Review: Bare Escentuals Radiant & Refreshed

I love Bare Escentuals, and when I saw the "Radiant & Refreshed" kit on Sephora, I (of course) had to have it. 

Picture from Sephora

The kit consists of:

• Eye shadow in "Renew", a brownish color
• Tinted Hydrating Mineral Veil Finishing Powder
• Pretty Amazing Lip Gloss in "Sass", a shimmery neutral
• Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthen Mascara, black
• Purely Nourishing Moisturizer Combination Skin
• Hydrate & Brighten brush 

My final verdict: 2 stars.

Here's why:

1. I love the color of the eyeshadow. Simple, brown, very pretty.
2. This lip color is really pretty, it's got a nice shimmer and it lasts a while.
3. I love the mascara, but every time I get one of these kits I have another mascara, so my mascara collection seems to grow faster than anything else.
4. The Moisturizer is all right. It's for combination skin, which I don't have, which kinda stinks. I wish you could choose what kind of moisturizer went in it.
5. The tinted hydrating mineral veil doesn't do much.. if anything at all. This is the second one I've gotten, and I don't really notice anything (and I'm fair skinned!).
6. The brush is nice. I love the antibacterial part, but other than that, it's nothing I don't already have in my collection of brushes.

The biggest downside to me was this: the kit is called "Radiant & Refreshed". I expected to not look like I was exhausted all day long. The day I tried this, I got 8 hours of sleep the night before. I was sitting in a meeting and one of my coworkers said to me, "you look REALLY tired, are you okay?". So, I guess I wasn't looking very radiant or refreshed...

As I said, I love Bare Escentuals and the kits they put out. I am pretty disappointed in this kit, as I had high expectations based on my experience with previous kits. I hope the next round of kits is a lot better :)

((PS - I am in no way affiliated with Bare Escentuals, and was not paid to write this post. I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart!))

Confessions of an Overpacker

I admit it: I'm an overpacker.

No matter what it is, no matter where I go, no matter how long I go for, I can't seem to cut it down to the bare minimum. 

What's a girl to do when she's sent to the other side of the world?

Shanghai, China -- my last trip

I've read tons of "how to pack for 10 days in a carry-on!!" articles, yet have had trouble finding tips that actually apply to me.

Here are my top 5 tips and tricks (and products I love!) that I've learned since I've started traveling a lot.
  
TIP #1: Know your baggage restrictions.

It's enough of a pain to have to pay baggage fees for your first checked bag (I'm lookin' at you, United), but to get stuck in the airport transferring stuff out of one bag to another because I didn't check the carry-on weight limit (thank you, Virgin Atlantic!) is one of the biggest regrets I've had. 

My biggest lifesavers? A handy luggage scale (I use Balanzza's Digital Luggage Scale *affiliate link*) and Vera Bradley's Get Carried Away tote - this bag is carry-on approved and it fits under the seat, so it counts as a "purse".


TIP #2: Pack bags within bags.

I hate unpacking when I get to a hotel. To make my life easier, I've collected an assortment of Vera Bradley bags and organizers that I use to pack everything but clothes.

Some of my Vera Bradley essentials

My Vera Bradley collection includes:

• Hanging Organizer - I pack anything liquid in here. I leave most of my travel-sized stuff in here between trips so I have less to pack.
• Tech Organizer - Because of the nature of my job, I travel with a lot of wires. This keeps it all neat and organized for me. 
• Medium Costmetic - I've found this size works nicely. I put the majority of my make-up in here or in my Hanging Organizer, and put the rest in my..
• Clear Cosmetic - A carry-on approved bag. I got sick of breaking the plastic baggies before I got through TSA :)

TIP #3: Dual Voltage for International Travel

I am not one of those people who can wash my hair and then go and have pretty locks all day. I end up looking something like Russel Brand (fabulous, I know!). I always travel with my hair dryer (hotel ones don't cut it), and my straightener-that-doubles-as-a-curler. 

My favorite investment? My GHD Hair Straightener. It's a pretty kick-butt straightener, it does curling decently enough, and it's dual voltage, which is absolutely required if you travel internationally.


I also have an X5 Superlite hair dryer, which I got because it was cheap and dual voltage. It's all right, it gets the job done, but I wish it had a cool shot button! 


TIP #4: Plan clothes out before you go.

My biggest problem when I travel is what on earth I'm going to fit into my suitcase for clothes (and shoes!!). I have found that if I sit down and plan out what my rough schedule is (am I working, walking a lot, etc), and what the weather's typically like, then I have a much better idea of what I need to pack.

I am learning to pack everything around my shoes. My last trip was Shanghai, where I knew I would be walking a lot and working. I picked my latest shoe obsession, my Steve Madden Candence boots (in Cognac), and picked out exactly how many tops I would need to match the boots. I always pack an extra outfit or two, and since I didn't know if I would need to dress up for a night out, I packed a pair of comfy heels and two dressier tops.


TIP #5: Less is better.

Okay, what genius came up with this one?! ;)

• Dresses, dresses, dresses: I love dresses. When I can, I pack as many dresses as possible - they multitask as good-for-work and good-for-after-work.
• Make-up that multitasks: I am not a fan of "use-lipstick-as-blush-and-eye makeup" types of tips, but I will admit, I have a slight obsession with make-up kits. There are some really good kits that I have from Benefit Cosmetics, Too Faced, and Bare Escentuals. I try to pick one neutral set that I can wear both day and night.
• Rewear your jeans: There's no need to change your jeans every day. I try to pack a couple of pairs and wear them two or three times before I put on a new pair.

