Ipsy January 2015

This is a review for the Ipsy bag from January 2015. Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that focuses on makeup with some skincare, hair care, and nail polish products. It's $10/month (+ $.75 for tax (?)) for a small makeup bag plus 5 samples that are influenced by a quiz you take. You can earn Ipsy points for reviewing products, posting things to your facebook, and inviting friends. These points can be redeemed for additional full-sized products.

Black to Gold Gradient Nails

I've been so busy that I haven't had the chance to write about my most recent nail art yet. I wanted to do a gradient with some more challenging colors than I have done previously. So, I chose to do a black to gold gradient. I have been wearing this since Sunday and it still looks pretty good with just a little bit of wear at the tips!

Opal Nails

I decided to do something really simple the other day based on a suggestion I got on a reddit post. The intention was to make an opal effect, which is awesome because opal is my birthstone! I do like how this turned out, though in the future I might use a more pearly colored white polish for the base.

Sample Simple Nail Designs

A little while ago, I put together a wheel of relatively simple nail designs for practice and to show my friends. I mostly did winter-y colors and patterns since I have another wheel that I plan on putting more summer-y designs on. Please "Read More" to see close up pictures of the designs.

Birchbox January 2015

This review is for the Birchbox from January 2015. Birchbox is a very popular subscription box. It is $10/month for 4-5 beauty and lifestyle samples, which are personalized based on a quiz you take. They seem to stick to the quiz fairly well, though they do state that even if you "dislike" a particular product, you may still get it once a year or so. The great thing about Birchbox is its reward system. You get 10 points for every item you review from your box, as well as a point for every dollar you spend in the Birchbox shop (which includes the purchase of your actual box). You can also get points for referring friends. Every 100 points you accumulate is $10 toward a purchase from the shop, which contains full-sized items, some of which are exclusive to Birchbox. So, it's a pretty inexpensive way to try out products and then use your rewards towards buying the ones you ended up liking or something else entirely.

Sample Society January 2015

This review is for the January 2015 Sample Society Box.  I was generously gifted a 3 month subscription to the allure Sample Society Box for my birthday (in October). The box costs $15/month + tax and is curated by allure magazine. The box includes 5 deluxe samples of makeup, skincare, hair care, and fragrance items. You also receive a $10 off of $50 coupon each month to use at BeautyBar.com, which is the umbrella company. This is my final box of the subscription.

Pink Stripes and Heart Nails

My first nail art of the new year! I decided to forgo the winter themes and go with something a little bit on the cuter side. I guess this could even be a Valentine's Day mani! I really like this bright pink color that I picked up the other day and I thought that the gunmetal color would really complement it.

Walmart Beauty Box Winter 2014-2015

This review is for the Winter 2014-2015 Beauty Box from Walmart. It is a quarterly box that you receive once every season and it costs $5 per box. This is only the second box, but so far it seems like each box contains a mix of "deluxe-sized" makeup, skin care, and hair care samples along with a couple "foil packet" style samples. There were a lot of variations that I saw this season that seemed highly dependent on when you received the box. I got mine in late December for reference.

Ipsy December 2014

This is a long overdue post about the Ipsy bag from December 2014. Ipsy is a monthly subscription box that focuses on makeup with some skincare, hair care, and nail polish products. It's $10/month (+ $.75 for tax (?)) for a small makeup bag plus 5 samples that are influenced by a quiz you take. You can earn Ipsy points for reviewing products, posting things to your facebook, and inviting friends. These points can be redeemed for additional full-sized products.

Cabins & Cross-Country Skiing in Central New York

Now for a post that's a little out of context! While I was visiting my family in New York, we took a trip up to the Fish Creek Cabin Resort in Taberg. It's a little cluster of cabins in a tiny town, which is open year-round for seasonal activities. My family, my boyfriend, and I rented two cabins for the weekend to enjoy some snow sports.

Winter Break Nails

I have not been doing a very good job of keeping up with my blogging! So, get ready for a flood of posts! First, I want to show a couple of nail art designs I did while I was visiting my family up in Central New York.