JUNE IPSY GLAMBAG REVIEW & BLOGGING WITH SHERMAN

Hello, all!

This post comes in two parts: one part gawking about makeup, one part gawking about kitten.

Here is part one: The June Ipsy Glambag Review.

I've been an Ipsy Glambag subscriber for a few months now, and I've had a lot of hits and a lot of misses. If you don't know what Ipsy is, it's a service that sends you a bag of 4-5 makeup/beauty/other products every month for $10. My first glambag was worth around $60, and I've been hooked ever since. Last month's May glambag was very... underwhelming to say the least, but Ipsy really redeemed themselves with this month's picks, or at last for me.

First of all, when you get your Ipsy glambag, it arrives in your mailbox in a shiny pink bubble envelope. That bubble envelope is usually the mail highlight of my month (unless I order something else online) because it's so friggin' cute.

I don't have a photo of all my products together. Sorry 'bout it.

LIFE UPDATE | 10 THINGS I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT

Hello, world. It's been a while since I've posted anything of substance. Sorry about that.

I've been up to a lot lately. The quarter's almost over and it will finally be summer again. It's been almost a year since I started this blog and I really don't have too much to show for it. I say again and again that I'll start blogging more, and I never do, but hey — at least this blog still exists! I have a good number of drafts and unfinished posts; I just never actually get around to finishing them or posting them. I changed my banner from "big. blonde. beautiful." to "short for alexandra" (I'm learning things like InDesign!! I CAN DO THINGS) and tried to clean up my layout a little bit to make it a little simpler and prettier. Can u tell????

Since I last posted, I've been a pretty busy lady. I was hired as a features editor for my school newspaper which has been a 24/7 job, but I love what I do and I genuinely have fun doing it. The people I work with are great and I couldn't ask for a better team. As I said a few posts ago, I was also on the Relay for Life committee this year — the event was last weekend and it went so well, I can't get over it. Seeing everything come together was totally worth all the work put into it.

The point of this post was to be a little bit of a life update as well as a more blog-y post. I found a list of writing prompts and found "ten things I can't live without"and thought it seemed cool, so without further adieu, here are ten things I luuuuurve and can't live without.

1. My computer.

It's pretty terrible that this is my number one item I can't live without, but I don't even care. I love my computer. The 15" screen is absolutely stunning and lets me make pretty things with InDesign and Photoshop and also lets me browse tumblr for hours on end. Oh, computer. You are so versatile. You've always been there for me. Thanks for dealing with me as I type way too loudly and bring you everywhere with me. I love you, computer.

2. My iPhone.

Without my phone, I feel naked. I need it on me at all times. Similar to my computer, I can use it for work purposes (email on email on email), but I can use it to send adorable ugly selfies to my bff's, check the twitterverse, facebook and all that jazz. What did I ever do before I got an iPhone? I don't even know. I can't imagine not having it now.

3. Makeup.

Call me superficial — I. love. makeup. I can go from feeling "meh" to "haaaay" within 20 minutes with the stuff. Not only does it make me feel gr8, but it's fun to put on. I literally look forward to spending time in front of the mirror every morning and putting on my war paint. Plus, makeup gives you control over how people see you, which is aaaaaaaawesome. I could gab about makeup for hours.

4. Candles. 

You have NO IDEA how obsessed I am with candles. This fall, I started a collection of Bath and Body Works candles and the addiction has only become worse with time. I literally bought four candles this weekend alone. As I write this, I've got three burning in my room and it's a trifecta of fruitiness.


5. Coffee.

I don't know why I didn't put this up higher —I'm addicted to coffee. I have a cup every morning and usually buy at least one a day (the newsroom happens to be conveniently close to the campus Starbucks — ooooooops!) and I have no intention of quitting this addiction. Usually I just grab an iced white mocha americano but lately I've been enjoying just some plain iced coffee with cream. Plus, it's beautiful to watch the cream and coffee blend together. Is that weird? I hope not.

6. Food. 

Duh. No need to explain.

7. Music. 

Pretty cliché, I know, but still. A day without music is a day wasted. My family engrained a love for music in me when I was little; I remember going on long drives and jamming out to my mom's, uh, eclectic mix (sorry, mom!) and my dad's blues-y/rock-y CD's that he would burn me. Nowadays, I definitely get my money's worth with my Spotify subscription. My roommate and I will 'share' songs with each other frequently. It's pretty neat when someone hears a song and thinks "Wow, I thing Allie would like this" because a) it made them think of you, and b) they're usually right. I love hearing new music, listening to old music and yelling "THIS IS MY JAM" ten times a day whenever I hear a song I like. (Side note: currently obsessed with "Battles" by Hudson Taylor and "Wait So Long" by Trampled by Turtles.)

8. Clothes.

Again, cliché but clothes are just another form of expression. In the fall/winter months, I find myself wearing nothing but black, olive and leopard print with the occasional mix of grey or denim and I'm trying to get out of that little pattern. I've been a little more risky lately — AKA, wearing my Forever 21 pink maxi dress at every possible occasion — and trying to incorporate more color into my wardrobe for spring and summer... but I'm going to have to ignore the fact that I did a haul at Torrid today and bought only black, olive and white.

9. My friends.

Seriously. My roommates and friends mean the world to me and I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for them. I'm lucky enough to have kept friends that I made so long ago I can't remember a time without them (Stacey! Carley!) and have made new ones along the way. Luv u all. <3

10. My family.

Hanging Out with the Holzmans

Ever since my dad passed away last January, I've learned to not take family for granted. This group of goofballs is my family, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.


Well, those are 10 things I can't live without. That was a hard — but fun — post to write.

What are 10 things you can't live without? (I bet my blog is one of them. Ha!)

xoxo,

allie

My first Influenster box! - Colgate Optic White Review

Not too long ago, I signed up for a website called Influenster.

