My July Beauty Product Favorites

It's the end of the month and that means it's time to round up some of the products I've been loving. I'll break it down by category so you don't get overwhelmed:

UPDATE!: My First Laser Cosmetica Experience

I won a free facial at LaserCosmetica during a raffle at the ClosetDash swap event! They graciously called me to tell me I had won and set up an appointment with me. I visited their Midtown location in Manhattan because it was the most convenient but they have 4 total and several other in the surrounding boroughs.

Weekend Recap: Good Friends & Early Birthday Celebrations

During the week I had my former LA roomie in town visiting me. We lived together for nearly two years while we both attended FIDM in Los Angeles; however, after graduation she had to move back to the Philippines. I see her about once a year when she's in town to meet with buyers. It was really great to have an old friend in town and we always pick up where we left off even though we haven't lived together in nearly 7 years. Took her to some of my favorite spots in my neighborhood like The Smith.

July Glossybox Review

It seems like beauty subscription sites are popping up everywhere! The latest invasion is GLOSSYBOX which has crossed the pond and finally arrived in the states. They all work similarly, each month you'll receive 5 travel size samples of beauty brands to try out their products. However, Glossybox is $21 a month because it includes a magazine and the sizes of the samples are supposed to be larger than other typical beauty subscription services. The GLOSSYBOX is definitely larger than Birchbox and Sample Society:

GIVEAWAY!: MyTee B.A.D. Kimberlee Necklace

In honor of my upcoming three year blogiversary (time flies!) my awesome friend Nicole of Style Me BAD created a necklace in my honor (did I mention how awesome she is?). She recently just launched her own clothing and accessories company, MyTee B.A.D. Clothing Co. MyTee BAD was created to expand the B.A.D Girl brand and bring a tangible item that women could rock as a reminder to live a Beautiful, Authentic and Determined lifestyle. Nicole strongly believes in helping others hence the entire notion behind the B.A.D girl brand to help women find their inner bad ass, so she made a vow to donate a portion of each sale made to local and international charities. 

Review: Olay's Smooth Finish Facial Hair Removal Duo

*Warning: Close-ups of Kim's lip!

I have been intrigued by Olay's Smooth Finish Facial Hair Removal Duo kit for awhile and when I finally spotted it in the store, I decided to pick it up. I have fair skin and dark hair so even the lightest hair shows up. Very annoying! I don't like using hot wax because I had a friend who burned herself and I find it leaves my lip red for days. I use Nair's Face Wax Strips because you don't heat them up. However, it can be a pain warming them up in your hand by rubbing them together. So I was looking for something new!

My Birthday Wish List

My birthday is rapidly approaching! Just in case you weren't sure what to get me... I made a Pinterest board. Here are some things I pinned... and my sister graciously already sent me this Wiener Dog Catch-All Dish for jewelry from Urban Outfitters: 

eBook Review: "How to Make Money With A Blog" by Renne Schmidt

Bloggers put a lot of sweat, tears and love into their blogs, why shouldn't they be able to make some money from it? Renee Schmidt is the founder of the popular tech blog, SheBytes.com. It's a great blog that I read daily to my updates about the what's new in the tech world. She is frequently a guest pundit on FOX News and has established herself as an expert. She just released an eBook "How to Make Money With A Blog" revealing some of her secrets. She created this eBook for both beginner and advanced bloggers alike. 

Color Blocking Pastel Nails

Yes I kinda smudged the pinky

I was in a pastel mood and decided to bust out an old favorite polish from Ginger + Liz. I thought that the Color Club polish I received my Glamour Birchbox earlier this month would make a great accent color. I like the way they turned out!

New Favorite Brand: Naked Princess

Image via

Naked Princess creates luxurious lingerie and body products made in the USA from the world’s finest laces, silks, cashmeres and other quality materials. In its first year, Naked Princess released three beauty & body collections developed with custom swoon-inducing scents that do not sacrifice health for luxury. All beauty & body indulgences are housed in beautiful keepsake vessels and formulas are free of parabens, phthalates, talcs, and gmo’s.

