Let's Talk Nail Polish

Moving far away, living on your own, spending countless hours job searching and thinking about life can sometimes drive a girl bonkers. I've had a lot of deep thoughts lately. A lot. I'm pretty much the next Aristotle/Plato. On a side note, I have been slashing [ / ] everything lately. 

So, in the midst of all my deep thoughts on life, love, and the pursuit of happiness, I started thinking about nail polish. I need your help. Here are my thoughts:

+Essie

[via]

At one point in my life, I was an Essie Queen.

Ranted & raved about it.

Now, I can't stand it.

It always goes on so thick & chunky and dries with bubbles.

Maybe it's just me. I think it might be.

+Zoya

[via]

I was sold the first time this polish hit my nails.

Love all the colors and the smoothness it goes on.

Also love that it's vegan!

+OPI

Badda-bing.

You put the OPI Top Coat on and your nails are set for weeks [pretty much]

Smooth.

Love the wide brush.

Are the names the best or what?

So, what's my dilemma, you ask? Well, I'm just curious what I'm missing out on. I've heard tons of good things about Butter London. Is it worth the price?

I want to continue expanding my nail polish collection but don't want to waste money on a color I love but whose texture or quality will later disappoint.

Tell me, friends! What's your go-to nail polish? What brand can you always rely on, that leaves you always wanting more polish? Spill!

End of 2011 Make-up Review

In case you don’t already know, I live life on a very tight budget. Always have {by choice} and always will! I love a good steal and, in most cases, won’t make a purchase unless it IS a steal. That said, today I’m going to share with you some of my latest make-up finds and my review for each!

I’ll start off by saying that I LOVE e.l.f. make-up! I’ve yet to try their eye shadow because I’m too in love with my MAC eye shadow {the one brand I WILL splurge on!} Also, I’ve been paying more and more attention to what companies continue to test on animals. That is a BIG no-no in my book. HUGE. I can proudly say that the items below were NOT tested on animals :)

 

1. e.l.f. Studio Contour Brush $3.00
2. e.l.f. Studio Blush in Fuchsia Fusion $3.00
3. e.l.f. Studio Tone Correcting Powder $3.00
4. Rimmel The Max Volume Flash Bold Curves Mascara $5.00-$7.29

e.l.f. Contour Brush

Well, I had originally been praying for some MAC brushes to magically appear in my hand one day. Since that didn’t happen, I went to Target and walked away with this synthetic-bristled eye shadow brush. While I don’t have a MAC brush to compare it too, I’m still in love. The bristles are super soft and work perfectly for my windshield wiper technique in my crease!

By the way, any Sigma brush users out there? I’ve been wanting to order a few of their brushes but I don’t love that they’re not all synthetic :(

e.l.f. Blush in Fuchsia Fusion

One of my favorite items of make-up EVER. Yes, ever. The color is exactly what it says it is – fuchsia fusion. It’s a bright tone with just a touch of glimmer to make your cheek bones POP! Another great thing about this blush is that a little goes a long way! I just barely have to touch my brush to the powder and it glides smoothly onto my face. My first bit of it has lasted me over six months! I just bought my second blush yesterday and won’t have to use it for another couple of weeks. $3.00. Lasts a long time. Oh, and the packaging is very high-quality. Definitely reminds me of MAC.

Pocahontas is a fan.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder

This is one item from e.l.f. that I haven’t been over-the-top in love with. The reviews on it are mainly good, however, I just didn’t notice a HUGE difference. This powder acts more as a mattifying powder for my skin and did less to the actual tone of it. I did notice a small difference though because I have red undertones in my skin. Again, just nothing major for me. The good thing is that it was only $3.00! Gotta love it :)

Rimmel Max Volume Flash Bold Curves Mascara

What a mouth-full. You have to say the name in a British accent like in the commercial. Seriously. It’s fun.

This is literally one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE mascaras! I never thought I’d find one better for my lashes than L’Oreal’s Voluminous Mascara. However, this lime green bottle of VA-VOOM is it! PLUS, they don’t test on animals {unlike L’Oreal!}

I love curved brushes. Check. I love wet mascaras. Check. I love lift. Check. I love volume. Check. I love mascaras that last all day. Check. This mascara has everything I look for, not to mention, I got it for under $5.00! And people pay how much for mascara? You know you’re using an amazing mascara when you take it off and your lashes continue to stay lifted and curled.

