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Fall Essie Nail Hail!

Hi gals! I was recently at the drugstore and was inspired to pick up some new nail polishes. I found these from Essie: Meet the Parents (pale powdery blue), Dress to Kilt (red), and Skirting the Issue (deep burgundy). I thought these colors were perfect for fall and the transitioning summer weather, I’ve been absolutely loving the Meet the Parents shade! I really love Essie polishes, I was able to get these for only $4 each which was a real bargain! What shes are you guys loving currently? ❤

Born Pretty Store!

Hey girls! If you’re into nail polish and decorations, the Born Pretty store is an amazing, cheap online shop with everything you can imagine! They have great deals on holographic nail polishes, nail art supplies, fake nails, gel nails, fake lashes, phone cases, jewelry, accessories and more! Most things are under $10 and they also offer FREE SHIPPING worldwide which is awesome. Check out the links below! ❤ ❤

Holo Nail Polish
Color Changing Nail Polish
Cream Lipstick
Decorations in Wheel
False Eyelashes
Nail Art Tools
Stamp Plates
UV Gel Nail Art
Matte Nail Polish
Colorful Mixed Rhinestones

*affiliate links

Forever 21 Nail Polish Haul

Hi everyone! Forever21 was having a 30% off sale and I spotted some nail polishes that were Buy 1 Get 1 Free! They are already pretty affordable $2.80 each, so I decided to pick up a few. I was really drawn to the creamy pastels and the speckled polishes. I got 4 cream shades and 2 speckled shades, the formula of these I actually like. They take about 2 coats to be opaque, but they are really awesome for the price. Have you tried these?

Nail Polish Routine Must Havs <3

For any nail polish look I’m doing, these are the staples that I always use for my base and top coats. My cuticles to get dry so I always condition the skin around my nails before or after I apply polish. The Julep Oxygen nail Treatment is a great translucent base that conditions and protects your nails, and my all time favorite top coats are the Julep Polymer Top Coat and the Pro-FX High Gloss Top Coat. They keep my nails shiny and prolong my mani. My must havs: Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment, Julep Ta-Da Quick Dry Drops, Sally Hansen Vitamin E Nail & Cuticle Oil, Pro-FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat, and Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat.

Sephora Formula X Nail Polish in Obsessed

Hellloooo! I really had to dedicate one whole post on this nail polish alone. It’s the Sephora Formula X Nail Polish in Obsessed $10.50, and I am obsessed with it. I had heard a lot of hype about these little beautes, and decided to try it out myself. I’ve tried a lot of nail polish in my day, so my expectation were high. I absolutely love the color of this, something I find I can wear year round and look chic. The formula and brush is really great. Applys very evenly, and dried shiny! I do find it lasts a bit longer with a good base coat though!

Julep Maven April Box USA 2014

Woo hoo! I got my April 2014 Julep Maven Box in the mail! This month’s theme was The Vivid Collection, with lots of brights for Spring & Summer and nice blush shades! I opted for the Classic With A Twist selection this month because it appealed to me the most.

Caitlin – Shocking hibiscus with gold shimmer
Mariska – Juicy tangerine shimmer
Glow Blush – Peach Bellini (customizable)

The blush shade I got was in Peach Bellini which is a nice satin peachy pink, very smooth and pigmented!

February Julep Maven Box Review! 2014 Unboxing

Hey lovelies! I FINALLY got my Julep Subscription box for February 2014, I wanted to show you everything I got!

BEST of Drugstore Makeup 2013

Here are my picks for best drugstore makeup of 2013!

NOTD : Pink Snow!

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a quick NOTD, it’s a combination of Dior’s Dauphine Pink 253 Nail Polish, and one franken polish that I made called Snow Days (Opaque white multi-shape glitters). The Dior Polish has subtle shimmer and goes on semi-translucent, but the opacity can be built up to a nice jelly finish. It’s a very pretty light pink color that us great for everyday wear! Snow days is a mix of opaque white, tiny squares, diamonds, bars, and medium squares. It looks like snow!

I did 3 coats of the Dior Dauphine Pink, and then a couple coats of Snow Days on top carefully placing the shapies on my nails. I always use Sally Hansen’s Smooth & Strong Salon Manicure Base Coat, and the Pro-FX Quick Dry High Gloss Top Coat for my nails! I absolutely love this combo when doing any sort of nail look! Love it!

