New makeup finds & reviews!

I just happened to stumble across Makeup Geek videos on You Tube one day last week (I know,  I know... I'm so behind the times, in my defense - I make You Tube videos, but then never have time to actually WATCH any!) and I fell in love! Simple to the point instructions, great photo qualities, and products from brands I already was using. Win, win, win.

I was driven to their website out of my natural curiosity to check things out, and slam dunk - more great tutorials, reviews, and even a makeup store!

After watching on makeup tutorial in particular on Contouring, I decided to put in an order to their store to get the Coastal Scents concealer quad (used in the video), NYX green concealer, and the MUG stippling brush. (Perfect to use with my Make Up For Ever HD Foundation!) They arrived super quickly, I ordered on a Wednesday and received my items by Saturday!

The Coastal Scents concealer quad in light is fantastic! (Currently sold out on the Coastal Scents website.) It comes with four shades, a light concealer, a salmon shade, a white to blend, and a light green tinted shade. The light concealer works perfectly under my makeup to hide blemishes, and the salmon color has worked great under my eyes.

I opted to get the seperate NYX green concealer, because I liked the green tint of it more. (You can see in the photo below the difference.) It conceals the red areas I get on the sides of my nose and lasts all day long.

The MUG stippling brush happened to be 25% off when I placed my order, but I probably would have purchased it at it's regular price as well. In a different Makeup Geek video that I watched, she applied foundation flawlessly with the brush - and I knew I had to try it! It was no hoax, I got the brush and it ended all of my liquid foundation application woes! It goes on smoothly and I've only had minimal issues with shedding. I will be ordering more of these brushes in the future when it comes time for replacements.

The best part? The prices! Everything was reasonably priced and cost me the same amount that one item at Sephora would have, this was my first time trying the Coastal Scents or NYX brands - so I was pleasantly surprised that the products really did DO what I wanted them to! I'm looking forward to trying more items from these brands in the future!

Rebecca Minkoff

I had a small foray into the Rebecca Minkoff brand a few years ago, my first RM bag was a Dusty Morning After Mini. A gorgeous color with smooshy leather and silver hardware. (My prefered hardware color.) However it just didn't last long, I was used to Balenciaga leather and styles - and the Dusty color seemed too delicate, too light... for the type of use that I give my bags.

Personal photo - RM Dusty MAM

So it was sold. I've off and on browsed Minkoffs since then, but haven't taken the plunge and tried another one yet. Lately though, I've been getting the urge to give them a try "post-baby" and see what kind of mommy bag a more durable color/leather would be.

This time around, I thought I would go with a durable dark color - like black or navy, that could go with almost anything and be resistant to whatever may be on Cupcake's hands at the moment.

Something like this black Morning After Mini from Luna Boston would be a classic and sure to go with everything:

www.lunaboston.com, RM Black MAM, $495

And this cute little tassel by Rebecca Minkoff would make an adorable keychain or bag charm for a pop of color:

www.lunaboston.com, RM Teal Tassel, Sale Price $22

However, because of my love of blue - I can't help by feel drawn to this Navy Morning After Mini on Muse Ten's website. It's on sale too!

www.museten.com, RM Navy MAM, Sale Price $395

I go in phases where I get bored with one brand and get the urge to branch out to try other things, so we'll see if I indeed give Rebecca Minkoff another chance in the future. It's a fun brand that has styles that have become more of a "classic" like the Morning After and Morning After Mini - so I think it would be great to keep at least one Rebecca Minkoff bag incorporated in my collection.

Beaded Necklace from 'Cassia de Shanghai'

My necklace from Cassia de Shanghai arrived, and it's gorgeous!

It's the "Hainan" style necklace, a beautiful turquoise dyed howlite beaded necklace on turquoise thread. It has subtle veining, that isn't even as apparent in real life as it appears in the with flash pictures. The clasp is just gorgeous, with little flower details - and the little pouches they come in are such a fantastic finishing touch!

I'm thinking about ordering something in a pink color tone next, either the "Something Pink", "Peach", or "Chinese Rose" styles. If you get a chance to check out their website, let me know which one you think would go best with my complexion! Also, you can visit their Facebook page HERE.

I love the simple elegance of a beaded necklace! I'm thinking they might become my go-to items for dressing up my maternity wardrobe!

(I purchased this product on my own and am doing an independent review of the item. Reviewer has received no compensation for writing this review.)

My baby is officially 1 - Cupcake style!

I am officially the proud parent of a 1 year old, and we did it up right... in cupcake style! It's hard to believe that I should be calling her a toddler soon, but for now - she's still the "baby".

We had a little get together at the house for a few of her play group friends and family friends, and celebrated with family while we were over in Illinois the week after her birthday. I'm still behind from all of the party planning, partying, and traveling we did in May -  but hoping I can get back on track with things around here in June!

We even found a fun way to incorporate cupcakes into her 1st birthday pictures...

We took her 1st birthday pictures two days before her actual birthday at Olan Mills, I was happy with how they turned out!

Her party was on her actual birthday, and we had fun watching her (slowly) tie into her cake, open presents, and play with the other kids that were there.

She was actually fairly dainty about eating her cupcake, and we didn't even have to change outfits! :)

In summation, it's been a whirlwind month, and I realize that most of my blog posts have been about our personal family life - as I've just been too tired to hunt down any good shopping finds. Now that I'm onto the second trimester in my pregnancy, I'm feeling more energy and a bit more up to the task of doing more than "just making it through the day"! 

