March 2013 Beauty Favorites

 

 

Hi Everyone!

 

The month of March flew by so fast that I had not realized it was already the end of the month! This months favorites are some that I have been using for several months and if I have been using it for more than a couple weeks then it is truly a favorite. I do have a few that are newer but I already know that I will be using these products for many months to come. So... Here the products I have been loving in the month of March!

  

I have been using this Eau de Toilette by Soap & Glory for several months now and it is truly one of my favorites that I will be using for a long time. I love it! I think I also featured this in my January favorites :) It has a clean, pretty, fresh smell that is not overwhelming. It's really light and you just smell absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend trying this scent if you like that clean soap and water smell. You can purchase this product at Sephora for about $18.

 For the face, I have been using for quite a few months as well. The Neutrogena Tone Correcting Night Concentrate with Retinol SA. I use this at night after cleansing my face. The claims of this product are:  you will see a more even skin tone and also diminish dark spots. It also contains soy and vitamin c for skin brightening. I have found that also helps with wrinkles as I feel that it has really helped my skin with the fine lines. After using this for the first week I noticed my skin looking and feeling different. The only thing I don't like about this product is the smell :( I think its the retinol that makes it smell weird. But... I am willing to ignore the smell because I really like the way my skin looks in the morning after having it on my skin overnight. I will continue to use this product for the long term to see what results I can achieve. You can purchase this product at most drugstores or at target and I think its around $20 to $25.

For the shower, I have really been loving this St Ives. Exfoliating Body Wash. I have also been using this for quite a while and absolutely cannot take a shower without using this product! It is a thick body wash / body scrub with the tiniest exfoliating particles that really do an awesome job of getting your skin so smooth. It contains sea kelp and mineral salt and its a really fine grain of salt that they use for the scrub. It has a very light clean scent so it won't over power other scents. I probably would never had tried this product if I saw it on the shelf at the store but I was visiting my sister and she had this in her shower. I tried it and immediately fell in love! I went out to buy it the next week and to my surprise it was only $4.99 for this giant 24 fl oz. bottle. I have had this bottle for about 3 months now and I have only used about 1/4 of the bottle so it will last a long time. If you are looking for a great exfoliating body scrub this one is amazing!!!

   For makeup, I have been absolutely loving my Dr. Jart+ Black Label BB Beauty Balm! I received a sample of this in my January Birchbox and tried it out a couple of times and loved it. I had been trying out several BB Creams and some of them were too light and didn't really have enough coverage. This BB didn't disappoint. It has a really creamy consistency and has a medium coverage. Plus it has SPF 25. When I used this I don't need any other foundation! I love it! I did go out and purchase the full size since I loved it so much. It was about $35, but It will last a long time. Probably as long as any other foundation. If you are looking for a new BB cream this one is awesome!



 Lastly, I made the discovery of these makeup brushes while browsing the make up section at WalMart. This is the e.l.f. brand of make up brushes and they all cost $3 each!!! I was looking for a new powder brush and thought I would give it a try since it was only $3. I was absolutely impressed with my $3 powder brush that I went back to get several more! I have a really expensive brush set that I had bought several years ago and after using these brushes... I love these much, much more! I felt like they apply the powder and blush much more evenly and they blend the product really well.  I haven't been this happy about a purchase in soooo long! I think its because they are so affordable! I highly recommend you go out to your local Walmart and pick up just one of these brushes and you will see what I am taking about!

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

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Annie xo

 

 

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La Route │On the Road in Michigan

My first impression of Michigan.... Cold! Very Cold!

Cold weather has never been my thing...give me some sun and a beach any day and I'm happy. So this week I braved the cold, ice and snow flurries and came to the definite conclusion that I have no business in Michigan unless its for business! ;)

This week I stayed at The Henry, a Marriott hotel, and it was just wonderful. It was almost like a boutique hotel. They had original artwork all throughout the hotel which was beautifully decorated in classic meets modern decor. I absolutely loved it! They even had a pencil sketch by Van Gogh on the wall! The staff was really friendly and it felt like a cozy hotel. Not to big and expansive. The rooms were nice, clean and comfortable.

I visited Redford Township for part of my week. What I saw as I drove down the street was building after building boarded up with broken windows, half burned down, empty and marked with spray paint. I thought to myself, "what has happened here? Added to that,  Trash and debris  in the gutters and along fence bottoms. Just horrible!  Now, I realize it is winter but I think that no matter the season you should really care about your town.  To sum it up,  I was in the....Ghetto. No businesses were open in this area. There were only a few fast food restaurants and not much else. I didn't get a chance to see the whole town but the part I saw was of a disheveled abandoned section in need of some TLC. You could tell by the amazing old brick and stone buildings that at one time this might have been a really nice suburb to live in. Off of Grand River Blvd, the side streets had little neighborhoods with gorgeous old brick houses. I would have to guess from the 1920's or 30's. They all had slightly different architecture but all built in red brick. At the entrance of the subdivision were grand brick columns with finials marking the entrance to the seem to once be a high class neighborhood. Its a really sad sight, and shocking as well.

