2017 Black Friday Haul/Review

Hey beauties! So I ran a quick poll last week on Instagram and a lot of you guys wanted to see everything I bought around Black Friday/Cyber Monday with a mini review of all the items I've tried so.... let's get started! Some of the items weren't on sale but I had a Sephora/Ulta coupon for them while other deals are no longer available. However Dose of Colors and Anastasia Beverly Hills still have the same/similar sale on some of the items I purchased! 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Mini Lipstick Set, $24: The perfect way to try a variety of Anastasia Beverly Hills matte lipstick shades without purchasing them all individually. They are matte lipsticks but somehow creamy and don't feel dry at all! I bought Peachy when they first launched in the Fall and you can see the comparison in the sizes below.

Anastasia Beverly Hills (current sale):

• Glow kits are 2 for $40 (usually $40/each)
• Eyeshadow Singles 2 for $12 eyeshadow singles (usually $12/each)
• Liquid glow is 2 for $25 (usually $25/each)
• Liquid lipsticks are 2 for $20 (usually$20/each) 

I think I mentioned this in my Black Friyay post but ABH has worthwhile holiday sales throughout the holiday season that aren't price marked up beforehand and reduced to show they're on "sale" (which trust me, many retailers do this).


Anastasia Beverly Hills Radiant Blush Kit, $30: Pigmented & shook. I don't own a lot of blushes, in fact I owned exactly 2 before this palette. A Tarte blush from my Sephora birthday gift this year and a MAC blush (crazy I know). Radiant is for fair to tan skin tones while the Gradient blush kit is for deeper skin tones. This blush quad has 4 very wearable shades of blush, all different tones that are pigmented but blend beautifully - now I swipe blush anytime I'm wearing makeup. I especially love mixing the Coastline (coral) and Breeze (satin rose) together.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Sugar Glow Kit, $40: I own the That Glow kit (I believe its discontinued now) and ABH's highlighter kits are worth it whether regular priced/on sale. They're pigmented, buildable & blend - meaning your highlight will always be on fleek as a result. From the Sugar Glow kit, I found all the shades to be wearable except for Marshmallow which is super white on my olive skin but I'm thinking to try it out on my inner corner for a pop of color. As you can see Gumdrop is a fave of mine and has pink reflects which is different for me as I usually gravitate towards gold highlighters.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick Set of 6, $34: This set is just a STEAL - you're getting 6 full size liquid lipsticks valued at $120 for $34 - who does that?! The set contains a variety of shades listed left to right as shown in photo: Requiem( a metallic teal), Stripped (a neutral beige nude - my fave), Currant (a brick red), Toast (muted rosewood), Dazed (redwood), American Doll (classic retro Red).
While I'd never wear Requiem, the other 5 are all very wearable. If you've never tried ABH liquid lipsticks - this is your chance to get 6 shades for an incredible price. With this kit, I now own all the ABH liquid lipsticks (because of their recent/current 2 for $20 sale). These lipsticks are pigmented, matte but not drying and last all day (even with food!) Definitely my favorite liquid lipstick formula for sure.

Dose of Colors Holibae Set, $29: The Holibae and Snuggle is Real set is still available! Dose usually prices their vegan, cruelty free matte liquid lipsticks at $18/piece however in this special holibae set you're getting 3 full sized lipsticks - all a perfect shade of red. I love Dose lipsticks but you can't eat greasy foods with them because it will transfer to your chin (speaking from experience). The whipped, creamy formula is to die for and how cute are the puns. They also have a Nude Holiday Set called Snuggle is Real (so cute!). 

Huda Beauty Mini Obsession Palettes, $27/each: Sephora had these in store and I used my VIB coupon for these but you get 9 shades in a travel size eyeshadow palette that you WILL BE obsessed with - seriously. I wish they were full size but the colors are so beautiful and blend like a dream!! I started with the Mauve Obsessions Palette and ended up ordering the Smokey (far left) & Warm Brown (middle) at Sephora online. Well worth trying if you were curious to try out her eyeshadows but didn't prefer her Desert Dusk or Rose Gold palettes.

Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Palette, $65: I saw this on Instagram pre-launch and knew I was going to buy this palette. The colors are so beautiful and after trying the mini obsession palettes I knew these would blend well and it's the perfect addition to my collection. I know the price is pretty steep but you're getting 18 eyeshadows! Desert Dusk has some stunning duo chrome shadows that are unique to anything I previously owned and you get a beautiful copper glitter with flecks of purple and gold that is perfect for the holiday season. Most palettes never include glitter so definitely appreciate Huda for that!

Loreal x Balmain Collection,          $13.99/each: Loreal and Olivier R from Balmain collab'd and I had to try these to see if they were worth the hype. Some of the colors are unique while others are staples that I have similar shades to. I picked up Domination - a true red, Fever - a warm toned orange, Wicked - a deep purple, and Urban Safari - a blush toned nude. So far I like Fever on my skin tone and feel like Urban Safari is almost too nude for my lip undertone but paired with a KKW x Kylie cream lipstick it looks beautiful.

MAC Snowball Collection Pigments, $29.50: MAC's holiday Snow Ball collection has so many beautiful items but everything I wanted was sold out at my local MAC counter (of course). But they did have these pigment kits available in pink or gold. Each individual set had 3 shadows, 2 pigments and 1 glitter in a beautiful bag that definitely caught my eye. I had always heard of MAC pigments/glitter but never got around to purchasing. I swatched both the pink set and gold set and ended up getting both! It wasn't on sale but no regrets :)


Morphe Holiday Complexion Brush Kit, $25: Morphe is already relatively inexpensive when it comes to the makeup brush market but this kit gives you 5 full sized face brushes needed for each step in a makeup routine. The set includes a flat top kabuki, tapered highlighter brush, large powder brush, angled contour, and a fan brush! The beautiful copper handles and brushes are soft and to be honest, a little denser than the normal Morphe brushes I own that are similar to the brushes in this kit. If you're looking for new makeup brushes or don't have any and want to start expanding your makeup kit - GET THIS KIT. It even comes with a case - perfect for traveling or your everyday collection - trust that you don't need any other face brush if you have this. Unfortunately Morphe did have a similar eye brush kit that had 6 brushes but it is no longer available :(.

Tatcha Bestsellers Kit, $59: My fave Youtuber, Desi Perkins, raves about Tatcha all the time and in general the reviews of this skincare line are nothing short of 4.5-5 stars. Sephora, Tatcha & JCPenny all sell this online for a limited-time only and it has a Cleansing Oil, Rice Enzyme Powder, a Water Cream, and Dewy Mist. I followed these 4-step skincare system for a few days and noticed overnight how my pores shrunk and skin looked/felt tighter. In fact, my sister even asked if I had gotten my microdermabrasion/facial I get every 2 months - which I hadn't. I already purchased a full size Water Cream jar because its so hydrating with a beautiful scent and I'm eyeing the Rice Enzyme scrub full size because it's exfoliating yet gentle on my skin.

2017 Black Friday Deals!

Hey beauties! I hope you guys are enjoying the holiday season so far & are prepared to shop these sweet deals happening on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I collab'd with Rafa Farihah so head on over to her site after to find out even more sales :). I decided to just do one post with a section for beauty and a section for fashion with all my fave places to shop. 

Some sales are currently going on but their Black Friday deals aren't released yet 

I will update this post as more sales are revealed so check back! 

BEAUTY:

-Dose of Colors: Ongoing deal of the days - set of 3 full sized lipsticks for $25 

(Friday's sale isn't announced yet)

-KKW Beauty: 20% off Creme Contour Highlight Kits 

30% off Power Contour/Highlight Kit (I use shade light-medium - love it!)

