Birchbox: All Wrapped Up

          I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, happy holidays, and just a great time of merriment in general. We had a very laid back holiday season, which I am beyond totally fine with, as the holidays for the past 2 years have been a little difficult without my dad. But New Year's is around the corner (an especially hard time for me), and I want to embrace all the goodness and possibility that this time of year means. So, doing my best to put my pessimistic tendencies aside and moving forward. Birchbox!! December's BB was a nice little holiday treat, so let's just go ahead and talk about that shall we!!

The Contents:
*Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream...so by now we all know about BB creams, but this is a newer product seen about, the CC cream. This one by Juice Beauty, a fave brand of mine now, improves skin tone with Vitamin C and grape-derived resveratrol. The CC stands for Color Control, and the full size product runs about $40.
*ModelCo SHINE Ultra Lip Gloss...I have heard about ModelCo before, but had never tried it before; so to get a full size gloss, in the berry shade, in my box was pretty sweet. I immediately tried it on, and not only does it look really pretty by itself, it looks really pretty paired with your favorite lipcolor. It's also not a highly sticky gloss, which is always a plus for me.
*Nick Chavez Beverly Hills Advanced Volume Shampoo...As a stylist I love to try to new hair products so I can help out with recommendations and whatnot to clients, but at the same time I'm also skeptical of new products, go figure. This volume shampoo by Nick Chavez uses hyaluronic acid and keratin to build body and add shine. Now, keratin is amaze for your hair, I can't say enough good things about it...as for the hyaluronic acid, yeah, I don't know much about that, so perhaps a little investigation is in order. I also do not believe this is a color-safe shampoo, so fact checking is certainly in order.
*Nicole Richie Fragrances: Nicole by Nicole Richie...Now I have an abundance of perfume/fragrance samples, it's almost a little ridiculous. To be honest, most of them get thrown into a box and never see the light of day. But I went ahead and tried this one as soon as I opened it since one of the fragrance notes was amber, which I love in a fragrance I wear. The perfume itself is a blend of amber, rose and vanilla. I loved it. I would actually buy the full size bottle, they retail between $20-$69...potential birthday gift, **hint hint**
*La Fresh Eco-Beauty Healthy Hand Sanitizer...these are actually sanitizer wipes that contain aloe and vitamin E to help moisturize while they sanitize. I like the idea of sanitizer wipes like this because you can throw them in your purse and not worry about them potentially leaking like the little bottles sometimes do. A pack of 30 wipes is just $6.99.

There you have it! There were definitely some little gems this month...products I'm both interested in buying and trying. If you got a buzz-worthy product/item as a gift this Christmas share in the comments below!!

XO,
J.



Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012.

     I wanted to do a fun post, with fun pictures...so I thought, what better way to do that than to recap what I thought about this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!! Last year I recapped my Top 10 moments, but this year I was so enthralled with the whimsical couture of the pieces I just want to take another look at my top 15...yes, 15, I couldn't narrow it down to 10. This year's show (which aired last week) was amazing as expected. The staging, the models hair and makeup and the lingerie creations...incredible. They always put on an impressive show!! So, here's a look at my top 15!!

Shupei's Pink Ball outfit...this leopard number just looks cute and cozy!!

Bregje...I love the look of the coat with petticoats, and the pop of yellow with the bra sets it all off.

Miranda Kerr's circus outfit just looked so glam and regal, those red shoes are amaze and her hair looked extra flawless.

Magdalena's turquoise-blue was so pretty. I love the matching wings and all the bling.

Alessandra wore the multi-million dollar fantasy bra by London Jeweler's in the Angels in Bloom theme. Of course she looked bombshell!!

I love the delicate feel of this look Constance is wearing, and hellooo, turquoise angel wings?!?! Amaze. Love.

Izabel wearing this tribal-esque piece looked gorg!! I love all the jeweled accents and the caged heels rocked.

Candice rocked the show this year, she was my favorite I think. I just love this whole pairing, the 2-piece set, the subtle wings and the boots and head piece in similar color.

Candice again, looking dynamite in the lilac wings, and I love how beautiful and simple her lingerie is.

Erinh looked super hot in the thigh highs paired with this lacy look. And her wings totally reminded me of a Britney Spear's circus-esque vibe, which was totally appropriate since this came out during the Circus theme.

Adriana Lima...I have loved her for so long!! She was incredible as the show opener (Circus theme). She makes an oh-so-badass, yet glam, ringmaster.

Lindsaye looked beautiful in this bridal inspired piece during the Calendar Girls theme. Everything was spot on.

Bregje in the feathers...yes! I love the whimsy and soft colors of this...totally cute!!

I almost put this look Miranda wore at number 1, but changed my mind...I love everything from the outfit to the styling. The lacy details with the black accents are so stunning, and those wings just look amazing!!

LOOOOOVE!! I adore the wings, and all the sparkly accents. I especially love the piecing together of the lingerie. Very glamorous and very hott!!



So, those were my favorites!! Agree, disagree?? There were so many amazing looks!! I wish I could get my hands on a pair of those wings!! So, Victoria's Secret, if you perhaps stumble upon this post I am oh so willingly taking prop donations!! How cool would it be to do makeup/hair for this show...omg...I do mostly boudoir and hair makeup right now anyway, I just need to climb the ladder up a little more and get my but backstage!! Then those wings are definitely mine ;)

XO,

J <3.



12-12-12 and Birchbox: Give.

I will not be so cliche as to remind everyone via facebook, twitter and blog of what today's date is, but it does hold a specialness for me since my nephew was born at 8:39am!! He was the first baby to be born at the hospital today, on this date which everyone is aware of, so he is even getting a little bit of media attention!! So, as I sit here, under the weather and waiting for my husband to get out of the shower so I can go see the new addition (no worries, not contagious), I thought, let me just blog it up. I totally lost last month's Birchbox, or so I thought (I found it a little bit ago, tucked away), so that's why I never did my typical review. So, yeah, no review or rundown from November's box, and December's box should be here anyday.
There were a few cool things in the November box, from brands such as Stila, Masqueology and MCMC, so the products can all be seen and purchased from birchbox.com. I layed out one of the Masqueology under eye masques to hopefully try out a little bit later.
Quick Makeupartist confession: I know you're supposed to wash your face before bed every night, and take your makeup off, and all that jazz, but I don't do it everynight, charge me as guilty, I cannot lie. So, masques and skin repair serums are only helpful buddies, especially when I'm feeling as blahh as I do right now.
I am not a big holiday enthusiast, as the past 2 years have made me so. It's always kind of a kick in the ass for the new year to roll in, which is because we lost my dad on 1-1-11. So, as much as the I believe in the message of the holidays, my spirit is a tad lackluster, which I pray can endure a change. Maybe I do need some holiday cheer sent my way. Hey, I'm no scrooge, I did not fight the putting-up-of-the-tree this year, and there are wreaths on every window.
But that's just a little update from the corner of my world. I heard the tell-tale click of the bathroom door that signals my husband will soon be ready to venture out. More to come...Be safe all!!
XO,
J <3.