Tiffany-Inspired Manicure

One of my favorite manicures I did this month was created in response to a photo posted in a Facebook group I participate in. I searched and found the source for the photo, this blog. After seeing the image, I knew I needed to create my own version, but wanted to do it a little differently!

The polishes I used. L-R: Rimmel Base Coat, China Glaze For Audrey, Milani HD, Essie Set in Stones, Milani Gems, China Glaze Fairy Dust, and Seche Vite.

I started with the base color, and then did just the tips with Milani HD, a holographic silver polilsh. I then went over all but the accent nail with Essie Set in Stones, extending it a bit further down the nail than the HD. The accent nail I treated exactly the same except using Gems, to add a pop of rainbow! I then topped all the nails with Fairy Dust, a sparse holographic glitter, extending it even a bit further. I really was pleased with how it ended up! Plus, as another participant on the page suggested, this mani could easily last quite awhile as chips or tip wear could easily be masked with more glitter! 

Faces of the Day - Last Week

I sometimes take photos of my makeup for the day and then end up not posting it that day for whatever reason. I found a few from last week that I decided to share with you now! Unfortunately, I usually take the photo of all the products when I'm making the post, so those didn't happen. I probably won't remember most of the products as a result! 

From September 25th. I know I used Wet n Wild Nutty and Envy shadows. I *think* this was Wet n Wild 907C lipstick but I'm not positive.

From September 27th. The star of this look was the Cargo eyeshadow quad in Tahiti, although I did not use the dark green shade, just the other three. I also used Revlon Super Lustrous creme lipstick in Demure. (Not sure why that one gets called a creme - it definitely has shimmer! I wish it didn't but I don't *completely* hate it.)

OPI Skyfall Collection

As a nail polish lover, I'm kind of embarrassed to say I did not know this collection existed until I saw it in the Merle Norman store at the mall I work in this week! It's a beautiful collection with a lot of really interesting shades, inspired by and celebrating both the upcoming Skyfall movie and 50 years of 007.

I could tell The Bondettes mini set would be awesome, but it was very difficult to choose which large bottle to get! I've been loving doing accent nails with chunky glitter lately, and this one's color combination was one I hadn't seen yet, so I went for it.

Here I have The Bondettes mini set, both in its box and just the polishes, and The Living Daylights glitter.

For swatches, keep reading!

Face of the Day - First Day of Work!

Today was my first day at a new job and I wanted to make sure I looked decent and didn't have anything that might get messed up since I probably wouldn't be wanting to fix my makeup during my shift! In retrospect I probably should have gone with a darker or more vibrant lip color since they tend to last much better on me than the softer ones.

Products used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro
Neutrogena Shine Control foundation
Revlon Colorstay Under Eye concealer
Urban Decay 24/7 concealer
NYX Cream Blush - Hot Pink
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray
Revlon Matte Lipstick - Pink Pout
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss - Pink Pop
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
L'Oreal HIP eyeshadow duo - Dynamic
Wet n Wild eyeshadow - Creme Brulee
Physicians Formula Hazel Eyes gel liner trio - brown liner
Maybelline Mega Plush waterproof mascara

Face of the Day

Products:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro
Revlon Colorstay
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
ELF Studio blush - Candid Coral
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash - clear
Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream - Antwerp
Maybelline Color Tattoo - Tough As Taupe
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows - Golden Sage, Golden Emerald, Gold Imperial
Wet n Wild Eyeshadow - Brulee
Revlon Grow Luscious Eyeliner - Espresso
Jordana Best Lash mascara

Face of the Day - Bright Purple & Pink Eyes

Products:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro
Revlon Colorstay
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
Prestige Brow Perfection Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Maybelline Color Tattoo - Fuchsia Fever
Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box - Fishnet
Make Up For Ever #92
Make Up For Ever #75 (on eyes and cheeks)
Wet n Wild Eyeshadow - Brulee
NYX single eyeshadow - Black
Milani Liquif'eye - Black
L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes
Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick - Airy Fairy

Face of the Day - Maybelline & TheBalm

Products:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro
Revlon Colorstay
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani minerals compact makeup
ELF studio blush - Candid Coral
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Maybelline Color Tattoo - Mossy Green
TheBalm Shady Lady Vol. 2 Palette (Makeout Mary, Insane Jane, Devilish Danielle, Tempting Tara, & Caught in the Act Courtney)
Wet n Wild Brulee eyeshadow
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - Rendezvous
MAC Lipglass - Russian Red

Face of the Day - Job Interview

 I was meeting with someone about a potential job today so I figured I'd better go with something fairly light and something I know works!

