Some Nuggets of Holiday Cheer...

Our dear Christmas tree. The poor thing was quite a leaner, but lovely nonetheless. 

I found this wreath at Target and had to have it. It's currently still hanging on my closet door, as I haven't the heart to take down all my Christmas decorations in my room yet. You can also see me awkwardly contorted to take the picture in the reflection. Hello, self! 

The very tippy-top of my mini Christmas tree. 

A little snowflake ornament thing hanging on my window. I thought I'd snap a picture of it looking so nice in the twinkle lights and whatnot. Originally, I had planned to hang several of them along with some silver sparkly icicles from my ceiling, but we never got around to it. *sigh* It would've been awesome though.  

My family and I have a tradition of going to our favorite restaurant, Brennan's, on Christmas Eve. Every year they give away these lovely bells to whoever comes in on Christmas, and we've amassed quite a collection over the years. This is one from this year that we hung on our tree, but usually we have them hanging all on our stair railing.  

My puppy, chilling on Mommy-Dearest's lap like she owns the place. As per usual. 

PRESENTS!!! 

The Chrismas-y set up of my dresser. That adorable little snow-lady was hand crocheted by my great-grandmother and passed down to us. How cute, right? 

Our mantle. Sans stockings. (We took them down quite quickly to eat the candy inside). 

Another Christmas-y shot. 

Me, dive-bombing my dad for a picture and being goofy. He rarely poses for pictures, so a surprise attack was my only option. Love that man. 

My bookshelf setup. How festive. 

This is one of my favorite ornaments. It's always been my job to put it on the tree since I was a kid, and I still do it to this day. Traditions!

My brother "mysteriously" disappeared as soon as I started taking photos, so in his place I'll put Snoop Dog. Somehow it works, don't judge. 

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. I certainly did. Merry Christmas all!

Stay Fabulous! (Stay Festive)

-Rachel 

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I'm on BlogLovin' Now!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11434065/?claim=vynqtbws5hk">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Hooray!
What is BlogLovin' you ask? It's a wonderfully handy site/app that lets you follow and find all the blogs you love in one place.

One of my favorite things to do after a long day is sit back and catch up on my favorite blog reading (check out Nadia Aboulhosn and Tanya Burr-- they're amazing) and BlogLovin' makes it really easy. I know this sounds like some cheesy sponsored post, but I promise it isn't! I just really like it!

They've also got mobile apps for both iPhone and Android (which you can find here and here) for all the busy girls (or guys) on the go out there.

Also, from the point of view of a blogger on BlogLovin', it is SO EASY to use. Lemme tell ya, I am not a computer savvy individual, but they really make it so easy to learn new things about how to make your blog more professional and grow your audience. Seriously, I just edited my own HTML up in here with their help and I've NEVER been able to understand that craziness. So if you're a blogger too, just sign up for a (free) BL account, then follow these easy instructions here.

So come on now! Get your sparkly little booties on over there and start scrollin'!

And don't forget to follow me when you get there ;)

Stay Fabulous!
-Rachel

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CHEAP L'Occitane Hand Creme Dupe!

Alrighty, I'm super excited about this. Not only did I find a great dupe for L'Occitane's amazing hand crème, BUT I FOUND IT AT THE DOLLAR STORE.

That's right. The dollar store. (Pause for gasps of surprise and the catching of breath)

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore all of L'Occitane's lotions (because I'm a lotion hoarder and have tried nearly them all). But even for a hoarder like me, L'Occitane products are a splurge. I'm a girl on a budget y'all!

Let's look at how these lotions compare:

L'Occitane Hand Crème (LHC): $12 for 1oz. It has 20% shea butter and works like a charm on dry, rough, skin but isn't greasy. It also has a "no-scent" lotion smell that I really like; it's relaxing without interfering with any other scents you may have on.

Udderly Smooth Udder Cream (USUC): $1 for 2oz. That means that for the same amount of the LHC (1oz), the Udder Cream is only FIFTY CENTS. I've used this for about a month now, and I can honestly say it feels pretty much the exact same as the LHC.

Needless to say I'll be buying this from now on!

Stay Fabulous!
-Rachel

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Sephora/Hautelook Haul! (finally)

First of all, I apologize for the long wait. I would like to do a new post a week, but I'm still getting used to the rhythm of things, plus classes just started up again. IT'S BEEN CRAZY YA'LL.

The Goods:

1. The Lorac PRO Palette: I already have Urban Decay's Naked Palette, but I was looking for something that was a little more colorful, yet still in the realm of natural daytime/everyday eye shadows. Enter this 'lil baby. I've used it a bit already and let me tell ya, it's all my fabulous dreams come true. And at only $42, a great value. (Review coming soon)

2. Sephora Rose Gold Travel Brush Kit: This was on sale, and I really loved the combo of the soft fluffy powder brush, eye shadow brush, and angle brush. It's all a girl needs in a cute holographic pink package.

3. Sephora by OPI Nail Polish: These were on sale for only $4.50 each, and those deep, rich fall colors have been calling my name recently, so I picked up a few. I got On Stage (a nice mauve color), In the Shadows (a so-dark-it's-practically-black deep brown red), Dark Room (a so-dark-it's-practically-black deep turquoise), and conversely, Techno Girl (a bright, girly pink).

4. Urban Decay Urban Defense Tinted Moisturizer: This was the only thing in this haul I got from Hautelook. It was on sale for only $5, so I jumped on the deal. Haven't decided if I like it or not. More on that later.

The Samples:

5. Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Foundation Powder Mini: This was on free offer at Sephora, so I picked one up since I've been practically dying to try me some LM stuff!

