Favorites Friday

I know, I was supposed to post some reviews this week. I will get a few up soon, I promise! And now that I am back home, I have more variety in the products I've been using. Still, it might be a short list of favorites this week. But yes, onto those...

1. Mocha Marshmallow lip balm from For Goodness Grape. I'm not a fan of coffee, I never drink it. But I like the way it smells and the light coffee scent mixed with the sweetness of the marshmallow is delicious! Plus, I am really enjoying the creaminess that For Goodness Grape balms have.  
2. Splash in the Sun soap from Elegant Rose Boutique. I recently ordered some soap samples from this shop and this is the first one I've been trying out. I'm usually not one to go for citrus-y scents. Well, they don't usually appeal when I'm thinking about them but once I get them under my nose, I always like them. Weird, I know. But anyway, the scent of this is completely delightful. It is bright and refreshing from the citrus and mint. I might have to get a full-size bar. And the lather is heavenly!
3. Neem Tea Tree & Rosemary shampoo bar from Fresh as a Daisy Soaps. It's been awhile since I've used shampoo bars. With all the traveling, it's difficult to use them because I can't carry around apple cider vinegar for rinses afterwards. But now that I am home, it is back to testing out different shampoo bars. And I have really been enjoying this one. The light tea tree & rosemary scent is lovely and there is a surprising amount of lather, which is always nice for shampoo bars! And my hair has been clean, soft, and shiny. So much better than the roughness it had when traveling!
4. Lavender essential oil from NOW Foods on Amazon. I am still very much in love with the scent of lavender! I have been putting this in the ACV rinses and mixing with coconut oil that I use on the ends of my hair. I probably use more than I need to, but it makes my hair smell like lavender all day! 

And let's see, what non-product favorites do I have this week...

•  Blood of the Fold by Terry Goodkind. I am enjoying having time to read for pleasure before school starts up again next week! This is the third book in the Sword of Truth series. If you are a fan of epic fantasy series, this is an awesome one. There is even a show based off of the first two books, called Legend of the Seeker. Great show! 
• My bed! I've been traveling so much it is always good to come home to my own bed in my own room with my millions of pillows! After sleeping on a couch for over two weeks, my bed feels completely amazing and I have been sleeping way too much lately!

That's it for my favorites this week! What have yours been? Or maybe you shouldn't tell me, because I have an ever-growing list of things I want to try! ;)

Hope you have a magical weekend!

<3 Alyssa

For Goodness Grape Lip Balms {review}

I've been buying lip balms from For Goodness Grape for quite awhile now. And I think it's prime time for a lip balm review! I also reviewed her lip tints here - and you should be expecting another one of those reviews soon because I just ordered some more!

{the balm}

The balms have that lovely texture - the kind you'd keep going back for! It goes on smooth and has quite a bit of creaminess. It is a bit on the thicker side of things, but it's not too heavy on the lips. The wear isn't the greatest. Sometimes I feel the need to reapply after an hour or so. But there's so many fun flavors I don't mind doing so. Also, it leaves my lips moisturized enough sometimes I don't even realize all my lip balm has worn off. I love it when balms are able to achieve that!

I've also tried one of the Baby Moose Lips balms which have different formulas than the regular lip balms. They are formulated to be gentle and moisturizing to give you "baby soft lips". The balm feels thinner than the regular balms with a hint more gloss. It feels really nice going on because it's soft and smooth. There's a bit of creaminess as well, but not as much as the regular balms. Overall, great balm and I'd definitely try more flavors but my preference is for the regular balms.

{flavors + ingredients}

For Goodness Grape has a TON of flavors! I bet she has enough flavors for every day of the year. Here are the ones I've tried:

• Apple Crisp - Smells just like the delicious dessert! It's all warm and sweet with the brown sugar and cinnamon combined with the tartness of the apples. I was surprised by how this actually smells like the real thing!
• Banana Colada - Pina Colada with extra banana! It reminds me of being in Hawaii with a sweet, tropical drink. Great for summer!
• Cherry Cola - I love a good cherry cola, and this doesn't disappoint. It's sweet and refreshing and fizzy.
• Chocolate Bailey's - This is a creamy chocolatey scent warmed up by the Irish cream. It's a nice mellow chocolate scent that I enjoy when I'm going through a chocolate phase, which was the case when I purchased this!
• Chocolate Coconut - Every time I open this balm I want to eat it! It is a sweet and delicious chocolatey scent. It reminds me of those Almond Joy candy bars, minus the almonds.
• Cookie Dough - This one doesn't exactly remind me of cookie dough. There is definitely some chocolate in there, but it also smells very boozy. And it's quite potent. Not my favorite.
• Hot Chocolate w/ Marshmallow - This balm is a two-layer. I haven't made it to the hot chocolate part yet, but the marshmallow is a great sweet mallow!
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - Minty, sweet, and chocolatey. Definitely reminds me of mint chip ice cream! And it has a pleasant tingle from the peppermint. (This is the Baby Moose Lips flavor I have.)
• Mocha Marshmallow - I'm not a fan of coffee, but I like the way it smells and I love marshmallow. This balm reminds me of coffee ice cream, but slightly sweeter because of the mallow. It's delicious!
• Spumoni Ice Cream - This is probably one of my favorite FGG flavors. I don't know how quite to describe it and I've never tried the ice cream, but it's supposed to be a combination of chocolate, pistachio, and cherry. I can't pick out any of these scents in the balm, but rather they combine to create a delicious and unique flavor!
• White Chocolate Wonderful - I love peanut butter scents and I love white chocolate, so I just had to try this one! It does not disappoint. It is ultra sweet and nutty and chocolatey wonderfulness! Might be a new favorite flavor!

