Category Archives: Beauty

Oct26

Lil Red Recommends! Part 3

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Lil Red Recommends! Part 3

Recommendations one through ten from yours truly ❤ :

1) Read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. If you read my article about this book, you’ll already know how much I love it. I just finished rereading this novel by Rachel Joyce today and it still made me cry just as much as when I read it the first time. I’m really looking forward to reading Rachel Joyce’s other book, Perfect. So be on the look out for my thoughts on that once I start reading it!

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2) Go on a hike by yourself. Seriously this may be one of the best things you ever do for yourself. If you read my article An Ohio Hike, you’ll know that I had an absolutely lovely solo hiking experience this past week. I felt so at peace when I was walking through the forest with just me, myself, and I. Hearing the sounds of nature and being alone with my own thoughts was so calming. Walking through the beautiful Ohio Metroparks is definitely something I’d like to continue doing.

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3) Write a letter to yourself. I know, I know, so corny right? Contrary to popular belief – it’s not. One of my first college assignments this past week was to write a letter to my future self. My professor promised all of her students that she wouldn’t be reading our letters, just simply mailing them back to us when she felt the time was right. Our only guideline for the assignment was to be kind to ourselves. With that in mind, I wrote a letter straight from the heart to my future self. I wrote all of the positive affirmations I tell myself and then some and it felt so good. Seeing the words I speak to myself in my head on paper made phrases like “you’re beautiful inside and out” very real to me. If that makes sense? If you’d like to read exactly what I wrote to myself, you can check out my article Letter to Myself. Once you complete your letter, tuck it away somewhere special and whenever you need reassurance or positivity, it will be there for you.

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4) Listen to Mika!!!! This lovely gentleman is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I was playing him on my way home from work yesterday night and had a blast. I completely forgot how much I enjoy his gorgeous vocals and insane falsetto. This is a true story, I discovered Mika years ago when they used his track We Are Golden in a Degrassi commercial on TeenNick. I loved the song so much that I had to hear more. Screaming “we are not what you think we are, we are golden, we are golden” in my car with the windows down last night was exactly what I needed after a day at work! Mika’s talent is so pure and impressive and I can’t get enough of it.

5) Check out the bands Fallen Captive and Below The Tide: Two of the fantastic gentlemen who work at Odd Fellows Tattoos in Akron (where I got my latest tattoo done) are also members of some pretty cool heavy metal bands. Travis Lamont who did my gorgeous Isis piece this weekend plays a mean guitar for Below The Tide while Mitch Pivarski of Fallen Captive lays down some insane vocals. Help support Akron Ohio’s local music scene by showing these guys some love! These gents are two of the best guys you’ll ever meet, and I’m so glad to have the pleasure of knowing them!

6) While you’re at it, give Odd Fellows Tattoos a like: I had the pleasure of getting my latest ink addition done here, and the experience was nothing but positive. You can read all about it in my latest article Body Mods! Part 2. This shop is inhabited by fantastic tattoo artists, piercers, and the all around coolest guys ever. Please show the Akron body art scene some love by giving their Facebook page a like. Make sure you browse through all of the photos of the amazing work that gets done there on the daily. And in case you haven’t seen my newest tattoo yet, here’s a pic of the goddess Isis, done by Travis Lamont, as well as their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Odd-Fellows-Tattoo/667458826660986

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7) Pamper yourself: A few nights ago I took the most amazing bubble bath ever. I lit some fall scented candles in the bathroom, played the gorgeous Amy Winehouse on my iPod, and filled up the tub with some floral scented suds. This sounds like such an obvious thing to do, but sometimes we forget to give ourselves a little treat. I didn’t realize how tense I was from the days work until I sunk into the steaming water. Amy Winehouse is one of the best artists to play while taking a bubble bath – she makes everything so much more luxurious! Enya is also a highly recommended bath time artist as well! After I got out of the tub, I wrapped myself in a fluffy new towel to dry off. As an extra treat I lathered on some Satsuma body butter from The Body Shop. My skin was soft as a baby’s bottom after that! BTW, I believe all of The Body Shop’s bath and body care is half off right now on their website, so take a look if you’re interested! http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/

