My Favorite Things: December 2015

Hi, friends! The end of the year is almost upon us! Can you believe it's nearly 2016 already? Where did the time go? Anyway, it's time to talk monthly favorites. These are the tried-and-tested products I most reached for this month. I took most of these products with me when I went out of town for Christmas week. You quickly realize the products you really rely on when you can only take a select few in your suitcase! Let's get into the good stuff.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you're all having a nice holiday season! Regularly scheduled posts will return next week. See you then!

What are you doing for Christmas this year?

Let's be friends!

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin' | Google + | Email Newsletter
Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Christmas lololol

Birchbox: December 2015 Review

Hi, friends! Today I wanted to share with you my December Birchbox. This month I opted in for the guest curated box (surprise, surprise), so I already knew the products I would be getting. But I didn't know if I would like that, so the surprise factor is still there. But enough about that, let's jump into everything.  

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. In the past, they have 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 subscribe now, you'll get 50 points free with the code SUBSCRIBENOW50. If you're interested in subscribing to Birchbox, I would love it if you used my referral link! Thank you!

Trash Talk: December 2015 Empties

Hi, friends! It's a beautiful day here in New York, strangely warm and sunny for December. What's it like where you live? Today we're going to be doing some trash talk, because it's been a really long time since I've done an Empties post (five months, actually). I use up products faster than I can talk about them, especially since a lot of these are samples I get from subscription boxes (mostly Birchbox). I'm actually quite backlogged! In fact, I'm still talking about products I used up at school (I graduated in May, to put things in perspective). The included photos were taken in less-than-stellar conditions without the help of my fancy new DSLR camera, but we'll make do! But enough about that--let's talk trash (about products, not people)! 

Trend Report: Pantone 2016 Colors of the Year

Hello, friends! Have you heard the news? The official Pantone Color of the Year has been released! And guess what? There are TWO colors this year! The colors are Rose Quartz (a warm, pale pink) and Serenity (a cool, powder blue).

On their website, they say it coincides with our eternal quest for gender equality. I appreciate that, but if we're talking about equality, I think like a vibrant, punchy red is a good feminist color. Like, when I want to feel like a powerful woman, I put on red lipstick--I don't wear a baby pink sweater, you know? Don't get me wrong, I like having multiple options, and I think that women should be equal to men, but this whole thing is still kind of silly to me. If anything, couldn't they have done something more original to represent gender equality that baby girl pink and baby boy blue? I told my brother about this and even he said, "That's like we're doing something special this year for Christmas--the colors are RED and GREEN!" Ugh, sometimes I wish a color was just a color, and didn't have an agenda behind it. Or if it did have an agenda, they at least tried to get creative. Come on, people.  

Review + Swatches: PÜR Cameo Contour Dual-Ended Contour Sticks

Hi, friends! Today I'd like to share with you a new product I've been testing out by PUR Cosmetics: the Cameo Contour Dual-Ended Contour Sticks (say that three times fast!). They sent me all five shades to test out and play around with, and now that I've come to a conclusion on how I feel about them, I wanted to share that with all of you! Let's jump into everything. 

My Lipstick Collection: The Reds

Hi, friends! Happy Friday! Today I'm going to be starting a new mini series here on the blog. It's been awhile since I've done something like this, and I like the idea of doing a cohesive project, so I figured why not? Basically, I'm going to be sorting through my lipstick collection and show you what products I've accumulated and how they stack up against one another. Think of it as a bunch of mini reviews in one.

This series was actually inspired by a trip to the mall, in which I almost impulsively bought a lipstick in MAC, before I realized I probably had a similar color at home. I figured this post would be good for both of us--to get myself organized and to share my findings with all of you!

But enough about that. Let's get to the good stuff~