Highlighters

Recently I've been obsessed with highlighting my skin. I love the gorgeous glow that only a good highlighter can give me. I want to talk about my favorite ones!

The first thing I want to talk about is the Too Faced "the Bronzed the Beautiful" palette. This is gorgeous. It has three different shades of bronzer for different times of the year and a full sized flat buki brush. I especially like Snow Bunny because it is as gorgeous shimmer on my skin. Too Faced is my favorite brand for cheek products. They make beautiful colors that really work well and the packaging is always to die for.

This is my favorite highlight without question. I use this every day. It is the first product I have hit pan on. When you swirl a big powder brush around this and swipe it on your face it just gives you the most gorgeous sheen. I have never had more compliments on my skin than when I started using this!

Don't be fooled by the color of this product. While it looks very pink in the pan it is very sheer and luminous on the skin. I picked this up during a sale at my local beauty boutique for only $8! I love to use this right above my blush to give it an extra oomph.

Note to readers. This post was composed entirely on my new iPad that I received for Christmas. I have learned a couple things. The camera on the iPad is awful. The quality of the pictures is really not good. I will continue using my phone for all future photos. Also, the format blogger takes on iPad is not ideal. I think I will stick to my computer for all future posts. Does anyone else blog using an iPad?

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Christmas Nails 4

This was a really easy look to do. I just painted my nails green (and the ring fingers red) and then put the Christmas glitter top coat on top.

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Christmas nail series 3

This look was a little more difficult to do. First I painted my nails green. Then I slowly painted the lines of the silver holographic glitter on my nails to make it look like a garland. Then I used the red and the gold. I dotted them onto my nails to look like ornaments. Overall this was the nail look that I got the most compliments on. I actually have people at the place where I work who always ask to see my nails because I do stuff like this.

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Christmas Nails 2

Sorry I've been slacking on posts lately! I grossly underestimated the amount of stress the end of the semester and holiday season would bring. Therefore, I will post all of my holiday nail series tonight!

So this is a really easy look I did. As long as your hand is steady, it is very easy to pull off. I also like this look for when my nails start to chip and I don't feel like redoing them right away. It ends up looking very classy.

All I did was apply the bottom color and then the top color to the corner of each nail. Voila! My fingers looked like little Christmas bulbs!\

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Anna Sui Dolly Girl Lip Stick

First of all, is this not the cutest packaging of all time??? Yes, I know I sound like one of THOSE bloggers who buys things only for the packaging. Truth be told I bought this because it was discounted to $5 at my local Urban Outfitters. But I won't lie and say that the packaging didn't entice me. I've even saved the adorable box it was sold in. It reminds me of the Matrioshka dolls (sp?) from Russia that you open up to find a smaller doll inside of, I'm pretty sure that was the theme of this lipstick.

Now I bought this without looking at the color. I know that it wasn't the best idea but like I said, it was cute and cheap and I had never tried Anna Sui before. When I opened it up I was pretty shocked at the fuchsia color of the lipstick but that didn't stop me. I was also absolutely in love with the imprint of the doll face on the actual lipstick (click picture to enlarge). Luckily, it ended up being an amazingly gorgeous sheer color (pictured above).

Another perk to this lipstick is the scent. It smells just like Rosebud Salve! It feels pretty moisturizing too! I love it! It's perfect for a subtle wash of color any day, and it smells great. And it's adorable.

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Christmas Nails! 1

OPI, A Oui Bit of Red

China Glaze #884 Party Hearty

Hi folks, sorry it's been SO long since I've posted. I now understand why most of the famous beauty bloggers are out of college, it's hard to keep up with everything! Luckily I've been taking pictures and intending to post. Thus I have a Christmas nail series. I vowed to have Christmas nails throughout the month of December so I already have a few looks and a couple more planned. They range from simple to outlandish so I hope you enjoy!

This first one is pretty simple. I couldn't wait to use Party Hearty when I bought it back in November so this was the first look I did on my nails for December. One coat of a Oui Bit of Red and two of Pearty Hearty did the trick and I got lots of compliments. It's a very easy and festive look!

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Giveaway

Hey everybody! When I reach 50 subscribers (I have 3 so far so I'm not sure this is going to happen all too quickly) I will host a giveaway!

A giveaway??? What would I be giving away?

The Muppets OPI Nail Laquer in Rainbow Connection! My absolute favorite nail polish right now!

