Lavenderwalls & Me...: May & June Favorites!!!

I know exactly what you are thinking...and no, I didn't procrastinate, get lazy, say "F*%# it!" , and give up on blogging! But, thanks for your faith in me. Don't worry...I would have thought the same, too!

There was soooo much that went on in June, there's so much to come this month and next that I am short of cloning myself to just try to do it all. GAH!!!!

I do have to say that if you have come back after my short hiatus to read this post, I am incredibly thankful for your support!!! Trying to juggle life and a full-time job, in addition to extra-curricular activities, is a challenge for many, including myself, but I am optimistic that we can figure it out. Y'all feel me???

Now, since my world has been spinning crazy and I have been traveling more for work, my focus has been less on exploring and more on things that help keep my routines quick, easy, and effortless. With that, there weren't too many favorites in the months of May and June separately where I could really do a good hearty post for each. Therefore, I decided to consolidate them together...and I have to say it's pretty meaty!

I actually purchased this phone case in late June, but it instantly became a favorite. For Christmas, my husband got me a Tory Burch tech wristlet (a previously featured favorite), but the only downside is that my phone can only fit in the wallet if I have a slim phone case. So, I was looking for something that I could switch my bulkier Otterbox case out for that was slimmer...and cuter! When I saw the pictured case above at the Kate Spade store, there was no way I was not buying it.

This was something my husband of four years recently found out, but my mom, who is super incredibly healthy and health conscious, would let us, as kids, eat cake for breakfast if there was leftover cake to be had. Don't ask me how and why cake made it onto my mom's list of acceptable breakfast items, but it did, and I fully support it. So guess what...I eat cake for breakfast if there is cake to be had because my mom says I can and I have the phone case to prove it!

Now, I will say the downside about this fave is that it is strictly for vanity purposes. There is hardly anything protective about this case and it's not something I can forsee withstanding the test of time. The top 2/3 of the case is ecru burlap with iron-on letters. The bottom third is faux leather-ish material that could potentially come up over time. There is no way my naturally grimey paws can preserve this thing for as long as my phone fits into it. Az you can see, there is a tinge of brown lacing the suface of the once perfect linen burlap. However, I bought Scotchgard to see if I can at least try.

What a lifesaver this brush has been the last couple of months! I originally bought this to use with Tarte's full coverage powder foundation, but I didn't get to really see this thing work to it's total potential until I needed to start using powder foundation to speed up my make-up routine the last couple of months.

The brush is short, dense, and applies the powder evenly and with great coverage, so it made putting on foundation quick and easy! Definitely one of the best powder foundation brushes in the market.

Another item that was featured in a previous post! I am absolutely IN LOVE with this duo!!! Both colors featured, Lychee and Musk, are incredible "Your lips but BETTER" colors. I found that either shade came in handy when I was trying to complete an effortless "No Makeup" makeup look, which was pretty much the norm in the months of May and June. The formulation is just perfect: smooth, very pigmented, and non-drying.

I Instagramed a picture back in May of my beautifully done ombre hair, which, if you don't know, are basically highlights strategically applied that start halfway down the head instead of right at the scalp. In this case, color had to be lifted out of my hair causing it to be a little more dry and brittle than it already is for the long hair I have. To keep my hair healthy and moisturized, I turned to my holy grail deep conditioner, and it gets the job done!

What I have been doing is applying the hair mask to my dry hair, midshaft to ends, and throwing my hair in a high bun. Usually I do this in the morning with plans to wash my hair that night, so I just keep the bun on all day and let it down and wash my hair later on.

Not only does keeping this hair mask in my hair all day nourishes the strands to keep from drying out and breaking, but it make my hair smell incredible while it is in the bun, while I am in the shower, after I rinse it out and get out of the shower, and even long after my hair dries.

As you can tell, I have used a lot of this jar, and I intend on repurchasing what will be now my 6th (?) tub of this stuff! I have tried a lot of deep conditioners and masks...This one is still my fave!

It Cosmetics has done it again with another fabulous product! This bronzer is impressive and, I have to say, it was a total surprise to me how beautiful it was the first time I applied it.

