So my best friend/maid of honor has a super talented husband, Greg Bales, he did our engagement photos and most of our wedding pics too, we did hie and extra 2 photographers so he could enjoy himself as-well.
My husband had this whole thing planned out, we had gone to Edinbururgh every year for his birthday and this time was no different except he planned his birthday trip around all the wedding planning. He made the appointments with the locations, the venue, the whole enchilada and all I id was plan the engagement photo shoot, lazy bride? No, apparently this was his plan from the beginning.
But also we were celebrating his birthday and our engagement, so what did we do you ask? We got shitfaced and a heavy metal bar called Opium where they had this magical concoction called "The Opium Bomb and my husband thought having 20 of those was a great idea the night before our photoshoot. I also thought it was a great idea to drink all the scotch placed in front of me that night so of course we were super hungover the next day so here is what I did to try and avoid looking like crap in our engagement photos:
Slept in as much as I could, eat a heavy breakfast, shower for like 40 minutes and then applied the following:
I washed my face with my Clarisonic Mia and First Aid Beauty (FAB) cleanser, toned with Olay's witch hazel toner, applied my Josie Maran argan oil and then the magical unicorn Shiseido's Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Pure Retinol Express Smoothing Eye Mask
I left this on for as long as it was wet, this puppy help mask the nightmare under my eyes. Of course I packed on the makeup like crazy but I think the under eye mask helped sooooo much.
Here are some sample photos where you can't really tell that I'm actually dying inside:
Last year around spring/summer time and after years of black hair I decided to go blonde, yes, you read correctly. BLONDE.
It didn't look bad, at all, I honestly expected to look like crap considering my Hispanic background, we don't look too great blonde unless it's our natural color. But I went for it and it look... like this:
Me & my friend Caitlin on my 28th birthday last year
It became a nightmare after a few weeks; upkeep, maintenance, constant conditioning treatments, frizziness attacking me constantly, etc. I grew tired of it fast, but I was determined to go to Oktoberfest in Munich with light hair! And I did :D
My muscular better half & me in the Paulaner tent
I tried to go back to brunette a couple times, I wen't redhead for a couple weeks which was fun (also to help the brunette adhere better), but oh sadness... a month or two later it would wash away and back to blonde.
Yesterday I was bored, I had no plans other than washing dirty dishes so on my way home from work I purchased a couple of boxes of Ganier's Olia hair dye in 5.0 (medium brown) and boy did I like it! Hopefully the results will last (haven't had great experiences with Ganier Hair Colors).
Anyway! The product; on their website it says that this is the first oil powerd hair color on the market which conditions your hair. It doesn't contain ammonia which is a BIG plus in my book. It also says that the creamy formula is blah blah blah, yes it's creamy and that seems to avoid the dreaded dripping all over the place.
The results, no I have to admit after doing half my head I did start to get tired of doing it because I never realized how much more difficult it would be when your hair is mid-back length! So the second half of my hair was done a lil "sloppy". The color is very true to the picture on most of my hair, again the lighter patches are my own fault.
Once the whole thing was done I noticed something odd, most of the OTHER hair dyes tend to keep a creamy/gel like texture throughout the wait, not this one. For those who have bleached their hair on more than one occasion, you might have stumbled upon or are familiar with the Redken Extreme Anti Snap line. These hair products are intended for damaged hair, when you push your luck a little too much and get nasty stringy, bubblegum textured hair. The entire line is packed with proteins that you've just magically destroyed on your beautiful tresses, and Redken was so kind enough to put it in a bottle. When you apply these products, if you get a little carried away, your hair will feel a little crunchy as if you had just applied a little too much hairspray. Ganier's Olia does the same thing while you're dying your hair, so you do have to ensure you saturate every strand of hair or you will end a tad patchy like myself (I'll blame it on my arms being tired).
YAY brown hair!
Would I recommend it? Yeah, my hair feels great and it's not blonde anymore! Happy customer. I really hope it doesn't wash away as bad as the others have.
For the longest time I had been wanting to subscribe to the UK version of Glossybox because unfortunately US Glossybox doesn't ship overseas (sad face). But I discovered that even though my credit/debit accounts have an American billing address I can still subscribe to this beauty box (happy face).
