all over bronzer and it just adds a healthy glow to my skin without making me look like a disco ball. The outer two shades are quite light for me; the left shade is described on the box as being a setting powder, but I personally don't think it would make a very good setting powder because it comes out looking a bit ashy. If anything I could see it being used as a contour for someone with very pale skin. The last shade on the right is the second bronzer and is just as beautiful as the middle bronzer I use, but just a little too light for me. Again, the powder are just as smooth and buttery as the blushes!

 

Honestly, the lip products left much to be desired. They apply quite sheer on the lips, so I suppose depending on your preference, that could be a good or bad thing. I could put up with the lack of pigmentation if the staying power were right, but it's just not. I've worn these on my lips once and didn't again because the lipstick had come off within half an hour of application.

The lipliner on the left is a gorgeous color that I don't actually have in any other form of lip product. As with any lipliner, worn alone, its quite drying, but I do love the color payoff. Again, as with the other lip products, it didn't last very long especially for a liner. The eyeliner on the right didn't last on my water line or bottom lash line for more than an hour or two.

The eye shadows are all shimmers and my favorite colors are definitely the middle shade and the very last shade on the right. The middle shade is a golden bronze and the last shade is a pinky/champagne color. Love for all over the lid! They all apply quite well and are relatively smooth, apart from the first shade, black/grey, on the left which applies quite chalky and unevenly. That black/grey is definitely the worst product in the kit, but the other shadows are quite good; staying power is average, pigmentation is pretty good, and they're nice and buttery to apply.

The last product is the bronzer that came in the brush. It's one of those products where the product comes out of the brush and applies onto the skin directly. I'm still not sure how I feel about these kinds of products, but the actual bronzer inside is quite nice. Obviously, its a shimmer, so I haven't used it to contour, but I have used it on my cheekbone area and it does give a very pretty glow. The above swatch is very heavy, so this can be applied as lightly or as dramatically as you'd like. I personally prefer a matte bronzer and a separate highlight, but this is a beautiful product regardless. The only drawback I found was that it greatly highlights any dry patches you may have, so it's best to be very moisturized before using this product.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with Makeover Essential Cosmetics! My favorite products are definitely the face products and I'll most likely be looking into more of their blushes and powders depending on the price point on their website. If you're interested, you can check them out at http://www.makeover-essentials.com! Xx