Patriotic Red, White and Blue "FOTD" and "NOTD"

Happy 4^th of July everyone!  I hope all of you are having a great holiday.  I’m getting ready to head out to be with some great friends, but first I just wanted to share with you my patriotic “Face of the Day” and “Nail of the Day”.  Neither one is a full tutorial, however I have included all products used to get the look.  I hope everyone likes it.

On Eyes:

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Too Cool

Hot Topic eye shadow in Red

Crown Brush "Smoke It Out" palette – blue shades plus white

Loreal Carbon Black Intense Liquid eye liner in Black

NYX Slide On eye liner in Sunrise Blue (SL14)

Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Mascara in Black

On Face:

Too Faced Primed and Poreless primer

MAC Mineralized SatinFinish in NW35

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Protector Finishing Powder in Honey

MAC Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle

MAC lipstick in High Tea

MAC Tinted Lipglass in Nymphette

Nicole by OPI Kardashian Kolor in “Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi”

Pure Ice in ”Starry Nites”

Kiss brush on nail art in “White”

Again, I hope everyone is enjoying their 4^th of July celebrations!  Have a great rest of the week and I’ll talk to ya’ll later!

Weekly Wrap Up

So yeah, I’m way behind, lol.  How’s everyone’s past couple of weeks been?  They’ve been good for me, just busy, which is why this week’s wrap up is for the past two weeks.  It’s gonna be a bit long so I better get on with it.

Starting with weight loss, I’ve pretty much just been maintaining with a slight fluctuation up and down, not even a pound though.  I still can’t get into a routine lately for working out, I just don’t want to.  I know, I know, I’m going to half to though, if only just to stay healthy.  Anyone have any motivation they can give me, lol?

Moving on to beauty purchases, I have quite a few. 

From Hautelook my Alterna hair care order finally arrived.  I ordered the “Thickening Compound” and the “Straighten Balm” both from the Hemp collection.  I’ve used them a couple of times and half to say I really do like them.   They’re both made from natural ingredients with no gluten, parabens, synthetic color, phthalates, mineral oil, petroleum, DEA, TEA or animal testing so they’re not hard on your hair and they’re good to use on color treated hair.  Like I said, so far they work well, and the price was very reasonable ($6.99/each for the larger 6.7 US fluid ounces size) since it was from Hautelook, so I’m very pleased.

From MAC I picked up a new foundation, Mineralize Satinfinish in NW35.  I just needed one slightly darker for summer since the NW30 made it look like my head was floating above my body, lol.

At Ulta the past 2 weeks I’ve only picked up a few items.  I grabbed 2 of the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Protector Finishing Powder, one in “Honey” to go with my new foundation and the other in “Creamy Natural” to go with my lighter foundation.  I’d heard really good reviews of these comparing them to MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinish pressed powders but at half the price.  So far I really like them, the only problem I foresee is that Ulta had them on clearance and I can’t find them anywhere else.  A bit disappointing.

I also picked up an Ulta Extreme Wear gel eyeliner in “Ink”, a nice dark blue.  I haven’t used this yet and I’m hoping it performs better than the Ulta brand eye shadow I got a few months ago.  We shall see.

At Sephora I grabbed a new perfume, the original Michael Kors scent.  I really love this.  I first got this as a sample from a previous Sephora order and fell in love immediately.  The description from the website lists it as having notes of “Dewy Freesia, Tamarind, Chinese Osmanthus, Incense, Fresh Tuberose, White Wings Peony, Blue Orris, Arum Lilies, Cashmere Woods, Musk, Vetiver Haiti.”  It just smells sooo yummy!  I want to wear it every day but don’t want to use it all up, lol.

