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 all!  I hope everyone’s weekend went well.  It was pretty good here.  Today is my and Aaron’s 6^th anniversary.  Hard to believe we’ve been married this long, seems like it’s only been about half that time.  Here’s what he got me:

Black and white diamond heart necklace--Helzberg Diamonds

He’s horrible to shop for so when we go to Kansas City in a few weeks he’s gonna pick something out at the outlets.

Moving on to weight loss, it’s not going so well.  I’m up almost a pound from the last weigh in.  It’s my entire fault, I admit.  I’ve been eating crap and not working out at all.  This changes tomorrow, definitely.  Back on the elliptical!

As for beauty purchases this week, my “Blizzard” palette from Crown Brush arrived this week!  I’m so excited; the colors in it are so pretty.  Check out a few pictures:

Front packaging

With flash

Without flash

I also stopped by Ulta yesterday and grabbed 2 new nail Sally Hansen nail polishes from the HD Hi-Definition collection, “Spectrum” is a blue-to-green-to-purple changing color and “Byte” is a pink-to-purple changing color.  I also picked up a new lipgloss from NYX.  It’s one of their new “Pump It Up” lip plumpers.  I got the “Lindsay” color which is a light sparkly pink.  It doesn’t really plump, at least not on me, but the color is cute.

Finishing up tonight are my few fashion purchases.  I made a quick stop at TJ Maxx because I was looking for a new pair of sandals.  I did find a cute pair for only $14.99 that are black with sparkles.  If I”d only had an extra $60 I’d have a pair of silver Michael Kors ones but I was good and didn’t spend that much.

I did, however, find a new pair of Coach sunglasses in glittery purple for more than half off what they are in the boutique.  This is the first time I’ve actually found anything Coach at TJ Maxx so I was very excited and snatched it up as soon as I saw it, lol.

Well, that’s it for tonight.  I hope everyone has a great week ahead!  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

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday everyone!  I hope everyone’s weekend went well, now it’s time to get ready for a new week ahead.  I start a new schedule at work this week, starting 30 minutes earlier which means off 30 minutes earlier which will be nice.  It’ll just take a few days to get used to being up earlier, lol.  Now on to this week’s wrap up.

We had our final weigh-in this week for our “Wedding Weight Loss Challenge” at work.  I was up two pounds from my last weigh in but down a total of 8 pounds from where I started.  I’d say that’s very good personally.   As a team we decided to start a new challenge for the summer to keep up the encouragement to be healthier.  I’d just like to say again how proud I am of all my coworkers who have put so much effort into getting healthy!  We’re AWSOME!!

I have a few beauty purchases this week thanks to another small bonus at work.  From Ulta I purchased the new Too Faced “Summer Eye” palette.  It has 9 really pretty colors, a few pinks, a nice blue and some browns, to put together a some great looks for summer.   I’ll have the swatches up this week (along with the swatches from last week’s “Crimson Amulet” palette purchase).

At Sephora I picked up a new perfume.  I chose “Daisy Eau So Fresh” from Marc Jacobs in a rollerball.  I really love this scent but haven’t been able to bring myself to spend the $70 on the full bottle of perfume.  The rollerball version is only $20 and should last a while considering I switch between fragrances pretty much every day, lol.

Finally, at Target I got 2 e.l.f. cream eyeliners, one in “Midnight”, a dark blue, and one in “Plum Purple”, a dark purple.   I really like e.l.f. products, they’re very reasonably priced (the eyeliners were $3 a piece) and good quality in my opinion.

Also at Target I picked up a bright blue lightweight knit cotton Mossimo scarf to go with the crops I got last week.  The one I ordered turned out to be more of a bright green than the seafoam color it appeared to be.  I kept it though and am trying to decide if it will still look good with the orange color of the pants.  We’ll see I guess, lol.

That’s it for all my purchases this week.  I do have a few other things on order that I’ll go over next week after I actually receive them and can look them over.  Two of the items I’m really excited about and can’t wait to try.

Well, that’s all I have for this week.  Like I said, I’ll have the swatches of the 2 palettes up this week, hopefully tomorrow.  I also have a new tutorial I hope to have up by Thursday at the latest.  Again, if anyone has anything they want to see or want me to review please let me know in the comments and I’ll get on it!

