Lime Accent

Sponsored | Bought Myself | Press Sample | Nothing to Disclose | Giveaway Winnings | Gifted

I am loving those two Bleached Neons I was able to find at Big Lots, I still really wish I could have found the rest of them! Today I have Lime Accent for you, it's neon, it's lime green and it looks as though it's been bleached.

I started out with one coat of Sinful Colors Snow Me White, just to make it pop a little more, I followed that up with two coats of Lime Accent. It went on very smoothly, but it did seem to take a while to dry, so much in fact that I put a quick drying top coat over it just to speed up the process. After that dried I stamped a cool looking design on it, using stamping plate BP-50 from Born Pretty Store, and added another coat of my quick drying top coat.

I really love the way this came out, the black and lime go well together!

Checking another number off the #SBBNailChallenge with this mani, number 46 Favorite nail art technique! Stamping is by far my favorite thing to do to my nails and it's so easy anyone can master this technique with a little practice.

I'm working away at this untried pile of polish, I'll be back next week with another polish :)

Bleached in Peach & Leopard Print

Hey y'all! Today I'm am getting started on my big pile of un-tired polishes with Bleached in Peach!

Bleached in Peach is one of the Bleached Neons from Maybelline, I really love this color and the name is very accurate, a very washed out peachy color. I wanted to to a leopard print mani but it did not turn out quite like I would have liked it too. I started with 3 coats of Bleached in Peach, first two were rather streaky and I still ended up with some streaky looking sections. Then I grabbed my dotting tools and made a few black 'dots' and went around them with some silver. I think it might have looked better if I added more dots.

Also my photo did not capture the true color of this polish. In person it's more peachy less orange LOL

For this to be a neon polish it faired better than most neons do with me. I was able to get about 3 days out of it before it chipped. Most neons chip on me the first day or two.

Up next on my list of un-tried polishes, Funky Monkey from Orchid!

Collective Nail Polish Haul

Sponsored | Bought Myself | Press Sample | Nothing to Disclose | Giveaway Winnings | Gifted

Since I've been working I've been able to splurge a little more on random nail polishes more often, so today I have a nice little collective haul for y'all!

We'll start off with some polishes that I bought from Beauty By Krystal's Blog Sale. I seen she had Essence polishes on there so I snagged some of them up quickly, since I can not find them in my area. I got Aquatix Bay, Under the Sea, A Lovely Secret, Enchanted Fairy and Can't Cheat on me. I'd never heard of Orchid polish so I grabbed the one that caught my eye, Funky Monkey. The last two I got were both from Sinful Colors, Petal Be The Day and Prized Plume.

I picked up a few polishes from work too, 2 Broadway Nails regular polishes; Easter Annie and Sour Apple. Also picked up another one of the Gel Strong polishes for 'testing' purposes ;) in the color Where's Nemo.

At work we got a display for the Wet N Wild 2015 Silver Lake collection, but I don't think that the correct products are in it, because the polish I picked out of it, Bubblegum Pop appears to have been around for a while. In any case it's still pretty and I will wear it proudly. Found this Sinful Colors polish at Big Lots, it's Love Sprinkles, way to cute to pass up!

Also at Big Lots I finally found two of the Bleached Neons from Maybelline, Lime Accent and Bleached in Peach! I wish I could have found the rest of the set, but I'm happy with the 2 I was able to add to my collection.

I also did a little China Glaze shopping on Amazon, always find great polish deals on there! I got Hang-Ten toes, Beach Cruise-r, Ahoy and Flirty Tankini. I got all these for about $4.50 each, not a bad deal! Of course these are not true to color since they are pink toned and neon for the most part.

I can not remember if I have hauled these or not, but they are from Avon's Electric Shades collection for 2015; Hottie, Suacy, Reckless and Vibe. If these cooperate, they would make a beautiful water marble!

Found these cool Nail Edge Guides from Kiss and pump bottle at Walmart! I want to get another one of these to put regular nail polish remover in, so I'll quit using so much pure acetone on my nails.

Needless to say my untried pile is full again! Is there any polishes that y'all would like to see more than others? If so let me know and I'll move them up!

Hopefully I'll be back in the next day or so with a nail look using the Kiss Nail Guides ;)

Maybelline Color Show Lasting Lilac

Sponsored | Bought Myself | Press Sample | Nothing to Disclose | Giveaway Winnings | Gifted

Today's polish comes from the Maybelline limited edition Vintage Leather Collection, it is Lasting Lilac. I'm not really sure why they wanted to call this line Vintage Leather, to me it's just polish with a matte finish and some metallic looking shards.

