Ciate hoopla and Estée Lauder bare

Two quick photos of Ciate paint pot in Hoopla and Estee lauder pure color nail lacquer in Bare from the summer line!

Hoopla is on clearance at sephora online in the sugar caviar mani set. $12.50 http://m.sephora.com/sugar-caviar-manicure-P381042?skuId=1540327

Opaque in 1-2 coats! The formula on this Estée Lauder polish is really nice.

A look at Meet Your Match from Sephora

I wanted to share my excitement for this new mini set I scored at Sephora. It's the Meet Your Match collection of Sephora favorites. 

Three small lips products and three nail polishes for $25! I'm familiar with the nail brands but the lip products are new to me. So far I've tried 4 out of 6 products and I like them all. 

Deborah Lippmann in Girls just wanna have fun. 4-5 coats to completely cover the nail line. It's a gorgeous coral.

Formula X in Invincible is a pretty pale nude. 1-2 coats for complete coverage- I love it!

Bite Beauty's lush fruit lip gloss blends well with my natural lip color for a nice punch without looking purple. Surprisingly wearable on me! I've been smitten with it so I haven't tried the other two lip products yet.

Perhaps it's my April favorites all in one box!

Easter Egg Half Moon Nails

The first time I saw the Half Moon Nail trend I wasn't a fan but after seeing it with pretty pastels I'm a convert! This is my first go at it. If I had a true white I probably would have done these differently. Also you usually don't see this look with a trim but I flubbed it so the white trim covers up my mistakes. The white trim gives it that Easter Egg look.

How to:

1. Paint your nails the base color (top part). Make sure to paint the whole nail.
2. Wait for it to dry completely or use seche vite to speed it up.
3. Use Hole Reinforcements and place them on the top part of your nail where you want to keep the base color showing.
4. Paint the bottom portion of the nail any color (same or different ones to complete your look).
5. Remove the reinforcements carefully to reveal your half moon shape!
6. Add a middle trim with a thin brush or skip this if your application and sticker removal is clean.
7. Apply a top coat and let it dry!

Colors used:
Etude House BL501 Cloud Milk - pinky
Revlon Lilac Pastelle - ring finger
Revlon Cafe Pink - first finger
Revlon Electric - middle finger
Revlon Pale Cashmere - top moon
Rimmel French White - trim

Happy Easter!

FNO: Les Jeans de Chanel

The thing I was anticipating the most about FNO 2011 (Fashion's Night Out) was the release of Chanel's extremely limited new nail polishes. I've become a Chanel polish addict, and I heard these were only available for purchase on Sept 8 at Chanel Boutiques and select beauty counters. So I drove up to the only boutique in the area where I lucked out and got a sweet valet parking spot! I told the guy I just wanted to pop into Chanel real quick and he was very nice about it. :)

To celebrate FNO and the polishes, they brought in three nail techs from a local salon (Hollywood Nails on preston & royal) to offer complimentary manicures! It's my first time to use the base and top coat. (nothing fabulous btw) She did an okay job considering I told her I was in a rush.

It's kind of hard to take photos and dig in my purse with wet nails so my sister helped out while I waited for them to dry. Imagine me awkwardly waving my hands around at Chanel. Hopefully no one was watching me. The fun thing about FNO is you can waltz into any high end boutique, and they are less likely to be judging you.

Nail Swatches of Coco Blue and Blue Boy.

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.

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

Dior Pink Boa Swatch

Dior Pink Boa 349 or Rose Fanfreluche.
A jelly baby pink.

Revlons Free after coupon at CVS

A swipe here, a swipe there, and now I have two-toned nails. I think these two are fun together! I've warmed up to the thought of yellow nails. Possibly a dupe for Chanel Mimosa?

Tonight I picked up two Revlon Top Speed polishes at CVS because they are on sale (FREE) this week. Pictured are Electric and Hazy. Both swatch opaque on the first swipe. That's what I love about the Top Speeds!

I'll explain how the sale works.

