Hey friends!

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I was last able to post. I’ve been preparing for recruitment, going through Resident Assistant training and getting my residents, and starting my internship at Powell Communications in SoHo. Plus as a senior, I’m trying to spend any spare time with my friends.

While doing all of these things, I have been looking super stylish thanks to the arrival to my first ever Rocksbox!

Rocksbox is a designer jewelry subscription box. For $19 a month, one will be able to have unlimited access to designer jewelry shipped right to their door. After selecting items and adding them to your wishlist, your personal designer will send you three items that average of about $200! You can swap pieces at anytime. There’s zero effort and no commitment. Shipping is free and pre-paid both ways. If you don’t like a piece, no need to keep it or even wear it. Awesome right?!

It gets better…

As a Shine Insider, I am able enough to give you all a free month of Rocksbox!!

When registering, enter coupon code sparkleshinesamxoxo to get your free month!

In the meantime, check out how I styled one of my first pieces, a Sophie Harper Pavé Triangle Necklace!

Since recruitment is this week, I have been wearing letters everyday this week and showing off the campus how proud I am to be an Alpha Delta Pi. When wearing my Sophie Harper necklace, I wore my family letters made by Jenna Benna & Co. in Lilly Pulitzer‘s Getaway Garden pattern. Jenna Benna & Co. makes customized sorority apparel and is always my go-to for letters, especially Lilly print ones!

Jenna Benna & Co. Customized American Apparel Organic V-Neck Tee | Gap Knot Bow Soft Shorts

Charming Charlie’s Rhinestone Anchor Link Bracelet | Charming Charlie Infinity Embrace Ring

Follow me on Instagram to check out how I am styling my other pieces of jewelry from my Rocksbox and stay tuned with Sparkle and Shine for more looks.

This is a sponsored post. However, all opinions are my own.

Hey everyone!

I’m officially moved into my room for senior year! I can’t believe that I am starting senior year in just a few short days, training the new Resident Assistants in protocol, and soon take part in my last recruitment.

I absolutely love my sorority and believe that joining Greek life was one of the greatest decisions I could have made during my undergrad years. It gave me my best friends and future bridesmaids – also known as my big and little! It has made me a stronger, more confident person and has given me the ability to achieve my goals.

Through being super close with many of my sisters in my school’s chapter, Alpha Delta Pi and blogging has let me met many other girls who share a similar bond. One of those girls is Amy from Drake’s chapter of Alpha Delta Pi!

Amy reached out to me cause she has a super awesome Etsy shop to help raise money for Drake’s Pi Palace (which is, for those of you who don’t know, what ADPis call their sorority house!)

On Amy’s Etsy shop, called ShoppeAzure, 50% of the proceeds from the sorority section of the site go towards funding new facility operations for their Palace.

Her shop offers super cute home goods, themed to graduation, sorority life, babies (so cute!), and weddings. All her designs are hand-crafted and with their personalized, super clean details, one can definitely tell that Amy works had on these pieces.

My sister-friend was kind enough to send me a product from her Etsy shop and I just had to share it with you all! It is an adorable, hand-painted wooden sign with the quote “Life is short and the world is wide” designed on it.

I really love this sign and I believe that it really means something as Alpha Delta Pi sisters. As sisters, though we are from different chapters and have been unable to connect face-to-face, we are still willing to help each other out. Life is short, but the world is wide and we are able to touch the lives of different people. And when it comes to your sorority sisters, you will go above and beyond to make the smallest difference and leave a lasting impression in their heart!

Check out some cute pics of Amy with sisters from her chapter & myself with sisters from my chapter!

Now head on over to Amy’s shop, browse around, and help the Drake chapter of Alpha Delta Pi build their newest Pi Palace!

P.S. STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER VLOG FOR A DORM ROOM TOUR OF MY ROOM FOR SENIOR YEAR!!

Hey, what’s up, hello?!

Good morning, readers!

So this week, I released my first ever video blog.

While filming and editing, I had realized that there was a lot of difference between Sparkle and Shine’s text based blog and putting together a video blog.

First off, it left me a lot nervous than when I hit publish on a blog post. Unfortunately,we live in a judgmental society. I was so nervous that a hair was going to be out of place or some other noticeable flaw that is ultimately minor in the long run.

What may even sound silly, since it is now that I look back on it, was that my viewers would not notice that I was wearing my Tim McGraw concert shirt in the video. Would my viewers think that I was just being lazy in a t-shirt? I had to shut off the little voice in my head that was looking for something to be wrong.

Once these fears came to an end, I started to think of potential regrets that I could face. I could have gotten this shot or that shot. I could have done this or done that. I took this, however, as a complete learning experience. For our school’s TV station, I often think about the different shots I want to get. For my next vlog, which will be about an upcoming trip to Atlantic City, I have already started planning out the different shots I want to get, the different ways I want to edit them together, and more!

But now, I’m projecting too much into the future. This post is about my first video blog….

In the end, I just took a deep breathe, uploaded, and started sharing.

In less than 48 hours, I had 250 views! The silly little fears of a a makeup smear somewhere on my face, that pesky hair, t-shirt fear, or the camera being at an odd angle quickly disappeared when I saw the number of views keep going up and up.

I think the biggest lesson I learned was that it’s a lot harder, in general. When I write my blog, I can lay in bed in my pajamas, at any time of the day. For vlogging, I can’t get on camera with my hair messy in mis-matched pajamas! I also can’t do it anywhere at anytime. I’d be lying if I said I’m not guilty of writing a paragraph…or two…or five..behind the register at CVS for Sparkle and Shine. I don’t think my boss or the customers would appreciate me whipping out my camera to start filming as I stand behind the register, when I should be checking them out for their makeup and cough drops! Therefore, it ends up being a lot more time consuming.

