Nail Polish Timeeee!

My lastest obsession: GLITTER NAIL POLISHES. Actually, I love glitter any time of the year, but I especially love it more during the holidays. I wanted to share the polishes that I picked up at Ulta and Sephora this past weekend. The new OPI Muppet's collection is to die for! I literally want all of the polishes, but have only picked up two so far. If you have not checked out that collection yet, you better...

Here are the polishes I picked up:

L to R: OPI Meep Meep Meep, OPI Divine Swine and Sephora by OPI Spark-tacular.

I have only done my nails in Divine Swine so far:

Divine Swine is slightly sheer, so I used a base coat of OPI "I Brake for Manicures" and then 2 coats of the Divine Swine glitter. Can't wait to try the others! 

Sephora Friends & Family Sale!

The Sephora Friends & Family Sale is coming up soon! October 20th-November 2nd.

Things on my "WANT" list:

Clarisonic Skin Brush- I have been eyeing up the Clarisonic lately. My skin has gone nuts since summer is over and the weather has changed. I need to do my research first though, because I have read that the Olay Skin Brush compares to the Clarisonic.

Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiant Moisturizer- This is a new product Clinique recently came out with. I LOVE my Clinique Youth Surge Night Moisturizer. I got it last Christmas and I have almost used all of it up. This new product is supposed to increase skin cell turnover overnight.

NARS Blush in Outlaw - gorgeous.

Versace Versense Perfume - One of my friend's has this and it smells SO GOOD.

What's on your "WANT" list??

Deal Alert: Yankee Candles!

So I am sure several people who read this blog are just as obsessed with fall scented candles as I am. Last weekend Bath & Body Works had their candles on sale, and I was so bummed that I missed it! I literally live for anything fall or pumpkin scented. I was talking to my friend Katie, and she told me that Yankee Candle was having a sale. Of course, I had to jump on that and...

I purchased Autumn Leaves and Autumn Wreath! The best part? ONE WAS FREE. Yankee has pretty pricey candles (although they are worth it, the scents are amazing), the 22 ounce candle is normally $25.99. Walking away with two of these babies for only $25.99 is quite the steal. I wanted more, but I told myself NO! 

There are two coupons you can print. One is for the Buy One, Get One and the other is $10 off any candle $25 or more. Unfortunately, they cannot be combined.

http://www.yankeecandle.com/print_coupons

 *only valid until Sept 11th*

http://www.yankeecandle.com/assets/email/sep08b1g1/coupon_b1g1September.html 

*valid until Sept 25th*

Happy candle shopping!!

Mani's & Pedi's!

Class started for me this week, and I finally have a little time to blog! Before I got back to my apartment at college, my mom and I went and got our nails and toes done. This time, we went to a salon that had the OPI Axxium Shellac, opposed to the CND Shellac. I honestly think that the OPI Shellac is WAY better. I have had 3 CND Shellac manicures before, and only one left me "impressed." The others started lifting between 7-10 days. I know they are only supposed to last for two weeks...but seriously. I'm going on two weeks now with the OPI Axxium, there is not a chip in sight and they are still super shiny. OH, AND OPI HAS *TONS* OF COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM....unlike CND Shellac!

That's my nails right after I got them done. They STILL look like that except obviously there is some growth between my nail and cuticle. I'm not sure the name of that color, because the salon I went to had swatches and a numbering system...so that was just color #37 to me. 

Oh, and I also got my toes done. I apologize for my sandy toes, but I had just gotten home from the beach! This color is OPI Designer Series in Extravagence. Love it!

I'm pretty sure I have the littlest toe nails EVER. 

Have you had Shellac Manicures? What are you experiences?

Sephora & Ulta Haul.

I recently went to Sephora with my mom, so I had to take full advantage of that seeing she is also a product hoarder just like myself....and I wonder where I get it from?