--

So, there you have it – some of my make-up discoveries this year! I have a few more beauty finds that I’ll share with you before we’re onto 2012!
What are some of your recently discovered make-up products? Do tell! :)

e.l.f. Cosmetics Haul

While perusing the make-up aisles of Target a few months ago, I saw some stellar price tags next to a ton of make-up by the name of e.l.f. Cosmetics. I had vaguely heard of it before and figured it was at least worth a shot. I needed some brown eye liner and decided on buying the liquid eye liner in Coffee for a whopping $1.00!

I hadn’t used a felt-tip liquid eyeliner before so it took a little time to get used to applying this. The coffee color is dark and has a little glimmer to it. It seems to stay on almost as well as the Stila Smudge Pot I’ve been using for years (at $20 a pop!)

I recently went back to Target and picked up a few more e.l.f. products. I’ve been running low on lip color and although I’m allergic to most lipsticks, figured I’d give this $1 lipstick a try! I picked up the “Classy” shade.

So far, I actually really like it. It’s very creamy and goes on smoothly AND I haven’t noticed any irritation or swelling yet! The color is a soft rosy pink, a little more bright than what I normally wear but it’s nice for a change. It doesn’t last super long which I sort of figured but, for $1.00 I think it’s something great to pick up and throw in your purse for some added color on the go!

I have been using a concealer stick from Avon for a while now. The longer I used it, the more feeble the stick got and eventually split into two inside the container, making it kind of tricky to apply to my skin. So, I was needing a new concealer. I had used a liquid concealer a few years ago which I had been pretty satisfied with so, when I saw this liquid concealer by e.l.f. I picked it up!

 

 

I selected the Tone Correcting Concealer in “Apricot Beige” and it ended up being a perfect match! This liquid concealer comes with a sponge-tipped applicator which I love. The coverage is great, it blends in very well, and lasts all day! I will definitely be purchasing this concealer again! Only $1.00!

Lastly, the fabulous Lindsey over at The Bargain Blonde highly recommended the e.l.f. Studio Makeup Mist & Set so I knew I had to give this a shot as well! This was the most expensive item I purchased… $3.00 :)

 

 

I applied all my make-up except for my mascara and gave my face one spritz of this setting spray. I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to be startled. For example, I can’t do eye drops. So, that’s the one thing I didn’t like about this setting spray… the anticipation of it hitting my face. Other than that, it dries quickly and you would never know it was on your face. It’s not sticky at all. I haven’t been consistent in using it every day but I have noticed a slight difference on the days that I did put it on! The real test will be if it keeps my makeup fresh after a long, humid day in Virginia!

Aside from MAC eye shadows and a few other pricier items, I tend to be a drug store make-up kind of girl. I love finding quality products for less and I’m so excited about trying new e.l.f. products!

What about you? Have you tried e.l.f. yet? Thoughts? What are some products that I definitely have to try?

P.S. The Bachelorette last night. I’m not going to say much because I’m sure some of you have a date with TiVo soon. All I’m going to say is that tears of joy may or may not have filled my eyes on Ashley’s date with JP. Okay, bye :)

 

All images via e.l.f.

Eco-Friendly Beauty Review

If you’ve been following my blog for the past few weeks, you may have watched my first ever vlog! So exciting :) If not, you can go here to watch it. In my vlog I showed you all the products I received in my Eco-Emi June Box and explained what the program was all about.

I got a couple questions and responses to review the products, so today I’ll be telling you what I thought of {most of} them! I’m linking the product’s website to each picture so if you want to peruse their other goodies, just click!

1. Evening Facial Crème in PEACE by Blissoma

I only used this product for one night so I’m sure I haven’t seen the full benefits of it yet. Let me just say, this facial crème smells AMAZING! I said this in my vlog but I have to say it again. It is so calming, which makes it perfect for a night crème. The product smoothly blends into the skin very well and is super light so you’d never even know it was on. I patted it gently into my eye area, face, and décolleté and went to sleep!

