Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream Review & Swatches

When I first purchased this eye cream, it was $3 cheaper. I also logged on to the Sephora website and  found out that I lost my VIB status. (I've really given up makeup, holy crap!) I remember the first time I tried it, I instantly fell in love. The SA at the Bobbi Brown counter gave me a sample of it when I first bought their eye liner. In fact, she gave me so many packets that I got to try it out for about a month before actually purchasing it!

It took me a very long time to purchase this product. It wasn't available in-store at Sephora and I didn't want to buy it from Nordstrom if it's a product I can get points on. It was $46 when I purchased it but now it's selling for a whopping $49!! For me, that's still cheaper than a lot of the eye creams I was considering on purchasing at the time. Plus, I wanted to spend up to 50 bucks so I could get free shipping but didn't want to spend more than I needed. After days of delaying, I finally found a product to settle on that would make me right at the mark for free shipping. 

Here's some product information:

"What it is:
A hydrating cream that refreshes the eye area and prepares it for a seamless concealer application.

What it does:
This luxurious, concentrated cream is absorbed quickly—it delivers naturally occurring humectants that virtually melt into the skin. Before makeup application, a perfect level of emollients imparts a lightweight texture, allowing concealer to glide on evenly. Use in the evening to boost skin's ability to recharge and rehydrate during the nightly repair process. It plumps fine lines and improves skin's overall tone and texture. Skin looks and feels stronger and healthier. It leaves the eye area soft, smooth, and refreshed for up to 24 hours." -Sephora

The logo on the lid reminds me of a university theme or something. I'm definitely not going to miss this because dust accumulates on top of the lid into the crevices. It's not really that bad but it bothers me. Sometimes I think I have OCD.

The product itself is pretty solid. It doesn't get all over the lid whenever I travel with it which I LOVE! I remember when I used to have the Clinique All About Eyes and it would get everywhere since it wasn't as thick in texture.

Hygienic wise, this product fails. It comes in a pot so you have to dig your fingers in it. I only ever apply it after I wash my face or get out of the shower so in my head my hands are clean. I've also never gotten anything in it and it's always been that clean white color. Also what bugs me is whenever your nails get long and the product ends up under your nails. I absolutely HATE that! 

Here's a picture of the product smeared onto my hand with a q-tip. It's thick enough to hold its own but don't let that deceive you! It's actually very emollient and creamy. It hydrates my under eye very well and I feel like it plumps it up because that area can get very dehydrated for me. If I didn't wash my face, I would say it lived up to the claim of hydrating your under eye for 24 hours!

Here's the product rubbed in. You can still see a sheen on my hand from the moisture being absorbed in but it's not glistening! It really absorbs quickly but for me I have to be careful and not get it anywhere but my under eye because I notice it doesn't absorb as quickly if I get it around my cheekbones.

Here's the product applied to my eye. Don't mind the hairs growing back, I was getting ready for bed at this point and don't mind the red lines in my eyes. I actually got oil in my eyes when I was removing my makeup so it was slightly irritated. Also the color is off because I didn't use good lighting when I took this but it still seemed "detail" enough to see the product in action

As you can see, my eye looks pretty hydrated in my opinion! It definitely preps it for concealer really well and takes care of the tiny little fine lines and plumps them up. It also makes applying eye makeup easier too since my eye isn't all dry and stuff and it helps my brushes not drag around.

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Overall I would repurchase this eye cream! I'm not going to right at this moment since upon poking at the website I found that there's soooo many more eye creams on the market now and they're cheaper! I found a few that peaks my interest so I'll be giving those a try before repurchasing this one.

What eye creams have you tried and love? I'd really love to know so I can research about them!

Collective NOTW's

After I got my dad handed me down his iPhone 4, I've been taking a lot more pictures of random things. In fact, I've been pretty good at taking photos of my nails everytime I do them! Here's just a quick post on that since I haven't made a new post in a while :)

Added some top coat to the nails before that one to make it more interesting

Closer details of the finish, yet the photo still uploads blurry.

Just something to look at, not really any explanations because I'm a bit lazy to go grab my nail polishes and see, but if you're interested in knowing, ask and I shall reveal ;)

As you can see though, I've been obsessed with glitters. They're easier than nail art, and they add some personality to my nails! ^__~

`til next time.

