No Makeup March: 5 Tips for Surviving a No-Buy!

I don't know if anyone agrees with me or not, but I definitely have been buying a lot of makeup lately. Every brand is coming out with their limited edition palettes and lipsticks, and they are so beautiful that I cannot pass them up. But because I am starting to budget my money better, I know that a month without excessive makeup purchases is necessary. Below are some tips that have helped me stay away from purchasing makeup since February 24!

1 -- Take note of everything that catches your eye when you are on your No-Buy
If you see that new Maybelline lipstick collection, take note of every shade that catches your eye. I know that this has helped me realize how much of a compulsive buyer I have become. How many nude lipsticks does one person need? A lot, but if you really think about the things you want, you will end up using them more. And at the end of the month I am going to reflect on my list and probably laugh at the hundreds of dollars I would have spent if I just bought everything that caught my eye. That will help me justify the haul I plan on doing at the beginning of April!

2 -- Re-organize your makeup collection
My makeup collection is nowhere ready to be shown on the internet, I plan on doing a makeup collection post as soon as I move into my apartment and have everything organized to perfection. But on that note, I re-organized to see what I have and what I do not use regularly. And there is something about looking at my collection and all of my products that is just so amazing. I cannot be the only person that feels that way, right? Makeup isn't just a hobby, it is an amazing part of my life! While re-organizing, I found some forgotten gems.

3 -- Pull out a few items you have been neglecting and use them every day
I chose to pull out one of my Hard Candy baked eyeshadows, my L'oreal Voluminous mascara, and my Physician's Formula BB Powder. I have neglected these (and many more) items in my collection as I just continued to purchase more and more products. I love my Hard Candy eyeshadows, but because I focus my money on high end palettes, they have been ignored.

4 -- Appreciate your monthly subscription box/bag
I was taken off of the Ipsy waiting list last month (before I decided on my March No-Buy), and now it is all I can do to just stand next to the mailbox until my Ipsy Bag gets here! So when it does, I will be sure to love everything in the bag as much as if I had hand-picked the items myself! Whether you are subscribed to Ipsy, Birchbox, Wantable, or the seemingly dozens of other subscription services out there, appreciate them during your no-buy!

5 -- Take a few days out of the month to go without makeup entirely
If you say the term "No Makeup March" I can guarantee you will get at least one person ask why you are still wearing makeup. So you need to explain what our community calls a "No-Buy" and how you still get to wear makeup. But on my low-key days I have just been washing my face and leaving the house to run errands or stay home and do chores. I do not feel like makeup is necessary, it is something I enjoy putting on every day and I look forward to getting ready in the morning. But I tried and make a full circle with my "No Makeup March" plan by not wearing makeup at all for a few days here and there.

Additional Bulletin Boards!

So, as promised, I am bringing you some extra bulletin boards! The Behind-the-Desk board in my building has become the Calendar Board! I think that this will be super cute to continue for the last three months of the school year. So here it is!

And also, my best friend and co-worker, Ashley thought up this brilliant idea for her bulletin board! It is for Women's History Month, but I think that you could do this bulletin board any month! Inspired by Wonder Woman she titled the board "Wonderful Women." She spotlighted the following influential women: Marie Curie, Susan B. Anthony, Dorothy Komenshek, and Estee Lauder. Our school was also doing a lot of events for Women's History Month and she included information on those as well.

March Bulletin Boards

I was inspired to do this bulletin board because I read one of the facts online. Laughter is able to improve sleep quality. If you are an RA I can safely bet that you have had one or two sleepless nights. I don't know what it is about our job, but sometimes you just toss and turn for hours while that duty phone rests by your head. I write this post as I hold a duty phone. But I digress... I found a bunch of health benefits of laughing, typed them up, and put them on light blue paper. For the border I just found memes that I felt related to college students and put them up as well. Residents have been laughing as they read the memes and I have had a couple discussions on health benefits of laughter!

This board was done mostly by my coworker. So I will not be taking the credit for the idea, but I did help in the execution. Overall I think that it is a bulletin board that is pleasing to the eye.

I have a special bulletin board that I have not taken pictures of yet, but when I do you can expect to see a post on it this weekend! It is not a creative bulletin board, but I am pretty darn proud! Also, my best friend Ashley created an awesome bulletin board for Women's History Month! Look out for that this weekend as well!

Maybelline Spring 2014 Collection

This post is going to be short and sweet, I am on a very strict No Makeup March (aka my "no buy") because I was going overboard on the makeup purchases. Everyone lives outside their means every once in a while but I needed to cut back. Of course this comes right as Maybelline launches their Spring 2014 collection. Can you say "Limited Edition?" I needed to get something before they were sold out! I picked up three of the limited edition Color Tattoos and one of the EyeStudio quads. I am just going to do some pictures and then I only have a few final remarks for right now.

I was bummed to find out that "Pure Nude" is a lot like "Barely Branded." If you have already purchased the permanent color "Barely Branded" you might not even bother to buy "Pure Nude." Would you like a side-by-side swatch? comment down below and I will put that picture up.

The second color "Beige-ing Beauty" is a peachy/golden nude color, not as pigmented as the usual Color Tattoos, but I definitely enjoy the color and will use it as a base in future looks.

The final color, "Nude Compliment" is a taupe color that I think will be a gorgeous base color with any taupe shade you put all over your lid.

There were four (I believe) new quads out with this collection, but I stayed away from the traditional nudes and chose this one because I liked the purples in it! Maybe I will use it to do a smokey eye and post a tutorial!

