Chocomize Review!

So I really needed a last-minute gift idea for Valentines day.  I watched a video from sccastaneda last week for a cheap Valentines day gift idea.  It was for custom made chocolate bars, which I thought would be the perfect idea!  The site is called Chocomize and they specialize in make-your-own chocolate bars.  You can chose from dark, milk or white Belgian chocolate and a huge selection of toppings.  They have everything from dried fruits and candy, to spices and even bacon.  The prices are reasonable as well.  I chose a dark chocolate bar which starts at $4.50, and each topping is an additional charge.  I chose dried cranberries ($0.85) and dried raspberries ($1.20).  I also added a "My Valentine" plaque as well, and the total cost came to $8.15.  You can even name your chocolate bar, which they print on a label.  Shipping was $4.95.  Apparently the shipping is a flat-rate no matter how many bars you get.  
Shipping was super fast.  I was worried I wasn't going to get it in time for Valentines day, but I got my shipping email on Thursday and it was delivered by Saturday.  They used USPS first-class mail, so I don't know if it was just me, but the shipping was incredibly fast.  Chocolate arrived just fine and didn't melt in the mailbox, which I was really worried about.  I thought the packaging was really cute too.  
Regarding taste, I was a bit skeptical at first as to how good it would be.  I love dark chocolate, and I have to say I was very impressed with the quality.  It's 70% dark chocolate and very smooth and creamy.  It pairs very nicely with the fruits!
I highly recommend this site!  If you ever need a quick gift idea and know someone who loves chocolate, this is definitely a unique option. 

Myglam January Bag Review

So I know this is a little late, but here is my review of my first Glam Bag from Myglam.  For those not familiar with Myglam, it's similar to Birchbox, a subscription service where you receive sample sized products each month to try out.  It costs $10 a month (same as Birchbox) and you get a cute makeup bag with each months samples.  Unlike Birchbox, everyone gets the same products, and sometimes they will announce the products in the bag so you know what you're getting.
Here's what I got this month:
Sheer Cover Duo Concealer in Light/Medium, 3g
Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner, 2oz
Freeman Cucumber Facial Peel Off Masque, 6oz (this one is a full sized product)
theBalm Hot Ticket Nail Polish in Sky Blue Right Past You (also a full sized product)

As you can see, with two full sized products and two very good sample sizes, this bag is an excellent value!  Also included are coupons exclusively for Myglam subscribers:
16% off Freeman Brauty Feeling Beautiful Trio
$19.95 + s/h for $100 in makeup and gifts from Sheercover
$20 off WEN Healthy Hair Care System
For $10 this bag is totally worth the money.  Although it's a good value, I have mixed feelings about the products I received.  I am definitely planning to try out the Wen treatment, and perhaps the cucumber masque, but I don't think I will be using the other two samples.  I don't use concealer so this is going up for swap on MUA.  I'm quite surprised they included concealer considering everyone got the same light/medium shade.  I feel bad for people with darker skin tones because its definitely too light.  Another thing I wasn't too happy about was the nail polish.  Don't get me wrong, I like nail polish, but the color is hideous and I would never wear it.  Secondly, the bag was supposed to have either the nail polish or an eye shadow.  I thought I was going to be getting the eye shadow since you technically can't ship nail polish outside of the continental USA, but perhaps they didn't take that into consideration for HI and AK subscribers.
Overall, a great value for $10.  I hope February's bag will not disappoint!  Anyone else a Myglam subscriber?  What are your thoughts?

Stila Smuge Stick Review

I received a sample sized Stila Smudge Stick in Peacock in my January Birchbox.  I've been wanting to try this out for such a long time after hearing good reviews about it, and I've been using it for the past week or so.  I really love the color.  It's a really pretty teal-blue color that looks amazing as a pop of color on the upper lashline, or even on the lower lash line. 
The application is amazingly smooth, and the product is very pigmented.  This claims to be long-lasting, and I must say when I wear this on my upper lash line, it does last all day.  It may be smudged a little at the end of a long day, but the color is still vibrant and it holds up well on my oily lids.  On my lower lashline however, it smudged really badly even with a primer.  I only wore it that way once, and while it looked good at first, within a few hours it had smudged and looked like a mess.  

A couple cons to note: removing this eyeliner is tough.  It really is long lasting!  It took me at least 3 cotton pads of makeup remover to completely remove the eyeliner.  I'm not sure if it was just my makeup remover, but it smudged it all over my eyes and it took forever to take it all off.  Even after a shower I still had a blue ring around my eyes.  Also, I'm not sure if it's just because it's a sample size, but it takes forever for the product to come out of the tube.  I thought it was broken at first because after twisting the bottom for so long, nothing was happening.  But after some some research on Google, apparently this is a common problem with the smudge sticks, so you just have to be patient.  Eventually the product did come up, it just took a while.
Overall I really do like this eyeliner and I'm glad I got to try a sample of it.  I'm definitely thinking about getting a full sized one in black too.  Anyone else a fan of these?

