February Favorites

Hey! I am going to try to post my favorites every month, but we'll see if I can keep up with that! hah
Let's begin with my February beauty favorites:

1.) Tarte Cheek Stain in "Tickled." I love this blush! It goes on nicely and I love the sheer peachy red color and it's even peach scented!
2.) Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette. I've pretty much been using this palette everyday. I was getting bored with my Urban Decay Naked Palette and I loved the colors in this palette a lot! I am going to do a review on it in the next couple of days :)
3.) Coach Poppy Perfume. I am addicted to this scent! I wear it everyday and the scent is very long lasting. The Coach website describes the scent as "sweetly scented jasmine and gardenia mingle with fresh cucumber and candied rose petals" (I'm bad at describing scents haha)
4.) Nail Tek II: Intensive Therapy for soft peeling nails. This stuff really works! I have definitely noticed that my nails are getting stronger and it's an excellent base and top coat as well.
5.) CoverGirl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation. This foundation provides a very light coverage and goes on like silk. I really like the way it blends into my skin. It doesn't feel like I have any foundation on at all!

Now for my non-beauty favorites...

1.) Little Big Planet 2. Ahhhh I love LBP!!!!! I was so excited when this came out. It is a very addictive game to say the least! All of the levels are so fun and creative and you can even collect costumes and stickers.
2.) Bath and Body Works candle in Japanese Cherry Blossom. I love candles from B&BW and right now the 3 wick candles are on sale 2 for $20. Yay! This scent is one of my favorites and I even have the matching lotion.
3.) Parks and Recreation. This isn't a tangible thing I can take a picture of because I watch it on Netflix and it comes on every Thursday night on NBC. Anyway, I am obsessed with this show! April and Andy are my favorite characters and I also really like Ron Swanson. Such a good show!

So, that's all for now...if you want a more in-depth review of any of the items I mentioned just let me know! I am for sure doing a review on the Too Faced Romantic Eye Palette and will post it in the next few days so stay tuned! Thanks for reading :)

Essie Chubby Cheeks

Yay I'm so excited! I scored a new Essie polish for free yesterday! Around 4 times a year Ulta rewards you for shopping with them. The more money you spend at Ulta, the bigger your reward will be. Well, I actually made Level 2 for the first time ever. I'm usually just a Level 1 shopper...and the reward for Level 1 is like some free cotton balls. Not this time though! I actually got to choose a nail polish up to $8.50. I was going to get an OPI polish from the new Texas collection, but Essie's Chubby Cheeks really caught my eye. I needed to have it! I'm so glad I went with it too because I think it looks great with my skin tone and it will be a nice spring/summer color. The Essie website describes Chubby Cheeks as a creamy bright red-orange color.

Revlon Matte Lipstick

Revlon has had their matte collection out for way over a year now. When it first came out I bought a couple of eye shadows and a lipstick called "Really Red." I normally wouldn't buy a red lipstick but for Halloween I was dressing up as a pin up girl and I thought Really Red had a vintage pin up feel because it was matte. Well, I wasn't really impressed. I thought it was messy and hard to get off. It also felt really dry on my lips. I even tried putting on chapstick first, but it still made my lips look pretty flaky. So, I basically stuffed that away in a makeup bag for about a year and I just pulled it out for this post.
Here is a pic of "Really Red":

Revlon Matte lipstick in "Really Red" (006)

At the beginning of this year our cosmetic department at Walgreens started to receive new Revlon Matte lipstick shades. We also discontinued carrying many of the old Revlon Matte lipsticks to make room for the new shades. As I was going through the new Revlon makeup one lipstick really caught my eye. It was Revlon's Super Lustrous Matte lipstick in "Stormy Pink." I thought it was such a beautiful color. I loved that it was light pink with a blue/purple undertone...I've never seen a lipstick that shade before (at least not at a drugstore). However, I was so iffy about buying it. As mentioned, I was not impressed by the previous Revlon Matte lipstick I tried. In the end I gave in and bought it anyway. I'm so happy I did because it is actually very moisturizing and while it is less pigmented then "Really Red," I actually like that because it's appropriate for daytime and the color ended up looking great with my skin tone. I noticed later on the bottom of the two lipstick tubes that "Stormy Pink" is a super lustrous matte lipstick while "Really Red" is just plain matte. That might explain why "Stormy Pink" was so moisturizing, but who knows.
There are also other Revlon Matte lipsticks I'm dying to try like Smoked Peach, Sky Pink and Pink About It.
Here are Stormy Pink and Really Red side to side:

Revlon Stormy Pink & Revlon Really Red

Revlon Super Lustrous Matte lipstick in 011, "Stormy Pink"

Lovin' my new Revlon lipstick!

