Finding clean beauty products to use in lieu of other more toxic ones can be scary. Scary enough to make you want to just not. But, Follain makes buying healthier makeup easy.
They have really helped me.
After attending a summer beach day ready makeup event at their Beacon Hill location, I decided I wanted to also do a better job of sharing some of my favorite Follain finds with all of you!
I’d only heard of Farmaesthetics because I’d received a sample in the swag bag from attending the Lady Project Summit. I didn’t think anything of it, until I’d used the Herbal Hydration Complex mask a few times. Not sure where to get it when I ran out. Then I saw it at Follain.
I also sampled the lavender lotion, which can be used for body and face. The description on the website says that they’d probably bathe in it if they could.
I can’t believe that it’s been over a year since I started sharing my monthly loves! Even more so, I can’t believe I debating not doing them anymore. I really like sharing five of my favorite finds each month, hope you like them too!
As painfully aware as I am that it is now August, like I said I was going to stop doing these monthly loves posts. But, after a lot of thought, I decided to not only continue them, but to go back and start from where I left off. Plus, I’ve given them a new look!
My May 2016 loves are a bunch of little lifesavers. Legitimately. I don’t know what I’d do without them.
Local gems are precious to me in a way that I struggle explaining. Supporting my local girl gang is HUGE to me. So when I discovered Rayne Home Decor while I was visiting my family in Connecticut, I stocked up on their candles. My favorite of their scents is Sicilian Gardens. I also really love their Adam & Eve. I’ve shared them on Instagram before, but I’ve been using them like crazy. So much so, that I’m starting to run low and need to restock!
SPF is something that I get is important, but often don’t think too much about. I only got it because I needed it to use with the Clinique Dark Spot Corrector, but then something happened (blog post about it and what was done to fix it is in the works!) and now I make sure to wear it daily. Without fail. I found an enriching facial moisturizer at Trader Joe’s that contains SPF. It’s so great, I keep it in my makeup bag so I don’t ever forget to put it on.
I haven’t actually gotten to the point where I have the energy to apply faux lashes every day. But, I do wear them a lot. My obsession with Ardell’s demi wispies is undeniable. I’ve found dupes that I like, but always end up going back to Ardell. At a random trip to the drugstore, to get who can even remember what, there was a buy one get one sale and I picked up two packs of their cluster wispies. I never imagined I could love any style lash as much as the demi wispies, but I SO do!
A while back, I was gifted some products from A.C. Moore. One of the products was Hollywood Fashion Tape. I’d heard of it, but never used it. Until I really needed it for a dress. Remembering that I had it was such good fortune, I wouldn’t have been able to wear the dress (unless I wanted a majorly inappropriate nip slip) otherwise.
Every so often, there’s a product I sample that I have to get. When I have Birchbox points, even better. Wilma Schumann eye pads surprised me. I didn’t expect to make them a reoccurring part of my self care routine. But stuff happens…
When Brass Clothing reached out to their customers for real models, I wasn’t going to apply.
Even though I really wanted to. I just didn’t think that I was what they’d had in mind. But as a huge fan of quality local goods, I felt that I owed it to myself to at the very least take a chance.
I don’t think I’m enough of a minimalist (more like the epitome of the opposite…) to have a capsule wardrobe. But, I love versatile pieces enough to want to add plenty of Brass to my closet. The three pieces that I own are not the only ones I’ve had my eye on.
This dress isn’t one that I modeled for their website. I actually found it on their Last Change Room page. However, they did recently restock a very similar style (and in three different colors)!
There are some days that getting up and starting my day is hard.
Those days are the days I find myself questioning, regretting and worrying about decisions I’ve made. Comparing my progress to where others are in their life. Feeling like nothing I do is good enough, so why bother.
Anxiety has that effect.
I don’t stand by any one way to cope, everyone is different. For me, therapy was helpful and mind over matter helps. Not always, but sometimes.
Thanks to The Dainty Pear, I now have a dainty little reminder that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have wanted a bar necklace for awhile, but this one is a bit more special. It’s hand stamped and custom made.
I cannot get enough of it, this necklace means SO much and goes with literally everything! I’ve already been wearing it on repeat, so prepare to see a lot of outfits topped off with this.
This outfit in particular is great for when you don’t know what to wear. You really can’t ever go wrong with a blouse and jeans. You can dress them down with Converse or a pair of Birkenstock sandals. And up with a pair of heels, like I did.
When it comes to hair, I can do a ponytail and that’s pretty much it.
That being said, my hair isn’t long enough for me to really do anything with, so I wear clip-in extensions 99.9% of the time.
It’s not that I have any problem with short hair. After all, I loved how I looked when I shaved all my hair off. And, when it grew back a little, I sported a super cute pixie. Right now though, my it’s just at this kind of awkward length, that I don’t know how to deal with.
This is my ponytail before:
This is my ponytail after:
On the other hand, clip-ins can be expensive, so after my sister (who can actually do hair) gave me a set of clip-ins that she’d made (yes, made!), believe me, I was PUMPED.
Then summer came.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the summer.
But, the sun changes my hair color and the extensions no longer matched. I needed a slightly lighter color and figured I could try my hand at making them myself.