30% off KKW x Kylie Liquid Lipstick Collection (Kiki is my fave)

Starts Thursday 6pm PST - Friday 11:59pm PST

-Anastasia Beverly Hills: 50% off Contour, Eyeshadow Singles, Blush Trios 

40% off Glow Kits, Liquid Lipsticks, Lip Gloss

30% off Darkside Liner, Matte Lipstick

FREE Brush w/purchases over $75

-Ulta: TONS of Black Friday Beauty Busters 

shop in-store Thursday at 6pm or online at 5pm CT 

-Sephora: Up to 50% off Wednesday Wow deals - Friday's sale not announced

-Sigma Beauty: Buy more, save more! 20% off $50 or more (BUY20)

30% off $100 or more (BUY30), 40% off $200 or more (BUY40)

-House of Lashes: 30% off your entire purchase - use code BLKFRIYAY

Valid 11/22-11/24 11:59 pm PST 

-LuxyLash: 40% off the entire site! +Free Shipping on all U.S orders

Use promo code: BLACKFRI at checkout valid through 11/26/17

FASHION:

-Missguided: 50% off everything! Starts today - use code: FETCH50

-Quay Australia: Get a FREE pair of High Key Silver sunnies on 

orders of $75 or more through 11/26/17

(those sunnies I'm always wearing!) 

-Adidas: Save up to 50% on select hoodies, outerwear, footwear, tees

-H&M: 20% off in-store/online until 11/22 midnight PST 

(Friday's sale isn't announced yet)

-Banana Republic: 50% off regular priced items 

(Discount applied automatically at checkout)

-Express: 50% off everything + FREE shipping! 

-Gap: 50% off everything! Use code: BLKFRIDAY)

-Nike: 25% off select styles using code: EPIC25 at checkout

-Victoria's Secret: 40% off all sport, 30% off all fashion show gear 

(Friday's sale isn't announced yet)

Dose of Colors DesixKaty Collection Review!

Hi beauties! The makeup world has had some fire collections drop lately and I'm here to give you the scoop on whether it's worth buying or not. First up is the Dose of Colors DesixKaty collection that dropped mid-August. Dose of Colors is paraben free, cruelty free & vegan company and the prices of the collection were in the same range as their usual products. Desi Perkins and Katy have extremely popular YouTube channels - in fact they're my favorite because their tutorials are always so creative and detailed. All their recommendations have always proven solid for me so when I heard they were dropping an entire collection - I already knew it was going to be hot fire. Watch their YouTube announcement here, explaining all their products in depth.

Packaging: 11/10, Honestly, the packaging is absolute perfection - they nailed it. The eyeshadow quad and highlighters have a beautiful sparkly packaging (and the sparkles don't shed #win). The matte lipsticks and liquid lipsticks have a nude simple yet chic vibe with rose gold lettering/tops. They even have their signatures on the inside of the matte lipstick tubes which I loved. These will definitely look good on your makeup vanity.


Eyeshadow Quad: $28, 9/10, The eyeshadow quad comes with 4 shades, two of which are completely unique to anything I own. Two of the shades are recommended to apply wet with a finger for the most color payoff, making this easy to use in my opinion. Suz is described as a champagne shade that is formulated to be used wet (preferably with a finger). Harpoon is a metallic green with gold reflects that is also formulated to be used wet. Turbosan is an ultra luxe shadow that is packed with shimmering reflects - with flash photography it look absolutely stunning. Noli is a bronze shade with shimmering reflects.

Fuego Highlighter

Highlighters: $28 each, 10/10, There are 2 highlighters in this collection - Fuego and Miramé. Fuego is the lighter of the two highlights and has honestly become my favorite. Miramé looks amazing on olive to deeper skin tones while Fuego is perfect for everyone. The highlighters have shea butter in the ingredients which explains why they're buttery goodness. I always apply my highlighters with a spray of MAC Fix+ and a fan brush for the most color payoff.

No Shade

Matte Lipsticks: $16 each, 8/10, There are 2 matte lipsticks in this collection - both nudes in the shades More Creamer Please and No Shade. More Creamer Please is the more peachy of the two while No Shade is the lightest Nude. Personally I love More Creamer Please and think No Shade is almost too nude for me but when I pair it with a KKW Kimberly liquid lipstick it creates the perfect balance. 