I hope everyone has a great week and I’ll talk to ya’ll later!  J

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!  Well, it’s Sunday again, how was everyone’s weekend?  Mine was pretty good, did a little shopping, celebrated Aaron and Becca’s birthdays, now just getting ready to head back to work on Monday.  I was on vacation this week so I’m sure I’ll be a bit behind on things tomorrow but I get to see my awesome coworkers so that makes up for it, lol.

So, since I was on vacation this whole week I really have no idea if I’ve lost, gained or maintained any weight.  I’m gonna guess gained since I have not worked out nor eaten well at all.  Starting tomorrow I’m gonna have to get back in the game.  I’ll be honest, I just really didn’t care.  My plan this week was to sit and not do anything I didn’t want to do, so that’s what I did, lol.  My schedule changes on the 7^th of May and I’ll be getting off work 30 minutes earlier so I’ll have a little more time in the evening to work out and cook healthier things.  It will also give me a chance to use the workout room at work which gives more exercise options.  Wish me luck, I’m gonna need it J.

I did manage to pick up a few beauty items at Ulta on Friday.  I got 3 new eyeliners.  One was a replacement for my Loreal Carbon Black Intense liquid liner.  This is my favorite liner of all time.  It’s just really easy to use and a great starter liner for anyone who’s never used liquid liners before. 

I also grabbed a Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen in “Blackest Black”.  This one is more like a fine tipped marker.  I’ve seen a lot of reviews that state this eyeliner is the best to use for winging so I decided I’d try it out.  It’s very similar to MAC’s Penultimate which I’ve tried before but for quite a bit less money.  I’m hoping it lasts longer than the MAC one did.  That one either dried out fast or had very little product in it to begin with.  I’ll be sure to let everyone know what I think.

The last eyeliner I got was one of NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencils.  The one I got is called “Purple Velvet (623A)” which is a dark metallic purple.  I actually don’t use these as eyeliner but more as base for different shadows.  That’s really what these work the best as.  I have two others, “Dark Brown (602)” which is a matte dark brown obviously, and Rust (619) which is a dark metallic red.

The next thing I picked up was a new essie nail polish in “Sure Shot”.  It’s a bright magenta pearl.  It’s actually what this week’s manicure is so the picture will be below.

The final item I picked up at Ulta was the new NYX “Crimson Amulet” palette that was inspired by the new Dark Shadows movie.  It has 24 eye shadows in a wide variety of colors from darks to lights to neutrals, 5 blushes, 4 lip glosses, an illuminator, a small tube of eye shadow primer and a small liquid eyeliner.  I haven’t tried any of the colors out but from my experience NYX eye shadows are quite pigmented so I have high hopes for these.  I’ll be sure to get swatches up this week and start working on some new looks.

The last beauty item I purchased this week I don’t have yet.  I ordered a new Crown Brush palette from Hautelook.  This one is called “Blizzard” and has 28 “shimmer” (frosted) colors.  I’m really excited about this.  I love my Crown Brush “Smoke It Out” palette and I’m positive this one will be just as awesome.

Moving on to fashion purchases this week I stopped at Target and got some colored denim crops by Mossimo.  The color on the tag says “orange” but I think they’re more of an orange-coral mix.  To go with them I got a white three-quarter sleeve peasant style top and a pair of coral colored sandals, both by Mossimo.  I also have a light/foam green lightweight Mossimo scarf I ordered on the way as well.  I think this will turn into a really cute outfit and will probably end up as the “Outfit of the Week” the first time I wear it, lol.

My last purchase for the week isn’t really a beauty or fashion purchase but I do love it.  I got a new tattoo on Thursday.  My friend Jared helped design it and the tattoo artist, Bryce at Addictions in Ink Tattoo and Piercing, adjusted it some more.  It’s a crow with eyes in the wings, based off the graphic from the cover of The Crow movie/CD jacket.  I chose this as a tribute to my late friend Aaron who passed away 10 years ago last month.  I had it put on my right calf and the detailing in it is absolutely amazing.  I had originally planned on having it on my right wrist but it never would have fit and looked good.  I think it turned out just AWESOME and I LOVE it!

I’ll finish up tonight with my manicure, “Sure Shot” by essie.  Like I said above, it’s a bright magenta frost that looks really great for this time of year.  I’m also including a shot of the cute pedicure I did myself.  I just thought it was pretty!

