YBF Lipsticks, College Again, and Where Did August Go?

Hello, dear readers,

I somehow managed to skip an entire month of blogging, and it's made me realize how much I miss it. Of course, now that I'm ready to get back in the swing of things, I've been bombarded with reading assignments from just the first two days of class. If you aren't already aware, I am a transfer student coming in as a junior to my new college. I'll go ahead and be honest and admit that so far I don't love it here. 

The academics seem great, but it's such a small school that it's hard to break into cliques. Yes, cliques exist on a campus of 1500 or so students [my high school had somewhere between 2000 and 2500!]. Granted, they're bigger than in high school and without any actual drama among groups, but that doesn't make it any easier to come in as an upperclassman and feel right at home. It seems like I'm the only one who feels that way, though. Maybe it's because I just came from a campus of over 40,000 students. I'm used to enjoying a certain anonymity among the masses and a social life among my own friends.

Complaining aside, I do look forward to joining some activities and hopefully getting my life together in a way that allows me to blog more often than I have been. That doesn't mean that I won't ever get lazy and skip weeks, but I'd rather not skip months anymore! I will be posting an updated skincare routine at some point, but I have yet to take the pictures. I don't really have a set foundation routine right now; it varies by day/time of day/the condition of my skin. I can, however, do a post about some of the products that make regular appearances in my makeup routine. There are some new additions to my face makeup family, so I'll eventually be sharing those.

Now onto current news: I'll wager that most of you have heard of HauteLook , but I'll explain it anyway for those of you who haven't. It's a flash sale site for beauty, clothing, and home goods brands for men, women, and children. It will have a sale on, say, Stila Cosmetics starting at 8 a.m. EST on a Wednesday, and ending Friday at 8 a.m. Right now, there are sales on brands ranging from Sibu Beauty to Minnetonka; Lucky Brand Men to Skechers Backpacks for kids.

A little over a week ago, HauteLook had a sale on a relatively new beauty line called ybf cosmetics, which stands for your best friend. There was a set of six lipsticks for $12.50, and I thought that was a pretty good deal. The shipping was not the greatest, because it tacked on an extra $6.00 or so, but my mom was kind enough to order it for me as a back to college [here goes nothingl "surprise." [Side note: I realize the term "college" is like high school for some countries outside of the U.S., but I mean it in terms of university. You've probably guessed that by now.]

Apologies for not taking my own pictures, but here is what I received:

Source

Source

Rather than take all the pictures from other websites, I'm going to direct you to this wonderful post that pretty much nails everything there is to say about these lipsticks. I can add that they are paraben free; if that's a concern of yours, you may be interested. They really are very versatile shades, and you can layer them any way you please. You can layer any lipstick, actually, but these happen to come in a cute and convenient set. I love the heart-shaped packaging and the fact that there are essentially four variations of red. I would say that there's a cool-toned red, an orangey red, and a cherry red.

The other three colors are a sheer, shimmery nude meant to top the other lipsticks, a deep wine color, and a brownish burgundy. The only discrepancy between my post and the one I've linked above is the color of the shade "Scandalous." Mine are exactly as pictured above in the company's photo, and I'm  not sure why. If you'd like to see a review with my own photos and swatches, I can do that, too.

That's all I've got for you today. Congratulations to those of you who made it through this post, and thank you to my readers for sticking with me while I sort out my life!

I hope your August was marvelous and your September is even better!

xEsther

Another Periodic Update

Hello, dear readers,

I'm sorry I'm so inconsistent with my blogging this summer. I promise I have no intention of stopping this blog; I'm just enjoying my summer as much as possible and have been too lazy to actually create a worthwhile post. So far I've been catching up with friends, shopping, reading, and getting back into regular fitness routines. I like the Exercise TV videos on YouTube, and I also search for random workouts so I can switch up my routine. I still hula hoop, but I also like interval workouts, Pilates, and Zumba and other dance workouts.  I do have reviews that will be coming up, some of which are quite overdue. I received a box of products for the summer Influenster VoxBox, which I will explain once I'm ready to review those. I have to actually use the products in order to review them! I also haven't been wearing face makeup, as it's been over 100 degrees [F] here. Don't worry, though; I still wear lipstick every day!