Lasting Lilac is slightly sheer, and the first coat was rather streaky, I ended up using three coats to get the opacity to a state I was happy with. I love the shade of this color, it's not lilac at all, but more like a grapey purple. It looked okay matte, but I wanted something shiny so I did add a glossy top coat to it. Obviously since it is a matte finish it did try super quick.

I like this polish for it's super quick dry time and the color, I don't know that I would ever wear it matte, to me I think it looks better shiny. I found this at the Dollar Tree so for $1 can't really say anything bad about it!

Tomorrow I'll be back with Ring the Belini from Sinful Colors Citrus Twist Collection.

Blue and White Water Marble

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this nail art sample I was working on. 

Well I got it finished up, but had to leave out the silver, Which was Sally Hansen Celeb City. It did not want to be water marble friendly. I also had to take out Maybelline's Frozen Over, it did not work well either. 

So that left me with Frostbite from China Glaze and Iceberg from Avon's Gel Finish line. These two worked very well for marbling! I absolutely love the way it came out!

If you haven't noticed I'm on a water marble kick LOL

Hope you all have a great day and thanks for stopping by :)

Pretty in Polka

Today's post is way late and coming to you from my couch, thank goodness for smart phones! Feeling a bit under the weather, either a yucky summer time cold or bad allergies :(

Today I have a super fun polish from Maybelline Color Show, Pretty in Polka! It has black and white glitters, the larger ones are hex shaped and best I can tell the smaller ones look like circles, all in a light pink base. I used 3 coats to get it to the opacity that I was happy with, luckily the coats dry fast. 

I really like it, a fun polish for summer :)

Hope you all have had a great day!

Favorites: May 2014

It has been a while since I've done a Favorites post, February was actually the last one. Within those few months I have found a few new favorites I wanted to share with you, a few are old rediscovered favorites.

We'll start with my new favorite hair product, L'Oreal Sleek It Iron Straight Heat Spray. I got this in my Ulta Haul earlier this year. It seems to shorten my straightening time and really keeps the frizz at bay, the thing I like most about it is you can feel it conditioning your hair while you are styling it. Leaves my hair feel so soft and smooth. Will be purchasing again once I use this one up!

Up next are a few skin/body products. I have been using my Perlier Volcanic Thermal Scrub about once a week to get my skin looking soft and smooth for spring/summer. I love this stuff, it is a little harsh, but not so much that it bothers me. I have also been loving my Udderly Smooth hand cream that I picked up at the Dollar Tree a while back. Hands down the best hand cream I've ever used, does not leave my hands feeling greasy at all and really makes them feel soft. I love my Gud Body Butter in Floral Cherrynova, smells so amazing and provides my skin with a lot of moisture leaving it feeling super soft and smooth. My last skin favorite is one that I've had for a while, the Julep Glycolic Hand Scrub. It got pushed back and hid on my shelf, but it leaves your hands so soft, a nice weekly treatment :)

I had quite a few new eye favorites this time around. The Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliner is amazing, I can do my makeup in the morning and not have to worry about my eyeliner fading or smudging! For the past few months I have found my self grabbing the same 4 eyeshadows; ELF Jumbo Eyeshadow Stick in Little Miss Thing, Avon Cream Shadows in Champagne and Hazelnut and Avon Glazewear Diamonds in Mauved Metal. I have also switched my eye primer to Primed and Ready Eye Primer from Prestige works amazing! I had to throw in my Maybelline One by One Volume Express mascara, love this stuff so much!

For Face favorites I have one new and one old. My new favorite is Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Foundation, best foundation I have found for my normal to dry skin. My old favorite is NYC's Sunny Bronzer, perfect shade for my fair skin and it's super affordable.

I have two fragrances that I can't quit using, both from Bath & Body Works. Coconut Water that I picked up last fall at one of their big sales. I have also been loving French Lavender & Honey, went ahead and bought a back up of it!

I do believe that is it for my Favorites! What are some of the products you are currently loving?

Review: Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse Foundation

Sponsored | Bought Myself | Press Sample | Nothing to Disclose | Giveaway Winnings | Gifted

Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse is a cream-whipped foundation that is supposed to be good for normal to dry skin, provide 100% baby smooth perfection and leave your skin looking and feeling hydrated for 14 hours. It's oil-free, fragrance free, and safe for sensitive skin. The whipped formula is designed to give an air soft matte finish with a weightless feel. The foundation is very creamy and provides medium coverage.

Here is my take on it:
For the last 2 years or so I have not used an actual foundation, I had only been using BB creams, because I could not find a foundation that would not cling to the dry patches or just make my face look super dried out. I love my BB creams, but I wanted something that would give me a little more coverage, so off to Google I went. I came across this product and read that it was good for dry skin, the only thing I read about it that concerned me was that it had pink undertones, my cheeks tend to get red when I'm a little hot or from washing my face with a cloth of some sort, so I didn't know if that would enhance my cheek redness or not. I picked out Porcelain Ivory, which I believe is the lightest color they offer, I probably should have got the next shade up since I purchased this around the time the weather was warming up, but with a little bronzer it works fine.

