Photoshop and Body Image in the Blogging World

By now I think we all know how heavily photoshopped images are on magazines, advertisements, and major online publications, that's one of the many reasons why the blogging world exploded in recent years. And I can definitely see the appeal of bloggers because like many of you reading this, I'm also someone who spends a lot of time reading and following bloggers. One of the things that is becoming more and more apparent in the blogging community is the desperate need to be skinny and perfect, which isn't anything new but this is coming from people often get seen as "normal" women. Not only are bloggers using photoshop to alter their bodies, but some of them will even turn to phone apps like FaceTune to get the appearance of unrealistically smooth skin which no one has. In this post I'm going to be voicing my opinion about photoshop in the blogging world, as well as talking about body image. Little known fact, the blogging world is very much like going back to high school.

Outfit of the Day | Chill 4th of July

With 4th of July just a couple of days away, I had to show you my subtle take on 4th of July fashion. I know this may sound hard to believe, but there was once a time that I would deck myself out with so much red, white, and blue. I still remember going to Limited Too as a sixth grader and picking out everything that had stars and stripes. Although it's fun to rock your patriotic AF look on the 4th of July, nowadays I prefer a much more subtle approach. Last week when I went thrifting, I found this beautiful striped top which luckily fit me perfectly. You can easily wear a striped top, relaxed jeans, sandals, and a red lip to any of your 4th of July festivities. It's possible to look patriotic without having to pile on all the red, white, and blue you can find.

June 2016 Favorites

Summer has arrived and to be honest, I really wasn't ready for the heat. You would think that I'm already used to this weather having lived here all my life, right? Well I'm not, especially since this year has been a bit more gloomy than past years (which I've been loving). My body really doesn't like the heat, so I've really had to dig through my body care collection and pick out some heavy duty products to combat my dry skin. I've also been using very little makeup this past month because I hate the feeling of having a thick layer of makeup on my face when it's 90ºF outside. There's honestly nothing worse than the feeling of your makeup melting away.

5 Products for Lazy Girls

Let's me be honest with you, as much as I love makeup sometimes even the biggest makeup addict can get really lazy. And I always get lazy with makeup during the summertime because I just don't want to deal with a 30+ minute routine and have all my makeup just melt off. You know what I mean? Do you? Well for those of you who know what I'm talking about, I've rounded up 5 of my favorite products for all you lazy girls out there. These are quick products that don't require much maintenance or knowledge about how to "snatch" or "beat" your face (whatever that may mean). As a wise woman once said, "ain't nobody got time for that!"

Bdellium Tools Smoky Brush Set | Review + Tutorial

Bdellium Tools is a brush company based in Cerritos, California which is not all that far away from San Diego. I'm sure you've heard of Bdellium Tools before if you tend to watch a lot of YouTube videos, especially KathleenLights. Because of the YouTube effect (someone should really trademark that term), I really wanted to try brushes Bdellium Tools and I finally got my chance. When I saw this brush set on Octoly (a free marketplace for content creators), I quickly jumped on it and sent my proposal to the company. Thankfully Bdellium Tools approved of my proposal and I was sent the Green Bambu Smoky Eyes 5pc. Brush Set to try out and review. This brush set contains 5 vegan and cruelty-free brushes to create the perfect smokey eye. So let's cut to the chase, is Bdellium Tools really worth all the YouTube hype?

Bite Beauty Lip Saviors

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to review three of the Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche lipsticks thanks to Influenster. As a thank you for participating in the Amuse Bouche campaign, all the influensters were automatically entered in a giveaway to win these two Bite Beauty products and I was chosen as a winner! I rarely win anything, so this was super exciting for me because both of these products were completely new to me. I know the Agave Lip Mask is one of Bite Beauty's cult favorites, so I was very excited to see what all the hype was about. This little lip care package honestly couldn't have come at a better time because my lips absolutely hate the hot weather. Will these products keep your lips healthy throughout the summer?

Top 5 ColourPop Super Shock Shadows

Ever since I placed my first ColourPop order over a year ago, I've been hooked on their very affordable Super Shock Shadows. If you've never tried the Super Shock Shadow formula, then you're going to be in for a real treat. These are not your standard powder eyeshadows with messy fall out, and they're also not your standard cream eyeshadow that will dry out quickly. The Super Shock Shadows have a long wearing crème powder formula which applies very pigmented and smoothly on the eyes. These shadows come in a plethora of shades and finishes, so I thought it would be a great idea to share five of my favorite shades in this post. It was very hard to narrow it down to just five shades, but I think there will be something for everyone.