What do you guys think!? 😀

Julep October Box! Classic with a Twist

Hello Everyone!! SO excited to share with you my October Julep Maven box! This one is in Classic with a Twist, but there are so many others that you can choose from! The box is really fun and Halloween themed, love the orange and black packaging. Of course there are the cards that explain your products and some extra info. Excited to see what I received!

The first thing I pull out is the little packet of candy corn!! Yum, so fun! I’m happy that they include little extras like this to make each box fun and unique. I personally love fall and Halloween, so this little goodie was handsomely welcomed! 🙂

Another couple goodies I found in my box were these little glitters! One orange and one black, again going along with the Halloween theme, and it seems like these are for nail art! Yay! They are so cute, I don’t even want to open them!

Now for the grand surprise. I had high hopes for this box, because they had some new polishes they were releasing for fall, and also some nail care items.

AHH!!! So HAPPY that I got this! This is the Julep Quick Dry Polish Drops with vitamin e and lavender, you use them on top of your finished nail to make them dry faster. I can’t wait to try this! 🙂

The two polishes I received were Boris and Nicole, and Gweneth. A lot of the boxes this month had crackle polishes, but I was actually happy to get these instead. I’m not a huge fan of the crackle effect on me personally, but these make up for it for sure! Boris and Nicole is a deep russet bronze color, and Gweneth is a very sheer pink jelly. Julep polishes are great quality, 4 Free, and don’t chip! I was a little worried about the bronze color when I saw it on screen, but it is so much gorgeous in person. So happy with it!

Here are the bottom of the polishes so you can see the names.

Swatches: Boris and Nicole, and Gweneth

What do you guys think!? 😀

Recent Fall Target Haul! ❤

Hi everyone, I went to Target today and picked up some new goodies that I have been eyeing for a while, and also some that just released!!

This is the Sonia Kashuk Eye Makeup Remover, I have been wanting to try this for MONTHS but couldn’t justify buying it because A. I have plenty of makeup remover, and B. it’s $10 price tag. :p I’m so glad I got this today though because I LOVE it SO much. I’ve been using a Lancome and Estee Lauder makeup remover which are even more expensive, and this is actually a good comparison. If I didn’t have the others, this would be my staple.

The liquid if a soft light lavender color and at first the bottle has 2 layers in it that you shake up. It smells light and fresh, not offensive at all, and it feels incredibly gentle and smooth on the skin. This stuff is VERY effective, and doesn’t leave my face feeling greasy. It removes all my eye, lip, and face makeup with ease and does not sting. It even removes my long-wearing and highly pigmented makeup products as well!! A+!

Next are these two ELF nail polishes that just released this fall I got for $2 each! I love what they did with the packaging and the colors in this range were gorgeous. I also noticed that the formula for these are definitely improved. How lovely are these deep plum shades!?

They both didn’t have any names, but they do have the numbers 23 and 24 on the bottom of the bottles. The left shade is a deep medium berry creme shade, so, so pretty. The right is a dark blue/purple shade with tiny blue and purple glitters. It reminds me of a discontinued MAC nail polish I have, can’t wait to wear these!

Swatches: 24 and 23

I also picked up this deep plum snakeskin emery board from ELF since it was just $1 and I actually needed one of these. I really like the pattern!

Lastly is another item that I have been eyeing for months. It’s the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Berry Haute. I’ve been so curious about this lipstick, and since you can’t try before you buy in drugstores, I’ve always given this a pass in the past. In the tube it looks like a very cool-toned medium berry color. I’ve hear this is a dupe for MAC’s Up The Amp, and it is actually quite similar!

Here’s the bottom of the lipstick so you can see the name. The texture is very creamy and easy to apply. The color is rich and very pigmented and lasts a long time on the lips! Be careful, because if you pile it on, it gives a more bright fucshia-y color and can pop more than you like! (unless you like that look!)

Swatch: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Berry Haute

Here I am wearing it, what do you guys think!?

LynBDesigns Etsy Nail Polish Haul! <3

Hey everyone! I’ve got a special review for you guys, I was strolling around Etsy the other week and found LynBDesigns shop! She is a franken or indie nail polish creator like me and saw that she had some fabulous colors that caught my eye! She was nice enough to throw in a couple more polishes to my order to review! So excited!! Here is what I got!

