PopSugar Must Have: March 2017

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It’s that time of the month again…the arrival of my PopSugar box! I am seriously like a little kid on Christmas whenever my PopSugar box arrives - even though I’ve been subscribed to this box for over a year! I think that’s proof of how much I love this box. 😃 Despite the fact that I seem to have a love-hate relationship with every other subscription box out there, the PopSugar box never disappoints. 

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, and home products.

Smashmallow: Cinnamon Churro (Retail $4) - Before trying these, I’d never heard of marshmallows as a snack and now? I’m dangerously obsessed. These little marshmallows are so cute, the churro flavor was amazing, and my belly pooch is pretty happy about it. 😃 

Thrive Causemetics: Brilliant Eye Brightener in Stella (Retail $24) - This was one of the spoiler items revealed in an email and I was definitely excited for its arrival! I’ve said this many times, but there’s always at least one item per box that is already on my “need to get” list that PopSugar just magically gives me before I have a chance to get it myself! Although the product itself could have a little more pigmentation to it I really can’t complain. it goes on smoothly and even has its own sharpener. 😃 

Sunnylife: Eco Lunch Box in Watermelon (Retail $18) - For me, this product was the highlight of the whole box! I absolutely love the cute watermelon design and have been using it to bring fruits and veggies along with me to work. As much as I wish my life was always about sunshine, flowers, and decorating my house - in reality, my life tends to be about work, managing the house, and trying to survive on coffee. That’s why little products like this have become so essential to my everyday life. If I’m going to bring food to work, why not derive a little bit of happiness out of the fact that my lunchbox is so freakin’ cute? I’m in love. 

Stephanie Johnson: Camera Crossbody Bag (Retail $45) - I am so excited about this quirky little bag because I think it’ll be perfect for the summer! Although I’ve never owned a see-through bag before, it’s a trend I’m looking forward to testing. Plus, it’s the perfect size for an evening stroll or a mid-morning coffee break. 

Kate Spade New York Photo Album (Retail $20) - Putting up pictures has definitely become a lost art in my household. My photos tend to live on my phone and never quite make it to the printed stage, so I’m hoping that this little album encourages me to print and put up more photos around the house!

Velvet Eyewear $25 Gift Card:  This gift card was the only bust for me this month. It’s difficult to buy sunglasses online since you can’t try them on, plus, the sunglasses on this website run from $45 to $200+! As much as I’d love to invest in a good pair of sunglasses, it’s hard for me to justify spending that much money on a pair of sunglasses when A) I can’t physically try them on and B) I lose a pair of sunglasses at least once a month. The $25 gift card is not enough to purchase anything on the website so it kind of just feels like a ploy to get me to spend money 😔  

Overall, I’m extremely happy with this month’s box. These are all products that I am already or fully plan on using in the future! I only wish that the weather would warm up more quickly so that I can use all of these spring themed products sooner! What were your thoughts on this month’s PopSugar? Leave me a comment - I’d love to hear from you! 

Style By Kenlee: Accessory Box Review ☆

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This blog post is in partnership with Style By Kenlee. Style By Kenlee sent me a product for review. Opinions are 100% my own. 

Whew! It's been a while since I wrote a review of a subscription box that wasn't a PopSugar Box ( I might be a little bit partial!) - but I'm very happy to be sharing my experience with the Style By Kenlee accessory box since I'm always looking to try out new subscriptions! The great thing about subscription boxes is that they really open up your eyes to different products that you might not normally try on your own!

Style By Kenlee reached out to me a couple of months ago to collaborate on a review of their box and as an avid lover of all things subscription boxes, I was excited to give their box a try! Style By Kenlee is a jewelry and accessory subscription box that sends you three individual accessories each month for $20.00/month. They sent me their January box, which included three pieces: a necklace, bracelet and a pair of earrings.

Tree Necklace: This necklace is made of a beautiful tree pendant and a leather strap that goes around the neck. For me, this necklace was definitely a challenge to style as it's not something that goes well with my existing wardrobe, however, I got a little creative and actually wore it in my most recent outfit post (Beanies + Layers). My favorite part about this necklace is that the strap is adjustable so you can wear it at a variety of different lengths!

Turquoise Bracelet: This piece was a simple bracelet with three turquoise beads as the focus. I tend to layer my bracelets so I’m really excited to incorporate this bracelet into my everyday accessories. I always have a leather fitbit band on and the brown/turquoise of this bracelet goes quite well with it! 

Dandelion Fluff Earrings: For me, these earrings were the star of the box! Each earring is made up of a little clear bulb with two little dandelion fluffs (does anyone know what these are actually called?) inside them. I've been absolutely loving these because I find them to be the perfect combination of cool/quirky yet also extremely wearable. 

