Birthday Haulin'

Helllooooo everyone!! I'm home from ALASAAAAKA. :) I gave myself a few days before I came back to blogging because I was seriously so exhausted. I wanted to blog so badly while I was on vacation, but I did not have any wi fi like at all. Awful. But I'm home and there will be more posts about the trip to follow in the coming days, I can promise you that. I wanted to get back into blogging by sharing what I got for my birthday after receiving a question in my ask box on tumblr about it.

I'm absolutely in love with my delicate Tiffany Elsa Peretti Color By the Yard Necklace with the small pink sapphire stone from my mom. It's so very me. I also adore the Tiffany Twist Bow Ring that is a perfect match to my Twist Bow Pendant that is my staple. Well done, Fancy Pants. 

If you've read my blog, you know I've been lusting after an iPad. I received mine with the MARC by Marc Jacobs "Dreamy" case from my Godmother. My grandpa bought me a new camera after a lot of debate as to which one, I decided on the Nikon Coolpix S6200 16 Megapixel in Red. It's an amazing camera and you'll see how crisp these pictures are in my future posts especially the ones from the trip. (10x zoom makes capturing bald eagles so easy!) With birthday money from Fancy Pants' family, I finally gave in to buying Nike running shoes: Nike Free Run+3 in Magenta/Silver. I'm obsessed. They're so light and comfy. 

Makeup. Beauty Products. Skin care. Easiest gifts for me ever. haha. My mom and brother both got me OPI polishes. My mom got me the New York City Ballet OPI Minis and let me tell you these colors are so soft and beautiful. I wore Care to Danse? every day of my vacation and received so many compliments. Grimsby, my brother, (no his name isn't Grimsby for real haha) got me OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls from the Spiderman collection because he knew I was dying for opaque white nail polish! I also received MAC Hey Sailor! Highlight Powder in Crew which is seriously perfect. It's a great pinky summer highlighter which unfortunately is sold out on MAC's website, but if you're looking for it check your local counter or store! The last three beauty products were Sephora must haves in my eyes: NARS Laguna Bronzing Powder, Urban Decay De-Slick Oil Control Makeup Setting Spray, and a Clarisonic Acne Replacement Brush Head.

I'm very grateful for all of the wonderfully thoughtful gifts I received for my 21st birthday. It's been a wonderful past few weeks and I can't say enough good things about the events and time spent with great people. You'll see tomorrow about all the great time spent for my birthday and in Seattle. 

xx - Dan

Baby Haul from Target and Sephora

Yesterday I took a quick jaunt to Target and to Sephora to pick up some travel-y type products. I had a gift card to Target and surprisingly I had enough money to buy the three things I had on my list (and only those items!):

• E.L.F. Essentials Custom Compact w/Mirror- I love love love this $1 fillable eyeshadow quad from ELF. It's the perfect alternative to the MAC empty quad because MAC eyeshadows fit perfectly. I don't want to take my whole MAC palette on vacation, so I'm using this to take my 4 shadows. 
• up & up Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes- I found this 10 pack in the travel sized aisle of Target to use to take off my makeup before I repurchase my MAC Cleanse Off Oil. 
• Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Shampoo and Conditioner- I've seen some commercials for this line lately and was curious since my scalp tends to get damaged during the hotter months and they're travel sized for the trip!

I've had my eye on one skin care line for the past few months, so I finally gave in and purchased a 7 piece starter travel set. 

• Ole Henriksen Seven Skincare Sensations- I've heard rave reviews about Ole Henriksen and was excited to pick up this set of half sizes of some of his most popular products. This line addresses hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, acne, dull skin, and large pores. It's a great value too at only $55 for $115 worth of products. You'll be seeing a review soon. 

I hope you enjoyed this mini haul of mine.

xx - Dan

Friday Favorites

HAPPY JUNE LOVELIES!!! When you're reading this, I'll probably be fast asleep after three super duper long days of 7 or 8 hour shifts at work. I always feel more productive when this actually goes up early on Fridays anyway. 

