My Favorite Blogs - Let's share the love

So Valentine’s Day just passed and while I don’t celebrate it as a rule, it got me thinking of all the things we like to celebrate. Love, family, birthdays etc. Somehow I got to thinking that I’d really like to celebrate some of the blogs I enjoy reading. I’m not quite sure why Valentine’s Day made me want to do this but I’m well into my second semester now for this dang PhD and I kind of don’t question my minds craziness and ramblings anymore. (If you’re considering going to grad school, don’t. Jokes, jokes, it’s not that bad I promise. I’m just exaggerating because it’s also that time of the month).

My blog is a place where I share the things that I like and there are a few blogs that I regularly peruse and thoroughly enjoy so in honor of Valentine’s Day, rather than celebrating love (which I like to do every day anyway) I would like to celebrate a few of my favorite blogs and share them with you, dear reader.

Don’t Burst My Bubble – Marianne has quite possibly the sweetest blog I’ve ever stumbled upon. She does these weekly positivity diaries where she tells her readers about all the positive things that happened in her week and invites them to share their own favorite moments. I left her a whole essay sharing my moments once and she didn’t even get annoyed hehe. Her blog is a great place to go if you’d like to just visit a place brimming with light and positivity. I always look forward to her weekly positivity diaries and her commitment to seeing the bright side of everything inspires me to do the same in my own life. 

Linda, Libra, Loca – You know how some people just radiate a certain…goodness? And even though you don’t really know them you can’t help but love their spirit because it just calms you and relaxes you? That’s what this gorgeous lady and her beautiful blog are for me. Might be that her name and my name are separated by one letter haha but I just love Anne’s blog and whether she’s talking about skin exfoliators or showing us her favorite photographs, I just feel so calm watching her videos and reading her posts. One of my favorite blogs to peruse when I’m feeling anxious for no reason and need to escape into the world of beauty. 

Beaumiroir – Lulle is after my wallet. I know it. I just know it. Either she and I have the same taste in products or the way she describes everything just makes you want to throw your money at retailers. Not to be dramatic but her blog literally speaks to my heart. I love all things French and yet I’m so completely ignorant on most of it. Not only is Lulle’s blog a great learning place for me but the product recommendations and spring makeup posts have my wishlist ballooning to gigantic proportions. If you like feeling fancy and oo lala ish, go visit Lulle. :-D

Carol in a Page – Ok when I first came back to blogging, Carolina (see the clever word play in her title?!) was something of a celebrity to me. I kept reading her name on other blog posts so I went to check her out and of course she’s gorgeous and when she commented on one of my posts I had a mini moment. Seriously though she’s just so sweet and classy and it shows in her content. Her reviews are quite thorough and I like that her makeup looks are always very classic and not at all mask like, I love that her natural beauty is always shining through. I’m currently considering buying a heart shaped makeup brush because of this girl. Do I need one? Nope. Is that stopping me? Nope! :-D 

 I hope you enjoy these blogs just as much as I do and if you have favorite blogs of your own, leave them for me in the comments. I would love to check them out!

Review - Oolaboo Truffle Indulgence Cream

If any of you lovelies watch Nikki from Nikkitutorials on YouTube you’ll know that she recently did a skincare video, showcasing her favorite skincare products. Now, most beauty gurus seem to have oily skin so I don’t really take any product recommendations from them because I have desert dry skin all year round. To my surprise, Nikki has partially dry skin and had quite a few recommendations for moisturizers. 

One moisturizer in particular, she raved about in a manner that had me reaching for my credit card thinking “Where do I go to buy it? Take my money now!” 

It was one of those times when all reason abandons you, I didn’t even want to look up any reviews, I just wanted the product. Unfortunately, it was only available in the Netherlands so I had a few hours of heartbreak and racking my brains for any relative/friend/human I knew who lived there and could send me the moisturizer. 

A few hours later, Nikki did an update on Snapchat saying the owner of the site had made some changes and they could now ship to the US but we would have to pay 17 pounds for shipping. Think that detracted me? Nope. I was a woman on a mission. A mission to moisturize. 

I went to the site, which is now in English but at the time I had to translate it myself (I did this by literally plugging random phrases into Google translate to make sense of it all, admire my dedication please! Or call me insane, that’d be reasonable too), put in my order and went to bed a happy camper. 

