What I received in my January Ipsy bag:
London Soho eyeliner brush
Josie Maran Pure Argan Oil
Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter
A mini Big Sexy hair Spray & Play
And Nailtini Lacquer in Frappe
All this for $10. Not bad, huh?
I received so many awesome gifts from my familia on Christmas. One of my gifts were all these products from Lush. They knew how much I’ve been wanting to buy lush products. Everytime I go shopping with one of my sisters, we end up at the lush store smelling and trying all these products until we get so overwhelmed that we end up buying nothing. This time my sister said let’s just go into lush and buy you your Christmas gift. The best part, was that, I had made a wishlist with all the products I have been wanting to try. We went in, gave them my list, they showed us the products, and finally we made the selection. It wasn’t that hard after all.
From the things I picked, I have tried a couple so far. This post will be about their Henna, the Caca Noir.
As a middle eastern, henna is one of the widely known product we use for various things and occasions. It is used in weddings celebrations, for drawing on hands, tattoos, and for dying hair. Henna is a plant, it is natural, and it has so many benefits for hair and skin. Personally, I have never used it before.
I like to color my hair black once in a while; however, I haven’t done so in a while because I am trying to avoid all those products with the harsh chemicals. Therefore, I thought I would give this henna from lush a try since it is beneficial for the hair and claims to deposit color to your hair.
I followed the instructions and applied it to my hair last night. As directed, I kept it warm through out the process when applying to my hair and left it on for a couple hours. It definitely felt super nice when applied warm to your scalp. It refreshened and conditioned my scalp. Now, it didn’t deposit any color to my hair even though I chose the black color; however, It is definitely a nice hair treatment because it left my super silky and shiny.
I would use it again because they suggest giving the hair another application to get better color results, but I would do so just to get the silky shiny hair. It is worth it.
Next I want to try the Indian/middle Eastern henna and find out if there are any differences. I will give an update once I do so.
Now I am going to give my other lush products a try.
Happy Suday!
Arki
That’s how it looked after a couple hours ^
So here is my latest haul, I mean steal from Beauty.com/drugstore.com site. I love those sister sites because they have everything and always have deals and coupons going on.
I had more than $20 in store credit from previous purchases and on top of that they were offering other promotions. I scored those 4 items for fraction of the cost. Instead of $53 I only paid $9.15 including a two day shipping. I mean can it get any better? I will answer that. Nope!
Here is what I got:
Origins Blade Runner (for the hubby, see? I am not that selfish).
Revlon Moon Drops Lip conditioner.
Revlon Photo ready Concealer.
It Cosmetics Vitality Lip Flush in Je Ne Sais Quoi
Happy shopping!
Arki
This is what I received this month from Ipsy:
Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in black
Mai Couture Highlighter Paper
Mirabella Prime for Face & Eyes
NYX loose pearl shadow
It’s a Bombshell Hot Mess Lip Gloss
And it came with $20 promo code for JustFab and other discounts promo codes.
OMG! The November Glossy Box is awesome. It has a great selection of products and a few of them are full size. The value for what I received is at least worth $70, how amazing is that when I only paid $20 dollars for it? Oh I love me some bargains.
Epionce restorative hand cream – full size
Illamasqua LTD lip & eye pencil- full size
Nume Style arganics Argan oil
Perfumies solid perfume stick- full size
Skin&CO Roma truffle serum
And not to mentions I also received two gift cards to Nume website for a $100 and a gift card to Skin&CO for a face set sampler!
Stay fabulous,
Arki
There are a few things on my wish list that I have been wanting to get for the longest time. On a daily basis, I come across a product or an item that I would like to try, and I end up adding it to my wish list until it became enormous and unmanageable; therefore, I decided to dig in it and treat myself to some of the items I’ve been wanting.
This is my first time ordering from Beauty.com. It is one of my new favorite sites and the customer service is amazing. On top of that, they always have amazing deals, gifts, and coupons.
My Haul:
L’Occitane Exfoliant Lumiére Minute (brightening instant exfoliator)
Amande Huile Tonique (firming and anti-water tonic body Oil)
L’Occitane Regard Radieux Eye Roll On
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye concealer
Beauty Blender
and finally got Bioderma Cleanser from Amazon.
Well, this is the start. There are still a lot more items on the list and for some reason, the list never gets any smaller, on the contrary, it keeps growing.
I recently bought 3 amazing items from Zara. Oh Em Gee, I cannot get over my neon blazer!
I am sure this particular piece will be worn to death. Oh, and those heels I got, I cannot get over them either. They are very feminine, yet edgy. They are very sexy!
Take an advice from me, and run to Zara. They have the most amazing pieces for this summer!
Arki
HomeGoods has to be one of my favorite stores for the home. If you are not familiar with HomeGoods, it is like TJMaxx and Marshalls, but for the house and furniture. In fact, all three of them are different branches of one company. That explains why you might see the same piece at all three stores, and all sharing the same prices.
