You guys! I am a complete sucker for packaging! Okay, packaging and convenience! The other day I was perusing Sephora.com and I came across these adorable little palettes and absolutely had to have them! It didn’t hurt that they were both ultra-portable and pretty cheap, both under $25! The first is the Too Faced Glamour to Go Palette ($22)! What first drew me to this palette as you may be able to guess is the packaging! It is a super cute black glossy compact with an almost baroque swirl design and lovely feminine label.

What I love about this palette is its tiny size, it’s no bigger than a compact mirror, but inside it houses a full face of makeup in a double layer design. The top layer of the palette houses 8 lovely neutral eyeshadows that fit my makeup aesthetics perfectly, and the bottom layer that pulls out like a drawer houses a pinky peach blush, golden shimmery lip gloss and a nice light-medium tone bronzer.

The colors are all gorgeous and after applying a face of makeup with this palette I was super pleased with the results. The shadows are pigmented without being too heavy which is great for me because I am no makeup artist and heavily pigmented shadows usually end up making a mess of my face! The blush and bronzer, however are a bit stronger on the pigment, which totally works because I like a strong blusher and I can mediate the amount of bronzer I use to make sure it doesn’t go on too heavy.The lipgloss is pretty subtle, but a nice natural shade with a hint of sparkle. I used a colored lipliner first and then added the gloss on top of my lips to blend the color out to a nice rosy shimmery pink! Overall, I am very pleased with my first impressions of this palette and I love the look I was able to create quickly using it! Like I said, its super tiny but you get a lot of products so it’s a great little palette to keep in your handbag, even a small one!

Okay, so the second palette I picked up from Too Faced is this Jingle All the Way Palette ($25). Now, I picked up this palette because it was absolutely too clever to pass by! From the front, this palette is a nice compact case filled with 11 eyeshadows, a medium bronzer and a bright pink blusher, but from the back it has a little secret!

It is actually a 2 in 1 makeup palette and iPhone 5 case in an adorable print! I just had to have it! So, basically the palette is just a palette in and of itself and it fits into the iPhone 5 case. You could leave the palette in the case or pop it out easily and use the case on your iPhone. It’s basically the greatest idea for a holiday gift that I have ever seen (well, may not the best I have ever seen, but its pretty close)! The colors in this palette are again mostly nice neutrals, but they also incorporate some lovely colors as well! I love how they actually give you 9 smaller shadows and 2 larger matte colors as a base/highlight/blending color. The bronzer in this palette is a hint darker than in the previous palette, but I can still make it work (I am not big into dark bronzers because I am usually super pale except for in the summer when I am just regular pale!) but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bright pink blush in this palette! The brighter the pink, the better, in my opinion! Now, this palette doesn’t include a lip product, but that’s fine by me and still an awesome value since you get so many shadows!

So, be honest, are you loving these adorable Too Faced Palettes as much as I am? Have you tried any of these before or any other Too Faced products? Are you a sucker for packaging as well? Or perhaps you love these palettes because of the all in one convenience factor? Let me know in the comments!

I have been out of college now for 6 years (yikes!) and I still often think about all the wonderful things I did and learned during my years there! Like most life experiences, however, I often find myself wondering how my life would have turned out had I made different choices and did things differently. If I had the chance to turn back time and start college all over again, I would most definitely be the embodiment of some college cliché, taking advantage of every opportunity, working harder on my school work and going on more adventures! So, since I know there are college freshman all over the world who have just completed their first few weeks or so of their college experience, I have decided that now is the time to share my biggest regrets from college so that perhaps others can learn from some of my mistakes and make the very most of their undergrad years!

1. I regret that I didn’t work harder! Cliche, I know, but its the truth. Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, I have been one of those people who never needed to work hard in order to get good grades. In middle school, high school and yes, college, I just sort of skated by on my natural intelligence, but now I see that had I actually applied myself, I may have been able to do wonderful things. My laziness in college is something I frequently find myself making up for in my life now, as I work myself to the bone at my day job and then with this blog all in the hopes that one day my hard work will pay off! Let me tell you, it’s a much better idea to do the hard work in college because the work you do in those four years can really shape the rest of your life. Don’t skate by like I did, make sure you are putting in 110% to your work!

