Casual Friday: The Beach is Getting Closer!

Good morning/afternoon/night to everyone, and happy Friday!!! I'm so happy that another week is about over, and I'm going to be able to sleep in for another couple of days. Yes...sleeping is my thing...and I get weird and sometimes cranky when I don't get enough of it (not to mention I look like a zombie haha). Soooo yay for the weekend!!! ^_^

One thing that has me super excited is that one week from today, my fiancé and I start our vacation!!! We are heading to NC to stay with some family and take daily trips to the beach! I'm in some serious need for some beach time...or just vacation time in general. I can't freakin' wait! I won't be blogging while on vacation so I'll be off of here for a week. I will still be posting to my Instagram and Beauty Page so don't forget to like/follow those so you can keep up with me on my trip! ^_^

I get my new office next week, too! I will officially be an HR Assistant at my job, and I'm so excited about that! ^_^ Of course, the timing was fun since as soon as I'll be moving into my new office, I'll be going on my vacation. LoL

I'm still going to try to get back on my normal blogging schedule starting after vacation, but if I find that to not be possible, then I will update everyone with a new schedule. Plus, I always post about my blog updates so you should see those, too.

As for makeup and/or beauty updates, I did get the newest three ColourPop Ultra Metallic Lipsticks last week, and I got the True Love Collection of the Lime Crime Velvetines that I did mini reviews and swatches of on my Instagram. I will be doing a blog pos

t about them soon, too. I also will be reviewing some new hair products that I have used in the past couple of months so stay tuned for that stuff! :)

This is yet another short but sweet post, but it's time for me to get to work! I will possibly have a post or two up next week, but if I don't, follow my Instagram and Beauty Page to see any updates!

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend everyone! 💋

Beauty Wednesday: Natural Beauty

Hey everyone! I know I didn't post Monday, but I didn't have the time during my day to get a post up! I'm sorry! :(  I wanted to make sure I at least got something up today...even if it's a little shorter than usual. This post isn't necessarily a review of anything. I figured, it's beauty Wednesday...so let's celebrate that by celebrating our natural beauty!

You never need makeup or special skin care or anything to look beautiful! We are all as beautiful as our personalities, in my opinion. You don't need that winged liner and blinding highlight to make anyone think you're a super model, and really, it shouldn't matter. As long as you're happy with the way you look, then that's all that matters! Be yourself! Have some fun, laugh out loud, chill at home or hang out with friends! Wear makeup or don't wear makeup...it doesn't matter. Just make sure that you're happy with your NATURAL self! :)

I hear from my fiancé a lot that I don't need to wear makeup and that I look beautiful without it all over my face. I will agree with him...I know I never need to wear makeup. I know I look just fine without it, but sometimes...a girl just wants to have a little fun and put some arts and crafts on her face! xD There's nothing wrong with that since makeup is a pretty good means of expressing yourself. You just need to make sure you never lose that confidence you had before the makeup and before the Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube followers.

Just a note...this is a post for everyone. I didn't think of it because of any specific person...I just thought of it because I realized that I've been reviewing so much makeup and beauty products, but I never really expressed (outside of some Natural Thursday posts on Instagram) how beautiful your natural self is without all that stuff. :)

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post! I know it's a short one, but my work load has been shifting since I'm still getting moved into this new position at work so I'm trying to update when I can!

Oh! I almost forgot! I do have a new Beauty Page on Facebook, which will show any updates for when I post to my blog or on Instagram. Feel free to like it if you're interested, and feel free to follow me on Instragram if you haven't already.

Have a great Wednesday everyone! 💋

Beauty Wednesday: BoxyCharm vs. Ipsy

Hey everyone! I hope your Wednesday is going well so far! I'm going to go over a comparison between both BoxyCharm and Ipsy subscriptions! They seem to be two of the most popular subscription options out there right now, and I've used both of them so I figured I would share my own input about each one and go over which one I favor more.

Subscription boxes have definitely become a huge thing in just about every category out there! On the beauty side, the biggest competitors are BoxyCharm and Ipsy. They're both really fun and filled with some good products to try out for yourself or giveaway if you don't plan to use something.

