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Outdoor Summer Essentials with BabbleBoxx

July 23, 2019

This post (Outdoor Summer Essentials with BabbleBoxx) was created in partnership with Babbleboxx and the brands mentioned. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hello, loves!
I don’t know about you, but I am LIVING for these warm summer vibes. In Chicago especially, we’ve waited months upon months (feeling like years), for the time without rain and snow. Now, a day spent inside feels like wasted time, so why not get out and enjoy it! I’ve partnered with Babbleboxx to share some great items you can use all throughout the summer season.

So speaking of warm temps, one of my favorite ways to cool down is with iced tea! So refreshing, and it gives you a little boost of energy. I prefer an unsweetened or lightly sweetened version to keep my cals in check. Thankfully, Straight Up Tea makes both versions. They don’t use any artificial ingredients and the taste is super fresh.

I’ve used Colleen Rothschild Beauty products before in my skincare routine, and I know already that I’m a fan of the Cleansing Balm. I was also sent the Sheer Renewal Cream (for weightless hydration and restore luminosity), and the Matcha Tea Treatment Toner. The toner has antiseptic and oil-absorbing ingredients to fight against future breakouts, which I’m definitely prone to more so in summer. If you’re looking to try out some of their products, be sure to use code BOXX20 until the end of this month to save 20% on your purchase.

Great hair care products are totally must-haves with all that we put it through in summer.. The heat, the pool, the sun.. I’ve been using the White Wine Shampoo and Conditioner from Hask, and it’s been helping keep my hair shiny and so smooth. Frizz is another thing we battle in the midwest and the grape seed oil in these products work to seal the cuticle and make frizz less noticeable. Check them out next time you’re at Ulta 😉

You can’t really enjoy a day in the sun without a great pair of sunnies! I’m always searching for the perfect pair and have found tons of cute styles that are fingerprint resistant and anti-reflective at Zenni Sunglasses. Affordability (and cuteness, duh), is something I look for in all of my glasses, and they have both in spades. The style I’m wearing has a fun oversized cat eye shape and gold accents (my fave!)

Now, for something you shouldn’t even think of leaving the house without, sunscreen! My skin is really important to me, and sun protection is the first step to achieving great skin. This Anti-Aging Antioxidant mineral sunscreen from Ozeaderma is plant-based and formulated without dyes, parabens, sulfates, and synthetic perfumes. I apply it after moisturizer and go light on the face makeup so I can reapply it as needed. Take 10% off of web purchases with the code SUNNY at checkout.

I hope you enjoyed my Outdoor Summer Essentials with BabbleBoxx! I’d love to hear in the comments, what are your summer essentials?

Bite Beauty Lip Products Review

February 28, 2017

Hello, loves!
I wanted to share a new beauty product from one of my favorite makeup brands, Bite Beauty! They recently launched The Lip Pencil, and Influenster was kind enough to send me gratis two shades, as well as two of the brand’s lipsticks, to test out and review.

I’ve previously tried out a couple of Bite Beauty’s lipsticks from the Amuse Bouche line, and I really enjoyed them. This time around, the brand sent to me two mini lipsticks to pair with the lip pencils; one slightly pinky nude, and a brown so dark, it may as well be black! The darker shade (Whiskey) was not my thing at all. I’ve recently been getting in to deep, bold lip colors, but this one seemed to bring out every little imperfection in my lips and I didn’t find it flattering on my skintone. The nude shade (Honeycomb), however, has become one of my faves, and I plan on purchasing the full-size soon. It goes on super creamy and stays a long time. It’s the perfect neutral for pairing with a smoky eye and goes wonderfully with the pencil.
Speaking of pencils, let’s move on! Again, I found the lighter shade (color 20, a beige nude) to be more my speed. It glides on and doesn’t skip and looks pretty authentic if I want to venture a bit outside my natural lip line for fullness. The darker shade (color 044, advertised as a rich mahogany, flashing me back to a Ron Burgundy speech) definitely did flake and feather a bit upon applicaton, making for a very uneven line. Although it goes well with the lipstick provided, it’s too dark to wear with any of my other lipsticks that I reach for.
Now, let’s talk packaging. They have a sleek matte finish, which is actually really fun to touch. The pencils show the exact shade on the end, which I think is so important so you’re not digging through your stash to find the one you’re looking for. The only negative I have is that the lids DO NOT FIT. They move around a lot, and if you don’t very forcefully shove the pencil in to the lid, it will come off in your purse or makeup bag. I wish they would had done more testing first before releasing the product, so they could have found a lid that fit.

