Thank you to my readers- My First Sweepstakes!

Does this box look familiar? it should because it was the Glossybox Dallas Shaw collaboration box from last year. I decided that I have waaaaaayyyyyy too many Glossyboxes laying around the house and there is absolutely no point in keeping two of these boxes (I was mistakenly sent 2 boxes that month) to myself. But what's the point in giving away a box without something in it? So I have gathered together some goodies to give away, some items purchased double by mistake because sometimes when you have too much makeup you forget and some duplicates from subscription boxes and some bought myself. I may buy some more stuff to fill out the box a bit more and to add to the excitement of my very first sweepstakes. 

As you can see there is plenty of space left inside the goodie box. 

The first item I have to show you all is a raspberry peony hand cream from Target. it smells more of peony than raspberry and is super moisturizing. ($1.50 value) 

Next on the list is the Brazilian Blowout Acai Deep conditioning mask in a sample size. Always great to have a small conditioner for on the go. A great size to throw on your gym bag or to travel with. the sample size is 1 ounce and comes to 2.75 worth of product.

I have the same exact one and was given in a sub box as a duplicate so I am giving this one away. It is full size and retails for $9. its very moisturizing and adds a nice pink tint to the lips. 

I absolutely have too much nail polish that I don't even wear. On top of that these both are duplicates and have been in my giveaway stash for a bit now. It's doing me no good collecting dust so hopefully these can find a nice home with the winner. (OPI is full size and retails for 6.95 online and the Nails Inc. in Baker Street mini size can be found online for 2.99) 

It's not funny how many facial wipes I have. not only do I buy large 100 wipe packs in bulk I also get them in my subscription boxes as well. I know they are something I use frequently but thought these were nice and too good not to share. (10 pack for $1.99) 

I also have a full size of the Mica Beauty Cosmetics eyeshadow in bronze. I really love bronze shadows and can be dressed up or down for the occasion. (full sized and retails for $14.95)

These are real beauties, aren't they? I cannot find the exact same pair online but you can find them in another color here at this website if you like. They retail for 6.99 which is a steal, right? The pictures really don't do them much justice. 

 UPDATED 2/20/2014

I have now just added this Boots Extracts Body Scrub to the mix. if you'd like to see the review for it you can click here. This is a gentle moisturizing scrub perfect for daily use. Just don't try eating it like I did because it smells so good. I still will be adding more items in the gift box so return back if you'd like to see what else I have in store. 

UPDATED 02/26/2014

I have added these 3 items to the box of goodies up for grabs with the swatches of the blush/bronzer and my thought on the brushes at this post here. 

So there you go! That is what I have accumulated for my box of goodies and should be adding a few more items to really get this box filled. So far this box retails for about $57 worth of goodies. This sweepstakes is to thank all my lovely readers and to test out how to run a sweepstakes on my own. I do want to run a few more on here in the future with some even better prizes. Hopefully not only you gain some awesome swag but I gain some experience as well. Win win situation if you ask me! 

Don't forget to tell your friends!

The sweepstakes is open to everyone in the U.S. 18 and older (sorry international readers). The winner will be selected randomly by a drawing. Entries will be accepted starting February 12, 2014 and will end midnight pacific time on March 01, 2014. Entries entered by people by multiple accounts will be disqualified and so will entries entered through accounts solely used for entering contests, sweepstakes and giveaways.  I will check all entries before doing the drawing and winner will be notified via email and also announced here on this blog post. I will announce the winner at least by Sunday March 2, 2014. The winner will have 4 days to respond back before a new winner is selected. 

Good luck! 

XOX Veritypretty

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Daily Necessities foaming bubble bath

I think I really may have reverted back to being 5 years old. For real. Well, maybe not for real but whatever. I have been totally obsessed with bubble baths. I just got over the flu about a week ago and what really helped me get through the sweaty fevers and cold flashes were bubble baths. It just really brought me back to being a kid, the only thing that I was missing were the bath toys. 

So now that I'm down to my last bottle I hopped on over to Big Lots to find some inexpensive bubble bath for my addiction. These two were $2.80 each and fit the bill for being cheap. These two were the best smelling of the bunch as well. I would say the jasmine is floral without being too "girly" and overpowering. The cucumber melon is surprisingly sweet smelling and I would say more melon forward. My nose only detected faint whispers of cucumber. 

As for the actual bubbly action, I was a bit dissapointed but then again when your expectations entail bubbles overflowing instantly when dumped in the tub you will always be pretty dissapointed. You do get more bubbles when you swish your arms around in the water so I splashed around like a beached fish on the shore to help generate extra bubbles. 

On another note, I'd say the water felt very soft from all the soapy action going on. I'm not used to my baths feeling that way at all. It just felt like soap was everywhere. I'm not sure if that's normal because none of my other bubble baths have made the water feel like that before. I'm not sure if I like that feeling yet or not. 

So here are my pros: 

Cheap 

Smells good 

Decent amount of bubbles 

The soft feeling of the water

Here are some cons: 

I used 1/4 of the bottle 

The amount of bubbles didn't live up to my fantasy 

Contains parabens 

The slippery feeling of the water 

So I know I don't like this %100 but I do like it. The pros outweigh the cons but I just can't get over that slippery feeling in the tub. 

What are some of your favorite budget bubble baths out there? I need some suggestions because as much as I like testing out cheapie products I prefer to try something a bit more tried and true. So let me know which ones are your favs because as you can see I need some help! 

XOX 

Veritypretty 

L'Oreal Power Moisture Moisture Rush Mask Review

My hair has been in an awful state of dryness and split ends. I'm getting sick of it but I'm too broke to get a decent haircut at the moment. So I'm trying to get it at least super hydrated again but I know I'm just going to eventually cut it off because that's the only way to get my hair back to a decent state. 