2. I regret that I got a boyfriend my freshman year. Relationships in college are one of those things that I think most girls are interested in, but they really aren’t the best way to spend your college years. I know that once I found a boyfriend the second semester of my freshman year, I became a ghost to my friends. I spent way to much time with him and doing things he wanted to do and not enough time developing relationships with roommates and hall mates. Since I was also in a sorority, it was especially alienating for me to have a boyfriend during these early college years because I kept feeling like I had to choose between him and them. Of course, I choose him far too often and as I began to feel more alienated from my friends, the cycle continued so that I was inevitably spending all my time with him. Don’t make that same mistake. Boyfriends can wait until after college, they seriously, seriously can!

3. I regret that I didn’t go abroad. College is seriously one of the best times to spend a semester or two abroad in a foreign country. For me, it was something that I considered out of the question because of my finances and of course, my boyfriend! Looking back, I could have afforded it and it wouldn’t have been the end of the world to leave my boyfriend for a few months, in fact it probably would have done me some good! I honestly think that it should be a requirement for certain majors to visit a foreign country before they graduate because it really is such a valuable life experience and it opens your eyes up to the rest of the world outside of your little pocket of the universe!

4. I regret that I didn’t spend more time getting in touch with myself. This is sort of a weird regret, but they say college is the best time to find yourself and I certainly wasn’t spending much time looking! I was more occupied with making sure I got all the classes I needed to graduate and trying to enroll in classes that would fulfill requirements for both of my majors so that I could inevitably save money and graduate early. I wish I had taken more trips and gone on little adventures. I went to college out in the mountains and there were so many things I could have done and tried that I just didn’t bother with because it didn’t fit my narrow idea of what a successful college experience meant. So make sure you spend your days exploring everything you can. Visit the astronomy tower, go on a camping trip, experience the world around you to the greatest extent that you can. It will help you develop character and learn things about yourself that you never knew!

Do you have any regrets from college that you wish you could pass down to younger generations to make sure they don’t make the same mistakes you do? Are you a current college student who has made some of these mistakes and perhaps can learn from them before it’s too late? Let us know in the comments!

Last week I wrote about why you may want to make the switch from cable television service to a lower cost alternative like Netflix or Hulu Plus! Going along with that conversation, I thought I would talk to you today about some more great FREE entertainment options. YouTube right now is blowing up with great “made for YouTube” series and I wanted to share with you some of my favorites that I completely recommend you watch if you are looking for some more free entertainment!

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (Channel: Lizzie Bennet)

Yep, you read that correctly, Lizzie Bennet, as in Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of everyone’s favorite Jane Austen novel, Pride & Prejudice! This amazing series that concluded only a few months ago is basically a 21st century retelling of the novel if Lizzie Bennet were a grad student with a YouTube channel! Filled with all your favorite P&P characters, some with modern variations of their names (ex. Mr. Bingley is Mr. Bing Lee), this long running series is as entertaining as it is endearing.

Make Me Over (Channel: Awesomeness TV)

For those of us who love makeover shows, this multi season series follows popular YouTube beauty guru’s who give regular girls a mini makeover! Solving problems like what to wear to prom, or tackling issues of personal style, this fun series is a great “real life” makeover show without all the fancy designer duds and high budgets we are used to seeing from shows like “What Not to Wear”. Definitely give this a shot if you are into real like makeovers and you may even find some style inspiration for yourself!

Nicko’s Kitchen (Channel: robjnixon)

If its cooking shows that tickle your fancy, you won’t want to miss Nicko’s Kitchen, a highly popular YouTube channel and series all about cooking. What I love about this series is that it covers great everyday recipes that are quick, easy and fun, and they have a great mini series on the channel called Fast Food Friday’s where they teach you how to make your fast food faves from Big Mac’s to KFC Chicken! If you’re an epicurean, this is one series you won’t want to miss!

