NOTD: Milani's Gems over OPI's Ski Teal We Drop

I am definitely in the Christmas spirit - I LOVE this season! And this year I am going all out on my nails as much as possible. So when I went to CVS a week or so ago, I picked up Milani's Gems polish. I heard that it's a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday polish. All I know is it's gorgeous - and as soon as my current polish started to chip and I had a free moment, I knew I had to use this polish!

I wanted to layer it over something, and chose OPI's Ski Teal We Drop. I don't know about you, but I think it works beautifully :) But still, tell me what you think!

Gems was fairly easy to apply - with one coat you could still see a bit of the color underneath. With one swipe of the brush it laid down a lot of the pieces. I had to keep dipping the brush back into the bottle to get more of the glitter since - and I hate this about the Milani polishes - the brush is SO thin. You do have to do a bit of placing the brush in the areas where it's lacking glitter, but they drop down easily and in large bunches - which I like a lot :) Overall, I would definitely use this polish again. Next time I'll probably just use it on it's own and layer it a few times. Love it!

What would you layer this over? Or would you wear it on it's own? Thank you so much for stopping in to read this! :)

NOTD: OPI's Ali's Big Break (Burlesque Collection Holiday 2010)

Last night I painted my nails with OPI's Ali's Big Break. What a gorgeous, refreshing color!




Pardon the crap paint job - I painted my nails in an hour cause I really just wanted to see how quickly I could get it done - which was quite amazing actually. Thank you Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat for that!




The polish went on like a dream. So opaque - if I were really in a rush, I would have been satisfied with one coat. Yes, it was that good. My favorite thing about OPI nail polishes is the brush. It's a nice, wide brush which makes painting each nail faster and easier. Love it!



Overall I am very satisfied with this nail polish :) What do you think?

New buy! MAC Glamour Check!

I love hearing what people's favorite eyeshadows are - I admit I am obsessed with finding new shadows to add to my growing collection. So when Tiffany (Youtube: MakeupbyTiffanyD) posted a new video on her favorite MAC eyeshadows, I HAD to watch it. Of course, like most people would, I immediately googled all the ones that I didn't have to find out how to get ahold of them (instead of going straight to MAC online).

I can't recall how, but some way I found out about BeautyisRelative.com - and they had Glamour Check available for $14 with free shipping. I jumped on that right away! I ordered them Nov. 25 a little after midnight, and it shipped the next day. And to my surprise it arrived in the mail today! Such amazingly fast shipping and great customer service.

Okay, now onto the photos! I tried my best to capture the shimmer in it, but these photos don't do it justice! It is SO pigmented!







I am far beyond excited to wear this to work today :) I love neutrals! :) Thank you so much for stopping in to ready this! :)

Review: La Femme blushes

About 3 weeks ago, Wayne of Gossmakeupartist on Youtube let the world know of the amazing blushes La Femme cosmetics produces. I took the plunge that weekend and ordered all the ones he mentioned that were suited for all skin tones.

Due to Wayne's suggestion to order them online from MakeupMania.com, I got each of them for $2.50. They are amazingly well priced for such fantastic quality! I got them in the mail about a week and a half after ordering them, which was torture! However, it was worth the wait!



I also ordered a MAC blush palette, but ended up removing the insert since I wasn't 100% certain how large the La Femme blushes were.

Wayne was so right - these blushes are INCREDIBLY pigmented. I use my Sigma Duo Fibre Powder/Blush brush (F15) to apply these :)







This is Coral Spice. It looks almost red, but it's SO gorgeous!





Next is Peach Sparkle - it, of course, has subtle sparkle in it.





Terracotta is a gorgeous, sparkly bright pop of color!





Peach is so lovely - adds a subtle glow to the cheeks.





Coral Spice has a soft hint of shimmer - not in the least bit too much :)




Mandarin Red is more of a pink with lovely shimmer as well :)




I am over the moon in love with these blushes. One of the best purchases I have made in a long time! I now know that I really have absolutely no reason to get any blushes for quite a long time, due to La Femme's pigmentation and price :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

I was feeling makeup withdrawal...

Several weeks ago I decided to make a trip to CVS and Walgreens to restock on my EOS lip balms - and hopefully find a few new things that wouldn't break the bank!


I couldn't help myself when I took a browse through the Milani display. I had gotten a brown Sephora eyeliner, but it is hardly even pigmented. So I decided to get the Milani liquif'eye eyeliner - and it is amazing. SO pigmented! The below pic is one swip with the least amount of pressure :) Amazing, yeah?!


