Holiday Nails Tutorial

 Hello! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday! Today I wanted to bring you a Holiday Nails tutorial. I love Pineterest and I always see such cool ideas for nails so I thought I'd try my hand at one of them. I think I was pretty successful and it was so easy to do! So I hope you all enjoy it and try it for yourselves!

 Here is what you will need. You can use any two colors you want but I found that Essie's Beyond Cozy and OPI's Goldeneye went really well together. Goldeneye is such a gorgeous gold glitter color in which the particles are fine so they almost look like a foil or metallic polish but still big enough that it really picks up and reflects light nicely. The reason I chose Beyond Cozy to go with Goldeneye is that it's a silvery glitter polish that is ever so slightly gold toned. It's just a very warm toned silver that suits the warm gold so well. Both colors together will just really pop on the nails even in the dim lighting you might find at a holiday party, banquet or even a night out on the town. They are going to pick up any bit of light and just give you a cool shimmery rich effect. You will also need a base coat, a top coat, and some good old tape. Let's get started!!

 After applying my Essie All in One base coat on clean dry nails I applied two good coats of Goldeneye. I then let my nails dry for a good hour (or an episode of Vampire Diaries) before moving on to the next step. It's very important that they are super dry before moving on so maybe two episodes of Vampire Diaries would have been even better ;)  

 Next I took pieces of tape and aligned them diagonally along my nail as shown in the pictures.

 
*Tip press the tape into the back of your hand a few times to make it less tacky before sticking them onto your nails. That will help prevent the tape from pulling up your polish.

 You can play around with the alignment of the tape. I recommend getting the tape on all of your nails first before moving on so that you can make sure they are even, all going in the right direction, and just so you aren't fiddling with the tape dispenser with wet nails. 

 Once I was happy with my alignment I painted in the exposed section of my nail with two coats of Beyond Cozy.

 Next I gently pulled off the tape. I do this before the polish dries so that if there is any bleedthough under the tape I can easily swipe it away with a fingernail or ever so gently use a Q-tip soaked in Acetone or polish remover to clean up the line so it's nice and crisp. Be careful though not to remove any of the gold polish if you use the remover to fix messy lines.

 So here it is with tape removed and after cleaning up any mistakes or evening out lines.

 Now I finish everything off with my Essie Good to Go top coat. This is a great fast drying top coat that I highly recomend. It's nice and shiny too and makes my manicure last about a week. Especially if I reapply it later in the week to refresh the shine it just lasts forever and ever. I've even noticed with this topcoat that people will ask if I've have gotten a Gel Polish manicure, it just looks soooo good!

 Finally as a last step I take some polish remover (here I'm using Sephora's polish remover) and with a Q-tip I clean up any leftover polish on my cuticles. I don't always do this, often I do my nails the evening  before and leave my cuticles messy and by the morning my polish has fully set so that when I hop in the shower I can easily peel off any polish with hot water and a nail brush. Other times I've removed polish from skin using lotion or cuticle oil after my nails have completely dried and set. It would be interesting to know what others have done, let me know what you have tried in the comments!

 So here we go all done and ready to go! This is how the polish looks in natural lighting, below are shots in a more warmly lit setting that you would find at a holiday party or banquet.

 I think these kind of glittery nails really look dressed up and nice in dimmer warmer lighting. Here I'm wearing a shiny navy blue holiday dress I bought at Windsor a few years ago for a military banquet. The gold bag was a freebie gift for purchasing a Micheal Kors fragrance and the bow ring is from Kate Spade.

SOooooo that is all for this tutorial! I hope you liked it and I'd love to see if anyone tries it out for themselves! Let me know what you think in the comments or if I should do more of these in the future. I was thinking about maybe this could be a once a month thing. Let me know I'd love to hear from you!! Happy Holidays!

Ipsy Glam Bag :: November 2012

Hello Lovelies, today I bring you a review of the November Glam Bag from Ipsy titled Party Perfect. So first off just a little introduction as to what is Ipsy and why I decided to give it a try. Sorry if this is a bit lengthy but since these are my first reviews I just want to give you guys a little insight into why I wanted to do these reviews and this blog in the first place so please stick with me. (or just skip ahead to the photos below for the review (>‘-‘)>

Ipsy was actually my first introduction to these new sorts of beauty sample subscription services and it’s all thanks to a wonderful Beauty Guru whom I follow on Youtube by the name of Michelle Phan. She is probably one of the more well known of the vast legions of beauty gurus on Youtube and I have enjoyed her videos for probably about two years now. She is super fun to watch and comes up with all kinds of crazy tutorials and DIY masks or treatments that are usually pretty easy to follow. Back in early October she released a video introducing her new venture into the beauty subscription services called Ipsy and I’ve later found that it was a preexisting service called Glambag and from past reviews that I’ve watched and read it was in much need of a facelift. So I personally think it was probably a good move to pull in a super popular beauty guru like Michelle to have as the face of their revamp. Anywhos it was enough to convince me from her one video to give the service a try. It seemed like a nice deal too, ten bucks a month and you get to try four or five really nice beauty products.

