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Ipsy – August 2017

Good Morning and happy Tuesday y’all! I got my Ipsy bag at the end of last week and I’m going to be real honest… I like about half of what I got (maybe I’m just being picky lately, but I haven’t been super impressed with the last few bags I got)!

I know we never talked about the July bag, but with everything going on last month I just ran out of time!

Here’s the deal, I’m going to share with y’all what I got in my pouch this month and what I did or didn’t like about each item in my bag:

For starters, the theme of August’s bag was GOOD VIBES ONLY. My bag said Peace Love Lipstick. I liked this bag more than some of the others because of its simplicity and is cute enough to throw into my work purse.

The Products:

theBalm Cosmetics Voyage Vol. 2 Eyeshadow in Willkommen – Value for 0.57 g= $5.50

You can get the Face Palette for $39.50 which includes 9 eyeshadows, 2 blushes, a bronzer, a highlighter, and 2 lip/cheek creams. Famous for their triple-milled pigments and anti-aging ingredients, theBalm is one of our fave go-tos for gorgeous, cruelty-free products. The Willkommen eyeshadow is a deep caramel shade, perfect for creating boho-inspired looks. I think this color is super cute and if I didn’t already have like 5 of the same color then this would def be a keeper in my book. I really like theBalm products and look forward to receiving it in my bag!

FORMULA 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask – Value for 1 oz = $2.06

The full 3.4 oz mud mask retails for $6.99. You’ll instantly feel the tingle of this clarifying mask as it sucks the gunk out of clogged pores. AHHHH yes, I love masks that I can paint on my face! I prefer these over sheet masks any day of the week. This one smells really good and left my face feeling really clean but not all dried out like some masks make you feel. I can’t wait to use this again and with its inexpensive price I will definitely be buying this again!

sundays Nail Polish in No. 28 – Value for 14 ml = $18

This is a FULL size product!! Based in NYC, Sundays’ nail salons have spawned a cult following for their cruelty-free, non-toxic nail polishes! Sundays nail polish has an insanely shiny lacquer finish and a totally curated color selection. This color is a lavender grey and looks really nice on the nail. I normally do gel manicures, but sometimes a girl’s just gotta let the nails breath and use a regular ol’ polish. This color will be great when the weather gets a little bit cooler and we transition into Fall!

Make Up For Ever EXCESSIVE LASH Arresting Volume Mascara – Value for 2.5 ml = $7.35

The full size 8.5 ml mascara retails at $25. This mascara gives you the fanned-out lash look with its petite brush. The blend of soft and hard fibers on the brush allows you to layer on the formula and build up your lashes while combing through to nix clumps. I LOVE getting mascara in my bag!!! Personally, I love Make Up For Ever and was super excited to get this in my bag this month. I’ve been looking for a new mascara so this came at the perfect time. (side note: I haven’t purchased mascara for almost a year now!) I really like this mascara and it’s become my go-to in the morning.

Hey Honey Come Clean: Propolis & Minerals Facial Scrub – Value for 15 mL = $5.14

The full 70 mL cleanser retails for $24. The main ingredient in this scrub is Propolis extract (a healing and anti-inflammatory compound produced by bees). It helps dissolve residue, minimize the look of pores, hydrate, and brighten up your skin. It’s also packed with non-abrasive dissolving crystalline beads to help clear dead skin cells and blackheads for a smoother complexion. This is the perfect size to throw into my gym bag for when I shower after my workout during lunch. It has a nice feel to it because of the beads (I always feel like my face gets cleaner with them) and I am totally washing away all the sweat/makeup residue after my workout!

While I can’t guarantee an exact price of the products in the whole bag, I’ve estimated that the AUGUST bag is worth at least $38.05! While there was only 1 FULL size item in the bag, I think that the $10 you pay for the bag is such a steal compared to buying each item separately!

The cost of the box every month is $10 + tax and free shipping. So for 5 products (one of which should be full size, the low price is a pretty good bargain. The bag is great if you’re looking to try out different products that you may not currently use.

To subscribe to Ipsy use my referral link to discover new brands/products that you might come to love that you wouldn’t otherwise try!

XOXO

p.s Let me know if you got anything different that you absolutely loved!

Also, if you see something that you like/want feel free to check out Mercari if you have it. If I can’t find friends that want any of the goodies I’m not a fan of, I try to sell it!

August 15, 2017
The Engagement Party

Happy Monday y’all!! I know that last week I only posted one time but like I told y’all, I’ve been super busy these last couple of weeks. Here I am to tell you what I’ve been up to…the Fiancé and I finally celebrated our engagement with our families this past Saturday. It was a TON of work but the final outcome was everything I hoped it would be.

Ok, so for starters, we’ve been planning this party since about May. It was supposed to be in July, but my future in-laws house wouldn’t be done with their remodel by the beginning of July so we pushed it back to the beginning of August instead. The remodel at the house should have been done around mid-July, but as of Monday of last week, it still wasn’t finished (eek, talk about stressful!). So we were about a week out and the remodel seemed to be never-ending and I honestly didn’t think it would be done in time. I think magic was made because by Friday, the bathroom and living room were about 95% done and the backyard had grass and was landscaped making the remodel pretty much done.

Friday morning my mom and I went to DTLA so that I could pick up the flowers I needed to make all the centerpieces. As soon as we got to my house, I finished the welcome sign that would be hung for people to see as they walked in and then got to work on cutting and arranging flowers. Once we were done with those, we headed over to the fiancé’s house to start setting up (there were still tons of workers there so not much got done). We all worked really hard on Friday to get as much stuff set up as possible.