Travel Essentials

Requested by one of my best buds Linda on my instagram :)

If you follow my Instagram, you know I went on vacation to San Diego! If you're interested in following, my username is onlylindah.

On a side note before I get into this post, I woke up this morning and my eyelids were even! Not completely symmetrical but more than what they were before. ---actually I just applied eyeliner to see what it would look like and I'm really hoping when I wake up tomorrow they're back I normal! It has a hooded look to it and it makes one eye look smaller...sighh, beauty blogger problems.

Okay back to what the post is about! Below are all the items I brought with me on vacation, minus clothes unless you really want to see that in another post.

I was so prepared for this vacation only to find out my luggage was lost whenever I landed in California. That's a great way to start vacation especially a waste of money. Still going to dispute this with their head quarters through the company because it seriously ruined vacation. In case you're wondering, I flew via SPIRIT AIRLINES and I checked in on time and dropped my luggage in on time.

In the first pocket of my toiletries bag (will be shown later so you can kind've understand what I'm talking about) are my toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo and conditioner samples. I normally leave this out in the bathroom whenever I get to my destination.

The next pocket consists of my razor, eye drops, qtips, bobby pins, and hair ties. These generally stay in the pocket and usually shaving will be on my mind so I'll grab it before a shower if I really need to get the hairs tamed :p

In the third pocket I keep floss picks, acne spot treatment, perfume samples, and eyelash glue. These are kinda random but if the floss picks were not in a sealed package I would keep these elsewhere because sometimes perfume samples do leak. The perfumes are a few of my favorite sample sized ones, Givenchy Play and Prada Candy. I've been meaning to pick up a full size during a sale! The spot treatment is my boyfriends so I can't really say how well it works.

Inside the bigger compartment I keep makeup remover wipes, bar soap, head&shoulders sample, and purity sample. The wipes were part of an ipsy bag and they were the perfect size so I brought them along. Weren't too crazy about them so I wouldn't recommend them but they served their purpose. Shampoo is the boyfriends but sometimes I use them too! Purity is my holy grail face wash so this is my essential item when I travel. Must have it on hand!!

There's also eye cream, texturizer, protectant, and hair spray in the big compartment. I keep the hair products in a ziploc bag in the event of a spill.

Eyelashes! These didn't fit in my makeup bag so I stuck it in the compartment. I'm sure you'll understand why when you see the contents of that, haha. I ended up not using it because we didn't go do any crazy partying.

I would not imagine going on a more than 2 day vacation without my epilator! It's really old and outdated but it hasn't crapped out on me to buy a new one yet. This is a really inexpensive one from CVS. They've repackaged it now and it looks different but I'm assuming it works the same. This also goes into that compartment.

Here's everything that's listed above placed into my hanging traveler thing. I don't really hang it when I travel but I usually leave it wherever I get ready. You can see the first three pockets are see-through and they're pretty small. The big compartment is capable of fitting a lot but you've really gotta "Tetris" it inside.

Where did I purchase this? Who knows, it's so old but I'm pretty positive it was either Target or Walmart. I believe it was either $20 or $30. A bit in the expensive side but worth it for traveling!

I threw this huge lotion into my checked luggage. Hate having scented lotion other than for my hands and this is a great alternative to the expensive Eucerin one. (Ironic because Linda introduced me to the lotion, lol)

I got this small makeup bag from a free gift with purchase from Clinique. I gave my mom the big one and kept the small one for myself. I know, that's wayyy too many nail products but I actually used all of them! I ended up painting my co-worker's and her friend's nails too. Almost glad my bag didn't get searched because I'm not too keen on airline regulations since I mostly do road trips.

Here's the start of my makeup items I brought! Of course when it comes to choosing which eyeshadows to bring, neutrals are your best friends. I'm sure I could've gone with just one palette but I couldn't decide and they all fit! Top is the original Naked, middle is the Naked2, and bottom is the Naked Basics that the boyfriend got me for my birthday.

In case you don't know what the inside of the Naked palettes look like, haha. My finger looks really weird here though so don't mind me.