Now I probably should have done a little more research before jumping right into a subscription because after purchasing I did encounter many scathing reviews on past beauty bags. Thankfully though with my first October bag I was pleasantly surprised. Sorry I don’t have pictures but it included a full size eyeliner, travel size mascara, full size lipgloss, tiny eye shadow quad, and travel size hair oil. (if you're curious click here for a link to Michelle's video featuring the October Glam Bag products) Of those five products I got some pretty good use out of three. The lipgloss was good but I’m just not much of a lipglossy person. The one I didn’t care for were the eye shadows and that was because of the colors they chose for me. They were bright blue and I just couldn’t find a good way to wear them. Overall though I was pretty happy and since then I decided to give a few other boxes a try. I came across tons of reviews on different boxes and decided to stick with Ipsy and try out Glossybox and Julep. Aanndddd since those reviews were so helpful to me I thought I should start my own blog and give my two cents as well. Because I don’t know about you guys but I love reading and hearing other peoples opinions on products before purchasing them myself. I like to get both sides of the story you know? If any of you have Blogs or Vlogs were you have reviews on stuff I’d love to see them. Link them below in the comments and I will check them out!

So without further adieu here is my review on the November Ipsy Glam Bag:

 Every month Ipsy has a set theme for their bags and even though you take an initial style quiz for the most part it seems like everyone gets the same products but maybe just a different color of something. I'm not sure how strongly the Style Quizzes play into the color selections they give you or if they matter at all. Last month I got some crazy blue eyeshadow colors that I will probably never wear and would have never chosen for my skin tone,eye color, hair color combo (which was asked of me in my style quiz) but the lip color was a very neutral pink. The other thing I've noticed about this month's bag is that on their website they show what I will be receiving in my bag and according to that I was to get either the eyebrow gel or the mascara but I received both. Honestly I kind of think they just toss in random items and color combos without any regard to whatever style profile you were assigned initially. The kind of funny thing is too is I don't remember at all what my style profile was and when I look at my account online it gives me no indication at all either....so yeah guess it doesn't matter *shrug*. 

Product List/Value for the month:

Nailtini Nail Lacquer full size $13

Chella Defining Eyebrow Gel travel size approx. $10 (full size $18)

Starlet Intense Eyeliner full size $11

theBalm Meet Matt(e) single eyeshadow approx. $3.83 (full palette $34.50)

They're Real! Benefit Mascara travel size $10 (full size $23)

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lipgloss travel size approx. $9 (full size $18)

Total Bag Worth: approx. $58.83

 

 So first up...nail polish: Nailtini Nail Lacquer in Millionaire. Shown here on a bare nail is a golden glittery polish with longish pieces of teal glitter in the mix. Very unique I think, I didn't already have something like this in my collection so that's nice. I will have to test it out to let you guys know maybe next month how long lasting it is.

Next is Chella Defining Eyebrow Gel. Now I already use Anastasia's eyebrow gel and love it so this is probably a meh prodect for me but I tried it out and its nice enough. I like that its small and it will be a nice alternative to take while traveling. For someone who has not tried eyebrow gels before I think they'd like this.

This is the Intense Eyeliner by Starlet in Chocolate. Now this one I didn't care for right off the bat. The color comes off really reddish on me. It made me look tired or sickly when i tried it around my eyes. In the picture below I am wearing it but its covered by the eye shadow so you probably cant tell. I might have liked this one if they had sent it to me in black because I did notice that it would be the kind of liner that would stay put which is nice. However it's a little strange that when I went to find the website to see how much this liner would cost they didn't even have the color they sent me. The closest color was Espresso which probably would be a better color if its a darker brown and not so reddish. Who knows maybe they gave all the Chocolate liners to Ipsy because it was a crap color and they needed to be rid of it.

Continuing with the eyes they sent me theBalm Meet Matt(e) in the color Matt Batali. First of all HOW CUTE is the packaging!! AWWWW so cuuuute!! Ok out of my system ^o^ This is a nice matte grey with a slightly purplish undertone. When I checked out their website it looks like its part of a larger palette so this is probably another item where people received different colors.

