Tip Tuesday: A Natural, and effective way to treat Acne!

Lately I've had a few mild breakouts, and I've had to whip up a batch of my go-to acne toner that works SO good! So, this post was born out of my misery. Your welcome. Now, before I get to the recipe that I use, I want to share with you a few insights that I have on the main ingredient for the recipe, Thyme.

Thyme has been studied a lot lately for use in acne treatment. The findings have been stellar with results being better than that of prescription acne medication! Wouldn't you rather put something natural on your face than something harsh that is made by a chemist that will do who knows what to your skin??

Remember that prescription drug that was used for acne a number of years ago that they found was linked to birth defects? Ya, awesome. I'm not saying that all prescription drugs are that bad, but the truth is we just don't know what effects they may have on our bodies! Thyme has been use for THOUSANDS of years. The ancient Egyptians used it! And, no known harms have ever been documented from it's use. This is why I choose to use this ingredient rather than something from a chemical lab that heaven knows what it will do to my skin or body.

As you can see, I'm very passionate about my skincare. I try to keep it as close to nature as possible, using oils and herbs that won't cause harm or premature aging. This acne treatment is very effective and uses something grown right out of the ground. Win, win for me!

I would recommend tossing this mixture after 2-3 weeks. Since we aren't putting any preservatives in it, it may start to spoil. This recipe will probably last you that long if you are using it twice a day, so if you are only going to use it a few times, make a smaller batch.

If you are interested in reading more about one of the studies found on Thyme and acne, click here.

Friday Haul: Too Faced, Laura Geller, Tarte and more!

Yay for Friday! I have a sweet haul for you guys who love high end makeup! First, are you following me on Facebook? I post all of my deals that I'm getting on Facebook, since some of the deals I'm showing you today are no longer available. Make sure you "like" me so next time you don't get left out!

Lets start with my favorite purchase! The Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette with BONUS Shadow Insurance from HSN. This Palette retails for $49 and the Shadow Insurance retails for $20. HSN has both for $49 (so it's like your getting the Shadow Insurance for free!), and there is a coupon code good for $20 off any $40 item for new HSN customers! As of right now this item is sold out. Because this was such a smokin' deal it went viral and everyone and their beautiful dog got it! I posted the deal when it was still available last week on Facebook, so I hope that if you wanted it, you jumped on it! If you didn't, don't fret. You can wait until they get more in stock, or you can use the coupon code for something else! Your item just needs to be over $40 to use it.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette with BONUS Shadow Insurance from HSN
$49 (HSN price for both, a $69 value)
-$20 (with coupon code HSNNEW2014)
$29 For both products. A $40 savings!!

Next, Ulta is doing their 21 days of beauty right now. Which is a yearly (bi-yearly?) event that gives you a chance to purchase a specific high end product every day for 21 days at a discounted cost! I haven't really been getting much this time, and it's over on Saturday. I've been eying the Laura Geller baked highlighter for a LONG time, and they had it for only $15 on Tuesday! Then, they are having a promotion where if you spend $20, you get a free "It's a 10 miracle leave-in plus keratin". Which is a $20 value. So, in order to get my total to $20, I also purchased the JANE water resistant eye liner in black. So, here is what my transaction looked like:

$15  Laura Geller baked highlighter in "French Vanilla" with brush   ($44 value!)
$6    JANE water resistant eye liner in black
$0    FREE It's a 10 miracle leave-in plus keratin ($20 value!)
$21 for $70 worth of cosmetics!

I'm not a huge fan of wearing false eyelashes on a regular basis, but I like to have them on hand for when I'm doing clients that want them. So, when I saw this deal at Rite Aid, I needed to jump on it! Spend $10 on False eyelashes or false nails get $5 back in +up rewards! I posted on Facebook last Sunday about 2 coupons that could be used with this deal, and they are both still available if you want to get these as well!

4 Revlon Lash Sets $3.99 each x 4 =
 $15.96
- $3.19 (20% off coupon from here)
-$4.00 (4 $1 off Revlon lashes coupon from here)
-$5.00 (up+ rewards for next purchase)
 $3.76 Only $0.94 for each set!

That's it for my haul this week. Had I not used any coupons/coupon codes, or sales I would have paid $154.96. But, since I shopped smart, I only paid $53.76. I saved over $100 this week! What were you able to pick up?

Yummy smelling cosmetics!

I thought I would have some fun today and talk about how companies have been making everything from foundation to mascara scented. I recently hauled the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette (more on that tomorrow!) and it smelled SO good. It made me wonder what else I had that smelled yummy, too. I went through my makeup collection and gave almost everything the sniff test, and here are some of my favorite smelling things...

