BRANDBACKER ADVENTURES: OZ Naturals Matrix 6 Mega Bright Eye Gel

I have another OZ Naturals product (provided for free through Brandbacker) to share with you! This is the OZ Naturals Matrix 6 Mega Bright Eye Gel. Take a look at the photo below for the main components of this product!

Here's a snippet of the official claims that OZ Naturals lists for this eye gel's main ingredients,

• "Matrixyl Synthe'6 helps reduce the appearance of crow's feet and forehead lines. 
• Haloxyl is an anti-inflammatory that helps diminish and fade the appearance of dark circles with repeated use. 
•  Caffeine reduces puffiness 
• Hyaluronic Acid attracts moisture,
• Apple Stem Cells protect skin and help preserve a more youthful look."

OZ Naturals lists this eye gel as 84.2% natural. It is made in the USA and is also cruelty free. This product can be dabbed around the eyes, cheek and forehead area. (Interestingly, OZ Naturals recommends that you use this product before their Eye Créme.) It can also be used as an all over face treatment. This product has a slight scent but it is VERY faint and fades away as it is rubbed into the skin.

This eye gel feels a bit like a serum. It leaves my skin very smooth and absorbs quickly. I had no issues or side effects from the product which was refreshing for a change. (My skin is very frustrating. I'm struggling to clear up persistent acne that always appears on the left side of my face near my mouth. If you have any product suggestions please let me know! I definitely need them.)
Overall, I enjoyed using this product. Of course, because it takes a while to actually see results, I cannot accurately comment on that aspect of this product. However, I enjoyed the way this gel made my skin feel, as well as how cooling it was near my eyes. I am eager to see with continued use how this product aids my dark circles. 

TOMOSON TIMES: Valentia True Glow Eye Cream

Valentia Skin Care was generous enough to send me their True Glow Eye Cream as well as their Ultra Plumping Hydration Mask (a review will be up soon) for free through Tomoson to review!

Valentia describes their True Glow Eye Cream as a corrective eye treatment that is formulated with Vitamin C, Astaxanthin and Organic oil. The product is meant to correct dark circles as well as reduce puffiness.
Here's a rundown of the some of the ingredients and their benefits (found on the side of the box):
Astanxanthin: an antioxidant that increases moisture levels, smooths fine lines and wrinkles as well as restores elasticity to your skin.
Resistem: Natural plant stem cells that repair and protect your skin from stress related aging.
Vitamin C: Meant to leave your skin visibly brighter and smoother
Organic Rosehip oil: provides intense hydration to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
Arnica: An anti-inflammatory agent that is key to the restorative process  
This product is also cruelty free, alcohol free and paraben free. It is also 98% organic.

As you can see in the photo above, the cream is ever so slightly peach toned. It has a very slight scent to it...almost like citrus. It's neither offensive or irritating. The cream seeps in very quickly and is not sticky at all. One pump is all you need for application to both eyes. It is gentle and does not burn if I accidentally apply too close to the rims of my eyes. I really enjoy using this product every night. The skin around my eyes always feels dry because I tend to rub them too often. This really soothes that and adds a bit of a cooling effect for me. While I cannot yet comment on how effective this product is when it comes to my dark circles, I have noticed that I have less puffiness when I wake up in the morning. Overall, this product is a win for me, and I highly recommend it giving it a try if you have not found your holy grail eye cream yet!

*I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review. I am not being paid for this review nor will I receive any monetary compensation if anyone should purchase the product through the link used in this review.*

BRANDBACKER ADVENTURES: Alterre Black Heel Starter Kit GIVEAWAY (OPEN)

I love shoes. I love all kinds of them. Sporty, elegant, preppy and comfy. All our welcome in my household! Why am I blabbing about my love for footwear? Well because there's an EXCITING GIVEAWAY going on right now!!
Alterre is giving away a Black Heel Starter Kit just in time for the holiday season! This starter kit normally retails for $180.00. The unique concept about Alterre shoes is that each base pair of shoes comes with two different kinds of straps to change the look of the shoes.
These are the Black suede mules they are giving away, with the two different straps in action! (The kit also comes with a handy travel bag.)

Using the black suede Jackie look, 

Using the evening sky Marilyn look

Do you see how the first image is a more casual yet classy day shoe with those black straps, and how the second image looks more like an elegant night shoe?! Isn't that a cool concept?

Here's a handy infographic that demonstrates how these shoes work!