For a few days I walked around feeling fancy because I was having a moisturizer shipped to me from the Netherlands oo la la and about a week later, the product was at my door! Now in lieu of a traditional review, I’m going to structure this review like a bit of a story. I hope you enjoy! 

Day 1 – my hands tremble with excitement (I may be exaggerating) as I rip open the box and pull out the moisturizer that I hope will change my skins life forever. The jar is housed in a chocolate brown box and a quick glance at the ingredients makes me quite happy because I don’t see any artificial colors or dyed listed there so I love this product already. (I'm allergic to yellow dye)

The jar itself is the same chocolatey brown color and the lid has a very nice woody texture. I unscrew the lid and take a whiff. I’ve not yet had the pleasure of smelling truffles but I imagine this is what they smell like.

I quickly take off my makeup, cleanse my skin and lovingly take up the jar again. Eagerly, I apply a generous amount on my cheek and rub…and rub…and rub. No matter how much I rub and massage my cheek, the product won’t sink in, it just looks white and sits there mocking me. With some difficulty and lots of massaging, I manage to apply the moisturizer all over my face and I now feel…sticky. This feels sticky and tacky and I don’t like it. To say I’m disappointed would be quite the understatement. 

Day 2 – I don’t even look at the moisturizer, so great is my disappointment. However, I notice that my skin feels…plumper? Softer? Something is different but I chalk it up to the fact that I’ve been drinking more water lately and go about my day. 

Day 3 – No plump feeling this morning but I don’t give it too much thought. In the evening, as I go through my nighttime routine and reach for my usual Shiseido Ibuki moisturizer, the Oolaboo jar catches my eye. Well, I could give it at least one more shot, I reason, and take up the jar. Unexcitedly, I apply the moisturizer to my face, it doesn’t look white but still feels kind of heavy, perhaps because it’s a bit thicker than the moisturizer I’m used to. Whatever, I think and go to bed. 

Day 4 – I wake up and rub my eyes. As my hand grazes my cheek, holy cannoli my skin feels plump and soft just like the other day! My skin has never ever felt so soft and smooth and just plain luscious. So today, I reach for the Oolaboo in the morning as well. All through the day, my skin feels hydrated but not greasy. I can’t stop touching my cheek like some kind of weird narcissist. 

Could it be?! 

Could this moisturizer really turn out to be amazing after all? 

Could this be the beginning of a beautiful love story for my skin and Oolaboo?! 

Yes!

Fast forward to almost three weeks now and I am loving this moisturizer. I try to pace myself and not apply this in the morning because it was expensive and I had to pay for the shipping so I don’t want it to run out too quickly but I love it. Some nights I apply my Shiseido moisturizer and then put this on top just for added moisture and holy heck it works like a dream. Other days I’ll just put this on and be all set. Since it’s wintertime and my skin is extra dry, I actually like to let it sink in the first time then apply another layer on top (that's how dry I am). 

I’m not sure what I did wrong the first time but this sinks into my skin like a dream now. There’s no whiteness and I don’t have to rub it in as much, my skin just drinks it up! It is definitely a heavy moisturizer so at first you may get that ‘tacky’ feeling but I’m quite used to it now, I actually kind of like it. The scent is so soothing and the texture is the epitome of creamy goodness. To put this long novel into one sentence, I love this stuff!! 

Price
Including shipping this cost me $83.00. 


Site  
I believe there are different retailers but I got it here

Description 

A very luxurious anti-aging face cream with an extremely high quality blend of the most exclusive nutrients. Slows the aging process and improves the appearance of the skin. Has a collagen stimulating activity and protects against age spots. Scientific research has shown that the stem cells from a Swiss apple have a positive effect on the vitality of the skin stem cells. They make the skin cells more efficiently and give it a longer life. As a result, aging of the skin is extremely delayed.

 



 If any of you have tried Oolaboo do let me know if there are any other keepers. Since I want to be a good blogger and try out new things to review for you, I’m just going to go ahead and order the Oolaboo Truffle Sleeping Mask. For you! I don’t even want to really, I’m just doing this for you! =D 

xx