 I would have to say the best part of my whole week in Michigan was going to the Henry Ford Museum with my co-workers. We had been up late the night before but we still had the energy to get up early and brave the cold to see this historical site.  I was definitely not disappointed. Pulling up to the museum you see an old large brick building looking like library or school. Inside were beautiful crystal chandeliers and lights lining the hallways. The Henry Ford Museum had over 9 acres of exhibits.  From the first Model-T to the unusual golden rod, showing us how far we have come in the automobile industry. They also had trains, stage coaches, and one of the first motor homes.  They have a very important display about 1960’s Racism in the South and have on display the bus that Rosa Parks rode that day in history. Additionally, they have several of the United States Presidential Limos and cars that were used from the early 1900’s till 1980’s. The most famous limo housed in the museum is President Kennedy’s limo he was riding in when he was shot! Probably the funniest automobile they have on site is the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile! As long as a bus, this auto was built in 1952 and drove around cities to promote Oscar Meyer hot dogs.

 

 

 

 

I was also pleasantly surprise with a few of the restaurants I visited.  Tuesday evening, we went to Arbor Brewing Company in Ann Arbor. The only reason I found out about it is because the hotel had ABC’s Brew as a part of their local Michigan beer list. It looked like a fun environment from the website. Ann Arbor, being a college town, had many restaurants and pubs in the old part of town including the ABC. The menu at ABC is upscale bar food, with updated classics and a modern twist. They even have quite a few vegetarian options.

I also visited two different Mediterranean/Lebanese restaurants that were absolutely amazing! The first was Oasis in Livonia. It was recommended to us by a local. I met a few of my coworkers there for lunch not really knowing what to expect. I was so impressed by the menu, service and quality of food. The stand out for me was the homemade pita bread! I had never been to a restaurant that made their own from scratch. It was so good I could have just had that with hummus for lunch. It was all very fresh and tasted great.

 For dinner, we went to La Pita in Dearborn. La Pita was also recommended to us by a local and was really, really delicious. The restaurant was decorated with a Middle Eastern flare and smelled really good when we walked in. I had falafel which was slightly different. It had a little spicy kick to it. They also had the home made pita bread! The brick oven is open to the dining room so you can watch the women rolling out the dough and preparing the pita for baking. I really enjoyed eating at all of these restaurants as I didn’t think I would find any local restaurants to try that week. Nice surprise!

I will have to say that I will probably never return to Michigan and really have no desire to return either. If I did, it would only be during the summer when you expect better weather and not daily snow flurries like I experienced. To end this post I will say….. Good Bye Michigan! I am not sad to leave!

 

  Thanks for reading!

                               

   Annie xo

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Birchbox │ March Unboxing

It’s March madness time in my Birchbox this month! I just opened my March box and it has some really interesting products that I have not heard of before. Of course this is what receiving Birchbox is all about… trying new products! Unwrapping the pink paper I saw some really cool products that I am really excited to try! Let’s get started

Made- Mini Lipstick in Taffy and Dual Phase Eye makeup Remover 1.0 oz

Caldrea - Aromatheraputic Body-3 samples of Body Lotion 0.25 fl oz. Scents in: aloe water apricot,   

    coconut fig leaf and tea olive lime.

             Serge Normant- Meta Revive Volumizing Dry Shampoo with Cedar Bark 2.0 oz

 

Madewell for Birchbox- Floral Nail File (Full size)

 

 

 

The product I am most excited about trying is the Dry Shampoo. I sprayed a little squirt of it and it smells really good! I am always looking for new dry shampoos because I am trying really hard to only wash my hair every other day. It’s hard because I am one of those people that love that clean feeling and like to wash their hair every day.

The lotion samples have some really interesting names like Aloe Water Apricot and Coconut Fig Leaf sound like they are going to smell A-mazing!

MADE is a new brand that I have never heard of before. The Eye makeup remover reminds me of the Mary Kay Eye makeup remover that that has the oil and water separation in the bottle which I have used for years ( it’s even the same color). I am interested to see if it works the same as well. The Mini Lipstick… well let’s say that I am a little disappointed. It’s so tiny! I feel like I could lose it at any moment! I’m sure that I will be able to get quite a few uses out of it but I think that the sample could have been a bit bigger.

 

If you have never heard of Birchbox, you can go to Birchbox.com to sign up. It’s $10 a month and you get to try some amazing products before you buy the full size!

Thanks for reading!

Don’t forget to subscribe!

