Sephora’s “Starter Witch Kit” and Spiritual Theft


POTTERHEADS! Can you remember when that fateful day finally came and we said goodbye to the wizarding world as we knew it? I couldn't believe the end of Harry Potter had finally come. It was a bittersweet day. Yet off in the horizon a glimmer of hope shone! It was the magic that was FBAWTFT! When I went surfing the internet for more info to satisfy my wizardly craving I came across a blog called Native Appropriations by Dr. Adrienne Keene. Native Appropriations is a forum for discussing representations of Native peoples, including stereotypes, cultural appropriation, news, activism, and more as stated by Dr. Keene herself. She wrote an amazing piece titled Magic in North America. At first it almost felt like an attack on the franchise I have come to know and love, yet the more you read the more you understand how detrimental non native's portrayl of natives or native cultural experiences and values can be. Ever since then, I love reading Dr. Keene's blog, it gives me new insights I might not have thought of before. She also wrote an amazing piece on Wakanda should you want to dive right into that.

If not be sure to check out her latest on Sephora's Witch Kit. Representatives for the cosmetics giant confirmed a report in the Glossy that the trendy perfume brand Pinrose will launch a “Starter Witch Kit” in stores and online on Oct. 9, in plenty of time for Halloween.

She opens with "I start most mornings by smudging [for non-Natives: info here]*. Smudging is grounding to me. It’s centering. It’s personal. So when I see things like Sephora selling a $42 'Starter Witch Kit' from the brand Pinrose that includes a bundle of white sage, I have…thoughts."

If you happen to check out Dr. Keene's blog, let me know what you think!

[ma-ka-rohn] Review! - Featuring #potterohns


Was my impulse purchase worth it!!? Champagne, baguettes, and the Eiffel Tower are some of the best things to come out of France. However, none of these are quite as delicious (and gluten-free) as the incomparable macaron. Lucky for us, Ma-ka-Rohn has opened its virtual doors to the masses and is sharing the wonders of the coveteted macaron with us all! Following their passion for the art of le macaron, owners Lexi and Romain attended the Olivier Bajard International School of Pastry in Perpignan, France, where they learned all they needed to know to make the perfect macarons.


A macaron (French pronunciation: ​[ma-ka-rohn]) is a sweet meringue-based pastry made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond flour, and food coloring. French macarons, unlike their american equivalent, do not contain any coconut. The macaron traditionally consists of a ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. The name is derived from the Italian word macarone, maccarone or maccherone, the meringue. The confection is characterized by a smooth squared top, a ruffled circumference (referred to as the "foot" or "pied"), and a flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth.

Ma-Ka-Rohn offers a variety of special packages and are available for custom orders for birthdays and weddings. All of their ingredients (including the coloring for the macaron) are imported from France. Their chocolate is of the highest quality, Barry Callebaut, imported from Switzerland and the best part is all of their flavors, (except the cookies and cream) are 100% gluten-free… so feel free to eat away with peace of mind!

All that being said I saw these amazing BUTTERBEER flavored macarons on one of those insider videos we all seem to scroll past. Now before I give you my opinion on these macarons, I would like to preface it with I have NEVER tried a macaron, from here or anywhere else in the world.


I am a lover of all things Harry Potter and if you follow me on social media you will know I even have a deathly hallows semi colon dedicated to my baby brother who committed suicide in February of 2017. So when I laid my eyes upon classic potter flavored goodies, I about had a heart attack. They come in 4 different flavors, one for each house!
  • Butterbeer (Red & Yellow):  Butterbeer buttercream
  • Chocolate Frog (Black & Yellow): Chocolate ganache, Rice crispy pieces
  • Polyjuice(Green & Silver): Sour apple ganache
  • Fizzing Whizbees (Blue & Silver): Hawaiian punch buttercream, Nerds pieces 
They come in 2 packs, a 4 pack with 1 of each flavor, or a 12 pack with 3 of each flavor. I chose to go with the 4 pack since I had never had a macaron and wasn't sure what my take would be. I also ordered the suprise me starter pack with 7 "surprise me" flavors and 1 milky way flavor individual to meet the minimum order requirement for free shipping.


Ordered Friday, August 24th - TOTAL: $24.23 USD

Potterohns 4 Pack - $7.99 USD ($23.99 12 Pack)
Surprise Me Starter 7 Pack - $13.99 USD
Single Galaxy Milky Way - $2.25 USD
Shipping - FREE (min $24)
Discount - None
Tax - Included

Shipping Notification - Same Day (Although it didn't actually ship out until after the weekend)
Delivered - Saturday, September 1st.

