Update!

Hello there, I would like to let you know that I am adding a new blog called Recipes With An Attitude. This new blog is going to have some recipes that I wanted to add to Pinterest and will be updated a lot less often than this blog. Please don't think that I am going to abandon this blog, make-up is more my life, it's just that it would be weird to add recipes to a cosmetics blog, ha ha, can you imagine? But please feel free to check that one out. I am going to add a new post on this page about my Shellac experience. I will also be adding two posts to my other blog. All posts will be up tonight. :) Thank you guys. I hope that you enjoy both blogs. :)
 

I am not abandoning this blog, Annie <3

*No Longer* The most wonderful creation!!

Hey there! So I finally got my Kandee J bag from Imoshion in the mail today!! :) I love it, I have yet to take it out of the house, but I will soon! There is so much room in this baby! I can fit my whole life in this baby and more. It's like the Mary Poppins bag! So I'll show you my bag and all of the ins and outs of it.

Here she is!! The first picture shows you the entire purse, the attached straps and the larger detachable strap are great! I love the pattern and the studs give it a slightly edgy look, the tassle softens the look a bit, but still leaves some edge. :)

The first picture is the back of the purse, showing the big back pocket (this thing has a ton of pockets!) and the little pegs that are on the bottom to protect the purse from getting scratched! The second picture is the inside of the purse, what I love about the inside is that there's this middle divider, which is also a big pocket, and there's so much space! There's two little unzippered pockets for your phone, pack of gum, or whatever, plus another pocket in the back which has a zipper. The Imoshion logo is on the top zipper and on the inside on the little spot of leopard print. And the last picture is zoomed in on the turquoise tassel. <3

 
With the purse, you also get a make-up bag! It is long enough to fit those extra long eyeliners and a lot of your make-up. Plus, you guessed it, there's another zipper pocket in this!

I like that both the purse and cosmetic pouch have ridges across the pattern to look like it's real leopard, but it's nottt! The entire material is made of faux leather, so it's vegan freindly. Plus the hot pink lining adds a super cute touch. :) There is a discount code on Kandee Johnson's blog for her fans, this post was just talking about her bag and basically a tour of the wonderful purse! Here is her video and in the information bar she placed the link to her blog post.

*EDITED* So, I have had issues with my purse coming apart on the straps that are sewn onto the bag. Which is definitely an issue because you never know if it will pop apart. Imoshion has said that they are no longer using the original manufacturer and that the straps are now triple stiched, when I have called them. I was talking back and forth to them about the issue with my bag via email for the last few days of May through June 6th, then they no longer emailed me back for whatever reason. I got frustrated and called them June 23rd. Whenever they would go to put me on hold, as soon as they would say the words "please hold" they would immediately push the hold button, there was no waiting for a reply, which I did have (something like "why am I being transferred" etc.). I wound up calling them back multiple times on the 23rd because when they would put me on "hold", they would actually hang up on me, which made me even more frustrated. I would call back and get the same person and let them know they had just hung up on me and they no sooner say "please hold" again before I could say "do not put me on hold again". After I had been put on hold many times, they finally told me they would call me back later that night. I didn't recieve a call back that night, I have waited another 2 weeks and 4 days for a phone call back from them, and still nothing! So I finally called them again today. I have found out that they no longer use pay pal (probably because many people have complained to pay pal about crappy service, etc.) I had asked for a full refund and they said "didn't you pay $72.75, because of a 15% discount code?" of which they had told me they would apply (at the time I placed my order, there was no place for a discount code therefore I emailed them and asked if they could apply the code of which I had), but they had never actually applied the code, since my pay pal reciept shows no discount ever being applied, because of this, I had paid full price for my bag. They are now going to refund $85 out of my paid $90.95 because the rest of it was the cost of shipping. They had offered to send me a brand new bag instead of a refund (this was the only thing that I appreciate from them), but I said that I would rather have a refund. They told me to go ahead and keep my bag since I no longer wish to exchange my old and damaged one for a brand new one, and that I just want my money back. It has been nothing but frustration from waiting for replies from Imoshion and not hearing back. Maybe if I lived in California it wouldn't be such a pain, but I doubt it would be any different. It is fully unfortunate that their customer service is not good. So I no longer support Imoshion's business and I will never buy a bag from them again solely because of this whole ordeal.

