I'm baaaaack!

Happy 2016 everyone! I totally decided, "Hey Kelly, how 'bout you use Facebook less and get back into Twitter." So I logged back in, saw all my beautiful YouTubers and BAM! I just have to get back into blogging. It's been way too long.

I've missed this so much! I've come a long way since my last post... a VERY long way! I took a hiatus from college, changed a few jobs, left an exhausted relationship and committed myself to a healthier one. Life has greatly changed since then. It's been a great journey and I'm happy to be feeling myself again after such turmoil.

Onto the blog! I just bought a shit ton of makeup and I can't wait to review things again and put up tutorials! I am hoping to shoot video more but no promises since I sometimes am a little camera shy. Two years later and I'm still a rockin' Perfectly Posh consultant! I will be reviewing those products here as well (NEW CATALOG LAUNCH IS FEBRUARY 5 - STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION). And I'll take requests for product reviews or tutorials so bring it on!

It feels GREAT to be back! I'll talk to you all soon!

Let's be friends!

TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: kellykumse

xo K

A Cupcake Update!

You guessed it...

I quit my job. On Friday I left my letter of resignation and I'm moving on! That's honestly a breath of supa' fresh air!

I will be working from home again and I am thrilled! I will have more time to blog, more time to focus on school, more time to make my house pretty... yes, these are important things to me. It's eight weeks of training which is going to be such a nice break from working sun-up to sun-down.

I have started my LAST fall semester at my university! I will be graduating with a Bachelor's in Psychology and Criminal Justice in June. I have five classes standing between my degree and I. I could not be happier knowing it is almost all over!

I have become more absent on my Facebook. I've learned the stuff I read on there is mainly junk. I check in once a day to check any notifications but I just prefer different means of social media. You can still find me on my Cupcake Blondie Facebook page but as far as my personal page, you won't see me too much.

Follow me on tumblr! I'm mainly posting there all day long.

In beauty news, I've started my Halloween tutorials! They are coming, I assure you. This is my favorite time of year! Any requests can be sent to me through any means of social media. Let me know what YOU want to see so I can get it out there well before the holiday. Until then, I'll see you all soon with the first spooky tutorial of the haunting season!

Let's be friends!

TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: kellykumse

FACEBOOK: /thecupcakeblondie

Fall is Coming...

If you know me well enough, you will know fall is my favorite season ever! If it were possible to be October all year round I would never have a bad day. With that being said, I've stocked up on my fall scents for my home!

I refuse to purchase Bath and Body Works candles when they are over $9 each just because I always find a really good deal. So when I had free shipping and $10 off a $30 purchase I stocked up! I snagged my candles for only $8.50 each, SCORE! Here are the scents I chose:

• Sea Salt and Maple Popcorn - Sweet Vermont maple and just the right dash of sea salt make light, fluffy and perfectly crunchy corn absolutely irresistible.
• Spiced Pumpkin Cider - A warming blend of orchard fresh pumpkin-apple cider, ground nutmeg and a hint of clementine orange.
• Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin - Celebrate fall's most delicious ingredient with this inviting mixture of harvest pumpkin, sweet vanilla cream and freshly ground cinnamon.
• Pumpkin Sugared Doughnut - Fill your home with the fragrance of a freshly baked pumpkin doughnut made with autumn sugar and spice and everything nice.

I'd have to say Pumpkin Sugared Doughnut and Spiced Pumpkin Cider are my favorites! Cinnamon Sugared Doughnut is by far my all time favorite candle of theirs so I wanted to try out the pumpkin version. The cider candle is an overwhelming crisp apple scent so it's a nice change up to all the spices. I really wanted to grab the Cinnamon Pumpkin Latte candle but I'm looking forward to grabbing that on the next order. I'm not too impressed with the popcorn candle, but my fiance really likes it so I'll go ahead and keep it. ;) Maybe I will warm up to it as it burns.

Thanks for hanging out with me today! I've been off work due to some serious random sickness and I felt like blogging-in-bed. I hope you are all doing great! It's been a while but I look forward to jumping back into the game and blogging again. Tell me what you've been up to!

Let's be friends!

TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: kellykumse

FACEBOOK: /thecupcakeblondie

EMAIL: kkumse@gmail.com

xo K

It's been booked!

Well it's 100% official! I bought my Sunday IMATS ticket early this morning and just booked my flight! I'll be flying into JFK with my good friend Brittney and meeting up with my old coworker Linda! This is such an exciting experience for me! And it was all done with the love and support of my amazing fiance who I couldn't have done this without! Who is all going to be there!?

