Yes to...Coconut Skincare Review

I was able to test out these products back in December before they were released in stores, thanks to the Yes to... PR. I've been using various lines and products of theirs for several years. In fact, it was the brand that I first tried out when I started buying my own skincare and personal products in general. Some of their products have worked amazingly for me, while others irritated my super sensitive skin. To say the least, I was excited to try out the new products for their coconut line as I know that coconut oil is great for your skin, but coconut oil in it's natural form doesn't personally work for me [it never soaks into my skin].

The first product I tested out was their Coconut Ultra Hydrating Facial Soufflé Moisturizer [$14.99] -- my skin has been unusually dry this winter, so seeing that their moisturizer was advertised as ultra hydrating had me hooked. Oh, my goodness. This stuff is thick, creamy, and moisturizing! My skin just soaks it up every time I use it. Since this moisturizer is so thick and creamy, I like to lather a bunch onto my skin at night mostly. I find it a bit too thick for daytime use, except for those rare days when my skin is flaking like crazy and nothing else will help the dryness.

Coconut Ultra Hydrating Facial Mask [$15.99] -- I'm not sure that this is one of my top favorite skin masks, but it is helpful for those really dry skin days. Apply a thick layer over skin, let it dry for 10-15 minutes. Wash off with warm water and a washcloth.

Coconut Ultra Hydrating Crème Cleanser [$9.99] -- If you only do a one-step cleanse for your face, this product isn't for you [if you wear makeup that is]. Where if you do a two-step cleanse, this would be great for your second step cleanse after you have already washed your makeup off.

Do you love the Yes to... line? What are your favorite products?

Play! By Sephora | #06 (February, 2016) Review

I actually received my first, Play! By Sephora box in December, 2015, but have never gotten around to sharing about it except on Snapchat. I kept meaning to do a review of the two previous boxes, just never got around to it. Over the years, I have tried out several beauty subscription boxes: Birchbox, Glossy Box, Wantable, Ipsy, etc... all of which have various pros and cons, price points, and purposes.

When I first heard that Sephora was starting a subscription box, I was intrigued. Sephora sells amazing products, from fantastic brands many of which I am yet to try out. I was curious as to how the boxes would be curated and if there would be any benefits to subscribing to their subscription.

I am a Beauty Insider at Sephora, and have been for years (I was a member and shopped at Sephora wayyy before I ever shopped at Ulta Beauty). The benefits for a Beauty Insider are alright, you occasionally receive a discount and your points only turn into deluxe sized samples. You do receive excellent birthday gifts (I always look forward to my gift every year), and the Sephora inside JCP is always sending me flyers for free gifts with no purchase necessary -- making it easy to test out brands and products I typically couldn't afford on a daily basis without some discount. [And for my job, knowledge is power and things are expensive.]

Back to about Play! By Sephora -- you typically receive a fragrance sample, and various deluxe samples from any of their other departments: skin, hair, and/or colour [this would be makeup]. You also receive a booklet explaining about the products and a card to redeem on your next purchase for 50 extra points (100 points = 1 deluxe sample), making it easier to collect more points if you don't make a lot of purchases at Sephora. You also receive 10 points each month for receiving your box. Oh, the box is $10 a month + tax.

This month was makeup heavy focused with one hair product and your traditional fragrance sample. I know that most people don't love receiving fragrance samples in their subscription boxes, but I love them. They are perfect for traveling and I have discovered my first favorite perfumes with said samples.

• Tom Ford // Black Orchid EDP -- This scent wasn't a favorite of mine. It was too strong for me. Also, sandalwood is one of the top notes of this perfume, so that could be one of the reasons I dislike this. I am allergic to Cedar, so I find that I dislike most woody fragrances.
• Lancôme // Drama Liquid-Pencil Longer Eyeliner in Noir Intense -- Intense creamy pigmentation that lasts all day. I'm a fan of this eye pencil. Reminds me of the Rimmel London or Butter London gel eye pencils, which are my other two favorites.
• Tarte // Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara -- I have tried this mascara out before, and I have found it too dry for my taste. My sister, Gaby on the other hand loves this mascara! So I always pass on my samples to her of this mascara. Personally, I love a more wet to medium dry mascara, like the Too Faced 'Better Than Sex'.
• Make Up Forever // Rouge Artist Natural in N9 Copper Pink -- This was a birthday gift back in 2014, and on first application it was true lipstick love.
• Bare Minerals // Pop of Passion Lip Oil-Balm in Plumbery Pop -- The color is amazing! I haven't worn it too much yet, been loving nude lips when I do wear something other than a lip balm recently. Mostly, because my lips have been crazy dry since January, no matter how much water I drink and lip balm I use.
• Bumble and Bumble // Pret-A-Powder -- This stuff is awesome! Doesn't make my hair feel funky after using it, just clean and refreshed. It is a powder formula, which was new for me, as I typically use a dry shampoo that sprays out of an areole can, but with some practice I can easily get the hang of using it. Confession time. I had a dream the other night that Bumble & Bumble was coming to Ulta Beauty -- I love it that much. (If you don't know, I currently work at Ulta Beauty).

