February 2017 Favorites

*Affiliate links/PR samples used.

Guys, I'm so excited to share this month's favorites with you I'm practically dancing out of my chair. 2017 has been off to the most amazing start beauty-wise, and it's got me more pumped to blog than ever. It's not like my passion for playing with product has ever really wavered, it's just that lately I've come across things that I'm genuinely loving so much that I find myself looking forward to doing my nightly skincare or putting on my makeup each morning. And of course, being the true enabler that I am, I can't wait to tell you about it all so you can fall in love right along with me!

Winter 2016 Empties

*Affiliate links/PR Samples used

Hello beauties! It's time yet again to take out the trash. I've got a boat load of empty products that I need to say goodbye to, and we're going to chat a little bit about each one. Perhaps its just the die hard beauty enthusiast in me, but I love watching and filming empties videos. Sure it's a lot of fun to hear about what's new and trendy, but sometimes I wonder how much of a person's enthusiasm for a product is based on the hype. And that's why empties are awesome. By the time you're ready to throw something away, your opinion is much less likely to be biased by newness. If someone finishes an entire bottle of something and loved it so much that they already have a backup on standby, I'm going to take that recommendation pretty seriously.

In the end, we all work hard for our money, and if we're going to invest some of it into beauty products, we don't want them to suck. And that's why I'm here doing what I'm doing. I'm willing to take one for the team, to risk the occasional fail so that you don't have to. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't? So if you want to find out my most honest, tried-and-true opinions on some beauty goodness, keep on reading!

500 Subscriber Giveaway!

Are you guys ready to do a happy dance? 'Cause I'm ready to do a happy dance.

I finally hit the 500 subscriber mark over on my YouTube channel! My YouTube journey thus far has been quite the learning process. Even though I've been blogging here for years, I only started posting videos to my channel at the end of last summer. I had no lighting, no backdrop, no editing software, and pretty much no idea of what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to be able to bring some of my content to life, and to give you guys a chance to get to know the face behind the makeup.

Over the course of the last year I feel like my videos have come a long way (those first ones...those first ones are pretty rough). I've worked my butt off trying to learn from my mistakes, and am always pushing myself to make every video just a teeny bit better than the last.

So yes, 500 may seem like a comparatively tiny number, but to me that's 500 more people that are supporting me doing something I love than I had a year ago. And I think that's flippin amazing. I really can't thank you guys enough for all the love that you've given me here and on my channel, but as a small gesture of appreciation, I want to give you all a chance to win some sweet beauty loot!

$5 Makeup Challenge!

Guys, this post was the definition of a labor of love. I've been planning this challenge for months, and was so excited to finally go out, shop, film and put it all together for you. If the title hasn't already given it away, today I'm going to be showing you how to create a beautiful smokey eyed makeup look using all products (AND tools) that cost $5 or less. I love incorporating budget-friendly makeup into my everyday routine, and I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to find really great, super-affordable products that I could recommend to you all.

So I plan, I set everything up, I film last weekend, edit my photographs...I was feeling pretty on top of my A-game. I knew I was going into New York on Wednesday and decided I could use my 2 hour ride each way to edit my footage. Everything seems to be going swimmingly until I'm on the train, on my way to Manhattan when I realize that a 10 minute chunk of my footage is missing. Just GONE. My memory cards are both wiped clean, and I am an unhappy panda.

Needless to say I had to wait until after work last night to come home and refilm the missing footage so I could finish editing my video and still get it posted (albeit very late) on Thursday night. Posting consistently has been one of my blog goals, and I was DETERMINED to stick to my schedule, even if that meant losing a few more hours of sleep.

So, after much frustration, but a lot of love and hard work, I'm finally able to actually show you all some really great, budget-friendly makeup that you can add to your collection! Let's get this challenge started.