Let's put it like this, I may have let my blog go on the back-burner in January so I could focus on my Bachelor's degree but this is an opportunity of a lifetime! I'm excited to meet all of the amazing ladies I've been influenced by on YouTube and promote my blog! +Nicole Guerriero, +Jaclyn Hill, +eleventhgorgeous, +emilynoel83? I know Nicole and Jaclyn have RSVP'd already and I look forward to the possibility that many other YouTubers I've envied will be surprising us with an announcement of their attendance! And I look forward to bumping into everyone there and meeting such beautiful women who also share my love for the cosmetic industry!

It's going to be a bumpy ride and I'm praying for the best! I hope to see some of you there! And if you were planning on going, BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! Saturday is completely sold out for the general public! Sunday is the last day and I totally anticipate these spots going quick!

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping by. You make this worth pursuing and I hope to one day get this blog to take off! Until next time...

xo K

IMATS New York 2014

I'M GOING TO IMATS!

I just bought my tickets within minutes of realizing

Saturday was sold out and I am going to IMATS.

I think I might faint...

Where have I been this last month?

Ladies, ladies, ladies!

You are looking at your new Perfectly Posh consultant!

I want to apologize for dropping off the face of the planet this January but I've been getting so much accomplished this month with school, work, the blog and this new side job!

So here's a little intro to everything Posh:

Perfectly Posh is a brand bringing you organic and vegan products to pamper yourself in daily! From skincare to haircare and even beauty, Perfectly Posh is here with truly amazing products that do exactly what they say! I chose to consult with Perfectly Posh because I believe in a chemical-free cosmetic industry where we can trust what we put on and in our bodies.

♡ Never tested on animals.

♡ No parabens.

♡ No lanolin.

♡ No petroleum sulfates.

♡ No phthalates.

♡ No soy ingredient fillers.

♡ MADE IN THE USA!

Detox mud masks. Hand creams. Body butters. Moisturizers. Face masks. Scrubs. Soap bars. Bath fizzies. Scalp masks. Fragrance salts. Lip care. Including Posh Man & Posh Baby!

As always, BUY 5 GET THE 6th FREE!

Purchase online, by catalog, or host a party!

How to Contact Me:

Website: http://www.perfectlyposh.us/KELLYKUMSE/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerfectlyPoshwithKellyKumse

Email: kellykumse@live.com

Text: 352-601-2496

Review: Ulta Beauty Smoothie in "Berrylicious"

REVIEW!

Hey there my little cupcakes!Just throwing out a quick review on this Ulta Beauty Smoothie! I've been using this shower gel/bubble bath/shampoo for a few weeks now and wanted to give you guys the play by play on how I feel about it!

Well guess what, I LOVE IT! I initially had the Cupcake flavor in my hand and then stumbled on this Berrylicious scent. I wasn't 100% happy with the cupcake one anyway so I figured this one looked so rich and berry-like that I had to get a whiff! Oh my goodness, if you haven't smelled this shower gel you need to get in your car and get to your nearest Ulta NOW. It is amazing! It fills up my entire bathroom for a good hour or two with this overwhelming heavenly berry scent! It is to die for! I want this in body mist form because I want to smell like this all day, everyday for the rest of my life!

It's a triple threat: bubble bath, shower gel, and shampoo. I'm not one to use these "multitaskers" on my hair and I am in love with my Biolage but for a bubble bath and a shower gel, this is perfection in a bottle! It is so creamy and rich and lathers up into an amazing foam on my body puff. As for the bubble bath aspect, it's okay. Nothing too crazy and the bubbles only last for a short while. I mainly use this as my shower gel and I've significantly already made a dent in it! This is by far my favorite body wash and I plan on stocking up when they're on sale! (I grabbed mine for 50% off at the end of December!)

Buy the smoothie at Ulta.com!

Shop other Berrylicious products!

Let's be friends!

Subscribe to my YouTube to stay up to date with new video posts!

TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: kellykumse

FACEBOOK: /thecupcakeblondie

EMAIL: kkumse@gmail.com

♡

Try-It-Out Tuesdays: Almay Shadow Softies

Welcome back to another Try-It-Out Tuesday! Thanks for being here with me! Today's we're reviewing the Almay Shadow Softies that may be catching your eye when you walk into your drugstore!

These shadows average between $4.50 and $5 a piece in my local drugstores and I was able to pick them all up for FREE. Yes, FREE! Couponing for beauty products truly is a blessing when you're running a blog! ;) Let's just say with manufacturer coupons, BOGO sales, and store coupons I was able to MAKE MONEY off buying these shadows and used that extra overage to buy other cosmetics. If you want to know more about couponing for cosmetics I'll be happy to start another series with tips and deals when I find them!

Now onto the products, shall we? These Almay shadows look so interesting when you see them on a shelf and the best thing is that every store I've been in had a display that incorporated a sample tester you could actually feel! Upon first touch these shadows are super soft, similar to a whipped cream formula (hence the "softies" name). I personally think they come in an amazing array of color choices for all styles as well! I wanted to snag these the second I saw them but price wise I wasn't sure a single shadow was worth nearly five bucks.