Well, that’s it for this week, I hope everyone has a great week ahead.  I hope to have a new tutorial up sometime this week.  You would have thought that with a whole week off I’d have a slew of looks to show everyone but really, I did as little as possible this last week, lol.  If anyone has any suggestions for things they want to see or know, whether it be looks or just topics in general, let me know in the comments and I’ll put something together! 

Again, everyone have a great week and I’ll talk to y’all soon J.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!  How was everyone’s week?  It’s Sunday so it’s Weekly Wrap Up time!

I’m gonna start with something a little different this week.  Last night we had really severe weather here in Wichita.  Two areas, one about 3 miles and the other about 3 ½ miles southeast of me were hit real hard by what the preliminary reports say was an EF-3 tornado.  Luckily, no one killed and there were only about a dozen or so injuries.  We had plenty of advance notice and all week long we’d been warned the weather was going to be bad with large, strong tornadoes.  The week’s worth of warning is probably what saved lives.

I do have a few friends with at least superficial damage to their houses, if not worse, but they are all okay and safe.  My family’s and my houses are okay and none of us were injured.  Had the path been a few miles to the north I may not have been saying the same thing. 

On my way to the tanning salon earlier I was able to get a few pictures out the car window of the area about 3 miles from me.

Snapped power pole in front of Spirit Aerosystems

Downed power lines by Spirit Aerosystems

Damaged billboard near Spirit Aerosystems

Uprooted tree near Spirit Aerosystems

I just want to thank our local news services as well as all the local Meteorologists, it was their warnings yesterday and all week that saved lives.

Moving on to the weight loss journey, I maintained my weight from last week. Slightly disappointed but I guess that’s better than gaining again.  I really need to work on my snacking problem, lol.

As for fashion and beauty purchases this week there really aren’t any.  I ordered two new BeautyBlenders from Sephora during their VIB and IB sale.  That’s really all this week.  I’m expecting another small bonus at work which I have lots of plans for though, lol.

Finally this week is my manicure, “Koala Bear-y” from OPI.  It’s a nice cream fuchsia color, perfect for spring.

That’s all for this week I hope everyone has a great week ahead and that the weather here is much calmer.  I’ll talk to ya’ll later! J

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope everyone’s weekend and holiday have gone well.  It’s time for this week’s (short) Weekly Wrap-Up.

Regarding any weight loss this week I only maintained from last week.  That’s good though, at least I didn’t gain.  My plan to work out 6 days out of 7 didn’t go so well this week.  I did manage 5 days though so that’s a start.  I did get my new bicycle on Tuesday which is great.  I’ve riding twice, once was 4 miles and today was almost 5 miles.  It’s been a lot of fun.

Moving on to beauty and fashion purchases there really aren’t any this week.  The only thing I can think of are two tank tops at Wal-Mart to layer under other tops, one white one and one blue one.  I know there were no beauty purchases this week and probably very few next as well.  I do have a list of a few products to get soon though which I’ll be sure to share.

Well, that’s really it for this week.  I did say it would be short.  I also know I didn’t have an “Outfit of the Week” on Friday.  I had one in mind but it was a hectic week with no time to take the needed pictures for it.  There will be one this coming week though!

Once again, Happy Easter all!  I hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to ya’ll soon!  J

Scarlett with the Easter Bunny

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

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey all!  Well, another weekend down, a new week about to start.  You know what that means; it’s time for the weekly wrap-up.

Starting as usual with this week’s weight loss, I missed my official weigh in at work again this week.  I was off taking Scarlett to the dentist and my dogs to the vet.  I did step on the scale here earlier and am down 1.6 pounds.  I’m not really counting it though since all scales weigh differently and I prefer to use the one at work to keep track since that’s what I’ve been using since I started.  I’ll have a new “official” weigh in tomorrow.

Moving on to fashion purchases, last week was the big one so there’s not much this week.  I did stop by JC Penney on Monday and picked up 3 new tunic tops:  one in blues and grey, one in fuchsia and black stripes and one purple crocheted one to wear over a plain tank top.  I also got a pair of denim looking leggings and a new pair of capris.

That’s it for this week’s updates.  In the coming week I hope to have up a review of the two mascaras I bought, the Tarte one and the Benefit one.  I also plan to have a new tutorial up as well.  I hope everyone stops by and checks them out.

