Join Me On My Quest To Get Fit For My Vacation

In a few months, we will be going on vacation, a cruise specifically.  And I want to be in the best bikini shape by then.  Now I in no way want to lose a massive amount of weight, just 5-7 lbs and do some toning.  I go through phases where I love the gym and hate the gym.  Right now, I hate the gym!  So I will be kicking up my cardio at home using my Insanity & Zumba workout DVDs. I hope to do an update post about once a week or so.  So join me on my quest to get bikini ready!

Manicure Mondays-Sephora By OPI Hell To The No

I have a confession, I love the show Glee! And when I got word that Sephora By OPI was doing a Glee collection, I got happy.  I went for the polish inspired by my girl Mercedes Jones.  I love her character, plus she has a killer voice.  Hell To The No is a bright purple with gold shimmer.  It is beautiful.  Unfortunately, at the time of this photo, it was raining outside, so I had to resort to indoor light.  It was perfectly opaque in 2 coats and lasted nearly a week chip free.  The formula was nice and smooth.  Do you also enjoy Glee or am I the only one?

Outfit Of The Day-Birthday Edition

This is my first ever outfit of the day post.  Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 20 something :).  My husband took me out to a very nice restaurant and bought me some nice goodies.  I am actually wearing one of my gifts that he purchased, the dress.  Also, my hair was pulled back in a bun at my husband's request.  Here is my outfit breakdown:

Dress-Ann Taylor
Shoes-Zara
Watch-Michael Kors
Earrings-Charming Charlie
Nails-Sinful Colors Easy Going

I kept my makeup pretty simple, going with a brown smokey eye, peach cheeks, and coral lips. We are having a party at our home tomorrow in celebration of my birthday, so maybe I will do a birthday outfit of the day part II.

Manicure Mondays-Sonia Kashuk Tauped

Today I have Sonia Kashuk Tauped for you.  It is well, taupe, just liked the name implies.  It also has a touch of grey which shows up in low light.  This was 2 coats with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat and CND Sticky base coat.  The formula was great, perfectly opaque in 2 coats.  It wore well, lasting 5 days before chipping.  I have been impressed by all of my Sonia Kashuk polishes.  I highly recommend them.

Stila Make Me Blush

While picking up my free birthday gift from Sephora (my birthday is indeed on Thursday March 24th), I saw the Stila Make Me Blush palette near the register.  The design caught my eye, it was so cute!  It was designed for Valentine's Day to mimic the candy conversation hearts.

There are 3 colors in the blush, a red coral, pink coral, and peach coral.  It has a gold overspray that is easily removed by your finger or make up brush.  It's a shame, though, it would have made a nice eyeshadow.  The colors are very pigmented.  I wore it today and only needed a small swipe of my brush.  Here are swatches.

Left to Right:  Gold, all corals blended together, peach coral, red coral, pink coral

You also get a lot of product, getting 10 grams in this blush.  This was only $14 at Sephora, which is a steal!  This was my first Stila product, I have to say I am impressed.

Revlon Black With Envy-Chanel Black Pearl Dupe?

While browsing the polish at my local drugstore the other day, I came across a display for Revlon Black With Envy.  The display said something like "Spring 2011 Runway color for less".  As I looked closer, it became clear that this was supposed to be the affordable dupe for Chanel's Black Pearl.  So in the interest of beauty, I picked up the color so that I could do a comparison for you.  I do own Chanel Black Pearl and I love it, so I was really hoping the Revlon color would be a dupe.  Check out the pics (click on them to enlarge them).

In the bottle they look very similar, but Chanel's green shimmer is more apparent.



Black With Envy on Index and Ring Finger, Black Pearl on Middle and Pinkie

Black Pearl has a charcoal base while Black With Envy has a black base.  On the nail, the Black With Envy is darker and way less green than Black Pearl.  Black With Envy was opaque in 2 coats as is Black Pearl.  And both formulas were smooth and buttery.  Overall, I'd say they are similar but not dupes.  But if you missed out on Black Pearl or just didn't want to pay the money for it, Black With Envy is a nice alternative.

