DIY Bath Bombs

Hello, lovelies! With it being winter, our skin is more vulnerable to being dry and cracked. Moisturizing is always good, but sometimes, we need to give our skin a little extra loving. 

I will be the first to admit I love myself a good soak in the tub: a deliciously scented bath bomb, a hair or face mask (or both), lit candles, and just my thoughts. It makes a tough day seem a little less stressful.

However, the price of those LUSH bath bombs can add up quite quickly, leaving poor college students suffering. To fix this problem, here is a bulk recipe to make some customizable DIY bath bombs that will cure your winter-chilled skin. 

What You Need:

2 cup baking soda

1 cup citric acid

1 cup Epsom salts

2 tsp. water

4 tsp. essential oil

6 tsp. olive oil

food coloring

----

2 glass bowls

Whisk

Bath bomb molds

Directions:

Step 1: Mix all dry ingredients in a glass bowl and mix evenly with a whisk.

Step 2: In the other glass bowl, mix all liquid ingredients together.

Step 3: Put a small amount of your liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Mix until all the liquid has been absorbed by the dry ingredients. Continue adding small amounts of the liquid mixture until it has all been used.

Step 4: Put mixture in the molds. In an ornament mold, put a little more than what it holds on both sides and press it together until the two molds touch (they don't have to clip together). In half molds, press tightly so bath bombs are solid.

Step 5: Once it is pressed, gently tap out with a spoon or hands to loosen the bath bomb.

Step 6: Let your creations dry for 1-2 days.

It's so easy! Using different food coloring, essential oils, and molds create an endless variety of bath bombs. If you want to go all out, write cute notes and laminate them to give a cute message to the receiver of the bath bomb or put flower petals in the center of the bath bombs for a nice flower bath. 

I hope you enjoy your DIY bath bombs! What scents, colors, and molds do you like? 
Let me know in the comments!

xx Amanda

FabFX Facebook Page

Twitter & Instagram: @amanda_wymore

Festive Make Up Tutorial

Hello, lovelies! Four sleeps until Christmas! It's so close! For this post, I will show you how to create a beautiful neutral eye with a staple red lip for the festive season! Whether you have Christmas parties to attend or you just want to doll yourself up for when you open your gifts, this is the look for you. 

P.S. This look really could work any time of the year, but a red lip especially looks nice during this time of year! Enjoy!

Face

For a flawless looking complexion, I did my normal skincare routine and moisturized with Estēe Lauder DayWear Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Creme. 

Then I primed my face with Benefit The POREfessional Face Primer. For foundation, I used my go-to Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in the shade Gobi. I have not been putting concealer under my eyes, but an eye brightener. I use Trish McEvoy Instant Eye Lift in Shade 2 to cover the darkness under my eyes and lift my lovely under eye bags. To conceal any spots or redness on my face, I use CoverGirl Ready Set Gorgeous Concealer in Light. 

To ensure my foundation and concealer stayed in place, I powdered my face using my trusty Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent. 

 

At this point, my face was whiter than Santa Claus' beard, so I added some definition to my face with some Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Light/Medium. To bring some color back into my cheeks, I used my NYX Powder Blush in Mocha.

Brows

For eyebrows, I'm pretty much doing the same thing I always do. I used the Too Faced Brow Envy Kit. I swipe on the setting wax to give my brows a general shape, then use small controlled strokes to fill in the sparse areas with the brunette shade. Once I've covered the bare areas, I use the Benefit Gimme Brow Vomumizing Gel in Medium/Deep to cover any lighter hairs and to define my arch a little more.

Eyes

Before I apply eye shadow, I always apply my favorite eye primer, the Urban Decay Origninal Eye Shadow Potion Primer in Nude to help the shadow last longer and not crease.

For this neutral eye look, I tried to keep it pretty simple since I want the main focus to be on the lips. I used NYX The Natural Eyeshadow Palette, using the three colors on the right side of the palette. I applied the first color, a very light tan color, in the crease with a blending brush to be the transition color. I then applied next color to the right, a shimmery coffee brown, all over the lid. I really packed that color on to emphasize the sparkle and warmth. Finally, I used the furthest color to the right, a deep brown in the outer third of my crease. I applied only a small amount at a time, blended it out, then added more, and kept blending until I liked the gradient. I highlighted my inner corners with L'Oréal Infallible Silkissime Eyeliner in Highlighter, which really brightened up the look.

To finish the eyes, I layered up Benefit They're Real Lengthening Mascara in Black. I think putting on more than one coat of mascara emphasizes the length of your lashes. Focusing it mostly at the base of the lashes also helps them become more volumized, even with a lengthening mascara. It also covers your butt if you can't apply liquid eye liner (like me).

Lips

For the main event... The lipstick! For this festive red lip, I used Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss in Shade 107. This, my lovelies, is the holy grail of red lipsticks. It's creamy, pigmented, and just the absolute most gorgeous red to be bestowed upon my lips. I might be acting a little dramatic, but it is seriously a great lipstick to try out if you're in the market for a new red. I used a lip brush to outline the lips with this color, then applied the color straight from the bullet to my lips to get a more prominent color.

And voila! You have a very festive Christmas look! I hope you enjoyed this look! What looks do you like to wear around the Holidays? Let me know in the comments!

xx Amanda

FabFX Facebook Page

Twitter & Instagram: @amanda_wymore

Gift Wrapping Ideas

Hello, lovelies! Only seven sleeps until Christmas! It has undoubtedly been a stressful few weeks trying to get gifts sorted out and wrapped in time to exchange them. I usually am one of those people who wraps with the same old Santa gift paper or throw it in a festive bag wrapped in tissue paper, but I really wanted to try something different to make my gifts stand out when sitting under the Christmas tree!

This year, I decided to try a very simplistic, yet festive style of wrapping. All you need to try this wrapping is plain brown wrapping paper, twine, red ribbon, bows, stamp set, red ink, and some gift tags.

Plain brown wrapping paper is so cheap but helps create some pretty wrapping that will make the receivers feel special... it's like you actually tried this year. But with the help of some ribbon, stamps, and gift tags, there are endless ways to wrap gifts for the ones you love.

Enjoy!

Give the gift a rustic look by using twine instead of ribbon.
Make simple tags with festive gift tags and individual letter stamps.

Skip the tag and stamp straight onto the brown gift wrap.
Keep it festive with red ribbon and bows!

Personalize tags with cute nicknames.
Customize gift wrap with fun stamps around the paper.

How have you been wrapping gifts for this Christmas? What are your go-to materials? 

Let me know in the comments!

xx Amanda

FabFX Facebook Page

Twitter & Instagram: @amanda_wymore

My Favorite Christmas Songs & Films

Hello, lovelies! I hope you're having a fabulous December! Only a few weeks until the big day! I think a great way to get into the Christmas spirit is by blasting the festive tunes and watching Christmas films. There's so many to choose from, but here are some of my favorites!

Christmas Playlist

Baby It's Cold Outside

Idina Mendez & Michael Bublé

All I Want for Christmas Is You

Mariah Carey

Fa La La

Justin Bieber ft. Boyz II Men

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Jackson 5

Santa Baby

Eartha Kitt

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Michael Bublé

Mistletoe

Justin Bieber

Christmas Without You

OneRepublic

Christmas Lights

Coldplay

All I Want for Christmas Is You

Michael Bublé

Christmas Films

Love Actually

Elf

Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Polar Express

Frosty's Winter Wonderland

What Christmas songs and films do you enjoy during the season of giving?

Let me know in the comments!

I hope your days are merry and lovely.

xx Amanda

FabFX Facebook Page

Twitter & Instagram: @amanda_wymore