I realized too late that I left my lipstick out of the photo! It was MAC's Rebel.

Face of the Day - Bronze Eyes & Red Lips

 Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer
Revlon ColorStay foundation
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
Jordana Blush - Redwood
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Physicians Formula bronze liner from Glam Brown Eyes trio
Jordana eyeshadow single - Bronzeville
Milani eyeshadow single - Java Bean
Physicians Formula eyeliner from Nude Eyes trio
L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes mascara
Revlon Moisture Renew lipstick - Berry Queen

Face of the Day - Dark Greens

Products:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Neutrogena Shine Control foundation
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani Minerals compact makeup
Milani Minerals blush - Sunset Beach
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
L'Oreal Studio Secrets - Forest Smokes
Wet n Wild Creme Brulee
Physicians Formula eyeliner trio for blue eyes - brown liner
Maybelline XXL Pro Extensions waterproof mascara
Milani HD Advanced Lip Color - Romantic Rose

Simple DIY - Polished Push Pins

Earlier last week, I saw the idea of painting plain push pins with nail polish to make them more fun on Pinterest. A few days later, I found this sheet of white push pins at an estate sale that was letting everything go for free and decided to take them home and paint them! Although the example I saw on Pinterest used only a few colors for all of the pins, I decided to do each of them a different color! It went very quickly - just put a blob of the polish on the push pin and spread it around, let it dry for a bit, then put a blob of shiny topcoat to make them all smooth and shiny.

I used mine to put some of my favorite magazine photos of some beautiful actresses,singers,and models on a bulletin board in my bedroom. I love the way it turned out!

L'Oreal Brit Invasion - Nail Polish Comparison

After seeing several people discussing how pretty L'Oreal's Brit Invasion nail polish was, I picked it up at Target yesterday without giving it too much thought. It looked gorgeous! However, after getting it home and swatching it on a nail wheel, I realized it didn't seem that unique to my collection after all. 

On the left is China Glaze White Cap layered on top of China Glaze Ingrid. Brit Invasion is in the center, and China Glaze Ingrid on its own is on the right.

While I certainly wouldn't call Ingrid - with or without White Cap - a dupe for Brit Invasion, for me it was close enough that I didn't feel I needed both. Although it is a gorgeous shade, the more browny, neutral shades in my collection are probably among those I reach for least often, and having such similar shades didn't seem worth it.

If you don't have Ingrid or other similar shades, I do think this would make a nice addition to your collection. It applied really nicely - two coats was completely opaque, and it wasn't at all tricky to get an even coverage. There really is a lot of shimmer, but as it's very fine it doesn't appear glittery or too shiny.

Outfit of the Day - Another Warm One

Even though it was supposed to be fairly warm today, it was rather chilly this morning so I still wore a hoodie until it warmed up! I recently rediscovered these shoes - I can't believe I forgot about them! These are one of my favorite pairs of shorts - and they used to be my brother's jeans that got too short for him (which is hilarious considering they were much too long for me when I put them on to measure the cutoff length)

Face of the Day - Simple Dark Green

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Neutrogena Shine Control foundation
Milani HD Advanced Concealer
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
Milani Minerals blush - Luminous
Prestige Brow Perfection pencil - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Physicians Formula Green Eyes gel liner trio - green only
L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow - Golden Emerald
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
Covergirl Lip Perfection lipstick - Heavenly

Flower Earrings

Yesterday I discovered a new shop in downtown Fargo that I absolutely love. It's called Unglued Market and you can find them on Facebook here and their website is here.

Among adorable stuffed creatures and fun prints and some great vintage things were also some fantastically fun jewelry! There were similar flower earrings in different styles and colors, as well as hair clips and necklaces with similar flowers, and earrings or necklaces with tiny foods or cooking tools on them - so cute!! If I had a ton of money I would have left with MUCH more.

I'm very excited about these earrings!! I fully intend to wear them tomorrow. If I wasn't prone to losing things, I probably would've switched them out for what I was wearing today, but I was scared I'd forget where I put today's earrings.

I also got some vintage Pyrex there. I'm planning to make a photo-heavy post of my growing vintage dish collection soon, so keep an eye out if that's something you're interested in seeing.

Face of the Day

I completely forgot to take a photo of the products I used today! Many of them are ones I've used before, however.

