Dressing Up with eShakti ♥

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I couldn't decide what shoes went best with the dress so when in doubt....go with both :) 

clearly excited about the pockets :) 

Dress: eShakti / Watch: Urban Outfitters / Shoes: Payless (both blue & nude) / Lipstick: Colour Pop in Joesing

This post is a partnership with eShakti. eShakti sent me a product for review. All opinions are 100% my own.

I am officially in love with this dress. The colors, the design, the poofy skirt - everything! (Bonus features: it can twirl AND it has pockets. Clearly, I was excited). I decided to go simple with styling this dress and didn't add too many extra sparkles and charms. The dress itself is so beautiful, I felt that it needed to stand on its own without the distraction of other accessories! 

When eShakti reached out to me to ask if I'd be interested in partnering with them, I'd never heard of the brand, but now I think I'm hooked! eShakti's website features dresses, tops, and bottoms that you can customize to your specific measurements and style preferences. For this dress, I loved the pattern but decided to change up the style a little bit by making the dress sleeveless and adding a boat neckline. I also customized the dress' size by adding all of the appropriate measurements (i.e. hip, waist, chest, shoulder). eShakti's website had a very easy-to-use explanation of where each measurement was located on the body so this made it much easier to customize!

I had never tried customizing before but I think it'll be something I'll have to do more often because this dress fits perfectly! I was a little worried that the styling changes I made to the neckline and the sleeves might come off weirdly since they weren't the original design of the dress but they actually turned out exactly as I'd pictured them in my head. I am in love with this dress and so happy that there is a website out there that actually makes customizations more attainable for the everyday shopper. I may or may not already be planning my next purchases…don't tell my wallet :)

Have you tried eShakti? What are your thoughts on this brand? 

Thanks for reading ♥

PopSugar Must Have: March 2016

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March's PopSugar box was centered around a vibrant and refreshing theme - perfect for spring! While PopSugar is one of my all-time favorite subscription boxes, this month's box wasn't quite as on point for me as some past boxes have been. Nonetheless, it still provided some fantastic products that I'm excited to be using this season and of course, still provided way more value than the price I paid. 

The PopSugar Must Have box is a monthly subscription ($40/month or less if you make a 3, 6, or year long commitment)  that sends subscribers full-size versions of the season's must-have beauty, fashion, home, and fitness products. I love that the PopSugar box includes this little card with descriptions of all the products. Having these descriptionsmakes me even more excited to try all of the products because there are suggestions on how to use each one of them. Plus, being the nerd that I am, I love to go back through my past subscription cards to see all the goodies I've gotten over the years.

Nanette Nanette Lepore: Classic Rose Gold Watch - Retail $55

When I got the spoiler email that this watch was going to be in my PopSugar box I was so excited. My boyfriend can attest to the fact that I did a mini-happy dance in my apartment while squealing and staring at the gorgeous watch. I am a huge watch lover and have been on the hunt for the perfect rose gold watch for months! I can be very picky when it comes to accessories that have too much bling so I was incredibly happy with the simple design of this watch. 

Pixi by Petra: Book of Beauty, Minimal Makeup - Retail $24

I love palettes. Mostly because I'm way too indecisive. I find it incredibly hard to buy single color blushes, bronzers, or eye shadows of any kind. This palette has a nice collection of light, natural colors that would really be able to complement any skin tone. I think it'd be perfect for anyone who is just starting out with makeup because you can experiment without having to worry that your makeup will look too heavy. My favorite part of this palette so far has been the highlights. It can be easy to over-sparkle when it comes to highlights but the highlights in this Pixi by Petra palette are light yet provide the perfect bit of sparkle. 

Miss Ivy Pearl:  Five Tassel Necklace - Retail $38

This necklace is a perfect example of why I love subscription boxes! I don't explore too much when I go shopping on my own and as a result, subscription boxes have really helped me explore and find new products. If I saw a tassle necklace in a store, I can guarantee that there is no way I would buy it simply because I don’t see myself as a tassle kind of girl - however, I have genuinely loved this tassle necklace! It's not too flashy and brings an easy pop of color to an outfit. I'm sold :) 

Govino: Go-Anywhere Carafe and Water Glass Set - Retail $14.95

I feel like maybe I'm not classy enough for this product yet? This carafe and glass set from Govino looks like it's made of glass but is made entirely of plastic. The info card suggests that it's perfect for using on picnics or for bedside tables. I'm still un-classily using old water bottles and plastic cups for my bedside table. I'll be putting this one on a shelf until I'm classy enough to appreciate it :P

Hello: Extra Whitening Fluoride Toothpaste - Retail $4.49

This product actually came at the perfect time since I had just run out of toothpaste! So far I've enjoyed using this toothpaste - especially since my teeth could do with some extra whitening! I probably won't be switching to this toothpaste anytime soon but it's nice to have a little variety even in boring hygiene products! 

