DESK TOUR / PART TWO

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Hello! Welcome to part two of my Desk Tour! This time I'll be focusing on the surface of my desk and the drawers below. Ugh....how cute does it look? I'm really in love!


First up is the left side of my desk. I've just got a few things over here. My mirror, all of my big makeup brushes, some micellar cleansing water, and a framed photo of my family and I. In addition, I have two little hooks containing my necklaces and the best candle from TJ Maxx. I love this little corner of my desk because it's so comforting and pretty!


The only other thing on the surface of my desk is my agenda, which is from Target. I like having it out because it reminds me to actually write in it!


Moving on to the main part of part two, my drawers! They are the Helmer drawers from Ikea and I actually like them a lot. I bought them because they were inexpensive and fit under my desk, but they have been pretty great so far! There are 6 drawers which are relatively small but they fit a lot more than I thought.


All of the plastic containers in my drawers are from The Container Store or Ikea. In the first drawer, I have a lot of essentials. I have a multi-spaced plastic container with my hair ties, bobby pins, beauty tools, q-tips, etc. 


Next up is beauty essentials. I have all my smaller brushes (mostly for the eyes), mascara, liners, and lipsticks. I also have my contacts, contact solution, eyedrops, and healing stuff like band-aids!


In the third drawer is kind of a free for all bin. It's all of my 'little' supplies. As you can see it's mostly mini hairsprays, hand sanitizers, lotions, shampoos and conditioners, etc. I kind of throw anything in there. It's always good to have at least one space in your room or desk that you can just throw things! 


Next up is another random drawer. I have my razor supplies, sunglasses and all the tooth supplies in here! 


The bottom two drawers contain office supplies. This one has notebooks, command strips, glue sticks, and some other random things. I've also got a few sets of cards!


My last drawer is just a few more office supplies. I have command strips, tape, paper clips, push pins, post-its, and staples!


I'm loving how I've organized this. It was a long time coming and I'm so happy everything is in its place. 

What are your favorite ways to organize?
xo Emily




DESK TOUR / PART ONE

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

One of the best things about moving into a new room or apartment is the fact that you get to organize your life again. Although it took me months to buy everything in order to do that organizing, I finally have things in the places I want them. So satisfying!


Today's post is going to be the first part of a desk tour! 

First up is the desk itself. It's the Linnmon / Adils desk from Ikea to which I attached the Pahl Hutch for storage. 

The actual top of my desk contains all the essentials, makeup brushes (the big ones), a notebook, my computer, and a candle. 


Next up is the hutch on my desk. 


The top contains just a few pretty things! First up is a framed photo of my friends and I at graduation, cute little dishes (from garage sales, by the way) containing my earrings, an 'E' from Anthropologie, a little DIY apple jar light (made by my sisters old roommate), a flask, and a wand my mom made me for Halloween a few years back!


The first shelf is mostly big stuff. We have electronics and cords in the cutest little container from The Container Store and my Question a Day Journal and Book of Cocktails! 


The second part of the first shelf contains things to write with and (some) my movies and TV shows. I have a bunch of movies and shows on my computer and in a DVD holder but here are the boxes I still have with me. Everyone NEEDS to watch Pushing Daisies by the way.


Shelf two is all about the beauty! I've got two 3 Drawer Storage Containers and I love these for storing makeup. In the first container we have smaller makeup palettes, little tools (eyelash curler, chapstick, eyedrops, etc.) and lipsticks, glosses, and liners! Beside it are another two pretty dishes from garage sales containing rings and then a huge pile of the larger makeup palettes!


On the right side of this shelf is the other 3 drawer container. I have my daily foundations and concealers, face powders, and single eyeshadows in this one - basically my go-to face products. 


In the last shelf, we have a lot of my most-reached for products. First up are my tape dispenser and stapler, as well as my daily vitamins (Calcium and Vitamin C) and my everyday things. We've got deodorant, hair spray, hair oil, and makeup setting spray. 


In addition to those everyday needs, I keep my brush and hair clips on this shelf - just so there's an easy way to grab them. 



On the last part of the last shelf is this awesome little vase from Target in which I keep my headbands and scrunchies, a little coin purse for my laundry, a mini mirror, gum, and a little wolf figurine! (so cute)


I am loving how my desk turned out. I'll be showing you part two of my desk tour soon, which is the left side of my desk and my drawer unit! Lots of organization and I'm obsessed!

What do you use to organize?

xo Emily

KYLIE LIP KITS: Worth the Hype?

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Hi everyone! Today's post is all about the KYLIE COSMETICS Lip Kits. And let me tell you, I was pretty skeptical, as I often am when celebrities come out with makeup lines. But...I was actually so impressed with her cosmetics! The Lip Kits are beautiful, long-lasting, and are so moisturizing that they don't leave your lips dried out and chipped. 