The package came about a few days after I ordered, and was packaged pretty nicely, nothing was broken! Yay! 🙂

Here are all the polishes!! SO pretty!!!!! I had originally ordered 3 of these polishes (Barefoot on the Moon, Darwin, and Victor) and she had kindly given me To Die Was an Art and Mind Palace for free for me to review. Thank you! 🙂 I REALLY like the shape of these bottles, very unique, they will look very nice in my collection!

Here are some swatches L to R: Mind Palace, Victor, Barefoot on the Moon, Darwin, Victor, and To Die Was an Art.

Here a close up of Barefoot on the Moon, Victor, and Darwin.

Here a close up of To Die Was an Art and Mind Palace.

Barefoot on the Moon: This polish was the first to catch my eye in her shop. It’s a deep shimmery blue pigment base with small white hexes, holographic and red bar glitters, and tiny silver glitters. It really does remind me of space! The base is a bit goopy at first but once you get the hand of applying it it goes on very nicely and dries pretty quickly. I used two coats above.

Victor: This is an AWESOME polish, way better than I expected. I absolutely love the black hearts. This is a very versatile polish as you can use this on top of any base color. It has tony holographic hexes, large matte black hearts, and medium matte black hexes. I will be using this often! Love it!

Darwin: This is a jewel like metallic dark blue base, with tiny holographic glitters. This color is absolutely gorgeous. Again this feels a little goopy out the bottle, but once you get the hang of it, it goes on nicely! Very mysterious, I was to try this on my toes!

To Die Was an Art: This polish is definitely my favorite. This is one that I would have probably overlooked but I am so glad she included this in my order!! I love the combinations for red, blue, white and black glitters. I thought it was going to looks a little too patriotic, but it doesn’t at all! And I really like the name of this. I put this over Color Club Lumin-icecent. I love how to colors pop! Totally recommend!!!

Mind Palace: This is probably my second favorite, another polish she had included for a review. It has a medium purple jelly base with white, silver, purple and black glitters. I love the combinations of hex and diamond shapes, You could layer this over a purple base color, but I like this on it’s own as well! Love it! ❤

LynBDesigns Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LynBDesigns

What do you guys think!? 😀

My First Beautyfix Box!!

Hey everyone!!! I wanted to share an AMAZING beauty subscription service called Beautyfix!! It’s by Dermstore, an online beauty store, and this has got to be the best one out there that I know of. The service is quarterly, 4 times a year, and each box is $50 (there are promo codes for $20-$30 discounts!!) You get to choose 8 beauty products on their website, where a lot are full-size or larger deluxe sizes, plus a free bag! The products are higher end items, lots of skincare, but TOTALLY worth the investment!!!!! (about $12/month if you break it down.)

Shipping was rather quick (shipped a couple days after I ordered), and came a few days after that. The box is a normal cardboard box with Beautyfix on the side, and the products are kind of just thrown in with a bunch of plastic bubble pads. Nothing was broken or leaking, so everything is good, they do send tracking information so you where you’re package is!

Here is how all the items came, just kind of piled together, LOOK at ALL the goodies!! 😀 This is an incredible value, as this box would retail at over $250 and I got it for $30 will a promo code!!!

First is a 2oz Dr. Perricone MD Nutritive Cleanser, about a $14 value, and is a facial wash that delivers anti-aging benefits by gently removing impurities, makeup and environmental pollution. With Alpha Lipoic Acid and DMAE. I rather like this cleanser as it has the gel consistency I like and gently cleans my face! I smells kind of like baby powder, but it’s light and I don’t mind that much. My skins feels tighter, clean, and clear after use! Great product!

Next is a full-size Jane Iredale Lip Plumper in Milan, a $25 value!! Yay!! It’s a tinted lip plumper made with natural ingredients. It’s supposed to make your lips full and kissable, increase hydration, stimulate collagen synthesis, and soften lips.

The packaging is really nice, a metal tube, and the the color is a nice warm berry pink! The color is sheer but is noticeable, the formula feels a bit thick/sticky, but does stay on the lips. Upon applying, my lips feel tingly and full! Really love the color!

Next is the item that I was most excited about, the Murad Skin Perfecting Prime and Eye Lift Protector set!! These are both full-size and retails for $35 each!! (a $70 value!! o.O) It came in a little promo bag, with a informational pamphlet, it seems like something they would give out as a trial!

