Shopping


Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2018

shop breast cancer awareness products 2018

products benefiting breast cancer awareness and breast cancer research from top left: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair / Elemis skin care travel kit / “Family Strong” sweatshirt / Bobbi Brown lipstick duo / water bottle / pink Santa ornament / Estee Lauder beauty gift set (great for a holiday gift!) / heart and ribbon pendant /

Breast Cancer is the second largest killer of women in the United States behind heart disease. It’s something we are still searching for a cure for. Many women would be hard-pressed to admit that breast cancer hasn’t affected them in some way, shape, or form, during the course of their lifetime. I know several women who have suffered from breast cancer in their 40’s; and one woman in her early 30s.

My grandmother died of breast cancer when my mom was nine years old. She was sick for five years, and my mom, as a young child, had to endure the pain of watching her mother slowly die. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone. It has affected my mom her whole life, and she has never fully recovered from the pain. This is why I find breast cancer so scary, and it is why I feel it is extremely important that we try and support the fight to find a cure.

Whether you support an organization that promotes awareness or research; any type of support helps us in the fight to find a cure. Breast Cancer Awareness is important because it educates people. Through education, women know how to self examine, and understand the importance of annual mammograms. Early detection is key in surviving this ugly disease.

Of course, any type of research towards finding a cure is vital in the fight against breast cancer; or any type of cancer for that matter. The more we raise awareness, and the more we help the research community, the closer we get to finding a cure for breast cancer.

I love finding products which donate  a percentage of sales to breast cancer research or awareness groups. If I need something, why not purchase the item knowing a percentage of what I spend will go for a cause I believe in? Elemis skin care is my go-to, so this travel kit is something I need for traveling, or for my gym bag. I love that something I would have bought anyway will benefit the fight against breast cancer. I am also a huge fan of Bobbi Brown lipsticks, and Estee Lauder’s Night Repair. These are products I always have in my beauty bag, so why not buy the pink versions which help the fight? Love!

If you don’t need anything right now, or you aren’t shopping for the holidays quite yet, I beg you to donate to your favorite breast cancer awareness and/or research charity. Even if you only have $1 to give, that will help. Just think, what if everyone in the United States gave just $1 towards the fight against breast cancer. That would raise about $325.7 million for the fight against breast cancer. Amazing right?

I also love what Chico’s corporation is doing in the fight against breast cancer. You can read about it here.

Shop products benefiting the fight against breast cancer:

How has breast cancer touched your life?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy


My favorite beauty products from the Insider Sale

sephora beauty insider sale best beauty products on sale

My favorite beauty products from Sephora from top left: Moroccanoil / Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Night Eye Cream / Estee Lauder eyemakeup remover / Laura Mercier foundation powder / Urban Decay eye palette / Estee Lauder foundation / Laura Mercer loose setting powder / Laura Mercier caviar eye pencil (I always wear cocoa) / Bobbi Brown lipstick / Urban Decay lipstick /

The Sephora Beauty Insider sale event is in full swing! This is a great time to pick up beauty products you love on deep discounts; because let’s face it, beauty products never go on sale-at least the good ones!!

The beauty products I am sharing with you today are ones I use all the time. Some have been life-long favorites, while others are new to my beauty bag. Some of these products are part of the Sephora Beauty Insider Sale, and some are not. I didn’t want to share a whole bunch of sale products with you that I don’t use, so instead, I am sharing the products I use which are sold at Sephora. You don’t see a complete skin care, or makeup routine in this post. That’s because some of the products I use aren’t sold at Sephora, and I am not going to recommend random products to you in order to fill in the gaps. You can find my current nail polish here, my skin care routine here, and my go-to blush here.

The products I have been using for over ten years include Moroccanoil, Estee Lauder eye makeup remover (I’ve been using this one since high school!), Laura Mercier Foundation Powder, and the Laura Mercier Caviar eye pencil. The other products have been added to my beauty bag in the last two years; and the eye cream in the last month. These are all incredible products which I cannot live without.

Now onto the details of this sale! If you shop at Sephora, you may already know about their beauty insider program. If you spend a minimum of $350, you become a VIB Level customer. Once you spend $1000, you become a Rouge Member. Rouge members gain access to special discounts, custom make-overs, and invite-only events. VIB members gain access to the sale on August 30, 2018, and can continue to save through September 3, 2018. Rouge members can start saving now! If you aren’t part of the Sephora membership program, you can easily join the Beauty Insider Program online here.

Shop my beauty favorites at Sephora:

What are some of your favorite Sephora products?

Thanks for stopping by, and happy shopping!

XOXO

Cathy

bobbi brown crushed lipstick review


35 Years Bold Chico’s trip day two

Welcome to my Chico’s trip recap day two! If you missed day one, you can read all about it here.

The second day of the Chico’s 35 Years Bold trip was jam-packed with activities. We started our day out at Chico’s headquarters. Their headquarter’s is so dreamy! It’s Florida, so they had a beautiful pond near the gate to their campus, and the buildings were designed in nostalgic brick. It looked like a pretty place to work!

Chico’s gave us a tour of their campus, and filled us in on the history of the founders, and the company. There are beautiful antiques and a beachy vibe when you walk into the reception area of the building. There is nothing cold and corporate-like about it! What a fun place to work!

Our tour included backstage access to their entire design process from start to finish. You can see an artist designing a new print for a future collection, which I am not allowed to name, in one of the above photos. It is incredible to know that Chico’s prints are all hand-painted, in-house, by real artists!!

After getting a sneak peek at several future collections, forecasting mood boards, the fit process, and a couple of top secret collections, we were treated to a catered brunch. The brunch was delicious, and when we were done, we chatted with Chico’s executives about everything from marketing to design to shopping. It was so much fun to give feedback and share ideas with Chico’s decision makers!

Brunch eventually came to an end, and Chico’s brought us out to Sanibel Island where the very first Chico’s store is located. It was incredible to see the first store in it’s original location, complete with original fixtures and antiques. The store was incredible; and two stories!

So, what happens when eleven bloggers are armed with gift cards in a Chico’s? Well, a whole lotta shopping, that’s what! I came home with a black and white dress, and two belts. My new dress will make an appearance on the blog in the near future-so stay tuned!

Outfit I wore to Chico’s headquarter’s and shopping:

After shopping, we enjoyed a yummy lunch and then headed back to the hotel to rest and freshen up before dinner.

We started the evening off with a beautiful dinner inside the hotel’s ballroom. I found Tonya from The Real Chic Life had chosen the same dress as me for the evening. She looked fabulous! I love how she paired it with this necklace. The beads in her necklace really captured the colors in the print and looked amazing. Hmmmm, ideas for next time I wear it!

It was really fun twinning with her, after all, great minds think alike; amiright?! This dress is amazing, and it’s part of Chico’s pre-fall collection, so I plan on styling it differently as we move into the fall season. I am going to wear it with western style boots at fashion week in September. It’ll be a fun look!

Outfit I wore to dinner and the sunset cruise:

After dinner, we all walked across the street for a beautiful, ninety-minute cruise around Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. The cruise was so pretty, I sat on the top level of the boat the entire time drinking in the beauty of the area. The sunset was incredible, and there were dolphins swimming along with our boat!! That was SO COOL!

One of the big takeaways from the trip was that we should always be living our best and boldest life. Chico’s is all about being bold, and enjoying life. When I was in my 20’s I always wore professional black ensembles and went for a conservative look. The older I get, the more I realize life is too short to follow fashion rules and blend into the background. It is time to shine; and be bold! So let’s raise a glass and cheers Chico’s on 35 years of living bold!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy