Empties: March 2013

I'm pretty proud of myself, for the second month in a row I have a few products that I was able to finish up!

During the month of March I finished my Not Your Mother's Way to Grow conditioner, last month I used up the shampoo and I have really been able to tell it. My hair is back to being frizzy and unruly and breaking like crazy! Must repurchase LOL.

I finished up three bottles of soap from Bath & Body Works. Berry Twinkle, Peach Bellini, and Candy Cane Bliss. The last two hubby threw the bottles away before I got them put in to my empties basket. I would repurchase all of these soaps, I love them.

I finished up my Proactiv toner. I would not repurchase this, just because you have to purchase the entire three step system in order to get it and I don't need the other two products. I replaced it with a L'Oreal toner.

I finally finished up my bottle of Avon eye makeup remover. I really like this stuff and repurchased it months before I ran out when they had it on sale for $.99

I also finished up two hand creams, my EOS cucumber melon and my Avon Vita Moist. I like the EOS, but it's not something I would repurchase simply because it's a little pricey for me. I will repurchase the Avon hand cream.

I also finished up a non beauty related item and I wanted to add it because I had blogged about it, and that is my Palmolive Fresh Infusions dish soap. Love this stuff and will be repurchasing.

What products did you use up? Leave me a link to your post, I would love to check it out.

Haul: Big Lots

I love going to Big Lots to check out their beauty section, you never know what kind of good deals and products you are going to find! A new Big Lot's store opened semi close to my area so hubby and I went to check it out and I scored a few good beauty buys.

First I got a bottle of gud, from Burt's Bees, body lotion in the fragrance Orange Petalooza. Smells so good and leaves my skin feeling super smooth and only cost $2! Next I got a two pack of Revlon polishes, which were also only $2. I got the shades Fig Jam and Strawberry Cream. These are supposed to be scented, I think they just smell like any other nail polish. I also picked up a pack of Ponds Evening Sooth cleansing towelettes for $3.80. Lastly I got an ELF blending eye brush for ninety-five cents!

Have you scored any good deals from Big Lots recently?

ABC Nail Challenge: Letter L

I'm back with Letter L from the ABC Nail Challenge! I thought I was going to have only one or two choice when it came to the letter L, but I actually had quite a few more to choose from. I decided to go with Lotus by Zoya. I love this shade of purple, I think it's a good transition color for winter into spring. I also love that it has this hot pink/fuchsia shimmery iridescence to it.

Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to go check out what the other amazing ladies did for the letter L

Winner Mail!

I was so excited to find out that I had won Lori Ann's giveaway for her 1 year anniversary of her fantastic blog, Bat an Eyelash. If you haven't already you should go check her out! She posts hauls, favorites, reviews,  swatches and more!

Here is what I won:

• Tea Tree Oil foot repair balm This is going to be great to get my feet ready for flip flops and sandals!
• MUA Heaven and Earth eyeshadow palette I have seen a lot of blog posts and videos on this brand and I have been wanting to try out their products for a while. So excited that I finally get to now!
• Mabelline Studio Gel Liner in Charcoal I have tried cream eye liners, but never gel.
• Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment This is another brand I have seen a lot of in the beauty world and another product that I have been wanting to try!
• EOS Sweet Mint Lip Balm I love mint lip products and this is one of the EOS balms I didn't have :)
• OPI nail polish in Bubble Bath My very first OPI polish!
• NYX blush in Pinched
• NYX Cream Blush in Boho Chic
• Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie

And this adorable NYX lacy bag!

Thanks so much Lori Ann!

I will have reviews and swatches of all these products up in the next few weeks. I wasn't able to swatch them for this post, I've been sick for the last week and a half and didn't want to contaminate my new goodies :)

Have you every tried any of these products?

Spam Comments......

I have been getting a ridiculous amount of spam comments over the past couple of weeks from Anonymous posters, so I have changed my settings to where you have to be a registered user to post. If you have any trouble posting a comment please let me know and I'll see what else I can do :)

Hope you all are having a great weekend. I  hope to be back posting on a regular basis the first of April :)

Silly Saturday #3

I'm joining in on Silly Saturday again today! If you would like to join in to please head over to Jasmine's Blog Green Eyed Monster and sign up!

Here are my funny contributions, hope they bring a smile to your face!

