Tuesday, July 26, 2011

DIY Nail Polish shelf display

Over the weekend I decided to make this foam board nail polish stand using a tutorial I found on Youtube.

You can fit 9 bottles per row. I ended up making a smaller shelf than in the video for space reasons. Mine has 6 shelves.

It doesn't hold everything and takes up more space due to the tiers but it does look cleaner! Though it is a little rough looking in person from using a dull knife, you can't tell once the polishes are on it.

Before: here are my stacks of polishes.

After: it's nice and tidy! I also shoved things underneath it like the Konad stamps. It's not a space saver & I can live with that. Since the black boxes of Revlon couldn't even make it to the shelf. Perhaps I need another...


If this video is a little raw it's because I edited and uploaded it with iPhone 4 only.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

June Favorites

First, I've updated my blog sale with Chanel and R&R!

Here are my June Favorites!


1. Lancome Color Fever gloss in Paradise Peach - moisturizing and goes on smooth. It gives my lips a pretty pink-peach glow. I thought the Lancome glosses would be sticky like the juicy tubes but these are very nice and not sticky at it. It's thick but it settles nicely. It's also pigmented enough to use without lipstick! It's limited edition, so I bought a backup! :)

2. fresh Citron de Vigne edp - it's a "fresh" citrus scent that's light and crisp but still complex.

3. OPI Nail Polish in Steady As She Rose - This creamy pale pink-purple polish is from the Pirates of the Caribbean OPI collection. At first glance I thought I wasn't going to like how light it is, but on my nails it looks very pretty! It's a tad streaky at first but workable.

4. Revlon Nail Treatment - This is a ridge filler, and I like how it provided a nice and smooth base to my nails. It dries quickly, and I can apply two to three coats to prime my nails for polishes that usually require more coats.

5. MAC 219 Pencil Brush - An essential makeup brush, no other pencil brush compares! Thanks Megan! <3


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Le Metier de Beaute Nail Laquer Set review

For a long time I've seen this brand, Le Metier de Beaute, on beauty blogs but I never purchased anything from them. Mainly because they are located in Neiman Marcus and their stuff is expensive! Thanks to the Nordstrom Anniversary sale going on NOW I can finally get my stubby fingers on them! All Nordstroms should have this in their nail polish section even if there is no counter. Check near the Butter Londons and Deborah Lippmans!

Nail polishes are like a beauty gateway drug. They are usually the most inexpensive product in the brand line and it's easy to develop an addiction from there.

Le Métier de Beauté 'Rock 'n' Romance' Mini Nail Lacquer Set (0.14 oz each) $25
The set includes:
  • Heat of the Night
  • True Romance
  • Chrome Passion
  • Midnight Rendezvous
Full size polishes are usually $15 at (0.25oz) and LE colors are $10 at (0.14oz). So the value here is $40!

Heat of the Night: a passionate black cherry, a beautiful vampy color. Drusilla from Buffy comes to mind. It's very pigmented in just one swipe!

True Romance: a delicate pale rose with a subtle metallic nude finish. This is what I wish Chanel Quartz was. The polish was streaky for me though.

Chrome Passion: a charcoal with holographic shimmer. So stunning and mesmerizing! I think holographics are my new best friend!

Midnight Rendezvous: a shimmering, steely midnight blue with blue and green shimmers. It's dark, mysterious, and spacey. I love it!

The last three are my favorites! If you're a polish fanatic you must check these out at your local Nordstrom! Even though the bottles are tiny, it's still a great value! Tiny things are cute!

The red and blue together remind me of the Moulin Rouge movie poster. I spent a lot of time obsessing over anything Moulin Rouge when it came out. It never leaves my mind. <3

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Body Shop Event recap + giveaway

Back in May, Elissa of Dress with Courage put together an event at The Body Shop at North Park Mall in Dallas. It was the first blogger event for any The Body Shop so I was very honored to be a part of it!

 Chick-fil-a was there to welcome us with coffee, yogurt parfaits, and mini chicken muffins!

The Body Shop district manger and store manager talked with us about the philosophy of The Body Shop and some interesting facts I did not know. Something new I learned was that they support fair trade. If say one of the villages they buy ingredients from cannot produce the product then they will simply wait and that product will be out of stock until they are able to buy it via fair trade.