Hot Fire Liquid Lipstick

Liquid Lipsticks: $18 each, 9/10, There are 2 liquid lipsticks in this collection - Hot Fire (the perfect red orange) and Sávage (an ox blood deep maroon). They are formulated similarly to Dose of Colors' usual liquid lipsticks which means they're pigmented, not drying and have a whipped texture to them when applying. I usually apply a lip liner with deep lipstick shades such as Sávage but I wore it to a friends wedding a few weeks ago sans lip liner and it didn't bleed out or move in the slightest after dinner.

All in all, I believe this collection will add a mix of fun everyday and unique glam products to your makeup collection and is definitely worth purchasing. It is limited edition and because the first launch was so successful, Dose of Colors, Desi & Katy announced there will be a RESTOCK on Sunday, September 24th at 6 pm PST (9 pm EST). I recommend having a PayPal account for faster checkout and being on the site 10 minutes prior. I had such a smooth and easy checkout unlike most makeup launches - partially because they had lot of stock - it sold out hours later - other companies should take note. 

More Creamer Please

                                              

Sávage Liquid Lipstick

ABH Subculture - Hit or Miss?

Hey beauties! Recently, Anastasia Beverly Hills launched their Fall 2017 collection which included the sister palette to Modern Renaissance - Subculture, 4 liquid glow shades, as well as 30 matte lipsticks. Subculture is an edgy palette with 14 softly pressed, highly pigmented shades retailing for $42. The liquid glow tubes are pigmented, creamy and retail for $25/each. The matte lipsticks retail for $18/each on ABH, Macy's, Dillard's, and Sephora. The entire collection is online at partnered retailers as of August 1st but will be in stores on Tuesday, August 15th if you want to check it out in person.

#SubcultureGate began the weekend after it launched on Anastasia's website when everyone started getting their palette's in the mail and began to swatch and test out the shadows for quality, pigmentation, belndability and let's not forget - fall out. The makeup world went nuts with the mixed reviews - everyone was comparing batch #'s and all kinds of things to see why someone's palette had normal fallout while others were extremely powdery. Since the palette is softly pressed to provide higher pigmentation - the fallout will be a bit more than Modern Renaissance however batch inconsistencies are the reason why not everyone received "normal" palettes. I definitely wouldn't recommend this palette to someone starting out in makeup - eyeshadow in particular - because it can be a little difficult to work with. I've been doing makeup for years and even I had to get used to it. I never do my eyes first - I like doing my brows, face, then eyes however with this palette you must do your eyes first because yes there is fallout. All in all, if you love the colors/pigmentation but are still unsure if you want to purchase - I would wait it out because Anastasia Beverly Hills is planning on pressing the shadows a bit harder to prevent fallout and quality testing the palettes over again. It is not limited edition so don't feel rushed/pressured to get it.

Pigmentation is pretty incredible with this palette - Adorn is probably my favorite shade because when applied with the fingers straight to the lid it's pigmented and the reflects are beautiful. Electric was another shade I was drawn to because it's unique and when used with Mac Fix+ it was beautiful. I've been on the hunt for a yellow so Edge is another very well pigmented shade, as is Axis and Untamed. I found Axis to have a bit more fallout than the others and am guessing it's because of how pigmented it is - I think it's the shade with the most pigment if I'm not mistaken. Allstar blends beautifully and New Wave is a nice soft toned orange unlike anything I own.

I did a makeup look using Edge, Roxy, Fudge & Electric and thought they all blended easily together. There have been some shades such as Destiny and Rowdy that others have claimed of becoming muddy when trying to blend with other shades - however I have not tried those colors yet so I can't say for sure. Again - because of batch inconsistencies it's hard to tell what your palette with be like unfortunately. Mine had a bit more fallout than my Modern Renaissance palette - but because of the pigmentation and unique colors - I'm okay with working with them because Subculture has inspired me to step out of my warm tone addiction when it comes to eye makeup.

Peach Fizz (left), Perla (right)

Quick review: I also purchased 1 of their matte lipstick's in the shade Peachy and it's surprisingly creamy - yet matte and very pigmented. Once they launch in stores on Tuesday I plan on swatching some more in person and picking up some shades I don't have yet. I also got 2 of the 4 liquid glows in the shades Peach Fizz and Perla. Peach Fizz has a more golden undertone that would work well with medium to deeper skin tones. Perla is a lighter undertone that will work with all skin tones. The liquid glows are beautifully pigmented and easy to blend into the skin and build the product up as needed.