I moved into my new house at the beginning of September,2011. Even though the hubby and I have been in that house for almost nine months now, the house is far from being complete. I still have rooms with no furniture, naked walls, and empty bathrooms. In the past week, I made a few purchases that I will share with you, in future posts, once I receive them. Today, however, I’d like to share with you the little things I bought from Home Goods.
I am so in love with the smell of Au Lait. It is so soft and relaxing. I got soap, hand moisturizer, and body butter.
I normally try to avoid purchasing books, but I was in the mood for some and they were informative and cute.
My house is missing so many pictures. Therefore, I decided to start framing some.
I thought these would look so cute on the tray in one of my bathrooms.
I absolutely love this. Once I saw this, I instantly knew where it is going to go and it made me decide on the color scheme fro my powder room.
These will match the powder room theme.
I will keep you posted on the updates around my house.
Arki
So this took me forever to post! i have been super duper busy lately, that there are stacks of post it notes all over my office for things I NEED to do. i have lists and lists of DIY I’d love to do, products that I’ve been wanting to buy and try, and other things i need to organize and build around the house. I will take you with me during all those upcoming projects.
For now, let me share with you what I received in both of my Birchbox and myglam bag for this month. I received my Birchbox on April 11th, and myglam bag got here a day or two after that.
Birchbox had:
Atlier Cologne- Orange Sanguine Cologne Absolue
Marula The Leakey Collection- Omega Rich Pure Marula oil
Waleda- pomegranate Firming Night Cream
Zoya- TRUE Spring Collection
Yes To Blueberries- Brightening Facial Towelettes
In myGlam I received:
All-Belle- Eyelashes
Urban Decay- 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil
Dermstore- Lip Quench Moisture Infused Lip Treatment
myglam- All Over Eyeshadow Brush & Eyeliner Brush
Plus the little cute pouch as usual.
for this month, I think they both win!
First of all, they got here around my birthday, which was sweet. Also, they both have decent collection and products that will be useful to me. The lashes from myGlam look pretty, the brushes will be handy and I can add them now the one i received last month. The Waleeda night cream and Yes To Bluberries towelettes will be great for traveling this summer. I just noticed the name of the Zoya nail polish is Farah (aww it means Happiness in Arabic), that’s cute!
The products from both subscriptions are great, and I am pretty happy with this month’s choices.
Arki
So over the weekend, I got a delivery package from Arganica. It is the mid-Atlantic’s premier locally sourced food club. It grants you access to a variety of local farm-fresh and organic foods. However, it doesn’t stop there, they deliver it to your footstep every week on a day you specify!
It is a great service, especially for those with tight schedules and who like to have organic food in their household, yet do not have the time to shop for it.
I stumbled upon Arganica on Living Social. They had a deal for One-Month Membership, One Mixed Organic & Local Produce Crate, One $25 Gift Certificate, One Issue of Flavor Magazine and all for $45. It sounded appealing and decided to try it out.
When buying a crate, you have two options: All Local or Mixed crate. The difference between the two is the source of the produce. I went with the Mixed crate as it was ten dollars cheaper.
The crate was delivered Sunday morning at 9:45am. The produce looked so fresh and beautiful! Some of the items I received were apples, pears, strawberries, onions, green onions, broccoli, Kale (I think), tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. I also received the Flavor magazine.
I am not so much of an organic buyer; however, I am working on becoming one. Therefore, I cannot really judge the price, but to me it seems very reasonable as it was delivered to my house, I received great quality produce, and not to mention it is all organic!
I will be using the $25 gift certificate soon for my next crate.
I definitely recommend checking their website to see if they deliver in your area. I think you should give it a try, especially if you are a busy person.
Stay healthy and beautiful!
Arki
I’ve been wanting to go shopping for the longest time! So it seems..
I cannot get over the beautiful trends for this season. I love everything from the dainty jewelry, to the statement pieces. I never get enough of neons or pastels. Everything in the stores is so pretty, I might just go broke soon 
Anyways here is what I got today:
From dELiA*s – btw this is my first time there and they have the cutest stuff!
Hot neon pink crop jeans
Faded floral print shorts
From H&M
Nude Blazer (I forgot to take a picture of it :/)
Dainty set of skull necklace and earrings
A rose gold cuff and a gold one
A gold cuff hair tie
From Sephora
Jose Maran Argan Matchmaker Powder Foundation
Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Divine
Make Up For Ever eyeshadow #9
Fresh Sugar Kisses mini lip duo (a gift from sephora for my birthday!)
I love everything I got!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
❤
Arki
This post will be direct and straight to the point. What I received from both subscriptions for the month of March and what I liked the most.
Let’s start with MYGlam bag. I received it on March 11th, and here is the product breakdown:
As always, a cute mini makeup bag.
Pur-lisse Pur-Protect SPF30 Essential Daily Moisturizer.