I am very glad that I gave this a try! I love the amount of coverage it gives me, which is about medium, and the pink undertones do not enhance any redness that I have on my face. Finally a foundation that I can wear that does not adhere to and accentuate my dry patches or make my face look as dry as a dessert, I think this is due mostly to the consistency of the foundation, it is so creamy! It feels very light on my face, so much in fact I usually forget I have it on. My face feels hydrated and soft throughout the day. For me personally the wear time is great too, the day I took the photos for this post I wore it for a little over 8 hours and never touched it up.

My only issue with this foundation is the packaging, and the only thing I don't like about it, is it does not have a mirror and it makes you think you are getting way more product. It does come with this little sponge to apply it with, I've not used it so I can not say if it works well or not.

This is all the product you get, it's .49oz

 I 've used this pretty much every single day since I got it 5 weeks ago and I still have plenty of product, a little bit of this seems to go a long way, which is great!

I use my ELF flat top powder brush to apply the Dream Smooth Mousse. I lightly tap the brush in to the product then kind of stipple it on my face and buff it out, then I'll apply some bronzer and spray my face with ELF makeup mist and set. This is besides the point, but Avon is coming out with a makeup setting spray!!

Here is a nice collage of my face LOL Top Left no makeup at all and as you can see I have redness in my cheeks and on my chin from cleansing with a cloth prior to doing my makeup and a nice little scratch on my nose, Top Right I'm only wearing the Dream Smooth Mousse I think it helps to conceal some of the redness, Bottom Left I have my bronzer and eye makeup done, Bottom Right shows my face after wearing the DSM for a little more than 8 hours with no touch ups.

Everyone's skin type is not the same so I know this may work great for me but not work so well for others. My skin is normal to dry and I do not tend to get any oiliness, so if you have skin very similar to that, I would highly recommend this, especially if you have issues with other foundations clinging to dry patches.

Dream Smooth Mousse comes in 6 shades at Ulta and online, but for some reason Walmart's site lists 4 additional shades that were not available on the other sites. Prices are different on each site but range from $7.97-$9.99

Year In Review: Favorite Products

Welcome to the first of four posts in my Year in Review series! Today I'll be sharing my favorite products from 2013! I have quite a few things so let's get started. Also if I have reviewed the product I'll link to that post in case you want to know more about it.

I'll start off with my favorite lip product, Maybelline Baby Lips in Quenched, since I don't have a photo of it because I'm out of it and I can't find a photo that I took of it, but we all know what it looks like. I went through several of these lip balms in 2013 I think they moisturize my lips well and I love that it has SPF in it.

I tired several new skin care items this year and came out with three that I really liked. L'Oreal Hydrafresh Toner, eclos Skin Prep Cleanser and Avon Moisture Boost Daily moisture lotion. I hear a lot of people say that you don't need a toner, but I feel like it really helps my skin and it makes it feel really fresh. This toner did not leave my skin feeling tight or dry. I have been using this same bottle of eclos cleanser for months, and it is probably my most favorite cleanser ever, hands down. It cleans my face well and leaves it feeling soft and smooth. The only issue I have with this product is the price. I have used several moisturizers this year as well, but I stuck with the Avon one the longest, it's a really light moisturizer, but it gives my skin all the moisture that it needs.

Next are face products that I used the most in 2013. I instantly fell in love with the Olay Fresh Effects BB cream, I have been using this since early summer. It gives me the moisture my skin craves and evens out my skin tone, it does not give much coverage though, that's where my NYC Sunny bronzer comes in. I love this bronzer and will probably never

September Favorties & Empties

Where did September go? I don't know either, but I do like the month of October because it's my Birthday month :)

I wanted to share my Favorites and my Empties from September with you today, I just have a handful of each.

First up is Avon's reformulated eye shadow quad in Stone Taupes. I liked Avon's eye shadows before they reformulated them, but these are just awesome. They feel very velvety, reminds me of the NYX shadows, I think the pigmentation is also better, but I still suggest using a primer.

Up next we have one of my new favorites, Perlier Volcanic Scrub. I got this from iFabbo and I really like it. I have a full review up here if you are interested.

Found a new favorite mascara this month, The Rocket by Maybelline. I still like the One by One Volume Express, but this is a close second to that.

My new favorite fragrance is Coconut Water from Bath & Body Works, really wish I had picked up another one of these.

