And the verdict is… e.l.f. HD Lifting Concealer

When it comes to bargin makeup, sometimes you get a glorious dupe that saves you major moo-la. And sometimes you get a dud. For me, the e.l.f HD Lifting Concealer is the latter.

Prepping for Paris

Paris in April is a go!

Pic credit: wikimedia.org

Adventures with Coconut Oil

I'm giving something a try and I'd love other insight into it.

I am a Bath and Bodyworks freak. I have loved it ever since I can remember. And working there for four years just sent me further down the rabbit hole, leaving me addicted and drowning in products. However, while I know that in past years they have made steps towards using more natural ingredients, they are still laced with chemicals and nasty things. Not to mention that it's a fairly expensive habit.

I've read a lot about the benefits of coconut oil and how it can be used as a skin moisturizer. Since it's natural, I figured I'd give it a shot to see if it'll be a suitable alternative to my beloved body lotion. I've been using it for about a we now, morning and night. And here's what I've discovered:

And the verdict is… e.l.f. Acne Fighting Foundation

Last November I went to New York City to visit family and was able to go to the e.l.f. Studio store. You can see my full haul and some first impressions on my youtube video here:

Long over due review, I know. But I wanted to be able to truly get a good opinion of these products.

One of the products that I was really excited to try was the Acne Fighting Foundation. I had read some very good reviews about it and, given that I have problem skin, I thought it just might work for me.

Sleek and small and nothing fancy.

Goals for the New Year

It's that time of year when most people set goals for themselves that are more often than not fairly unobtainable. Our hearts in the right place, but come February, when we are no where near this golden idol of an achievement we created for ourselves, most of us discover that our resolve is held together with duck tape and good intentions. And slowly the adhesive fails and we give up. The only thing a New Year's resolution has done for me is make me feel like a failure. However,  having goals in life is a good thing. They motivate and inspire us; push us to go farther and do more than we ever thought we could. So this year, I'm relaxing my expectations a bit, not because I don't think I could achieve something grand, but because baby steps can sometimes get us to our destinations faster than a gigantic leap. Many of these have grander ends and larger hopes. But instead of looking at the whole, vast panoramic as my goal, I'll take a small section of the image and improve upon that. And perhaps, but working on things a little at a time, the picture will come into focus even better than I imagined.

My Top 5 Christmas Songs

Pretty much since the day after Thanksgiving, I have been driving my poor fiancé crazy by keeping the car radio locked on the Christmas channel. I can't help it. I love Christmas music and there is only a precious few weeks out of the whole year that it is considered socially acceptable to blast "Jingle Bells". Plus, it helps put me in a festive moods when it's 5 degrees outside and the roads are so slippery it takes two hours to get home from work.

I though I might spread some holiday joy and share my top five favorite Christmas songs! Enjoy!

For the love of Twisted Peppermint...

Let me just take a few moments and declare my love for a little product that only comes around once a year: Twisted Peppermint

I'll get better at taking these pictures, I promise.