Manicure Mondays-China Glaze Recycle

This is one of my favorite greys.  China Glaze Recycle is a warm toned medium grey.  It has just a hint of brown in it that does not come through in the photo.  The formula was great, almost opaque in one coat.  This was 2 coats for maximum opacity with a base coat of CND Sticky Base and top coat of China Glaze Fast Forward.  It wore very well, lasting 5 days before showing significant tip wear.  I highly recommend this color for warm toned gals (and guys).

Face Of The Day-Saturday Errands, Minimal Makeup

Thought I'd share a quick face of the day.  I'm doing nothing exciting today, just running a few errands and trading off shifts with the husband to sit at home while our hard wood floors are being installed.  I threw on minimal makeup as I do most weekends unless we're doing something special.  Please forgive my bags, I've been burning the candles at both ends the past few nights.

Products used:

Eyes:
-Rock & Republic eyeshadow in Fatalistic (matte black) as an eyeliner on upper lash line (used an angled brush)
-Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero for water line
-Urban Decay Sin as brow bone highlight and inner corner highlight
-Prestige mascara

Face:
-Neutrogena spf 35 daily oil-free moisturizer
-L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base just on the cheeks to give the blush something to hold onto
-MAC Stereo Rose MSF on cheeks
-Bobbi Brown corrector in Bisque (to neutralize dark circles)
-MAC Prolong Wear concealer in NC42 (to cover dark circles)

Lips:
-NYX lipliner in Mahogany
-Revlon Colorburst lipstick in Coral
-MAC Wildly Refined lipgloss

This was so quick that I may do this on those days when I am running late for work.  Hope you enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Makeup Storage/Organization

This was a request from Jennifer, a lovely reader and old friend!  I decided it would be alot easier to show you rather than writing it.  Sorry about the shakiness, I am not the best filmer.  And the name of my vanity is the Malm dressing table from Ikea.  Hope this helps anyone looking for organization ideas.

Manicure Mondays-Borghese Angelica Blush

I almost didn't do a post about this one, but I decided the masses needed to know just how awful this polish was.  I wanted to do a more feminine color, so I went for Borghese Anglica Blush which is a light baby pink.  I liked the color better on my toes than on my hands but the formula was just awful.  I mean AWFUL!  It was streaky, it refused to level out, and it caused horrible cuticle drag.  And it took forever to dry.  This was 3 coats with CND Sticky Base Coat and China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.  This lasted about 3 days chip free.  So consider yourself warned!

Forever 21 Palettes-A Pleasant Surprise

I was at Forever 21 the other day, browsing their accessories, when I came across these eyeshadow palettes from their Love & Beauty line of makeup.  I was a little hesitant at first, but for $6.80 each, I figured I give them a try.  The two I purchased are the Love at First Sight palettes.  They had two color selections to choose from, I got both.  One is the taupe/purple palette, the other, gold/olive palette (These were the actual names on the back of the package).

Taupe/Purple Palette



Gold/Olive Palette

 I was pleasantly surprised to find the colors nicely pigmented with smooth, silky textures.  They all had good color payoff, though the bright purple color was a tad bit powdery.  I wore a look using the colors in the olive/gold palette today and was pleased.  They blended very well and I had no fallout.  The packaging was nice and sturdy.  They come in a gold metallic plastic slim compact with a mirror.  Not bad for $6.80.

L to R: Top-Shades 1-4 of Gold palette, Bottom: Shade 5 of Gold palette, Shades 2 & 4 of Taupe Palette

My only gripe is that the two palettes shared a majority of the colors.  The taupe/purple palette had only 1 purple in it and 3 of the same colors as the gold/olive palette.  Overall, I am pleased with the purchase.