 

1. Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette. This smells SO good. Just like chocolate! Kind of weird for an eyeshadow, but hey, it's calorie free!
2. Too Faced Chocolate Soleil. This bronzer smells just like the Chocolate Bar Palette. This bronzer has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and I'm not sure if it's because of the great matte warmth it gives my skin, or the fact that it smells so good!
3. Eccence Sun Club Bronzer. Another yummy smelling bronzer. This one smells like piña colada or some other tropical drink. It reminds me of Hawaii. So yummy!
4. NYX Butter Gloss. This smells like you are eating candy. It's like a sugar cookie for your lips.
5. Buxum gloss. Another baked good smell. This one is more like a chocolate chip cookie. 
6. Tarte Lipsurgence Lip Gloss. This has a very light and delicate vanilla scent. So lovely and sweet!
7. Burts Bee's Lip Shimmer. I have a few different shades of these and they all smell the same. Like a mild peppermint scent. 
8. elf All Over Color Stick. At only $1 a pop, these shimmery sticks are a great addition to your collection, and they smell just like oranges!
9. Tarte Cheek Stain. I think if I had to describe my favorite summery scent, this cheek stain would be it. It's a light citrus scent that sticks around for hours!
10. Sexy Booster Blush, Eyeshadow, Mascara and Bronzer. These products from Physicians Formula all have a yummy vanilla scent that is supposed to include Horny Goat weed for an aphrodisiac. I'm not sure if it will really make you sexier, but it does smell good!

 There you have it! What cosmetics do you own that you love to inhale?

Whats New: The Big Easy Liquid To Powder SPF 35 Foundation from Benefit Cosmetics

This week's whats new, is a creative and fun packaged product from Benefit Cosmetics. The Big Easy Liquid To Powder SPF 35 Foundation!

From Benefit:
Big Easy contains ingredients known to help balance moisture and control oil, while the cushiony liquid-to-powder formula melts in like a cream, yet finishes lightweight and velvety like a powder. This multibalancing complexion perfector self-adjusts to your exact shade to even out skintone and conceal imperfections. It also contains ingredients known to soothe and comfort the skin and help fight free radicals.
 

So far there are some very mixed reviews of this product. I have put it to the test for 3 days straight, and I've not had stellar results. At a $38 price tag, I was expecting fabulous, and it just didn't deliver for me.  It has very little coverage. It wears off on me after only a few hours. It smells HORRIBLE. And, for the price, it's just straight up not worth it in my opinion! It did, however have a light feel and it did seem like it transformed to a powder finish like Benefit claimed. Which, sounded wonderful to me! But unfortunately the cons outweighed the pros for me with this product.

The swatch below is heavy, un-blended and it's in the shade "Fair".

 I'd love to know your thoughts if you've tried this. For me, it was a total pass, and I'm so glad that I bought it from Sephora. They are great at taking things back!

Tip Tuesday: De-puffing eye area

Today I'm going to give you some tips for making your eye area appear less puffy. I wake up with puffy eyes almost every morning, so I've mastered how to make my eyes look less puffy.

First of all, if you wake up to puffiness around your eyes, it's better to wait an hour or so before you apply any makeup. If that isn't possible, then here are some tricks that I like to use:

1. Grab an ice pack! Or some other cold object. I know it's not the most comfortable thing to do on your delicate eye area, but icing can really reduce the puffiness quickly. I rarely use this method, but when I do it's almost instant and I only need to hold the ice pack on my eyes for about 30 seconds or so.
2. Cucumbers! This age-old spa treatment works for a reason! Cold cucumbers placed on your eyes helps reduce the puffiness for 2 reasons. First, the cold helps reduce the swelling for the same reason an ice pack will, simple science; our bodies shrink a little when they are cold. Second, cucumbers contain natural flavanoids and antioxidants that help calm irritation that may be caused from sleeping/not sleeping, stress and environmental damage.
3. Anti-puffiness eye creams and/or serums. Both before you go to bed and when you wake up are great tools for reducing puffiness. My two favorites are 100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream & Lumene Vitamin C+ Anit-Puffiness roll-on eye serum (I think this one was sadly discontinued).
4. If you don't have an Anti-puffiness eye cream or serum, then put your current favorite eye cream in the fridge over night and use it in the morning to get a great cooling effect that is sure to reduce the swelling!

 That's it! Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you have any other tricks or tips on reducing eye puffiness!

Review: Lorac Pocket Pro Palette

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was great. Today I'm going to be reviewing the Lorac Pocket Pro Palette. It's a palette that contains 3 of the shades from the Lorac PRO palette. It retails for $15 at Ulta, and Beauty.com. The shades that are in this little pocket palette are: Nude, Pewter & Espresso.

Nude is a pale shimmery pink shade. It's georgous around the inner corner and when sheered out, it can work great for under the eyebrows.

Pewter is a satin taupe shade. It has less shimmer than the Nude shade, but it definitely has a sheen. I like to take this shade and blend it over the lid, and slightly into the crease.