One thing I really would have loved to see, however, is a little card describing the different pieces and where they came from! Since I'm not sure where each of the pieces came from, I've just ended up naming them based on what they look like :P 

Overall, I enjoyed the pieces in the January Style By Kenlee box and will definitely be incorporating both the earrings and the bracelet into my everyday accessories! The necklace was a little bit outside of my style comfort zone and while I don't think it was the best fit for my personal style, it did encourage me to think outside the box and gave me the style inspiration I needed to pull some lesser used pieces out of my wardrobe! As with all subscription boxes, your experience with each individual box may vary depending on what items are included in each month. I took a look at the Style By Kenlee website and definitely think that there are some pieces in other boxes that I might have enjoyed more!

While I love subscription boxes, I am also very much a bargain shopper! I only really invest in a subscription box if I think that it consistently delivers a huge amount of value and since I tend to shop for accessories pretty regularly on my own, I'm not sure that this box is something that I feel I would need given the price point ($20.00/box). While I love the idea of trendy pieces, given my current status as a working professional with no children, I have a decent amount of time to go searching for bargain accessories on my own! If you are a busy mom, however, or even someone who has a busy work schedule and you can't find the time to go shopping for new pieces, I definitely think that this kind of box would be worth the investment! Plus, if you are looking to support two inspiring moms & entrepreneurs, this box is the way to go! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting the blog! I hope this review was helpful to you! Have you tried out the Style By Kenlee accessory box? Leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

Kat Von D Shade & Light Palette - Review!

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I am so excited to be writing this post because it means I now own the Kat Von D Shade & Light Palette - a palette I've wanted for quite some time! What initially drew me to this palette was all of the beautiful natural, matte finishes on these eye shadows and so far, the quality of these shadows has not disappointed!

Over the past year, I've become the biggest collector of matte eyeshadow palettes and have the longest list of wish list palettes (Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics - I'm lookin' at you!). This is mostly due to the fact that I have monolids and find it difficult to work with any eyeshadows that aren't matte shades. Although I've seen many monolidded bloggers create the most beautiful sparkly eyeshadow looks, for me, it just takes too much time to try to figure out how that would work on my own lids! Maybe someday, but not at this point! Instead, I've opted for a variety of different matte eyeshadow colors that really help to shape and contour my eyes but are still extremely simple to use.  I decided to buy the palette because it seemed like it would be a good complement to my existing eyeshadow routine!

Neutral Quad

Cool Quad

Warm Quad

The Goods

• The pigmentation on these eyeshadows is fantastic - Even with a very slight dab into the pan, I feel like I'm getting a ton of color. This also means that the shadows won't run out as easily so this palette will last me quite some time :)
• I love that this palette separates these shades into clear quads that complement one another. This makes it very easy to create a simple look that doesn't take too much time (or pre-coffee brain power)!
• The eyeshadow formula is very creamy and goes on smoothly.
• All matte shades! This one is more of a personal preference, but I love matte shades!
• The packaging of this palette is beautiful, sleek, and matte itself! It goes very well with the feel of the palette.

The Bads

• There was quite a bit more fallout on the eyeshadows than I expected. I actually found myself blowing on the palettes to get rid of all the excess eyeshadow dust that was sitting on top.
• For some odd reason, I found the middle eyeshadow quad difficult to work with! The shades seem harder to blend out and they don't mix as seamlessly with one another as the other two quad combinations do.
• Shades are darker and more pigmented (which is great!) but this also means you have to be more careful about where you put your eyeshadow! I had a bit of a hard time blending out some of the darker shades. 
• Overall, this palette was not as beginner friendly as I was hoping it would be! Because the dark shades are so pigmented and not as easily blended out, I found myself taking more time doing my eyes on days that I used this palette. Sorry, but I'm a lazy girl! Some days I just want to slap on my eye make-up in 2 seconds and run out the door!

Although I had a pretty even number of goods and bads, overall, I've really enjoyed this palette and think it's a great buy for anyone looking to amp up their matte eyeshadow game! While I still love the palette and will be getting tons of use out of it, if I had to pick just one palette, I'd probably still stick with my Too Faced Natural Matte palette. I just think that a the Too Faced palette is more universal and gives you all the shades you really need to for an everyday look. It's also more affordable, more travel friendly, and the eyeshadow formula is a little bit better since it's slightly more blendable and doesn't create as much fallout as the Kat Von D Palette.

If you're looking for a little bit more edge to a natural look, however, I think this Kat Von D palette would be perfect! It's all matte and most of the eyeshadows are easy to work with, but the shades allow you to get a little more of a dramatic eye contour than other natural eyeshadow palettes might. What did you think of the Kat Von D palette? Are there any other palettes you think I should try? Let me know in the comments!