This is why I was so happy to find out I could make money off them at my Walgreens! So I was able to pick up 8 colors (my sister chose one she loved) and they're pretty average quality.

Recently I watched a video from a while back from Miss +emilynoel83 on Beauty Broadcast Express about these and she wasn't thrilled with them. And when I swatched them originally I wasn't too impressed either. But in this photo you can see the colors are super pigmented! Well, I don't know why they look so great here because once they're on your eye (primer or no primer) most of them are NOT this bright!

I went ahead and swatched the colors I have on my lids sans primer to get the true color by itself straight on the skin. I used my finger to apply as I've noticed since they are a whipped/soft texture brushes just DON'T work! I describe the outcome below in order from top swatch down.

• Midnight Sky - this is a deep sparkly navy with total pigmentation! More than likely I'd use this on the outer V or crease. I dub this the best of them all (in my collection).
• Moss - olive green is a shade I absolutely love on my brown eyes and this moss color hits the spot! It is amazingly pigmented and can be built up to be a strong mossy green or lightly for a softer look. If you like olive, this is a good one to purchase!
• Petal - a very, very subtle pink. This is nothing like what it looks like in the pan. But, I did a look recently with this pink and I used a powder shadow on top of it and it looked amazing! You can definitely build this one up and use it as a base for a pinker look.
• Peach Fuzz - this is the orange shade in the pan but is very flesh-toned on the skin. It takes a lot to come off as "orange" as it looks in the pan but it is possible... with a LOT of work! This is one I probably wouldn't recommend wasting your time on since it's pretty weak.
• Seafoam - this is the super light blue color and it's very subtle at first. I was able to build it up to a brighter blue and really like it for a sky blue look. Not disappointed at all.
• Cashmere - in the pan it looks like a beautiful buttery yellow but on the skin it's more of a cream color. Very nice for a highlight but not great for an all over the lid look.
• Lilac - a beautiful dusty purple shade, very nice for a subtle purple look. I know a lot of purples on the market can be overwhelming and super bright but this is the perfect pastel violet for a soft look.

There you have it! Overall, if you can get these for a discounted price or on sale, a few are worth picking up. I am impressed with the texture of how creamy they are to begin and the transformation to a more powdery feel. I feel Almay is trying to step it up in the makeup world and I give them an A+ for effort! Keep trying, Almay! I will continue to test out your new products at they hit the shelves! ;)

Tutorial: Naked 3 Natural

It is time! Time for a Naked 3 tutorial! Hopefully if you wanted this palette you were able to get your hands on it! My lovely family snagged it for me as a Christmas gift and I was so excited! This look is a lighter wearable look versus a deep sultry look. I hope you leave your feedback in the comments or on a social network!

Products listed at the end!

Freshly moisturized with my favorite facial moisturizer, the DG Dry Skin Cream ("compare to Ponds")!

I've been really liking this primer. It's a great price at only $6 and you can find it at Target, KMart, and online at the eyeslipsface website!

I then applied my foundation with my damp TJMaxx Beauty Blender dupe. It spreads out my foundation SO well since I have super dry skin. Since it's wet and you're dabbing the product on it doesn't aggravate those dry patches! Love using this tool for foundation.

I applied my lash growth serum before m eye primer and pulled out the big boy we're focusing on here: the Naked 3 palette!

I used Strange for my highlight, Dust and Buzz for the lid, and Limit as my transition/crease color.

Here are the eyes with highlight and lid colors applied!

I'm blending the color Limit here into my crease to mesh the lid and highlight together flawlessly. 

If you can see here, I have the lighter shimmer on the inside of the lid and the deeper shimmer on the outer corner!

I actually turned Blackheart from a black shadow into a deep purple color by very lightly using this in the outer-V and under the lower lashes. I don't know how I did it, but I did and I was SO proud that I ended up turning it into a whole new color!

A check in photo!

I applied the color Buzz under the lower lashes to add some emphasis!

And finally I also dragged the Blackheart color to the edge of the lower lashes for a smokey look. I did NOT pick up much product at all! I just tapped the brush into the color and tapped off the excess to keep it soft.

And the eyeshadow is complete! :)

I wanted a pop of color in this neutral look so I added a plum-toned liner to the bottom lash line and waterline. I smudged the liner using that pencil brush from earlier.

I used my favorite flesh-toned liner to the inner corner to really brighten up that area! I smudged it a bit so it wasn't harsh.

It may not seem like a huge step, but applying a light color to that inner tear duct area really bring light to your eyes and brightens it up! You don't need to point out my CRAZY brows either. In editing this they were driving me bonkers! We're fixing them now...

Voila! Much better!

