Cleaning out the Clutter: Cards & Paper

In a previous post where I talked about the changes I made to how I store my DVD collection, I mentioned that I am moving.  With moving, I look around my house and realize how much "stuff" I have to pack, move, and unpack.  It all seemed so overwhelming.  With the housing market being as busy as it is in my area, I had a little longer than normal closing.  I took full advantage of that.  I started packing early to allow myself time to purge and get rid of things that I don't need to be keeping around. 

I started with my closet and my dresser.  I didn't allow myself wiggle room.  I have this large wardrobe, but actually wear very little of it.  If I haven't worn it recently, it was gone.  This included those "skinny" clothes.  My boyfriend said something that turned my opinion on holding on to these around.  If you were to ever loose the weight, you'd want to go out and buy new stuff.  So, off to donation it went.  

I then moved to my DVD collection.  If you want to check out what I did, check out my CLEANING OUT THE CLUTTER: DVD COLLECTION.

The most recent thing I have gone through is all of the paper memories.  These are things like cards, concert or movie tickets, pictures, etc.  I am kind of a pack rat with these things because I use to scrapbook.  I really enjoyed being able to keep those items to add as embellishments in my books.  However, as I've gotten older, I find myself really liking to do the photo books from Picaboo.  

I use Picaboo and make yearly books.  I create one book for each year containing the pictures from that year. It's becoming really fun to see how each year builds throughout the months.  I'd like to say I stay on top of it and continue to edit and add each month, but I'm not that good.  I usually end up taking a few weekends at the end/beginning of each year to finish them off. 

One really nice thing about doing the electronic books is that you can do re orders at any time.  For example, I for the most part do one book for the whole year.  But, if we have a big event during the year, like a big vacation or a wedding.  I will sometimes make that it's own book.  With having the book electronic, if someone else likes the book, I can order it for them.  It's super handy!

Now, onto how I used this to help me de-clutter.  Everyone has that paper stuff that you don't know what to do with.  Birthday cards, anniversary cards, holiday cards, tickets... it goes on and on ...  

My idea originally started when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with all of the holiday cards I had.  I enjoy having them, especially ones with kids because it's nice to see how they grow over the years.  However, I hated having to dedicate space to store them.  And, lets be honest, how often do we really pull these out and look at them....?

What I decided to do, was take some time, sit down with my computer and scanner.... and scan off of this "paper stuff" to my computer as an image.  Then, I can use the image in the book!  When I specifically did this with the holiday cards, at the end of my yearly book I did a collage of all of the cards.  Now, I will have them associated with the right year, have the memory, but now have to hold on to the actual card!

I have also done this with a few invites that I've gotten for weddings for this summer.  I've scanned them, and now after they come off the fridge after the wedding, I'll still have the invite that I can use to decorate the page in the photo book when I do the wedding. 

Super simple and long lasting!!

I was talking to a coworker who thought this was a great idea to do with kids stuff.  She was talking about how she had struggled with what to do with all of the art and other paper stuff kids have.  She has now started scanning things, artwork, pictures, school stuff, and other memories into pictures and making memory books.  She said she still holds on to some hard copies, but this allows to chuck the stuff and still have the memory.  

I don't have kids  yet ... but definitely see me dong this in the future if I do!

The other really nice thing about hear photo books is that they are nice bound and if you stick with the same size book, they sit nicely on a shelf and looks super organized!

Not only does this help keep down the amount of "stuff" I hold on to, but it keeps the OCD in my happy!! And we all know, that's what matters! Ha!

Until next time... xoxo

Mikal-Anne

Why I'm Throwing Out My Apricot Scrub

I know ... I know ... this is something that probably is a staple in most people's beauty routine, but I have to share with you ... I tossed my St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Ah!

Here's why ... I stumbled across a few links explaining about how bad for you they actually are! WHAT!? ... I know, I was shocked.

The first blog that I found was done by A Beautiful Whim .. This is a blog I have read before but hadn't seen this post.  The blog goes on to talk about basically everything that I love about this scrub ... It's cheap, it's easily accessible, and it feels good/like you're actually doing something. 

But then, it breaks down how the product has chemicals and ingredients that are actually harmful to your body.  Now, I'm not going to write in this blog everything she writes, I'm not going to poatch her research, so please, jump over there and read her blog.  Plus, I honestly couldn't do it justice, so please check out her blog!

After reading A Beautiful Whim, I jumped around online and found two more blogs that are also good sources of information ....