I will be purchasing a BRAND NEW bottle of this and I will carefully bubble wrap and send it to you myself, providing I get 50 real life subscribers. Even if you already have this, you can always give it away to a friend! It's the perfect glitter!

Please leave any questions and comments and SUBSCRIBE so that you can win this awesome nail polish!

MAC lipstick in Ramblin' Rose

This is without a doubt my HG lipstick. It looks great with my skintone, the perfect "my lips but better" color! I asked a girl at my MAC store to give me the best lipstick for a neutral look and she really delivered! Not only does this color look good on me, it smells amazing too!

Since I purchased this, it has become my every day lip color. I think it goes with everything! Obviously if you want to do a more dramatic lip you probably would want to use a different lip color. To pump this up all you need is some gloss and you are good to go!

I would suggest everybody go to a MAC counter and find that one color that looks amazing on them! A MAC lipstick is an amazing thing to have!

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I was featured!

Check out this post on Jenn Staz: click here where I was featured as a beauty blogger of the week! I hope you all enjoy!

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Review of Sigma Small Tapered Blending Brush (E45)

I finally bought myself a Sigma brush! I have spent a long time watching Tiffany D rave about these things on her YouTube channel and I thought it was about time I tried it out. And you know what? It's love.

First of all, look at the point on it! It's so small and perfectly tapered at the top that it is absolutely everything I always wanted in a blending brush. It's made out of natural fibers and every brush is hand made! (Isn't that so cool?) Just look at the side by side comparison between my Eco Tools blending brush that I have and this Sigma brush! The Sigma brush is so much more tapered that it makes the Eco Tools brush (that I used every day before purchasing the Sigma brush) look like it isn't tapered at all! The Eco Tools brush isn't really that bad but I just wasn't getting the precision I was looking for, well it looks like I will look no further!

The brush is very soft and it looks great too. I will definitely now be starting a collection of Sigma brushes. They look to be the same quality as MAC, better than Eco Tools, and really cheap! Sigma, you have a convert!

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Birchbox November!

Zoya in Noel

 I was definitely the most excited about this when I first opened up my box. When I first signed up for Birchbox I desperately wanted to get a Zoya nail polish and now I have one! It's about half size and it is part of their Christmas collection! I absolutely love the color and consistency. Please excuse the crappy picture as I had had the polish on for a good amount of days and it was beginning to chip (I'm completely paranoid about chipping). I will definitely be buying some Zoya nail polish after trying out this!

Choco Pod in Firecracker

 I have to be honest, I will not be trying this candy. I HATE spicy stuff and this chocolate contains chipotle, gross! I will give this to my mother or sister.

Baublebar Black Wood Pop Bracelet

 I was thrilled to get this in my birchbox! Look at how cute it is!!! I was eying Baublebar bracelets but they are a little pricey so I was very excited to get this $20 bracelet in my birchbox! I love it!

Oscar Blandi Jasmine Protein Mist

 THIS SMELLS AMAZING! I put it in my hair before I blew dry it and it was amazing. It made me feel great all day having the scent in my hair and it made my hair really shiny and nice. It says that it is good to refresh you hair too when you haven't washed it but I haven't tried that yet. I might buy this!

Klorane Soothing Eye Makeup Remover

 This stuff is great. It will probably be the first full size thing that I purchase from birchbox. It works really well and it's not that expensive which is a definite plus! It also smells just like high end mascara, you know that soft flowery smell? It's great, and it's only $9! (Sorry couldn't resist showing off my nails there! Rainbow connection over a purple Urban Outfitters polish)

LaROCCA Champagne and Shimmer Body Polish

This smells amazing too! I actually want to eat it instead of use it on my skin because it smells just like a Grapefruit. I probably won't purchase this because it costs $35 dollars and I really feel like you can get comparable scrubs to this for less money. I will enjoy sniffing it though!

All in all I think I have my first really enjoyable birchbox. I truly enjoyed everything in it (except the candy). I'm really happy I got the Zoya nail polish most of all! I would probably say that this is the best birchbox that I have received so far!

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MAC in All that Glitters

I am in love with this shade. I purchased it after listening to Elle Fowler rave about it on her YouTube channel. As you can see from the swatch, the color is very very close to the shade of my skin. It is a perfect everyday eyeshadow. I usually wear it on my lid with a darker shade in the crease and a highlight and I'm good to go!

