America...F*** YEAH!

Getting into the spirit of July 4th, here is a new twist on the stars and stripes...only there are no stars.

This art technique I came across by accident, and that is how the best things are found. Looking for sweet fishtail braids, I ran into fishtail nails! Yes it is as cool as it sounds, just think of braiding your nail polish.

This is work, but it is SO worth it!! the first time I attempted this it took about an hour to get it just right, but now I think now I have it down to a quick 15 mins including clean up and prep. It looks intimidating but just give it a shot! Do it for America! ^_~

Kick off your Sunday shoes!

So I know I keep raving about this deal I scooped up. Let me elaborate on that. A while ago I came across some nail polish in an unlikely place, HSN. I don't know why but I just did not imagine shopping for polish there. Anyway, I went back to see what they had and see if there was anything on sale. I was happily surprised to find that there were a few sets in the clearance section, and even a few pairs for just under $10!! If you are not familiar with the Deborah Lippmann brand, these usually are sold in high end retail stores and sell for around $16 each. Now you don't get a choice of colors, but thankfully I had nothing that was so close to these and I will take what I can at that price! All in all I ended up paying around $25 for four colors and shipping, AMAZING right?! I have to say I am a little proud of this, can you tell?

This is the first of those four colors...allow me to share with you, Footloose.

This is a easy to wear orange-red creme. It is almost coral but not quite there. The formula is smooth and nice to apply, but it is on the thin side. Even after three coats you can still see the smile line on a few of my nail, you can see that below. When I wear this again I will probably put a white base under the layers, that way it will hide the lines. This is a great color and I am looking forward to seeing what I can do, art wise with this one.

As you can see there is a change in my nails too, hehe. I had a little mishap with uploading some photos and needed to take a few more. The good and bad of what happened over the week was that I had an interview for a position a step up from where I am right now, and way closer to home, but that down side was that due to nerves I kind of lost my pinkie nails. So fingers crossed and give it a week and she will be back to normal ^_~

Well, Hello there!

Alright, lets get hopping!

Okay so I know I have not been the most present, and I really have no good reason other than I have been lazy. A long work weekend, then a week without the roommates. There were many a chance to post but I did not, and I promise I will not disappear like that again, unless I have a really GOOD reason, hehe.

So how have you all been? Things that have been going on with me, I picked up on an amazing!! deal  for 2 pairs of Deborah Lippmann polishes, grabbed me a lizard (of the OPI brand), and took advantage of some high quality pool time! Keep tuned in, because tonight is going to be a whopper ^_~

Everyone has a little something to work on

I have figured out my weakness in my ability to blog seven whole days in a row. The end of my work week currently consists of close, open, open. I know that does not seem hard to get a post in there, but by the time my days off roll around I am already three days down and sad that I haven't shared anything. So I will set a goal to post every other day, or if I get ahead of myself I will schedule posts for the weekend, lol. This is just a title snippet for tonight, but I did receive the Deborah Lippmann nail polish I ordered for super awesome mega discount. I cannot wait to share those with you guys ^_~

''And lips, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss'

As I showed you yesterday, I received some amazing products in my Birchbox. Today at work I am wearing the Clark's Botanicals ultra rich lip tint, and it is very pleasant. Keep reading for more detail on each product.

Clark's Botanicals Ultra Rich Lip Tint in 02 - Carlotta Pink

Look at all that shine! On top of that shine, it feels amazing on my lips. Although not a thin formula, once it was on and I pressed my lips together a few times it felt very watery. Not in a bad way, but in a way that my lips felt super hydrated. The smell is a little sweet, and there is hint of vanilla in there too. The color is subtle and this is definitely a keeper, in my purse it stays!

theBalm Stainiac in Beauty Queen

The Staniac is another great product. It is almost like a red jelly, and when blended in it creates this hint of tint. The color builds fast, and is super easy to apply. In the pictures above I only used a few little swipes of the wand, which created a warm glow. The stainiac will for sure be used as a lip stain, but using it as a blush will be something I will have to work with. I don't use much blush, so it is something I look forward to trying it out.

Flash // No Flash

The quote is from Romeo and Juliet (5:3:122). You will see my love for Shakespeare creep up here and there. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but I just like his work. Love him or hate him, you have to admit there is something amazing about the staying power of his words and the influence he has had on popular culture in the past, present and future. ^_~

Birchbox June 2012

Well hello there ladies, and the occasional fella, it IS that time of month again. The best pink box a girl can buy, Birchbox!

I have to give myself a little pat on the back this month, I didn't peak at any videos or blogs about what they got until I had a chance to rip mine open. It only took me eleven months to gain this self restraint, lol.