Have a great week and I’ll talk to ya’ll later! 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

Weekly Wrap-Up

Well, it’s Sunday again (Booo!), time for the weekly wrap-up.  This one will be quite short.

As always I’ll start with weight loss.  I’m down two more pounds since my last official weigh-in 2 weeks ago.  That puts me back down under my original goal so now I’m well on my way to my final goal!  I now have a subscription to Cooking Light magazine so finding healthy meals to cook should be much easier.  At least I hope so, lol.  I also hope everyone is enjoying my weekly healthy meal posts.

Moving on to beauty/fashion purchases this week there are none!  In fact, aside from groceries, smoothies for Scarlett and I from Smoothie King and my every other week McGriddle addiction, the only other things I purchased at all were new figure skates for Scarlett.  Her old ones were about a size and a half too small so it was time for new ones.  Her ice skating instructor said this may help with some of the moves she’s having trouble getting down.  We’ll see in the next few weeks if she was right.

One last exciting thing, my favorite team has made it into the NCAA tournament!  Go Kansas State Wildcats!  Along with them the other two major Kansas schools, University of Kansas and Wichita State University, will also be competing!  This is awesome for us!

Well, that’s it for this week, hope everyone has a good one coming up!  I’ll talk to ya’ll later J.

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

Weekly Wrap-Up

It’s Oscar Sunday, who’s watching?  Anybody have any winner/loser predictions?  I’ll be honest I haven’t seen any of the nominated movies, even the ones Aaron has bought for me, lol.  Anyone have any best or worst dressed choices?  I missed most of the red carpet show so I don’t know what everyone is wearing.  I’ve seen a few of the stars and I’ve seen many pictures but I have to say my favorite of them all is Sandra Bullock, she always looks fabulous.  A few of my friends have said I resemble her, which is flattering, so I always like to see what she’s wearing to awards shows.  And she’s also a fantastic actress, I just love her!

Ok, enough of that, it’s time for the weekly wrap-up.  Just to warn you, it’s short this week.

Starting with weight loss, I gained this week.  Not a whole lot, just a pound so it’s not too bad.  And I’m not discouraged since I know if I just work a little harder this coming week I’ll be able to lose what I gained.   Also, since I’ve been trying to come up with some new topics for posts I’m going to work on cooking healthier foods.  Once a week I’ll post a “This Week’s Healthy Meal” topic with a link to the recipe of what I cook.  Hope everyone enjoys that.

Moving onto beauty/fashion purchases, there are none!  I know, I’m shocked too, lol.  The only shopping I did this weekend was groceries.  I doubt anyone is too interested in that.  I’ll have a few next week I’m sure.

I’m going to finish this up tonight with a new feature that will normally have its own separate post during the week, probably on Fridays I’m thinking, my “Outfit of the Week”.   I’ll include the brands and, if possible, where they were purchased.  Enjoy!

Grey and white striped shirt:  One Clothing (Burlington Coat Factory)

Jeans:  Seven7 (eBay)

Boots:  Soda (Shoe Carnival)

Signature Sophia handbag in grey with silver:  Coach

Black watch:  XOXO

Cuff bracelet in gunmetal:  don’t have the brand (Burlington Coat Factory)

Studded wrap bracelet in white:  Xhilaration (Target)

Well, that’s it for this week.  I hope everyone has a great week ahead!  Also, if there’s anything someone would like to see a post on, whether it’s a review, a tutorial or anything else, let me know and I’ll put one together!  Talk to everyone later! J

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

Weekly Wrap-Up

It’s Grammy’s Sunday, who’s watching?  It should be good with the tribute to Whitney Houston.  That was shocking news last night for sure.  My heart goes out to her family, friends and the fans she inspired with her beautiful voice and music.  She will be missed by many.

Starting the wrap-up this week as usual is the weight loss progress.  This week was a bit of a disappointment as I was up 1.6 pounds.  Apparently when I got off track a few weeks ago it finally caught up with me.  I have since been more disciplined with what I eat and I spent 30 minutes on my elliptical every night this past week.  I’m hoping I’m back down at weigh-in tomorrow morning.  I will say though that my clothes do fit better now so I know I really am losing a little at a time.  I have one pair of jeans that will definitely need to be taken in once I hit my goal weight.  I’m really excited about that!

