Life is Delicious!

Recently, together with my "natural soap search" obsession, I've become extremely fond of TJ MAXX store and all of it's "can't find anywhere else items" (at least in Puerto Rico). 

And today I found this amazing deal on two of Philosophy shower gels Vanilla Ice Cream & Pumpkin Spice for only $10 for both.

Compared to their retail price of $42 at Amazon.com, this was a sweet deal!

So let me know what do you like to threat yourself with!?

Mary Kay Botanical Effects Skincare review

Mary Kay is a world renown beauty company that has been around 49 years, since 1963. So they've had time to build up quite the reputation on their skincare and make-up line. I've tried a couple of their products, but have limit myself to only a few such as the "Satin Hands kit" and "Eye makeup remover"  (which I'll eventually review) because honestly I find their prices waaaaaay to expensive for my taste. So I am extremely selective as to what I'll try out from them. 

But recently they released a new "Botanical Effects" skin care line which caught my eye because it is: 

• Formulated for sensitive skin
• Hypoallergenic
• Fragrance free
• Rich in antioxidants 

It comes in three different formulas:

1. Dry: with flaxseed  and sea kelp extract for that extra moisture the skin needs. 
2. Normal: with frangipani extract which protects the skin from environmental stressors and water lily extract which provides antioxidants and minerals.
3. Oily: with white tea tree for purification and guava extract for exfoliation and provides salicylic acid. 

It has four steps:

1. Cleanser (4 oz. at $14)
2. Freshener (5 fl. oz. at $14)
3. Moisturizer (4 fl. oz. at $16)
4. Mask (4 oz. at $14)

I purchased  all four steps of the Balanced Formula

Steps and thoughts:

1. Cleanser (4 oz.) - It is a very light cream that does not lather up or create any foam. Personally, I am not liking this. I don't feel it cleanses my face properly. So I end up using a large amount of product to feel like is actually washing away some dirt. Because of this, I will run out of product in two months. And for $14 a pop, I find it is not worth the money.  Also, I know it doesn't clean up well because after I use the freshener, the cotton ball picks up a lot of dirt the cleanser left behind. I won't be repurchasing this.

2. Freshener (5 fl. oz.) - It is alcohol free so it does not dry up my skin. I love this. It feels like water, with the added bonus that it moisturizes the skin and leaves it feeling fresh and smooth. It also does a great job picking up any dirt left behind from the cleanser. I find it to be much better than a toner, which all that I've tried had alcohol in them and there for dried up my skin. This freshener is a keeper.

3. Moisturizer (4 fl. oz.) - It's very light and watery. A bit thicker than the freshener. So a little goes a long way. It does not have sun protection (so a sun lotion is advised) but can be used at night. Even though it does its job, I am not loving it for the price. So I will continue searching for something better.

4. Mask (4 oz.) - This is my favorite of them all. It is a deep exfoliate mask. You can either use it to exfoliate your skin in the shower and quickly wash it off, or leave it on as a mask for 10 minutes for a much deeper cleanse. This will leave your skin feeling soft, smooth and shine free. It left my face looking clearer after the first use. I also noticed that my cheek pores seemed smaller afterwards. This is another keeper.

Please let me know if you've tried any of these or any of their other skincare products and what has been your thoughts and experiences with them.

Day 6 places - The 10 Day You Challenge

So many places to go, but so little time... Traveling and internal tourism are my most joyful hobbies, but I don't get to do them as often as I want to. I just get this amazing feeling of a six year old waiting for Santa to come, more surprised every time as if it were the first. Playing chess has been a way for me to live this dream.

So, here are 6 places I've had the privilege to see and have loved:

1. Seoul, South Korea (family visit)

2. Turin, Italy (Chess Olympiad)

3. Dresden, Germany (Chess Olympiad)

4. Khantsy Mansiysk, Russia (Chess Olympiad)

5. Crete, Greece (World Youth Championship)

6. Uruguay (Pan american Chess Championship)

Belle Ame' Bath and Body - Soaps review

Continuing through the world of soaps, yesterday came my third order of Belle Ame soaps. The other two were samples. They give you 10 samples for $1.95 plus $2.12 for shipping, good for those of you who want to be sure before investing, like me! This is the best deal I've come across so far, compared to other company's like Fortune Cookie Soaps, who charges $7.95 plus shipping for 11 pieces (4 oz.), which I find it to be too expensive. Also Belle Ame gives you the luxury of choosing which sample soaps you are interested in trying and will grant this depending on what they have in stock. And they offer free priority shipping by ordering $60 or more! Plus with every purchase, they'll add 5 sample bars.

This ensures the safety of the products, which is a nice plus!

Products that I bought (8 bars of soap & 1 bath bomb):

• Pumpkin Pie (gift for mother's day)
• Oatmeal, Milk and Honey
• Southern Tea
• Ginger & lime
• Royal Luxe (men's scent)
• Fujian white tea
• Buttercream Icing
• Sassy Sugar
• Ginger & lime (bath bomb)

The bars of soap cost $6.95 each and the  bath bomb was $4.95

General Characteristics of all of the bar soaps:

• Creamy and abundant lathering
• Moisturizing
• Large variate of scents such as floral, sweet, citrusy, mild, strong, and others.
• 1 bar could last from 20-25 showers
• Beautiful detailed packaging
• Amazing customer service (as I mentioned before, they make sure to send the samples that you request)
• Fast shipment (took about 4-6 days for packaging and 3-4 days for delivery)
• Great for gifts!

Here are my favorite scents which I'll definitely be repurchasing:

1. Sassy Sugar has an extremely sweet scent of cotton candy and caramel. Can't get enough of it.

2. Buttercream icing is another extremely sweet scent, reminds me of cream cheese cake icing. Love it.

3. Fujian white tea has a fresh scent and a hint of sweetness, but not overpowering as the ones before.

4. Southern tea is a mixture of flowers and honey, definitely can pick it up. For me its more of a relaxing scent then the others.


Overall I think these are amazing quality soaps. They have affordable prices and a variety of body care products: soap bars, shower gels, body scrubs, lip scrubs, bath bombs, body lotions, bubble bath, hand wash, men's, kid's.

Let me know if you've tried this line before or not, what are your thoughts?

Rampage Shoes!

Hey guys! Recently I found myself limited by my shoe collection. Besides flats, convers, and sandals I don't have much variety on colors and styles. So I decided to upgrade it a bit by adding shoes which I would never have bought before. I've made a list of must have style shoes which I'll be purchasing as I stumble on affordable prices and the most comfortable I can find.

So my first purchase was at Marshalls and picked up the Rampage brand. They were at sale at an affordable price of $24.99 plus taxes. And you know how Marshalls loves to compare prices, so these were against $54.00. 

Inside were these 4 inch leopard print heels which I absolutely fell in love with. Of course I was a bit hesitant to try them on as they are very bold compared to what I am used to ware. But this was the key phrase which led me to try them on!

With a cute bow in the front

Leopard print is definitively on my list because they can dress up any type of outfit

 But the best part is how amazingly comfortable they are! Inside they have a sort of gel cushion, which caught me by surprise. They make my feet feel relaxed and almost as if I were walking through air! I will be saving these for a special occasion to surprise my b-friend.

The only downside is that I still don't know what to wear them with, so if anyone has some suggestions, please comment bellow!