8) Listen to Say Hi (formerly known as Say Hi To Your Mom): I absolute adore Mr. Eric Elbogen of Say Hi. I’ve been a fan of this one man band for quite some time now, but have been listening to him very frequently as of late. I can’t get enough of the quirky lyrics of this Seattle native. From the haunting lullaby like tune of “I Think I’ll be a Good Ghost” to making a morbid lyric like “I’m gonna drink your blood” in “Blah Blah Blah” sound romantic – this guy can do no wrong. I stumbled upon this artist when he was still Say Hi To Your Mom. I was strolling through the CD section of Best Buy with my brother, when I pointed out the funny name of Eric Elbogen’s act and we shared a laugh. Once I got home, I was curious about what the music of Say Hi To Your Mom sounded like, so I looked it up, and the rest is history.

9) Do a Halloween activity: This Friday night my sister, her boyfriend, and myself went to The Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory in Akron. We had a blast! We only went through the Laboratory because we didn’t feel like paying for both houses. Both haunted houses boast four floors of fright. There were a lot of really cool rooms in the Laboratory, like an operating room, a room inspired by the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and a dentists office. The timing of the actors in the haunted house was so perfect. They would pop out right when we were more than half way through a room with the thought that we wouldn’t get a scare. It was like they were reading our minds, because as soon as we thought we were smooth sailing, out would come a masked man yielding a chainsaw! It was so fun holding on to each other and laughing every time one of the actors got us! I would love to go to the Haunted Schoolhouse before the Halloween season is over! I would also like to hear about popular haunted houses in your neck of the woods, so please leave me a comment about them!

http://www.hauntedlab.net/

10) Take a shopping trip: Today my mom and I went to TJMaxx to browse their fall and winter clothing. If you guys follow all of my OOTD’s, then you already know how much I love TJ’s! Unfortunately, there was nothing too impressive on our trip today, but it was still so fun to go with my mom and point out our likes and dislikes. It’s always a hit or miss when we make a TJ’s trip, so hopefully next time we go there will be tons of cute and new stuff! I can’t recommend going to one of your favorite stores for a little pick me up enough. In the words of Donna and Tom from Parks and Recreation: TREAT YOSELF!

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So there you have it, my Lil Red Recommends for the week! What’s your favorite Halloween activity to do? I’d really like to get in some more Halloween fun before the week is up! Please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions! Have a great night! -Sarah

Oct26

A Thank You Letter to my Parents

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A Thank You Letter to my Parents

This is a special thank you letter to my mom and dad. A thank you for them being so accepting of their extremely unique looking daughter. My mother took me to get all of my piercings done from the time I was fifteen until I was eighteen and old enough to get them done on my own. If you’ve read my original post Body Mods, you’ll know that I’ve gotten pierced and repierced over thirty times, and my mom was there for more than half of these. My dad was never really thrilled when I’d come home with a new piercing, however he’d rarely let me know it. And when he did, it was as nice as he possibly could make it, which usually just involved asking me if I was ever going to take any of my metal out. Not only was my parents cool with my body mods when I was younger, they were also fine with taking me to the hair salon to get my hair dyed and styled into my signature bright red semi short hair. Words can’t really express how much this means to me now. The fact that I was only a teenager but my parents were giving me the freedom to express myself and look the way I want is something I don’t thank them for enough. I should really start. My mom and dad treated me like an adult in the sense that I was able to make decisions on my appearance completely on my own. I’ll never forget all of the times my mom and I would come waltzing into the tattoo shop and being greeted by all of the guys working. My piercer absolutely adored my mom and we visited him frequently enough that my mom would drop the classic phrase of “you can be my adopted son” whenever we would see him. It was always so fun for me to see my mom chat and laugh with all of these pierced and tatted up guys as if she was the mother of all of them. Watching her interact with them and pass no judgement on any of them was amazing. My mom is sixty and my dad is sixty-six and I really think its cool that both of them are totally okay with having a daughter who looks like me. Most people my parents’ age are very set in their ways which tend to be more traditional. When I came home with my newest tattoo yesterday (see the article Body Mods! Part 2 for more information on that), my mom was so eager to see it that she was genuinely upset when I told her I couldn’t take the wrapping off for another two hours. My dad was amazed when he found out his little girl sat through five hours worth of pain to get it done, “how in the hell did you do that?!” There’s so many parents in the world who wouldn’t be okay with their kids opting for a more unique look. And there’s probably a lot of parents who don’t agree with my mom and dad’s acceptance of my appearance. But that’s okay, to each their own. My mom and dad accept me for who I am because I’m my own person and I like what I like. And most importantly, nothing will change the fact that I’m their little girl. My gratitude to my parents for everything knows no bounds, and I am so beyond lucky that I have them. If you guys haven’t read my newest Body Mods article, this is my newest tattoo which I got this weekend:

