Mineral Makeup

I have to say that I love the *idea* of makeup but I hate wearing it. I never wore foundation or coverup, I'm just talking eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss. The lip gloss I do, but the mascara and eye shadow I've always had a problem with. They make my eyes itch and burn like crazy. At first everything seems ok, and then all of a sudden I feel like I'm going blind. And that's when I stopped wearing that stuff.

Fast forward a few years and I will be going into the *real* workforce and have to look presentable for other things as well. So I broke down and bought some mineral makeup from Etsy. I got a variety of colors in sample sizes, just in case I didn't like them I wouldn't feel so bad about buying a regular sized container. I actually went and bought from two sellers: MineralMagic and PinkQuartzMinerals.

I asked a few questions about Mineral Magic and decided to start with a color scheme for brown eyes. She had 4 chosen shadows for that and they all appealed to me so I got that to start out with. They shipped to me within the week, everything was professionally wrapped and labled and of course I had to test it right away. I have to say that I had it on from morning to night (with the addition of the veil she sells) and it stayed on just as well or better than regular makeup. And as a bonus there was no itching or burning! Yay! This shop will be getting more of my business soon!

I just got the package from Pink Quartz Minerals, and although it did take a while to get to me, I do like the colors. I still have not tested them on my eyes, but my first impression is that I do like them. She included a small booklet for those who have never used mineral makeup, which was nice.

I would reccommend mineral makeup for those who are sensitive to the things they've tried from a drugstore or department store. I believe this stuff, by far, surpasses that and it's much more affordable. So go ahead and treat your self to some great makeup!

Playing Hookey

No, not me, but this etsy seller is! Her shop is Playing Hookey and she makes awesome jewelry holders, jewelry racks, key racks, message boards and more. What I just adore about her stuff is that it isn't painted - it is all wrapped in fabric! Erica not only uses top quality fabrics and hardware, but all her stuff is meticulously put together.

I got the Pink Parlor Jewelry Holder. It has cotton needlepoint canvas to hang your earrings, antique bronze cup hooks to hang watches, bracelets and necklaces. The front is accented with a blue satin ribbon and a fabric flower with a vintage button and lace. The whole thing is finished in the back with ecospun felt.

I absoultely love this jewelry holder and immediately put it up and adorned it with my jewelry. Because of this holder, I put on jewelry everyday. Now that it's all out in front of me it's so much easier to pick out than when it was all thrown into a box.

Before I even got the jewelry holder though, just from Erica's shop, I was inspired to make my own custom jewelry rack just for necklaces (I have way too many from Etsy!) It came out pretty nice for my first one and did take a bit of time and muscle to make. My mom saw it and asked me to make one for my little sister as well. I definitely improved a lot on the second one, but Erica's quality is just supurb - that's why she's selling them and not me!

When I got the jewelry holder though, I showed it to my parents and they thought I bought it from one of those expensive high end trendy furniture stores. I told them Etsy :) My mom just adores it and plans on buying some in the future as gifts. I also think they would make fabulous gifts for not only yourself but for that person who has everything!

KreativLink

Another thing I absolutely love are journals. And the only thing better than regular journals are handmade journals! I have a mini collection of Renate's journals - 4 of them to be exact. Her journals are just stunning. The covers are made out of leather, suede, fabric or a mix of them, sewn onto felt. The pages are hand torn and painted with acrylic paints, complimenting the cover of the journal.

I got these journals with intentions of maybe giving one or two as gifts, but now that I have them I can't bare to part with them. My family is even jealous of me and my little sister asks if she can have one every time she sees them. I make lists like crazy or sometimes some sewing ideas pop into my head and I have to get them down on paper. These journals are perfect for just that and are so much more beautiful and personal than a notebook you would buy at an office store.

Not only are the journals beautiful, but Renate is a pleasure to deal with. She is so kind, always responds quickly to conversations and sends her packages carefully packaged and wrapped. Even with her being in Austria, her packages go all over the world quickly and safely! I would highly recommend her shop and think her journals are the best on Etsy.

A Quartzy Life

Another great addition to my wonderful array of art is a beautiful piece from A Quartzy Life, titled "As I started looking." Lauren, a College student, makes beautiful (and all original!) pieces of very affordable art. All her pieces have some message to convey through them. They all incorporate lots of colors or textures (like mine!) that make her work very unique.