Murad Eye Life Perfector.
DermStore $25 gift card.
Pur-lisse Pur-Lip Comfort Daily Lip Nourisher.
Keracolor Color Enhancing Leave-in treatment.
MyGlam Classic Crease Brush & Case.
What I like:
The Pur-Lisse lip nourisher & the crease brush. The other items will be used only once and normally they don’t capture my attention. Rarely could you judge a product from using it once!
let’s move onto the Birchbox for this month. I received it today, March 12th. Here is the product breakdown:
Color club nail Lacquer in Age of Aquarius.
Harvey Prince Yogini perfume.
Juice Beauty blemish Clearing Cleanser.
Lulu Organics Lavender + Clay Sage Hair Powder
Stila Smokey Eye Card
Tea Forte Skin Smart Teas
What I like:
I am actually very excited to try all these samples from Birchbox. The sample sizes I received are very decent and way better than the MYGlam samples for this month. Now, it’s already spring and it is the time to start taking care of toning and cleansing your body; therefore, I am excited to be trying the Tea Forte packets. I received three flavors: Cucumber Mint, Honey Yuzu, and Cherry Marzipan. They all sound delicious. Oh how much I love tea!
Also, I am always down to trying new dry shampoos, this one smells delicious. The nail polish color is so pretty and perfect for the spring. The Yogini scent is very relaxing and the blemish cleaner is going to be very handy.
Bottom Line, who is the winner in my eyes for this month?
BirchBox is.
Arki
So if you don’t know yet, I am a fan of Trader Joe’s! I love to do most of my grocery shopping at that store because the quality is great, they have a variety of food and organic options, and the prices are great compared to other organic stores (i.e. Whole Foods).
I will share with you my favorites as well as the new finds. Every time I go there, I buy a few items that have made it to my staples list, and %70 of the purchase would be new items to try. Shopping at TJs is like a treasure hunt. Some things you might find again, and other things, unfortunately, disappear!
I love using Coconut Oil in cooking. It adds a slight sweet flavor and is great for stir fries. Plus, coconut oil has so many uses to it other than cooking. It can be used for the hair and skin. It is a great product! I will do a separate post on it.
Their Sesame Oil is amazing. I love the flavor it adds to the food you’re cooking. All you need is a tiny drop to achieve a great flavor.
The Chile Lime chicken patties are so flavorful and delicious. You can either pan fry them or grill them. They are such a great source of protein with low carbs and low fat. It is a great choice, if you are watching what you are eating. Grill a patty, brush some mustard on a whole wheat/multi grain Arnold Sandwich Thins, add some lettuce and maybe a couple slices of avocados, and enjoy the healthy deliciousness! The Chicken Quesadillas is another delicious choice. It only takes a few minutes to be ready. It is great for those of us who are busy and rarely have time to prepare dinner from scratch.
TJ’s frozen section is a treasure to me. I lease to work at 6a.m. and usually do not get home till 6p.m. If I were to go to the gym that day, I wont be home till 8p.m. So, when can I ever cook or prepare dinner from scratch? NEVER. That’s when TJ’s come in place and help me out. TJs has a great selection of healthy options that fit easily in my busy and rushed life style. That’s why I am obsessed with it.
Here are more of our favorites. The vegetable Bird’s Nests are basically vegetable tempura. They are not the healthiest choice, but having one at lunch certainly doesn’t hurt as they are super delicious. The Lemon Grass Chicken are great as a snack with a home made mustard and Sriracha sauce. The Channa Masala chickpeas are so flavorful and make a great side dish with grilled chicken and rice. One other favorite is the Potatoe Pancakes. They make a great side on your breakfast plate, served with a fat free spoon of sour cream. Deliciousness.
More of our favorites are these:
The Sea Salt & Lemon Ppper grinders. TJ’s has a wide range of these grinders and each is less than $2. The Low Calorie Lemonade was one of my first items I ever bought at TJ’s and it’s been a favorite ever since. We love it as it is a bit sour and very refreshing! The Saffron is a great spice to have and add to your chicken marinade. And finally that Rustic Pan Bello bread is magnificent. Super tender, yet with a crunchy crust. It is one of our new favorites.
Both the Mixed Berry and Mango Passion Granola Cereals are the hubby’s favorites. They are so crunchy and the fruits actually taste like fruit. Great source of fiber!
I fixed dinner last night using the Marinated Chicken Breast and the Kimchi rice. Oh don’t they sound so wonderful together or what? We loved them! The Rice is on the spicy side, but so flavorful. Oh boy, and the chicken came out so juicy and tender. Here you go, more things are getting added to our favorites. Keep in mind that they were both very low in fat! TJ’s is such a treasure box.
The next three pictures are new items that we haven’t tried yet. However, I am pretty sure they will end up to be part of our favorites.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope I inspired you to go do your own treasure hunt at Trader Joe’s!
Arki
ArKi 