gml approved | Girl Meets Life | a lifestyle blog by Gracie Gordon

what I’m loving right now {+ a giveaway!}.

18 November, 2014 by Gracie

Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan
It’s no secret that I love me some sunless tanning products (I made a video about it here). So I was totally down to check out Cocoa Brown 1 Hour sunless tanner when they offered to send me some to give a try.

The verdict – I love it! It applies really smooth and easily and dries almost instantly, then the tan develops in about one hour. It also has a great natural shade – bronze and not orangey.

I also loved Tough Stuff, which is a great body exfoliator to use in the shower. It left my skin feeling super soft and really helps the sunless tanner “stick” to your skin better.

Progessence Plus
I mentioned in my Whole30 recap that I had been on the birth control pill for hormonal issues and recently went off of it, so I’ve been trying a more holistic approach. My good friend Emily knows a ton about essential oils and highly recommended I try Progessence Plus. I’ve read great things about using it for hormonal imbalances and other benefits. I just started using it so can’t speak for any big results (yet), but I have already noticed feeling more relaxed after using it, as well as sleeping better.

(If you’re interested in learning more about essential oils I’d love to put you in touch with Emily - you can email me at gracie@girlmeetslife.com)

Jergens BB Body Skin Cream
I’m a huge fan of Jergens products (their Natural Glow is one of my favorites) so I was excited to try their new BODY BB cream. This is the first BB cream for your body that I’ve come across. It’s supposed to instantly hydrate and illuminate, and within 5 days even, firm, and correct your skin. I’ve definitely noticed the immediate effects, and in general my skin does seem to have a more even complexion.

Elizabeth Arden UNTOLD ABSOLU
I was recently sent this new fragrance from Elizabeth Arden to try out, and I love it! The scent is very glamorous, luxurious and warm – it has an amber base with hints of floral and fruity tones – perfect as we enter into the holidays and cooler weather. You can find it at Macy’s or on ElizabethArden.com!

And guess what? I’m giving away a bottle of UNTOLD ABSOLU to one lucky reader!

You can enter by leaving a comment saying *how you change up your beauty routine in the winter.*

~~The winner will be chosen on Friday November 28th, so get your entries in! Open to U.S. residents only, must be 18 years or older.~~

Update: winner has been chosen and contacted!

Good luck

glamming up for the holidays with mary kay.

17 November, 2014 by Gracie 115 Comments

As someone who is a self-proclaimed girly girl I must say that makeup can be a little intimidating to me sometimes. It’s the beauty routine that I tend to be most wary experimenting with because I never want to overdo it. In fact, up until about a year ago, my makeup routine was virtually the same since I was about 13!

Recently, though, I’ve learned how the right products can make all the difference in the world when it comes to applying makeup, as well as finding the right shades that compliment my complexion. That’s why I was so excited to try out some of Mary Kay’s new makeup products.

I was always familiar with Mary Kay and used a moisturizer of theirs once, but I never knew that they had such a great collection of makeup products as well. So when I received the assortment of shades of eye shadows, lip sticks, and brushes, I was very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the products. The packaging alone was a great first impression.

The Mary Kay® makeup products came at the perfect time too, now that we’re in the middle of fall and entering into the holiday season. There’s really no better time to have fun with new makeup looks. I love embracing all of the celebrations as a chance to add some glitz and glam to my normal makeup routine.

Mary Kay also provided some fun holiday looks by putting together some of their products and shades that really compliment each other. You can check out the looks here. I really loved the shades that went with the Playful Party Girl look, so that’s what I tried. I loved this look – it’s so perfect for holiday parties!

For more makeup inspiration and videos visit MaryKay.com.

What kind of look would you go for this upcoming holiday season? Leave your answer in the comments section for the chance to win a $100 VISA Gift Card for each blogger to give away, plus A collection of Mary Kay® products and beauty essentials!

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/17/2014 – 12/21/2014.

Be sure to visit the Mary Kay brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

style: my new shopping obsession boohoo.com.

3 November, 2014 by Gracie 4 Comments

You might have seen on Instagram that last week I attended the pop up store opening event for Boohoo.com in New York City.

I wasn’t previously familiar with Boohoo.com, but I’ve got to say that it is now my latest shopping obsession.

From their website:

Our philosophy is pretty simple: we don’t take fashion or life too seriously. Whether you like to keep one step ahead of the trends, or if subtle style is more your thing, we’re sure we’ve got something you’ll love. Combining cutting-edge design with an affordable price tag, we’ve been pushing boundaries for the past eight years to bring you all the latest looks for less.

They took the words out of my mouth! That’s basically my philosophy behind #TrendyNotSpendy, so I couldn’t have found Boohoo.com at a better time.

In short, Boohoo.com has similar prices to stores like H&M, Forever21 & Zara, but the look and quality of the clothes are on another level. I’m so glad I got to see (and try on) them for myself at the event last week.

Oh, and did I mention how fun the event was? They had amazing performances by Femme and Tanlines, a candy bar, great food and drinks, and other fun activations.