The Guild (Channel: WatchTheGuild)

If you are more of a fantasy fan,  preferring shows like Once Upon a Time or Grimm, the Guild is probably right up your ally. This multi season series follows around a group of online gamers who play a World of Warcraft like MMORPG in the same guild and decide to become friends IRL. Outlandish drama ensues when the awkward gamers try to interact socially, which makes for some hysterical episodes filled with references and lingo fellow gamers are sure to understand and enjoy!

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis (Channel: FunnyOrDie)

If you are a fan of comedy shows like SNL or late night talk shows like Jimmy Fallon, you will certainly enjoy Between Two Ferns. Watch as actors and other pop culture figures are given the most awkward interviews of their careers by the straight-faced, too blunt for TV host! It completely reminds me of Stephen Colbert and his hysterical and envelope pushing interviews with public figures in which you’re not certain if the interviewee knows that they are partaking in a joke or not! Check it out for yourself and you are sure to have a good laugh!

Do you like to watch YouTube? What are some of your favorite series’? Have you ever seen any of these shows before? Let us know what you think in the comments!

No month-long commercial detox would be complete without a quick and dirty lesson in budgeting! If you are not currently using some method of budgeting to help you calculate and understand your monthly expenses, I highly suggest you give this a try. Since I am no financial guru, I can’t get into the nitty-gritty of allotting your monthly expenses, but I can help you get started on a path of personal financial management!

One day soon after I had graduated college, I was watching TV when I came across an episode of The Oprah Show that focused on personal finances. Much of the episode focused on helping couples break out of credit card and student loan debt, neither of which applied to me, however, they showed this great pie chart that they used on the show to give a rough outline of how to allocate your monthly expenses. I immediately grabbed the pie chart from the show’s website and have been using it as a guide for myself ever since

If you have never made a budget before, or if you’re not happy with your current budget, I suggest taking this chart, opening an excel file and starting to calculate how much you should be spending on each element of your expenses based on your total gross monthly income. Then you can compare what you should be spending with what you are actually spending! Make sure to grab your bank statements for the past few months when you do your comparison, because spending habits change from month to month and you need to take a look and see exactly how you have been spending your money over a good period of time. I suggest checking out your last 6 months of spending! While doing this comparison, you may find that you are spending too much on housing or clothing based on the suggested percentages and can begin to work towards finding a better balance in your budget. Once you can see where you’re overspending, it might make it easier for you to temper your spending in that area.

Obviously, if you spend too much on housing, it may not be as easy for you to put that spending back to the proper balance, but over time you can take actions like getting a roommate to cover housing costs or finding a more affordable apartment once your lease expires. In the meantime, you are going to have to cut corners somewhere, perhaps with eating out or personal entertainment, or by finding additional means of employment. I have already covered a variety of ways you can save money in different aspects of your life this month, so if you need to cut back on your entertainment costs, clothing or other personal purchases, click here to see my suggestions to make the most of your money!

Overall, I hope you came to see that budgeting is an important and necessary exercise in your life. Although you may not find that you have trouble covering the bills, taking the time to evaluate your expenses may show you where you are overspending unnecessarily and could be putting more money into savings for the future! Your personal savings is a place you really don’t want to skimp on each month, so the more you can put away the better. You never know when you will have an unexpected car repair or medical emergency that will require you to dip into your savings! Seriously, YOLO is not the financial plan you want to default to, so get your finances together asap!

Do you use a budget to help you keep track of your monthly expenses? Do you find that it helps you to make smart money decisions or is it something you reference after the fact to clean up your bills! Let us know in the comments!

