Life Favorites - May

1. Book - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This book. Everyone that I know and everyone that I don't know is reading this book. To be perfectly honest the synopsis didn't interest me in the least but everyone was raving about it. I got suckered in. Worth it? Yes, Yes, YES! It's an absolutely fantastic book. It's witty, funny, romantic and sad. It's a real tear jerker in some places but the brilliance is the emotional connection the author is able to get you to make with the characters. I definitely needed a box of tissue. The short is a young girl with cancer meets a boy at a support group and falls in love. It screams box of tissue but the journey is captivating. And in case you didn't know, it is also a major motion picture due for theatrical release June 6, 2014.

2. TV Show - Orphan Black  Can I just say...wow. Amazon Instant Video kept insisting I watch this show. I hadn't even heard about it but I decided to try it. Most shows I watch on BBC end up being pretty good especially Sci Fi ones. Those British know how to make shows. I was hooked in the first 10 minutes of the first episode. The acting in brilliant. The story line is different and intriguing. It keeps you on your toes. You can't look away or you might miss something but you don't want to ever look away. Watch it if you haven't! I don't want to give anything away but it is just good.

3. Song - Chandelier by Sia I had never heard of Sia and the only reason I watched the video is because Maddie Ziegler from Lifetime's Dance Moms stars in it. The dancing is brilliant. The song is powerful and catchy and after one listen I had bought it on iTunes. Definitely my favorite song this month.

4. Food - Nutribullet Pro. Ok it's not food but it let's me make my favorite food of the month which is green smoothies. A typical smoothie consists of spinach, kale, frozen mango, peaches, strawberries, banana, coconut water, chia seeds and Vega Protein Smoothie powder. I have successfully gotten everyone in my family to drink them and love them. Even my husband who thought he couldn't drink or eat anything that was green in color.

5. Jewelry - Infinity Necklace It's a little weird to have a jewelry favorite especially for me because I have lots of fashion necklaces. One of my favorite quotes from The Fault in Our Stars is 'Sometimes infinities are bigger than other infinities' - John Green. Thus the infinity necklace. It's simple and pretty. I love wearing it with summer tshirts.

6. Music Album - Karmin Pulses I know my favorite song isn't on this album but to be fair, Sia's album isn't out yet. Karmin's Pulses is the first album I listen to entirely on repeat since Carrie Underwood's albums. That's saying alot because I usually change the song on the radio before it ever finishes. The beat is nice and the talent is awesome.

7. Movie - Maleficient We haven't actually went and seen this movie yet but I put it on my list because it is the one movie release we have been looking forward to all year. With a deployment imminent, the girls and I probably won't be able to sneak away and see it until next week but the anticipation is enough for it to make the list. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

8. Electronic - Macbook Pro with Retina display  This is a big one for me. For 3#%# years I have been a Windows PC girl. I was in the market for a new laptop for starting at Kansas State University this fall. I wanted it to be light yet powerful. All the reasons aside, it was worth it. The display is amazing, The power is amazing. The quality and construction is amazing. The ease of use is amazing. I can't say enough good things about it. I don't think I'll ever get rid of my Windows Desktop because I am an avid computer gamer and you can't beat PC's for gaming but my Macbook has now replaced my laptop.

The One with Eddie Funkhouser Cosmetics

This story started in April when I received my April Wantable* box. Inside was an eye shadow palette by Eddie Funkhouser. I had honestly never heard of the brand before but the colors were gorgeous, were the perfect shades and they were so nice on my eyes. I was intrigued so I started looking around for more information on the product line. Here is a little of what I found. From EddieFunkhouser.com:

EDDIE FUNKHOUSER® is a game-changing cosmetics brand created by veteran makeup artist, spokesperson and expert product developer, Eddie Funkhouser. With its refined, minimalist packaging and world-class, studio-grade formulas (created predominantly in Italy), the EDDIE FUNKHOUSER range has the look and performance of prestige cosmetics delivered to customers everywhere at an unprecedented value.

Wantable hosted a twitter chat with Eddie that I went to. It was also my very first twitter chat like that. Admittedly I am new to the world of social media outside of Facebook which I typically use to just keep in contact with friends and family. The experience was fun and it was nice getting to know a little bit about the man behind the brand. At the end of the chat the participants got a coupon code to use and use it I did! I knew I loved the product I did own and wanted to try more! 

