Joy, Life and More

Here are a few products I'm loving at the start of 2015!  Stila In The Light Eye Palette, on sale $20 Stila  Stila's In The Light has been my go-to makeup palette this month! It is not new and has been around for awhile. I think that is why it's being phased out on the  Stila  website. I received this as a Christmas gift, and as someone getting back into makeup, it has been a great starter palette. There is a lovely mix of mattes and shimmer eye shadows, the latter which is fine for day wear when combined with the mattes. It also comes with a booklet showing different looks with the eye shadows. I definitely recommend this palette especially if you are using makeup for the first time or getting back into makeup like I am! Equate Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover, $3.97 Walmart I picked up this eye makeup remover after watching YouTuber JulieG. mention this as her go-to eye makeup remover. It is affordable and works well removing makeup. I use this makeup ...

Aside from makeup, the tools you use can be rather expensive especially if you are looking for long-lasting and quality brushes. I'd been hearing about the e.l.f. Studio line of brushes which are a higher end to their regular brushes. The Studio line of brushes are black handled and metal whereas the regular line is white and plastic handle. Of course the price for the Studio line is higher at about two to three times the cost of the regular line. Now before you throw up your hands and say, "I can't afford it," let me put it into perspective. The regular line costs anywhere from $1-3 while the Studio line is $3-6 on average. I had never tried any of the e.l.f. brushes but had heard wonderful things about their Kabuki Face Brush . The Kabuki Face Brush is one of those staples you need especially if you want to apply face powder flawlessly or as flawless as you can get. It is usually short with a wide soft head. According to the e.l.f. website, this brush is a synth...

I couldn't help but stop in at my local CVS again to pick up a few more L'Oreal Infallible products last week. This time I got Pro-Matt Foundation in Shell Beige and the Pro-Last Lipcolor in Timeless Rose . I have not tried out the foundation yet but I have heard great reviews so I'm excited to try it out soon. L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Last Lipcolor On the other hand, I couldn't wait to try out the Pro-Last Lipcolor. This lip product is really a 2-in-1 with the lip color on one end and a moisturizing balm on the other end. I picked the Timeless Rose which is a rose color with a little bit of sparkles. I have used similar colored lip glosses, so I knew this would work for me and it did! To use the product, apply the color to your lips and let it dry for a 2-3 minutes. Then take the balm (white side) and apply it right over the lip color. I loved how the color applied on my lips and it didn't take long to dry. However, my lips felt pretty tacky and d...

So I've been hearing a lot of talk about the L'Oreal Infallible line of cosmetics. I am by no means an expert in cosmetics but just a 40-something wife and mother who is rediscovering cosmetics. L'Oreal touts the Infallible line as a "never fail" type of make up and boasts a complete line from foundation to mascara to setting spray. What is setting spray you ask? The L'Oreal Pro-Spray & Set Makeup Extender Setting Spray is a way to keep your makeup looking fresh without having to reapply additional makeup. After you apply your makeup in the morning, you lightly mist your face with this product and feel your makeup setting. According to the L'Oreal website, this product is dermatologist tested and non-comedogenic. This product retails for $16.99. You read that right and that's at the drugstore and not at some fancy makeup counter in a large department store. The beauty of purchasing cosmetics at the drugstore is you can almost always fi...

By far my favorite beauty box subscription is  Boxycharm  which costs $21/month. Now this may seem a little expensive but you get 4 full-sized items and 1 luxury-sized item. The total for all the items in the box usually retail for more than $100. That is a great deal especially if you don't own a lot of beauty items or want to try out a variety but don't know where to start. This is my 3rd Boxycharm box, and I am always excited to see what is included and never disappointed. This month's box included the following items: beauty for real The Perfect Pencil ($14) and beauty for real True Color Lip Cream in "Always There" ($22) Mirabella Face Prime ($29) Pur-lisse Skin Sparkle Flash Tattoos ($12) Tarte Maracuja Bronzing Serum ($47) Total value of the box was $124. Boxycharm is a monthly beauty box subscription costing $21/month. It usually includes 4 full sized items and 1 deluxe sized items. In general everyone receives the sam...

A few weeks ago I received a complimentary jar of Reese's spreads through influenster  to test at home. Recently these spreads have become popular and used interchangeably as you would use peanut butter. I happen to like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so I had no doubt this would be something I would like as well. My first impression of the spread in the jar was it looked gritty and thick. However, I was pleasantly surprised how smooth and easy it was to spread. It had the appearance of a thick milk chocolate rather than the color of peanut butter, which is what I would have expected. Overall, I thought this tasted fine. It didn't exactly taste like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It tasted more chocolate than peanut butter and in fact was more like malt. I tried the spread on apples and graham crackers. I thought it was better on the graham crackers. I'm kind of a purist. I like peanut butter and I like chocolate. I like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups where ther...

I finally received my January 2015 Ipsy bag in the mail yesterday. I was particularly excited for a couple of products. I received a total of 5 products and a make up bag along with an information card which never contains any information about the products. Here are the products I received: Coastal Scents Liquid Eye Liner (MALIN+GOETZ) Mojito Lip Balm Laura Mercier FOUNDATION PRIMER Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow in Ethereal Hey Honey Take It Off! Exfoliating Honey Peel Off Mask I can't wait to try the Coastal Scents Liquid Eye Liner and the Pacifica Eye Shadow. I have gotten quite a bit of Coastal Scents items in different beauty box subscriptions in the last few months, so maybe it is time to use all the items together. I'll let you know in the next few weeks if I use any of the items and what I thought. Ipsy is a monthly beauty box subscription which costs $10/month. It usually includes 4-5 deluxe sample items such as hair, skin, nails or m...

Picked up a couple of items from CVS yesterday. The first is L'Oreal Colour Riche Balm in 218 Rose Elixir. I'm obsessed with lip products right now. I wasn't sure if this was a lipstick or just a balm. I know it sounds crazy but it looks more like a lipstick and packaged nicely like a lipstick. But it really is a lip balm. My first impression is it feels great on my lips with a hint of color and shine. This is a good everyday type of lip product and not over the top. The second item is L'Oreal Eye Shadow in 888 Iced Shadow. I've been eyeing this eye shadow for awhile just because it is just so beautiful and would make a good base on the lid. It is described as being 24 hour, crease resistant, smudgeproof and water resistant. I have it on today and it is very light but sparkly. So far I like it but it may be too light for even my fair skin. Each of the items were $8.79 ea but I had a $1 off each coupon plus save $4 off $12 cosmetic purchase and $5 in e...

I've been thinking for awhile to get back into blogging even though it doesn't seem like a popular platform anymore with the rise in vlogging (video blogging). But I've never been one to be in front of a camera and opted instead to become a newspaper journalist right out of college. I've also taught high school and college as well as worked my way up but never completed my master's degree in communication studies. Instead I took the path of marriage and motherhood. I've blogged briefly in the past during the pregnancies of both of my sons but gave that up when life took over as it usually does. But now I've got a little time on my hands and decided to head in another direction. I'm a mid-40s (midlife crisis mode) wife and mother and more! This will be more of a lifestyle blog with entries of just about everything and anything (home, cooking, kids, beauty, travel, etc). So here I begin and away we go....