If you have any questions - leave the below! I hope this helped :) What would you like to see next?

My Lasik Experience

Hey guys! As many of you know, I've had glasses since I was probably 6 or 7 years old - the result of sitting wayyy too close to the TV. I was picked on as a kid in elementary-middle school, called four-eyes etc. but I loved my glasses regardless (I personally thought they looked cool).

Note: *I monitored my vision with yearly eye exams and my vision hadn't fluctuated for a few years and my doctor said I could go ahead which is why I researched Lasik places to begin with - definitely ask your doctor! I'm just giving you guys my experience so if you are looking into it - you have a better idea of the process/procedure than I did when I got it done.

Background: In high school (10th grade) I entertained the idea of contacts, paid about $500+ dollars and thought maybe I can try a new look and get rid of my frames once and for all. Wrong. Not only did I have myopia (nearsightedness) and very high astigmatism, but if the contact moved even a little I had blurred vision. I tried different brands and my doctor couldn't figure out why I was having this problem - maybe the contact didn't even move - but after 30ish minutes of inserting my contacts, I couldn't see. That's why I gave up on the idea of contacts, it just wasn't worth the hassle or the price. My doctor told me about Lasik at the time but advised to wait till I was 21 or older so that my vision could stabalize. If you have astigmatism, I'm sure your doctor has told you that your vision will get worse as you get older before it just stops. I don't quite remember the exact number in each eye but it was about -3.75 for a long time.

Fast forward 7 years and I was considering getting Lasik - mainly because my sister was getting married and I was over my frames at this point so it seemed like the perfect time. I started researching different areas in Atlanta and found Thomas Eye Group. They were running a summer special at the time where I got 40% off ($2,156 to be exact) but that's not 100% why I chose them even though the discount did play a factor. So, I made an appointment for a consultation just to see if I was even eligible.

Lasik Consultation: They did a series of tests, including your basic eye exam that includes dilating your eyes but also used a machine in another room to measure the thickness of your cornea which determines if you're eligible for Lasik or PRK. The staff was super nice and had no problem answering my endless questions. If you wear contacts when making your appointment you will be told to stop wearing them and switch to glasses a certain # of days before your consultation. If you decide to go ahead with the procedure you have to drop your contacts 14 days prior to your surgery.

Did you get Lasik and PRK? What's the difference?: I had a thinner cornea so I was recommended to do the PRK (photo refractive keratectomy) procedure. If you have a normal-thick cornea you will be advised to get Lasik. I asked how/why my cornea was thinner and was told your cornea thickness never changes - your either born with a normal, thin, or thick cornea. Both procedures are extremely safe but PRK is considered to be safer because the corrective surgery is done on the surface of the eye whereas in Lasik they create a flap, correct your vision, and seal the flap.

Pre-Op: The office called in my post-op meds to a pharmacy where I picked them up a few days before my surgery. My dad drove me to my appointment where they did another eye exam in the room and put a number of drops in my eyes. They also gave me some sort of medication to help calm me down - except that medicine had literally 0 effect on me lol. I was sitting outside the surgical room with my dad and caught a glimpse through the door of someone getting their procedure done....  my dad was like "oh look how simple it is!" I started crying because I was terrified and of course the lady comes to get me at the same time and was like "come on your turn! you'll be great!" In my head I'm thinking "should I make a run for it?" as the lady guided me to the table and as soon as I laid down on the table - I knew I should've ran. They told me to stop crying because they had to put in 1 more set of eye drops (how embarrassing am I haha). Once I calmed down, they covered me with a blanket and handed me a Winnie the Pooh bear. They said I should use it to squeeze as hard as I want, to stare at the red light but do not move.