Each polish is priced at $4.99.
You receive a store credit called an EXTRA BUCK for $4 on each polish you buy. If you buy two you get $8 and you can buy up to 6 total with your CVS card.
When combined with a $1 off coupon the polish is essentially free!

for example, your 1st transaction:
Polish $4.99
Coupon -1.00
-----
TOTAL $3.99 + tax
EARN $4.00 EB (extra bucks)

Now you have $4 EB to use that expires in one month. If you had previous ones you could've used that in your first transaction. It's called ROLLING. Now that you have a $4EB we'll roll it to the next polish

2nd transaction:
Polish $4.99
Coupon -1.00
EB -4.00 (from the first transaction)
-----
TOTAL -0.01
BUT you can't have a negative balance so either your cashier will ADJUST your EB to 3.99 and you'll walk out free OR you'll need a filler item like their .33 cent caramels.

2nd transaction alternative:
Polish $4.99
filler $0.33
Coupon -1.00
EB -4.00
-----
TOTAL 0.32 + tax
EARN $4.00 EB

You may repeat this process until you have reached the limit 6 polishes! Woo hoo!

So if you had no EB to start with you will have $4EB, 6 polishes, and you only spent $4 + tax!

You will have already needed to get several Revlon coupons before this sale to maximize your savings. If you don't have any coupons then $1/polish is still a good deal.

Where to find coupons? Try ebay or coupon cutting services. like [here]
This particular coupon came from the Smart Source 4/10 edition.

Now the best thing about this deal is the beauty club. (ask your cashier how to join) For every $50 you spend on cosmetics you will get $5 EB back. So after you bought all 6 polishes you can add $29.94 to your tally, and not the few cents you paid. woo hoo!

But wait there's more! If you go back once a day this week and scan your "green bag tag" you will earn $1EB after every 4th scan! $$$

I hope this helped and got you running out to CVS! I've posted swatches of a few Revlon polishes previously. Try clicking the Nails tag.

Glad to answer any questions!

Hidden Treasures in the Sky

Revlon Top Speed Cloud Polish with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasures on the first finger. Hidden Treasures really makes everything pretty, but especially with this blue. I love how subtle it is.

From looking at the bottle I didn't see the potential, but I'm glad my sister made me buy this one. It's quite opaque in one stroke too, and I love that!

Revlon Top Speed in Guava

Revlon Top Speed in Guava
This is a really pretty color! I applied 1-2 coats to my sister's nails. It became a little streaky on the fourth finger. I found the formula better on other shades. I don't know if it was me or this particular polish color. The pretty color makes up for it though. It's a strong pretty pink but not too bright. It does indeed dry fast and I like it!

These new Top Speeds are awesome! I think "meh" when it comes to the normal Revlon's but these I like! $3.99 at your drugstore.

A look at Lancome Sarong

I stopped by the Lancome counter recently and swatched their newest polish on my nails. Lancome Sarong. It was so bright I couldn't resist. This is only one coat! Also I did a sloppy job because I was in a rush feeling guilty swatching it on four nails. It's the perfect bright summer polish. I'm not into the whole orange and yellow trend going on now.

Sometimes I thought it looked red-orange, or hot pink red, but overall it is a vibrant red berry color. I'd say if you were disappointed in Dior's Aloha orangeness you'll love this red! It has nice pink and red micro shimmers in it from what I can see. While strangely I don't sport red polishes this is just lookin fabulous on my nails. I'd say it's worth it if you love this type of polish, but I just have so many right now I can't justify it since it's not my usual color choice.

Lancome Le Vernis in Sarong, $19
I must say this stock photo looks very similar to what it is in real-life. That's rare right?

My first Dior Polish & some freebies

I was browsing around Nordstrom.com, and I saw that the Dior Pink Boa (349) Polish was marked in stock, so of course I had to stop by tonight and see it in person. I think it released in January and every counter I asked never had it! It's a pretty Barbie shoe pink, and I like it so far. If not, I have no shame in returning or exchanging it. They had a couple samples of the Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche lotion and toilette sitting out so I picked those up too. Along with a Peace, Love & Juicy Couture sample spray. The chanel lotion smells better than the perfume once dried down.

Next I stopped by Sephora to get my sister's free birthday gift and across from that is Godiva. I had only planned to get my free chocolate of the month, but when I saw these Strawberry Truffles I just had to have them. They are so cute! The pink is milk and the red is dark. They did not have packs of dark. :( The girl was awesome too- she asked me to sample two pieces (the choco oreo and the cheesecake truffle). If you sign up for their rewards program you get a free piece each month!! No catch! Plus if you spend $10 that month you get an additional 2 pre-selected pieces. It's usually something simple like the heart and clam one I think. She was awesome because most of the time they try to get me to buy stuff, not offer it for free. :)

Remember this classic hard Strawberry candy? It looks like the Godiva inspiration.