One last item I picked up at Sephora was a sample trio of Tarte primer.  It has a .25 fl. Oz. “Clean Slate Poreless” 12 hour perfecting primer, a .25 fl. Oz. “Clean Slate Flawless” 2 hour brightening primer and a .09 fl. Oz. “Clean Slate 360° Creasless” 12 hour smoothing eye primer.  I grabbed this because I’m almost out of my Too Faced Primed and Poreless primer and was thinking about trying the Tarte ones.  It was right by the register so it sucked me in. So far I’ve tried the “Clean Slate Poreless” one.  It works well and the formula is nice. I also tried the “Clean Slate 360° Creaseless” and so far, I’m not impressed with that one.  It seems bit watery for an eye primer.  I’m gonna try it again tomorrow.  I’m hoping the issues with it are because it’s new.

That’s pretty much it for beauty purchases this week.  I have a few more items coming this week in the mail that I’ll share next week after I try them out.

Moving on to the few fashion purchases this week.  The first one is at JC Penney I got the denim shorts and green shirt I was wearing in the most recent “Outfit of the Week”,  I also grabbed a second t-shirt while there in purple, all 3 items are Arizona Jean Co. brand.

From TJ Maxx I was trying to find a small makeup bag to keep my lipstick and lipglasses in while we’re at my sister Mallory’s graduation on Saturday (so they don’t melt in the car).  I wasn’t able to find a makeup back but I did find a small Michael Kors monogram wristlet that will work perfectly…for only $35!

Last, from Coach I got a new bag, a Laura tote in foam (a really pretty sea green color).  This was also shown in the last “Outfit of the Week”.  It’s a nice, big tote that holds all my junk with room to spare.

Finishing up this week’s wrap up, as usual, is my most recent manicure in “Spectrum” from the Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition collection.  This one is a blue-to-green changing color that’s really pretty and sparkly.  I wish I could get it to photograph the way the color changes  but no matter how many different angles I tried it just looks blue.  Oh well L

So, that’s it for tonight.  Long, I know.  I’ll be sure not to let 2 weeks go by before doing a wrap up in the future.  It’s just too much for one post.  Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week this week.  I’ll talk to ya’ll later J.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hi everyone!  Well, it’s Sunday again, the weekend just goes too fast.  I hope everyone had a good one.  I guess it’s time for the weekly wrap-up.

First, I just want to wish all the mom’s out there a Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope you all had a great day and got to spend it with the children who love you.  Scarlett gave me a sweet hand-made card and a pen with silk flowers at the top that she made in school. 

Aaron got me the Roped Pave Heart Key Ring from Coach.  I've already attached it to my handbag; I have more key rings then keys so I use a dog leash clip to hang the key rings from my bag.  They also end up with less wear and tear that way.

Moving on to weight loss, I’m still pretty much maintaining, which is good since I have no motivation to actually do anything.  I really need to get back into it though or I’ll be gaining soon instead.  Anyone have any energy they’re willing to give me, lol?  Hopefully this week will be better.

Lastly are my beauty purchases this week.  They were actually purchased last week but delivered just this week so I saved them until today to talk about.

From MAC I got the “’Shop & Drop quad from the Shop/Cook collection.  I know I’m a few months behind on this collection but I didn’t think I wanted anything from it until just now.  The quad has four colors (obviously):  Sugar Snack, a light pink matte; Hypnotizing, a frosted greyed mauve; Power Boosted, a violet veluxe pearl; and Shop & Drop, a deep blue satin.  I’m not going to do a full swatch post on this since I’m so late getting it.  I will say that I do love it, as I do pretty much all MAC eye shadow I get.  The colors are very pigmented, there’s not much fall out if any at all and the colors are gorgeous.  I’m still trying out new looks from it and hoping to come up with something original to show everyone.

Also from MAC I picked up the “Angel” lipglass from the new Fashion Sets.  I already had “Angel” in lipstick form and was quite excited when they released it as a lipglass, below are some swatches the shade, both by itself and also layered over the lipstick.  There’s also a nail polish in the same color that I did not get as I’m not that fond of MAC polishes, you can usually find the same shades at better prices and quality in my opinion.