They arrived at my door nicely packaged marked fragile! I immediately opened up the box to find my beautifully packaged cookies unbroken and preserved with wonderful ice packs and cooling bubble wrap. The ice packs were no longer cold with it being the middle of summer but everything held up great. Makarohn makes you aware of their shipping schedule because they want everything to arrive fresh! Therefore order are shipped nationwide on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. They do not ship on Thursdays, Fridays, or holidays, this way your macarons avoid being stuck in a warehouse over the weekend. Orders placed after 12:00 PM EST on Wednesday will ship on the following Monday excluding holidays.

After I opened my package I immediately placed in the fridge for 1 hour as instructed to allow them to reset, then took them out for 20 minutes before eating. I'm sure you can guess I wanted to try the HP's first! I took that first bite of butterbeer and quickly realized these sweet treats were not for me. I am not one who like icecream, shakes, brownies or other desserts. My dessert selctions are very limited. While the flavoring on most was good, it was just much too sweet for me. Also the cookies were more crunchy than I expected and not as melt in your mouth as I have heard described. The surprise me packs do not tell you which flavors are what or what has come in your pack. I started out trying to guess the flavors by what the cookie looked like compared to the website but some I just couldn't tell. I know for sure I had pistachio, cotton candy, and toasted marshmellow.


All in all the order process was smooth, shipping was quick, and the flavors were good... but I only ended up taking one bite out of each macaron and then gave them to my children who also didn't finish them. The only one I completely ate was the butterbeer, it was by far my favorite. Fizzing whizzby came in close second.

If you like macarons, then these might be for you. Unfortunately they just weren't for me.

Have you ordered from Makarohn? Leave a comment about your experience below!

Until next time. - D💋

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@MissLola #LolaBabe (Lola Shoetique) Review


Ladies and Gents, I have to announce, I AM IN LOVE... Not just with my man! Being the skeptic that I am with my experience ordering online, I was nervous to try this brand. Everything seemed sooo cute but I was most concerned about the quality of the product. Then one day, I saw an outfit pictured on #lolaootd instagram and HAD TO HAVE IT! I decided that I would go home and do some research (like I always do with online shopping). I love watching Carli Bybel’s videos on youtube and found out that she did a review on some Lola Shoetique products.

All signs were pointing to me finally making my own purchase at Lola Shoetique (my inner girly girl screamed FINALLY, YES)! So that night, I went online and bought both the outfit I wanted and some shoes to match! 


Ordered Friday, August 24th - TOTAL: $79.09 USD
Set Alone - $63.99 USD
Shoes Alone - $48.99 USD
Shipping - $4.99 USD
Discount (MISSLOLA 30%)- 33.89 USD
Tax - Included

Shipping Notification - Same Day (Although it didn't actually ship out until after the weekend)

Delivered - Saturday, September 1st.



The online reviews from this seller can very. Many people seem to have amazing service in the area, especially when they can just drop by to pick up their orders however it seems people who have ordered online have experienced many problems. I experienced ZERO problems! I adore this brand and intend on ordering more from them. I loved that they had promos comparable to other big fashion brand names out right now! The quality was ah ma zinggg, the shipping was fast, the ordering was easy and for the price!? It was a steal! You can check them out at their website, misslola.com or their facebook and instagram.

Order below for Validity.



If you know of any other website or product you know of that is interesting and worth the value that you want me to do a review on, please let me know in the comments below. I hope you enjoy this review!

Like & Share!

Until next time. - D💋

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Fashion Nova HONEST Review

Just for the record, I've been ordered from Fashion Nova over 10 different times throught the past 2 years. 

Fashion Nova offers inexpensive clothing that's also in style and on trend. It all started when I saw Kylie Jenner in Naked Wardrobe. (You can read my NW Review HERE) After being dissatisfied with their pricing and discounts low and behold I found the holy grail that is Fashion Nova. I see a lot of celebrities and other Instagram models promoting their clothing. The only thing stopping me from placing an order was not knowing exactly what size I would be.

Ordering & Shipping
The ordering process was simple. Fashion Nova uses a checkout that looks almost exactly the same as online retailers these days. If you have a promo code you enter it on the first page that it directs you to after you hit "checkout." Some sites I've used before make the promo/gift card spot difficult to find but I didn't have issues with Fashion Nova.

While they advertise "free 2 day shipping on all U.S. orders $75 & up", I never receive my package in 2 days. Each time I've ordered it took 3-4 days of it being in shipment (this DOES NOT including processing time). So it actually took about a week for my stuff to get to me (from California and I live in Kentucky). In reality their shipping takes 2 to 3 days from the date it is shipped out, not from when you placed your order. Being an advid online consumer (buyer & seller) I knew that 2 day shipping meant just that, 2 day priority mail shipping from USPS.

