Makeup Reviews Thanks To Influenster!

June 9, 2015June 9, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

First of all, I just wanted to let you all know why I was MIA for a couple weeks! I started a new job, which requires me to wake up super early (like 4:30am early) and I was trying to adjust to my new sleeping schedule. Usually I work on my blog posts when I get home from work, but instead I found myself napping because I was just so tired. But now that my body is used to my sleeping schedule, I am officially back! I have a lot of fun posts planned for you lovelies this month, so stayed tuned! Now on to the original post, and I apologize in advanced, because this post will be pretty long…

Happy Tuesday! To me, Tuesdays are the worst. On Mondays you are well rested after the weekend, then Tuesday rolls around and you are tired again and the weekend just seems far away. BUT I decided to turn my Tuesday into a great day by trying out a new lipstick (which I completely fell in love with, btw). I mean, what’s better than trying a new lipstick?

I signed up with Influenster (a website where you are sent free products to review) a few weeks ago and was sent my first box, the Bella VoxBox! I received some amazing products, and some not so amazing products. The first product I reviewed was the Dove Chocolate covered blueberries, which you can find the review on my instagram. I also reviewed the Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs (see previous post for review).

Now I’m going to review the makeup products in the Bella VoxBox! The first product I’m going review is the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate (I’m wearing it in the first picture). When first opening the lipstick, I noticed that it had a nice smell, it smelled kind of like fruit! To my surprise, this lipstick was not sticky or thick whatsoever. I couldn’t even tell I had anything on. I fell in love with the color once I put it on. The only downfall would be it doesn’t last very long, especially when eating or drinking. But, to me it’s totally worth reapplying and I would buy it again in a heartbeat and try other shades!

On to the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Mascara created by Kate Moss. I have to say I was not a fan of this mascara (if you see the first picture, it looks like I’m not really wearing anything)… it did make my eyelashes seem long, but it didn’t give me any volume, it clumped really bad and smeared all over my face. Pieces were also flaking off and sticking to my contacts (was not happy). I will not be buying this product anytime soon.

The last makeup product to review is the EcoTools Complexion Collection Mattifying finish brush. The brush was actually really soft. I tried it with my CoverGirl pressed powder, and it didn’t really pick up much of the powder. I feel like this brush would do well with loose powder, but I unfortunately do not use loose powder. So all I can really say is I would not recommend this brush if you use pressed powder.

My last Bella VoxBox product to review is the Not Your Mother’s Deja Vu Do Style Extender. I tried this product in my hair (I blow dried and straightened it) before I went to an all day music festival (to really put it to the test). First of all, this product smells AMAZING. It smells exactly like what it says, apples and berries. It did do a little bit to protect against humidity, but my ends still seemed to curl up a bit (St. Louis is so humid in the summer that I honestly don’t think anything would completely help). This product is also supposed to keep you hair from getting oily, which I did notice a little bit of a difference. Usually the next day after straightening my hair, it is super oily. But after using this product my hair was actually somewhat decent looking the next morning (even after getting super sunburned and sweating all day). I would buy this product again and maybe try putting more product on the ends of my hair to test it against humidity again.

Sorry for this post being so long! I hope everyone has a great rest of the week, and stayed tuned for other fun posts I have planned this month!

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XoXo Valerie

Airbrush Legs

May 20, 2015May 20, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Summer is just around the corner, and what does that mean? Getting that perfect tan! But before pools open and beach days start, there are other ways of getting that glow: sunless tanners.

I signed up with Influenster to test products, and one item I received was Airbrush Legs by Sally Hansen! It’s a temporary leg makeup that can be easily washed off with soap and water at the end up the day.

It goes on smooth without streaks and does give you the perfect summer glow (as you can see in the photo above). My legs are pasty white, and after applying this product they actually had a natural looking color. The downfall? It rubs off on literally everything. My white rug now has orange spots where I was sitting (I mean, I guess it probably wasn’t a good idea in the first place… but it looked great for the photo, right?) It is also really messy, I somehow managed to splatter it on my bathroom floor, sink, and bathroom rug. Luckily it came right off with makeup remover wipes.

