Wrangler's Monthly Wrap Up: October 2013

Happy Halloween! Are you dressing up for the holiday? Tonight we're going to go listen to the Seattle Symphony play the soundtrack from 'Psycho' as the movie plays, it should be fun! We've been dying to go listen to a symphony accompany a movie for a while now. I honestly cannot believe that today is the last day of October. It's my favorite month of the year, I can't believe it's over already! It just means that fall is also passing quickly and before you know it, it'll be Christmas. I love fall weather and I hope to savor as much of it as I can before it's winter. Anyway, here are some of my favorite posts from this month:

Orange Thyme Part IX

LWF Seasonal Balms: Fall 2013

Long Winter Farm Part XI

Epically Epic's Fall Flavors 2013

Aqua Blossom Part X

ForGoodnessGrape XII

Ripe Shop Part VII

Long Winter Farm XII

Haul of the Week 10.23.13

My favorite parts of October not lip balm related: going apple picking, visiting the pumpkin patch and picking the perfect pumpkin, wearing fall clothes, going to Vegas, celebrating my birthday

What were some of your favorite things from October?

Have a wonderful day!

Mary Kay Halloween Look

So this is something a little different that I haven't done in the past. A Mary Kay representative asked if I'd be interested in trying out one of their Halloween looks and I thought, sure I'll give it a shot! I didn't do anything for Halloween last year and we aren't doing anything this year except carving a pumpkin, we're just so busy around this time of year that we forget.

One of the options for a Halloween idea was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and this is the set I received to complete the look: Mary Kay® Ultimate Mascara™, Mary Kay® True Dimensions™ Wild About Pink, and Mary Kay® Mineral Cheek Color in Citrus Bloom. Now keep in mind, I'm naturally pretty tan and even though I'm a bit pale right now since it's Fall, I'm still pretty tan which makes it a little hard for me to pull of the Dorothy look since she's pretty pale. Oh yeah, and I also have nothing remotely close to Dorothy's clothes, so this post is just about the make up. This post is a combination of a review and showing you a look. Keep in mind I'm no makeup expert and usually only wear it on weekends. I was really nervous to put this up, so I hope you guys enjoy!

On the right: Mary Kay® True Dimensions™ Wild About Pink
on the left: Mary Kay® Mineral Cheek Color in Citrus Bloom

As you can see the blush barely showed up on my skin, and my inner arm is the palest part of my body. When I applied it to my face I had to apply a lot to get a little to show up. If you're not as tan as I am, this would probably show up on you great. It's lightweight and went on easily, despite being a little too light for my skin. 

The lipstick is a gorgeous pink color on my skin, but when I put it on my lips it kind of just looks like my normal lip color. Rob didn't even notice a difference when I asked him if he liked my lipstick. It adds a little bit of pinkness but without being crazy noticeable, this will be a good everyday lipstick for me. This is my second Mary Kay® True Dimensions™ lipstick and I'm definitely a fan! The formula is so wonderful, creamy and light weight. And believe it or not, it actually feels nourishing on my lips. 

The mascara went on nicely and made my eyelashes look great. No clumping or mess, each lash was separated nicely and coated evenly. I applies two coats of mascara for this look. I didn't use my eyelash curler which is why my eyelashes look a little flat.

Here is it all put on:

Not very Dorothy-like, I know, but that's just because I'm tan and the makeup didn't really show up on my skin. Oh and I also don't have any clothes similar to Dorothy's. This looks like an everyday look for me, and I like it! If you're like me and kind of just forget Halloween is happening, this could be a quick look for you to put together! It took almost no time at all to put my make up on and put my hair into braids. If you can get your hands on a dress similar to Dorothy's, a basket, and a stuffed (or real) dog...you'd be good to go! Oh and maybe some ruby slippers.

What do you think of this look? What will you be dressing up as for Halloween?

-------------------------------

These products for provided complimentary to me by a representative from Mary Kay, however all opinions are strictly my own.

