Month in Review | February 2019


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Hope your February was absolutely wonderful, my friends! I used to do a Month in Photos series every month and I really missed it so thought I'd bring it back in a somewhat new form to just review what's happened in life over the past month! It's really nice to be able to reflect and appreciate all that's happened whether that's through words, photos, or everything in between. I've always been a big proponent of keeping a journal, but sometimes life gets in the way  and reflecting through photos is just a tad easier :)

This past month was admittedly quite uneventful, but that's pretty on brand for me :P I'm a 100% homebody and honestly, if I haven't spent enough time at home, I really miss it! This month also began my 2nd semester of graduate school. I haven't taken much time to reflect on my graduate school journey over here on the blog, but if you'd like to hear more, let me know in the comments! It's been a journey to say the least. I feel slightly more confident this semester than I did the last, but the imposter syndrome is still present. I'm just trying my best to remember my little 2019 motto of impermanence - while I might feel overwhelmed and completely incompetent at times, it's an impermanent feeling and one that will inevitably pass as I learn and grow in this career.

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Ipsy Glam Bag Review: February 2019


Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

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Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag.

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Box Faves:

  • Hey Honey CC Cream: I was pleasantly surprised by this product because I am a die hard IT Cosmetics CC cream fan (my rave review here) so I wasn't expecting to like any other CC Cream as much as I like the IT Cosmetics. I find that most CC creams do not have enough coverage and even separate in the bottle so that you get a pretty oily mixture if you don’t use it quickly enough. This Hey Honey CC Cream is the closest thing I've found to the IT Cosmetics. Although I still love the IT Cosmetics a touch more, this one rivals it on coverage and moisturization and has been awesome for throwing in my bag on busy days!

  • Seraphine Botanicals Highlight: This highlight does exactly what its name suggests, it's a very natural radiance boost! I was expecting to not like this product (in the package, it looks like a pretty opaque silvery color) but I was pleasantly surprised by how natural and subtle it looks on the skin. I've been using it on days where I'm not wearing too much other make-up and I think it provides the perfect bit of glow without going too over the top :)

Box Flops:  

I didn't have any specific box flops this month since I've used everything and have been happy with how they’ve performed, but I have to admit that when I opened the bag, there wasn't anything I was especially excited about. Sometimes, I'll get excited about trying a brand I've heard of but never had the chance to try or a product I've seen reviews of - but this month, nothing really stood out to me.

Overall, this month was just an okay bag. I wasn't disappointed by it in any way - in fact, I am relatively happy with everything I received, however, there wasn't anything that hit me in the face as especially amazing either. That being said, what I love about Ipsy is that they now allow you to customize the frequency of when you receive their glam bags. You can select to receive a glam bag every month, one every other month, or even less frequently than that - although in my experience, some of these less frequent options don't show up until you are trying to cancel your subscription. For the last 6 or so months, I was on the every other month ipsy subscription, but recently, I've been playing around a lot more with different types of make-up so I've switched back to receiving my ipsy glam bag every month. For me, my ipsy bag is definitely worth it because when I look back at the different glam bag products I've received, I can confidently say that I either used up or am still using at least 80% of the products I receive in my glam bags - how crazy! If you feel like you don't have time to go out and shop for new makeup but want to try out new formulas and brands of makeup, I think ipsy is an awesome option.


What did you think of your ipsy glam bag this month? Are there any other subscription boxes you think I should try? Leave me a comment below!

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ESQIDO Gel Eyeliner Review ♥


Disclaimer: This blog post is in partnership with ESQIDOESQIDO sent me a free product for review. Opinions are 100% my own. Thank you to ESQIDO and thank YOU for supporting my blog!

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Hello everyone! I'm happy to be sharing with you today my review of the ESQIDO gel eyeliners. I've previously tried the ESQIDO false lashes (you can check out my review here!) and really enjoyed both the lashes and the lash glue in particular, so when ESQIDO reached out to see if I'd be interested in trying one of their newly released gel eyeliners, I was happy to give it a test run!

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ESQIDO's new gel eyeliner comes in both brown and black and sells for $12 per eyeliner. I'm relatively new to gel eyeliners as I'm mostly a liquid eyeliner user, but I think the main reason for this is because I find that many non-liquid eyeliners tend to pull at my eye uncomfortably! While there is a bit of pull with these gel eyeliners, they are miles better than a lot of the pencil eyeliners I've used in the past. These gel eyeliners also come with a sharpener built into the base which I absolutely love. You have no idea the number of times I have come across an eyeliner I love only to find that I can't sharpen it until I find a sharpener that actually fits it. Because of this problem alone, I'm now the not-so-proud owner of 6 sharpeners - eek 😂

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I will admit, at $12 per eyeliner, ESQIDO's gel eyeliners are more expensive than drugstore eyeliners I've purchased in the past, however, I do think that the price difference is fair given the superior quality of their gel eyeliners. You might be able to buy a drugstore eyeliner for a couple of dollars, but based on some of the drugstore eyeliners I've tried, it might be unreliable, uncomfortable to put on, and might dry out faster than an ESQIDO liner. Plus, even at $12 an eyeliner, ESQIDO's prices are still much more affordable than high-end make-up products - they're kind of a happy medium between drugstore and high-end.

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If you're looking for a brand that has a ton of products across the board, then ESQIDO is probably not for you - they mostly focus on false lashes and are just now introducing their gel eyeliners, however, I don't think that should deter anyone from trying out the brand! I often find that brands that choose to focus on one or a small group of products tend to have better quality products than brands who might spread themselves too thin. I thoroughly enjoyed both the lashes, lash glue, and eyeliners I've tried from ESQIDO.

I hope you enjoyed this little review! Have you tried ESQIDO products? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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