Another eye product they sent me is the They're Real! mascara by Benefit. Now this is a niiiice product. I already own this product but was still excited to get this because now I have a travel size and a little more time before I have to repurchase this item. I also think that this is kind of a bonus item becasue as I stated before on the website it shows that I was only supposed to receive this or the eyebrow gel. I'm curious if other people received both as well. If not I would be mad to have not gotten this mascara becasue it is awesome! It makes your lashes look sooo long and nice. It picks out an separates each and every lash so well. It's buildable too so if you just want an everyday look that's not so dramatic just use one coat. Adding more coats will definitely give you some drama though if you like that sort of thing. In the picture below I only have two light coats on. If any of you are in the market for a new mascara get this one! Oh and if you can purchase it at Sephora because I've seen them offer a combo pack where you get an extra travel size for free.

 Finally we have Marvelous Moxie lip gloss in Daredevil by Bare Minerals. Now I've never been much of a fan of Bare Minerals. I think they are a bit of a gimmick. I think its great for anyone who has tried and loved their stuff I do like the idea behind mineral foundations and barely there application that still gives you awesome coverage. For me though I have some acne scarring and I still get breakouts here and there so when I tried them I felt like I really had to pack it on to hide anything and then it would wear off in like two hours or it would be really patchy. I would have like random spots on my forehead where it stuck but then have completely vanished from my cheeks. Their eyeshadow too, great colors, great application but two hours later....all up in my crease. Yes I know some may think well you should apply a primer first or some such. But if I'm going for a power foundation why would I want to apply a liquid base when I can just have to two combined in a nice liquid foundation or BB cream?!? Ok rant is over back to the lipgloss :) I daresay I like this gloss and I am not much of a lip product person so that's a big kudos from me. I'm pretty happy with a nice tinted lip balm and nothing else. This gloss looks really strong in the tube but once its one it really blends in nicely with my natrual lip color and isn't too sticky. It's got a slight tingly cooling sensation after you apply it too because I think its supposed to be plumping. I didn't notice any plumping action but it did feel pretty good.

 
So finally to end this review above are two photos to show you some colors swatches and how it looks when I'm wearing everything. Overall everything seems pretty natural looking. The eyeshadow I swiped over just the lid. I applied about two coats of the mascara. The eyeliner really doesn't show on my eyes but you can see it swatched on my hand. The gloss you almost cant even tell I'm wearing which is actually nice for me. Although you could definitely pair this gloss with a berry lipstick and produce a nice dramatic pout if that's your thing. I think you can get a better idea of the color payoffs from the swatches on my hand if you apply them a little heavier than I did. 

I supose that's all for today. I hope this was helpful to anyone trying to decide whether or not Ipsy is the subscription service for you. I think with any of these services there is always a bit of hit and miss but for me with Ipsy its been mostly hits! Let me know what you guys think! I'd love to hear from you and your experiences with these products or services.

Julep Maven Boho Glam Box :: November 2012

  

 Hello Marvelous Marshmallow Mavens! It is time for my first Beauty Box review and I am starting with the November Julep Maven Box in Boho Glam. So as this is my first Beauty Box review let me just give a brief blurb on what Julep Maven is all about and why I decided to try it.

 Ok so I didn’t know much about the Julep brand before deciding to check out their box. According to their website they basically derive from a group of salons on the east coast and sell mostly nail polish and other mail related items online.  The part that drew me in was the fact that they produce high quality polish without a lot of the harsh chemicals found in other polishes.

 The other thing that helped me decide to try this out was the fact that since money has been tight I’ve been trying to find ways to curb my impulsive shopping habits. Before I could easily spend quite a bit each month on nail polish alone and it tends to be incredibly easy for me to just toss a few new colors into my shopping cart every time I go to a Target or a Drugstore and that adds up at the end of the month. 

 Along with Julep’s $19.99 a month price tag, which is easily far less than I normally spend on nail products a month, you get 20% off and free shipping for all the products on their website. The other nice thing is that you are not locked into spending $20 a month. You preview your box before its sent via email and you are given the option to either switch to another style profile box you may like better, you can gift your box to someone else, OR you can even skip it all together and not be charged than month…awesome right?!? AAaanndddd you can get your first month for a penny if you use the code COLOR2012. Now what excuse left did I have to not at leeeast try it out for a month??? That’s right NONE, so I did…and now on with the review!

  So first off I was far to excited with my first box to take pictures of the packaging and little cutesie tootsie boxiepoos that the products came in and honestly it’s the products themselves that matter right? I don’t know maybe next month I’ll include the packaging shhtuff but eh…whatever. Maybe let me know in the comments if you’re into that and would like to see the whole shebang K? Ok So right into the goodies:

 When you first join Julep you take there style quiz to determine which of the different profiles fits you best. Mine was Boho Chic. Not sure if that is really me or not but it doesn't really matter because you always have the option to opt out of your box and pick a box from a different profile each month. First impression on my box was that I liked the color choices but not to sure about the glitter....seems messy to me but what the heck I'll give it a try :)  

 This is the first color in Tori and I was really excited about this one because I had been wanting a sort of neutral taupey color that seems really popular with a lot of bloggers and vloggers this fall.

