Katie by the Bay

Today we once again delve into the world of make-up & beauty with the October 2018 Ipsy Bag. For anyone who may not know, Ipsy is a mail order subscription service through which one can receive 5 sample to deluxe sized products each month for the reasonable price of $10 plus whatever tax might be in your area. I first learned about Ipsy from a work mate who, like myself wanted to explore more in the realm of beauty without spending a ton of money on full-sized products. I had never heard of such a wondrous thing so I decided to give it a go and was hooked after my first bag. I've been subbed to Ipsy for about 6 years or so and I've rarely been sent bags that contained more than one or two products that I simply couldn't stand. **I'm thinking of you, mac-n-cheese orange lipstick from 2013.**  Unlike some subscription services Ipsy will have customers answer a questionnaire when they sign up which will help them curate a bag that will better suit each indi...

I've been married for nearly 8 years and I am still unpacking boxes. **insert mournful violin music here.**    Now that I have been out of the work force for a while and we are living in our first sort of permanent home that isn't a crap college town apartment I have finally taken the time to unpack some of those boxes and decide what to do with the contents. Amongst the assorted kitchen gadgets and hopeless tangle of random electronics I found two sets of glass coasters into which can be inserted a picture for your sentimental pleasure. I am pretty sure these were a wedding shower gift and we were supposed to use them to display wedding photos or maybe pictures of our offspring, of which we have none. Not finding them particularly pleasing but also not wishing to be wasteful I brainstormed on something interesting I could do with them before I relinquished them to the thrift store. After having a think I decided they had to be LoTR themed because of course they do, and ...

It's that time of the month when some of us gals get a special surprise..... no not that kind of surprise. It's beauty subscription box time!!! **insert excited cheering noises here**  I've been a faithful advocate of mail order beauty subscriptions for the past 6 or so years now and its been an absolute delight throughout. It's like getting a gift every month to you from you and what could be better than that. I've had the opportunity to try so many different and amazing brands through beauty subscriptions. I am a born cheapskate by nature so this allows me to branch out in ways I never would if I was buying these products myself. I get a chance to try things out before really committing myself to buying the full-size which allows me to be confident that when I do add a product to my rotation it's always a gem not a dud. Ok, with all that said and done let's get into the box in question which is the Allure Beauty Box. For those of you who might b...