May Faves

I didn't have a lot of makeup faves this month. I did a big clean out and haven't really bought anything new for several weeks. I also didn't have a nail polish fave this month. My nails were having a moment. Ha! They were getting to the point that I couldn't go a couple of days without a hang nail so I took all the nail polish off and have been Nail Envying it up for a few weeks trying to get them stronger.

I do have a few faves this month though.

My one makeup fave is my Tarte maracuja bouncy blush in shimmering poppy. I love this airblush and really hope they come out with more colors in this formula. I use it with the Tarte stipple brush that came with it and it works great, new fave brush as well. :)

My daughter started tball this month so we have been out in the sun a lot so that is why a couple of my faves are sun protection related. My fave sun block is Coppertone Sport and because I'm so fair complected SPF 50 is used in this house. I also have some Yes To Cucumbers Aloe Body Gel. This stuff works great for cooling sunburns but it's important to protect yourself from getting them in the first place.

Another fave this month is my Victoria's Secret Pink fragrance mist. A while back I had a $10 off $10 coupon and scored this bottle for free. Sweet! Not only that but it just smells great. I have been reaching for it nearly every day this month. VS describes it as fun, sexy, and playful and I would definitely agree it is a flirty flowery scent.

My last May faves are some bracelets I have been wearing a lot this month. The pink and orange beaded ones came from Target. I believe they were $4 each. I love them! They are the pull string type and would fit just about any size wrist. They also come in other bright fun colors. Target has some really cute Summer bracelets. I have a few other rope style from them and I have been loving the rope and bead style bracelets for this Spring/Summer.

The other tribal bracelet is from Mae Movement. They are a little on the expensive side. I paid around $20 for this bracelet shipped but proceeds go to a good cause. A word of warning though. I have a fairly small wrist at 6 inches and the first time I put it on it felt small. I have noticed that it seems to have stretched a little over many times pulling it over my hand but just be aware if you order one that they are initially tight. They may can custom order larger ones but not sure about that. They come in all colors so pretty much something for everyone.

That is all for my May faves.

What have you been loving this month?

$20 Makeup Challenge

I'm not a big tag person but I saw this one on YouTube the other day and thought it would be a neat one to blog about.

The situation:

You're on vacation and you lose your makeup bag, your wallet and your coupons. A kind stranger gives you $20 and directs you to the nearest drugstore with a note that reads: "Here, get some makeup to get you through the next few days." What do you buy?

Notes:

• You have all your skincare and makeup removers but no beauty tools, meaning no brushes!
• This nearest drugstore only carries mainstream brands but it does NOT carry elf. That would be too easy!
• No sales are going on and you don't have a rewards card.
• Plus side... no sales taxes






First I'll just say that if I lost my wallet while on vacation the LAST thing I would be worrying about is my makeup. Just saying! ;) But for the fun of it....





Here is what I would purchase....
 


Wet N Wild CoverAll Concealer $1.99

Rimmel Clean Finish Foundation $4.99

Wet N Wild Color Icon Blusher $2.99

Wet N Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio

(No eye primer needed... concealer will do in a pinch)

I would pick up two trios, one for a day time look, one for a night time.

2 @ $2.99 = $5.98

Wet N Wild Mega Protein Mascara $1.99

This is a total of $17.94. In the real world I would need to pay for taxes so I would most likely stop with those purchases and skip the lipstick. I'm not a big lipstick person anyways. However, If I was going somewhere special and felt like I needed lipstick I would try to find something that I might could use as a lipstick/blush deal.

I tag YOU! What would you pickup at the drugstore if you had to buy some quick makeup under $20 and you didn't have ELF available to you?

Don't forget to link up with this weeks blog hop here and enter the summer giveaway here! :)

 

Tip Tuesday: Chalk Tricks

One thing my daughter loves to play with during the summer is chalk. I probably couldn't tell you how much we go through. One thing is for sure is we always have some on hand and of course I always want to know other great tricks to use of things I have on hand.

If you ask my daughter she would tell you the best use of chalk is playing with it. I couldn't agree more but here are some more adult friendly and useful tricks for chalk.

•  Stain Lifter: Mark stains with chalk, the chalk dust helps remove the oils and makes removing stains easier.

• Prevent Tarnishing: Wrap chalk in cheesecloth and store with your silverware. The chalk will absorb the moisture and help prevent tarnishing.

• Keep Ants Out: Ants don't like calcium carbonate, which can be found in most chalk. Draw around ant entry points to keep them out.

• Steady your hands: Rub chalk on your hands when you need to prevent them from slipping.

• Hide Cracks or Small Holes: Hide cracks or small holes in the wall (using matching chalk color) until you are ready to paint.

