Thursday, May 31, 2012

May Favorites!


Guess who's back? Back again? Shady's back, tell a friend! Ahem. Okay, that was a little weird. But seriously. I'm back with this month's favorites again! I feel like I just did this for April. I guess a month will fly by when you're havin' fun! 

Favorite Jewelry: H&M Studded Bracelet!
I have had the biggest obsession addiction "thing" for studs! Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, iPhone covers, etc. I recently went shopping at H&M for shorts and just happened to peruse the jewelry section. Y'know, because I had to walk through it to get to the shorts ;) and I just about died when I saw this. Simple, light, gold and studs? I'm so sold. Price: $4.95 

Favorite Beauty Product(s): 
Healthy Hoof Intensive Protein Treatment
Shhh. Don't tell LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter but I've been seeing someone else on the side! Healthy Hoof is awesome for a two main reasons: It's super cheap ($6.95 compared to Lemony Flutter at $14.95) and it shows results overnight. A couple of nights ago, I put this on before I went to sleep. I woke up the next day with incredible cuticles and soft hands! The one con I had was that it was pretty thick-feeling. Like wearing Vaseline or something. Honestly, that's the biggest complaint and I will surely suck it up for the amazing results! (Price: $6.95 - Available at: CVS, healthyhoof.com,)

LorealParis Voluminous Million Lashes
I never say this because I'm always convinced there's always got to be something better out there somewhere but I'm saying it: Voluminous Million Lashes is the best mascara EVER! BOOM. Said it. I've been using this since it came out and I can't say enough about it. It very rarely clumps. It spaces out your lashes very evenly giving a somewhat false lash effect. It's basically amazing. (Price: $7.95 - Available at: CVS and other drugstores)

Favorite Accessories: 
Target Heart Shaped Sunglasses
I love sunglasses but I'm always loosing them or scratching them up. I'm always at a fork in the road between buying expensive (but super cute!) sunglasses or buy cheapy ones and sacrifice the cuteness factor a little. No more! Thanks Target! I didn't see different colors but I'm assuming that they probably do. (Price: $12.99 - Available at: Target)

PINK Fresh Vanillas in Feel Flirty
Victoria's Secret PINK Fresh Vanillas in Feel Flirty is a mix of lychee and blonde woods. I won't lie to you, I have no idea what any of that is. I can tell you that it smells very pretty; like summer time. It's so light and sweet. That probably doesn't help either. (Price: $8.00 - Available at: Victoria's Secret, victoriassecret.com) 

Favorite Food: S'mores Cookie Bars!
For my group of friends, warmer weather brings lots of bonfires and bonfires always mean s'mores! While browsing through Pinterest, I came across this recipe from BakedPerfection and almost died. How yummy does that look?

Recipe for S'mores Cookie Bars:
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
  • 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)


- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

* Makes 16 cookie bars. Recipe and picture from BakedPerfection.

Favorite Nail Polish(es):
365 Days Of Color Rock Candy (over OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips) - Talk about a summery polish! Rock Candy is shreds of multicolored glitter in a clear base. At $8 for a full size, you can't go wrong and I promise you'll be wanting back-ups!

Lynnderella Thank Blue (over China Glaze For Audrey) - What's there to say about Lynnderella's creations that hasn't been said before? Simply amazing. Thank Blue is from her Funny Money collection and has turquoise, blue and teal  hexagons and squares with turquoise holographic hexagons, squares and aqua hexagons in a sparkling light turquoise base. 

Favorite Songs:
Drunk On You - Luke Bryan
Brokenhearted - Karmin
We Run The Night - Havana Brown

Favorite Websites:
Princess P Jewelry - Looking for the cutest bracelets, rings and necklaces? Look no more! VERY trendy. I can't wait to buy from them! If you see something you like, don't hesitate to buy because they sell out super quick.
Regretsy - Want to spend about five hours of your life looking through hilarious Etsy finds? Thought so.

Favorite Blogger:
Scrangie - My favorite blogger of this month for obvious reasons. Whenever I need a swatch of something, I automatically look her up first. Her pictures are perfection and her descriptions of polishes are spot on!

This will probably be my last post until I come back from Louisiana! Anyone from Baton Rouge want to let me in on the cool things to do there? :)


Thursday, May 17, 2012

365 Days of Color Summer Dream and Rock Candy Swatches and Review!


Another post? I'm on a roll, baby! *DANCE DANCE DANCE!*

I bring you the lovely Sanaz's 365 Days of Color Summer Dream and Rock Candy!

