Party Time!!

The other day, I mentioned that I'd be hosting a party.... ready for the details?

Join me all month for a Mary Kay E-Party!!

I am teaming up with my Mary Kay Beauty Consultant, Amanda Delaney, for the entire month of September to host an online Mary Kay party. You've probably been to a "product party" like Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, or (does anyone still have these?) Tupperware and you know the drill: get dressed, go mingle, eat awesome appetizers, and try to decide what to buy in a room full of women all having the same "oh crap, what do I buy" moment. Not with the online party!

Feel free to shop the Mary Kay website all month long.... take your time, browse in you PJ's, and (clearly the best part) receive 15% off your order when you mention my blog at checkout! All the details are below, so be sure to read them before placing your order so you get the discount :-)

If you haven't used Mary Kay and aren't sure where to start, I would totally recommend the TimeWise Miracle Set. I have been using it for about 2 months now and I love the way it makes my skin feel! There are 4 components to the set:

From left to right, it's the 3-in-1 Face Wash, Moisturizer, Sunscreen, and Night Serum. I use the face wash twice almost every day and I'm just starting to run low. There is still a good amount of moisturizer & sunscreen left, and you can see how much night serum is left. The face wash smells awesome and has little microbeads in there to really get your face clean. The whole set is a little spendy at $90, but it's lasted 2 months so far and I can probably get another 2 months out of the moisturizer, sunscreen, and serum so I feel like it's worth it.

Here's a close-up of my daily routine:
After giving birth and seeing the time I have for my morning routine diminish by half, it really became important to me to start taking care of my skin.... mainly so I don't have to wear a lot of make-up to look ok! I'm also swiftly heading towards the big 3-0 so I like that it's "age fighting"... makes me feel like I'm doing something to keep wrinkles at bay!

My other favorite product is the Ultimate Mascara, which I mentioned yesterday:

Check out my naked face & enter for you chance to win a free mascara HERE! Entries close on Thursday and the winner will be announced on Friday. But if you can't wait & want to try it now, it's normally $15 but you can get it through my online party for only $12.75!

Ready to order? Here's the deal:

1. Head to www.marykay.com/amandadelaney and look around! It's important that you go to Amanda's site (and not just marykay.com) so that she can track orders and make sure you get your discount.
2. Fill up your cart with whatever goods you like and then click "check out" in the upper right corner of the page.
3. Double check your cart, click the big check out button, and register for a free account. Click through everything, add your shipping address & double check everything.
4. In Step 2 of 3 it will ask for payment. Make sure you click "Contact Me For Payment" and put Bless This Nest in the comment section. That code will get you 15% off your order total!!
5. Await the arrival of your fancy new Mary Kay products :-)

Wanna hear the best, best part? If you place an order during September 2011 and use the code for 15% off.... any future orders you place with the code "Bless This Nest" will also get you a 15% discount!!! Happy Shopping - and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Giveaway and a Party!

I can't believe it's already September! I feel like the summer always goes by way to fast but mornings like this - crisp and clear - make me excited for the fall. I love sweatshirts & jeans & a new tube of mascara.

Yep, new mascara. Not pens and notebooks. Mascara. It's my favorite back to school thing! Some girls like new shoes... I just like new mascara. I mean, I buy new mascara when I need it, but there's something about starting off the year with a fresh tube of mascara that makes me reaaaaally happy. I also like a new tube for the holiday season, but that's still weeeeeeks away (even though stores seem to think otherwise?) so we won't go there.

My go-to brand is usually Covergirl, and I LOVE DiorShow for special occasions (like my wedding/honeymoon only because wow is it expensive), but I have a brand new favorite that I am so excited to show you!

Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara

I don't normally wear a ton of makeup, so big & thick lashes are a must. Well, that and really good under eye coverup. But mainly big lashes because I feel like they make me look instantly put together and wide-eyed, even if I really just need another coffee (or 3). Behold, my super naked (and tired) face:

Most mornings I pull my wet hair back in a braid, slap on coverup, and swipe on a few coats of mascara before going to work. Yikes, right? I know, that's why I'll try any mascara that crosses my path - I'm always on the look out for the perfect tube. The Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara claims that it's super volumizing and is flake & clump resistant. The first thing I noticed when I pulled the wand from the tube was there it was fully clump free. The box says that it has "smart wiper technology" which I think is just a fancy way of saying that the tube wipes the brush on the way out. Either way, it works. I didn't have to drag the brush across the top of the tube to get off the extra before trying to get it on my lashes, which was really nice. And I wore it for 12+ hours a day the past few days and it sure is smudge resistant - even with a baby trying to grab my glasses off my face, which is nice because the raccoon look is so not in these days.

I didn't think that it made my lashes super voluminous, but it did make them more defined & waaaaaaay longer! They are super glossy, super black, and super long. Wanna see my lashes?


Try to focus on the extra long lashes and not the eyebrows that are about 10 months overdue for a waxing. And thats all I have on - no eyeliner, no shadow - just mascara. Yey!

So now what? Well, now I have 5 tubes of Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara for 5 lucky readers! To enter for a chance to win:

• Leave me a comment below telling me about your favorite mascara or favorite back to school item
• Tweet about this giveaway & post the link to the tweet below (copy me in the tweet @hagen23)
• Blog about this giveaway and & post the link to your post below

For each entry, make sure you leave a separate comment and if your blog doesn't have your email address, be sure to leave that in your comments as well. Entries will close on Thursday, September 8 and the winners will be announced on Friday, September 9!

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Can't wait to see if you won & want to try out the Ultimate Mascara now? Or have a MK favorite and need to stock up? Stay tuned - I'm hosting an online Mary Kay party for the entire month of September and every order is eligible for a discount - no minimum needed! I'll post the details tomorrow :-)

Happy Thursday!

*I was provided a new mascara (plus 5 to giveaway) by my Mary Kay rep in exchange for my honest review. These words are my own!