Recent Sephora order--my reviews

Being a total beauty junky, sometimes I get the urge to try out some new products.  I of course have my favorite products that I always have on hand, but sometimes it's nice to try something different.  I placed an order with Sephora about a month ago, and now that I've had a few weeks to test out the products that I ordered, I thought I'd review them:

I only had one staple item that I was reordering, so I'll get that one out of the way first.

Makeup Forever Smoky Lash -- $22
This is my absolute favorite high end mascara.  I only use this when I'm going somewhere fun and want really dramatic lashes.  I have long lashes, so the biggest thing I look for in my mascaras is volume.  I also love how intensely black this mascara is.  Also be warned that this mascara starts to clump when it gets old, this is definitely a mascara that you're going to want to follow the 3 month rule with.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.  It loses half a star because it flakes a bit.

Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer -- $42
Concealer is the one thing that I am always on the search for, as I have yet to find my "holy grail" concealer.  I have extremely bad under eye circles, and I have since I was little.  This is probably the most money I've spent on a concealer before, so I was expecting something...amazing (Amazing Cosmetics...amazing? Get it? I'm so witty ;) ).  This concealer works well, but honestly it doesn't work any better than my current favorites (Clinique All About Eyes and Benefit Erase Paste).  It does a great job at covering my blemishes, though.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.  It works well, but there are some equally amazing concealers out there for half the price.

Korres Lip Butter -- $10
I've been meaning to try these for forever, and I finally got around to it.  I got the color Pomegranate which is very pretty.  I love that these actually do give your lips some color, it's not super pigmented but it's not meant to be.  It does give me more color than any other tinted lip balm I've ever tried.  I was expecting it to be a tad more moisturizing though...I was expecting a little more along the lines of a MAC tinted lip conditioner.  

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.  It could be a little more moisturizing, but the colors are lovely and the price is very reasonable.

Nars Multiple in Orgasm -- $39
Another thing I've been meaning to try for forever.  I absolutely love NARS powder blushes, so I was eager to try the cream formula.  This gives my skin a really nice glow, and I love that this particular shade is not quite as shimmery as its powder version.  It's very easy to blend as well, and is a perfect summer shade.  It's a little pricey, but I can see it lasting for a really long time.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.  I do find that if I put it on in the morning, it's almost completely gone by the night. Probably stays on for a good 6 hours though.

Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray-- $23
When I let my hair air dry, it gets pretty wavy on its own but I can't seem to find a good product that will make my waves a little more defined.  This honestly didn't do much for my hair.  It did give it a bit more texture than normal, but it also made my hair a little "crunchy" in some spots.  What really made this a bad product for me was the fact that the pump on mine broke!  On about the third use, the pump didn't rise back up...so I can't use this as a spray anymore.  I have to squeeze the product into my hand and then put it in my hair like a gel.  I do like using it when I put my wavy hair in a ponytail though, because then I don't mind that slight dirty look that it gives.

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.  For the faulty packaging and the fact that it didn't do that much.

Workout Playlists

I haven't made a new workout playlist in months, and lately I've been listening to the "my current jams!" playlist during workouts.  That playlist is exactly what is sounds like, all the music I'm currently jamming to in one place.  At the gym today I found myself bored with that list and going through my iPod trying to find specific songs, which was kind of annoying and slowed me down a bit.  So I decided to make a new workout playlist!

I'm super pumped for my workout tomorrow! There are several current popular songs, mixed with some old favorites.  Of course I had to throw an Adele song on there...let's hope I don't start singing out loud! I've also been loving "Just Can't Get Enough" from the Black Eyed Peas. A couple of their older songs made the cut as well, the BEP's always get me movin'.  I always like to throw a Carrie Underwood song on as well, because then I think about how amazing her legs are (seriously, check them out!), and I start moving faster.  Basically I always have to have a few songs that will get me working a little harder, mixed with some songs that I love singing along too--though I try to refrain from doing so out loud...I don't want to ruin everybody else's workout!

Resolutions

Typically resolutions are discussed around new year's, but lately I've been the least energized and productive I feel like I have ever been in my life, so I'm making some resolutions now.  Better late than never, right? I suppose I will call them my April resolutions and look at it from more of a short term perspective. Honestly, long term goals scare me.  I prefer to make short term goals.  Something like, "I will make it to the gym at least 5 times this week," works out much better for me than saying something like, "I will go to the gym every single day from now until FOREVER!" Then, I have the mindset that it's only one week and I can surely push myself for one week.  When that one week is up, I feel so good about my accomplishment that I want to make another goal and the cycle continues.

Let's face it though--I'm human and sometimes things just happen that throw us off of our goals.  We get busy, we get tired, or we get sick, and certain things just take a backseat.  Getting back on track can be hard, and that's what I've struggled with the past couple of weeks.  I've been inconsistent with everything from the gym to school to housework.  I don't have classes on Fridays and I could have gotten so much accomplished today.  What did I end up doing?  I slept until 11, watched almost an entire season of The Hills on Netflix, and washed one load of towels.  Seriously, ONE LOAD.  They're still sitting in the dryer, waiting to be folded.

So it's time to snap out of this lazy, unproductive spell I've been under.  Here are my goals:

For tonight (because 10:30 at night is a completely normal time to start, right?):
Do one workout from Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (the DVD is loading up as I type)
Put up all of the clothes in my closet that still haven't been put up from spring break (which was 2 weeks ago)
Quick shower
fold those towels!
go to bed before 2 am

For tomorrow:
Don't sleep past 9 (setting my alarm now)
Hit up the gym
Get ready for the day (a big one, since it has been a ponytail and gym clothes to class kind of week)
go to Walmart and the grocery store
Pedicure (I'm in desperate need)
conquer the massive pile of dishes that need to be washed and the massive pile of laundry that needs to be folded
Hopefully go out for a few drinks with a friend (hey, a girl's got to have a little fun every now and then)


Weekly Goals (starting Sunday):
Make it to the gym at least 5 times
Study for my upcoming tests/finish all my HW
Keep up with household chores (really need to work on this)
Dress up for class (something other than a t-shirt) because I honestly feel so much better when I do
NO NAPS! I need to get back on a regular sleep schedule

That's it! Sounds like a lot, but overall I know that I need to just keep myself moving and I'll get things accomplished and feel SO much better. 

A recent order I put in with Sephora came in today, so hopefully I can test out some of that stuff and make a blog post about it.  I got a few new things I've been wanting to try.

That's it. Goodnight!