Friday, September 30, 2011

Favorite Fall Nailpolishes

Hi all,
   Wow I feel like I'm on a roll with my posts! Or maybe that is just me procrastinating on my homework (guilty!), but either way I was thinking about what in my nail polish collection would count as on trend. Needless to say, I found a good amount of polishes since I harbor a deep DEEP love for rich jewel toned nail polishes. But I saw so many popular nail polish trend videos on youtube with brands like Essie and OPI. Don't get me wrong, I love OPI, but the cost makes me stop once in a while and attempt to find them on Ebay, Amazon, or my job where I can get a little discount on them. So I figured, let's see what I have that can still be on trend but on a cheaper, financially friendly budget. 

   So we have all heard how jewel-toned or as I prefer to say "rich and deep colors" are very popular. The first color family I love is my purples/ wine/ blues: (no particular order)
1. AVON nailwear pro: midnight plum ($5 normal price, but usually have 2 for 6.99)
    This is probably my go to color because it is so deep and rich. You can get away with one coat making the purple a bit lighter, but I am in love with 2 -3 coats to make it super rich and almost black. The downside to getting this polish is that I have to order online, which can make it a little more than what I truly want to spend. But a good investment overall. 
2. Sally Hansen Hard As Nails: Flirt or number 38 ($2.99 normally, usually can find it 2 for $4)
   This color is almost black looking in the bottle but on the nails it is a very, very dark version of a wine color and has time red/ gold reflects. It is probably something I would wear with a white or cream sweater at holiday parties to offset the lightness, and bring some color to my skin. 
3. New York Color in a New York Color Minute: Manhattan ($1.99)
  This color is like a slightly deeper wine color. It's not the black/dark of the last two colors, but still is very lovely on the nails. It does dry faster than many nail polishes, but not as quickly as it claims. Overall one of the better colors from the collection. 
4. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails: Plum Power ($2.99 or 2 for $4)

  By now you can probably tell that I love my plums, and my Sally Hansen polishes. This is a bright plum purple, that still stays in the relm of a darker version of the color. It has gold, silver, pink, and purple reflects in the polish, so it is just an overall fun color. More, as my mother would call it, a loud color. 
5. NYC Long-Wearing Nail Enamel : Skin Tight Denim Creme ($0.99)
  This is one of those more out there colors, but on short nails can be so much fun! It has light and dark blue reflects, so it goes with the metallic trend. 
6. OPI: Meet Me On the Star Ferry ($7.99-12.99)
  This is one of my few nail polishes from OPI, and I bought it because it is different than other colors I own. It has a lot of shimmer, with gold, pink, wine, and silver tones, but comes together in a light wine color. It is much prettier than I can explain, but another lovely shade. 

Phew! Now I have two red toned nail polishes that I adore, and can't wait to use up. 
1. AVON nailwear pro: Cherry Jubilee ($5 or 2 for $6.99)
   It is a true cherry red color after it has been in the syrup. It is bright, but not the scary bright bright reds we see a lot. It does not chip as easily as some of my other polishes do.
2. love & beauty: Magenta ($2.50)
  This is from the Forever 21 store, and my first polish from this brand. It is a lovely Broadway curtain red with red and gold shimmer. I went through a similar color within one season because I loved how it looked on my nails, I can only hope I love this one as much. The one downside of this polish is that it is very thin and runny, so it would take 2-4 coats instead of 1-2. 

I hope this post helped with this one aspect of the trend, I don't wear greens or other colors simply because my mother is a nurse and always tells me that when I have green fingernails, I remind her of a dead body. Gruesome image, but just out respect to her, I oblige :) Let me know if you have any other colors that you would add to this list! I'll be writing another blog on the other trends coming in for nail polishes, but it just would have been too long all in one. 

xoxo,
Ema

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Fall Favorites!

Hi all,
  So I saw the lovely emilynoel83 do a Fall Favorites video and got completely inspired to do this tag. I found myself trying to reset my mind to wear more Fall tones. This is rather amusing since I think secretly I've been ready to jump into deeper tones of nail polish, and "rusty brown" tones. So let's jump in!

Beauty & Fashion:
1) Top 5 fall makeup items?

Revlon Vital Radiance in Pink Sands
   In no particular order: ELF Cream Liner in Coffee, Wet N Wild Acapulco Glow (as a highlight), Physicians Formula 2 in 1 Bronzer and Blush in Light and Pink Rose (since it is together in a compact, it makes it easier to carry), and for the eyes is my Revlon Vital Radiance in Pink Sands trio. Fall time is the best time to wear my browns, for me, since I do wear jewel toned clothing or jewelry.
2) Favorite fall hair product?

   I don't do much with my hair on a normal day, and really can't state that I change what I use unless it    comes down to using conditioner and shampoo brands. I don't have a favorite and usually grab what is on sale!
3) Favorite fall Nail Polish?

Cherry Jubilee
   I LOVE my Avon nailpolishes in Midnight Plum and Cherry Jubilee. I bought them when they were on 2 for $7. Anything that has a nice deep, jewel toned richness has been an ultimate favorite, and now since it is currently back in season, I can't wait!! Maybe I'll actually finish a nail polish this year!
4) Favorite fall scent?

  Not 2 weeks ago, I fell back in love with my Burberry London perfume. I stopped using it for a while and once I spritzed myself again, I fell so in love with it. It has a very slight floral hint to it, but not sweet. There is a cleanness yet a spicyness to it. It sometimes feels like I have my boyfriend's hoodie on, and mixed it with a more girly scent. It's just all around warm.
5) Most worn clothing item & accessory?

