My Last Undergrad Semester/Sorority Goodbyes/Formal

We're finally here.  We made it.  

My last semester of my undergraduate career.  

I graduate in 5 days.....

I may be going crazy.

I have been in school since I was four years old.  That's 18 years of education.  As my last semester comes to a close, I am left with so many feelings.  The first: relief.  I am quite done with school.  My whole life has been filled with lectures and exams.  & as so many of my peers are feeling, I too am battling senioritis.  All of the extra assignments my professors throw at me seem like literal attacks.  This semester has been one of my most challenging.  I honestly thought last semester was my most difficult, but I was wrong.  Spring 2014 has been very difficult and trying.  

I am also feeling quite a bit of sadness.  This was not just my last undergrad semester, but also my last semester as an active sister in Iota Delta Sorority.  I love my sorority and will miss seeing all of my sisters several times a week.  I am very glad that I can come back as an alum and still be part of the sisterhood.  I received two littles and a grandlittle this semester.  I am most sad about having to leave them before knowing them well.  I do feel very fortunate to be so close to them geographically and I know that I will see them often.

Here is a picture of my beloved Tiny Family, at our last ritual. 

Starting at the top right and moving clock-wise is my Big Alex, Auntie Jess, Grandlittle Karla, Little Carina, and myself.

 Only one of my littles was present for this.

Starting from the bottom and working up, my grandbig Ann, Big Alex, myself, Littles Carina and Alma, and grandlittle Karla. [My first little was not present].

5 Generations of perfection, after our Greek "Graduation"

My Big and I posing with our graduation caps.

Class of 2014♥.

This semester we also had our 26th annual Founder's Day Formal.  My big was in charge of last year's so we had very high expectations.

Our theme was 1920's Gatsby, and it lived up to it's name.

Here is a picture of my boyfriend Dave and I on the way to the hotel. ♥

A picture of my big and I posing in one of the mirror's in the bathroom.

I am including this picture to show her adoration for me!♥

& That's why we won Big and Little of the year, 2014!  We honestly really were hoping for this award. Her and I are completely inseparable.  We truly are a perfect match.  In our short time together, we have been through so many things, good and bad.  All of these things have helped us to become super close and thick as thieves. ♥

Our formal chair is also in charge of making senior pillows for those graduating.  Mine was spelled wrong, but is beautiful and actually goes with my bedding perfect!

Here is a picture of my first Little [or O.G. Little, as she's come to be known] at formal.  The even took place at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California.  The venue was beautiful!  My dress was from a pin-up shop and was 1940-1950's style.  I did my hair in 1940's style victory rolls, and paired it with a handmade feather head piece and headband, in 1920's style.  Even though most of my outfit was not theme-perfect, I received a lot of compliments for dressing "to the theme".

This semester has been amazing.  No doubt I will be posting many more blogs about it.  Even though it has been so stressful, I know that my Bachelor's in Business Administration will make it all be worth it.♥

♥Riley

P.S. HUUUGE Congratulations to my biological younger sister who is graduating later today from High School!

Influenster's Uni Vox Box

I was lucky enough to have received the Uni Vox Box from Influenster!

This box had all kinds of amazing products, including a lipstick, press-on nails, water enhancing tea, a foundation, tampons, and a pen!

I really enjoyed all of these products and plan on buying most of them in the future! Below I will include all of my previous blog posts about these items!

In total they're worth about $27 all together!

My Blog

Playtex Sport Fresh Balance Tampons

Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation

Red Rose Real Tea Premium Water Enhancer

Pilot Acroball Purewhite [No blog]

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-On Manicure

*All of these pictures are from the products' websites, with the exception of the last one, which I took.  I do not own any of the pictures from the websites. 

If I had to rate this VoxBox, I would say that it gets a 6/6 [there are six items].  It would also probably be one of my favorites, alongside the Colgate SlimSoft Vox Box.

I highly recommend you all check out these items! ;]

♥ Riley 

P.S. If you would like an invite to Influenster, please let me know! Shoot me your email address! :]

Playtex Sport Fresh Balance Tampons

I received the Playtex Sport Fresh Balance tampons complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. 

These are great if you use tampons!  They're easy to use and work really well.  Playtex is a well known company, who always exhibits quality.

This picture is from the Playtex play on website, I do not own it.

Here is the box I received!

This picture is from the Playtex play on website, I do not own it.

Here are more of their products, in different sizes.

This particular box comes with scented tampies, which I have never tried, but actually kind of like.  These also have a plastic applicator, which I prefer.

I really like that these are the kind with 360 protection, which like the box and name suggests, is great for sports and being active.  

I highly recommend these tampons.  They have adorable packaging, a nice scent, a comfortable applicator, and are made by a high quality brand. 

♥ Riley 

Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation!

This has to be my favorite item from the Influenster Uni Vox Box. [Which I received complimentary thanks to the wonderful Influenster!]

Rimmel London is quickly becoming one of my favorite brands.  It's quality, it's inexpensive, and they're always coming out with new products I've gotta have!

This VoxBox came with the Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation, which is a mouthful, to say the least.

You can find the product here:

http://us.rimmellondon.com/products/face/stay-matte-liquid-mousse-foundation 

Here is a picture of the foundation! This is from Rimmel London's site, and I do not own it.