Look at the ombre going from a pretty shimmer champagne highlight to a WARM matte bronze! Warm is definitely the key word! The actual bronze was not muddy, orange, or dark. Just the perfect color to add beautiful depth and dimension to the face coupled with the smooth gradation that takes the product to the tops of the cheekbones to add a natural highlight. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Another bronzer topping my list is this longtime favorite by Lorac. What makes this different than the one featured above is that this is the bronzer that makes you look like you have been in St. Tropez vacationing and just returned with a beautiful sun kissed glow.

Being in the office all day most of the week, especially right now in the summertime, I don't have the opportunity to get the tan I used to get when I was a student on summer break. Not that I consciously tried to get a tan back in the day, but for some reason, I alway managed to get a little color here and there. Now, I just look somewhat ghostly 24/7/365, which I'm cool with, but I'm not too sure how the rest of the public feels about that when they see me. On top of that, I live in the very hot and humid Houston, Texas. Ain't nobody got time to look sweaty, tan, and pretty at the same time...at least not me, but I can kind of fake it with this lovely bronzer!

Uhh....Yeah! This looks pretty beat up, but that's a good thing because I use the crap out of this puppy! The weather in HTx is just getting hotter and steamier as the days pass and that means I need something that will keep my foundation from literally liquifying and melting off my face. Just a light dusting of this powder helps set everything in place and my face matte. This stuff truly is perfect because although it says it is a foundation powder, it is not pigmented enough to pass as one. There is a little coverage to the product, but not enough where it starts competing with your foundation, which is what you don't want it to do. So, as a setting powder, it is perfection!

In all honesty, I picked this lip gloss up out of boredom during one of my weekly Friday evening visits to Target. However, this is one impulse buy that I definitely do not regret.

At first, I was a little bummed that as pretty as the color of the tube is, the intensity of the gloss did not measure up. The actual opacity of the gloss was about 50% and was not what I expected. BUT, what I realized was that this gloss is not only really nice layered on top of a bright pink lipstick, but it is also handy when trying to touch up your lips throughout the day.

If you are like me, then you would know the feeling of applying lipstick at the beginning of the day and after lunch you realize that most of your lipstick has faded except for a tint all over the lips and a ring of color lined around, essentially making you look like a chola. If you are really like me, then you would also know the feeling of not wanting to go through the effort of reapplying lipstick. *In comes this gloss* All I have to do is "swipe and swipe" and all of the residual lipstick is blended and my lips are left looking refreshed and beautifully gloss-tastic!

It goes without saying that the sun and heat can be brutal, so sun protection is a must if you are going to be out in the sun! I have really been enjoying this one by Neutrogena. Not only is it light and easy to apply, it is very cooling, too. You honestly don't feel like you are wearing sunscreen, which is huge for a lot of peeps! I like to stick this in my purse so I conveniently have it if I decide to be outside unexpectedly. Just spray, and spray, and spray, and DONE!

I've had this leave-in conditioning cream for a while and it has always worked well, but it really came in handy in the month of May and June due to my newly ombred hair. I feel like this tube came with me everywhere I went- to work, by my nightstand, in my purse, to the grocery store. Anytime I felt like my hair needed a thirst quencher, I would pull this bad boy out. Before I went to bed, I would apply a little to dry hair at the ends. When I was getting ready for work, I would slap some on. This stuff is like lotion for the hair.

Peoples! This stuff is amaze-balls!!! I saw this on the counter at Ulta and figured I would pick it up to try after hearing a couple YouTubers talk about how great it is. This product looked so luxe that I seriously thought it was in the $20-$30 range, but when the lady rung it up, it was $12!!!! For a .84 oz bottle, that's not bad at all.

I am a HUGE fan of using hair oils on the ends of my towel-dried, and even dry, hair. It just calms my long hair down so it doesn't look like a lion's mane. My usual go-to hair oil is the Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Treatment, which works fantastically, too! However, I think Orofluido may be just a bit better at leaving my hair softer and tamer.

I got this sample from a Sephora order when the fragrance first launched months ago, and like all my other perfume samples, they go into a little baggie in my bathroom for "later" use...whatever that means. So, recently, when I was packing for a business trip, I just grabbed a sample from my baggie and threw it in with the rest of my toiletries.

To my surprise, I am absolutely impressed by this fragrance that I wish I had this in droves! It's very floral, which I usually don't gravitate towards, but also fresh. If you like Flowerbomb or Daisy by Marc Jacobs, you will probably like Tory Burch, as well. This surely a fragrance that will receive many compliment from people within your vicinity.