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Take the time to thank your parents for something they did that you really appreciate. Has there ever been a time where your parents shocked you with how cool they are? What was something that your mom or dad did that you’ll never forget? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Sunday. -Sarah

Oct25

Body Mods – Part 2!

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Body Mods – Part 2!

Welp, it happened. I got my new tattoo yesterday! Making it the fourth one in my collection. Before I begin telling the tale of getting this baby done, let me show you a picture!

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There she is! The goddess, Isis. I got this masterpiece done at Odd Fellows Tattoos in Akron, Ohio. My friend and tattoo artist, Travis made this work of art possible. (And if you’re into heavy metal at all, please check out his band Below The Tide!) Let me tell you guys, this tattoo was a process! It took a little over five hours to complete. Honestly, I’m shocked that I was able to handle getting the entire tattoo done in one sitting. My sister accompanied me for the stencil placing, because I really wanted her opinion on the placement of it. Unfortunately after that, she had to leave me to go volunteer for the rescue group Canine LIfeline. (You can read all about this fantastic group in my article Must Watch Video!) http://caninelifeline.org/

After the tattoo was placed to my liking, we got to work. The outlining of Isis really wasn’t that bad, it was smooth sailing and was completed in an hour or so. After that was done, we took a five minute break for the bathroom, cigarettes, and to stretch out. In the entire five hour process we took three five minute breaks. Travis then called me back to his chair of doom and began to work on all of the black work in the tattoo. At this point I was still doing fine and dandy, I was a little bit tired, but I was still feeling good enough that nothing was really hurting. I’m a trooper 😉 While Travis worked we enjoyed conversing with each other and the other gentlemen working in the shop. All of them were really just fantastic. I told Travis that himself and everyone working at Odd Fellows did a great job of making an uncomfortable situation feel very comfortable. The conversations we had were full of vulgarity and profanity, but it was hysterical and helped take my mind off of the process at hand. Before I knew it, Travis was done with the black work, and it was time for another break. Once again, it was a bathroom, cigarette, and water break. Things took a turn for the worse as far as how I was feeling goes once Travis started on the color, which he called “the fun part”. Ha! Up until the coloring, I didn’t need any of the guys at the shop to hold my hand, and I wasn’t in genuine pain. But once the color began, it was almost too much. My skin was raw and angry, and every stab Travis took at me with the tattoo gun felt like daggers. I told myself that I wouldn’t cry while I got Isis done, but that didn’t happen. Tears started flowing without me even trying. The water works were coming out like my eyes had sprung a leak. That was when the guys at the shop rallied around me to try and help. One of my other friends, Mitch (who you can check out in the band, Fallen Captive) held my feet when I started squirming. Keith was on hand holding patrol for the rest of the session. I was honestly feeling pretty faint at this point, I was in a lot of pain and I was falling in and out of zoning out. To help with that, all of the guys held conversations with me to help take my mind off of the pain. It was very sweet. The last hour of filling in all the color felt like an eternity. I was so zoned out that I didn’t even realize that Travis had finished it once it was done. It was such an amazing moment when he told me I could get up and go take a look at the finished product! I almost thought he was kidding! When I got to look at my completed side piece for the first time, I was blown away. It was better than how I pictured it to be. It looked even better than the picture that I brought in (which is my featured image photo). Travis couldn’t have done a better job if he tried. I am so thankful to him and all the gents at Odd Fellows who helped make my tattoo experience as tolerable as possible! If you’re ever in Akron and feel like getting a tattoo, you know where to go!

