Ipsy July Glam Bag Review

July 22, 2015September 20, 20155 Comments

Teeez Cosmetics – Read My Lips Lipstick
teeezcosmetics.com

Full Size Retail Cost: $22

This lipstick was the item I was most excited to try in July’s Glam Bag. I confess it was mostly due to the awesome packaging that features a skull (I am super into skulls). Once I had the lipstick in my hand I realized the packaging wasn’t the only thing to get excited about. The shade “Killing Me Softly” is a satin matte finish and a beautiful red coral color. The coconut oil extract gives it a lovely scent while moisturizing your lips. This product compares well with other lipsticks like it, especially for the price.

Final Verdict: Worth a buy although the product currently only comes in the one shade.

Teeez Cosmetics – Read My Lips Lipstick

Read My Lips Lipstick in Killing Me Softly

Killing Me Softly Swatch

Jor’el Parker – Classico Perfume
harveyprince.com

8.8ml Retail Cost: $21

When it comes to scents I am a try them all kind of girl which is strange since I am pretty particular when it comes to smells. But I also get bored easily and like to change my scent up almost daily. So I am always happy to receive a new scent in my Ipsy bag. Scents can take you to places you haven’t been in years, or remind you of a fond memory or person from your past. In this case the Classico scent reminded my of my mom and I will probably end up giving it to her. It is sweet, spicy and calming in a way that perfectly describes my mother. Ipsy and Jor’el Parker really hit it out of the park with this one.

Final Verdict: Definite buy but its a bit pricey.

Jor’el Parker Classico EDP

Crown Brush – Professional Tweezers
crownbrush.us

Retail Cost: $17.49 (on sale for $6.99)

I will admit that I am biased when it comes to tweezers because the only tweezers I love are my mini Anastasia Beverly Hills brow tweezers and I only use tweezers for my brows. With that said these Crown Brush tweezers are just your typical tweezers, they are a bit bulky for my taste and would trust them to pluck the stray eye brow hairs I get. They would be good for attaching bling to nails or maybe applying eyelashes but I have little expertise in that area.

Final Verdict: Nothing special, too bulky for brows.

Crown Brush Professional Tweezers

Vasanti Cosmetics – Brighten Up! Exfoliating Cleanser
vasanticosmetics.com

Travel Size Retail Cost: $10

My skincare routine is extremely minimal. I barely ever wash my face with any time of face wash or cleanser. My skin is extremely sensitive as well so most cleansers tend to do more damage than anything else. So I am typically not excited when Ipsy sends me anything to do with cleansers for facial cleaners. The Brighten Up! was surprisingly gentle for an exfoliating cleanser and it also didn’t smell awful which is a major plus. This gentleness I attribute to it being natural, paraben free, and vegan and BONUS it is not tested on animals.

Final Verdict: A must try!

Vasanti Brighten Up! Exfoliating Cleanser

OFRA Cosmetics – Bliss Eyeshadow
ofracosmetics.com

Full Size Retail Cost: $10

Dear Ipsy: Please no more nude eyeshadows. Sincerely, Kassandra.

Anyway like all my shimmery nude shadows this Bliss shadow from OFRA is just as beautiful and long lasting as the next. It was nice to receive such a large sample (even though I have enough shimmery nudes to last me a lifetime) and the shimmer really is lovely. The shadow is also marketed as a highlighter which is what I ended up testing it as because it goes beautifully with my favorite bronzer.

Final Verdict: Worth the price, OFRA has several other beautiful shades so check them out!

OFRA Cosmetics Bliss Eyeshadow

Bliss Eyeshadow Swatch

I’ve Moved!

April 6, 20152 Comments

Hi Friends!

I am ready to get back to blogging. A part of me has been missing these last few weeks as I have been too busy to blog. March was busy with many events, both work related and personal. My fiance and I celebrated 10 years on the 26th and this past weekend we moved into a new apartment.

