Tag: review
Tis The Season To Be Treating
Yourself, of course.
So did you know, there is a monthly makeup and beauty subscription service that ships out 5 deluxe and full-size products, in a cool makeup bag for only $10!?
Mhmm this is correct. Ten dollars flat includes 5 products, a makeup bag, and shipping!
I, myself, wanted to get into makeup more, but I didn’t know where to start or how to even go about it. One day while surfing social media, an ad for Ipsy popped up. I had heard of FabFitFun and various other subscriptions, but none that actually fit my budget or really quite interested me before. When I read what Ipsy provided to their subscribers, for again only $10(!), I immediately signed up. Who doesn’t want to receive a beauty package by surprise, once a month through the old snail mail?
Let me tell you it has been the BEST investment of my life so far.
Once you sign up for Ipsy, you don’t go back.
Once you sign up, you are prompted to choose your skin tone, eye color, how comfortable you are with makeup, what brands you like/wish to try [I chose them all], the type of makeup products you love, the other type of beauty products you love, and a few other questions of that nature. They ask these, so they can pair you with one of their stylists who will be associated with the products you will be matched with/receiving.
In fear of not knowing how to use a product? Fear no more, Ipsy has detailed descriptions and instructions on how to use each and every product you will receive. How neat is that! In addition, you may review the items that you receive. Reviewing your items improves your next month’s bag and earns points, which are redeemed for free products.
In this post, I am going to include what I received for the month of November, and give you a personal review of my items. Mind you the package that is delivered to my door is a shiny pink bubbly envelope, that I have already recycled. 🙂
Above is my five free items, the makeup bag for this month’s was themed Rockstarlet.
item #1 FORMULA X’s Nail Polish in Huntress (the nail polish): I am wearing on my nails as I type this, I love it & I have received a ton of compliments from it! Drys faster than any other nail polish I have ever used before, color is electric and eye-catching.
item #2 LUXIE’s ROSE GOLD SMALL DUO FIBRE BRUSH 524 (the makeup brush): I actually have not used this one yet. I received an amazing angel brush from Ipsy two months ago that I have been using for my blush, so that is why I haven’t used this yet. Also I am not a full foundation counter type of girl either.
item #3 Verb’s Ghost Oil (the hair oil): I absolutely love this product. Having extremely curly hair oils are very beneficial to my hair. A simple drop rubbed between my hands on to my hair from the roots down, tames the frizz and incredibly increases the shine in my hair. Double thumbs up for this one.
item #4 The Balm’s MadLash Mascara (the mascara): The wand is long and curvy, which helps with reaching those inner lashes. I like this mascara, but I received the best mascara that I have ever used in my life, a few months ago from Ipsy. It was by Tarte. I just bought a full-size tube, because my deluxe version had just ran out I only used it, practically every day. So that’s why I am a little biased, still a great product, but I am now Tarte loyal. Thanks to Ipsy!!
item #5 Elizabeth Mott’s Color is Bae Lip Lacquer in Red Chili (the liquid lipstick): I have always wanted to own something matted, lip-wise, and now I do thanks to this item. Hot and electric, is what I feel when I am wearing this bold lipstick. Definitely one of my favorite items I have received.
That is it for the month of November. Now it’s December and YOU need your own Ipsy subscription. Check out Ipsy and obtain your own subscription here!
Taylor McFerrin Concert Review
In The Loop Productions and 1833 teamed up last week to bring out Brainfeeder‘s Taylor McFerrin for a very special show at East Room.
For a Thursday evening, especially at East Room , it is a rarity to see a completely sold-out crowd. My heart dropped when I got to the dance floor and I saw that Taylor was positioned up on the elevated corner of the room. Usually this is my go-to spot for the best viewing of whichever artist I am seeing…who is usually playing in the DJ booth. But it was so packed that not only did I have no chance at making it to the front, I could barely get glance of him because of the way the dance floor was positioned the crowds only option was to face him, as opposed to surrounding him. Although some kind people let me step in front of them to get a picture of Taylor and got this, lol.
Better than nothing, I actually really like this photo because of the two sets of curly hair.
His jazzing heavy and ambient hip-hop beats had me in the happiest mood because I love this type of music. Everyone was grooving and moving, these are the kind of nights I live for, good music with good people. Around the middle of his set Taylor, invited three random individuals to come on stage and freestyle rap with him. A women who was standing next to me, dropped her coat and purse and immediately ran up there. Thankfully her best-friend was standing next to me as well and was able to watch her stuff. I know this because the woman who stayed back kept yelling at the woman on stage, “that’s my best-friend thats my best-friend.”
