UNBOXING | January 2015 Ipsy Bag

This is the last one I'll be posting as I need to cut back on beauty spending...trying to be a responsible adult >.< Anyhoo, the long and short of it is that you get 4-5 products every month. A whole week has gone by with no post so I'm glad to be posting this finally :D Let's get into it!

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UNBOXING ┊Ipsy Glam Bag: October 2014

⇥ AT A GLANCE ⇤

Ipsy is a monthly subscription service that contains 4-5 deluxe and full sized products for $10 USD each month. October's theme is Beauty Candy, which fits right in with Halloween right around the corner. Side note: what are you going to be for Halloween?? I'm not sure what I'm going to be but I'm looking for some easy DIYs :D This month's bag includes the Epice International Purifying Exfoliant, Fig & rouge Hand Cream, Cirque Colors Nail Lacquer, Noyah Lipstick, and Skone Cosmetics TATTOOED Waterproof Eyeliner.

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EMPTIES┊August & September 2014 ♡

I didn't post an August empties so I decided to combine two months' worth of empty products. There's a lot of items to go through so I'll cut to the chase now! I mis-numbered the items so I actually have 16 products, not 17 but just ignore that little flub ^_^

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TIPS┊ My New Skincare Routine for Normal to Combination Skin

With all the skincare posts I've been doing this month, I thought a great way to round up everything is to introduce my skincare routine to y'all so you can see how it all comes together! Now, these are just the bare basics that I use on a (near) daily basis. I forgot to include my facial masks and spot treatments but those change depending on my mood so...that's my excuse for forgetting to photograph them X.X

Anyway, I divided it up into my morning and nighttime routine because there are some changes. I did include a special trio of products that I use when I need to but it'll make more sense when I describe my routine. Just to start off, I have normal to combination skin tone. My skin isn't particularly sensitive--I have only reacted badly to one product in my entire life so yeah, quite resilient. Disclaimer: These are the products that have worked well for me. I cannot promise that you will achieve the same results. Proceed at your own caution.

Starting with the morning stuff, I cleanse my face with whatever cleanser I have on hand. I was using the Paula's Choice Pore Normalizing Cleanser for a while but have now switched to the Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash (not pictured). I've only been using it for a week so I can't really speak for its efficacy but so far, nothing bad to report. I will list the stuff I plaster all over my face in the order I uhh...plaster:

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REVIEW┊ Paula's Choice Clear Regular Strength Kit

I've been hinting at the new changes to my skincare routine in a couple of previous posts and here are the new additions! I'm just going to say it now: these products work without over-drying my skin. The Paula's Choice CLEAR line in Regular Strength really works and I stand behind these products 100%!

A bit of background on my skin--grab your drink of choice and get comfortable because it's a long one. I've always taken good care of my skin. Starting when I was 11, I was washing my face and applying sunscreen daily. I almost made it through high school with relatively clear skin. Starting my senior year, I just broke out around my chin and cheeks. Since prom was coming up, I was in a panic to get clear skin. Asking my sister for some advice, she recommended St. Ives, which I used up until my 1st year of university. The harsh apricot scrub really messed up my skin, causing breakouts and blemishes in areas I never broke out on before. I immediately repurposed the scrub into a foot scrub, which it did eerily well. I used up the cleanser and tried something else. After two years of trying out a ton of brands products in an attempt to clear my skin, it was dry in places, oily in others, irritated, and red. The blemishes I was dealing with are the ones that are stuck underneath the skin for a very long time, usually weeks or months. When they do decide to surface, they are almost always inflamed, red, tender to the touch, filled with pus and very large. At that stage, they take a week or more to go away, leaving my skin with a dark hyperpigmentation mark to remember it by. At my wits end, I decided to give Paula's Choice a chance due to the glowing review of Wayne Goss. That was March of this year and I have not strayed from these items one bit! 

Another incentive to buy: Paula's Choice products are 15% off until October 7, 2014 at 11:59PM ET!! Free shipping when you spend $50+.

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EMPTIES| July 2014

On the quest to finish all, or being realistic, most of my beauty products before I move out, I'm looking through my stash and finishing up almost done products and my samples. I've divided it up below into skincare and makeup items so y'all can just scroll to whatever you're most interested in (but I do hope that you read everything!)

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FAVORITES | May & June 2014 ♥

I'm so sorry for not posting a May Favorites last month but I was just too busy to apply any makeup, let alone write about them. This post will be combining some this I liked last month and ones I've rediscovered this month!

Excuse the crappy picture...took this with the sun setting and as I'm not a Photoshop expert, this is the best I can do D:

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UNBOXING | Sephora X Laura Mercier Beauty Insider 500 Point Reward

I don't know whether to be happy or ashamed that I had enough points to cash in for this box but never mind that! Future Cindy can contemplate and deal with the consequences of her spendy ways (bonus points if you get the reference!). Without further ado, here is the lowdown on some Laura Mercier products!

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS | Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Original Formula Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel

So I've been on a skincare kick lately! As you all know, I've been breaking out like crazy, especially around my nose and chin. Changing up my skin care routine is daunting because there's so many products out there claiming to perform miracles. It's hard to find products that work so I've been researching a lot of products and looking in my samples stash to see if something will work for me. One of the samples I found was the Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel*.

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS | Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash

Hello everyone! Today, I have the Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash* up for review! I've been using it for the past two days and wanted to share my thoughts with y'all. ^___^

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FAVORITES | Year in Beauty: 2013 Edition ♡

Hey everyone! I'm a little late on this but I decided to share my favorite products of 2013 with y'all. I've tried so many products in 2013 so it was very hard to narrow it down to just 3 per category (makeup, skincare, and miscellaneous) but here they are! I didn't include any limited edition or discontinued products here because I think it's unfair to readers who want to try it out for themselves (and that helps me narrow down products some more--tee hee). I'll also include 3 products that didn't work live up to the hype to wrap up the first annual MWAH's Most-Loved Products of the Year ♡ !

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EMPTIES | December 2013: Part 1 (Skincare Edition)

So it's time for another empties! I've been trying to use up some of my products to make room for some new ones. These are a combination of skincare products and some makeup products that I've used up!

I got a sample bag from Sephora last year and some of these products were really awesome! I haven't used the Algenist Alguronic Acid yet.

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EMPTIES| August 2013: Part 3 (Miscellaneous)

This is Day 7 of Makeup with a Heart ♡! Sorry but I added products at the last minute, causing it to double in length ಥ_ಥ! So here is part 3 of the haul (the last part I promise!) ≧ω≦

From Left to Right: Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original, Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base and Top Coat, Eclos Anti-Aging Instant Radiance Facial Scrub*, Eclos Anti-Aging Facial Cleanser Skin Prep*, and Studio 35 Beauty Cotton Rounds

I've also decided to post on Mondays and Fridays, so check back this Monday for another post!

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