Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Birchbox | April 2017

I have been discovering some great products in my Birchbox lately. This month's favourite is the this works! deep sleep pillow spray. I am pretty sure last night was my final spritz from this sample. Now, maybe it's placebo, or just the ritual of spraying my pillow before laying down-or the 6:30 am yoga classes-but lately I have been falling asleep much faster with less tossing and turning. And even if it isn't so, the scent is quite lovely. I definitely think I will be purchasing a full size, though I am also considering making a DIY with some essential oils. A couple of other sample shout-outs- I love the Michael Todd Blue Green Algae Toner and had almost forgotten about it, so I am excited for the reminder and the little sample size. I am also looking forward to using the amika Bombshell Blowout Spray and No. 4 Texturizing Spray. I have tried many products from both brands and have enjoyed everything, so I doubt these will be an exception.

Any must-have discoveries from BB lately? 
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Monday, April 10, 2017

Nail Art | Amethyst Geode

I didn't know how this nail art would turn out when the thought came into my head. I just love a gemstone mani. I've done turquoise nails and marble nails in the past (and need to again, I can't believe how old those posts are!) I've shown how to get an amethyst mani quickly with Zoya Carter, and here is the nail art way. I think this would be a great idea for so many of your glitter polishes.

I used two coats of Zoya Finley for my sparkly purple base. Then, I just took a brush to paint around my nail in a rough outline shape to look like the gray outside of a geode. I used Zoya August for the gray and the black creme shade from Wet n Wild. I used black on the outside, a mix of gray & black for the middle, and the gray shade for the closest concentric ring. I did all different shapes on the nail. Some purple completely outlined, while other nails were left open. I think my favourite design was the first one I did on the ring finger. It was quick to do-no straight lines needed-and you can be as messy as you want.

Over the weekend, I had an amethyst latte which went perfectly with my mani!
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Wednesday, April 5, 2017

DIY Bath Bombs

It's been awhile since I've done a DIY. I have been itching to get crafty again. I love spending a weekend afternoon working on something fun. I decided to try out a beauty do it yourself for bath bombs. I love a trip to Lush but thought it would be fun to try to recreate that bath time experience. Costing a fraction of the price and able to be customized however you fancy.


I followed this video from Rachel Talbott. I love watching her DIY beauty videos and have tried a couple of her tips for at home pampering. After watching the video, I made an Amazon order and picked up the rest of the ingredients at my local drugstore. It was super easy, and now I am stocked up to make batches & batches of bath bombs. I used a 6 half circle mold which works out well since I usually end up breaking Lush bombs in half anyway!

Recipe for 6 Half-Sphere Bath Bombs:
Dry:
1 cup Baking Soda
1/2 cup Citric Acid
1/2 cup Epsom Salt

Wet:
3 tsp Almond Oil
1 tsp Water

From there you combine your wet ingredients to the dry slowly to reduce premature bubbling. To half of the mixture, to make three of the molds, I added 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for the energizing bombs, and for the other three, I added 2 drops of lavender essential oil and 2 drops peppermint essential oil for the aromatherapy bombs. I am going to pick up some clay, dried lavender, and dried eucalyptus to add, but it worked very well with just the essential oil. I accidentally doubled the wet ingredients, so as my bombs were drying they started to expand. I was worried they would lose all of their fizz, but they still activated when placed under the faucet. It also made them look like delicious scoops of ice cream! I am going to have to whip up another batch or two. 



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