Get a Taste of Locally Made Goodness with Hammock Pack

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been MIA this past week. I've been a bit under the weather and really stressed at work so I decided to take a little me-time away from my computer to decompress. There was a lot of reading, napping, and cooking of comfort foods, as well as bit of good ol' Netflix binging. Now that I've had a bit of a breather I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back to chatting beauty and other fun things with you all.

Speaking of which, how much fun is this box of Philly-themed goodies? I was recently contacted by one of the lovely people over at up-and-coming subscription service Hammock Pack and asked if I would like to check out one of their boxes and offer some feedback. As someone who totally appreciates local and handmade goods I was completely on board, and am really excited to share what I think with you guys.

New York Never Sleeps: October 2015 Julep Maven Box

Hello there, friends! It's about that time in the month where my nail polish collection grows ever (and ever unnecessarily) larger. That's right, my Julep Maven box is here once again, with a few hand picked goodies carefully tucked inside its happy purple facade. In keeping with the cities around the world theme that Julep has taken on this year, October's collection is aptly named "New York Never Sleeps". With lots of bold metallics and glamorous glittering polishes, this month's collection definitely channels the edgy attitude that the Big Apple is known for. On the makeup end, Julep has also launched brand new eyeshadow sticks and a reformulated powder blush this month. Basically, lots of exciting things are happening in the Julep world! Let's take a closer look.

Limited Edition Everyday Glamour Birchbox Review

As the weather is getting colder and the nights are getting longer, its the perfect time of year for a little beauty pick-me-up. Fortunately Birchbox is one step ahead of the game and has curated another amazing Limited Edition box full of glamorous goodies to restore and pamper you on any day of the week. From a hydrating serum, to a luxurious body oil, to a perfect fall mani polish, to a restorative sheet mask there's loads of amazing products packed inside each box. Naturally, I couldn't resist cashing in my Birchbox points to treat myself to this awesome collection, and am finally here to give you guys an in-depth look at each of the products. So let's take the lid off the Limited Edition Everyday Glamour Birchbox and see exactly what's inside!

Holiday 2015 Preview: Gift Sets Galore

Is it just me, or do stores release their holiday goodies earlier and earlier every year? Maybe it seems a little crazy, what with it not even being Halloween yet, but at the same time, we all know that the 3 month stretch leading up to the Holiday season basically flies by. So what does it hurt to start making that wish list early? Or to get a head start on your gift shopping? We're all friends here. You know I won't judge! From skincare, to makeup, to beautiful brushes, the beauty world has really amped things up for the 2015 holiday season, and there are a TON of amazing gift sets to give or to get. To help you narrow down the sea of choices, here are a few of my top picks!

MUA Professional Smokey Eye Shadow Palette Review & Tutorial

Happy Monday, friends! I don't know about you, but my weekend went by insanely fast. I had a ton of blog related work to catch up on, as well as stuff to do around the house, and somehow that combination of activities basically created a time vacuum where you can blink and 6 hours have gone by. Such is the story of my life. Anyway, after all my hard work I've got a ton of awesome posts planned to share with you guys that will hopefully go up over the course of the week.

To kick things off I've got this sexy little number to tell you about. Now, I have to admit that my impression of Makeup Academy as a brand wasn't so great prior to my purchasing this palette. I had only ever tried one product from their entire range (a makeup brush), and it sucked so hard that I just didn't have all that much of a desire to try anything else. Alas, Tati and her magical powers of persuasion got me to give them a second chance after she raved about their eyeshadow palettes. From what I can tell, there are three different varieties to choose from - a Nude Palette, a Metallic Palette, and this little beauty, the Smokey Palette. I knew I didn't really need another palette of nude shades, and the metallic palette, while pretty, had a lot of colors I probably wouldn't wear often. This one, however, found a perfect middle ground (a very Goldilocks-esque situation, I realize).

Treat Yourself to All Natural Luxury With Tokyo Factory

I've been having a bit of a moment lately with all natural beauty products. Crafted with pure, simple, powerful ingredients and no artificial nastiness, green beauty is kind of a no-brainer. Now, I haven't made the transition to being 100% green, but when given the option I definitely find myself leaning towards the natural or organic option. One of my latest all-natural beauty discoveries is Tokyo Factory. This LA-based company handcrafts gorgeous, artisan soaps, skincare, and candles that are not only all-natural, but also vegan and cruelty-free.

I was clued into this amazing brand by Oly Shamrik over at TLV Birdie Blog, which has quickly become my go-to source for green beauty reviews. Oly's aesthetic is blow-your-mind gorgeous, and her posts are informative and lovely to read. If you've got a spare minute I highly recommend heading over to her site and taking a look around, although you may find it easy to totally get sucked in and lose track of time! TLV Birdie also hosts a number of really incredible giveaways, which is also how this post came to be. I wouldn't call myself a particularly lucky person, so when I found out that I was the winner of this amazing bundle of Tokyo Factory goodies I was completely shocked and overjoyed. After having a good month or so to test and play with everything I'm really excited to share my thoughts with you all.