Do you have any alternative uses for chalk?

Happy Memorial Day & quick update blog!

Hey Everyone!!!

Sorry my blog was a little slow this past week. We were on vacation and though I did a few pre scheduled posts I have been away from the blogland pretty much all week. We are back from TN and enjoying our last day off with the family before it's back to the daily grind tomorrow. Everything should be back on schedule starting tomorrow so thanks for all your patience. I will also be catching up with comments and your blogs as well.

Happy Memorial Day!!! Don't forget what this day is truly about (not the start of summer or bbqing).

Review: Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer creates a smooth, invisible layer that acts as a "buffer" to outside elements and expertly holds foundation. This water-based formula guarantees that your makeup stays fresh and color-true for hours. With vitamins A, C, and E added to protect the skin, Foundation Primer is ideal for all skin types.

With my dry skin I just about have to have a foundation primer, even with cream/liquid foundations. Because of this I have tried loads of primers and this primer has been the best as of yet. I love it. It not only helps my dry skin problems but it also helps keep my foundation on until I'm ready to take it off. This product is also lightweight so I have no problems with it feeling too heavy with my foundation.

I do not find this primer to be oily like a lot of primers out there so I do believe it would be good for oily skin types as well.

What I also love about foundation primer and this tip works for most all primers is putting it in the refrigerator, the coolness helps reduce puffiness and is also refreshing for a quick summertime facial massage. :)

I give this product 5 stars!

Have you tried this product? Do you use foundation primer?

Target: Free Summer 2012 Beauty Bag

I blogged a few posts back about the Target beauty bags that you can receive for free. Well, Target is back again with a Summer Beauty Bag.

Go here and get yours before they are gone and they will most likely go quick!

Tip Tuesday: Traveling Tips

There are two kinds of travelers. Ones like my husband, who can pack light and be done with it or ones like me, who wished they could but pretty much packs the whole house whether going on a weekend trip or small vacation.

My husband and I (& now our daughter) have traveled quite a bit in the past 10 years that we've been married so here are some quick tips that we have picked up and learned along the way.

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•  Make a list and stick to it! 

This helps me a lot. It eliminates that last second packing panic that you might forget something you need or just wanting to throw extra things in for the just in case. Take the list with you and use it as a guide for repacking to prevent forgetting anything as well. Plan out your outfits according to what you plan to be doing, what the weather forecast looks like and whether you will have the ability to wash any clothes while your gone.

• Don't pack things you know you will have available too you. (IE: hair dryer, soap, iron, etc.)

I'm at my parents house for the week so there was no need to bring the iron, soap, shampoo, toothpaste or anything like that and we have a washer/dryer available for us so we are able to wash clothes. Keep those things in mind and eliminate what you don't have to pack.

• Minimize!

Pack just a few pieces of jewelry that you can be happy wearing with everything. If you have a special event to go to then pack those pieces but then maybe only one extra necklace. Leave behind your expensive or flashy pieces especially if you are going somewhere around people you don't know. Also pack your favorite makeup face and stick to it during your whole vacation, no need to pack your whole makeup collection. There is also no need for tons of shoes.

• Pack Smart!

Fold or roll your clothes don't just toss them in your bag. This saves you space and saves your clothes from getting tons of wrinkles. If you are flying always pack valuables (documents, jewelry, meds, etc) in your travel on. When repacking dirty clothes pack them just as neatly as you first packed them, it saves space.

• Listen!

When traveling (outside of going to visit family at their homes) keep your eye and ears open at all times. Know what is going on around you and how people are acting. Don't be lost in lalaland and then end up in a situation you don't want to be in.

 

 

 

Garden Bench

As I type this i'm getting ready to head out for a 10 hr drive to go see my family. I'm sooo excited!! I haven't seen everyone (other than video chating) in 6 months. So this is just a heads up that next weeks posts will all be pre-scheduled. I will be checking in and commenting but it may not be as quickly as normal.

On to the good stuff...

We finally finished my moms bench and it is in the truck loaded and ready to bring to her. I'm not sure what she is excited about more us coming to visit or her bench. Haha! Just kidding... She just wants to see her grandbaby. Shhh... just don't say baby around my 4 year old. ;)

**don't mind the messy background**

The bench still needs to be sanded and we are leaving it unfinished for now so that my mom can choose to finish how she wishes. Once she gets it all fixed up i'll have her send me a pic so I can show the completely finished product.

If you are interested in building this garden bench for yourself you can find the plans we used here.
I hope you all have a great weekend. I know I will! :) 

**TN BOUND**

Sizzilin Summer 200 Follower Giveaway! {CLOSED}

** Exciting News **

I woke up this morning to 200 followers. :) Yay!