Ethereal Laura Spa

Me By Kate

After reading through these blogs I was absolutely shocked.  I kind of felt like I had been duped and found myself walking to my bathroom to grab my bottle and toss it in the trash. It's kind of like a break up and you feel like a something you've depended on for a long time is an imposer! lol

Until next time!! ... xoxo,
Mikal-Anne

Review: Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless

SO.. I recently tried out a new foundation. Shocker, I know! If you’ve been following my blog for any amount of time, you’ve probably keyed in on the fact that I seem to have one foundation that I use ALL THE TIME! Which is true.  With most make up, I’m switching it up often, but when it comes to foundation, once I find one I like, I tend to stick with it.  This is probably for a few reasons;  I’ve got pretty fair skin, which is difficult enough to find foundation that matches me, but I also have freckles, which leads to a whole other batch of difficulties with foundation.  Color matching is hard and then finding the right amount of coverage.  I need enough  coverage to balance out the tone in my face but at the same time, I can’t go full coverage.  Could you imagine, freckles everywhere by my face.. I think that might lead to me getting a few weird looks.

One day on my way home from work, I ran into Walgreens and was taking a look over through the makeup section.  I know I didn’t need anything, but maybe there was something in there that I wanted…

As I was looking around the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation caught my eye.  My current foundation was getting closing to being out and I knew I needed to get a backup in my collection.  The poreless claim was probably one of the things that really brought me in.  I’ve recently been struggling with noticeable pores.  I haven’t ever had this problem before and so battling them was totally new territory for me.  I was honestly up for anything.  I finally decided to give it a try, after debating for a bit.  Foundation is a big thing and trying a new one always has be a bit hesitant, but I had tried the Fit Me concealer before that I liked and ultimately decided to try it with the “Why Not?” mentality. 

What I bought: Fit Me Matte + Poreless in 112 Natural Ivory

Here’s what Maybelline has to say:

This ultra-lightweight foundation contains micro-powders that absorb oil for a matte and poreless-looking finish

Unique formula goes beyond matching just skintone and also matches the texture of normal to oily skin for the ultimate natural fit

Dermatologist and allergy tested, this mattifying foundation does not clog pores and is oil-free

Why You'll Love It

Eliminate the look of pores and achieve natural looking skin with this lightweight, mattifying foundation.

For normal to dry skin, try Fit Me Dewy + Smooth Foundation instead.

For Best Results

Apply Fit Me!® Matte + Poreless Foundation evenly to your face and blend with your fingers.

The Packaging – This is in a nice glass bottle.  The packaging isn’t bulky or over bearing.  The one big down side for me is that it’s a glass bottle with a screw top lid, but no pump. Leaving you to have to pour this out and guestimate your best to make sure you don’t have too much product.  I pour this out on the back of my hands and even though the directions on the website say to blend out with fingers, I use a beauty blender.  The bad thing about this is it can leave you with too much product.

I wish companies would just jump on having a pump on every bottle that can’t be squeezed!!

As for the product’s consistency – It’s a fairly runny consistency; Which doesn’t help you when you’re trying to pour the right amount on your hand!! However, it does make it easier to blend out and get coverage all over.  

I noticed some people say that this product dried really fast and so it could be hard to work with when trying to blend out over you’re entire face.   I did not notice this, however I did use a blending sponge to apply which may have helped.

One thing that really did impress me about this line is the shade options.  It looked like there was a large range of colors and I that pretty much everyone should be able to find a shade that works for them. 

I must say, the coverage for me is fairly perfect..  The first application was a little too light but I was able to build up the right amount for me.  The finish is really great.  It’s definitely a skin like finish.  I honestly wouldn’t classify this as an overly matte or dewy finish, something more down the middle.

The finish is a bit on the dryer side on your face when it sets.  If you’re someone with dry skin or have dry patches (like break out spots that are healing) this product will definitely attach to that area and will make it visible. 

As for how it wears throughout the day – I did notice it starting to break down a little by the end of the day.  Which, honestly, is expected. However, for the most part it held up.  

As for the poreless claims – I can’t say that I noticed this really helped my pores.  I did start paring this with the Benefit poreless primer in my problem areas and the combo of that and this foundation seems to solve whatever problem I was having.  I don’t notice pores or this settling into my pores and fine lines.  Which, let’s be honest, there are definitely fine lines to battle!