I hope all of my American readers had a fabulous July 4th! I went to my local parade with my friend, and one of our friends was actually driving in it. We hassled her until she got out of the car and came over to us. It was quite nice as I haven't been to the parade in a few years. I had to hop right in the shower after due to the fact that it hit 102 F [I don't know how to do the degree symbol; sorry!]. I then went to a barbecue with friends, including the two from the morning, and saw the local fireworks. Afterwards, we all went to see the opening night of the Katy Perry movie. Yes; you read that right. It was a great deal of fun singing loudly and dancing in the back row. I know, I know; it's definitely Oscar-worthy material.

I promise you will see a post from me before the summer's end; I just can't promise you when that will be! Have a wonderful weekend!

xEsther

And the Concerts Keep Coming: Jon McLaughlin Hits the Road

Hello, dear readers,

As you may have noticed, this post is about yet another concert. I feel like that's all I've been posting lately, but it's so exciting! I'm going to see Jon McLaughlin in Minneapolis, MN, on June 5th, and I am more than thrilled. It's part of his Promising Promises tour to promote the album of the same name that will be launching around that time. McLaughlin is another of my top three favorite male singers. He plays multiple instruments, all wonderfully, I might add, and his lyrics are deeper than your average Top 40 pop hit. That's not to say he doesn't deserve to be in a "Top ..." list; he really does. You may remember his hits "Beat of My Heart" and "Industry" from a few years back; they were played on several radio stations for a long period of time.

In any case, if you're in Minneapolis, you should check out his concert. Tickets are available here, and if you don't live there, here's his tour schedule. If he's playing near you, and you've never heard him before, check him out on YouTube and see what you think. I'm biased because I have seen him perform, but it was a short set at a free event.

For the record, no one is paying me to mention any concerts. McLaughlin and Eric Hutchinson just happen to be two of my favorites [Jason Mraz is the third, but I'm not thrilled with his new album.]. I'm super enthusiastic about going to concerts, especially because I've hardly been to any, so I want to share with you what I truly believe is fantastic music.

My posts will be beauty related shortly, but I find it fun to write about my interests and the goings-on in my life. I enjoy the fact that it makes me feel closer to my readers, even though I can't see any of you!

So see if you like his music, and definitely get tickets in Minneapolis if you'll be there on June 5th. What if we ran into each other?

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

xEsther

Rockin' Out with Eric Hutchinson

Meeting Eric Hutchinson!  (I'm on the right; my friend, Beth, is on the left)

Hello, dear readers,

Today's post is just an update on the Eric Hutchinson concert and what it was like to meet him and see him perform. I've been singing all of the songs on his new album non-stop since Monday, April 23, so I feel like this is an appropriate topic. As it turns out, my friend and I were not the only winners of the "Meet Eric Hutchinson" contest. In fact, the other girl and her guest were already tipsy when we went to meet him behind the kitchen area. It was quite a strange meeting place. They were also much louder and bigger than we were. In general, they were much more aggressive in conversation. We only really got to say "Hi, nice to meet you" and our names before the other girls started talking.

We had also wanted to sing one of his songs for him, because we harmonize to them all the time. Needless to say, we didn't get the chance. As for feeling starstruck, it didn't happen. He showed absolutely no personality, and he looks happier in this picture than he did actually talking. It was a meeting of approximately five minutes. He also came out after the show so anyone could meet him, which I felt negated the purpose of the contest. Maybe no one else got pictures, or the line was so long that not everyone stayed. 

We were pretty disappointed after meeting him, simply because we barely got the chance to say anything, and he exhibited about as much charisma as a doorknob. However, we changed our minds a bit after the concert. He was amazing, a completely fantastic performer and entertainer. He must have been saving his energy for that. [We can hope, right?] We had a wonderful time dancing and singing along at the top of our lungs. He sang somewhere around 20 songs, I believe, three of which were not his own. It lasted an hour and a half, after a very subpar, 45-minute, opening act. 

Overall, I think I can speak for us both when I say that we're pretty thrilled to have met him, despite his lack of enthusiasm before the concert. And, hey, we came away with a great picture of us!

That just about sums up the event. I can't really do it justice through a blog post, but I can tell you that we had an absolute blast! I'm going to buy his new album today; listening to it on Spotify was only acceptable in order to learn the songs before heading to the concert.

Well, that's all, folks.

Have a thrilling Thursday!

xEsther

Where, Oh Where, Has This Blogger Been?

