The Balm Cabana Boy Blush

Ahhh, Cabana Boy... where have you been all my life. If only this blush didn't look so frightening in photos, I could have owned it ages ago and been happy. Cabana Boy is a dark burnt rose colored blush. It is definitely dark, and not for the faint hearted, or the fair skinned. I found it a bit scary when I first swatched it after purchasing it online. I was sure it was going to be too dark for me but when I applied it, I fell in love. I'm quite pale right now, and it looks good, so I'm thinking it will look even better in the spring/summer time when I'm tanner.

 

 

 

It is such a nice blush that helps make your face look contoured and a bit more tan. This blush is not matte, because it has just a little bit of a sheen to it. But it can still be paired with a highlighter without looking like a disco ball. As with the other blushes by The Balm, Cabana boy is very pigmented, lasts all day and blends easily. It was one of the best formulas for a blush I have ever come across.

 

 

And the packaging!!! It's so cute, I love that each product has its own little scene on the cover. Each blush comes with a mirror too. It is a cardboard case with magnetic closure, and comes with a paper sleeve to help protect it. I have never had an issue with any The Balm blush opening up in a cosmetic bag.

 

 

Since I bought them together, I wanted to compare Cabana Boy to Pinstripe Instain. As you can see in the swatch, Pinstripe is darker and looks slightly more plum. But because they are so close, if you own one of them, you probably don't need both. So if the color is appealing to you, just pick which formulation you like better, regular powder blush for Cabana Boy or the super pigmented "stain" powder of Pinstripe. Please see my review on Pinstripe here.

 

 

 

 

 

The Balm Haul

I purchased all of these items from Hautelook in the middle of December. They were all about 50% off retail price (SCORE!).

 

 

I think I was most excited to try out the Instain Blushes because of all the hype I have heard about them. But the mascara is a re-purchase and Cabana Boy was a must for me since I love their other blushes. I have had all of these for a little over a week and have been able to try them out so I will post separate reviews for each item. I just wanted to post this as a chunk of products because I got all of this for under $60 including tax and shipping.

 

 

Burt's Bees Assorted Mix Lip Balm and Bag Gift Set

I got this adorable lip set in my stocking for Christmas. I believe "Santa" got it for around $10 from Ulta. It comes with 4 lip balms and a mini cosmetic bag. All Burt's Bees products are made in the USA, so the bag kind of ruins it a bit because it was made in Indonesia. The tag on it says it was made out of recycled paper, which is cool. But I wish that the whole set could have had a big fat "Made in America" stamp on it. Aesthetically, the bag really isn't my taste, so I think I might pass it on to my sister who I know will like it. But the lip balms are all mine :)

• The Original Beeswax Lip Balm with Vitamin E and Peppermint Oil
• Replenishing Pomegranate Oil Lip Balm
• Nourishing Mango Butter Lip Balm
• Rejuvenating Acai Berry Lip Balm

I have always been a huge fan of Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm, in fact, it is my Holy Grail Lip Balm. But I have never tried any of the other "flavors". So this set is perfect for me to try them out.

The original is still my favorite, but these other lip balms are good. The scents are a bit off to me, but they are actually a bit more moisturizing than the original. Although they all contain almost the same ingredients, the original Beeswax lip balm has more beeswax and the others have more vitamin e oil. I Suggest you check these out if you like the consistency of the original lip balm, but prefer a different scent from the peppermint. 

Barbie Inspried Nails

For Christmas I gave my niece a Barbie doll, and in return she gave me an adorable Wet N Wild Fergie 4 piece Nail Polish Set. The polish that stood out to me was the star shaped glitter. It is so cute, and exactly the sort of thing my 4 year old niece would pick out. I decided to really go for it, and pair it with a Barbie pink polish (this one is from Pixi). As you can see, it is very girly and quite tacky. But I must admit that I LOVE the way it came out!

 

 

 

 

Christmas Make up and Holiday Greetings

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I forgot to post this on Christmas Eve, but since I saved it as a draft I'm just going to post it a day late, CHEERS!

 

Here is my very festive and super quick Christmas look. I have Mac Eyeliner Kohl in Minted, topped off with a deep green eye shadow from BH Cosmetics 1st palette. I am wearing Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Red Alert. I made that Hair barrette in about 4 minutes the night before I wore it using sequins and a hot glue gun.

 

 

 

 Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Christmas Nail Ideas

Christmas is only two days away and if you haven't thought about painting your nails to match your tree, then you're probably the Grinch! But if you love Christmas and can't decide how to paint your nails, here are two ideas.

 

 The first one is mine, just a basic Candy Cane inspired glitter party. For the white I used OPI Alpine Snow with Milani Diamond Dazzle glitter on top. For the red nails I used Ulta Red Carpet Red with Shimmer Polish Cindy on top.

 

 

 

 

 This second nail look is what my sister Holly did on her nails. She did a variety of designs on her nails using OPI Alpine Snow, Ulta Red Carpet Red and Ulta Green on Wear. 

 

 

 

I hope these pics gave you some ideas for a very festive manicure!

Ulta Bath Gift Set

This is an adorable set that I picked up at Ulta this weekend. It comes with two mini 3-in-1 Shower Gel/Shampoo/Bubble Baths(Pink Sprinkles and Candy Cane Kisses) and a loofah in a pink glittery cosmetic bag. 

 

 

It is normally $14.00, on sale for $9.99. I used a $5 off $10 purchase coupon on this. But since I was one penny shy of $10, I had to buy a $1 nail polish to use the coupon. So it was $5 after coupon. Which in my opinion is a great deal. These 3-in-1 products are $12 for a full size, and the minis are $4.00.

 

 The loofah and bag are actually quite good quality! I've used Pink Sprinkles, and I LOVE the scent! It smells just like sprinkles!!! I think I'll pick up the full size of that flavor next time I'm at Ulta.