Tarte Surprise Sale Picks
Kissing Day & My Favorite Lip Products
You know I love a good “holiday” to celebrate even the smallest of things! With today being National Kissing Day I thought it was the perfect time to share my favorite lip care favorites! While I’m always looking to try new products, some of these are fun + some are staples (hello Aquaphor!) If you’re looking to keep your lips soft + healthy be sure to check some of these out! Everything is linked down below where you can shop the link directly!
Tarte Shape Tape - My Holy Grail Concealer & "Foundation"
Whether you’re looking for a concealer, highlighter or a no-makeup-makeup “foundation” that gets the job done with very little product- this is it! I’ve been using for about 6 months and haven’t looked back!
Nips Lips - Product, Process & Review
Nip Lips is an Arizona based, women founded, owned & operated beauty biz that focuses on creating clean lipsticks with your natural beauty in mind. I’ll be getting into to what all this means and why I’ve fallen in love with this amazing brand I want to share with all of you!
Initially NipLips reached out and I honestly assumed they were just another cosmetic brand. With some research, background knowledge and exploring their equally beautiful and informative site I was sold! Plus, with a mission statement as follows, I knew I wanted to work with Nip Lips & try things out!
“OUR MISSION IS TO ENHANCE YOUR AUTHENTIC BEAUTY BY COMBINING NATURE’S CUES WITH TECHNOLOGY IN A COSMETIC LINE THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU, OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR COMMUNITIES.”
Breaking down their mission, you can better understand why these lipsticks are truly the bomb.com.
Nature’s Cues
Despite what you’re most recent trend-setting content has told you about the best color to wear on your lips, nature has been doing this even longer! Whether it’s been a wives tale up until more recently when The Doctors did a segment on it, matching your perfect lipstick shade to your nipples is actually how you CAN find the shade just for you!
Technology
Not gunna lie, the first thing I did when I read about the matching was go in the bathroom and try to think which shade of any shade ever would match. Thankfully you don’t have to guess to find your perfect shade! Nip Lips has developed an app available in the App Store & Google Play Store that utilizes artificial intelligence to help you find your closest Nip Lips or perfect Nip Perfect match. While this does sound super cool and futuristic I can also assume you’re worried about a photo of your nipple/boob ending up saved, online or something else. In the app & technology they have been able to ensure the color of your nipple converted to a hex code that is then matched to a shade. The image is NEVER saved to the app, a database, nada.
While I’m not the best at math or science I know that the creator of Nip Lips, Renae Moomjian, is! With over 30 years experience developing, leading and commercializing solutions in the healthcare industry, she has worked around the world advocating for healthcare with welfare, safety and privacy as top priorities. On Nip Lips Instagram highlights, she goes more in depth on security that I’ve included below.
Still have questions or concerns? She keeps her inbox open for you to reach out at renae@niplips.com
Good for You Cosmetics
If you’ve ever ventured into beauty products or learned more about behind the scenes, you know in the US there are very few bans or regulations on what can (or can’t) be in the very things you put on your skin, near your eyes and all the other absorbent and precious parts of our bodies for the sake of beauty. If you’re new to what some of these ingredients are and why they’re bad, consider checking out these few articles I’ve linked. This one from Goop really digs in to what clean beauty is, what is considered harmful and why, buying guides for safe and clean products and so much more. Harper’s Bazar also has this article with a highly in-depth run down very similar with even more resources!
Nip Lips ensures their products have none of the following and even explain why for each directly on their site here: Parabens, Phthalates, DEHP, SLS, Petrolatum, Talc, Synthetic Fragrances & Colorants, and Silicones (dimethicone). Instead, Nip Lips uses these ingredients to ensure what you’re wearing to make you your most authentic, empowered and stunning you is safe from short or long term harm.
Organic Castor Oil, Olive Squalene Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Prickly Pear Seed Oil, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Esters, Candelilla Wax, Carnauba Wax, Organic Pomegranate Seed CO2, Sea Buckthorn Berry CO2. Color Ingredients: Mica, Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide
Good for Our Environment
Nips Lips uses ONLY vegan ingredients and opts for organic when possible. In fact, many of the ingredients they use are locally sourced from the Sonoran desert - how cool is that? Event better? They DON’T test on animals. All products undergo testing by humans. Additionally, the packaging of the lipsticks come in (TBD)
Good for Our Communities
2% of ALL profits from Nip Lips are donated towards furthering and supporting research for Breast Cancer and Women’s Heart Disease- two causes very close to their lives and the lives of womxn everywhere! On their site, they note “Like they say, “girls gotta stick together.” Why not do it through lipstick?”