I was able to grab all the supplies I needed (and then some) from Sally Beauty Supply for under $75!
Making clip-ins requires basic sewing skills. Other than that the steps are pretty simple.
Measure.
Cut.
Attach clips. (This is where the sewing comes in.)
If you are using any type of hair other than 100% virgin, you can NOT bleach it. I found this out the hard way. No mermaid ombre hair for me…
I’m overly obsessed with them and have tired them on.
A lot.
As I do, literally, every time I walk by a Sunglass Hut.
It’s bad.
Luckily for me, I’d recently won a gift card to TJ Maxx (thanks to the grand opening of the one on Newbury Street). I was able to use some of the balance to get a pair of sunglasses. And, in a similar enough style to make me one very happy girl!
Even though yoga is a constant in my life, I don’t share about yoga as much because I don’t think I’m very good at it. And I’m probably not. But I enjoy practicing and find it comforting.
Hopefully, my very basic yoga skills are enough to encourage others (maybe even you?) to give yoga a try.
Since I learned that Boston offers a decent number of free yoga classes and I plan to go to as many as I possibly can.
This may only be my second ever Play! by Sephora box, but I am SUPER impressed! I liked my first box a lot, but I really really love the July 2016 Play! by Sephora box, you guys.
I honestly thought I would just be testing it out for a couple of boxes or so. I don’t think I have ever been SO wrong!
I am so close to running out of my current favorite primer (which is the Smashbox Photo Finish Oil Free Foundation Primer Hydrating) that it hurts a little. It’s almost to the point where I need to cut the top off. I need to buy more, but now I’m thinking that maybe next time I’ll have to get the pore minimizing one. I was once told that I didn’t have big pores. But, in the summer, my face begs to differ.
After getting a NEST candle that was more on the strong side than I care for, I was hesitant to spray this perfume. I, however, took one for the team, and it’s still strong, but in a nice way. That being said, if you like lighter, less musky smells, I wouldn’t recommend.
Ouai is a brand that I’m only starting to see around, and I really want to try their hair oil. Settling for the wave spray, isn’t so bad. I have no idea if I’m using it right, or rather, what the outcome on my hair texture is supposed to be, but I LOVE the way it smells, so frankly, I don’t even care!
Bronzer is one of the reasons I have trust issues. More specifically, Too Faced’s bronzers. I have it and never use it as a bronzer, because it’s too light. Then, they finally come out with a “dark chocolate” shade. Prayers answered, right? Nope. It looks darker online, but in person it’s basically the same. The shade I got as a sample wasn’t even the dark chocolate one…
Spending $20 on a makeup sponge sounded absurd to me. My $5 e.l.f. Cosmetics one works just fine. The idea of a sponge for blotting was even more preposterous. But I now see the error of my ways. Mostly because blotting paper feels kind of wasteful. I’m also glad the blotterazzi came with a liquid cleanser sample, although almost everyone I know who is into makeup (including myself) uses Dr. Bronner’s.
I’ve been using a different face mask each week, but next week I’m going to take a break to give the First Aid Beauty cleanser a try. I haven’t used anything with red clay in it yet. Should be interesting!
Even though I won’t be sharing a photo of the product on me, or any swatches quite just yet. I have worn it. What I like most about it is how smoothly it blends into my skin.
Seriously smooth.
Like butter.
I wrote a review on the Sephora website, where I mention wanting them to come out with a warmer shade. That’s more of a preference thing, but if they do, I’ll be AWESOME!
Also, I’m starting to think that I just may have to try that full face highlighter makeup challenge. Thoughts?
Even though I am still crazy about Birchbox, I thought it was time to give another beauty subscription box a try. Due to my love affair with Sephora, Play! by Sephora seemed like the only valid option. Plus, I had just got the email to claim my spot after being waitlisted.
I’ve used They’re Real! mascara well over a dozen times. It may be the unpopular opinion, but it’s not my favorite. But, I also don’t hate it. I like it for when I’m just going to run out real quick for a bit. Buying a full size version isn’t in my plans, but the sample size is just the right amount.
Tocca makes some of the best fragrances. I would wear this for an anniversary or a summer wedding, but it’s a little heavier than what I’m used to.
After sharing my top three highlighters, I admitted that there were still some brands that I wanted to try. One such brand being BECCA. While this is a primer and not an illuminator per se, I am still pumped (pun very much so intended, because the sample is in a container that you pump) to try something by them. And a little dab after apply your foundation, helps creates a dewey look.
Very similarly, I’m happy to try another bronzer. I haven’t shared about my favorite bronzers yet, because finding bronzers that compliment darker skin tones isn’t as easy as one would think. I really like how this bareMineral serum bronzer blends in.
Perfect for the days when I don’t want to heat style my hair, which has been a lot lately. I haven’t tried using Don’t Blow It after washing my hair yet, but as a general hair styling product it’s not bad!
I don’t think Sephora’s is that much better than Birchbox’s, but it did have six samples instead of five and two products that I don’t think I’d ever have found waiting for me inside my Birchbox.
There’s no need to write off Birchbox just yet, but I’m not sure that if I had to pick one, that I could wholeheartedly say that I wouldn’t go with Sephora.
Have you tried both boxes? Which would you choose?