My piece of art was a mixed media piece painted on light weight wood. I love mixed media pieces especially if they are on wood because you don't even need to frame them! They look great on their own. If you don't want to buy a frame or worry about framing one of her works on paper, she has a few pieces for sale that are already framed for very reasonable prices.

Lauren was such a pleasure to deal with. She was very accommodating and kind. If you want an inexpensive, unique and original piece of art, go check A Quartzy Life out! I can't wait to get a bigger place so that I can add another one of her originals to my collection!

Soy + Soy Wax Melts

I love when my room smells good and especially love burning candles. I was looking on etsy to get something to make my room smelling good when I came across home fragrance oils. I bought them and they are great, but it was a hassle buying those tea lights and constantly having to add water to the oil. So I kept looking for a better alternative. Then I came across soy wax melts.

That got me thinking, what's the difference between regular wax melts and soy wax melts. I looked up information about soy and it's used as food, made into tofu, soy milk, wax and oil. It has many uses and is very healthy and better for the enviornment than it's 'other' counter parts. When I started to read about soy wax vs. regular (bees & parafin) wax there was a huge difference. Soy wax burns clean where regular candle wax can leave soot on your walls! It has a very low melting point so you can use it in low-watt wax burners and it burns more evenly than regular wax. It's also bio degradable since it's made from a plant. I was hooked when I read all of this.

So I made a purchase from Sparkle Puss for some soy wax melts. They smell divine and I had them in a tart warmer in my room. You could even smell it coming up the stairs in my house and my mom even made a comment about how nice my room smells! If you love burning candles or wax melts, consider soy as a more environmentally friendly option.

More Art...Now from krize

Well here is another cute little shop to feed my addition to art! Kristin Sabaite's Shop takes you away into her imagination. Her shop is filled with quirky people and fun animals. She is a children's illustrator from Lithuania but now resides in Spain. Again, I had a hard time deciding exactly what I wanted from her shop because each illustration is so unique!

Once again, I had to get something with a dog (is this an obsession or what?) and of course one of her quirky girls. I chose three! things in the end. I got the "Sea Theme Note cards, " "About Friends" and a mini notebook with a cute little pup drawn on the front. The sea theme note cards are great, but I'm being a bit selfish and am going to frame them instead of sending them to friends - they are too cute, can you blame me?

The "All About Friends" print fits me so perfectly..straight from Kristin's Shop.. "There are days, when you feel especially sad, hours - full of loneliness and gloom ...On these days you sit down and close your eyes. At least your best friend is here ... at least you are far away from everything ... Your friend doesn’t speak, because at this moment you don’t need words. You need his presence. Nothing else. If you have a friend like him, does the sadness really exist?
You rise and give him a kiss on his wet little nose and say "Let’s go my friend, it’s very cold here." And all that is left are a few footprints in the snow ... yours and your friends." After reading that how could I not get it?

Lastly I got the mini notebook with the dog drawn on it. I'm a sucker for notebooks & journals so when I saw a dog drawn on one, I knew it had to be mine!

Although I did not get anything from Kristin's second shop, It's full of bags and jewelry with her wonderful illustrations on them! I recommend checking both of her shops out, maybe you'll also walk away with some art of your own!

DressGreen

Again, with my bath and body addiction I had to try out products from DressGreen on Etsy. All of Lauren's products are 100% natural and free of all that yucky stuff that is found in commercial products.

I placed a rather large order: Coffee Exfoliant, Snow Day Exfoliant, Green Tree Moisturizer, Pomegranate Juice Moisturizer, Orange Blossom Moisturizer, Purifying and Blemish Controlling Body Serum, Toning and Clarifying Facial Serum, and finally the Lusty Lip Lush. I have to say that the exfoliants smell heavenly and work great! They aren't too greasy but leave your skin lightly moisturized. The body and facial serum are my new favorites! I use them on my face after washing as a moisturizer (and they help combat blemishes!). The Moisturizers go on smooth and smell great and the lip lush is just wonderful!

In addition to great products, Lauren strives to provide great customer service. She is very accommodating and lets you know whats going on during the whole transaction. Shipping was extremely fast and everything was packaged beautifully in green tissue paper. She even included a little card explaining her products and some cotton pads for the facial serums! I know as soon as I run out of these products I will be back for more!!!