So if you see the 2-day shipping banner and are hoping to get your items in time for the weekend don't forget to take into consideration processing time and that the 2-3 day shipping time frame doesn't go into effect until they actually ship it out! I've seen some people get angry on social media because their items did not arrive 2-3 days after their order was placed.

Returns & Exchanges
One thing that kept me from ordering from them for so long was their return policy. I don't live near their locations so I wouldn't be able to return in store and my only option would be to pay to ship the items back. They do not offer free return shipping.

They advertise "easy returns" but honestly, to me easy returns is when free return shipping is included in your order. NOT when you have to pay to ship it back yourself. I feel this is a difficult return policy due to the fact that you have to pay return postage yourself AND you only get store credit back. Also, if you return an online purchase to a store you can only get credit to use in store, it cannot be used online. They also don't offer exchanges because items are in high demand so you either have to ship your item back, wait for your credit and place a new order. This also means if you don't buy enough to get free shipping you'll have to pay for shipping again.

Quality
I was really impressed with the quality of their clothing. I made sure I read A LOT of the reviews on each item before I ordered. Fashion Nova is really well known for their jeans and I really liked the pairs I bought that fit. However I came across over 5 pairs that did not fit! Because the jeans are sourced from other brands not every size 3 will fit the same. I have had luck with the booty lifting jeans. They fit my curves nicely as I am a woman with a slim waist and thick thighs! The things I ordered that I liked the most was just about anything else! Shoes, purses, tops, dresses and especially their 2 piece sets! I have bought quite a few pairs of sunglasses and had a couple fall apart unfortunately.

Sizing
Sizing was another major thing that kept me from ordering from Fashion Nova. When I saw people ask on social media what size models are wearing/their stats the standard reply Fashion Nova gave was that the models are 5'6-5'11 and wear a size S-M (or 1, 3 or 5) depending on their body shape... This wasn't helpful because I was trying to decide between a 3 or 5 and without the model's measurements I had no idea what to order.

To improve their website I highly suggest providing model stats on each pic (height, bust, waist, etc) and the size the model is wearing. A lot of other sites already do this and it makes it a lot easier to compare the model stats to your own when determining what size to get.

Sales/Promotions
Check out their Instagram account for promotions. They often run sales/promo codes and will extend them for a couple days even if it says "one day only." If there's something you really want don't wait too long to order because their popular items go out of stock quickly. Although, one great thing about their site is that if an item goes out of stock in your size you can enter your email to be notified when it's restocked. Many of their basics or favorites will come back into stock quickly, however also be aware that many of their new arrivals are "in season" and while they will go on clearance normally the smaller sizes will sell out and not be restocked.

Also, a lot of beauty gurus and bloggers have promo codes offering 10-20% off your order. So google for these codes or search on Instagram and YouTube for people hauling Fashion Nova. If they've collaborated with Fashion Nova there will most likely be a promo code in their description/caption.

Overall
Overall my actual ordering experience has always been great. Although some things (especially in white) I bought were much too opaque and cheaply made, I love most everything I get from FN. The trick is figuring out what materials work for you and what doesn't! Also an improvement to the return policy would be nice! Provide free return shipping or at least give the customer their money back and not just store credit. If they did this I'd order a lot more because I wouldn't have to worry as much about something not working out and losing money from having to send it back or exchange it.

Until next time. - D💋

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Peachy Queen X Clueless Palette Review


PEACHY QUEEN LIMITED EDITION CLUELESS EYESHADOW PALETTE

So like, I'm totally  buggin' about this palette! Cher Horowitz might have said, "Anything you can do to draw attention to your mouth is good," but I'm pretty sure she'd have no objection to playing up your eyes instead, especially if you're doing it with one of the shades in a new Clueless-inspired eye shadow palette. Don't be fooled by the knock off imitations you see, this palette is limited edition from Peachy Queen. Underneath the hot-pink lid, you'll find 30 matte, shimmery, and pressed-glitter shades with names devoted to all things Cher Horowitz that don't disappoint. Clearly it's not available anymore as it has disappeared from their site and is no longer available for purchase.

Colors in the palette range from a matte pale pink called Total Betty and a shimmering turquoise called Way Harsh, to a multi-tonal glitter called Oops, My Bad! There's an amber shade appropriately named Amber, a deep burgundy named for the movie's notorious Josh, as well as a pastel yellow shade named "As If" that's not unlike the color of the outfit Alicia Silverstone wore when she uttered that famous phrase. Of course, the palette even pays homage to some of the film's most quoted lines, including a blue named for Brittany Murphy's infamous "Rollin' With the Homies" moment and a dusty muave named "Full on Monet", but I have no doubt it would look just as good close-up as it does from far away.

