Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success

To all those beginner beauty lovers out there, this book is most definitely for you. Michelle talks all about beauty, fashion, and business along with many tips and tricks for each category. I do want to warn those of you who actually know a lot about these topics already: this book discusses a lot of information that you probably already know. I would definitely recommend reading a page or two of each section before you buy it, this way you will know if it’s really worth buying.

The layout of the book is great. Each section leads into the next making it a smooth read. Her last few chapters are on business and I found a lot of the information very helpful. She shows you how to write a cover letter and resume along with some basic information for starting up your own company. I don’t think I’ll ever be doing that, but it’s great information to know!

On the downside, like I mentioned before, a lot of what she talks about is stuff I already knew. Like how to remove your makeup or how to care for your nails and hair. Pretty sure most of us know how to do that already… One thing she covered that I really wasn’t a fan of was her chapter on Digital Do’s and Dont’s. In this section she talks about texting and what you should and shouldn’t do. Almost all the information is “duh” information. Plus, some of it doesn’t really have to do with the basis of the book. For example, she dedicates a section to online romance and how to be smart about it. How does that have anything to do with what her book is actually about? To me, it’s a random filler that really should not have been put in the book.

All in all I would give this book a 2 out of 5 stars for reading material for myself. This is not a book I would normally buy, but I thought I should give it a shot since I really like makeup and youtube. For someone who doesn’t know a lot about makeup or business this would actually be a really good starter guide!

I would like to thank BloggingForBooks.org  for supplying me this book so that I could review it for you guys!

More Info--BUY IT!

Author Bio--LEARN MORE ABOUT MICHELLE

Blogging For Books!

http://www.BloggingForBooks.org

    So guys and girls, I am officially starting to blog again, only this time I'm going to try very hard to write every month. I found this website called Blogging For Books on Pinterest and I figured why not check it out. I love reading, and it wouldn't be that bad to write about the books either especially when they're free! It's super easy to sign up, the one thing I will mention that they let you know on the site is that when you do sign up it's better to have a Twitter and Klout accounts because that way you get better/more choices of books. I have a link above to the sight plus I'll post a little bit more info in picture form for all of you who like to see rather than read. 

    The first book I selected that will be at my home in about a week is Michelle Phan's new and first book called Makeup, Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success-Online and Off.  It was released October 21 so it is a super recent book. And need I mention it again that it's free? Definitely a win- win situation here. I'll share more about the book and my experience after I achieve it in the mail. 

Until then, go read a book!

                  

March Ipsy

So this month's bag was a soso one overall. The bag its self was specially designed by a woman named Klari Reis. Usually I receive 5 items in my bag but this month it was only 4. Let's start with the eyeliner. It's by a brand called Chella and the color I received was Indigo Blue. I'm not a fan of colored eyeliners, but this one isn't bad because it's dark enough plus it goes on really smooth. The value of this item alone pays for my entire bag plus some coming in at $24! I'd like to try the black colored one but I'm not a big fan of shelling out that much for just an eyeliner.
The NYX eyeshadow wasn't bad. The pink color is chalky but the other two browns go on smooth. All three are shimmers so I have to use a matte from other pallets for my crease. There are at least 20 different pallets in the Rio collection all running for
$6 a pop. The Pixi product in my bag is a primer for the face. I've only worn it once but it seemed to do a pretty good job of filling in my pores and making my foundation last longer. The size of the product is pretty good too and will definitely last me many uses. The last item in the bag was a bareMinerals lipstick in the color Get Ready. It's a pretty pink just in time for spring. It's not drying on the lips which is awesome but the color doesn't last long.