The concept is simple: Turn your social influence into rewards. I figured, I have a blog, a twitter, a pinterest, a Facebook and all that yadda yadda yadda and even if they're not read by many I'll try it out.

When you sign up, you take a survey asking what age you are, your interests, education and products you've bought recently among other things.  They then send you boxes with products in them for free, and all you have to do is use the product and tweet/post/blog about it. The more you do, the more you receive, or at least I'm guessing.

Within a few weeks, I received an email from Influenster saying I was selected to receive the Colgate Optic White Voxbox. Uhh, what?

The rest is history.

A few weeks later, I received my Optic White Voxbox. The box itself was covered in Colgate logos, so I knew within seconds that it was my Voxbox.

Inside the box was a Colgate Optic White toothbrush + built in whitening pen, a small tube of Optic White toothpaste, some coupons and a card introducing the product and what you do with it. The retail value of the pen alone is $12.99, so I was pretty stoked to get it for free.

To use the product, you brush your teeth as normal with the brush and toothpaste provided for you. Those were fine, although I'm privy to electric toothbrushes because I feel like they clean better. After you brush your teeth, you take the pen out of the bottom of the toothbrush (super handy!), click the bottom a few times, and a whitening gel will come out from the top. Do this twice a day, and in two weeks you should see visible whitening.

And I didn't.

What I liked about this product was that it made whitening your teeth SUPER easy and convenient. It was a lot more pleasant than the whitening strips that dissolve and leave a weird taste in your mouth, but the gel was really goopy and I feel like it didn't stay on my teeth for long.  I didn't notice my teeth getting any whiter, either; I feel like this can be attributed to the gel that likes to wander away. From now on, I'll stick to the unpleasant whitening strips.

What's next for me and Voxbox? Well, before I wrote this post I got another email saying that my Uni Voxbox is on its way to me! I guess tweeting and Instagramming a photo was good enough because now I'm getting more free shit! Who doesn't love free shit?

Sorry for the lack of updating my blog, but a product review is better than nothing... right?

January 2014 Playlist

Sup?

For all of you curious souls who have been losing sleep over this, I've made a little playlist including some of the songs I've been obsessed with this month.

The majority were introduced to me from my dear friend Nathan while I was visiting after Christmas, but some I was introduced to in other ways (Forever 21 played it at work, or Spotify radio).

I recently signed up for Spotify and absolutely love it. I would pay about $10/month for new music on iTunes, but with Spotify I'm able to listen to as many songs as I want, new and old. I have yet to not be able to find what I want to listen to on Spotify, plus I can make playlists and listen to my friends playlists as well. However, at the end of the month I'll be making the switch to rdio- as long as you are a student, it's only $5 a month, and I happen to be a student.

Lo and behold, here are some songs I've had on repeat for the past few weeks. This month's is a mix of slower, acoustic songs and some upbeat ones that make you feel like a supermodel even though it's just windy outside and you're walking to class.

Look! You can even give it a listen here! Yay Spotify!

This post has not been sponsored by Spotify, rdio, or any other companies. All opinions are my own. 

New Years Resolutions

Soooo, this post is a little late, but whatevs.

2014 is in full swing, and it seems everyone is abiding by the "new year, new me" principle (which I think is absolutely hilarious. why do you need to wait for a new year to become someone else?) That being said, I've got a couple little goals in mind for this year that I want to put in writing and on the internet so that when December 31st rolls around I can look back at this post and think "oh, did I actually get that done? YES I DID. or no I didn't."

1. Get a little more daring with clothing.

Now by daring, I don't mean revealing, or wear totally weird clothes, although Forever 21 does have some pretty strange stuff in their plus section online that I would never, ever wear.  Whenever I look at my teeny-tiny closet, I realize that about 2/3 of what I own is black.  I have very little color in my wardrobe, and if I do, it's usually blue or olive green. I don't know what my deal is with the color black- I just subconsciously go for black clothes.  I want to burst out of my comfort zone! I want to start wearing colors, start wearing those clothes that have that strange pop (for example, the leggings I bought yesterday that have a leather strip down the side. whaaa?).

Which leads me into resolution number 2:

2. Start documenting said outfits.

I follow a bunch of style bloggers on Bloglovin, tumblr, instagram, etc., and I love seeing pretty new outfits pop up on my feed.  Whenever I feel like my outfit is stellar, I'll try to grab a pretty picture of it and post it on my blog.  I want my blog to be a little more style and plus-lady fashion based, and  time and time again, I've heard "write what you would want to read." And that's what I like to read. I'm still gonna keep this blog pretty personal, which leads me into resolution... 3!

3. Blog more!

Write more. Photograph more. Post more. At least once a week. Twice a week, on a good week.

4. Run a 5K.

I've already signed up for my Very First 5K, which will be in Cloverdale BC on May 31st.  My lovely Coralie asked me on New Years Day if I wanted to sign up, and on a whim, I did.  This means now that I actually have to start training for said 5K.  Maybe if I like it I'll do another one. Who knows? I love how I feel when I run, (or more accurately, after I run) and I love the groove I get into when I exercise a lot.  This isn't exactly because I want to lose weight- I just want to exercise more, and if I happen to lose a few pounds, cool. If I gain some, cool. Which brings me into my final resolution...

5. Get more serious about the whole body-love warrior thing.

I'm a firm believer that everyone should love their body.  Every body is beautiful.  Your fat body, your skinny body, no matter your size, color, abilities- your body is a very beautiful thing, and it's the only one you're going to get.  You are capable of so much.  I could go on and on and on in this post about why body positivity is important and why I'm such an advocate of it, but this year I want to spread the word that you should love your body regardless of what you look like.

Transitions are weird.

Until later!