Tuesday, July 15, 2014 July BIRTHDAY Haul

As some of you may know, my Birthday was last week! I'm one of those people who LOVES getting to celebrate their Birthday, especially because it gives me an excuse to splurge a bit on some things for myself (not to mention gifts you get from others too)! So here is my July Birthday Haul:

Craft/Food Fair Goodies:

The weekend before my Birthday, my family & I signed up for a 5K race that ends at a huge craft/food fair. I was so excited to find handmade flower crowns at the fair at only $10 for 2! I walked away with a crown of small purple flowers & a crown of larger cream colored flowers. I feel like a hippie "flower child" whenever I wear them which makes me happy.

A few minutes later, I came across a handmade dream catcher necklace that for some reason I NEEDED. It is my new favorite necklace and I wear it as often as possible. I also ended up with 3 bags of "spices" that you can use to make dips. They are seriously delicious and made by Gourmet Creations. You can buy some of their dip mixes online, my favorites were: Portabella & Artichoke, Cucumber Dill, & Spinach Parmesan. Yum!

Sephora Online Order:

My favorite company Birthday freebie (besides getting a free Dunkin Donuts drink) is the Beauty Insider Sephora gift! For July, the gift was sponsored by Make Up For Ever (my personal favorite brand) and they gave out a sample of their mascara & lip stick. Coincidentally, the lipstick they gave is my favorite shade (Rouge Artist Natural N9)! I also got a free Stila liquid lipstick in red using a 4th of July coupon code. I also bought Sephora's black liquid eyeliner which is my everyday top lid liner, Clinique's All About Eyes Rich to help with my dark circles/puffy eyes, and Too Faced Natural Eyes eye shadow. I have used Urban Decay's Naked palette for so long now & loved it but the price point is a bit steep when I only use about 4 of the eyeshadows daily. Hoping I love the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette just as much so I can save $18 from now on!

Sirius XM Radio:

I always viewed radio as a dying medium, never really paying attention to it or caring to spend money on it. However, that was before I got my new job where I now have to commute to work an hour each way (often longer with traffic). Thus, my Mom figured out the perfect gift for me, a 1 year subscription to Sirius XM radio. It's only been a little over a week and I already LOVE it! I have comedy stations, decade stations, and talk radio stations. My commute to and from work goes by so much faster now & there's always something I can find to listen to!

Adorable Geekiness:

Last but not least, my Boyfriend decided to make me a gift for my Birthday this year! He also got me a few other things but I loved that he took the time and effort to find these Pokemon cards & other materials to put this together. He used all of my favorite Pokemon: Pikachu, every Eevee evolution, Mew, Raichu, & Vulpix. It's hanging over next to my computer desk now, and I love it in all of it's adorable geekiness!!

Sorry it's been so long between blog posts! I'm going to try & get better with posting at least one new post a week if not more. Thank you for all the birthday wishes too via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, & Instagram! Was feeling the love from every possible Internet angle. <3

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 My Makeup Bag Favorites

I like to view gaming as a gender neutral activity. It's because of this that I try not to post anything girl-specific on my YouTube channel or it's surrounding social media pages. However, seeing as this blog was created as an outlet for me to talk about everything non-gaming related, I feel that I should be able to write about some of my favorite girly things!

I get a lot of requests about my makeup, hair, or clothing that it may help some of my female viewers out to know what products I use. Thus, I will start off with my makeup bag favorites for those who are interested in knowing what I use!

1. Smashbox Primer + Make Up For Ever Foundation

2. Urban Decay Eye Primer

3. Urban Decay Naked Palette + Snatch Eyeshadow

4. Sephora Brand Liquid Eyeliner - Black

5. Mattese NYC Brunette Eyebrow Pencil

6. Maybelline "The Colossal" Mascara

7. Urban Decay Pencil Eyeliners

8. Make Up For Ever Lipstick

I've never been big into fashion, hair styling, or nail design. Makeup, however, I am obsessed with. These are only the makeup items that I use on a daily basis. I start off with primer (the purple variety is for yellow-tinted skin like mine) and then apply my foundation. Next, I move onto my eyes where I apply a small amount of eye shadow primer first. Then I apply my eye shadow which is a cross between my Naked Palette and a single new eye shadow I've fallen in love with called "Snatch" by Urban Decay. Next is my favorite part, the liquid eyeliner which I usually draw in a subtle cat-eye look with on my upper lid only. Then it's onto the mascara and coloring in my eyebrows a bit with my eyebrow pencil. Sometimes I will apply a bit of black eyeliner pencil on my bottom lid depending on the occasion. I also have a purple and teal eyeliner pencil that I use on my bottom lid for a more fun look when the situation calls for it! Lastly, I put on some lipstick which can range from pink to a red.

Do you use any of my favorites? If not, anything you would recommend me try? ^_^