Cheers to the New Year

Happppyyy Neewww Yeaarrrrr! I hope everyone had a blessed and safe night. We had fun playing games with family, eating, singing karaoke, dancing, laughing... it was a good night! I hope this year has many good things for me and my family and ALL of you as well!

What I wore:

Mufe HD Foundation 125

Laura Geller Baked Blush in Grapefruit 

Dior Bronzer in Original Tan in 03 Amber Tan

Dior Amber Diamond highlighter

Eyes:

MAC All That Glitters

MAC Retrospeck 

MAC Satin Taupe

UD 24 7 liner in Zero

MAC liner in Glitz and Blitz

L'Oreal Voluminous mascara

Lips:

Dior 687 Rose Perspective lipstick

And yes... for those who love to zoom up on my pictures and make fun.. yes that is a zit! I'm human! :)

A mommas work is never done... don't cry over spilled milk! ;)

Me and my sweetness

{Always cutting my husbands head off!}

He's 6ft and I'm 5'2... it's gonna happen! 

12am on 1-1-11 whooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and many many blessings to come for ALL of you!!

New Year Resolutions

This is my last post for 2010!!! Can't believe how fast the year has gone by.


I've been thinking about my Resolutions for the upcoming year, I want them to be more practical and not far fetch dreams.

1. Limit the buying of makeup in a month. I think I can handle this. Maybe at the beginning and the end of the month.
2. Start eating healthy and start working out daily. This one I have to I have a wedding dress to look good in for June! I have the wii active game, and some Tae Bo video's that I love it's just finding time.
3. Be more positive and less negative. Not that I am negative all the time, but when it comes to myself I am very negative.
4. Try to get my spa started in my house! 
5. Get married finally after 3 years of post ponding!

What are your resolutions? Are you going to try to follow them?


Happy New Year!! Have a safe and happy 2011!

New Years Eve cleaning

One of the habits I picked up after living in Japan is their custom of oosouji (sometimes written as osoji). It literally means "big (oo) cleaning (souji)" and is a New Years Eve custom. The theory is that you want to start the new year with a clean slate - both metaphorically and literally - so you scrub your house from top to bottom and get all unfinished business done so you welcome the new year fresh and clean.

It's the kind of cleaning you don't do on a weekly basis, like pulling the furniture away from the walls to get all the dust bunnies out. Most people do this on New Years Eve. I, however, have much more to do than I could do in one day, so this year I spread it out over my free time in December. I decided to take on a more uncluttering approach over deep cleaning. I organized my jewelry, cleaned out two junk drawers, purged clothing I don't wear anymore, went through old letters/greeting cards I had saved, cleared out financial documents I no longer needed. It sure feels good to unload all of that stuff!

Today I did some literal deep cleaning, by vacuuming and changing my sheets and all that. Although I wasn't on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor, I think I did a pretty good job and I'm ready to welcome the new year with a clean house and a clean mind!

Happy new year all! :)

MAC Cham-pale & Stylishly Yours purchases

Guys, the second I saw promo pictures for the MAC Cham-pale collection I knew I had to indulge.  An entire collection devoted to shimmery, brightening makeup looks?  Totally down my alley.  Since I didn't specifically ask for a lot for Christmas, my mom said she'd buy me a couple of things from Cham-pale.  So when we went to Minneapolis earlier this week I went running for the MAC store.

Edit:  I just realized I kept thinking Too Chic was from Cham-pale, when it's from Stylishly Yours.  *hand to forehead*.  My bad.

I got the I Get No Kick eye kohl from Cham-pale and Too Chic beauty powder from Stylishly Yours.  Love!

I Get No Kick eye kohl ($14.50)

This gorgeous, champagne-colored eyeliner is the one thing I wanted before anything else.  I saw pictures/swatches a couple weeks ago on Temptalia when Christine reviewed the collection, and immediately fell in love.  I can't believe I don't have an eye pencil like this already (seeing as I love anything "champagne"-looking for eyes)!  It's really pretty on my waterline and inner corners to really brighten up my eyes, though.  I've been pairing it with MAC Naked Lunch eyeshadow on my lids- it kind of reminds me of Naked Lunch, just in pencil form. 

Too Chic beauty powder ($22.50)

It was hard for me to get Too Chic to show up in swatches on my skin, but it leaves this really subtle glow on my cheeks- just what I was going for.  I had originally planned on picking out one of the Special Reserve Highlight powders, but they looked pretty frosty, and I've never tried beauty powders before.  I love using this all over my face, and even on my brow bone for a highlight.  