So I thought it'd be a great idea to start at the same time this new year came to visit us and today, yes today! I got my very first box!
Now I have to admit I wasn't blown away with the contents but I am still thrilled like a little kid with a new toy. I had been receiving Birch Boxes for a while a couple of years ago but sadly, because they were shipping to an APO, I would receive my box about 6 weeks after they shipped and we encountered several bump along the way. So unfortunately I had to unsubscribe (also the fact that they were starting to send me food annoyed the crap out of me).
So! Here it is; I like the packaging a lot. It really does give a sense of good customer's service, someone sat down and invested their time in packaging this, the bow, the sticker with the logo, how the items are strategically placed in the box, the whole thing screams "I care". And that is something vital for a company like this to depict, people enjoy unwrapping a presents on Christmas because it gives us the sentiment that someone cares and took their time with YOU. And we humans are naturally selfish.
The item I enjoyed the most were the Vintage Cosmetic Company Tweezers (their website is badass!) which are very similar to Tweezerman style tweezers. The detail and colour was adorable.
The item I truly disliked was the Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream which OK so yeah, it's good for the skin... if you can get over the smell, that the packaging looks cheap, the fact the sample sent was enough for one foot and that's probably why I was sent 2.
The product that made me think "Dafuq?" Vaseline essential moisture.... Seriously, I already buy this every time I get a new tattoo after a week or so of using the recommended ointment. I was kinda sad I got it to be completely honest. As I just mentioned a line ago, I already purchase this often enough like to have paid for a deluxe sample I already carry around in my purse.
And last but not least; I'm actually looking forward to trying the Anatomicals Puffy the Eye Bag Slayer eye patches because I DO get puffy eyes very easily. And this is why I subscribed to this, to try new beauty products I could possibly repurchase on it's own.
All in all it wasn't a complete disappointment but it wasn't mind blowing. YES, I am still excited about receiving Glossybox every month and I'm looking forward to see how things develop. Could go great or could turn shitty :) Oh the suspense!
If you're interested in signing up to Glossybox UK just click here and is you live in the US of A you can sign up here.
Don't forget to send you feedback, I more than welcome your comments and suggestions :D
Also; here's my very first video! yeah... I'm freaking out LOL hope it doesn't suck too horribly.
Saturday late morning... get with the girls and get ready to go on a shopping spree!
It was one of those days where I wasn't really motivated to buy loads and loads of clothes but the moment I saw Lush had quite a few products on sale, a smile from ear to ear drew itself on my face and I'm pretty sure I looked like the Grinch for a second there.
I knew that Christmas products that were left over the holidays were on sale but unfortunately all these have been removed from their website but if you are up for hunting, go to Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough they still have quite a bit of Christmas bath favourites available.
First one up is So White, it smells more like bergamot than it does apples and the scent is a tad strong. I'm very much looking forward to using this one early morning because of the freshness of the scent it's more of a "wake-me-up" kind of bath bomb. Also I thought it was cute that it's the size on an apple :P
So White
Next is Star Light, Star Bright, which I was doubtful about getting at first because it was glittery and what not but while I was in the shop I quickly Googled it on my phone and read some very positive reviews. It smells zesty and like citrus, leaves the skin incredibly smooth after using and I love how the water gets all glittery and pretty.
Star Light, Star Bright
I didn't know what to expect of Bombardino, I honestly only grabbed it because I saw it on the website and thought it looked cute. I got one to try it out and it smells like straight up butter. If you've ever tried Lush's lip scrub in Popcorn it is the exact same smell. On your lips it smells nice but I'm not sure I want to smell like a buttery snack before I go to bed. I'm on the fence about this one still.
Bombardino
And last but not least, my favourite out of the whole lot: The Melting Snowman. What can I say about this sad looking little guy? It smells spicy, Christmassy, and the presentation of it is quite adorable.
Melting Snowman
As mentioned before, I'm a sucker for a good indulgence bath and if stress is becoming overwhelming, a bubble bath is the best way to unwind.
