amarisafloria

Hi everyone! February was a really good reading month for me. Because I just started school again, I had a good amount of free time at the beginning of this month to read and not worry about having projects due.

Without further ado, here are the books I read this February!


Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Fangirl was my first Rainbow Rowell book, and it was SUCH a fun read. The main character, Cath Avery, is a fan fiction writer headed off to college with her twin sister, Wren. While Wren is more interested in exploring all that college has to offer, Cath would rather stay in her dorm room and update her fan-fiction.

Each of the characters had interesting and unique personalities, much like the people you can meet in college. I grew to love a lot of them and because this book was so relatable, it was easy to get through and enjoy. I hope this book gets made into a movie!


For February's #AYearAThon readathon, I only completed two of the seven Harry Potter novels. I intended to read up to Goblet of Fire (the fourth book in the series), but I wasn't as motivated as I hoped to be. Still, two books during a school week is nothing to be disappointed about. I don't think I'll be continuing this series until the summer time because I want to read newer books and catch up with what people are reading now.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Although this was the third time I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I always learn something new that I didn't quite pick up or remember from the last time I read it. This time, it was this: "... the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban." (p. 194) Did any of you catch that while reading it?! The Weasley twins basically threw snowballs at Voldemort's face. How awesome is J.K. Rowling for adding that?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Another fantastic read! No Harry Potter book disappoints, really. In Chamber of Secrets, we are introduced to new characters — some that stay for the entire series, and some that only last for one book (like Gilderoy Lockhart ... am I glad he's gone :p) After re-reading this, I can understand why people say that this is least-liked book of the series. It's a bit slow in the beginning, but the action in the end makes it well worth the read.


The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
Although The Lover's Dictionary is a short book, it took me a lot longer to get through than I anticipated. If you're planning to read this, keep a dictionary nearby! This was definitely not an "unplug and read" book — I was on Google the whole time searching up almost every word. Not only that, but I made a goal in June 2013 to jot down every word and definition I am not familiar with ... so I guess you can picture me writing ferociously after each page I read. I loved how the author's memory/thoughts tied in with each word, but I didn't really have time to build a care for the relationship between the author (I'm assuming he's a male) and his lover because the book was so short.

I was also able to read and finish both Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier (of which I gave 4.5 stars and 5 stars, respectively) but I'll have a review of the entire trilogy coming in March :)

If you're always on the lookout for good beauty products, the Maybelline Color Tattoos are far from strangers to you. In the past two years, people have obsessed over and raved about the entire color tattoo line — with good reason.


I bought Tough As Taupe back in 2011 when the color tatttoos first arrived and was fairly disappointed by the color (although the lasting power is as great as everyone says it is.) It didn't look right with my skin tone so it just sits in my stash now. However, I picked up Barely Branded and Inked in Pink last summer when Walgreens had a "buy one, get one 1/2 off" sale as they often do and wear them whenever I feel like doing a complete eye look. Barely Branded is my favorite to wear as an eyeshadow base, especially with the Naked palette. I assume Inked in Pink would work really nicely with the Naked 3, as they are all rose-toned shades.

Are they comparable with the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pots? For the most part, yes. Both brands have a great lasting power on the lids, but the paint pots are slightly more creamy to the touch. I've had the MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork, a mid-tone neutral taupe, since Summer 2012 and it is still as creamy as when I first bought it. After being used so much, Barely Branded has started to slightly crumble around the sides but once I apply it to my lids, it looks fine.


If you're someone who doesn't like using fingers as an application tool, I would highly recommend the e.l.f. Studio Concealer Brush. Because of its synthetic bristles, it picks up cream products very easily.

The best part? It's inexpensive ($6!) but the quality is still there.

Last week, I tweeted this image of myself with a (not so) mysterious box ... these are the books that were inside!


I've known about Book Outlet for quite some time now, but I didn't know how to take advantage of their site and could never find any of the books I was interested in through their categories. I finally decided to just search individual titles and it worked really well for me. It took about 8 business days to arrive, which is reasonable, and the books were in great condition :)

I'm currently reading The Lover's Dictionary (its small size is very cute!) and am planning to finish Sapphire Blue, the book that follows Ruby Red, and Cinder, a steampunk re-imagining of Cinderella, by the end of February. The Rithmatist and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making are both books that have been mentioned by Regan over at Peruse Project (what else is new?) Although they are both middle grade books, I'm sure they are well-written and will be exciting to read!