6. Sephora.com's regular 3 samples (UD Naked Skin Foundation, Clinique 3-Step Skincare, and Bumble and Bumble Gentle/Super Rich Shampoo and Conditioner): I've been wanting to try all three of these, and luckily Sephora's samples were unusually plentiful this go-round, so I decided to share them with you.

Stay Fabulous!
-Rachel

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A Fabulous Package

I just got a fabulous package from Sephora! (At least my puppy thinks so!)
Looks like a big Sephora haul is coming up...

Stay tuned and stay Fabulous!
-Rachel

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Excellent Empties #1: Burt's Bees Super Shiny Shampoo and Conditioner with Mango

I've decided to start a new little section here at DWK called Excellent Empties. These are just as the name says, excellent (or not so excellent) products I've used all up and want to share with you. The format may change over time, depending on how this works for me and for you, but for now it will consist of a basic description, pros, cons, and a "bottom line" statement in which I'll simply state whether or not the product was worth buying. So, in the words of the famous red Nintendo plumber, "A-here-ah we go!"

The facts:
"Turn up your hair's shine naturally with our Super Shiny Shampoo and Conditioner system. Our gentle shampoo rinses easily and helps reduce frizz so that hair looks healthy and brilliant. Fortified with Mango Seed Oil and Fig Extract, this nourishing formula will leave your hair feeling soft, shiny, and silky."  I picked these up at Wal-Mart for $7.97 each. I picked them up because I've been thinking a lot about trying to eliminate toxins from my life, even all the way down to my beauty products. But I've often heard the rumors that natural things just don't work as well, so I've decided to investigate. These are formulated without:
-Sulfate
-Paraben
-Phthalate
-Petrochemicals

Pros:
Obviously, these shampoos and conditioners being free of a lot of crazy bad stuff is definitely a plus, and the reason I picked these products up in the first place. To be completely honest, when I picked up these products I had no idea why sulfates, parabens, phthalates, and petrochemicals were bad, I just new everyone kept saying to stop using them. (Which, I might add is not the recommended way to do things, especially not here at DWK!) So, with that, I've decided to do some research. Honesty is something that's really important to me, so I promise to find out exactly why those things are bad and how they affect our bodies, and relay that information to you lovely people out there.

However, besides my rather inconclusive results on the "why should I buy natural stuff anyways" front, there's a few other pros to these that you might want to know about. Number one, they smell really nice, in my opinion. I love fruity mango-y smells! Number two, they work. My hair gets weighed down really easily, and these shampoo/conditioners didn't do that. They left my hair really nice and silky smooth, just like the bottle said.

Cons:
There are only two. The first being the smallest concern, and that is that this being a natural product, it doesn't foam up like a lot of other shampoos. Being basically a three year old and a huge fan of foam, I find that disappointing. The second con is a little larger, and that is the price. The bottles are about $8 for only 10 ounces, which translates roughly into about 80 cents per ounce. To put that into perspective, Clear Total Care Shampoo (a comparable non-natural shampoo in my opinion) is about $5 for 13 ounces (a bigger bottle), which is about 38 cents per ounce. So, if you're on a tight budget, this may not be the stuff for you.

The Bottom Line:
If having a natural (effective) product is important to you, I would say absolutely buy this set. Personally, since I haven't done the research as to why go natural yet, I'm on the fence. I'm using a different shampoo right now, but if I came across this one again I certainly wouldn't mind using it again. Repurchase? Maybe.

Stay Fabulous!
-Rachel

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ULTA First Impressions and Haul!

Recently I've been all up in the beauty community on YouTube, and I saw a ton of gabber about this magical place called Ulta that combines the affordability of drugstore products, the high-end glam of Sephora, and the convenience of employees who know their stuff. I had to visit this place! So, needless to say, when I spotted one on the way home, I jumped at the chance to spend a lovely Saturday with Mommy Dearest checking out a possible new beauty heaven.

My First Impressions!
Upon walking in, I was a tad overwhelmed at the sheer volume of products in the store. Since there was so much to keep clean and straight, I can understand that the place was a little bit messy (especially since their power had gone out earlier in the day, and the employees were frantically running around trying to fix their register system), but the cluttered shelves also added to the sense of not knowing where anything was and overwhelmed-ness. However, I rolled up my sleeves and delved into the mass of beauty awesomeness and ended up spending quite a bundle. Since it was only my first time, and since I found so much cool stuff with the help of the lovely lady that helped me, I'm totally going to cut them slack for the crazy mess. Everybody has their messy days, right? I will most definitely be returning, especially since I joined their Rewards program (more to come later on how it measures up to Sephora's).

My Haul!

1. Maybelline New York Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser: This is what one of the employees recommended for a drugstore under eye concealer. She said it's the only drugstore concealer she'll use, and the only one that even close to works. So I picked one up for me and another for Mommy Dearest. I'll put up a proper review for it later, but so far I think it's pretty great.

2. Ulta automatic eye liner in Rasin, Bronze, and Charcoal: They were on sale for $2 each so I figured I'd try something from Ulta's brand since I never had before. Just like with all these products, I'll put up proper reviews in the future, but my first impressions for these liners aren't good. I've only used Rasin so far, and I don't like it. The color isn't pigmented, so it takes forever to put on and it doesn't stay on at all.

3. Paul Mitchell Extra Body Daily Boost Spray: I LOVE THIS STUFF. Mommy Dearest had some that I borrowed to give my fine roots a little lift and I just HAD to get my own. So worth the price.

4. TIGI Bedhead 3/4 in. Ceramic Curling Wand: I've been wanting to try a wand, and I was recommended this one, and it's pretty and purple! I needed to get a smaller barreled one since my hair doesn't hold curl well. Hopefully it will just loosen out into what I want. I'm so not a hair person so lord only knows what it'll end up looking like. If anyone has any wand styling tips, let me know!!!

Stay Fabulous!
-Rachel

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