Fortune Cookie Soap Welcome Santa Winter Soap Box

It is that wonderful time of the year again when my seasonal Fortune Cookie box arrives! I always look forward to these and now I have officially tried one soap box for each season as I began my subscription this past Spring!

After being a little disappointed with the Fall box I was a bit nervous for the Winter box, but luckily they have really blown me away once again.  

So the theme this month is Buddy the Elf! I love that movie, it is so goofy and silly and just a good time all around so I loved the references and the scents and the packaging....and they really nailed it this season.

Buddy Fortune Cookie Soap

Initial: This smells like straight up candy.  It is extremely sweet but I wouldn't expect anything less from a product named after the Elf himself! I enjoy this, its really fun.

In Action: As usually these fortune cookie soaps suds up nicely but do leave your hands feeling a  bit waxy after drying off.  The scent lingers on the hands for a little while afterwards.

Verdict: While I wouldn't want to smell like candy, I'm ok with my apartment doing so, therefore I bought this as a wax tart!

Swirly Twirly Gum Drops Hand Sanitizer

Initial: As usual you can't smell these from the bottle, so you have to use it in order to actually sample the scent.  The hot pink color is pretty cute though!

In Action: Once you put this on and the alcohol evaporates this smells very light and sweet.  The smell is definitely not overpowering, in fact I barely smell it at all so its a nice sanitizer for when you just want sanitation without an overwhelming scent.

Verdict:  It is nice but I can't pick up all the notes that the description claims it has.  I decided to not purchase anything in this scent.

World's Best Cup of Coffee Whipped Cream

Initial: I was excited about this as soon as I read the name. I. Love. Coffee. So upon opening and taking my first sniff I was in love!  I could smell the maple right away.  Although honestly I wish the coffee was a bit stronger because the maple definitely takes center stage, but I love this scent anyway.

In Action: Unfortunately I feel like this smells a bit weird after sitting on my skin for a bit.  It doesn't quite smell like it did out of the jar.  It's not bad, just not as good. However after on the skin for a few hours I think it goes back to smelling good again, kind of odd how it changes but oh well! This also lingered on my skin for hours!

Verdict: I did end up purchasing this in a massage bar and a wax tart because I do really enjoy this scent and I hope they do more coffee scents in the future!

Shower Duet Shave Oil

Initial: Oh no.  This is not for me at all.  I don't like strong tree scents or mint and that is what this is.  I'll suffer through this only to test out the shave oil effectiveness, but if my boyfriend or a family member does not want it, its getting tossed.

In Action: This scent is so hard for me to handle but I did it, I used it.  Personally I really like using shave oil on my armpits, I'm not sure why, I just do. Maybe its because I think its ridiculous to lather up with so much shave foam for such a small area.  Shave oil you only need like 2 drops per pit and you're set, haha! I have only used one other shave oil ever and it was from an Ipsy bag or something and I don't remember the name but this definitely performed just as well. So yes to the product, nooooooooooo to the scent.

Verdict: This scent smells disgusting to me so no, I did not buy. However I like the shave oil formula so I'll probably buy it in another scent in the future.

FCS Cheer Perfume Oil

Initial: I was nervous about the cedar but oh my this is amazing.  The other notes really take center stage here, especially the vanilla.  I am a huge fan of this scent and this is probably my favorite from this box. It smells so much like winter and I've worn this every day since getting my box.

In Action: I swear I put this on at about 12pm and I could still smell it faintly at 9pm.  This scent is gorgeous and I feel like the vanilla comes out even more as it wears with the cedar disappearing completely, so I love this even more after a few hours of wear.

Verdict: I got this as a conditioner bar but now I'm honestly wishing I'd have gotten more.  I still have my $10 coupon so maybe I will get something else!

Yellow Snow Bath Bomb

Initial: This smells oh so very nice.  It is very relaxing and delicate. It is beautifully floral and fruity and man I love my floral fruits hahaha.  A definite win for me.

In Action:

Verdict: This scent is one of my favorites from this box so I bought the perfume oil! :D

Christmas Gram Face Plant

Initial: I've never heard of a product like this so I'm definitely excited to check it out.  As for the scent all I really smell is the lavender portion, but that's not a bad thing as I love lavender!

In Action: So I honestly don't see the point in these.  I filled up my sink with hot water dropped some in and draped a towel over everything.  It smells nice and relaxing, sure, but that was overcome by how uncomfortable it was to bend over a sink and hold my head above the water. I'm not sure how long you need to stay this was to get the pore refreshing effects but I couldn't do it for more than 5 minutes.  These face plants definitely aren't for me.

Verdict: While this scent is nice I personally already have some lavender scented items so I did not purchase.

Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins Dry Shampoo

Initial:  I love dry shampoo so I am very very excited to try this out.  However the shaker jar has me a bit perplexed. I can see myself making a huge mess trying to apply this.  The scent is so light that I can barely smell it.  However the description seems like it would be wonderful so I'm a bit bummed its too light to sample.

In Action: So because of my short hair this shaker bottle is very messy and very hard for me to  use.  I use dry shampoo at the hair by my temples because its the thinniest area so it tends to get greasy easy.  In order for me to apply this directly I have to tilt my head back, but then I can't see where or how much product I'm applying.  If I tilt my head to see, then the powder is hard to drop exactly on the spot without it missing and going everywhere. This is probably hard to picture haha.... but overall I just did not have a good time with this packaging.  Also I felt like it wasn't as effective as spray dry shampoos.  It did a little bit, but my hair still seemed flat.

Verdict:  Because this scent was available in a detergent I decided to try it out.  What I can smell of it is very fresh and lovely so I'm hoping the detergent will be a good choice! I wouldn't buy their dry shampoo however, it just doesn't work with my hair.

The bonus item this season was a candy cane.  Mine got a little smashed in transit but that's ok because I won't be eating it anyway.  I hate peppermint. Bleh.

Anyway! I really adored a lot of the scents from this collection and not only purchased some items for myself but also for some friends! 

As usual I can't wait for my next soap box! <3 <3

Want to watch me unbox it?

Renaissance Faire Fairy/Elf Costume

So my boyfriend and I have been planning a Renaissance Faire trip since early August but it just did not happen until October.  We were supposed to go two weeks ago but we got rained out, forcing us to reschedule and go towards the end of October.  The theme for the weekend that we went was a spooky Halloween theme so a lot of people were there in all kinds of costumes, not just time period relevant costumes.  Which meant I fit in a lot better than I would have going any other weekend.

I was orginally going to go as a fairy but since it became much too cold for my original costume my wings no longer worked out and I had to wear a lot of layers to prevent myself from freezing to death. Therefore I've been referring to my costume as an elf instead of a fairy because of the lack of wings....

So here is a close up of the makeup I did for my costume.   I wore false lashes for the first time in over a year so it was pretty interesting trying to remember how to use them. I unfortunately bought these a long time ago and do not remember the brand name, but I really wish I did as they are so pretty with a mix of black and purple lashes.  \

On my lid is Colourpop in Liberty, which I then gently covered with Shiro Cosmetic's Maiden Queen to create a beautiful shimmery metallic teal. Next I lightly applied a matte black NYX eyeshadow from a palette I have to my crease. Under my eye I smudged boxom's VIP under my eyes to bring in some purple to match my dress.  Next I took my trusy Jesse's Girl liquid liner and drew a thin wing and also added a swirly under eye accent and dots on my brow bone. I finished up my eys with a line of glitter from a retired Urban Decay heavy metal glitter liner.

On my lips is MAC Rebel, one of my favorite lipsticks. I put this on before the faire and it was still there after eating dinner!

My ear cuffs and high elf ears are from Aradani Costumes. I added the leaf charm myself and I painted the ears with my foundation and makeup.  However because our faire trip was delayed two weeks I think my foundation turned more orange the longer it sat on the ears, resulting in them not matching as well.  My necklace is from an Etsy shop called Pegasus22.

Here is a full body shot of my costume taken right before we left.  Excuse the messy background as we were running about an hour late and were throwing everything everywhere trying to get ready quickly.  My dress is the same dress I wore to my high school prom, so I was glad to get at least one more use out of it. I originally wasn't planning on wearing the sweater, leggings, or boots, and was instead going to wear just the dress with wings tucked in the back and sandles adorned with fake flowers. My costume couldn't be exactly as I envisioned it but I still had a ton of fun and got tons of compliments on my ears and dress.

I was originally supposed to go with my boyfriend, his brother and his brother's girlfriend but they had to cancel last minute because of illness so my boyfriend and I went just the two of us.  It was his first time ever at the Ren Faire and I hope that I was able to show him a good time.  There is so much to see, so many shops to visit, and so many shows to watch that it was impossible to be everywhere.  Therefore we are definitely looking forward to going again next year! :)

Surprise!  One of my very best friends was also at the Faire!  Here we are hugging it out in front of the human chess board after the show.  I'm sure you can see just how bundled up she is....yeah this was later in the day and the temperature was dropping quickly.  You can't tell from the photo but I was perpetually shivering after about 4pm.

Even though it was cold, the people we were supposed to go with canceled, and my costume wasn't as I imagined I still had a really great day enjoying the faire with my boyfriend.  Next year we plan to go when its a bit warmer.

Aradani Costumes Unpainted Latex High Elf Ears

This summer I plan to go to the Renaissance Faire with my boyfriend and some other friends.  This time I really feel like going all out and putting together a costume.  I decided to do a fairy because I'm all about that fantasy. Therefore the first item on my list to create my costume was pointed ears!  I stumbled upon Aradani very quickly as it was one of the first results when I searched for latex elf ears.  I was so surprised by how great their prices were that I placed an order that same day!