Three Years...

Wow, I can't believe it. It's been 3 years since my first post on this blog. What started as a simple hobby has turned into something I could have never imagined. It has been quite the journey and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities my blog has afforded me. Thought I'd walk down memory lane and share some of my favorite posts over the years (it was hard to narrow it down!):

20SB Blog Swap: Childhood Summer Vacation

I signed up for 20 Something Blogger's Blog Swap where the topic was Childhood Summer Vacation. My partner is Lauren from The View From Here. She has a real fun blog and I was excited to be partnered up! Here's her post:

Summer Essentials Swap

I signed up for Flip Flops & Combat Boots Summer Essentials Swap and my partner was Katie from Ramblings of an Otter Wifey. I had never done a blogger swap before so wasn't sure what to expect. Katie and I exchanged a few emails about what we liked. She told me nail polish. No problem there! Check out Katie's post to see what I got her.

Weekend Recap: Apartment Hunting & the Jersey Shore

Image via

Saturday: We literally spent the whole day apartment hunting. We were out from 10:30 - 5:30 trying to help my brother find a new place in the city. Apartment hunting in Manhattan is no joke. Apartments disappear within an hour. There's such a high demand that realtors don't need to be nice or accommodating. We weren't very successful so we'll be looking at more this week! After a long exhausting day of looking at apartments, we headed down to Jersey.

Review: CLEAR Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Total Care Nourishing Shampoo & Conditioner

A friend had shared that CLEAR was offering free samples of their shampoo and conditioner on their Facebook page. I'm always down to try a new product so I thought sure why not. Several weeks pass and I start to see other bloggers posting and the Heidi Klum commercials so my patience quickly became tested. I finally received my sample and was excited to try.

eBook Review: "I Made All The Mistakes" by Taylor Marie Castaneda

This week's FBFF topic is about what we're currently reading and I thought I'd share a recent eBook I read by fellow blogger Taylor Marie Castaneda, of The UrbanDater. It's called "I Made All The Mistakes So You Don't Have To" because we all know that we have some skeletons in our closet. She was very open about her past dating relationships which are all relatable and even shared her choice to have an abortion. It is very current because she mentions how social networks play a role in dating today like Facebook stalking.

Nail Art: Ants at a Picnic

It's summer time and summer means picnics! I thought I'd do a simple nail art of a red and white checked tablecloth along with some ants who tend to crash the party. Here's my take:

7 Beginner Beauty Products for Newbies

I sadly didn't start to develop a set beauty routine until after college. No one told me what I needed to be doing. It wasn't until I became more involved in the blogging community and made some beauty blogger friends who were like "Kim, we must teach you!" and took me under their wings. I was committing all the sins: not taking all my makeup off, not washing my face before bed, not putting moisturizer on, not wearing sunblock. It's amazing that my skin survived. As you get older your skincare needs will change but if you're just starting out, I highly recommend these items:

Trend Spotting: Neon at Comic-Con

I never thought I'd be saying this but there was some great fashion at Comic- Con this year. A big trend was neon whether it was a pop of color in the shoe or paired with a casual white tee. I really liked this look and think it's great for some summer inspiration.

