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Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Petit Vour April 2017 Unboxing



Petit Vour is a monthly subscription service where you receive 3-5 beauty related products every month for $15 a month in the United States ($23/month in Canada and $25/month for worldwide). The products are all cruelty-free and vegan friendly. The sizes of the products are usually deluxe or full size. I usually find a new favorite with each box and this month is no exception!









MarieNatie Love Marie Lip Gloss in Tickled, Retail Value: $18
This is as full sized product. On their website, it promises to not be sticky and I agree. It applies smoothly and doesn't have that sticky feeling that a lot of lip glosses can have. It also contains grape seed oil and Vitamin E that are meant to moisturize your lips. As someone who enjoys matte liquid lipsticks, I could use something like this in my life. The only drawback I have with this is the shade. I'm more into reds than pinks, so I would've enjoyed a red shade more.


French Girl Organic Nail + Cuticle Oil, Retail Value: $10
Coming from someone who doesn't do a very good job with taking care of my nails, I didn't know what to make of this product. I used it yesterday before applying nail polish and I think my nails and cuticles already look healthier. It also smells faintly of roses- which is one of my favorite scents. This isn't something I would normally pick out for myself, so I'm happy they included it.


Suntegrity 5 in 1 Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen in Fair, Retail Value: $6.60
From what I understand, everyone received a different shade of this to match their skin tone as closely as possible. When looking at their shade selection online, I noticed they didn't have anything for deeper skin tones, so I hope they add more later. This is a 5-in-1 that is meant to treat, hydrate, protect, prime, and cover. I tried this yesterday and it didn't feel greasy at all and was very hydrating. I used it as a primer and I think it worked well for that purpose. It also have SPF 30 in it- definitely a plus with summer fast approaching.


Nubian Heritage Body Lotion in Patchouli & Buriti, Retail Value $3
I have to say how amazing this smells. If you've ever used a lush bath bomb and know how your bathroom smells like that bath bomb for hours- that is what this smells like. It is meant for all skin types- including sensitive and dry skin. The full size is also a decent price at $12 and can be found at local stores (they have a where to buy on their website). I have very dry skin no matter what time of the year it is, so I am definitely going to be enjoying this!

Value of the box: $37.60

I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.


Vegan Lists and Updates:

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Sunday, April 23, 2017

Nourish Beauty Box Unboxing April 2017




The Nourish Beauty Box is a monthly subscription box that is 100% cruelty-free, gluten-free, and vegan. For $34.95 a month, you get four full sized products. Considering the value of the box and quality of the items you receive, I think this is a really good deal! This is my first box that I have received and it arrived really quickly and I'm so excited about these products! If you're interested in this box, you can click here.

Seraphine Botanicals Chia + Camellia Eyeshadow Palette, Retail Value: $52
This was the item that I most excited to try out. I have tried a few things from this brand and have never been disappointed by their products. These are a mix of matte and shimmer shadows. They feel super creamy and are very pigmented! I was pleasantly surprised with these shadows! I wore a few of the shades on my eyelids yesterday and they applied great and lasted all day. I'm about to move and I think this is the perfect palette to use while traveling.



Nourish Nails in Follow Your Bliss, Retail Value: $12.50
This nail polish is by Nourish Beauty Box and the color looks stunning! I just painted my nails with a different polish right before I received this, so I haven't tried it yet. The color looks a little more green in the bottle, but looks yellow in pictures (the picture below is directly from their Instagram page). Either way, this is an awesome color for the spring and summer!



Peony Cosmetics A New Beginning Pumpkin Pre-Cleanse Cream, Retail Value: $36
First, I want to mention how amazing this smells. The only way I can think to explain this is that it smells like autumn. It is meant to be used before a cleanser to prep the skin and remove impurities such as makeup. I've used this twice now and I really like it! It's feels refreshing on the skin and like it's actually doing something. I haven't used anything from this brand before, but considering how much I like this after two uses, I'll have to look into their other products as well.


Alma Botanicals Hydrating Oil, Retail Value: $35
This oil is a multi-tasking product that is great for dry skin. One of the things it said you can do with this is put it on your lips to moisturize them. I have chronically dry lips and this instantly made them feel 100% better! You can also use this alone on your face, with a moisturizer, in the bath, all over your body, or as a hair treatment.


Value of the box: $135.50

I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.

