Hi guys! Each month I get a bright pink padded envelope in my mailbox and I know what time it is...IPSY time! Booyah! For those of you who don't know what IPSY is, it's a monthly beauty subscription where for $9.99 you recieve a cute little makeup bag containing 4-6 full size or deluxe sample sized beauty related products. This is charged on a monthly basis and you can cancel at any time without any hassle. Very rarely am I disappointed in a bag, and I've been subscribed for aobut a year and a half now so that's really saying something!
Not everyone was excited to see MaryKay or a squeeze gloss. But pleasantly surprised! This is a really thick, sticky bright PINKish red gloss that literally stays on my lips all day, at least 6 hours! The color itself fades but my lips are hydrated for hours which is rare. The Urban Decay black velevet eyeliner is about half size worth $10. Super rich, black color and waterproof! However, Urban Decay claims this eyeliner doesn't smudge and after putting it to the test...it smudged!
City Color's White Gold eye shadow mousse is the least expensive ($3.99) item in this month's IPSY bag but one of my favorites. Not something I would typically purchase on my own, I was able to test it out several times and fall in love. The white gold color is pigmented, creamy, and doesn't crease. I used NYX's Milk Shadow Crayon as a base to really make sure the color popped and it did. Stunning!
St. Tropez is definitely a pricier self tanner but one that I really like. I have the mousse which is intended for the body but not the face. So I was really excited to see this gradual tanner for the face. It's a white cream that easily blends and has a bit of a funky smell to be honest! But as far as tanners go, it's awesome, I promise! I've been usuing the Dr. Brandt microderm abrasion exfoliator for almost two weeks and love it! The granules are super fine, giving my skin a great scrub without being too harsh. I don't have super sensitive skin so you may want to test this out along your jawline before going to town on your whole face. I immediately noticed softer brighter skin after use. I have several face scrubs but this is one that I will definitely purchase once I finish a few!
If you want to see my review/demo check out the video below!
Do you have IPSY or any kind of subscription service?
A few years ago, a friend of mine and I would make a list (or try!) every day of 10 things we were grateful for. Now this seems like a pretty easy task right? It's crazy how difficult it was day after day to find 10 different things. But it was a challenge and I loved that in the midst of drama or sad times, I was forced to focus on the positive lovely things in my life.
I stopped doing this over a year ago but I thought it was time to start up again. I know I can't honestly commit to doing this on a daily basis but I'm hoping to do it on a weekly basis at least. Let's shoot for Tuesdays, Tuesday's 10 Things maybe? What do you think?
1. The sunshine! It's finally spring here!
2. My house. We get annoyed at all the home improvements we have to do but we have a home to improve and I'm SO thankful for that.
3.The fact that we can afford to do these home improvements.
4. Long walks in the woods with my wonderful lab!
5. That my husband is being acknowledged at his job for his hard work.
6. That I'm in a new position at work that pushes me...constantly!
7. That my beauty blog/instagram/ebay sale is still going strong (whew!)
8. To work every day with one of my best friends. It makes the day go by that much faster.
9. That I have so much Spring cleaning to do, because it means I've been blessed with an abundance of things.
10. For leftovers! They make work lunches so easy and yummy!
So what would make your Tuesday 10 list? What are you grateful for? And if you can't come up with 10, maybe start with 5. Comment down below and let me know what you're grateful for! And while you're at it check out Redo It Yourself Inspirations for some...you guessed it...inspiration and my friends over at Sew Crafty Angel for some of the most amazing blogs!
Here's a quick fun tag called The Beauty Scenario Tag. I was tagged
by the beautiful Maria aka Agape Love Designs. Check out my video below:
Here are the Tag questions, feel free to answer a few in the comments
below or post a video/blog and let me know about it!
Now it's your turn!!!
TAG QUESTIONS:
1. You have to get rid of all your foundations and you can only keep one high end and one drugstore, which do you keep?
2. You go for an interview and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?
3. You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up. Which lipstick do you put on to make yourself feel beautiful?
4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years, how would you do your hair and makeup differently?
5. You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott hair cut, but they hear wrong and give you a pixi cut. Do you a) Smile, say thank you, leave and call your mum hysterical b) Cry in the chair and things get awkward or c) Complain to the manager and demand a refund.