Ladies, what is just as good as getting mine? Watching all of my friends who I have convinced to join get theirs and post all of the goodness. My roommate finally caved, so if I can sneak a peek I will let you know what was inside.

The June 2012 theme is Jet Set, products for the beauty maven on the go. The first thing I noticed about this box was the inside of the outside, if that makes sense. Here let me show you...

Fun, right? Now the items I received, other than being mini/sample/travel sized, are not overly jet setting but they are still great. A little bit of everything, including a fashionable zip-top bag that could be used at airport security...but it isn't clear, so it will stay at home holding some loose odds and ends. On that note, let me show you what else is inside.

A short rundown of the value of my box (product / size / value)

• Ultra Rich Lip Tint  -  0.40 fl oz.  -  $ 19
• Wonderlust Tonic  -  1 fl oz.  -  $ 4.30
• LaFresh Nail Polish Remover  -  2 pads  -  $ 1.12
• Stainiac  -  1.2 mL / 0.04 fl oz.  -  $ 2.54
• tili  -  1 bag  -  $ 0.94

Total Value  -  $ 27.90

Weeee!! Check out my awesome new lip products. Those are the two things that I am the most happy about. The full-size Clark's Botanicals lip tint is the shinning star. Quite literally too, it is very sparkly and the color is not too bright. For me it falls into the lip gloss, but it is still pretty amazing either way.

I have swatches ready of the lip stuffs, and I cannot wait to let you know how the polish remover and Wonderlust work. Have a beautiful evening ^_~

A little bit of sparkle

In March, Birchbox gave each of us the opportunity to opt in for a Teen Vogue box. Basically it was a box of products that the editors of Teen Vogue picked out as great products for everyone to have. This put me into a little bit of a pickle, I wanted my regular box but I didn't want to miss out on this chance for full sized products and I knew Essie as going to be a partner in the Teen Vogue box. I was a little greedy and gifted myself 3 months on an additional account so I could get it and keep my original box, lol.


One of the products that I received was a full size Essie Luxeffects in Set In Stone. Digging through my polish drawer I thought this would look good over Skinny Dip. So I took the plunge, hehehe, and I wanted to see it over a black, a white, and all alone.

This is all silver, large and medium hexagon shaped glitter with itty-bitty rounds floating in a clear base. It isn't too busy, as you'll see it takes about 3 coats to get full coverage.

No Flash  /  Flash

Top to bottom it is ORLY - Skinny Dip (1 coat of glitter), Set In Stone (3 coats), Sally Girl - Pure (1 coat) & Wet'n'wild - Black Creme (1 coat)

My favorite picture. You really get an idea of the density of the glitter. I don't often use a glitter top coat, I like everything easy and if I can get that in one swipe it is even better, but this one is good in my book. Overall I enjoy this whole Luxeffects line from Essie, and I was able to snag the flake top coat shortly after I got this box. 

Mark this off for another reason why I remain a fan of Birchbox, and I cannot wait to get my hand on this month's! ^_~

Lets all go Skinny Dipping!

While out restocking my supply of remover and cotton balls checked out what Sally Beauty Supply had for new colors. The first thing to catch my eyes were all of the neons! It looks like my favorite part of the 80's is back in full swing. Okay...so I was only in the 80's for five years but those were the brightest 5 years of my life, lol.

I wanted to pick up a little bit of everything else I saw, but I did restrain myself. Just with ORLY there was a bunch. The Dark Shadows series, as well as the new Flash Glam FX. It's heavy on the glitter, a good mix of colors, shapes and sizes as well. It looks interesting enough, but I am trying to budget what I spend on polish and a new glitter is not what I need right now. But to round out all of the fun neon colors I do have, I snagged Skinny Dip from ORLY's Feel The Vibe collection.

See, it is not some crazy neon, but it is a bumped up blue. On top of that it has this subtle pearl touch to it. Like most in the Neon category of colors it ends with a satin, almost matte finish. So I used a top coat, and it did go on very thin. All together this is 4 coats, and I could have almost used another one of color if I was being picky.

We have had some crappy weather here the last few days so this is definitely something that brightens my day. This will be a fun color for the summer and I look forward to skinny dipping some more ^_~

KISS this

I have been running a little low on my handy dandy nail polish remover, so I have been getting creative. Last night after much thinking I remembered that when my mother send me a few of my things down she tossed in a pair of these Kiss Nail Dress 'fashion strips'.  I received a pair in my spring 2012 Influenster Box earlier this year in the pattern - Sexy (KDS10), It is your basic light gold/tan base and darker leopard pattern. This second pair I have is Bustier (KDS06)., it is black and silver floral pattern that is very textured. 