Rock Candy is multi-colored shreds of glitter in a clear base. I'm in love and need back ups STAT! It went on so smooth and I didn't have to fish around for the glitter. Don't you love when that happens? I put it over OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips and Essie Braziliant. 

Macro to show you how awesome this is!

Summer Dream is a light turquoise base with multi color hexes, circles and bars of different sizes. I used China Glaze For Audrey as a base although it's not necessary. This polish is opaque in three to four coats. Sanaz knows what she's doing because again, I didn't need to fish around for the glitter! You go, girl! This polish reminds me of an aerial view of a swimming pool with the noodles and tubes in the water. Love it!

Macro! So summery!

You can buy these gorgeous polishes and more from 365 Days of Color! Price: $8 (full size) - $4.50 (mini)


 * Products in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for an honest review.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

essence Spring/Summer 2012 Swatches and Reviews!



Hello loves! Today I bring you two polishes from essence's new spring/summer 2012 collection! essence has come out with ten hot new colors from brights to pastels this year. They have this great color and go quick drying formula so I tested it. Both polishes dried to the touch in about three minutes!


Modern Romance - Your typical nude nail with a subtle twist of hot pink. Unfortunately, it gets a little lost on the nail but still adds some flavor you can't pinpoint. 


Walk On Air - HELLOOO NEIGHBOR! Wow. It's a creamy cobalt blue but brighter (if that makes sense). I'll be the first to admit I am not a dark blue girl. Dark blues and black polishes are not my friend but this one - this one is a keeper. 


Check essence's website to find a location that sells essence near you or order from Ulta! Price: 99 cents each!

* Products in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for an honest review.
Saturday, May 05, 2012

Tweezerman Brow Kit Review


Alright. Fess up time! How many of us get our eyebrows done professionally because we're terrified we'll wax/tweeze/thread off our own eyebrow? Raise your hands!

I remember when I first started getting my eyebrows waxed, they would clean up the stray hairs and just go with the natural shape; no big deal really. It wasn't until I started going to a different place that shaped my eyebrows that everyone started noticing the difference and I started getting compliments about how it changed my whole face. Crazy, right? Definitely kind of gives me an eyebrow standard to live up to.

This is where Tweezerman comes in! They ever so nicely sent me a kit that spent a couple of days opened, but untouched due to my fear off tweezing my eyebrow off. Thankfully, I overcame that fear and decided to try some stuff out. If there's anyone to do an eyebrow right, it's Tweezerman!

Tweezerman has been around since 1980 making the "it" tweezer tools for over 30 years, receiving awards from InStyle, Teen Vogue and Health magazine just to name a few. Their tweezers are stainless steel and arrive sharp. You can even send your tweezers out to get sharpened when they get dull from natural use for free. How awesome is that?

  • Slanted Tweezer - ($22) - Your standard tweezer.
  • Pointed Slant Tweezer - ($25) - Great for grabbing coarse hair and short stubs. 
  • Slanted Tweezer (with city skyline enamel) - ($22) - Your standard slant tweezer with a slightly more narrow tip.
  • Satin Etched Zebra Slant Tweezer - ($25) - The original and award-winning tweezer for awesome brow shaping with an adorable zebra print etched on it! 
  • Point Tweezer - ($22) - A tweezer that's  perfect for precision work and getting those stubborn stubbles.
  • Special Edition Pop of Op Mini Slant Tweezer - ($15) - A mini version of the slant tweezer in cute colors (lavender - shown, blue and pink). Perfect to toss in your purse for quick fixes.
Tweezerman doesn't stop at tweezers to make your eyebrows amazing - they have all the tools to maintain them too!
  • Folding ILashcomb - ($9.50) - Gold plated with perfectly spaced teeth to even brush through your eyelashes. LOVE this! You use this while your mascara is still wet to space out your eyelashes and remove excess mascara.
  • Mini Eyebrush CombA brush to used to prep your eyebrows before trimming.
  • Brown Shaping Scissors - ($18 for brush & scissors) –  Custom-contoured body with sharp, ultra-thin precision blades for accuracy and control.
  • Eyenhance Brow Definer and Highlighter Duo - ($20) - A duel-ended pencil with a brow definer on one side and a smooth light highlighter on the other.

  • BrowMousse - ($10) - Clear-gel that shapes and holds brows in place all day for a fantastic, finished look.
OVERALL REVIEW: I'm in love with Tweezerman! I use the BrowMousse, Zebra Slant Tweezer and ILashcomb on a daily basis and carry the mini slant tweezer in my purse. You guys definitely need to check out their stuff!


* Products in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for an honest review.
Saturday, May 05, 2012

April Favorites!