I'm hoping to review and share my thoughts on both Ruby Red and Sapphire Blue sometime in March, so keep your eyes peeled for that! Would you prefer to see that before or after my February Wrap Up?

After spotting this Bioré Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser at Target, I decided to give it a go because 1) my Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub was doing nothing to help eliminate my blackheads, 2) I have tried Dark Angels cleanser from Lush (which also uses charcoal) and enjoyed it very much, and 3) I had a coupon.

The consistency of this cleanser is a lot like hand soap, complete with small beads that are pretty useless. Once you lather it up in your fingers and massage it into your face, you smell it immediately. I don't think it's tingly, but the scent may make your mind think so. It felt very refreshing and it did help with my blackheads. Although I didn't feel like it was doing much to my face, it did clean my face fairly well.

My forehead did get a little oily a few hours after I used it, but nothing too crazy. (My skin is normally and naturally oily.) If you have sensitive skin but you still want to try this out, I would recommend testing it on your hands first. The texture of this cleanser won't harm your skin, but some of the ingredients may cause an allergic reaction.

Because it's Valentine's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share my favorite red lip combination with all of you :) Funny enough, Steph from fun size beauty just posted something on one of the products I used and I happened to have caught it!

I have been obsessed with both the OCC Lip Tar in Black Dahlia and Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry, two beautiful deep reds. Black Dahlia is a little scary since it's black in its container, but it can be sheered out for a nice "stain" look (or layered for a really dark look!)


As you can (maybe) tell, I decided to keep it nice and sheer. The only problem I encountered with Black Dahlia was bleeding, but that could easily be fixed with lip liner. I am very picky with lipstick scents, so I was really happy to have Black Dahlia smelling like peppermint and not crayons. Black Cherry didn't bleed, but it did cling onto my lips as patches. As it's winter and I'm bad at keeping myself from peeling my lips, you can see the different blotches on my lips.

If I'm good and I don't peel, Black Cherry looks really nice. I've been wearing it a lot lately, especially before it becomes unsuitable to wear for Spring! If you're not into super dark lipsticks, Black Cherry does a great stain — and it's buildable.


Here, have a silly selfie :)

PS — I couldn't think of a worthy title, so this cheesy saying I found online will have to do. Sorry if it's a little awkward.

I don't usually do back-to-back posts on the same topic, but I really wanted to share a mini book haul with you all and tell you about #AYearAThon, the read-a-thon I joined that started TODAY! As the name suggests, there will be a read-a-thon with a different theme every month. This month, from February 3 - 9, we will be reading anything and everything related to Harry Potter! (I'll be tracking my progress on Twitter.) If you want to join us, just visit us here :) If you don't want to read Harry Potter in February but would like to see what else we're reading in the future, check out this schedule.

Now, onward to the books I purchased a week ago!


If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen this. Target was being a little generous with its prices and I caved. I usually purchase paperback versions, but I couldn't help myself this time!

The paperback cover of Ruby Red does not hold a candle to the hardcover cover, so it wasn't a question whether or not I should pay a little extra for the hardcover. I already placed an order on Book Outlet for the second book and can't wait to find the last one! The Darkest Minds has been a top book of 2013 for a lot of the book vloggers I watch on YouTube, and Fangirl is too cute to deny from my collection. I've already finished it and thoroughly enjoyed it. (More on that at the end of this month!) I heard about The 5th Wave via Priscilla from The Readables but did not care to purchase it until now, and The Diviners was a necessary purchase after Regan from Peruse Project continuously mentioned it in a couple of her videos.

Along with these books I purchased, I'll also be attempting to read the entire Harry Potter series (even after the read-a-thon ends) during the month of February. It's one of my 2014 reading goals and I'm happy to be completing a huge goal this early in the year. Realistically, I don't think it's possible for me to complete 11 books in one month (I am a full-time college student), so I'm thinking this will be my TBR (to be read) for March too.