August favorites, The Things I'm Digging

August Favorites

1.        Lush ocean Salt face and Body Scrub
2.        Fortune Cookie Soaps Banana hammock
3.        CoverGirl Wetslicks Fruit Spritzers, Guava splash
4.        Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renewal Anti-Dark Circle Roller

Reuse it. New uses for empty Birchboxes.

Ever wonder what you can do with you old empty Birchbox? Today I found a use for them. I cleaned out my Junk drawer and found they make great origination containers. They help to keep things in place and separate.  You can use both the bottom and the tops as drawer containers. The boxes are the perfect size for pens and pencils.

Papaya Honey Mask (Home Remedy Series Part 3)

The Papaya Honey mask is good for helping to exfoliate and soften dull dead skin. It also helps to brighten the skin reducing the appearance of freckles and brown spots. The honey is a good antibacterial i.e. it helps to calm breakouts.

What you’ll need 

·        Papaya cubed ( about one cup)

·        Honey (about 2 tables spoons)

·        Blender

Put Papaya and honey in blender and blend until smooth. Apply the mask to the face with fingers and let it sit on the face for 10 minutes. Remove with a wet wash cloth and water. 

The mask can be stored in a container in the refrigerator for about 5 days.

Why the ingredients are good for the skin.

Papaya

·        Papaya contains the enzyme papain, which has wonderful exfoliating properties and removes dead skin, specifically damaged skin.

·        It can also help to reduce the appearance of freckles and brown spots due to exposure to the sun

Honey

·        Honey contains antimicrobial agents which kill bacteria

·        Honey is also a good for moisturizing.

 

NOTD Acid Washed Jeans

I am not someone who is good at nail art or painting my nails neatly for that matter so when I come across an interesting and easy technique I can't wait to try it. Last night I came across a video on how to do an acid washed jeans look on nails.

What you'll need

• Base coat
• Clear Top Coat
• Dark Blue Nail Polish (I used N.Y.C 115A Skin tight Denim cream)
• Light grey polish (I used Essie's Absolutely Shore)
• An Opaque White Polish (I used Sally Hansen's 120 white tip nail-growth miracle)
• Q-Tips
• Nail polish remover

What to do

1. Paint nails with base coat
2. Paint nails with dark blue and let dry well.
3. Paint nails with light grey.
4. Paint nails with white.
5. Take Q-Tip and wet it with the nail polish remover
6. Wipe Q-Tip over painted nail in small sections until blue stats to show through, you will want to move around to different spots on the nail to give it that random patter. remember to not remove too much of the white.
   
7. Repeat for the rest of the nails.
8. Apply a clear topcoat and let dry.

Everyday Neutral With A Pop (Part 1, Pop Of Lime)

There is no need to wear the same boring neutral look every day, spice it up give it a pop. You can add color without going overboard. Adding a bit of bright lime green to the inner corners can make your look pop while still being very wearable.

Here is My Everyday Neutral Look. 
It is what I started with and then expanded upon with the lime green.

Eyes

-          Urban Decay Primer Potion

-          Inglot, light skin tone matte, medium brown matte, light pink pearl, shimmery white, Matte black (as liner)

-          CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion

-          OCC Loose Color, Wasabi

-          Wet & Wild White Eye liner

-          Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara

Face

-          Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renewal Anti-Dark Circle Roller

-          CoverGirl Clean press powder 225 buff beige

-          Maybelline Fit Me Blush Light Mauve

-          Benefit 10 Box High light

-          Tarte Amazonian Clay !2 hour Blush, Tipsy

Lips

-          Revlon Cream Lipstick , 677 Siren

-          Fortune Cookie Soaps Watermelon Lip tint

August Birchbox

This Month’s BirchBox theme was beauty innovations. “These are products that are hopping boundaries rethinking the compact and shaking things up.”