YSL Rouge Pur Couture VoxBox*

Confession.

I've got expensive tastes.

Now, I'm not one to name drop, nor would I ever buy something just for sake of flaunting how much money I spent. I just appreciate quality when I see it, and often (but not always) the nicer something is, the more it will cost you. As my father often says "someone could take the price tags off of everything and you'd still pick out the most expensive thing in the store". It's probably about as close to a super power as I'm ever going to get.

Despite my affinity towards nice things, I'm also your normal working lady on a budget. Splurge purchases are not something to be made every day, and I've got to pick and choose carefully when spending my hard earned cash. While a lot of quality products cost a little bit more, dollar signs are not directly proportional to awesomeness, as I'm sure many of us have learned by spending way too much money on something that was overly hyped.

But that's one of the reasons I love blogging so much. Not only do I get to help other people steer clear of the stuff that disappoints or clue them into hidden gems, but I also have an amazing network of blogger friends and brands that do the same for me in return. One really awesome website that anyone can work with is Influenster. They team up with brands to help them find the right consumers to test out their products. That means you get to try awesome stuff for free in exchange for providing your honest feedback on the web or through social media.

In the past year I've gotten to participate in a number of cool campaigns, but this one might just be my favorite to date. I've been oggling Yves Saint Laurent's lip products from afar for years. They look so incredibly beautiful, but the sticker shock has always been too much for me to get over. Needless to say I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that Influenster was sending me two YSL Rouge Pur Couture Satin Radiance Lipsticks to try. With a retail price of $36 a pop, these babies are definitely in the splurge category for me, and I am SO thrilled to finally be able to try them out and let you know whether or not they're worth the hype (and your dolla dolla bills, y'all).

5 Minute Makeup Tutorial

Happy Sunday, all! I am cozied up at home with my cup of coffee, starting my day off being a little bit productive. It's been a cold, rainy, generally gross week, but finally the sun is shining again and I am ready to actually enjoy a little bit of fall. I'd love to go out and get a couple of pumpkins for my front stoop, maybe even bust out the Halloween decorations. It's October people, time to embrace all things festive!

On a day like today when I'm either going to be out and about running errands or relaxing at home, I like to take a break from full-face makeup. All I want is to look polished and put together without having to expend a whole lot of time and energy getting ready. In the spirit of having a little bit of fun, I thought I'd put my skills to the test and see if I could come up with a makeup look to share with you guys that you can do in five minutes or less.

Brows on Fleek: Nudestix Brow Stylus & Brow Wax Reviews*

Sorry vampy lips, there's another fall makeup trend that's seriously stealing the spotlight. Whether they're ultra defined or soft and natural, anything brows is so hot right now (Mugatu, anyone?). From pomades, to gels, to powders and pencils, the beauty scene is currently overflowing with products to help you get those #browsonfleek. Wanting in on the action, up-and-coming brand Nudestix recently launched their own badass brow products to add to the mix. There's the Eyebrow Stylus Pencil & Gel, which ingeniously pairs a defining pencil and setting gel in one sleek stick and the Brow Wax pencil to help tame even the most unruly of brows. As someone who loves all things brows and all things Nudestix, when they asked if I'd like to give them a try my response was an incredibly enthusiastic yes. I've had my hands on these bad boys for a few weeks now, and can't wait to share my thoughts on them with you!

September 2015 Flashback

It's hard to believe it's time for another monthly recap! I'm not going to lie, I always look forward to October. It's the return of everything pumpkin, the leaves start changing, Halloween is around the corner. It's basically a good month to be a New Englander. But before I get ahead of myself, let's take a look back at all of the fun happenings here at Little Blushing Birdie from the last month!

September 2015 Glambag

In keeping with tradition, I once again am wrapping up my monthly subscriptions with my Ipsy Glambag review. I feel like I always get my bag sort of late in the month and am scrambling to try everything out before the next one has begun. Alas, here it is October already and I'm just getting around to writing my review. Perhaps I should be a little more zen and accept that this just the way it's going to go, but my ultimate goal is to have all of my stuff reviewed in the month I get it. Is this just a me thing, or do my fellow beauty bloggers also understand the struggle?

Putting my lack of timeliness aside, let's jump into the goodies from this month's bag. September's theme was Face Fashion, no doubt inspired by New York Fashion Week and all of the buzz around next year's spring trends. I'm not sure how fashion forward any of the products I got were, but the bag they came in was definitely super cute. Let's take a closer look!

September 2015 Empties

September was apparently a majorly productive month for me, because I've got a TON of empties to share. I've got a little bit of everything - from makeup, to skincare, to hair, even to tea and candles. There were definitely some hits, and also some misses, and I've got no shortage of opinions on either. Since I had SO many things to talk about, I thought it might be fun to film another video for you guys instead of writing up an epic-ly long post. So get cozy, grab yourself a snack, and get ready for some serious beauty ramblings!