Overall, I’d recommend trying these pencils out in the store first to check the consistency before purchasing. It’s odd to me that the two shades were so different in how they went on. I adore the nude shade, and would buy it again, same goes for the lipstick.
I hope you enjoyed my Bite Beauty lip products review! Have you tried anything from Bite Beauty before? What are your thoughts on the line?

Shot by Holli Zenko Photography.

Products in this post were sent to me for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links. Clicking on these links or purchasing products through them may provide me with a small commission, which is part of what keeps Dressed for Time going.

Beauty Subscription Round-Up

January 29, 2017

Hello, loves!
Welcome to my Beauty Subscription Round-Up! One of my favorite things to see when I get home, other than my lovely fur babies, is a package at my front door! It’s a dangerous habit, I know, but there’s something that feels like Christmas, opening up a little gift just for me. This is one of the many reasons I started receiving the beauty subscriptions Julep, Ipsy and Birchbox.
For all services, you fill out a survey, providing them with your coloring, skintone, product preferences, etc. I usually say that I’m open to any kind of products, like perfume, highlighters, whatever they want to throw at me! Overall, I would say that Ipsy is more makeup-focused, and occasionally lower-end brands (NYX), while Birchbox offers an even mix of hair, skin, and color and is focused on more higher-end brands (the ones that they sell in their shop). Julep is a completely different animal, as all of the items in their sets are Julep brand. Their bread and butter is nail polish, and most of their recommended sets include at least one polish.
What really distinguishes these services is your level of involvement in what you’ll receive. Ipsy is a complete mystery each month. You can take a sneak peak at the preview email, highlighting what’s already been sent out, chosen for you based on your preferences, but at that point I just wait to see what arrives. With Birchbox, you can either choose a pre-selected themed box, one standout item (a lipstick, or hair serum, for instance), to add to 4 random samples, or let them pick out everything for you. I usually go with one of the curated boxes if it appeals to me, because I’m more comfortable knowing what I’ll be getting. Julep, on the other hand, shows you a few products in a collection that they’ve picked out based on your coloring, but let’s you swap out anything you don’t like, and choose from polishes, eyeliners, cream blush sticks and more to create your ideal set.
Now, let’s talk pricing!
Ipsy is $10 plus tax (free shipping) a month. Something to note about Ipsy is that they also include a themed makeup bag to house all of your samples. They’re usually really cute, although a little small to use as my everyday pouch. I’ll frequently use them for travel and have one for feminine products, hair styling aids, and lipgloss. Here’s what I’ve received over the last 6 months from Ipsy:

A lot of makeup, some drugstore brands, mid-level brands, and those cute bags! Just a couple of skin and haircare products, but all told, definitely worth $65 for all of that loot!

Next up is Birchbox! I pay for BB yearly, to save a bit of money. Monthly, it’s $10; yearly, it’s $110, but they’re currently running a special for $99 with code “BESTYEAR99” If you use my link, you’ll get 50% off your first single box, making it only $5! I also keep the boxes from my sets if they have a pretty pattern on them, because I use them for storage. I love the collabs they do with brands like Rifle Paper, because they make the boxes seem collectable and they’re actually pretty sturdy. Here’s my past 6 months with Birchbox:

A delightfully balanced mix of skincare, hair care and styling products, and cosmetics. I’ve found some of my holy grail skincare items through these boxes, and love having the travel-size approved hair items for whenever I fly. Another thing I love about Birchbox, is that they give you 10 Birchbox points (equal to one dollar to spend in their store), for every sample you review. That’s $5 each month that can go towards buying a full-sized product!