Holy cow! I can't believe April is already over! It flew by which is fine by me because the faster these spring months go by the closer we get to summertime and then fall - my two favorite seasons! I've decided to start monthly favorites posts a la Love For Lacquer and show you all what  my favorite music, food, make-up, clothing, websites, nail polish and jewelry was. Are you ready!? Let's get this show on the road.


Favorite Jewelry: Friendship bracelets!
 
I'm obsessed with friendship/braided bracelets. I bought these three by Full Tilt at Tilly's. I actually bought six bracelets total because Tilly's does buy one, get one half off on Full Tilt. How amazing is that? Availability: Tilly's / Pricing: $5.99 + buy one, get one half off on all Full Tilt jewelry.

Favorite Beauty Product:
LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter
I'm sure you guys are tired of me raving about this but I can't get over how awesome it is. I use this as a cuticle butter and even hand lotion sometimes. What I do is take a pea size amount of it and rub it on my nails and cuticles. Sometimes I'll rub it in and go like a hand lotion and sometimes I'll wash my hands after. It depends. You can also use LUSH Sea Salt with it which is like a spa day for your hands, let me tell you! It's smooth and doesn't leave your hands greasy if you do decide to leave it on. It's perfect and I noticed a difference in my cuticles being softer overnight. You can order LUSH products here. Price: $14.00

Tweezerman Satin Etched Zebra Slant Tweezer
Have I mentioned how in love I am with zebra print? Zebra print, hot pink and glitter and I'm good to go. Now take my vanity for my eyebrows and a zebra print tweezer and we have a winner! Thank you, Tweezerman! These tweezers are slanted for brow shaping with precision. Store / FB / Price: $25.00 

Favorite Drink: Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino
One word: YUMMY! This new drink from Starbucks is coffee-based with mocha sauce, milk, vanilla syrup, frappuccino chips and ice. It even has chocolate whipped cream ON TOP. CHOCOLATE. WHIPPED. CREAM. Ahhhh. The drink is under 350 calories for a Tall. That drops more if you request nonfat milk and/or no whipped cream. So basically, it's got the calories of a meal. IDGAF!


Favorite Nail Polish(es): 
OPI Just Spotted The Lizard
How gorgeous is this!? It's from OPI's new The Amazing Spiderman collection and I'm in love! It's a golden green chrome with teal and pure green duochrome. I actually really like this because I'm not a fan of green polishes and this is converting me. Availability: May 1st / Price: $8.50 

Whimsical Ideas by Pam Nancy's Birthday
I love this. If this doesn't scream girly and fun, I really don't know what other polish would.. Nancy's Birthday is a light pink base (I put it over Essie's French Affair) with different size multi-colored glitters. Basically, it's funfetti frosting for your nails! You can order Whimsical Ideas by Pam here. She's is the sweetest thing ever, by the way. Price: $10.00 

Sinful Colors Summer Peach, Pink Fusion, Pink!, Neon Melon and Dream On
I am obsessed with neons! The picture doesn't do any justice to how bright these babies really are. I think I like neons so much because they always make your hands look tan and I'm as white as paper. LMAO. Tricks of the trade, people! Price: $1.99

Favorite Songs:
Somebody That I Used To Know - Goyte
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
Wild Ones (ft. Sia) - Flo Rida
Dance Again (ft. Pitbull) - J.Lo
Drunk On You - Luke Bryan

Favorite Websites: 
Forever21 - If you're looking for some cute stuff for cheap prices, this is definitely the place to shop! Always trendy and super affordable. I personally love their shirts and necklaces.
Jenna Marble's Blog - If you don't know who this is, LOOK UP HER VIDEOS NOW! This girl is hilarious. Warning: She has the mouth of a sailor!

Favorite Bloggers:
BeautyGnome - FB / BLOG - One of the funniest girls I've ever had the pleasure of reading her comments. Her blog is amazing and she's a fellow CT girl so we have to stick together and show support! ;)

College Polished - FB / BLOG - One of the sweetest girls EVER. I feel like we have a weird bond because we both started out at the same time. Her swatches are amazing. Definitely check out her blog!

Love For Lacquer - FB / BLOG - If you aren't reading this because Jess has sent you over here from one time or another, holy cow, hi. I can't believe you found me by yourself. Jess is by far one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. We met through a mutual friend (her babysitter!) and it's been a whirlwind since ;) Her blog is amazing with clear swatches and up-to-date collection previews and press releases. If, by the rare chance, you weren't sent here by her, you need to check her out!

So that's it for my first ever month's favorites. What do you think? What are your favorites for April?! Bring on May! 

* Some products in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for an honest review.

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