MAC "Angel" lipglass

MAC "Angel" lipglass

MAC "Angel" lipglass over "Angel" lipstick

My last purchase this week was from Sephora and is the new Tarina Tarantino “Emerald Pretty” palette.  This is my first ever Tarina Tarantino purchase and I am absolutely loving it.  It has 6 full size eye shadows in it with colors named after The Wizard of Oz.  I will have a full swatch and review post on this one very soon so I’m not going to go into much about this other than the colors are beautiful and the formula of the product is so nice and smooth.  Check back soon for my full review on this palette.

 I’ll end this evening as I always do, with this week’s manicure.  This one is with “DVD” from Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition.  This one is a bit hard to describe, the best way I can is to say it’s a very glittery “chrome-illusion” (for those that don’t know from car paint jobs, it changes color as the light hits it from different angles) look with purples and blues.  I’ve had this polish for a while and have never used it because it’s actually very sheer but my girls at work chose this color when I asked them what I should do this week.  I only had two coats put on at the nail salon which gave pretty good coverage.   When I did my toes at home I used three coats and it came out much more like it looks in the bottle.  I like it both ways though and think it’s a really pretty color.

Well, that’s it for this week.  I hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to ya’ll later! J

Everyday Natural Brown Tutorial

Hey all!  I hope everyone’s Wednesday is going well.  The weekend’s almost here so in celebration of that I have a new tutorial for everyone, lol.  This is an everyday natural brown look that goes with anything.  Check out it out below and enjoy!

Products used:

Eyes:

Too  Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

NYX “Box of Smoky Look” Palette

Loreal Carbon Black Intense Liquid Eye Liner

Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner in Sable Brown (011)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

Stila “Love at First Blush” Blush Palette

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

MAC Lipstick in Angel

e.l.f. Mineral Lip Gloss in Pageant Princess

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!  How was everyone’s week?  I hope it was great!  Mine was nice.  Friday was my birthday and even though I spent the whole day at work at least I was with some of the best co-workers ever.  Also, Aaron got me my new Keurig!  I can’t wait to use it tomorrow morning (I don’t drink coffee on the weekends, lol.)  It’s Sunday so you know what that means.  It’s time for the Weekly Wrap-Up!

As always, starting out with weight loss, I’m up 2.8 lbs from my last official weigh in 2 weeks ago.  Seriously guys, I have to get back into the game.  I haven’t been working out like I should and other than my healthy meal on Tuesdays I haven’t really been eating all that well.  I’ve just been snacking way too much and sitting on my butt, lol.  That’s why, starting tomorrow it’s back on track.  That means exercising one way or another 6 days a week, not snacking because I’m bored and watching my portions.  I’m also gonna get to Wal-mart at some point and finally get a bicycle.  Aaron owes me one from 2 Christmases ago and now that my mom and sister have one (along with Scarlett) we can all go bike riding.  So wish me luck everyone, I’m gonna need it, lol.

Moving on to fashion purchases, I dropped by Rue21 yesterday and picked up 4 more shirts similar to the blue and pink leopard-print one I bought two weeks ago.  Two are solid colors: one pink and one teal.  The other two are prints: a grey, black and white leopard print and the other is blue and black stripes.  They were $4.00 each on clearance so I was very excited. 

Then I stopped by Wal-mart because I needed another pair of dress capris.  We have some important people coming into to the office this week so no jeans on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I got a cute pair of light grey ones that should look good with my new pink shirt tomorrow.

Next we have my few beauty purchases this week.   I stopped by MAC to pick up some more of my Mineralized Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20. 

Then it was off to Ulta where I grabbed some new eyeliner.  I got two of the NYX Slide on Eyeliners,  one in Sunrise Blue, which is a bright, dark blue, and on in Azure which is a bright turquoise.  The Azure one is actually a replacement.  A few weeks ago I spilled my eyeliners all over in the bathroom.  I thought I got them all put back away but the Azure one was missing when I went to use it earlier this week.  I think it accidently got into the trash can and thrown away.  Such a waste L. 

