DIY Body Scrub

Hey Guys!  Happy Wednesday!  Today I wanted to share this great recipe for a DIY warm vanilla sugar body scrub!  This is perfect and easy to make for yourself, or doll it up and give it as a gift!

What you will need:

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon almond oil (I found this at Pavilions)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Each serving will give you a little over 3 ounces worth of scrub, so since I had four 3 oz. jars to fill, I quadrupled the recipe, and had some scrub left over.  

You will also need a mixing bowl, a measuring cup, and some measuring spoons.  If you are going to be giving these as gifts, you may also want to find some little jars to package the scrub in, as well as some ribbon.  I found mine at World Market for only $2.99 each!  Click here to check them out.

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the extra virgin olive oil, the almond oil, honey, and vanilla.  Add the brown sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix well.  

Next: divide up the mixture into your containers and enjoy in the shower as a body scrub or on your lips as a lip exfoliant!

I thought these would make great little holiday gifts, so I packaged mine up in jars and topped them off with some adorable owl and classic white measuring spoons to use as scoopers.  This step is optional of course, but I just thought it made such a nice touch!  Plus, it really will come in handy when you begin to get to the bottom of the jar and need a little help scooping the scrub out!  

What do you guys think?!  Let me know if you guys make this, or if you have other DIY recipes I should try!

xoxo

linds&bells

Review: Mally Mascara

Hey everyone!  If you guys have been following my blog, you saw my recent post on the beauty items I received at the New Beauty + Fred Segal event!  One of these beauty items was a mascara by the brand Mally!  I was super eager to try this stuff out after hearing such fantastic reviews!

Before Mally created her own makeup line, she spent AN HOUR doing her lashes every day!  It started out with many coats of mascara, followed with layers of Japanese pigments.  After each layer dried, she would repeat this process until she got her desired lash look!  She realized though that there had to be a better and easier way that would still give her lashes great results- and that was when she created her line of mascaras!

Just as a disclaimer, I have very, very short and straight lashes, so they can only look so long (hence my love for falsies)!  But notice in my before picture, you can't even see my lashes at all!  After applying two coats of this mascara, my lashes became longer and looked thicker.  I know the after picture still looks like very short lashes, but considering the before picture, I think the mascara did a good job.  It stayed in place very well all day, and came off extremely easily with my makeup remover.  I barely had to scrub or tug at all, which was great!

The only downfall about this mascara is that it can be a little tricky to find in person- you almost have to order it online.  I know Fred Segal offers it in stores, as well as select ULTA stores.  If you don't live near any of these, you can order it online from Mally's website by clicking here or on QVC by clicking here.  QVC has some great packages if you want to order multiple mascaras!

I would normally wear false eyelashes with this look, but obviously for the purpose of this review, I showed you the final makeup look with just two coats of Mally's mascara, sans falsies!

Let me know if any of you have tried this mascara and what you think of it!

Thanks for reading

xoxo
linds&bells

Holiday Gift Idea!

Hey Everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend, I know I did!  Yesterday I went to Laguna Beach for the day to celebrate one of my friends birthdays!  The weather was great and we finished off the day with some yummy pumpkin gelato!

But anyways...since its ALREADY November 4th and holiday gift buying is in full swing, I thought I would do a post on a great holiday gift idea for a friend or family member, or just for yourself (which is what I did! Hey why not?!)

I am talking about the Ciate Mini Mani Month box!  This is such a fun and unique gift that every nail girl will love.  There are a few variations of it, but they all come with 25 mini Ciate polishes enclosed within numbered doors 1-25.

Personally, I will be using mine as a Christmas countdown or Advent calendar, since there are 25 doors!  What a fun way to countdown to Christmas!  I always had advent calendars growing up as a kid, but most of the time my mom had to fill them up herself.  None of them came pre-stuffed and it was hard thinking of little gifts for 25 days straight!  She would have loved having this nail calendar when my sister and I were younger!

My personal nail calendar came with 18 signature nail colors, 4 caviar pearl combinations, and 3 mystery colors!  The caviar pearls were a great bonus, and I can't wait to try them out!  If you haven't heard of Ciate's caviar pearls, they are little beads that adhere to your nails, giving a 3D finish!  See pic below from The Daily Varnish for an example!

Picture from www.thedailyvarnish.com.  

I love my little calendar and cant wait to start the countdown come December 1!  It also makes a great decor piece, and you can see I put mine right on my vanity.  If you are interested in picking one of these up, you can order them here for $58.00!

Let me know how you guys countdown to Christmas!

xoxo
linds&bells
 

New Beauty @ Fred Segal Event

Hey Everyone!  I hope you all had a great extra hour of sleep!  Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to attend a beauty event sponsored by New Beauty at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, CA!   Not only did we get an amazing "test tube" gift bag filled with lots of review worthy products, but we were also given the opportunity to indulge in some luxury beauty treatments!  On location was Kelley Baker and her team from Kelley Baker Brows offering brow waxing & shaping, the manicurists from Chrome girls giving manicures, and Nurse Jaime giving B12 shots (just to name a few).  