It took me a few months to actually go about purchasing the cosmetics: thanks to good reviews and some amazing new shades that were coming out. Check out my first impressions video below. I go into each lip kit individually and give you swatches and show you how it wears on the lips! 

Below I'll outline the four lip kits and give you super cute selfies of me wearing each one (vain, much?) Hopefully this will give you a good idea of how each shade looks. Overall, I love these lip kits. They're $29 for each lip kit. In the kit, you get both a liquid matte lipstick and a lipliner. It's pretty pricey but getting both the matte liquid lipstick and the lipliner makes it a better deal. The lipliner is creamy and easy to apply. I've found that it's best to apply the lipliner with the darker lip kits because it's harder to apply the darker liquid mattes without a bit of an outline. 

I also love how long-lasting these are. I can wear them all day without much chipping or wear and tear. The only time you get a little movement of the product is in the inner part of your lips where you'll be talking, eating, and drinking. 

I'm also impressed with how moisturizing these are. As a person with pretty dry skin and dry lips (who is constantly needing chapstick) these are actually great for that dryness. It's surprising really, because most matte liquid lips completely dry out my lips and chip, making it look cracked and yuck. 

The first two shades I bought were Koko K and Leo. At the time, Leo was a birthday edition product, but thankfully she restocked it! 

KoKo K is a beautiful and perfect pink that's perfect for everyday wear. As you can see below, it's incredibly flattering! It's a great salmon shade and it works both for fun and professionally! 


Below is Leo, which is a mix between a deep red and a brown, making the perfect rich burgundy. This one is lovely for a night out, as it's pretty intense for a day look. I've also noticed that I have to use the lip liner with this product because of how dark it is (which I don't have to do with KoKo K).


Below is Kristen, which is by far my favorite. It's a great mix between a pink and red, kind of a strawberry-toned lipstick. It's so wearable and pretty and I find myself reaching for it and Koko K more than any other lipsticks.


Lastly, I bought Maliboo, which is a cool-toned nude lipstick, perfect for fall. I'm loving wear this on a day to day basis because it's intense, but insanely wearable.


What are your impressions of the Kylie Cosmetics Lip Kits? Let me know below

xo Emily

AUGUST FAVORITES

Monday, September 19, 2016

I'm aware that this post and video is incredibly late but it's better late than never, right? Anyways, I have some pretty awesome favorites in this post. In addition to this post, I've created an August favorites video to go along with this on my YouTube channel



Here are my thirteen favorites for the month!


The Magic Lumi Primer from L'Oreal has always been one of my all time favorite face primers but I'm got a renewed love for it this month. It's been about a year or two since I've actually purchased and used this product and I forgot how amazing it is! It's a great product for those with dry skin as it keeps your face moisturized and glowing. I love using this under my foundation and concealer for the glowiest looks!  




The Tarte CC Under Eye Concealer is a handy little concealer which is especially good for dark circles. It's not the best product for blemishes because the consistency is a little thicker, similar to the Tarte Creaseless Concealer, but it works really well as an under eye product. I actually got this for half off its original price at Ulta in early August. I was worried it wouldn't be the best product, considering the sale, but I was happily surprised by how well this product works! 


Oh my GOODNESS. I am LOVING this make up brush. I'm a huge fan of e.l.f. brushes because of their quality. Plus, they're incredibly inexpensive. This is a great brush for blending in concealer and foundation because the consistency of the bristles is a great mix between hard and soft. 


L’Oreal Brow Stylist Definer (Brunette) ($8.99)

If you're looking for a dupe for the Anastasia Brow Wiz, this is the product! I've been searching for a dupe for it for years, because I have always preferred the Brow Wiz over any other product and it's hard to keep spending so much on a product that I have to replenish often. The product is double-ended: One end is a spooli brush to brush out your brows and the other is a thin pencil. I find myself reaching for this instead of the Brow Wiz everyday because of how great it is.


I won't go into much detail about this since I wrote an entire blog post on this palette, but suffice to say, this is the best palette. You should definitely try this out if you're in the market for a new eyeshadow palette!


I caved. I bought some Kylie Lip Kits. And I LOVE them. They're actually incredible. The formula is very nice and leaves your lips feeling soft and moisturized all day long. The lip stain itself is long-lasting and looks great even after you've been doing random shiz all day. Stay tuned for a full video on Kylie Cosmetics!

Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Nail Polish (Undercover) ($1.99)

This nail polish, which you can see on my fingers in both the video and the photo below, is a really lovely color. It's most closely resembling a 'salmon' shade and I think it looks really nice on the nails. 