Haul of the Week 10.30.13

Happy Wednesday! I have a pretty small haul this week because we're trying to save some money in case we are moving here permanently (yeah, we still don't know...it's been over a month). So I have to think long and hard before I buy something, which is something I'm not used to when it comes to balm! Just joking, I've actually become a lot less impulsive in the last couple of months. Anyway...here's what I got this week:

Softlips

I finally found one of the new Intense Moisture balms from Softlips, I wish I could get my hands on the others! I haven't stopped using this since I bought it. 

Mary Kay

I was contacted by a Mary Kay representative to see if I'd like to try out some of their products for a Halloween look. I have a post going up in a little while about which look they had me try. 

What did you receive this week?

Have a lovely day!

Long Winter Farm Part XII

Hi everyone! I hope you're ready for another Long Winter Farm review! I know it hasn't been that long since my last LWF post, but the other post I was planning to write involves swatches and since it's night time now I don't think they'd turn out very well. Bad time management on my part, but I'm finishing up med school applications so I've been a little distracted =). Anyway...I hope you enjoy reading about the latest balms I've been using from LWF.

Company: Long Winter Farm

Flavors: Baklava, Black Blood, Green Tea Truffle, and Honey Fig. Baklava smells like a sweet and nutty pastry, it's super decadent and yummy smelling. Black Blood is probably one of my new favorites from LWF. It smells of intoxicating blood orange and black walnut, seriously this is some delicious stuff. I can't stop smearing it all over my face using it. Green Tea Truffle smells of green tea combined with creamy white chocolate. If you're a green tea fan, you'll like this balm as the green tea is stronger in scent than the white chocolate. I didn't know what to expect from Honey Fig since I don't really like honey and I have had figs very few times and in very little quantities. This balm definitely smells like honey with a little something extra, which I'm assuming is the fig. This is a super warm scent, if that makes sense. Right now I'm all about warm and fall scents so this balm is pretty great.

Wear: These balms go on so creamy and smooth, seriously LWF balms have got to be one of my most favorite consistencies. They're smooth and creamy and glide on flawlessly without being too heavy. They're just thick enough without feeling like I've got to wipe some balm off my mouth.

Packaging: Long Winter Farm balms come in oval tubes with labels that have the flavor of the balm printed nice and big right in front which is great for discerning one balm from another. The labels also have two colored bands on the top and bottom of the tubes that have colors that coordinate with the flavor of the balm.

Price: $4 per tube which I'm more than willing to shell out for one of these balms.

Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. Long Winter Farm balms are some of my all time favorite balms and probably always will be. There are so many awesome flavors to choose from and Amanda always comes up with something new. If you haven't tried her lotions or perfume oils yet, I'd highly recommend those too!

Ingredients: Natural Beeswax, Sweet Almond, Grapeseed & Jojoba Oils, Cocoa & Unrefined Shea Butters, Vitamin E, Flavor Oil

What are some of your favorite Long Winter Farm balms?

My Favorite Shops and Balms

Hi everyone! I have something a little different for you today. I've had a few people ask me about my favorite shops and balms, and since there were so many people asking me, I figured I'd just make it a post. This way everyone who asked as well as those who were wondering but hadn't yet asked can have the information! Plus, I love sharing my favorites with you all!

My Favorite Shops (in no particular order):

• Long Winter Farm
• Orange Thyme
• Epically Epic
• ForGoodnessGrape
• Aqua Blossom
• Ripe Shop
• Live Beautifully
• Little Batch Apothecary

I can always count on a great balm from one of these shops, and most of my collection is made up of balms from these shops. These are usually the first shops I recommend to everyone. 

