Birchbox and Walmart Beauty Unboxing

New year, same old subscription boxes. The two boxes that I'm still going to continue subscribing to are the Walmart Beauty Box and Birchbox. I've been very happy with both of those subscriptions, so you're going to continue to see me unbox them and share the products that I'm going to be trying out. I think when it comes down to value, both subscription services just get it right. You can't beat spending $5 for the Walmart Beauty Box, especially when the samples are extremely generous and you often receive coupons. And if you want to branch out and try other luxe brands, then Birchbox is definitely the subscription box for you.

Empty Products #7

It has been forever since my last Empty Products post! And if I'm honest it has been 9 months to be exact, so you can only imagine how many products I managed to accumulate. Someone should have called TLC on me because I was just hoarding empty products underneath my bed for the purpose of recording a video. I swear saving your trash is only logical in the YouTube/blogging world, otherwise you'd be a complete weirdo. But if you're a fan of quick reviews, then I'm sure you're going to enjoy this latest empty products post. There's a lot of skincare, body care, sheet masks, and mascaras in this post.

Natural Strobing

I don't what has gotten into me lately but this oily skin gal has been embracing dewy skin. It all started when I got the stunning Sleek Makeup Highlighting Palette in Precious Metals in my life. The palette includes three cream highlight shades and one powder highlight, all the shades give your skin a natural and luminous glow. If you've been wanting to try out the strobing technique but found a lot of the tutorials too dramatic for everyday life, then maybe you'll enjoy this subtle take on the trend.

December 2015 Ipsy Bag and Walmart Beauty Box

It's that time again, time to open up subscription boxes. This video is a bit different to others because I'll be opening two different subscription services in one video. The winter Walmart Beauty Box arrived not too long ago and it happened to be the box with the most samples and coupons that I've received from them. And then we have my very last Ipsy bag, which happened to also be the best one they sent me all year. I'm not too sad though because starting January I'll be opening Birchbox boxes on my channel!

100% Drugstore Holiday Makeup

Here's my second holiday look of the season. For today's look I created a green smokey eye for the holidays using nothing but drugstore makeup. Everything from the brow product to the actual brushes used are incredible affordable, and many can be found at your local drugstore. In my regular tutorials I tend to use a combination of drugstore and high-end makeup, so it felt so nice creating something entirely out of drugstore makeup. This more dramatic makeup is perfect for more glam Christmas dinners, or you can wear it with to your family's dinner if you happen to like smokey eyes. I really loved how this look turned out and I really hope that you do as well.

Walmart Fall Beauty Box

It's official! I've been subscribed to the Walmart Beauty Box for a full year and this has to be the best box I've ever received. The number of deluxe samples and coupons in this box exceeded the $5 you spend on shipping and handling. I know I've mentioned in the past that it's by far the cheapest subscription box out there, but I also think that it's one of the most practical boxes out there. As someone who loves saving money, I really appreciate the fact that this box includes so many coupons. The coupons in this box would save you $13 on beauty and body care products which is pretty incredible if you ask me. So what exactly did I get in this box? You'll have to watch the video to find out.

What's In My Music Festival Bag?

One of the most popular videos to record for beauty/style YouTubers is the classic "What's in my bag?" video. I've even done a few myself but I decided to add a little twist this time around. Why not show you what I'm took to a music festival AT the music festival? Yes, I asked my boyfriend to record me take out all the items out my backpack while I was waiting for the next act to go up. I got a lot of weird stares, but it's ok because frankly I'm used to them by now. The video was recorded on the third and final day of Outside Lands, a.k.a. the day I camped out in the front of the stage to see Elton John. That should explain why I had so much food in my bag, but I have absolutely no excuse for all the lip products.

Empty Products #6

It has been well over 7 months since my last empty products video, and you can only imagine how many products I managed to accumulate. I honestly feel borderline embarrassed for hoarding empty trash for that long. Let's see I have 9 tubes of mascara, 5 bottles of body wash, 5 packs of makeup wipes, and a slew of skincare products. There's a whole lot going on in this video but if you're a fan of getting quick and concise reviews, then this is a must-watch. Plus you'll get a way better idea if a product is worth purchasing or if you should just save your money instead.

April 2015 Favorites

Ahhhhhhh... It's gonna be May! Well it already technically is May, but I just felt like starting off a blog post with that because I'm a 90's kid for life. Before we begin a brand new month of beauty discoveries and rediscoveries, it is time to look back the my most-used products in the month of April. There's a good mix of new and familiar products, as well as drugstore and high-end makeup. And how pretty is the flower arrangement? An event planner dropped it off after an event finished up outside of work and now I get to use it to make my pictures much more springy. 

Walmart Spring Beauty Box

It's time for a brand new box! This time around we're going to take a look at the spring beauty box. With the Walmart Beauty Box you'll only be paying $5 for shipping, which means that the box is technically free. The box is sent quarterly so you'll only be spending $20 a year on the subscription, making it one of the most affordable services out there. I love getting to try new makeup brands but sometimes you have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt to find where they're sold. What I love the best about this box is that it exposes me to new products that I can easily find at Walmart or any other drugstore.

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream

This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect and Neutrogena.