Two blushes I received were the Ultra Intensity Cheek Color's in Sidestreet Blossom (top left) and Peep Show (bottom right). These blushes are stunning. They are very pigmented, smooth and buttery. Because of the pigmentation, a little goes a long way. I have very dry skin and they did not cling to any dry patches nor did they appear powdery or cakey. The colors are gorgeous for my light skin tone and I think with how pigmented they are would be great for any skin tone. 

       (Ultra Intensity Cheek Color in Peep Show)

        (Ultra Intensity Cheek Color in Sidestreet Blossom)

         (left Peep Show, right Sidestreet Blossom)

The eye shadow quad I received is the Hyperreal Eye Color Palette in Ultimate Smoky Eye (left) and the bronzer is the Ultra Definition Bronze & Sculpt Powder in Pyramid Bronze (right). 

The bronzer is the perfect shade. Depending upon how you swirl your brush in the colors you can get a lighter or darker tone. Sometimes I use bronzers as my blush and this would be perfect for that as well. It has a slight glow to it that the swatch just doesn't pick up. It's not quite a shimmer and it's definitely not matte. It has a slight sheen and it is just stunning on the face. I typically use a cheek bone highlight as well but instead I just picked up a little of the lighter color to use. Overall, I love it. I love the versatility and I love the finish. It has quickly become my new favorite bronzer. The swatch below I went a little lighter because I have a very fair complexion but the intensity is definitely buildable to darker for darker complexions or just a more intense contour.

        (Ultra Definition Bronze & Sculpt Powder in Pyramid Bronze)

The eye shadows in the palette are top: Headliner, Center Stage and bottom: Archtype, Femme Fatale. These eye shadows are very creamy. Headliner is not as pigmented as the other three but I used it as a base eye shadow shade and it worked well. My favorite in the quad is definitely Center Stage. It has the perfect amount of shimmer to it that makes it a gorgeous lid color. I did find myself wishing there would have been a highlight shade. I typically like a white highlight for the brow bone. Since I didn't have one I used the lightest shade from the bronzer which by itself is a gorgeous warm highlight and worked ok. Eddie Funkhouser also has single eye shadows though there isn't any shades that I would typically choose as a highlight. The closest would be Silver Lining but I'd have to see a swatch or try it out to know for sure. There is a really pretty shade in the Bedroom Eyes eye shadow quad called Coy that is described as a shimmering frost white. They also have a product called Chromagraphic Eye Gloss that looks like it would be stunning as well. I have added all three to my shopping list to try! There are also pigments, eye liners and mascaras.

        (Hyperreal Eye Color Palette in Ultimate Smoky Eye)

        (left to right, Headliner, Center Stage, Archtype, Femme Fatale)

Now the lippies. I wanted to try the formula so I chose two colors that I would wear daily. I tend to like mauve toned nudes. You know, the your lips but better colors. So for the lipstick I chose the Hyperreal Nourishing Lip Color in Innuendo. For the lip gloss I chose something a bit more coral toned for the summer. The lip stick is so buttery. It feels good on my lips, almost like a lip gloss but it looks like a lipstick and the color was exactly what I was looking for. The quality is amazing. With the gloss on top it added a very pretty shine. The gloss is the Hyperreal Hydrating Lip Gloss in Love Rush. It isn't too thick, tacky or glittery. There is also a Chromographic Lip Color  that I want to try. 

        (Hyperreal Hydrating Lip Gloss in Love Rush)

       (Hyperreal Nourishing Lip Color in Innuendo)

       (left Innuendo, right Love Rush)

The last two products I got to try were the Luxlight Hydrating Primer in Candlelight and the Luxlight Revitalizing Foundation in Fair. Let me just say that I was pleasantly surprised by both of these products. The primer itself smoothed my skin and I might actually wear this alone this summer with a little translucent powder to set it. The foundation I would say is medium coverage but buildable. I built the coverage up and it was not cakey. It didn't cling to my dry spots. I used a foundation brush to dab it on and then a beauty blender type sponge to smooth it out. With my dry skin I don't typically use a brush for most foundations so I can't say how it would apply with a brush but with my blender it was  flawless. It blended right into the skin. I don't know about the lasting power yet. I did not set it with a powder today so I could test it out. I'll get back to you on that. 

