Godiva 90th Anniversary Chocolates!

Ooof... maybe I'll start my diet tomorrow.... after I finish these. :P 

 Today I'm celebrating 90 years of Godiva with this limited edition collection featuring nine chocolates! Each chocolate is a little bit of history with its own story to tell :) They have traditional pieces to even a new rose flavored chocolate!

My personal favorite -- you see that log with the milk chocolate drizzle? OH THAT ONE. I didn't let anyone eat either of them, because I wanted both to myself (ha ha). It has delicious hazelnut praline and puffed, crispy rice enrobed in dark chocolate and then dipped in milk chocolate. omg. so good! 

They have lots of different size boxes - for anyone to celebrate along with Godiva ;) You can find the link here! 

ftc. chocolates were sent to me.. but i thoroughly enjoyed every last morsel ;)

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Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette

I didn't want to give into the hype but...

YOU NEED THIS PALETTE! Set your alarms for May 26, because this will sell out! This limited edition face palette retails for $52.. and it features 2 highlighters and 3 blush shades.

The blushes from left to right:

Rose Spritz: soft peach pink with pale gold shimmer

Amaretto: Matte toasted almond 

Pamplemousse: Matte warm coral Pink

The Highlighters on the bottom from left to right: 

Champagne pop (old): soft white gold with pinky peach undertones

Prosecco Pop: warm gold

From top to bottom: Champagne pop, prosecco pop, rose spritz, amaretto, pamplemousse

I highly recommend these. Like all becca face products, they are super soft, buttery and pigmented. Most of these swatches were done in one swipe!! It blends effortlessly and you can really make it a day look or make it an evening look. Either way, this versatile palette is a must have! :) 

Here they are in their glory! look at the shimmery goodness!!! <3 

These go on sale exclusively at sephora - launch on sephora.com on 5/26 at noon and in Sephora stores on 6/16 :) 

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ActivESSENCE Fragrance Mist Review

I will start off by saying... I'm NOT a fragrance mist person. When I first think of fragrance mist, I think of myself in middle school buying bath and body works sprays, spraying myself after gym and then having a sneeze attack because the scents were so potent that my nose couldn't handle it (lol). So you can imagine my hesitation to try these products when the brand reached out to me. However, I decided to conquer my fear of fragrance mists and here are my thoughts!

ActivESSENCE says that it is a high quality, affordable fragrance that offers up to 12 hours of fragrance plus instant refreshment and skin-loving benefits. It has time release microencapsulates which extend the wear of fragrance while leaving your skin soft and fresh all day long. It's packed with essential oils, natural extracts and vitamins! It even claims to provide instant moisture and soothes skin after exposure to sun, heat and other stressors! 

I decided to try it in the morning. I only used one or two sprays, so I can't be certain of the moisture or soothing qualities (and I dont really anticipate me spraying it multiple times to try and get there) however, I did notice right off the bat how strong the scent was. Although it was initially very strong, the scent began to meld into my skin and left a beautiful scent. 

As I went about my busy day (like I was SUPER busy!) I kept getting whiffs of scent. It was surprising because even my 'best' perfumes don't last longer than 6 hours. I generally have a travel size in my bag to respray! However, by the time I got home from work and an event at night - I will say, it did last. It was still holding tight, lingering on after a 15 hour day. 

These two were by far my favorite two scents. The french vanilla lavender has a gorgeous floral, sweet lavender scent that I really loved putting on after a shower. The scent lingered all night!!! But I'm always partial because I love the lavender scent!!

Tropical Coconut coast was such a fun, sweet but tangy scent! It has coconut blossom, tiger lily, amber and verbena. It was the perfect mix to make you feel like you're celebrating summer. It is a fun scent without too much sweetness!

I quite liked exotic cherry blossom as well. I feel like you can really do cherry blossom incorrectly.. but they did it right! It is sweet, but floral - a little citric-y and the perfect blend for a sophisticated scent. I would actually consider wearing this as a 'perfume'!!

Moroccan Orchid and Amber was an incredibly warm scent. It is spicy, vanilla-y, and very warm. I imagine this would be a great scent on a cool winter evening. 

Lastly was the Citrus Splash. This scent was a bit young for me - so I would never actually wear this on my skin. However, It made the perfect 'bathroom' or 'kitchen' scent. It has just the right amount of brightness to smell fresh! 

I also wanted to note that the spray was very fine and the spray diameter was very large. In one spritz, it covers a lot of surface area! I feel like because of this you'll be able to use these for FOREVER!! 

