Surprise Giveaway: Win an Awesome Beauty Goodie Bag!

Happy Friday, friends! I can't believe it's the last day of September. I know, I know. I say this every month. But September was especially short for me. Between traveling to Iceland and hitting up Gen Beauty my entire perception of time has been thrown out of whack. I've started to notice the leaves around these parts are starting to turn and it's just like...what the heck? When did this happen? As fast as it was, September has been a pretty great month, and I wanted to send some of the good vibes your way!

I've put together two little goodie bags filled with products I took home from Generation Beauty (as well as a few other fun things I've picked up along the way) for you to win. Want to know how to enter? Just keep on reading!

The 8 Polishes You Need to Kick Off Autumn

Friends, it's officially that time again. Get ready to bust out your boots, your scarves, and your pumpkin spiced everything. Even though I'm a summer baby through and through, fall beauty and fashion is by far my favorite to indulge in. Give me the plaid button downs, the big blanket scarves, the soft, chunky sweaters. Give me matte lips, gold shadows, and vampy nail polishes. I want all of it, and I want it on my body right now.

In the spirit of all things autumn, I thought it would be fun to dive through my nail polish collection and pull out a few of the shades I'm most excited to return to my everyday rotation. It's time to retire those pinks and corals and get a little more moody in manicure country. From sultry oxbloods, to edgy navys I'm all about going extra dark and extra chic when the leaves start to turn.

NYX Lip Lustre Try-On and Review

Fellow beauty junkies, let me know if you understand this struggle. Life lately has been kind of bananas. After being in Iceland for a week and spending last weekend at Gen Beauty, I feel pretty behind on life stuff and have had tons of errands and such to run. Needless to say, the giant bag of beauty loot I took home with me last Sunday (or should I say, bags) has been sitting neglected in my bedroom, waiting patiently for me to come and play. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and my parents made my brother and I wait until AFTER church AND breakfast to open our presents on Christmas morning.

Ugh, TORTURE.

Thankfully though, I finally got some time this weekend to stay home and dive full-on into all things blog related. One of the things I was most excited about was sitting down to film a lip swatch video of the new NYX Cosmetics Lip Lustre Glossy Lip Tints ($7). I've never done something like this before on my channel, but it actually ended up being a lot of fun! So if you want to see what the deal is with this fun new launch, just keep reading!

Skin Saviors: The Sunday Riley Martian Mattifying Melting Water-Gel Toner

I've never been one to know what it's like to have perfectly clear skin. Over the years I've battled with acne, large pores, hyperpigmentation, and scarring. My face is incredibly oily year-round, although in the dead of winter I've been known to also suffer dryness around my cheeks. Basically, since the ripe old age of 11 I've been fighting the good fight, trying to banish breakouts and helps keep my oiliness under control. My younger self was much more apt to fall for marketing ploys ("yes, you need oil-controlling everything!!"), and as a result my teenage years were pretty miserable skin-wise. I used cleansers and acne treatments that were way too harsh, skipped moisturizer, and hardly ever wore sunscreen.

Truly, it was atrocious.

Eventually, though, I woke up to the damage I was doing, and decided to put serious effort into understanding my skin and what it needed. Flash forward 10 years and my face is better than its ever been. Sure, its not as baby-smooth and flawless as my pre-pubescent self, but its finally free of constant, active breakouts. All-in-all taking a more gentle and mindful approach to my skincare has worked wonders. Which brings me to the latest addition to the Little Blushing Birdie lineup.

Sunday Riley is one of those luxury skincare brands that's piqued my interest for months. Other bloggers constantly rave about how amazing their products are, but the hefty price tags often hold me back. So when Sephora was offering a promo code to redeem for a deluxe sample of the Sunday Riley Martian Mattifying Melting Water-Gel Toner, you can bet I was all over it. From the first use I knew this was a special product, and before my sample got low I found myself running out to Sephora to pick up the full size.

Generation Beauty NY 2016: My Experience & an EPIC Haul!

You know that surreal feeling you get when you realize something you've been anticipating for months and months is finally coming to fruition? That was all of this past weekend for me. I headed out at the crack of dawn on Friday morning (legit, it was 5 am) to New York City for Ipsy's Generation Beauty event. I'd been planning this trip since March and as I was sitting on the train I almost couldn't believe it was actually finally happening.

If you aren't familiar with Generation Beauty, it's a large beauty expo hosted by Ipsy, and has grown to be a bit of a phenomenon in the last couple of years. The first Gen Beauty event was held in LA near the Ipsy headquarters, and now they've expanded to NY, Toronto, and San Francisco. Anyone can attend these events, and they usually draw in crowds of more than 4000 people. As someone who's goes day-to-day surrounded by people who aren't on my wavelength about beauty, it was kind of incredible to be in a room full of others who share my same passion.

This weekend was exhausting, exhilarating, and incredibly fun. I finally got to meet so many of the blogger friends I've made over the years in person, I got to connect with a ton of amazing brands, and I took home a stupid amount of swag. Curious to see more of my Gen Beauty experience? Keep reading!