September ipsy glam bag review

Street style is the word these day at Ipsy. A subscription bag from the US at $11/month plus $4.95 shipping to Canada.

   

I looked at the sneak peak, so I knew what was coming at the beginning of the month. I don't have prices now, but I'll try to go back later and add them. 

First, the Hikari lipstick in Cabernet. This is a gorgeous deep fall red. I'm not sure if this will match me, but it is a colour I would love to have the confidence to pull off. Full size.

UPDATE: Something in this lipstick causes an allergic reaction on my daughter's skin. I tried it out, saw it doesn't match my skin tone, and teased my daughter by leaving kiss marks on her belly. The rash was very mild, and cleared fast.

Pacifica 7 free nail colour in red red wine. Lovely packaging! I'm drowning in nail place polish, so I'll likely gift this to keep my makeup in one room of the house ;) full size.

Mitchell and Peach Floral no. 1 hand cream. This smells just like a hotel hand lotion, and feels similar. 30 mL.

Nourish organic face cleanser in cucumber and watermelon. True to its name, I can't smell anything. Organic and moisturizing. I'll add this to my shower. Size unspecified. 

Be a bombshell smooth criminal powder. This was the product I was excited about and true to BaB, I can't get it out of the box. I look forward to trying this. 4 g.

Cost of this bag $11 plus $4.95 shipping. I'm not feeling rewarded with goodies this month, but I did get a staple and a fun product. If I have time, I'll go back and update the prices, I feel like the value is higher than what I paid. If you want to try Ipsy, please use my link. 

Glamour Doll Eyes OTM September

Wow! I'm so happy with this month! 

Seeing the rainbow in the adorable bag made me think this was going to be awesome. 

First, the colour is "never be royals" described as a light blue with sheer orange overlay/duo chrome. To me, it actually looks liliac. I can't see the duo chrome in the jar, but perhaps once I get it on. 

Second, glitter! I've fallen for glitter, and want to get a few more. This one is beautiful. Called "unicorn tears" made of silver, pink, purple and blue in .004 and .008 hex. 

Third, Glitter Fix! I've been waiting for this to come back in stock (and it will October 15th) and I'm so happy to have a "mini" of my own! I'm going to be using this today. 

Lastly and in theme Unicorn candy. 

Love this month! I think I paid $6 plus $8 shipping to Canada, and I will gladly get this again if my budget allows. I have one more month on my subscription.

September Indie Gift Box Review

As I get ready to leave, the theme for September is office party. 

I don't know where they got such cute tape! Indie gift box is all about little details, and I love it! 

What's in in? 

Cooper Paper Co. notecards. I received 4 card in a very cute and very me leopard heart print. $7. You can find these guys on etsy.

Row house 14 pencil set. Three pencils with fun sayings. I have "beast mode", "hustle", and "like a boss". I have a sentimental attachment to these because I used to have a close friend who was always "hustlin' " and these make me reminsce. $5, also on etsy.

Sugar and type organizer download. $10. I'll have to check this out.

Koco and Viking notebook. Cute with natural pages. I'm not sure how I will use this yet. $10.

Simply Shiao animal magnet. Love! I got a goat and it looks like it can hold a few pieces of paper or a card and still stand up. You could also take it apart and have a goat body coming out of your file cabinet. This tempts me to spend more - maybe once I find out if we are exchanging Christmas presents. $5.

Paper trail pens. My positive pens say "the future is BRIGHT" and "make it HAPPEN". I love these too. I think you can never be surrounded by too much positivity that speaks to you. $5

Total value $42 ($32 without the online download). I paid $24.49 plus $12 shipping to Canada. A fair cost to value with lots of special finds. This is another month I love and I'll say it again, I'll be sad to have to "quit" this box once I start maternity leave. I don't know where they find this adorable stuff!

Fortune Cookie Soap - Fall 2014

Witch, please!

So cute, so wicked, so fall. So pumpkin spice and everything nice.

The fortune cookie soap seasonal subscription box comes out about two weeks prior to launch. I actually got mine after the official date (august 29th) as I'm a lucky Canadian. The box corms with a code to save $10 on your next order ans this launch was so popular they had to shut the site down for about 2 weeks to catch up and most Witch, Please! Items are still out of stock. 

This was actually my first order, and I was quite pleased. I'll be brief as most of these are self explanatory and I don't have the time for lots of photos today. 

The soap, fortune cookie shaped, with a fortune. Apple, cinnamon, all spice and clove. It reminds me of something, but I don't know what. 

Roy G. Biv OCD hand cleaner. I don't think I like this scent, but it will be going in my diaper bag. 

Green is the new black whipped cream. Love this! It's like smearing a pumpkin spice latte on my hands! Reading the descriptions, I think this would have been my favorite. 

Swankified walnut scub. Seems nice, smells and feels similar to the walnut scrub from my beauty box 5.

Miss popular bubble bath powder. I really wanted the box to arrive before my vacation so I could try this. I like the smell. But it might be too powerful in some products. 