Of course I had to go get a new EOS lipbalm. Those things are addicting. I was pleasantly surprised to find that CVS now carries the Lemon Drop with SPF 15! Unfortunately, when I got home, I found that it had melted so badly that I needed to exchange it (which I did, so I have one in great condition now!).


I've only used the Milani blush in Mai-Tai a few times, but it is gorgeous. Still trying to make sure I don't overdo it since it's so pigmented.


Next I went to Walgreens because I was hoping to find the final EOS balm in Sweet Mint that I hadn't found yet. Lucky me I did and it smells amazing. I love minty lip balms - so refreshing! I also picked up Sinful Colors polish in "Hot Spot". It's a gorgeous blue with some shimmer to it. Definitely perfect on the toes!


I'm hoping to learn to keep controlling my urges to buy things at Walgreens and CVS, but ah - it's so tempting from the moment I walk through those doors! Haha. Thanks so much for stopping in :)

My first Sigma!

This past Monday I was on a mission to acquire some new makeup brushes. Miss TiffanyD was having her blog sale that night, so for some reason I thought I'd be able to get ahold of the brushes she was graciously selling at a discounted price. Long story short, since so many people just love Tiffany (as do I!), her blog sale went very well and I didn't even get one brush from the sale. Ah well, I still got 2 items I desperately wanted :) Those are in the mail so they should be here this week! Can't wait!

So since I missed out on those, I told myself that instead of waiting and saving up to buy the MAC brushes I wanted one by one, I would go ahead and jump on the Sigma train. I got the Premium Travel Kit in black, as well as the Angled Top Synthetic Kabuki (which is simply gorgeous!). It came with a free gift - the E25 (pretty much exactly like the MAC 217 brush).





Right after I played with them and inspected them, I immediately went to wash them so I can use them tomorrow morning! I've heard such great things about Sigma producs, especially their brushes, so I'm happy to finally own some :)

Do you own anything from Sigma makeup? If not, what's something you're dying to have? :) Thank you so much for stopping by to read my post!

My flats for winter

I am no fastionista, but I did want to share with you my favorite pair of flats. It's finally getting cold where I live. I feel like it's skipping Autumn and going straight into winter - but either way I do not care cause I loath hot weather. Give me fall leaves and snow anytime :)



These I got at Charlotte Russe on my honeymoon. I'll be perfectly honest, my husband picked these out. But I fell in love with them right away! They are the perfect creamy color - and they go with anything! I've worn them so much I think my husband has gotten sick of them. Haha. Ah well!

What are your favorite flats for winter? :)

Review: Orly Sec N' Dry Quick Deep-Dry Topcoat

As far back as I can remember, I have had one main issue with painting my nails - bubbles. Yes, that's right. Bubbles. No matter how long I wait to let each coat of polish dry, I will have at least 3-5 bubbles on each nail. And I will \wait for hours between coats. No luck! A picture to show you the infamous bubbles below (I am wearing "Awakening" from China Glaze)



So, if you were to take that into account and then I were to tell you I found a top coat that.. wait for it... actually will erase any bubbles in my nail polish AND dry my nails in 20-25 minutes, you must figure that was a good day for me! ;)

Obviously, by the title you know the product I'm talking about is Orly's Sec 'N Dry Quick Deep-dry Topcoat. I got it from my local Sally's Beauty for about $6.99.





This weekend I was at a friend's house and we bought some new polishes. I wanted to test the topcoat's drying abilities. I did 1 coat of my Nail Tek Maintenance Plus I basecoat. Waited 5 minutes. Next I applied 1 coat of Sinful Colors in Fried Rice. Waited 5-7 minutes. No bubbles showed up, so I then applied another coat, waited 5 minutes. Again, no bubbles yet. Then I applied the Orly topcoat.

We all go through the odd claw time when we are waiting for our nails to dry, haha. I do the same and even when my nails were dry even down to the base coat after 20 minutes, I am so used to being careful with my nails I kept my claws going. Ah, oh well. They were so dry that I even opened a can of soda - NO DENTS. I then intentionally clicked my nails on top of each other, pressing very hard - NO DENTS. And the best part? I woke up the next morning with no pillow impressions. Here it is after it dried:



So clearly I am in love with this topcoat. But there is one thing that I hate about it. I painted my nails Saturday night, and I had my first chip on Monday. So the topcoat doesn't seem to protect against chipping. But I think next time I'll try putting down my Nail Tek before the Orly topcoat to see if that helps to make it last. Why go through so much trouble? Because I seriously love not having to worry about painting my nails and dealing with the bubbles.



