TAG Tuesday: Sweater Weather

TAG Tuesday:

Sweater Weather

I feel like this post should have an introduction...so Welcome to TAG Tuesday! My goal until I run out of Tags that I've assembled over months and months and months (I procrastinate, I've got Tags from Spring if that tell you anything). At the point I run out of Tag posts there will be other Tags out to do.

While in love with the idea of Tag Tuesday I have to warn those reading this, I may will most likely not post every Tuesday because then I'd run out of ideas sooner rather then later. I do have other series planned for my blog and will post random related material sporadically. But for now enjoy.

1.       Favorite candle scent?

             I lean fruity and vanilla most of the year, but right now I like hazelnut. If I had to name a candle I'd say Bath & Body Works Leaves, even though I don't like spending that much on candles.

2.       Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

             Definitely a Keurig cappuccino girl right now I'm loving Grove Square Hazelnut and Café Carmel. I'm a MAJOR hot chocolate fan and because I refuse to buy individual pack or am too lazy to cut up white chocolate right now I'm loving Peppermint Hot Coco from Grove Square. As for tea honey I'm from the south and if it ain't sweet tea I don't want to talk about it.

3.       What’s the best fall memory you have.

             I'd have to be honest and say in the past I have no idea, but this year about a week before Halloween I did I think 8 individuals makeup for a Halloween birthday party, all but 2 were full faces (talk about exhausting). It gave me a chance to be creative and put my design spin on classic characters.

4.       Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged liner?

             I love both honestly but, recently I bought Lorac gel liner in plum and have been playing with winged liner so I'd have to pick winged liner.

5.       Best fragrance for fall?

             The body spray I'm loving is Twilight Woods from Bath and Body works for just going out for a little while. A fragrance that is not my normal cup of tea and I'm obsessed with is one that I only have 2 mini samples of would be Dolce and Gabbana The One.

6.       Favorite Thanksgiving food?

              Not an overly festive food, but I'd pick my homemade potato salad.

7.       What is autumn weather like where you live?

             Bipolar. No seriously we had only a few days where it was like mild normal beautiful fall days, but other then that it was either rainy, windy (which made it too cold for fall), or way to warm for the time of year. Currently I'm freezing and it's aiming straight at winter...matter of fact they are calling for ice starting tomorrow and going all day.

8.       Most worn sweater?

             Old school pull over hoodie count? No, ok I got a light weight sweater that's cream with a puppy face on it. Mostly I'm wearing long sleeve V-necks from Old Navy and a leather jacket....or my old hoodie.

9.       Must have nail polish this fall?

            I have a problem, I can't pick just one...nor can I think of a list off the top of my head. To pick a few I'd say Essie-Sable Collar, China Glaze-Mingle with Kringle (from Christmas, but it's a gorgeous fall gold), Essie-Sand Tropez, a good black Orly makes a nice one and the China Glaze one is alright too, OPI's Germany collection had some great colors (they're on my wish list still, we no longer have a local carrier), Ciate -Talent Show and Heirloom.
             Yes, that is my short answer and honestly any dusty tone purple is a good pick too. I'm a bit nail obsessed.

10.   Football games or jumping in a leaf pile?

              Neither...but football games cause I remember raking over old dog poop into leaf piles.

11.   Skinny jeans or leggings?

       Skinny jeans.

12.   Combat boots or Uggs?

       Combat boots go with more outfits.

13.   Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?

       No, no it is not, but I will admit Bath and Body Works had some nice Pumpkin candles this year.

14.   Favorite fall TV show?

       Criminal Minds hands down. I may do a future post on tv series I'm liking, which is new for me cause I'm not a big show person (again commitment issues).

15.   What song really gets you into the fall spirit?

       I don't actually have a fall song. I mean I can check my iTunes to see what's most played, but I live with that list on shuffle so it wouldn't help. I can tell you I turn Royals up on the radio and I started listening/singing Christmas songs in October.

 

Congratulations you made it! Pat yourself on the back and feel free to leave your answers to these questions in a comment. Stay tuned because honestly you never know what is to come. My parting words of wisdom...when in doubt just add purple, if it's not enough add some glitter.

 

A to Z Beauty

Beauty A to Z

I took this in an idea from an old tag that went around YouTube. I want to start by saying that I loved the idea of this tag when I saw it online because I love learning about what people love and why. I immediately wrote down brands I could think of…sadly I love to procrastinate so it’s taken me a while to type this up. There are a few letters that do not have a brand and that's because I've either not tried a brand that starts with that letter or I was drawing a complete blank.

