How I Emptied Out My Closet in 2 Days!

I've always had trouble letting go, and with clothes and accessories it's at its worst. Unless it's completely worn out and ripped up, I can't squeeze into it, or it looks horrible on me I'm not letting it go. I've spent years holding onto things that still fit because I might wear them again one day. There are things in my closet I've gotten from people as hand me downs, and worse things I've bought myself, that I've never worn beyond trying them on to see if they fit during every closet declutter.

This time it's different. This time I promised myself that if I had to fight my way into it, it's leaving. If I haven't worn it and can't remember when I got it, it's going too. If i'm not completely happy with how it fits, I can't keep it. If it's too short or too baggy, it's not allowed to hang around.

And I could tell you this was easy, but I'd be lying. It was brutal and some items took a lot of thought, and multiple trips in and out of the closet before I was able to finally accept that I can't continue to hold on forever. But some items were a lot easier than others.

I personally found that sorting the closet out into six sections worked best for me, and made me be the most honest with myself about where the items in my closet stood. I already had a section pulled out to the far left side of the closet, which comprises the items I have recently gotten and have yet to wear. So, I started out by pulling all of my favorites out and hanging them off to the left side of the closet next to the previous section. Then I pulled the things I wear a lot, but are nothing special and placed them together creating another section moving towards the right side of the closet. I moved on to things I have worn a lot in the past, but don't particularly remember wearing anymore. Next was where the hardest part began, it was time to admit to myself that the remaining clothes fit into two categories... things I have only worn a few times, and things I have had for a long time and have never worn. I was surprised to have about a third of my closet sitting in these last three sections. It was a big eye opener to me how much I am holding onto that I'm not currently using, and it felt like time to do something about it. So I did...

I pulled every section out one by one starting with my favorites and made sure they fit, the ones that did not were taken out of the closet and set aside for donation. I was surprised that a lot of my favorites had started not to fit because they had gotten lost in the closet. I removed about a quarter of the section by the end (probably about 15 items in total), and it killed me to do it. The next section was quite small, and I could find little to get rid of, so after trying everything on I initially put all 17 items back in the closet and moved on, but came back to it shortly after beginning the next section after I found a bunch of similar styled items. I pulled all the pieces out and laid them aside for consideration at the end. I moved through the rest of the sections with little success in getting rid of things, but did pull a large pile of items to consider for donation because they had only been worn a time or two or even not at all.

At this point, as I said before, I put most of these items back in the closet a multitude of times slowly pulling pieces I each time that I would consider donating and ending up getting rid of a piece or two every time I tried. But I wrestled with myself over this for the majority of the second day, and had about 40 pieces that I started with, but slowly worked it down under half to about 18 pieces which I truly have strong feelings over keeping, feel great in, and love the fit of.

I probably have more than I need still, but I still pull a piece or two each time I walk past the closet and give it a hard thought about whether I still wear it. Now that I've got the closet down by more than a third, next up is my shoes!

It's spring cleaning in almost fall!

Stay Beautiful ladies!

BNB

Stila In The Light Palette

I've had a sample swatch set of this palette sitting on my desk for probably years and I finally moved it into the "Use it or Lose it" bin I have on the edge of the desk. With how beautiful and amazing quality Stila shadows have been said to be you may be wondering why it went that way. You probably think I should have been eager to try it, I know I always thought that. But still every day I reached past it for other things until it hit me... I find the colors rather uninspiring because it's just another neutral palette to me. I have a warm neutral palette and a cool neutral palette and that's about all I really need unless it inspires me.

Well, I finally swatched them, and while still uninspired by the color selection I can honestly say that if I had to pick one shade to purchase it would either be kitten or sunset and I might even consider luster if it was an option,but all  together this palette isn't something I need in my life until I use up some of what I have already.

Hope I was a little helpful, but there wasn't much shadow to play with on the samples.

Stay Beautiful!

BNB

Loreal Magic Perfecting Base: Love it or Lose it?