Over all – Do I think this is better than my CoverGirl 3-in-1 foundation that’s my all-time favorite … I think it’s definitely battling for that position.  Which the change in my skin, I do noticed that the 3-in-1 doesn’t seem to give me the same finish/look that I use to obtain, but I still love it. 

If you’re looking for a new foundation and you have average skin, this is definitely worth trying out.  I don’t think you’ve got anything to loose with it.

If you want to see how this foundation applies, head over to my YouTube channel (click here) and watch my get ready with me where I use this foundation.  There is also a corresponding blog post (click here) that lists all of the products that I used in the video.

Until next time… xoxo

Mikal-Anne

    

GRWD: Day Watching Softball

Hi Lovelies!! I was getting ready to head out and watch my boyfriend play softball and was trying out a new foundation.  I would turn on the camera and film a get ready with me video with a first impressions of the Maybelline Fit me Matte + Poreless foundation.  

Listed below is a list of the products I used and in the order I used them.  If you are interested in my review of the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation - click here! 

Also, if you haven't checked out the video accompanying this post - click here!

Primer:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect

Foundation:

Maybelline Fit me Matte + Poreless in 112 Natural Ivorey

Concealer:

Rimmel Match Perfection in 125 Fair

Maybelline Master Conceal in 010 Fair
Setting powder - Be a Bombshell Smooth Criminal

Blush:

Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick in Just Pinched Pink

Powder:

Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in 010 Fair

Contour:

Maybelline Master Contour Face Contour Kit in Light.

Bronzer:

NYX Bronzer in Light

Blush:

Wet & Wild in Heather Silk

Eye Primer:

Mary Kay Eye Primer

Eyes:

Ulta Brand Bermuda Sand

Ulta Brand Au Naturel
Lorac Pro Pallet Taupe
Lorac Pro Pallet Espresso
Lorac Pro Pallet Garnet
Lorac Pro Pallet Lt. Bronze
Lorac Pro Pallet Champagn

Eye Liner:

Mary Kay Eye Liner in Deep Brown

Lorac Pro Pallet Espresso to set the eye liner

Mascara:

Loreal Mascra in Black Brown

Revlon Lash Potion in Black Brown
Almay Get Up and Grow in Black Brown

Eyebrows:

Chella Pencile in Tantalizing Tope

Mary Kay brow gel             

And that's it! ... I say that like it was a few products - I know, I tend to go overboard.  :-|

Don't forget to jump over and check out my YouTube video and the review of the Maybelline Matte + Poreless foundation if you haven't already!  

Until next time... xoxo,

Mikal-Anne

Review: Dollar Shave Club

Friday Lovelies!  We survived the week!  Today, I’ve got another review for you! Woohoo! A few weeks ago in my Summer Time Skin Care blog, I discussed my tips for skin care now that the summer months are upon us.  One of the tips I discussed was having a good razor and I talked about Dollar Shave Club.

Dollar Shave Club is a subscription service for all things relating to razors.  They have post shave balm, shaving balm, and of course razors!  I am pretty stuck on my current shaving cream, but decided to check out what they are most known for, their razors.    

So, I went and checked out their website. What I first liked about this company is how easy their website is to navigate.  I was able to easily order on my phone and it only took me a few moments.  

There are three packages to choose from, click HERE to check out the packages. 

The Humble Twin - $1.00 plus $2.00 shipping - Basic shaver, 2 stainless steel blades, 5 cartridges per month, with lubricating strip.

The 4x - $6.00 with free shipping – 4 stainless steel blades, 4 cartridges per month, full 90-degree pivot head. 

The Executive - $9.00 with free shipping - 6 stainless steel blades, 4 cartridges per month, special trimmer edge built in.

I decided to pick the 4x. Knowing that this was going to be used on my legs and the dread knee area, I figured the 90-degree pivoting head would be a wonderful bonus. 

When I placed my order I was originally told that it wasn’t going to ship until April 27^th, but was surprised when I got home from work and found the package on  my doorstep on April 4^th.  I was super impressed with how quickly the product shipped.

Your first package comes with the razor handle and this package comes with four razor heads.  I also had sample size of the shave butter, which I haven’t tried out yet. 

I honestly have to say, when surprised me the most when I opened the packaging was how substantial the razor handle was!  It’s got a good weight to it, definitely 100 times better than my normal razor. I’ve been a fan of all of the Venus razors for years, and this is tons better!