Walmart Summer 2016 Beauty Box

It's been half a year since my last Walmart Beauty Box unboxing. A long time, I know! I didn't cancel the box or anything, what happened was that my spring box never arrived. I never got an email indicating that my box had been shipped out or got money taken away- nothing. I have no idea what happened there but for some reason I just never got a spring box. Unless this is the spring box and it came a whole season late... Who knows, the orchid box is really throwing me off. And this box was perhaps the worst subscription box I've ever received.

Cool Down in a Stick

Let's talk about one of the coolest skincare products at the moment that will literally cool you down, even on a hot and humid day. MILK MAKEUP is the cool kid on the block in the beauty world and I'm personally super intrigued by their refreshing approach to beauty. What initially attracted me to their brand was their innovative, yet practical packaging. Then I found out that mega babe and one of my favorite singers, Samantha Urbani, was one of the faces of the brand and I knew I had to try something out. With the hot summer months ahead I picked up the Cooling Water which has become a saviour for my puffy under eyes.

Review | Glossier Haloscope

I'm having a real moment with Glossier right now. I think they're doing a fantastic job bringing out innovative and exciting beauty products for the everyday woman. Last week after I uploaded my Highlighter Challenge video, Glossier launched their brand new Haloscope Dew Effect Highlighter. Being the Glossier/Into The Gloss fangirl that I am, I immediately went on the website to order my own Haloscope highlighter within the first few hours after they had been launched. This is unlike any powder or cream highlight that I own, it's made with hydrating skincare ingredients and crushed up minerals.

Get Ready With Me: My Brother's Graduation

Last week my younger brother graduated from university, so you can just imagine how excited all of my family was. We literally spent all of last week getting things ready for his graduation party, and let me tell you things were a little crazy at home. We were putting lights on the palm trees, preparing Mexican food, and of course there's was a lot of tidying up to do. At the end of the day, all of our hard work paid off and my brother enjoyed his graduation to the fullest. This reminds me, how has it been 3 years since I graduated?? Time sure flies by after you graduate from university!

My First Nourish Beauty Box

By now all of you know how much I enjoy subscription services. I've tried pretty much all the major beauty subscription services, an Asian beauty box, a nail polish subscription service, and even a lifestyle box. A subscription service that is completely new to me is Nourish Beauty Box which is a monthly subscription box that specializes in natural, cruelty-free, and ingredient conscious beauty products. Unlike most subscription services, Nourish Beauty Box sends out 3 full-sized beauty products and they offer free worldwide shipping. Yes, finally a subscription box that ships worldwide!

My Latest Rose Obsession

For a girl that really doesn't like flowers all that much, I'm definitely a big sucker when it comes to floral scents. By far my favorite floral scent is rose, there's something about the smell of roses which makes me go crazy. I literally love anything that smells like roses, from rosewater ice cream (trust me, that's a thing and it's delicious) to rose scented perfumes. When I first heard that Glossier was going to release a rose scented version of their cult favorite Balm Dotcom, let's just say that I freaked out a little bit (ok, maybe I freaked out a lot). Since purchasing this I've pretty much kicked all my daytime lip balms to the curve and have been finding any excuse to apply the Rose Balm Dotcom on my lips.

Birchbox June 2016

This is now that sixth Birchbox that I've received, so that means that I've been officially subscribed for half a year! I have to be completely honest with you and say that I've been really happy with my Birchbox subscription so far. I have really enjoyed the variety products I've received, the option to choose a sample each month, the boxes themselves, and the Birchbox point system. This month's sample choice was the newly repackaged Benefit Gimme Brow which I've never tried before. And I also received a very exciting item in June's box that I had been wanting to try out for the longest time! Clue: It's perhaps the most hyped about hair product within the blogosphere.

Why I Stopped Supporting Fast Fashion

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had made the decision to stop supporting fast fashion retailers, and today I'm going to be explaining my reasoning behind that decision. It's no secret that fast fashion is huge within the blogging community. You will come across bloggers styling pieces from Forever 21, H&M, ASOS, Brandy Melville, and Zara time and time again. And I understand why that is- fast fashion is cheap, trendy, and very accessible. In the past I thought of fast fashion as my only way to build a decent wardrobe, but nowadays I've been caring more about ethics than getting a good deal on a plain white tee. I promise not to make this blog post sound too preachy because that's the last thing I want out of this, but I do want to encourage you to question the practices of fast fashion and come up with your own conclusion.

Trying Canadian Candy

It all started a few weeks ago when I was really bored at Sam's Club in Tijuana, I thought it would be a good idea to snap about my favorite Mexican candy since I do have many followers that live outside of the U.S. and Mexico. I gave my Snapchat homies (yes, that's how I call my followers) a rundown on my favorite Mexican candy and tried my best to describe what they taste like. This caught the attention of my friend and fellow blogger/vlogger, Maria Medeiros and she suggested the idea of doing a candy swap. I've never done anything like this before on my YouTube channel, so I was totally on board for a little Mexican to Canadian candy exchange.