• GT with not so much L- Lately my weekdays have started out with a lot of the Gym. It's my perfect start to the day because I feel more productive and energized. I've been following it up with some tanning because come on who doesn't get a base tan before Alaska...(*crickets*) Okay, I also just like having color with my rocking bod, guys. Just kidding. haha
• Spring Beauty Vox Box- I can't really remember how I found out about this amazing website called Influenster, but I'm so so glad I did. Basically, you get FREE shipments of products that fit your lifestyle to try out and review (similar to BzzAgent, except for it's usually multiple brands of products at once.) I was so excited to get my Spring Beauty Vox Box after my Birchbox was a bust. I was super pleased with the products I received and will be doing an overview of all of them here soon, so look out for that!!
• Arm Parties- Everyone and their mother is into stacking and mixing and matching bracelets and watches right now. I'm planning on bringing just a whole ton of bracelets with my rose gold Michael Kors watch to accessorize on vacay. I've found some of my favorite stacking bracelets at Forever 21 (here, here, and here), Windsor (here, here, and here), and Target (here and here).
• Neon colored jeans- I'm finally finally FINAAAALLY joining the neon jeans party. I'm trading my royal blue and red jeans for these fabulous lemon yellow ones from American Eagle.
• Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15- I fell in love when I bought the Sephora Sun Safety kit and was so excited to finally get my hands on my Sephora VIB Birthday gift of two minis of the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments. They smell amazing like lemonade and they're so moisturizing. They even come in different tints. They're pricey for the full size, but so so worth it. 
• Scarves- I'm a huge scarf girl in the fall and winter, but not so much in the spring and summer. But lately I've been loving adding that finishing touch to an outfit with a fun colorful light feeling scarf. It's a wonderful pop that just completes any outfit. 

What are your favorites this Friday? Leave them in the comments and have a wonderful weekend everyone!

xx - Dan

New Makeup Items to Check Out

Summer time always brings about the most fun makeup releases in my opinion! The colors are more fun, everything is made to be long wearing, and it's easy. During the summer, my every day makeup becomes very low maintenance because quite frankly I'm lazy. I'm very excited about all of these really fun products that have just been released/are going to released very soon!

Benefit Cosmetics Snow White and the Huntsman Rare Beauty Kit ($45): Whether you're a Benefit newbie or a seasoned lover, this set promoting the new summer movie, Snow White is perfect for you. It has all of the most popular products: Bad Gal Lash, The Porefessional, High Beam, and Benetint. It's a great value with the train case too.

Maybelline Eyestudio Color Plush Quads: These are my favorite drugstore quads and Maybelline is debuting three new limited edition sets in the lovely Coral Oasis (pictured), Gutsy Green (mixed greens), and Smokey Night (deep colored smokes). They're very pigmented and create fool proof eye looks. 

Essie Summer 2012 "Bikini So Teeny" Collection ($8): I'm seriously obsessed with these colors. They are the perfect in between of neons and pastels. I love the variety in shades. I'm definitely lusting after the cornflower periwinkle blue (Bikini So Teeny), the shimmery bronze (All Tied Up), and the lime green (Mojito Madness)!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain ($7.69): I'm calling it right now. These are going to explode very soon. All I've heard are rave reviews from everyone who can get their hands on them. They are literally a twist up pencil balm and stain, not unlike the Tarte Lip Surgences. There are 12 shades for all kinds of effortless lip looks this summer that will last! I'm most excited to get my hands on a few of these.

Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer ($24): One of the newest high end concealers to hit the market  that's full coverage, creamy, and long wearing. Sounds like perfection right? I've heard amazing things about this concealer and I'm definitely planning on picking it up before my trip. It's been said to work well at covering redness and blemishes, but also under eye circles. Tarte's Maracuja Oil has been highly  praised at improving skin's tone, texture and moisture content.

Sephora + Pantone Universe Shades of Nature Eye Shadow Palette ($55): This wonderful eyeshadow palette boasts 35 silky eyeshadows in Pantone shades. It's currently exclusive to Beauty Insiders/VIBs on Sephora, but I think will be available to everyone soon! I've seen mixed reviews, but it's another really cool collaboration between Sephora and the Pantone Universe.

Maybelline Cat Eyes Waterproof Mascara: This package is so darling!! It's honestly what drew me because I'm not the biggest fan of Maybelline's mascara. I love the yellow and orange leopard print. I don't know if it comes in non waterproof, but I would imagine so! I definitely will pick this one up to try out because I really love the cat eye look and would like to see if it lives up to the name!

I hope everyone loved this little summer beauty preview!

xx - Dan