Category: Beauty

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Beauty Lifestyle Shopping

Amazon Prime Day Haul 2018

Dislcaimer: This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. 🙂

If you don’t know what Amazon Prime Day is, you’ve probably been living under a rock! But really, Prime Day is a one day shopping event in for Amazon Prime Members – it’s kind of like Black Friday online in July. I think it launched a couple years ago, but I participated for the first time last year when I bought this Roomba for half the original price (~$200):

I still use that Roomba at least once a day and I love that thing, even though it’s kind of noisy. Anyway, if you know me I hate going to the mall and although I can throw down plastic when I feel like it, shopping is just such an inconvenience. I basically live off of Amazon Prime and of course, even though I wasn’t eyeing anything in particular, I ended up buying a ton of random, unnecessary things for Prime Day 2018. Thanks, Jeff Bezos. I posted a screenshot of my sins on my IG stories yesterday and people kept asking what I got so I thought I’d share my haul while patiently waiting for my stuff to arrive in the mail tomorrow.

First up – this set of Non Slip Memory Foam Bath Rug Set. Original price: $33.90; Amazon Prime Day Price: $24.60. Did I need this? Absolutely not, but I’ve had my current bathroom set for years and my dog, Yeyo, chewed some of the corners so it’s probably time for a replacement. Besides, do you know how hard it is to find a matching set I like at Walmart?! (I’m being sarcastic, but I try to avoid Walmart if I can!)

Next, a box of 100 18″ Disposable Pastry Bags. Original Price: $16.50; Amazon Prime Day Price: $11.53. Again, did I need this? Hell no! But #cookingroxy just ran out of piping bags for when I make cupcakes and who doesn’t need 100 just in case? Don’t judge me, cause I think I make a decent cupcake.

While, we’re in the kitchen, I also bought this 10″ Stainless Steel Frying Pan. I’ll be the first to admit that my cheap cookware is not cutting it anymore, but I wait til things get so bad that I can’t use them anymore before I replace them and I kind of needed a better frying pan. I got a cheap non stick frying pan from TJ Maxx when I moved to Dallas and it’s so rusted, it’s unusable. My Dad always says stainless steel is the way to go, so why not? Original Price: $39.29; Amazon Prime Day Price: $32.29. Did I need this? Maybe a little. I saw the same frying pan listed on Target for $49 so I don’t even feel bad about this one at all.

The last of my kitchen things, this Stainless Steel Garlic Press. My dad would be so proud of me for buying stainless steel! Did I need this? YES. It’s stainless steel, it comes in AN ELEGANT BOX! I’m kidding, about the box, but if you cook with a lot of garlic and don’t have a garlic press, wtf are you doing in life?! I’m kind of skeptical about this tube roller thing, but my current garlic press is falling apart and this one looked pretty. Original Price: $17.97 Amazon Prime Day Price: $11.50.

Another thing I don’t need, but probably would’ve bought at full price anyway, Evlution Fat Burner. I’ve tried it before, but wasn’t really consistent on working out and eating well so I wanted to try it one more time. Original Price: $19.99; Amazon Prime Day Price: $14.99.

I definitely did not need these Memory Foam House Slippers, but you know what, I’ve been wanting house slippers for a while and they were on sale so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Original Price: $16.95; Amazon Prime Day Price: $13.56.

One of the things I got that was actually really worth it to me was this set of Clarisonic Brush Head Replacements. I’ve had a Clarisonic Mia for years and it’s replacing the brush heads every few months always felt like a hassle so when I saw this as one of the Deals of the Day, I had to get it. I will argue that I definitely needed this and I got it for almost half the price! Original Price: $44; Amazon Prime Day Price: $25.

Last but not least, the thing that people have most asked me about, this Kingdom Beauty Facial Steamer! This was absolutely an unnecessary purchase, but I was sucked into Prime Day and I wanted it! My sister bought one last year and I’ve been wanting it, but forgot about it so when I saw it on sale, into my cart it went. I’ve been really getting into skincare in the last 6 months, especially K-skincare, and my skin has improved a lot, but there’s still some stuff that bugs me so I’m still trying some new stuff. I’m hoping I love this thing, but if I don’t, it didn’t break the bank at all. Original Price: $25.99; Amazon Prime Day Price: $14.69

Honorable Mention, which I did not end up purchasing but seriously debated enough to put an poll on my story, this Philips Air Fryer. I’m kind of glad I didn’t buy it because it looks like the Amazon Prime Day Price is the same today at $99.86! I do really want an Air Fryer, but I think I’m going to need to do a little more research before I decide which one. I usually cook for myself and $99 is kind of a lot for a kitchen appliance, even if that is half price.



Did you get anything from Amazon Prime Day this year? What'd you get?!
Let me know in the comments below!