Now, I have to say, after using this razor, I’m not sure I could go back to any of the store bought ones I’ve gotten before.  Not only is the more heavy duty handle super nice.  The handle wasn’t something I ever thought would matter on a razor, but it does.  It sits in your hand so nicely and makes it easy to maneuver around.

As for the blades, they are wonderful.  They are nice and sharp and allow you to get a nice close shave. Here’s the seller for me.  I have always had super super sensitive skin.  I have to be very careful with what products I use to shave with.  I get razor burn and nicks/cuts all the time.  It can be miserable.  But here’s the thing, I have yet to have any problems!! I have had nothing but a super smooth and close shave every single time.

As for the price; you have the option to have your package ship every month or every other month.  Considering that even if you have this ship every month, even with the most expensive package, it’s only going to be $9.00 a month! I doubt there is a single decent razor at the drug store that you can get for that price!!

Here’s the great thing about the auto shipment … You should be replacing your razor often.  Especially when you think about all the places that as a lady you could be using a razor … legs, arms, bikini … It just grosses me out to think about an old razor.  It’s just not sanitary!  Also, a dull razor has a higher risk of giving you nicks and razor burn.  With the auto shipment, you’re going to be getting new razor heads automatically and you don’t even have to think about it.  They just show up on your door step. 

I don’t know about you, but I love when I just don’t even have to think about things and it just happens! It’s a lazy girls dream!!!

I honestly don’t think that you have anything to use trying this product out.  I am so happy I did.  With the quality of the product, the price, and the convenience … It’s all a winning combination!!

Until next time … xoxo

Mikal-Anne

Cleaning out the Clutter: DVDs

One day I was sitting at home and fell down the rabit hole and found myself spending way too much time on Pinterest.  While I was wasting, lets be honest, hours, on Pinterest, I found some interesting articles about how people had cut down the space that their movie collections took up.  I pinned it to one of my boards and never thought of it again.  I enjoyed the articles and thought, hmm, maybe one day I will need these...

If you want to check out the articles Living Well Mom and Simply Organized are the ones I read and loved their suggestions. I

Now.. a few months later, I find myself under contract for my first home (eek!!) and looking at the daunting task of packing my house.  With the housing marking as busy as it is in my area, I had a little more time than a usual closing and I was using that time to go through and purge things.  I can tend to hold on to things that I don't really need.  If it has a memory or reminds me of something, I want to hold on to it.  This gave me an another reason to jump on Pinterest and check out ideas of how to deal with this stuff.  I wanted to purge the clutter ... but in a way that I wouldn't regret getting rid of something down the road.

While on Pinterst (of course) looking for ideas for the new house, I stumble across the the pins that I previously read regarding how to store my movie & TV series collection and thought that I wanted to tackle that task before moving...

I have a, well, rather large DVD collection. Between movies and TV series I have a tall bookcase completely full.  I had actually started packing them and after looking at the fact that there were 3 of the Lowes small boxes and one of the medium boxes full, it was decided for me that I needed to do something.  I counted my DVD and the disks in my TV series and jumped on Amazon to take a look at what I needed.

All of the blogs I had read recommended the Atlantic DVD Sleeves and that's what I had originally planned on buying.  After some research and reading the comments, I actually ended up going with going with the ones sold by StarTechDeals. What I liked about these one is that there was a cloth on the back of the sleeve the DVD sat in.  I thought this would add a little extra protection.

Each package has fifty sleeves, and each sleeve can hold two DVDs.

There's a clear plastic sleeve that the DVDs fit into and a flap the folds over to keep the contents in side.  When I was reading the review, people had mentioned that the ends at the top can sometimes split.  Especially if you're trying to put to much into the sleeve.  I only had this happen a few times, maybe three.  It is definitely a down side, but I think you may have this problem with any product like this.

Inside each sleeve is a clot DVD holder.  The backing is cloth and then the front is similar to the CD cases everyone seemed to have in their cars at one point.  This is what you secure the DVDs into.  I like this and I'm glad that I went with this version. It seems sturdy and like it will hold up over time.  I even noticed that in some situations. I was able to fit three CDs in this and it fit just fine back into the sleeve. 

Breaking down all of my DVDs and TV series become a daunting task.  Picture above is all of my movies.  If I counted correctly, there are 223 DVD cases picture above.  In front are all of my movies.  This is a few more than just what was in the cases because I had a few strays that didn't have cases.  As you can see, they fit nicely in two of the plastic shoe boxes.  