Here’s Odd Fellows Facebook page, make sure you give it a like!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Odd-Fellows-Tattoo/667458826660986

And once again, if you’re into heavy metal check out the bands Below The Tide and Fallen Captive!

Happy Saturday! -Sarah

Sep27

Lil Red Shopping Tips! Part 2!

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Lil Red Shopping Tips! Part 2!

My favorite place to buy my makeup and skin care is The Body Shop, hands down. My mom got me hooked on their products years ago, and then working there as an assistant manager deepened my love for their products even more. Everything that The Body Shop stands for as a company are things that I feel very passionately about, so it makes me feel good every time I shop with them. TBS lives on five principle values:

  • Against animal testing
  • Support community fair trade
  • Activate self esteem
  • Defend human rights
  • Protect the planet

At least one of these values are represented in everything sold at TBS. All of the products no matter what are non animal tested, which is SO very important to me. I refuse to buy anything with even a question of whether animals were tested on or not. The fact that I don’t have to play guessing games with my makeup and skincare is extremely relieving and refreshing. A lot of the ingredients used in each product typically comes from different third world countries, so we can help them promote their economy and provide better lives for the workers and their families. I like to think of everything I buy from TBS as a donation to a family in need, because all of these products are helping feed them or put a roof over their heads.

Now let’s talk about the best times to shop at TBS as far as deals go and some products! Honestly it’s a lot easier to shop online. The online promotions are usually way better than the ones run in store. Now a lot of people complain that The Body Shop is “too expensive”. But I’m here to tell you, that when shopped right – the prices are beyond reasonable. The best times to shop online are when the 40 or 50% off store wide sale is running. Whenever I get an email letting me know about this promo, I usually always stock up on all of my beauty must haves. And I’ll keep it real with you guys: I would NEVER buy these products if I didn’t know how to shop the deals, but when these promotions are running, you’re getting great quality product for the price of your drug store brand items. The best time to shop in store is without a doubt Black Friday and the week or so following it. The store always runs a 3 for $30 promotion, which is a great time to stock up on your more pricey items. Some of the heavy duty skin care at TBS ranges from about $30 to $36 dollars. If you stock up on these items during the 3 for $30 you’re essentially getting buy one get two free or even better if you buy the $36 dollar skin care! To add to the Black Friday fun, TBS always sells a super fun grab bag filled with awesome goodies. The bag is usually filled with at least $100 dollars worth of product, but they sell it for $25. You can’t beat that! One final great deal at TBS is their Love Your Body card. The LYB card sells for $10 dollars to get you started, but really it pays for itself because you get a $10 gift on your birthday. With the LYB card you save 10% with every purchase you make. For every $20 dollars you spend you earn a “point”. Rack up four points and you get a $15 dollar gift, and once you get eight points you get a $25 dollar gift and your card renews itself for free for another year. The best time to use these points is the month of your birthday. Then you can combine each gift for fifty dollars towards your purchase! Awesome!

If you read through my post about my makeup and skin care must haves, you’ll see that a vast majority of what I wrote about was from TBS. But allow me to dabble in talking about their product a little bit more. The Body Shop literally has everything. Ranging from skin care, makeup, hair care, product for men, lotions, perfumes, shower gels, gift sets, and home care such as candles, oil burners, and reed diffusers. TBS is widely known for their body butter. Each butter is made with a base of either cocoa or shea butter for heavy moisturizing. The butter comes in many different yummy scents as well, from strawberry and the fan favorite satsuma, to olive, chocolate, and the traditional cocoa butter. Their home care is just lovely too. The oil burners make great gifts. I got a lot of my friends the burner and different scented oils for the holiday last year and they all loved it. Whenever a friend of mine has a birthday, I usually make them a cute little TBS gift bag. Their lotions and shower gels are the perfect “pamper yourself” gift. A lot of my friends now shop at TBS because of how much they loved the products from their gift.