#AFendiBagLaunch Event Recap

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending the launch event for A Fendi Bag and A Bad Attitude with founder, Tamanika Finikin. The event celebrated the re-launch of the online site and debuted the logo based apparel line (with the above logo). It was held at a fabulous shoe store in SoHo, RUIA, where I snapped this picture of these awesome tape deck heels (not part of the event but couldn't resist):

How I Display My Jewelry

I feel like these posts are similar to the "What's in my Bag?" posts... people like to see inside your closet. Well for me, it's outside my closet on top of my dresser. I definitely think it helps to have your jewelry out and displayed so you know what you have. It also makes your apartment look great! I have lots of jewelry stored to the side of my dresser but thought I'd show you the pretty stuff:

Weekend Recap: Blogiversary, Haircut & VIP Brunch

I actually had an eventful weekend so I'll break it down by day (to seem cool and all...):

My Glamour Magazine Birchbox

Look what finally arrived in the mail yesterday! This month's Birchbox was in collaboration with Glamour magazine. The theme was celebrating your five senses of summer: colors, smells, sound, feel, and taste. I was really pleased with this box - there were a lot of items! Also, another reason why I keep my Birchbox subscription is because I get more makeup products versus my Sample Society box. Here's what I received:

FBFF: 5 Items I Can't Live Without

Original Image Source

For this week's FBFF topic I'm going to assume we're not including the essentials like food, water and air. I feel like I'm filling out an OkCupid profile (lol!), I'll make it more fashion/beauty centered:

Galaxy Nails

I was a little coral-ed out and wanted to wear black nail polish (harkening back to my emo high school days). I've been wanting to try galaxy nails for awhile so thought it was a nicer way to spruce up plain black nails. Now there are many tutorial versions out there. This is my interpretation but feel free to change/add colors, not use a glitter top coat and instead opt for dots. You can really make them your own.

Sensible Shoes For the Modern Working Woman

There have been many articles written about the danger of wearing high heels but women don't seem too concerned since sales of high heels have seen little affect. I've shown my support for kitten heels as a way to wear sensible heels and are easier for me to run around the city rather than 4" stilettos. However, there are other options...

Easy Packing Tips For Summer Travel

Today I'm guest posting over at Fresh Squeezed Fashion where I'm sharing my packing tips for summer travel. Go check it out and let me know what tips you would add!

Best of Fall 2012 Couture Fashion Shows

Couture designers have been sending their magnificent fall collections down the runways and I can't help but be in awe. Season after season designers find new ways to wow me. Keep it coming!

The Psychology of Fashion

Original image source: luellajune.com via Mojo on Pinterest

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society." - Mark Twain.

ClosetRaid Summer Swap & Sangrias Event

Packed house!

 *Please note that ClosetRaid has been renamed ClosetDash!

On Sunday I attended ClosetRaid's* Summer Swap and Sangrias Event on Saturday. It was one of the hottest days so far this summer so everyone was happy to be inside with air conditioning, sangria and swapping.

Numbers and Their Meaning (1,000th Post!)

Original image source: blessyoursweetheart.tumblr.com via Martha on Pinterest

It's been quite the journey to get my 1,000th post! In honor of this momentous number, I thought I'd share some other numbers and their meaning in my life:

Trend I'm Currently Craving: T-Shirt Dress

It is so hard to look put together when it's 100 degrees out. Sweat dripping down every nook and cranny. There's no point in putting makeup on. That sexy upper lip sweat 'stache. I saw this photo of Reese Witherspoon looking super chic in a striped cotton t-shirt dress. Cotton = breathable! I began noticing other stylish women in New York wearing striped t-shirt dresses. It's one item to put on, it's light and comfort. It's the perfect fashionable look for a New York heatwave!

FBFF: Nail Trend I'm Loving

This week's FBFF post is about everything nails. It goes well with my other Friday link-up where I show off my manicure. This is L'Oreal's "Tangerine Crush" with China Glaze's "Swing Baby" as the gold accent. I was actually inspired by the bottle for this mani. I love coral colors in the summer. It brightens up your nails and looks great with any skin tone.

My First BB Cream Experience

BB Creams have become quite the must-have in the beauty industry. Their popularity grew in Asian countries and now have made their way to the United States with drugstore brands L'Oreal and Garnier selling them. I never knew what they were or what the big fuss was. According to Wikipedia, a BB Cream is also known as "Blemish Balm" and has "multi-tasking" all-in-one properties — moisturizer, primer, foundation, and sunblock. BB creams make up 13% of the cosmetics market.