Whould you subscribe to the Play! By Seohora box? Also, what are your favorite subscription boxes?

PUR Minerals | HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation

Hello everyone! I'm excited to share with y'all PUR Minerals newest foundation with y'all: HydraFluid Water Serum Foundation. If you like a natural looking coverage that is build-able, stays looking fresh all day, gives a natural dewiness, and doesn't dry out your winter skin I would say give this foundation a go.

The foundation comes in five shades: Light, Medium, Tan, Dark, and Deep. When watched, you would think that the light shade is a tad dark for me, but it somehow works. I have also used the dark & tan shade to try contouring my face with creams instead of powders. Let's just say, I need to practice more as contouring is hard. Of course, it could be because I like a very natural makeup look, not glam.

When I have worn this foundation to work, I have receive many complements on my foundation and how natural my makeup looked. Which is crazy as I was wearing a ton of makeup -- blush, highlighter, contour, powder on my oily zones, eye shadow, mascara, eye-liner, and concealer. I'm excited that this foundation is now in-stores, as I can now recommend this product to customers when ever I wear it to work [or not].

The foundation retails for $39 and can be found at Kohl's, ULTA Beauty, and on PUR Cosmetics website. Also, the foundation just launched in-store this past Sunday [February 7th] so you should be able to locate it easily.

Simple Makeup Routine

Recently I've been really into either going all out with my makeup (think foundation, highlighter, contour, etc...), or doing something simple and basic (brows, mascara, taupe eyeshadow, under eye concealer, etc...).

Funnily enough, I typically only do the full face of makeup for events, occasionally for work, or from January to April or so. :p There is something about this time of year when I adore a good highlighter, blush, and contour. Which reminds me, I should totally share my favorite current highlights with y'all -- which ranges from high-end (BECCA) to drugstore (Wet 'n Wild).

Yesterday's makeup was an example of one of my more simple days. I keep it fairly basic with hardly anything on my skin, so it is able to breath (since my skin is clear of any acne right now). Of course, this look would vary from person, to person depending on your skin and how much you want to cover. For example: when I had more acne I would wear a BB Cream on my simple makeup days to add just a touch more of coverage.

I start out by moisturizing my face. It is wintertime and you need to keep your skin hydrated no matter what the time of year is, or your age really. A well moisturized face helps keeps your face looking younger, so start young and keep doing it (no matter what). Currently I like using Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion + during the day as it is a lighter formula.

Once my face has been moisturized, I dab a little bit of concealer to my under eye area to help hid my dark circles and to help brighten up the area in general. On lighter days I'm currently grabbing my Maybelline Fit Me concealer (15), on days where I need a touch more coverage I will grab my Urban Decay NAKED concealer (light-neutral). If my skin is a little bit oily, my forehead has been recently, I will brush some Rimmel London Stay Matte powder on my oily zones (my go to powder on my oily days).

Next we focus on the eyes and brows. Grabing my Anastasia of Beverly Hills Brow Wiz (medium brown) I add some color and shape to my brows. Some days I will add a higher arch, others it is just slightly sloped. Once my brows are done, I work on my eyes by adding a wash of color to my lids. Recently I've been testing out CoverGirl's eye enhancers (tapestry taupe 760) as a quick wash of taupe all over the lid. But I have been known to use a cream eye shadow stick from various brands in the past. I add a quick cat eye flick with some gel eyeliner (brown) from e.l.f cosmetics, and a quick coat of mascara (Too Faced 'Better then Sex') and my eyes are finished.

The finishing touch is of course, the lips. Sometimes I will reach for a pinky nude, a berry, or like yesterday a peachy coral (Rimmel London by Kate Moss in 38).

What are some of your favorite products to use on a simple makeup day?

Also I want to announce that Bramblewood Fashion has switched from Blogger to Wordpress.com! Let me know how y'all like the new look, and if anything isn't working right and I will try my best to fix it.

Keranique Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner | My Beauty Picks

Hello lovelies! Today I'm going to be talking about a product that was sent to me via the website iFabbo called Keranique Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner.