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Beauty Lifestyle

Get Free MAC Makeup with the Back To MAC Program

Back To MAC is MAC Cosmetics recycling program and I’m always surprised at how many MAC users don’t know about this program. I’ve been a loyal MAC girl since I was in college and it’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed loyal. The program is basically to bring in 6 ’empties’, you can get a free lipstick or eyeshadow.

What’s an empty?

An empty is the empty makeup packaging – like used up lipsticks, powders, etc. Items that count for the program:

  • lipsticks
  • lipgloss
  • powders
  • blush
  • eyeshadow pots
  • paint pots
  • liquid liners
  • twist liners
  • fluidline
  • foundation
  • concealer
  • eyelash containers
  • bulk makeup wipes packaging

Things that don’t count for the program:

  • regular pencils
  • makeup brushes
  • eyeshadow refills
  • blush refills
  • accessories – sponges, applicators, etc.

How do I exchange my empties?

You can take them to any MAC store or counter. If you don’t live close to a store, you can mail them in. US residents can mail to:

7603 Trade Port Drive
Louisville, KY 40258

Canadian residents can mail to:

Attention: Customer Service
550 Petrolia Road
Toronto, Ontario M3J 2W3

Although, I can’t vouch for the mail-ins, I’ve never had issues exchanging them in store.

What do I get for free?

A free regular packaging lipstick e.g. the standard black bullet shaped lipsticks – which is a $17.50 value! They won’t let you exchange for any VIVA Glam or limited edition packaging lipsticks. Also, if you’re in an actual MAC store, they’ll let you exchange for a regular packaging eyeshadow pot. (Also a $17.50 value!) The last time I did an exchange for Back To MAC, I got this lipstick in Whirl.

Is there a limit?

The maximum number of items you can exchange at a time is 18 – which will get you 3 items.

It may seem kind of daunting to have to ’empty’ out 6 MAC packages, but honestly, you’d throw them out anyway so you might as well get a free lipstick out of it!

Categories
Beauty Lifestyle

Half Skull Makeup / Dead Ballerina Halloween Costume

 

 

 

This Halloween was the first year I actually got brave enough to go out with my face painted! I always get way too perfectionist about it so I end up being something cute and just do an extra glammed up face, but I was kind of addicted watching all those cool Halloween makeup tutorials on YouTube and decided to attempt a half skull. It was actually way easier than I thought it’d be – especially considering that I have no artistic drawing ability. It worked out, though, and I ended up being a dead ballerina.

 

I drew inspiration from a few YouTubers, but the tutorial that was probably the easiest for me to follow was this one from Roxxsaurus:

 


 

 

I mean, she has the same name as me so it must be good, right?! I practiced a few times before Saturday before I felt comfortable with doing it and even then, I was still a little nervous. The teeth were definitely the hardest part and figuring out how to work with the grease paint was a challenge since I have an oily t-zone, but I think I’ll be better prepared for next Halloween. I’m already thinking about doing some gory SFX makeup for next year! But here’s a list of products I used:

 


And an outline of how I did it:

 

  • I started off by priming my face with Benefit POREfessional Matte Primer, making sure I covered that t-zone area and priming my lips with vaseline – that grease makeup dried out my lips!
  • I filled my brows as usual, then went onto doing a really heavy smokey eye using MAC’s Carbon (matte black) and MAC’s Gesso (matte white). I finished it off with the Eylure Faux Mink Lashes in Opulent. (I seriously LOVE those lashes).

  • before & after of the smokey eye

    Next, I drew the outline of the top of the skull and the nose part with a nude colored lip liner then started coloring in the white portion of the skull. I actually just ended up using cheap grease makeup from Spirit Halloween so I had to layer it twice. I’d let the first layer dry before putting on the next and set it with MAKEUPFOREVER’s HD Powder.
  • I outlined the top line of the skull and nose portion with gel liner and used the black grease makeup to fill it in. I tried the look using just the black grease makeup, but it was so greasy and constantly smudged. I noticed the liner stayed a lot better for the detailed parts so I used it for the outlines and teeth but used the grease makeup to fill in larger parts.
  • The teeth/mouth area was the hardest part, I honestly just really tried my best to imitate a picture of a skull I found on google. For the teeth, I tried to keep the lines as thin as possible and I TRIED my best to blend it nicely. I also went back in after blending with the white grease paint and set it with the white eyeshadow.
  • The hollows of the cheek were also a hard one for me. I outlined the shape with the gel liner, filled it in with grease makeup about 3/4 the way to the teeth, set the grease makeup with black eyeshadow and used a blender blush to blend it towards the teeth.
  • The last step, I attempted to add some depth to the skull by shading under the cheekbones. The good thing about Halloween makeup is, it’s almost better when it’s messier. Plus, I figured no one would really notice in the dark!

 

 

 

Here’s some dupes of the outfit I wore!

The finished makeup look!

 
What did you dress up as for Halloween? Did you do any fun makeup looks?