 
Here's the damage on my bag. Both sides of the back strap were coming undone. The first picture is the left side of the back strap, which is the worst of the two. And the second picture is the right side of the back strap, which is just beginning to rip.

-I still support Kandee Johnson and all that she does. I still love her and all of her videos and blogs. I love her design and all that she did with this bag. I know that she has nothing to do with the fact that this bag was poorly made, she only came up with the idea and design of the bag and all that was on it.  It was the company's job to choose a good manufacturer and to carry out her design, therefore Imoshion is the one that I no longer support. I believe in Kandee Johnson, I believe that she is a truly fantastic person who wishes people nothing but wonderful things. I believe that Kandee Johnson had no idea that this bag would do something like coming unsewn. I have nothing but love and support for Kandee. I still continue to support her in her ongoing journey through life and her career, and I wish her all good things. I am continuing to read her blogs and watch her videos as if this issue with the bag had nothing to do with her. I do not see this as a poor reflection on Kandee. I still get excited to read her blogs and watch her videos. I do not believe that anyone who may have had a bad experience with the Kandee J bag from Imoshion or who has read this post should dislike Kandee Johnson or anything of the sort because none of it was/is her fault.-

 Struttin' my new leopard bag *until it completely rips*, Annie <3

Surprising Find on Labels

Hello there! I found a couple of different products at, can you believe it, Walgreens. I really liked these products until I looked even further into the ingredients, so here's my review on them.

 First off is Organix brand shampoo in Moroccan Argan Oil. This scent was $7.99.What I like about this brand is that it tries to be pretty natural, there are no parabens plus it's safe for color-treated hair. It says that this shampoo is sulfate free, but yet it has Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate as an ingredient. So I don't consider it fully sulfate free. I've researched what it is and supposedly, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate is a larger partical than other sulfates so they "can't" be absorbed into your skin. While yes, this exact ingredient isn't as bad as a Sulfate, it can still cause irritation and is still not fully natural. I'm not sure if I want to finish this bottle after reading the ingredients.

I like the smell, it just smells good. Ha ha, I don't know how to describe it to you. This shampoo gets the job done. It does leave my strands squeaky, hard to comb, and also pretty tangled if I don't use a conditioner after, I just use any that I have around.

 The second item I purchased was the Organix brand Cherry Blossom Ginseng shampoo. For whatever reason, this scent costs $1 less than the Moroccan Argan Oil shampoo, so it was $6.99.The same deal goes with this shampoo, you will want to use a conditioner afterwards, unless you enjoy a tangled mess. Ha! I purchased both of these shampoos mainly because I wasn't sure how I would like them, the reason that I got two is because there was a buy one get one free, not 50% off, but free. So I was really happy when the cashier told me this, I ran back and grabbed this one. :)

