Blogmas Day 11: Sleigh Girl Sleigh Tea Review

December 11, 2018

As you guys know, I am a massive fan of Oh You TEAse, and I am so excited to share with you my thoughts on their newest holiday blend, called Sleigh Girl Sleigh. How cute is that name?! Last year, I talked about how their blends saved me from the holiday season and this year, we’re talking about their first ever holiday blend! This blend is a caffeine-free blend of vanilla rooibos, peppermint, and cinnamon. It’s designed to help you relax especially when it comes holiday stress, and I couldn’t be more excited to taste it! This post is sponsored by Oh You TEAse. I received this product free of charge for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

When it comes to the packaging, Oh You Tease, always keeps it simple in their signature brown bags. As you know, I am a minimalist girl when it comes to packaging. I love the festive ornaments in the background of this label. I also love how the front label explains the blend.

Since this tea is rooibos, it is a vibrant shade of orange/red when steeped. For some reason, the scent of this blend reminded me of holiday cookies. This blend would make for a great dessert blend because it’s super light has a hint of sweetness, and it’s caffeine-free! The peppermint and the vanilla are extremely well balanced. You can pick up the cinnamon flavor as part of the aftertaste. This blend did remind me of cookie, and I loved it. I highly recommend checking out this blend and other blends by Oh You, TEAse. I adore her blends. To shop this Oh You, TEAse blend, click here.

Blogmas Day 10: Ulta Holiday Sale Haul

December 10, 2018

We all know how much I adored the Sephora sale when I realized that Ulta was also have 20% off sale, I was pumped. I got a little bit carried away between the two, but hey, it’s the holiday season. I am so excited to share with you what I picked up.

Too Faced Limited-Edition Tutti Frutti Christmas Fruit Cake Makeup Collection

Why: I’ve been eyeing this holiday set for quite a bit of time. It’s the one set that I really wanted. So of course, I picked it up. I heard a ton of mixed reviews about the Tutti Frutti collection, and I feel like this is a simple to test it out. How cute is this collection? I’m dying.

L’Oréal Voluminous Million Lashes Glitter Mascara Top Coat

Why: This seemed totally unique and different. I haven’t heard of something like this before, so I wanted to check it out. I am a huge fan of the L’Oréal Voluminous range.

Maybelline FaceStudio Nikkie Tutorials Master Chrome Metallic Highlighter

Why: After I watched Tati’s rave all about these highlighters, I decided to check them out. I love the rose gold, and I also adore Nikkie Tutorials, so naturally, I had to pick up this Ulta exclusive.

NYX Professional Makeup Whipped Wonderland Powder Puff Lippie

Why: I am super into NYX Holiday concept this year, it’s candy wonderland, and it reminds me of the California Girls music video. I think it’s fun and festive but the colorway is very bright for me, but this product was something that seemed closer to my comfort zone. I intended to order the pink shade, but accidentally ordered the brown shade, which I still like.

Tarte Pineapple Throne Sponge & Sponge Holder

Why: You guys know how much I love Tarte, but I wasn’t super into their holiday collection until I saw this product. I am always looking for more things to hold my beautyblenders, so I got this. Plus this Beauty Blender is freaking glittery.

MAC Powder Kiss Lipstick in Sultriness

Why: I’ve been eyeing one of these lipsticks since I watched Shaaanxo’s swatch video. They look so pretty, and I heard rave reviews of this new formula and thought this was the perfect opportunity to test them out. I opted for Sultriness because the color is exactly the kind of shade I adore!

NYX Professional Makeup Worth The Hype Mascara

Why: If you guy’s read my Allure Best in Beauty wish list, you would know that I’ve wanted to try this for a long time. So I finally got it!

What’s on your Ulta wishlist?

Blogmas Day 9: How I Lost 20 Pounds And How To Kick-Start Your Weight Loss Journey

December 9, 2018

This post was something I’ve been thinking about a lot, if you don’t follow me on social media, you probably don’t know about this. This year in June/July I started a weight loss journey, to become a healthier version of me. I started the Weight Watchers program and taking Pilates classes and since the summer I’ve lost over 20 pounds! I’ve started and restarted my weight loss journey many times, but this time it finally took. Since some of you are dealing with crazy family gatherings, holiday meals and of course, New Year’s resolutions, I wanted to pass along some advice that I’ve learned on my weight loss journey while on Weight Watchers.

Here’s a progress photo, not going to lie posting this is terrifying.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a medical professional. These are just pieces of advice that have helped me with my weight loss journey. If you are concerned about your lifestyle habits, I encourage you to consult with a medical professional before testing out a new diet or lifestyle.

Go To Flavortown

Seasonings are no points! I know some of you are like, my chicken is sooooo boring but it doesn’t have to be. I used to work at a spice shop, where they had a huge variety of products to use to make your chicken not boring. I tend to make an Italian style chicken, Asain, and Indian. By upping your seasoning game, you’re also becoming a better cook. You also don’t need to rely on butter and salt to make delicious food, all you need to do is check out your spice cabinet.