Let's start with Ipsy since that's what I subscribed to first.

First off, I love their bags! Their little glam bags are always unique, and you can use them for makeup or pens and pencils for school. The designs are really cute and change every month! These little bags include five sample or full-sized beauty products. In my experience, I only got maybe...three full-sized products in the three months I stayed with them, which isn't bad when you get an average of one full-sized item per month. However, the five products you get are randomized from about 50 (estimating) other products. There are usually two high end sample products that you are guaranteed to get one of (50/50 chance as to which you'll get) so it's nice that they guarantee you something that should absolutely be high quality, but you will pretty much want something (or multiple things) different than what you got. You can see what you're getting before the bag ships by looking on their website, and you can see everything you're not getting that were options. Some people who show what they've received may even get more full-sized products while others will get more samples sizes. I mean, for $10, you can't expect too much, and everything you get is plenty to try out to see if you like it, but there were too many things that I wanted over the stuff I got, and I felt like the odds of me getting any of the items I really wanted weren't very high due to everything you could choose from. You can review your bag and each item and let them know if the product is something you like or not, but it still comes down to how many products that are possible for you to get...so even telling them what you prefer over something else doesn't change your chances of getting things you don't want.

Now, let's talk about BoxyCharm. This box is $21/month for four to five products, so you're already looking at spending more money...BUT...this box contains nothing but full-sized products! This includes pallets, which I didn't know until I saw Kathleen Lights unbox her July box to see that there was an Ofra Z-pallet that included six Ofra eye shadows. I'm going to stop here for a second to bring something to light...

This pallet included SIX eye shadows. Ofra eye shadow pans are $10 EACH. Out of the four products that came in the box...you've already received ONE product that's worth $60! $21 spent...and you have a $60 product...plus more. I'll let you think about that for the second you'll need to see why that's an amazing. deal. ;)

Moving on...I signed up for BoxyCharm after seeing the unboxing because I've been wanting Ofra products for a while, and the other products included looked cute. I also thought about the long run... What if I get a product or two that I will never use? Easy...collect those and use them for a giveaway or donation! July's box alone contained products that totaled up to $121 retail price. Who cares if you get one or two products you don't want when they're all great quality items that you got an amazing deal on? This month's box is actually including a liquid lipstick that's a shade I would never wear, but I know that others would love it, so I'm going to hang onto it for a possible Instagram giveaway later on down the road (like maybe when I hit 1,000 followers...hint hint LoL).

By the way...BoxyCharm sends out the same products to everyone. There may be one product that's a 50/50 chance of getting over a different one, but ultimately everyone gets the same products. There's not a huge layout of products that you have a one in a million chance of getting. I actually love that because you don't have to be like "man I wish I had gotten that over this".

On both of these subscription options, you can cancel anytime. There's no cancellation fee, and you can always resubscribe. One key note about subscribing that I want to point out here, though, is that Ipsy has a waiting list. You could be waiting for months before your subscription goes through, or you can share your referral link on social media to immediately get you off the waiting list. With BoxyCharm, there is no waiting list. When you sign up, it's an immediate process. If you cancel, there's no possibility of being on a waiting list if you resubscribe, which is also something that happens with Ipsy.

With everything said, I'm sure it's obvious that I prefer BoxyCharm over Ipsy, but they both are still great options that include a variety of products. Ipsy definitely gives you a ton of products that are possible for you to get, while BoxyCharm has a set list that you're guaranteed. You have mostly samples with Ipsy vs. full-sized with BoxyCharm, which I know some people prefer samples because they don't need the clutter of having all the full-sized products they'll never use or go through to organize. Ipsy is cheaper with a waiting list while BoxyCharm is more expensive without one. They both pretty much balance each other out, and they both have their pros and cons. It's really up to personal preference, and possible budget, as to which one you would want to go with. :)

If you would like to subscribe to BoxyCharm, you can Click Here to sign up. If you want to subscribe to Ipsy, you can Click Here.

