4 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi

First time making a 'Jelly Sandwich' - Manicure Re-Up

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I have always been curious about these types of manicures but this was my first time actually trying it out and I have to say I am liking the results! 

As most of you have hopefully read, the other day I painted my nails with Essie 'Sugar Daddy' nail polish - one of my favorite colors for clean looking nails, design bases and french manicures. Well it's been 3 days and my nails were starting to grow out a bit, overall my polish was fine - no chips, etc. so I really did not want to whip out the polish remover and start from scratch especially since my hands and cuticles get quite dry. (I think I may have found something amazing for them though - I am using it in these photos. I'll blog about it soon!)


I decided to Re-Up my manicure. 






Basically every so often my nails will start to grow out yet my polish is still pretty perfect, still glossy and the like so to extend the wear of my polish a lot of times I will just add to it. Be it another coat of polish or a glitter topcoat, etc. 


This time I was totally inspired by one of the ladies that I follow on Instagram - she also has a blog that I will link HERE - her name is Kimberly and if you're a nail polish lover this is for you. Anyway she actually has her own line of polishes and one picture in particular really caught my eye. She had done something called a "Jelly Sandwich" and listed what she had used. Originally I thought you could only get this look with "jelly polishes" but apparently there are other ways. 


For her manicure she used a layer of her glitter polish and then two coats of Essie "Sugar Daddy" (I'm tellin' you this color is versatile!) - I already had "Sugar Daddy" as well as a glitter polish I thought would work so I was in business!





 (Now I actually didn't bother to take off the polish I already had on since it was the same color I was going to be layering. It is a bit thicker than my normal manicure due to all of the layers but I don't mind. If you are going to try this yourself you can probably skip a base color depending on what glitter polish you are going to use. If I try this again I may just do one coat of 'Sugar Daddy' - glitter polish - then 2-3 coats of 'Sugar Daddy'. (I know it sounds like a lot but thin coats people!))





The glitter polish I used was one I had purchased from Rite Aid a few months ago for $4.99 (which I still hadn't used). It has a creamy base to it but with one coat it doesn't really show up. (I had swatched this before and didn't like the way it looked with more than one layer - it gets kind of dark and muddy looking - so it was PERFECT for a project like this that only required one coat.)


I don't think they would still have these particular polishes because I believe they were a special holiday release(or so I gather since it says Holiday Lights right on the bottle and if you remember my Instagram picture of the display there was a big Rudolph face on it lol.) but there are a lot of other polishes that would work just the same - Try Revlon! They have a bunch of creamy glitters out right now. There's always Deborah Lippmann of course as well.






So I applied one coat of the creamy glitter polish...






Then added a total of 3 coats of Essie 'Sugar Daddy' on top. 

I started out with 2 but the glitter was still pretty vibrant underneath and I wanted a milkier, softer look. 






Lastly I followed up with my favorite fast dry top coat, Seche Vite (pictured below) and I was done!






I am really enjoying the results and it's also a great way to utilize some of my glitter polishes that I'm not crazy about, on their own or as a top coat. Gives me some options! 

I love how layering the sheer color on top really tones down the harshness of the glitter polish. It makes this one look a lot more feminine and a lot less kiddish. (I feel like on it's own this looks like crazy birthday confetti going nuts on my nails lol. I know a lot of expensive brands have polishes that are similar - I guess I am not a fan but like this its doable.)


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So I hope you all enjoyed this post! I was pretty excited and pleased with my results so I couldn't wait to share! Have a wonderful Monday and I will see you back here tomorrow!

Thank you all for reading and a big THANK YOU to everyone who has started following. 

-Holly





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3 Şubat 2013 Pazar

Review: Rimmel Lasting Finish MATTE by Kate Moss

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I stumbled across these Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss lipsticks while shopping at Walmart the other night. The colors seemed more suited to my taste than the original Lasting Finish by Kate Moss so I decided to give them a try. 

Being very affordable at $4.63 per tube (price may vary depending on store and area), I picked up 3 shades. 113 a peachy pink nude, 101 a mauve-y, cool toned, almost mid range pink (shows up lighter on the lips though) and lastly 110 a bright orangey red. (I thought that was a good mix without going over board.) 









Now for the break down: 

Pros:
- Didn't feel dry/drying (but still not really moisturizing. just kind of sits on top)
- Decent color range (10 Shades)
- Affordable - $4.63 (at Walmart)
- I don't mind the scent

Cons:
- Difficult to wear - unflattering
- Smears/Bleeds/Overall does not stay in place
- Texture is strange. 
(While not drying it kind of feels like putting a waxy lotion on your lips)
- Darker shades stain (Some people may not mind that but I do)
- Not long lasting - lighter shades wear off in less than an hour. The darker shade lasted longer because it had stained my lips (and the skin around it -__-)


Overall I would not repurchase these lipsticks. I don't think they were flattering and none of the colors were very original. I could easily find similar colors in a much better formula. I exfoliated my lips prior to taking these pictures and you can see they were still giving me issues.


