VS Glamour

I bought Victoria's Secret Glamour "scented body mist" while in Florida for vacation. VS was having a really great sale and I couldn't resist purchasing it after smelling it on my sister. It's such a sophisticated scent and it's safe to say that I'm obsessed with it.

What's your favorite Victoria's Secret scent?

Wednesday/10

"I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait."

-C.S. Lewis

5 Favorite Blogs

Today I thought I'd do something different from the regular posts and share with you all my 5 favorite blogs!

1. Vivianna Does Makeup: Anna is not only a blogger, but a vlogger too. Her writing cracks me up-her personality really shines through in her posts! She writes about recipes, makeup, outfits, skincare, you name it.

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2. Barefoot Blonde: Amber is not only gorgeous, but she also rocks some killer outfits! Her blog is filled to the brim with colorful photos of outfits, DIY's, and step-by-step hairstyles, not to mention her super cute baby, Atticus!

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3. Lily Pebbles: Best friends with Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup, Lily is also a vlogger and blogger. She writes about nail polishes, makeup, fashion, skincare, etc.

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4. Willivia: Olivia blogs about her life being married and working for Google. Her photos look like they're straight out of a magazine!

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5. Paris in Four Months: Carin is a travel blogger who keeps a blog about her travels. The photos she takes are so beautiful!

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What are your favorite blogs? Share in the comments below!
-Carrie

Fall Goals

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With today being my first day of Junior year of college and fall semester (AH!), I thought it would be only fitting to list out my fall goals:

1. Make all A's 

2. Finish Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (yes, I'm still reading the book series)

3. Do a devotional every morning (I've been loving the She Reads Truth devotionals)

4. Find a job 

5. Practice Italian

6. Find a new hobby

7. Explore Birmingham

What are your goals for the fall?

-Carrie

Telescopic

Hi, all! Today I'm back with a mascara review. After my favorite mascara, Maybelline's The Rocket, dried up, I wanted to try something a bit different and stray away from "the usual." I went with L'Oreal's Telescopic Shocking Extensions waterproof mascara and to be honest, I think it has knocked The Rocket down from its spot at first place. 

First off, I really like the packaging. So far, it has held up being tossed back and forth between my makeup tray and my makeup bag and hasn't started deteriorating yet. Second, the wand is fabulous. With the longevity of it combined with the tiny bristles, makes for the perfect mascara applicator. Lastly, the formula is great. Withstanding water and sweat, this mascara lasts all day without flaking while adding length and volume to the lashes.

What more could you ask for?

Have you tried L'Oreal's Telescopic Shocking Extensions mascara?

-Carrie

Hi, I remember you.

Hi, everyone! I'm so sorry about being MIA the past week or so. Hannah and I are finally moved in to our apartment! We just got internet yesterday-so that's why I haven't been able to post (my data is already through the roof. oops). The past week has been really fun and really tiring.
To keep you guys updated, Gary and I are vlogging this entire week, so there will be a video next week and I'll be resuming my regular posts soon enough!
Thank you all for being patient and sticking around.

Have a great week!
-Carrie

Weekend Trip Makeup Essentials

Whenever I go away for the weekend, I pack pretty basic makeup supplies. I usually grab for the quick, no-hassle products. What you can find in my weekend trip makeup bag: full-coverage foundation, concealer, powder, blush, two powder brushes, a foundation brush, waterproof mascara, concealer brush, beauty blender, eyebrow pencil, eyebrow comb/brush, spooly, and a liquid eyeliner.
These are my current go-to weekend trip makeup essentials:
1. Nars Sheer Glow Foundation (review coming soon!)
2. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
3. Maybelline Dream Wonder Powder
4. Maybelline Fit Me Powder
5. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush
6. L'Oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions Waterproof Mascara (review coming soon!)
7. Stila Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (review coming soon!)
8. Beauty blender
9. Sonia Kashuk flat top brush
10. Sephora small contour brush
11. E.L.F powder brush
12. Sephora brow comb/brush
13. NYX eyebrow pencil
13. Spooly
As you can see, I really dig eyebrow supplies. #browlife

What are your weekend trip makeup essentials?
-Carrie

Wednesday/9

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I hope you all are having a great week so far!

-Carrie

Rambles

I had a week of posts planned for this week, but so far I haven't written anything (oops!). I've been really busy already this week with Wednesday being my last day of work, trying to see work friends before I leave, packing up all my belongings (which I'm maybe 1.5% done with), and still gathering everything I need before I move.

For the rest of the week, my posts will probably be a bit sporadic, but please bear with me as I'm making this change in my life. I can't wait to share with you all my new room at the apartment and all the hard work that's going into it.

For the rest of this week, my last day of work is Wednesday and I'm packing up all my things and moving on Saturday. Next week, I'll be spending a lot of time getting settled into Hannah and I's new place. The rest of the week, Gary and I have big plans to have one last solid week of summer together. Next Tuesday, we are going to a OneRepublic concert (AHHH!), we are planning on doing some hiking, and playing tourists in our own city.

I plan on vlogging and taking a lot of photos our last week of summer that I will be sharing with you all. After I get settled in the new apartment, I plan on doing a few DIY posts because my dad and I have been working really hard in the garage on a few pieces for my new home. So keep your eyes peeled!

