Ipsy October Glam Bag Review

Fun fact! I have a love-hate relationship with blogging and writing product reviews. I love writing reviews on Ipsy, and I want them to be done perfectly, in a certain way. At the same time, I hate them because I can't do them fast enough.  So basically, I want them done perfectly, and I want them done now/5 minutes ago.  I can't really have it both ways, and I usually end up not being entirely happy with my result.

Well, that was nice, wasn't it?



I got my Ipsy two weeks ago, and I've been having fun playing with my items.

What is Ipsy?
Each month, subscribers will receive a beautiful Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products. Members can watch and play along with the stylists with the same products that they are using. All for only $10 a month.

So go ahead, take the beauty quiz, get your first Glam Bag, watch the videos, and create your own!

 From Ipsy's site

• Zoya Nail Polish in Mason. Full size. $8 if you buy it from Zoya's site. 

 Part of the Fall 2013 CASHMERES & SATINS Collection, these shades are created to work together with this season's most stylish runway designs and luxurious fabric blends. These ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - free of toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).

When I painted my nails with this polish, it lasted really well!  I really like the color. It's a deep purple with very fine red-violet glitter in it. It took two coats for it to be opaque, and it didn't dry very shiny or shimmery.  I added a top coat and it was the perfect amount of shine.

•  Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Dolly. Mini size. Full size is $19, or you can buy a set of 6 different colored minis for $29 at Sephora. Estimated value: $4.83. 

Tingle, plump & shine your pout to super-sexy proportions with sheer, shimmering Full-On™ Lip Polish in Dolly. This bestselling dusty mauve gloss creates the look of fuller, more voluptuous lips while Vitamins A & E help keep them soft, smooth and protected.

I am not a fan of this gloss. When I tried it, I couldn't tell that I was wearing gloss at all, it just looked like my natural lips. It stung a bit, but that was probably the "plumping" part of it.  I traded this product on an Ipsy swap page for Benefit Porefessional, which I decided I'm in love with.  So, I'm happy I got this gloss so I could get a different product that I really love.

• Sexy Hair Blow Dry Gel. Travel size. $5 if you buy it from Ulta.

The Sexy Hair Blow Gel is an alcohol-free gel that thickens hair while adding volume. It also helps retain moisture so your hair never feels dry. Delivers a light to medium hold. 

I'm not very impressed with this product, however, I didn't use it correctly.  I put it in my hair while my hair was still wet after washing, and it didn't do much.  You are supposed to blow dry your hair while using this, so next time I will try that and see if it adds any "vavoom" to my thin hair.

• H2O Plus Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment. Deluxe sample size. Full size is $36 if you buy it from H2O Plus's site. Estimated value: $7.20

The H2O Plus Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment is a clinically proven oil-free moisture gel that delivers deep hydration. Marine botanicals rapidly replenish depleted skin and fills surface lines with a surge of moisture. Vitamins A and E helps fight against environmental damage and phospholipid microspheres deliver time-released hydration to keep skin looking revitalized all day. 

I really like this moisturizer. I have dry skin, and I always use moisturizer after washing my face. (You should moisturize after washing your face no matter what type of skin you have.) This moisturizer is nice because a little goes a long way, it soaks in to my skin quickly, and it does not leave my face feeling sticky or greasy. I also like the smell of this product; it is a very light, fresh scent.

 

• be Delectable Hand Cream in Strawberries & Cream. Gift set size. The gift set comes with four, 2 oz bottles for $14 if you buy it from Kohl's. Estimated value: $3.50.

Indulge your hands with a well-deserved treat. This ultra nourishing hand cream is enriched with shea butter, coconut oil, and aloe vera to smooth, nourish and rejuvenate hands and cuticles. Rich, and never greasy, this beautiful blend is kissed with a delectable scent. Available in four delectable scents, coconut & cream, strawberry & cream, vanilla & cream and lemon & cream. 

Not a fan of this hand cream. I tried it out once and the smell was overwhelmingly sweet.  I am not a fan of sugary sweet smells in my lotion, hand soap, body wash, shampoo, candles, room sprays, Scentsy bars, perfumes or any other fragranced item.  I think the only thing that should smell like dessert is dessert. So, I traded this item for Benefit Sugarbomb gloss and Benefit Benetint samples.  I'm extremely happy with my trade, so I'm happy I got this item!


Breakin' it down
Zoya Nail Polish: $8
Buxom Lip Polish: $4.83
Sexy Hair Blow Dry Gel: $5
H2O Plus Moisturizer: $7.20
be Delectable Hand Cream: $3.50

Total Value: $28.53





It was a lower value month, but I'm really pleased with everything that I ended up with. So, it's another successful month!


Interested in trying Ipsy?  I'd love it if you used my link!  http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-hh1dhitczm8r4e9

Lily at Disney World

This first picture is actually Lance's...

This was on the ferry ride to the Magic Kingdom.

While on the ferry, you can see Cinderella's castle in the distance. Lily pointed at it and said, "Oh!" It was pretty cute.


I'm not good at remembering to take pictures, but I did snap a few.

This is Lily getting on her very first ride, It's A Small World.