113 looks HORRIBLE up close - I find that I can wear it with a gloss to smooth it out a bit but I hate to have to do that. I like lipsticks that can stand alone and not depend on an additional product in order to function. I think the pale color just highlights any lines etc. in an unflattering way. Would not recommend. 

101 is a bit better and definitely creamier. It applies the most evenly out of the 3 and does not stain my lips. Of all the colors, this is the one I would recommend the most. I also believe that it is the most wearable, given it is also the least original. 

110 is extremely bright in person. Very pigmented and will stain your lips. I didn't think this color was bad. It was creamier and smoother than 113 but not as much as 101, however it does still skip leaving the color a bit patchy. Unfortunately the biggest issue I had with this color is that it gets everywhere! The skin around my lips, my chin if I were to take a big bite of anything, any food I am eating, my teeth, if my hair gets stuck in it or my finger grazes it - it's a mess. Now most lipsticks do those same things but not to the degree this one does and it also happens with much less effort. I probably would not recommend because I have several colors that are similar that I love 1000000x more. (Try Tom Ford 'Wild Ginger' AMAZING and worth the price($48). Also Wet n' Wild has a similar matte lipstick that's better than this one and even comes with a cheaper price tag. $1.99)

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 As far as packing, I can't complain. All of the Lasting Finish lipsticks are about the same, tube color depending on which line it belongs to.  All come in round tubes with the crown emblem on the cap. I've never had a problem with one being stiff or difficult to twist up.

For the MATTE lipsticks in the Kate Moss range the tubes are a matte red with a glossy black center. (The regular Lasting Finish by Kate Moss are black on black) I think these feel a little more lightweight than the original Lasting Finish Lipsticks - they almost feel like they are empty inside. 






Again, I would not repurchase these and I can't even say I would recommend them. I think they are usable but I probably won't make it through a full tube. 

If you are absolutely dead set on trying one go for 101 - I had the best experience with that shade and again it's going to be the most wearable for a lot of skin tones. 


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Hope you enjoyed this post! Sorry that it is probably not the review you would have liked to hear - of course we always want to find great products! 
I was disappointed especially since I have enjoyed Rimmel products in the past. You will also be seeing these lipsticks featured in my February Hits & Misses at the end of the month and I'll let you know in that video if I come across any tricks or combos that work well for these as I will have the rest of the month to play around with them. 



Thanks so much for reading and a BIG Thank YOU to those who are following!

See you back here tomorrow : )




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***Bonus Info***


I later visited the Rimmel site to see what information they had posted up that I could pass on.




Basically a brief overview of the lipstick as well as all 10 shades listed. 

Description from the site:
Be Iconic - Make the Ordinary Extraordinary
Sumptuously Rich Matte Colour with a sublime comfort.
Ruby Powder enriched formula.
Intense velvet colour all day!



They also had a "Try it On" feature which I found to be pretty interesting and kind of fun to play around with. 




You have your choice of models, I am assuming to best match your skin tone etc. although I did notice many skin tones were missing lol. 

Not a problem - there is also a section on this feature for you to upload your own picture! Truth be told I did not try that out but I am assuming it's along the lines of similar apps and makeover sites. 

You can also zoom in and change the intensity of the lipstick application which I thought was a pretty good idea. Of course not as accurate as actually trying it on but hey better than nothing.


If nothing else, it is at least fun to play around with. 




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2 Şubat 2013 Cumartesi

Shoes, Monthly. February 2013

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[JustFab Ankara]



[Shoemint Lindsay] 






I actually found out about these Shoemint Lindsey Peep Toe Ankle Strap Pumps through one of you guys! (So thank you!) I was told they looked like they would be my style and sure enough I'm diggin' 'em! 

I will of course have to wait and see how they are in person. The last few Shoemint purchases have been disappointing for me, I've returned countless pairs. The quality just hasn't been as good in my opinion.

Luckily since I have had returns there are a couple credits on my account and I was able to order these at no additional out of pocket cost. 







The JustFab Zurich is a risk for me but for the price, it was one that I was willing to take.

I'm not typically into these lower/ankle boots because I don't think they are as flattering on me as other styles but that doesn't stop me from wanting to try! 

There are a few high end designer brands that have something similar but I really can't see spending that much money on a trend I am experimenting with.





You may remember that Zara had a pair like these JustFab Ankara strappy sandals a while back. I had always kicked myself for not getting them (I found out about them too late!) so I wanted to make sure to scoop these up!

Of course they don't look as good quality but I am hoping in person it won't be so obvious. JustFab is pretty hit or miss from what I have experienced. Some of their shoes are great quality for the price, others have been terrible so I am hoping to get lucky with these.


Retail: $39.95

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A couple other pairs was considering:


JustFab Rouen in NUDE - Love the look of this shoe! The nude color even comes with two different ankle straps. One matching the shoe's color, the other in black. (I think that was a really nice idea!) This shoe shape looks pretty flattering on just about everyone! (Also it's a great price point for some fun shoes.)