Products used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Revlon Colorstay foundation
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
Cargo blush - Key Largo
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
MAC Paint Pot - Painterly
Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box - Honey, Peace
Wet n Wild Creme Brulee eyeshadow
Physicians Formula black gel liner (from the Hazel Eyes trio, but it doesn't really matter)
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
MAC lipstick - Impassioned
Revlon Super Lustrous lipgloss - Coral Reef

My outfit today was pretty boring - just jeans and a tshirt, and shoes I've shown here before - so I didn't take photos of it, either. My fragrance of the day was more of my sample of Marc Jacobs' Oh Lola!

Outfit of the Day - Sweater & Boots!

 Yes! A day cool enough that I'm not incredibly uncomfortable in a sweater and boots! I love sweaters and boots season - while the sweater's an old favorite, this is the first time I'm actually wearing these boots. It's also the first pair of boots I've had that are short enough that I can let the top of my socks peek out the top, which I've always thought was a cute look.

Sweater: originally H&M, but I bought it secondhand
Tank top: Target
Jeggings: American Eagle
Socks: Hue (Macy's)
Boots: Steve Madden Troopa
Nail Polish: Sonia Kashuk Two Cent

edit: So the "finally cool enough" part really only applied when I first got dressed and took these photos! I ended up changing into a pink tshirt and my black Converse in the afternoon. Ah well. Soon enough it'll be fall and winter weather all the time!

Face of the Day - Pink Eyeshadow

I'm continuing my mission to prove that eyeshadows like hot pink and red are NOT terrifying! I think they're beautiful and so much fun and more wearable than people seem to think.

Products used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Revlon Colorstay foundation
Milani HD Advanced concealer
Milani Minerals Compact Makeup
Milani Minerals Blush - Sweet Rose
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Physicians Formula Glam Hazel Eyes light shimmery purple gel liner (as base)
Physicians Formula Hazel Eyes gel liner trio black liner
Wet n Wild Sweet as Candy - Eyelid shade
Wet n Wild Spoiled Brat - Eyelid Shade
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick - Airy Fairy

Favorite Fall Nail Polish!

If you thought I was excited about making the fall lipsticks post...that was nothing! This one I'm really excited about! Nail polish is my first love in the makeup & beauty world.

Quite a few of these shades I've either never worn or haven't worn much, since I got them in between this fall and last fall and they didn't seem appropriate in the summer! Others are favorites. A few were limited edition, so I apologize if you see one you love and then can't find it! But I wanted to show the ones that truly are my favorites.

I tried to keep it to the number of polishes that I could swatch around one nail wheel and I was successful - although I ultimately decided to show the polishes on my actual nails instead of on a wheel. To see the swatches and specific names, keep reading!

Outfit of the Day

Nothing special about today's outfit, but I still like it enough to share it! Like you've probably noticed, I'm kind of obsessed with colored denim. An obsession you probably haven't seen yet, at least in my most recent round of outfit posts, is band tshirts. I have quite a few and always try to have enough money to get a shirt at every concert I see. I don't always get one if I don't like any, but I always at least look!

The orange/coral jeans I got in the late winter/early spring this year at American Eagle.
I saw The Temper Trap at First Ave in Minneapolis in October 2010. I decided to go - by myself - the night of the show and after missing several buses, got there during their first song. I am SO glad I decided to go! It remains one of my favorite shows I've ever seen! And I rarely will do things like that alone.

(P.S. they're on tour right now!! If you can see them I'd highly recommend it! Dates here: http://thetempertrap.com/shows/)

Face of the Day - Reds

I'm going to be honest - I think this is one of my favorite looks I've done in awhile! I adore red eyeshadow and I think it's severely under-used.

Products Used:

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer
Neutrogena Shine Control foundation
Milani HD Advanced concealer
ELF Translucent Mattifying Powder
Milani Mai Tai blush
Prestige Brow Perfection - Light/Medium
Maybelline Great Lash clear mascara
Maybelline Color Tattoo - Pomegranate Punk
L'Oreal HIP duo - Cheeky, Bustling
NYX single - Cherry
Wet n Wild single - Brulee
Physician's Formula eyeliner from Nude Eyes trio
L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara
Revlon Super Lustrous Creme lipstick - Ravish Me Red

Outfit of the Day - Shades of Green

I knew we weren't back into the cool weather for good yet! For fairly warm days, I like skirts or shorts. I have two of these skirts from Target - the other's grey - and I love them because they're comfortable, affordable, versatile, and because of their shape, they're not prone to blowing around in the wind! That last one's probably the best part. It's windy here pretty often, which makes me not want to wear a lot of my skirts and dresses! 

This tshirt is another one of my very favorites. I just adore loose-fitting tshirts, and this one's especially lightweight which makes it great for hotter days.

I've had these H&M sandals for probably five years - I'm surprised how well they've held up!