At Sephora all the employees have to wear this Hello Kitty bow apparently. It's kinda cute actually. It looks to be made of vinyl. I kind of want to make one... I'm curious if the guys have to wear this too.

It reminded me of these flashing bow headbands everyone was wearing at the Tet Festival in California. We found this one on the ground



Items mentioned in this post:

Fragrances by Juicy Couture

February Favorites

My favorites for February!

1. Mac Marquised' Lipstick $15.50

Pretty and natural. It's on the sheer side but it has enough pigment to coat the lips with a nice natural pink color. It's sold out at most counters. I did see some last weekend in Dallas.

2. Mac Mighty Aphrodite Blush $25.50

	Pretty and pigmented. It's now sold out in most places.

3. Zoya remove+ polish remover 8oz for $9.99

Well worth the price! It's the best ever. I can't believe how awesome a nail polish remover could be. It smells nice, removes everything without need to scrub, and it leaves my nails feeling nice afterwards.

4. Chanel Black Pearl Polish $25

This is so pretty! I couldn't stop staring at my nails with this on. It would be a great first high-end polish to try.

5. Buxom Mascara

This is some awesome mascara! It glides on silky and does everything a mascara should. Volumize, Curl, and Define! Thank you JBreezy for this!



Have you tried any of these?

October Favorites

October Favorites! These were well received last time so I'm at it again!

1. Dior Quint in Ready to Glow - I've been wanting to splurge on some top notch eyeshadows for some time now, and why not continue my addiction to Dior? I LOVE every single one of these colors! If I was going to spend a lot on this quint I wanted to make sure I loved every single dang color, no exceptions. The texture is smooth and heavenly but not sparkle crazy like other quints I've seen. This retails at $58, but if you divide it by 5 it's $11.60 per color which ain't so bad.. okay it's bad BUT I bought this on ebay for $40. So that's about $8 per shadow which is more reasonable.

2. Batiste Dry Shampoo - I've tried many low end and high end dry shampoos but I'm always itching to get back to this one. I stopped using it for a couple months while testing any other one I could find just to experiment. When I finally used this again this month it was like night and day regarding the difference in effectiveness. Zaps grease, no residue left once massage in, smell manageable, low price. That's all I really need. $7.99 at Ulta.

3. Givenchy Play for Her - I got this deluxe mini size from Sephora with code "herplay" and I'm so glad I did because this fragrance is LOVE! The only downside is that it's not very long lasting. If you like the pretty and sweet florals then give this a whiff! It has Bergamot, Sweet Pea, Amyris Wood, Tiare Flower, Sandalwood, Musk. I dry down was a pleasant musk which surprised me b/c I usually do not like Musk but it really works in this case.

4. Milani Polish in Bare To Wear - The perfect muted purple light gray color. Good quality creme polish! Limited Edition but you can buy it directly Milani.

5. Mac lipstick in Innocence Beware - The perfect pretty light pinky nude color. I grabbed for this the most in October. Since it's a cremesheen there's a slight shine which is nice. It's limited edition, but Hue may be a good color dupe from what I've heard.

6. Neutrogena lipstick in Just Whisper - see my review here.

7. Isqueen Crystal White Series Pore Refiner - I like how it's pink.. haha, AND that nothing bad has happened from using it so far! It gets the grime that my cleanser may have missed. Not so sure about the "pore refining" bit but it leaves my skin refreshed. Def worth checking out.

8. Milani Liquif'eye pencil liner - no smuding on my eye so far! It's deep black and inexpensive, and goes on smooth. Possibly replacing my mufe liner. It's only $5.99!

9. OMI Ume Softcream lipbalm - waaay better than any EOS lipbalm. It smells like peach and ume (plum) but more so peach. It's not better than Espie but I really enjoyed using this all month! It's now sold out on sasa.com but there are similar ones on ebay if you search OMI lip.

Lilac Nails: Essie or Chanel?

Essie Neo Whimsical or Chanel Lilac Sky?

Which do you prefer? I bought the Neo Whimsical from amazon but then when I was at Neimans I swatched Lilac Sky. Now I'm not sure which one I like better!

September Favorites

My favorites for September. First time doing this!