Surgery: Given the stakes if I moved even the slightest - I heeded the warning and stay put, clinging to Winnie the Pooh with ZERO shame. The clamp they use to keep your eye open was probably the scariest but after the doctor finished the first eye I calmed down completely because it was painless. I stared at the red light religiously and when he was done and cleaning the eye you lose your vision for a second (scariest second ever but they warn you before it happens and it's fine). He did the same for the other eye and that was it. It probably took 15 minutes, with set up being the longest. The actual procedure was probably 5?

Post-Op/Recovery: After surgery you're told to go home and go straight to sleep. Avoiding all forms of electronics is highly encouraged and of course you don't want to mess up your eyes right after surgery. With PRK you have to use certain eye drops for a number of things and your vision won't be clear immediately. In fact, it will be blurry and it gets better as the days go by - I spent about 7 days in bed. (With Lasik, you have a 24 hr recovery time and can drive yourself to the next day post-op appointment - with PRK I had to have a driver). The pain medication they gave me - Tramadol - I took one dose and man it made me sick. I couldn't handle it and after it was out of my system, I never took another dose again. Recovery wasn't physically painful so I didn't need the pain medication but with days of just laying in bed with blurred vision - I resorted to Netflix. I didn't watch it, I had my brother turn on a series and had the laptop on my side table turned around so I only listened but it helped me get through my recovery lol.

All in all, the $3.2K investment is totally worth it! Since I had PRK I had to go back for monthly checkups for 3 months and on the 3rd month I had 20/20 vision! In the time span of the 3 months I could see fine but like I said, with PRK your vision gets better and better over time rather than immediately (like Lasik).

I hope this answers all you guys' questions! If you have anything else you'd like to ask leave a comment down below! I'll be happy to answer them :)

Rasmin

Green Pressed-Juice

I am sharing a basic green pressed juice recipe that I really enjoy and think that it is perfect for beginners who are not used to these type of juice. This green juice has a lemony, sweet, and refreshing taste to it. I hope you give it a try!

If you are new to drinking the common "healthy" vegetable and fruit blend pressed juice, you may notice that sometimes your taste buds find fresh mix juices to be slightly "earthy". This is because of the blend of vegetables in these juices that give off a strong earth type of flavor and if your taste buds are not used to this type of flavor, it may take a few juices to get used to it. But sometimes, an easy fix to this is to add an extra sweet source fruit such as an apple. But be careful not to turn your healthy juice into a high sugar blend in a glass by using too many fruits!

I finally pulled out my juicer after shoving it in my cabinet for more than a year after moving into our new apartment. When my husband and I first got married, we juiced and made smoothies often. Then, as both of our jobs became more hectic and lifestyles became consumed in other needs, making fresh vegetable and fruit juice blends became a bit of a tedious project every week. Like anything, a habit takes a bit of consistent work. We built a habit by consistently making sure we had something healthy and natural to sip on in our refrigerator but after a few moves, relocations, and new jobs, a new (bad) habit formed, which was to stop making our delicious fresh juices. I truly regret getting out of the habit of making these juices as they used to make both of us feel so refreshed daily. So to start off fresh with the new Spring season, I made the decision to start juicing again.

Now, when I say I "juice", I want to clarify that I do not use juices as a meal replacement or a detox. To have a healthy and fit body, I highly recommend a well-balanced meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Add a vegetable and fruit blend juice as a post-workout recovery drink or just a little "pick me up" refreshment throughout your day.

Ingredients: 
2 medium green apples (cut in halves)
3 large stalk of celery
1 large cucumber
1/2 thumb ginger root (peel off skin or leave it on)
1 whole lemon (use half if you want a less tangy flavor)-Peel off the skin
3-4 cups of fresh spinach
Cold-Press or Centrifugal Juicer (I used Breville Juice Fountain Duo HERE)
Large airtight mason jar for storage (in case you don't drink it all right away)

Directions:
Start out by putting in the tough fruits or vegetables first such as the apples, celery, cucumber. I also like to throw in the ginger in between other vegetables to assure it gets juiced. After I have shoved and juiced all of my vegetables and fruits, I like to go back into my jar that collected the "pulp", form into large balls and put it through the juicer again at a very low speed. You'd be surprised how much more juice you can get out of that pulp/fiber! Enjoy cold. Store in an airtight mason jar, refrigerated.