   I would have to say that during the fall season, I love pairing heeled boots with jeans and a jewel-toned sweaters. I love having a simple v-neck tshirt under a military style jacket or blazer. When it comes to accessories that I love to wear, I find that I go towards necklaces and dangley earrings.

Random fall Questions:
1) Who's your fall Style icon?

   I really don't have a fall style icon. I usually will see someone and think "oh wow, she just knows how to pull herself together".
2) Going to a corn maze, what do you wear?

LOVE this film
   I have been to corn mazes in the past and have learned from experience to wear shoes I don't mind getting dirty, comfortable pants (ie jeans or sweats), and layering tops. I would probably go with a long sleeved shirt and my "winter" hoodie.
3) Favorite Halloween movie?

   I LOVE Hocus Pocus. I remember since I was a young girl I would watch this movie when it was on TV. I never stop laughing about it, and it would not be Halloween season without it.
4) Favorite Halloween candy?

   Is it sad that I don't have a particular favorite? I never got to celebrate Halloween, so to make me feel better my mom would take me out for movies and ice cream!
5) What are you going to be for Halloween?!

   Well going along with number 4, I never celebrated, and since this year Halloween falls on a pretty heavy day class-wise, I may just pop a pair of cat or mouse ears in and call it a day haha. 


So that was just a fun little tag. What would you say are some of your favorites?


xoxo,
Ema

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Mini Haul

Hello Readers,
  Yes, I am still alive! I've been pretty much on a shopping my stash kick for a long while so I really didn't change anything in my makeup routines, be they loves or dislikes. But no fear! I have finished out about 5-6 products so far and will review them and do my price breakdowns of them! Since it is a change of seasons, I am shifting to more fall colors To kinda lift up my spirits from a really tough last few days, I went on a Dollar Tree mini shopping spree! (my dog had died a few months prior at the young age of 6 in my arms, and a friend of mine got the same breed dog and would not shut UP about how cute her new puppy was. Love her to bits but really? *rant over* ) I was especially happy to see some more ELF products in my Dollar Tree, and I have been very happy with my previous purchases from there so I picked up a few. Now these are just my first impressions, I will probably get to using them in the next month or so (I am working on finishing out 2-4 eye shadows *it's pure murder, not really but who knew they took THAT long to finish!*) So in no particular order let us begin!

1. ELF Bronzing Brush (regular retail $1, bought for $1)
  I have the all over face brush from the basic line, along with three eye makeup brushes and love them. I wanted to shift into using bronzer more, plush with such big fluffy brushes I had a harder time contouring. This brush is so soft, but still picks up product nicely. It is easy to use and to blend color out. I have not noticed any fallout (yay).

2. ELF Studio Line Single Eyeshadows (regular retail $3, bought for $1)
ELF amethyst
  I purchased 6 of these shadows (nuts I know) but they looked so lovely! I purchased:

    -Amethyst: a beautiful brown/purple with plum/gold reflects
    -Butter Cream: yellow-gold with gold reflects
    -Sand Dollar: white with white/ gold reflects (least favorite)
    - Wild Wheat: tan with gold reflects
    - Pebble: Taupe/ light brown with almost no shimmer or reflects. (closest to a matte shade)
    - Saddle: Deep brown with bronze and gold shimmer. (favorite)
  Now I love how these are packaged. I picked them up figuring I might as well save two bucks per shadow since I was going to get them anyways. These are not frosty shades exept for Sand Dollar. It comes out like pure glitter with white powder added to it (not the white with shimmer) All have a buttery feel and darn good payoff!

3. LA Colors Blush in Berry Plum (retailed at $2, bought for $1)
  I have no idea what got into me recently, I have been moving towards plummy and berry toned blushes for this season. I really haven't had a lot of experience with this shade since I have always used Benefit Dandelion, but hey why not try it! It has a little bit of shimmer, but it is very subtle.

4. Almay intense i-color for green eyes (retailed at $4-$9, bought for $1)
  I have heard such great things about Almay, but my local drugstores carry so little of the products, and my eye caught on the purple and dark green tones. They are very soft but frosty (a la shimmer strips from Physicians Formula)

5. ELF Brightening Eye Color in Ivy (retailed at $1, bought for $1)
  You can probably see a pattern, I like my elf products. I could buy them in Target, but the nearest one is about an hour away from me, so it adds up to more if I factor in gas or even shipping to purchase ELF. I would like to state that I am blown away by how pigmented and buttery these 4 shadows in the quad are! I realistically will never use the light green shade, but all others are beautiful! The dk brown shade has notes of purple in it, and its just a color I can't wait to use.

6. Covergirl Eye Enhancers Single in Mauve Souffle (retailed at $3, bought for $1)
  This is my least favorite product I purchased. In the packaging it looks like a silver/ very light pink/ very very light lavender shade of eyeshadow with shimmer in it. It is far from the soft feel of eyeshadows. It is a pure glitter that doesn't even blend. I might use this for a night out as an all over body glitter, but almost nothing transfers via finger, brush, etc.

So by the end of this little shopping spree, I did feel a little better, and knowing I spent less than I would have made me happier too. So stay tuned for more incoming posts!

xoxo,
Ema

PS Does anyone still want me to do Birchbox posts? Please comment below if you would like me to blog about them!