February Favorites

So its that time of the month...favorites! I don't know about you guys but I love watching favorites each month on youtube so I figured why not put mine into my blog. Alright so lets get started. My first item for this month is my face cream I use every night by Lush. The name of the one I use is Imperialis and I like to pair it with a face oil like Josie Maran's Pure Aragan Oil Light. The face cream does a good job at calming any redness and combining a few drops of the oil adds extra hydration which my skin really needs during the winter months.
Another face item that I have been loving is Lush's Love Lettuce Fresh Face Mask. This mask does a great job of scrubbing away dead skin and leaving it soft as well as cleaning out the pores. A second mask that I have been switching back and forth with the Lush one is Queen Helene's Mint Julep Masque. This mask doesn't have little scrubbers in it from jojoba or nuts so if you like that element this mask isn't for you. I do like it though because I feel like it helps with my acne by drying it up and pulling out the dirt from my pores. This isn't really a hydrating mask so you definitely need a moisturizer after.
For my lips this month I have been loving my Shea Lip Butter from the Body Shop as well as Almay's color+care lip balm/gloss. The shea butter is super hydrating and I really like the way it smells. Almay's balm is amazing because it's not sticky at all and the colors are really pretty.
For my hair on the days I don't wash it I've been using Batiste dry shampoo or the Not Your Mother's Dry shampoo. Batiste does an excellent job at getting oil out plus it smells good. The Not Your Mother's dry shampoo does an okay job and what I really don't like is that is smells bad.
Another favorite of the month is my Body Shop Wild Rose hand cream! I'm one of those people that loves anything that smells like roses and this hand cream smells just like them. I also love the Vitamin E body butter as well as the Shea from them. Both do an amazing job at moisturizing the skin.
For makeup, I've been sticking to more neutral colors, so my Clinique eyeshadow duo in "day to night" have been my go to colors. Clinique's perfume Happy has been my favorite of the month as well. It's like they actually captured and contained "happy" in a bottle.

All my favorites will be on my Luvocracy page if you're interested in purchasing them!

http://www.luvocracy.com/theinsidestory/collections/february-favs

February Ipsy 2014!

Ever since I have started my Ipsy subscription I have loved it! I definitely recommend it for anyone who likes makeup and wants to try new makeup but doesn't want to spend a lot, or even for those who love makeup already and want to add to their collection! This month I received 5 products, 3 of which are full sized.  My favorite is the ZOYA nail polish which is a really pretty light pink in the color  Dot, very similar to ESSIE's color Better Together. The BB cream is by IPKN NY, a brand which I have never heard of. It goes on nice and smells good, but the shade is too dark for my skin even though it's in light. The City Color blush came in the color Fresh Melon and is pretty pigmented. The packaging definitely feels cheap but the size of the product is huge. The color is more for spring/summer because it's very bright and very pink. On to the lip gloss! The brand is Pop which I've gotten in other Ipsy bags in other forms of makeup like eyeshadow. The gloss isn't bad. I personally am not a hug lip gloss person. I prefer balms and lipsticks since lip glosses always seem to be sticky. It definitely is very pigmented and smells to me like vanilla and surprisingly isn't sticky. The color I received it in is Pink Peony. And last but not least the liquid eyeshadow in Ambrosia by Tini Beauty. The color pay off is awesome and it seems to be pretty blend-able, but you have to work quickly. All in all I'm very happy with my bag this month! This one seems to be one of the better bags. We'll have to see what next month brings.

Link to Ipsy:   http://www.ipsy.com/r/3q7z

January Makeup Haul!

Oh the wonders of shopping! Throughout the month of January I have collected an array of items to try out. A couple are repurchases, but most are brand new items that I'm super excited to try! Here's the list:                    

• Sephora Favorites Beauty Oil Essentials Kit
• Caress Sheer Twilight Fine Fragrance Elixir Body Wash in Black Orchid & Juniper Oil
• Batiste Dry Shampoo in Fresh
• Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque
• Almay Wake Up Foundation in 010 Ivory 
• Lush Tea Tree Water Toner
• Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in Translucent
• Lorac TANtalizer Highlighter and Matte Bronzer Duo
• Wet n' Wild Blush in Heather Silk
• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles in Light and Brightener
• Physicians Formula CC Cream in Light
• Physicians Formula Concealer Twins
• Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in Sand Bronzer
• Covergirl Flamed Out Mascara
• Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara
• Rimmel Scandal Eyes Lycra Flex Mascara (not pictured)
• Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer Nail Polish in 03 Cinny Sweet
• Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Polish in Balsam Fir
• Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser 
• NYX Butter Gloss in Creme Brûlée
• Maybelline Elixir in 010 Celestial Coral
• Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey
• The Body Shop Lip Butter in Shea
• The Body Shop Colourglide Shine Lip Color in 06 Vintage Rose
• Revlon Balm Stain in Honey
• Covergirl Lipstick in Vintage Wine
• Rimmel Lipstick by Kate Moss in 01