So here is a complete look with the products. I used a mascara that I had already from Maybelline and an under eye concealer also from Maybelline. Everything else i used was the products mentioned. (It's hard to see the eye makeup because of my glasses but it didn't occur to me to take them off!) If you follow me on Instagram  I will be sure to upload a photo sans glasses next time so you can see the beautiful eye shadow. 

On a side note, the very few times I have messaged a brand on social media, the responses (if I even received one) were slow and scripted. When I received my order one of the products had been affected by the heat and shipping. As with any new company, they are still working out a few kinks on the website and I reached out to Eddie Funkhouser and Eddie responded personally and put me in contact with someone that could help. The problem was resolved immediately and Eddie Funkhouser cosmetics went above and beyond. On the website under the About Eddie section it says

#ASKEDDIE represents the EDDIE FUNKHOUSER message of accessibility and Eddie’s personal mission to connect directly with his customer as often as he can so that he can continue to do what he enjoys most about makeup–teaching, sharing, and exploring.

From my personal experience, this is absolutely true. Every time I have contacted Eddie Funkhouser, he has personally responded. Overall, I absolutely love the products in the line that I have tried and look forward to trying and reviewing more products. I am very impressed by the customer service experience I had and the personability that Eddie has. I will most definitely be trying more products in the future and highly recommend them! 

 These opinions are my own and this post is in no way sponsored nor did I receive any compensation for my review. 

*Wantable is a monthly subscription service. 

The One with the Move

A side effect of being a military family are the moves. My husband is working on 15+ years as a soldier in the Army. It's a life that none other share except other military families. Friends and family not affiliated with the armed forces will pretend to understand, sympathize and offer often times unsolicited advice with the best intentions but the truth is, they can't really understand. I'm not saying its better or worse than any other scenario out there. I'm just saying it's different and like with anything it comes with its own somewhat unique challenges and one of those is the possibility of hearing the words "I've come down on orders" and you know it's PCS time (that's permanent change of station).  This time we were moving from Joint-Base Lewis McChord which is in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest about 10 minutes south of Tacoma, Washington...to Fort Riley, KS. Kansas. Really?!?! (Spoiler: Dorothy was there to greet us after our long trip from The Emerald City).

Now I realize we don't know each other that well but a little tid bit more about me is that I am from Texas. Born and raised in a small country town north of Houston that is about 2 miles from one side to the other. The "suburbs" of that town has Prairie in its name. I'm not joking. If we wanted to go to anything resembling a mall or a decent restaurant even, then it required a thirty minute drive so I am familiar with the concept of living in the middle of nowhere. That is why I dreaded the move to Kansas. I need civilization. I need a Starbucks on every corner. I need malls and shopping centers. I need more than vast plains and tornado's.

 Nevertheless, I am always up for an adventure. You have to be with my life. Packing up three kids, two cats and a husband to drive halfway across the country is still exciting no matter how many times you do it even if a little daunting. Weeks and months of planning and anticipation and its all over before you know it. If you get the chance, enjoy the ride. Share the experience with your family. Take lots of photos. This move was bittersweet because I fell in love with Washington. It's indescribable. The views, the culture, the outdoors. Now that we are in Kansas I am trying to make the most of our time here and not dwell everyday on how much I miss it. Because who knows? In three years we might get to hear those words one more time.

We drove through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado on our way here and the drive was breathtaking in some places and incredibly dull in others. We moved at the beginning of April and still drove through a snow storm in Utah. It was amazing. I can't remember where each of these photos were taken. I wish I had documented it better but I'm glad I got to stop and take them along the way. It was a pretty smooth trip and our arrival at Fort Riley was even smoother. It's just one more experience we can add to our ever growing list. Here is a few shots we were blessed to be able to take and now share with you. Enjoy!

Ipsy May 2014

The best thing about subscription boxes? It's like Christmas when you open your mailbox once (or twice, or three times) a month! Today I received my Ipsy bag. Can I first just say I LOVE this month's bag? Just the bag. I haven't even tried the samples in the bag yet but it's already one of my favorites. It's so fresh and bright. Perfect for spring and summertime.

Ipsy is a monthly subscription service. For $10 dollars a month you receive 4-5 makeup and beauty samples like other subscription services but what makes Ipsy unique is that each month your goodies arrive in a makeup bag. They are fantastic to pop in a few essentials and throw it in your purse or bag. Ipsy also rewards its subscribers with points for reviews, etc. that you can use to redeem goodies. Each month the products offered in subscribers bags also come with often deep discount codes for the products sampled. So what is in my bag this month you ask? 

