Birchbox: Wanderlust.

    Is it really almost the end of June?! Wow. I'll be 5 weeks cancer free tomorrow!! Last weekend my best friend and I took a little time off for a girls day to celebrate the 1 month mark. We got manis/pedis, took a Target trip, ate some yummy food, did a little shopping and got tattoos (I got some Royal Teeth lyrics on side of my leg)... Talk about an amazingly rad day. Speaking of talking...lets talk about the June Birchbox!!

New Box packaging.

**Birchbox + Color Club Wanderlust Collection nail polish**

There were four neon pastel shades released. I received the pastel green one named London Calling...which I was pretty stoked about, one, because it's a lovely shade, and two, I have what you might call a mild obsession with British things. This shade is comparable to Essie's Absolutely Shore and comparable price wise as well since a full size bottle costs $8.

**LAQA & Co Lil' Lip Duo**

This is essentially a lip color that comes in jumbo pencil form. It has a creamy texture when applied and there is a little minty "taste" left behind as a sort of afterthought. The color is actually quite pigmented. I love mine, in a pretty bright rosy pink shade, especially paired with my NARS Easy Lover lip gloss. A full size is $16 for 2, so definitely worth checking out.

**ORIGINS Clear Improvement Active charcoal mask to clear pores**

ORIGINS is always a brand I love to see since I really love their products. I'm a big fan of masks right now so I can't wait to try this out this weekend! It's a white clay and charcoal based mask that tightens your pores and draws out impurities, all while making your skin appear less dull. It's supposed to be a great once a week mask and the full size product retails for $23.

**Oscar de la Renta Something Blue perfume sample**

This is a new scent from Oscar de la Renta, but it smelled really familiar. A lot of designer fragrances carry such similar notes. It starts with notes of mandarin and linden blossom and picks up to notes of bourbon vanilla and white musk. It's definitely a warmer scent, something I would find more wearable for an autumn date night or the like. With a price point ranging from $85-$115, there are other very similar scents at more affordable prices if you are looking for something more economical. 

**ORIGINS GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturizer**

Another ORIGINS product!! This moisturizer contains ginseng and coffee to combat lack-lustre skin. It's also supposed to make your skin look energized and radiant. Now, I don't know what "energized" skin appears like, but, my skin did have a radiant, dewy gloe! It also felt good, no greasy residue or anything!! Very lightweight and great for everyday use. The full size is $26.50.

****BONUS JONAS****:

Check out my new tattoo!! ((Royal Teeth lyrics))...and make sure to pick up the band's full-length album, "Glow", out this August!!

Check out my Instagram for more pics: jacquelinecxo

Hope everyone has awesome weekend plans in store!!

XO,

J <3.

Review: Victoria's Secret Hold Please Volume Shine Hairspray.

    Every now and then I come across a product that I, sadly, just don't like. I'm not a fan of writing bad reviews anyway,its more so of a let down when the product comes from a company I otherwise adore!! Today I'm reviewing the Hold Please Volume Shine Hairspray from Victoria's Secret. 

     I have actually had this hairspray on hand for several months, using it on and off when my favorite sprays were not accessible for whatever reason. I'll put it out there now, I am a hairspray junkie!! Now on the front of the bottle it says "Get bedroom romp hair, extreme body and lift"...well, we shall see about that!!

     WHAT THE HAIRSPRAY CLAIMS:

*brilliant shine

*incredible volume

*superior flexible hold

*anti-humidity complex

*UV protectant

     WHAT I EXPERIENCED:

*My hair didn't look at all shiny!! Even when 

I used just a little bit of the product my color seemed more dull if anything!! If the greasy feel was meant to appear as shine then someone in product development sure missed the mark.

*Incredible volume. Oh, I laugh. Yes, my hair did have amazing volume...before I used the hairspray. The minute the spray made contact with my hair it weighed it down, thus flattening out all of the volume I had achieved prior.

*I didn't experience any great hold with this product. My hair actually had a "mushy", almost "gummy" sort of feel to it...not exactly the feel of bombshell hair. So, i guess in regards to being humidity resistant it was okay at best. I mean, it was so mushed down that a little bit of humidity just might have helped things out.

*Now, I can't really speak to the UV protectant nature of this hairspray, but any product offering a UV protecting agent automatically gets at least one gold star from me.

     So, as you can see, my review for this product wasn't so hot. Did I get that bedroom romp ready hair?? No. Nor would i want anyone  I was climbing into bed with to touch my hair with this hairspray in it. Did I get the extreme body and lift as promised?? Again, as you read, no I didn't. So sorry VS!! I am otherwise quite smitten with you and all the other beauty products you retail!! My hair just didn't have that VS angel runway hair look.

XO,

J <3.

Fight Like A Girl, Part I.