I have been waiting for this day to announce my next giveaway. But first, I want to say a HUGE HUGE thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting on my blog. All of you are awesome sauce! xoxoxo!

I would like to show my thanks by having a giveaway, a Sizzlin Summer 200 Follower Giveaway that will have 2 winners. :)

The first winner will be announced on June 20th (the first day of Summer) and the second one July 24th.

What will you be winning?

If the winner is a US Resident they will have the choice of a $25 Sephora egift certificate or a $25 MAC egift certificate. **Keep in mind when entering egift certs can only be redeemed online at the specific website**

If the winner is international (anything outside the US) you will receive a $25 (in American dollars) paypal egift certificate to use at a store that fits your needs. **Note: You have to have a paypal acct to enter.**

** GIVEAWAY NOTES**

• The giveaway is open internationally. However, you MUST have a paypal account in order to receive your prize if you are a international winner.
• There will be 2 winners, one announced June 20th, the other announced July 24th.
• If you are not the winner the first time your entry(ies) will be good for the second drawing, no need to reenter. If you are the winner June 20th you will not be eligible for the second giveaway.
• You must be 18 or older or have parental permission if you win to receive the prize.
• Winners will be drawn by random.org
• Once the winners are announced they will have 72 hours (3 days) to email me back otherwise a new winner will be drawn.

**SUBMITTING ENTRIES**

• You MUST be a follower of This Girls Life through GFC.
• For your initial entry please comment with what you are most looking forward to this summer including your GFC name and email to reach you if you are chosen as the winner.

Your initial entry should look like this (nothing extra please):

Tell me about what you are looking forward to this summer.

GFC: Melissa

Email: tglife82@gmail.com

• Additional entries can be earned by sharing the giveaway with your friends. :)  One extra entry for each additional way you share (IE: blog, facebook, twitter, etc). You MUST make a separate comment for each entry.
• If you do decide to add extra entries be sure to include a link so that I'm able to verify your posting.

Extra entries should look like this (per each extra entry please):

http:// linktowhereipostedhere .com

GFC: Melissa

Email: tglife82@gmail.com

Feel free to use this button to share with your friends if you would like. :)

<center> <a href="http://t-g-life.blogspot.com/2012/05/sizzilin-summer-200-follower-giveaway.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Sizzilin Summer 200 Follower Giveaway!" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/coleman/TGL/summergiveaway.jpg"/></a></center>

I hope you are all excited about the giveaway and again HUGE THANKS to all of my amazing followers. Big awkward hugs to all of you. haha!

Disclaimer: I am not affliated with these companies, winners will receive egifts certs paid for by my own money. 

Review: Ambi Even & Clear Exfoliating Wash

This unique cleanser with microbeads gently exfoliates skin by removing dead skin cells. It is specially formulated with a dermatologist-recommended skin clearing ingredient, salicylic acid, with EvenBlend™, a combination of soy extract and vitamins C & E to help clear skin of pimples and breakouts while keeping skin even toned. With daily use, this creamy exfoliating cleanser rejuvenates skin, leaving it more radiant and smooth.

I don't really feel like this product does much for me as far as acne treatment goes but I didn't purchase it for that purpose. I don't have anything really negative to say about this product but the reason why I don't really care for it is simply that it's too gentle. The microbeads are so micro that I don't even feel like it exfoliates anything.

If you have extremely sensitive skin this exfoliator might be perfect for you but I just don't feel like it did much for me. I do have sensitive skin but this was just way to delicate. If you like to exfoliate daily (I don't) again this might work great for you as I feel like it's mild enough for daily use.

A full size of this product will run you $6.99. I purchased 2 tubes back a few months ago at Target for 75% off. I couldn't resist a good deal. I don't hate it so I will definitely use up what I have but will not be repurchasing.

 

 

Since this is another product that I don't hate but don't love I rate it at 3 stars.

Anyone have exfoliator suggestions?

Tip Tuesday: Organize Your Digital Photos

The digital age of photos has definitely made our life easier and cheaper, no more bad pictures. Well, at least you can delete them and try again, and no more running to the store to develop every single photo whether you want it or not. I don't know how many times I wasted money on blurry pictures. Ugh! So frustrating! I know for a fact that I wouldn't have nearly as many photos of my daughter if we still lived in 35mm times. That is another great thing about digital photos, you can take all the pictures you please. It is nothing for me to take 200 or 300+ pictures when we go on vacation. I would have been lucky to take a couple of film rolls with me back in the 90s.

The bad thing about digital photos is often times the picture gets taken and pushed off onto a disk or your computer never to be looked at again. The unseen and unappreciated photos. As much as I love taking pictures of my daughter I found that I had very little hard copy photos developed.