6. Your friend surprises you with a 4 day city break and you have 1 hour to pack. Which 'do it all' palette do you pack in your makeup bag?
7. Your house has been robbed, don't worry everyone is safe, but your beauty stash has been raided. What's the product you really hope is safe?
8. Your friend borrows your makeup and returns it in awful condition. Do you a) Just pretend you haven't noticed b) Ask them to repurchase it or c) Secretly do the same to something of theirs?
Talking about very personal matters has never been easy for me. I’m sure you all understand. But when my good friends at GlamMoms2013 decided to organize a Spring Back Your Body Challenge on YouTube and Instagram, I was intrigued…and then compelled to share a bit of my story.
Rochelle (GlamMoms) has gotten a bunch of YouTube and Instagram ladies to commit to challenging eachother and ourselves to living healthier and make make lifestyle changes…not going on a mere fad diet. Then I saw a video a friend of mine, Mari, posted. And then Rochelle posted her story. Both videos moved me. Compelling me to film my own.
Now I didn’t necessarily go into extreme detail, even going this in depth was a challenge for me. If you want to hear my story growing up just check out the video below.
Throughout my 20s, I had been experiencing different symptoms that should have alarmed me but because I wasn’t in any pain, I wasn’t alarmed at all. Even after finally consulting a specialist, I wasn’t given any direction or even told how serious my condition was. So I kept on with my life and bad eating habits. It wasn’t until about 5 years later, ironically enough, on my honeymoon that things started to unravel. Looking back, I know it was all the red wine and amazingly delicious steak that sparked what I now know is a ‘flare up.’
Basically, my immune system is broken. Broken? Yes, broken. It thinks there’s some craziness going on in my stomach so it’s sending little soldier white blood cells to go attack! Which would be great if there was something to attack, but there’s isn’t. Just my stomach lining. So I have these ulcers and inflammation and anything and everything was making it worse.
I had to switch doctors, hospitals, get a gastrointestinal specialist. It has been non-stop drama for the past 3 years. I’ve probably been on 10 different medications, always buffered by steroids to calm the inflammation just enough for a new medication to work. I’ve had to go on short-term disability, was laid off, unemployed, landed in the hospital, started a new job…so many changes. And through it all, being told there’s no cure. Oh yeah, and try not to stress because that makes it worse. Um, yeah, okay!
So what food can I eat? What should I do? Unfortunately, there’s no black and white answer since it’s different for everyone! Unlike many, I can handle most dairy. Pizza does me fine but any raw veggies send my stomach into a whirl. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, simply shrugs and says oh you need more fiber. Go eat grain, salad, beans, veggies, do it all! Only I can’t. Because those wonderful things that my body needs are so rough on my system that they actually make it worse.
So how the heck do I lose weight when I can’t work out because I’m too sick and can’t eat healthy? Even a common cold usually lasts about 2 months in my system and kicks me on my butt. I try to do what I can. Especially when I’m not having a flare up. But I’m limited. And it hurts to be 32 and limited. I just want to live my life. I hate looking in the mirror and seeing my ballooned face from steroids. Hate knowing I’m avoiding the scale.
So Rochelle couldn’t have decided this at better time. Mentally at least! I’m getting over a cold, still on steroids and just getting off antibiotics but it’s a new season! Spring is here and I’m ready! I only have one body and one life and I intend to live it! And knowing I have a team of wonderful women with their own stories pushing them forward pushes me forward. I’m not alone. And I love that.
This is the continuation of a lifelong journey, but the start of something better. I hope to share this journey with you (with shorter posts I promise!) as well as share recipes, workouts, and other ways I’m learning and trying to stay healthy!
Within a few mere hours of posting my Spring Back Your Body Challenge video, I’ve received so much support and so many amazing words and sentiments. People, you, have reached out with encouragement and appreciation that I’ve shard part of my story. I’ve touched you. And in return, you have touched me.
I want to thank each and every one of you and encourage you to join me on this journey. Everyone’s story is different, goals are different and abilities are different. But we can do this together!
So….are you in???? Follow me on Instagram & Twitter @adrianarr9 and here on my blog! #SBYB