Lots of goodies to get you ready for summer including a Therapy Session Hair Mask by Eva NYC, Classic Sport SPF50 by Hang Ten, Mineral Eyeshadow Duo by Pacifica, Microdermabrasion Scrub by derma e, and The Olive Lip Balm by Olive Natural Beauty. 

I am always impressed with the sample sizes that are in my Ipsy bag. I can't wait to try these products! What did you get in your bag?

Birchbox May 2014 Unboxing

It's that time of the month again! My subscription boxes are starting to show up in my mailbox and I was excited to find this surprise a few days earlier than expected. It's Birchbox time! I had seen a preview on Facebook so I knew it was going to be a special Kate Spade Saturday box and I absolutely love Kate Spade. The box looks pretty good this month. I've already tried the vitamins. They were well...just like every other gummie vitamin I've tried but something I thought was neat was on the back of the package it says 'Every time you buy SmartyPants, we make a matching 1-for-1 nutrient grant to a child most in need through our partnership with Vitamin Angels. Kinda like the Toms of the vitamin world.

If you don't know, Birchbox is a monthly subscription service. For $10 a month, they send you 4-5 samples of beauty products. In my experience, Birchbox is typically luxury products. It's fun because most of the products I receive I have never heard of before. I have found some of my favorite things inside! After you receive your box and you try out the products, you can go on Birchbox.com and review them. For each review you get 10 Birchbox points and for every 100 points, you get $10 to spend. There are also other ways to earn points like purchasing items from the website.

The rest of the box contained a sample eyeliner from Cynthia Rowley Beauty, Spa Therapy Bod Lotion from Gilchrist & Soames, BB Cream Golden Glow from Marcelle, and a Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner from Number 4 High Performance Hair Care.

There was also a coupon code good for $25 off your purchase at Kate Spade Saturday and a code for a free Marcelle Lux Gloss Cream when you buy any Marcelle product. 

I know some of you have been disappointed with Birchbox the last few months but they seemed to have stepped their game back up. My last two boxes were like the Birchboxes of yore. If they keep up this trend, I would definitely recommend it again. If you want to sign up and try it you can click here.

The One after Draft Day

So...about yesterday. If you don't know (or live under a rock), even if you don't really care you probably heard it was Draft Day for the NFL (why did I capitalize that like it was a National Holiday?). Admittedly I am not a huge football fan unless my Seahawks or Cowboys are playing. I could probably tell you a little about how the game is played and I might even be able to impress you with my knowledge of five or six player names on the aforementioned teams. I have never, however, watched the draft. Let me say that again. I am thirty #&(* years old and I have NEVER watched the NFL draft. Last night? I was pulled in by the hype. Not the hype about the draft but about one player in particular. Johnny Manziel. For the record, I know he played for Texas A&M. Honestly, I only know that because 1. My husband is a huge football and baseball fanatic so I might have heard his name mentioned and 2. just in case I didn't hear it there, I have several alumni in my family from Texas A&M and it probably came up on my Facebook wall a time or two (that is a gross understatement). I don't know how many pass completions he had or how many yards he threw for. What I do know is his fans are the most passionate I have ever seen in a long time. So are his haters. The guy has got to be doing something right I suppose. Didn't he win an award or something? I can relate it to a few Nascar drivers that I am fans of. It's the same thing. All you have to do is have a little more success than the other guy and BAM! 

Nevertheless, I was intrigued and so I tuned in to see who was going to pick him up (and to see how this draft thing worked). I'll be totally honest. Every time a team pick was announced and it wasn't Manziel the cameras would pan over to his face and you couldn't help but feel a little bad for the kid. I don't know how he felt. Maybe he knew something we didn't but it was a little sad to watch. If you didn't already know he was finally drafted by the Cleveland Browns. So many comments on facebook were cracking jokes about him all night and then those same jokesters LOLOL'd because of the team. One of the aforementioned family Aggie alumni said it probably better than I could ever have said it. So many people laughing at someone who just made millions and was a first round draft pick. How many times have you been a first round draft pick in the National Football League? I'm guessing if you're reading this, none. Kudos to Johnny Manziel. You got me and probably thousands of other people like me to tune in to the NFL draft. In a few months, you'll probably fade from my memory at least and just be another team playing against my Seahawks or Cowboys. But at least for last night, you were a winner! 