Here are the products, sooooo nice!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

This is the Murad Matte Finish Skin Perfecting Primer. It comes in a pump which is convenient, and has nice, sleek black packaging. It’s a really good color match, and actually blends out very sheer so it is suitable for many skin tones. It’s very light and airy and melts quickly onto the skin. It leaves my skin smooth, prepped, lightly moisturized, and less oily. LOVE this product! Would totally buy this again!

Here it is blended in! Amazing!

This is the Murad Eye Lift Perfector, it’s supposed the increase firmness and conceal the appearance of dark circles, AND IT DOES!! The formula again is very light, and come out of the tip of the twist up pen. The product sets pretty quickly, leaving a smooth, tight, brighter finish. This is the best eye/concealing product I have ever used. Although, people with heavy dark circles might need a little more help than this can provide. I will definitely purchase again!!

Here it is blended out! Invisible!

This is the Nailtiques Formula 2 Kit Nail Treatment, it comes with a mini (7ml) Formula 2, a mini (7ml) Oil Therapy, a mini (7g) Cuticle & Skin gel
and a regular size of their Nail Moisturizer (1oz size) the minis retail in a kit together for $17.50. Great value for the items! This kit was exclusively created for Beautyfix which is nice!! Great little set!

This is a FULL-SIZE step & correct powder, retails for $34!!!! It’s a baked trio of color-correcting setting powders, packaged in a unique compact that evenly dispenses the satin-like powder on demand for effortless application. So lucky to have got this!! This service already beats Myglam and Birchbox any day!!!!!!!!

The packaging is really neat, and comes with a inset shaver to finely mill the baked powder. This powder is very high quality, and evens out my skintone flawlessly. Shades include:

Peach – brightens and illuminates
Green – minimizes redness
Lavender – counteracts sallow undertones

It’s incredibly lightweight and satiny, and can use this by itself or to set liquid foundation. I use this daily!!!

Here it is in the works!!

Next is the bonus makeup bag, REALLY nice quality!!!! It’s a pretty good size, and the style is pretty cute! Perfect for throwing into your purse of traveling with.

Comes with a little mirror with the Beautyfix logo, so cute!!

This is the 3Lab M Cream .38 oz, it contains stem cells from the rare Uttweiler Spatlauber Swiss apple. It’s supposed to increase resiliency and cellular turnover while giving the skin a naturally radiant glow from the inside out. The full size of this (2 oz) is $260??!?!? This little bugger by itself is worth around $50. INSANE. The cream is incredibly luxurious and rich, with tiny micro reflects. It smells like any expensive face cream would, love it if I could afford to get the full size! lol

This is the Arcona Cranberry toner 1oz, about an $8 value, and is a 3-in-1 cranberry milk toner that removes dirt, oil & makeup, protects and clarifies skin, neutralizes free radicals, and nourishes & heals for a glowing complexion. This smells just like cranberries!! It feel very nice on the skin, and gently cleans. Really like this! Will consider getting the full-size!

Lastly is a full-size Sparitual nail polish in Airhead, which retails for $10. It’s a light creamy pink nail color and is a vegan nail polish! SpaRitual is committed to creating eco-friendly products and packaging perfectly crafted for the enlightened consumer. Pretty pink color, will try it on my nails soon! I’ve been very interested in this brand, so glad I get to try it! 🙂

Here are all the products, overall, I rate this service 5/5 for the value, speed, quality of products, and overall experience. You also get a $25 gift card of any $50 Dermstore purchase after a quick survey. I will ever go back to Birchbox or Myglam again!!!

What do you guys think!? 🙂

Crazy Wet N’ Wild Nail Haul!

Ok, so I was at Walgreens the other day and they were having a $1 sale for all Wet N’ Wild Nail Polishes!!! Also, the girl at the counter was really nice and let me use the $2 off coupons she had for any of the Sally Hansen Nail Polishes!!! (I got ALL the Sally Hansen’s below for FREE!!! LOL) The Wet N Wild Megalast Nail Polishes are actually quite good!! They have a pretty good color selection, nothing crazy, but overall REALLY like the formula and colors for these, awesome!

Next are the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Polishes, these I have been a fan of already, I have several sitting in my nail polish drawer!! I really like the bottles and all the colors they offer, also, the quality of these are REALLY nice for the price. (Under $3 each!)

This I chose on a whim, I was really intrigued by the deep green color, I was hoping this would be the same quality as the Megalast polishes but sadly no. 😦 This formula is watery and very sheer. Not the opaque lusciousness I was expecting!! Sad.

