NYC Big Bold Gloss

I received this product from Influenster in my Varsity Vox Box. I have never really tried plumpling lip gloss, but I ended up loving this product! It tingles once you put it on, because it is made to plump up your lips. And it actually works! The color I received is a very pretty light pink, and looks great on all skin tones. It retails for $3.99, which is so affordable for lip gloss! I would highly recommend this product to anyone!

Influenster Varsity Vox Box

If you haven't heard of Influenster, then you're missing out. Influenster is a site that is free for anyone to join, and rewards you by writing reviews. The more reviews you write, the more your score goes up, which can result in you getting a VoxBox. A VoxBox is a box filled with various products and samples, and is send out to the Influensters who qualify. I qualified for the Varsity VoxBox since I'm a college student and my score was high enough. In this box, I received:

• 1 package of Airheads Xtreme Bites

I absolutely love the Airheads Xtreme Bites! They are so good! It's a sweet and sour candy, and it tastes great. It's hard not to eat the whole bag at once! Another good thing is that they are only $1.69 a bag! 

• Samples of Clearasil Superfruit Acne Wash

The Clearasil Superfruit Acne Wash is amazing. It smells great, and doesn't irritate my skin. It cleanses and helps prevent acne, so it's a great product overall! The sample I received came with a coupon, and I actually went out and bought the full size. I definitely recommend this one! This product retails for around $5.50 in stores.

• 1 package of Kiss Nail Dress

The Kiss Nail Dress was a decent product. What I like about this is that they come with many different designs, which you could otherwise not do with polish. However, it took me a good 20 minutes just to put all the stickers on and make them fit my nails. While they looked really cool on my nails, they only lasted for about a day before the tips started peeling back. While I really like the concept of this product, they need to be made to last for at least a week. They are also kind of pricey at $6.00 per pack.

• 1 Tide PODS

I love the convenience of Tide PODS! As a college student, they are a lot easier to use than carrying a huge container of laundry detergent around. However, they are pretty expensive, at $17.99 for 66 PODS. They do a great job of washing my clothes, but I'll stick to less expensive detergent for now.

• NYC Big Bold Plumping Gloss

The NYC Big Bold Plumping Gloss is awesome! It comes in a lot of pretty colors. Since it's a plumping gloss, it feels tingly once you put it on, but it makes your lips look great! The only bad thing about the gloss is that it has a weird taste. But, at only $3.99 each, it is a great deal!

Overall, I LOVED my first VoxBox! It was filled with great products, some of which are my new favorites! Hopefully, I can get some more VoxBoxes in the future :)

The Lovely Topic of Engagements

I know that posting this will most likely step on people's toes. So, I apologize in advance if I offend anyone. I am not writing this to judge anyone at all, but I felt that this is something I should write about. I don't know about you, but I feel like every couple of days for the past few months I've constantly been seeing couples get engaged. I'm not sure if it's because I've been getting older, or people are getting engaged younger, or simply because "love is in the air". But whatever is going on, engagements have become a lot more frequent lately. Don't get me wrong; I am truly happy for all these couples that I see getting engaged. But I can't help but wonder if maybe too much emphasis is placed on engagements these days.

I know that ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamed of being married. I still have that dream, but know that I still have a ways to go before that happens. Like many girls, I've pinned several ideas to my "Future Wedding" board on Pinterest. I've even pinned engagement rings, engagement photo ideas, you name it. But lately, I've been asking myself, "Am I just excited to be able to say I'm engaged, or am I excited to spend my life with someone I truly love?" This may be a question that many girls need to ask themselves. I have heard people say that they can't wait to be engaged. It seems that being in a relationship with someone you love doesn't mean anything anymore unless you have a ring to prove it. I've also seen people rush a relationship, becoming engaged after a very short time dating. It's a trend that is happening in Hollywood, and it's a trend that is happening with my generation. What's with the sudden rush to be engaged? I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and I think it's because being engaged has become a kind of status symbol, or a way to make someone happy. I'm not saying that this is a blanket statement that applies to everyone I know that's currently engaged; I'm just saying that this is something that can very possibly be happening, and we need to be aware of it.

As Christians, I believe that putting too much emphasis on being engaged can be dangerous. I believe that God created marriage for the ultimate purpose of glorifying Him. Marriage is a beautiful union between two sinners. God uses this as an example to show us how much He loves us; to symbolize Christ's love for the church. And when we take God's beautiful picture for marriage and put too much emphasis on engagement, that takes away from His glory. When we focus so much on getting engaged one day, that makes it all about us. And that is definitely not what God had planned. It's perfectly okay to be excited about being engaged, because I know I would be. But we do have to make sure that we do not focus only on that. We also have to remember that being engaged does not bring one happiness or fulfillment. If we think that, then we will be extremely disappointed one day. Being engaged is important because it means that two people who love each other and want to bring glory to God will be united one day. It is not just to make us happy. When we only focus on engagement, we are in danger of belittling God's creation of marriage.

Once again, I didn't write this to offend anyone. I wrote this mainly for myself to keep in mind whenever I am on Pinterest next. I need to keep in mind that engagement does not bring one fulfillment or happiness. I will definitely remember this the next time I see a pin of an engagement ring or engagement photo ideas. Engagement is not about someone trying to find happiness and contentment; it is leading to marriage, which is one of God's most beautiful creations for us as humans. 

If this post happened to help you in any way, then I am extremely happy for that! I would love to continue talking about this if anyone has any questions :)