This one smells so good. One of my favorite smelling shampoos out of any I've ever tried, right after Herbal Essences Color Me Happy. This shampoo is supposed to rejuvenate your scalp and hair follicle, add volume at your roots, nourish your hair, plus add hydration and shine, which I must say it does. I was very impressed with this one. I was going to keep purchasing this shampoo, but I went and recently looked at the ingredients list. I was a little disappointed by what I found, the bottle says "sulfate free" and so does their entire website, but one of the ingredients was Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, just like in the moroccan argan oil shampoo. Because of this, I will not be purchasing their shampoos any more. I don't know if I'll be finishing this bottle either.
 And all this just goes to show you that you can't really trust a label, always look at ingredients. The reason I am being more and more cautious about ingredients is because my I'm becoming more aware of what these ingredients can do and that the ingredients in the simplest things are not as safe as you may think. I'm not liking what I'm finding on my shampo and body wash labels, so I will soon be throwing most of them away. If you're looking at the ingredient lists on things, you'll notice way more than half of them have either Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate or even Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate. Of the three I listed, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is the strongest and most irritating.
 I've found Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, and Sodium Sulfite in my Philosophy body washes (the only two I currently have are Sugar Chick and Aloha Girl, Aloha Girl excluded Sodium Sulfite). Then I found that in my only Bath & Body Works shower gel (Coconut, from their Signature Vanillas) there is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, TEA-Lauryl Sulfate (which is a drying cleanser), and Sodium Laureth Sulfate. I wanted to go on their website to see if all of their body washes contain these, but they do not provide ingredient lists online, and I don't think it's because they don't want anyone copying recipes. Go figure. Looks like I won't be buying body washes from either company now.
 I find it extremely disappointing that companies know that they can make more natural and less harmful products, but yet they still choose to use these harmful fillers. They should be called beauty products for a reason, because they assist in making skin beautiful, and not damaging the skin, but most companies are just interested in making an easy profit. That just makes me want to look harder for better products now.

Walgreens can surprise you, Annie

Sephora Mania!

So I went a little crazy in sephora the other day. I had a make-up artist do my make-up for me, I told her I that I wanted something I could wear in both spring and summer, something that wasn't too bold, but not too neutral. She nailed it! I will explain what she did at the end of my post. :)
Here's everything to be covered. :)

First up is the Nars Illuminator in Orgasm. This is one of their names that will make you blush while asking an employee if they have it in the store. Ha ha. A little bit awkward, but it's a very pretty color. The Illuminator costs around $30. In the swatched photo, the top is just a dab of it, the below it's blended out on and around my knuckle. I really like this color, and it's great at adding a subtle highlight, once you blend it in on your face, there is almost no sparkle. Some people say that there is enough pigment in it to use it as a blush too, but I don't find this to be true.

Now for their Duo Eyeshadow in Sugarland, this goes for $34. In my swatch, the gold is on the top, and the purple below, the purple has a lot of gold sparkle in it, making them very compatible with each other. Very pretty colors, however, the sparkle tends to all go underneath the eye instead of on the eyelid. Even using an eyelid primer, the colors were bleak. The only time that the sparkles seemed to stick to my eyelid and the colors really show up, was when I used their Soft Touch Eyeshadow Pencil in Goddess. However, I decided not to buy it since it costs $24. Bad decision. I suppose that I'll just have to save up and return to get the eyeshadow pencil.

The Nars Eye Liner Pencil in Kaliste is super pretty!! I loveeee the teal color!! This pencil costs $22. I'm sure you could find one that's pretty close in color at a much lower price though. The swatched pencil is darker towards my wrist, and lighter/more blended towards my knuckles. I really don't have much to say about this pencil, I just like it.

The last Nars product I purchased from Sephora is their Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover for $24. This product is genius!! So pretty and wonderful. This is my life saver! Mostly because it stays where I put it all day, pretty much until you eat, even then the pigment still clings to your lips. It's a lot like a lip stain, but more like a gloss when applied, as the day goes on, it becomes more matte. Such a great invention. I love it because I hate reapplying lipgloss or lipstick throughout the day, it is just frustrating. With this product, I don't have to worry. :)

The last product I purchased from Sephora is from Tocca. It's a 1.7oz. perfume called Colette. I really like this scent, it's light and sweet, not super heavy like some of their other ones. All of their perfumes this size are $68. The one thing that I don't care for is that it doesn't last a long time, after about 6 hours I can no longer smell it on my skin. I like to spray it on my neck so that it kinda gets in my hair and on my shirt, so that I can smell it all day long. :) In my opinion, this perfume is worth the money. I had to show you guys the box too, it's so pretty! On the inside flap, it says "Love yourself", aww, so cute. :)

What the make-up artist did:

The woman began by asking me what my typical cosmetic routine consisted of, how often I wear make-up, and what exactly I used (foundation, powder, translucent powder, anything like that). I expressed to her that I generally don't wear eyeshadow unless I'm dressing up, going out, or just feel like looking 'nice', but always wear concealer, BB Cream, and MAC Fix Powder.