Chanel Jade Rose Polish - My first polish spurlge! It's a beautiful light peach-pink nude cream color. It's the first polish that I wanted to keep wearing and stare at in a long time. There's gotta be a reason why this was released a second time! It originally came out with that Jade green polish that overshadowed this one. This year it came out with Paradoxal which also stole the spotlight. I even love this polish so much I need to get a backup. You can probably still find this at your local Macy's or Dillard's. And if you want to try a dupe...

Milani Bare in Mind Polish - This is close but not a dupe for Jade Rose. It's more pink toned and has slightly more shimmer. It's not exactly a favorite but it's still pretty!

Long handled mirror - I originally got a small mirror like this from Maggie's giveaway, and since I liked it so much I searched for a bigger one! It probably sounds stupid but the "design" of long-handled mirrors seems much more practical and easier to use than clam shell ones. Having a grip is nice and the mirror's not in the way.

Mac Notoriety Quad -Seeing that I liked Skintone 2 and Notoriety from the Felines collection I did some research and found that they are repromotes from this quad! I tracked it down on ebay for about $25ish including shipping which is similar to a CCO price I think. Yay for me! I really like the neutral colors in this.

Dior Addict Ultra Gloss in Negligee Pink 256 - It gives a beautiful pink glow to my lips. It's instant LOVE with this pricey gloss. It's opaque enough to wear alone even on my pigmented lips! <3<3

Dior diorshow Extase - I've been having fun playing with the sample. It works pretty well on my lashes. I'm not too picky. Thanks Cat! <3

Nars Orgasm Blush - I got this in a blogsale from Amy and I love it! Really lives up to the hype!

Rock and Republic shader brush - The cut on this brush is nice so that it picks up shadows really well. I like how thin it is too. I was not looking for a fluffy one. This brush is perfect! It's not worth the retail price though.

That's it for September. Thinking of doing a September Returns/Misses.

China Glaze 3 for $8, deal steals, mini giveaway

Why yes, I did managed to get 3 China Glaze polishes for $8 plus tax! How?
ULTA has these on sale for Buy 2 get 1 Free. So that's $6.50 each x 2 + 1 Free = $13.
PLUS I had a coupon for $5 off $10 so that brought my total down to $8! Woo hoo!

I think the sale is still going on? You can find the coupon in Elle or Allure magazine. Probably even other mags have the coupon. I have another one and I may go back and get Seche Vite + bastiste. They are 4.99 and 5.99 this week! So after coupon I would pay $6 for both!

I must say that now I know there is a difference between drugstore and non-drugstore polish. I don't fuss over my nails at all so I can't justify buying any polish at full price. But getting them at 65% off and cheaper than maybellienes or loreals is awesome! Plus Light As Air is so creamy and nice and the other two metallics make for great stamping polishes.

These were Buy one Get one Free at CVS a couple weeks ago for these NYC lip shines.

I used a $5 off $10 coupon from All you magazine.. so I paid next to nothing...  I can't even remember but it was a STEAL!

How about I give these balms away?! I will be having my one year blog anniversary in a couple of weeks so why not start early! I hope you don't think it's weird for me to give you stuff I got for nearly free...

*giveaway cancelled* these will be in my future giveaway

pretty lace with konad stamping, notd

I got brainwashed again and felt the need to try the ever so popular Konad nail stamping craze. Wowsocool.com's 30% off sale was ending so I took advantage of it and ordered a few plates (a month ago?). I'm not very good at it but I managed to get one nail to look right. Visit this link to see how it's done. I just wanted to dabble in it a little. I'm not much of a nail person. I've only had two manicures in my life...

This design is from the lace and cloud plate. I originally wanted to try the fishnet plate but it was sold out. I'm glad too because I ended up picking out this plate and I love it! See below for the stock photo. Seriously, skip the popular fishnets plate and go for this one. (m79)

I messed up the middle nails so that's why the pic is blurry. :P And my cuticles always look like crap.
The base coat is OPI Second Honeymoon. A pretty pale pink.
I received this in a swap, and it's my first OPI or non drugstore polish. Thanks K! It's slightly streaky but less streaky with a base coat.

This full nail plate (m79) is so cute with the lace and clouds. Click on the image to shop for it.

I also used Rimmel Pro Polish in 110 French White. It's a nice white and thick enough for stamping. You need something thick enough otherwise it won't transfer to your nail. This was only $3.99 at Walgreens. (don't forget your $1 coupon)

This post by Heather of Eyeconic Makeup totally made me laugh. Check out her before and after polish collection.