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).