Youtube is a great place to go for product reviews. Before I buy a product, I always check to see what the YouTube gurus are saying about it. It's also good because I live in a place that doesn't have much in the way of beauty stores. Yes, I have a small MAC near me, a really fancy boutique/spa that sells a select assortment of high end stuff. and a tiny Macy's that has only 3 major make-up brands, but a lot of the things that I want to try I can't find anywhere here to play with before I decide. That's why it's great to read reviews and watch videos on products before you buy them. That way you can save yourself from buying a real dud or find something that you didn't know about but is an HG product.

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OPI Nail Lacquer in Rainbow Connection

Let me just say that I am in love with this nail polish. It literally has every color from the rainbow in beautiful chunky glitter. How cool is that? It looks good over everything, especially really bright colors. When I first saw it I knew it was the nail polish for me. It looks like a party. I love it over blue and it looks almost Christmas-y over red. This is probably the best glitter nail polish I have ever owned!

For anyone interested, it just came out in the Muppets OPI nail polish collection. Get it while it's still available!

Clinique Redness Solutions Foundation in 01

So first off, if you have really fair skin, don't purchase foundations from Clinique. I can't even begin to explain how frustrating it is for me (with my alabaster skin) to buy these foundations from Clinique in the store where they look great even on the jawbone and then go home and see I look orange. This is in the lightest shade that Clinique has to offer but it still isn't light enough. When they color matched me in the store, they tried to convince me to buy 02 but luckily I was smarter than that.

I do like the product even though it makes me look like Lindsay Lohan. It covers up my excessive redness like no other. I think this will be perfect for summer when I'm just a little darker and when I have awful sunburns. It's also very water resistant. If this was in my shade it would be my HG foundation. It does not move off your face. One way I get around the color problem is to just put the foundation on my red patches and use my MAC foundation on the rest of my face. Another way I do it is to mix my MAC foundation with the Clinique foundation. This works too.

If you're fair, I would avoid this product. You can get others from other brands that I'm sure work just as well. If you can accurately match to one of the colors and you have redness problems I would definitely invest in this as it works really well. Clinique gets 1/2 out of 1 points for this just for sheer lack of color selection.

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L'Oreal HIP Shadow Duo in Wicked

When first discovering Sephora and all the high end brands of make-up there are, I started thinking that drug store make-up was inferior. We all know this is sometimes true but it is also sometimes better than high end brands. Certain things like Covergirl LashBlast tend to trump high end brands, but it only tends to be a couple of products from a company that compete. I'm happy to say, though, that L'Oreal is as close to high end as drug store brands come.

This duo is simply amazing. It's easy for a quick look. The colors look great together, one shimmer one matte. The pigmentation is amazing. I think the eyeshadow is better than anything sold at Clinique or Lancome, and it's way less money. With this you can go dark and dramatic or just pop the purple into the corners of your lids for a little oomph with the gold. It's perfect for a day when you don't have enough time to do anything too labor intensive.

L'Oreal is really stepping up to the plate! I'll have to try their pigments next. Please leave questions and comments and subscribe!

Clinique GWP

07 Super Strawberry

From Left to Right: Chocolate Chip, Stone Violet, Single Shade From Pink Chocolate Quad, and Single Shade From Blushing Nude Trio

From Left to Right: Chocolate Chip, Stone Violet, Single Shade From Pink Chocolate Quad, and Single Shade from Blushing Nude Trio.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can't resist a gift with purchase. They also know that Clinique isn't my favorite brand of beauty products. Clinique and I definitely have a love-hate relationship. I hate their eyeshadows but I love their all over face color. I hate their foundation (because the lightest shade makes me look like I have a bad spray tan) but I love their lip products. So you can see how difficult it was for me to decide whether or not to purchase something in order to get this. I eventually did and I'm of mixed minds about it.

So first of all, the bags. Clinique doesn't skimp on these. Clinique always gives gorgeous, well made bags with their GWPs (unlike other brands, *cough* Lancome). I've been using the bigger bag ever since I got it as a travel make-up bag and I love it (I sleep at my dad's house once a week). The bag is something that they would charge you $25 for at a fancy boutique so I really think it's worth it. They even give you a mini bag that could be used as a coin purse or even a cell-phone holder. I have bags from Clinique GWPs past and I love them all. 1 point to Clinique.

Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. Not my HG moisturizer but I do like it. The only problem is that Clinique gives it away with everything. If you walk near a Clinique counter, odds are that you'll end up with a sample size of this moisturizer. You won't see me complaining though, I love the stuff. I only wish they would give away something else for a change. 1/2 point to Clinique.

