The Ravings of an Insomniac

I freaking love lip balms. I have way too many, enough to last me at least three lifetimes. The Nivea Lip Butters are lip balms that have been raved about, and I just knew I had to pick some up.

I'd originally gotten all three scented ones (Raspberry Rose Kiss, Caramel Cream Kiss, and Vanilla and Macadamia Kiss), but I gave one away to my friend. For the record, all three of them smell freaking amazing.

Nivea products can be bought in certain drugstores. They were around $3.50 for each at my local Target. They come in little tins and Nivea does not test on animals, but they are not a vegan brand.

Raspberry Rose Kiss

Caramel Cream Kiss

Both of these are thick balms. They smell amazing. People say they taste amazing, but I really don't taste anything. Caramel Cream Kiss doesn't do this as much as Raspberry Rose Kiss, but they leave a white cast on your lips. For this reason, I only apply these at home. As for hydrating the lips, these are so good. They contain vitamin E and no waxes, which is great. The balmy feeling doesn't last for very long, but they provide hydration for hours.

You should definitely go get some. They're very good, especially for the price.

This name is way too long to bother even copying and pasting. Today's post is on that. Mine is 02 Black Sparkle. I actually originally intended to just pick up the regular black one, but as I was in a hurry I didn't look too closely and disregarded the sparkly packaging.

Ha, even the company knows the name is way too long. This liner is a tradition pencil liner, meaning it has to be sharpened (some product will be wasted no matter what). This liner is very very soft. It glides on like butter, without skipping. The color payoff for this particular color isn't that amazing, but it's still fairly pigmented. Besides, this shade is supposed to be sparkly black, not jet black. Anyways, this liner won't budge after you give it time to set. It won't slide around on your eyelid, and it's waterproof. This one faded a bit, but it was okay. Nothing too bad.

If you watch Parks and Recreation I'm sure you'll recognize that phrase (Tom and Donna, anyone?). Actually, I'm sure you'll recognize that phrase from life in general.

Hello. Today's post is on the Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette.

I got this concealer from Target for $11. I believe there's only one shade available, 07. Sonia Kashuk products can be bought in Target stores and are not tested on animals. They are made in the USA.




The concealer is packaged in a magnetized quad. The inside is silver and does tend to get a little messy, but that can be cleaned up easily.


This palette includes two concealer shades, a green toned neutralizer, and a translucent setting powder. The concealers are very very creamy, easy to blend, and feel smooth on the skin. They don't look cakey at all, cover well, and give a very natural looking finish. The translucent powder feels very fine. It doesn't settle into fine lines, and doesn't cake up either.



These concealers are very easily blended and it's easy to mix the two shades to custom match your skin.


The translucent powder is a very nice touch in the kit.

Overall, I would highly recommend this product. It's convenient and I like how there's a green toned concealer too.

Get ready for a pretty crap post with a pretty bad quality picture. I'm very sorry, I've been really busy and didn't have a post queued.

Hey there. As you can tell from the title, I'm bringing you a review on the TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray.

I always start with my undereye concealer. The one I'm currently using is the Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Eye Roller, and I'm not sure what shade this is as there was only one color when I purchased it. I roll onto my dark ring and draw a triangular shape from there to the tip of my nostril and blend out with my off-brand beauty blender.

Then I dot the Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Beige evenly all over my face and blend out with my fingers, or my off brand beauty blender.

Following that, I dab some L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable Crayon Concealer in Light/Medium W4-5 on any acne, scars, or hyperpigmentation on my face and blend out with my fingers.

The next step is is to add a light wash of color onto my eyelids. I've been really loving the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Inked in Pink, it's part of the Metals line, which may or may not be made permanent.

Then I sweep the No7 Maximum Volume Mascara onto my lashes. Crap mascara for volume, length, or definition (meaning all you really want in a mascara) but good for a natural look.

The last step is to dab the Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Rosy Red onto my lips for a natural red lip. Read my review of this product here.

That's it. I have a pretty simple routine. Thanks for reading!

Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm - No.7 Rosy Red

Left is blended out, right is heavily swatched.

I am someone who loves to smell good. I love smelling things that smell good, I love people that smell good, I basically just love nice smelling things. That being said, I'm bringing you a perfume collection today.

Fair warning, this is going to be a loooong post with tons of pictures.

So in case you're new to fragrances, there are many different types. Body spray, fragrance mist, eau de perfume, eau de toilette, hair mists, perfume oils, rollerballs, solid perfumes, etc. The different type of fragrance can affect its longevity, silage (which is basically the strength of a scent) and notes. Notes are the different scents in a fragrance. Every fragrance is top notes (what you first smell when it's applied), middle notes (what you smell after the fragrance has been on you for a little bit) and base notes (what you smell when the perfume is starting to wear off). Many fragrances can be layered with a corresponding line if they have one to prolong the scent (such as body wash, lotions, hand creams, etc). You can even rub Vaseline onto the area where you're going to apply fragrance to make the scent last longer. Perfumes should be sprayed onto pulse points, such as wrists, neck, chest, back of knees, elbows, basically anywhere on the body where the pulse can be felt. There are many families in perfumes, like floral, citrus, musky, woody, and anything in between.

Keep in mind, scent is a very personal matter of opinion. What you think smells heavenly someone else might hate.

I don't have very many perfumes, most of these are body sprays. A lot of beauty gurus have at least twenty perfumes, and whenever I watch those videos a part of me is like "no bitch, you and I both know you're not going to use all of those up." That being said, I have ten perfumes and body sprays. I try to cycle through all of them.

I keep my fragrances on a little shelf in between my windows because although they're on display and look really nice there, the light won't hit it directly and change the scent of the perfume faster. The back row is full of two full sized B&BW fragrance mists, and then three minis. There's an eau de toilette (Paris Amour, it smells like apples if you're wondering) that I'm going to give away, but the box is so pretty that I couldn't help putting it on the shelf. The front row are the true perfumes.

Let's start with the actual perfumes, shall we?

So the first thing at the end is not actually a perfume, but just lemon oil. I'm a sucker for lemon scented things, so whenever I need a pick-me-up I just go and have a deep whiff of the stuff. Sometimes I rub it on my pulse points as well. (Shh I'm weird I know)


Now, if you don't know, this is one of the "classic" fragrances. It's Joy by Jean Patou, the Eau de Toilette. It's crazy expensive. My mom bought this in Paris years and years ago for muuuch less than the retail price, which, for the 1.6 oz bottle is $155. Crazy expensive. Anyways, she rarely wore it, and kept it hidden in her jewelry box (which was tucked away in her closet), so luckily the scent hasn't changed. This perfume is a very mature scent, something I would not wear unless I was going to a formal event because it's 1) so damn expensive and 2) very very fancy. It smells like jasmine and roses. It's a very simple scent, it doesn't change like a lot of other ones do, which I like a lot. I do like it, I just wouldn't normally wear it.

Top notes of Bulgarian rose, ylang-ylang, and tuberose.

Middle and base notes of jasmine from Grasse and May rose.

The next two perfumes are rollerballs, Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck (the first perfume she released) and Pacifica's Tuscan Blood Orange. I like both of these a lot. Whenever I wear these, I apply some to one wrist and rub them together, apply some to the hallows behind my ears, and on my neck. I rub those spots in with my wrists too.

The bottle of Wonderstruck is very very cute. It's in a purple bottle, with little charms on the side. It's pretty and nice to look at. The rollerball costs $18, and the 1.7 oz bottle costs $50. It smells fruity and sweet, girly and young without being too childish. I probably wear this one the most out of all my perfumes. The lasting power is okay, about three or four hours pass at school before I have to reapply.




The next rollerball I have is Pacifica's Tuscan Blood Orange perfume, which is actually a natural perfume. I got the rollerball for $12, which is great. It smells like straight up oranges and a bit of strawberries. I like this a lot. It's fresh and uplifting. However, the lasting power is terrible! It's gone in about an hour.

• Top notes: strawberry, rasberry
• Middle notes: blood orange
• Base notes: mandarin orange, sweet orange

Hey guys, I have another review for you. Today's is going to be on the C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve.

C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve - $5.50 at Bath & Body Works

This salve contains 0.8 oz of product. I got mine for $5.50 at Bath & Body Works, but it can be purchased online, from B&BW's website or C.O. Bigelow's. Rosebud Perfume Co. does have a similar product, that is $6 at Sephora, but I haven't tried that yet so I can't recommend it. Basically, this is a salve that can be used on any dry areas on the body. It's in a little red tin. The front has the brand and product name. The back has directions, claims, and ingredients. The sides of the tin have some uses for this salve. This company does not test on animals. This product was made in the USA.

Hey everyone, I have a review for you today. As you can see by the title, it's on Pond's Dry Skin Cream.

Pond's Dry Skin Cream - 6.5 oz

I got mine at Target for around $5, I believe. There is a 10.1 oz size jar of it, available for around $8. It's in a 6.5 oz plastic jar with a blue lid. The front has the product name on it, the back has some claims, directions, and ingredients. Unfortunately, Pond's does test on animals.


I really wanted to like this product. I'd read some good reviews on Makeup Alley, and it seemed perfect for my normal/dry skin.