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Make sure all of you guys check out my post about my makeup and skin care must haves so you can read in depth about my favorite TBS products. Do I have any Body Shop shoppers on here? What’s your favorite product? What’s your favorite body butter or perfume scent? Comment back and let’s chat! -Sarah

Sep19

Body mods

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If there’s one thing I love, it’s body modifications. The Pic Stitch above is of my three tattoos, “After the flood all the colors came out” is a lyric from Beautiful Day by U2. My favorite song by my favorite band. I got it the day I turned eighteen, much to my parents disapproval ;). I also have “Do I dare?” on my arm, which was my favorite quote in the book Night Film, which I highly recommend to everyone! My newest tattoo I got this month is from Jack White’s song Lazaretto and it says “When I say nothing, I say everything”. I plan on getting the goddess Isis pictured below my Pic Stitch as my major side piece probably this winter. I love her story. I love everything she stands for. As we delve deeper into this blog, I might talk about some of the reasons why her story touches my heart so deeply. She has a very significant meaning in my life and I’m very excited to have her with me for forever. Don’t even get me started on piercings though, because I could go on for DAYS about how much I looooove piercings! They were my first love. After begging my mom to take me to get my belly button pierced at fifteen, I was hooked. I’ve gotten pierced and repierced over thirty times. At the moment I only have my belly button, my ears, and my four piercings on my nostrils. I had to take all of my piercings out when I was the assistant manager at The Body Shop. I was SO pissed! The only ones I’ve gotten redone after that fiasco was my nose piercings. But let me break down everything I’ve ever gotten, just so you guys can see how much of a fanatic I am!!!
2 industrial bars going through my hips
8 dermal anchors on my hips (I had four done at once, and then another four when I got them redone)
8 dermal anchors on my collarbones (I had four done at once, and then, like my hips, got them repierced)
8 piercings on my nose (I had four done at once, then, like my hips and collarbones, got it repierced)
2 on my lip (snakebites)
4 on my ear
1 on my cartilage
1 on my belly button
Now do you believe me when I say how much I love piercings? Haha I would really like to get my septum done soon, and am also playing around with the idea of getting my snakebites redone. So many body mods so little time!!!! If you guys have any piercing or tattoo questions, please shoot me a comment! Also, if you would like to see some pics with my old piercings in, shoot me a friend request on Facebook (Sarah Mushenheim) Sweet dreams! -Sarah

Sep16

Makeup, skin care, and everything in between

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Hello! In case you guys can’t tell by my pictures, I LOVE makeup! Anything in the beauty department is a friend of mine! So I thought it would be fun to put together some Pic Stitches and show you guys my beauty favorites, from hair care, skin care, to fragrance!