Here's my brow powder, brow gel, sample of the Urban Decay Naked foundation, concealers, eyeshadow primer, and my favorite paint pot. These were essentials in my makeup routine. One thing I forgot was my tweezers and boy oh boy were my eyebrows in need of tweezing. Thankfully the brow products and good highlighting masked it! (If you follow my Instagram or are friends with me on Facebook you can see examples of what I'm talking about. It's like you never knew they were beyond bushy :p)

My apologies for the blurry picture though. Didn't realize it until I uploaded it.

Did I bring too many eyeliners? The first is my favorite liquid liner. Second one is the Stila Smudge Stick from my "In The Light" palette from them. It's a dark brown color but I'm not too sure of the name but it's only sold with the palette. Third one is the Stila Kajal in Topaz, a great waterline shade or if I wanted to spot highlight my inner corner or eyebrow. Fourth is something everyone should know, the Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero. And lastly, this one came in the original Naked palette with me but I did end up using it.

These two items are essential in my face routine. If I don't have them on, I feel incomplete haha. The blush shade is NARS Deep Throat and the bronzer is NARS Laguna. This duo was purchased in a limited edition set so you won't be able to find it in stores. However they do sell Orgasm and Laguna together and the blushes are similar :)

The Make Up For Ever HD Powder is my holy grail! I've always contemplated on trying something new but I never get the courage to. This keeps the oily t-zone at bay! Always an essential last step for me is to apply this all over my oily areas.

These are all the brushes I brought with me O_O I wanted to bring more... Excuse the dirtyness, I took these pictures when I was packaging up my stuff to go home. I consider these my essential brushes but I'm sure I can do without a few of them but they all fit into my bag so what can I say?

This is my other blush option, Benefit They're Real mascara, MAC's Way To Love lipstick, Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me, and my holy grail Smiths Rosebud Salve in a tube. I also brought MAC's Ever Hip but at the moment I took the picture I had lost it. Don't worry girls, I found it in the boyfriends carry on!


I hope this post helped some of you and if you'd like to know what clothes I brought, just ask! I definitely overpacked though but that because I normally don't bring enough clothes.

Let me know if you have any questions :)!

Take Care,

~ L

Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm Haul & Review

I signed my lease to my new apartment last Saturday, I'm paying the deposits on Friday, & I move in on Saturday! I'm so excited, it'll be my first place on my own :)

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This week, March 24 through March 30, Maybelline has a special when you spend $10 on their lip products you receive $3 extra bucks! I thought this was a sweet deal because I'm going to use those extra bucks towards the Physician's Formula BB Cream, which I will be going back for tonight. Plus there's a $3 off coupon on the BB Cream so it's a pretty good deal in my opinion :)!

With that being said, and obviously the name of this post, I purchased the Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm. I already own one so I decided to just throw it in the post along with the others and do a quick review over them. They were $3.99 each from my CVS which wasn't too bad but it definitely isn't as cheap as they would be if I purchased them from WalMart or Target.

Grapevine, Cherry Me, Peach Kiss, Pink Punch

Top: Cherry Me, Grapevine

Bottom: Pink Punch, Peach Kiss

These aren't what I'd consider a lip balm, but they perform similarly to the Revlon Colorburst Lip Balms. It has the lip balm feeling but I still get the 'makeup' type of texture to my lips. I have very dry lips and when I wear it for a long time it just doesn't look fresh even if I wipe it off reapply it.

I also don't like the way the lip balm stick gets after you apply it a few times. It seems like it starts to slide and smoosh against the tube though I have never had problems with it breaking off like some MAC lustre lipsticks do. It may also be because the stick has a larger diameter.

This won't be my 'go to' lip balm but makeup wise for a tint of color to a no-makeup face, I'd turn to these. The more pigmented shades aren't quite a lip stick but it's not just a plain 'ol boring lip balm.

Will I repurchase these? I don't think I'll ever use it up but I have a feeling the more pigmented shades will grow on me and if I lose it I'd probably pick a new one up since they're so inexpensive.

Cherry Me is a sheer hint of salmon when applied to my lips. (It applies almost clear.) I had the highest hopes for this shade and it gave the least payoff. I think I'd wear this shade the most often just because I really like the color combination on the tube. How could you not like orange and raspberry together? It screams summer to me!