     I have been wanting to put this out for a while now...as in earlier posts I alluded, I actually had quite the legitimate reason for being more absent minded with posts, other than my usual "was just too busy" excuse(s). On April 23, 2013 I found out I had melanoma skin cancer. Yes, cancer... And the most serious of skin cancers at that. I'm 28. I'm young. Yet, I, with youth on my side, was not immune to cancer.
     Let's back up a little... I had been tanning in tanning beds for like 12 years. This, although vain on my part, was not an everyday thing, but it was a part of my usual routine. For like the last 4 or 5 years I even had the actual membership that automatically withdrewv money from my bank account every month. Well, this past January I had a hold put on my membership because I thought I was pregnant and I didn't want to risk roasting a little embryo. Turns out I wasn't pregnant, which actually turned out to be a positive thing since I was about to endure so much. Anyway, as I began to get paler and paler from lack of tanning, I began noticing more and more patches of freckles and little moles here and there. There was one mole I noticed on my left side, sort of near my back. It was no bigger than the diameter of a pencil eraser, if that, and certainly wasn't immediately alarming in color or anything to my naked eye. My ocd self wouldn't let me forget it was there so I showed it to my sister who works at a dermatologist office. She didn't really think it was anything but told me she would get me set up with an appointment to have things looked over.
     I was at the dermatologist withina few days and they of course checked the spot out more closely. She decided to punch biopsy (you can google that for procedure details... Ouch!). She also told me I shouldn't lose any sleep over things, which is pretty hard to tell a severe anxiety sufferer to do!! A few days later, while I was getting ready to leave work, I get a phone call from the head doctor telling me not to panic but I needed to see a surgical oncologist because I had melanoma cancer. How can you use the words "don't panic" and "cancer" in the same sentence?! I hear the word cancer and panic ensues. I don't even remember how the rest of that conversation went, I just remember calling my mom and my husband crying"I have cancer, I have cancer!!". How I made it home that day crying like I was, I have no idea!! Thanks be to God... For everything.
     After medication induced calmnessv set in I was able to get more information/clarification. The melanoma was caught very early (thank you God...and never have I been so glad to have ocd) but yes, surgery was still necessary. The margins were clear depth wise but surgery was necessary to remove the width, plus an additional perimeter amount as precaution. I heard back from the doctor the next day (thank God my sister and friends work at this office, they really helped my treatment get expedited and took great care of me... They are amazing and I am truly blessed/forever grateful)... She had talked to the surgical oncologist and he agreed that my doctor was just as capable to perform the excision procedure as a 2 day procedure, under local anesthesia, as he was doing the same thing under general anesthesia in one day. I was so relieved to hear this, as anesthesia scares me. So, my surgery was scheduled for a Thursday and Friday last month, in May.

** part II will go up soon!!**

DID YOU KNOW that using a tanning bed can increase your risk of melanoma by up to 80%?!!!
I was so naive about my tanning habits, I cannot even believe I brought this on myself. Its amazing how we, as a society, can put vanity before our health. I, of course, will never use a tanning bed again, and I'm very careful about being in the sun in general. I'm amazed at how many people have reached out to me to say that my story has made them quit tanning too!! I feel touched that I can affect others through sharing my story; I'm very big on skin cancer advocacy now. We need to take care of ourselves and look out for each other whenever we can.

XO,
J <3.

Birchbox: Beauty Diaries

     When I got home just now my June Birchbox was waiting at the door!! Then I realized I still never posted my May box!! I'm telling you, my personal and work lives have been insane the past few months, and I can only give thanks to God for getting me through every trial and tribulation. I hope to expand in all areas of my life, but I also need to learn when to say "no", as I tend to take on more than I should at times...about this much-delayed May box though...

**The Contents**

May box contents!!

*BEAUTY PROTECTER
PROTECT & DETANGLE... A detangling elixir for all hair types. It locks in shine while instantly detangling and locking in color. I love the packaging of this little guy!! The product itself is okay, I typically use Unite's leave in conditioner. It's like $22 for a full size bottle, so it's definitely at a higher price point.

How cute is this packaging?!!

*CARGO LIPGLOSS... I love Cargo products so I was glad to see this gloss in my box, and its a pretty big trial size item too. I like this gloss because it's hydrating, not sticky and can be easily layered over any base lip color. A full size tube is $14, which is in the median price range for prestige cosmetics. (You can buy Cargo at Ulta). The shade I received is called "Route 66" and its a pretty, pink-watermelon color (see swatch below).

*CoTZ 

NATURAL SKIN TONE SPF 40... Let me just say, first and foremost, always, ALWAYS, say yes to SPF!! SPF 40 is pretty much my new best friend these days so this product is probably my #1 pick from the May box. Not only is this SPF non-greasy, it also has a tint to it so you are left with a natural looking glow, but with a matte finish. The full size product will run you about $20.

*LA FRESH

ECO-BEAUTY OIL-FREE FACE CLEANSER... I haven't tried this yet, but I've used their moisturizing wipes in the past and really loved them (I do love a good face wipe!!). These are biodegradable if you're environment friendly, as we should all pretty much be. They remove dirt, makeup and other impurities with jojoba oil to be extra moisturizing. 30 wipes is $10, so that's a really good selling point aside from all the good these bad boys are slated to do.

**BONUS JONAS**

An ink pen!! I'm a pen fiend, so I certainly wasn't hating this little extra!!

Hope everyone is having a great week. Its only getting hotter out there so stay cool, literally!!

XO,

J <3.