Last, but not least, is Julep! A single-month is $24.99 or you can prepay 3 months for $19.99 a month (my choice). You can use code “WITHLOVE” for your first box free, when signing up for a subscription. I’ve been a subscriber of Julep only for about 9 months, but in that time have amassed roughly 60 polishes. One of the downfalls of Julep is that they offer up extra items with every box, and I’m just a sucker for them! I wish I had more willpower in that respect, because I often end up adding on a bunch more items that I honestly could have done without. The quality of the polishes, lipsticks, and skincare items that I’ve tried has all been very good. That being said, I’m not one to spend $14 on nail polish (their estimated retail price), to begin with, so I sometimes feel that their values are a bit off, compared to what you get. Three polishes for $20 seems like a break-even for me, not a steal, so I will always swap out for a lip product or skincare item, if those options are available. No cute bags or boxes to be had with this choice. To see a roundup of my recent Julep boxes, check out my post here.

All in all, I’d rate the services 1) Birchbox, 2) Ipsy and 3) Julep. I may actually consider cancelling Julep soon, because a girl can only have so many nail polishes! I love the variety I get from Birchbox and the fun makeup I get to try out from Ipsy.

I’ve also tried the Allure Beauty Box, which was sent to me complimentary to try out and I thought it was a great value for the normal price. Jouer also had a seasonal offering of beauty and skincare items that I tried for two boxes, but half of the products were either broken or rancid and their customer service was SO lacking at getting to any kind of a solution. Not sure if they offer this anymore, which I’m not mad at, because it was awful.

I hope this comprehensive review has been helpful, if you were considering any of these plans! If you have any that you’ve tried and think I would enjoy, I’d love to hear about them!

This post contains affiliate links. Clicking on or purchasing items through these links may provide me with a small commission. This is part of what helps keep Dressed for Time going 😀

My Love Of Julep

October 30, 2016

Hi loves!
So, in case you didn’t already know, I’m OBSESSED with nail polish. I’ve been doing my own nails, with the exception of a random manicure here and there for a special occasion, for a couple of decades now. Which typing right now makes me feel kind of old haha! Moving on, I really do enjoy playing around with polishes and effects and being able to change my color on a whim. Polish is such a cheap, easy way to freshen up a look! I’ll pick a color based on the outfit I want to wear, or a mood I’m in, so it makes sense that I would have 12 different shades of hot pink, right? Right. Enter my love of Julep.
I was first introduced to Julep when I came across a Facebook offer for “try us out, get a free 12 pc set of polishes.” The catch was that I needed to sign up for a monthly subscription service for beauty products. Not the worst thing, and I knew that I could cancel whenever I wanted. I went with the 3 months prepaid so it worked out to $19.99/mo. I LOVED the polishes that I got, pictured above. What happened next, I admit was a touch confusing. First, there is a “Maven Window” time frame… They offer up a possible set of items, ranging from polish to eye shadow to skincare and give you a few days to decide. If you don’t like something, you can swap it out or choose another set. You can also add on more items, which I so frequently do, even the whole month’s collection. You can also add on single items, like polishes at a big discount (sometimes $5 a pop), and items from past collections, pick 3 or more and they’ll throw in an extra little gift.
After that window has closed, the “Secret Store” opens. Here they have even more discounted items to add to your box. If you don’t want to go crazy with add-ons, just stick to your curated box and wait for it to arrive in the mail! I’ve enjoyed every box I’ve received, and always look forward to the next, and choosing items from the newest collection.
Julep is offering the same deal again to new subscribers; a 12 piece polish collection when you sign up for the monthly boxes, which you can cancel at any time. Use my link here and enter code FREEFALL.
Below are some of the boxes I’ve received. A little disclaimer, I purchased add-ons for all but one of the months. The standard boxes contain 2-4 items.

This post contains affiliate links. Clicking on links in this post may provide me a small commission. This is part of what helps keep Dressed for Time going. I would never recommend a brand I don’t personally use and enjoy. All of these boxes were paid for by me.