Hair flip hair oil. I'm loving this, both the smell and how the product works. 

Flying monkeys personal space air fresher. Very banana, not my favorite, but currently rocking it's job at living in my car for every time I get in. My daughter was sick and vomited everywhere, this covers it up nicely until it warms up and I can clean it.

The shiz perfume oil. I like this scent, and it's very fall appropriate. However, I'm still not sure if it's a personal oil to use on my body, or goes into one of those oil Warmers. Please let me know :)

I used my promo code to order some "steam me up Scotty" bars which I think will be great post-pardum. 

I'm please with this box, and I'm looking forward to December's winter box. 

August goal updates

I was worried that I was going to go off the spending deep end in August. I had a bunch of factors that usually lead to emotional spending and I was planning a vacation to the center of my biggest spending temptation - Lululemon. More on Seawheeze 2014 and beautiful British Columbia later!

From my last goal post: 

August:
1. Pay off smaller student loan - Done! I have posted my "your loan is now paid in full" letter on my fridge for inspiration. 
2. Bring savings to $1000 - I can't believe but knew I had to do this before I left on vacation. I did dip into this the second week in September, but I've since been able to top it up.
3. Find $500 for vacation - Yup! I even stuck to my total budget of under $1000. Amazing (and probably less than it would be if I wasn't pregnant and knew what size would fit but still a win).
4. List a few more eBay items to achieve above goals then take a break - Currently on a break from ebay and feeling overly guilty about it.
5. Go on vacation! De-stress! - Loved it! 


September:
1. EF to $750 - yup!
2. Pay back $1000-$2000 on line of credit -... I don't think I'll be able to do this due to health circumstances
3. Feel prepared for maternity leave - ... not yet. 
4. Set up baby's room, see if any needs are missing - this week's goal.
5. Save up for daycare costs in case the baby arrives early - :/ 
6. Keep emotional/impulse shopping in check - I'm trying really really hard on this. 

I'm very happy to have the $1000 in my emergency fund now. It seems to be helping to keep me focused on make smart financial decisions, and to stall my emotional "what's the point, I can't afford anything anyway" shopping. Or I could be starting to be terrified the baby is almost here! As such, I'll have to wait until I start getting EI to make my budgets. I'm hoping to be able to clear my line of credit ($10,000) in the next year, and I want to start doubling some of my other debt payments. I'll also have to make it through a few gauntlets of expensive baby purchases. 

How was your August? How does your September look? Have you ever had to budget for a time where your pay was uncertain?.... Although most bloggers are free-lancers and that must be what they (and now me too) do every day...

glamour doll eyes, OTM August 2014

This It's a bit late, but better than never.

My favourite bit of mail arrived, and as was announced august was an extra month. Squeeee!

The package arrived in a cute bag as usual, and was crammed with stuff! No winder shipping to Canada has gone up. 

This month had two shadows (the usual otm plus a bonus from Darling Girl), two bonus from the newly launched Deadly Hollywood collection, and not one, but three candies! Bonus month indeed. 

This months's shades a touch dark for me (called cement heart) but is great for those who can successfully do a smokey eye. I love Teal Me Lies, and thought it was great for summer.  The hydra glaze smells great and does a wonderful job staining, and the blush is yet to be tried. All subscribers recovered a code to save on the full size, so I picked up the lighter blush as I think it will match my pale winter skin better. To date, I've loved all the GDE blushes I've tried. 

Next month will be my last, but I fully intend on getting at least one or two more before the year is out :)

Handling setbacks

I can't believe his fast this past month has gone. It was filled with lack of sleep (my daughter has stopped sleeping through the night and I cannot get her down for naps in the day), my summer vacation, lots of doctor appointments, the start of the fall semester and some news I didn't want to hear.

The news pushed me to stay in bed too long, and took away a bit of my hope. Really, it was just the lack of control I had on the situation. I know I can't control when I have baby #2 but hearing that I might be induced at 36 weeks felt (and still feels) way too early. And being told to stop working immediately when several factors including not having a replacement hired, let alone trained nor enough mediocre savings to be a tad comfortable did not help.

Retrospectively rather than moping, I should have started to employe this tactics:

1. Get enough sleep. I am in my third trimester, so this is like chasing the dragon but the 5 hours or less a day I was getting not enough.

2. Eat healthy! This is hard. This will be a fight. The longer you don't eat healthy the harder it is to get back. I may be snacking on Halloween candy now, but dammit I'm still going to try tomorrow.

3. Try not to panic. I've had to mediate some of my expenses and a lot of my plans. I'm feeling incredibly behind and I am not comfortable. At all. But, most importantly breathe. Take some extra time to think. Don't rush, move carefully.

I still need to work on these:

4. Exercise

5. Take time for yourself.

6. Talking it put with someone you trust (or, for me, you wide world of internet strangers).

I'm focusing on that I didn't hear "bad news" just "unexpected news". And you can always deal with the unexpected.

Think positive :)