Top Five Friday #71

Happy Friday everyone!  This week flew by thanks to the Monday holiday, and I'm excited for the weekend.  Dan's family is coming to visit, and they're the first guests staying with us at our new house.  I can't wait to show them around the city and have a few fun plans already.  I also have lots of fun things to share today for Top Five Friday, so let's get right to it.

Photoshop!

Earlier this week, I picked up the starburst mirrors you see above at Target.  I knew that I wanted them on this wall, but couldn't decide how I wanted to hang them.  I couldn't picture how they would look, so I decided to try to use Photoshop to visualize what I was thinking.

Guys- this is life changing!  It made it so much easier to pay around and move things on the computer rather than trying it in real life and making lots of holes.  I'm still a Photoshop novice, so getting to this point was very time-consuming, but now I'll be doing this in other areas of my house!

Finished Work Space

To go along with my last point- I just finished my work station in our spare room and I love it!  I actually shared a post on this on my home blog (check it out!!), but this is one of my favorite spots in our house.  I love the view and it's so much easier to work here rather than laying down in bed (like I used to).  

Amazon Echo

I actually got an Echo a few weeks ago at work, and loved it so much that I got one for home as well.  I absolutely love this thing!  The speaker quality is amazing, and the capabilities of the program is just mind-blowing.  There are so many things that you can "teach" Alexa to do, and now I feel like I have another roommate living in my house.  If you're in the market for a new speaker system and don't want to spend a fortune, I would look into the Echo!

Beautycounter

You all know that I started a vegan diet back in July, but I also recently started getting into cruelty-free products and vegan (AKA non-leather) clothes.  During my research I found Beautycounter, which is a company that's dedicated to making safer products.  What that means is taking out all of the chemicals and fillers that are dangerous to users and going above and beyond the FDA standards.  It's an amazing company, and luckily they just started selling a few products at Target!

I was fortunate enough to get to try out one of Beautycounter's products, the Lip Sheer in "Plum".  I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the product- the packaging is beautiful, it has a light vanilla scent that actually smells natural and not like a bunch of chemicals, the formula is creamy and hydrating, and the color is perfect for fall.  While I love deep shades when it cools down, I prefer a sheer formula.  If you do as well, this product is for you!  It's easy to build up, but it can also be worn more sheer as you can see below.

I could keep talking about Beautycounter and how inspiring the company is, but first I need to try out more of their products!  Like I said, they're available at Target now, or you can find their entire range online.  I'll be ordering some of their holiday sets that they're releasing..just look at how gorgeous they are!

(p.s. I got sent the lip sheer, but I'm not being paid for this review!)

The Voice

I've admittedly been awful about keeping up with TV this fall, but one show I've been following religiously is The Voice.  I was originally most excited to see Miley as a coach (and I think she's doing an amazing job), but I have to admit I have a huge woman crush on Alicia Keys right now.  She seems like such an incredible, caring, thoughtful person.  When she's talking with contestants, she always asks thought-provoking questions and brings out the best in her singers.  I was always a huge fan of her music, and now I'm just a fan of her as a person! 

What are your plans this weekend?

Who else is watching The Voice?

Any other natural makeup/skincare brand recommendations?

linking up with Heather and Erika