Favorite Lipsticks for Cooler Weather

I've been planning on making this post for awhile but was struggling to narrow down my choices since many of them were fairly similar. Then I figured, why narrow it at all? Some of these colors may be easier to find than others, or the finish is different enough to make it worth it. In general, my favorite formulas are the Revlon Super Lustrous (all the ones I chose from that line are the creme finish, not frost or matte) and MAC.

For swatches - both lip and arm - and a list of all the names, keep reading! It's photo heavy!

Face of the Day - TheBalm Shady Lady Vol. 2

 I don't use this palette nearly as much as I should. I tend to gravitate more towards very bright shadows, but these are really pretty and they're great quality. For this look, I used Mischievous Marissa on the lids, Just This Once Jamie in the crease, Devilish Danielle as inner corner and brow highlights, and Bossy Bobbi over the eyeliner.

The rest of the products I used are listed and shown under the cut!

Outfit of the Day - Mostly Coral

This tshirt is several years old and it's certainly seen better days, although I just can't seem to part with it! It's one of my favorite tshirts of all time. If only I could replace it exactly with a new one! Too bad stores never seem to carry the same types of basics for multiple years.

Most of the label's worn down, but today's fragrance was Coach Poppy. Nail polish is Zoya Caitlin.

Face of the Day - Copper Eyes

The inspiration for today's look came from a picture I cut out of a magazine awhile ago where the model had a coppery eyeshadow on all around the eyes and extended quite a bit off the side of the lid. I didn't extend mine quite as much but I did a bit more that usual and I like the way it looks a lot!

The eyeshadows for this look came from the Original Palette from Sleek.

Recent Empties

I've been making more of an effort to use up some of the products I have over the past several months. I've especially been working on hair and bath products since I have quite a few of each and they take up a lot of space!

Bath & Body Works Shower Gels - Lemon Summer Vanillas and Exotic Coconut (My two favorites! So sad the lemon was discontinued.)
Mini candles in Tropical Spice, Salty Caramel, and Spiced Madeleine

Boots Expert Anti-Blemish 2 in 1 Scrub and Mask (I only used it as a scrub)
Neutrogena Visibly Bright cleanser trial size
Up&Up makeup removing wipes (the ones like Pond's Clean Sweep)
Simple facial wipes trial size

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle - A favorite I'll definitely repurchase once I've used more conditioners
Hairtrition 3-minute Deep Moisture Treatment
Hairtrition Color Protect Shampoo - I really liked this shampoo as well. I won't buy it unless it's on sale, though.

Palladio herbal foundation primer
Sonia Kashuk ebony gel liner (I didn't use it up but it had gotten very dry and I've actually had it for a few years), Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Mascara (I already had a backup on hand!)
Maybelline One by One Volum' Express Mascara (I enjoyed this one as well)

Fall Fashion Haul!

Today I went on an impromptu shopping trip to Herberger's with my grandma for some new things for the fall and winter. I'm so happy with everything I got and cannot WAIT to use them! I already transferred all my things to the bag, but I think I'll be waiting until it's a bit cooler before I start wearing boots. 

I've been wanting a bright bag with a shape like this one for ages - I was so happy to find one that was good quality, a color I liked, and fairly affordable. With the sale and a coupon we had it was around $45.

I'd also been looking at the Steve Madden Troopa boots for a few months so I knew I wanted those. The Born boots weren't something I'd planned on but they are so comfortable and flattering on, plus they seem decently warm and like they'd be good for walking on somewhat slippery surfaces in the winter. 

Top boots: Born Concept Callen
Bottom boots: Steve Madden Troopa
Bag: Nine West Day Glo Messenger

I'm really excited to start wearing these things! I'm sure you'll see them in outfit of the day posts soon.

Outfit of the Day - Comfy Shopping Casual

 Another slightly cool day - perfect for this lightweight sweatshirt! I was doing some shopping today so I dressed in layers since it's often quite warm in the stores. I also intentionally chose the jeggings because of the shopping trip - I knew I'd be looking at boots so I figured I may as well wear something I'd wear with boots! This is one of my most comfortable outfits - if I ever need to be comfy I always end up in a pair of American Eagle jeggings, a loose tshirt, and a hoodie or sweatshirt.

The perfume I wore today was Marc Jacobs Oh Lola! but I didn't photograph it since it's just a sample from Sephora. I am in love with this scent, though! 

I barely wore any makeup today - just a cream eyeshadow pencil and some lipstick - because I had to get up and go pretty quickly! I expect to get back to some makeup posts on here soon :)

p.s. I don't believe in white socks - and black only when absolutely necessary!

What's your go-to comfy outfit?