I know that there were lipsticks, glosses, blush sticks, highlighters, and other Color Tattoos and quads out in this line--I definitely recommend picking some up if it is in the budget!

February 2014 Favorites

#1 // Olay ProX Advanced Cleaning System

I use this to cleanse my face every night for sure and sometimes in the morning as well! It leaves my face super clean and smooth and I think it is also helping my skin stay clear. If you use this make sure that you only keep it on your face for one minute, it might over-cleanse your face if you leave it on longer than that!

#2 // L'Oreal Pore Vanisher

I am officially convinced that this product does what it says it will and will shrink your pores after continued use. I found a bunch of samples and have been using them for a couple weeks and I love what this product does to my skin to help put my makeup on smoothly and even out my skin texture.

#3 // Revlon Lip Butter in "Pink Truffle"

I think that this color is a my-lips-but-better color. It is a little bit darker than my natural lip color but it is a great nude!

#4 // Lancome Juicy Tube in "Touched by Light"

This lipgloss smells just like any important high school event for me. Juicy Tubes were the THING to have back in the day and I wore this color to Prom, Ball, Homecoming, Graduation, this list goes on and on. Last October I felt the need to repurchase when I was feeling nostalgic. 

#5 // Physician's Formula Eye Booster Liquid Eyeliner in "Ultra Black"

This eyeliner has been great! I have been searching for a liquid liner that wouldn't transfer down after a few hours of wear. The product also promises to make your lashes longer and fuller, I haven't noticed yet. The product doesn't promise to be waterproof which is what I really want, but I haven't had problems with it like I had with my Jordana Fabuliner and L'Oreal liquid eyeliner pen.

#6 // Almay Eyeliner in "Black"

This eyeliner has been the best that I have found in years. I cannot tell you how many eyeliners I have tried: waterproof, smudgeproof, regular...They all smudged on the side of my eye. This eyeliner does too, but I have had the longest success rate with it (three to four hours without smudges).

#7 // Too Faced Shadow Insurance

This stuff almost never creases on me! I still want to try the Nars eyeshadow primer, but as long as I have this and it works 99% of the time, I am happy! If you need a primer that doesn't make your eyeshadow crease I would recommend this.

#8 // Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

This was an impulse purchase. It was the last palette at the store and I just needed it. You know how that goes, right? The shadows smell like chocolate, they are incredibly pigmented, and did I say almost no fallout? SO AWESOME.

#9 // Batiste Dry Shampoo

Why am I so late to jump onto this band wagon??? I didn't realize there was a difference in dry shampoos until now! This stuff is literally a magic potion for your hair. If you are trying to go a couple days between washing your hair, you need this stuff.

#10 // L'Oreal Boost It Blow Out Heatspray

I have never used a heat protectant hairspray, but I love this one. It's affordable, it creates volume, and it keeps my hair de-frizzed. If I use too much it can make my hair a little on the greasy side, but totally manageable.

Valentines Day Eyeshadow Tutorial Using Naked 3 Palette!

This post has been a long time coming. I have had a couple months to play with my Naked 3 palette and I can honestly say that I love it just as much as I thought I would. But from the moment I saw it two colors really stood out to me: Trick and Factory. The following look was the first look I created using my palette and I have used it on myself and my friends. I find it to be universally flattering and you can always use less or more depending on your taste.

1. I primed my eyelids with two products: Too Faced Shadow Insurance (Original) and my Limited Edition Maybelline Color Tattoo in "Nude Pink." I took both of these products from my lash line to brow bones.
2. Then I took the color "Limit" on a fluffy brush from Sonia Kashuk and blended that into my crease and a little above as my transition shade.
3. Using my finger I put "Trick" on the inner half of my lid (I have found this color to be difficult to apply with a brush, it is easier to use a wet brush but I like how it looks using my finger).
4. Using my MAC 139 Brush I put "Factory" on the outer half of my lid and blended it slighly up into my crease.
5. I took my MAC 124 brush and the color "Nooner" and buffed the edges of "Factory" and "Trick" out and added a little more to my outer-v.
6. Finally I highlighted my brow bone and inner corner with "Strange."
7. I used my Physician's Formula black liquid eyeliner pen and did a little wing.
8. Lined my waterline a with my Almay eyeliner in Black
9. Finished up with some "They're Real" mascara by Benefit!

January/February 2014 Bulletin Boards

Hello to my Bulletin Board Seeking RA Friends! Below is my personal hallway bulletin board along with the bulletin board I created with my floor buddy!

I was inspired to create this bulletin board by an ad campaign about sexual consent. I thought this bulletin board was relevant also because spring fever brings love to all residence halls. I found a slogan that I liked and then attached speech bubbles around the sides that were ways for residents to ask for consent or to understand when consent is not given. On the far end I included information about consent (ex: When you are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol you cannot give consent). Attaching condoms made this bulletin board extremely popular. If you search on Pinterest about Sexual Consent you will find tons of ideas.

This is not what I used to create this bulletin board, but if you are interested in re-creating I would highly reccomend giving it a look.

I saw this bulletin board idea originally with the Up! house (from the movie Up! by Pixar) and the house had balloons attached to it and residents could write about what lifts them up on the balloons. The balloon die-cuts we have are really small and I wanted residents to write a lot and have a lot of people be able to write. WARNING/UPDATE: There were a lot of inappropriate messages on this board over the month so be careful to monitor it.