The giveaway will run until December 16th 2015. There will be one winner. You can enter using the widget below! Good Luck!!

TOMOSON TIMES: The Torment of Rachel Ames Review

Through the site Tomoson, I was able to receive an advanced reader copy of The Torment of Rachel Ames for free from its author, Jeff Gunhus.
Here's the official summary from its Goodreads page:
"Suffering from writer’s block, novelist Rachel Ames escapes to a lake cabin to calm her mind and regain a sense of herself. The location is perfect. Isolated. Beautiful. Inspiring. It even comes with a good-looking landlord who shows an interest in her. But she can’t shake the sense that something terrible has followed her to the lake, something just beyond her consciousness, something out on the edge where the sounds of a raging fire and sirens linger whenever she slows down to listen. Determined to make the cabin work, she tries to settle in and give her new life a chance. But when strange things begin to happen around her, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake. As the darkness that’s followed her manifests itself in inexplicable ways, her concept of reality is stretched thin and she realizes nothing at the lake is what it seems. As she fights to survive with her sanity intact, she understands too late that the location she’s chosen for herself is far from perfect."

This novella definitely packs a bit of a punch by its end. The twist is something you don't really see coming. In fact, the end is what makes me want to go back and comb through the story for hints that I missed or disregarded. Halfway through reading this book, I was just so bewildered by all the strange events that were happening. Was Rachel Ames in a perpetual state of drunken delusion? Was she going crazy? Or were these insane things actually happening to her?! As Rachel's unease increased over the course of the story, I began to feel just as anxious. Gunhus definitely has a knack for the creepy, especially because there is real emotional depth layered along side the madness.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you're looking for something short and creepy. Best of all, if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow this book for free!

BRANDBACKER ADVENTURES: Oz Naturals SPF 30 Tinted Sunscreen Moisturizer

Oz Naturals through Brandbacker provided me with a nice end of summer type product to review. (Actually, you should always wear sunscreen no matter the season!!) I was sent their SPF 30 Tinted Sunscreen Moisturizer in the shade medium. Oz Naturals claims that this product is safe for all skin types and can be worn alone as a foundation type product or under your makeup. I have combination oily acne prone skin so I was a bit nervous testing this out. I'm pleased to report I had no issues and did not break out any more than usual.

When I first squeezed the tube of sunscreen, I was worried because of how dark the lotion seemed. I'm pretty fair in skin tone, and I really didn't want to look all streaky and "oompa loompa-ish." But to my surprise, this product blended out very nicely and easily. It gave me more of a healthier looking glow and it evened out my complexion, and had a very light but decent coverage over any redness on my face.

This product smells to me a bit like baby wipes upon initial application, which I personally didn't mind, but it might be off-putting to some people more sensitive to scents. What I really loved most about this tinted sunscreen was how light it felt on my face. It didn't feel tacky or heavy, and dried down very quickly. I actually forgot I had it on at one point! Oz Naturals, like most sunscreens, recommends that this product be reapplied every two hours. This product retails for $21.99, which is pretty pricey in my opinion. However, it is a very good facial sunscreen that will mesh well with most skin types. I think if you haven't yet found your "holy grail" facial sunscreen, the Oz Naturals Sunscreen Moisturizer is worth trying out!

*This is not a paid post. I was sent the product for free to test and review. All opinions are my own.

NYX Butter Gloss Swatches

Let's talk about NYX Cosmetics Butter Glosses!
To start off, I'm not a huge fan of lip glosses. I hate how sticky they can be and I can't stand when my hair gets stuck to my lips because of it. What I do like about lip glosses is how easy and convenient they are to apply. NYX Butter Glosses are not as sticky as other glosses I've tried, but they have decent staying power. Of course, they will not survive a round of meals and drinks, but they aren't a high maintenance product where you would need to meticulously and carefully reapply. These butter glosses smell faintly of vanilla and are nice and light on the lips. While not all of them are super pigmented, most of the lighter colored glosses still have a very decent tint to them. This is one product where I'm not too worried about possible marks on my teeth. However, I do recommend a lipliner with some of the darker shades like Red Velvet and Devil's Food Cake, because there can be a bit of traveling outside of the lip-line!
My favorites of the glosses tend to fluctuate with my mood! I'm a big fan of Tiramisu and Merengue though!