Espresso is a deep matte brown. This is a wonderful and pigmented color that can be worn as an eyeliner or to define the outer v of your eye. You can also pull it into your crease depending on your skin tone. For my pale skin, it doesn't work in my crease, it's far too dark. But it's great for eyeliner, and I can even take it under my lower lashes to make my eye's pop.

Overall this is a great little pallet to have. If you already have the PRO palette, than obviously you don't need this Pocket Pro Palette, unless you find yourself using these 3 shades from the PRO palette more than the other shades.

I purchased this because I had never used Lorac shadows before and have heard that they are amazing. I didn't want to commit to the more expensive PRO palette if I wasn't in love with it, so I thought this was a great way to try the shadows at a fraction of the cost. I think I may start saving up to buy the full PRO palette after trying this Pocket Pro Palette. The shadows are super pigmented, creamy, simple and easy to work with and blend.

The only thing that I find wrong with this palette, is that there isn't a great transition/crease shade in the mix. I can work with the three shades to make an eye look, but I wish I had just one more mid-tone shade to incorporate. Otherwise, I'm a fan! Definately worth a try if you want to dabble in some high-end and quality shadows!

Friday Haul: Maybelline, Physicians Formula, The Body Shop & more!

Happy Friday! I hope your week was great. I'm back in the thick of drugstore deals this week, so I hope you're ready to shop! I went to Target, CVS, and The Body Shop this week. 

 At Target I was able to get some great deals using the $3 off $15 Beauty purchase coupon that came with my Target Beauty Box. If you follow me on Facebook, you will have seen that I posted a link for you to print off a coupon for $3 off any $5 yes to coupon, and I also posted about Target having a lot of Clearance finds this week as well. So, make sure you are following me! So, here is the deal I was able to get with combining all of these coupons:

Yes to Blueberry Cleansing Facial Towelettes (Bonus Pack) $5.99
Yes to Cucumbers Cleansing Facial Towelettes (Bonus Pack) $5.99
Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation (Clearance priced) $5.48 =
$17.46
-$3.00 ($3 off $15 Beauty purchase coupon that came with my Target Beauty Box)
-$3.00 (Yes to coupon from here)
-$3.00 (Yes to coupon from here)
-$2.00 (Coupon that I printed for Revlon from here) 
$6.46 for all 3 items!

The first thing I picked up at CVS, was this 2 pack of Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara. CVS has a sale where if you buy $10 worth of Maybelline cosmetics, you get $3 back in extra bucks. I also had a $2 off coupon from the red machine. Here is what this deal looks like:

2 pack of Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara in "Blackest Black"
$9.99 (The extra bucks will still print even though it's a penny off of the $10)
-$2.00 ($2 off any Maybelline cosmetics purchase coupon from red machine)
-$3.00 (Bucks that printed on my receipt for a future purchase)
-$0.99 (10% back for Beauty Club membership - 10% is always taken BEFORE coupons)
 $3.99 - Only $2 per mascara!

Next up, I had to get in on the Physicians Formula deal, where if you buy any 2 Physicians Formula cosmetics, you get $10 back in extra bucks! I had a coupon from the red machine for Physicians Formula, and when I went to Target, I found these fun little pink stickers on Physicians Formula products that said "Buy 1 Get 1 FREE". So, I peeled one off and took it to CVS where I was able to score this deal:

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-one Nude pallet for face and eyes in "Natural Nude" & "Warm Nude" $13.99 each...
$13.99 x 2 =
$27.98
-$13.99 (Buy 1 Get 1 FREE coupon sticker)
-$3.00 ($3 off any Physicians Formula cosmetics purchase coupon from red machine)
-$10.00 (Bucks that printed on my receipt for a future purchase)
-$2.79 (10% back for Beauty Club membership - 10% is always taken BEFORE coupons) 
 $1.80 - Only $0.90 for each pallet!

Next, if you follow me on Facebook, you will have seen me post about a Groupon deal for The Body Shop. For $15 you get $30 to spend in store! This is just a straight $30, and if there are sales in store, you can still use the Groupon! This past weekend, there was a sale for "Buy 2 get 2 or buy 3 get 3". So, I was able to get 6 items for the price of 3, plus I used my Groupon to pay for most of my purchase! Here is how it worked

4 single eyeshadows in "Caramel Flirt", "Chocolate Linger", "Coconuts About You", & "Pink Crush" $10.00 each x 4 = $40.00

2 single blushes in "Bubble Gum", & "Ginger" $16.00 each x 2  = $32.00

  $40.00 (eyeshadows)
+$32.00 (Blushes)
$72.00
-$15.00 (Amount from the Groupon)
-$30.00 ("Buy 2 get 2 or buy 3 get 3" sale)
 $27.00 for all 6 items, only $4.50 per item!

This week, had I not gotten any of these cosmetics on sale or used coupons, I would have paid $127.43. Since I was smart about my shopping, I only paid $39.25! What were you able to score this week? Make sure that if you want to get in on any of the Drugstore deals, you shop before Sunday!