Annie xo 

 

You can also find me:

Instagram: @adagioanna

Twitter: @adagioanna

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Email: adagioanna@gmail.com

La Route │On the Road in Maryland

As a true west coaster, I only have one thought that comes to my mind when I hear someone mention the state of Maryland.....Crab Cakes anyone !?! Yes they do have lots of crab and many restaurants have crab cakes on their menu, but Maryland is so much more!

For a little history lesson....Maryland, one of the Thirteen Original Colonies, was chartered in 1632 and was named after the French princess, Henrietta Maria. As a colony it has been throughout wars, revolutions, and slavery. Maryland was the last state to ratify the Articles of Confederation in 1781 after declaring independence from Britain in 1776. I really never knew how important a role Maryland played in the early part of the United States formation.

 Finding out that Maryland had all of this history I was immediately interested in finding out more about what Maryland had to offer travelers and history buffs.

I arrived in to Baltimore very late and didn't get a chance to really take in the scenery since it was almost midnight before I landed at BWI. My destination was actually about an hour or so outside of Baltimore to a small vacation township of St. Michael's, Maryland.

This area of Maryland is called the "Hamptons of Maryland" since the area attracts many visitors during the summer. This is literally the one of the cutest historical towns I have ever seen. The main street through town is Talbot St and is lined with old houses turned into restaurants, stores and Bed & Breakfast's. Since I was visiting in the off season and the middle of the week, all of the shops and restaurants were closed :( This was disappointing since I was not going to be there for more than a couple of days. From what I was told by locals, during the summer the place is hoppin'.

The atmosphere of the this township has that small town feel. Very welcoming and neighborly not fast paced at all. There is a newer part of town but for the most part you have historical homes and buildings. They have the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum located right on the bay. It has a Lighthouse and several museum buildings you can go inside to find out all about the Chesapeake Bay maritime history.It was the first time for me to see a lighthouse built like this. Inside were rooms staged just as they would have been when the lighthouse keeper lived there years ago. The view from the lighthouse was absolutely beautiful the day I visited.

 

They also have Christ Church of St. Michael's which has been the heart of town since its founding in 1672. I am drawn to architecture of all types of churches and this one was just so quaint and cozy looking from the outside. On the church grounds was the cemetery with headstones hundreds of years old. The church bell tolls throughout the day on the hour not only to remind us the time but playing several different songs, giving St. Michael's even more character.

St. Michael's and Talbot County would definitely be a place I would love to return to one summer. They have a slower pace of life here, its relaxing and there are so many other places in the area to visit. I would love to get the full experience of what its like to live on the Chesapeake Bay.

 

 

If you liked this post, leave me a comment below telling me where you like to vacation. Remember to subscribe!

 

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Birchbox │February Unboxing



It's that time again! I just received my Birchbox for February and I actually let out an "Ooooo" when I first opened it. I did peek online again to see what companies and items had been favorited this month so I had a few of the items on my wishlist. But as always you never know what you will get. That is what makes Birchbox so fun!  This months theme is "Red Carpet Ready " perfect for all the red carpet events this month. So here we go.......

For February my Birchbox included:

 

Dr Jart+ Black Label Detox BB Cream

Ojon ~ Damage Reverse Restorative Finishing Spray

 

Lancôme ~ HYPNOSE DRAMA Mascara

Juicy Couture ~ Couture La La Fragance

 

Ghiradelli Milk and Caramel Square

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to trying all of these products out especially the BB Cream!

 

You can join and become a member of Birchbox at Birchbox.com. For $10 a month you can try out several new products before you buy them.

 

What did you get in your Birchbox this month?

 

 

Annie xo

 

You can find me at:

 

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Benefit │How to Look the Best at Everything Kit Review

 I finally went on my first Sephora shopping trip of 2013! Yay!  I wanted to find a new concealer and had an idea of what I was looking for, but as always, I walk into Sephora and I want to buy everything! I saw the Benefit How to Look the Best at Everything Kit. I thought that this was a perfect opportunity to get the concealer I was looking for plus have a chance to try some products from Benefit that I had never used.


                            

   The kit includes:

 

~The POREfessional

~ Hello Flawless! Oxygen Wow SPF 25

~ Boi-ing

~  Hello Flawless! Powder.

                                                                    

I can see why they put this kit together.... It all works together amazingly!!! Especially the POREfessional and the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow together. It creates this really gorgeous flawless look on the skin. Boi-ing provides good under eye coverage and has a nice consistency. And the Hello Flawless! Powder provides just enough shine stopping power.

I am really loving this little kit and will definitely repurchase the full size products.

You can purchase this kit at Sephora for $30 in 3 different shades: Light, Medium and Deep.

The full size of these four products range from $20 to $36.

 

What are your favorite Benefit Products?

 

Annie xo

 

 

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