I also picked up two of the new Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 hour cream eye shadows.  One in Too Cool (a frosted white) the other one is Tough as Taupe (a taupe, obviously, lol).  I’ve heard excellent reviews on these, that they work just as well as MAC Paint Pots for about half the price.  I’m planning on just using them as eye shadow bases which they are also supposed to be excellent for.

I grabbed a new Essie polish as well in Armed and Ready, a dark grey- green with a gold shimmer.  It looks really pretty in the bottle so I have high hopes once it’s actually on my nails.

The last purchase at Ulta was just some Jergens natural GLOW daily facial moisturizer in Fair to Medium.  I grabbed this because my self-tanner comes off my face when I was my makeup off.  Instead of using the regular Jergens natural GLOW for the body I wanted something formulated for faces so I could use it every day without causing break outs.  It’s also SPF 20 so I’ve got the sunscreen part covered as well.

I’m gonna end this evening with this week’s manicure, “Trout Pout” from butter London.  It’s a nice cream salmon shade.  I really like it and it’s perfect for Easter next week.  This is the first time I’ve tried butter London polishes and I have high expectations so I’m hoping I won’t be disappointed.

That’s it for this week!  Hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to y’all later!  J

Tarte "Gifted" & Benefit "They're Real" Mascara Reviews

Hi everyone!  So, I’ve been using my two new mascaras alternately for the past week and I figured I have enough…data…experience…something…to give my opinion on them.

To start out, here’s a picture of my eyelashes with nothing on them.  As you can see they are sort of light and fairly short.

I tried the “Gifted” Tarte Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara first.  This is the one I saw on QVC and thought at first the model was wearing falsies.  Then, when they put it on the 2^nd model, I saw that it wasn’t fake eyelashes, it actually was the mascara.  After using this I honestly believe this actually works.  It lengthened, thickened and lasted the 12 hours Tarte claims it will without flaking.

A few days later I tried the Benefit “They’re Real” mascara.  This one works like expected as well.  It also lengthened, thickened and lasted all day.  It seems to work just as well, if not slightly better, than the Tarte “Gifted”, and I do like it a lot as well.

Over all, they are both great mascaras and would be perfect for anyone who wants something to  make their lashes look long and thick.  By volume, the they are about the same price, the Tarte is $19.00 for .24 oz and the Benefit is $22.00 for .3 oz.  I will more than likely only repurchase the Tarte “Gifted” however.  I have fairly small eyes and the brush on the Benefit mascara is actually too big for me and I can’t get it into my inner lashes without getting it all over my eyelids.  I have included pictures below of the wands so you can see the size of the applicators.

The applicator brush on the Tarte is average size

As you can see, even though the wand is short, the applicator brush on the Benefit is quite a bit larger than on the Tarte.

Additionally, the Tarte mascara is made of natural ingredients with no mineral oil, parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate or synthetic fragrances, which for me is nice since my eyes can be quite sensitive.  However, since both mascaras work very much the same I would recommend either one to anybody looking who asked.

Also, just for reference, I have included a picture of my lashes with my other favorite mascara, MAC’s Mascara X, which has very similar results as the above mascaras.  However, it appears that Mascara X may have been discontinued as it is no longer on MAC’s website, though it would have been nice had I been told this the last time I bought a new tube L.  I guess it’s a good thing the Tarte “Gifted” lived up to my expectations, lol.

I hope this review helped anyone who was on the fence about either of these mascaras.  I really liked the way both worked and am very pleased with all the results.  If you have any questions or anything, let me know in the comments and I’ll get back to everyone!

That’s it for this evening, have a great night!  I’ll talk to everyone soon! J

Weekly Wrap-Up

And finally, the last post of this evening, lol.  Like I said, it’s been a hectic kind of weekend.  Friday night Scarlett and I went ice skating since she needed to practice some of her moves.  Then yesterday I was out all day and by the time I got home it was time to get ready for family night.  So now that I’m all caught up, it’s time for the weekly wrap-up!