Goodie Girl Cookies: Toffee Chaos - Retail $4.99

I always love getting sweet treats in my subscription boxes! Toffee isn't my favorite flavor but these cookies aren't as overwhelmingly sweet as I usually find toffee to be. Plus, these cookies are low fat, low sugar, and low calorie which is always helpful when you've binge eaten way too many girl scout cookies to count! 

LOLA: Gift Card - Retail $10

It seems like tampons are so expensive nowadays so I'm very happy with this gift card to Lola, a subscription box that sends subscribers a monthly box of tampons. This $10 gift card gets you one box free, which includes 18 tampons. The process of ordering a box was incredibly simple, however, it is a subscription service, so in order to get the free box, you do have to sign up for the subscription. Although you can cancel at any time, it's a little bit of a hassle to have to take that extra step of both signing up for a subscription just to cancel it in order to receive your free box. 

Half of the products in this month's box were in the "just okay" category for me. While I still love the box as a whole, this specific month was one I probably could have done without. The perfect rose gold watch, however, pretty much made up for the other less than amazing products! What did you think of this month's PopSugar box? Got any other subscription box ideas you think I should try?

Thanks for reading! ♥

Featured Products:

Birchbox: March 2016

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As you may already know, I’m absolutely addicted to subscription boxes, and one of the biggest internal subscription box debates I’ve been caught up in is whether I like Birchbox or Ipsy better! I vacillate between the two every month and I'm never sure which one to commit to since there are always on and off months with both subscriptions. Since I was a little fed-up with my Ipsy bags over the last couple of months, I decided to swap back to Birchbox for a couple of months. Birchbox is a monthly beauty subscription ($10/month) that sends full-size and sample-size beauty, hair, make-up and skincare products. 

Pinrose: Moonlight Gypsy & Pillowtalk Poet  

While I'm not the biggest fan of the smell on these samples, I do love that these samples are presented in a creative way. These Pinrose samples are fragrance towelettes that you can easily carry around and brush across your skin when you need to freshen up. Since carry-on liquids have to meet a certain ounce criteria and have to be separated into another plastic bag, it can be quite the hassle to bring regular perfume while traveling. I’m excited to bring these little towelettes on-the-go with me without having to stuff them into a separate bag! 

Cargo Land Down Under: Eye Shadow Palette 

As I've mentioned before in posts about other beauty boxes, I try my hardest to indicate in my preferences that I do not want to receive eye shadows. I don't use them very often and already have way too many from beauty subscriptions! I decided to try out these eye shadows anyway and found that they were a little too shimmery for my taste. While I love that the lighter shade is shimmery - I expected the darker shade to have stronger dark pigmentation to it. 

Parlor by Jeff Chastain: Volumizing and Texturizing Conditioner & Shampoo  

Shampoo and Conditioner is something that I typically don’t love receiving in subscription boxes because I honestly don’t care that much about the shampoo/conditioner I use. As long as it smells good and isn’t absurdly expensive, I’m happy. Both of these products smell fantastic so I’m excited to use them the next time I travel (they’re the perfect size!), however, I didn’t love the packaging of the conditioner. Instead of coming in a nice twist-close container like the shampoo, it came in a flimsy plastic sleeve that will be difficult to seal up for re-use.

Ner:D Skincare: Miraculous Brightening Clarifying Face Cleaner 

I’m all about trying out new face products, but this sample was a little disappointing! The instructions say to work the cleanser into a rich lather but I could hardly get even a couple of bubbles out of the stuff! On top of that, the cleanser has a very classic soapy smell which makes it seem like you’re basically just throwing a bar of hand soap onto your face. I’m going to give this cleanser a couple more uses before I make a final judgment but so far, I’m meh on this product. 

Dr. Lipp: Miracle Balm  

Aaaaand here is the star of this month's Birchbox! At first I thought this was just your average lip balm but after following some of the suggested uses on the back - I've actually started using them on my brows to keep stray hairs in place! I love that this product is multi-functional - it makes me feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck! The only downside? This sample is so small - it's hardly an inch tall! Usually I expect to get a liiiiittle bit more out of a sample so I was disappointed by how small this sample was. 

Final Verdict: 

I really wasn't too happy with this month's Birchbox - I received a lot of samples for product categories that really didn't interest me at all! So what's the status of my internal Birchbox vs ipsy feud? I think ipsy might still have a slight edge! While I originally started with Birchbox, I'm now remembering why I switched to ipsy. Though Birchbox has an awesome points system for its shop, the samples I receive are much smaller than the ones I receive from ipsy and usually involve more shampoo/face cleaner type products - which is great if you love these - but if you're like me and you don't really pay that much attention to what shampoo you're buying, it may not be worth the $10 a month. 

Soooooo it's official, after a small spurt with Birchbox again, I guess I'm back to ipsy! I think in the end, Birchbox's samples are just too small for me. I'm happiest when I'm getting a bargain and with ipsy, I feel like I'm (for the most part) getting my money's worth. Next month's review will officially be an ipsy review again! (And maybe I'll be more loyal to ipsy from here on out!)  

What are your thoughts on the ipsy vs. Birchbox debate?

I'd love to hear about your experience! 

Featured March Products: