A Beauty & Travel Blog
A blog for beauty, travel destinations, travel tips and personal adventures, lifestyle and all roads in between.
View from Villa Palumbo
After a long bit of travel to get here, we've made it to our first stop in Italy: Positano. AKA land of OMFG so many stairs.
Make sure to follow me on Instagram for up to date travel Italy photos, @roamingholiday
PS- the jetlag is so real right now, been up since 3:15am trying to go back to sleep. Oh well.
I told myself, "Self, don't buy any more makeup for a while. You have enough." But then I saw pictures of the newest Pixi Beauty 2016 Collection on Instagram, specifically their new MultiBalm sticks for lip and cheek and the Glow Tonic To Go pads, and I folded like a lawn chair. So it goes.
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via Lush Cosmetics
In an effort to bring as little liquids as possible when backpacking in Italy to ease going through airport security and avoid any messes, I've been testing out the Lush Shampoo Bar in Montalbano. It's the one that is quite unmistakably lemony, promising to "make hair shine bright like a diamond from root to tip." The Lush counter girls were also telling that these bars tend to last a long time, sometimes longer than a bottle of shampoo.
So does it work well?
First thing to consider, if you're not a fan sulfates this won't be for you. It's the first ingredient on the list, right before fragrance. I personally don't mind since I haven't been coloring my hair and don't wash my hair every day, but it's important to keep in mind for those looking to avoid SLS.
That being said, this thing suds well, very very well. I don't think you'd even need to run the bar over your hair, you could easily build up lather in your hands and go town. It also smells divine thanks to the lemon oils and fragrance. It's very citrusy without being cloying or overpowering. I find a little goes a long way and it gets the job done cleaning. My hair is squeaky clean after use, and as far as I'm concerned it does what it says on the tin. You will want to use a conditioner after this, whether it be the Lush one or another kind. I'm more middle ground and kinda eh on the one conditioner bar I have, but it's not awful either. If you want that feeling of slipping, creamy conditioning though, I suggest you stick with a regular cream one.
Speaking of tins, you can buy one from Lush to carry your shampoo bar in which really does make this ideal for travel. Aside from this one, there's twelve types of shampoo bars in total to choose from, making it easy to find the perfect one for your hair. Fans of Honey I Wash The Kids soap will be delighted to know there is a corresponding shampoo bar with that same oh-so-lovely honey toffee scent.
You can find the Lush Shampoo Bars online or in-stores ranging from $10.95-$11.95, and considering how much use you can get out of them that's a pretty great price.
Do you like outdoor water sports? Hiking? Seeing marine life in the wild? Good food, good shops, good wine? If yes to any or all of the above, you're in the right place! Just a short drive past Monterey on 101 is the charming, idyllic little village of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Read MoreSometimes the best products don't need to cost an obscene amount, they can be as cheap as $5 or under. There's a wealth of great makeup out there that won't break the bank, do the job, and sometimes even better than the high end stuff. So if you're looking for some cheap and cheerful products that just might be your new favorites, read on.
Read MoreThere's a lot of great food options at Disneyland, and you could easily snack your way through the park for days between the candied apples, Matterhorn macaroons, and the oh so tasty corn dogs. Here are five tasty options to savor in between rides, that are both cheap and yummy.
Read MoreI'm a bit of a cleansing balm addict. When you find a great one, it really feels like it can do anything: take makeup off, cleanse, treat, double duty as a mask, maybe pay off my taxes? Okay, that last one is reaching just a wee bit but hey, a girl can dream!
The Trilogy brand from New Zealand is slightly newer to the US skincare market, but every product I've tried so far I've ended up loving and gave the brand a nod in my winter skincare favorites. The Cream Cleanser, Hydrating Mist Toner, and Certified Organic Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+ are all incredibly lovely and constantly rotate their way into my routine. So when I saw they had released a cleansing balm when I was at Whole Foods recently, I had to try it.
Read MoreWhen I was five, we went to Disneyworld and I barely remember it outside of riding Haunted Mansion the Dumbo ride. Since then, I hadn't set foot in a Disney park for twenty-five years. I'm a bit terrified of roller coasters, and just never had time to go back. Also, Florida is crazy humid and I do poorly in humidity for too long.