I'll be honest though, this is the first fast dry top coat I've tried. I MIGHT try another one if and when I run out of Orly, so I'll try to keep my options open. I know tons of people adore the Seche Vite fast dry topcoat, but I think I've found what I've been searching for in a topcoat! :)

Thanks so much for stopping in to read this - tell me what you think! :)

I am one year older!

So tomorrow (Saturday) I turn 26. I feel very excited, even though 26 isn't exactly a specially celebrated year. I'll try to get a new post up this weekend, but as of right now my husband and I are visiting with friends that live a little ways from us. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! xx


(a chocolate gift basket from my coworkers - they know me too well!)

Review: EOS Lip Balm

It was December when I was browsing through the blogs I regularly check daily (or more, haha) that I came across this Painted Ladies post on the EOS lip balms. They had just recently started a series reviewing a lip balm every day. When I read through this post, I was immediately drawn in by the fact that it was organic and it was definitely a cute, interesting shape. Not only that, but Miss Taryn described it as a light moisture level leaving lips feeling smooth and soft. Also, the fact that it was available locally in Walgreens was the selling point to me!

You see, I am a chapstick and lip balm addict. Well, by that I mean that if I was stranded on a deserted island and I could only bring one item, it would be chapstick/lip balm. All my friends can tell you that I do not go anywhere without a chapstick or lipbalm readily available.

I had been using Burt's Bees chapstick for years. Just before they started the lip balm series, I started noticing that whenever I would apply Burt's Bees, my lips would start to burn. And when it would wear off, they would burn even more. I had heard rumors through the grapevine that if you regularly use chapstick, your lips get used to that product and it could have reactions if you stop using it. I thought that someone just made it up, but now I realized I needed to go on a hunt for a new lip balm/chapstick since Burt's Bees wasn't cutting it anymore!

I know I am not the first do to a review on the EOS lip balms. But I will say that I am so grateful that I follow Painted Ladies because they started the lip balm series right when I needed it!

At my local Walgreens I found only two of the EOS flavors - Honeysuckle Honeydew and Summerfruit. I can tell you right now that I have alternated buying these. I have probably gone through about 10 of the EOS "eggs" ;)

They are amazingly moisturizing and are perfect for what I had been looking for. I love the egg shape, but I have found it an issue when I want to go somewhere and only bring my lip balm, because it does not exactly fit comfortably in my pocket. A small thing I have noticed is that when I get halfway through using one, it seems that small little pieces of something (hard pieces of skin? dirt?) collect on the surface of the balm. So that when I go to reapply my balm, if I don't wipe off the top layer with a tissue, it will deposit whatever little rough pieces are on top onto my lips. However, those things aside, it is a fabulous product :) I absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a new balm to try.

I appreciate you stopping by to read my review :) Please do let me know what you think whether or not you've tried it :)

Review: Jazzed Lipstick by MAC

When I heard and read up on the MAC In The Groove Collection that released, I did find a very consistent theme -- almost everyone was raving about the Jazzed lipstick. For some reason, though, I was afraid to even consider buying it because I thought it would look horrendous on my skintone. I am NC15 - pretty pale - and I guess I just assumed it would work more for medium/dark skintones.

How wrong was I!? Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous! My husband and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last month. We enjoyed some sushi and then went to the nearest mall (which is in Virginia) to do a little shopping. We of course ended up at the MAC counter where I have serious trouble controlling myself (which is why I'm glad he's there to say "no").

One of the MA's asked if I needed help finding something and I gushed about how I wanted to try the Jazzed lipstick but was afraid it wouldn't look good with my skintone. She quickly and sweetly said I should try it on and oh my, I loved it! It is my first creamsheen, but I do think it is lovely. I do think it is just a touch patchy when I apply it, but heck - I do not care! :)

Here's some pics (sorry for the poor quality lip swatch)...

(taken indoors late at night)

(taken indoors late at night)

(taken indoors late at night)

(taken indoors in direct sunlight)

I hope you enjoyed my first makeup review and thank you for stopping in to read it :)

Time to jump on the depotting bandwagon!

It was about 2 months ago that I finally decided that it was time to suck it up and cut open my Urban Decay Primer Potion. I was trying to put it off as long as possible because I really love the look of the bottle - too bad it traps all the product! So I ventured down to the kitchen, found the most appropriate knife, and started sawing (carefully).



I really didn't feel like going out to search for a container to put the product in after depotting it, so I just used a brand new clean contact case. I really love it! I actually even saved the wand from the Primer Potion bottle in case I want to use it in the future - who knows!

Thank you so much for stopping in! :) xx