After trying this product, I decided it wasn’t for me. I have always used Jergens Natural Glow moisturizer and plan to stick with it.

Have you tried the Sally Hansen leg makeup? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

XoXo Valerie

(All products were received complimentary for testing purposes)

Kate Spade Surprise Sale!

May 19, 2015May 19, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Today was a typical long Tuesday for me, until I opened my e-mail and saw that Kate Spade started their Surprise Sale today! Everything is up to 75% off. The sale ends on May 21st, and it seems like items are going quickly, so make sure you grab up everything before it all sells out! I created a collage to show you some of my favorite items from the sale:

1. Montford Park Smooth Jovie in black

2. Montford Park Smooth Ashton in giverny blue

3. Soutport Avenue Lydia in magnolia/clock tower

4. Montford Park Smooth Nisha in geranium

5. Highland Place Katie in affogato

6. Foiled Again Gia in rosegold

7. Lemon Street Micha in limoncello

8. Moon River Bangle in flo pink

What do you plan on buying from the sale? Let me know in the comments below!

XoXo Valerie

Roundup time!

April 25, 2015April 28, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Hey everyone! Sorry for being so absent this week. A lot has been going on including my little sisters prom, job interviews, etc. I have quite a few Instagram photos to round up for you guys! I will also post the code on how to get your first month free with Rocksbox again!

Now on to the Instagram roundup!

Sandals // Necklace (linked similar)
The clutch is sold out, but I found a similar one on sale for under $12!

Top (sold out, linked similar) // Cardigan // Necklace (sold out, linked similar) // Shoes

The watch and bracelets I actually received for hosting a Premier Design jewelry party. My consultant is linked HERE if you want to see her page or order anything!

Shirt (linked similar) // Jeans // Shoes

Sooo, can we talk about the Lilly for Target madness? I mean, did anyone expect it to be this crazy? I remember Sunday morning I was looking at everything online thinking “well, I guess I can just go to Target later and look at everything” boy was I wrong. I should have just bought it online while it was in stock! I did end up with a few items, but of course everything I had my eye on was sold out. If you were able to get there in time, tag me in your photos, I would love to see what you found!

I bought these earrings and necklace from the Metal Marvels flash sale! They have the cutest jewelry at an affordable price! Their website is linked HERE if you would like to go take a look!

Now, on to Rocksbox. I know I had a whole post completely dedicated to Rockbox, but I just wanted everyone to take advantage of the free month promo code! When signing up use code VALERIEBFF89 and your first month will be completely free. Don’t know what Rocksbox is? See my previous post linked HERE!

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

XoXo Valerie

Rocksbox

April 15, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ 1 Comment

I decided to give Rocksbox a try after seeing other bloggers post about how great it is. For those of you that don’t know what Rocksbox is, it’s a monthly subscription of $19 a month. You receive 3 pieces of designer jewelry that you can wear as much and long as you want, then send back to get new pieces. If you fall in love with them, you have the option to buy one or all at a discounted price. Each month Rocksbox gives you $10 to spend on jewelry.

Each box contains $200 in designer jewelry and shipping is free both ways! I mean, how awesome is that?

Today I received my first box and I’m excited to share it with you all! Want to try out Rocksbox for yourself? Use promo code VALERIEBFF89 to get your first month FREE!

Here is what I received in today’s Rocksbox:

House of Harlow 1960 Aztec Bangle in teal

Charlene K Gold Circle Chain Necklace

Gorjana Olympia Studs

I’m excited to wear all of these pieces! I will be posting outfits with them throughout the week, so make sure you check back to see them.

And don’t forget, get your first month with Rocksbox FREE when you use promo code VALERIEBFF89

Click Here to go to Rocksbox’s website

XoXo Valerie

Spring Shirt

April 13, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

I found this shirt one day searching through Forever 21’s website on clearance, and decided to buy it because I just could not pass up the price. Sometimes I debate on buying shirts like this online because the pictures of the detail on the shirt look different on their website than what it really is. But when I received this shirt, it was definitely better than what I had expected. The lace detail on the top was perfect for spring.