Starting with weight loss this week I’ve maintained since last week so that’s good.  I’ve been pretty good about eating healthy and working out at least 3 times a week.  I hope everyone is enjoying the “Healthy Meal of the Week” posts and are getting some use out of them.  I’d also like to say again that I am so proud of my team at work.  Everyone has been so dedicated, supportive and just plain out awesome!!

Moving on to beauty purchases, I have quite a few.  I did say that this week would make up for last week’s zero purchases, lol.  I’m just going to recap what I had in my haul video so if you’ve seen it this is nothing new.  For those who didn’t watch the video, enjoy!

At MAC I picked up a new lipglass in “Pink Lemonade” which is a really pretty salmon/coral type color.  Like many lipglasses it is quite pigmented and so far what I’ve tried of it looks really nice.

At Sephora I got a second Stila “Love at First Blush” blush palette.  I got one at Ulta around Valentine’s Day and wanted another since it is limited edition.  However, Ulta never got any more it so I was excited to find one yesterday. 

I also got a small trial/travel size of Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara.  I’ve been wanting to try this for a while but didn’t want to spend the $22 on the full size.  The travel size was $10 so I figured what the hay and grabbed it.  I’ll let everyone know how it works. 

The next thing I got was my birthday “gift” sample since I’m a member of the Sephora Beauty Insider club and it’s my birthday month.  This year’s sample is a Fresh “Sugar Kisses” mini lip duo.  I’ve never tried anything by Fresh so we’ll see how these work. 

And finally at Sephora since I hit my 100 points on my Beauty Insider card I went ahead and redeemed my points for a Sephora brand lipgloss sample in “Pin-Up Pink Shiny”.  It’s a bright pink but it is a bit on the transparent side so it ends up not as bright on.

My next stop yesterday was Ulta where I picked up a few minor necessities like some more cotton rounds, cotton swabs  and new Beauty Smoothie 3-in-1 in Pomegranate Passion (I only use this as body wash, not as shampoo like can be done).

I also picked up 2 Tarte items.  One is an Amazonian Clay 12 hour blush in “Dollface” which is a nice medium pink.   The other was a tube of Gifted Amazonian Clay smart mascara in “Black”.  I’m most excited about this mascara.  I saw it on QVC about a year or so ago and it looked like it was amazing.  I honestly thought the model had on false eyelashes they were so long and thick compared to the “before” pictures.  That was until I actually watched it being applied to the 2^nd model.  It made her lashes look sooo awesome!  I’ll be sure to let everyone know if it works as promised.

I also grabbed a new Loreal 8 hour Infallible le gloss in “Pink Topaz”, a bright hot pink.  These glosses are quite pigmented, more like a lipstick.  I really like the formula and they do last quite a while after being applied.

Next I got some new eye shadow.  Two were just some of the Ulta brand singles, one in “Bayou”, a silvery purple-blue, and the other in “Iceland”, a frosty white, since they were Buy One, Get One.  I also got the “In the Garden” Stila palette which has some really pretty spring colors in it.  I’ll be sure to get some swatch pictures up tomorrow of this.  Now to just work on some pretty looks from this.

Finishing up at Ulta I picked up a fingernail polish from Butter London in “Trout Pout” which is a nice salmon colored cream shade.  I don’t usually buy Butter London polishes, even though they have really pretty colors, because they are a bit pricey for nail polish.  I had some extra money though so I went ahead and decided to try it. I haven’t used it yet but will soon.

The last place I stopped was Target.  I only picked up some more Biore Blemish Fighting Ice Cleanser, which I LOVE, and some contact solution.  Kinda boring compared to everything else.

