Birchbox: May 2015 Review

Hello, friends! I am reporting to you live from backstage, writing fervently in the dark like a crazy person. Do you guys know how much I love you yet?

Anyway, today we're kicking things off with this month's Birchbox unboxing. What did I get? Skincare? Makeup? A puppy? Stay tuned to find out!

To Birchbox - Really, though. It could be a thing. I'd go for it. 

Birchbox? What's that?

Birchbox is a monthly beauty and lifestyle subscription service. It sends 4-5 deluxe samples that are curated to your beauty profile. It is $10 a month, and has a wonderful rewards program, in which you can earn points for reviewing products and making purchases in the Birchbox Shop. You can then redeem those points for full-sized products! It's probably the best rewards program out there, in my opinion, which was one of the big draws in me signing up. They're always adding new products to the shop. This month they sampled products from Amika, Juice Beauty, Shiseido, as well as pages of others! Some products are even exclusive to Birchbox, like Cynthia Rowley's new makeup line and the cult-favorite Beauty Protector brand.

If you're interested in subscribing to Birchbox, I would love it if you used my referral link! Thank you! (Also, I hear you can get your first box for only ONE DOLLAR with the code TATIOFFER. Just saying). 

Mail Time! May 2015

Wow, it's been a long time since I did one of these! Today I'll be doing a new "Mail Time!" post, in which I'll basically share with you all of the packages that have been piling up at my mother's house while I was away at school. It's a good preview of what I'm going to talk about on the blog for the next couple of weeks. Think of it as a sneak-peek of reviews to come. It's fun!

How to: Determine Your Skin Type

Hi, friends! For those of you who haven't been following this blog for awhile, my favorite part of the beauty realm is skincare. I love talking about skincare and ingredients and the science behind it all (which is weird, since I was never one for science in grade school). Today I want to go back to the basics and talk about the foundation of skincare: skin types.

Target Beauty Box: Spring 2015 Review

Hello, friends! I feel like I've been absent for so long, even though I'm still posting on the usual Sunday. This week has been a blur of finals, essays, and last hurrahs (Can I get a "hell yeah!" from my fellow college grads?) Next week is Senior Week, so I probably won't be on social media too much then, either. But I'll try to check in when I can to see how you guys are doing!

Let's get to the real reason why we're here: today I want to share with you my first-ever Target Beauty Box! This isn't the first one Target has put out, but it's the first one I've been excited enough to purchase, and I'm so glad I did! 

Target Beauty Box? What's that?

Years ago, Target used to give out free beauty bags filled with samples to advertise their products (I was all about that life). Recently, over the past couple of seasons, they've taken to charging $5 for them. I originally thought, "Why would I pay money for something that used to be free?" but after having gotten this box, I can see that Target has totally amped up their game. Unlike Birchbox and other beauty subscriptions, these boxes are purchased individually and are released every season. If you're interested in getting one of their beauty boxes, you can check their page here. These boxes sell out like wildfire, so keep an eye out on the Interwebs for the next release date!

My Favorite Things: April 2015

Hi, friends! Can you believe April is over already? I know I'll be graduating in a little over two weeks, which is absolute insanity. How are you guys holding up? Congratulations to all of my fellow college beauty buffs on their upcoming graduation! Let's celebrate with some makeup, shall we? Today, I'm talking about my favorite things from April!

DIY Tinted Moisturizer

I don't know what it is (or maybe I do: it's finals), but I've been too lazy to wear any kind of foundation product this month. It just seemed like so much effort to put it on and use a brush to blend it out. I don't have time for that! Instead, what I've been doing is I have been combining a little bit of a foundation that are too dark for my skin tone (or just fuller coverage that I prefer) with my daily moisturizer. It's also been a great way to use up products that were too dark for me before! Right now I'm mixing OLAY Complete All Day Moisturizer with SPF 15 ($8 for 4oz) and SUPERGOOP! CC Cream SPF 35 in Light to Medium ($32 for 1.6oz). I really like the result. The best part? I get sheer coverage but don't have to blend it in with a brush or set it with powder. It's almost so easy and fast that I can't not do it.