Review: Too Faced Bronzer in Snow Bunny

The issue: During the summer, I tan quickly and my skin looks great.  But during the winter, I have very light skin. I really do not enjoy having such light skin... must be a Florida thing... so I am constantly looking for a way to add a little color to my skin.

During my Sephora Haul last month, I searched for a product to add some color to my pale skin.  While speaking with a saleswoman at Sephora, I told her I was interested in trying a bronzer, but I did not want anything too drastic or anything that would make me orange.  I explained that I was looking for something to add some natural looking color to my skin.  Her suggestion?  Too Faced Perfecting Bronzing Powder in Snow Bunny.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I simply adore this product.  Snow Bunny features four shades, white, golden bronze, delicate pink, and fawn glimmer (see above photo, left to right).  The four shades let you customize your application.  This is not a matte bronzer, but has a bit of shimmer to it.  While it is shimmery, it is not glittery.  I feel that the shimmer helps to make my skin look a little more healthy.  The bronzer comes in a compact which also features a mirror.  The compact is about 3 inches wide, so it is the perfect size to throw in your purse to apply on the go.  I have to add, the outside of the compact is absolutely adorable!

Application: I like to use delicate pink and fawn glimmer as blush, and use primarily white and golden bronze (with a little of delicate pink and fawn glimmer) for the rest of my face.  I typically apply the bronzer in the shape of the number 3 on each side of my face, and then add a little to the bridge of my nose.  When it comes to brush choice, I use the Too Faced Flatbuki (you can read my review of the Too Faced Flatbuki here).  They work fabulously together.

As you can tell, I absolutely love this product.  I only took off a half star because I feel like I have to apply a lot to get the color that I want.  But everyone uses a different amount, so it make take you less product to achieve your perfect glow.  I have to add, this can be taken as a positive, rather than a negative.  With many bronzers I have seen, you think you are putting on just a little bit, and then you realize that you have put on way too much.  This is definitely not the case with this bronzer.

On a final note, I am not affiliated with Sephora or Too Faced in any way.  This review is purely my opinion and was completely honest.  It was not affected by anyone else.  I am not trying to persuade you to purchase any of the products listed.  I try to research my beauty products thoroughly before I purchase them so that I know what to expect before I buy it.  I want to write my own reviews so that I can help others who like to research their purchases too.  I hope that you found this review entertaining and informative.

As always, I would love to hear what you think about my review.  If you have any questions about the product, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will do my best to answer them. :)

Valentine's Day

I know I am a little late on this post, but today I will be talking about... Valentine's Day!

As a child, I loved Valentine's Day.  I spent a great deal of time and thought selecting my valentines, and then selecting the perfect one for each of my classmates.  Even at a young age, I was terrified of sending the wrong message to the boys in my class.  I loved making those adorable little mailboxes in class to collect my valentines.  Today, I am not quite as enthusiastic about Valentine's Day, but I do enjoy it.  I was very excited that this year I got to spend it with my husband.  Before we got married we lived in separate cities and were only able to see each other on the weekends (usually it was about every other weekend).  Needless to say, we only spent one Valentine's Day together prior to our marriage (even though we were together for 4 years before we said "I Do").

On Valentine's Day this year, I passed out Dr. Seuss valentines to my students as well as Valentine's Day themed erasers (each valentine and eraser was picked out for each student... I still haven't grown out of that).  I decided to wear a hot pink dress to school, because really, what other kind of dress would you wear on Valentine's Day? lol  My adorable students surprised me with some valentines and candy.  I even got an adorable stuffed bear from one little girl in my class.

A photo of a teddy bear (and valentine) one of my students gave me,
as well as a massive box of chocolate turtles from my husband.

That night I spent some quality time with my husband.  He cooked an amazing dinner for me.  My husband is an awesome cook.  I discovered that he makes the best chicken ever.

All in all it was a great day!  How was your Valentine's Day?  I hope it was happy! :)

A Night at the Theatre

A few nights ago, I had the opportunity to see the musical Les Misérables (also lovingly referred to as "Les Miz").  Les Miz happens to be my favorite musical of all time.  Which is really saying something considering I have seen a lot.  Les Miz only tours about every 4 years and I am always looking forward to the next time I am able to see it.  We had amazing seats... 4th row, center.

I snapped this photo of the on-stage screen during intermission.

The musical, based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same name, is currently celebrating it's 25th Anniversary and is currently the longest running musical in the world (so it must be good, right?).  The play has been translated into 21 languages, productions have been played in 43 countries and in over 300 cities, it has played over 47,000 professional performances, and has won 70 major theatre awards including an Olivier, Tony & Grammy.  For those of you who haven't heard of Les Miz, the musical follows the life of Jean Valjean, a convict, who turns his life around after serving 19 years in prison.  He refuses to report for parole, and spends his life evading the capture of the Inspector Javert.  I feel that this play has something for everyone, love stories (including a fascinating love triangle), action (it takes place during the French Revolution), comedy, and so much more.  I absolutely love the music and dancing.  I always find it fascinating how so many scenes and events are adapted to the stage.  If you would like to find out more, visit LesMis.com.