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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Violet Voss Matte About You Palette Review


If you're like me and you spend a good amount of time on social media, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard of Violet Voss before. They have been releasing beautiful palettes- including one with Laura Lee. People seem to really love or hate these, but I wanted to test them for myself. When I saw that they were releasing an all matte palette, I decided to purchase this one and the Holy Grail palette (partly for comparison purposes and partly because it was pretty- don't judge).

Violet Voss is a cruelty-free brand and many of their items are vegan-friendly as well. To find vegan items, just type "vegan" into their search bar and it'll show you all the vegan option (or just click here). This palette is $45.00 for 20 shadows that are 1.8 grams each- that's $2.25 per eyeshadow.

From top to bottom: Sweetheart, Infatuation, Sweet Talk, Mesmerized, and Mi Amor
The shades "Mesmerized" and "Mi Amor" were very chalky and felt scratchy when swatching them. The others in this row felt soft and creamy, so I don't know why these two shades didn't have the same formula. Also, "Mi Amor" is not a good black shade at all. It took about ten layers (not exaggerating) for me to get this swatch. It just wasn't very pigmented. All the others in this row were very pigmented.

From top to bottom: Mad Love, Crush, Smitten, Heavenly, and Tender
These all felt like they were the same formula and they were all super pigmented. The only complaint I have about this row is that all the shades are very similar and I wish they were more unique.


From top to bottom: Beloved, Adorbs, Yearning, Desire, and Passion
The shades "Adorbs" and "Desire" were that same scratchy/chalky feeling as a few in the first row. Not really sure what's going on there.


From top to bottom: Crazy Love, Romantical, Thirsty, Darling, and Sweet
The shade "sweet" had that weird formula again and wasn't very pigmted- again had to do multiple swatches. The shade "Romantical" was also not very pigmented. I have the same complaint with this row as the second in that the shades are very similar to each other.

While doing these swatches, the eyeshadows had a lot of fall-out and were the same way when I applied them to my eyelids. The shades also blend together instead of complimenting each other. I was so confused why this palette was (frankly) crap. It's inconsistent with the pigmentation and formula and I think for the price, it should be a better quality product.

Since I also bought the HG palette, I compared the formula to that one and the HG palette was so much better. I didn't have any of the problems that I had with the Matte About You palette. I don't know if I got a dud or if they're all like this, but I would recommend skipping this one and going for another one of their palettes.

If you are still interested in this palette, you can click here.

I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.


Vegan Lists and Updates:

Recent Reviews:
March 2017 Yeps and Nopes
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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Love Goodly April/May Unboxing


Love Goodly is a subscription service that offers full-sized cruelty free, vegan, and eco-friendly products delivered to your door every other month for $29.95. Each box has a retail value of over $75.00- which is pretty great! Also, 5% of the sales go to a farm sanctuary. This is my first box from them and I'm excited to try out these products! If you're interested in the box, you can click here.









 100% Pure Maracuja Mascara in Black Tea, Retail Value $25.00
I haven't opened this because I have a few mascaras open right now, but I have been wanting to try this mascara. I haven't used anything from this brand, so I'm excited to give this a try. Love Goodly also offered to send a brown mascara if you didn't want this one- which I thought was a great option. I'm also weird and like the noise the tube makes when you take it out and for some reason that's a plus to me...

100% Pure Bright Eyes Mask, Retail Value $7.00
Another item from this brand, but I haven't heard of this before. I tried it out last night and I really like it! It felt very hydrating and smells amazing. Even after I took it off, I could still smell it. I don't normally do these types of mask because I always thought they were gimmicky, but I think this actually worked.

One Love Organics Love Springs Eternal Youth Preservation Serum, Retail Value $75.00
I don't normally like oils on my skin (I just don't like the feeling), but this wasn't greasy feeling at all. It's really light, but I could feel it working. Since I have dry skin, I'm always applying moisturizer and overnight treatments. I used this last night and my skin still felt soft in the morning. It also smells like green tea and jasmine- which I found very relaxing.

PureSol Konjac Body Sponge, Retail Value $12.99
I have received so many of these for your face in subscription box services, so I wasn't too excited for this. This one is for your body and comes with something to hang it up with in the shower. I don't really like the ones for your face because they always irritate my skin, but I will try this out. I used it last night and while it didn't irritate my skin, I don't know if it really did anything. But you probably have to use it more than once to notice a difference.


Total Value: 119.99

 The box also comes with a code for $10 off an order with a company called JUICE and a coupon for 15% off at Moo Shoes. They also send the standard card with all the information about the products included.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my box and I'm excited to receive more boxes from them!

 I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.


