korean beauty

AUTHENTIC DESIGNER PERFUME FOR CHEAP?!

Ok so there is noooothing better than smelling good buuut some of these amazing smelling perfumes cost an arm and a leg. My love for Creed cannot be satiated, even though it costs $425 a BOTTLE. Yes, you read that right. I am sure I can get it on some website for much cheaper, but honestly with perfumes, you do not want to mess around. A lot of those sites are not legit and are definitely not sending you the right stuff. The perfumes can smell sour or different over time, or are just water based – bottom line is do not buy off of those sites. There is no way they can sell a full sized $425 bottle for $30 bucks!

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Okay, back to my Creed habit. It has such a distinctive, wonderful smell and I get compliments on it everywhere I go. No literally, everywhere I go. When they are done fainting over the price, I usually let them in on a little secret. That secret is…decants! After living like a Kardashian and buying a few bottles, I realized I was spending a car payment on a bottle of perfume. It was a wake up call to say the least. I did some research and came across ScentSplit.com. They are 100% authentic hand decants of the best perfumes and colognes around. They have the best (and most recent) selection of top notch perfumes and colognes from around the world. The cologne I was only able to find in France or Nordstrom (for another $400)? You bet they have it.

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I was nervous at first because I guess the Italian in me is un-trusting of everything, so I bought a small decant of Creed as a test purchase. Since Creed has a very distinct smell, I knew I would be able to tell if it was real or fraud on the first spray. It was totally real and I was hooked, leading to my obsession with ScentSplit.

Everything is packaged very securely, and once you start buying a lot, they often send nice little discounts, always pulling me back in for more! I can also attest to their customer service. One of the bottles I had received had a finicky spray, so they sent me a shipping label to send it back and sent out a new one for free. They are based in Houston so there was a little bit of a time delay but overall I got the new bottle and life is good.

Now my perfume limits are nonexistent, I buy decants of all sizes from all designers and I love it – and so does my wallet! I love having that variety in my perfume collection without breaking the bank whatsoever. I feel like money and I smell like it too :P.

Seriously go check them out, you will forever thank me!

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SEPHORA PLAY! REVIEW

Happy Thursday! After a huuuge snowstorm yesterday, I was able to work from home. I thought what a great day to relax, I can even get a blog post up. That was not the case. I was basically glued to my computer all day, only to get up to get myself more pizza haha! ;). I have been meaning to do a review on the Sephora Play! monthly subscription box since February (my first month!). As you know, I have tried Birchbox before as well as Ricky’s, both which I loved. Since I spend a majority of my time (and paycheck) at Sephora, and their box is only $10/month, I decided to give it a go. I was certainly not let down!

What I love most about it is how personal it is compared to other ones. You answer a few questions to create your own personal profile. From the products they are going to include in the boxes, from makeup to hair care to skincare to fragrances, they use your answers to curate your own personalized box.


Each box includes:

  • Five samples AND a bonus! The samples range from makeup, skincare, and hair care.
  • A collectible makeup bag
  • PLAY! Book that gives you tips and tricks and how-tos for each sample
  • PLAY! Pass to redeem in store when you buy something full-size – worth 50 beauty insider points! ❤
  • Access to video tutorials for the items in the box
  • PLAY! Date – subscriber only even that allows you and a friend to come in the store and sample products and meet with beauty experts

Here is what the February box looked like! I am SO excited for March! Stay tuned 🙂

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LOVE this little makeup bag. Adorable!

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50 Bonus Points! #swoon

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I have sensitive skin so this is right in line with my profile that I filled out 🙂

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I put a lot of skincare in my profile so I am so glad they sent me top notch sample products!

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LOVE this gloss. It reminds me of a NARS one I had way back when!

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I have *no* idea how to apply eyeliner, so I am hoping this can help me a bit.

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The BONUS! It smelled like summer in a bottle. Nice and light 🙂

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Dope postcard that came with the perfume.

15/10 would recommend the PLAY! boxes. For only $10 you’re getting some top notch samples, and nice sizes. Plus extra bonus points at one of my favorite stores makes it all the more worth it. Go get yours!

Bite Beauty Multistick Review

Hello pretties! I have had sooo much going on and so much I have been wanting to blog about, but it has been so hard to dedicate time to actually write the posts and get them up on the site! I recently had the opportunity to try out some of the new Bite Beauty Multistick colors. If you haven’t heard about these multisticks, you are seriously missing out. First of all the color selection is top notch and there is a color very every skin color on the spectrum! They apply as if they are cream, but they wear like powder. This is because they are actually made up of 35% powder, so it applies evenly and most importantly – weightlessly. I have only used them on my lips so far, but you can also use them on your cheeks and eyes. I think the colors I received would look best on my lips, but I am interested in trying them out on my cheeks (I’ll keep you posted).