As for beauty purchase this week, well there aren’t any, lol.  This is the first week in a long time where I haven’t bought some sort of makeup item.  It feels a bit strange.  I did have 3 fashion purchases though.  I stopped by Sears and got a pair of Kardashian Kollection jeans in “The Kourtney”, which are the slim fit skinny style,  since they were on sale.  I also got two Kardashian Kollection tops, one black and one grey, that were on clearance for $7.99 a piece and then an additional 30% off that price.  They came out to be $5.59 each.  So all in all I was able to get the jeans and two shirts for less than the full price of the jeans.  I love it when that happens!  I plan on getting another pair but I’m waiting on a bonus at work.  The pair I got this week is dark blue so when I go to get the second pair I think I’m gonna get a white pair in the same style.  I think they’ll look great with the black top.

Well, that’s it for this week.  Not a whole lot I know, but hopefully I’ll make up for that next week, lol.  I do plan to have a new tutorial up tomorrow evening.  Since Valentine’s Day is upon us I thought I should come up with a cute look for that so be sure to stop by and check that out!

I hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to ya’ll later!  J

Weekly Wrap-Up

It’s Sunday and it’s the Superbowl, neither of which I’m all that excited about, so I’m spending this evening catching up on the shows I have on the DVR.  I’m quite a bit behind due to spending two evenings this past week filming tutorials for everyone J.   Sunday also means Weekly Wrap-Up time!

Starting with weight loss this week, I was very excited to have lost 3.6 pounds.  I really didn’t think that was going to happen, I’d gotten really off track the past few weeks and hadn’t been working out as much as I should have.  I also had not been eating well at all so I expected to at least maintain my weight if not gain a few pounds.

I’ve been back on track this week and have picked up quite a few healthier snacks.  They even taste good too.  My favorite right now is Nature Valley Granola Thins in peanut butter with a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom.  They are yummy and are only 80 calories per serving! 

My one weakness, however, is Dr. Pepper.  This week I sucked it up and got some Dr. Pepper 10 (yes, I know it’s supposed to be “for men” but it tastes way better than Diet Dr. Pepper).  I generally don’t drink anything diet if it has aspartame in it as it is so unhealthy and causes all sorts of bad stuff, but I only bought it for those times when I’m really craving Dr. Pepper but don’t have the extra calories to spare.  Anyway, should be easier to stay on target now.

Moving on to beauty purchases, my NYX “Box of Smokey Look Collection” arrived this week.  I haven’t really played with it much because I’m still experimenting with my Crown Brush palette,  but there’s lots of potential I can see.  The one time I did use it this week it was for a very natural brown look, not the least bit smokey actually, lol. 

This palette is divided into “Classic Smokey”, “Purple Smokey”, “Bronze Smokey” and “Natural Smokey”.  It also has 12 glitter shadows, 16 lip glosses, 4 concealers, 3 blushes and 3 other colors used for bronzer, highlighter and contour.  The colors are nice and pigmented and I hope to be able to create lots of different looks with it.  Check out the pictures of the palette below and it can be purchased here.

I also stopped by Ulta and was lucky enough to be able to grab the last “Love at First Blush” blush (obviously, lol) by Stila that they had left.  I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but the colors are nice.  I also got a similar Physician’s Formula blush called “Happy Booster” which claims to be mood boosting due to some plant extracts used in it.  I’m weary of this because it has a rosewater scent to it which is something that usually gives me a headache.  I haven’t actually tried it yet either though so I’m hoping once it’s applied the scent isn’t as strong.

I also picked up one of Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer.  I’ve heard many good things about this so I decided it was time to try this out.  I had been using Garnier Nutritioniste’s Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Roller which works pretty good but I’ve heard the coverage of the Maybelline one is better. 

I also got a new jar of Olay Age Defying Anti-Wrinkle night cream and two new EOS lip balms in sweet mint.  I just love both these products.  The Olay makes my skin nice and soft and the EOS does the same for my lips.

Finally, I picked up 3 new nail polishes.  Two were in the clearance bin which was nice.  They were part of OPI’s Pirates of the Caribbean line.  I got “Planks A Lot” which is a light purple and “Stranger Tides” which is a kind of a pale sea green color.

This week’s manicure is the other color I bought, “Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi” by Nicole by OPI’s Kardashian Kolor collection.  It’s a bright red cream shade, perfect for Valentine’s Day which is why I bought it, lol.

 That’s it for this week, hope the upcoming week goes well for everybody!  Talk to you all later! J