Vegan Lists and Updates:

Recent Reviews:
March 2017 Yeps and Nopes

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Sunday, April 9, 2017

Vegan Friendly Update Part Five

If you're anything like me and use cruelty-free and vegan products, there's a chance you have come across brands where you're not sure of their cruelty-free status or if they have vegan friendly options. There are so many companies that I couldn't find information on, so I wanted to post them here for other people as well. I am waiting on responses from a number of companies right now and will be posting more updates as I receive them. For other vegan friendly updates and vegan lists, please check out the links located at the end of this post.

Not Your Mother's
I have heard from a number of people that Not Your Mother's haircare is amazing, so I had to look into the brand. They answered my email quickly with this statement:

"Thank you for reaching out to Not Your Mother’s Haircare! Our products are plant based materials, and does NOT contain any animal products or byproducts (besides our Royal Honey & Kalahari Melon Line due to the Honey) and is NEVER tested on animals. However, there is a stronger definition to the term Vegan than many consumers realize, which has to do with certification of the manufacturing facility and such, which is why we cannot legally declare our product to be vegan even though we follow all necessary guidelines for it to be considered.  Our manufacturing facility is not certified as Vegan "proof" although they too do not use any animal products or test on animals. So it truly depends on how closely / strictly you follow the Vegan lifestyle. We hope this answers your question!"

I appreciated their thorough response and I don't think a company has ever done this! I'm excited that the majority of their products are vegan and will be looking into their products in the future.

Jesse's Girl
If you watch YouTube videos, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard of this brand. They are cruelty-free, so I emailed them about their vegan-friendly options. Their response was:

"Thank you for contacting us.  Some items are vegan friendly, but most are not. Please see individual product ingredients on the product pages to confirm. Visit jessesgirlcosmetics.com for more information."

I'm disappointed that most of their products are not vegan-friendly and that they just reference their ingredients page. The main reason that I dislike when companies do this is because some ingredients (such as glycerin) can either be synthetic, animal, or plant derived.

Murad
As someone who has had acne since middle school, I'm always looking for skincare that actually works. Many people recommend Murad and I knew they were cruelty-free, but was not sure about their vegan-friendly options. They responded with:

"Most importantly we want to share that Murad does not test our products on animals.

While the vast majority of our topical formulas are vegan, a small number do contain trace amounts of natural ingredients like honey and beeswax as well as some marine derived compounds. If you have a question about a specific product, please let us know. We’d be happy to confirm for you that the products you are using are vegan or to customize an entirely vegan regimen for you.

We hope that this information has been helpful to you. Please let us know if we can assist you further."

While I'm happy that most of their products are vegan, I'm sure many of you reading know how annoying it is to ask about every single product that you're interested in.

Just for Redheads
I found this company through Twitter and it appealed to me since I have red hair and fair skin and their products are geared towards that audience. Here is their response:

"Our products are all cruelty-free, but most of our products are vegan. If you give us the specific products you are viewing, we can give you more detailed responses on ingredients."

This seems to be the most common answer I've been receiving lately where they want you to ask about every product your interested in. I'm mostly interested in their eyebrow products since I can never find anything that matches my hair, so I'll have to follow up with them.

Grande Cosmetics
I first saw this brand on Instagram and their products look so pretty! I was very happy with their response:

"Thank you for contacting Grande Cosmetics.  We do not test any of our products on animals. Our products are indeed cruelty free and vegan."

My reaction is just an overwhelming "woot!". Will definitely be checking out this company in the future.

I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.

I also have a running cruelty free list going- click here.



Vegan Lists and Updates:

Recent Reviews:
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Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Books I Read This Month: February and March 2017

So little time, so many books to read. Welcome my fellow book lovers to my blog! Now is when I list the books that I have been enjoying the past month. Usually I would post this once a month, but I combined the past two months since I had surgery on my hip in March and wasn't on here as much. Better late than never! If you have any books recommendations, please let me know below.

  
1. Perfect by Sara Shepard
2. Unbelievable by Sara Shepard
3. Wicked by Sara Shepard
4. Killer by Sara Shepard
In January I read the first two books of the Pretty Little Liars series and I've been making my way through the series. The TV series is returning soon and I've never read the books, so I thought I'd give them a shot before watching the last season of PLL. So far I have been really enjoying the series, even though it is very different than the show. It is interesting to read the books though when you've been watching the show for so many years.

5. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
I really enjoyed the book Gone Girl by the same author and I found this book in a used bookstore. I figured since I liked Gone Girl so much, I'd probably like this book as well. It is about a journalist who works in Chicago, but is sent to cover a story in her home town of Wing Gap. Two young girls have been found dead and there are strange circumstances surrounding their deaths. I loved the mystery and would highly recommend to any other fan of this genre.



6. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
This is one of those books that I've owned for a while that I, for some reason or another, hadn't gotten around to reading. The story is told between two different perspectives. One is the town in Ukraine where the authors mother was born and the other is a young Jewish man who goes back to the town to find lost memories from its past. I love history and enjoyed the perspective that the author presented.


7. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
I'm one of those people that will see J.K. Rowling's name and scream "Harry Potter!" so I was curious to read this other book by her. While this is obviously very different than Harry Potter, I still enjoyed the story of a little town with its interesting characters and story-line. It does start out rather slow, but was engaging enough to keep me reading. Once you get to the plot line, it's completely worth the read, trust me.





8. My (Not So) Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella
Sophie Kinsella has also written two other books I've read- Confessions of a Shopaholic (which is a whole series) and Finding Audrey. This story follows a young woman named Katie (Cat) who has moved to London and is trying to reinvent herself and portray that she has the perfect life. When she loses her job, she moves back to her hometown and helps her dad and stepmother with their new glamping business. She thinks that her old boss, Demeter, has the perfect life, but comes to realize otherwise when Demeter comes to her neck of the woods and she sees first hand how Demeter's life is not so perfect after-all (much like Katie's).


Thank you for reading!

 I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.

 Past Books I Read This Month:
January 2017
December 2016



50 Book Challenge Tally: 16
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Sunday, April 2, 2017

Yeps and Nopes March 2017

Welcome to my monthly "Yeps and Nopes" where I talk about the products that I have been loving and a few that just didn't work for me. This month I haven't been wearing makeup as much due to surgery on my hip at the beginning of the month, but I still had some things that I wanted to share. A lot of these items I have previously reviewed and I will link those reviews at the bottom of the page. I am not sponsored or paid to talk about these products. All the products mentioned are cruelty-free and vegan.



Yeps

1. Anastasia Beverly Hills Nicole Guerriero Glow Kit
If you read my review of this product, then this should come as no surprise to you. I absolutely love the shade selection and the highlighters themselves are just gorgeous! You only need the tiniest amount and I don't think they are glittery at all. The only con I could possibly see with this is the fall-out, but I don't really see that as a big deal. I love using the shade Forever Lit and mixing it with other shades to make them extra blinding!

From top to bottom: Bubbly, Flipper, White Rabbit, and Glazed


2. Pretties for Your Face Eyeshadow in Bubbly
This is one of my favorite brands by far. I have never been disappointed in any of her products, plus the owner seems really sweet. She has a YouTube channel that you can check out as well. This is one of the newer shades and she recently made this into a highlighter as well. The eyeshadow is so pigmented and creamy and I've just been reaching for all month.

3. Colourpop Super Shock Shadows in Flipper and White Rabbit
Flipper was previously discontinued and Colourpop brought it back for the spring collection. I love this color all over the lid and although it doesn't feel like spring yet (at least in not in Oregon), this is a fun color for the spring. White Rabbit has been one of my favorites for a while and is just such a unique color. I'm just waiting for it to actually feel like spring!

4. Colourpop Highlighter in Glazed
I'm normally not the biggest fan of cream highlighters, but this is so easy to use and is beautiful on the skin. This is one of Colourpop's tie-dye highlighters and I just love the color payoff you get with this. I have worn this over powder as well and it actually works! Colourpop also has a really wide range of shades when it comes to highlighters, so there really is something for every skin tone.


5. Colourpop The Knockout Pressed Powder Face Duo
This is also part of their spring collection and this is my favorite of the duos that they have released. The shades are super pigmented, so be sure to use a light hand. These shades are perfect for the spring and I've been using this pretty much everyday. These are also limited edition, so I'd recommend picking one up!

Nopes

1. L.A. Girl Matte Flat Velvet Lipsticks
I bought a few shades of these and just didn't like them at all. They weren't really pigmented and almost looked sheer. I also had to press pretty hard to even get it onto my lips. Overall, just not something I would recommend.

2. Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow Highlighting Palette
I actually did a review of this palette and at first I thought it was really pretty. Really the only thing I like in this is the highlighter, but for the price I feel like I should like the blush and bronzer too. You really have to dig your brush into the pans to get any product. I think you can find cheaper alternatives that work better.

I also have a new YouTube channel! If you'd like to check it out, please click here.


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Reviews:
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