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

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

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

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream Review & Photos

It's winter time and I've officially become too light for my foundation. My skin is also not as bad as it used to be whenever my acne had cleared up. The acne scarring has faded away quite nicely but now my problem is uneven skin tone.

My cheeks pales in comparison to the rest of my face. I've noticed that halfway through the day I start to look a little dead because there's no color in my face. That's when I started to consider wearing some kind of tinted moisturizer or a sheer, lightweight foundation. Conveniently, the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB 8-in-1 Beauty Balm Skin Perfector sample came in the mail that I had requested from walmart a while ago when they posted the offer.

I tried out the sample to see if it would even be pigmented enough to even out my skin tone. My face looked more even, but the sample was a shade lighter than it should be so I went out to Walgreens and purchased the full size version in the shade medium for $8.99.

I don't know how my tube got/looks so dirty. I don't take it in my purse or even take it out from where I store it. The packaging corresponds nicely with their Baby Lips Lip Balm. It's super functional and easy to use.

Christmas 2012 - The Goodies I Got!

The holiday season came and left in a hurry. At least that's how I feel what happened, who's with me?
I don't ever expect to receive anything. Ever! I'm liked everything I got this year and I didn't expect any type of cosmetic items. The boyfriend's family surprised me with a little goody bag with samples in it! (His cousin works at ulta so I don't feel bad/guilty about it either)

Here's what it included:

 Tons of samples that I'd actually use, score!

 Philosophy Living Grace

I got a body wash, body emulsion, and fragrance sample. It smells nice but I've only used the emulsion so far and Philosophy's products are pretty consistent so I expect nothing less when I try the other samples out.

 Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream

The scent is a bit heavy for my taste but it moisturizes nicely. I've used a few other products in their skincare line but it just wasn't for me.

 Benefit That Gal Brightening Primer  |  Benefit Posie Tint  |  Lorac Lips with Benefit Lipgloss  |  Urban Decay Primer in Sin

These are all deluxe samples. I've owned the primer before, it brightened like the name says but other than that I don't think it helped with increasing longevity.

I used the stain on the back of my hand and it gave it a nice color. I've never used a cheek stain before so I'm waiting for an experimental day to try it out. If all else fails, I can always use it as a lip stain!

I also have not tried the lipgloss, I'm very afraid to ruin the swirling.

I've owned the full-size version of the primer before and I can say that it does it's job. For my own preference though, I like a neutral primer with no shimmers.

 Philosophy Purity Cleansing Oil  |  Kinerase Ultimate Night Moisturizer  |  Ouidad Botanical Boost

I was very excited to see the purity sample. I LOVE their cleanser, in fact it's my holy grail face wash! It's been keeping my skin clear since I started blogging and I don't think I'll ever change cleansers! Haven't tried the sample yet but I have high hopes for it!

I've been trying different samples of facial moisturizers and I'm glad to have another to try since I've not found one I love. Hoping that I won't love this one though, it's quite expensive and I'm not wanting to shell out that much money but I'm very picky so I don't think I'll "love" this.

I've always seen Ouidad in sephora but I'm just not that into hair as much as makeup. I googled this product and it says it's supposed to preserve moisture, prevent frizz, and enhance shine. Sounds promising, and it had 4 out of 5 stars on Sephora. I have not used this and I actually plan to work this into my daily routine since I've been having hair struggles this past year.

Benefit They're Real Mascara  |  Smashbox Waterproof Shadow/Liner

The mascara is awesome! I've actually owned this before and when I saw a full size inside the makeup bag, my eyes lit up hardcore! I'm waiting to finish my current mascara before I pop this open.

 

I swatched the shadow/liner stick on the back of my hand and it's brown. What else can I say about this? I can't vouch for the waterproof but it seemed to smear easily when I smudged it. I can't recall waiting for it to set like the Urban Decay liners though so that might be why. I plan on using this as a bottom lash line base for my eyeshadows but I'm not sure it's dark enough for how I wear my makeup.

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I'm really happy with what the boyfriend's family got for me. I also got a hot pink robe from Ulta too! It's nice to have something to slip on after my shower since I like to wander around the apartment before actually getting dressed.

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Take care ~