My Everyday Lip Favorites

I have a secret....
I am a lipgloss addict.
I carry 7 lip glosses in my purse everyday.

That's more lip glosses than dollar bills in my purse.
:)

Here is my collection of everyday lip favorites.

Combination of drug-store and high-end lip products. 

My first favorite is a Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait.  (I actually have another Lip Butter favorite, in Berry Smoothie, but for some reason it's not in my lip gloss bag.)  This Lip Butter was the first non-gloss lip product that I've purchased in probably over 10 years.  I really dislike traditional lipsticks.  This Lip Butter is a combination of a lip balm and a lip stick, with a hint of a gloss mixed in.  The Peach Parfait is a light peachy-pink.  It is one of the Lip Butters that has a shimmer to it, but it's a subtle shimmer.

Peach Parfait

My most neutral, subtle lipgloss favorite is my Estee Lauder Pure Color shimmer gloss in Racy Raspberry.  I got this gloss at Macy's when I had a consultation to get a new foundation.  I believe this is from a special summer collection.  This gloss is very subtle-looking and would be great over any color, but I often wear it alone when I am dressed casually.  

Racy Raspberry

My next gloss is actually my current favorite.  I bought it on a whim at Target, and after I purchased it I had buyer's regret.  I tried it on and didn't think I would like it, but I've been wearing it very often lately.  It's a L'oreal leGloss gloss in Golden Splash.  It's a light orange color, and I think it looks better now that I have a slight tan.  

Golden Splash

I have been in a long-term relationship with the L'oreal leGloss in Raspberry Splash (I think that's the name although the writing has rubbed off!!).  I think this may be the second or third tube that I've purchased.  I think the color is very wearable.  It's a bright, fresh pink for summer.  I have numerous other shades of L'oreal's LeGloss that I trade out depending on the season.  

Raspberry Splash

My next two everyday favorites are from Tarte.  I love the Tarte Lipsurgence products, but they're a little pricey.  My very favorite one is called Frisky.  The Lipsurgence products are very moisturizing, have good color pay-off, and Frisky leaves your lips a little glossy.  The Lipsurgence products come in matte, but I like the ones with shimmer called Lipsurgence lip lusters.  They also have a minty smell, which I enjoy.

Frisky

The next Tarte lipsurgence I received in my QVC New Beauty TestTube.  It was my first Lipsurgence, and I was disappointed when I saw the color that I received.  I received the Lipsurgence lip luster in the color Fever.  I have never worn a red lip product, so I figured I wouldn't get any use out of this Lipsurgence.  But when I layered the product with a gloss on top, I found that I was able to enjoy it.  I prefer the Fever color for the winter time, instead of summer.  Depending on the color of gloss that I layer over it, I can make it more wearable for summer.  

I am currently pairing it with Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine lipgloss in Peaceful, which makes it more coral than red.  

Fever alone.  It's showing up a little lighter in this photo.  In reality, it's a little deeper red than this photo shows.  

Fever plus Peaceful = coral

I feel better now that I've shared my lipgloss addiction with you.  

I can zip them all back up in their little lipgloss bag, and try to keep them safe from ferocious lipgloss-stealing puppies.  

                 

        Thanks for reading!!

First Julep Maven box

I got my first shipment of Julep Maven nail polish today.  Julep Maven is like the other beauty subscription services, with the products focused around nail care.

There is currently a deal over at Julep.com, and if you enter the code "PENNY" you get your first shipment for just one penny!  Yep, just one single penny.  Each additional month is $19.99.

Click here to go to the Julep site.

When you join Julep Maven, you take a style quiz and find out what style category you belong to.  It was a fun little quiz, and I turned out to be "Classic with a Twist."  Each month you will receive the nail polish colors to go along with your style profile, but you can change your style if you like some of the other colors better than the ones chosen for you.

In my first box I received two nail polishes, a pedicure cream and purple pedicure toe separators.

I received a turquoise color called Robin and a bright red color called Rose.  They survived the Texas heat well, because it was over a hundred degrees and the polishes sat in the mailbox all day today.  I was a little disappointed that the polishes arrived with the writing already rubbing off a little.

Here is a photo of the polishes in natural light.

The first thing I noticed was that the polishes go on very smoothly and have very good "coverage," so to speak.  They also dry fairly quickly, which is a big plus for me because I'm impatient.  The photos shown below are with two coats of polish on each finger.

This turquoise color is called Robin.  It's pretty and great for summer.  I think I already have some polishes that are very similar in color.  