While I haven’t discussed a lot of specifics about my life before I will explain that last October we moved from Massachusetts to Florida. There were several factors that influenced our move the biggest one being that I wanted to be closer to my mother and grandmother. So 6 months ago we got really close and moved in with my mother and step father. While it was surprisingly easy to stay with them we missed having our own space and my mother is allergic to one of my furry children.

So on April 3rd we got the keys to our new place and began the slow process of moving from mom’s hows to our new apartment (which is only about 7 miles down the road). While moving all weekend we also had to celebrate a good friends birthday as well as Easter with the family so we have been busy.

Now that we are mostly settled I hope to get back into the blogging groove and share as much of me with you as I can. With that said I would like to share a link to my Fiance David’s and my Youtube page in case anyone was interested. It has been several months since we posted but now that we have our own space again we will be getting back into it as I love making videos.

Check out The Burds here! And thanks for the support!!

Have a great week!!!

Liebster Award

March 11, 2015March 11, 20157 Comments

First let me say Thank You to TiffancyC from Life According to Tiffany for nominating me for the Liebster award. The word “liebster” has German origins and several definitions: dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, welcome, sweetheart and even boyfriend. The Liebster Award is a way to share and discover new blogs with less than 200 followers (I dislike this number lets make it 1000). This “award” given by bloggers to fellow bloggers includes answering eleven questions and posing eleven new questions for the newly nominated bloggers. So let’s get started!

1. If you could only blog about one topic, what would you choose? I would have to choose beauty, only because I really enjoy taking still photos of things like makeup and other beauty products and finding ways to make them visually interesting.

2. What is/was your major? My B.A. is in Communications specializing in Graphic Design

3. What’s your favorite physical attribute about yourself? My eyes.

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, MA.

5. How many makeup products do you own? A LOT. Too many to count right now. More than 100 but probably less than 200.

6. How often do you work out? 3-4 days a week

7. How much would you pay to have your makeup professionally done? Maybe a couple hundred bucks. Depends on the occasion.

8. What’s your favorite brand of makeup? MAKE UP FOR EVER

9. Day or night? Night

10. What’s your dream vehicle? Range Rover

11. City or country? Country

NOMINATIONS:

glitterinhereyes

typewriterial

lightsabersandlipsticks

THE ENDEAVOURS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Diary of A Marketing Misfit

ANNA VS DESIGN

losingscrews

QUESTIONS:

1. Why did you start your blog?
2. If you could make a living blogging would you quit your current job?
3. What topic do you wish you could blog about, but are too afraid?
4. Do you share your blog with family and friends?
5. Has your blog ever upset a family member or friend?
6. Everyone on earth subscribed to your blog, what would your next blog post be about?
7. Name one celebrity you wish was reading your blog. (This person can be living or dead.)
8. Who/what is your favorite blogger/blog?
9. Would you ever want to collaborate on a post with another blogger?
10. Which blog topic is your guilty pleasure?
11. What is the one thing you really dislike about blogging?

RULES:
1. Answer the 11 questions posed by the blogger who nominated you.
2. Nominate 11 new bloggers with under 200 followers (I dislike this number lets make it 1000).
3. Ask your nominees 11 new questions.
4. Inform the nominees of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.

Home – Photography 101

March 9, 2015Leave a comment

Home is when I am with you.

“Home” by Kassandra

Shiny Copper Penny from 2008

February 13, 2015February 13, 20153 Comments

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Buffalo Nickel.”

“What was I doing in 2008?” I thought after actually finding a penny that was minted after I was born.

It took .5 seconds for me to feel ridiculous because at 25 years old 2008 happened to be one of the most important and transitional years of my life.

In March my fiance and I got engaged. It was his sophomore and my freshman year and we had been together for 3 years (and will be celebrating 10 years this March). We still aren’t married mostly because we were focused on our educations and careers and partly because weddings are expensive.

That summer we both spent ninety percent of our time at the baseball stadium we worked at. Our days consisted of inventory, receiving concession stand food, and cleaning. Our nights were spent running concession stands full of teenagers who were selling overpriced popcorn and soda. We made a lot of money and we had a lot of fun. It was out last season working for the Sea Dogs and as much as we enjoyed ourselves we wouldn’t go back.