Plus, it was only $1.99 and actually has the ability to last a long time (especially when paired with a topcoat) so you should check out Wet 'n' Wild polishes if you want to try out something inexpensive. They're a lot better quality than the Sinful Colors line you find at Walgreens/Duane Reade and the brush is a bit thicker, which makes it easier to apply the product!




For one of my fashion favorites this month are the Quay KOSHA sunglasses in Clear/Silver. I've heard so many good things about these sunglasses so I decided to try them out. I love the size and shape of these on my face because they're big without being oversized. Loving these, though I'm still annoyed they're not pronounced 'Qway' instead of 'Key'. 

Zara Basic Star Print Button Down (32.95)



My second fashion favorite is this Zara Basic Star Print Button Down shirt. It's from their Basics collection and unfortunately, I can't find the link online. This shirt is so comfortable and is really flattering (hopefully). I adore the star print and think it's really fun and funky. 




Ugh. How cool is this print? I found it at a little shop near my apartment which stocks really cool and unique items. This print involves two of my favorite things, 90's music and Star Wars. Plus it matches the color scheme of my room so I can't wait to put it up! The artist, Caryn Cast, makes some really awesome prints so you should go check her out.


I've got two book favorites this month and the first is Annamarie Tendler's makeup book. It has incredible beauty tips and tricks that are helpful for anyone who likes makeup. Also, I think she's so cool. Check out her Instagram for makeup and lampshade inspiration. (you'll understand if you check out her Insta)




My last book favorite is Ina Garten's Back to Basics. This cookbook is for anyone who likes to cook and wants to make delicious food. It's definitely the basics, but gourmet and easy to make! Her recipes are DELISH and I recommend them to any and everyone. (Check out her Instagram for inspo)

Parks and Recreation

My TV favorite this month is actually Parks and Rec, one of my favorite shows of all time. My love for the Pawnee gang has been reignited. You should definitely watch it if you haven't already. It's streaming on Netflix now!

Ghostbusters (2016)
UGH. I loved this movie. What a kickass bunch of ladies. Please check this out if you haven't already. It's out on DVD October 11th, you're welcome!

What were your favorites this month?
xo Emily

LORAC OBSESSED

Monday, September 12, 2016

I think I'm in love...again. 

And I'm not talking men...partly because I'm very single and partly because I love other things way too much to even have THE TIME, goddamnit! I'm talking LORAC Cosmetics. In particular, the Pro Palettes.

I truly can't get enough of the LORAC Pro Palettes because they're damn perfect. If you follow my blog or my Instagram - you know I'm a huge fan of the LORAC Pro Palette 2 (I've yet to try #1) and kind of use it everyday, everywhere. (true story, I used it for all-over robot halloween face makeup once) 

So when I went into ULTA a few weeks ago and saw the LORAC Pro Palette 3 , I knew I wanted it. I had originally gone in to look for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette because I tried it out thanks to my bb Taylor and it's freaking gorgeous, but of course, they were sold out. So when I saw that the sleek little Pro 3 had some similar shades, I thought I'd spend money I didn't have on it! Yay being a college graduate!!!

It's just like the previous two palettes - same size and shape, which I love. The thinness is really nice because there's nothing worse than a clunky palette (I'm talking to you Naked 3). The inside is even better than the outside. 


You get a huge mirror - which is never really a selling point for me due to the fact that I literally can't do my makeup unless I have a big mirror - but it's actually really handy in this one. In addition, it comes with a mini LORAC eye primer.

It has 16 shadows - 8 shimmer and 8 matte - all in the warm-toned fam. 



I've swatched all the shimmer shades and they're pretty phenomenal. The softest and lightest of the eight are Light Gold and Almond Pearl - but they show up better on an eyelid than my gross, pale arm anyway. (even better with a primer)
  

My favorite of this set is 'Light Pewter' for a shimmer shade and the matte 'Cool Taupe'. It's great for a crease color bc we all know you need to check the crease before you do anything else. 


I'm loving the shimmer shadows of 'Amethyst' and 'Rose Bronze' in this set and CANNOT GET ENOUGH of 'Terracotta'. SHIZ that is a nice freaking shadow. 

And as you can see below, the darker shimmer shades swatch a lot better on my arm. (Also check the toenails in this pic, real professional)


I've had it for a few weeks now and the colors wear incredibly. They're long-lasting, pigmented, and gorgeous (as expected) and I really love it. Coincidentally, it has replaced my Pro Palette 2 as my everyday palette. That's okay, Pro 2, I'll always come back to you <3

Do you have a Lorac product you love?

xo Emily