I've got a few things I'm excited about, that I'm going to share with you in future blog posts. One being her cupcake room items that finally all arrived (the company sent me some wrong items at first, but made it right) - and also some fun finds that I've found.... like the necklace company Cassia de Shanghai, where I'm anxiously awaiting a gorgeous necklace from that is on its way to me.

Other than that, hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend! And if you shop at Old Navy and like sales... they are having a major sale this weekend on summer items! I'm hoping to head over there later this afternoon to check out the baby items!

This 'n' That!

Well the cupcake-themed birthday supplies have arrived, and it's hard to believe that in a little over a week we'll be celebrating Cupcake's 1st birthday!

I also ordered some personalized party supplies, but you're going to have to be surprised and wait until after the party to see pictures of those. ;)

There are a few beauty things that I need to do separate reviews on once things settle down around here... I've been using the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation for the past week - and I have to say, I am loving it! It goes on really well and once it is on, it gives a nice look that isn't overly done. The best part is, I don't "feel" like I'm wearing liquid foundation, which is one of my biggest gripes about a lot of too heavy liquid foundations... when you feel like they're actually adding weight to your face!

I also received my Zoya Earth Day promotion nail polish order, and never shared my haul from that. I still need to swatch each individual color - but I do have to say that I found some gems! I absolutely loving Areej, Lillith, and Reece!

 

From left to right: Rihana, Kierra, Hope, Charisma, Lillith, Areej, Dana, Reece, Tallulah, Adina, Brizia, Uma, & Anne

My favorites: Kierra, Hope, Areej, Reece, and Brizia

And a bonus close up shot of my absolute favorite... Zoya Reece

I was excited to receive them all and get my nail polish stocked full of new summer colors! (As well as getting rid of some old polishes that just needed to get tossed anyways.) I hope that Zoya continues to do this promotion in the years to come, because I'll just make the Earth Day promotion my yearly nail polish stock-up time, instead of buying it here & there throughout the year!

Cupcake's New Class - Swimming!

It's been a whirlwind few weeks and we're starting to count down the days until Cupcake's first birthday! 

I'm planning on just having a little get together at our house on her birthday (not an actual party... just a get together) - and then having cake with her family when we're in Illinois the following week for a graduation. It's too hard to plan anything here in Michigan with us being such a distance from the majority of our family, so I resigned myself to the fact that we would not try to throw a big birthday party this year... And maybe try to do something when we have less going on over in Illinois, so that relatives over there can come this direction.

So I've got myself busy with planning the birthday "get together", getting a few decorations (cupcake themed - of course) and planning what she'll wear for 1st birthday pictures, etc.

One new fun thing that we've started the past few weeks though, is swim class! And she loves it!

We signed up for mommy & baby swim classes at the YMCA, because I thought it would be a fun activity that we could do together - and also be good for her to start learning how to move in the water. I love swimming and pool activities - so it seems that she has taken after me in that respect. She loves the kicking, trying to push her arms across the water to get to a toy, and doesn't mind keeping her body horizontal in the pool.

On the way to swim class!

Getting ready in the locker room!

Before class, checking out what the older kids are doing in their class.

Warming up after class!

I think it's something that we'll keep doing for a while and sign up for the next session as well, because we're both getting a lot of enjoyment out of it!

Mommy's New Bag(s)!

So I did a little collection "re-organizing" while I was on blog hiatus, and a few new bags arrived at my house! If you're here for a Louis Vuitton reveal - sorry to disappoint, but they are actually both Balenciaga bags! If you know me or knew me about some 3 or 4 years ago... I was a 100% Balenciaga girl. It was the only brand I carried. After I had Cupcake, I felt like they were maybe too delicate to carry all of the time, and that Louis Vuitton would be a more durable and long-lasting choice.

Well, I haven't given up on Louis Vuitton (I'm still considering it my "main" brand), but I did feel like I was missing having just a FEW Balenciaga bags in my collection, since I sold off a vast majority of them. So I had some Vuitton accessories just hanging around that weren't being used like they should be, so I decided to turn those into a Balenciaga bag! (Or two!)

The first bag I hunted down was a 2007 Anthracite Work. I used to have this color in a First (the smallest size Balenciaga well-known bag currently in production), but the size was just too small for me, so I let it go some time ago. I always missed the color and leather, so when this bag became available and I had an opportunity to re-home some LV accessories that weren't being used - I jumped on it!

2007 Anthracite Work

The leather is scrumptious, 2007 was the last year for Balenciaga to use their signature chevre leather, and 2007 bags hold a special place in my heart. (2007 also happens to be the year I found a love for Balenciaga.) Anthracite is a beautiful color that can look gray, blue or a dark teal depending on the lighting. It is, in my humble opinion, the best Anthracite that Balenciaga has ever released.

My second surprise purchase happened while innocently searching bags one day, I found a bag in a color that hadn't really caught my attention before that, but I couldn't get it off of my mind. I ended up having a bit of an overage leftover from the sale of my LV accessories, so I decided to go ahead and make it a two-for! 

 Even though it's agneau (the material used post-chevre starting in 2008, and on a few 2007 bags, like Violet, came in both materials) - I don't mind it. I do actually like the leather on this particular bag, and the color is another great chameleon color, that changes depending on the lighting and what colors are around it. It's a deep red burgundy, with purple and brown undertones that - even for a non-red wearing girl like myself- is surprisingly wearable. 2008 Black Cherry is truly a magnificent color.

2008 Black Cherry Work - Most representative of the true color

So those are my new bags for now, don't worry - I haven't given up on Louis Vuitton! Just trying to add a little of variety back into the collection! ;)