In September we officially moved out of our parents homes in Maine and into an apartment together in Boston where we both went to college. We adopted a cute kitten and named him Nelson. My mother moved from Maine to Long Island NY to move in with her now husband.

The first few months living together were tough but we bought an air conditioner and we got through it. We became best friends with Billy and now he is like family.

Thank you Daily Post for reminding me of an important time in my life.

Give ‘Em What They Want

February 5, 20155 Comments

If my blog was a baby it would be a newborn who had to spend a month in the NICU before going home. I started it this past November because I needed an outlet for some of my feelings and thoughts I didn’t get a lot of traffic until January when I started Blogging 101. Naturally thanks to Blogging 101 and all the wonderful people I have connected to through that January was my highest traffic month to date. My goal is to double the traffic for February.

Here are the top 3 most popular pages & posts on my blog:

Having my home page come in first was not a surprise as I tend to share links directly to my blog as opposed to a specific post. However the fact that my About page came in at number 2 was a big surprise. I never thought that many people who visited my blog would care to read my About page. Knowing this means I will definitely be updating it soon and adding some more content. If you have some suggestions on what you would like to read on my about page please let me know.

Coming in at number 3 was my post An Uninspired Lost Girl. This was a post in response to an assignment in Blogging 101. I did not think this was a particularly extraordinary post but looking back at the comments I can see how the honestly behind it really resonated with some people. This post really showcases my feelings behind blogging and how much I rely on it to provide me growth in my everyday life.

I would appreciate any and all feedback on the above listed pages/posts and even the posts that didn’t make the top three. Thank you to those of you who have already provided some amazing feedback it is truly appreciated and helps my blog grow.

DAILY PROMPT | Audience of One

January 12, 2015January 16, 201510 Comments

The only days I see in color are the days I wake up beside you, I am not sure you knew that.

I worry sometimes that you will never understand how deeply I love you. This fear has been created and maintained by my own selfish need to keep you just far enough away so that it appears you could never hurt me. But you hurt me.

When you get cut I bleed, you probably didn’t know that either. If I could take all the pain you have ever felt, or will ever feel and put that inside me I would. Even though some of that pain is caused by me.

Did you know that you are the only source of happiness I need to survive? We could be trapped in a room with no light and just being able to hear your voice or touch your hand would be enough to sustain me.

If we had only one more second together this is what I would need you to know. This is how I feel, have always felt and will always feel.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Audience of One.”

New Years Resolution Curse

January 4, 20151 Comment

So I couldn’t even make it three days with my resolution to post three things I am grateful for everyday. I like to call this the New Years Resolution Curse because its common knowledge that typically when people make a New Years resolution that they can’t keep it. So today I will try and do six things I am grateful for to make up for missing yesterday. In my defense after working all day, I went to the gym, had dinner and went to bed.

If you are interested in participating tell me what you are grateful for in the comments.

January 2, 2015 – I am grateful for…

1. Having a place to live while I house hunt.

2. Online tutorials.

3. Google

January 3, 2015 – I am grateful for…

1. Sunny days.

2. Having a knowledgeable realtor.

3. Cabs

January 4, 2015 – I am grateful for…

1. H20

2. Chocolate

3. Spending time with family.

If your interested in being a Lost Girl or Lost Boy (or any other oxygen breathing organism) then come back tomorrow because I bet it’s a lot more fun being lost together. To make it easy just press the “Follow” button on the upper right hand side of this page and get email updates every time I post.

New Year New Ideas

January 2, 2015January 16, 2015Leave a comment

I tend to only write blog posts when I am feeling down or angry mostly because I use writing as way to let go of things. I don’t want my blog to be completely negative so I am going to try and post three things I am grateful for everyday along with my typical ranting blog posts. Maybe I will even try out some other fun DIY’s or makeup related posts. Who knows! It’s my blog so it can go wherever I want it to.

January 1, 2015 – I am grateful for…

1. My two furry kids.

2. Having a job I enjoy.

3. Being able to pay my student loans.