Spending your days trying to find ways to save money is no easy task and for all our hard work I think we deserve a little private time of rest and relaxation! Of course, we can’t just head over to the local salon or spa, so in the nature of DIY we are going to make our own at home spa! At home spa days are easy enough and can still be super relaxing. First and foremost, you are going to need to carve out a bit of time for yourself. Whether you are going to do you at home spa after work or on a weekend, make sure to make it in your calendar and give yourself a good chunk of time to decompress! Turn off your cell phone, unplug your phone, just relax in this time you have set aside for yourself! Next, assemble your tools! All you need to turn your bathroom into your own personal spa are a few items that you most likely already have around the house.

1. Some soothing spa music on Pandora

2. A Lush Bath Bomb

3. A luscious facial scrub

4. A delightful bubble bath

5. A rejuvenating facial mask

6. A moisturizing body lotion

7. Nail polish remover

8. A sexy nail polish shade

9. A simple nail kit

 Relax and enjoy! 

Do you like to indulge yourself with at home spa day? What sorts of products or “treatments” do you like to use? Do you like listening to relaxing music or prefer watching a movie or tv show while you decompress? Let us know in the comments!

Cable television. Most people have it, but do you really need it? I can remember a time when TV was the major form of entertainment in my life. This was before the invention of DVDs and back when you rented VHS tapes from your local Blockbuster! Before computers and the internet could provide you with an endless stream of entertainment. Before cell phones played video. Before cell phones could fit in your pocket! At that time, TV was everything and the shows on TV weren’t half bad either! But times have changed, TV programming is not what it used to be (ahem, reality shows!) and although DVDs remain popular for watching shows and movies, you don’t actually need a DVD to watch a movie these days!

Of course, I am talking about services like Netflix, Hulu and even iTunes and Amazon Prime! Nowadays, you don’t even need cable to watch TV, its kinda crazy and a bargain for those who choose to make the switch from cable to Netflix. Think about how much you actually use your TV and what you use your TV for? Are you watching DVDs that you own or rent? Are you watching shows via DVR or On Demand services instead of watching them live? Do you like to go back and watch previous seasons of your favorite shows? Do you get your news and weather information from the internet or an app? If any of these questions sound like you most of the time, you may not need cable TV.

Let me give you some more food for thought! The average “triple play” bundle from your cable provider costs $100 a month and gives you TV, Internet and Phone service. Most people don’t even have a home phone anymore because they use their cell phones! Internet alone costs about $40 from a standard cable provider. So, let’s say that by switching from cable to Netflix you will save at least $50 a month ($60 from canceling cable – $10 for Netflix per month) and that is at the very least! If you also subscribe to extended cable or premium channels, you could be saving even more! So, how would you like an extra $600 in your pocket a year? What could you be doing with that extra $50 a month?

But wait, you say you really can’t live without TV because you have a few shows you are addicted to and you don’t want to cancel your premium channels because you like to watch new releases? There are plenty of alternate places to find movies and current TV shows. Services like RedBox allow you to rent new releases for just about a $1 a day! You can even subscribe to seasons of your favorite TV shows from iTunes and have unlimited access to episodes after they air live! If you are really looking to save some cash, Hulu has plenty of free TV shows available after they air, and if you use an iOS or android device, most television networks have a dedicated app where you can watch episodes the day after they air as well! If all else fails, your local library is a great resource for borrowing dvd’s of movies and TV shows, although you may not be able to find the new releases, you can definitely find a good flick for a quiet evening at home!

Do you currently subscribe to cable? Do you also use a subscription service like Netflix or Hulu Plus? Do you think you could make the switch from cable to Netflix? Are you really getting your money’s worth out of your cable tv? Is the money saved enough of a motivator, or do you need more convincing? 

