Current Nails

How in the world have I not shared this nail polish on my blog before?! This is one of my all time favorite nail polish and it is a go-to for me. When I cannot decide what I want to do with my nails, I tend to grab for this polish because I love the true navy shade and it has such a flawless formula. Zoya Sailor came out in 2013 and I picked it up when it came out and it has been love ever since. (Also, ignore the cuticle area. I seem to have misplaced some of my nail supplies here).

This is almost a one coat polish, but I always do two coats to even it out and make it full opaque. The formula is super easy to work with and is the standard Zoya cream formula. It isn’t too thick and it also doesn’t run; I think this might be my favorite nail polish formula. While this shade is a dark navy, it never appears black, which is something I really appreciate about this polish. In my opinion, this is a must have polish.

MAC Dita Von Teese Lipstick Review

It probably isn’t fair for me to even do this review of this lipstick because it was limited edition and I am pretty sure that it is no longer available. But I cannot even lie, this might be my favorite red lipstick. I had been scouting it and waiting for it to come out and when it finally released, I ordered it immediately. Most of the reds that I tend to go for are more on the blue based spectrum of red, but this one is more of that classic pin-up red that is a little bit more on the orange spectrum of red.  

   
This lipstick applies like an absolute dream. It is so richly pigmented and creamy. While it is a matte finish, it is not as matte as what you think of when you think of a MAC matte lipstick; it is nothing like Ruby Woo or Russian Red. Therefore, it is very comfortable and non-drying on the lips. It also allows you to layer the color up or reapply it throughout the day without it balling up on itself or looking thick or cracking. The wear time of this lipstick is insane. In the picture that I am going to show, the lipstick has been on for five hours and I had previously eaten lunch and had been enjoying some adult beverages during the AFC championship game. And the lipstick is still on. It definitely does not look like it did when it was first applied, but it is still there and it wears off in a very even fashion. It is almost like a stain.

  
If you can get your hands on this lipstick, I 100% recommend that you do so. The packaging and details of the lipstick are stunning and the formula is just incredible. I have many red lipsticks, and I think this one takes the cake. I wish I would have ordered a backup of it because I love it so much.

Sephora Haul

Last week, I saw that Sephora had the rest of the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani line on their website, so I decided to pick up the blush palette because I thought it would be good to travel with and good for work makeup. Sephora doesn’t do free shipping until $50, so I decided to look and see if there is anything else I wanted. Because I feel like a broken record at this point, a lot of my focus when shopping for makeup right is for work appropriate stuff that I can just throw on and go. We all know that I love a good, strong highlight, but I like to tone that down for the office. I had been wearing the Becca Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone applied with a fan brush to get a more subtle highlight, but wanted another option. Hourglass recently came out with some highlighters called Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder and I ended up deciding to try one. I picked up Incandescent because it looked like the lighter, more pink toned one. I also got some free samples of the YSL Touche Eclat foundation and primer and redeemed 200 points for the Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Volume Mascara and the Living Proof Nightcap Perfector.

  
  
  

Not only was my package delayed and took a week to get here, but I had a really bad feeling when I saw the box when I got home from work. The box looked like it had been to hell and back. I opened it up and the blush palette was actually hanging out of its packaging. With trepidation, I pulled the palette out of the box and opened it up…..and this is what I saw. This is the second order in a row that something I ordered came broken. My past couple orders had almost no protection in them. There was a single layer of bubble wrap in the bottom and some tissue paper on top….not very much protection for such soft powders. After over a 30 minute phone call, Sephora is sending me a new palette and the stuff to send the busted one back. I do appreciate it, but this is the second time in a row this has happened. Which is pretty frustrating because there are so many more items online but now I am going to question whether or not it is worth ordering online. Have you had any issues ordering from Sephora recently or am I just having bad luck?

Essie Gel Setter Top Coat Review

I have been using the Essie Gel Setter top coat for months now and I finally feel like I have an opinion on it. These gel like top coats were all the rage last year. I really liked the Deborah Lippman Gel Lab set and I was also a fan of the OPI Infinite Shine set as well. The difference between the Essie Gel Setter and these other two that I mentioned is that the Gel Setter does not come with a specific base coat that you are supposed to use. It says to use it with your favorite Essie base coat…..aka you could use any base coat that you wanted to use.

  
When I first started using the top coat, I hated it. I got chipping really quickly with it and it didn’t really give the gel like look. I tried it with several base coats and could not find one that would make it work better. I also tried it with just about every main brand of polish and it did not effect the results. As time has gone on however, the top coat started to thicken up. I have found that the thicker it gets, the more I like it. Which has tended to be true with the other gel top coats that I have tried as well. The thickness gives it the appearance of a gel manicure and it also lasts longer on my nails as well. I wore it with Essie Take It Outside and got 6 days out of the manicure before I got chipping, which is really, rally good for me. I have been using it with the Butter London Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat and the Zoya Anchor base coat. Honestly, you would not believe how thick the top coat is right now and there is about 1/4 of the bottle left. It probably started to really thicken up about halfway through the bottle. While it is incredibly thick, I still find it to be pretty easy to apply.