 
 I hope you learned a thing or two! I would love to hear if you have any tips or products you love to travel with! I am always up for improving my packing skills :) 

Safe travels!!

XOXO

Blue Blogger

Life lesson: blogging isn't as easy as I can pretend it is. I'm also a huge procrastinator.. first I didn't blog because I didn't have a nice place to take pictures (I had moving boxes everywhere), then it was because I had a trip to Shanghai (yes, a month after I started my new job), then it was because I still didn't unpack.. and then I basically ran out of excuses. And still didn't blog. I had all these ideas (what to pack when traveling! Clarisonic love!) and yet it took two shopping trips to get my motivation back.

Anyways, let's get to today's outfit, with a promise of more blog regular blog posts :)


Today's outfit, brought to you courtesy of New York and Company, Gap, and Steve Madden / DSW:

Top: NY&C | Jeans: Gap | Shoes: Madden Girl from DSW

I love love love the shoes. I think I spent two hours at DSW yesterday, trying to find the perfect pair of shoes. I found a fab pink pair that hopefully you'll see soon and these natural colored wedge sandals. The weather has been pretty warm here in Cali and I'm so excited to start breaking out more summer-y clothes (I love dresses!).

Anyways, more posts to come soon! I'm going to draft a few now!

XOXO

Summer Dress, Winter Outfit

I love summer. I love more sunshine, warm weather, flip flops, beaches, and dresses. So every year, when it starts getting cooler, and I have to put away my summer clothes, I look for ways I can keep wearing my dresses in the colder months.

Most of my dresses can just be paired with tights or leggings and worn during the winter - I purposely try to buy multi-season dresses, since that means I'll be getting way more for my money.

Dress: Express | Sweater: Express | Boots: Steve Madden

Tomorrow is Friday.. TGIF! 

XOXO

Stop SOPA

This is a fashion blog, but I am mostly a tech person, so I have promised you a mix of tech-fashion related posts. However, today's first tech post has nothing to do specifically with fashion - it's about a thing called SOPA.

SOPA - the Stop Online Piracy Act - is a bill currently proposed to cut down on copyright infringement by restricting access to sites that provide this illegal content. Sounds great, right? Well, this bill will allow courts to order companies like Verizon to block access or Google to remove links from sites that are infringing on copyrights. Additionally, all websites will be held responsible for user-generated content. 

This bill allows for censorship of the web. If you want to read more about it - just Google "SOPA". There are a lot of great sources of information out there.

So now you're thinking - How does this affect me? Why is she posting about this?

It's simple:

Websites you know and love, such as Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Pinterest, and many many more, are all in danger. They could be blocked or shut down completely. Censoring the web like this is a terrible idea.


You might notice websites are protesting SOPA it in their own ways today - Wikipedia, Wordpress, and Reddit are completely unavailable, and Google has changed their homepage.

I urge you to join the protest by signing Google's petition here: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/.

You can also call your local senator: http://americancensorship.org/modal/call-form.html 

Please - let's all do our part in this.  

Monday Blues

Hello out there! How was your Monday? Mine was pretty good! Things are starting to make sense at work and my apartment is finally starting to get put together :)

Today's outfit is inspired by Monday mornings. I'm always so sad to see the weekend end. To make it a little less sad, I took out my feelings on my outfit and made it as fun as I could. So without further adieu, today's outfit!

• Tank top: New York & Company - Abstract Print Chiffon Bodyshaper Camisole (whew!) - $29.95
• Sweater: NY&C - Double Ruffle Trim Cardigan - $24.95
• Necklace: NY&C - Faceted Beads Necklace - $22.95 (not an exact match but same style)
• Jeans: Old Navy - Sweetheart Boot - $29.50

Today's one of those very rare days where I'm not wearing Gap, but I did want to say hello to anyone who stumbled upon this blog from the Gap's retweet of my posting from last week. Follow me on twitter, watch my boards on pinterest, or subscribe. And leave some love! I want to hear from you!


XOXO

P.S. - don't you just hate when you pay full price for something and it's on sale like a month later!! Makes me crazy :)

Gap Love

I'll admit it. My clothes are about 65% Gap, 25% Express, 10% other (Banana Republic, J. Crew, Kohl's, I even just got a dress at Delia's). I have just found that for me, Gap clothes fit really well, with Express as a close second. All of my jeans are Gap jeans, mostly because when I find a type of jeans I like, I stick with it (I wore Weathervane jeans until the store went out of business!). 

Anyways -  to today's outfit! I love this slouchy sweater I got at the Gap. It's super comfy. Not going to lie - I saw this sweater on the mannequin with the pink long sleeved shirt under it so I bought the two shirts together. I wore Gap skinnies and black Steve Madden (another obsession of mine) heeled boots with it.

• Striped 3/4 Sleeve Sweater: Sale - $24.99 at the Gap 
• Tri-blend slub T: Sale - $14.99 at the Gap
• 1969 Always Skinny Jeans: $69.95 at the Gap
• Steve Madden Prepie: $79.95 at Steven Madden (these are not the exact boots, but they look really close to it. I got mine a few years ago at DSW).

 I know it's bad that it's my first couple of posts and I am not posting on a regular schedule, but as you can tell in the background of my pictures I just moved and I am still trying to get settled. But I hope that so far you are enjoying everything! Please let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like to hear about other than my outfits :)

Until next time! XOXO