Eclos facial cleanser is a product I received as a Klout Perk. I really like it, gets all the make up off my face and does not leave it feeling dry. I have also seen an improvement in the texture of my skin since using this.

Last but not least Dove go sleeveless deodorant. I had seen this product advertised a lot and how it claims it will "replenish delicate underarm skin—leaving it softer, smoother and ready to reveal in just five days" and I must say it's claims are true. Wish I had tried this a long time ago. I got soothing chamomile, but next time I think I will try a different scent.

Since I only had three empties this month I thought I would just add them in with my favorites.

I used up all my Cynthia Rowley Band-Aids that I got in a Birchbox forever and a day ago. Cute bandaids, but not worth the price.

I also finished up my got2be Smooth Operator Smoothing Luster Lotion. I really like this stuff for taming fly-aways when I flat iron my hair, already repurchased.

My poor little Maybelline One by One Volume Express, I used it as long as I could, honestly it should have probably been thrown out months ago, but I just couldn't let it go. I would repurchase this.

What have been your favorites during the month of September? What products did you finish up?

What's In My Travel Bag

Since I am on vacation, I thought it would be fun to share what beauty related items I took with me on my trip.

We'll start of with the 'tools'. I brought along my Elf Complexion Brush for bronzer, Elf Powder brush to 'tap' my face after spraying setting spray, Elf Eye Shadow Brush, Eye Crease brush and Blending Eye brush. I also brought along my Revlon eye lash curler.

Gotta have a clean and moisturized face, so I brought some epille cleansing wipes, L'Oreal toner (love this stuff) and Avon Moisture Boost moisturizer lotion.

Since I am vacationing at the beach I want to keep my make up very minimal, light and fuss free. I brought Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream, Avon Eye shadow quad in Stone Taupes, Avon eye primer, NYC Sunny Bronzer, Avon Water proof mascara, Avon ultra luxury eye liner, Maybelline Baby Lips and Vaseline lip theapy (love using this at night).

For shampoo and conditioner I will brought some samples that I had stashed away. I ended up not bringing the Pantene, I found some Suave Moroccan Infusion Shine shampoo and conditioner samples hidden on the back of one of my shelves. I also brought an extra bottle filled with Aussie shampoo. I changed my lotion out too from what is picture here, I brought along some Vaseline coco lotion, smells yummy. I also wanted a light body spray so I brought my Bath & Body Works Citrus Orchid spray.

A few items not pictured that I also brought along were my Earth Theraputics Tea Tree Oil foot repair balm, love that stuff. ELF Mist and Set spray and Secret deodorant.

Here is my lovely travel bag, it's a Modella bag that I picked up from Walmart a few years ago. It was somewhere around the $10-$15 range, it has nice little pockets all along the inside to stick stuff in.

What do you pack in your travel bag?

Haul: CVS Clearance Sale

Y'all know how I love my beauty products on a budget and one of the best place to stock on on some products or try 'new' products that are to expensive when not on sale, is the 50-75% off sale at CVS. This sale is held twice a year, usually spring and fall, and if I have some extra money I try to shop it!

I had posted previously about a few polishes that I had found at this sale, this post is my last CVS sale post for this particular sale.

First up are some nail polishes that I got. I picked up another one of the Maybelline Color Show Shredded polishes in the shade Purple Possibilities, a Sally Hansen Crackle in Wave Break, a Spoiled polish in the shade Mind Your Own Beeswax, and a Maybelline Color Show Metallic polish in the shade Blue Blowout.

Left to Right: Sally Hansen Crackle Wave Break, Color Show Purple Possibilities, Color Show Blue Blowout, Spoiled Mind Your Own Beeswax

 I also got a few new lip products, I figured this sale would be a great time to re-stock my lip drawer since I had recently cleaned out all of my older products. I picked up a Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in the shade Porcelain Pink. Cover Girl natureluxe gloss balm in the shade Grenache. Milani Crystal lip gloss in the shade Fruit Punch, and two Revlon Super Lustrous Lip glosses, pink whisper and peach petal. I will have a follow up post with in the next couple of weeks with swatches of these lip products :)

Break down of the great deals I got from this sale:

Maybelline Color Show Polishes: Original Price $ 4.19 each I paid $ 2.09 each

Sally Hansen Crackle:  Original Price $7.49 I paid $ 1.87

Spoiled Polish: Original Price $1.99 I paid $.49

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Stick: Original Price: $8.99 I paid: $2.25

Revlon Super Lustrous Glosses: Original Price: $8.79 I paid: 2.19

Cover Girl Nature Luxe: Original Price: $7.99 I paid $3.99

Milani Lip gloss: Original Price: $5.79 I Paid around $1.45 ( I lost the receipt from this purchase lol)

Did you shop the CVS sale? What did you get?