I Finally Got My Hands on One!! ... NOT

I FINALLY got my hands on an Urban Decay Naked Palette and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival!!!

I was a bit hesitant to buy this palette when it first came out, just because I already own a couple of the shades in the Naked Palette. With that said I ended up deciding that I was going to buy it anyway ... Trying it find it was the hard part which made me want it even more (silly, but true).

So as soon as it arrives, I'll post my thoughts ...

*UPDATE (March 20th) - it's been 3 weeks since I've ordered the palette and I still don't have it yet ... I'm really hoping it'll arrive soon!!!

**UPDATE (March 26th) - still have not received the palette from the person I bought it from on Ebay :( ... have contacted her and hopefully we'll have a resolution soon

*** UPDATE (March 31st) - still have not received the palette ... the seller has refunded my money and is assuming the package either got lost in transit or stolen

Sigh ...

Today, after ten straight days of it being cold and snowing everyday, the sun came out ... finally. We've had to shovel the driveway and sidewalk at least twice a day, if not more, in order to keep up with the snowfall. We're running out of room to to put all the snow.

I don't like it one bit ... And now, I'm sitting in our family room looking at pictures of a sunny warm Florida on my laptop ... We still have a long ways to go until spring arrives in Alberta ... I am a little depressed...

Philosophy 3-in-1 - Gingerbread House

One of my most favorite Christmas gifts that I received from my hubby this past Christmas was the Philosophy 3-in-1 Gingerbread House set. Both 3-in-1's smell so good, but not like gingerbread more like ginger beer ... with the girl scent being a touch sweeter.

Philosophy 3-in-1's are one of my personal favorites for shower gel/body washes, because they come in an assortment of scents, with new ones each season. They lather amazing well and leave your skin feeling clean without any tightness or dryness. Unfortunately while they smell divine, their scents really don't linger, so if you prefer your body wash to leave behind a long-lasting scent, these won’t be for you. I don’t find them to lather quite as well in the hair, and while they do work in a pinch to clean your hair, I prefer many other shampoos over this one. as a bubble bath it's wonderful and a little goes a long way.

Thumbs up for the Gingerbread House!!

Success ... Sort Of ...

In my last post I mentioned I was going to try and duplicate making my own LUSH shower jellies and bubble bars. Well, I was at least successful with one of those - the bubble bars. Unfortunately I wasn't as successful with the shower jelly.

LUSH shower jellies are made using carrageen which is a vegan product. After doing some research, I found that although carrageen is available (and expensive), it's not readily available. An alternative to carrageen is Irish moss which is more readily available and once I was able to pick up some Irish moss, I tried my hand at making my own shower jelly with it.

Well ... it didn't work. I'm not sure if I didn't use enough Irish moss, but after refrigerating for over 12 hours, I had a soupy mess rather than jelly (the soupy mess did give me lots of bubble though!). Another downfall of using Irish moss is that it is a type of algae and it can have a bit of an odor. It actually turned my "jelly" a lovely brownish color and smelled really bad ... YUCK!!

After doing more research, I've discovered others have duplicated these shower jellies using plain gelatin ... so I'm going to give it another try!

The bubble bars were a little easier to make with most of the ingredients easy to find. I made two varieties of these, one which happened to have brown spots appear after a few days. I ended up posting on a soap making forum and they "guessed" it was the oil I used in conjunction with the fragrance. The other batch turned out perfectly.

... off to try the gelatin

** UPDATE: Well unfortunately the gelatin really didn't work any better than the carrageen ... maybe I didn't add enough gelatin?? ... back to the drawing board

I Need a Support Group!!!

OK, I admit it ... I am a bath and body product junkie (is there a support group for that??) ...

My favorite scented body products are of course from Bath and Body Works (which I admittedly have too many of), plus I have a new favorite that I picked up as a birthday gift to myself last month - Laura Mercier's Creme Brulee Body Souffle (this smells sooooooo yummy ... who knew I liked smelling like dessert!!).

One of the coolest bath/shower products out there (I think it is anyway), is Lush's Shower Jellies ... unfortunately as most of you know, Lush's products can be a bit pricey. So, I started a quest to see if I could duplicate these shower jellies for myself.



... I am happy to say I have found a recipe (and the appropriate ingredients) to try and make my own ... so as soon as the "special" ingredient which makes these into jelly arrives in the mail, I am going to try my recipe.

Another of Lush's products that I am absolutely in love with are the Lush Bubble Bars ... unfortunately these too are pricey so I am in search for a homemade recipe for these as well ... hmmm I love a challenge!!



I'll report back in a while and let you know how I make out! Wish me luck!!!

Bath and Body Works is EVIL

I tried to stay away from B&BW for awhile, I really did. But they know just how to suck you back into buying their products! Props to their marketing department for that.

I have been shopping there for a couple years now, and will likely continue to for a long time. I've sampled pretty widely from their line, but especially love the lotions, which I use as fragrances. Saying that, I have found the fragrances to be hit or miss, but the ones I love I really, really love. And I am very picky about scents.

Some favorites: Black Amethyst, Midnight Pomegranate, Orange Sapphire and PS I Love You, I also love their whole Aromatherapy line. (I'm sure the future I'll be adding more to the list)

On the downside, some of their fruity scents are very artificial smelling (Country Apple and Sun Ripened Raspberry come to mind) while others are too musky (Winter Candy Apple, Moonlight Path).

B&BW are masters of upselling as well ... it's very hard to stay on budget once you walk in the door ("why buy one bottle of lotion, when you can buy two and get a third free?").

Ah, well. I love this place. Their stuff makes great gifts, and besides, it makes me happy to smell good :)

The Ultimate Make-up Sponge?

Do you want to have that perfect, flawless face? Do you want your makeup to go into your skin effortlessly? Do you actually want your makeup to look like your skin? Well, problem solved! The BeautyBlender is a must have if you want that flawless, perfect skin finish.

What is it? It’s a sponge, but not just any sponge. It’s the latest makeup secret. When you use your fingers (or the infamous triangle sponge or a foundation brush), you can get streaks and that makeup look we all hate. By using the BeautyBlender, your makeup will actually look like your skin.

This sponge is made to have no edges and is latex free, non-allergenic, and odor free. You can actually use this same sponge to apply your concealer, foundation, tinted moisturizer, pressed powder, bronzer, and even blush.

How do you use it? The key is to dampen the sponge first and bounce your product across your face. By doing this, whatever you are applying will actually get into your skin, actually improving your tone and texture so you can have that flawless finish. Look at the shape. The pointed side is used for all those hard to reach places like around your nose, under your eyes, and where your eyes and nose meet. This side is also great to cover blemishes. The rounder part is used for your larger areas like your cheeks, forehead, and chin.

How do you clean it? It is suggested to cleanse it after every use in order to remove excess product and bacteria. There is a cleanser specifically for the BeautyBlender called the BeautyCleanser but some people use either Baby Shampoo or Anti-bacterial soap.

Is it really the ultimate make-up sponge? I can't live without these! Nothing applies foundation better than these pink bouncy cuties. They are very long lasting as well (might sound gross but I have been using the same one for about a year - don't ridicule me, I wash it really well with anti bacterial soap and have never broken out). If anything it isn't as vibrant as it was when I first bought it, but it still does it's job. It's easy to get under the eyes, around the nose brows and hairline with this sponge. Flawless natural finish every time. It helps your makeup look like perfect skin. I will definitely repurchase (I already bought backups for travel).