Overall, I really enjoyed these. Although I'm still not the biggest fan of fragrance mists, I could see why people love them. I think these are a huge step up for all the fragrance mists out there in this world - these are so long lasting (LIKE REALLY LONG LASTING) and their scents are getting more sophisticated! These would definitely be worth a shot since they are relatively inexpensive and you can throw them in your bag! 

You can find these for $7.99 at Walgreens, CVS, target.com, amazon.com or drugstore.com :) 

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Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer and Foundation

Way back when the Naked Skin line came out - I had purchased the UD concealer. Why I stopped, I'm wondering that now LOL!

One of the most unique things about the Naked Skin concealer is this awesome doefoot!!! Their doe foot applicators are one of my favorite applicators I've found yet! It dispenses just the right amount of product onto your face. 

 From L-R: Foundation shade 4.0, Concealer shade light to medium, Concealer shade medium to dark

Let's begin by talking about the foundation! This is the first time I've ever used UD foundation - and this one is really lovely! It claims to be lightweight and invisible and leave a semi matte, luminous finish. As you can see - it did a nice job of covering my face slightly - it almost seems like a nice soft focus feel. I can still see some blemishes peeking through, but definitely less visible! It was very weightless and felt like skin. It took a bit to dry (definitely over 5 minutes), but it did leave me with a semi matte finish. It didn't leave my face looking so caked up and flat a regular matte foundation! I am in shade 4, and although it was a perfect match for me - I could see how it could potentially be too yellow for some skintones - so hopefully they have other colors in their range!  

Then I took this lovely product to the next step and used the concealer as a highlight for my undereyes and anywhere the light would hit! I love this concealer as it is extremely pigmented, yet also weightless on the face. The only thing I will say is that I need to pick a lighter shade as almost every product seems to oxidize heavily on my face. This one didn't seem extremely drastic, but it was enough for me to notice half an hour later. 

Here we're trying to contour by using a shade darker and I'm placing it where my cheek bones would be and above my temples! -- seems like the perfect effortless look! 

And here we are - a perfectly contoured face that looks like my cheekbones are JUST that good! I like that this product doesn't allow my face become ashy as many products do. This one gave just the right bit of luminosity to make my skin look like 'my skin'!

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Lancome Juicy Shaker Review

I've been testing these new Lancome Juicy Shaker products for a while now since they first came out and my dry arse lips have not been happier!

These are Lancome's newest pigment infuse Bi-Phased Lip Oil: basically speaking, a tinted lip oil. It's a pretty unique product as I haven't seen many of these products out except the YSL lip oil tints and the Milani ones. However whenever I can get my hands on anything oily and hydrating for my lips I will definitely do it!

This comes in a cute little tub (thats in the shape of a shaker, I die) and the thought behind it is to shake the two step products: the oils and the pigment. In turn, you get this super beautiful sheer wash of color on your lips thats hydrating and nourishing!

Top to Bottom Swatches: Show me the Honey, Piece of Cake, Vanilla Pop 

Below are swatches of my lips of the three shades I have. You will see if how as I got to the darker shades, lip flakes started to disappear since it was becoming more and more hydrating on my lips! :) 

Show Me the Honey

Piece of Cake (my favorite shade of the bunch!) 

Vanilla Pop 

And now my breakdown of the product:

Packaging: I love this packaging. I love the idea of it being in a shaker and the sponge tip packs in so much product that it makes it so easy to apply! It's such a unique packaging product. Usually I'm using a small doefoot to swipe over and over again, but I find I only need to swipe this once!

Smell: This product is much lighter than other lancome products, but still has its light floral scent to it. It's much fainter than other lancome products and I don't notice the scent when placed on my lips.

Formula: I love that this formula is packed with 5 different nourishing oils to pack in a gorgeous array of great benefiting products for your lips. It has apricot oil for hydration, rose oil for soothing properties, cranberry oil for antioxidants, peach oil for softening and sweet almond oil for nourishment. The more I used the product, the more my lips did feel hydrated and smooth. You will see in photos how the more I swatched, the less dry my lips looked lol! It provides a sheer wash of color on your lips with a gorgeous, smooth, nonsticky feeling.

Color: It ranges from light colors to some darker ones, and even a 'blue' clear color as well. Because of its sheer formula, however, I found that many of the lighter shades looked the same on me. The darker shades definitely stood out to me if you want more of a tint! Similar to other oil products, the longer your wear, the color will begin to fade quickly, but the hydration will still remain.

