Birthday Celebrations in Full Effect!! | PopSugar Turns 5 Years Old!!

Hey love bugs and happy August! As the summer draws to a close I begin to anticipate my upcoming birthday. It's always the perfect ending to the summer and also the beginning of the holiday season as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas come right around the corner after my special day. 

However, this month is extra special for another reason: POPSUGAR, a brand I believe we all know and love, is celebrating their very own birthday. The brand turns 5 years old this month (congrats to them!) and they have compiled a really special Must Have Box to celebrate. I'm excited to share the contents of the box with you guys because everything is so stinkin' cute and also for the very selfish reason that I can't wait to use some of these goodies on my own birthday!!

To sweeten the deal and make this review even more special, I'm sharing with you a some huge giveaway that PopSugar is hosting in August in celebration of their birthday! The giveaways are open to all current and new subscribers of PopSugar so be sure to subscribe HERE for your chance to win! Also, you can use the coupon code PARTY through August 31st to save $10 off your first Must Have Box! Oh, how I just love sharing giveaway opportunities with you guys!

Okay so here's the good stuff: 

Week #1 Some lucky subscribers will win a gift from Pehr Designs

Week #2 Some lucky subscribers will win a gift from First Aid Beauty

Week #3 Some lucky subscribers will win a gift from Kendra Scott

Week #4 Some lucky subscribers will win a gift from Tarte cosmetics (insert huge smiley face here lol)

Week #5 Some lucky subscribers will win a gift from Cambridge Satchel Co + 1 year of the Must Have Box subscription!!!!!

There are so many awesome prizes and so may chances to win!! I love the weekly breakdown too. It's as if your birthday comes every week for 5 weeks, how great would that actually be! 

I'm excited to also share more details (and pics!) about the August Must Have Box. PopSugar always puts so much dedication and thought into each box that they curate for their subscribers and I've made good use out of so many of the items included in their previous boxes (fun fact: I got my very first PopSugar box when the brand was just under a year old!)

I can't get over the cuteness of everything!!!!!

Let's start off with my absolute favorite items!! I LOVE entertaining and having impromptu and frequent dinner parties and this Pastel Cheers Lacquered tray is the absolute cutest thing, like, ever! It's the perfect size for a sweet treat and you guys know I'm allll about gold touches on anything. I love the saying and the fun polka dots too.

The star of the show, personally, are the candles! These Meri Meri Gold Glitter candles stole the cake for me. Again, gold flecks - LOVE - and the extra long length just makes the occasion feel extra special. I can not wait to use these on my own birthday cake this year!!!

As if that wasn't enough, the box is jam packed with even more goodies, including a beautiful Dogeared Friendship Bracelet and the First Aid Beauty 5 in 1 Bouncy Mask (PS I have an obsession with skincare products - which I mention in basically every YouTube video where skincare is even remotely relevant lol). As a special bone PopSugar included a Shoptiques $25 gift card into the box.

Finally, my heart absolutely skipped a beat with these two awesome treats. The Goodie Girl Chocolate Chunk cookies were a rare and delicious indulgence that I decided to let myself have yesterday - it was so worth it! To make the box absolutely perfect, again in my opinion but hey this is my blog post, PopSugar included a Fringe Studio Journal. This journal was sponsored by Jeep and if you check out www.popsugar.com/breakthedawn you can get details on how to win your own 2017 Compass. Any giveaway that includes a Jeep as the prize is a great opportunity in my book. #breakthedawn #sweepstakes Beyond that, I'm a huge write weather it be journal entries, blog posts, to do lists, or any variation of words on paper (or screen). I believe so strongly in the power of writing and getting thought out of our heads and onto another medium that I was thrilled to see this included. The fact that it's Rose Gold! (yay) and says Free Spirit on the cover was just icing on the cake!

Overall, I'm absolutely ecstatic with the PopSugar August Must Have Box. I feel so blessed to get to work together with such amazing brands that I've gotten to know over the years, like PopSugar. Plus, let's be honest, opening this box felt like I was opening up an early birthday gift of my own.

How To Take A Great Selfie + HUGE Neutrogena Giveaway

Disclaimer: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with NEUTROGENA® and Latina Bloggers Connect.

Hey Beautiful!!!!!!

Today we will be talking all about SELFIESSSSSSS!!! No, but really, let's talk about selfies! If you follow me on instagram (if you don't, you should lol @barbiebabymua) then you know I love to post selfies. Makeup selfies, facial expression selfies, silly faces with Noel selfies, standing in front of a random NYC location selfies - the selfies syndrome has definitely spiraled to an obsessive direction. I, for one, love it! I find it so much fun to scroll through other people's selfies. Some are funny, some can be inspiring, and others are just plain nice to look at.