Keranique Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner is specially formulated to help with hair that is thinning, prone to breakage, and struggles with split ends. Both products contain Keratin Amino Complex, which is supposed to strengthen and thicken every strand and turn the clock back on your hair. The condition is made from a light gel formula and is supposed to never weigh down the hair.

K Couture | Review + Photoshoot

Hello everyone! I've been meaning to do this blog post for awhile, but life has been crazy busy. I was contacted to do a review of K Couture's Design a Dress tool back near the end of September -- I said yes, especially since I hoped that the dress would be the perfect colour for a wedding I'm going to be in next May.

The dress arrived November 6th which was kinda the start of my busy season, hence I remember the day my dress arrived in the mail clearly even if I didn't get to try on the dress until a week or more later.

Bloomsy Box Review

Hello everyone! I have a different kind of monthly subscription site to share with y'all today- one that revolves around flowers instead of beauty products, clothes, or even food.

Bloomsy box is a monthly subscription site that delivers a bouquet of flowers to your door every month. You pick out what plan works best for your budget to "treat yourself" to fresh flowers and they will pick out the flowers for you each month.

Editorial Fashion Shoot | UncommonGoods

We were given the wonderful opportunity of being able to work with the company UncommonGoods, a website that features and sells various items from independent designers, last month. They sent us two pieces to be featured in an editorial fashion shoot & review: Gaby decided that the theme for the shoot is: Alexa Chung + J.Crew inspired. I was very happy with that direction, as those are two major fashion inspirations for both of us.

With the holidays coming up you might want to check out UncommonGoods for gift ideas. Check out this page for gift ideas geared towards women. Why shop at UncommonGoods? They are a privately-owned retailer that endeavors to feature unique and handcrafted gifts, and half of the products featured on their site are made by hand and are created right here in the USA. They celebrate and support the creative individual. If you are looking for general gift ideas for all your friends, look here.

Quick Makeup & Beauty Reviews | My Beauty Picks

Hello lovelies! How are y'all doing? I've been keeping busy between coming down sick with a bad cold the day after my blog event and working at both of my jobs.

Since I've been trying out a bunch of beauty products recently thanks to PR mailings or what I've picked up personally at Ulta Beauty or Sephora. I've decided to do some real quick reviews of what I've tried out, letting you know if they worth the money or not. Most of the time I do tons of research before ever buying anything beauty related, especially for higher-end products. I'm more apt to take the plunge with drugstore products.

- MARIO BADESCU FACIAL SPRAY || This facial spray is cheap and does a good job of refreshing ones face when it is feeling tired. Sometimes I also spray it onto my face after several hours of applying my makeup to help freshen it up a touch. 

- ULTA GEL EYE LINER PENCIL MINK || I thought this gel eye liner pencil would be good in my waterline. Not so good. It looks pigments and all, and the color does stay all day. BUT throughout the day the color flakes off and rests on my under eye area. Not pretty. It is a good gel pencil, just not for the waterline. 

Butter London X Allure Nail Polish Collection Giveaway

Hello lovelies! For the celebration of Bramblewood Fashion's sixth birthday, I'm going to be giving away a set of the the BLxAllure collection nail polishes that just came out recently. I've already worn three of the colors since receiving my set in the mail two weeks ago -- one of which I thought I wouldn't like wearing which was the dark brown shade in Lust or Must?.

Jamberry 7 Day Nail Challenge

My supplies

Hello y'all! Back in May I was contacted by Rachel Greene to either do a Jamberry online event, or to do the 7-day Jamberry Nail Wrap challenge. Well, online party events aren't really my cup of tea, so I went with the challenge which is much more my speed.

Fast forward to mid-June when I finally had the time to take the 7-day Jamberry nail challenge -- where I applied a Jamberry nail wrap [the Burberry inspired design] to my ring finger and wore an Essie nail polish [Lady Like] on the rest of my nails to test out the durability of both.

Amara Organics Trio Giveaway + Review

Hello everyone! 

For the past week I've been trying out a couple of products from Amara Organics: Total Repair Eye Gel and their Hyaluronic Acid Serum. So far, neither product has broken out my skin, or given me any allergic reaction. Of course, I would prefer to test out the products for at least a month [my personal preference when testing out skincare products] before giving a review and raving about them [or  perhaps not]. So instead I will give some quick little review thoughts on the two products before sharing the giveaway the company is hosting currently.

Lime Ricki Swimwear Review

Hello everyone! I have another Lime Ricki swimwear review to share with y'all today. I worked with them last summer, and they asked if I wanted to team up again this Spring. Of course, I said yes as they have some of the cutest swimsuits [that aren't all bikinis].