I decided on buying the High Elf ears, two ear cuffs, and some spirit gum.

Before I go into how I attached and painted my ears I wanted to briefly talk about the accessories I bought!

Here are the ear cuffs I purchased.  This was a necessity as ear cuffs help hide the bottom seam created by the ears. I chose the Elven Cuffs because they were the cheapest and I also really liked the overall look of them.  The leaf did not come with, I attached that myself with a leaf bead I found at Michael's. So far I love the color and ease of application of these cuffs. The metal is soft so it opens easily and closes just as easily allowing for them to be taken on and off quickly.  The only draw back with these is that it seems from opening and closing them there is already a tiny crack at the top of one of them. I am not sure if the few days I've worn them has caused it or if they came like that as I did not expect them that closely at first.  Either way they were only $4 a piece so if they end up breaking, replacing them won't completely kill my wallet.

EDIT: One ended up breaking because I'm an idiot and didn't now how to properly put them on.  You slip them on over the small part of your ear at the top and slide them down to the middle, this way you never have to open or close them besides the first time when you fit them properly to your ear.

I also purchased Spirit Gum, a cosmetic adhesive.  Aradani said this is their favorite adhesive for their ears and at only $3 for this tiny jar I snatched it up.  You only need at tiny bit to apply so this will probably last me longer than my ears.

And now for the ears themselves!

Each ear is handmade and unique, they will not be carbon copies.  As you can see one of mine was actually bigger than the other.  I knew my brain would not allow this unevenness to go unnoticed so I decided to trim the bigger one down to match.  Luckily it was quite easy and I just had to take a sliver off the bottom and make the circle at the top a bit smaller. 

Here is the unpainted ear resting on my ear, not glued, with my cuff on.  I wanted to show you how different the unpainted version was from my own skin tone.  You can buy these ears painted for an extra $5 added to the base $12 but since my skin is so hard to match to anything I decided to just paint them myself.

And paint them I did!  Here is a painted ear on the left and an unpainted on the right.  

Here are the tools I used to "paint" my ears!

 First I put down a  coat of Mary Kay Mineral Powder then used my fingers to rub my MAC Matchmaster foundation all over them. Then I took a small shadow brush and applied City Color Cosmetics blush up the edge of the ear.  I also took my NYX Taupe and contoured some of the indented spots a bit more just to add some extra depth.  I then took more blush and dusted it over the entire ear to make everything a bit more pink.  I Finished with another coat of the mineral powder.

Here are both painted ears, they look eerily life like in real life.

And here is what they looked like.  Still not pink enough in my opinion.  I'm just so red...:(

So I added even more blush dustings to the entire ear. I think I ended up with 3 layers total.

And these are my finished ears! I tried to take a picture from each angle but even my front view wasn't perfectly straight.  As you can see my head is barely tilted and you can't see the other ear (its on I promise!).  They do not stick out to the side very far at all.  Overall I really really like these and can't wait to finally wear them for real!  I have a fairy costume planned for the Ren Faire and a vampire costume planned for Halloween.

Where to buy: aradanicostumes.com

price: $12 unpainted

If you've ever wanted to secretly be an elf I think $12 is a small price to pay for these amazingly crafted ears.

Elf Lip Exfoliator Review and Demonstration

Today I will be reviewing a product that I absolutely love and use all the time but never really thought to demonstrate until now. With ELF the products are usually hit or miss and while I hate their eye shadows I LOVE their lip exfoliator among some other things that I may review soon. I love it so much I've convinced my friend to get one and I've also bought one for my boyfriend. they both plan on repurchasing when it runs out.

In comes in a traditional lipstick like tube with a lipstick shaped applicator. The container, because its square, is a bit larger than the average lipstick case. The formula is fairly simple. Its made up of what I'd imagine is wax, sugar, and flavoring. It tastes like vanilla brown sugar. Its heavenly.

Here are my lips after swatching some pink lipsticks. My lips are stained, dry, and distressed. But never fear ELF lip exfoliator is here!

I lick my lips to get them nice and wet then rub in circular motions. Make sure not to push the tube out too far as I have read about people have issues with it snapping in half. I rub all over my lips until they feel sufficiently scrubbed. I then wipe off the excess because the packaging says not to eat it.... Even though it tastes so good. However I have watched my boyfriend use it and lick his lips clean and he's not dead so if it happens don't panic. 

And here are my lips after, nice and smooth and fresh. It is very good for getting off those pesky staining lip colors or removing dead skin. I love this product so much and will definitely be buying again and again.

Where to buy: eyeslipsface.com and various drugstores and superstores

Price: $3