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Wishing you the best in 2015! Thanks for supporting Beauty and the Brown Girl!

Fresh Sugar lip treatments are one of those products I see all the time in Sephora but never pay much attention to. I've heard plenty of rave reviews, but for some reason these never excited me. Probably because of the cost, $22.50 for ONE lip balm? No thank you, lol. 

So instead of getting one full-sized Lip Treatment, I opted for this limited edition holiday set of a Fresh Sugar Ruby mini and a Fresh Lip Treatment mini. And when I say mini, I mean tiny! But, despite their small size, true to everything I'd heard about these before hand, THEY SMELL AMAZING! They also feel really great on my lips. But the smell...sweet and fresh at the same time. I almost wish I could eat, or at least bottle the scent and wear it as a perfume!

Sugar Ruby is a semi-sheer raspberry shade. Its the kind of build-able color that will be flattering on a wide range of skin tones. However it does have a metallic sheen to it if its applied to heavily. When I caught a glimpse of myself after applying it liberally in my car, I immediately wiped most of it off.

Overall, Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments are not a must have. They're very nice and provide good moisture on my lips, even when out in the winter chill. But for the price, I won't be repurchasing these once I run out.

You can find Fresh products at Sephora!

p.s. Sephora is currently offering a 3 piece mini set from Fresh as a VIB perk. Use the code VIBFRESH when you spend $35 or more online to claim your free set! I'm not sure when this deal expires.

As someone who lives in the bathtub during the winter, Habibi Deep Steep is the ultimate bathing experience for me! It's by no means a traditional, dry bath salt that you sprinkle into your bath water. Deep Steep contains a mixture of different salts and is packed full of herbs and essential oils that moisturize and nourish the skin. As an added bonus, it comes with an embroidered pouch full of aromatic botanicals  to add to the bath water and a carved wooden scoop to get the product out of the jar. Fancy! Lol. seriously, Habibi put a lot of thought and detail into this product. The first time I used Deep Steep I didn't want to get out of the tub! Plus I think I dozed off for a few minutes (so bad I know!). It truly made me feel like I was at some exotic spa and there was no stress in my life whatsoever (hahahaha). The effects also lasted once I got out of the water and had super soft, moisturized and fragrant skin.I did make one mistake while using this. I may have failed to read the directions and therefore didn't use a drain catcher to get the floating botanicals once I was finished bathing. Needless to say, unclogging my tub almost ruined my zen-like spa experience. Now that I know what not to do, Habibi Deep Steep will be my sweet indulgence after a long day of...life. 

Deep Steep is available at HabibiBody.com for $65!

Lately I've been trying to incorporate more products into my daily skincare routine that are geared toward the eye area. I've always had a few lines and creases under my eyes naturally. But now that its winter, the harsh indoor heat is really sucking all the moisture from my under eye area and emphasizing every teeny tiny wrinkle! I've also been attempting to try and use more natural based products on my skin and body overall. With that said, theres a lot I love about the InstaNatural brand, and the products I've been using.



InstaNatural Hyaluronic Acid Serum ingredients. 
First the Hyaluronic Acid serum. Its 100& vegan, has a simple list of potent ingredients and comes in a huge 2oz. blue-tinted glass container with a dropper lid. Its a thick clear gel that applies smoothly and absorbs in under 60 seconds! I love that its not runny or messy and the dropper ensures that you don't waste any product. Prior to using this hyaluronic acid serum, I'd been using one from the brand Hada Labo, that was extremely watery and hard to dispense just the right amount. 

 This serum penetrates deeply and gives my skin and especially my under eye area a boost of moisture. Because it absorbs so completely, its perfect for layering other products on top of. And since it doesn't leave any shininess or residue behind I have the option of applying my makeup right away if I don't use another moisturizer on my face. 



The Vitamin C Toner. This toner is just plain good stuff! Again like all the InstaNatural products I've used so far,  this toner has a pronounceable and potent ingredient list. I use it immediately after washing my face while my skin is still a little damp. Its got a great spray nozzle so I can just spritz it on without needing cotton balls or squares like with other toners. It feels very refreshing on my skin and has a pleasant, citrusy scent. It removes the dry/tight feeling my face usually has after washing and sinks in super fast. 

InstaNatural Youth Express Eye Gel ingredients
And finally the Youth Express Eye Gel. As I mentioned before, my under eye area is extreeemely dry. This wonderful gel hydrates my eye area and feels cool on my skin. Almost as though I placed chilled cucumbers over my eyes, lol.  Its a great pick-me-up first thing in the morning. It also works well under my makeup and doesn't cause my concealer/foundation to apply patchy or crease.

Overall, I'm very happy with these skin care products from InstaNatural. Since I'm a skin care junkie I'm always on the lookout for something new, but based on the way these have made my skin look and feel, I'm gonna wait until the bottles are empty before adding new products to my skincare rountine. 

Okay, that last part was a lie, lol. But these are really good products at a really great price! They can all be purchased from Amazon.com



Product provided for my consideration. All reviews are my own honest and unbiased opinions.

After the disappointment of the Sephora 24k Gold Mine Brush set I was looking for something to fill my gold makeup brush void, lol. Lo and behold, one of my favorite drugstore brands Sonia Kashuk came to the rescue! 
The "All That Jazz" Holiday 2014 set caught my eye while I was wandering the aisles of my local Target. There are actually a few other pieces in this Holiday Collection, including the smaller 4-piece "Golden Age" brush set and the visually stunning "Deco Starlet" eyeshadow palette (I may go back and get this).

 Sonia Kashuk put a lot of great detailing into the "All that Jazz" brush set, while making sure the brushes were still practical to use. The black and gold design on the handles is just awesome and the textured gold ferrules completely won me over. At $34 for 10 brushes, this set is also a steal. It's currently sold out on Target.com, but most of the stores in my area still have plenty of sets on the shelves. 

From left to right: Powder Brush, Flat-Top Blusher, Angled Duo-Fiber Face brush and Foundation brush.

Foundation brush, Eyeshadow brush, Blending brush, Crease brush, Angled Duo-Fiber Eye brush and Precision Eye brush.

Eyeshadow brush, Blending brush, Crease brush, Angled Duo-Fiber Eye brush, Precision Eye brush and Lash/Brow Groomer.
The quality of this set is on par with other Sonia Kashuk brushes. However, I do feel like the 15th Anniversary brush set released earlier this year is slightly better quality than this set overall. 
With this set, I feel like the eye shadow brushes are the weakest link. They work better for blending rather than packing on color. Also after I washed a few of them, the hairs looked a little frayed and I had to reshape the brush heads while they dried. The two smaller, pointed eye brushes didn't have this issue. 

The angled duo fibre eye brush also held up being washed just fine, but to be honest, I'm still figuring out this brush. I guess its for blending in the crease/under the brow bone, but for me it just feels awkward. It is however, very soft and picks up only a small amount of product so no worries about being heavy-handed while using this brush. 

The face brushes fared much better. My overall favorite is the angled duo-fiber face brush. Its super soft and does a great job both applying and blending powder products ( I haven't tried it with liquid foundation yet). The foundation brush is standard, nothing special. The flat top face brush and large powder brush are both very soft and perform great. 

The bottoms of each brush are imprinted with the "SK" logo. 


Overall, If you can find a set of these at your local Target then don't hesitate to buy them! Not only are they gorgeous to look at, they perform well. For the price they'll make a great gift for some one or even yourself!