Source: avantipress.com viaKyoco on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com viaJulia on Pinterest

Source: photos.ellen.warnerbros.com viaSara on Pinterest

Source: funpostbox.com viaCourtney on Pinterest

ABC Nail Challenge: Letter K

I'm back today with the ABC Nail Challenge, we are up to letter K. I do not own any polish brands or color names that begin with the letter K, so today K stands for Konad Stamping.

I used NYC Peaches 'N Cream for my base and used a black cream for my stamping color. I used Konad plate m60. I messed up my pinky nail, but other than that, I was happy with my results.

Be sure to stop by and see what the other ladies did for the Letter K!

St. Patrick's Day Manicure

I decided to do a special manicure for St. Patrick's Day and loved the way it came out so I wanted to share it.

I used a NYC white cream for the base and used a fan brush to brush on some stripes. For my stripes I used a L.A Colors green and gold glitter.

Did you do a special manicure for St. Patrick's Day? If you did, leave me your link below, would love to see what you came up with.

Google Reader Ending......

It has been announced by Google that Google Reader will end on July 1st of this year. With the coming of this announcement I wanted to let you know of all the other ways you can follow me so you will always see the new posts that I put up.

If I add any additional ways that you can follow me I will post them in the sidebar of my blog.

Over the next few days I will be going around to all the blogs I currently follow on Google Reader and following your blogs in your alternative methods.

Google +

Silly Saturday 3/16/13

Yay! It's time for Silly Saturday Link-Up!

I love a good laugh, don't you? Our weeks can be stressful or just plain bad, so hopefully these Silly Saturdays can bring a little laughter and joy to your week :)

Source: cheezburger.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: absolutelymadness.tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: katelynjamesblog.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: facebook.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: delovelydetails.com via Amy on Pinterest

BBHQ March Task: Editing

March is here and that means it's time for the Beauty Bloggers Headquarters March task! This month we will be talking about editing programs for all of our photos and videos.

1. What program(s) have you used in the past for editing your photos and/or Videos? 

The program that I always use for editing photos is Jasc PainShop Pro 8. I really like this program because it is simple to use, very effective and a lot cheaper that PhotShop.

The program that I use for editing videos is RealPlayer. It allows me to edit out sections of videos. I would love an editing program that allows for more in depth editing. I have Windows Movie Maker, but it never seems to work right for me.

2. What are your thoughts on image editing websites; free or purchased?

I do not have a lot of experience using editing websites. I used Picnik for a short time, before they did away with it, and I really enjoyed using it. I think these type programs would work fine.

3. What are your thoughts on editing videos directly on YouTube's website?
I like that you can add annotations and a couple of the effects that you can add to your videos. I also really like that you can adjust the lighting and contrast, as this is something that I can not do with my current video editing software.

5. What program(s) would you recommend for beginner bloggers?
I would recommend using any of the free online photo editors and using the YouTube video editior when you start out. Then if you decide to stick with blogging/vlogging maybe update to programs that you have to pay for, if you are looking for more than what you can get for free online. If the free programs are working for you, stick with them.

6. What is your editing process like? Do you edit individual pieces or schedule a day for all your editing?
Usually I take my photos either the day before or the day that I'll be writing my post. As of late though, I have been looking at my planner and taking all the photos for the week at one time. Once I have taken all my photos I'll upload them to my computer and edit them all in one sitting. I do the same with my videos, although, I do n't do videos very often anymore.

7. On average how much time do you think you spend on editing images and videos in a week?
It really depends on how many post I do during the week. For example I took photos for 4 upcoming blog posts the other day and I spend about an hour editing the photos.

8. Show some before and after examples from when you first started blogging/vlogging and what your current content looks like.
As far as editing photos go, I have been editing since before I started blogging, so I don't see much change from when I started blogging and now in my edits. I have, however, started taking better photos for my blogging.

And for videos, I still don't feel like I'm any good at editing video :/

I hate to even post this one LOL It was my very first video:

And one of my more recent videos (from 2012)

Be sure to head over to BBHQ and check out how and what other bloggers/vloggers use for editing.