Products from Sephora:

• NARS Blush in Orgasm
• NARS Blush in Oasis
• NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner in Via Appia
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner in Crash
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow in YDK

NARS Orgasm (left) & NARS Oasis (right)

The other makeup products shown are from the Cargo Mediterranean Collection, which is a GREAT deal. You get a blush (Mendocino--gorgeous!), eyeshadow duo, full sized mascara, lipgloss and eyeliner for about $34. The blush alone retails between $26-30! Cargo blushes are amazing. I think I like them even better than NARS blushes (whoa, did I just say that?). I'm going to invest in some more blushes by them ASAP. I go through phases where I'll buy lipstick, or eyeshadow...I think I am officially in my "obsessed with blush" phase. 

The hair products I purchased at Ulta. The can is Big Sexy Hair Volumizing Dry Shampoo and Powder Play. Powder Play is a hair texturizer that adds volume. Both products are repurchases for me. I also picked up Batiste Dry Shampoo, which I thought they only sold in Europe! I was wrong. It's also another great dry shampoo, and a lot cheaper than the Big Sexy Hair one. 

Hope I gave you some shopping ideas!

Remington T-Studio Curling Wand.

This is my recent obsession!! I have seen a lot of tutorials on YouTube with girls using the ConAir Curling Wand. Now that my hair has grown out from an angled bob completely, I decided to finally pick a curling wand up.

The wand has a "ceramic pearl finish" which is supposed to offer the smoothest possible finish. I find this to be true, my hair is way less frizzy (especially the next day) than when I have used a regular curling iron. It also includes a heat protectant glove, which I find to be worthless. It's too big and bulky to curl hair with.  The wand heats up to 410 degrees. I usually curl my hair in the high 300s. The best thing about curling your hair with this, is that it lasts for a couple days. I like my curls even more the next day...plus it keeps the shine along with it. It's also very fast to use, it probably takes me 15-20 minutes to do my entire head. After I'm done, I spray my head with hair spray and tousle the curls to separate them a bit.

I paid $25 for this baby, which is $5 cheaper than the ConAir one. I definitely recommend it!

Shellac Manicures.

Shellac manicures have become very popular over the past year. Benefits of Shellac include: a no chip manicure that lasts for two weeks and stronger/healthier nails once the Shellac is removed. I have had 3 Shellac manicures so far, but I cannot for the life of me find a milky pink color. Every time I pick out a color, it ends up being really sheer. This is my current Shellac manicure, and the color I picked was a lighter pink (in the bottle).

The downside of Shellac is that they really don't have many colors to choose from, and I am the type of person who likes bright and fun colors. My Shellac manicures have all last about two weeks, and they really do make my nails a lot stronger when I take it off. It is nice to have a lighter/neutral color on the nail, because then it is not as noticeable once the nails start growing out. Most people go to a salon to get their Shellac taken off, but I've always just peeled mine off at home. I know some salons charge to take it off, which I think is ridiculous if you got the manicure done there. 

Other than not being able to find the perfect shade of milky pink, overall I have been pretty satisfied with my Shellac manicures. If you know of any good light pink colors for Shellac, please let me know!

Beauty Tips Continued...

I really enjoy reading beauty tips, so I figured I would share more on my blog.

-Moisturize within 5 minutes of getting out of the shower.
After 5 minutes, our skin begins locking out moisture.

-Put a lighter concealer under eyes to make them appear brighter.
*yellow toned concealer will eliminate dark circles
*green toned concealer counteracts redness
*applying concealer on lips makes lipstick stay longer

-Don't over pluck your eyebrows. Being skinny is in, having skinny eyebrows is not.

-Use hair conditioner as shaving cream.
Love this one. Buy a cheap bottle of Suave or VO5!

-Refresh makeup by spritzing water on face and reblending with a brush.

-Start at the center of your face when applying foundation.
*or wherever needs the most coverage

-Exfoliated 2-3x per week to allow skin cells to regenerate.

-Create your own lipgloss.
Buy a tube of Vaseline and put over any lipstick you own.

Beauty Tip

Heat your eyelash curler!

This is an awesome tip if you want your eyelashes to have more volume and curl. Who doesn't want amazing, flirty lashes? There are actually eyelash curlers that heat up, but that is a total waste of money if you have a blow dryer handy. Blow dry your eyelash curler for 5-10 seconds. Don't blow dry it any longer than that, because you don't want to burn your eyelid skin. You can also put on mascara and then heat your eyelash curler too. Both give fabulous results!