I am also super excited that the movie adaptation of the musical Les Miz will be released this December!  So excited!!!  The cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Sacha Baron Cohen, and more.  Side note: There is already a movie of the book version (starring Liam Neeson), but the new one will be a musical.

And just because I am so in love with this musical, I thought I would share a video of one of my favorite songs, On My Own, sang by the character Éponine.  Fun fact: This version was sang by Samantha Barks who will be playing Éponine in the movie!

Dang, I wish I could sing like that!  I could add more videos of songs that I love for the musical, but that would create a very lengthy post. ;)

All in all, it was a fabulous night!  If Les Misérables visits a town near you, I highly recommend you go to see it!  If you have seen Les Mis, I would love to hear what you thought of it.

Until next time!

Just a few updates

Okay, so I know I have totally been MIA.  It has been a very long week and a half.  As you may or may not remember, the weekend before last I was sick/visited the hospital.  I kind of laid around all weekend and spent the rest of the week trying to catch up.  Then I went out of the town for this past weekend, and have spent the first part of this week trying to catch up.  Needless to say, I am ready for a break!

Anyways, I thought I would give you guys a brief rundown of the highlights of the past week and a half.  Last Tuesday, I taught my very first science lesson on physical and chemical changes of matter.  For those of you needing a refresher... a physical change usually changes the look or feel of the matter (i.e. cutting a carrot), where a chemical change occurs when a new substance is created (i.e. the carrot getting moldy).  Yes, I needed a refresher too!  I started my lesson by giving out sticky notes and asking the students to crumple them up, demonstrating a physical change.  Then I showed them a plastic baggie containing ash (aka burned paper).  Surprisingly, they all thought that was super cool.  I guess 3rd graders are easy to please.  I then showed them a PowerPoint presentation that I made with various examples of physical and chemical changes on them.  It turned out really well and they acted like it was a game.  Thankfully, it all went well.  I taught science again on Wednesday, but it was more of a practice activity than something fun.  I am truly loving my internship!  There are some awesome students in my class, and of course... kids say the darndest things. :)

This week I taught science again.  Yesterday, I introduced our space unit where we begin learning about the sun.  We did a little experiment, or investigation, where we found out what happened when comparing a cup of water left in the sun and a cup of water left in the shade.  Spoiler alert: the temperature of the water in the cup in the sun will be higher than the one in the shade.  Today was a little more fun.  For me anyways.  We went over the vocabulary needed to learn about the sun and made some cool little flip charts to help us remember the terms and definitions.

Today, I also started a 365 Project (you can check out my project right here).  Basically the goal is to take one photo a day for a year.  I may post some of my photos here as well.  Don't worry, I wont post one here daily (I'm sure that would be obnoxious).  Wanting a new hobby?  Want to work on your photography skills?  Want a reason to log onto the internet every day?  Start a 365 Project of your own!  If you do, please leave me the link here so I can check it out.  If you follow me, let me know here and I'll follow you too!  I would love to see all of your photos. :)

Last but not least, if you enjoy reading my blog, please click the "Join this Site" button on the right side of the page, or if you don't have an account (they are free!) you can subscribe to my blog via email (also on the right side of the page).  I would love to gain some more followers. :)

I guess that is all for now.  I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight.  Waking up early for interning is killing me!  My motto is: If the sun isn't up, I shouldn't be either!

Until next time! xoxo

Review: Too Faced Sun on the Run kit

Another review from my recent Sephora Haul.

I had been looking at the Too Faced Flatbuki brush on Sephora's website when I came across this kit.  For $5 more it included a mini bronzer in Sun Bunny.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The flatbuki brush isn't your average brush.  It is, however, more or less what it sounds like... a flat kabuki brush.  The brush stands about 2 1/2 inches tall and rather than being super thick like the kabuki, it has more of a flat appearance.  My favorite things about this brush are the super soft "Teddy Bear Hair"bristles (bonus: they are cruelty free).  Not to mention the shiny pink handle is simply adorable.

The kit also includes a bronzing powder in Sun Bunny (0.08 oz).  At first, I was a little intimidated by the color of it.  Once I tried it on, I fell in love!  The color is simply beautiful, and gave my skin a pretty tan color (without looking orange).  The sad thing is that it made my face a little too tan for the rest of my body, so I think I may keep it in my make up bag for now.  But once it gets a little warmer, you can bet that I will use it daily!

When I opened saw this box, I was pretty surprised.  It was much smaller than I expected.  For the price, I had hoped for a little more.  But because it was only $5 more for the bronzer, I think it was still worth purchasing.

On a final note, I am not affiliated with Sephora or Too Faced in any way.  This review is purely my opinion and was not affected by anyone else and was completely honest.  I am not trying to persuade you to purchase any of the products listed.  I try to research my beauty products thoroughly before I purchase them so that I know what to expect before I buy it.  I want to write my own reviews so that I can help others who like to research their purchases too.  I hope that you found this review entertaining and informative.