I have mixed feelings on the Gel Setter, but at this current moment in time, it seems that I have found the sweet spot with this base coat where the wear is prolonged and the look is like that of an actual gel manicure. It took several months for me to get to a point where I liked this, whereas with the OPI Infinite Shine system, I liked it from the start. I think it would be good for Essie to come out with a specific base coat for this top coat that is also formulated to give a gel like look and wear time.

 

 

New England Patriots Look of the Day

I have been a gigantic football fan my entire life. I remember being little and spending Sundays watching it with my dad and with the way my birthday is, the Super Bowl used to occasionally fall on my birthday. For whatever reason when I was younger, I decided I was going to be a New England Patriots fan and it has stuck with me ever since. I even had some of my senior pictures taken in my Tom Brady jersey. Sunday was the AFC Championship game and I decided to have a little bit of fun with my makeup. I did do two lip options with it because I like the eye look on its own and wouldn’t always wear a red lip with it.

I normally like to work within one palette, but I was all over the place with this look and pulling multiple palettes to get the shadows that I was looking for to complete the look. I started with priming my eyes with the Urban Decay Original Primer Potion. I dusted Foxy from the Naked 2 palette all over the lid, from lash line to brow bone and then I threw Tease in the crease. From the Vice 2 palette, I used Shellshock over the inner 1/3 of my eye. Urban Decay NEEDS to make this available in a single because this is the best silver eye shadow ever. I then went into the Vice 3 and used Heroine on the outer 2/3 and then I blended Heroine through the crease as well. I went back and forth between the previous 3 steps until the colors were as intense as I wanted and blended as well as I wanted it to be. I then pulled Shellshock across the entire lower lash line. For the upper lash line, I used the LORAC Front of the Line Pro Liquid Liner and on the lower water line, I used the MAC eye kohl in Blooz. For my top lashes I used the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara and the Maybelline Lash Discovery mascara on my lower lash line.

For my face, I primed with the Becca Backlight Priming Filter and used the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3in1 Foundation in shade 825. My undereye concealer is the Maybelline Fit Me in the shade Fair and I set that with the Makeup Forever Loose HD powder. My face is then set with the Maybelline Fit Me Foundation in shade 125. I used the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer and my blush is the Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Celebrated. The red lipstick that I have on is the MAC Dita Von Teese lipstick and the nude lipstick is MAC Blankety.

This is definitely a more intense look, but I am really happy with how it turned out. I think you could switch out the silver shadow for a less bold shadow and it would be a more wearble look. I love the way blue shadows look but find that they can be a little hard to pull off. Not to mention it is a fun way to show more support for my team….despite how tacky it might be!

A Reflection on Being 25

Today is my birthday. Today I turn 26 and am officially in my mid-twenties and quickly approaching my late-twenties. Being 25 was an interesting year for me and as others around me are turning 26, it seems that being 25 is just an odd time in your life.

For me, 25 saw some of the hardest times of my life. I had high hopes for the year last January 26, and as it turns out, that just wasn’t the case. I struggled with finding a job up here in Cleveland. There were family struggles. I made the tough decision to cut some friends out of my life. When you’re 25, you feel like you should be starting to come in to your own. You’re lead to believe that you should definitely have things figured out by now. So how does it feel when you’re looking around and you feel like you have nothing figured out?

Meeting friends isn’t as easy as it used to be. Trying to figure out the next career move to make feels like there is so much more at stake. You have a hard time looking at yourself and actually seeing yourself as an adult. Being 25 is just an awkward and emotional time of your life.

Coming into being 26, the year is definitely looking up for me. I just started a new job that I could not be more excited about. Not only is the job up here in Cleveland, but it’s a job that I really wanted. I finally live with my boyfriend. Later this year, we will be moving and upgrading our apartment. I’ve been brainstorming ways to get myself out there and meet people. For the first time in my life, I might actually be starting to feel my age, and that’s a good thing.

Birthdays bring about a myriad of emotions. Reflecting back on the last year, I feel like age 25 is a year that taught me a lot and I’m thankful for the experiences. So here’s to being 26; another year older, another year wiser, and another year to make memories.

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3in1 Foundation Review

A day off work means I can safely test out and play around with my makeup. I purchased the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3in1 foundation quite a while ago and have been meaning to test it out since then. This is not a new foundation by any means and it gets really great reviews, but I wanted to see how it would work for me and my skin. I picked it up in the shade 825 Buff Beige. I do like the shade match for me quite a bit but it definitely will not work for me when I start to pick some color up.