Dupe: MAC Pink Noveau

MAC Pink Noveau is one of my favorite lipsticks, especially in the summer when I have bronzed skin!

Revlon Soft Nude lipstick got my into buying more Revlon lipsticks, because Soft Nude is almost an exact dupe to MAC's Creme De Nude. I enjoy wandering aimlessly in the Walgreens makeup aisle, and of course I couldn't leave empty handed. I picked up a Revlon lipstick in Stormy Pink.

Being the only child that I am, I couldn't wait to get home to try the product, so I sat in the Walgreens parking lot and smeared it all over my lips. I was already in LOVE and knew I had a similar lipstick. When I got back to my apartment, I went through all my lipsticks to find that...BOOM. It was a Pink Noveau dupe.

The only difference I can spot is the finish. MAC's Pink Noveau has a satin finish, which is a creamier finish. Revlon's Stormy Pink has a matte finish. If you put a clear gloss over both of these...THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!

MAC's lipsticks are $14, while Revlon's very between $7-8 bucks depending on which drugstore you are at. 

This is a must have for anyone who loves pink lipstick!

NARS Sheer Glow...sheer fail?

I picked up a sample of NARS Sheer Glow foundation last week, and sadly it left me disappointed.

Almost every beauty blogger has nothing but amazing things to say about it. Obviously, I really wanted it to work for me because I love anything that will give me a dewy finish.

I got matched up to the color Santa Fe. The foundation has more of a yellow tone to it, which will not leave you orange like a lot of MAC foundations (one plus!).

I'm not one for buying full coverage foundations, but I don't feel like this one covered much at all. I used my MAC #187 to apply it, and also my fingers. Maybe I need to try a different brush or a different primer.

The main complaint I have is that it TOTALLY cakes into any dry spots on my skin. It left my skin more dry than giving it an actual glow. Maybe it's more of a summer foundation, rather than winter.

PS- Sephora gives out generous foundation samples!

I am a hair product snob...usually.

I have to admit, I'm kind of a hair product snob.

I would never let VO5 touch my hair, or better yet, Mane 'N Tail. I cringe at the thought that some of my friends would lather their locks with a shampoo that started out for horses. Mane 'N Tail claims that the shampoo is not just for horses, I claim that the shampoo is not for humans. Sick.

Anyways, I have blonde locks, so therefore, I am high maintenance. However, the following drugstore products are endorsed by this hair snob herself:

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deeeeep Conditioner

I hate to admit it, but it is better than the $36 deep conditioner that now resides under my bathroom sink. I can't stress how amazing this stuff is. I use this product 2-3 times per week. Slather it on, shave your legs, and then enjoy touchable and hydrated hair. Your boyfriend can thank me later.

Car insurance....for your hair. This is basically the leave-in conditioner of the 3 Minute Miracle. Whenever I don't use the deep conditioner, I get out of the shower and use this. Who wants Dodge Neon hair when you can have Mercedes-Benz hair? Exactly.

I forgot to mention that all these products are so cheap a homeless man could afford them. That is, if they showered. I purchased both of these products for $2.87 at my local drugstore.

If these products can make my dry, bleached hair feel like a 100$ silk scarf from Hermes, imagine what it can do for YOUR hair. 

Origins VitaZing Moisturizer

Origins VitaZing is marketed as a multi-tasking moisturizer that hydrates the skin and makes the skin appear more radiant. This stuff is by far magic in a tube.

I discovered VitaZing while I was watching Youtube videos. I immediately went out to my local Origins counter to see what all the rave was about. Let's face it, if we are going to spend $35 on a moisturizer, it better do what it says it is going to. After talking to the salesperson and testing it on my skin...I HAD TO HAVE IT.

I don't even understand how it works. It comes out of the tube white, but has tiny pigment beads that blend together on your face. It works on any type of skin tone. This product works really well under mineral makeup. I usually wear it under Bare Minerals if that's the foundation I am putting on for the day. Although $35 only buys you 1.7 fluid ounces, the product itself will last for quite some time.

Apply in the morning to a freshly cleansed face and head out the door. Who doesn't want to look like they had 10 hours of sleep without even trying?