One of my favorite things was the Peppermint Foot Scrub! They set up a couple of chairs where we could take mini foot baths using their 3 step foot care from the Peppermint line. My feet were so soft after the treatment it made me feel like a slob! A slob because I keep my feet in horrible condition all of the time.

There was also a makeup station where we could play around and the makeup artist was there to give makeovers (shown here on Katie). One of my favorites was the eye shadow in Chocolate. Usually I do not think of makeup when The Body Shop comes to mind, but they do have a nice selection of products!

At the last station the district manager applied their scrubs and body butters to our hands over their mobile sink.

This pampering also reminded me of how poorly I treat my skin haha.

It was great to see the blogger girls again! Thanks to The Body Shop for having us!

Before we left they handed out goodie bags filled with samples and coupons for us to try. How sweet!

Wish you could have been there? Well I have a special goodie bag for one of my readers! I adding to it a full sized eye shadow that I purchased. :)
All you have to do is comment below what product you would like to try or what your favorite product is.

Remember, you must be a public follower of this blog via google friend connect. :) Please leave your email in the space marked e-mail. Not the actual post. The giveaway will end on July 19, and I will contact the winner!


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

John Frieda Salon Tour recap

Early in June I was lucky enough to attend the John Frieda Salon Tour in Dallas, TX at the Shops at Park Lane. From what I gathered, this is a yearly summer long event, and a first for Dallas. Last year they visited Houston.

A red carpet leading up to the fun inside. Everyone who comes will receive a complimentary 15-minute consultation and hair transformation. Since there was no one there early in the morning my consultation lasted a big longer!

The tools used. The set up was like a real salon and even nicer than some cheap ones I've been to. This is mobile so props to them. I was impressed at how nice it looked inside!

Okay I forgot my stylists name already, but she was awesome! She's from LA so if you're there you should get her to do your hair. It would help if I could remember her name! She asked me about the problem areas of my hair. I told her my number one problem would be volume and then dry ends.

She's working her magic, and it's so voluminous wow! I need her skills! It's impressive that we only used "drugstore" products of course. Go John Frieda!

After adding volume she then decided to curl my hair. I told her my curls never last and was up to the challenge. Sorry to report that they did not last... Anyhow, here on her iPad she is showing me what products she used.

The lovely blogger ladies who were also there. Tina, Julie, Elissa, and me. Props to Tina for the photos of me!!

John Frieda's new line of products. Loving it! She used the Protecting Root Lift Foam, the Perfect Ends Deep Infusion for my dry ends, and the Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer. *giveaway coming up*


They also used the new Anytime Volume Refresher on me! It's their dry shampoo! It's pretty awesome except a week later it stopped spraying the powder and only mist. Either it runs out fast or the design of the can is not good. I did really like the formula of it while it was working properly. I'll do a full review on this later.


Me outside feeling all happy about my new hair! :)

Elissa playing paparazzi with Tina.

Afterwards we stopped by Gordon Biersch for a delicious lunch!

I definitely like John Frieda a lot more after this event. While I used to see them as just another drugstore brand, I now feel like they are near-salon quality at drugstore prices. I'm interested to use more than just their shampoo. It's easy to forget they are a huge salon in NY and LA. They don't have a fancy salon here. They should!

The info for the last two tour locations! If you live nearby them and you're a blogger, shoot me an email asap! :)

MINNEAPOLIS, MN
MALL OF AMERICA
Friday, July 15, 2011
12:00PM - 8:00PM
Saturday, July 16, 2011
11:00AM - 7:00PM

ATLANTA, GA
PERIMETER MALL
Friday, July 22, 2011
12:00PM - 8:00PM
Saturday, July 23, 2011
12:00PM - 8:00PM

I hope that John Frieda comes back to Dallas next year. I heard the turnout was not huge but that would be due to the location. The shops at Park Lane does not get heavy traffic and the location of the truck was not visible to shoppers driving by. They would be better to park where there is more walking traffic or to do it inside North Park Mall. That's my recommendation for you PR people who set this up!