USE PAM

Olive oil and butter may be delicious but there’s a reason they are so many points. One of my favorite hacks from this program is to use PAM (which is zero points), to saute and cook my proteins and veggies. If you don’t have Pam, you can use a bit of water or maybe even some chicken stock!

Set Small Goals For Yourself Every Month

Goal setting can interfere or help your weight loss journey. For me creating a small and achievable goal worked for me. My favorite example is that when I started my journey, I was not eating fruits and vegetables regularly ( Don’t @ me, I was just unhealthy.) So when I started off, I made my goal to make sure I had either a fruit or vegetable every day, the next month I made sure I ate one of each, every day. Little things like that are super helpful when on your journey.

If You’re Craving Something, Have It!

I cannot tell you how many times, people refuse to give in to their cravings and then binge on them! I’ve been there a few times, but this time on my journey, I am not depriving myself. If I want a piece of chocolate, I will have and I will track it. If I go over points, I have my weeklies! 1 PIECE OF CHOCOLATE WILL NOT KILL YOU( unless you’re allergic.)

Going Over Your Daily Points Isn’t a Crime!

You have your daily points and your weeklies. If last minute you get invited out to apps and drinks with friends, go and enjoy yourself. Do not limit yourself. If you go over, you go over. Track it and move on. Live your life and make an effort to do better the next day. Do not let this take over your life, weight watchers is a lifestyle, not a diet.

What is the best piece of weight loss advice that you have heard/received?

To Join Weight Watchers, click this link.

Blogmas Day 8: Unboxing Sephora Favorites Mystery Lip Kit

December 8, 2018

You can purchase Sephora Favorite collections year round, but during the Holiday season, the collection expands pretty dramatically. You can get favorites of everything from the pro artist favorites to perfume favorites and more. This year, for the first time ever Sephora is offering Sephora Favorites Mystery kits. The kits come in three varieties: Eye Liner, Lip and cheek. While placing my order online, I noticed that the cheek was not listed, so I decided to purchase the lip kit. I believe you can still buy the cheek kit in stores. I am a sucker for lipstick, and I’m always playing around with different colors, so I thought this was the perfect little gift for myself.

The kits come in a silver bag with a Ziploc-type seal on top. The front of the package explains the contents and lets you know there are three deluxe sample size products which include the Bite Beauty Multi-Stick in Almond and Kat Von D liquid lipstick in Ludwig in this package as well a mystery lip product and mystery pin. Since we know my obsession with pins, I was extra excited to open up this product. The back of the package explains the 3 possibilities for the mystery lip color. Overall, for $16 I didn’t mind the packaging.

I was beyond thrilled with what I found inside my mystery lip kit! My pin is super cute and says, “I wake up for makeup” which basically sums up my life. I was also excited to see that my mystery lip product was none other than a Nars Cosmetics powermatte lip pigment in Starwoman. Check out below for mini-reviews of each lip product and swatches!

How cute is this pin? Anyways onto my lippies…

Bite Beauty

I’ve used the bite beauty multi-sticks before, and I adore them, so I am super excited to have one back in my beauty collection. This shade is the perfect fall! I found that this shade looked stunning on me. When applied, this product felt super smooth and it even survived fast food. I 100% recommend checking out this product and finding your perfect shade. PS, they are all named after food items!

Kat Von D

I’ll be honest here, I do not like Kat Von D’s products at all. I’ve tried a ton of them, and nothing has ever worked well for me. I know from experience that Kat’s liquid lipstick formula is super drying to my lips, so I knew what to expect when it came to applying her product. I found my original experience accurate with this lipstick. This lipstick didn’t survive my snacks or meals very well. I thought the color was super flattering on, but this formula is not for me.

Nars

I’ve tried liquid lipsticks from Nars once or twice, and I really enjoy their formula. I was excited and nervous about this blue-red shade on me. When I swatched it on my hand, I saw that it dried more brick red, so I was excited about that. When applied this felt super lightweight but it is very drying. On my skin, it looked super flattering, and I didn’t look like a vampire! When it comes to red lipstick, I often find that I look like a vampire who just ate, which isn’t a cute look year-round. This lipstick is not transfer proof and left marks all over my mug and glass, however most the color survived. I might actually consider picking up the full-size of this product.

Blogmas Day 7: A Review of Adagio Popcorn Tea

December 7, 2018

As you guys know, I had a blast unboxing the Adagio Advent Calendar earlier this year, and as I opened it, I was fascinated with some of the unique flavors featured such as their popcorn tea. This post is not sponsored, but I did receive these products free of charge for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own. So, Let’s talk about this Popcorn Tea. Since I already went into packaging details, in my advent calendar post, I decided to talk strictly taste in this post.

When I went to steep this blend, I noticed that there was actual popcorn in the teabag, which was super cool and unique. This blend has a very light and green amber, which I found very pretty. When I tasted this blend, it has this apparent nuttiness to it. The flavor was deffo savory versus sweet, which is different for me. I found this blend reminiscent of a vegetable broth, which is great if you’re into that kind of vibe. Personally, I prefer my blends sweeter, but this was a nice change of pace for me.