Review & Swatches | Bite Beauty Best Bite Rewind Set

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This may surprise you, but I'm pretty conservative when it comes to buying holiday beauty sets. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm not looking and drooling over a lot of them, but usually I manage to walk away with just a few little bits and bobs. There was one holiday set I knew I had to grab as soon as it came out though: Bite Beauty's Best Bite Rewind set. I'm a huge fan of their Luminous Crème lipstick formula, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try out their lip crayons!

WORTH THE SPLURGE? Kérastase Resistance Thérapiste Bain Shampoo & Soin Premier Thérapiste Conditioner

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Since we're already talking about scrimping and splurging today, how do you feel about splashing out big bucks on haircare products? For a long time I was one of those people who would only buy drugstore haircare, but I've been trying to broaden my horizons lately and try new things. So when Influenster sent me a couple items from salon brand Kérastase's Resistance haircare line I was naturally quite curious—would they be worth the extra cost? Read on to find out!

R. Asks | Scrimp and Splurge

Happy Wednesday, everybody! Hope all is well and good.

I've been weeding my makeup collection lately, trying to pull out things that I don't really like or that don't work for me and get rid of them. As I was doing this I started to notice a pattern in my makeup-buying habits—there were certain items I only had cheap versions of and others that I spent a lot more on. Which brings me to this week's question...

Which items in your life are you likely to scrimp on and which items are you more likely to splurge on? If you're not big on makeup, don't feel left out—this question applies to anything one might spend money on.


Here are a couple of my somewhat rational examples:

• SCRIMP: I almost always scrimp on mascara—drugstore all the way for regular everyday black mascara. I'm actually pretty vigilant about replacing them every few months, so it doesn't make sense to me to spend a lot on them.
• SPLURGE: I'm willing to pay a lot more than drugstore prices for lipstick if I really like the formula. Not to say that there aren't drugstore lipsticks that deserve a place in my makeup pile, but for colors I wear frequently, I'm glad to fork over extra cash for something I really love.

Now for a couple that are slightly less rational:

• SCRIMP: Once in a while I go crazy and buy a shit-ton of dried beans. Dried beans are usually cheaper per ounce than canned, but when you add in how much the energy your stove consumes to cook them costs, the difference is pretty negligible (at least at the rate we're eating them). Have I mentioned yet that cooking dried beans is a pain in the ass? I mean it's not like it's hard, but when time is precious it feels a little silly to watch over a boiling pot for two hours just to save ten cents on every pound of beans.
• SPLURGE: I am weirdly particular about which brands of seltzer I buy. Some of them taste different to me than others, so I will always get one of my preferred choices, even if it costs twice as much as the other options. You'd think that all sparkling water tastes the same, but I guess not? Whatever, I can afford to be a little crazy.

So how about you? Wanna join me in an epic bean-boilin' session?

Review | Mizon Special Solution Good Night White Sleeping Mask

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Do you ever suffer from "product blindness?" Like when you have so many skincare (or makeup) products, you kind of forget that you have some of the more unassuming ones. Such has been my relationship with Mizon's Good Night White Sleeping Mask—it looks so boring that I totally forgot I had it. Until today, that is, so now I'm going to review it!

Etude House Pink Bird Box: Mini reviews of the ugraded Collagen Moistfull skincare line, Precious Mineral Cover & Bright Fit BB Cream + GIVEAWAY!

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Who's ready to hear about some new makeup and skincare goodies from Etude House? Pink Bird Box powers activate!

Review | Miraclear Adjustable Facial Cleansing Tool

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Poll time: Do you prefer to use a brush/tool to cleanse your face, or just go in with your fingers? I go back and forth: I like not having to worry about cleaning my cleansing tools, but sometimes I want a little more exfoliation than my bare hands can provide. And thus my quest for the perfect cleansing tool continues! Today I'll be looking at the Miraclear Adjustable Facial Cleansing Tool, which combines the convenience of silicone with the scrubbiness of well... silicone.

Review & Swatches | Allure & Butter London Arm Candy Nail Lacquer Collection (+ GIVEAWAY!)

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Now that fall (and jacket weather—brr!) is in full swing, I thought this would be a good time to share my swatches of Butter London's recent collaboration with Allure Magazine, the Arm Candy Collection. Arm Candy consists of six fashion-forward, fall-tastic shades in a variety of finishes, so there's something to please everybody. Even better yet, Butter London has provided me with an extra set of nail lacquers to give away to a lucky reader—yay! Read on to find your new favorite shade for autumn.

An introduction to UNT Cosmetics (Taiwan): BBs, CCs, eye stuff (oh my!) Plus coupon code & GIVEAWAY!