 ~Anywhoo, she took the Nars Illuminator in Orgasm and highlighted my face on the forehead, nose, and cheeks.

~Secondly, she took the Nars Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Goddess and applied it all over my eyelids up to the brow, again I soo wish I had purchased this because of how intense it makes my eyeshadow and makes the shadows stick.

~After that was applied, she used the purple from the Duo Eyeshadow (the name of the duo is Sugarland and incase you're not familiar with Nars, they name the duo, not the individual shadows in the duo) and applied the color across my lid up to my crease.

~She next applied the gold color from the same duo into my crease, I was slightly surprised that it looked quite pretty.

~Afterwards, she grabbed the Nars Eyeliner Pencil in Kaliste and lined my upper lid with a thin line.

~Last but not least, she applied the most amazing lip creation pretty much ever called the Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover.

So there you go, I hope this helps give you a new way to use these products.

A day full of happy splurging and wonderful make-up, Annie

MAC and Chen Man!

This is the heart-hidden surprise from the picture I posted yesterday!!
MAC Cosmetics partnered with Chen Man to form a collection called Love and Water. Chen Man is a fashion photographer from Beijing, in her photography she combines her camera skills with her computer photoediting techniques. She says that she was inspired by her infatuation with love and water, yin and yang, and pink and blue.

 





These are the two ads for this collection and the pictures are of Chen Man herself.

And these are a couple of her works in photography.

So let's get on with the product that I purchased from this collecion.

The one that I got is a mineralize eyeshadow duo, which is available in three colors: Supersweet, which is bronzy, gold mélange, pink on one side and the other is a golden pink; Pink Union, half is a taupe, lavender, brown mélange and the other half is a solid dark violet; and Love Cycle has part light blue, white, dark blue mélange with the other side being a solid royal blue. And just so you know, mélange means that it's a mixture.

 I thought that the sleeve that Chen Man created for the box was pretty so I just had to take a picture and show you guys. As you may be able to tell, I bought the Pink Union color. I love purple in pretty much everything. Ha ha. This duo is great, they go perfectly together and they are so smooth! Which is odd for a mineral eyeshadow. Very blendable and very pretty.

 Though I do have to warn you to be careful when applying it, there are a lot of sparkles packed in here and most fall to your under eye area, so I recommend holding a tissue or something underneath while applying. If not, then apply your eyeshadow before any face make-up so that you can use make-up remover to nix any extra sparkles underneath, where they shouldn't be. :)

Here it is swatched. This duo is absolutely buildable and wonderful! :) I did like the rest of the collection, but I don't think it's for me. Very pretty though. You all should take a peep at this collection. :)

Pink Union dreams, Annie <3

Haul/Review Partayy!!

I know, I know, I'm like a week late. Things have just been piling up around here. Here is a picture of the overview this post, except for a fantastic mascara! The heart is covering up tomorrow's post topic. He he! 

And since 2:52pm yesterday, I have been entering a contest and trying to purchase a purse. Both were for the same purse. (The website completely sold out in just about 14 hours!! So they're on backorder.) It's a purse that Kandee Johnson designed with Imoshion, which is a vegan leather handbag brand and has been featured pretty much everywhere. Kandee Johnson is a youtube make-up guru and celebrity make-up artist, on top of this she's a mom to 4 children! I love her videos and have been following her since her Selena Gomez tutorial in 2009. She is sooo talented and super nice, I wish I personally knew her because she's just a burst of energy!! Here is her youtube channel and her mommy blog. This purse is super cute! I am in loveee with it. It combines leopard print, studs, hot pink, and a pop of turquoise. I know it sounds like a hot disaster, but it isn't, it is really pretty and cute!!  Click HERE to see her make-up blog (it's a link to the post to enter for this purse, but you can just click Home to see her other posts). The contest ends April 5th 2012!