Some of my absolute favorite balms:

• Epically Epic's Blueberry Peach, Cherry Pineapple, Mango Lassi, Cardamom Vanilla, Cherry Lemonade, Yellow Cake, Orange Mango
• Orange Thyme's Caramel Apple, Blueberry Lemon, Coconut Lemongrass, Meyer Lemon Cupcake, Peppermint, Pineapple Cherry (the only one of my Orange Thyme balms I've ever lost, it's heartbreaking!), Ginger Peach, Peppermint Stick, ALL of her lemonade balms
• Long Winter Farm's Chocolate Orange, Blood Cherry, Peppermint Hot Cocoa, Black Blood, Pistachio Chip, Rosemary Litsea, Strawberry Shortcake
• Little Batch Apothecary's Winter Frost, Lemon Cheesecake
• ForGoodnessGrape's Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Baby Moose Lips, Horchata, Banana Buttercream, Cream Soda, Grapefruit Lime, Orange Hibiscus, Baby Moose Smooches, Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm
• Ripe Shop's Horchata, White Chocolate Coconut, Indian Mango, Sweet Mango Tea
• Aqua Blossom's Strawberry Lime, Lemon Cheesecake, Black Forest Brownie, Citrus Sangria
• Live Beautifully's Vanilla & Lime whipped lip butter, Lemon Cream Pie, Blue Island Breeze, Blueberry Mint Tea

I know I'm probably missing a lot here since I don't have my entire collection in front of me, but these were some that came to mind pretty easily. Some of these were limited edition or no longer carried in shop, but all of them are super amazing.

If you ever need a recommendation, I'd first check out any of the above shops because they have TONS of options, then if you still need a recommendation feel free to contact me! I'm always more than happy to give some recommendations.

What are some of your all time favorite balms?
Have a lovely Monday!

Balms of the Week 10.27.13

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you're having a great weekend so far! We're trying to be very productive this weekend, and so far it seems to be working, but the day is young so we'll see. I've been trying to switch up the balms I've been using a little bit this week, can you spot the ones new to my rotation?

ForGoodnessGrape's Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Epically Epic's Peppermint Mocha

Aqua Blossom's Orange Cinnamon Roll

Country Blossom's Candy Corn

ChapStick's Gingerbread Kiss

ChapStick's Strawberry

ForGoodnessGrape's Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm

Ripe Shop's Peanut Butter S'more

Long Winter Farm's Black Blood

What have you been using this week?

Have a wonderful day!

Final Country Blossom Balm of the Month: September and October 2013

Hi everyone! Today I have for you the very last two parts of my year long lip balm subscription from Country Blossom. I'm sad that it's over, but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to try so many balms, many of which I wouldn't have picked out myself. I hope that these posts have helped you decide if you'd like to sign up for a lip balm subscription, I'd highly recommend signing up for one! It's so much fun to receive a little package every month.

Company: Country Blossom

Flavors: Bubble Gum (September) and Candy Corn (October). The Bubble Gum smells of pink bubble gum, but it's not crazy sweet like some other bubble gum balms I've used in the past. I received a tube of Candy Corn last year that I really loved, so I was excited to receive another tube of it. It smells super sugary sweet and really yummy! I can't say if it smells exactly like real candy corn because I still haven't tried it! I know a whole year and some odd number of candy corn lip balms later, and I still haven't tried candy corn.

Wear: These balms go on so smooth and creamy, the consistency really is amazing. My lips feel soft and slightly glossy after wearing one of these balms.

Packaging: These come in your average sized lip balm tubes with white labels. The flavor of the balm is printed right in front in large font, and right below the flavor is an image depicting the flavor of the balm (i.e. pictures of candy corn).

Price: $3 per tube which is a heck of a deal!

Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I really enjoy the consistency of Country Blossom balms. There are also so many different flavors to choose from. I'd definitely recommend trying a few Country Blossom balms!

Ingredients: Beeswax, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Flavoring Oil

Have you tried these Country Blossom balms before? Have you signed up for a lip balm subscription from Country Blossom or any other shop?