Hello my dear readers,

I do indeed realize that I have been disappearing quite frequently for over a week at a time, lately. I'll give you a little rundown of what's happening in my life at the moment and why I might not be posting very frequently. Don't get me wrong; I love blogging. The fact of the matter is that blogging is more of a hobby than anything else. I'll still be reading blogs in my not-so-copious free time, but posting takes a lot of time for me to do when it's not just a tag post or a blog hop.

I finished working at my summer job on August 12, much to the chagrin of the office regulars. The season for licensing gets quite busy at the end of August, and that's when the interns tend to leave for college. I had one week free before packing my suitcase and other boxes and bags with my paraphernalia and heading down to my university. It's about a five hour drive on average, so I arrived Wednesday afternoon.

Unpacking and setting up my room was a two-day affair, what with buying a few last minute supplies and a couple of posters. I got my room set up and went to some Welcome Week activities with friends. School started on Monday, the 29th. I ended up dropping one class and adding another, so it works out that I have four classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, each an hour and fifteen minutes long, and one class Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. That class is only 50 minutes, but there's an additional film screening every Monday night that goes approximately from 7:15 to 10:15.

Now that you've read my enthralling class schedule, I can tell you that my agenda will be packed with a plethora of reading and writing assignments. Hence the lack of blog posts.

It would be much easier if my assignments included showing you my lipstick collection and debating between tinted moisturizers, than answering questions on medieval Spanish literature, analyzing Spanish historical writings, reading Rousseau, and studying the chemistry of warfare. That's the bulk of what I'm studying at the moment, besides my film and media class, which I'm actually excited about.

By the way, I am by no means trying to sound like a smarty-pants. I just wanted to justify, partially to myself, why I won't be posting quite so often, and to share a little bit more of my interests with you.

This concludes my rant on how busy I am, because I know plenty of busy bees still blog in the meantime. I just don't quite have the energy that those lovely ladies somehow maintain.

If any of you actually read this far, congratulations. I can't blame you if you didn't read ANY of this post. This is probably the most "personal" post I've written, or at least one of the least beauty related posts.

I'm off to bed but I do promise more posts will be coming, so thank you to my followers, old and new, for being patient. The list of posts I promised you will get done. It's just going to be a slow process.


Happy last days of summer. [Hey, if it still looks like summer, it still is] I hope you're relaxed, wherever you are.

xEsther

Oh the Irony...My Morning in a Nutshell

Hello, dear readers,

While I am pondering what new and [at least somewhat] exciting posts I can make in the future, many of which will probably have to do with lipstick, I thought I'd share a quick little funny anecdote.

I've been absolutely, completely, horrifically, freaking out about starting my summer job this year, and spent much of yesterday in a panic.

The problem with me is, you see, that I hate not knowing exactly what is going to happen in situations I'm not entirely sure about. I was absolutely fine and worry-free when I went off to Peru two summers ago because I knew that's what I wanted, but this job is something I said I'd never take.

Here's one of the pictures I took in Peru. I'm quite proud of it, so here's a little shameless self-promotion.

Flash forward to this morning: I'm grumpily eating my breakfast and trying not to snap too much at my mom, who works at the same office and is doing her best to accommodate my grouchiness. We stop at Walgreens on the way over, and I try to calm myself down by looking at the makeup aisle, but I can't concentrate.

This is not my Walgreens. Image from http://www.painted-ladies.com/?p=12117

We finally arrive at work; my mom shows me to my office, and, lo and behold, my boss walks in and says, "We haven't started yet." Yes, that's right; I'm not actually supposed to start today. You see, my mom figured that since I took my drug test last week I should just come in on Monday and start working. To her credit, though, I never mentioned to her that it needed to go through and be processed before I start work.

In the end, I find out that my work doesn't begin until they get an email from the drug testing company saying I'm clear. That gives me probably another day or two to relax before working. It also means that my brother had to haul himself out of bed to pick me up, as my mom and I carpool. So much for completely freaking out about starting work today! After getting all dressed up and professional looking, I end up coming straight back home!

You may possibly guess that this is not me. It's from http://www.poorlittlerichgirls.com/tag/dress-for-work/

Now I'm just comatose on the computer because I got up at 7 am, something unheard of in a college student that doesn't seem to be capable of going to sleep before 1:30 am.

Also not me? Image from http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/blog/seo-work-life-balance/

I'm not entirely sure why I randomly decided to link some of these, but you know I always tell you when the image is actually mine.

There's my little anecdote for the day. I hope you enjoyed.

xEsther