Longevity: I think this is where I would have to say the product lacked most in. It lasted about an hour before I had to reapply and the color faded within about 40-45 minutes for the lighter shades, whereas the darker shades lasted a tad longer. However, this is a very compact product that I was happy to apply often since it was so nice! :D

Overall - this is definitely worth trying! I think that its a super unique product that packs a lot of goodness into a little package. I think getting all 20 shades is not necessary since many of the shades look similar on the lips, however trying a bunch of the different types shades is definitely a must!!

They retail for $21.00 each and I ordered mine from Ulta.com and Sephora.com! :)

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NEW: Becca Luminous Blush Review and Swatches

Wow! I'm really on a high streak with amazing new products. My face has never been happier... and now with these new Becca blushes - my face is even happier and brighter than before! 

Packaging: I love the sleek, slightly industrial look of these blushes. It's their signature packaging, and I love becca for it! Its easy to carry around, easy to open and doesnt get gross and dirty quickly like other packaging. It also has a cute compact mirror in it, so you are able to touch up easily.

Formula: At first look, these look so extremely sparkly, but it's just an overlay. Once the sparkles dissipate, you are left with a gorgeous color that has a slight sheen/luminosity to it. Each color is extremely pigmented, so a very light hand is needed. The product is soft, but not too powdery that it breaks. Just the right amount to make it very buttery to the touch. Some of the deeper colors, great for darker skin tones, I think are so amazing - I've been using them as eyeshadows too! 

Colors: The range of colors is excellent. It packs in 6 different shades from a pale pink, medium pink, coral, orange-ish, deep pink and brownish pink. It gives such a nice range that no matter what skin color you are, you'll be able to find a nice match for yourself (my favorite being snapdragon which is the PERFECT natural pinky coral ;D) 

Longevity: Becca products have always lasted a nice while on my face. Because of its great pigmentation and buttery formula, it lasted a good 4-5 hours before starting to fade. This outlasted many of my other blushes I own! 

Price: It's at a pricey tag of $34 for each blush... however, you don't need a lot of product for each use. In fact, I definitely use way less swipes of product on my face than other products, so I think this will last a good while! 

 

L-R: Foxglove, Dahlia 

L-R: Tigerlily, Camilia

L-R: Snapdragon, Blushed Copper

L-R: Foxglove, Dahlia, Tigerlily, Camilia, Snapdragon, Blushed Copper 

Overall, I'm so delighted to have the opportunity to try these blushes out because they give the most amazing natural flush... or the boldest pop that you want. You can dress it up and wear it down - these versatile products are good for anyone! Even though the pricey is hefty - it is a small price you have to pay for how long you will probably have this product! 

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Surratt Beauty: Surreal Real Skin Foundation Wand

thebeautyprofessor made me do it! I saw her post on the new Surratt Beauty Foundation Wand and knew I had to try it! Luckily for me, this $65 priced product was during the VIB sale so I did get it cheaper! However... I will say, it was worth every penny spent. If I had to purchase this product when the sale was NOT going on, I totally would! 

Top is blended out, bottom is a single swatch

First off, the formula of this product is so lovely. It's smooth and weightless. It has sheer - medium coverage, which is perfect for the natural look but could definitely be built up to a more full coverage foundation. Also, luckily for me, it is fragrance free as well! The one thing I will note about this that was really nice was that I didn't need to set this product because after a couple of minutes, it didn't feel like the usual foundation that needed to be set. It almost felt like it set itself and didn't need any extra product. I realized going about my day without makeup being set, pretty much felt like it was set. *mind blown* After about an 8 hour day, it was still nicely on my face. It actually also helped my blush and bronzer stay on a bit longer, although it didn't last as long as my foundation lol. I am in shade 05 - and I'm an NC 25ish in mac. 

Super soft delicious wand - but it is not detachable! :( 

The one downside to it for me was with the packaging. Now I'm very partial to my beauty blender, so it takes a LOT for me to convert to something else, however, the brush was nice. It took a bit longer than a beauty blender, but did a really nice job of blending and covering my face (and its SO soft!). However, I couldn't figure out any way to take the brush off in the event that I wanted to wash it. I didn't want to wash it with the brush still attached because I didn't want to run the risk of making the product wet. For any of you that have used this product already, is there a way to detach the product? Or should I wash it directly?

Overall, the formulation of the product and the actual brush are fantastic. Man... now it makes me want to branch out to more Surratt products.....!!! What should I try next?! lol :) 

I purchased mine off the sephora website for 65 real deal buckaroos! 

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