I don't know about you, but sometimes it is a struggle to find cute swimsuits in stores that aren't in a bikini style. Yes, I don't wear bikini and I never have, so I personally prefer one-pieces or tankini tops with either a skirt or shorts. But stores like to have their more modest swimsuits made out of the more ugly fabric, whilst the skimpy suits are in the fun and girly fabrics. Not fun. Unless you can track down some vintage style suits at Target sometimes, or you purchase your suit at Lands End or something.

What I like about Lime Ricki is that they carry a bunch of swimsuits that fit in with my personal swimsuit needs and taste. I adore a good one-piece swimsuit that has a vintage style twist: like the halter neck [love them on a swimsuit]. But enough talking about Lime Ricki, lets talk about the swimsuit I picked out for myself.

Everyday Makeup | My Beauty Picks

My everyday look

Hello everyone! For the past week or two I have been wearing pretty much the same makeup look everyday and to work. I thought I would share that look with you today, along with what products I used and how you can achieve the look yourself.

This also marks my first makeup post that doesn't involve a video tutorial too, so we will see how this goes.

Now, personally I use a mix drugstore, high-end, and independent products in my looks -- as long as the product works for me I don't care what the price was. Well, of course, most of the higher-end products were either bought on sale [or with discounts], sent to me from PR's, or I received in subscription boxes.

What I Wore | Copying My Own Polyvore Set

Hello everyone! The sun was shinning in its full glory today, which made me very happy. In fact, we reached the low-60s today in central Indiana. #happyday To celebrate this warmer weather I decided to copy one of my own Polyvore sets [I showed it in my post yesterday], and rock a skirt & my converse shoes today.

What I Wore | Family Christmas Day + In All Modesty Review

Hello lovelies! How was your Christmas? Mine was good. We [me & Gaby] went to a friends house for dinner and games, afterwards we stopped at Starbucks to pick up a coffee before coming back to our house. Our afternoon was then spent with our Marvel loving friends [Liz & Grace] [the same ones we spent our morning with] to watch more episodes from series 1 of Agents of SHIELD, Thor 2, and the new Doctor Who Christmas special. We also exchanged some gifts with each other.

How did you spend your Christmas? 

What I Wore | Cozy for Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I've been rather busy the past couple days with work [Ulta has been crazy busy with Christmas being tomorrow], running grown-up errands, and attending a Christmas cookie decorating/welcome home/birthday party for one of our dear friends who has been a missionary teacher in Africa the past two years.

This morning me & Gaby made a run to Starbucks to pick up a coffee, as our latte machine is broken, and we need the coffee. Then in the afternoon some friends came over for a MARVEL get-together, where we ended up watching: Guardians of the Galaxy [it was the first time any of us had seen it] and a couple of episodes from Agents of SHIELD [first series]. Now this evening me & Gaby are watching a film we have been saving for this week: Funny Girl [1968].

What did y'all do on Christmas Eve?

What I Wore | Walking Through Co. Review

Hello lovelies! How are y'all doing? Sorry, there haven't been really any posts this week from me. I've been busy working a 30+ hour work week, and today is my first day off from both of my jobs. To say the least, it was good not to work today.

I spent my Saturday morning watching some old Disney cartoons of Mickey Mouse and his gang that I found on YouTube, before going out for lunch with a friend at Chick-Fil-A. Afterwards we came back to my place to watch the television show, Forever [2014], and then mid-way in the afternoon we picked up our peppermint mocha drinks from Starbucks, 'cause they were half-off today.

How did y'all spend your Saturday?

What I Wore | Zooey Deschanel Inspired + Borghese Giveaway

Hello lovelies! How are y'all doing? I've spent my day replying to some blog emails; watching some YouTube videos; putting away my clothes; listening to She & Him's newest album, Classic [which was released today]; and right now I'm baking Christmas sugar cookies [In fact, the dough is resting in the fridge right now].

How about you? What did y'all do today?

What I Wore | Hunter Green & Cream [+ Sweet Minerals Review & Makeup Tutorial]

Hello lovelies! How are y'all doing? I had yesterday and today off from both jobs, so I've been taking that time to work on blog stuff and I visited our art museum in downtown Indy this afternoon with some of my family. That was lots of fun! As I really enjoy looking at the art work -- it's the artist in me. There was even a special section in our museum about a painting that they bought after World War Two from a local veteran [who traded for it from a Russian officer], and they have been trying to locate who all the original owners have been for the painting for awhile now -- with no success. All very interesting.