The event brought together many different brands and services for guests to test out!  I made a bee line for the Kelley Baker Brows booth because I have always heard such amazing things about her brow shaping and wanted to make sure I got an appointment!  It went amazing, and let me say my brows have never looked better.  Kelley was completely booked for the event, but I was in good hands with one of her brow divas named Vanessa!  If you are interested in checking out Kelley's brow salon in Venice, CA, click here!  She also has some great brow products for sale so you can get the salon look at home!  I picked up a highlighter and flat brush!

Jaime and Melissa, the founders of Chrome Polish were also there showing off their fabulous nail polishes!  If you are looking for that perfect rose gold polish, or a beautiful opaque silver, look no further!  They offer tons of colors to choose from!  Oh and the polishes are vegan as well!

In between beauty services, we were free to roam and check out Fred Segal's impressive collection of skin care, makeup, and hair care.  Brand Ambassadors were there as well to answer any questions we had!  I know I was excited to learn more about the makeup brand Mally, and was eager to play with some of her products!  In between eyeshadow swatches, guests also had the opportunity to sip on yummy drinks provided by skinny girl cocktails!

Vaseline set up a booth and had the cutest display!  They had little bottles of their lip therapy covered in crystals!  Aren't they cute?!

After our services and makeup browsing, we were given our gift bags which were AMAZING!  It came with a New Beauty Magazine, as well as a New Beauty Test Tube!  If you haven't heard of New Beauty's "test tube," it is a similar concept to a subscription sample box, but a little more personalized.  You actually go into the store, pick out a test tube, and stuff your own items from their amazing wall of samples.

BUT....HERES THE GOOD NEWS, if you do not live anywhere near a Fred Segal, and you cant get your hands on a test tube in store, do not fret!  Because....New Beauty now offers a subscription service where they will mail you a test tube every other month!  Click here for more info!  Curious to know what kind of samples come in them? (I wouldn't even call them samples either, most of the products in my test tube were full size!)  Take a look at what I got in mine...

Great stuff, am I right?!  In just ONE test tube, I received a full size whitening toothpaste, a full size W3LL People lip balm, a full size Mally mascara (review on this to come soon!), a sample size of Kat Burkis' body cream, a sample size of perfume, a sample size of Bumble & Bumbles thickening spray, a full size Chrome nail polish, a full size Youngblood lipgloss, a sample size of SMART face polisher, and a full size "Sunforgettable" mineral sun orb.  I can't wait to test these products out, especially the mascara.  I have heard such great things about it!

At the event, I was also given samples of Serge Normants Shampoo and Conditioner!  Has anyone ever tried this before??  Let me know in the comments!

I had such a great time at Fred Segal and can't wait for New Beauty's next event!

Now...should I sign up for test tube delivery?!  ...hmmm...decisions decisions.  Let me know if any of you guys get a test tube in the mail!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo
linds&bells

Lets Talk Lashes

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone had a great Halloween and is ready for the weekend!  Instead of today's usual Face Mask Friday, I wanted to talk about something I always get asked about: mascaras!  Everyone wants to know which one is the best right?!  Here are my top three!  I chose a drug store pick, an averaged priced pick, and a high end pick:

The first, and my personal favorite, is Benefit's They're Real mascara.  This mascara works unbelievably well, and coming from someone who has short straight lashes, that is a major statement.  This is a jet black mascara that really lengthens the lashes, without the clumps!  The wand has a unique tip, which allows you to maneuver the brush to coat hard to reach inner corner lashes.  According to the Sephora website:

In a consumer panel survey, the following results were reported:
- 94% saw dramatic length and volume
- 90% saw base-to-tip curl
- 94% saw visible lift
-100% saw long-wearing results

While more expensive than a drug store mascara, it is not as expensive as some high end picks!  For $23.00, you can achieve the same great lashes $30.00 + bottles of mascara give you.  You can pick it up here for $23.00 for the larger size or $10.00 for the sample size.

My next pick is the high end YSL's "Shocking" mascara.  This mascara provides lots of volume and really makes the lashes look full!  I use it when I want a really "glossy & black" look, however if you use too many coats of this mascara, it can look a little clumpy and spider like.  So you have to find that balance of what looks best for your lashes.  This mascara is also a top pick of mine because it comes in several different colors, such as purple, green, and blue!  It is a bit pricier, coming in at $30.00!  If you are interested, you can pick it up here.

My final pick is Maybellines "The Falsies: Volum Express," mascara.  Coming in at only $7.77, it is a great budget friendly option.  As you can see from the picture, it has a curved wand that really mimics the shape of your eye, allowing it to grab ahold of every single lash.  It coats lashes I didn't even know I had!  This also makes a great bottom lash mascara because of the wand shape.

This mascara gives the lashes lots of volume, but not so much length.  So, feel free to use this mascara with a lengthening one for your perfect eyelash combination!  I like to pair this with Benefits They're Real for the perfect lash look!  You can pick up this mascara at your local drugstore- I got mine from Target!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo
linds&bells