 In my BirchBox

1.       -June Jacobs/ Papaya Purifying Enzyme Masque

2.      - Ouidad/ Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel

3.       -Shaveworks/ The cool Fix

4.       -Smaskbox Cosmetics/ Photo Finish Foundation Primer

5.       -(Extra) Twistband/ Hair Tie

So far I have tried the Shaveworks, and the Smashbox primer. I really liked the Shaveworks after shaving lotion “stuff”, at first when I applied it burned slightly as most things with alcohol on them but soon after it took the little red bumps that I always get from shaving. As for the Smashbox primer it worked amazing! It left my skin feeling smooth and helped make my foundation look flawless.

June Jacobs/ Papaya Purifying Enzyme Masque

Ouidad/ Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel

Shaveworks/ The cool Fix

Smaskbox Cosmetics/ Photo Finish Foundation Primer

(Extra) Twistband/ Hair Tie

10 Minuet Neutral Look

If you’re like me you have to get up supper early in the morning and want to sleep in as late as possible.  Cause let’s face it we could all use some beauty sleep. I also want to go to work looking my best. I decided to see how long a neutral look would take me in the morning, and after timing myself, it was a little less than 10 minutes. This means no having to get up any earlier to do makeup, yeah for sleep. I also have plans for the future to show you how to make little changes and add to your neutral look to give a pop and some flare and get many different looks from the one basic face.

Products Used

Eyes

-          -Urban Decay Primer Potion

-          -Inglot, light skin tone matte, medium brown matte, light pink pearl, shimmery white, Matte black (as liner)

-         - CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion

Face

-          -Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renewal Anti-Dark Circle Roller

-          -CoverGirl Clean press powder 225 buff beige

-          -Maybelline Fit Me Blush Light Mauve

-          -Benefit 10 Box High light

Lips

-         - Revlon Matte lipstick 002 Pink Pout

-          -CoverGirls Wet Slicks Fruit Spritzers 505 Guava Splash

Peacock Eyes ( National Nikki Day)

So yesterday was National Nikki day A.K.A My birthday. It was a pretty good day I didn't do much. I'm waiting for Tuesday to celebrate with some friends from out of town. Yeah Olive garden and Jello shooters! But any way I dolled my face up and played with makeup and came up with this Peacock eye look.

NOTD Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Rare (part 2), with Barry M Crackle.

yes I am quite possibly the worlds worst manicurist.

So decided to try out the neon yellow Illamasqua with the black crackle. I added a maroony purple with silver crackle as an accent. I think it gives that 80's feel.

Lush Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub Review

If you’re like me your new to Lush too. On my recent trip to New York City I was able to visit a Lush store and try out some products. Lush is a Fresh Handmade Cosmetic Company. Their products are made by hand which they tell you where and who made the product. Products are made with fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. They are made with little to no preservatives and packaging and they also don’t test on animals.

Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub-

We take the lime and the coconut (plus grapefruit and sea salt) and mix them together in our stimulating vodka-based face scrub. For a complexion that glows.

The antibacterial effects of lime and the trace of alcohol in the product is ideal for blocked pores, blackheads or blemishes. The minerals in sea salt soften as the salt scrubs away dirt and blockages. Fresh avocado and coconut give hydration back to thirsty skin, while violet leaf absolute calms and nurtures. The fruit contains unsaturated oil that rehydrates skin. Both avocado and coconut soothe the upper layers of skin and are very good for dryness.

(description taken from the container and Lush.com) 

 

I have been using this out for a few weeks now and I have fallen in love with it. I think it has taken top spot for my favorite scrub. First off it smells exactly like a margarita, my favorite drink with the lime and a bit of alcohol.  The scrub exfoliated my face extremely well yet leaves my skin feeling moisturized and not tight. The scrub isn’t only limited to the face. It works well as a foot scrub and I also like it for my elbows and any other places on the skin that might feel rough.  

One thing that I thought was unique was that they have the Date the product was made and who made it with a little cartoon caricature of the person on the side of the jar.