rms Beauty Cream Eye Shadow in Lunar

I've heard a lot of good things about rms beauty. The premise behind this line is basically skincare with color. All of the products nourish and hydrate your skin, and you can put them anywhere. So if you get a cream eye shadow you could use them on your lips, cheeks, or anywhere else you could think of. They are made with clean, natural, organic ingredients.

That being said, I love the idea behind it and the ingredients. I even love some of their other products, but this one was not my favorite. I love cream shadows so I REALLY wanted to like it. And please excuse the lack of pictures, I included this in the sample pack I purchased from Spirit Beauty Lounge (which I'll post about later), and there wasn't much to take a picture of.

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I did really love the color and when I applied it to my eyes it was gorgeous! It was a gorgeous champagne nude color, comparable to Stila's Smudge Pot in Kitten but a few shades lighter. However, before I even left the house it had started creasing! As the website suggested, I just tapped it away and it looked better. Not long after it was creasing again! By the end of the day I basically had no color left over.

I tried using it with no primer, a MAC paint pot, the Korres eye primer, and Urban Decay Primer Potion. I got the same results every time! I even tried to put an powder shadow over it and it still creased!

But, if you have drier eyelids this might be the product for you. Since it's like skincare and makeup in one, it moisturizes the eyes which I think was my issue. I have pretty oily eyelids and wear primer with whatever eye makeup I have on that day. Until I find an alternative I'll have to stick with my Stila Smudge Pots and Benefit's Creaseless Cream shadows.

Note: I found that if I skipped moisturizing my lids, it did stay a bit longer. The eye shadow is like a moisturizer so I just skip it and moisturize around my eyes at night.

I may purchase the full size version just because I do love the color and the concept, and just bring it with me to touch up throughout the day. But I would give them a shot if you have drier or not oily eyelids :) Don't let this turn you off from the brand though, I tried some of their other products that I have fallen in LOVE with! Be on the lookout for those reviews soon. Oh and my Lovely Links will also be up soon!

Korres Mango Butter Lipstick in Natural Pink Review

My Korres package came in the mail yesterday! I was so excited to try out my new goodies. I bought this lipstick, a lip butter, a lip butter glaze, a shower gel, and a sample of their eye primer. More reviews coming when I have more time to fully test everything out.

Let me start by saying this: I HATE wearing lipstick. As I mentioned in my July favorites post, I was loving Revlon's Primrose. It's a really pretty color and I still wear it, but this kind of blows that out of the water.

One of the main reasons I hate wearing lipstick is the formula just feels so heavy, waxy, thick, sticky, etc. on my lips, and also tends to put a spotlight on dry patches on my lips. I've always been one to play up my eyes and add some drama up there, and keep the lips natural. My lips naturally have a nice little tint to them, so I never found lipstick really a necessity for me.

-dramatic music- UNTIL now. The Korres Mango Butter Lipsticks (well at least this one, I can't say if they're consistent or not but I hope so!) don't have that nasty heavy feeling that most lipsticks do. The best part? It feels so moisturizing and doesn't show off my dry spots! Thank you mango butter!

When I first opened it, I was actually pretty disappointed because the color looked kind of on the red side, which isn't a bad thing but keep in mind the color is Natural Pink. It must have been the lighting though because I opened it to use the next day it didn't look that way at all.

It's not very opaque but you can build up the color. I usually don't build up my color because like I said, my lips don't need that much drama or attention. It also leaves a nice glossy sheen on your lips. I now understand what people mean when they say "my lips but better".

It's formulated without mineral oil, silicones, propylene glycol, and ethanolamines. (Not sure what the last 2 are? But that's what the Korres website said).

I wore it to work and I'd say it lasted about 2 or 3 hours maybe? I'm not really sure. So not the best staying power but I can work with that.

My camera fails at getting swatch pictures, the coloring is always a little off so this was as close to real as I could get.

I still don't consider lipstick something I would wear every single day, but when I do this is my new favorite lipstick. I will definitely be repurchasing!

Have you ever tried any Korres Products? Do you have a favorite lipstick?

Also, don't forget! You can enter my giveaway to win a MAC lipstick of you're choice and an Emma Kisstina MAC lipstick print! Giveaway ends August 22nd!

Sites to Help You Go Green

Going green has been a bit difficult for me. I'm on day 2 of being a successful vegetarian (well pescetarian technically since I still eat fish). It's harder than I thought not to eat meat. Not because I crave it when I can't have it, I'm just so used to not having to filter what I eat that I'll slip up and not even realize until later that night when I go over in my head if I did good or not.

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I've found some great sites that are helping, though.

Joining Eco Emi is going to help alot, so that I can get introduced to more brands and learn more about going green. They have a lot of info on their site about why you should go green, and brands and sites that they love.