AVAILABLE SHADES
Review & Thoughts
When I first received my package I LOVED that the packaging was simple and that it was not excessive. I was able to recycle the envelope and the cute drawstring canvas baggie the lipstick came in is being used to house some jewelry to keep it untarnished. I love a company that doesn’t just talk sustainability but actually practices it - down to the details! In applying the lip stick I thought it had a very creamy texture and went on easily. As for this color I love that it is buildable. I will say on my lips - I use Tres Leches - it did not totally hide my natural color since it matches my natural lip color very very closely. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the more traditional lipstick texture - I typically opt for a matte lip - but have really loved this refresh on my look. I’ve actually been wearing it in nearly all of my most recent posts I’ve shared below!
Smile Brilliant CariPRO Toothbrush Review, Discount Code + Giveaway!
This time of year is all about traditions - from baking, to family outings & even family gifting - I love traditions! They make me feel close to home even when I’m thousands of miles away & really give a lot of reason for the season! After my dad & step mom got together, I was welcomed into even more traditions I absolutely adore! In our family, Santa brings a new toothbrush - the perfect thing to keep your smile happy & healthy through all the sweets, hot cocoa & Christmas cookies. When Smile Brilliant reached out to work together this holiday season, I couldn’t help but make the connection to my family along with my amazing experience with their Teeth Whitening System and say yes!
This time around, I’ve reviewed their new CariPro electric toothbrush. If you’ve read my teeth whitening post, you know dental care definitely can be something scary for me due to my sensitivity. Truthfully, I was scared to give this a go since I assumed electric toothbrushes meant more pain. But, knowing how wrong I was about teeth whitening causing sensitivity before, I full force jumped into trying this out!
For over the past (nearly) two months, I’ve been using this twice a day, every day and have noticed such a change! To start, no matter what’s going on in with my teeth or mouth I’ve been able to use it and am even excited when it comes time for brushing. After brushing my teeth feel incredibly clean - so clean I would not stop talking about it every time I brushed until it annoyed the absolute life out of Cody. While I’m no oral care expert, I’d bet this toothbrush does so dang good because it is FAST! It vibrates 7x faster than any other electric toothbrush and has 5 different settings: clean, white, massage, gum care (my fave!) and sensitive. I typically start my routine with clean or whiten and do the full 2 minutes. When that is over, I switch to gum care and work on that, then floss & rinse with mouthwash! I’ve definitely upped my oral care game with this & can’t wait to introduce it to the rest of my family!
Some other pros worth mentioning:
It comes with either 2 or four toothbrush heads - if you like having all the things ready and set for when you need them? When you purchase the CariPro, it comes with either 2 or 4 brush heads making sure when it comes time to replace your first one, you’re good to go!
The CariPro is waterproof - if you’re someone who likes to brush while you shower, you can upgrade & keep brushing!
A full charge holds a 30 Day battery life - travel? Forget to plug things in? CariPro’s got you! I’ve taken mine on a few trips - weekend and longer - and it’s been so nice not having to bring all the cords!
Auto-interval self timer for brushing - I have NEVER brushed the right amount of time but now I never even have to think about it! The brush times me 30 seconds at a time so I can brush each quadrant the perfect amount of time without even thinking!
2 Year Warranty - each CariPro comes with a 2 year warranty - just in case!
60 Day Trial - still not sure this is for you? Every CariPro purchase comes with a 60 Day trial period. Don’t love it 100% - you can return it for free!
20% Off - Ready to jump in? Use my code 20acaracollective for 20% off!
Still looking for more info? Check out the toothbrush, other Smile Brilliant products here or have questions answered by their FAQ’s!
GIVEAWAY!
After falling in love with this toothbrush I am so excited to be partnering with SmileBrilliant to be giving one lucky reader a chance to with their very own CariPro Toothbrush ($119 value!)
To enter, visit this link, enter your email address & info - that’s it! We’ll be contacting the winner via email & I will tag on my story as well so don’t worry - you’ll know!
Good luck & happy holidays friends!
My Skin Care Routine
Despite growing up around women who had very serious skin care routines, I was never one to really worry much about my skin. Besides keeping up with sports-related acne in my teen years I’ve never really had to do much beyond wash and moisturize. However, since I’ve been living in Arizona my skin has absolutely rebelled against the dirt and dry heat. On top of that and learning more about my disposition for skin cancer, I’ve began to learn as much as I can about skin care and very recently began a skin care routine of my own.
In comparison to my previous “routine”, I feel like I use a million things when really I don’t. I’ve linked all the products in my arsenal here:
Pink Wreath Headband For 30% off use Code CARA30
Pink Wreath Rose Quartz Roller For 30% off use Code CARA30
Once I get all my goodies out and ready to go I follow my routine as can be seen in my IGTV video at @acaracollective!
Makeup removal 2. Cleanse 3. Toner and rolling 4. Citrus Spray and rolling 5. Booster Drops and rolling 6. Moisturizer 7. Lip Scrub