Julep Maven December box

I think it has been awhile since I have featured one of my subscription boxes so I thought now would be a perfect time to do it. I really liked the silver box this month and thought it was a festive touch for the holiday season. 

This month I didn't switch up my profile but I did happen to get a couple add-on colors. I really wasn't very excited about getting the beauty product this month as it was a pallet of neutral eye shadows but the colors are very nice but a bit incomplete. There really isn't any color that can be used as a highlighter included and I really crave a highlighter if I am going to have an all in one go-to eye shadow palette. 

I am really in love with all these colors and can't wait to put together a holiday look with them. I have been looking for a good glitter top coat and hopefully this one will serve me well. I think it would look great over the eggplant color that came with the box as well. 

Soooo...I will do a separate feature on the eye shadows this week, hopefully tomorrow it will go live. I have already done some swatches and worn it out on the town once already and will give you the final verdict on it then. I could have done it here but didn't really want to bombard you everything all at once. 

I also have an awesome announcement to make. I have finally broken down and bought myself a camera and should be here by Tuesday. So Merry Christmas to me! I am super excited because the last time I actually had a camera was maybe 2007-ish. I really wanted it so I don't have to take up so much space on my phone and for traveling. I found that during my trips that I wouldn't take as many pictures as I wanted so I didn't waste so much battery on my phone now this way I can take as many pictures as I want and just change the batteries if I really need to which will be such an awesome feeling. I am hoping it will also help take my blog pictures to the next level. Hopefully you lovelies have some awesome things happening no matter how small they may seem. Hope to see you again soon. 

XOX

Mystery Bag Obsession #1

So I am presenting you all with my very own mini series featuring a mystery bag of goodies featuring things I am obsessed with. I haven't really thought out how often I want to do this. Maybe once or twice a month will do. Nothing that would seem overboard or make me run out of ideas too fast. 

Sooooo...this month's mystery bag contains everything that I own that is PURPLE! Purple is my favorite color but sometimes it can be a hard makeup color to wear. But thankfully there are so many variations of the color it makes it possible for everyone to wear. I have been on a purple lip kick lately because it's such a nice versatile color to wear and a darker plummy one seems very festive now that it has started getting cold. My personal favorite is a reddish looking plum color as a substitute for a red lip because sometimes a red lip can look too formal and just bee too high maintenance for what I am doing. 

So here is most of my collection I have massed together of all my purple colors. I would include mauves as they are in the same family as purple but that would be best for a whole new post honestly because I think I have more mauves than any other color in my collection. I really think I have a good selection to suite any mood I may be having and considering I am a very moody person  because sometimes I can change from a bright sunny disposition to one of utter disdain for everything around me in minutes. 

So here are all the swatches from my collection and each one speaks to me in a different way. I can go from a really subtle look to something bright and dramatic to something dark and moody. I have also realized that I have A LOT of Maybelline products in my collection. I don't know how that happened, I really don't. I hope I can get around to reviewing all of these sometime soon. I you see a color you want to see more of just let me know in the comment section below and I would be more than happy to write something up on it. If I did have a top three favorites from these it would have to be

1) Mac Rebel 

2) Maybelline color whisper in Berry Ready 

3) Styli Style lipgloss in Tres Chic

So what do you think about purple colors and are you a little obsessed as well? I know It can be a scary thing to think about at first for some but the risk could be worth it. 

Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple Review with Swatches

Hey everyone, sorry for the pretty absent looking blog lately. I keep telling myself to photgraph everything ahead of time and just prep but Ii just cant seem to get organized. It makes it harder to do it because there's never any daylight to do these photo shoots during the day and I get so lazy when the weekend rolls around. That plus the Thanksgiving holiday didn't help either.

But enough excuses and for once I'm doing this review as soon as I got the said item. Such a miracle honestly! I really don't think I have ever tried a lip butter before until now which I find is amazing because everyone sees to rave about them. I think its because I'm already addicted to the Maybelline color whispers it's like, why bother? Same thing right? If its broke don't fix it! Also, instead of getting something in my usual mauve or berry colored lip color comfort zone I have been in I thought to try something along the lines of a red. I really love matte red lip sticks and honestly feel that any shiny red lip color looks a bit cartoonish on me so my biggest challenge has been finding something with a nice solid looking tint with a hint of shine. Just something sheer but not too sheer and shiny but not too shiny. Also something that doesn't accentuate my dry winter lips. Such a big order to fill and all my hopes and reams are set on this one item right here.