Dear Kate Spade & the Beautiful Beau,

As you may or may not know (okay, you probably don’t know!) this month I am partaking in what I call a “Commercial Detox.” Basically, for the entire month of September I am exercising every ounce of self-control in my body to keep myself from making unnecessary or frivolous purchases. I have made it half way through this month, but now, I find myself cracking… because of you and the Beau bag! You have launched a very compelling marketing campaign for your new flagship bag. Not only is the bag attractive as f*@k, but you released an incredibly alluring video on your website in which a beautiful woman runs around NYC in search of her elusive Beau. On top of that, you went ahead and sent some of my favorite bloggers and internet personalities a complimentary Beau WITH a matching little USB version of the bag that is so darn adorable I CANNOT CONTAIN MYSELF! I literally cannot swing the proverbial dead cat without seeing your amazing new bag in one of my social media feeds! Its torture!

So, I began to cave. I started the “pre-purchase” stages of my mental preparation for buying an expensive bag. I checked the balance on my savings account every hour for two days… thinking. “I can afford this bag,” I told myself. “You can make this one exception to your spending freeze,” I negotiated in my mind. Then, I hit an almost miraculous road bump that had the power to completely derail me from this fashion obsession! I couldn’t decide which color Beau I would purchase! The pink and red was so bright and fun! The black so simple and chic! Even the black and tan caught my eye. “I could totally rock the black and tan,” I reasoned.

Aha! This was it, without a clear color choice, I wouldn’t be able to go through with the transaction… that was until I took a browsing around the Kate Spade website! You thought of everything, didn’t you, Kate, my dear! That’s why you included those lovely little vignettes in the rotating header for the Beau! Once I laid my eyes on that beautiful bag sitting beside a roman bust, some zebra’s and a paper fan, my heart melted and I knew my choice was made; it would be the all black bag for me!

Today I am probably going to take my SECOND trip to my local Kate Spade to oogle at the bag! My husband will have strict instructions to keep my wallet while I am in the store and not to return it to me until we leave the mall or I break out into uncontrollable sobbing! Please save me from myself and send ME a Beau! I promise to love it and cherish it all the days of my life! I’ll take pretty pictures of it and post them to instagram using your #meandmybeau tag! Think about it and I will leave you my email just in case you want my home address!

With lots of Love & Admiration,

Alexis

I know, we all get too many emails on a daily basis, but what if those emails you are getting were actually helping you out by keeping you informed, entertained and generally advancing your personal and professional knowledge? If that sounds interesting to you, you’re probably asking yourself how much something like that could cost you. Well, nothing! Except whatever time it takes you to read an email! Yep, that’s right! I have found three amazing and free subscription services that really help solve some of the major day-to-day issues facing busy professionals, students, and anyone else who is interested in learning and growing but can’t find the time to fit in long hours of personal development classes and self-help books! It’s about taking baby steps, and each day getting a little bit more news, information and advice

The Skimm

Who needs to pay for a newspaper when you can have the news delivered to your email inbox every morning, in a short but sweet summarized form that will help you to better understand the days events and discuss them competently? Busy professionals rejoice! The Skimm is just that! A daily dose of news (Monday-Friday) that tells you the need to know headlines, briefly explains the importance of the issues and helps you find ways to incorporate your news knowledge in day-to-day life to impress friends, family and coworkers!

DailyLit

Are you interested in reading more often but struggle to find the time to sit down and digest a complete novel? DailyLit is a free site that will send you short daily installments of books of your choosing that you can read on your computer or mobile device. Read via email or RSS anywhere you have an internet connection and leave you bulky paperback at home!

Netted

Do you enjoy hearing the latest news on awesome gadgets, technology, and apps but find it time-consuming searching through multiple popular technology and gadget websites each day? Try Netted by the Webby’s, a daily email subscription that keeps you up to date on the hottest new sites, apps and technology news. Short and sweet, this email promises its subscribers “better living through the internet” and if you’re reading this and are a fan of my blog I’m pretty sure this is right up your ally!

Do you currently use any email based subscription services? Do you like the opening your email inbox each morning to find something fun and useful instead of the day-to-day dregs of work emails and sale notifications? Which services do you subscribe to? Share them in the comments below!