Why I didn't buy them: 

1. I am not sure of the fit quite yet. I usually wait for the reviews to start popping up on the site because I find them to be quite accurate. Similar styles from JustFab have run true to size for me in the past but every one in a while some will fit 1/2 size small, 1 full size small, 1/2 size large so I didn't want to risk it until I saw what others had to say.

2. I'm getting slightly over this design (meaning the Christian Louboutin Daffodil/Lady Daf rip offs that so many companies have been pumping out) - I have the Steve Madden Victoree, Steve Madden Dejavu, Shoemint Edith, the JustFab Miley, not to mention a pair of Christian Louboutin Daffodils. I just feel like as good as they look (on/from the side) they are getting a little played out now. I don't wear mine very often because the front is so bulky giving them that slight "horse hoof" look and just overall I don't need the extra height.

Not sure if I will eventually cave but as of now I pass. 


JustFab Austin - Just because I have always wanted a pair of cowboy boots but really don't want to spend too much in case I can't pull them off. 


Why I didn't buy them:

1. Again I am concerned about the fit. These look like they would be true to size (even though I normally like to order a 1/2 size up in boots for some sock room) but I won't really know until the reviews start posting to the site.

2. I am afraid they will look too cheap. I've always wanted a pair of cowboy boots but I want a pair that are a little more authentic looking, something that will wear and break in giving that vintage look. After watching the video of the shoes on the site and how they move/flex I decided to pass on them. 

I'd say I probably won't buy these and just put cowboy boots back on the wish list. I'll wait until I make a trip to somewhere like Nashville and splurge on a pair as a souvenir there.

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I hope you've enjoyed seeing my (monthly subscription) shoe selections for February. I just purchased them about an hour ago so I thought I would share especially since I don't typically do a YouTube video showcasing these purchases. If you are interested in how I end up liking them let me know. 

(I will probably post on my Twitter/Facebook unless you'd like an update in a future post)

Thanks so much for reading and an extra THANK YOU to those that have started following! 
Hope you have a great start to your weekend : ) See you again tomorrow! 


[YouTube - Instagram - Twitter - Facebook] 

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1 Şubat 2013 Cuma

Fresh Paint: Essie Sugar Daddy - Underrated (And meeting Josh Holloway? Yes.)

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Painted my nails yesterday with one of my all time FAVORITE polishes, Essie Sugar Daddy,  and decided to do a little post about it. Mainly because I feel like this shade is pretty underrated and I wanted to give it the credit I think it deserves!

If you've never tried this polish I can't say that I blame you. 

(To be fair, had I not seen a picture of this on Instagram I probably would have never tried it either.) It is very sheer (like typical old school Essie polishes) and the color is not very unique but those are some of the reasons I love it. 



Classic. 
Clean looking.
Great base for french manicures or any type of tip design.
Applies evenly & smoothly.
2-3 Coats = Perfection.
Glossy. 








(Forgot to take a picture of it in regular light with the top coat but there wasn't too much of a difference, just glossier.)


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See Pic Posted Below: 



 This was taken at night inside a restaurant but I was really impressed with how glossy my nails looked.





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Everything I used for my manicure start to finish -

If you would like to see what I do for my nails - CLICK HERE to watch the video



I always use OPI Nail Envy for my base coat. I really think it helps to keep my nails from breaking. (For those of you that didn't know - my nails are natural) I have gone through at least 3 bottles of this. 



And then of course you have to top it off with the Seche Vite - best top coat I have ever used! Dries fast, smoothes over mistakes if you have any. It also keeps my polish on a lot longer.



Overall I think Essie 'Sugar Daddy' just gives such a clean look to my nails. The color is great for my skin tone and it gives me that acrylic look (I think at least), which I actually really like. Also this is one of the only sheer pink polishes I've tried that applies so evenly without any additional effort.

 The only other polish I would say compares is, OPI 'You callin me a Lyre?' (Limited Edition) - another amazing, clean looking polish. 

As far as I'm concerned those two are the best. 
(If I paint my nails that color soon I will post pics to compare)

For reference:
 I hate Essie Ballet Slippers (so hard to apply evenly and too white for my liking)
I use to like OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy but I find that it just doesn't apply as easily for me, plus I like the way these cooler toned pinks (vs. peachy pinks) look on my nails. They look cleaner and brighter. 







Anyway....sorry this blog post was late I was busy meeting this guy last night...




Haha. Any LOST fans? 
Josh Holloway.

Last night we went to Sony for a screening of the new movie Steve is in, Battle of the Year, coming out this September. 
Afterwards we all went to get food and what not, that's where this picture was taken. SUCH a nice guy! Very down to earth. (I love his dimples.)

But yeahhhh that's why the post is up late. I actually haven't slept yet. I'm trying to pull an all nighter to fix my sleep schedule so we shall see how that goes. O_O Wish me luck! 

Hope you enjoyed this post! You'll have to excuse if it's a bit off. I feel like my brain is frazzled being up for so long. 


Thank you for reading! Talk to you tomorrow. 

-Holly
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