I think it might just be me but my hands look kind of hairy in this picture. Oh well! I feel the color swatches really pretty and sheer. I feel it adds enough color without being too dramatic and is not a lacquered looking red but *might* be too shiny by my own absurd standards. Maybe I'm looking for more of a creme sheen than anything else when I choose my red colors. It does feel very moisturizing and looks pretty on my lips so its a keeper but I will keep looking for my perfect sheer red. 

I have one DIY lined up for posting some time soon, I might be working on that later tonight if I am not too distracted from my new pet fishy or the fruit cake I made. Yes, I said fruit cake. It is definitely not one of those roadkill/traffic light laden fruit cakes but contains only dried fruits. Nothing of the glacee variety is up in that bad boy. So I will be babysitting that thing for the next couple weeks and drenching it with booze. Hopefully it will be okay for the upcoming ugly Christmas sweater party coming up. I will definitely keep you posted and let you know if the recipe I used was worth you trying as well along with modifications I made to suit my tastes. 

XOX

Glittered Candle Holders Quick DIY

I decided to do some quick crafty DIY stuff to get ready for Christmas so I bought some cute little candle holders at Ikea and thought "Hey! These could look more festive!" I had a bunch of leftover glitter from another mini project and decided to use it for this. I find that the super fine glitter works the best anything super chunky looks kind of strange and stands out too much. 

Materials needed:

Candle holders 

Small glitter, color of your choice 

All purpose glue 

Sponge brush

Newspaper 

Paper plate for dumping your glue on

Your drink of choice (I chose sparkling wine) 

All I had to do was paint on a thin layer of all purpose paint and then over some laid out newspaper I sprinkled a thin layer of the glitter over the holders. As these are white it is hard to see where you missed spots unless you shine some good lighting on it. I do prefer using the sponge tipped paintbrush because I find you can blot it on and any wipe any excess off easily. 

The sparkle shows up a bit when you have the lights down low and some candles going on but they really get the point across when you have a pretty strand of lights kind of strewn about in the front. 

If you throw on a filter it really brings it out and I thinks it looks super cute just hanging out in front of the TV while sipping a tasty beverage with your favorite show on. I have another DIY for a mini Christmas tree that looks super duper cute alongside these bad boys. This DIY is perfect for anyone and everyone. Seriously, if you're not the least bit crafty you still can't fail at this. But as a warning you might have glitter all over your floor for the rest of the week. 

So hopefully someone pout there is a bit more encouraged to try something a bit crafty not that the holidays are here. We're all going to be spending more time indoors so we might as well enjoy our surroundings. 

XOX

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

Whenever I read a blog and get that deep longing feeling for a certain color for some reason I really don't run out and go buy it. I always forget or they are all out of the color I am lusting after but this one, this was my Moby Dick. This one was my white whale. After searching and searching for one that was still in the stores and not yet opened and swatched by some other inconsiderate customer. I mean, isn't that what beauty bloggers are for? I mean c'mon we are all so glued to our phones liking spam on Facebook nowadays and yet we don't have the time to Google "lipstick swatches"? Really?!! Okay...enough of my mini rant. Luckily I was finally able to find this within a five mile radius of home and I didn't have to resort to getting desperate and ordering it online. 

I know I have probably passed up this lipstick a few times thinking it would bee too dark and vampy but now that I have gotten my paws on it I feel it isn't that bad. It really compliments my fall/winter skin very well and over all I am glad I got it. To me it's pretty dang festive for the season and even though we might be getting 90 degrees in the afternoon and 50 degrees at night (damn you non fall weather! damn you!!!!). Are you guys out there lusting after any similar colors? I hope I had the chance to convert one of you out there to join the dark side of the lip color spectrum because as a former non believer It just took one post to convert me!

XOX