I love that Influenster and Rimmel London included a full size of this product, especially because I love it.  I don't usually have too much problem with keeping my product matte, but in the summer I do appreciate it.

I love how easy this product goes on.  I literally apply it with my fingers.  I have brushes, really nice brushes. MAC brushes....but this stuff goes on so well with just my fingers that I haven't even tried.

It's really easy to achieve a nice even application too.  It makes my face really soft :]

Rimmel London challenged Influenster Uni Vox Box recipients to "Create a London Look", and I'm going to be using the one I created for a recent trip to Disneyland. ♥

I started by using Rimmel London's Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation, in Light Porcelain, my shade. I then applied a small amount of blush to the apples of my cheeks using a discontinued product by Hard Candy.

I put some of Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer potion on my eyelids, because I knew it was going to be a rather hot day, and my eyelids require it to keep any shadow on for even an hour. [I think my kind of lids are called hooded?]

I used my naked 3 palette, and applied "Dust" all over my lids, focusing on my brow bone and inner corners.  I took the smaller side of the brush and lined under my eye as well.  I then took "Trick" and applied that to the center of my eyelid, as well as the center of my under eye.  Then I took "Buzz", potentially my favorite color, and applied that to the outer corners of my eyes.

I lined my eyes with black cream eyeliner and used Rimmel London's Scandal Eyes Retro Glam mascara in 003 Extreme Black, which is quickly becoming my favorite drugstore mascara.  I also received this product from Influenster. ♥

I then put on some peachy lip gloss, over a coat of Vaseline, and headed out the door to a magical day. ♥

♥Riley 

P.S. Thank you for reading this! Do you also enjoy Rimmel London products?? Which ones are your favorites?

Red Rose Real Tea Black Tea

Surprise! Another item review from my Influenster UniVoxBox that I received complimentary thanks to Influenster! 

This time it is a review on the Red Rose Real Tea Black Tea!  A "premium water enhancer"!  

This picture is from Red Rose Tea's website, I do not own it.

I love how easy it is to make this stuff.  I love love love tea but honestly it's almost always just easier to grab a soda than to heat up a kettle of water, steep your tea, then refrigerate it.  This stuff is as easy as grabbing a glass of water, but more fun.

I kinda really enjoy squeezing it into my cup.....I definitely put too much! But I like strong tea, so it's okay for me.  It's a little too strong for my boyfriend, however.

https://vine.co/v/Mr6VA1lz5Lh

[Here's a little video showing how easy it is to make the tea! Ignore my messy room, we're moving stuff around!]

One thing I think is really cool is that it makes 24 servings, but is in a teeny tiny bottle! You could totally bring it to a picnic or a party and have enough drinks for everyone, provided they enjoy tea!

I will definitely be using up my little bottle and investing in more later.  I can't wait to try the other flavors!

I love that it can be used in hot or cold tea, and that it came with a coupon! 

♥Riley

P.S. Have you tried this water enhancer? Any other enhancers? Let me know your feelings on them! :]

NYC New York Color Expert Last Lipstick!

Here's yet another product from Influenster that I absolutely adore! 

NYC New York Color Expert Last Lipstick, in 447 Forever Fuchsia. ♥

It's such an amazingly bright color.  It really is forever fuchsia too. I tried it one night and woke up with it still on.  Which is actually pretty great!! I like to pair it with a lipgloss because I'm not a super big fan of the matte look.  It goes on like butter and feels amazing. 

 Ignore my bathroom here.....LOL but here is the lipstick with my favorite charm off my bracelet from my grandma. :]

 NYC Expert Last Lip Color in 447, Forever Fuchsia. 

Sooooo pinky! :] Beautiful color. 

I also really like that it has blue undertones.  Blue undertones help to make your teeth look whiter, which I'm all for.  This lipstick can be found online for just over $2. & it's actually really high quality.  I still kinda can't believe it.  But if you're looking for a new lipstick, you should really check theirs out! ♥

♥Riley

P.S. Have you ever used NYC? Which is your favorite product? :]

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-on Manicure!!!

I was lucky enough to be chosen by Influenster for their UniVoxBox, directed to college students.  The box had a lot of REALLY cool items that I was legitimately excited to try, one of them being Impress Broadway Press-On Nails!

Okay, so I only have one picture of my nails when I had them on, but I LOVED them!!!

So cute right??? I'm so happy I received this design.  They have a ton of cool ones but this one is more me.  It's really mod looking and you'd be surprised by how many compliments I got.  Friends kept asking me where I had gotten them done and strangers took time out of their day to compliment me.  I am used to having some attention brought on by my nails, but never over press on ones.

I am an acrylic addict.  I love fake nails sooooo much.  But they are time consuming, expensive, and PAINFUL.  I'm sure I will go back to them soon, but I really really like these press-on nails for my time in between.  I'm trying to grow my natural ones out and make them healthier, so these are perfect! 

These nails are SUPER affordable at $6 [Walmart.com].  They last about a week too! Which is incredible! They'd last longer with some super glue, which is what I would do if they popped off individually.  

I REALLY recommend giving these a try.  They feel just like real acrylics to wear.  You can put weight and pressure on them and they work great.

♥♥Riley

P.S. Have you given these babies a try? How did you like them?