As I have said before, skincare is so important to me, so I carry that mindset over to my makeup as well. You have to be careful of what you are putting on your face even after your skincare routine. If you wash your face and then apply makeup filled with chemicals and parabens, what is the point? Seems kind of counterproductive, right? When I read that the multistick is silicone free, paraben free, sulfate free, phthalates free, as well as free of petrochemicals, I was over the moon.

So not only are these perfect for your skin and formulated for your skin, but with powder being almost half of its composition, the finish is a soft, matte, and breathable. With 18 colors to choose from, there is an infinite amount of colors you can choose for your lips, cheeks, eyes, or all three!

I had so much fun applying these colors and was pleasantly surprised with how smooth and easy they were applied! I tried the colors Biscotti, Papaya, and Cashew, definitely all colors you can wear ANY season!


 

Cashew: I was honestly so pleasantly surprised with cashew. It looked a little too dark of a brown upon first glance, but as soon as I put it on I was in love. It is the perfect natural nude for my skin tone.

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Papaya: I LOVE papaya – it is such a soft pink and also has the natural look like cashew did. It is not some over the top color, it goes absolutely perfect with any makeup. I may try this one on my cheeks – if it looks as natural as it does on my lips, it would make for the perfect natural blush!

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Biscotti: Biscotti was a little on the deeper end compared to the other colors, but really a beautiful color. I actually find myself wearing this one a lot. It gives me more of a pop of color but it still isn’t over the top.

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I can’t wait to try out more colors – if you’ve ever tried these, please comment below and let me know your favorite shade! ❤

 

KOREAN SKINCARE PRODUCTS

Alright so I’ll be the first to admit it that I fall asleep with my makeup on more often than I should. I won’t sit here and say I’ve been blessed with flawless skin, of course I’ve had my share of breakouts, blackheads, you name it. I’ve been to the dermatologist a countless amount of times and sure their regimens and products work, so long as I remember to apply them, or which cream goes on when, etc. There has been a ton of buzz around Korean beauty products and I can totally see why. Over the years, I have learned how important it is to treat your skin delicately and take care of it by washing your makeup off every night, moisturizing, the whole nine yards. This makes for a better foundation for when you apply your makeup and you’ll actually see yourself needing less and less. You’ll have that overall healthy glow without makeup – talk about confidence boost! Here are three Korean skincare products I swear by – I’m sure I’ll be blogging about more as I discover them!


 

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Let’s start with the Too Cool for School Takkoza cleansing wipes. Takkoza basically translates to cleanse and sleep. These saved my face. I have never come across a makeup remover wipe that literally takes it ALL off. Literally in one glide of the wipe, it is off – completely amazing. What I love about these wipes is not only they take every ounce of makeup and dirt off your face, but they leave my skin feeling refreshed and hydrated too. This is because they are filled with a ton of nutrients and vitamins – carrot water, beta-carotene, and vitamins A + C. These have absolutely saved me from falling asleep with my makeup on. They leave me no excuses to! If you can’t get around to washing your face, then keep these next to your bedside. It comes in a pack of sixty – so for only $16, you’re def getting your bang for your buck.

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Next, my most favorite product is the Caolion “Where is Pore” cleanser. This is a 2-in-1 cleanser. The top one is the blackhead steam foam cleanser and the bottom one is a pore tightening cooling foam cleanser. I use the top one first and then the bottom.  A little goes a loooong way with these guys. The directions say to leave on for ten seconds and the rinse off. For the the steam foam cleanser, you literally feel your face heating up and its like you feel the gunk coming out of your pores. I do leave it on for more than 10 seconds, around 30 seconds and then rinse it off in cooler water. It makes my face feel so clean. Then I follow with the pore tightening cleanser. Within ten seconds my face feels nice and cool and once I rinse it off my face feels tighter and my pores literally look invisible. It leaves my skin feeling so new and soft. When I first tried it, I remember I couldn’t believe it, I kept touching my face and I immediately called and showed my mother. It was that amazing. For $24 it is like I get a facial every time I use it. I’ve also tried their Pore Blackhead o2 Sparkling Soap and that worked wonders as well – my skin felt so polished. I certainly plan on trying more of their products.

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Lastly, the Creme shop had these limited edition masks that were made in Korea. I bought them around the holidays, so naturally they were peppermint cocoa sheet masks with the purpose of clarifying skin. The masks are infused with peppermint oil to treat troubled acne-prone skin. It came with a pack of five, so definitely a wise value. I’ve used three already, about one every month. As soon as I put it on, it is so cool on my skin and I feel my skin absorbing it all. With the excess liquid, I rub it on my neck to reap all of the benefits. I leave it on for twenty minutes and when I take it off, my skin feels nourished and my pores feel tight. I am a huge fan of masks and these are definitely in my top three. Here is me in my mask as I am writing this 😛

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