I received this Enlighten Eye Brightening Palette by Pacifica from my Bestie and I love it! It is a perfect little quad of jewel toned mineral eye shadows.  These shadows are infused with coconut, which gives them a cream-like finish.

The colors of the palette are:

Urchin:  A deep plum color that can be applied in the eyelid crease and used as a liner.
Golden:  Just like it says, a gold color; good for the lids or highlighting.
Coral Sand:  This is a peachy color for the lid base or as a highlighter.
Skinny Dip:  An appropriately named nude color that can be used as a base color or as a universal highlighter.

These shadows are vegan, cruelty-free and formulated without phthalates, talc, parabens or petroleum.

This is a beautiful pink-coral shade lipstick from Givenchy called “Rose Dressing.”  

It is smooth and creamy and the color brightens the whole face.

Givenchy is not cruelty-free. 

This a good eye serum. To me, it is more of a gel, which I prefer to an eye cream as it requires less rubbing in — and the less rubbing and tugging the better on the thin skin aroung the eyes! I use it twice a day ( morning and bedtime.) 

It contains sea kelp, hyaluronic acid, ferulic acid, various peptides and vitamin C.  It is not oily and absorbs quickly. It does a good job at reducing fine lines. However, I was disappointed that it did not reduce the bags and puffiness around my eyes as it claims to do.

Petunia Skincare does not test on animals.

As we have all no doubt read, coconut oil is all the rage in beauty right now.  Coconut oil usually comes off the shelf in a solid state that has to be melted down in the hands for application.  This oil from GoPure Naturals is fractionated, which means they have made it thinner and given it a longer shelf life.  This oil is very liquid and thus easy work with.  It contains no additives, preserves or fillers, it’s just 100% pure coconut oil.

I used the Go Pure Naturals Fractionated Coconut Oil on my skin after a bath and it was very silky feeling, although I wished it had absorbed faster.  My skin was very soft after it did absorb.  I also used this in my hair.  If winter has left your ends dry, I highly recommend combing a palm full of this oil through your hair.  I left it on over night and shampooed it out in the morning and my hair was soft and the color was vibrant!
This is also a very good “carrier” oil, which is oil you can add other stuff to and it will carry it—usually you add essential oils to a carrier oil as they can be irritating to apply directly to the skin.  As the coconut oil has no scent, it won’t interfere with the scent of the essential oil. I recommend using the Go Pure Naturals Fractionated Coconut Oil for making a quick body scrub:  mix it with sugar or salt and the essential oil of your choice and scrub away!
GoPure Naturals is cruelty-free.

I recently stumbled upon something about which I am quite conflicted.  I have been trying to sort out my feelings on this for about a week:  They have day spas just for children. Like, full service day spas—massages, body wraps, facials, for children starting at age 4. 
The spa faculty are specially trained to work with children, which is good, because there is something potentially creepy about handing over your four old for a body polish to a novice…or someone with a criminal record.
This bothers me and I haven’t been able to articulate why.  The spas promote relaxation for children, like kindergarten is so stressful, let’s get a massage.  They also promote the idea of “treating yourself.” You got an “A” on your spelling test?  You deserve a mani-pedi!
But these are some of the reasons I go to spas, so what makes it ok for me and not for kids?  I guess, for me, it’s the idea that kids should be kids.  Like, they have what, 12 good years of not having to cave into the adult world?  Let them enjoy that.  Let them run around and get dirty and play ball without having to worry about steaming their pores.  I don’t like turning the focus of children to their looks; that seems like a cross they have to bear at too young an age anyway.
I know that it is fun for children to dip their toes into the adult world, I loved to play dress up and have my mom put blusher on me, and a day at the spa is probably more in line with that notion.  But where is the line drawn?  What’s next, bikini waxing for seven year olds? 
What are your thoughts?

This is some seriously awesome lipstick!  With natural oils, it is super hydrating & doesn’t dry out my lips.

And the packaging?  So chic!  I love the little honeycomb pattern. 

The color is saturated and lasts a good while.  They have a good array of colors, too.  This shade is 520 “Scarlet Soaked.”  I’ll no doubt be collecting all shades…

Burt’s Bees is cruelty-free.

You know I love me some masks from Lush, and this Brazened Honey is no exception.  This is a kaolin clay based mask with, eggs, turmeric, fennel, honey, lime juice, coriander, parsely…I could go on, but I’m getting hungry.  All these goodies soften, brighten and warm the skin. It also has ground almonds for a good bit of exfoiliation.

This mask goes on goopy, kind of like oatmeal, and dries like a clay mask does.  It washes off easily if you don’t let it dry completely (otherwise, you have to bust out the chisel).  After rinsing, my skin very smooth, clean and well nourished.

Lush is cruelty-free.

I love my hometown football team, Superbowl 50 Champion Denver Broncos, but Bronco Orange is hard color to wear.  But wear it I did for the opening game of the season last night.  I decided to go all in and try an orange lip look.

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First I used a Laura Geller Lipstick in “Peach Tree.”  This is a matte orangey-peach color (more of a Miami Dolphins color).  It was too light for my dark lips, and looked a little cakey.

First I used a Laura Geller Lipstick in “Peach Tree.”  This is a matte orangey-peach color (more of a Miami Dolphins color).  It was too light for my dark lips, and looked a little cakey.

So I followed it up with a bit of a Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie gloss in “Stylista.”  This gloss has the signature Marvelous Moxie fresh tingling effect.  It also had a bit of sparkle and smoothed out the “Peach Tree” a bit.

In the end, it is decided that orange is not my color, especially on my lips.  I wiped it off as soon as I got into the car.  My bright orange T-Shirt was enough team spirit, it seems, as we won the game.