7:46 PM

April's Dreamy Glam Bag

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During the spring time, all the months seem to roll together. Was it not just March? Now we're at the end of April, and it's gonna be May. Who else loves those Justin Timberlake memes?! If you have no idea what reference I'm making just click here. Gosh where does all the time go? Well at least with every new month, there is a new glam bag to try out!

The theme for the April Glam Bag was titled "The Dreamers." And shocker once again, ipsy has come up with another theme that is not cohesive with the products.

It really makes you think that ipsy's themes are only meant for their "stylists" so they can promote themselves and gain more followers. The effort does not go into the bags themselves, instead all of ipsy's efforts and hard work goes into more and more Youtube views and subscribers. I'm just one of those people who does not really care about what the Youtubers say or use, I like to try new products and form my own opinions. Hey that's just me, but I digress.

This month's Glam Bag itself was super adorable. It was yellow and orange with a blue zipper and it is similar to the colors and shades of a sunset, which indeed are very dreamy.

Inside the Glam Bag were the following products:

  • tarte cosmetics LipSurgence™ lip crème in wonder
  • Adesse New York Organic Infused Gel Effect Nail Lacquer in Irina
  • Harvey Prince Organics Keravegan Hair Mask
  • Starlooks Cream Eye Shadow in Rose Gold
  • Crown Brush C427 Duo Fiber Blush Brush

The tarte cosmetics LipSurgence™ lip crème in wonder is a beautiful red/pink shade lipstick. The color was gorgeous and looks good on anyone who wears it. The only downside to this lipstick is that it does tingle the lips when you first put it on, which would make one think it is a lip plumper. But it is not a plumper, and I have no explanation for the tingling. But other than that it is a pretty color and a long lasting lipstick.

One of the most disappointing products in the April Glam Bag was the Adesse New York Organic Infused Gel Effect Nail Lacquer in Irina. The gray/lavender shade of this nail polish is gorgeous, but the formula of this nail polish is awful. The nail polish goes on light so you'll need to reapply a couple coats. The worst thing about this polish is that it starts chipping hours after you just painted your nails. This nail polish might be good for you if you love to constantly paint your nails.

The Harvey Prince Organics Keravegan Hair Mask is a non-toxic and all-natural formula to help treat your damaged hair, or to help keep it healthy! The effects of this hair mask do not happen right away. Once I washed and blew dry my hair there was no immediate affect, it felt about the same after I wash my with hair with my normal conditioner. But the next day, I somehow woke up with softer and healthier hair. I do not know how or why that happened, but it did.

When it comes to the Starlooks Cream Eye Shadow in Rose Gold, my feelings are mixed. The metallic rose gold shade is a gorgeous color but the formula of the cream eye shadow is not the best. The cream is sticky and goes on super light. But once you smooth out the cream it has a good texture. It is difficult to wear that shade alone since it goes on so light and it almost matches the shade of a skin tone. Since this color is so light, it works best as an eyeshadow base.

Last but certainly not least, there is the Crown Brush C427 Duo Fiber Blush Brush. I'm always excited whenever I find a brush in my glam bags. They're such a necessity and the more you have the better! I do not own very many blush brushes so it was nice to try out something new. This brush is super soft and feels wonderful on the skin. The shape of this blush brush is very unique as well, I love that you can use two sides of the brush rather than just the bottom portion. So one side can be used for blush, and the other can be used for anything else, like a highlighter or foundation! When it comes to applying blush (or foundation or highlighter) it goes on nice and smooth, and it is also not too dark and not too light. The versatility of this brush is a big win, and it is always great to have brushes that can be used for one or more thing. Makeup brushes can be very expensive, especially the great quality ones. So this brush is a perfect addition to the glam bag.

Overall this Glam Bag had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. The two hits in this bag were the tarte lip crème and the Crown Brush blush brush, and the obvious miss was the Adesse nail polish. I would give Glam Bag 3.5 stars out of 5. Not too shabby! Can't wait to see what's in store for the May Glam Bag.

Until next time.

12:23 PM

Why You Should Never Ever Sail On the Crown Princess

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If you have booked a room on the Crown Princess and are expecting to be treated like royalty, you're dead wrong. I have been on my fair share of Princess Cruises and have been a loyal customer, hence the Ruby status, but after my latest experience on the Crown Princess, I have decided to take my business else where. Why you ask? Let me indulge you.

This past January I was on board the Crown Princess for the 2016 Angels Fan Cruise. Since I have been on this ship before (for the previous Angels Fan Cruise), I had high expectations and was very excited for this trip, but from the moment I stepped on that dreaded ship, everything seemed to go downhill.

The Crown Princess just isn't known for all the amazing destinations that it travels to, it is actually an infamous ship. This ship is known to constantly make passengers sick due to the norovirus. The norovirus is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans. In simple terms it is a stomach bug that can give you abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. The norovirus can be spread through contaminated food or water and it can also be spread by food handlers, people who touch contaminated surfaces and from person to person transmission. Princess Cruises has experienced the most (over 20) gastrointestinal outbreaks in the last decade, according to Cruise Law News.

Right before my cruise date, the Crown Princess was infected with the norovirus yet again. Our departure time was delayed a couple hours due to this outbreak. The ship itself needed to be cleaned and cleansed of its sins, which is totally understandable, because I did not want to catch this stomach bug. When I was on the ship, it was the cleanest it has ever been. But that still did not help a lot of its problems. My bathroom and some of the public restrooms on the ship had some plumbing issues. Also due to the norovirus outbreak, you were required to sanitize before every meal and you were not allowed to serve yourselves. You could not even go get a pack of sugar for your coffee without someone doing it for you, and when you tried to do it yourself, you would get scolded by the crew.

