The Beauty and Basketball Wife: January 2015

Friday, January 16, 2015

Friday Five: 1/16/15

Hi Beauties!

Happy Friday! Hope you all had a terrific week! Since December was dedicated to letting you know what my favorite products were from 2014, I haven't done one of my typical Friday Five posts since November! So here is my first Friday Five since then! This week I have been loving:

1. Rouge Volupte Lipstick in #3 Beige Ultimate by YSL
I posted on my Instagram earlier this week that I had picked up this lipstick. I was so excited to finally get a YSL lipstick. I have never owned one and have been wanting to pick one up for a very long time but I always seem to find something else I would rather spend $35 on! But I knew January would be the perfect time to get one because in Europe, January is their huge sale season. I mean EVERYTHING is on sale! Sephora rarely runs sales in the States but here, you can find SO MANY things on sale! I knew they would have luxury products included in the sale so I specifically went to Sephora to finally get my coveted YSL lipstick. Luckily, they had a shade that I liked - a beautiful rosy-mauve color :) It feels AMAZING on the lips! I even let out a little "OOH wow!" when I first applied it. It is SO hydrating and creamy. It ended up being 22.75 Euros which is around $27. Although its not the biggest savings, who doesn't like saving a little money on makeup?! I am hoping to pick up a few more treasures as January goes on and the prices drop even lower :)

Rouge Volupte Lipstick by YSL

Rouge Volupte Lipstick in #3 Beige Ultimate by YSL

2. Hydration Lock by Chapstick
My lips have been way too dry lately! Darn you winter! I asked my mom to pick this up for me to throw in the package she mailed out for Christmas. I saw Shannon from shaaanxo use this on YouTube. I figured since I needed some new Chapstick anyways, I would try this new product out. I was intrigued by the dual ended Chapstick and these lips needed some major help so I figured this would be a good thing to try out. I absolutely love it! It feels even more moisturizing and hydrating than regular Chapstick. It has a Moisturizing end which claims to "smooth and reduce fine lines" and a Renewing end which claims to "condition and instantly soften lips". I am not sure if you are supposed to use a specific end first, but I just use which ever end I take the cap off first! It all ends up getting mixed together anyway! This is exactly what my lips need this winter and makes my lips super hydrated.

Hydration Lock by Chapstick

3. Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush by Clinique
I did a review on this cleansing brush on my last post. Click here to read my thoughts on it and you will see why it made it into my Friday Five! :)

Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush by Clinique

4. Everything Nice Palette by Too Faced
If you didn't already know, I am a Too Faced Junkie! I love their holiday palettes that they come out with every year. I wished I could have gotten all of the holiday items they released this season but I had to be reasonable and just choose one. I decided on the Everything Nice palette because it had exactly everything I wanted. I loved that it had a couple of blushes, one of my favorite bronzers (Chocolate Soliel), a highlighter and mascara. Not to mention the beautiful shadows. The main reason I got this was because of the last row of shadows. I don't own any bold, bright shadows. This palette has gorgeous neutral shadows and so when I saw that there was also a row of really bold shadows, it couldn't have gotten any more perfect! These are some of the prettiest shadows I have in my collection. I am just totally in love with this palette!

Everything Nice Palette by Too Faced

5. TIME tank by Time Los Angeles
I had been wanting to pick up something from Time Los Angeles for a while. It is a clothing line for makeup addicts - how perfect!! I asked for this tank top as a Christmas present and it was sent out to me from our family in our Christmas care packages. I absolutely love it! They have the CUTEST stuff and it is all makeup related! It is also super affordable! I need more clothing from this line! I posted the picture below on Instagram and Time Los Angeles featured me on their Instagram! If you love makeup, you need to head on over to their website now!

Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo Kayla

Find the products I mentioned here:

Rouge Volupte Lipstick by YSL

Hydration Lock by Chapstick

Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush by Clinque

Everything Nice Palette by Too Faced - No longer available

TIME tank by Time Los Angeles

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush

Happy Wednesday, pretties!

I wanted to let you lovely ladies know my thoughts on the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush. I got this brush as a Christmas present and after using it for the past three weeks, I have to share with you my opinion on it!

I actually didn't even ask for this brush as a gift nor had I been considering purchasing a cleansing brush. My mother is the one who gave it to me. She really loves Clinique's skincare line and has had this brush for several months now. When she first got it, she told me how amazed she was by it and how much she loved it. She was telling me how smooth her skin was and how her makeup applied and looked so much better. She told me that I should get one but I was honestly not that interested. I was a little skeptical because I had heard mixed reviews about using cleansing brushes with acne-prone/sensitive skin. Although the brushes are supposed to improve your skin, I had heard girls saying that it irritated their skin and caused more breakouts. I was still dealing with some pretty bad acne when my mom first mentioned I should try one and after hearing that it can irritate your skin, I didn't even want to mess with that and cause more acne and irritation!