I think the paint pots look interesting from Cham-pale, and I might splurge for either Chez Chez Lame or Rose Ole highlight powders (even at $28 each... ouch!).  I'm also considering testing out some more of the Stylishly Yours collection, because those cream color bases look gorgeous!  Christine (Temptalia) did say in a comment thread that MAC has like 10 or so collections coming out by May, though, so I should really hide my wallet.  

Have you guys indulged in either of these collections?  

Oh!  Also, quick question: I have that $25 Sephora gift card I got for Christmas burning a hole in my pocket.  I went there today and looked around, but there are just so many things I want that I can't decide what to get.  I was thinking about a Nars blush, maybe Oasis?  But anyway, if you guys have any suggestions of products you swear by that you think I should look into, it would help me so much!  I'm fine with anything up to like $35.  Thank you!

(Other things I was thinking about- UDPP, some kind of matte or subtly shimmery bronzer, a Benefit boxed powder or something else from Benefit, Makeup For Ever Aqua Eyes liner- ahh, I can't decide!)

Happy (almost) New Year!

This year opened so many doors for me- a new home (Chicago!), new school, new friends (who I cannot be more thankful for), and of course this blog!  I don't know how to show what it means to me to be able to come here and post about one of my favorite things, but I am so fortunate.  YOU guys make me want to blog every time.  With that said (and I have to make this short because I'm running late!), thank you for an awesome year!  2011 can only be better.
Hope you all have a fun and safe night.  I'm just working today and then my cousins will come over later for pizza/movies.

Oh, and quick note about my trip to Sephora yesterday- the next shade darker than Fairly Medium (in Bare Minerals) was Medium, which was too dark for me.  However, the SA told me I could exchange the Warmth all-over face color for another one if I couldn't get it to work for me.  I might go for A Little Sun or Faux Tan, which look to be slightly lighter and just more of actual bronzer products than Warmth is.
Stay tuned for a MAC post- can't wait to share it with you all!

My Favorite Brushes

Left to Right

Slanted Liner, Blending, Eye Shadow, Eyelash & Brow Wand, Med Precision, Fan, Blush, Powder

The reason these are my favorite brushes:

 Slanted Liner - Is great for using with cream eyeliner, I have a good control with this brush

Blending- It is big enough for my crease and does a great job at blending in my E/S together

Eye Shadow- Picks up the color great and applies it really well, when my blending brush is dirty this works well to blend. I also use this for my highlighter.

Eyelash & Brow Wand- It does a beautiful job at combing my eyebrows, I think everyone should have one of these brushes.

Med Precision- I use this to apply my E/S to my outer V and apply E/S to my lower lash line, It's small enough that it doesn't pick up alot of product which is good for the lower lash line.

Fan- Great for removing the fall out from your eyes. Or I use it to contour my cheeks and forehead.

Blush- I like the dome shape to this brush, it applies color perfect to my cheeks. I also use it for my bronzer

Powder- This brush it awesome for applying your powder, you can sweep it on or dap the powder on my face. This brush is so soft!

(e.l.f brushes- Blending, Eyeshadow, Wand, Fan, Powder) The other three I got from school I don't know the name, but you can find those brushes almost anywhere.

What are your favorite brushes to use?

e.l.f Minty Lip Gloss Review

Top- Houston, Bottom- New York city

Left- New York city, Right- Houston

If your not a mint fan then these are not for you! It's not to strong but you can sure smell it. The website says

"The sheer glossy color conditions lips with a minty fresh taste. Can be worn alone or layered with other lip products. Give your lips a beautiful sheen and freshen your breath for instant gratification."

Freshen your breath while you wear it! Now that is something new, I couldn't help but laugh when I read that.

They are a very sheer color, they work best when applied over top of a lipstick. I love the New York City color. I'm gonna be wearing that for my Bachelorette party (Sex and the City Theme)

You get alot of product with this gloss, and the packaging is really neat.

The mint helps to plump up your lips, for that full look.

Here are the other colors that elf sells.

Seattle, Nashville, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Chicago, Houston, San Diego

I love the names of the lip glosses! Maybe they should do names for other countries too!

My Rating (1-5 1- the worst, 5- the best)

Quality- 5

Packaging- 5

How long does it stay on- 4.5

Would I buy it again- YES!

Price- $3 (studio line)

Overall- It is a good lip gloss to go over a lipstick, but is a great for a sheer look to

Where to buy- eyeslipsface.com

What We Won Wednesday Dec. 29 #wewonwed

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What We Won Wednesday is a weekly post to share your wins in the last week. The idea of What We Won Wednesday is:

1. To visit your winner post, share, and congratulate each other on our joy of winning.
2. Encourage others
3. Show that people really do win giveaways and sweepstakes if you enter.
4. Give some exposure to sites that are offering sweepstakes and giveaways





Your wins can be from anywhere. Whatever you'd like to share. They can be blog giveaways, national sweepstakes, lottery ticket wins, 50/50, basket party, Fantasy Football, etc etc.

