February Favorites 2016

Hey everyone! I know, this post is long overdue, but I promised I would do these every month so here are my favorite things from February! 

Music

Alternative/Pop:

Troye Sivan- BLUE 

Broods- Superstar

Alessia Cara- Scars to Your Beautiful 

Alessia Cara- River of Tears

Broods- Killing You

Broods- Sober

The Naked and Famous- Hearts Like Ours

Chairlift- Bruises

Chairlift- Amanaemonesia

Broods- Everytime

Daughter- Landfill

Ellie Goulding- My Blood

Marina and the Diamonds- I’m a Ruin

Marina and the Diamonds- Blue

Books

 

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

This is an absolutely brilliant book. The author paints the character as very witty and hilarious, and it is very entertaining to read. This is definitely one of my favorite books I’ve ever read, and I would recommend it to anyone. 

Summary:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean, and wearing all black- black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster. 

  

The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse

Summary:

Alenna Shawcross hasn’t seen her parents since they were dragged out of her house by government soldiers of the UNA, a new nation formed from the remnants of Canada, the USA, and Mexico. And now, as a sixteen-year-old orphan, she has failed a government personality test designed to diagnose subversive tendencies. As punishment, Alenna is banished to the wheel,a mysterious island where all the kids who fail get sent. A place where the conditions are brutal, and a civil war rages between two very different tribes of teenagers. So when Alenna meets Liam, a charismatic warrior who is planning to escape, she must find the strength to make a difficult decision: to either accept her new life on the wheel, or to embark on a journey that will uncover shocking secrets about the UNA- and her own identity as well. 

  

The Leveller by Julia Durango

Summary:

Nixy Bauer is used to her classmates being very, very unhappy to see her. After all, she’s working with the enemy- she’s on their parents’ payrolls. Nixy is a bounty hunter in a virtual reality gaming world. Kids in the MEEP, as they call it, play entirely with their minds, while their bodies languish in a sleeplike state on the couch. Irritated parents, looking to wrench their kids back to reality, hire Nixy to jump into the game and retrieve them. Luckily for Nixy and her wallet, she’s the best leveller out there. But when the game’s billionaire developer- and Nixy’s parents’ boss- loses track of his own son in the MEEP, Nixy is in for the biggest challenge of her bounty-hunting career. Wyn Salvador isn’t some lazy kid looking to escape his homework, and this is no ordinary levelling job: Wyn does not want to be found. And he’s left behind a suicide note. Nixy takes the job but quickly discovers that Wyn’s not hiding- he’s being held inside the game against his will. But who is holding him captive, and why? Nixy and Wyn attempt to fight their way out of a mind game unlike any they’ve encountered. And the battle brings them closer than either could have imagined. But when the whole world is virtual, how can Nixy possibly know what’s real? 

 
Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

Summary:

Nicole Castro is the most beautiful, popular, and wealthy girl in her high school… until a mystery assailant splashes her with acid, ruining the left side of her face. The tragedy is instantly all over the national news, but quiet loner and brilliant hacker Jay Nazzaro doesn’t just gawk and whisper like everyone else. Jay understands how it feels to be treated like a freak, and he’s determined to find out who did it. But the deeper Jay digs, the harder he falls for the surprisingly down-to-earth, vulnerable Nicole… and the more danger he’s in. Everyone is a suspect-including Nicole herself- and Jay  might just be the next victim of the list. 

Others

    

Sinful Colors Nail Polish in Daredevil

Lately I’ve been trying to wear colors I wouldn’t normally choose, and this was a great choice for me. It’s a very bright, neon pink, but it put me in the mood for the upcoming warmer months. 

     
Pink Lotus Candleholder- TJ Maxx, $8

When I saw this, I knew I had to buy it. It’s so adorable, and great for holding my candles since I have a bit of a candle obsession. 

 

Ipsy Unboxing|February 2016!

Hey guys! So a few days ago I got my first Ipsy bag and I was so excited. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a website where you take a little quiz (to get information like eye color, hair color, what skin problems you have, etc.) then by just paying $10 a month, you get a little bag with personalized sample products in it. Ipsy also tends to have more full sized products in it. It comes once a month, about mid-month, and you get 5 samples in it to try out. I think this is a super cool idea if you want to try more beauty products, hair products, skin products, and more, especially higher-end ones, but don’t want to shell out a lot of money for it if you don’t know how it works. I love how affordable this service is. So since I got this subscription, I will do a post on it reviewing the products each month, starting with this month’s. If you’d like to subscribe or just check Ipsy out, you can do so here. Now let’s get into today’s post!

 

So this is what this month’s bag looks like:

The front has a bumpy texture, and the image of a pixelated letter with a heart on it, which is super cute for Valentine’s Day. And the bag is just a glossy, hot pink color. I can definitely see myself using this for travelling and carrying my makeup or other products.

 

The theme this month is Pretty in Ipsy Pink, which is obviously for Valentine’s Day. So most of the products in my bag are pink themed.

 

The first product in my bag was this Luxie Small Tapered Blending Eye Brush. This is a very nice brush. The color scheme is really cute, and the bristles are soft. I already have a couple of eye blending brushes, but I like this one a lot more and I probably will use it more since it’s more high-quality than the ones I already own.

 

 

 

The second product in my Ipsy bag is this Naked Cosmetics Loose Mica Pigment.

This doesn’t really have a specific color name or anything, but I would describe it as this beautiful glittery champagne shade. It’s a pretty neutral color, so it works on all skin tones and all eye colors. This is extremely pigmented but easily blendable, and it looks like something I could wear everyday. The only thing that I don’t like about this (and it’s pretty minor) is the fact that it’s not a pressed powder eye shadow. I’m just not a particularly neat person, and knowing my luck, I would spill this all over the floor and myself, so I just have to be careful with this.

 

 

 

 

The third thing I received was this Perfectly Posh Look Natural Best Face Forever Exfoliating Daily Facewash. I love this stuff! When you first smell it, it smells pretty strongly of mint which made me a bit of nervous because I don’t particularly like a very strong mint smell, but when used it has a nice fresh scent of mint that isn’t too strong with grapefruit undertones.  This is very nice , it’s probably my favorite product I got this month even though it doesn’t really go with the theme this month. It’s extremely refreshing, and leaves my skin feeling renewed.

 

 

 

 

 

The fourth thing I received in my Ipsy bag is the Mr. Write (Now) Eyeliner Crayon in Jac by The Balm Cosmetics.

I saw a lot of other Ipsy unboxings where many people got this same eyeliner (but in different colors) and there were mixed reviews so I was excited to try this out for myself. One thing I really like about this is that it’s a screw-up eyeliner so you don’t have to sharpen it. It has great pigmentation and staying power, and the bronzy-brown color is a nice neutral eyeliner color that goes quite well with my dark brown eyes. Another thing I like is that the formula is sort of creamy, but it dries very quickly so you don’t run the risk of messing up your eye shadow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final item in my Ipsy bag is the trèStique Baby Blush Stick in Bora Bora Coral.  I was a bit frightened of this color because it looked very bright, but when swatched it’s a beautiful coral color and it blends very easily. This is something that I would wear every day in the  spring or summertime. The only thing I don’t really like about this is that I feel like this isn’t a universally flattering color for all skin tones, but I can’t be sure.

 

 

That’s all I got in my Ipsy bag for February 2016! I hope you guys enjoyed this post and see you next time!