Review | OGX Coconut Curls

If you've followed my hair journey, then you would know that I've been fully embracing my curly hair ever since I grew out my pixie cut. And before I get another "your hair is not curly" comment, there are different variations of curly hair. Waves, loose curls, tight curls, and even natural hair are all considered curly hair. In the past I've been recommended higher end products for curly hair, but I've finally found something at the drugstore that works amazing. I've been playing around with the OGX Coconut Curls range for a few weeks now and I'm going to be reviewing the complete range just for you. Let me tell you, some of the products are absolutely incredible!

Outfit of the Day | Black and Blue

Hi, my name is Laura and I'm the minimalist and tomboy version of a plain Jane. I swear I'll never get sick of just rocking jeans and a t-shirt, aka my uniform for the past 20+ years of my life. Although there really isn't much going with this outfit, I did decide to play around with silhouettes a little bit. My love for the mom jeans is still going strong, but this time around I paired the loose jeans with a fitted black top. And to round up my basic outfit and make it a bit more modern, I decided to go with some round sunglasses and my old platform sandals. What can I say? Basics are the new black.

Full Face Highlight Challenge

Who hasn't dreamed of wearing nothing but highlighter? I know I have! A few weeks ago 18 year-old aspiring MUA Mariya recorded a full face makeup tutorial using nothing but highlighters. And as you can probably imagine, the video quickly went viral thanks to Buzzfeed and social media. Now this isn't exactly an everyday look, but it's so much fun to play around with makeup. Participating in this challenge reminded me of why I fell in love with makeup in the first place. It's very easy to play it safe, but experimenting with new trends or techniques can be a ton of fun. I definitely have Mariya to thank for encouraging the makeup community to have fun and embrace their inner disco ball.

Review | Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick

Forget the Kylie Lip Kits, a brand that constantly sells out and has killer liquid lipsticks is Jeffree Star Cosmetics. Yes, Jeffree Star from MySpace now has a cosmetic empire and over 1 million subscribers on YouTube. I know I'm basic as hell when compared to Jeffree, but I just adore his over-the-top personality and fierce makeup. I first heard about Jeffree Star Cosmetics over a year ago on YouTube and I had been wanting to buy one of the famous Velour Liquid Lipsticks for the longest time. What held me back was the fact that these sell out quick! But a few months ago I was finally able to get my hands on the cult shade, Celebrity Skin.

Review | Maybelline Color Sensational The Loaded Bolds

You can now get wild lip colors at the drugstore! Maybelline has a new lipstick collection that features unusual shades such as blue, purple, white, brown, and black lipsticks. Usually drugstore companies play it very safe when it comes to their makeup options and collections, so it's amazing to see a brand like Maybelline doing something new and exciting. Maybelline Color Sensational The Loaded Bolds have an opaque clay based formula that's supposed to have one-stroke intensity. I honestly got so excited when I saw The Loaded Bolds at my store so I picked up two unusual shades to test out and review for you.

Natural Brow Routine

It's funny how I went from being teased about my brows back in school, to getting very nice comments about them on social media. I still get the occasional troll every now and then that thinks that calling my brows "bushy" is an insult, but comments like that don't really bother me at all. I've always loved my thick bushy brows since I was a child because it's a facial characteristic that many of my family members also have. I even loved my brows back when they were one long and bushy caterpillar. And yes, I do possess the magical hairy powers to grow a badass Frida unibrow. But this video isn't about that, it's actually about how I tame and fill in my thick brows in a very natural way.

Review | Elizabeth Arden Grand Entrance Mascara

If you saw my May Favorites, then you heard me rave about this new mascara by Elizabeth Arden. When it comes to high-end brands, I think Elizabeth Arden often gets forgotten about among people my age and I really think it's time to start paying more attention to the iconic brand. Elizabeth Arden is no longer just your mom's or grandmother's favorite brand, now they're pushing the envelope and coming out with very modern and innovative products such as the Grand Entrance Mascara. This mascara features a curved brush with three rows of bristles, as well as a long-wear and water resistant formula that easily washes off at the end of the night.

Outfit of the Day | Silk Scarf

I'm absolutely no stranger to scarves, in fact I once used to own a ridiculously large scarf collection. I literally had every scarf imaginable- long scarves, thin scarves, hand knitted scarves, colorful scarves, snoods... I think you get the point. I've always been a huge fan of scarves, and these tiny silk scarves have become my latest obsession. The first one I purchased was almost 5 years ago in Paris and sadly it's gone missing in my room *tear*, but thankfully these scarves are very easy to find at thrift stores. Whenever I wear this particular silk scarf, it always reminds me of airline stewardesses in a good way. So now I wear a silk whenever I want to give my plain outfit some ~airline stewardess vibes~.