I did get a few fashion items I’ve kept separate from the above items.  At Target I grabbed a new plain white tank top and a new pair of Levi’s “Denzien” capris in dark denim.  And lastly I got a new top at Rue21.  It’s a bright pink with some blues in a leopard/giraffe type print.  It’s just really cute.

That’s it for purchases this week.  I’m really excited about everything I got and can’t wait to try it all out.

I’ll end tonight with this week’s manicure.  This one is “Barbados Blue” from essie.  It’s a really pretty light blue pearl.  It’s the one I purchased 2 weeks ago and I’m very happy with the color

Well, that’s all for this week!  Hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to y’all later! J

MAC, Sephora, Ulta and Target Haul

Here’s the 2^nd post of the day, one more after this.  As you can tell by the title I stopped by MAC, Sephora and Ulta this weekend and picked up a few things.  Enjoy the video below!

Weekly Wrap-Up

Anyone else like me wish the weekend was much longer?  Well, it’s that time again, here’s the weekly wrap-up.

Starting with weight loss, I was sick Monday so I missed my official weigh in.  I did just hop on my scale to check, it weighs about 2 pounds heavier than the one at work so I’ve pretty much maintained this past week I would say.  I’m not gonna add anything official since I like to weigh on the same scale to stay accurate but I’ll say I’m doing pretty good.  Still trying to eat healthy and I either use my elliptical or do Zumba for Wii every day except Saturdays.  I’m still just so proud of all my friends and coworkers for all the hard work they’re putting in!

Moving on to beauty purchases, I only have a few once again.  From Ulta I picked up some more “Say Yes to Cucumbers” cleansing towelettes, I really like these a lot.  They take off makeup well and have a really fresh scent. 

I also picked up a new astringent/toner from Neutrogena called Acne Stress Control Triple-Action Toner.  It’s supposed to help treat acne before it even emerges, probably because the active ingredient in it is salicylic acid, so we’ll see how I like it.  So far, so good. 

Lastly I got a new Essie nail polish in “Barbados Blue”, a really pretty light blue pearl.  I don’t have many blue polishes so this is a nice addition to all the other colors I have, lol. 

One last beauty item I did get was from MAC but it was free, lol.  I finally managed to remember to take all 6 of my empty product containers in and got my free lipstick for them.  I wanted to get “High Tea” but they were all out, instead I chose “Angel” which is described as a soft pink frost.  I am loving the shade though, it’s not bright but it gives just the right hint of pink that it could probably be worn by anyone.  It will probably become my “go-to” color I think.

As for fashion purchases I stopped by Sears and picked up one more pair of Kardashian Kollection jeans.  I got The Kourtney in white to go with the black top I picked up a few weeks ago.  Then I decided to wander around some which for me is usually a bad idea.  It was this weekend too because I ending up with a new pair of ankle boots.  They’re the “San Francisco” from the Kardashian Kollection.  They were on clearance for $19 then an additional 30% off that price so with tax I paid $15 for $80 boots!  And I got the last pair in my size so I was pretty jazzed.

That’s really it for my purchases this week.   I did also pick up a new Coach shamrock key fob since I had a 25% off coupon and I have a thing for shamrocks/clovers/anything Irish really, lol.

I’ll end tonight with this week's manicure.  I went with “Raise Awareness” by Essie.  This is the light pink cream I purchased a few weeks back.  It’s a bit brighter than It looks in the bottle but I think it’s very pretty and girly.  Great for spring!

That’s it for this week, I hope everyone is well and this coming week is a good one.  I’ll talk to ya’ll soon! J

Purple Smokey Tutorial

Happy Wednesday and Happy Leap Day!  The week’s half way over!  To celebrate I’ve got a new tutorial this evening.  This one is new smokey purple from my NYX “Box of Smokey Look” palette.  I think it’s really pretty and hope you do too.  Enjoy and I’ll talk to everyone later! J

Products used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

NYX “Box of Smokey Look” Palette

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

NYX Slide-On Eyeliner in Purple Blaze (SL10)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

Stila “Love at First Blush” Palette in Pink

Too Face Pink Leopard Bronzer

Revlon Colorstay Lip Butter in Crème Brulee

Weekly Wrap-Up

Another weekend almost over and a new week about to start.  Tonight’s post is up a little late.  I just got home from seeing Kathy Griffin do standup.  She was so hilarious and the show was awesome.  And I was with two awesome friends which makes it even better!  We had a great time.  Hope everyone is doing well and had a good week.  It’s time for the weekly wrap-up.