As a girly girl and one who is deeply embedded into the beauty community I know that a good selfie takes a lot of work. :insert corny meme about taking 40 pictures in near identical poses and hating every single one of them: It can seriously be a headache. Here are some of my selfie tips and tricks.

How to take a great Selfie:

1. Arm Extension - We all know that a selfie is a solo face shot, but that doesn't mean you need to be so close that the viewer can count the veins in your eyeball. Extending the arm as far out as comfortable will help get a great head shot but also include some chest and shoulders.

2. Camera Angle - Hold the camera a bit above your head and angle it slightly downward. Full frontal photos are good for a change but if you want a more universal, surefire great angle raise your arm and glance your gorgeous eyes upward. This also helps to slim the face and avoids the dreaded double chin look.

3. Lighting - Great lighting is the key to any great photo. The best lighting can even help to blur imperfections naturally and make you look flawless. So learn to find your light before any selfie and you're on the path to happiness =0p

4. Face Angle - This one is really a trial and error tip, but know your angles. Play around with different angles and tilts of the head until you find one you prefer. Most of us also have one side we favor over the other. For me it's my left side because that's the side I have my nose ring on.

5. Location/accessory - This is a fun little extra that can give your selfie that extra oomf. Try to find interesting locations as the backdrop of your selfie or use the opportunity to show off a new accessory (ex. glasses, hair accessory, etc). You can even include a furry friend in your selfie... although that may or may not be considered an usie? Do pets count as usies?

6. Pamper your canvas - One thing that can greatly help your selfies is taking care of your skin! A pimple or unsightly blemish can ruin any great photo, especially one that shows our face so close up as a selfie does. Sometimes, especially during our teen years, we can't always avoid a blemish but with help from Neutrogena we can help prevent them.

The Neutrogena Oil Free Pink Grapefruit line is awesome to help combat against blemishes. As a Latina, I have to admit we come in a huge array of shapes, sizes and colors. Unfortunately, I'm on the extremely light skinned side of the spectrum and although I never had any serious issues with pimples growing up, I do get blackheads... alll.. the... time. I recently learned that blackheads are also a form of acne. 

The products in the pink grapefruit line are no strangers to my bathroom cabinet. I've actually been using the cleanser for about a year and a half... way long before I received the products to test out for this blog post. I especially enjoy the cleanser because it is gentle on my dry skin. Many times acne specific products tend to over-dry even the oiliest of skin types, so just imagine what it does to already dry skin. Since pimples were, thankfully, never a huge problem for me I used to just stick with regular cleansers and periodically try to pop my blackheads. I was happy when I first tried the pink grapefruit facial cleanser because now I finally had an acne treating product that I could use. I continued to use it for so long because it fulfills its claim of treating my acne. I notice my blackheads are way less numerous and also appear less frequently when I use the product regularly. Of course I still get some here and there, wearing makeup and daily environmental dirt and debris is always going to be a factor in the equation but now I have a solution.

Another part of the line is the foaming scrub which I actually just tried recently. It has the same great smell - did I mention the smell <3 - as the cleanser but acts almost as a gentle exfoliant due to the teeny tiny beads inside. It is also great for my skin type as well. If you don't have dry skin don't worry, all the products in the line are oil-free so this will work for my oily girls as well.

The final item in the line are the cleansing wipes. Please don't confuse these with makeup remover wipes. While I do LOVE the product, I've had bad experiences making that mistake in the past. Keep the wipes away from your eye area as it can (and does - personal trial and error) irritate the eyes. However, I adore this for the summer time or for after the gym. I keep them handy in my bag and use them as a refresher (when I'm not wearing makeup of course) to clean my face of any dirt and oil I've accumulated during the day, due to the heat, or because of sweating. This is also a great and simple step to help combat acne if you do have acne prone skin, especially after the gym. Enjoy your hard core workout then wipe down your face before leaving the locker room. It will help to clean out you pores of the immediate sweat until you can get home and shower.

I hope you babes enjoyed this blog post. There is a HUGE giveaway attached to this post as well (entry form below). Neutrogena is giving 3 winners individual consultations with a dermatologist and make-up artist plus a year supply of products valued at $1000. As part of this giveaway I'll be posting a daily selfie on instagram from today through Friday to share my clear skin, my selfie skills, and remind you guys to enter the giveaway. Follow me @barbiebabymua to check those out. I wish you all the best of luck and I'm very happy to be a part of this and be able to bring you another giveaway. This is the 3rd giveaway I am hosting this month and a 4th will go live on my channel this coming weekend. I love being able to find ways to give back to you for all that you do for me, thank you!

Love you always,

Rocio Laura

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