The shirt itself is a tank, so I like to wear a cardigan over top of it for cooler spring days. The look is complete with jeans and booties (or spring heels!).

Sadly, this shirt is no longer on Forever 21’s website, but I linked a few similar ones I found on their website that are just as cute! I also found one on another website that is a bit more pricey, but has a lot of crochet detail.

Shirt 1 // Shirt 2 // Shirt 3 // Shirt 4 // Jeans // Cardigan // Booties

Hope everyone has a great week!

XoXo Valerie

Weekly Round-up

April 11, 2015April 11, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy Weekend! Hope everyone had a great week!

Every week (on Friday or Saturday) I will be posting a weekly round-up of all the outfits and Instagram photos I post throughout the week that will include links to where you can buy all of the pieces in the photos. Especially those outfit of the day photos I post on Instagram that aren’t included in a blog post.

The photos are in order from when they were posted:

Scarf (linked similar)// Blue Dress // Lipstick

Earrings // Top

Tee (linked similar) // Chambray // Shoes // Bag // Necklace (linked similar)

Shorts // Shirt // Shoes // Clutch // Necklace (linked similar)

Sea Urchin // Planner // Necklace (linked similar)

Hat // Shoes // Chambray // Yoga Pants // Necklace // Tee

I hope everyone enjoyed Styled Muse’s first week! What would you like to see more of? Let me know in the comments!

XoXo Valerie

Opening Day

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Since Monday is the home opener for the St. Louis Cardinals, and I am a HUGE Cardinal’s fan (like, I’m not even joking), I decided to post an outfit for opening day!

My ideal outfit for any baseball game is comfortable and sporty. Yoga pants, a plain or printed tee (or jersey. of course), Converse and a cute ball cap are perfect for opening day.

Pieces linked here (some are old, so I linked similar):
Yoga pants // Tee // Chambray // Necklace // Shoes // Cap

Happy Opening Day!

XoXo Valerie

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DIY Painted Letter

April 9, 2015April 9, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Lately I have been trying to re-decorate my apartment. But since I’m on a budget, a lot of it has been DIY projects.

My parents bought me white floating shelves for Christmas that I really need to fill up. So I decided to paint an H (my boyfriend and I both have last names that start with H, lucky right?) to put on them! This DIY project is SUPER easy and also fun to do, and it was all under $10!

Things you will need:
– Letter of your choice (I found mine at Target, but they also have them at Michael’s)
– Acrylic paint, color of your choice (I used a gray/silver color to match my living room)
– Paint brushes
– Ribbon, print or color of your choice (I chose a burlap one I found at Target)

First, you are going to paint your letter with the acrylic paint that you chose. For me, it took 2 coats of paint, but it just depends on the color you choose.

Once your paint is dry (usually it takes over night to dry), take your ribbon and tie it onto your letter the way you want. Since my ribbon was too thick, I decided to cut it in half before tying it onto my letter.

Above is a picture of my letter completed and my ribbon tied in half!

Above are pictures of how I placed my letter H on my floating shelves.

Do you guys like DIY projects? Let me know in the comments if you would like to see more! Also, if you make a painted letter, tag me in it so I can see it!

XoXo Valerie

Spring Shorts

April 7, 2015April 7, 2015 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy Tuesday! Hope you all are having a great week so far.

As I was skimming through the racks one weekend at Ross, looking for the perfect dress for my bestie’s birthday celebration, I came across these lace shorts. Let’s just say that falling in love with them is an understatement.

These shorts are perfect for those warm spring days (It is FINALLY starting to get warm here in St. Louis). You can dress these shorts up with a cute pair of heels and statement necklace, or dress them down with a graphic tee and converse (I was going to wear this to the zoo yesterday, but mother nature decided to bring a cold front through St. Louis instead).

I linked all pieces of this outfit below. Some of them are kind of old, so I linked similar ones.

Shorts: Linked Here
Shirt: Linked Here
Heels: Linked Here
Necklace: Linked Here
Clutch: Linked Here

XoXo Valerie