Balms I've Got My Eye On 10.25.13

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope your week has been going well and that today passes quickly so you can enjoy your weekend. I'm hoping to have a productive weekend this week, so hopefully my plans don't get derailed and I end up just kickin' back all day. I know one would think that I couldn't possibly want anymore lip balm since my collection is getting so huge, but my collection is never ending! There is always some balm or another that I want, and I'm certainly not complaining! Here are the ones I'm considering adding to my collection:

Ripe Shop's Gingerbread Eggnog

(via)

Adriana comes up with the most unique flavor combinations! I've had gingerbread lip balms and egg nog lip balms, but never together!

ForGoodnessGrape's Pumpkin Marshmallow Baby Moose Lips

(via)

I'm really into Fall flavors and Baby Moose Lips, so this seems like a perfect combination!

Orange Thyme's Caramel Apple

(via)

I already have this tube from last year, but I'm thinkin' it's time for a new one. This has got to be one of my all time favorite Orange Thyme balms!

I guess I'm still loving Fall and everything that goes along with it!

What balms are you thinking about adding to your collection?

Happy Friday!

Ripe Shop Part VII

Hi everyone! I'm trying to review a lot of my Autumn/Fall balms before Fall passes so that you have the chance to buy them and use them before the season is over! Fall always seems to go by way too fast for me, I wish it would last a few months longer, it's definitely my favorite season. Anyway, I feel like these balms are pretty great for Fall, and also great for year round use!

Company: Ripe Shop

Flavors: Almond Macaroon, Coco Flan, and Peanut Butter S'more. The Almond Macaroon has the most decadent and yummy sweet almond scent. It has a buttery, sweet pastry scent that combines with the sweet almond scent and absolutely makes my mouth water. The Coco Flan smells of creamy tropical coconut and slightly of sweet caramel. The Peanut Butter S'more smells absolutely delicious! It smells of milky chocolate, creamy peanut butter, and fluffy marshmallow. Seriously, the next time I make S'mores I'm going to try adding peanut butter to it. I don't know why I never thought of that before!

Wear: These balms go on so smooth and creamy! They really just glide across your lips and sink in to make your lips feel super soft and smooth.

Packaging: These come in oval tubes with gorgeous craft paper labels. I love the change in labels, they really make them feel a bit more rustic and just adds more charm to these already super lovely balms. Each label has the flavor of the balm right on front so there's no guessing as to which balm you're reaching for.

Price: $4 per tube which is definitely worth it for one of these balms!

Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I really can't get enough of Ripe Shop balms, there are so many unique flavors to choose from and they just go on like a dream. If you haven't tried them yet, you're missing out!

Ingredients: Sweet Almond Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Avocado Oil, Cocoa & Shea Butters, Vitamin E, Flavor

Have you tried Ripe Shop balms yet? Which ones are your favorites?

Haul of the Week 10.23.13

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're having a lovely day! I'm trying to transition from Vegas-mode to my usual daily routine, so I'm hoping today I'm much more productive than I have been since we got back on Sunday. How long does it usually take you to transition back to your usual self/routine after a vacation? The one awesome thing about going away for a little while is coming home to a ton of packages! Here's what welcomed me when I came home:

Long Winter Farm

I really can't stay away from any new LWF balms, and I'm pretty obsessed with Amanda's perfume oils so I had to get a few more of those as well.

Firebird Bath & Body

I know, there's no lip balm in this order, but I'm becoming more and more obsessed with smell goods!

Mary Kay

I was contacted by a Mary Kay representative to see if I'd be interested in trying one of their new holiday gift sets. I chose their Viva Red! set, so stay tuned for my review after I try these out a few times.

ChapStick

My package I received last week from ChapStick was open and missing tubes of their new ChapStick Gingerbread Kiss, but they quickly sent me some new ones!

Aqua Blossom

I've been having some bad luck with packages lately, I was supposed to receive this last week, but it went missing. But, Ashley was super awesome and sent out a new package right away. Boy, these were definitely worth the wait!

What goodies did you receive in the mail this week?

Have a wonderful day!