There is no special reason that this was the first ride, it just worked out that way with the crowds and wait times. Wait times weren't bad anywhere, but It's A Small World was near the rides we got Fast Passes for.

Lily didn't really smile on the ride. She mostly just stared at everything. I thought she'd at least dance!  I guess she was mesmerized by the dancing dolls.

At Lunch at Cosmic Ray's

I really did my homework for this trip when it came to restaurants.  Food in the park is expensive no matter where you eat, so I wanted to choose the best restaurants with good prices.  Cosmic Ray's is a quick service restaurant that has mostly chicken and burgers. I chose this one because it has a great view of Cinderella's castle, and because it has a toppings bar where we could get unlimited toppings. Because Lily loves eating fresh tomatoes, we loaded up on those and let her go to town.

One benefit of bringing an 18 month old to Disney World is that you can order a kid's meal, and the entire kid's meal won't be eaten by your kid!  My game plan was to bring a sandwich for Lily to eat, order a kid's meal, and a regular meal, and the three of us could share everything.  It was plenty of food at every restaurant we did this.

It's hard getting Lily's attention when she has to much to look at!

This was on the People Mover. She fell asleep on this ride, shortly after this picture was taken.

Kilimanjaro Safari! She loved seeing all the animals.

Waiting for our reservation at the 50's Prime Time Cafe

Inside the 50's Prime Time Cafe

It was a fun trip. Lily did very well. We ended each day around 5pm so I could go back to the hotel to work. I think that was good so that we didn't try to get Lily to do too much each day.

My It Works! Journey - Day 8

Just a quick update on this...

I've been doing pretty well at drinking water. I've been writing it down so I could know exactly how much water I've been drinking:

Tue: 70 oz
Wed: 70 oz
Thu: 68 oz
Fri: 66 oz
Sat: 40 oz
Sun: 16 oz (my cheat day)
Mon: 50 oz

I tapered off near the end of the week, and on Sunday I drank a lot of soda.  My soda consumption has gone down from what it was.

Tue: 20 oz
Wed: 12 oz
Thu: 12 oz
Fri: 20 oz
Sat: none
Sun: 24 oz
Mon:12 oz

The weird thing is that I'm only drinking soda out of habit, or because it's there. I don't crave it like I normally do.  I'm not sure if this is because I've been quenching my thirst via water, or because of the Greens I've been taking. Either way, I'm happy about it!  Once I finish off the last of the soda that Lance and I have purchased, it will probably decrease more.

Some other things I've noticed are that I'm not as bloated as I was last week and my jeans and shirts are looser. Again, not sure if I can credit the Greens or the water. However, the Greens have inspired me to drink more water, so for now it's hand in hand.

I have been getting these strange cramps in my lower abdomen. It's not "the time of the month" cramps, but I think they may be coming from taking the Greens. I'm not sure though.

How Much Can Happen in a Year?

Hi!

Well, we've done it. We've found a more permanent place to live.  It's kind of funny, because a year ago, I never imagined I'd be where I am today.  So much has changed!

One year ago:

• We were in the middle of a short sale of our Provo house.
• I was working 12-15 hours a night, not sleeping and not eating much.
• Lily was 7 months old, and just getting started with solid foods.
• Our plans were to sell our house and move to the Salt Lake area to be closer to Lance's work.
• We were inactive at our church.
• Lance's mother was close to passing away

In December, our house sold while we were visiting my parents out here, in North Carolina. We decided we liked it here and we wanted to move here. We didn't feel like we had the means to make the move at that time, so we found a short 6-month lease in Midvale, Utah. We got rid of most of our large furniture, and kept only what we needed to fill our new, much smaller living space.  We made the move to the apartment in January, and started going to church again in February.

I'm going to be honest. We only started going to church again so we could get our temple recommends renewed so we could go to Jared's wedding, which was in March.

What I didn't plan on was falling in love with that ward!

This isn't what I was planning to write about today, but I guess I'll continue anyway... I was born and raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have great parents with strong testimonies of Jesus Christ and his restored gospel.

I was never truly converted until this year.

This year! In the past 10 months, I feel like I've become a completely new person.  I have a completely new perspective on life. I have a completely new perspective on the church. And I have a completely new perspective on the people around me. I have a real testimony for the first time in my life.

It was not easy. In fact, I had to do one of the hardest and scariest things in my life. I'm glad I did it.  I am glad that even though I had been led down the wrong path for a very long time (nearly 10 years - which is 40% of my current age), and even though I had ignored all the warnings given to me for years, that I could come back. I could be, and was, forgiven.


Anyway, back to my story... Lance quit his job and we moved from Midvale to Raleigh in July. So, here I am. I am a new person, and I'm once again moving to a new place. This will be our third move this year!

We're moving to Kissimmee, Florida.

Here's a little gem for you (from Wikipedia):

On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley passed through Kissimmee with winds in excess of 100 miles per hour, damaging homes and buildings, toppling trees and cutting electrical power to the entire city. Kissimmee Utility Authority restored power to 54 percent of the residents in the first 72 hours; 85 percent were restored within one week. Service was restored to all customers on August 28. Three weeks after Hurricane Charley, the area was struck by Hurricane Frances, followed by Hurricane Jeanne three weeks after Frances.