Starting with weight loss this week I’m very excited.  As of this past Monday’s weigh-in I’m down another 3.4 lbs. which brought me to my first goal weight!  Now I’m on to my second goal to lose just another 5 lbs.  After that all I have to do is maintain the loss.  I just want to thank all the girls and guys on my team who are so supportive in all this.  To everyone, not just to me.  You all rock!  And I’m so proud of all the hard work we’ve all put in on this J.

On to fashion and beauty purchases for this week.  There aren’t a whole lot once again. 

For fashion I did get a new Coach handbag.  They’re my obsession as all my family and friends know.  I get invitations to the Coach Factory Outlet online sales so the prices are quite reasonable.  I got a large Sophia in grey with silver hardware and a beautiful amethyst lining.  I’m carrying her already and *love* her.

For beauty purchases I only picked up a few things.  I replaced my MAC Mineralized Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle and my MAC Mascara X in black since I was out of both.  I was also planning on getting a new MAC lipstick through their Back 2 MAC program, but I forgot how many empties it takes.  For those that don’t know, the Back 2 MAC is MAC’s recycling program.  They accept returns of their primary packaging (the boxes are labeled on the products that qualify).  If you return 6 empty packaging containers to a MAC counter or MAC Cosmetics  online you’ll receive a free MAC lipstick of your choice.  Even though I do have 6 empty containers, I left one at home because I thought it was 5.  So no knew lipstick for me this week, lol.

I also needed some new primer so I bought some Too Faced Primed and Poreless this time instead of the Smashbox PhotoFinish.  I like this one better for some reason, and it’s slightly cheaper which is nice.

And finally, I received my “The Club at Ulta” (their beauty club) certificate and I hit level 6 last quarter.  One of the options for level 6 is a free perfume up to a $40 value.  I picked out Jessica Simpson’s “I Fancy You” and got the 1.7 oz. that is $49 planning to pay the additional $9 but got the whole $49 off!  I was surprised.  I’m horrible at describing scents so I’m not even gonna try, lol.  I’ll just say I think it smells lovely J.

Finishing out this evening is my bi-weekly manicure.  This one is “Stranger Tides” by OPI from their Pirates of the Caribbean line.  It’s a very light sea green cream shade.  Now that spring is getting closer (it’s been in the 50’s here which is not normal for Kansas in February) I figured it’s time to mix in some lighter colors with the dark ones.  I think this one looks very pretty.

Well, that’s it for this week.  Hope you all have a great week ahead and I’ll talk to everyone later! J

Pink and Purple Valentine's Look

Happy Valentine’s Day (tomorrow anyway) everyone!  Love is in the air, flowers are being delivered and boxes of chocolate are all around.  I hope it’s a good day for all my readers. 

For this day of hearts and cupid I have created a cute pink and purple look that’s great for daytime and should still look nice as evening comes along with dinners and movie dates.  It’s sweet, romantic and has some added sparkle.  Check it out, enjoy and I’ll talk to everyone later!  J

Products used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

Crown Brush “Smoke It Out” Palette

NYX Glitter Mania in Pink (GP04) and Purple (GP07)

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

NYX Slide On Eyeliner in Pink Suede (SL01)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

Stila “Love at First Blush” Blush Palette

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

MAC  Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk (as a highlighter)

Revlon Colorstay Lip Butter in Sweet Tart

Pretty in Pink

The past year or so I’ve been wearing mostly dark, smoky looks which have become rather boring and predictable, so when my new Crown Brush palette arrived last week I was very excited to try out some new looks.  The palette has some really pretty bright and pastel colors and so far I have come up with two new looks to share with everyone.

