Skin
What’s in my MAC bag
MAC Skincare travel-sized products
I have so much to tell you guys about this IIFA trip so far with M.A.C., and it’s only Day 1! One of you asked me to give you details on what was in the bag waiting for me in my hotel room on my first post. I was starting to write that post but am so tired (my eyes are shutting as I write this actually), so I got through one picture and decided to do a video blog. Here’s a quick product round up of the skincare travel-sized goodies I found inside:
Product Details:
1. M.A.C. Green Gel Cleanser, $10
2. M.A.C. Strobe Cream, $15
3. M.A.C. Cleanse-Off Oil, $10
4. M.A.C. Fix +, $10
5. M.A.C. Wipes, $15
6. M.A.C. Eye Makeup Remover, $10 {Ok, for some reason, I totally forgot to mention/take a picture of this last product — but it’s supposed to be uniquely effective but gentle so no irritation or burning…also made with soothing cucumber extract}
Anyway, I was literally getting ready for bed when I did this video, so please excuse the awesome tired eyes/sleepy voice/matted hair combo. I promise to try to look more refreshed if I do this again. Will write more details about the yummy food at my dinner with Mickey in my next post! 
Want to meet Rihanna with me?
Rihanna for Nivea
To celebrate her new LOUD tour, Nivea is offering a chance for one of my lovely readers to accompany me to meet Rihanna herself! As part of their #skin2skin contest, all you have to do is comment or “Like” my picture on NiveaUSA’s Facebook fan page. It will ultimately be decided based on the number of comments/Likes so tell your friends!
You ALSO have a chance to win two VIP tickets to Rihanna’s concert at one of the cities/dates below by joining the Nivea USA fan page, and writing on their wall about your favorite Nivea product (or how much you want to see Rihanna!) using hashtag #BeautyFeast and tagging my fan page (@Beauty and the Feast).
Chicago 6/15
Minneapolis 6/16
Los Angeles 6/28
Dallas 7/8
Atlanta 7/12
Uniondale 7/19
East Rutherford 7/21
Philly 7/23
Boston 7/24
5 brands that really stood out to me at The Makeup Show NYC
If you’ve never been to The Makeup Show, a professional makeup artist-targeted convention, just picture a colorful girly cosmetics wonderland — a very overwhelming one. There are tons of quality brands showcasing the best they have to offer and it can get a little hard to figure out just where to start. I felt like this year I got to really spend time at some of booths, and talk to the people behind the brands. After a very fruitful (and exhausting) round at the show in NYC, I felt like these five brands really stuck with me even after the show this year…and I bought many of the products to prove it!:
Armour Beauty
What I’m using: MD SolarSciences quick dry body spray
MD SolarSciences Quick Dry body spray
{Feel free to ignore my messy window in the background}
Weather in NYC today: 75 degrees and S-U-N-N-Y, or otherwise what I consider to be perfect.
I’m off to grab a tea with a friend, but with this sun flooding my room, I had to remind myself to apply some extra SPF before heading out. I have full bottles of my creamy sunblocks, but since I’m in a rush (and since I love their tinted face gel so much), I decided to go with MD SolarSciences Quick Dry with SPF 40. It’s a serious mist that’s full-bodied but LIGHT (no liquidy mess from a spray). I love that it’s not greasy at all and for you active bodies, you’d probably appreciate the fact that it’s very water resistant. MD SolarSciences sent me their line to try and it hasn’t taken me long at all to really love the quality of their products. The biggest thing for me as far as sun-protecting products go is texture and consistency, and these haven’t failed me on either so far. They’re not heavy but offer broad spectrum protection.
Giveaway: A gift bag from Lichi Super Fruit!
Lichi Super Fruit diet supplement
Lichi Super Fruit Probiotic and Total Body Detox
If any of you are looking for ways kick-start your fitness goals (and there’s no judgment if the beach is your motivation), you’ll love this giveaway! I’m partnering up with Lichi Super Fruit to give away a full diet/detox program that works to improve your skin and lose weight from the inside out. We’re giving away a gift bag that contains their Lichi Super Fruit Diet Supplements, Probiotic Supplements, and Total Body Detox.
Super Fruit Diet - natural and loaded with vitamins to improve skin tone and texture, increases vitality, and aids in weight loss.
My spray tan test drive with Evolv
By Nicci Jordan Hubert
Photo credit: Mark Matcho
There’s a whole slew of things grownups told me back in the day that I never expected would actually come true. You know, those “adults” tend to spin large webs of what we youngsters assume are lies — they just want to control us, right? For example, I never believed I would actually come to love foods like edamame, whole-wheat bread, and, *gasp, bleu cheese. I never thought I would actually see my waistline continue to expand, ever so subtly, after college. And I certainly never thought I would care about the stock market. These are stuffy adult conversations, and I — being perpetually, umm, 23, yeah I’m 23 — am certainly not an adult.
Another especially irritating adult warning was about tanning. Good Lord, if I could count the amount of times I was warned that youth doesn’t last forever, that wrinkles do happen…again, yech. So you can imagine my utter irritation when I learned that, alas, those damn adults were right, of course. Spending all that time in the sun really does, eventually, cause deterioration of the skin and therefore, it uglifies.