ForGoodnessGrape Part XII

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week so far! I apologize for my absence yesterday, but we got in late Sunday night and I was so exhausted from the no sleep we got all weekend and just fell asleep when we got home. This post almost didn't get written up because I fell asleep at 9:30 pm last night, but I woke up and snapped out of it. I'm clearly still exhausted and trying to recover from the lack of sleep this weekend and we didn't even go that crazy this trip! Anyway, how about another ForGoodnessGrape review?

Company: ForGoodnessGrape

Flavors: Blackberry Lemonade, Orange Rose, and Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm. The Blackberry Lemonade smells amazing. It consists of ripe, tart blackberries and sweet, slightly sour lemonade. Overall it is a sweet, fruity scent that is just lovely. The Orange Rose is one I was surprised I liked since I'm still not a huge floral fan (despite having about three or four floral balms in my collection now). This one smells of fresh, sweet rose and bright, sweet oranges. It's a unique and refreshing scent. The Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm has a very light, clean, soothing scent. It smells very faintly of lavender and vanilla, if you like balms that aren't too strong in scent, this one is for you! This is a balm that could definitely keep me calm.

Wear: All of these balms go on super smooth and glide on without a problem, but the Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm is so much dreamier than Lisa's usual formula. It's from her 'The Lip Balm Queen' line which is made with specialty butters that really just make me lips feel amazing. My lips feel incredibly soft when I wear it. The other two also make my lips super soft...so I guess what I'm saying is you really can't go wrong with either formula (or any of Lisa's other formulas, they're all seriously amazing).

Packaging: The balms made from Lisa's normal formula come in your average lip balm tubes and the Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm comes in an oval tube. Each label has the flavor of the balm right on the front of it with a color scheme that corresponds to the flavor of the balm.

Price: A tube of the Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm is $4.50 and the other two are $3.75 (I believe, these aren't on the website right now, but her normal formula starts at about $3.75). Both prices are pretty reasonable! The KCCLB balm costs a little more because of the higher quality butters used in the formula, totally worth it!

Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price, Variety of Formulas
Cons:

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms are awesome! I can't recommend FGG balms enough, they're some of my favorites! With so many different flavors and formulas to choose from, how could you resist?

Ingredients: 
Keep Calm and Carry Lip Balm: Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Apricot kernel oil, Avocado Oil, Candelilla Wax, Coconut Oil, Kokum Butter, Soy Bean Oil, Vitamin E, Flavors and/or Essential Oils. 
Regular Formula: Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Cocoa Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Beeswax, Jojoba Oil, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Vitamin E, and Fragrance.

Have you tried any balms from FGG yet? Which ones are your favorites? Which formula is your favorite?

Balms of the Week 10.20.13

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far. We are not looking forward to leaving Vegas today! I'll keep this short and sweet this week. Not much has changed balm usage wise, when I find some favorites, I tend to stick to them for a while!

ForGoodnessGrape's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Baby Moose Lips

Epically Epic's Peppermint Mocha

Epically Epic's Chestnut Cookie

Balm Chicky's Huge Cucumber

ForGoodnessGrape's Pomegranate Blueberry Lemonade

Long Winter Farm's White Almond

Long Winter Farm's Peppermint Hot Cocoa

Moody Sister's Strawberry Lemonade

Aqua Blossom's Mango Spice

What balms have you been using this week? Do you tend to stick to favorites each week or change it up?

Have a lovely day!

Balms I've Got My Eye On 10.18.13

Happy Friday, everyone! The weekend is finally here (or almost here) and some fun can be had! I'm officially one year older today and still don't feel a day over 18 (this always gets me in trouble, I will always say I'm 18 when I get carded which as you can imagine is kind of embarrassing and causes a little bit of trouble). This weekend will be all about letting loose a little bit and celebrating me and my sister's birthdays, I'm excited! Anyway, it's still birthday week right? That means I can still have a birthday wish list!

Long Winter Farm's Baklava

(via)

Live Beautifully Body's Pumpkin & Vanilla Whipped Lip Butter

(via)

Orange Thyme's Chocolate Almond

(via)

What balms are you wishing for this week?

Have a great weekend!