This Weeks Top Picks

Most people post their favorite for the week on Friday. It's the end of the week, everyone's excited for the weekend, and we all look forward to some shopping on Saturday - so it makes sense to share some ideas of fun things to pick up while we're out and about the town. But I decided what better day to post my favorites than on Wednesday, when we all need a pick-me-up for the mid-week slump, or "Hump Daaayyyy" as the GEICO Car Insurance Camel so infamously calls it.



So, In honor of Hump Day, and in hopes of giving you an excuse to surf the web during a quick break at work or in between laundry duty and lunch prep at home, I've picked a few of my favorite things to share with you. These are things that I'm really enjoying at the moment and really excited to share with you! I'll post a weekly favorites with a variety of home items, beauty finds, fashion ideas...anything goes! I just love getting ideas for new products to try and learning how to style outfits off of my favorite YouTube guru's channels and blogger's websites. I often find that things that I'm personally impressed by get passed over by others, so I decided they need to get some props, too. Some of my favorites might be things you've heard of before, others might be brand new to you. I hope you enjoy them and maybe even get to pick up a few (or all??) for yourself!

This Weeks Top Picks

The Sigma Tapered Blending E36 Brush

Ooh, have I met a new love! As if my makeup brush collection needed an addition. I just couldn't pass this up! I'm one of those people who love to try lots of dimensional eye shadow looks. I like the one-shadow look well enough, but I really love experimenting, layering color and adding darker colors to the crease. There is just one problem: I can't ever quite get the color to stay just in the crease. Or go exactly where I want it. Somehow shadows always end up blended onto my browbone, up way too high, and I have to go back and erase what I've done, and start all over again, and it never quite turns out the way I wanted it. That is until I discovered the brush that makes ALL the difference, the Sigma E36 brush. It's still tapered, like my favorite blending brushes; but it's smaller, which allows you to be oh-so-precise when adding color to the crease. I can use it to place one color, or layer multiple colors, because it's so precise that color placement is a breeze! But it's also a blending brush, so I don't have that stripey-eye-shadow look with super defined edges. It's not my thing, although it works for some people. I love a smooth, blended, gradient look to my colors - even when using unnatural colors, like purples, blues, and greens. If you are like me and you like to blend away, or if you simply love trying new makeup brushes, I highly recommend adding this one to your repertoire. At just $10 - plus the monthly 10% off code on the Sigma website - it's a definite bargain.

The LORAC PRO Palette

This is a product that has been out for some time, but it's one that I have put off purchasing until a couple of weeks ago. I have so many eye shadows it didn't make any sense at all to buy yet another palette. (Well...makeup purchases for me rarely make any sense...I have enough makeup to last me years if I didn't buy anything else!) I would make my weekly (or bi-weekly, sometimes tri-weekly, I'll admit) quick-stop by Ulta, pretending to browse the drug-store aisles, meanwhile castings sideways glances towards the higher end makeup aisles. Then I'd slowly mosey on over towards the LORAC section, and, unable to help myself, pick up this palette for a good, long stare, each and every time. Eventually my covetous heart won out and I finally gave in and bought it. AND I couldn't be happier that I did!

First of all, these shadows are B-utiful! They are so smooth and creamy and pigmented, easily blendable, look gorgeous when layered, and can create so many different looks. Single shadow looks, multi-dimensional shadow looks, day-to-night looks, neutral and colorful looks...you want it? You'll get it with this. And my absolute favorite part about it? You don't need a single other color to go along with this palette! There is an entire row of matte shadows and an entire row of shimmery (NOT glittery!!) shadows, including colors great for highlighting the browbone and inner corner and for lining your eyes (if you're like me and like to use shadows and angled brushes to line your eyes), and everything else you need for creative, fun and sultry looks, in between. It's such a great deal at $42 for a high-end shadow palette, for the quality and variety of shadows included. I can see this lasting me all through winter and maybe even into the spring and summer next year, so long as I don't use it every single day. That will take lots of restraint. It's just so pretty, I can't see myself NOT using it! 

So, here's my advice: if you're looking for a starter kit, a shadow palette that is super easy and versatile to travel with, or if you're simply a makeup junkie like me, loving to try everything and have everything you love, then this palette is a must for you. Go get it!! You'll be so glad you did!

Bath & Body Works Mason Jar Candle

in Pumpkin Caramel Latte

We've talked about beautiful things for the face, so now it's time to talk about beautiful things for the home. And this one makes my coffee-loving-heart sing. There is nothing better in the fall time, in my humble opinion, than pumpkin flavored lattes. Oh. My. Goodness. Just typing "pumpkin flavored latte" made my heart skip a beat! I live in central Texas, where Fall doesn't bring cooler days, colorful trees, and sweater-and-boots weather; it's just plain old hot until around December 31st. So I have to "make" Fall happen, and Bath & Body Works candles are my gateway to Fall-time happiness.

This particular candle from BBW smells soooo incredibly good that my mouth begins to salivate every time use it. The scent is deliciously subtle, not overpowering, great for wafting the yummy scent of pumpkin spice and freshly brewed coffee throughout the kitchen and living room. And if coffee isn't your thing, BBW has so many other deliciously fall-themed flavors to choose from that your nostrils are sure to be humming with delight upon your next visit to the store. It's impossible to smell these cute little candles and not go home with one or two (or many!). So get your BBW coupon, head over to the store, and bring home some fall-scented goodness. 

What are your favorites for the week? Have you tried any of the above products? What are your thoughts?