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A week or two ago I reviewed the Pore Minissima Super Anti Shine Oil Control Serum by Taiwanese skincare brand UNT, and now I'm back with more! UNT is perhaps best known for their skincare products, but did you know that they also make a ton of makeup? Well even if you didn't before you're going to now, because I'll be swatching not one but FOUR of their products today. Hold onto your pretty little hats.

Unboxing | Walmart Beauty Box Fall/September 2015

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Happy fall, y'all! With the change of seasons comes a bounty of new beauty products and beauty boxes, including today's catch, the latest Walmart Beauty Box.

R. Asks | How far in advance do you start saving for the holidays?

Happy Wednesday, everybody! How you doin'? I'm tired.

This week's question was inspired by all of the holiday beauty sets that started appearing over these past couple of weeks—it is still summer, right?

How far in advance do you start saving and planning for your holiday season shopping? (That includes gifts for others and holiday splurges you might make for yourself.) Do you have a special system for keeping track of the funds?

In 2014 I made a separate savings account with the boring name "gift fund"—every month I put a bit of money aside in it to be used for holidays, birthday gifts etc. So thanks to that I'm saving a little bit for gifts year-round, but I still always find myself overwhelmed when it comes to my wants—there are so many pretty things that come around the holidays that nobody's going to buy for me but me. Obviously I can't purchase every single thing that looks awesome, but giving yourself a gift or two during the holiday season isn't so bad, right? So I just set up yet another savings account called "fun fund", hahaha. Now what to spend it on....

On a related note: If you don't care about financial planning at all but have been paying attention to the holiday collections, I'd love to know what's on your wishlist! Nosy nosy me.

Review | RE:CIPE by Slowganic Detox Rose Petal Cleansing Oil

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Calling all rose lovers! Today I'm reviewing a cleansing oil that not only smells like roses, but also has actual chunks of rose floating in it. All rose, all the time. Like whoa. Meet RE:CIPE Rose Petal Cleansing Oil, your new favorite floral friend.

UNT Skincare (Taiwan) now available in the US! Coupon code + a review of their Pore Minissima Super Anti Shine Oil Control Serum

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I have some good news for all the skincare fanatics out there: UNT Skincare now has a US/global website! UNT, for those of you who aren't familiar, started in Taiwan in 2004 and specializes in results-driven products at reasonable prices. For example, one of their most popular products is EX White Laserwave brightening serum (which contains 5% Mandelic Acid and 3% m-Tranexamic Acid), but they have a wide variety of products addressing other skincare concerns (not to mention a whole line of makeup and nail products!)

I recently got my hands on UNT's Pore Minissima Super Anti Shine Oil Control Serum to try, which promises to blast shine and control oil. Here's the thing: I don't have oily skin all over my face, but I do have classic combination skin. I tend to treat my face mostly for dryness because having tight, dry skin drives me insane, but my nose gets about 10x oilier than the rest of my face by the end of the day even if I don't moisturize it as much (as do my forehead and chin, to a somewhat lesser extent). As I'm sure anyone with oily or combo skin knows, this can be a problem because makeup tends to melt off those spots faster, which looks... odd. I've been on the lookout for an anti-shine serum I could use as a spot treatment of sorts, so on my face Pore Minissima went! Here are all the juicy (but not oily) details.

Hey, it's the August Etude House Pink Bird Box: Swatches of the new Bling Bling Eye Sticks, Dear Darling Water Tint & More

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One of my favorite things in the world is finding new makeup that's inexpensive, works well, and isn't a total pain in the ass to use. There was at least one thing in the latest Etude House Pink Bird Box that ticked all three of those boxes—but you'll have to keep reading to find out what it is! [Insert gleeful cackle]

Add some “Zing” to your afternoon: An easy DIY iced green tea latte recipe

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I have a confession to make: I’m not really a morning person. Or even an afternoon person. If I could stay up all night and sleep until 5PM every day, I probably would—but most of the world doesn’t operate that way, so I work during the daytime. Crazy, I know.

My number one staying awake during the day strategy probably won’t surprise you: Caffeine. Delicious, energy-giving caffeine. Strong coffee is usually my choice in the mornings, but afternoons require something a bit gentler in the caffeine department (assuming you want to eventually fall asleep at night, anyway). Lately I’ve been enjoying iced green tea lattes as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up—they’re caffeinated, cold (important during this late summer humidity), and sort of like a sweet treat and drink in one. Even better, they’re extremely easy to make—and today I’m going to share how I make mine!

At long last, the July 2015 Etude House Pink Bird Box: Play 101 pencil swatches, post office weirdness & GIVEAWAY!

