L'Oreal Extraordinary Oils VoxBox

At the beginning of this month I was sent the L'Oreal Extraordinary Oils voxbox from Influenster.

I received:

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Deep conditioning mask

I have very curly and dry hair. I love these products. The first time I used them all together and I was shocked because it left these very pretty, very soft, ringlet curls in my hair. These curls stayed in tact for four days before I washed again. 

I plan to make another video with an update and so I can show how my hair looks before and after. But, for now, the report is that they are GREAT products!

Not Your Mother's Whip It Up | SPICE VOXBOX

At the beginning of December I received a box from Influenster! If you don't know what Influenster is, it's a site that polls off your social media impact. You don't have to be a famous YouTuber or Blogger to use this website, you just need to be present on social media. I love this website and I think I even mentioned it in another post, I'll have linked below.

One of the items I got in the box was by the brand Not Your Mother's. I've only ever used the sea salt spray from NYM, and it is one of my favorite texturizing hair product, ever. I've repurchased it so many dang times, it's astounding.

The product in this box is the Whip It Up mousse. One of the big claims on the bottle is that it's a non-sticky mousse. I have very coarse, heavy, and extremely curly hair. I was skeptical, honestly. But I've used it every time I've washed my hair since then and I actually am loving it. I think I'd definitely be inclined to buy the full size after I use up this travel size. The big bonus is that you really don't need a lot of it because it expands since it is a mousse. I foresee this travel bottle lasting a good while.

The other perk, it smells exactly like vanilla cupcakes! Let me know what kind of Not Your Mother's products ya'll enjoy!

Also check out NYM on social media:

• ​https://instagram.com/nymbrands/
• https://www.facebook.com/NYMBrands?fref

My Wax Melt Collection

I got into wax melts last year, thanks to my lovely boyfriend getting me a plate warmer! I've wanted one for a long time, but just never actually bit the bullet. Then, David surprised me with this black warmer mid last year, and man, it's been a wild ride.

I think he got this warmer from Walmart or maybe Dollar General, either way it was inexpensive - which is super rad. Below is a little photo of how we store our waxes. The organizer is from Target, but I got it a few years back so you can't get it anymore. But, Target always has great organizers available.

Whenever we get too many waxes for this current storage, we'll figure something else out. But for now, this is pretty decent. In the above photo, the purple melt is from Glade in Lavender Peach Blossom. 

Anyhow! Here's the melts I have:

The three Scent Sationals were from my Mother for Christmas, so I'm not sure where she got them. And on the bottom left hand, the pine and citrus scent is also from her - it was out first scent we ever had. It has like one cube left, I think.

The two Glade ones are from Target, and honestly I think the Glade ones are awesome, they really spread the scent and last a long time.

The various berry scents in the pink blocks is from the brand Main Stays, which is by Walmart. These are okay, but some of them smell a little artificial.

Below that, the cucumber melon by Tuscany Candles, is AMAZING. I got it on super sale at JoAnns fabric store. I also got the one on the bottom right hand side, Sunday Morning Pancakes. This is from the Food Network line, and I LOVE IT. But, David hates it, so I don't use it a ton. At this rate, it'll last forever.

I love the melts we have, but am always looking for more. Let me know what kind of brands ya'll like to get!

A Year In Review:

Hey ya'll, I did a collage type video of my time in 2015. This is the second year I've done this video.

Here is 2015:

And for anyone interested, here's 2014:

I like making this style of video. I do have some more 2015 videos to put out, I'll decide then if I'll also put them up here, Either way, I have some pretty tight ideas for posts on here, and I'm happy about the direction. 2016 is here. 

15 things from 2015

1. I graduated from Community College. Shit was buckwild and took forever, but I did it.
   
   
2. Subsequently, I started at big girl university! I completed my first semester at Texas Wesleyan University, and my god, it was awesome.
   
   
3. I started cooking and baking a lot more, and I'm really proud of everything I've made so far.
   
   
4. I've lived with David for a whole year now, and it's been so fun and scary all at once.
   
   
5. I doubled my subscriber count on YouTube this year. It's still small, but honestly I'm proud always.
   
   
6. I've really worked on organization in a way I've always said I would but just didn't.
   
   
7. I played a lot of really rad shows.
   
   
8. I also got to put out music this year! A split with a fellow folk artist by the name Heavy Boots.
   https://noraleetx.bandcamp.com/album/watery-eyes-better-years
   
   
9. Also music related, I got onto a lil label by the name of, Sparkle Motion Records. I'm committed, yall. Check them out: https://sparklemotionrecords.bandcamp.com/
   
   
10. I found a lot of stressors in my life, and ways to deal with them better.
    
    
11. I realized that I don't deal with lots of things well, but I'm learning new ways to see things everyday and that it's not a bad thing to not be good at dealing with shit. It's life.
    
    
12. Oh, I also found out that I like taking baths, I like onions, and I like socks. All three of which were things I thought I hated.
    
    
13. I figured out that vlogging makes me very happy. I never want to stop.
    
    
14. And I found out that being productive makes me the happiest I can be, which is why school is a good fit for me. (Speaking of which, hi, I changed my major! What's up Psychology!)
    
    
15. Lastly, I've grown within a beautiful, awesome, wonderful relationship. It's been a goddamn year, and about to be two. I wouldn't trade this man for anything else, ever.
    

exposures on exposures

We recently acquired some left over sparklers from the Fourth of July. You know we had to do some long exposures, ya'll.

I'm using David's camera for this, which is a Canon T4i. All of the folks participating didn't really know how to do any designs and whatnot, and were too excited to see me demo first, so this is just what transposed during their fun.

I only did one myself, which you'll see at the end. Classic Nora exposure, I promise.

I've been absent, we won't get fully into that on this post, but I'll see you all again more frequently and regularly in the coming year. No promises, just truths. Enjoy the photos!

And of course, when I had my turn, I did my name!

Maybelline Better Skin Foundation *Week 3 Update *

Three weeks ago Influenster sent me a full size foundation, it was the Maybelline Better Skin Super Stay Foundation.

I did a demo and a review of it after my second day of wearing it. You can see that video here:

My first week I didn't see much change in my overall skin tone, but I enjoyed the fact that my face wasn't having any kind of zit reaction to the formula. And damn did I put it through some shit. I slept in this foundation. I worked out in this foundation. I went to a punk show in the dead of summer without AC. And the honest truth is that it's held up each time. 

By the end of the second week, I was really seeing how much my skin was starting to glow. My face was clear, and my skin just seemed to glow from within. 

I did a three week update at the end of my third week, so you can see my skin, here it is:

I'm very happy with how my skin looks with this foundation. I cannot say it's tone corrected any discoloring as it claims to do, but I will say the things it DOES do are amazing, and maybe it will correct dark spots with continued use, we'll see. 

I'll keep ya'll updated on this foundation, but at this point in time, I fucking love it.