I also recommend another subscription box that was recently brought to my attention from SolTheory. They gave me a discount code to share with everyone to get 20% off their first box. They're boxes include sunglasses, and you can choose if you want anything else with them based on which option you choose. There's a jewelry option, a beauty option (which included three full-sized products), or you can get an extra pair of sunglasses. If you just want the one pair of sunglasses, you can do that, too! The price starts at $12.99/month, and my discount code for you to use is KTPARTE. Check it out! :)

That's it for this post! I will be here again Friday! Have a great Wednesday everyone! 💋

Mask Monday: Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask

Hello everyone, and happy Monday! :) I know Monday's are usually makeup reviews, but I'm still waiting for the new stuff to come in so I can do a first impressions kind of review. Plus, what I do have that I haven't blogged about I probably just haven't used enough to blog about them. LoL So I figured today I could go over the Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask that's been spreading like wildfire throughout YouTube channels and other blogs! If you haven't heard about this yet, then get ready because this is a really fun product to use and talk about!

I first heard about this mask through Tina Yong's YouTube channel, and I heard about it again through Tati Westbrooks' YouTube channel...so of course I had to finally test this sucker out for myself! :) From their reviews, the main complaint was how messy it was and that you shouldn't apply the mask really thick like they did in order to avoid getting many more bubbles than you would want on your face. I kept this in mind when I got it and tested it out for myself. Yes...I do have pictures! ;)

When I first opened the product, I saw that it came with a little plastic spatula and that the inner lid was sealed pretty well. Actually, it was sealed so well that I thought there was some special trick to open it that I didn't know about! I ended up just having to pull up on it really hard to finally get it open. I can understand why this would need to be packaged like this since the air will make the mask bubble. The thinner the layer of this product on anything, the faster it will start to bubble.

Once I got it opened, it was exactly like I expected after seeing the reviews of this product before...it was a gray clay mask. It wasn't dense at all. It felt more like a cream, I guess you could say. Since both reviews said not to apply it thick, I made sure I only took a small amount onto the spatula to apply, and I realized quickly that you don't need a lot of this product to cover a large area. Of course, since it wasn't a thick layer being applied, it started to bubble on my skin pretty fast while I was still applying it to the rest of my face. I didn't mind this as this had happened in the reviews, as well.

Do I look pretty yet? :-P 

Once I got done with the application, I had to wait five minutes before the next step. It was so cool having this mask on because you could hear the bubbles, and you could see the mask transform right before your eyes. Basically, if you ever played with bubbles from a bubble bath by making yourself look like Santa, this pretty much resembled that. LoL The bubbles weren't as big, of course, but the look was kind of the same! ;)

After five minutes, the instructions tell you to use a little water (like...wet your fingers) and massage the bubbles into your skin for two more minutes. By the way...none of the instructions on the box are English so you'll probably need to either follow someone else's review or check for the instructions on Google. Back to where I left off, I massaged the bubbles in completely, but I wanted to see if the mask would bubble up again if I left it alone. It did a very little bit and only in a couple of spots. I'm thinking because I didn't apply such a heavy layer that the mask pretty much bubbled as much as it was going to so I went ahead and rinsed it off.

It actually took quite a bit of time to rinse the mask off my face. This had to do with the fact that it kept bubbling as you washed it off. I guess the water mixing through it made it bubble, too. LoL Once it was completely gone, my skin actually felt really good! It felt clean and refreshed, and I noticed that I did lose quite a good amount of blackheads around my nose. This mask will leave your skin feeling pretty dry, and it may make your skin a little red so I recommend moisturizing not too long after you dry your face off to help soothe your skin back to normal.

I wouldn't recommend this mask to anyone with dry and/or sensitive skin. I think the level of dryness at the end won't do any good for these skin types, and with the redness that can occur on any skin type, I'm thinking it may be worse if you have sensitive skin. Otherwise, this product is great! I can see it being great for anyone with normal to oily or combo skin. :)

I would rate this product about a 7/10. I love it, but the packaging, I think, could be made to be a little easier to open, and it won't be great for all skin types. It is really messy, as the reviews I've seen had told me, and it takes a good minute to wash it all off, but it is a really great mask. It's a fun one, too, and you really can't go too horribly wrong with fun products! ^_^

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @ktparte to see my live reviews! I did one for this mask when I tried it out so I hope you got to see it! If not, there will be plenty more occasions to catch!

I hope you enjoyed this review! Have a great Monday everyone!!! 💋

Casual Friday: Blog Posting Schedule May Change...Again

Hey everyone! It's finally Friday again!!! We've survived another week, and it's time for another break! I'm going to have quite of bit of things to test out this weekend since I got a bunch of PR sample products from Raya Spa.

I tried out the Magnetic Mud Mask that they sent me last night, so you can check out my Instagram to see how that went! I posted a couple My Story videos on there that won't expire until later tonight so feel free to see how it went! I actually really like the product, but I do not recommend it to anyone with oily skin! I actually made sure to completely cleanse my face first (since that dries out my skin) before I applied it so it didn't make my face too oily.

Anyways, as for the subject of this blog post, I haven't figured out how the schedule of my blog posting will change yet. It may be a different time of day, different days completely, or I may need to break from it for a little bit, but I am not 100% sure yet. I shouldn't have to take a break from it, but I'm getting a new position at my work office which will require a lot more of my time. If I absolutely need a break, it may only be for like...a week...just to figure out how exactly my time is being used and when I'll have the time to post. I may just have to start posting at night instead of the morning, which won't be a huge deal...it's just more convenient to get it done in the morning. :)

Also, I have an update on my wisdom teeth situation. I did decide to postpone the surgery due to financial reasons, so the surgery has been rescheduled for April of next year. Hopefully, by then, I'll be able to handle what they need me to pay out of pocket. Money is a killer sometimes...LoL

I did not get the new metallics launched my ColourPop yesterday, but I do plan to get them sometime soon if my budget allows it to happen. I hate that didn't get those babies at launch like I got the others, but some things need to come first, and makeup isn't exactly the top of the priority list. Not right now, anyways. I have so much that I still haven't done full reviews on yet! I'm also still waiting to get my August box from BoxyCharm, which will have even more goodies to play with!

I am creating a Giveaway collection for whenever I reach 1000 followers on Instagram. I'm a little over halfway to that goal, but I figure by the time I reach it, I should have something nice to give out to someone. ^_^ Keep your eyes opened for that, and feel free to follow me if you haven't already done so! :)



Anyways, I think that wraps up this post! I'll be having a girl's night out with my sister for dinner so that will be fun! Hopefully the work day flies by so we can get to hanging out! ^_^

I hope everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend! 💋

Makeup Monday: ColourPop Ultra Metallics - Part 2

Hello everyone, and Happy Monday! Is it just me or did the weekend just go by super fast??? I feel like today should still be Sunday....hmmmm.

New ColourPop Ultra Metallics

Anyways, I am back with another ColourPop review! This one is to review their SECOND launch of four new Ultra Metallics Liquid Lipsticks! :) I was so excited when I found out they made found more shades that were lighter than the first set...and I recently found out that they've made three more new shades, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get my hands on those beauties. So for now, let's review the newest shades: Salt, Lights Out, Flitter, and JIC.

Salt

Salt is probably my favorite shade of all of them! It's a very bronze color compared to the rest. It reminds me of Zebra and Man Eater if you mixed them together and lightened them up. The formula is awesome, and the texture is a silky-creamy texture like the first batch. This color stays on VERY well...and I mean that as in when I swatched the colors on my arm, Salt left the most color when I removed them all with makeup remover. Salt is no joke! LoL

Lights Out

Lights out is a very rich golden color. This color I probably wouldn't wear out anywhere unless it was blended with something else under it to kind of ease up the gold. It reminded me of a color you would wear if you were dressing as Cleopatra. It's very beautiful, but just not something for me for an every day kind of look.  The formula of this one is the same as the rest and so is the texture, which means this is going to be a comfortable and long-wearing color, too. :)

Flitter

Flitter has a very pretty pinkish purple iridescence to it's golden finish. In the light, this color looks gold, but when you're looking at it straight on or at a shaded angle, it's an even more pretty color. I was worried that this was looked just like Lights Out, but it definitely has a difference to it. I love the dual colors! Again, formula and texture are the same, and it lasts a long time on your lips.