7 Day Scrub. I enjoy this scrub but if I used it every day, I'd have no skin left. It's pretty abrasive but is great if you exfoliate once or twice a week. This is another thing that Clinique includes in every GWP. I think I have enough to equal a full size of this and I will never need to buy it. Again, I wish they would give away something else. 1/2 point to Clinique.

The Mascara. I can't wear the standard Clinique GWP mascara. It makes my eyes hurt. It does this for my sister too and actually gave her a sty. I don't know what it is about the Clinique mascara that is so awful for us but I just can't use it. 0 points to Clinique.

The eyeshadow quad. I don't like Clinique eyeshadows. I think they aren't pigmented enough and sometimes you can't even see the matte eyeshadows. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this quad. Although it is by no means the quality I would expect of Urban Decay or MAC (and others) it isn't half bad. It gives a cute natural daytime look. I would never ever purchase it, but as a bonus in a GWP it's pretty good. Also, the applicator is useless. I thought to myself, "Oh wow they put a brush on this!" but it's the worst brush ever. Just throw it out. 1 point to Clinique.

Finally the Chubby Stick. I don't know why but I thought the Chubby Stick would be full sized. Unfortunately it's not. However you do get a good amount of product and I love it. I have another Chubby Stick in Mega Melon and I am in love with it. The fact that I could get another Chubby Stick in this GWP was one of the main factors in my decision to get the GWP in the first place. The color is great, it smells great, and it has the perfect effect on my lips. I will definitely be purchasing more Chubby Sticks in the future. 1 point to Clinique.

So all in all this GWP got 4/6 points in my opinion. It was almost worth it just to get the bags. Will I get the next GWP? Probably, unless it just has things I already have in it or hate. I'll just buy more Chubby Sticks!

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Halloween Nails 2

I used orange nail polish on the bottom and applied black nail polish to look like a jack-o-lantern face. Unfortunately my hand isn't quite as steady it needs to be so they aren't as neat as I would like. Hope you enjoy!

Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss

I'm pretty sure that it is impossible not to love this balm. It feels great on the lips and it smells amazing. It's so good I want one in every flavor! The best thing about this balm is that it's really cheap! I'd rather buy this than chapstick any day! It even gives a bit of tint to the lips! I'll be picking up all the other flavors soon!

Halloween themed nails!

So this nail look takes a very long time to dry if you do it the way I did it. You could layer the red, but it would take a very steady hand to do so.

On the bottom I used a dark blue. I used a bright red for the blood appearance. What I did was let the red drip down my finger nails and then I painted the tips red as if I were doing french tips. Because I let the nail polish drip, it took FOREVER for the red to dry. I have since added a couple coats of clear nail polish which makes it look better. I love the way it looks like blood is dripping down my nails! Perfect for Halloween!

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Blog re-vamping.

As anyone who has visited my site before can see, I have recently re-vamped it. Opinions? Comments? Please give me feedback! Thanks!

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L'Oreal Color Riche Le Gloss in #152, Nude Touch

Congratulations L'Oreal, you have made a gloss that I would expect to find hob-nobbling with Clinique and Estee Lauder in a department store. This gloss looks and smells exactly like an Estee Lauder High Gloss that I had a very long time ago. Link: Estee Lauder High Gloss (the resemblance is uncanny!). The cost of the Estee Lauder gloss? $16.00. The cost of L'Oreal's dupe? $7.95! I think I know where my money will be going!

On to the actual gloss. I prefer my glosses to give me a natural color. Nude Touch is the perfect natural color for my lips. This gloss is VERY long lasting and it smells and tastes amazing (like other high end glosses it has a vanilla cupcake-y scent). I almost couldn't think of anything bad to say about it, it lasts a long time, it's not sticky, it comes in a huge variety of colors, it smells amazing, and on and on... But there is one thing. The gloss is a little chunky when it comes out of the tube. I don't know if that's the best way to describe it but as long as you really go back and forth with it it's not a big problem. It's definitely not worth paying the $16.00 for the Estee Lauder gloss when you can have a gloss that I think is just as good (minus the one defect that could honestly just be in my tube). Basically, I'm in love with this product and I will definitely be buying it in more shades.

Please share your thoughts on this gloss as well as any questions! Thank you!

Urban Decay in Uzi

This is a beautiful silver shadow with a ton of glitter. Unfortunately like with other Urban Decay shadows the glitter just gets everywhere. You practically need glue to make sure you don't get glitter all over your face. This could be used with a darker color for a really shimmery pretty look.

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