I'm not sure I'll tune into the draft next year. We'll have to see. I think now though I might watch Draft Day with the hubs. I mean I enjoyed Jerry McGuire enough. If I don't tune in, I can at least pretend next  year to be a seasoned pro. Oh ya, I remember when Manziel was drafted by the Browns. Good times. 

The One with ELF

I've always been into makeup but recently, I have been REALLY into it. My one bag collection has expanded into multiple drawers packed full. The downside to this is that I have two daughters that tend to like what mom likes...mostly. Because of this, it was inevitable that they would become interested in my makeup collection. Although I would love to share my collection with them, I have quite a few high end, luxury makeup items that would be pricey to replace if the unthinkable happened, it got dropped on the floor and shattered (along with part of my soul). As much as I love my makeup, I love my daughters more so I wanted to find a way to encourage their enthusiasm and share with them. The best solution was to create a collection of drugstore makeup that they could use to their hearts content and if it happened to become makeup roadkill it was not a travesty.

An expensive brand of makeup that can be found at most drugstores is ELF makeup and cosmetics. ELF stands for Eyes Lips Face. I know personally a lot of people shy away from this brand because it is so inexpensive, they believe the quality must not be great either. Like with any makeup brand, there are hits and misses but I have found quite a few hits with ELF and the price point is perfect. (Keep reading until the end for a coupon code!)

I sat down to place an order on their website. My girls are always interested in my eye shadow palette collection so that's where I started. After choosing the products we placed the order and anxiously awaited its arrival. Long story short, it arrived and my girls were over the moon. I was so impressed with the quality of the products that I had to share it with you guys! 

I chose a few of their blushes and they are amazing. They are super pigmented, not too chalky, and the colors are very flattering. The best part was the studio blushes (the square ones) were only 3.00 and the Mineral blush was 5.00. (I may or may not have blushes in my collection that were more than thirty bucks...EACH. I plead the fifth) You can't beat the price and the quality at that price is pretty darn good. 

I went a little eye shadow crazy. I got a selection of mineral eye shadows. They are a powder eye shadow that are more pigmented than regular eye shadows. A few of them were a bit chalky but that is too be expected at this price point I think. The colors are fairly pigmented and they are lovely colors. I'm not a makeup blogger photographer pro so my swatches are mediocre but you can get the general over view. 

My favorite eyes shadows, especially during the summer months when the sun decides it likes your make up more than you do and proceeds to turn up the heat until it runs right off your face, (Thank you Mr. Sun) are cream eye shadows. They tend to be formulated to last longer in those situations and for oily skin (I can't attest to this because I have super dry skin). I really like the Maybelline Color Tattoos and the Pro Longwear paint pots by MAC so I was excited when I saw ELF had new smudge pots. Can I just say ...yay!! These were super inexpensive at just 2.00 each compared to 6.99-8.99 for the Maybelline Color Tattoos and over twenty bucks for the MAC paint pots. They quality is really good. I haven't had them long enough to be able to say how quickly they dry out. 

I am getting up in age (ok I'm not OLD but I am definitely not in my 20's anymore). I tend to have super dry skin, especially under my eyes. I use a good day and night eye cream to moisturize but my concealer tends to settle into my lines anyways no matter what I do and look chalky. I found a concealer that almost does none of that but I was intrigued by the idea of a primer for under your eyes so I decided to give it a try. And it was only 3.00!  I'll let you know how it works. 

I also picked up two of the new tinted moisturizers for my oldest. She's in high school now and is apparently on a search for something to smooth her complexion but not look like she has a ton of makeup on. I have high hopes for these. I got two shades and hopefully one or both will match her complexion. Again, they were only 3.00! I have a tinted moisturizer from Laura Mercier that I love for myself but for three bucks, I may try these babies. 

The Cinco De Mayo sale has expired but you can still save for mothers day!

Get $10 off orders of $30 or more with coupon code MOM10 or get $15 off orders of $40 or more with coupon code MOM15 at EyesLipsFace.com. This offer is valid until Saturday, 5/10

I think the girls are going to have a grand time with these! (and mom will too :D)

*This post contains affiliate links. For full disclosure, please click here.