Talk about some awesome awesome AWESOME nail polish!!! I am SO loving this line of nail colors. These days, the trend in manicures is all about shellac and gel, meaning shine, longevity, and durability are essential to women. However, I don't have time to sit and get a gel manicure or do it myself with the whole UV light and curing each nail one by one! That would be a total and complete mess for me!

So when I first tried this new Sephora exclusive line, I was in awe about how simply ONE COAT gives you such a shiny, long-lasting, durable wear. Of course, I think it is essential to always apply base coat and a top coat to completely lock everything in, but of all the nail polishes I have tried, nothing has lasted 6 days unchipped, looking fab-tacular like this one!!! On top of that, it dries incredibly fast!!!! I was able to do a full manicure in less than 10 minutes wet to dry!

Something that I have really gotten into the last couple of months are cleansing oils and balms. They are basically another form of cleansing where the oil or balm is massaged all over the face (even the eyes if that's what you are comfortable doing) and the formula breaks down any makeup and draws out suface impurities.

I don't do this everyday, but I do try at least 2-3 times a week before I jump into the shower. I just do one pump of oil or a nickel size dollop of balm and just move the product around on my face until I feel like I have melted all of my make-up away. Then, once I get in the shower, I wet my hands a little and massage my face again. What happens to the oil is that it emulsifies and becomes a light creamy lotion that helps further remove all the yuckiness from your face. Then rinse and BAM! Done.

Now, something I do want to note, for me, this stuff is what I use to just take off make-up. After I rinse off the oils or balm, I cleanse my face as I normally would with my Clarisonic. Of course, use your discretion if you decide to try.

Like I mentioned, May and June have been insanity on a stick and it was important for me to take 15 minutes to decompress and do something to keep my skin in check. This mask definitely did the job! I am such a fan of GlamGlow. It is definitely the facial treatment to pull out to get a good exfoliation and detox, especially if you are preparing to go to a special event or occasion the next day! SuperMud is basically like mud that smells kind of like licorice and Chinese herbal medication =/

Slap on a thin layer and let it sit until the mask has dried to a lighter gray color. Before washing it off, something interesting to take notice of is that right where your pores are heavy and probably the most clogged is where the mask will draw out the nasty impurities...and you actually SEE it. It will look like dots of dark gray. WHOA!!!

This was the candle of May and you can certainly tell! In a span of days, I managed to burn half of this candle. The scent is light, fresh, and spa-like. Right up my alley. What can I say, I like to burn things that smell pretty. On top of that, this candle did not cost me an arm and a leg, like some of my other favorite candles. I got it from the fancy boutique, Target, and it was less than ten smackaroos!

I usually don't put much thought into the scent of my anti-bacterial gels. I just pick them up wherever convenient. And, in this case, it was at Bath and Body Works. To my surprise (as I am finding out a lot of things surprise me), the Island Nectar smells really good, like a tropical heaven! That's all. It just smells really good, and I like it, so it's a fave.

To throw on an extra layer to this product, it is male tested and approved, in the case any ladies are wondering. I took this with me to our company bass tournament, and I got more men recognizing and stating it is their favorite B&BW scent than the women did.

Ok...Ok...I have to calm myself down when talking about this. I definitely saved the best favorite for last, and to my luck, it's FOOD!

So, I have to confess that sometimes I buy the strangest food that nobody on the face of this planet would ever buy. This is partially because that is how I eat...just plain strange, partially because normal food gets eaten up before I get a chance to get my share, which for the record is not a big deal. Anyway, saw this popcorn at my H-E-B and said "Yes, this falls on the list of food people would never think to buy."

Of course I forgot that I had this popcorn and one day saw that my husband had popped and was eating a bag of it, which was strange to me since he doesn't like rosemary, or things are not normally advertised to the mass market. Naturally, I started asking questions, and before I knew it, my husband was giving me a full presentation on how this popcorn all comes together. It was a transformative experience.

First off, I think it's already obvious that this popcorn is delicious on a very culinary level, or else I would not have featured it as a favorite. Second, holy cow!!! For microwave popcorn, there should never be 6 steps to prepare it, but because it tastes so good, flipping YES!!! Yes, I will take the time to complete all 6 steps (which in actuality is not as grueling as I am making it sound).