Of course on the left is the frontal view of the purse and the turquoise tassel, 3 studs on the two front pockets, and by the way, there are a ton of pockets, and I mean a ton!! In the middle picture is the inside again more pockets. And on the right is the purse and the matching cosmetic bag that comes with it. :) I am so excited to get this purse!! :)

Lets proceed with the haul/review. <3

Up first is the Chocomania Body Scrub from The Body Shop. I purchased the small size which is $6. Now, this is a negative for me. I find that if I use it after I use soap, then rinse, it makes you sticky. Even if I wash afterwards, I'm still sticky. Not typically desirable. But if I scrub after using it, then I'm fine...and I mean scrub... I'm not a big fan of it though. :/

On to Purity Made Simple from Philosophy. The 16oz. is $32. I loveeee this cleanser. It is so amazing! This is such a staple in my nightly routine. It removes even the toughest make-up so easily and quickly. This is a makeup remover, cleanser, and toner, all in one bottle. :) And I forgot to photograph the bottle, so here's the sample package, but you can see the full size bottle in the overview pic at the top. Ha ha.

I present to you, drumroll please, Sugar Chick from Philosophy. I purchased the 16oz. for $16 because they were on sale, but they're normally $22. I love this scent! It smells sweet, but now overpowering. Their description says "sugar coated marshmallow" which is initially a turn off for me, but I love smelling their stuff. So I did and it smells slightly lemony, and agreeably, sort of like peeps...but better! This soap cleans really well, like all of their other cleansers. If used as a shampoo, the scent lingers for a while, but in a wonderful way. As a body wash, the scent disappears once you hop out of the shower. Plus it's sparkly, I can't wait to try this in a bath!

The ladies at Philosophy in Nordstrom gave me a sample of Vanilla Birthday Cake, which I already had smelled since this was Sephora's birthday gift last year and I did not like it then. The full size bottle is $16 and only comes in this one size for sale. I decided to try it out again, and it smells the exact same, the scent smells quite pleasant in the bottle, but once you use it in the shower, it just elevates. I just really do not like this scent.

Here is a summer must have, the Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Deodorant/Anti-perspirant. This not only makes you sweat less, but you don't need very much of it! This was about $19. It also makes my underarm hair grow quite a bit slower, which is great in summer since they're always exposed. Ha ha! It has a twist top, which I do like, and a twist up bottom.

Last and absolutely not least is the best mascara I have ever used so far, Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara for $19 at Sephora stores. This mascara gives length, volume, and definition. What's cool and different about this one is that it's in a squeeze tube, which you don't generally see, but I like it. :) This mascara is formulated with Pro-Vitamin B, Natural oils and waxes, which all prevent eyelashes from breaking and also promote lash growth. This mascara doesn't smudge, crumble, or flake off at all. Period. No exceptions to that, no "for up to 8 hours", it will not until you take it off. The little thing that looks like a cute guitar pick is actually a smudge shield which you hold behind your lashes. Of course the wide part goes at the base of your eyelashes. I love this mascara and I can't wait to try the other two that they have. I hope the Sephora here gets the Curvy and Fat brushed mascaras soon! :)

Wonderful smells, pretty purses, and wonderful lashes, Annie

A little bit late

Hey there! I know I'm a little late, but I will have a new post upthis week. It is of course, a mini haul/review. And surprisingly, it includes a couple negative. But the positively discussed ones are so fantastic!! :)

 Almost posting, Annie :)