If you won online and remember what site you won from or the name of the company feel free to include it. It would be nice to see where people are winning from. You can post your own wins on your blog then link them up in the linky below so we can hop around and congratulate and marvel at the prizes.

What I won this week:

Well I had a pretty good week to report this time.

1. Won 2 giveaways on "A spicy boy, a cat, and My fat ass". I won a $20 gc to costume squad and Enjoy lighting flameless candle.

2.  I'm very excited about this one!  i won a Tassimo brewer on www.blogfully.net
Cant wait to receive this one.

What did you win? 





Sorry late again with this.  I was looking forward to posting this this week too since I had an awesome win myself.


Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More

Bare Minerals- My initial thoughts (Prepare for a long one!)

Hey everyone!
First off, I'm sorry this is so late.  I meant to have it up the day or two after Christmas, but a couple things ended up getting in the way: 1) I realized I wanted to do a little comparison between the Bare Minerals and my Maybelline Mineral Power powder foundation, and 2) we went out of town for a few days.  I'm home now, though, so I wanted to share this with you ASAP!

My sister got me the Bare Minerals 8-piece customizable starter kit for Christmas, which gives you:
-the choice of one full-sized foundation (0.28oz, either matte or original finish) in your shade
-a smaller sized Mineral Veil (0.07oz)
-Warmth all-over color (0.05oz)
-Full Flawless Face brush
-Flawless Application Face brush
-Maximum Coverage Concealer brush
-mini-sized Prime Time foundation primer (0.5oz),
It also comes with a DVD that explains everything about the makeup, which I haven't watched yet.

I suggested her just getting me the full-sized foundation and Mineral Veil, but she surprised me with this.  She really loves the concealer brush and wanted me to be able to try it, too.
For this review I'm just going to go over each individual product and tell you what I think about them so far.

The brushes:

Top to bottom: Full Flawless face brush (what you use to 'buff' in the foundation), Flawless Application face brush (for Mineral Veil/other powders), Maximum Coverage concealer brush

I'm not sure if when you buy the brushes individually the handles are longer, but these brushes are all travel-sized.  The Full Flawless face brush (I'll just call it the foundation brush) is about the length of my entire hand laid flat.  The powder brush is the smallest in length, with the concealer brush being skinnier and just a little longer.  

Now, I had heard these brushes were on the scratchier side from brush comparison posts I'd read.  For other powder foundation/powder product applications I use my EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer brush, which is one of the softest things I've ever felt.  Comparing the two brands, these are definitely scratchier, however they aren't overly so and I do like the way they work.  My EcoTools brush IS great for buffing in powder foundation, but it's a pain to travel with and for other powders, it buffs them in too much.  It's perfect for when I need  a light application of bronzer, but not when I want high pigmentation.  

I really like how the Bare Minerals powder brush applies things like highlighters.  I just got the MAC Too Chic beauty powder (post coming soon!), and it actually shows up well as compared to when I use my EcoTools Bamboo Bronzer brush, which buffs it in too much.

The concealer brush is a new favorite!  My sister was right.  Now, I've never really used a brush for concealer, but my sister told me she uses a lighter shade of Bare Minerals as a spot concealer and loves this brush for it.  I've been using mine in the same way and this brush works really well.  

The Products

Left: travel-sized Prime Time, Right: Fairly Medium foundation (Original SPF 15 finish)

Left: Original Mineral Veil (0.07oz), Right: Warmth all-over color (0.05oz)

The foundation: I tried the Fairly Medium shade along my jawline while at Sephora, and I thought it would be a perfect match.  However, I've used it a few times and I'm going to go back today and see if I can do a darker shade.  It's not terribly light, but I know as soon as spring comes I'll get darker and I'll need to rely on bronzer.  

As far as the formula goes, I love it.  Keep in mind my skin is normal-dry and sensitive, and for foundation I look for something light-medium coverage, mainly to cover up mild redness and acne spots.  This evens out my skin tone perfectly and gives my skin a nice "glow", especially after using the Mineral Veil.  It doesn't cover up my acne spots enough, which is why I use the concealer brush to dab it over them.  The one downside is that this doesn't last all day- you'd need a fuller coverage concealer if you care more about the staying power. 

Prime Time: The only primer-type of product I've tried is the Monistat Anti-Chafing gel.  I've never really felt the need for a primer, though, so I didn't use it very much.  I've been using Prime Time since I got this set, and so far I like it.  I'm kind of basing this off of what my sister has told me her problems are with Bare Minerals- that it doesn't last all day on her oilier skin.  I think using Prime Time would really benefit her over me.  I have no problems with the foundation wearing all day on me since I've been using this.  However, it doesn't make my skin feel oily/greasy which I like.