But in the end of the day, I realized that I loved doing this. More importantly, it helped solidify that I want to continue on a career path in the production world.

So, to see what else is coming for Sparkle and Shine’s vlog make sure to SUBSCRIBE to my channel! Do so by just hitting the red subscribe button on the right hand side!

ALSO, tonight my Tory Burch Instagram loop-giveaway goes LIVE! Make sure to follow me on Instagram to prepare for your chance to win!

Hello, my gorgeous readers!

So, as most of you may know, I work at a local CVS during the summer. It is super hard to not stare at all the beauty products as I check out customers, stock shelves, and sometimes just absently wander through the aisles to see what products are new. After recently indulging in a lot of beauty vloggers on YouTube to expand my beauty tips and tricks, I felt like I just needed to go on a beauty haul – almost like a sugar craving, but instead of chocolate, beauty products. To save some money, instead of going to Sephora or the closest Clinique counter, I decided to use my CVS discount and coupons to head on over to my job and purchase drugstore beauty products!

Hey, notice on the bottom that I made this BEFORE I purchased my own .com! Well, if you still go to sparkleandshinesami.wordpress.com, it will direct you back to here!

1. Conair Professional Salon Results Brush: Of all the items on the list, this one was definitely the least necessary. I just was looking for a new hairbrush and it was 50% off once I bought the teasing comb (see below). So it seemed like  it was just meant to be (said every shopping addict ever). My other brush’s bristles started to break and bend. I decided to stick with a Conair brush because it’s always been durable and reliable. This one promised salon style results. I haven’t had a single issue with the brush since I bought it.

2. Maybelline New York The Nudes Eyeshadow Palette: I’ve seen so many fabulous makeup looks done with palettes, but I never wanted to invest in a super expensive one. I was never sure what I would use all the colors for, how to switch up different looks, etc. To put it simple, I felt like I would be throwing away my money to use three or four different colors from it. So when I saw that CVS now carried one from a trustworthy brand like Maybelline for less than twenty bucks, I had to jump on the chance. Prior to going on this haul, I watched Caitlin Bea use it in one of her vlogs and I loved how it came out. I mimicked the same look for my second blogiversary shoot and it came out amazing! I’m looking forward to using this palette during the school year when I am going out. The bars won’t be able to handle me and my smokey eye from the Maybelline Nudes Palette!

3. CoverGirl Makeup Masters Eyelash Curler: So one major beauty flaw I used to skip from my routine was curling my eyelashes. I always had been complimented on my naturally long, curly lashes, so I just always skipped the step. It was what, an extra minute on sleeping? Girl needs her beauty rest. But after one of my fabulous residents started helping me do my makeup for formals, date parties, and birthday bashes she showed me how amazing my curly lashes looked once they were curled. I had to invest in an eyelash curler, so with a sale and a coupon, I chose this one and haven’t looked back!

4. Essence of Beauty Exfoliating Facial Buff: This product is a very usual purchase for me. I strongly see a difference in the softness of my skin and overall appearance when I exfoliate. Usually three times a week, I will put my daily facial cleanser, Cetaphil, onto this exfoliating facial buff to wash my face and neck. I also use a body exfoliating buff in the shower to get rid of any dead skin. These types of products are life changing!

5. Conair Lift Comb for Teasing and Lifting: I love, love, love big hair. If you look at the pictures from my second blogiversary, I got my hair almost as big as I possibly could. However, whenever I would tease it I never used the proper styling tools. For a fraternity date function this semester, one of my fabulous residents showed me how I could be teasing it and it came out amazing! Ever since then it’s been on my shopping list to get a teasing comb and when I had coupons (#budget), I finally got myself one.

6. Biore Deep Cleansing Carcoal Pore Strips: I don’t think there is anything peskier than black heads. They’re just so gross and can ruin any look. When I want to go makeup free, I don’t want to have them ruin my look. Though I am lucky enough to not have many, I still like to try and avoid having them as much as possible. I’ve used the regular pore strips for years, but wanted to try these new strips with charcoal. I may not be a scientist and don’t know what the charcoal does, but it pulled out even the hardest to get black head. These are definitely a weekly necessity!

7. NYX HD Eye Shadow Base: Similar to some of the other products mentioned on this list, an eyeshadow base has always been on my need to get list. I decided a beauty haul for the blog was the perfect reason to get it. So for those of you who don’t know, an eye shadow base goes on to prime your eyelids before applying your eye shadow. It helps the color last longer, and in my opinion, just made the eyeshadow look brighter and better on my eyes. I’m super happy with this product! I chose NYX because it’s been a very reliable drug store brand for me and I’ve seen this exact product used in many YouTube makeup tutorial. Sticking to my guns proved to be absolutely right with this eye shadow base.

8. CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Eye Shadow in Shimmering Sands:  So, here’s a little secret – I’ve been using the same shades of Clinique eyeshadow since I started wearing makeup in middle school. I’m a creature of habit once I form a routine, so I never strayed away from my classic colors. While watching my favorite YouTuber, Sarah Belle, I noticed how often she wore this Maybelline shade. I have a similar eye color to Sarah, so for only a few bucks, I decided to try her classic go-to look using this eye shadow. With this eye shadow trio an my go to liquid eyeliner, I was able to achieve her look and fell in love! I even like the colors more than my usual $20+ eye shadows, so using this product adds some extra money in my wallet to feed my iced coffee addiction.

Do you use any of these products? Comment below and let me know what you love about them!

Please note that this is not a sponsored post. I went out on my own to select these products. To view products that have been sponsored through companies, or to sponsor yourself, please visit my Advertising & Publicity page. Thank you.