            The A to Z Beauty tag is where you start with A and go through the alphabet naming a brand for each letter. After you name a brand you pick a product from the line that you like and briefly say why.

 

A.    Aquolina: Pink Sugar fragrance. Hello it smells like pure candy. The smell is extremely sweet and I love it!

B.     Buxom: Lip Pencils. They are great for lining the lips and adding color. The staying power varies between shades, but I’ve never had bleeding from darker shades.

C.     Ciate: Paint Pots. They come out with some cool design sets like Velvet, Caviar (which I didn’t get to try), and Foil (which I want to try). My favorite has to be Shopping Spree, which sadly I don’t see listed any longer.                                                               Cargo: foundation. I have oily extremely fair skin and this works to cover my redness, plus it doesn’t leave me an oily mess by the day’s end. Blue Ray pressed powder works great as a setting powder and on its own.

D.    DKNY: DKNY Verbena. It’s not what I normally enjoy, but on my skin I love it. There is a large possibility it could be my new signature fragrance.

E.     Essie: Nail Varnish. Nice colors and generally a thin formula that requires between 2-3 coats.

F.      Fresh: Sugar Lip Treatment. I got this as a birthday gift from Sephora last year and a few months back I started trying it. I like it, but I’m not sure if I’d buy a full size for the $22.50 price tag.

G.    …umm I got nothing sorry.

H.    Hourglass.  I’ve tried a sample of the primer and it was nice, but again with the price tag I wasn’t tempted to buy a full size….and yeah that’s all I could come up with for H.

I.       Illamasqua: Nail Varnish. If I’m forced to pick a color I’m going with Poke because it is the perfect purple and the formula is amazing. I’ve only had a few, maybe three, colors out of the line that have disappointed me. Some you can do 1 coat, but I’m a 2 coat kind of girl

J.       Jack Black: Lip Balm. Since changing to the Jack Black balms I use them all year round except in the summer (and I’ve yet to find the perfect summer lip balm). Around December Sephora.com usually has a set of them for a good deal that’s how I first discovered them. My personal favorite was the Lemon…but it smelled like fruit loops in a way.

K.    Kat Von D: Eye shadow Palettes. The eye shadows are pigmented and long lasting. Her older palettes however, had cream shadows that were lovely but they dried out quickly. Korres: Lip Butters. I only use those as part of my night routine because they are in a jar and they are a little thick for day time wear, but they are amazing and I love them.

L.     Lorac: Eye Shadow palettes. As a gift to myself I got the Lorac Pro palette even though I own Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2, and to say I like it is a sad understatement. Their normal shadows are great, but I’ve never tried the baked eye shadows.

M.   Maybelline: 24 hour Color Tattoo. Tough as Taupe is my favorite shade because it is the perfect put on your lid shade add a highlight and define the crease if you want and your eye look is done. I’ve found with some shades even if they are your base color they still need a primer.

N.    NARS: Lip Pencil. I’ve only tried New Lover and the shade is a great go to simple lip that works with almost every look. To be honest I’ve only tried a few NARS products and I just don’t see them measuring up to the price tag and I feel some are just over hyped.

O.    Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics: Lip Tars. You need the smallest amount of lip tar to cover your lips so they last forever. I currently adore Trollop. The nail lacquers are good and I’m looking forward to trying more, but as for right now I’ve not tried enough to judge.

P.      Proactive: 3 step system: Okay so it’s the only thing I’ve tried long or enough of to judge fairly. As with all skin care you have to use it for a while before you can really get results. I have oily skin and used it morning and night for about 2 weeks then reduced to using it at night and something else in the morning because I’ve got sensitive skin. Each person is different, so how you use it depends on your skin.

Q.    Quidad. To be honest I tried a sample of an anti frizz serum and while it was okay it didn’t work with my oily hair. That’s the best I’ve got for a Q.

R.     Revlon: Lip products. They have great glosses (I like the short ones better then the tall). The lip butters from what I’ve tried are buildable pigment and moisturizing. As for lip sticks just buy they because they are all great. The stains/balm stains are a little iffy; caution with the balm stains creamy-orange it’s just bad.

S.      Smashbox: Eye shadows. A little powdery depending on the shade, but if you pat instead of swipe on your eye shadow it’s not really a big deal. Pigmentation is really good, but like Lorac they seem to have simpler colors that don’t go outside a certain range.