I hope you all have a great week this week. For those of you who have started school, good luck to you all. For those of you entering college or a job for the first time, good luck to you all, too. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you who stop by and read here on my little space of the internet. I'm so happy you stop by!
-Carrie

Weekend/5

This weekend, I drove down to Birmingham early Saturday morning. All of our friends joined up Saturday at Saw's Juke Joint for some really good food and good company. On Sunday, we went to church and then later Sunday night we went to our pastor's commissioning night. Seeing our friends the whole weekend was so exciting because we only have a few more days until we move back down to Birmingham and then we can see them every week!

What did you do this weekend?
-Carrie

Let's Talk Ingredients - My Foundation Gave Me Acne

 Last November, there was a lot going on in life and I was really stressed out-the most stressed out and anxious I've ever been in my entire life. A little backstory: I've hardly ever had acne. I would get one or two pimples maybe once a month in middle school/high school/beginning of college and it would clear up fast. So, in November of my Sophomore year of college, I noticed that all around my chin was breaking out. I shrugged it off thinking it was because I was so stressed out. 

A month passed and my face was still bad, if not worse. I once again blew it off thinking it was just because of the stress of finals and the hormones in my body.

Fast forward to the end of July. My face was terribly broken out for 7 months only around my chin. "Why?" I would say every time I looked in the mirror. I tried everything to force it to disappear! I tried facial scrubs, masks, cleansers, everything. It seriously became an obsession for me to see if I could get rid of it and what makeup would hide it best. I became so self-conscious the last seven months about this chin breakout that just wouldn't leave me alone. 

Let's go back to April. I was online one day looking at a facial mapping chart (if you have ever looked at Pinterest in your life, you will know exactly what I am talking about) and I decided this breakout was definitely caused by hormones. There was no doubt about it. I didn't know what to do about it so I kept thinking and thinking and thinking "what on earth can I do about this?"

In June, I gave up dairy cold-turkey. That meant no more creamer, so I completely quit coffee (which I was drinking every single day), I didn't eat any yogurt, I stayed so far away from dairy milk (it was like the plague to me) and so on. I did that for a month and I noticed a small change. The acne wasn't so bad, but it still wasn't enough for me. 

About a week and a half ago, I was talking to Gary about how stressed out I was that my skin has been so bad for 7 months and I explained my frustrations about wanting clear skin so bad, but nothing would work.

He told me to think back to November and just think of the tendencies that I had going on. So, I thought and thought and thought. I couldn't think of anything. (By this point, you already know what I'm going to say given the title, but I'll keep going with my terrible story telling)

A few days later, I was totally giving up on my face being so bad and Gary said "did you ever think that maybe it could be your makeup?" I laughed. I love makeup! It was practically an insult. I changed the subject convincing him it couldn't possibly be my makeup that I love (and quite frankly, spent a lot of money on). Unbeknownst to him, I thought back to November when I bought Make Up Forever's HD Foundation right after my birthday.

About a week went by and curiously, I decided to look up the most common ingredients in makeup that cause breakouts. That was fun. And eye opening. I then looked up the ingredients in the two foundations I was using interchangeably: Make Up For Ever's HD Foundation and Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation. You can see the ingredients for these foundations here and here. The common denominator in both of these foundations I was lathering all over my face every day was: sodium chloride. If, like me, you're not into chemistry, or don't remember Chem 1 from those high school days, sodium chloride is the smarty pants way of saying SALT. Yes, TABLE SALT. Table salt practically broke out my face for SEVEN MONTHS.

"But how? Why didn't it break out my entire face?" I asked Gary once I finished researching ingredients. Gary (who hears too much about makeup and skincare because of his makeup-obsessed and skincare junkie girlfriend [sorry, bro!]) replied: "because different parts of your face react differently to different things." Wise. So wise.

What a humbling experience this was, ladies. If your face started breaking out and you can't figure out the cause, please look at the ingredients of your makeup! Don't learn the hard way like I did. It's so worth it! Yes, I know you may have spent $45 on a foundation, but a lot of makeup stores will let you return your makeup if you explain what happened when you used it. It's so worth it to be comfortable in your own skin! 

Since I found all of this out, I have quit using the two foundations (that I love so dearly) and my face has started clearing up more and more. Right now, I'm trying to fade the scars on my face that the breakout left behind. If you have any tips on this, please let me know!

*Just a side note: if you find that you are having breakouts due to your makeup, it is extremely difficult to find drugstore foundations without the common breakout ingredients. With sensitive skin, you have to be prepared to spend a pretty penny on something that won't aggravate your skin (I absolutely adore the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation-review coming soon).

Have you ever had a breakout due to acne?

Tell me your stories/comments/suggestions below please!

-Carrie

Essie Does It Again

You may or may not know this, but I really really love Essie nail polish. I've mentioned my love for this particular color once in a Weekly Favorites post; however, I think it deserves a post of its own. Essie's Bachelorette Bash is a pink polish with purple hues mixed in. It's the kind of pink that I can't take my eyes off. I seem to find time to stare at my hands and compliment them audibly every time I wear this polish. What? I'm not that weird.

What's your favorite Essie polish right now?

-Carrie

Wednesday/8

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"She must find a boat and sail in it. No guarantee of shore. Only a conviction that what she wanted could exist, if she dared find it."

-Jeanette Winterson 

Monday Morning

This is what my Monday morning looked like. Iced chai tea latte to wake me up, Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain for an effortless lip, Nars foundation (reviews coming your way!) to even out my tired skin, and a Revlon eyelash curler to open up my lashes.

What did your Monday look like?
-Carrie

Weekend/4

We started the weekend off with a birthday party Friday night, shopping on Saturday (yay for tax free weekend!), and long boarding on Sunday after church.

What did you do this weekend?

-Carrie