2. Glee Gum in bubblegum flavor

This gum certainly tasted like bubblegum. The pieces are like Chiclets, similar to Eclipse brand gum with the harder shell on the outside. The flavor did not last very long and the gum itself was rather thin while chewing, unlike that of real bubblegum.

3. Merry Hempsters Organic Hemp Lip Balm in lemon-lime

If you’re a lip balm lover, I totally recommend this stuff! It tastes delicious and smells even better! It’s so great to look at the ingredients and see that everything is so natural! Like I mentioned before, I’ve always been allergic to lip balms and lipsticks so I only used this product a few times. I didn’t notice any irritation in the times I tried it, though! Plus, this lip balm is only $2.99 and comes in a ton of different flavors like Spearmint, Vanilla, and Cinnamon!

4. Organic Deodorant in Pina Colada by Salubritas

I can’t say that I’ve ever tried a deodorant balm before. It was definitely odd at first, only because I wasn’t used to it. The texture reminds me of sand mixed in some petroleum jelly. I scooped a bit out and applied it as deodorant. It seemed a bit more greasy than the regular deodorant I use, but as soon as it dried, I never noticed the greasiness. The scent (pina colada) was pretty strong. Maybe a little TOO tropical and believe me, I didn’t think there was such a thing. Cool concept though if you’re into trying deodorant balms. It lasted all day, too!

5. Organic Coconut Wax Candle by Pure Light in pure scent

Coconut is one of my favorite scents so I was very excited to try this. The sample they gave me was only a tea candle. So, once the candle was lit, it didn’t take very long for all the wax to melt until it was what appeared to be a flame floating in water. It smelled very nice and peaceful. Since the candle didn’t burn for an extended length of time, the scent didn’t carry throughout the room as a larger candle would. Once I blew the candle out, the wax hardened back up so I can still get a few more uses out of it :)

6. Face Mask in Japanese Matcha Tea with Acai & Goji Berry by Pangea Organics

Since all facial masks are different, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but I was still rather surprised once I started distributing the product onto my face. There’s no doubt that this product is organic because it definitely looked like something straight out of the earth. Luckily, it smelled far better than it looked. The mask itself wasn’t the easiest thing to apply to my face. It wasn’t smooth and it was harder to get more coverage in certain areas. The directions said to apply it to your face and neck, but there just wasn’t enough product to cover my whole neck.

I’m really putting myself out there by posting this picture. I apologize if I scare you. I admit, when I went back into the bathroom to rinse it off, I was a bit startled when looking at myself in the mirror for the first time after putting the mask on. I don’t know… maybe it brings out my eyes ;) Kidding.

So, yeah… moving on to something more flattering that WON’T scare you off!

7. Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques

• Organic Crème Eye Shadows in Pearl and Cocoa Latte
• Body Glitter in Starlight
• Lip Gloss in Summer Melon

Company Website

I’ve never been into crème eye shadows. I just don’t really like the “wet” feel of them and have found that powder shadows give me better coverage. I felt the same way about Lauren Brooke’s eye shadows. I applied the pearl all over my lid and used cocoa latte in the crease. It was a simple, clean look – great for a natural, somewhat shimmery look. There wasn’t much contrast in the colors though. I couldn’t really tell that I had a darker color in the crease.

The body glitter was a subtle bronze color and the consistency was a nice surprise. Instead of it being chunky glitter, it was a soft, shimmery powder much like that of actual bronzer. I added a little at the tops of my cheekbones, just below my eyes to brighten things up a bit.

Lastly, the lip gloss was nice and fresh feeling. The gloss was sheer with a little tint. In terms of melons, it was watermelon. I was hoping it would have a hint of cantaloupe somewhere in there too to give me that coral color. No such luck. Also, the gloss smells Bonnie Bell-esque. It’s fruity. A little too fruity. For my liking, at least. Here I am with the eye shadows and lipgloss on:

There are a few more products (such as the smoothie) that I haven’t tried yet. The July box should be shipping out soon so be looking for another vlog in a couple weeks :) Hope you enjoyed the review! Let me know if you have any questions about the products!