Apple iPhone 7plus Review

Hello Everyone, Today I'm reviewing the new Apple iPhone 7 plus!

Here is my phone & everything that was in the box.

So like many of you Apple fans out there I watched the keynote on September 7^th eager to see what was in store for my beloved iPhone. It already new I would be upgrading I really wanted to switch over to a gold phone and I have never had an iPhone longer than two years since I purchased my first one in 2007. I’m a bit of a fangirl and I’m okay with that. I respect people that don’t like iPhones, but for my MAC based household it is all I need or want. 

I was actually grocery shopping when the event started so I was not able to watch it as closely as I normally would, but I was very impressed with the new camera that the iPhone 7plus would be outfitting and more megapixels on the front facing camera is great for a girl that likes to post on Instagram as much as I do.  So at 2:55am I awoke to place my online order. I had already paid of my previous NEXT plan with AT&T so I was waiting for my spot to open up on the apple site and I also had the app open on my phone. It took about 15 minutes before I was able to get in and place my order. This year the Jet Black and Black phones were the most wanted so I had no issues selecting my Gold 128gb 7plus. My order was completed around 3:20 with a 9/16-arrival date. After a few post to social media I was off to dream land.

My precious arrived around 5:30pm on 9/16 and it took me about an hour to get everything backed up, updated and set up, including the new touch sensitive home button. I took it out this week to shoot some photos; I wanted to see how much the lens had really improved so I took the same shots with my 6 as I had already sold the 6plus. I was pleased at the improvements on the front facing camera as well as the overall image quality. I did notice that images taken in low light and zoomed in are still pretty blurry, so I’m not sure this is going to do the trick at a concert or the back row of Hall H, so don’t throw your DSLR in the trash just yet.

I’m still trying to get used to the new OS 10.0.2 on the phone, but there are a few things that I am really enjoying some things I’m not sure if they are OS updates or things the were in the 6s that I skipped, however the top three things the I am enjoying are:

1.   The new swipe up from the bottom control center. I like that they have separated out the music and it now has its own screen and there is now more space in the main screen so you not accidently hitting the wrong button.

2.  Camera access now; now you can just swipe left and you’re immediately on camera view this seems to open faster and respond quicker that previously and that perfect when I trying to take an unexpected photo quickly.

3.    The Widgets that are now just a swipe away I like that I can remove and add the one’s that I’m most interested in and this a great way to get a lot of info in a few quick glances

**   Bonus, The fact that you can now delete all those apps that you never use like stocks, podcasts and many more on my phone is great. Just click and hold down like you would do to delete any other app and click that x and now its gone. From my understanding its still somewhere on your phone so if you decide to master the stock market you will be able to add it back. 

Front facing camera iPhone 7plus

Front facing camera iPhone 6

Review: AOA Studio makeup brushes

So a few weeks ago  ShopMissA launched their own line of brushes and as makeup and beauty lovers flocked to their site to place orders, I decided to join in and was able to get a full set of 10 brushes and beauty roll for $10. This is only my second order on this site, but based on what I have received and watched on youtube their products can sometimes be hit or miss, but for a buck you almost have to give it a try.

Description from their website: Introducing AOA Studio Professional Kabuki 10 Brush Set, a collection of ten full-size kabuki-style makeup brushes that help you contour, sculpt, blend and highlight a flawless, full-face look. The brushes feature matte black, wooden handles and silver ferrels which firmly secure the ultra-plush, densely-packed, velvety bristles for minimal shedding. 

The Brushes have arrived and my first impression is good. The handles feel sturdy, but light weight and the bristles are really soft, but dense enough that they should be able to do their job. Their are 10 brushes total 5 for face and 5 for eyes. I wish it had the different style numbers on the handles as I am still new to the beauty world and I like to have my brushes labeled it helps me use them correctly and not get them mixed up during application. Nothing like getting your bronzer mixed up with your blush brush. 

The face brushes are all similar but with enough unique differences that you can say this is for foundation, this is for blush and this is for concealer. I put them to work over the course of 3 days and was really pleased with the results. They blended very well and did not leave any streaks on my face, I only had one bristle show up on my face and each brush held the product well. I normally use a sponge to apply foundation, but the F1 flat top kabuki brush did such a good job, that its my new favorite way to apply foundation.

The eye brushes are my favorite, I didn't really have anything in my modest brush collection that was similar to any of these so I had fun trying them out and seeing what they worked best for. The two that I loved the most are the E105 pointed precision kabuki brush this is great for under eye concealer and to highlight my brows and the E103 angled precision kabuki brush that works well for the lid and all over eyeshadow application.

All in all I'm very please with this set of brushes and I believe that they would make a nice addition to someone who is building their collection or if you just like having a wide assortment of brushes that you can select from this is an inexpensive set, that you can buy.

Review: Conair Lighted Mirror

I have had the same small mirror in my bathroom for ages, I don't even remember where I purchased it from that is how long I have had it. I decided that I want something with a stronger magnification on one side and I was also interested getting one with a light to aide with makeup applications and tweezing. I looked online and it was very frustrating 10 people would say the light was awesome and then another 10 would say it was the worst thing ever. I knew I had to look at these things up close and personal. So after calling a few stores and finding out they did not have the mirrors in the store I headed over to Ulta who confirmed over the phone that they had plenty in stock (lies.)

Their were 4 lighted mirrors on display all with the cords cut so their was no way to turn them on and test out the brightness (major bummer) and then only 1 that I liked was in stock and it was not my favorite out of the bunch. I wrote down the serial numbers and headed back home, I figured I would just order the one I like the best off the website (haha jokes on me) it was not even listed on the website, I found my 2nd favorite choice on line and ordered it. This was the Conair Reflections ($39.99) light that is battery powered it is a 7x/1x led mirror that claims you will never need to replace the lightbulb. I installed freshly charged batteries and the light was so dim (something those 10 bad reviews stated) I also felt like the mirror was not quite big enough and I did not like the oval shape as much in my bathroom as I did in the store. I returned this one mostly because of the light (wish I would have taken a photo) it was almost non existent. You would probably get more light from the flash on an iPhone.

                         
                                         

I took that one back to the store, and decided to look again before I left. Low and behold another mirror that I had been checking out previously was now on the shelf. So I stuck with the Conair brand, this is also a reflections mirror, but it has a cord and a fluorescent bulb that claims to be 30% brighter and compared to the first one I would agree. This one was a bit more ($75.) I believe it may be cheaper at other places, but I was already their and it was double points birthday month so I went ahead and purchased it. The only downside to this mirror is the tilt, it only tilts up about 45° (I guess I dont really know degree's) I have to place it on something about 4 inches taller, if I sat down while I did my makeup I don't think this would be an issue. When I plugged it in it gave off a nice bright light, it has a slight blue hue to it, but not enough that it affects the way my makeup looks. Also the stronger 10x magnification makes a big difference. This one is a keeper! I did not check and see how much the replacement bulbs are so I may kick myself later on, however I really liked the overall design its got a bit of weight to it which makes it sturdy and I don't worry about knocking over. The cord is a bit bothersome only because of the lack of plug-ins in my bathroom. Overall I am very happy with it and glad I made this choice.