Saturday morning rolls around and we head back over to the house to finish setting up all the details. Let me tell you, it was not smooth sailing, there were lots of sweat, tears and threatening to cancel the party (what are y’alls thoughts on kids at an engagement party?) Anyway, we got it all resolved and ended up with 100 people over at my future in-laws house for the party. I made most of the decorations used at the party and my parents helped me with pretty much anything I needed. My future husband’s parents also helped us out a lot too. Even though all of our bridal party couldn’t be there, we had such a great time with everyone who was able to make it. I can’t thank everyone who helped out enough for being there for us even when I was being such a pain!

Here are some pictures of the decorations I made for the party:

Here are some shots of us, the bridal party and our parents:

Sunday afternoon the fiancé and I opened our gifts and were pleasantly surprised at how generous people were (any money we got is going straight into the wedding fund account because every little bit helps)! That’s all for my fun-filled weekend. I hope y’all went and did something fun and didn’t work too hard!

XOXO

August 7, 2017
SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW

Dear ________,

I’ll always look at pictures of us and wonder where it all went wrong and think about all the good times we used to have. I miss you sometimes when I think about how you would be the first person I would tell things to, my best friend. We were supposed to be there for each other and be in each other’s weddings, you were supposed to be the sister I never had. But looking back now, I know that you didn’t think of me the same way that I thought of you. You just saw me as constant competition, but that’s not what I wanted to be. Now when I see you, you’re nothing more than a stranger to me. We walk past each other like we’ve never met, like we weren’t the family I thought we were, and like we didn’t have a million inside jokes or secrets with each other. Thanks for being a learning experience for me that even after all this time I still haven’t figured out.

Sincerely,

The girl you used to know

Wow, ok so that got a little emotional up there. Let’s be honest… I’m sure many of you have felt that same way about somebody you used to be close with. I know it’s happened to me a few times, but sometimes it cuts deeper than others and sometimes it still comes back to hurt you years later.

There are always going to be people that come in and out of your life at different times. Some people are meant to stay in your life forever, while others are only there for various amounts of time. Every person that comes into our life has a purpose for being there. I’ve had plenty of people come into my life and then leave and every time someone leaves, there’s a lesson to be learned. For the most part, everyone who is no longer in my life, I’ve figured out the reason that they didn’t stick around, but there are some that, I think, I will never know the lesson that was supposed to come from them. But don’t get me wrong here, this doesn’t mean that I don’t know why or what happened to make them leave my life (I know damn well what happened!).

There will be FRIENDS that eventually drift out of your life and it may not even be from something significant. It could be as simple as you went to different high schools, or your lives were on different tracks. When I was younger, I was a competitive gymnast with a very rigorous training schedule and I had friends at school that didn’t understand that and eventually we went separate ways because my commitments were not with partying on the weekend and drinking (with an 8am Saturday morning practice, there were no late Friday nights). I still see some of those people that drifted away from time to time, but they’re not really in my life anymore, not like the friends I made in high school. I have a few VERY good friends that I can call at any time and they’ll be there. Having so many friends drift away has taught me to appreciate the best friends that I have and that every friendship takes a little bit of work. I’m grateful for the friends that I have and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

There will be BOYFRIENDS that come into your life and you’re either with them for a short while or you’re with them for years before you FINALLY break up. Let’s face it, you’re devastated at first, but then you get over it and realize all the reasons that they were no good for you and why they weren’t going to fit into your life. Maybe they wanted different things in life, maybe they were holding you back from reaching your full potential, or you were blind when you were with them and couldn’t see what everyone else was telling you. But then you meet someone and something in your heart feels different than any other time; you look at them knowing that it’s forever and then that forever becomes a reality and at that moment you know that all the frogs made it possible for you to find your prince. All of those other silly boys that came first taught you valuable lessons: how you want to be treated, what you’re truly looking for in the man that you want to spend forever with, what you will/won’t put up with in a relationship and how to stick up for yourself. But most of all, you learn that you deserved to be treated like the absolute princess that you are and you won’t let anyone treat you any other way. So to them, say thank you for that learning experience and hold on to the one that treats you like no one else before has (thank you to my fiancé for showing me what true love is and for always supporting my dreams).

And I’m going to get real honest with you, there could even be FAMILY who decide that you’re not good enough for them and they walk right out of your life like they never even knew you. In the town I grew up in it’s pretty common for people to not talk to their own family. It makes me sad to think about that, but I get it; and trust me, I can relate. It doesn’t make it right and it definitely doesn’t make it ok, but sometimes there is literally nothing you can do about it. These right here are the lessons that are hardest to figure out (shoot, I honestly couldn’t tell you what lesson I’ve learned yet) and yet the memories never go away. They’re the hardest “what ifs” to deal with. For a long time I wondered if I had done one particular thing differently then would all this be different? Would the last few years have been easier or harder? But I’ve learned that you can’t think that way because the thoughts will start to consume you and you can’t live like that. You just have to hold your head up high and know that the best way to live your life is to live it exactly the way you want to.

There’s always going to be the “what ifs” in life. What if this never happened? Or what if I had done something differently? But guess what? You can’t go back and change anything now, there’s only one way to keep looking and it sure isn’t behind you. You have to remember that everything happens for a reason and even if you don’t know it yet, it’s happening. There’s a reason that certain people don’t stick around to see the most important parts of our lives and the huge milestones that you accomplish. So my advice to y’all is to live life to the fullest and to always be proud of who you are and the choices you have made in life.

Thank you for letting me get a little personal with y’all today. I had planned on a different post, but with all the upcoming milestones for me it had me thinking on a deeper level. Let me know what your thoughts are or if you have anything you’d like to share.

XOXO

July 31, 2017