I grabbed up a sample of this at the dollar store and it just sat for a few months waiting for me to try it. It looked a little scary both because it's in a pot and because of the baby pink color. After having finally pushed myself to try it though I can honestly say I am going to love it. It made my foundation stay on all night at work, despite working in a warehouse with no climate control and it being summer. And to me that's a huge feat!

This primer stood up to sweat and heat, and I came out looking the same as I walked in. I got a ton of compliments on how wonderful my makeup looked, and how natural my foundation appeared. The primer melted into the skin beautifully, had no color, and was a nice silicone texture to grab onto and hold makeup in place. Though the tub looks small it claimed to have 3 weeks of use inside, and with how little I have to use in order to cover my entire face I certainly believe it.

The sample size is .17 ounces of product and is approximately the size of a Maybelline color tattoo. The full size is .5 ounces and is still in pot form. It has a beautiful silky texture and a whipped feeling. It glides onto the skin easily and blends out beautifully. I love that it has no color so that it doesn't change the tone of my skin before my foundation application. It claims to keep the skin matte and minimize pores with lightweight coverage and keep skin looking great all day. I don't particularly care about whether it keeps my skin matte since I have dry skin, but I did like that it minimized the occasionally shiny and oily spots I can get when I am hot or in the sun. It didn't feel like I was wearing makeup like some silicone based products can make it feel heavy on the skin. I struggle with a lot of texture particularly on the tops of my cheeks where my highlighter goes and on my nose where I have larger pores and lots of blackheads, but I did notice that my nose pores were camouflaged much better than usual, and I didn't notice much texture on my cheeks until I applied highlighter.

I'm extremely impressed with the weartime this primer gave me, especially in the heat of my workplace. I will definitely be using this more and maybe even purchasing a full size after I get through my elf hydrating primer.

My only problem with the product is the packaging because it's not all that sanitary when you have to stick your fingers in the entire pot of product, however I will either depot it into a pump canister, or I will use a disposable spatula to get the product out and onto my mixing palette before application.

Stay Flawless and Beautiful!

BNB

Hourglass Ambient Powder: Holy Grail?

I wanted to give the Ambient Lighting powders a try since I have dry skin, and I'm trying to embrace the more dewy and glowy look with my makeup to give myself some life. I'm fully in love with the way the Reserve Your Cabana bronzer makes my skin look when dusted all over as the Ambient powders should be, so will it be replaced or will it hold it's own against the higher end product?

And the answers is! It holds its own. I'm excited to be using the Ambient powder (I have dim light, by the way), but I don't feel like it's a necessity in my collection. It gives a nice radiance, but the Wet and Wild one does a little more and has a slightly yellow tone that I prefer to the pinker tone of the Dim Light. Maybe next I will try the more yellow toned Ambient powder.

The Ambient powder is very finely milled which sits much less noticeably on the skin, but I don't so much find that the Wet and Wild powder sits all that noticeably either, they're very smooth and buttery and blend well into the skin. It doesn't affect the color of foundation applied under it when put on, but gives a slight luminous look to the skin when the light hits it right.

I do like this powder, but with such an affordable product at the drug store that is so close to it, I'm not sure it's worth the price for a full size powder. Maybe if I get the palette it will be more worth it to me with a range of shades to play with. It's definitely made it to the top shelf with the Wet and Wild bronzer, and I use them both interchangeably.

Stay Flawless and Beautiful Girls!

BNB

Liquid Metal Eyes

For my birthday I stopped at Ulta and bought myself two of the Catrice Liquid Metal eyeshadows because I absolutely love having super shimmery colors for the lid and the swatches were to die for. I bought 80 Making Mauves and 100 What Do You Sea?.