I discovered No More Dirty Looks last night, and it's a very cool site! It's written by Siobhan O'Connor and Alexandra Spunt. The blog actually came from their book, No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics, which I will definitely be picking up!

Sephora has a "Natural" tab you can click while shopping. Also they have created their own natural seal, so that you know when you are buying something that is high in vitamins, antioxidants, and other good things and also low in GMO's, parabens, and other bad things.

Etsy has a bath and beauty section where you can find TONS of beauty products that are eco friendly. I can't speak for all of them, but most of the products are free of harsh chemicals and don't test on animals.

If you have a blog or a website, make it carbon neutral! It's so easy!

Upurea has all of your green beauty needs all in one site! If you are just starting out like me, this is a great way to find new brands that will fit your green needs.

Of course, TOMS has to be on this list! Everything about these shoes is great, they are eco friendly (and have vegan versions too!), they are comfy, and when you buy a pair of TOMS they give a pair to a child in need! I'm buying my first pair for back to school :)

I will be making a list of my favorite natural and green brands (once I test them and find out at least). So that may take a while. Some brands that claim to be natural aren't actually very natural at all *cough* Neutrogena Naturlas *cough*. It's important to read the ingredients.

That's about it for now! Do you have any favorite green brands? Do you make an effort to go green? Have you ever tried being a vegetarian?

Going Greener: Fortune Cookie Soaps

I'm trying to make an effort to be more green, both in food and lifestyle choices, including my beauty products. I'm trying my best to find brands that don't test on animals, and are free of harsh and harmful chemicals. I signed up for Eco Emi, which will help a lot. If you don't know what Eco Emi is, it's basically an earth friendly version of Birchbox. Except it's a lifestyle box so you generally get a few beauty products along with things like food, tea, things to clean your house with, etc., that are all cruelty free, green, free trade, eco friendly, and all that good stuff.

I've been eyeing Fortune Cookie Soap for quite some time, but never got around to buying anything. All of the products are "gunk free" and they don't test on animals. Plus they are super cute! They recently had a summer sale and I bought an "In the Loop" bar soap.

It's probably one of the cutest soaps I've ever seen. It looks so much like Froot Loops in milk, and smells EXACTLY like Froot Loops. And it's a pretty decent size, too, I'm sure I'll be using this for a while. I usually prefer body wash over bar soaps, but this was on sale, cute, and is helping me go greener in my life so, why not! I haven't used it yet but I'm really excited to.

I'm going to be making a list of all natrual, green, chemical free, cruelty free, etc., brands and websites that I find. I'll probably put it in the sidebar or make a new page and link it or something. I'm not sure. But anyway, Fortune Cookie Soap is definitely going on that list. This is my first "green find" in my journey, haha.

I also received a free sample of their "Love Doctor" bath melt. It melted a little bit in the mail box, but it still smells really good!

Update: I was a bit too excited about my soap and described it to my coworkers tonight (which happened to be all guys) and they thought that sounded super amazing and badass. So your male friends may love Fortune Cookie Soaps as well :P

Have you bought anything from Fortune Cookie Soap? What are your favorite "green" beauty brands?

5 more ways to go green!

Since I, and many other bloggers, made our blogs carbon neutral, it has inspired me to look for more ways to help the environment. I did some research in magazines, online, and from friends to see what are some fun, easy ways to get it done. Here is what I found!

1. Don't use google- If you want to look something up online, try either goodsearch.com or blackle.com. Good Search donates 50% of money made from advertising to ANY charity of your choice every time you use it! And Blackle uses black backgrounds instead of white, so your computer is using less energy!

2. Clean out your car- You know you've been meaning to do this for a long time but haven't gotten around to it yet--well at least I have--but now you have a good reason too (other than making your car look nice inside)! If you have a bunch of unneccessary stuff in your car and trunk, it is extra weight which makes your car burn gas faster (saves money and helps the environment).

3. Join Carbonrally- You can accept challanges to help you try to reduce your carbon footprint. You can join a team or make a team yourself. I am currently a part of Seventeen Magazine's team, but I think it would be cool if a bunch of fellow bloggers got together to form a carbonrally team. Comment/email me if you're interested! It even shows you how much carbon you have reduced (assuming you do the challenges correctly).

4. Get a reusable water bottle- Invest in a water purifier to purify your tap water and use an aluminum water bottle. Buying plastic bottles creates more waste and is more expensive. Sigg has some awesome water bottles to choose from! If you cannot avoid the plastic water bottles, throw them in a recycling bin instead of the trash can after you're done.

5. Unplug electronics when you aren't using them- Is your phone off the charger? Is the charger still plugged into the wall? Unplug it, because it is still using energy. Same goes for your hair straightener, blow dryer, stereo, etc. Also, turn off and unplug your computer at night!

I hope you all will start (or continue) to make greener choices in your daily life! What ways to you help reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment? Would you like to help make a carbonrally team of bloggers? Let me know what you think!