I don’t know about you but I just can’t resist a tinted lip balm. My collection has reached a totally unneeded proportion (to most) but I say the more the merrier! And besides, each balm only imparts a certain amount of tint and no two are the same, right? Haha. I love the way I convince myself but there is something different about these next ones.

The new ones I’m adding to my stash are BARE ESCENTUALS bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip Oil-Balm ($16 @ dermstore.com, macys.com). Yup, you read correctly, these oils, as in, passion fruit seed oil, jojoba and sunflower seed oils, as well as vitamin E.

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You know the type – can’t pass a yard sale in the car. Has to stop, “just to see if there’s anything good.”

• Has a screenshot of coupons in her phone to Michael’s and Joann’s just in case she needs to stop for something.
• Buys that “thing” just because she knows she can do something with it.
• Owns a personal key to the Lowe’s Spray Paint cabinet.

Ok I’m kidding about that last one but the others are totally true and, well, describe me! And I see that I'm not alone! I too can be a craft hoarder but I’ve learned ways to curb it.

1. If I’m doing something with paper I make myself looks through all my paper supplies, not only to reorganize, but to see what I can live without.
2. Keep the items that fall under the category of, “I know I can do something with this at some point,” in a box and put a piece of masking tape on each item with the date. That way you have one year to do something with it. If I don’t, it’s gone.
3. Get a friend’s advice! If you know a fellow crafter, have her come look at your stash and vice versa. Maybe do some trading! I’ve done that twice now and had it really pay off. I got rid of a few things and scored a few items at the same time. Think of it like a clothes swap party.
4. I know more than a few times I’ve picked something up in my arsenal and wondered why I even had it in the first place.
5. Get a friend’s advice. If you’re not sure you will even use something, ask for some ideas on how they see using it!

How do you keep yourself from hoarding craft items? Do share in the comments!

LATHER Bamboo Silk Foaming Face Scrub with Lemongrass ($23/4oz @ lather.com) – I try not to overdo the exfoliation this time of year but either way, I make sure whichever one I’m using does not contain any exfoliates that will damage my skin. This one uses powdered bamboo and jojoba beads to exfoliate and essential oils to encourage cell production.

VASELINE Intensive Care Healing Serum ($7.99/6.8oz @ walgreens.com and amazon.com) – now this is a new category – a serum for the body. It contains 3 ingredients to heal super dry skin and comes in 3 different formulas – Deep Repair, Advanced Relief and Radiance Restore. The Advanced Repair shown here smells of roses and vanilla. Yum!

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes. 

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I know it has to be finally warming up where you are now that Spring is officially here so it’s time to think scents as in, time to update what fragrances you’ll be wearing this season. Here are 3 new favorites.

ELIE SAAB ‘Le Parfum’ Resort Collection EDT ($98/3oz @ amazon.com) – if rose isn’t your thing, then perhaps this watery/fruity floral will be. Created by world famous nose, Francis Kurkdjian, he’s included top notes of mandarin and fig, middle notes of jasmin, organge flower and frangipani flower and a base of cedar and luminous amber.

AERIN Rose de Grasse Parfum Spray ($185/1.7oz @ neimanmarcus.com) – nothing says springtime more than roses and this one blends 3 precious rose ingredients in the bottle. This is also the first launch in the Premier Collection, which will be a celebration of rare, expensive and artisanal perfumes by the brand.

Eau de Gaga 001 Eau de Parfum ($34/1.7oz @ ice.com) I’ve kinda shied away from the whole celebrity fragrance trend even though I did like one that I sniffed a few years ago. But I swear, if I did a blind sniff of this one from Ms. Ga, I would swear it was put out by Juliette Has A Gun or Agent Provocateur … seriously! This latest one is unisex and described as a woody-floral opening with notes of sparkling lime, white violet and a base of leather. 

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes.

Unlike the trend of highlighting and contouring, or HACing, the trend of liquid lipsticks is pretty doable for anybody. With HACing, you really have to have some kind of idea of what you’re doing, what you want to bring forth or set back, blah, blah, blah. And yes, I don’t have it totally down either, just parts of my face.

With the liquid lipstick trend, it’s basically lip color on steroids so if you can apply lipstick or lip gloss, you can apply liquid lipsticks!

It seems to have started out as just a handful of brands a few years ago with MAC (I even have theirs in my Hall of Fame), Korres, Addiction NV (who I don’t think is around anymore), Make Up For Ever and L’Oreal and it wasn’t even called liquid lipstick; not even sure when the name liquid lipstick started surfacing with these.

I’m a fan of all the aforementioned brands but just in case you were wondering, I think the OG liquid lipstick brand has to be LipSense by SeneGence. Thoughts?

But now, this seems to be a full-on trend with whole brands being built just on it like Jeffree Star’s new collection, Pretty Zombie Cosmetics and I’m sure others I just haven’t caught up with just yet.

So just what is liquid lipstick anyways? Click after the jump to find out!

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1. PIXI BEAUTY Full Coverage Foundation Brush ($15 @ target.com) – such a compact head but don’t let the lack of length fool you. It still does a great job at getting your liquid products into those corners and contours.

2. OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE COSMETICS Crème Colour Concentrate in Discipline ($23 @ occmakeup.com and nordstrom.com) – described as a bruised-bronze, this multi-tasking creamy color can be used on the eyes, lips, and cheeks (note that not all 17 shades can be used in the eye area).

3. L’OREAL Smokissime Infallible Powder Eyeliner Pen in Purple Smoke ($9.99 @ lorealparisusa.com) – if the packaging says ‘Infallible’ on it, I’m in! Seriously though, their Infallible line is flawless. And these fat liners are great for applying a smoking eye in seconds.

4. BENEFIT COSMETICS the POREfessional: License to Blot ($20 @ sephora.com) – this is the latest addition to the POREfessional collection and will be great for the upcoming season. It’s an instant blotting stick with tiny invisible spheres that will mattifying any oil your face puts forth. 

5. BEAUTY 360 Shape-Defining Nail File ($4.99 @ cvs.com and CVS stores nationwide) – this is my new favorite file! I’ve noticed that sometimes a file has to be “broken in” so it’s not too harsh on the nails. This one arrived perfect and ready to use. 

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.

I just came up with an easy kitchen idea. See I’ve lived in this apartment for the past 15 years and since it was built in the 1920’s there’s not much in the way of closet space or kitchen counters. The later I don’t quite get but anyway, when I had my bookshelf put up, I asked the handyman I hired if he had any experience with tile resurfacing kits as I was considering doing it to my kitchen counter. 

Yes, so much goes with pistachio-colored tile, right? And the burgundy trim is just ... priceless!

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