Within thirty seconds there were three people on the stage ready to freestyle. Not knowing what to expect, the first guy started, made a DJ Khaled reference, of course, so 2016. He was just alright, nothing special, but next on the mic was the woman who was standing next me. She must have been a professional MC because right away she took a hold of the crowd and had everyone chanting along with her, abstract-jazz. She went into a sick freestyle, with impressive on the spot rhymes, the crowd was cheering for her and even recorded her! She even ended on a comment complimenting t the next freestyler’s appearance. The man that freestyled after her was just as good as the first guy and neither had anything on this woman. I had told the best-friend they needed to go to talk to Taylor McFerrin after his set, because maybe she could actually collaborate with him. I hope they did speak.
When I had arrived at East Room that night Taylor McFerrin had just begun playing, which meant I missed Chicago-native BoatHouse. This left me a little bummed because I had never see him live before and he just released a killer EP. Thankfully when Taylor ended, BoatHouse was played a B2B DJ set with another Chicago-native Aztek in the designated DJ booth. Not only was I ecstatic to see BoatHouse playing, Aztek whom I had thought just moved away from Chicago, made my night because I was delightfully pleased to have the chance to say goodbye to him.
On that note, good luck in Salt Lake City Mark (Aztek) Chicago will miss you dearly. Below is my favorite track of yours, so far!
Too Future Series Goroka – Gravez & The Whooligan Concert Review
Damn Too Future back at it again with the sick lineup.
Goroka, the tribal gathering and cultural event indigenous to Papua New Guinea, is one of the longest and largest running global tribal gatherings. It is an annual festival that is held around the country’s Independence Day, September 16th. Thousands of global tribes gather to “keep the Spirit alive”. Interesting enough, this was the theme of Friday’s show, which was a first for the Too Future events. Never before has there been a particular theme for a show. I was very interested to see how this would all play out.
Above: Artist Ava Hoyer painting her subject, captured by Steph MacDonald.
Right as I walked in, the Goroka vibes were flowing. DrmBt was displaying his intricate, tribal-inspired project mapping on to the walls. One of my favorite local multimedia artists, Keith Smith aka @Afrokilla, was starting his very own 1-D live painting. Other artists were demonstrating their tribal interpretations through live body-painting. I was delightfully intrigued; the Goroka theme was well-represented by these different art installations alone.
https://soundcloud.com/edamame/silverlining
(Press play as you read about Edamame below)
The first set the night was Canvas-Chicago native Edamame, who was playing when I had first walked in around 9:30 pm. His sounds of soft melodic instrumentals mixed with tribal percussion samples set up the mood for the night quite nicely. As the sold-out crowd began to shift in, Edamame had me feeling as if I had stepped forth on to a gondola gliding down the Amazon River.
Above: Edamame performing, captured by Steph MacDonald.
Next up was the Sky Society B2B Equator Club set. Equator Club contributed to the Goroka theme by playing some African influenced dance music as well as some of his new tracks (you can find them up on his Soundcloud page here). Sky Society complimented the vibe with his own tribal melodic tunes. Together, Sky Society and Equator Club shifted the mood into a more future–beats, hiphop-esque feel in preparation for the headliners.
Above: Sky Society standing next to Equator Club mixing, captured by Steph MacDonald.
The first headliner that played was Soulection’s The Whooligan. Not only is he a DJ on the Soulection roster, he is Soulection‘s Director of Worldwide Bookings and Strategic Partnerships – pretty cool in my book considering Soulection is my all-time favorite label. The Whooligan‘s set was as if you were sitting in a live recording session of the Soulection Radio Show (minus the Joe Kay voiceovers). Instead, you were hearing voice overs from The Whooligan himself, Julio Galvez. A real crowd pleaser, Galvez knew exactly how to keep the crowd dancing and vibing through his set. Fans claimed it was their favorite live Soulection set to do date. Props, Julio.
Above: The Whooligan performing live, captured by Steph MacDonald.
The final set of the night was HW&W‘s Gravez. He stole the hearts of many when he played a very special tribute to our dearly beloved Chicago hometown legend, Kanye West. Attendees told me he was their favorite set of the night. Between playing original songs and his very own fantastic remixes (which I have attached a few in the link below), the young Atlanta native Gravez truly displayed his talent of infusing futuristic sounds with today’s R&B and hip-hop.
https://soundcloud.com/gravez/sets/remixes
(Gravez ‘s Move That Dope Remix is my favorite) ^
A special thanks to In The Loop Productions and Canvas for putting on such a specular event. The line-up, location, atmosphere and even the crowd, was on extremely on point. One of the best parties of the year, and I can not wait for more!
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