From Left to Right: Creme Brulee, Tiramisu, Angel Food Cake, Eclair, Vanilla Cream Pie, Merengue, Sugar Cookie

From Left to Right: Raspberry Tart, Maple Blondie, Peaches and Cream, Cherry Cheesecake, Peach Cobbler, Red Velvet and Devil's Food Cake

Parker's not a model, the camera just turned on.

These glosses typically retail for 4.99 and can be found in store at Ricky's and some CVS pharmacies. They can also be purchased online through the NYX website or on Ulta. I recommend purchasing these glosses (as well as all other NYX products) on Ulta, because they tend to throw buy one get one half off on NYX Cosmetics or sometimes even 40% off! You can also receive cashback through Ebates which let's face it, is pretty much a godsend!

July Favorites and a Teensy Flop!

Let's give this favorites thing a try once more, shall we?

So I did some serious damage at the Bath and Body Works semi-annual sale last month. The two standouts of the haul were hands-down the scents Tahitian Island Dream and Cucumber Melon. Tahitian Island dream definitely just smells like what the essence of summer should be! My only issue is that I do feel that this body spray fades quite a bit quickly, which is why I like to layer it with the Cucumber Melon lotion. This lotion, particularly after a nice shower, just makes me feel so clean and refreshed.

I had three NYX favorites in July. (FYI: August is going to be NYX month on our blog! Expect some swatches of NYX butter glosses, matte lip creams, and intense butter glosses!) Vanilla Cream Pie, Peaches and Cream and Istanbul are such perfect summery pinks. They just tie a look together so well...it's summer, it's hot...and I don't feel like messing with a lip color that's super high maintenance!

 Look at this nail color! How is that not stunning?! This little beauty is Jessie G's Gelato in Venice. It's that trendy mint green with a beautiful formula. Honestly one of my new favorite colors in my nail polish stash.

On the flipside, here's a polish that I have a hate/tolerate relationship with. I purchased this along with Gelato in Venice at Rite Aid. I was with Asa at the time, and we were busy squealing about how this polish (which is called Bikini) would be a perfect summer toe nail color. I thought it would warm up my skin tone just enough to make it look as though I had gotten some nice color. This was a really, really bad idea. For starters, this polish is NEON. Like, I swear my toes were glowing in the dark. I didn't even need a light to guide my way out of a dark room, that's how bright this polish was on me. The polish's formula is also pretty terrible! It dries down matte (as most neons tend to do), and was so streaky to apply. It took around three to four coats to get it to stop looking patchy. But the sad result was that it took a lot of effort to apply, but I really could not get on board with how the color looked on my skin tone. This polish is probably better left for accent nails and nail art.

I was going to do a separate post on this particular favorite, but I feel like it's a bit of a moot point considering my family and I devoured most of this box within one week! This is Universal Yum's Japan box, and boy, was this a hit! In case you didn't know, Universal Yums is a subscription service that focuses on bringing you snacks from a different country every month. I've received snacks from Germany, Israel, Italy and Brazil. I believe August's box will be focused on snacks from India. Anyway, this Japan box was amazing. and probably my favorite box I've received yet. I really hope that Universal Yums will eventually expand to selling individual snacks. (If they did, this sucker would be the first thing I would buy!!)

I have two television show favorites for July. (Okay, technically I binge-watched all of Sense8 when it premiered on Netflix in June, but it's a GREAT show.) Sense8 is about eight individuals from all over the world who find themselves mentally and emotionally connected. I cannot even begin to properly summarize this show. It is amazing, and you should definitely check it out! I started watching Humans  in late July, and I was immediately HOOKED. The show is based on the premise that android robots have become a mass market production, and that it is both trendy and useful to have one in the home as your maid, caretaker etc. The show is honestly very sociological. It forces us to question human rights and our own conception of morality. Do these robots (that completely look like humans) have any rights? Is it okay to utilize them as service workers (including prostitution), just because they do not have any form of sentience? (SPOILER ALERT: Some of them are sentient...and they are NOT happy!) 

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is my book favorite of the month. It is also a book that features a character that BETRAYED me. (I should have seen it coming...but, I didn't want to!!) I'm probably going to put up a review on my other blog if you're curious about the betrayal and how deeply invested in this book I was. If you enjoy fantasy and books where the elite prey and take advantage of the "inferior" and are just asking to get their "just desserts,"(AKA real life...) then this is definitely the book for you!  

This just about wraps up my first favorites post! It was a long time coming! I'll be back soon with another post!