Grape Vine is a sheer raspberry tint when applied to my lips. I really like how it gives a jelly type of pink look to them! I also really like the way this one smells but I can't explain the scent for some reason. It's very similar to Cherry Me but it has a smidgen more of coloring to it.

Peach Kiss is a wash of nude peach when applied to my lips.  It's subtle because it doesn't make my lips completely nude like a lipstick would and doesn't wash out my face. This is the only shade that has shimmer and a more cream type of finish while the other ones are more jelly-like. Because of that, this shade tends to enhance my dry lips more.

Pink Punch is a baby pink when applied to my lips. This one is pigmented! It brightens up my face but it makes my teeth look yellow. (Is that possible according to color wheel teachings?) I really like this shade but at the same time I hate it. If it didn't bring out the yellowness in my teeth I'd love it.

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I know I'm late to jump on the baby lips bandwagon but I hope this helped anyone out! They're VERY cheap at WalMart so I'd suggest checking them out if $4 is too much to spend on a lip balm. As for me, I will decimate these throughout my day to various spots; i.e. my work desk, my purse, my backpack, and my bathroom.

♥ L

Sephora Birthday Haul

I've been working 6 days a week and balancing school so I haven't had to energy to blog, but recently my dad handed me down his old iPhone 4. (When the 5 came out to be exact, I've just been sluggish on unlocking it, sorry!)

Since I have a new phone now and my camera focuses pretty nicely, I can start blogging from my phone again :)! Hopefully this will keep me on track better than I've been. I've also signed a lease to my first apartment and I don't want to buy new furniture until I get a house so possibly some DIY posts on revamping what you have.

Moving on... It's my birthday tomorrow and I'm turning 22! It hasn't quite sunk in that I'm getting older but I'm sure it will soon. I swung by Sephora with the boyfriend and picked up my present and caved and finally bought the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette! My boyfriend actually got it for me as a birthday present so hooray for that!

(I'm at work blogging as I type and there's a client looking at me like I'm crazy taking photos of my makeup purchase. She probably thinks I'm being obsessive!)

I don't splurge as crazy as I used to when I was living with my parents but here are my goodies:

Sephora Birthday Gift & Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

The birthday gift this year consisted of samples from Benefit. I absolutely LOVE Benefit and I've been looking forward to my birthday since January! It came with Watt's Up! and They're Real mascara. I've gone through a few tubes of the mascara and I absolutely adore how they make my lashes look. I do plan on doing a review on that still, just haven't had daylight whenever my daily routine is finished.

Close up of the wand. I'm sure if you're a reader of my blog, you've seen a close up of this wand a few times already but extra photos never hurt, haha.

It's a pretty tiny sample, and it doesn't include the squishy sponge blender end that the full version has but nothing my fingers can't fix.

I feel like it's a generous sample because let's get real, how much highlighter do you need to apply on your cheekbones in one sitting? I've been lemming the Watt's Up! since it launched but I could never spend $30 on a highlighter I'll rarely use. (Not until I'm out of school anyway)

The office isn't getting good sunlight today but I tried to get swatches anyway. Excuse my dry hands. I seem to compulsively wash my hands when I'm at work and the lotion in my desk is not the best. I'm going to be one of those old ladies with vein-y hands because my veins shows through so much! :(

It blends quite nicely! (Left half unbleaded, right half blended.)

My actual purchase. I told myself I don't need this palette and when I got to Sephora they were out of the Too Faced blush, yenno the heart shaped one, and I didn't want to have driven all the way to the mall 10 minutes before closing to leave empty handed. I ended up getting it but I love neutrals these days and it won't hurt to have some matte neutrals to help further my blending :)

Close up of the back of the box.

Close up of the palette. I love it! No swatches of this just because I know it won't photograph well because of this cloudy day. (Go figure, the one day in Texas I want the sun to shine.)

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Feedback:Are the photos in this post clear enough? (I've noticed when I view on different computer monitors it varies but that's probably just the retina display which helps images be more pristine.) It'll definitely save me time for quick haul posts such as this one rather than uploaded, resizing, etc.

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Another year older, another year wiser. I can't wait until I get a house, get married, and have my life figured out! One step at a time though ;)

Take care everyone! See you in the next post...

♥ L