I have had pretty clear skin for a solid couple of months now so when I opened this gift, I was willing to give it a try. If it started to irritate my skin, I would just discontinue using it. But I can honestly say after just one use, I was completely sold on it! I was BLOWN AWAY at how soft my skin felt after just one use! My skin looked fresher and brighter and it has gradually gotten even better each day after these past few weeks! My makeup is applying better and my skin just looks more healthy and rejuvenated. I have had no irritation or breakouts whatsoever. If the results are this great after just a few weeks, I can't wait to see how great my skin will look in the coming months!

Do I wish I would have tried it out months ago when my mom suggested it? Yes and no. In a way, I wish I could have seen if this would have helped my acne if I added it to my skincare routine then. But then again, if it had irritated and broke out my skin even more, I would not have been happy!

If you are in the same boat I was in and considering buying a cleansing brush but are worried about it irritating your skin, you are just going to have to make a judgement call on if you want to try it out or not. I honestly have no idea how my skin would have reacted to it when I had active acne. But I can tell you that this brush is SO gentle. The brush is so soft and not harsh on the skin. On top of acne-prone skin, my skin is also sensitive. Like I said, since using this my skin has not gotten irritated or had any acne breakouts. The directions suggest that you should start using it for 30 seconds and work up to 1 minute. When you push the button to turn it on, it will turn off automatically after 30 seconds. The very first time I used it, I felt like 30 seconds was not long enough so I did it for the full minute. I have been doing it for one minute since the very start and my skin has handled it just fine.

I can't compare this to the Clarisonic because I have never used it. But I think that Clinique's brush is a winner. I don't feel the urge to compare it because I am completely satisfied with the Clinique brush. It is also cheaper than Clarisonic's brushes. Clinique's is $89 and depending on which Clarisonic brush you get, they range anywhere from $99-$249. Clinique recommends replacing the brush head every three months and the replacements are $26. Clarisonic's are similar and are $27-$30 for the replacement heads. Although I am sure Clarisonic's brushes work great, I would highly recommend looking into the Clinique brush!

I am extremely happy with this brush and it has earned a permanent spot in my skincare routine. I am loving how great my skin is looking after just a short amount of time. I will be sure to keep you updated as time goes on! I am thankful my mom just decided to buy me one even though I had been skeptical about it. I guess it's true... Your mother really does know best :)

xoxo Kayla

Friday, January 9, 2015

Friday Five: 1/9/15

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BEAUTIES!!!

I have been a little MIA for a while. Its been almost two and a half weeks since I last posted! I wasn't expecting to take a break for that long but I got super busy with Christmas, basketball games and a trip to Paris that blogging just didn't fit into the schedule! So for this Friday Five, I will do something a little different. If you are just checking out my blog for the first time, I usually post my five favorite products from the week on Friday's. But today, I will do my favorite moments from the past couple of weeks to update you guys! :)

1. Christmas
Christmas is always one of the toughest times to be away from family. I miss being able to spend that time with family and friends but am thankful that my husband and I are at least able to spend it together! And thank goodness for technology! We are blessed that we are able to Skype with our families thousands of miles away. It is truly amazing that we are able to just click a couple of buttons and we are able to see and talk to our family! That makes being away from them just a little bit easier! Between Skyping with family, eating way too much and watching every Christmas movie we could think of - Tyler and I had a great little Christmas!

2. New Makeup
I was blessed to receive some new makeup items as Christmas gifts. And of course getting new makeup is a highlight from the past couple of weeks :) I got a a couple of the NARS Audacious Lipsticks, the Too Faced Everything Nice palette, a Stila palette, and a great new product to add to my skincare routine: a cleansing brush. Spoiler Alert: You will most likely be hearing more about all of these products in the near future :)

3. Basketball Games
Tyler's team usually plays once a week but they had two games right in a row after Christmas. Luckily they were both at home so he didn't have to travel for them. One of the games was against the number one team in the league and we beat them! It was an amazing game. The arena sold out and Tyler played awesome. It was definitely a highlight of the past couple of weeks.

After the big win!

4. New Years
We rang in New Years in Paris! We talked about going to the Eiffel Tower and being there at midnight, but we decided that although that would be a really cool story to say we were there, we would rather just get dinner and a bottle of champagne. We didn't want to deal with all the crowds! I guess we are just getting old and having a relaxing dinner and grabbing some champagne is more up our alley :) I am so excited for 2015 and can't wait to see what it brings!

5. Paris
Our trip to Paris was unforgettable. Truly one of the best things Tyler and I have ever done together in the seven years that we have been together. Paris is a beautiful city with so much to see. And it truly is the City of Love! It is so romantic and we had an amazing time there! If you ever have the chance to go, you must! It is an experience you will never forget! (It is so sad what is going on in Paris right now. We left right before it happened and are keeping Paris and France in our prayers!)