Fashion illustration: green lady

Recently started painting again and using my work lunch breaks to do some watercolor illustrations.  Follow me on Twitter and instagram @rosalitafashion for almost daily pics.

Radiant orchid and the waterfront

Gorgeous day in Old Town, my friend and I walked all the way down to the waterfront. The sandbags are still sitting outside some shops at the bottom of King St. from the recent flooding, but things look pretty dry. The water is still really high as you can see in the first pic. Allergies suck but the walk was good, I might actually meet my Fitbit goal today lol.

Today's list: Calvin Klein maxi dress in the perfect radiant orchid color which Pantone named color of the year (I am in love with it, especially for my hair), Tarte long high-low cardigan, Kelsi Dagger faux snake wedges because it's finally warm enough!!!!!, and Arizda Bross fringe bag, and those yellow Ciate nails from the Glossybox post from yesterday :)

Glossybox April 2014 review

This month's Glossybox US had a Ciate paint pot nail polish (subscribers were sent one of 13 different color options), Aqua Spa Body Creme in "Relax" Lavender and Chamomile scent, Bellapierre Lip Gloss in Vanilla pink, LaSplash Shadow base, and Caldrea scented bodywash in one of 3 scents.

As far as Glossyboxes go, this seemed a little less high-end than usual, but for the sizes of the products, still worth the subscription price. This is my first time trying Ciate paint pots. I am a loyal fan of Butter London, Essie, and Nails, Inc. I would consider buying more Ciate now though. It was opaque at 2 thick coats and the colors are so creative. I'm glad I got this shade, "Big Yellow Taxi", because I have a bunch of pastel yellows but this one is brighter and a perfect sunshine yellow.

Once I started seeing people's boxes start popping up on instagram, I looked up Aqua Spa, which is new bath and body company carried on amazon and in Walmart. I sort of judged it right then. I have plenty of drugstore products mixed in with the specialty or high-end ones though, so I really shouldn't have. When it arrived, I used it with an open mind because I figured if it turned out to be awesome, at least it would be cheap to go get more. Turns out, their body cream is a great value. The lavender scent is in no way cheap-smelling. Not as thick as all my favorite body butters, it had a perfect texture for hands. Their other scent lines are "Sooth" and "Energize". I would suggest they come up with a line called "Escape" with coconut and tahitian vanilla... I would be ALL over that one lol.

Bellapierre is a line of mineral cosmetics sampled by Glossybox before. Subscribers received their new lip gloss in Vanilla Pink, which is really more of a rose gold or pinkish copper on me. It says that these are flavored, I'm not sure I would call this a flavor but it has a hint of toasted coconut when first applied. Also, I would not call it a gloss. It's not glossy, it applies like a creamy liquid lipstick so if you hate super sticky shiny glosses, this would be perfect for you. I will use this a ton in the summer, especially when my skin gets more tanned.

The LASplash shadow base is another not-so-lux product this month but it definitely works! I regularly use Benefit's Stay Don't Stray and UD's Primer Potions as shadow primers but this works differently. It's very sticky and hold shadow nothing else will. I applied it before UD's Naked 3 palette shadow in Dust-- the shadow with the most fallout ever. By pressing the shadow into the base with a brush there was no fallout. All the glitter stayed where it should and I am extremely impressed. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes heavy shimmer/glitter shadows.

Lastly, Caldrea's body wash didn't suck but I wouldn't purchase. I was hoping for the Coconut Fig scent (of course) but got the Aloe Water Apricot. It's a nice scent but it seemed to change in the shower from the bottle... maybe that's just my nose. I like that it's free of everything sufates, parabens, formaldehyde, etc., and it's vegan/cruelty free though.

FYI, next month's Glossybox will be a collab with Bergdorf Goodman so we are in for 6 lux products for sure for May and a $25 gift card to BG. Spoilers have already been released and a possible box option is shown below.  I can't wait!

Glossybox gold holiday box and la prairie box

Loved both. Would jump on any and every limited edition glossybox in the future. The la prairie box was especially noteworthy at only $40 for a travel size set. Total for these full sizes is $905! The new cellular swiss ice crystal cream was rich and very long lasting. The dry oil was also very moisturizing but for me oils dont absorb as quickly as i would like before applying my makeup so it is less useful to me. Still unbelievable value!

March alex and ani glossybox US

This glossybox was a great one. This is the last month in my first yearly subscription and I know I have to renew now! It included one of Alex and Ani's new Scent 7 products. I got the soap bar which would have not been my choice since I don't use bars so it might get given away. The scent is not described well on their site but on the packaging it is described as warm spice with sweet floral overtones. To me, it is a pretty strong patchouli/incense scent like Tom Ford's Black Orchid but more hippie-ish. An Alex and Ani bangle was an added bonus with the swan charm.

There was also Alterna Bamboo plumping strand expand which I found to give some slight volume with some shine which by the end of the day looked a little greasy. I prefer messy textured volume like that from Bumble and bumble surf spray but others might like that this doesn't make hair appear dry and smooths flyaways.

The Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask which boasts instant youth smoothing plumping and brightening was very luxurious and pretty effective. It says to wipe off excess after 15 min but my skin had soaked all of it up by then. I guess that means my skin is in need of some heavy moisturizer. It has a slight tightening feeling and fills up very fine lines but doesn't have a super dramatic effect.

The Etre Belle liplift peel was a surprise hit from a German company I've never heard of before. It comes in a lip gloss-like tube which is convenient when most lip scrubs come in little jars. It claims to use hyaluronic spheres to smooth, volumize and reduce fine lines on lips. It definitely adds volume. After rubbing in a small amount on lips they feel much fatter. The effect doesn't last for more than an hour or so but I think regular use could really make a difference. It doesn't have the stinging tingle of plumping glosses either. I would really consider keeping this as a staple item in my skincare routine.

The Nails Inc polish is a pretty poppy coraly pink called brook st. It's not super opaque so 3 thick coats were needed. Still, its a happy spring color and Nails Inc has a pretty long wearing formula. Overall A+

Dec and Jan glossybox

Loved the Ardency Inn punker liner and would definitely recommend. The nails inc polish is lovely too. The beauty blender leaves a nice airbrushed finish but im too lazy to use it for daily use because of the effort cleaning it. Everything else was fun to try but fairly average.

Birchbox Jan and Feb 2014 = meh