And then three years ago I went to Disneyland for the first time ever, and fell in love. It really can be the happiest place on Earth and from the moment I walked onto Main Street with it's quirky, bright small town feel, I was in love. And that was before I had even tried the wonder that is Dole Whip!
Disneyland makes you feel like a kid again, and really, you're never too old to visit.
Read MoreThere are some amazing bloggers out there who seem to be traveling 27/4, and more power to them because that's pretty adventurous! And then there are the bloggers like me, the part-time travelers, who have one foot on the ground and the other inching towards some new destination. Here's what I've learned so far in my journey as a part-time traveler and blogger.
Read MoreFrom the BB craze to multi-step skincare layering, it's safe to say Asian beauty is one of, if not, the leading trendsetter in the commercial beauty industry right now. Products and concepts that become big there eventually wind up on our shores and in our stores a couple years later.
Read MoreMuch like San Francisco, Portland is a city with a strong counter culture vibe, and it's also smack dab in the middle of so much beautiful geography and activity. Roughly two hours from the rugged Oregon Coast, it's very much a city...that also happens to have a large forest in its northwest section and is close by to several waterfalls and parks.
There really is something for everyone in Portland, whether you're a literature lover, outdoor adventurer, or cocktail connoisseur. Here are some fun things to do the next time you visit.
Read MoreI'm pretty sure by now it's no secret I love MUJI, especially for travel accessories. They have some of the best travel-sized bottles and containers, toiletries essentials, packing cubes and more. One of my favorite things they also carry are their Nylon Hanging Travel Case.
Read MoreIt goes without saying you're working with limited real estate when traveling with a backpack, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your makeup entirely to make room for your shoes. With a few tips, you'll have what you need without taking up too much space.
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I've ended up working about 50 hours this week between day job and picking up some extra hours doing content marketing elsewhere, so apologies for less posts this week. Since I spent last weekend prepping taxes, I didn't get ahead as I try to with writing out post drafts for the week. Basically, this week has been too much adulting and not enough time for blogging.
As for new blog category, I want to explore doing a few Op Ed pieces every now and then, that aren't necessarily travel or beauty, or sometimes are but aren't quite reviews or tips. IE- I've moved my last post into the Op Ed category instead of travel because I felt it fit better there.
I also wanted to ask, what type of content would you like to see more of? More tips and trick, more reviews, inspirational posts? Let me know in the comments!
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This is a bit of a different post today, and I suppose we can thank Facebook for this. You know that quirky feature where it reminds you of a memory from a year or few years ago? For me, the past few days have been Facebook Memories of the trip we took last year to Disneyworld with a large of group friends. It was fun, there were happy memories, but it was also a very bittersweet trip.
Read MoreYou know when you can barely walk into your closet and you're at the point of critical clothing mass where you just want to set things on fire?
Okay, you probably shouldn't actually do that, but you can wrangle your wardrobe down to something easier and more manageable, using a method the Internet has dubbed as the "French Five Piece Wardrobe."
Read MoreLast weekend in my last bit of makeup shopping for a good while, I stopped by Nordstrom's because finally, blessedly, there was a Charlotte Tilbury counter. I could finally swatch this highly coveted brand in person, pick up a few things, and see if it's really worth all the hype it's getting by everyone from pro makeup artist to the online beauty community.
Read MoreWhen I was piecing together a flight itinerary for Italy back in February, which was several power hours of Googling over a weekend, I ended up doing a combo of different airlines and cities to get where I needed to go on a budget.
What I ended up going with was this...
Read MoreNuance by Salma Hayek at CVS is, to me, an underdog brand that doesn't get as much love as it should. Some of that is the weirdly small to non-existent marketing behind it, were I to guess. The color cosmetics line is pretty straight forward, but there's some real gems in the skin and haircare range worth grabbing.
Today, I'm talking about a pretty awesome cleansing oil that's both drugstore and less than $11. But, like all goods things such as Firefly, it's too good to be true as CVS has apparently discontinued it. You might still be able to find bottles of it, though, and I highly suggest stocking up.
Read MoreA beauty, travel and lifestyle blog featuring beauty reviews, travel tips & featured places, destination guides, lifestyle posts and more. Let's explore together!