Ain't that exciting?  I'm thinking I need to get some 72 hour kits prepared.

So, I'm sure you're wondering why we're moving there.  To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure.  We have visited that city four times in the past (twice this year). It's right outside of Disney World and we usually stay in Kissimmee because it's cheaper than a Disney World hotel.  We like Disney. Disney World makes us want to live there.  But California has Disneyland, so why didn't we move there?  It just didn't work out that way.

We've been living here in North Carolina for a few months now, and while we really enjoy it, it just doesn't feel like it's where we need to be any longer.  I wish I could give a more solid answer than that, but I can't.  It's just a feeling we have.  Yes, Lance has been offered jobs here. No, he hasn't liked any of them, or felt like they were the right job for him.  So, we're leaving on a hope and prayer that he'll find something he likes in Kissimmee.

Lance and I have always been drawn to Florida.  Together, and separately.  In the 5th grade, I chose Florida to do my state report on because I thought it was a cool state. In the past we've talked about living in Florida.  When Lance lost his job at Flowserve in 2009, I was looking at houses in Florida thinking that maybe we would get a job and move there.

Well, now we're just going to move there without a job.  We might hate it. We might love it.  We won't find out unless we try.

A few weeks ago when we went to Disney World, we also looked at apartments in the area.  We did a little research and wrote down a few that looked good.  While Lance was looking at apartments on his own, however, he saw a couple of LDS missionaries leaving a particular apartment complex, so he decided to check that one out.  He really liked it, so he came and got me and we both checked it out.  It felt right, and we jumped.

Are we crazy? Perhaps. But, as Emilee and Jessica would say, YOLO!

My It Works! Journey - Day 1

I broke down and purchased the Berry Flavor Greens from It Works Global.

What is it?

Greens™ (Berry Flavor)
Not eating all of the fruits and veggies that you should? Feeling sluggish and off balance? Want more energy to get through your day? Help detoxify, alkalize and energize your body with every glass of Greens, now with an even better pH-balancing blend that includes an acidity-fighting combination of magnesium and potassium for even more alkalizing properties.  The added probiotic support helps you better maintain that healthy balance by keeping your digestive system regular and toxins flowing out.
With 8+ servings of fruits and vegetables and a blend of 38 herbs and nutrient-rich superfoods, Greens provides naturally occurring, bioavailable vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and enzymes to give your already well-balanced diet a nutritional boost. 
It’s maximum support for your best health, all in a new delicious berry flavor.

• Detoxify, alkalize, and promote pH balance within the body
• Acidity-fighting magnesium and potassium blend
• Cutting-edge probiotic support for digestive health
• 38 herbs and nutrient-rich superfoods
• 8+ servings of fruits and vegetables in every scoop
• Free radical-fighting antioxidants
• Great-tasting berry flavor
  (From myitworks.com)

I've been thinking about purchasing some Greens for a few months now, and I finally gave in.  I decided that I'm tired of being tired, and I need to do something to motivate myself to live healthier.  This is a start.

I tried it for the first time today. I added only 1 scoop to 8 oz of water instead of the 2 scoops they recommend, because I didn't read the directions.  The taste surprised me.  I was sort of expecting a watery, grass-tasting beverage that would make me run to the bathroom immediately.

I don't know why I thought this.  I mean, would a product like that sell well?

*cough* green tea *cough*

(I'm not sure if green tea makes you run to the bathroom.)

Anyway, this did not taste bad at all.  It was similar to how Crystal Light tastes with a nice refreshing flavor to it. It was quite flavorful even with only 1 scoop and I imagine that using 2 scoops would taste even better. However, I think I will take this twice daily, one scoop each time, rather than once daily using 2 scoops. Because then at least I know I'll get 16 oz of water, which is 8-16 oz more than I currently drink (see below).

I didn't run to the bathroom until 4 hours later, after drinking 32 oz of water, and at that time I only went #1. So don't let the statements "detoxify" or "keep your system regular" scare you away from trying this. ☺



Here are some of my current issues and things I'm hoping to improve:

• Weight: 145lbs (ish)
• Goal weight: 125lbs (ish)

• Exercise frequency: Rarely/never - I take walks here and there, but hopefully when I have my own space and I can use the TV whenever I want this will change)
• Goal exercise frequency: 5-6 times per week

• Energy level: Low - I am always, always tired. 7 hours of sleep? I'm tired. 12 hours of sleep? I'm tired.
• Goal energy level: Obviously I want more energy, right? I'm a mom and I work at night, so I'm not ever going to have perfect energy levels, however, if I can sleep for 6-7 hours and not want to kill for a nap I'll consider myself successful.

• Water consumption: 0-8 oz per day
• Goal water consumption: 64 oz per day - This is the bare minimum! In reality, I should be drinking 72 oz of water each day, but I'm trying to be realistic.

• Soda consumption: 20+ oz per day
• Goal soda consumption: 12 oz per day. I'd like to quit completely, but at the same time I don't want to. So, one can a day for now.

I'll post my progress in a week.