 Now I don't know if everyone got this color or if since this was my first box Julep was being a bit cheeky but the name of this color is Michelle. My name cool, look at you Julep making a new subscriber feel all special! I actually quite like this color too. In the picture is looks a lot lighter than it is on the nails. You'll see below in the swatch pictures that the color comes off as a really dark navy black. Neither of the two colors I got had any shimmer which I don't mind. I recently purchased a Matte Finish top coat from Butter London that I think will work great with these creamy nonglitzy colors. Let me know in the comments if you would like to see swatches in another post or a review on the Butter London Matte Finish top coat.

 This product is something I've never really tried before but no time like the present right? This is a basic cuticle oil. Can't really tell from the pictures but I did rub a little bit into my cuticles and it feels nice enough. We'll see if it really makes a difference in the quality of my cuticles.

 And lastly the glitter pots. Now this in a beauty box I'm honestly a bit meh about. I like glittery polishes and all but this is just a mess waiting to happen. I can see it now...Koi (the kitty) pouncing up on the table as I try to sprinkle this crap on my nails and the fairy dust explosion that results.

 Here are the polishes on the nail. The Michelle comes out a bit darker and the Tori looks like it has some purplish undertones which is nice. So far so good. I will have to let you know with my next box how the wear is on these when combined with my Essie All in One base and Essie Good To Go top coat.

Finally, I went ahead and tried out the glitter for you guys. It was pretty simple application. After the second coat of polish was applied I just poured the glitter straight from the pot onto the nail and the tapped my finger to shake off excess. I also very lightly pressed the glitter into the polish just to make sure it was sticking well. Then when it was dry I followed up with a generous layer of Essie Good To Go top coat. Oh FYI I layered the silver over Michelle and the white over Tori. I'm not sure I like this look. It's grainy to touch even with the top coat, maybe I just need a few more layers but eh too much work. I think I'll just stick with polish with glitter already inside the formula. You may also be disappointed to hear that there was no Koi fairy dust explosion....whew!

Ok that's all for this post. Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from other's how their Julep experience has been if they've tried it or I anyone has any questions on the process let me know too!

  

Hello! An Introduction.

 

Hello and welcome to my first blog! Yay I’m excited are you? Yeah I know you are I can tell! So a little about me... My name is Michelle, I am married and have a wonderful husband named Joshua and we have a kitty cat named Koi. We live in sunny beautiful San Diego, CA, and I love it! I love the ocean, photography, watercolor painting, and I am currently enrolled in a Medical Transcription program. What else...favorite animals are Sea Otters, Red Pandas and Horses. Favorite color is probably purple the moment. Hmm...favorite TV Shows are currently Gossip Girl, Glee, Vampire Diaries, whatever is good and girlie on my Netflix or Hulu really. I'm a bit of a nerd as far as movies go I love love love the Lord of the Rings Trilogy as well as all the Harry Potters....read all the books too (Cant wait for the Hobbit *squeal*). I'm a nerd like that, I love to read the books and then see the movies or vice-versa so most of my favorite movies are probably my favorite books. Hunger Games love and yes even grudgingly admit I've seen all the Twilights so far and didn't totally hate them *shrug*.....Whelp I think that's enough to start with so......

Anyhoozels I hope you will all enjoy my humble attempts at bloggin and such.This blog will mostly focus on my favorite beauty products as well as product reviews and discoveries. I also subscribe to a few of those increasingly popular beauty sample boxes namely Glossybox, Ipsy and Julep so I will have monthly reviews to share with you on those. I may also have tutorials or lifestyle blog as a I do enjoy cooking and have the occasional urge to get crafty ;)

I’ve dabbled in blogging before but not too successfully, mostly due to a loss of interest after a while and a lack of any real structure to my posts. Basically I was lazy and wasn’t really clear on what I wanted to present to people and where I wanted to go with it or even what I personally wanted out of it. Now I’ve done my research, I’ve seen what I like and what I don’t like in blogs and I just feel like I’ve found a topic that I can maintain my interest and enthusiasm in which really is what will keep me posting and sharing all my beauty related discoveries, successes and maybe even the occasional disaster! Woohoo! So that’s it for now I think. Just wanted to create a quick introductory post to my mostly Beauty Blog and now I’m excited to jump right in and get started!