My go to Tresseme Platinum Strength has not been working on my hair anymore and it desperately needed a switch up and this L'oreal Power Moisture hair mask looked like it could work out for me. 

The formula smells very nice and isn't too perfumey. To me it just smells very clean. The jar is a bit of a turn off because I can just see myself dropping it and spilling it all then slipping from the goo and hitting my head. I'm a walking freak accident waiting to happen. The white part of the top is also just glued on for decorative purposes so I can totally see that just coming off then going into the trash in thd future. 

The goo is pretty runny for a deep conditioner or any conditioner for that matter. The directions said to apply to freshly washed hair and leave on for a couple minutes. I said screw it and applied to dry hair I washed earlier that day then threw on my jiffy pop thermal hair cap and sat on the couch watching my stories. About 20-30 minutes later I hoped in the shower and rinsed. As I rinsed it out I felt my hair was already super soft and smooth. It just felt like a nice curtain of smooth hair. 

As it dried I felt the roots got pretty greasy but my ends were super moisturized and silky soft. I now see why I should have followed directions and just washed then conditioned it instead if just conditioning it because my scalp is pretty oily as is without accidentally gloving on conditioner on it. Oh well! Totally my fault. I ended up washing my hair the following day and it felt like I did need a bit less conditioner than I usually use to keep my hair from getting tangly. 

So overall thumbs down for the tub packaging and cheap cap with glued on decals but the way it made my hair shine and made it feel moisturized. 

Have any of you tried using this with any luck? Anyone have no luck with it? Let me know what you think about this! 

XOX 

Veritypretty 

Ipsy glam bag January 2014

I skipped out on last month's ipsy bag but I missed it so much I had to get the bag for this month. I kind of wish I didn't though. Right out of the bag this shipped in it smelled like chemicals or cheap dollar store toys or pool toys. It took awhile to air out the smell but you can still smell it faintly. 

Then I saw the dreaded foil packets...way  too many of the foil packets. 

And the foil packets are going in the trash. Mark fading pads from proactive?!! No thanks, I'd rather put acid on my face and burn all my flesh off than use proactive products. 

Things started looking up because I really needed some hair mask in my life at the moment. My hair has been so dry and I've been cutting my split ends at my desk at work it's so bothersome. I've even started to get a rats nest like tangle on my second and third day hair, that's how dry and damaged my hair is. But I think I just need to cut off 2 inches from my hair, I honestly don't have patience to wait for my hair to go through rehab. 

The texture of the product looks nice and thick and looks promising. The one ounce package might be good for about 2 or 3 uses. I will update you all and let you know how it works out. 

I have never ever heard of the brand Malin+Goetz in my life before but was excited because somebody out there knows I love mojitos. They must know, right? 

I'm always in when it comes to trying out new lip balms but after opening this I was turned off a little. I don't know why but the clear formula just made me cringe. It reminded me of a rash gel or something for hemerroids. Definitly not very cosmetic like. There was only a faint hint of mint on the lips and I couldn't tell where the lime was. Definitly a mojito made from a mix and not made fresh. If it was a drink, I would have sent it back. The texture was a bit thick and sticky so I think this is just a miss all around. 

This is the saddest encounter I had in the bag. I love sugar scrubs and absolutely couldn't wait to try it out. 

But then I noticed that it was a bit dry looking for a scrub and when I opened it I discovered that the safety seal was opened halfway. So it looks like I'll have to contact customer service because I'm not going to use opened products. 

My mom got her bag sooner than me and she said she didn't like this pencil because it disintegrated when she swatched it. 

The packaging was so thick you would think the pencil would be a substantial size but nope! It's the same size as an eyeliner pencil. The pencil is pretty small and I would dub this a nub. 

The color is a very wearable copper color and has potential to be a good base for a bronzed goddess eye look for summer or layering under a black eyeliner. 

The color isn't too bold once swatched and I feel it took a lot of layers to get enough pigment on my skin. I'll give it a try on my lids once and see if I like it more used in my makeup routine. 

So overall I was pretty dissapointed in my bag. I refuse to use the pads, I can't use the unhygienically opened scrub, the lip gel is sticky, the eyeliner is just meh and I am only excited to use the hair mask. But at least this has been the one and only dislike of my overall bag since I started subscribing almost a year ago. Hopefully next month won't be such a sad story. 

Did you get the January Ipsy bag? Was yours as dissapointing or better? Hopefully yours was a lot better than mine because this one just made me shake my head in dissapointment. 

If you are interested in subscribing yourself here is my referral link.

XOX 

Veritypretty 

Front Desk Essentials #2 - Tazo Refresh

There are always times we are at work and just start feeling under the weather or maybe need a bit of a pick me up but without any added caffeine. My go to is to brew myself a cup of mint tea. The mint is soothing to an upset stomach and can help if you happen to feel nautious. I also brew a cup for a nice all natural headache soother. It is also awesome to have for when you have congestion and a stuffy nose because it really helps open up your sinuses.  It doesn't cure any these problems but it sure makes them easier to handle. 

There is also a nice peppy feeling I get from drinking a cup of mint tea and is a good caffeine free way for me to zip through that very last hour of the day because no matter how much I love my cups if caffeine, I do need a break from it sometimes. 

You can buy any brand you wish but I really like the Tazo brand because it contains a little bit of tarragon in the mix so it adds a bit of interest to your cuppa tea. 

So what's your favorite tea to drink at work? Are there any herbal blends you reccomend for an all natural pick me up? 

XOX