Tonight’s look I created using 5 of the pink shades in the palette.  It’s a mostly pastel look with a bright pop of pink in the corner.  It’s a very nice day look that can be turned into more of an evening look by just adding a bit of glitter.  Check out the video below to see how to achieve the look.  I’ll talk to everyone later!  J

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

Crown Brush “Smoke It Out” Palette – Pink shades only

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

NYX Slide On Eyeliner in Pink Suede (SL01)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Stila “Empowered in Pink” Palette Blush in Pink

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

Revlon Colorstay Lip Butter in Sweet Tart

Grey Smoky Eyes

Finally!!  As promised, the long awaited Grey Smoky Eye Tutorial!  Sorry it’s up so late but I did finally conquer all the technical difficulties I was having except for one, the very end of the video got cut off but I'm okay with that at this point.  I'm just happy I finally got it finished.

This look is a good one for someone just starting to try out bolder, smokier looks.  If anyone has any questions about any products I use or where I get them leave a comment and I’ll be sure to let you know. 

 And now, on to the pictures, products and video and I’ll talk to everyone later!  Enjoy!

Products Used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

NYX For Your Eyes Only Smokey Eyes Eye Shadow Palette

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

NYX Slide On Eyeliner in Platinum (SL08)

MAC Mascara X in Black

Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Stila “Empowered in Pink” Palette Blush in Pink

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

Revlon Colorstay Lip Butter in Peach Parfait

The Sickies Are Here

And I’m home with them L.  This is the 2^nd time in a month I’ve come down with something.  I keep telling Aaron it’s his fault since he made me quit smoking.  I don’t usually get sick this often, maybe once a year if even that.  So yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m not smoking now, lol.  Even if that’s not true it’s a good excuse J.

I stayed home from work since it hurts to talk and swallow and my job pretty much consists of talking all day.  I’m also sure my coworkers appreciate me not coughing my germs all over the place.  So, instead of being there infecting everyone, I'm catching up on what I have saved on my DVR.  I’m taking Echinacea so hopefully this all clears up soon.  I’ll be back to work tomorrow, regardless, as its busy season and we can only have one “same day call-in” of personal time a month without it affecting our actual attendance.

In other news, I’ve had a few requests from friends that they want to actually SEE how I do my eye makeup.   Because of these requests I’m trying to figure out the best way to do any tutorials.  The lighting in my house is not the best so finding a good place to film is presenting a problem.  The best lighting is in the bathroom but there’s really no room in there.  I’d like to be able to use my desk downstairs since I have a chair and plenty of space to put my makeup mirror, makeup and camcorder but there is almost no light at all down there.  I’m also going to have to play around with the camcorder and the DVD + RW’s I have for it since I’m quite unfamiliar with reusing one of these discs after they’ve been finalized to be played back on other equipment.  I do plan on trying to film soon, probably a haul video of what I purchase this weekend.  Hopefully I can get everything in place with decent light and a voice that is back to normal, lol.

Until then, here’s another look I got from my favorite beauty blogger, MakeupByTiffanyD.  If you click on the link you will be taken to her tutorial and list of products, which is slightly different than mine.  She calls the look “Changing Leaves”.  I think it’s very pretty and great for fall and winter.   Enjoy!

 Products Used:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eye Primer

MAC Eye Shadow in Humid

MAC Eye Shadow in Copper

MAC Eye Shadow in Dazzlelight

Loreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense Liquid Eye Liner

SEPHORA Flashy Liner Waterproof in Moss (17)

MAC Mascara X in Black

 Face:

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Baked Powder in Soft and Gentle

MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon

Stila “Empowered in Pink” palette Blush in Pink

Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk (as a highlighter)

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Cosmo (LG110)

Talk to everyone later!  J