Hospital Misadventures

Benadryl... my new BFF.

Let me start off by saying this weekend did not go as planned.

Friday night I ate dinner and watched a movie with my husband, then decided to call it a night.  My throat felt a little weird.  You know that feeling when your throat gets kind of dried out?  As much water as you drink, it still feels really weird.  Well that's the kind of feeling I had.  It has happened before so I didn't think much of it.  About an hour later, I was lying in bed not able to go to sleep because my throat felt so weird.  I went to the bathroom, looked at it in the mirror and found that my throat was swollen.  Really swollen.  Definitely not a good sign.  I started freaking out and woke up my poor husband because I wasn't really sure what to do.  We didn't have any Benadryl, but even if we did I thought that I may not be able to swallow a pill.  A few minutes later, I looked at my throat in the mirror again and saw that it was even more swollen, and I felt like I couldn't breathe as well as normal.  I, of course, was freaking out.  Thankfully I married a soldier who can remain calm in a stressful situation.  Travis decided to take me to the emergency room.

As usual, it was packed and we had to wait forever.  When I was finally able to be moved from the waiting room, I found that they were out of rooms, so I had to lay on a hospital bed pushed against the hallway wall.  The nurse had to run some blood tests, gave me an IV, and pumped 2 kinds of medicine into it for allergic reactions.  I have to add, it is extremely awkward to lay on a hospital bed, in a hospital gown with an IV in your arm in the middle of a busy hallway.  Not fun.  Then the doctor wanted to give me a CAT scan, leading to more medication being pumped into my IV.

We finally returned home at 3:40 AM (5 hours after we arrived at the ER).  My throat was almost back to normal.  It looks like I had an allergic reaction to something that I ate, although I still have no idea what it may be.  I think it may be a seasoning in the food that I ate, but I am not completely sure.  The doctor gave me 3 prescriptions to help with the reaction and to prevent infections and they seem to be working well.  The Benadryl definitely makes me feel more tired than usual.

Saturday I felt terrible all day and couldn't eat anything solid.  My throat was almost back to it's normal size, and felt tender.  Not to mention I was groggy from not sleeping much the night before combined with stress and Benadryl.  Thankfully I at least felt well enough to get some homework out of the way.  It stinks that even when I'm sick I still have to do homework.  That's college for ya. :/

Today I am feeling somewhat better.  I am trying to take it easy and hope that by tomorrow I'll be back to normal.  I have to add, I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful husband to take care of me when I'm sick! :)  He has taken such good care of me.  It is nice to not have to worry about anything when you're sick except resting.

Well, that's all for now.  I think I might relax on the couch for a bit and read a book I picked up from the library Friday morning.  Here's hoping you all are feeling well and that you have a great rest of your weekend!

Third Grade... Take Two

For those of you who may not know, I am currently attending a university in Florida and my major is elementary education.  This week I had the exciting experience of beginning my second internship (of three).  For my first internship, I worked in a first grade classroom, and this semester I am working in a third grade classroom.  I was very nervous at first.  After all, I haven't been in a third grade classroom since I was in third grade.  I had many questions as I entered the classroom on my first day.  These questions included: (1) How big will the kids be?  (please, please, please let them still be cute and little!) (2) Will they like me? (3) Will they think my Hello Kitty ID holder and folders will be dorky, or is that still cool in third grade? (4) What kind of math are they doing? (please, please, please let it be something I remember how to do so I don't look stupid!)  Thankfully, all of my questions were soon answered and I wasn't disappointed!  I also found out that I will already be teaching Science next week which will be super exciting!

I am truly honored that I get to work with such an amazing class this semester.  I know that I have so much to learn, but I have a feeling that I am going to grow a lot.  I can't wait to see where this semester takes me!

Although I know completely that teaching is the career path for me, I didn't always feel this way.  Until my Sophomore year of college I wanted to work with animals.  But then one day I began wondering if my major (at that point it was Marine Biology) was right for me.  After thinking and praying about it for some time, I felt as though I was being called to teaching.  As I thought about teaching more and more, it seemed like the perfect fit for me.  I had always loved children, but for some reason, until that time I had never considered working with them.  I finally decided that teaching was where I was meant to be, and I changed my major.  I haven't looked back since.  There are times when I feel like I want to work with animals again, but then I remember that I can teach my students about them and educate them on how to help our environment.

Most importantly, I hope to teach my future students that learning can be fun.  I didn't always enjoy school.  In fact, some years I absolutely hated it (fourth grade was one of those years due to my horrible math teacher... but that's another story).  I want my students to know that learning is worth the time and effort.  It isn't a bad thing.  It is a truly wonderful thing.  The same goes for reading.  So many children (and adults) that I know loathe reading.  It makes me so sad because I think that reading is amazing.  How else can you go on a free trip to another time and place without having to leave your couch???

I could go on and on, but I think I will end my story here.  I am sure that I will be writing more about education and learning in the near future, especially as I continue to work in my internship.

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