ABC Nail Challenge: Letter J

It's Wednesday and time for Letter J in the ABC Nail Challenge hosted by Kimber over at Kimber's Lacquer Korner! Today I chose to do a Jelly Sandwich manicure, I really love the way these manicures look. I used 2% by Wet n Wild as my base and top color. For my Glitter I used Ant's in My Pants by Spoiled, which is a red glitter with a charcoal colored base.

If you have any recommendations for good drug store polishes to use for Jelly Sandwiches please leave them in the comments below :)

 Bonus Picture: This is a photo of my most favorite Jelly Sandwich combonation- Wet n Wild 2% and Trust Fund Baby by Spoiled.

Be sure to stop by and check out what the other ladies did for the letter J!

St. Patrick's Day Greens

I thought with St. Patrick's Day coming up that it would be fun to share with you some of the green colored beauty products from my collection that I really enjoy using.

First up are three green eye liners; Glimmersticks by avon in the color Emerald, Glimmersticks Diamonds by Avon in the color Emerald Glow, and a Wet n Wild Coloricon pencil liner in the color Cool Green.

Emerald, Emerald Glow, Cool Green

Next up are some green shadows - Elf's eyeshadow duo in Olive one of my favorites from them. I also have a NYC quad in the shade Riverside Park and a Wet n Wild Trio in the shade Cool as a Cucumber. I also have one of the Hard Candy Top Ten Palettes in Green with Envy!

Here is a look I did using the NYC Riverside Park Quad. I should really do a look with Cool as a Cucumber!

ELF Olive, NYC Riverside Park, WNW Cool as a Cucumber

Click here to see a look I created with the NYC Riverside Quad

Hard Candy Green With Envy

Lastly Green nail polishes! I don't tend to wear a lot of green on my nails, but these are my favorites from my collection.

SaGreena the Teenage Witch by Wet n Wild, Wild Thing, Free Spirit, Not Now, and Sea-Quin all by Pure Ice

SaGreena the Teenage Witch, Wild Thing, Free Spirit, Not Now, Sea-Quins

L-R: SaGreena the Teenage Witch, Not Now, Wild Thing, Free Spirit, Sea-Quins

What are your favorite green beauty products?

Project 10 Pan Update: 1 Month

I can't beleive it has been a whole month since I started my Project 10 Pan, which I'm really considering just calling it, I want you out of my life, or using up what I've got lol.

Okay, so last month I picked out 10 products from my stash that I wanted to try and finish, first month did not go so well :(
Here were the items I selected:

1. Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake body wash: I only used this once during the past month, but I am determined to finish it off!
2. EOS Hand Cream: Finished!!!! Yay Me! :)
3. ELF Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Luminance: I have decided to remove this item from my Project 10 Pan. I honestly just do not like it anymore. I think I have like 2 or 3 more of these that have not even been opened 
4. Fresh Sugar Rose tinted lip treatment: I used this a lot while in my office blogging or whatever else I may have been doing in there.
5. ELF Golden Bronzer in Golden: I have also decided to remove this item from my Project 10 Pan, I feel like it is way to shimmery for me. I have gotten to where I don't like a lot of shimmer in my face products.
6. NYC Smooth skin primer: I have only used this a few times, again another product I am determined to finish up.
7. Maybelline One by One Volume Express Mascara: I have been using this every single day! This will be something that I repurchase, Love it.
8. Wet n Wild Megaslicks gloss in Strawberry Ice: Removed this item and #9 from my items. These are just too drying on my lips, probably why I did not finish them a long time ago. 
9. Wet n Wild Megaslicks gloss in Rose Gold: See above
10. Avon Ultra Luxury eye liner in dark brown: My favorite brown eyeliner! I have used this pretty much everyday as well.

So what will I be using to replace the four items that I took out of my Project 10 Pan, and the one item that I used up?
1. Milani illuminating face powder
2. Twilight Woods body lotion
3. Avon Vita Moist hand cream
4. ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Pink Lemonade
5. ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Caramel Candy

Below are some pictures of the 'new' products in their current state. I have also merged together the pictures of the products from last month with the pictures I took today to show how much or little they have been used.

Current State: I use this everyday :)

This is a little less than half empty. Should be able to use it up pretty quick

Almost gone!

I should be able to finish this up this month.

Hopefully you are able to see how much of this I used  during the month.

Current Sate. Not sure how long it will take to use these up.

I made a little dent in this product

I will be updating again on April 10th :)