What NASCAR Taught Me About Branding

Now I'm no NASCAR expert but I do think they present an interesting case study to those in the marketing field. Whether we want to admit it or are aware - we are walking billboards. Look at the outfit you wore today: did you carry a coffee cup from a popular retail chain? are you wearing a pair of running shoes? carrying a purse from a luxury brand? did you have on a pair of jeans? If you answered yes, to any of these then you probably were advertising some brand without realizing it.

My July Sample Society Box

I love the beginning of my month because all my beauty subscription boxes arrive! For those who don't know, Sample Society was created by BeautyBar.com in collaboration with Allure magazine. For $15 a month you receive 5 deluxe-sized samples, $15 gift code to redeem on a $50 purchase and expert beauty advice from the editors of Allure. Now they say "deluxe-sized" samples; however, I would say most of these samples are not deluxe sized. There's no monthly theme so it's a surprise what you're going to receive. I did like that there were more makeup products in this month's box. Here's what I received:

Happy 4th of July!

                                                                                    Source: polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com via Tori on Pinterest

Sharing some patriotic photos from Pinterest:

In New York This Weekend? Come Sip Sangria & Swap!

Original Image Source: kitchenart.vn via Aelat on Pinterest

Are you in town this weekend? Come cool off with delicious sangria provided by Seeker Wines and refresh your summer wardrobe with ClosetRaid! You may remember I hosted a swap with them in May. I had such a blast and looking forward to attending another. Here are the deets:

When: Saturday, July 7th from 11am to 2pm
Where: Projective Space LES - 72 Allen Street 3rd Floor @ Grand (above Zarin Fabrics)
What can I bring?: Clothes, Accessories, Beauty and Makeup (unopened), Baby and Children Items, Housewares, Books/DVDs/CDs, Electronics, etc. Bring as much as you want!
Can I donate?: Donations are encouraged! Housing Works will be collecting what doesn't get swapped.

Will there be shopping?: Yes! Come shop the designs of Button Box Design and Harkiss Designs. Niecy’s Closet, a designer consignment boutique that specializes in selling recent/current designer shoes, handbags, and clothing will be selling some of their items.

Extra: the TWO swappers who bring the most items will win gift cards to Housing Works and Laser Cosmetica!

RSVP Here: http://closetraidswap.eventbrite.com

Hope to see you all there!

Moving to New York? Here's Some Advice From Me to You

Original Image Source: ny-iloveyou.tumblr.com via beccs on Pinterest

Are you looking to move to New York City? It can be a scary but exciting move! While I've shared 10 items you should invest in when moving to New York... I wanted to also give you some of my tips. Having lived here for 5 years, I have picked up a few things!

New Destination for Beauty Lovers: gloss48

Being a beauty junkie who is subscribed to 3 beauty boxes a month (currently), I'm always looking for new products. However, I find most beauty sites are not so easy for browsing but more suited for those who have a particular product in mind. gloss48 combines brand stories, product demos, editorial reviews, and the best pricing online to give beauty lovers a daily glimpse of beauty nirvana. To keep things interesting, we feature amazing products from new, emerging, and cult brands.

19 Greatest R&B Songs of the 90s

This weekend Vh1 had a special "Top 40 R&B Songs of the 90s" and I was in flashback heaven! The fashions, the harmonies, the moves! I miss the days when boy bands would do synchronized dancing and harmonize. There was a lot of female empowerment that is missing from the music scene today. While they based their list on how long the songs were on the Billboard charts, I'm making my own list! In no particular order...

My July Julep Maven Box

First box to arrive! This month's Julep Maven theme was sparkle in honor of July 4th. They just released America - The Beautiful and O Canada themed nail polishes and each maven got one bonus polish in their box this month. I have to commend them on the red, white, and blue packaging - super cute and festive!