Ingredients (for the regular balms) include shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, coconut oil, castor oil, vitamin e, and flavor oils.

Ingredients (for the Baby Moose Lips balms) include sweet almond oil, chamomile butter, kokum butter, cocoa butter, candelilla wax, apricot kernel oil, macadamia oil, castor oil, rosehip oil, calendula extract, vitamin e, essential and flavor oils.

{conclusion}

I love For Goodness Grape lip balms. There's a ton of flavors to pick from and the formula is smooth and creamy. Perfect combination to feed my lip balm addiction! The only complaint I have about the shop is that shipping costs are high for lip balms - they charge several dollars more than other shops to ship the same amount of lip balms. However, the balms are so great and there's always new and delicious flavors popping up, I have still placed quite a few orders with For Goodness Grape and will continue to do so! I would definitely recommend these balms to anyone!

For Goodness Grape Lip Tints {review}

I have gone a bit crazy lately for lip tints. And some of my favorites that I have found are from For Goodness Grape. And let me just say, it is about time I have a For Goodness Grape review up on this blog because this shop is amazing! Warning: This post might be a little picture heavy!

{the tints}

I have found that the textures for these lip tints vary. Some go on thick and creamy while others are light and glossy. I haven't been disappointed yet, although I do prefer the ones with a thicker consistency. They feel like they offer more protection and stay on longer. However, the lighter ones offer more gloss. Really, both are fantastic!

The colors of the lip tints are gorgeous. If you check out the For Goodness Grape shop, you will see she has a huge variety of colors. All of the ones I have tried have been wonderful. They offer just the right amount of color and look fantastic in a "your lips but better" sort of way!

{colors}

L-R: American Beauty, Barbie, Berry Bright, Bitten, Mystery Macabre, Vivien

Instead of just trying to describe colors to you, I thought it might be easier and better to also show you! I took photos of how the tint colors look on me. All the photos were taken in natural, afternoon lighting!

Before, without lip tint

Here's the before shot of my lips without any lip tint on! And in case you're wondering, that's a vertical labret piercing! Which I love, but I always have to be careful to not get any lip tint on it. :)

American Beauty lip tint

American Beauty - I love the brightness of this lip tint. It is a lovely pink that is meant to be flattering on anyone, which I think it would be! It also has some great sparkle!

Barbie lip tint

Barbie - In the tube, this tint looks like a super bright pink. But on the lips it is very sheer. The sheer wash of hot pink though ending up being a very wearable color. I always have this one with me!

Berry Bright lip tint

Berry Bright - This color made me fall in love with lip tints! It definitely is a bright color and offers great coverage. It is a bit of a bold color and looks brighter indoors, without natural lighting. I'd say it's the closest to hot pink of all the colors I have. It's my favorite color so far!

Bitten lip tint

Bitten - This lip tint is supposed to give that bitten lips look. I think for my lips, it would have to be a bit darker to accomplish that. However, I love the pretty pink color it gives my lips.

Mystery Macabre lip tint

Mystery Macabre - Of all the tints I ordered, this one is the darkest. In the tube it looks like a dark blood red, but on my lips it is a sheer wash of red. Sexy color!

Vivien lip tint

Vivien - This lip tint doesn't offer a a whole lot of color. As you can see, it is very light on my lips. But it does have a great gloss and what you can't see is the beautiful shimmer it has also!

{flavors + ingredients}

Most of the lip tints come without flavoring. The Berry Bright comes cherry flavored though, which is a great basic cherry. However, in my last order I requested some flavorings for the tints I ordered. There was an extra fee to do so, but it was worth it! The flavors are also available in the lip balms. The flavors I requested were:

Bubblegum - This is a great pink bubblegum scent. It smells just like Wrigley's Extra Classic Bubble. There's even a sweet taste!
Cotton Candy - This is a light and sweet scent. Not overly sweet like some cotton candy scented things can be.
Cherub - This is strawberry champagne scent. I can definitely smell the sweet strawberry scent but it also smells floral. It's quite strong and I don't particularly care for it.
Vanilla Milkshake - This is a bright and ultra sweet vanilla scent without being buttery. Great scent for a lip tint, as I see vanilla scented anything being neutral.

Ingredients include shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, cetyl stearyl alcohol, olive oil, beeswax, olive fruit oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, castor oil, avocado oil, glycine soybean lipids, lauryl laurate, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, vitamin e, mica, and pigment.

{conclusion}

I am seriously in love with For Goodness Grape lip tints. They offer great coverage with such flattering, gorgeous colors. They feel great, they look great, so what's not to love? If you're interested in lip tints go check out For Goodness Grape! There's a color (or two or three or...) for everyone!