Packing For South Africa!!

"We travel not to escape life, but so that life does not escape us."

Well as you can tell by the title of this post, I'm headed to South Africa. Cape Town to be exact! I'm leaving in about 2 weeks, so I've already began packing. This trip is based around my international community health nursing class in which I will be receiving 6 credit hours from my University. I've traveled abroad many times, and its always been with family. This is my first trip with a group, so I'm definitely excited and a little nervous, as you can imagine. Upon arrival to Cape Town we will be staying with our host family in a bed and breakfast. Throughout my time there I, along with my instructor and other nursing students, will be working with different health care agencies, and a group called extreme response. Together we will perform health teaching for healthcare workers, in the community we’ll do door-to-door education and also conduct a health fair in a few of the townships. One township we will be working with in particular is called Masiphumelele or Masi for short. This is located in the southern part of the Cape Town peninsula. 

 All together including layovers this is going to be a 28 hour flight. So what did I pack in my carry on for such a long flight? Find out below in the WIMB: Travel Edition video. Connect with me on Twitter and Instagram to follow my journey through South Africa!

Thank you to all my family and friends that helped make this trip possible.

Ulta: Urban Decay Haul

Hi beauty lovers! So today I'm going to discuss the all so popular makeup brand, Urban Decay! I went to Ulta while on vacation and racked up on so many amazing products. I'll be discussing everything I purchased, & giving you my honest thoughts & opinions! So I hope you enjoy. I also have a video posted with my thoughts as well as swatches! 

So the first thing I want to talk about is the star of the show, the Urban Decay Electric Palette! This palette is not for the faint of heart! This palette contains 10 of the brightest, most amazing shades you’ve ever seen. If you love bold eyes that stand out, then this is the palette for you, & it also comes with a double-ended eyeshadow brush! 
These 10 shades have a velvety texture that glides on smoothly and range from mattes to highly dimensional shimmers. The color payout for every color is amazing. Each color is highly pigmented, which gives you the intense look you may be going for. While using the brush, I noticed there is fallout when applying; so if you dampen the brush that helps decrease the fallout, & applying the colors with your finger works great also. This is my first palette with colors such as these, and I definitely believe the price was well worth it! 

Next up is the Revolution High-Color Lipgloss. I purchased 4 of these babies in the colors Bittersweet, Vice, Savage, & Big Bang. There are 14 different note-worthy shades that have either a creamy high gloss finish or a sparkle, shimmer finish. I love the slim line shape of the tube and the high-coverage, ultra-pigmented formula. These glosses are EVERYTHING! They look amazing on your lips and the pigmentation is intense enough to give you the color you desire without being over the top! It never fails that when I'm wearing any of these, I get so many compliments! Hands down these are my favorite go-to glosses!

Left to Right: Bittersweet, Vice, Savage, & Big Bang

(With Flash/Without Flash)

Another item I purchased was the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, I decided to get the small travel-size since it was only $12. This is a beauty product that quite literally speaks for itself, if you've heard of it, you probably already know how great it is - if you haven't, where have you been?! This primer helps your eye shadow apply more smoothly while keeping your colors vibrant and crease-free for up to 24 hours. The packaging has been revamped, & now includes an applicator for even more versatility. I used this in combination with the electric palette, & my shadow looked great all day! I love how this primer glides on smoothly, and fills in any imperfections on the skin’s surface. 

This primer comes in 4 shades; Original, Anti-Aging, Eden & Minor Sin. I chose to purchase the original shade because I didn't want anything tinted. This formula blends beautifully on all skin tones and dries invisibly, it's very easy on the eyes and the packaging is very appealing.