Same concealer routine you see me do a lot! Match2Cover concealer under the eyes! Today I DON'T set the cream products with powder. I've noticed since I am dry using powder isn't helping keep the dry away this winter. Some days I'll use it if my skin is super hydrated but if it's a little thirsty, I skip that step.

I picked up this mascara at my dollar store for a steal and guess what, it will certainly be making an appearance in a few weeks in a post if you know what I'm hinting at...

And these are the eyes 100% done! I am LOVING this look so much! I'm a very neutral kind of girl and the rosey tones in the Naked 3 are right up my alley!

Blush, check! Highlight, check! Bronzer in January?! Yepp, I did it! And the Sunny bronzer from NYC is amazing!

I went for a very subtle cheek look so I bronzed the face (didn't contour) and added a little bit of glow to the cheeks. I didn't want anything overpowering since the eyes were what I wanted to focus on. If you look at earlier photos you'll see the difference that bronzer makes at warming up the complexion.

I lined my lips with this neutral liner...

...and doubled up on lip products! I wanted a deeper berry color with the cranberry balm and then toned it down with a nude gloss.

Here are the lips! Nice and natural looking without being "naked."

A flawless face that's is wearable for any time of day and any place! Work, school, interview, going out to lunch - you name it! If you recreate the look let me know and tag me on my social networks!

DG Dry Skin Cream Moisturizer

e.l.f. Mineral Primer
TJMaxx Beauty Blender Dupe
Covergirl 3-in-1 Foundation in 810 Classic Ivory
Rimmel Lash Accelerator Growth Serum
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

• Strange (highlight)
• Limit (transition color)
• Dust (inner corner/inner lid)
• Buzz (mid and outer lid, under eye)
• Blackheart (deepening the crease and under eye)

Rimmel Exaggerate Liner in Aubergine
NYX Wonder Pencil in Light
Essence Brow Pencil in Blonde
Essence Match2Cover Concealer
e.l.f. Small Stipple Brush
L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes
NYX Blush in Pinched
Wet n Wild Fergie Shimmer Palette in Rose Champagne Glow
NYC Bronzer in Sunny
Wet n Wild Coloricon Lip Liner in Willow
Jordana Twist and Shine Balm in Cranberry Crush
Maybelline Color Elixir in 060 Nude Illusion
NYX Dewy Finishing Spray (not pictured)

xo K

Unboxing: Julep Maven "Classic with a Twist" Welcome Box

Welcome back to another UNBOXING blog! This is my SECOND Julep Maven unboxing and this time we're diving into the Classic with a Twist style profile!

A brief rundown of the service: Julep Maven is a monthly subscription box where you get full sized nail varnishes or beauty products sent right to your door! There are FIVE "style profiles" to choose from based on a quick quiz identifying which look is right for you! You don't have to stick with the profile you're given, so choose which style YOU love most! You can get your hands on a Welcome Box of your own for only the price of shipping, just $3.99! Use the code FREEBOX at checkout. If you're interested in signing up or just reading up on it, click here and visit their website!

This month I found this pretty little purple box in my mailbox instead of the black box from December! Pleasant surprise!

Inside you're greeted by a shimmery sheet of tissue paper and some welcome cards right on top!

It's not a Julep box without a little quote.

In December I received a skin serum as my beauty item in the Bombshell box. This month I was given the nail and cuticle serum. This serum claims to strengthen nails and soften cuticles with keratin, peptides, and collagen! I haven't been able to give this guy a long enough chance to show me the results but I can definitely do a review in a few weeks. The packaging is gorgeous - looks rich and expensive. ;) And normally it is! This is valued at $28 to any customer coming to Julep's site to buy products!

In the Classic with a Twist box I was supplied a gorgeous red polish (Zora) and this light pink with shimmer (Myrtle). All Julep polishes are named after women's names so in my opinion it's easier to find the shade you want and refer back to it! The shimmers in the Myrtle polish are very faint but offer a gorgeous sparkle! And Zora is a beautiful classic red, not too deep and not too orangey. (I may add a swatch photo later to Twitter or Facebook).

Last but not least, this foil packet sample was not in my December box but was in the January one! It's a face primer that mattifys. There's an okay amount of product in the packet, but I don't really feel it's enough to give a good enough review on after use. But it's a nice little addition!

I did enjoy this box very much and look forward to trying out others from the Julep Maven collection! Thanks for reading & I'll see you guys soon! (Check below for more info on Julep!)

MORE INFO:

Each polish alone is about $14 but with the Maven box you can get 2 polishes AND a beauty item for only $19.99! Best part: your first box is FREE! And if you decide it isn't for you, you can cancel ANYTIME before your next box ships! It's that easy! Find out more at julep.com!

* I was not sent this box for review. I bought it with my own money and the thoughts are 100% my own. *