As you all may know by now, it doesn't get too cold here in San Diego but that doesn't mean that my hands don't get dry. Something that people tend to forget is that California is a desert and our climate tends to be pretty dry, especially if you don't live near the coast. In recent weeks the air has become extremely dry which is confusing my oily skin a lot and also making my hands uncomfortably dry. I first heard about the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream thanks to my brother who has been a huge fan of this highly moisturizing and lightly scented hand cream for about 3 years now. I know, the beauty blogger discovered a product thanks to someone who doesn't care much about beauty products. The hand cream that I'll be talking about today is a spin-off of Neutrogena's much-loved Norwegian Formula, but does it live up to the original version?

Mona Lisa Makeup with Neutrogena

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by NEUTROGENA® I only recommend products I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. Some of the products mentioned were purchased by myself AND/OR some were provided by NEUTROGENA® for this post. 

Today's post is brought to you by Leonardo da Vinci and his masterpiece the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda). One of my favorite paintings of all time happens to be the Mona Lisa and I've been in love with the work of art ever since I can remember. I have always been so fascinated by the mysterious woman with the cherub face and the iconic faint smile, there's just something about the whole painting that really appeals to me. When I decided to take part in the #NeutrogenaFaceOff challenge I knew I had to do something different and I thought "this would be the perfect time to become the Mona Lisa." This particular makeup look does require a lot of makeup but one Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelette from Walmart is enough to remove everything from my face.

Face of the Day | Lykke Li Concert

Last night I went to see Lykke Li right here in San Diego and I decided to dedicate a little post to what I was wearing. Since Lykke Li is a fan of dark eye makeup I decided to ditch my soft makeup and embrace a smoky eye. I've been such a huge fan of Lykke Li since 2008 when her debut album Youth Novels was released. That was one of those life changing albums that I will always hold close to my heart. You might not know this but I used to run a Lykke Li tumblr fan page a few years ago so I'm not kidding when I say that I'm a huge fan. I'm hoping to recreate a Lykke Li makeup look very soon as a tutorial, but for now here's what I wore for the concert!

Natural Fall Makeup with Neutrogena

This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with NEUTROGENA® and Latina Bloggers Connect. However, all opinions and statements expressed are my own.

Fall is officially here and with that comes new makeup trends! While it's fun to wear a grungy smokey eye and dark lips, it's just not the most wearable look especially for work. I always try to keep things simple and quick for work so that's why I absolutely love using BB creams. In today's blog post I'm going to show you this very simple fall look featuring matte eyeshadows, a dusty rose lipstick, and the Neutrogena Visibly Even collection.

Face of the Day | Off To Work

The past few days have been extremely hot here in San Diego. It's been in the mid 90s (~35ºC), a bit humid, and overall very unpleasant. Because of that I've been making an effort to keep my makeup as light as possible just like I did today. Even though the makeup doesn't look any different from what I normally wear, I did use some new products in today's look because I'm in the middle of testing out a few items. So without further ado let's jump right into this latest "face of the day post."

Face of the Day | Easy Breezy

Not going to lie, I've been lacking in the creativity department recently. I just have a lot of my mind and not enough energy to be creative on the blog. Yesterday when I woke up for work I felt like I desperately needed some color in my life. I used an eyeshadow that I've only worn one and even wore my fun necklace. Hopefully things will pick up creatively once Outside Lands is over but for the meantime here's my latest face of the day post.

The SPF Roundup

I don't fool around when it comes to protecting my skin. Everytime I step outside my home I make sure that any exposed skin is protected. Everything from my eyelids to my feet get some form of SPF applied to them. I think everyone should start incorporating SPF into their routines, but especially those of us who sunburn really easily like myself. I've even gone as far as to carry a sunscreen with me at all times so I can reapply when necessary. In this blog post I'll be sharing with you all the sunscreen above SPF 30 that I own and I'll be telling you a little bit about each one of them.

Foundations for Oily Skin

I get a lot of questions regarding foundations for oily skin since I've been very outspoken about having extremely oily skin. Finding a foundation for your skin type is pretty easy nowadays because there are so many brands (both in the drugstore and high-end) trying to cater to everyone's needs. Sometimes foundations will list the ideal skin type such as the Revlon ColorStay foundation, but other times you have to look for key words. When shopping for a foundation for your oily skin look out for the following words: matte, powder, or shine control. In today's blog post I'm going to go through a few of my foundations intended of us oily skin girls out there.

Empty Products #5

It's been a while since my last empty products video but I've finally accumulated enough products to make another video. I have a little bit of everything in this video because of the amount of products in my "vinyl is forever bag." I have skincare, body care, makeup, and even hair product. Since there's a lot of products I made sure to quickly describe each and every product, as well as mention if I would repurchase it or not. It's a long video but it's like 15+ reviews all in one video.

My Everyday Makeup Look

My everyday makeup look has to be quick, simple, and easy. Today I'll be sharing with you how I get my "signature" look. The products do rotate because of my big makeup selection but the overall look is the same. I'm on a one eyeshadow, mascara, and bright lips type of girl. This look should take less than 15 minutes to do so it would also double as a great makeup look for anyone going to school or work.