China Glaze The Capitol Colors: Swatches!

Courtesy of All Lacquered Up's blog post: China Glaze Capitol Colours – The Hunger Games Nail Polish Collection Swatches & Review

After seeing swatches, I'm even more excited for this collection to come out!  I'm really loving:
Agro
Dress Me Up
Fast Track
Foie Gras
Hook and Line
Stone Cold. 
There's a good mix of finishes in this collection including a matte, flakies and metalics.  This collection is set to release Mid-March, and I'm so happy to see that it will be released at Sally Beauty which we actually have here now! 
Who else is excited for this collection??  Can't wait for the movie to come out too!

January 2012 Birchbox

So I cheated a little this month and saw what was in my box before it actually arrived at my house, but I can't say how excited I was for this month's box! After the December Birchbox was such a disappointment (so much so that I didn't do a blog post on it), I was happy to see a good one this time around.  Here's what I got:
Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy Perfum
Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash
Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Peacock
VMV Hypoallergenics Re-Everything: Face-Hand-Body Lotion
Larabar Mini Bar (extra)
Birchbox magnet

I was most excited for the Stila Smudge stick since I was actually considering buying a full-sized one in Peacock.  This is a really nice sample size and I think it'll last me quite a while.  I actually got a full-sized Origins Checks and Balances cleanser last year on earth day, but never tried it.  I think I'll use up the sample first and see how I like it.  Definitely not a fan of the Juicy Couture perfume, although I know a lot of people are, so I will probably give this one away in a swap.  The lotion also sounds promising and I'll definitely try that out too.  I'm just happy to see a box where I can get use out of all the products.  Both the cleanser and lotion are a really nice size for samples.  I hope next months box won't disappoint either.  I've also subscribed to MyGlam as well, so I will post a review on that when I receive it (should be soon!)
What did everyone get this month?

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow: Skinny Jeans Review

I'm not usually a fan of cream eye shadows because they always crease so badly, especially on my oily lids.  I first heard about this product on MakeupByTiffanyD from Youtube.  I thought the color looked gorgeous so I went out and bought it at the Benefit counter in Macys (at the time I got a 20% employee discount!)  This retails for $19 for 0.16oz. 

I've had this for over a year now, and I must say this is one of the best cream eye shadows I've used.  It's a nice taupe-silver color and is a perfect neutral to wear all over the lid.  I use this as a base all the time when I do a dark smoky eye, or if I want to keep it neutral I just top it with a light color (Urban Decay Ruthless) or a similar taupe color (MAC Satin Taupe or MAC Smoke and Diamonds).  This is really long lasting for me.  It's not completely crease-proof, but it lasts about 7 hours without creasing if I use a primer underneath.  I haven't used this as an eyeliner, only as an eye shadow so I can't say how well it wears.  Overall I highly recommend this product!  I'd love to try their other colors too.  Anyone have any recommendations for other good cream shadows?

It's Official! and a lesson learned

Applying for our civil unions license

So it's official!  We applied for our civil unions license at midnight on January 1st and had a small ceremony on the 2nd to officially complete the process.  We are supposed to get a temporary certificate online, but because of some computer glitches we have not yet had a chance to print it out yet, but it is official!
After changing our status on facebook, I got an upsetting phone call from my mom later that night telling me to hist my relationship status so no one could see it (or at least any family members I had on fb).  She said a relative had called my dad asking if I was married.  *Just a little background here: I never told my dad anything about my relationship with Alana, but I always just assumed he knew (after almost 7 years I would be surprised if he didn't).  Anyway after that incident, I was scared and didn't know what to do.  I was almost positive that he would be really angry and upset so I thought the best thing to do would be to wait it out.  Usually my instinct in a situation like this would be to run away from my problems and make rash decisions, but I'm glad I didn't.  I went to pick up a package I got at home and had a quick 2 second conversation with my dad about what had happened.  He wasn't upset or didn't react badly like I had predicted.  I was so overwhelmed and shocked by how well it went, I almost broke down crying in the car.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  I'm not sure how many people reading this will understand where I'm coming from, but I'm so thankful to have supportive people in my life. 
I promise more blogs will be coming soon, and I'll be sure to keep you guys updated as we plan the official ceremony later.  Hope everyone had a good new year!