JIC

JIC is probably the one that stands out to me as the most different in the bunch. It's more of a silver-toned color, and it has more glitter in it...and I mean like...actual bigger bits of glitter. This doesn't make it uncomfortable to wear by any means, but you can definitely tell the difference in its texture when you press your lips together. It looks gorgeous on its own, but it would also make a beautiful topper on top of a color...especially a pink, purple, red, blue, or even a black color. It's versatile in the way it can be use, which is awesome, and it is also going to stay on all day!



I really can't say enough good things about these babies, and I'm honestly shocked that I was able to keep this post on the shorter side. I figured they are pretty much the same as my initial review on the darker shades, so I didn't want to repeat that whole thing all over again. This is more of my review of how the colors look, wear, and feel, and they're all amazing!  All of these shades are absolutely a 10/10 for me, and I would always recommend them!

Keep an eye out for the three new shades - Pyt, DM, and Mugshot! The release date isn't known (or at least I don't know it) at this time, but they're gorgeous! Check out @colourpop and @colourpoptrend on Instagram for swatches to see what they look like! You can also check out all of the other amazing products that ColourPop has to offer at their website!

That wraps it up for this Makeup Monday Review! As always...don't forget to follow me on Instagram @ktparte to keep up with all my latest updates and mini-reviews! I hope everyone has a wonderful day! 💋

Casual Friday: Rain, Rain, Go Away

TGIF!!! Although, it's been raining here all week and isn't going to stop for the weekend so I'm thinking I'm going to continue being sleepy until we get some sunlight again.

Ofra Eye Shadow Pallet from BoxyCharm

I'm hoping to get some looks tried out with my Ofra eye shadow pallet from last month's BoxyCharm. I also want to show off some of the ColourPop Churro highlighter! It's so pretty! I haven't gotten anything new in so I'll be focusing on those for right now. I'm expecting a few more liquid lipsticks from Jeffree Star and Dose of Colors sometime this month. I should be getting my faux fur rug sometime in the next week or so. That sucker is taking forever to get here!

New Ultra Metallics

I'm thinking I'll be putting up my ColourPop Ultra Metallic review on Monday with the four new shades they came out with. I'm in love with them! I've been posting quite a bit on my Instagram with a couple of their shades, plus all the swatches from when I first got them.

Speaking of Instagram, they just launched an update which added Instagram Stories to your feed. It's basically SnapChat within Instagram but without the fun selfie filters that SnapChat has. Regardless of the filters, I'm going to be using the story feature in Instagram from now one when I'm doing any of my new makeup or product reviews. I'm also going to do unboxings on there, too, starting with this month's BoxyCharm when it arrives. I'll put my hauls up there, too. Basically, anything to do with my beauty products and reviews will now be on Instagram. I just find it easier to have everything in one place than having to do everything twice or make everyone look in two different places for things. With that said, if you're not already following me on Instagram and would like to keep up with anything that I've mentioned above, then start following @ktparte so you can!

Forecast from my Weather app :(

Other than that, I've been thinking more and more about my wisdom teeth coming out and how it will be paid off in time. I haven't gotten the exact amount I'll be owing them, but I'm thinking of extending my appointment out to give me more time to get it paid up so I don't have to stress so much. I have a lot happening soon...my vacation is coming up and a whole lot of stuff with work is happening in the next couple of months so I'm thinking of holding this off until the stress is down and the dust clears. I'll keep you guys updated on that, too. :) Whenever that happens...I'll probably Snap about the wisdom teeth experience. I may do a story on Instagram, too...it's not beauty related so it'll depend on what I feel like doing whenever I get them out. :)

I really can't wait for my vacation, though. I need one after all this rain we've been getting. It's been so gloomy and gross outside for over a week, and it's not changing anytime soon. I think next week's forecast is calling for clouds and rain and maybe one day of sun.

Anyways, that's about it for now! I hope everyone has a great day and an even better weekend!

Catch you next week! 💋