July Favorites
July is over in two days, so you know what that means...football season is almost here! I seriously cannot wait! I love pretty much everything about Summer and I’ll be sad to see it go, but Fall brings so many exciting things and in Florida the weather is even more comfortable. I’m ready!! I actually found a lot of great products this month and I couldn’t wait to share them with you. Lots of new beauty favorites, plus a few fashion and home decor pieces!
Let’s start with my new favorite food item. White chocolate mochas have always been my favorite drink from Starbucks because I always thought it was very unique. But as my coffee obsession has grown, I’ve realized Starbucks isn’t all that great. We’ve been making our own coffee drinks at home and finding this Torani White Chocolate Sauce at Walmart has been a total game changer. It’s delicious and so easy to mix in, even with iced coffee!
Y’all. We got a new sofa at the beginning of the year and I wasn’t happy with the way our old pillows looked on it. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to find replacements. I’ve checked everywhere and just could not find a non-feather pillow with removable cases. Right when I was about to give up, I found these two at HomeGoods! They were only $13 each and are so soft!! They add some brightness to the dark sofa and match the walls perfectly. I’m so happy!
Another home decor piece I’ve been looking for forever is a lantern. I don’t know what drew me to lanterns, it’s just something I wanted to add to our decor. I’ve been searching for years to find the perfect one and I finally found what I was looking for at Tuesday Morning!
This was only $30, which is much cheaper than all the other lanterns I had been seeing. It’s the perfect size and included three LED candles on the inside. I specifically got it to put on the front porch, but it’s one of those pieces that really looks good anywhere in the house or outside.
This might make me sound crazy, but I am obsessed with lights. I love bright spaces and since painting our house, I’ve become more focused on the light color. Our walls are a light cream color and the common soft white bulbs were making it look too yellow. The only other option that seemed to be available were bright white bulbs, but those have too much of a blue hue which made things look almost green.
Finally, I was able to find exactly what I was looking for at Home Depot. These are called Natural Light and are the perfect neutral color. They’re not too yellow or too blue, they just make it look as if natural light is coming in from the windows. We’ve been slowly replacing all the light bulbs as they burn out with this new color and it’s made all the difference!
Another crazy obsession of mine is a clean house. I’ve always been a clean freak, even as a kid! Before unpacking the boxes when we moved into our house four years ago, I cleaned and scrubbed everything from top to bottom. We’ve made lots of improvements since then, but there’s always been spots in our shower that I haven’t been able to get up.
I’ve tried rubbing alcohol, salt, baking soda, bleach, anything and everything I could think of and nothing worked. After doing some more research, I saw these Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Bath sponges had pretty good reviews. I’ve always loved Magic Erasers in the past, so I gave it a shot. Y’all. This thing works!! I still had to scrub quite a bit because the spots were so bad, but I finally got it all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a clean shower before. These really are magic!
When it comes to clothes, I know what I like especially with classic staple pieces like jeans or basic tees. I wanted some new jean shorts and it was almost impossible to find low rise denim shorts that didn’t roll up at the bottom. I already have a pair like that from American Eagle and they always unroll. I wanted something different and everything available right now seems to be high-waisted.
I hateee high-waisted bottoms and things touching my stomach like that and thankfully, Zumiez had exactly what I was looking for. These are by the brand Empyre and the style is Jenna. I originally got the light wash and have been wearing them so much, I even went back for the medium wash. I would’ve gotten a dark wash too, but they’re all sold out. These are so stretchy and comfortable, I don’t think I’ll be wearing anything else all Summer.
I got this St. Tropez Classic Self Tan Mousse in my June Boxycharm and was so excited to finally be able to test it out. I’ve heard about it for years, but wasn’t willing to pay so much for a self tan. I have a full review on this coming this Thursday with before and after photos, so stay tuned for that. But for now, I’ll tell you it is definitely worth all the hype it gets. It left me super dark longer than anything other self tanner and faded very evenly.
I do a face mask twice a week and after I remove it, I always like to go through with a pore extractor tool to clear all the gunk out of my pores. The one I’ve had for years finally broke, so I ordered this set from Amazon and it’s even better than the one it replaced. The set was super affordable (only $7) and I love all the options it comes with. It seriously cleans so much out of your skin. It doesn’t really hurt at all and it is kinda gross, but it keeps my pores super small so it’s definitely worth it.
I was so confused with this Touch in Sol No Poreblem Prime Essence when I first got it because I didn’t understand the watery consistency, but now it’s one of my favorite primers. I does a great job at minimizing the look of my pores and I do think it helps control my oil. I’ve never had a problem blending foundation or concealer over top of it and it doesn’t break down my makeup throughout the day.
I’m back on my Garnier BB Cream obsession again. I raved about this for such a long time when I first discovered it. It’s just such a good product! In case you missed it, you can read my full review here. It covers what needs to be covered, it’s lightweight on the skin, and it lasts all day. It even has SPF 20. You really couldn’t ask for a better product, especially during Summer.
The Tarte Be You, Naturally palette has been a popular product in my blog posts lately. I’ve already posted a full review and a tutorial with this palette and now I’m including it in a favorites post because I really do love it and use it all the time. The quality is amazing and the color selection is exactly what I love to wear for everyday. It can go in so many different directions and has everything I need to create a look from start to finish.
The Pretty Vulgar Nightingale palette has one of my favorite eyeshadow formulas to work with. I’m slowly mixing in some more cool-toned looks into my rotation and this is a palette I reach for a lot because it’s easy to use and has so much variety. Seriously, though, the quality is so good I’ve even been eyeballing their Early Bird and Phoenix Rising palettes just to have more shadow options with this formula.
When I want a cool-toned eyeshadow look, but don’t have time for all the options in the Nightingale palette I’ve been reaching for this quad from Clinique. I recently featured it in a tutorial and loved the quality it has to offer. It doesn’t have a name on the back, though, so I’m not exactly sure what it’s called. I actually surprised myself with how much I’ve been enjoying using that third shade on the lid. It’s a little darker than what I’d typically use, but it adds just the perfect amount of depth to the eye area.
Two lip favorites and then we’re done! I recently had to throw away one of my eos sphere balms because it started to smell funny and decided to replace it with their Pure & Free unscented stick balm instead. I actually like this better because it’s easier to travel with. I’ve used this to heal dry, chapped lips and it works great, but my favorite way is to put it on underneath any kind of lipstick, lip gloss, etc. It’s lightweight enough to not feel heavy, while still providing just the right amount of moisturization.
My last favorite is this Lemonade lip gloss by Dominique Cosmetics. The shade I have is Peach Tea and it is a little bit sheer, so I typically layer this over another lip color. The formula is very smooth and lightweight, it’s not sticky at all. Aside from the formula, one of my favorite things about it is how yummy it smells. It smells like sugar cookies!
Woah, was that a lot! Can you tell this was a great month or what?! Even though it was a struggle to find the home decor pieces, lights, and shorts it was a very rewarding feeling when I finally did get exactly what I wanted. I have absolutely zero patience for anything, but this time my (forced) waiting finally paid off!
I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any questions about any of the products I mentioned, please feel free to leave them for me in the comments below. Have you tried any of these products before? What were some of your July favorites?
XO ♥ Christina ♥
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