They're very a very soft and buttery texture. They have great pigmentation. The price doesn't break the bank. And they have a super shimmery finish as well. Or at least one of them does. Number 80 is a beautiful muted purple that has a truly stunning metallic quality to it, however the other one seems to have more of a slight glitter to it moreso than the shimmer. I'm not a huge fan of the quilting and ridges that are in the powder, but the product itself is very good. I hope to pick up the other neutral shades soon, but I think I may end up passing on the green-blue shade (What Do You Sea?) because I don't know how much use it will get from me, but I will keep it for a while and see.

I wore these for an entire work day and they stayed put despite the conditions I work under. I had no trouble applying them with either a brush or my fingers, though I prefer a dense eye brush when I use them. These are some of the smoothest eyeshadows I have seen at the drugstore, and I love the metallic finish. I often use the Mauve one to highlight my inner corner and give it a pop of color (when I'm not using Pink Champagne from ABH, that is). For the price, these shadows can't be beaten, and their similarity to the Bella Eyes line from Milani is spot on in my opinion. I love both lines, however Milani has far more colors.

Stay beautiful Ladies!

BNB

Frugal Flop: Beauty Treats Lip Scrub

I snatched this up at Five Below during the end of winter to help cope with dry lips when my Elf Lip Exfoliator was too harsh for me. Its in a squeeze tube, so it's nice for sanitary application and travel. The formula was much softer and gentler than the Elf one, but still worked well enough to get the job done.

It was claimed to be mango scented, but it has a rather soapy smell and taste to it which is unfortunate and somewhat disgusting. On the tube it also proclaims that it is all natural and no animal testing was done, but for the price of the product as well as the fact it was manufactured in Taiwan I am not so sure I believe these claims.  Also, the mango label is a sticker, so it could be very easily mixed up with another scent on accident, which isn't all together terrible, but could explain the smell of the product. Finally, it states in the directions that the product should be removed with a washcloth or washed off the lips, which doesn't speak to the product being all natural in my mind, but it still may be.

I'm about a third of the way done the tube, and will be finishing it up, but I think I will find another scrub to use once this one is done. I still stand by my Elf exfoliator, but it's often to harsh for my always dry and peeling lips. Because of the smell and taste of this product alone it was a complete flop. I'll finish it because it's not horrible, but I don't see myself rushing out to buy it a second time.

Stay Healthy, And Beautiful!

BNB

Better Than Sex or Mega Effects?

The review you've all been waiting for is here. The verdict is in!

I can't say I hate the Better Than Sex mascara, but I have a lot of problems with it when I look at it and its packaging in comparison to my ride or die drugstore mascara.

My Mega Effects mascara from  Avon completely blows my mind. It gives me the best volume, length and curl I have ever seen for a drugstore mascara that's only 10 bucks. The wand was terrifying looking at first, but after a few cautious applications I am completely in love, and it is absolutely effortless. The handle bends so that you can apply it from whatever angle makes it easiest for you, and the wand it three dimensional with longer rows of bristles faded to shorter ones towards the ends. The formula is very liquid-y which I think helps it to apply smoothly and avoid clumping. The black part of the tube where all the product is is pliable so the product gets low you can get the most of the it out by squeezing it. I have a little bit of trouble with transfer while the product is wet, but once it sets it is almost impossible to remove without an oil based remover which is awesome. When waiting for the product to dry I usually just hold something under my eye to help keep transfer from getting on my face, but it's easily removable.

The amount of times I have stabbed myself in the eye with the wacky bristles on this wand is far too high. It's not a day with this mascara until I've poked my eye out at least once while using it. I've got a lot of problems with this mascara, but the formula is not one of them. It's the perfect consistency, and lasts all day, but I did have some issues with transfer over the course of the day where it smudged on my lower lashline. The bristles on the brush aren't nearly as straight as they are in the picture, and the curve is so minute in the wand that it's hardly noticeable and does little good to help with application. I know people rave about this mascara, so please don't hate me, but this is not one of my favorite formulas, and for the price of a full size I can't see myself being willing to shell out the dough to get another tube.

Stay Beautiful and enjoy the summer heat!

BNB