If You've Got Beauty, Beauty: Summer Music and Beauty Faves

...one day, we will get better at blogging. One day.

Alright, so I wrote the post I wanted to give to you guys. I did, I really did. But then I didn't have the pictures in it and I thought "I'll update it tomorrow with the pictures" but I never did. It's still sitting there, in my drafts, waiting to be posted. I'll post it one day, but honestly I still don't have those pictures on the computer and I don't know when I will.

But anyway, I thought that since summer was coming to a close, I'd do a summer music and beauty favorites for you. (I know there's two weeks left of August, but shh....)

Music
I have two music favorites of the summer, and both I found via YouTube. The first I heard about through PopSugar Girl's Guide around the end of June I believe, Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" has been my most-played song of the summer by far. It was the first thing I played when I bought my new car and I listened to it on repeat for every car ride to work in July.

"All About That Bass" - Meghan Trainor

This is a song that is getting both praised and criticized for it's commentary on body size. Some say that it's sending mixed messages with lyrics like "Every inch of you is perfect/ From the bottom to the top" and "I'm bringing booty back/ Go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that". I'm very much of the opinion that this song is about empowerment for the girls that you don't always see in music videos, as well as loving yourself because "If you've got beauty beauty, just raise 'em up". I've have friends who love this song who don't have "a little more booty to hold at night", so don't think about the song too much, it is just a song after all.

Next, thanks to YouTube, is my newest song of the summer: "Happy Little Pill" by Troye Sivan. Troye is a South African YouTuber/actor/singer who lives in Australia. I have less to say about this song since I've only recently fallen in love with it but it's been getting a lot of promotion from famous YouTuber friends of Troye's like Zoe Sugg (Zoella), the Holy Trinity (Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart, and Hannah Hart) and Tyler Oakley. Regardless of your YouTube feelings, you should check it out. (It's also really great if you speed it up a little.)

"Happy Little Pill" - Troye Sivan

Beauty

Alright, so my beauty favorites may also be in relation to YouTube, but only in the slightest. My first being one that I'm a little late to game on, Urban Decay's Naked Palette. No I'm not talking about the Naked 2 or the ever so beautiful rose gold Naked 3, I'm talking about the original Naked Palette, which I believe came out in 2012 if I'm not wrong. This palette has been widely talked about, I know that, and I know that I previously had thought to myself "what's all the hype about?" and "why would I spend $50+ on eyeshadow?" The hype about it is well deserved, and that money is well-spent. 

Urban Decay's Naked Palette 

Urban Decay's Naked Palette

While I think high-end cosmetics come in gorgeous packaging, I'm not one to typically shell out a ton of money for a few products. At $54, with its velvet case, this product falls into that category of make-up where I don't enjoy going. Yes, it is expensive, but if you need to justify your purchase (like I did), remember that it comes with 12 shadows, which brings us down to $4.50 per shadow, quite an average price...(I'm trying to help you here) and you get 54 Ulta-mate Rewards Points or whatever, so yay? 

Anyway, how I came upon this is thanks to my friend who had come over to do her make-up before heading out with my roommate for the night. She left her unattended Naked Palette on my bathroom vanity and I, of course, needed to use it. The results being that I had fallen in love with a palette of expensive eye shadow that I looked damn good in. Pro tip: always go through your make-up loving friend's bags when they leave them unattended. H even commented on how great my eyes looked that night, my boyfriend cared a whole lot less about my newfound love, which I just ended up purchasing my own of on Sunday.

Second on my list is my skin care favorite, Argan Oil. I stumbled upon this in my bathroom, it was a sample (full 2 oz. bottle) that my mom had gotten from work. I did a little research and saw that the benefits were amazing when using this on your face, body and hair. The one that I use is John Masters Organics 100% Argan Oil, which sells for around $35-40 for 2 oz., and it's amazing. 

I use it mainly two ways, applied either as a sort of serum underneath my moisturizer at night or as a make-up remover (most commonly). I've used it also as tanning oil (I burnt and a dog licked some of it off, but you should also add sunscreen to the mix obviously), in my hair after I've showered or when it gets a little fried, as just a serum without anything else on particulary dry days, and even to help prevent scarring on a recent burn. Using it at least five times a week for five months, I've only just used up half of it (a little goes a long way).

I should probably end here, four is enough favorites for now, right? I will, as always, try to write another post soon. H is in Chicago, so maybe she'll have something to blog home about. Any summertime favorites of your own?

Until then,

-J