Ok, ALL of these polishes I got FOR FREE!!! Thank you Walgreens girl!! She was awesome. I really liked all the colors I got, these were some of the brights that I liked plus a nice french pink color!! So pretty! The formula is quite nice for these, and the pigmentation is pretty good! The fuchsia color was a bit thinner than the others, but still good, I ended up giving it away! The pink and red were amazing!! Very vibrant in one swipe!

Next I got some cool tones as well as a top coat. The top coat is actually really nice, can’t wait to use it!! The two blue tones are really pretty in the bottle, but aren’t as opaque as I would like. I ended up giving away the darker blue color. But for a free polish, how can I complain?! The light blue shade gives a pretty blue shimmery frost effect so I kept it! Swacthes are below!

Swatches L to R: Wet N Wild Megalast Club Havana, Heatwave, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Golden-I, Pink Satin, Flirt, and Wet N Wild Fast Dry SaGreena the Teenage Witch

Swatches L to R: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Set in Stone, Love Rocks, Solid Love, and Tough Love

Swatches L to R: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Cleat Top Coat, Frozen Solid, and Sturdy Sapphire

LOVE the Megalast and Xtreme Wear What do you guys think!?

May MyGlam Bag 2012 Review!! ♥

Guess what came in the mail today!! My MyGlam bag! SO love getting happy things in the mail. I’ve been on the fence about MyGlam, as some of their products I just don’t really care for. Ideally I would like to see more makeup products, but I think they’ve caught onto the Glammie’s demands on that. They’re still missing the mark a little for me, but decided to give them another chance in June. Here’s what I got!! 🙂

First, it came with a card like they all do, this month’s theme is “Love is in the Air”! There a cute photo of one of the MyGlam gurus and a kiss mark to go along with a theme! I thought that was clever since I knew we were all getting lipsticks this months!!

Here’s the back of the card, it just lists all the items we received and a small description. I would like if they included the dollar value of each like Birchbox! Anyway, we received 4 items this month, let’s see what I got!!

This is what the bag looks like, it’s a shiny blue material with pink kiss marks, I’m really not a fan of these bags we get every month, since I really have no use for them. I really wish they would invest the money they spend on these cheap bags for better makeup products!!!

First thing I got were these Nail Bling Nail Stickers, I don’t mind nail products, but I don’t really see myself wanting to purchase these after trying them. That’s kind of what I like about Birchbox more, they usually have products that I want to purchase in full size! Although I wasn’t too impressed with this, it was a fun extra. Will try in the future!

The second thing I found was this perfume sample of Philosophy Love Sweet Love. I haven’t smelled that many Philosophy fragrances, but the ones I have tried are very light, sweet, floral, or clean. Based on the packaging, I’m guessing it falls within the same family.

The perfume vial is larger than most vials I’ve seen which is nice! I’d prefer that it had a spray top but still it’s nice. The fragrance it a very young, sweet, clean, floral scent. I can see young girls in their teens enjoying this! Nothing special for me, I will keep this around as a backup.

Now these I like! They are the remaining makeup brushes that have been coming with each Glam bag the past couple months. One is a concealer brush, and the other is a defining eyeliner brush! I actually really like the brushes that have been coming, so I’m happy to see this! Yay!

Here’s a close up if the brushes. The bristles are soft yet stiff enough to create sharp lines. I also really like the pink handles and MyGlam logo! 🙂

Last but not least is the main item that everyone has been waiting for!! The Studio Gear Complete Color Intensely Professional Lipstick. This is a full size product worth $15 which pays for the bag itself! I’ve never heard of this brand before but I’m really excited to find out more!

I got it in the shade in Autumn Red. I’ve seen a lot of reviews on this where people were a little disappointed on the colors they received. I don’t wear that much red lipstick but am willing to give it a chance!! I can always mix it with another shade to tone it down. 🙂

The packaging is a nice sturdy matte black casing, with the SG logo on the top. It feels really nice and somewhat high end! A description off the Ulta website: “This luxurious lipstick contains revolutionary spheres of mega-moisturizer hyaluronic acid and folic acid, a vitamin B derivative that actually plumps your lips.”

The color is a deep coppery red color. Not a color I would ever buy, but like I said, I will give it a chance! The formula is actually really nice, very moisturizing and pretty pigmented! It has somewhat long wear and can be worn sheer of built up for rich color. I would have preferred a nice nude, pink, coral, or plum shade, but let’s check it out!