Winter/Spring/Summer 2012 Favorites!

Holy crap, you guys. I cannot believe how long it's been since I posted anything! I really have no excuse. Christmas time was super busy, and so was January. Then I kind of went through a dry spell with makeup and I was trying to save some money. I also had turned my attention to other things like fixing up our house and making crafty things for various people. But! I have been enjoying quite a few great products along the way, and I'd like to run through some of them today for you. Even though it's the middle of Summer, let's just call this my "Favorites from the last 8 months or so". LOL

Tips & Tricks - Keeping your eyeliner in once place

Sorry it's been so long since I posted anything useful. Between baking cookies, decorating, and crafting gifts, the holidays are taking up a lot of my time! :-)
But I figured I should post a little something. So, here is a quick tip that has proven beneficial for keeping eyeliner from running amok throughout the day. On particularly hot days, or if I'm going to be out for a while and I know I won't have a chance to touch up my makeup, I like to use this trick to keep my eyeliner from running down the side of my eyelid or smudging under my eye.

First, when I'm priming my eye for shadow I'll bring a little under my eye where I plan to apply liner. I also bring some around to the outer corner of my eye. After doing all my eye makeup and liner I'll take a small brush and gently apply a dusting of silica powder (which is transparent) around the edges of my eye to seal everything in. This will absorb any excess oils and keep your liner from running or getting caught in your fine lines throughout the day. I get my silica powder from Coastal Scents which is a MUCH cheaper (and more generous) alternative to Make Up For Ever's HD Powder. I've been using the Coastal Scents silica powder for years to combat oil and shine, and I swear by it. ELF also has a similar product but I haven't tried it yet. I bought a huge jar of Coastal Scents powder about 3 years ago, gave half to my mother, and I'm still using the same jar. A little goes a long way. Using a water-proof liner in conjunction with this trick will also yield great results. 

Happy Holidays!!!

-A

Nail Polish of the Day #4

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day with friends and family (and food) today!

For the occasion, I thought I'd do something a little different using earth tones. This is 2 coats of Essence Colour & Go in "Walk of Fame" with polka dots in "Gold Rush" by L.A. Colors Art Deco (the nail art line with the skinny bottles). I just used a toothpick dipped in the gold polish to make the dots. Then topped everything off with a Seche Vite top coat. Super easy. 

I love Essence polishes b/c they're small, cheap, and come in a ton of great colors. They also last a good amount of time for something that's about $1. I can find them at Ulta. I actually haven't seen them sold anywhere else in my area. (added bonus - the caps match the color of polish! LOL)

Have a great holiday! Gobble gobble!

$aving$ - Wet n Wild eye shadow palettes and liquid liner

When I was younger, I used to buy Wet n Wild makeup because it was about .99 cents for nearly every item they offered. Never mind that the eyeshadow was powdery, translucent, and cracked out of the container half the time. Never mind that the lipsticks smelled like burning rubber, or the blushes only came in a few shades of unwearable pinks and browns...it was cheap, dammit! 
Lucky for me and my wallet, Wet n Wild have drastically stepped up their game in the past few years. The price has gone up just a couple bucks, and it's totally worth it. I'm a big big fan of their new eyeshadows and a new liquid liner. Keep reading for swatches and more info! 

Video Post! - Travalo Refillable Perfume for People on the Go

I just got this really great device for carrying your own perfume while you travel. I figured I should videotape how to use it. Sorry for the less than fabulous video quality - I was using my digital camera and I don't have an HD camera or anything like that. I think you can see what's going on for the most part.

This Travalo refillable travel perfume vial is PERFECT for folks who travel a lot. It's also great for your purse, or gym bag, or whatever you need to use it for. It's airline approved, too! 

Nail Polish of the Day #3 - Halloween Nails!

For some reason this year I'm feeling super festive about Halloween. Which is weird b/c I don't even have a Halloween party to go to. But I'm not going to fight it! I'm going to dress up my nails even if I can't dress myself up. Here are my Halloween nails using the Konad stamping kit. I actually purchased knock-off Konad plates and stampers from Bundle Monster on Amazon, which is much cheaper than buying directly from Konad. 

The base black color is Jesse's Girl "Blackout" which is a fabulous black. It's really opaque and dries quickly. I tried using Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics polish in "Tarred" at first, but that stuff does not dry! Anyway, I used 2 coats of "Blackout" and on the ring finger I used Wet n' Wild Fastdry in "Orange", which has a nice glitter to it. That actually took 3 coats b/c it's pretty sheer. I used my normal base coat underneath all of that, too. After stamping a pumpkin, witch hat, skull, and spiderweb, I sealed everything up with a top coat of Seche Vite. 

Have a spooktacular Halloween!

Nail Polish of the Day #2

Today's polish is Revlon Top Speed in "Royal"

I bought this color over the summer at Walmart and hadn't tried it out yet. I'm pleasantly surprised. I usually enjoy Revlon polishes, and this one is no exception. In my experience, when a brand claims "fast drying" or "insta-dry" (ahem...Sally Hansen) it's usually a terrible (and messy) disappointment. But this one was super fast drying! The only down side was the formula was a bit thin (I guess that's what helps it dry so quickly), but that was nothing 3 coats couldn't fix. So this is 3 coats of Royal with a base coat and Seche Vite on top. This would be a great shade for the 4th of July since it's a true blue.  

Here's a shot of it in direct sunlight. Love that bright shade of blue!

October Birchbox

My October Birchbox came a couple days ago and it is a lot more fun than the September box, in my opinion. :-)
Before I jump into my first impressions, I want to give a quick shout-out to my buddy Sara who recently signed up with Birchbox after reading about last month's goodies. She didn't realize they gave points to the person who referred them (me) so afterwards she wrote a super sweet email to them asking them to give me my referral points and even linked my blog! So I got +50 points thanks to that email. Thank you, Sara. You rock! :-)


On to the box...!

Nail Polish of the Day #1

Today's polish of the day is "Shay" by Zoya. 

No, I don't have enormous hands! This was actually a sample polish from one of my Birchboxes a few months ago and it's part of Zoya's "Touch Collection". I looove this color. It's a perfect neutral shade for me. I was feeling neutral after going a whole week with a very dark brown on my nails. I'm a huge fan of Zoya polish. It wears so nicely, and the formula is great and easy to apply. And it doesn't hurt that it's free of lots of the yucky chemicals that nail polish usually has. This particular color has just a hint of pink in it and a very slight shimmer.
This is 2 coats of Shay with a base coat and Seche Vite top coat to seal everything.

Tarte "Lip Service Limited-Edition LipSurgence™ Collection"

Another portion of my birthday gift to myself from Sephora last month was a set of Tarte LipSurgence lip colors. It's a Limited Edition Set and for $29 you get 5 really nice lip colors in those chubby pencils that seem to be everywhere right now. I personally love the chubby pencil concept b/c it's really easy to apply accurately.  
In the set they give you 3 highly moisturizing "Natural Lip Luster" pencils plus 2 "Natural Lip Tint" pencils that are meant to act kind of like a stain and give you long-wearing color. I found the tints to be nice and moisturizing, too. And all of the colors are just sheer enough to look good on any skin tone. The color that you get will depend on the color of your actual lips b/c they are a bit sheer. But I really like that b/c it keeps it looking pretty natural.
 Keep reading after the jump for complete swatches of each color!