T.      Tarte: Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush or Lip Surgence Pencils. They have my favorite blushes ever! Exposed is a safe bet if you want to try them out, personally I’ve been using Dazzled a lot recently and Peaceful is working its way to being in the top 5. The lip pencils are nicely pigmented and moisturizing, but the shades can sometimes be off from the exterior packaging.

U.    Urban Decay: Eye Shadow. I’ve tried the old shade formula and the new shades, I’ve tried palettes and individual shades and I love them! Urban Decay makes amazing shades with a lovely formula. The best is they make both great neutrals and bright shades!

V.    Viktor & Rolf: Flowerbomb fragrance. Every time I see a sample available I get one because I love this fragrance. For a gift to myself this year for my birthday I’m thinking of buying a roller ball because that’s about all I can afford. It’s pricey, but it lasts a long time on me and it smells nice when mixed with my body chemistry.

W.   Wet n’ Wild: Eye Shadows. You will find no better quality eye shadows for such cheap prices. They have good lipsticks too (I only own a few though) and while they only have 3 or 4 blushes I’m going to pick them up to see if they are as great as the eye shadows.

X.    Yup once again absolutely nothing.

Y.    YSL: Glossy Stains. These don’t live up to the hype. I bought one and kept it because I couldn’t bring myself to return it…plus I lost the receipts. The color is nice and yes it does last, but $32. Many may say L’Oreal released drugstore ones, well they smell horrible and are a bit too tacky for me so either way these stains struck out. Sad to say I like it, but not a love match at $32.

Z.     Z-Palette. I like these better then the Unii-Palette because they hold more and depending where and what size you buy them in they cost less.

 

I hope you enjoy. Let me know what brands you love and what products I need to try out.

Essie: Borrowed & Blue

So I'm a complete air head sometimes, I forgot to take a picture of the bottle so this is the picture that I ended up using. Eventually I'll get the whole blogging thing down. So I'm a bit new to Essie, I just started buying it in January. I love the color selection and they are very wearable.

The polish took about 2 coats and is a gorgeous creme baby blue shade. Many may remember OPIs What's with the Cattitude? from the Shrek collection, and this color seems to be comparable to it. I've seen reviews that say this is a bit lighter, sadly I don't own the OPI color because I'm to cheap to pay $10.50 (without shipping) when I only paid $4.97 (with shipping).

I chose to do an accent nail on my ring finger and on my right hand an accent nail on my pointer finger. I do have a top coat on my nails, but I feel this color would also be lovely with a matte top coat.

Let me know what you think? Is this a must have shade in your collection like it was in mine or is it a color you'll be skipping?

Disclaimer: This polish was purchased with my own money, the views and opinions expressed in this blog are all my own and I am not being paid to review this item.

*Due to technical difficulty with my computer at the moment, this is the only picture I am currently able to upload. However, I will post more pictures once my computer problem is corrected. Sorry.

OPI DS Classic

WithOut flash

With Flash

Bottom of the Bottle

AHHH!!! Ok so I'll admit I'm excited this is my first actual post on this blog...the other thing was an intro of sorts so I'm not counting it.

So my local store (Trade Secrets) that sales OPI was having a sale. Buy one get one free! Ok polish junkies we know this is kick butt especially for OPI & Essie, which according to my local store they will no longer be carrying Essie. I've seen swatches of the OPI DS shades and saw that they had 2 DS polishes for sale, so I picked up Classic because the other looked similar to a polish I picked up from the Burlesque collection.

As many, if not everyone, knows OPI has the amazing wide brush which is really good unless you have tiny nails. With all the glitter in the polish I was worried that it was going to be a bit goopey, but it wasn't it applied smoothly. As for removal I swatched the polish on my toe nail and removed it, surprisingly I did not have a hard time getting the polish off of my nail, a problem that can get common among glitter polishes.

OK so quick thing. This is my first post, if you have suggestions then I'm open to them and they will be highly appreciated, but do NOT be mean I'm new at this and just getting the hang of it. If there are things you want to see of polishes you would like to suggest then please leave a comment because I love to look at new colors and have a huge wish list that is always growing.

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to review any products, nor have I received any products to review, in other words products shown have been purchased with my money (or as a gift from a friend or parent). The views that I express are my own and no one else.

Hope you enjoy. Sorry about the pictures for this polish. I can post more later if someone requests it and I will try to do at least 1 flash and nonflash picture with each post.