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So here's a funny story that's not actually that funny: Etude House sent me this box in July (as one might expect), but it never showed up at my doorstep. After a while I contacted them for the tracking number to see if I could hunt it down, but by the time I got it, it was already listed as "returned to sender" because they had tried to deliver it so long ago. (Except nobody ever tried to deliver it, or if they did, they didn't leave one of those little pink missed delivery slips that American postal customers enjoy so much.) Don't you love it when that happens? Anyway, I thought it was long gone, but when my boyfriend went to the post office to pick up a different package a couple of weeks later it was somehow magically there. I don't even know anymore. In any case my local post office is awesome, and I finally have the July Etude House Pink Bird Box to show you!

6 UNDER 6: A collective review of six low-pH body washes (plus tips for finding more!)

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Bodies are weird. I spent a lot of time taking care of my face, but the skin on my body has its own issues too, so lately I've been trying to give it some extra TLC. One of the ways I've been doing that: Switching to slightly acidic, low-pH body wash instead of harsh soaps.

Some of you may be wondering why I care so much about the pH level of my body wash. There's been a lot of buzz in the beauty community lately about using low-pH cleansers on your face as a means of maintaining healthy skin. (Your skin is naturally acidic, at around pH 5.5.)

A couple of other bloggers already wrote really good posts on the subject, so rather than try to rehash and summarize I will leave these links below—I recommend reading them if you're curious about skin health as it pertains to acidity.

R. Asks | Eye Masks/Packs: How *do* you wear them?

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

This week's question was inspired by these bad boys:

Don't recognize them? They're under-eye hydrogel masks. Very useful for cooling/de-puffing the eye area. But their efficacy isn't the point of this post—I'm wondering if you use them, how do you wear them?

I realized after many, many uses that I was probably wearing mine the wrong way. I say "wrong" because the jars that have illustrations or pictures of people wearing them tend to show them pointing in a certain direction—but maybe that's not how you do things. If so, I want to know. So here's my question...

Which of the following eye mask wearing styles most closely resembles your own? Is there a reason you prefer wearing them that way?

I think method A is what you're supposed to do, but I usually feel more comfortable wearing them in style B. Maybe that has to do with the shape of my eyes. I've also seen bloggers model them in style C. I don't think there's really any way you shouldn't  wear them (except maybe on the inside of your mouth or butt). Just curious what other folks do.

Oh yeah, sometimes I stick them on my forehead and smile lines too. I'm such a wild woman.

Hair Hacks: 3 ways to get the most out of your everyday conditioner

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You might not believe this if you've ever looked at my haul posts on Instagram and Snapchat, but I'm a big fan of multi-tasking beauty products. There was a time in the not-so-distant past that I couldn't necessarily afford to try out eight thousand different lotions and potions at once, so I'm always excited when I find a single product that can fulfill multiple needs. One of the most versatile things in my bathroom is probably my regular ole, everyday Pantene conditioner—aside from all the non-haircare things you can do with it (like shaving your legs), it's actually really easy to turn one bottle into several different kinds of haircare treatments! Today I'll be sharing three of my most-used DIY hair treatments which are based around—you guessed it—my regular everyday conditioner.

R. | Lights Out!

Hey everybody, I'm back! I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to in my week plus off, but ain't that always the way. I have some fun posts and reviews already cooked up to share though, so I couldn't wait to get back into the swing of things!

Moving on. This week's question was inspired by recent, true-life events:

What do you do to amuse yourself during a power outage?

Last week my landlord informed me that they'd be temporarily shutting off the power in our building to do some electrical work—by temporarily I mean for a couple of hours, not days or anything like that. But of course Stan started panicking on my behalf—and I was like "Dude, I will probably just go to a coffee shop or take a nap."

In the end I ended up kind of half-dozing whilst listening to music through a little portable speaker... not a big deal. Stan's whole power outage panic brought back a bunch of childhood memories for me though... I grew up in a really snowy area with above-ground power lines, so it wasn't unusual to lose power for multiple days at a time after a bad storm. We had this massive wood-burning stove in our family room, which my mom would keep going to warm up the house and cooked canned soup and SpaghettiOs on top. We would listen to a battery-operated radio or my dad playing the guitar. It was almost sort of fun, though now that I'm an adult I can how that would have stressed the shit out of my parents.

Anyway. What do you do to keep yourself amused when the lights go out?

A look inside the Etude House Pink Bird box: Open Your Eyes Make Up Box Kit, Decoden kit cuteness and more

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Who wants to see some fun goodies from Etude House? Sorry it took me a while to post about June's box—this has been a crazy month. The contents of the box are still delightful though. Aged like a fine wine? Or something.