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Pic Stitch 1:
Top left: Rimmel London scandal eyes mascara. OBSESSED. If applied well, it almost looks like you have fake lashes on. Rich black color and a big hourglass shaped brush for huge stand out lashes. Each of these mascaras are roughly six dollars and can be found at any drug store.
Top middle: One of my favorite makeup products. The Body Shop blusher beads are gorgeous. They leave the perfect dust of shimmer to complete your look. It’s about eighteen dollars, however one case will last you for years.
Top right: Dove dry shampoo. Total life saver. I avoid washing my hair to keep my bright red hair fresh and vibrant, so this keeps my hair nice and clean in between washes. It’s only about four dollars and you can’t beat that! I also love the Paul Mitchell smoothing serum. It smells fantastic, like kiwi strawberry AND it gives your hair a radiant healthy shine to boot! It defeats any type of frizz or flyaway too for pin straight hair. It runs at about eighteen dollars and can be found at any hair salon.
Middle left: Revlon matte balm. Lovely. So lovely. It’s a great compromise when you don’t feel like wearing lipstick, and it goes on PERFECTLY matte so that means no blow drying or blotting! I wear color 240 Striking Spectaculaire and it runs around seven dollars. Where would I be without my Eos balm? In a world of chapped lips, that’s where! These balms leave my lips nice and plump and perfectly moisturized. These balms run around three dollars and both products can be found at any drug store.
Middle: My love. My life. My hair dye. Vidal Sassoon Runway Red is TO DIE FOR. It gives me the EXACT SAME color I was paying a lot of money to get at a salon. And for eight dollars a box, you’d be crazy not to do it at home. Rich red color. Vibrant and bright. What more can you ask for?
Middle right: My forever go to eyeliner. The Body Shops’ metallic eye defined in color number 13 Burnished Amber will change your life. The color brings out gorgeous hues in hazel eyes and will brighten any look. Fabulous for day or night wear. These liners run at eleven dollars each, and come in a bunch of other pretty colors too!
Bottom left: My skin care regime. Garnier has wonderful scrubs and cleansers for any type of skin. The smoothing cream cleanser is nice and gentle and will leave your skin feeling so hydrated. The balancing exfoliater is great too to make your skin feel bright and rejuvenated. It has hints of grapefruit in it for a nice zesty burst of fragrance and cleansing power. Both of these run around six dollars each and can be found at any drug store.
Bottom middle: My other skin care regime, which I apply after I wash and scrub my face. These products are all from The Body Shop. The Vitamin C Skin Boost ($27) is one of my favorites. It hydrates and brightens, plus leaves a smooth matte finish. The Nutriganics smoothing eye cream ($22) eliminates fine lines and reduces dark circles immensely. A great products to use to keep your eyes looking youthful! Vitamin E moisturizer ($14) SO NICE. Light and non greasy. A perfect every day cream.
Bottom right: Victoria’s Secret enchanted apple body spray ($14). My absolute FAVORITE fragrance. I love anything apple scented and this is so crisp and refreshing. It’s shockingly long lasting too, an all over spritz will keep you smelling sweet all day! A weird beauty secret but I adore the TN Dickinsons witch hazel which runs at about five dollars per bottle. It’s great for cleaning facial piercings. (I have four nose piercings – two on each nostril). This products eliminates blackheads and grime around my piercings.

Pic Stitch 2:
Top left: John Frieda radiant red shampoo and conditioner (about five dollars each) An absolute necessity for any red head. Not only does it protect your color but it leaves your hair SUPER moisturized. I don’t shampoo my hair very often though, I find that only conditioning my hair keeps my color lasting longer. And of course, I only wash my hair with FREEZING cold water!
Top middle: Covergirl eyeliner (about six dollars, I wear color number 410 Blackfire). This liner goes on so silky and smooth. The black is so rich and dramatic. One of my makeup necessities. I also love the Covergirl brow pencils (about four dollars, I wear color number 510 Soft Brown). I’ve recently grown very fond of the bold eye brow, and these pencils help give you the perfect shape and color. I wear a shade slightly darker than my natural brow color to give it a dramatic look.
Top right: LIPSTICK LOVE LOVE LOVE! I would be NOWHERE and my look would be NOTHING without the Covergirl lipstick and liner, both number 305 Hot Passion (about seven dollars each). What I love SO much about this brand is that they have the matching lipstick and liner for the perfect pout. I always blow dry my lipstick for a rich matte finish. Do yourselves a favor and purchase this lipstick/liner duo. You won’t regret it!
Bottom left: The Body Shop warming mineral mask (about fourteen dollars). This mask is delightful. It’s infused with ginger so it smells great too. Once applied the mask warms up and completely blasts out your pores, leaving your skin looking good as new. I like to use this mask about once a week to give my skin a nice refresher.
Bottom right: My blush! I use all three of these every day for my own unique, customized color. The Maybeline dream bouncy blush is so fun! The cream blush goes on so smooth and the color is so sweet. I wear color number 05 Fresh Pink. This blush runs at about six dollars and can be found at any drug store. I also adore my blush from The Body Shop ($12 each). The pigments in these blushes are so rich and they’re not too powdery either. I wear both 01 Macaroon and 04 Marshmallow. Once I mix all three of these blushes together I get a lovely bright pink shade with a tiny hint of orange. So pretty!

Well guys, there you have it! I hope you found some fun beauty inspirations and enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it! Comment me for any questions! -Sarah