I applied it over the Becca Backlight Priming Filter and applied it with the IT Cosmetics for Ulta #115 brush (what I normally apply my foundation with). I used a little more than a full for my entire face; it does not take very much of this foundation at all. It blended pretty easily. It is not a really liquidy foundation but it isn’t super thick either. If I pump it onto my hand and move my hand around, the foundation doesn’t move. It is definitely a medium to full coverage and I didn’t need to build the foundation up to get coverage out of it. It has more of a satin finish to it; it isn’t a super flat matte, but it isn’t really luminous either. I can see a lot of skin types really enjoying the finish. On me, with my dry skin, I think it looks a little bit heavy on, but I am also trending towards lighter coverage foundations at the moment as well. The foundation also claims to be long lasting and I definitely found that to the case for me. I had minimal breakdown by the time I eventually took my makeup off.

I am surprised by how much I liked this foundation. I was expecting it to not work well for my dry skin, but I didn’t have any issues with it. I will absolutely continue to wear this one and I recommend picking it up-a very good drugstore foundation find!

Lush Cinders Bath Bomb Review

I decided to treat myself to another Lush bath after my first few days of work. Like most people, I am slightly struggling with getting myself onto a new schedule and all of the newness has been overwhelming. Good, but overwhelming. I am working in a TOTALLY different industry, not related to beauty at all and it is a very technical industry. Plus, I am no longer working retail and spending my entire shift on my feet, but I think sitting actually exhausts me more!

  
The Cinders bath bomb is supposed to have a spicy scent from the cinnamon leaf oil and it also has candy in it that is supposed to pop and crackle….you know, like a fire? I cannot tell you how much I disliked this bath bomb. First of all, it turns the water yellow…..it looks like you freaking peed in your bathtub. It is the most awful shade of yellow. Second of all, there was basically no scent at all to this bath bomb. I didn’t feel any warming that you normally would with the cinnamon oil. I also did not feel any oil in the water at all. Normally, my skin feels silky and soft as soon as I get in the tub and I didn’t feel anything. Also, none of the popping candies popped. They all just sank to the bottom of the tub and dissolved.

  
  
I know this is one of Lush’s cheaper bath bombs, but it definitely felt cheap. I wouldn’t spend the money on it ever again. Plus, it really is the most unappealing shade of yellow ever. I am not kidding when I say it looks like you peed in the bathtub. I recommend staying away from this one.

Look of the Day Featuring Work Appropriate Makeup

I am no longer working at a beauty store and am now working in a professional, office environment. Which obviously means no more day time smokey eyes and that my makeup has to be appropriate for my new working environment. I have done a couple posts in the past about makeup that is appropriate for work and interviews, but I think this is going to be something that I start to show on here more frequently. I feel like every time I see a youtuber doing a “work appropriate” look, it is never appropriate for a professional and office environment. I don’t work in the most conservative of offices, but it is still something I need to be conscientious about. I think that the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani palette is perfect for my current work needs and that it is what I am sharing today.

For my face, I primed with the Becca Backlight Priming Filter and my foundation is the L’Oreal True Match Lumi Cushion in N2. My under eye concealer is the Maybelline Fit Me in Fair and I set my under eyes with the MAC Lightsweep. I set the rest of the face with the Maybelline Fit Me Powder in shade 125. My bronzer is the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer and my blush is Benefit Bella Bamba. I did use a teeny bit of the Becca Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone and my lips are the YSL Glossystain in Fuchsia Tomboy.

I kept the eyes really simple. I primed with the Original Urban Decay Primer Potion. I then used the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and dusted Foxy all over the lid and up to the brow bone and put a little bit of Tease in the crease. I then used the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani palette and put Baby all over the lid. For a brow bone highlight, I used Blonde. To blend out the crease a little bit, I then used Anaheim. On my upper lashes, I have Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara and Maybelline Lash Discovery on the bottom lashes.

Lush Shoot for the Stars Bath Bomb Review

To help myself relax before my first day of work, I decided it would be a great time to test out one of my new bath bombs that I recently hauled. I was really interested in trying out the Shoot for the Stars bath bomb.

  
  
The interesting thing to me about this bath bomb is that it is supposed to have a honey scent and I didn’t smell that at all. I smelled a citrus scent that comes from the Brazilian Orange Oil in it. This one is beautiful as it fizzes; it starts off as blue, yellow and green and later it fizzes with red. This is one of the fizziest bombs that I have tried. It has a very audible fizz and it moves all around the tub. Once you get about halfway through the bomb, a silver glitter starts to appear. As the fizz dies done, the water is a midnight blue/purple that is almost black. And if you look closely, there are actually little stars that come out of the bomb. The bath bomb is supposed to remind you of the night sky and I do think it does just that. I just wish that it had a scent that matched it better instead of a citrus scent.

  
  

While the bath bomb was pretty, once I got out of the bath, my skin did feel dry and like I immediately needed to put lotion on. Normally, my skin feels so soft and moisturized when I use a bath bomb and I don’t feel the need to put lotion on, but I immediately needed to throw on some of the Soap and Glory Righteous Butter to fix things. While I did like this bath bomb, I don’t think that I will repurchase it if it is re-promoted next holiday season.