Along with an array of bright Clueless colors, the palette also comes packaged with an obvious nod to its film influence. The outside of the box is colored in bright pink with the movie's title, and inside is a mirror surrounded in Cher Horowitz's classic yellow plaid. At the top, Peachy Queen included another line from the movie "Whatever."

So yeah, it's totally existential. Sorry if you missed it but make sure to follow peachy queen for future releases! Also head on over to my youtube channel for the dip in look!

Until next time. - D💋

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A Subscription Box For The Wanderluster!


After hours of my life have been spent aimlessly watching make up tutorials, cute animal videos, and countless food challenges, Youtube led me to the infamous SnackCrate.

SnackCrate subscriptions come in three different tiers. Subscribers can choose from the mini box, original, or premium crate. The mini box is $14 and a half pound crate, the original is $26 and a one pound crate, and the premium is $49 and a three pound crate. I went with the mini box not knowing if I would like everything and didn't want to get too much. Here's what was mailed right to my door: a new "snacking adventure" that I was super psyched to dig into.


For your first box Snackcrate allows you to choose what country you'd like to get your snacks from. I chose Israel as my first box since its a high "must visit" country on my bucketlist and travel plans.

I love that they include a brochure with facts about the country and what kind of snacks you are eating! Also if you didn't know, snacks are MADE FRESH and shipped out to you immediately to ensure the best quality! My top 3 favorites from this box were Bamba Peanut Snacks, Bissli Pizza Wheat Snacks, and RRX Cookies.


If you're looking for a creative way to try new foods I highly suggest subscribing for a month or two. It can get pricey when it adds up, but perhaps it's something you can ask for as a gift! Who doesn't like receiving something in the mail nowadays? Go ahead and treat yourself, subscribe to SnackCrate!

Until next time. - D💋

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SIMMI SHOES REVIEW - US Buyer



I love shoes as much as the next girl, but I'll admit I am picky when it comes to where I buy them from. I’ve purchased shoes in the past from reputable retailers in the mall that practically fall apart after a few wears, and similarly, I’ve ordered shoes online that are so badly made that they leave your feet with aches and pains you didn't know were possible. In other words, shoe shopping is serious business in my eyes. When I am paying my hard earned money for a good I expect what is advertised to me as a consumer. Once again the photo of instagram had caught my eye with the latestest trending blinged out slides! Simmi Shoes is an online retailer based out of the UK with all the latest styles and fashions, affordable price tags (most pairs are under $40) and most importantly, great quality. With an array of boots, sandals, wedges and heels, you certainly are not left wanting on the simmi site!


I was lucky enough to snag the Sophia Black Diamante Sliders! They arrived within two weeks of ordering and were beautys right out of the box! The site does say they are "true to size" however I would like more room in them and feel as though they do run a little small or snug. Considering the low price tag (£20 = $25.51) they really are a steal! Perfect paired with a simple black dress, jumpsuit, athletic wear, or even faux leather and everyone including you would think they were worth a pretty penny, but would could blame you! These gorgeous slides come in 6 more colors making the decision to finally buy a pair rather difficult!


Until next time. - D💋

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DIY $25 "Diva" Ring Light!



DIY Diva Ring Light for under $25! This DIY is great for MUAs and Youtubers. You can make your own ring light instead of spending $200+ on a Diva or similiar ring light. All supplies came from Walmart and took less than an hour to make!

Products:
Green Wire Wreath: https://bit.ly/2u2sxd8
LED Lights: https://bit.ly/2qY9ke2
Cable/Zip Ties: https://bit.ly/2HAi3a0
Parchment Paper: https://bit.ly/2u15UWO
Aluminum Foil: https://bit.ly/2J4KqP0

Cardboard - From the wreath box.
Tape - Standard scotch.
Marker - Black.
Scissors

Until next time. - D💋

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5+ Helpful Parenting Printables


From parenting charts to kids activities, you cant go wrong with a printable from Thirty Handmade Days!

Until next time. - D💋

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Your Guide to Vegan and Cruelty-Free Summer Skin Care


Some personal-care product companies are still living in the Dark Ages: They cruelly pump their substances into animals’ stomachs; rub them onto animals’ raw, shaved skin; squirt them into their eyes; or force animals to inhale them. It’s time for these companies to throw in the animal testing towel!
Finding animal-friendly skin-care products is a breeze, thanks to the thousands of companies riding the cruelty-free wave. The following brands are perfect for your summer beauty regimen:


Sunscreen


Sunless Tanner


After-Sun Moisturizer


Deodorant


Shaving/Hair Removal


Insect Repellent


As always, PETA's cruelty-free company database is available for you to look up any company that you’re curious about.

Until next time. - D💋

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RP Via PETA
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