What that tells me is that the problem is coming from somewhere or someone on the ship. The ship clearly is not being taken care of, in fact, it only gets a good cleaning when the passengers get sick. Since this is a common occurrence, I don't think it can be blamed on the passengers or the itinerary, which some of the Crown Princess crew members tried to do. Because several other cruise lines travel to same destinations and they have not had as many problems as Princess.

Speaking of the Crown Princess crew members, the ones I had encountered this past January were some of the rudest people I have ever met. Some crew members went out of their way to insult me and embarrass me because of my appearance. Never in my life had I ever been treated so horribly, especially while I was on vacation. Several crew members made me cry in public which led to some of my fellow passengers feeling sorry for me.

The crew on the Crown Princess is one of the worst crews I had ever seen in my entire life. Besides their disrespectful behavior, their complete lack of knowledge was astounding. It seemed like not one person knew what was happening on the ship. On our first day, assigned seating for dinner was cancelled and not one person knew. Everyone in the Botticelli dining room had to wait in front of the restaurant and along the stairs for almost an hour until someone told us that our dinner was cancelled, and if we wanted to eat there we would have to wait another hour or so. This is not the first time the dining staff had no idea what was going on, on my first trip on the Crown Princess, my family of five was seated at a table for four. The staff on this ship are not the brightest crayons in the Crayola box.

Disorganized is the best way to describe this ship and its staff. If you're looking to book a cruise, go with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Norwegian, instead of Princess. Princess has lost their prestigious and regal reputation because now they cut corners when it comes to quality. They do not care about your needs, all you are is another dollar sign to them.

Until next time.

8:30 AM

A Spring Awakening With ipsy

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When March rolls around, spring fever is in the air. We want to forget all about the cold winter and focus only on the beautiful weather that's upon us. Goodbye dark and gloomy winter! Hello sunshine and hello to all the flowers in bloom.

Once February ended, it was time to say goodbye to all the dark colors in the makeup drawer and be reunited with all the bright and colorful makeup products that were hibernating this past winter.

The March glam bag from ipsy was themed Hello Spring. Pretty basic and general but a very appropriate and timely theme for the season. The glam bag itself had a rose pattern and also came in three different color combinations. There was a blue background and red rose, a mint green background and red rose, and a red background and mint green rose. I received the blue and red one which honestly is the prettiest and most unique in my opinion.

Inside my glam bag I received the following products:

  • Beau Gâchis® Paris Eyeshadow Brush
  • Marc Anthony Nourishing Argan Oil of Morocco 3 Day Smooth Perfect Blow Dry Cream
  • OFRA Cosmetics Green Go Eyeliner
  • NYX Cosmetics Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick
  • TEMPTU Warm Glow Bronzer

The Beau Gâchis® Paris Eyeshadow Brush is an okay eyeshadow brush. This brush can be used to apply powder, liquid and cream products. The Beau Gâchis® brush does use animal hair, which is not the best. Lately, I've been a fan of vegan makeup brushes and less of a fan of those that use animal hair. But the brush does apply eyeshadow well and it is super soft.

My excitement could not be contained when I saw the Marc Anthony Nourishing Argan Oil of Morocco 3 Day Smooth Perfect Blow Dry Cream in my glam bag. I love Marc Anthony hair care products so I was happy to receive another! Recently, my hair has become quite frizzy after I shower so blow dry cream has been a recent addition into my hair product drawer. With this hair cream, you only need to add a little to your hair to smooth it down, and it gets the job done. The only con with this cream is that it can get your hands a little sticky but most hair creams do that anyways.

The next product is the OFRA Cosmetics Green Go Eyeliner, and it is a dark, almost olive, green shade. This eyeliner can also be used as eyeshadow or lip liner, but you won't see any green lips on me, who do I look like? The Wicked Witch of the West? The color pairs well with my eyes, but that's basically all the good when it comes to this eyeliner. The eyeliner goes on super light and it is not very noticeable on the eye. When you are applying the eyeliner, it crumbles very easily. It is not a long lasting product or good quality product.

Another product I was very excited to try in the March glam bag was the NYX Cosmetics Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick. I received the shade Pink Lust, which I was very happy with. It seems like ipsy was only giving me nude shades of lipstick or gloss, and it was nice to see a shade I would actually be happy to wear. The color was a gorgeous and vibrant pink. Even though I am not a big fan of liquid lipsticks, this lipstick was great. Most liquid lipsticks that I have tried are not very long lasting and have a strange formula but that was not the case with this lipstick. There was no weird aftertaste or a weird feeling on my lips, instead if felt like I was wearing a normal matte lipstick. The liquid lipstick dries quickly and has a matte finish. It is also long lasting so there is no need to reapply constantly.

Now lastly there is the TEMPTU Warm Glow Bronzer, which I have mixed feelings about. It is a great product but it is packaged poorly which makes it hard to use. There is no seal on the product so once you open it and use it for the first time, the liquid will go down to the cap. I contacted the ipsycare twitter about this, and they told me that you have to be careful when opening it because it will collect in the cap. So I think TEMPTU needs to find better packaging for this product because who would want to pay for a bronzer that constantly leaks? But other than the faults with the packaging the product is a great liquid bronzer. It is a nice light brown shade that gives anyone's skin tone a sun kissed glow. The bronzer blends well and it gives a nice finished glow.

Overall, I would say this glam bag was a success! I was genuinely impressed with most of the products, even though some of them did not meet my expectations. The clear hits in this bag were the liquid lipstick and blow dry cream while the miss was the green eyeliner. I'd give this bag 4/5 stars!

Until next time.

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