Maybelline Full 'N Soft

The best drugstore mascara hands down is Maybelline's Full 'N Soft. I have been using it for years. Sure I try out new mascaras, but Maybelline's Full 'N Soft is like my go-to mascara. It can do no wrong! I always purchase the washable one, but it is also available in waterproof.

The Maybelline website says you will love this mascara for the following reasons:
• Builds full, healthy-looking lashes without the brittle feel
• Prevents loss of lashes with patented Quick Dissolve System that allows easy mascara removal
• Advanced thickening formula with Vitamin E helps to soften and nourish lashes
• No clumps, no globs
• Contact lens safe and hypoallergenic
All of these claims in my opinion are completely true. It definitely makes my lashes appear fuller and natural looking. I find that it's a great mascara for daytime. I also agree that it doesn't make your lashes appear brittle like other mascaras. They are pretty soft to the touch...which means there is no flaking! I love that it has Vitamin E in it because I find that it makes my lashes healthier and I experience less lash loss. I've also never had problems removing this mascara. The most recent tube I purchased actually had more of a wet formula at first, but after a month it was drier and I felt it worked much better that way. The tube is kind of bland looking...it's just black and silver. I know it's trendy for mascaras to come in bright unique packaging now so it's just not as cute. Despite that, I love that it is a natural bristle mascara wand.

I'm not too fond of the rubber bristle wands. I find that the natural bristle wands really grab every little lash. The result is a full lash look. It makes me look like I have more lashes, but in a natural way. Like I said before, it's really great for daytime. If you like a dramatic false lash look then this would not be for you. Oh, and I almost forgot the best part, it's only $6-$7.
Here are my lashes before applying Full 'N Soft mascara:

Here are my lashes after applying Full 'N Soft mascara:

Dress it Up or Dress it Down

Hey everyone! I thought I would do a post on a top that I really love. It's a silk top I purchased from Urban Outfitters a while back with ruffles on the front and a zipper on the back. In this post I will show you how to dress it down or dress it up.
First is the dressed down look:

And if you want to dress up the top...

I looked on the Urban Outfitters website to try and find the top, but it's not there anymore. I found an alternative on Mod Cloth that I think is actually cuter. It's an umbrella pattern instead of a floral print.

Mod Cloth Share My Umbrella Top

Sally Hansen Salon Effects

I'm sure most of you have heard about the Sally Hansen Salon Effects polish strips by now. I decided to do a review/tutorial for you. This is my second time using them and it turned out alright. My friend Heather bought a box in the "Laced Up" design. She works at a hair salon so she has her hands in water a lot and is sort of rough on her nails. I recommended these to her because they claim to last up to 10 days. Last time I checked with her she had surpassed the 10 day mark. They were slightly chipping at the tips though and the strips were moving away from her cuticles. The first time I wore these they only lasted about 6 days for me. I didn't do a top coat though and I think that could be a difference maker. This time around I used my Nail Tek top coat and I plan on applying it every other day. The Sally Hansen Salon Effects includes 16 nail polish strips, a cuticle stick, and a mini file/buffer. All of the strips are in various sizes so you should have no problem finding the right size strip for each of your nails. The downside to this product that will probably prevent me from buying it in the future is definitely the price. At Walgreens we are selling them for $9.99. I think that it's an awesome product for special occasions. In fact, the reason I applied these is because my birthday is on Saturday. Yay! Also, I came across a coupon at Redplum.com for $2 off Sally Hansen Salon Effects.
Now I want to share with you some of the different designs you can purchase:

I also thought I would take you through the process of applying these polish strips. My polish strips are in the design "Kitty, Kitty." I'm also dying to try "Girl Flower."
On to the tutorial:

Each box comes with 16 strips, a cuticle stick, and a file/buffer

Step 1: Start with clean, dry nails.

Step 2: Push back cuticles

Step 3: Shape your nails with pink side of file and use other side of file to buff the surface of the nails

Step 4: Give nails one last swipe with polish remover

Step 5: Select best-fitting strip for each nail

Step 6: Peel away the backing and apply to nail. Make sure it is centered and do not stretch it too much. Use flat side of cuticle stick to press the edges down

Step 7: Smooth the excess over the edge of the nail using the light pink side of the file

Now repeat steps 5 through 7 for the rest of your nails. It's pretty easy and quick to do. Here's some pics of the finished product:

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in "Kitty, Kitty"

OOTD & OOTN

Here's a pic of my OOTN from Friday. It was pretty simple...just a dress I got from Urban Outfitters on clearance, black opaque tights, gray suede Steve Madden boots and a braided belt from Pac Sun. I wore this out to dinner with friends with a jacket because it was really cold for Houston...like 30 degrees!

As for my OOTD, I just wore some Levis, black flats and a top from Urban Outfitters. I tried to find the top on the website to link it for you guys and good news for those of you who liked it---it's now on sale! It's the Ecote Trans Printed Tee and mine is in size small. I wore this outfit to the grocery store...hah. My lazy day outfit!