As is customary on my blog, I’m sharing what I gave everyone on my Christmas list this year. Unlike every other year, I have chosen to break up my post into a couple of installments in the interest of keeping my Christmas gift round-ups an enjoyable length. This first installment covers what I gave my family. Enjoy!

The Black Friday sales of 2019 started long before Black Friday, and were unabashedly epic this year. Brands were giving 30, 40, and 50% off site-wide. I shopped a record number of 15 sales (yes, 15, and yes, my wallet is feeling the burn). Without further ado, let’s get into my 2019 Black Friday splurge-athon:

At 29 years old, I’m in the final stage of being what I consider “ready” to move out. My nest egg is about $5K short of my goal, and I’m itching to find my own space and build a home that’s all mine. I’ve waited long enough for it, and I’m finally surfing for more than just clothes or shoes – I’m surfing to carve out my own personal retreat. Here are some of the elements on my “future apartment” mood board.

Since 2016, I’ve documented what I gave/received for Christmas on my blog, starting with my now retired Buzzedforbeauty.blogspot.com blog. It’s tradition that I do these posts every year, but last year, I was missing bits and bobs from the content I wanted to put together, so my post never went up. 🙄However, I think (in the spirit of the holidays), I should show you guys what I gave, even if it is incomplete. Here it is for your viewing pleasure: Continue reading →

August’s Ipsy Glam Bag fell flat for me until I realized I had *finally* received a Huda Beauty product. I still share my spoiler alerts with my old coworkers and I saw that they were getting Huda Beauty products that I was missing out on. Continually getting snubbed by Ipsy was really starting to get old. So when I saw this I felt immensely gratified.

July’s Play! by Sephora box is themed “Desert Island Essentials.” According to the description, “These beauty finds are lifesavers in any situation.” This sounds highly like July’s box. Both market their products as must-have summer destination/travel essentials. Let’s see what I got!

June 2019’s Play! by Sephora box is themed “Destination Beauty,” touting a bevy of makeup, skincare, and hair-care products themed for summer/destination/travel. It’s a broad category so I was curious to see what would be inside.