Monday, February 24, 2014

OPI Bubble Bath

I am always looking for the perfect neutral. It's nearly impossible to find a flattering nude that is sheer without being streaky and ends up being the perfect pale pink. I have gotten as close as I've ever come with OPI Bubble Bath.



I applied 2 coats over and topped with a clear coat. It's really pretty and not streaky at all. Stayed on nicely, no chipping issues. I love colors like this because they just look polished and put together without a lot of effort. Just pretty nails. It's a little bit refreshing after the whole nail art trend to just look down and see clean, uniform nails.

Overall I'd say this definitely lives up to the OPI quality and is a very pretty shade. What's your go-to neutral polish?

Monday, February 17, 2014

Color Melt/Balayage

I am so stircrazy about my hair right now. It's been probably 2 good years, if not more, since I got it done in a salon. I have been getting my hair professionally done every 6-8 weeks since I was 16 and just got sick of the maintenance. I decided to do it myself and it's worked great for me, especially since I like to change it so often.

However, lately...I am just ready for a gorgeous change. Something I can't do in my own bathroom and something grown up and pretty. I am wavering between going a cool toned blonde or more my natural color with beachy balayage/color melt look (not ombre). HELP!!!!!



Going darkerAlex Crabtree - Hair + Make-up Blog: Hair Color Trends: Ombre, Melting, & High/Low LightsGorgeous cool blonde ombré with ultra light tips.Perfect blonde. Obviously natural base. I get my base from a bottle, but this is the perfect blonde!!!!!!blonde ombre If I had to guess, the bas is a level 9 neutral Ash, using Balayage around face. Great job!
 
all photos via Pinterest

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

doTERRA Essential Oils

 
I'm going to be discussing something a little different today. This is not a traditional beauty product but it is something I've been very interested in and quietly studying through my friend Elaine from Amena Bean (who tragically lost her dog Amena recently, who is the namesake for her line of products). We have been sick, sick, in our family. Even with flu shots, which I'm not crazy about, it hit us hard this year. It went through my office and the school and with K playing basketball our germ intake just got insane.

We have been unable to completely kick it, it's just hanging around making us not feel 100% yet. K has asthma so this seal bark is not helping that either and traditional meds, even his prescription inhalers just weren't helping. Elaine mentioned her success with doTERRA, she used to have asthma/allergies as bad as our K does and so she knew what we were up against. She sells doTERRA in her spa and has had great success with different clients needs using the oils. She also uses them on her kiddos so I felt safe using them on K. I ended up buying a bottle of the On Guard and she mixed a few little concoctions together in roller bottles for us to try to see what worked.

I have to say...we actually got immediate results. K had basketball the first day we tried it out so he was already croupy. I gave him a bath, got him all warmed up and cozy and rolled some of her cold blend (rosemary, eucalyptus and carrier coconut oil) concoction on his feet, behind his ears and on his chest like you would use Vicks. I tucked him in and hoped for the best because at this point, it's been 2-3 weeks without a full nights rest for any of us.

He was out within 30 minutes and he did not make one peep throughout the night. He barely even moved. He got the best nights sleep in weeks and he did not cough once. I have been trying her liquid ambien recipe because I never, ever sleep without some assistance and it works so well. Not only does it smell earthy and amazing, but it got me relaxed and into a deep sleep within an hour of applying to my chest, armpits, behind my ears and on my feet, but it kept me asleep for the whole night. I always wake up several times a night.

I just can't beleive that something who's ingredients I can actually pronounce and without any chemicals or nasty side effects works this well for us. But it does, it really does.

I'm very interested in Vetiver for use on my rowdy boy and wondering how all of these oils can assist his allergies, asthma and exposure to germs at school that effect him so much. I'm also interested in the On Guard, Whisper, Serenity and Breathe blended oils for myself and my boys. I'm curious if any of you have used doTERRA and what your thoughts are.

If you'd like more information, feel free to email Elaine at beautybydelivery@hotmail.com
 (she is a wealth of information on doTERRA) or check out their website at www.doterra.com

**not a sponsored post, products were purchased with my own money**

Thursday, January 16, 2014

L'Oreal The Matte Velvet Magic Topcoat

This is another one I found in the bottom of a bin at the store, not sure why. It wasn't on sale (I paid $5.99) so I'm assuming the store was just moving merch around but they only had one bottle of this.

I applied it over one of my all time favorites, L'Oreal Greyt Expectations and did gold on the ring fingers.



I actually really like The Matte Velvet. I prefer a matte topcoat over a matte nail polish because I think it gives you a lot more options. Practically doubles your nail possibilities.

It goes on easily and matte's as it dries. Very minimal brush marks. The only thing I'd say about this one is that I'd do 2 coats of the topcoat. One coat resulted in shinier tips for me after a few days, almost like the polish wore off or was worn shiny again in places where my nails get friction (from typing at work). Overall, this is a really nice velvety matte polish and does exactly what it says it will do.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Daily Makeup-Mostly Drugstore!

It's been a while since I did a little "Daily Makeup" post. I think the last time it was during the spring and A LOT has changed since then.

Obviously these all change if I'm doing anything special, this is just my daily "head to work" face. I can get it done in about 5 minutes and don't have to touch up other than lips at all during the day. These together really work well for me and I am super impressed with the Covergirl foundation. Full review on that coming soon. This is a very quick and easy look for me but one that looks polished and pretty.



CoverGirl 3-in-1 Foundation (Creamy Natural)
Rimmel Stay Matte powder (Creamy Natural)
Maybelline Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer (Fair)
Maybelline Bad to the Bronze Cream Shadow
Urban Decay Naked Basics for browbone and eyebrows (Venus and Naked 2)
Maybelline The Falsies mascara
Rimmel ScandalEyes Liner in Nude on the waterline
NYX Dusty Rose Blush
Milani Luminoso for Highlighter
Vaseline Rosy Lips (Coveted on Pinterest, finally found it and bought a ton. Adorable and amazing little pot of pink goodness!)