As you can see in the pictures, the sleeves hold nicely holds one or two DVDs.  Something about this system that didn't bother me, but my bother someone else, is that to get the DVD cover art to fit in the sleeve, you have to fold it in half.  This leaves a crease running down the middle of the spine.  This can be viewed as both a good thing and a bad thing.  The good -- If for some reason you end up wanting to put it back into a DVD case, the art would still fit.  However, the bad -- there would be a crease down the middle.   

As you can see in the picture above, these two sleeves don't even take up even half the amount of space a normal case did.  

Now.. when It came to my TV series I had to really commit to this being the way I wanted to store them for the long hall.  The reason for this is, I had to cut appart the cases.  With the way TV series box sets are set up, to keep the cover art with the DVDs, I had to cut it.  As you can see above, I took the box that was on the outside and cut it.  Leaving the front and the back to be put in the sleeve.  I then also cut the cover of the box that folded out with the DVDs attached, and slid that into the sleeve too.

Downside -- If I ever wanted to go back to the old storage ways, I wouldn't be able to with my TV series.  I think it's highly doubtful I will ever go back and that's why I didn't hesitate to cut apart the boxes.

Now, I failed to take before and after picture of my DVDs.. But I do have numbers ... When I counted the number of disks I had so I knew how many sleves I had.. I counted 206 disks for TV series.  I have figured that these will fit in about two more plastic shoe boxes.

Once I am in the new house and have things set up, I plan on investing nice looking boxes to sit on my bookshelf to hold all of these DVDs.  I don't plan on buying anything until after we're in the house.  Mainly because I don't need/want one more thing to move.  Also, I want to get in the house and see how I have things set up.  That way I have a better Idea of what I want. Until then they will live in packing boxes and then I will use the plastic shoe boxes.

I did decide to not put a few things into the sleeves.  I have a TV series that I still haven't watched, and I left it in the original packaging.  At least for now.  I also left all of my Disney movies in their original packaging.  It didn't feel right to pull them apart.  I figured these would take up so little space that I didn't need to.  I did order enough sleeves so that I could eventually put them in sleeves, if I decided to do so.

All in all, I must say, I am super excited for the amount of space that my collection now takes up.  I wish I would have been more forward thinking to take a picture of all the DVDs on a shelf, but unfortunately I decide to use the sleeves until everything was already in boxes!

This new set up leaves me with so much more room!!  Instead of having a whole bookshelf, I now think that it will take up only one shelf on the same bookshelf!  

How to you have your movie/TV series stored?  Is there something in your house that you've changed the storage of to limitate the clutter?  Let me know!

Also.. with the big move in a few weeks .. I am looking for any packing/moving/first home suggestions! -- Also, if you have any blogs that you'd like to see about the process, let me know!!

Until later... xoxo

Mikal-Anne

Review: Conair InfinitiPRO

A few weeks ago I took a short trip to visit some family and attend my cousin's housewarming party. While I was getting ready to head over to the party, my hair dryer died. When I say died, I mean made the worst sound ever and sounded like the whole interior was shredding! It was a little startling! Now, for my ladies out there who have long hair like me, the idea of having to use the hotel blow dryer is obnoxious! Not only did it take for ever, it would also time out! It only allowed me to use it for a certain amount of time! So frustrating!

Anyways, this left me in the market for a new hair dryer. I liked the one that died and it was actually the second one I had of the same type because the first one burnt out. I decided to try something new and I am so happy I did!!

I picked up the Conair InfinitiPRO (Link)

Details/Claims for the Conair InfinitiPRO

- Up to 50% faster drying time

- Salon Performance AC motor

- Up to 3x longer life

- Ceramic technology provides infrared heat to protect hair from damage

- Ionic technology for smooth, shinny hair with up to 75% less frizz

- Includes argon oil treatment 

- Four year limited warranty 

This dryer is amazing!! And I definitely believe some of its claims!

The speed settings are nice. The high speed has some power!! I have never been able to dry my hair as fast as I can with this one!!

Not only does it dry my hair quickly, not it's so much softer than after I've used others.

I am noticing that my hair is less frizzy, but I'm unsure how much of that is because of the blow dryer or because we're coming out of the winter months.

The only real downside is the high setting can be a bit much on hair that's almost dry. When my hair is to the point that it is still wet, but mostly dry, I make sure to use a lower setting to avoid crazy tangles and knots!

Plus, it's a super cute share of fuchsia/pink!!

If you are in the market to replace your blow dryer, definitely check out this one!!

Until next time ... Xoxo,

Mikal-Anne