Now these are similar to the Sally Hansen Salon Effects, the one big difference is that Kiss Nail Dress strips have 28 strips, with plenty of sizes and shapes (each size has a square and a rounded edge). I have also noticed that the left overs of the Sexy pattern I have are still flexible, sticky and look like I can use them. They retail around $8 so this is a HUGE plus on saving some money, and almost doubles the value compared to other nail strips.

Bump, Bump It Up!

Positives - 

• Very easy to use 
• Both that I have tried are versatile patterns and can work with many outfits and ensembles
• Layer it over a neon or another color to make it pop
• They stick very well - I'm sure I could get a few solid days out of these (I NEVER get 10 days out of these things but it is a nice thought)
• It is nice that you can save your spares and potentially use them at a later date, they would make a great accent nail.

Negatives - 

• These run on the thicker side which can be hard to smooth on some of the non-textured patterns that need to be neat and clean
• This pattern specifically is going to drive me a little crazy, the bumps on it are a significant size. I like a smooth nail, no top coat will ever fix this
• Another irk about this pattern, it is a mixed pattern. While they are all silver/black/flowers, there are about 4 different patterns in the mix and it all depends on your nail size what you get and you hope that it looks good.

Now I was ready to talk smack about a horrible experience with the Broadway Nails stickers, but surprise these are the newer version of those! When the nail strips were newer on the market I was aching to get my hands on some, so I grabbed the first pair I could find. Well, it just happened to be Broadway Nails Nail Dress in Halter. They were horrible to put on, very stiff and very crease-y. I will happily eat some humble pie today to find out that these are the new/same/better versions of those and would definitely try out another pattern.

Hair stuffs

I decided that I wanted to go back to a more natural hair color. For the last 3 months I took a dive into the purple/grey/blond pool. While it was a lot of fun, and I wanted to go teal next, my roots were coming in bad and bleaching my hair that much, that often, is a commitment I am not ready to make.

This is as close as I have been to my natural hair color since I was 12. I have to admit I am kind of happy about this. If I hit it right on the head I will never have to touch up this dye job again! That is something that makes me a little excited.

So it got me thinking about what I use on my hair to make it stronger and healthier. These are a few of the products that I use on a daily/semi-daily basis for maintenance and upkeep.

In the shower -

• WEN by chaz dean - For my main hair cleansing product. Favorite scent is the Winter Warm Vanilla Mint, it's like mint chocolate chip ice cream ALL OVER MY HEAD! Next in line is the Sweet Almond Mint. For those of you who don't know what WEN is here is some info.
• Ouidad Water Works Clarifying Shampoo - I use this when I've noticed that my hair has a lot of build up from the pool I reach for this. It is gentle on colored hair, and is targeted towards people who have hard water or spend a lot of time in salt/chlorinated water. 

After the shower/to style -

• Orofluido - It is everything I said in my last post., and more! This really is the nectar of the gods to me. On top of everything that it does for my hair, I cannot tell you how AMAZEBALLS that fragrance is! They make a shampoo and conditioner too, right now I am happy with what I have. But it is always an option.
• WEN by chaz dean Texture Balm - This came in my starter WEN kit, and it is a great replacement for Bed Head's Manipulator that I used to use. Both are great products, but the WEN balm smells a little better and application is way easier. It comes in a push up tube, I like this better than dipping my fingers in oozy goop.
• Volumizing Dry Shampoo by TRESemme - A cure all for the oily scalp or to get an extra day or two out of your do. When I had red hair last summer I was able to use this and keep my hair super fresh for those times that I only washed it once a week (I know it sounds gross but really it is the only way to keep your hair that red, all the time. It fades like a mother-f-er, and these are the sacrifices that must be made lol. A shower cap and dry shampoo were my two best friends). This is a great, just spray it in and shake it out. If you look around companies like Bumble and Bumble have colored hair powder that works the same but it is red or black or blond rather than just white/translucent powder.

I really do not do too much to my hair after it is dry, outside of these products it is maybe a spritz of hair spray and I am off. I try to keep my hair as low maintenance as I can. It can get out of hand sometimes, and I am always amazed at how many products I own and how few I regularly use.

I generally am pretty stingy on products, including my makeup, but I own so much of it. The new and shiny really get my attention. I will take a quick snapshot of my makeup drawers when I get a chance.

But until then,
What are your favorite hair products? Do you have a wierd hair secret that you use to keep it shiny and healthy?