My biggest problem was that I could never find what I wanted when I wanted it. I could easily get tons of hard copies developed for super cheap but finding the ones I wanted was a pain and required searching through folder after folder of digital pictures.

Enough was enough it was time to get down to the nitty gritty and get those bad boys under control.

Here are a few steps I used and that you can use as well to get your digital prints organized.

Step 1: Gather

Get all of your images in one master folder. Upload all your images off your memory cards, phones, etc. If you have old photos that you would like to make digital copies (this is a great idea) then scan those in as well.

Step 2: Organize

Start creating sub-folders and separating your images. You can create sub-folders however you choose but it's probably better not to be too specific. Some examples of mine would be Virginia Vacation 2010, Christmas 2011, Summer 2011, etc). I wouldn't just name a folder after my daughter because that would be too broad. Pictures will be easier to find when you can locate a specific date in time or vacation. As you add photos be sure to organize them right away. This will keep you from having to go back and redo step 2.

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Step 3: Burn

After you have gotten all of your folders created and neatly organized to your liking start burning copies to disk. A disk will only hold so much space so I would suggest burning photos by dates. This will allow you to label your disk accordingly and for you to easily access the disk you need at a later time. Make a note where you stopped at burning photos so that you can pick up with those you haven't burned. Do this at least monthly for any new photos you add to your library. This will also depend on how many photos you take. If you take a lot you might want to burn them more often or not as many you might can wait longer about burning them.

Step 4: Back Up

Files on your computer and burned disks are never enough when you are talking about irreplaceable photos. You definitely want to make a separate copy of your master library onto another external hard drive. The external hard drive I use is called a Click Free. What I love about the click free hard drives is that they are automatic. If you want me to do something it better be easy. Ha! At least when it comes to backing up things on my computer. This hard drive automatically backs up any new photos/docs/etc throughout the day. Easy Peasy!

Step 5: Extra Protection

Recently I seen a friend of mine loose precious baby pictures of her daughter and son because of water damage. This can happen to hard copies, computers can crash, and disks can get scratched or broken, to prevent losing your most important and significant photos upload them to the web. There are lots of free online storage services available. Check out drop box, shutterfly, snapfish or even just uploading your favorites to facebook. This doesn't mean upload every single photo you own but definitely the ones you would be devastated if you lost.

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I know it sounds like a lot to do. I'm not going to lie, it will take a while but you will feel better about finding your photos and protecting your photos in the long run.

Go organize!

Do you have your photos neatly organized and backed up?

DIY: Tiered Planter

So a few posts back I posted a few projects I was pinspired by and that I was working on and these tiered planters where one of them.

Here is mine I created with the help of my daughter.

We painted the bottom and top pots white with blue/green polka dots and the middle blue/white stripes with a small green stripe between the white one (which you really can't see in this picture). Being the bird lover that I am I had to add in some cute birdie picks. The bird one came from Hobby Lobby. Its been a minute since I picked him up so they may or may not have him anymore. He was $2 on sale. The little bird house I just recently picked up at Target in the $1 spot, yes that cute little thing was only a buck. :) I picked up one for my mom but I may go back and get a few more for myself, they are too cute. They had them in several different colors as well.

I think they turned out cute, not perfect, but cute nonetheless. I'm thinking I want to maybe do a smaller 2 tiered one as well to put beside it. I love flowers! Everything is potted around here though because I spent tons trying to get something to grow last Spring/Summer in this Kansas soil and it wasn't happening. Poo!

If you want to make your own tiered planter all it took was some clay pots from Lowe's.

I bought this shape which isn't the traditional shape of clay pots but I just liked these more. You don't even have to go with clay pots, just 3 different size pots of the same shape works too. I went with clay because I knew I was going to paint them and wanted something on the cheaper side. I think I paid around $10 for all 3 pots so not to bad.

I completely spaced on taking pictures of the during process or planting process. Oops! This is not surprising for me though. ;)

This made a great DIY project to do with my daughter. I think it would be even greater to have them just go crazy and paint their own designs on one. I have my daughter's hand print on one from a couple of years ago. I don't keep it outside though as I'm afraid it will wear off. I actually don't even have anything planted in it. Ha! It just sits in my china cabinet.

Some extra tips:

Because this project had been sitting around ready to be finished, while my plants had been also sitting around ready to be planted we skipped the primer and poly and just went straight for paint. I figure by next Spring they will need to be repainted so I would definitely suggest prime and polyurethaning these pots if you want to prevent having to possibly redo them next year.

Also while planting I started at the bottom planted around the edge and tiered up from there. This prevented any dirt from falling onto my bottom plants. However, you could plant from top down. I just found it easier to plant without the pots already in place.