This is Rose, the bright red color.  It has a great finish.  I don't typically like red polish, but this one is pretty.  I think I might paint all my nails this color, just to do something different.  And because I paid so much for these (a whole penny!) I really want to get my money's worth.  

So if you (1) love nail polish and (2) love getting surprises in your mailbox, then click here to check out how to join Julep Maven.

thanks for reading :)

July Birchbox and MyGlam

My Birchbox and MyGlam bag both arrived on the same day.  So exciting!  

I was really excited about Birchbox this month, because it was the Glamour magazine edition.  I felt hopeful that since Birchbox was partnering with such a big name, like Glamour, that we would get some awesome brands in our Birchbox.  Also, I've been a little disappointed with the past few MyGlam bags.  

So I decided to open my MyGlam bag first.  My first impression was that the bag felt very full.  A good sign??

The theme this month was called "Beach Beauty."  How timely, since I'm going to the beach in two weeks :)

I really loved the bag this month.  It is a pink mesh bag with rainbow colored stripes.  I think I will use it to hold all of my lipgloss in my purse.  

There were 5 items in this month's bag.  Three of the items were deluxe-size samples and two items were full-size products.  

I had a helper.

My thoughts about the products:

-  "Yes to Cucumbers" soothing hypoallergenic facial towelettes:  I really like that these were included because this is a great size for travel, and I'm going out-of-town in two weeks.  However, I've tried these before and they broke me out.  I will take this pack with me on vacation, and give it another chance.  

- "NuMe" Hydrating Conditioner:  Another NuMe product in the MyGlam bag.  It looks like this could be good quality, because it says no parabens, contains argan oil, bamboo extract.  I will not be trying this because I am using my Wen cleansing conditioner.  Plus, if i liked this, it would be annoying to have to order my conditioner online every time through NuMe because I don't think it's sold in stores.  

- "Kiehl's" Ultra Facial Oil-Free Lotion:  This is perfect for my oily skin, so I will be giving this a try.  It smells nice and  clean.

- "Circus by Andrea's Choice" Nail Color:  I've never heard of this brand, but I love nail polish.  This is a full-size product.  I got the white color called Reverso.  I don't typically wear white nail polish, but I will give this a try.  

- "Josie Maran" Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain:  I received this in the color Tango.  I was very excited about receiving this full-size product because I have been wanting to try a Josie Maran product.  I put it on as soon as I received it, and a friend told me that the color looked too bright on me so I had to tone it down with some gloss.  It went on very smoothly though, and stayed on through eating frozen yogurt!  :)  The retail price for this product is $19.00

Overall, I was very pleased with this MyGlam bag this month.  

So that made me even more hopeful for my Glamour Birchbox.  The special Glamour-edition sleeve was so pretty.  

The theme of this month was "The Senses"

This box included three deluxe size samples, one perfume tester and two "lifestyle extras."

My thoughts on the products:

-  "Blinc" mascara: I'm always interested in trying new mascaras.  This one is supposed to be unique because it is supposed to form tiny tubes around your lashes.  A little intimidating when you read the instructions online for removing it.  I don't really like to word hard to remove my mascara at night, but if it works well then I'll put in the extra effort.

- "Jouer" luminizing moisture tint:  So this looks like a tinted moisturizer.  I prefer full-coverage foundation, so I'm not sure I will get much use out of this.  I will bring it on vacation, and perhaps wear it to the beach because it has SPF 20.  

- "Alterna" Color Care UV+ Fade-Proof Fluide:  I have been very concerned about my hair color fading, because I have been spending a lot of time in the pool.  I am going to put this on my hair before going outside, and hope that it works as a protectant.  

- "Hello by Harvey Prince" perfume:  I can't decide what I think about this fragrance.  At first, I thought it smelled masculine.  It has a combination of lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia, and plumeria.  I will try it out, but I don't think I like it enough to purchase it.  

- Lifestyle extra earbuds:  These neon earbuds are so cute!  Unfortunately, I'm like the only person on the planet who can't stand having those little things in my ears, so I still use the old-school big earphones.  

- Lifestyle extra Minteas mints:  These are tea mints for energy.  I will try them and see if they help.  I know that I always need more energy.  

Overall, not my favorite Birchbox.  I was expecting more from the partnership with Glamour.  The funny thing was that I got the card in my box for a different set of products, and I think I may have liked that box better.  The other box had a Stila lip glaze, a hair masque, a perfume that sounds more appealing to me, and Boscia blotting papers.  

Maybe someone got my product descriptions in their Birchbox..  These are definitely not the products I received.

There are some things in both boxes that I'm excited to try.  

If you'd like to join Birchbox you can join here.  If you're interested in MyGlam, here's a link.