Original Mineral Veil: I've heard so many raves about this product, so I was so interested in trying this! It's translucent, but it does give your skin a little extra "something", and nicely finishes the foundation.  The only thing I worry about is it leaving the smallest white cast- I usually wear some kind of bronzer highlighter on top of it so I haven't noticed it yet, but I also haven't really taken pictures or anything since using it.

Warmth All-Over Face Color: Dislike.  It's definitely too dark for my skin tone (I'm sorry I forgot to swatch this, I can do that if anyone would like!).  It's hard to buff in and makes my cheeks look reddish, which is one of the primary reasons I wear face makeup at all.  This is probably because it's too dark for me, but anyway, it will probably go in the trash or to my friend who's darker.  

Overall: I really like Bare Minerals and I'm so happy my sister got it for me to try.  It's perfect for someone like me, who wants something lightweight and easy.  This set is really nice because it allows you to try out all their top-selling products- unfortunately for me, the Warmth color will go unused, but I think anyone darker will find it works better (I'm around a MAC NC25 for reference).  Otherwise, I love the foundation, Prime Time, and Mineral Veil, as well as the brushes (even though they aren't as soft as my EcoTools).  They work really well and are SO convenient to travel with!

Whew!  I was going to include a comparison to my Maybelline Mineral Power powder foundation too, but seeing how long this is I'll save it for another post.  

Hope this is helpful for any of you considering Bare Minerals! 

Audrey Hepburn Look

I love breakfast at tiffany's and Audrey Hepburn!!

For this look I used e.l.f cream eyeliner in black and 100 palette, lipstick in classy

This look is really easy.

You want a nude color all over your lid

Dark Brown in your crease

Highlighter under your brow

Fill in your brows Audrey Hepburns start Big and go Small, but if you don't have full brows do the best you can.

Apply your cream eyeliner, starting in the inner eye working outwards and make a wing. You want your eyeliner to arch in the middle of your lid, we are trying to stay away from Arabic eyeliner look. Apply white eyeliner on your lower water line. It will make your eyes look bigger. If you want you can apply false eyelashes or apply 3 coats of mascara.

You want a rosy cheek and not alot of contouring. Finish with a soft nude/pink lip.

Finished now you have a Audrey Hepburn look! Enjoy

A look back on profits from extra-cash sites in 2010

As the year comes to an end, I decided to look back on what I've made from extra-cash sites. These online money-makers are always a hot topic. I have been doing surveys and points programs for years now, and sometimes I wonder if they're really worth it. A few survey sites have made their rewards programs so paltry that I've stopped using them – who really wants to spend the equivalent of 50 hours on surveys to get some $10 as-seen-on-TV gadget?

I've drastically cut down on my survey taking (I was big into it when I was unemployed a few years ago!) but still dabble in it, so my accumulation is pretty fair considering the little effort I put into it. Toluna hasn't been sending me survey emails since April due to some glitch, so my balance was only a few months' worth of surveys. The survey site with the best cash-out program in my opinion is SurveySpot. Although they send tons of emails which I mostly just ignore, you get paid instantly via PayPal. No waiting or anything.

What I use more is the points programs like MyPoints, Swagbucks, and less frequently, InboxDollars. I've been a member of MyPoints since 2002 and all I really do is click through their emails, so the rewards I make are definitely worth it! Same with InboxDollars, it's mostly just email clicks, but accumulates slower. Swagbucks can be really profitable if you have a lot of referrals, but I don't, so most of my bucks are made through searches. Not a lot of effort either.

The LEAST amount of effort, however, is Ebates! I love love love Ebates! All you have to do is remember to click through them when you do online shopping (which I do plenty of). It's the easiest way to get some cash for nothing. I have referred a few friends for $5 bonuses as well. So it's not surprising I've made a large amount from them.

One other thing worth noting is this “exclusive” community I joined at the end of last year, called “The Mic”. The parent company, Communispace, apparently has over 350 of these communities they make for brand awareness and consumer feedback. I was originally invited through another survey site, and it's a little forum-based thing with discussions and polls. If you participate in four activities a month, you get $15 deposited in PayPal the next month. Super awesome easy money, but it's a closed community so I can't refer people :(

The results:

Survey sites

Zoompanel – nothing, and I will be quitting once I make enough to get some useless gadget

SurveySpot - $11.50 in PayPal cash

Ipsos I-say - $15 Amex card

Toluna - $20 check

Global Opinion Panels - $20 check (+ $10 in balance)

Other sites

InboxDollars - $40 check

MyPoints - $50 Target gift card

Swagbucks - $65 in Amazon gift cards

Ebates - $70.49 in PayPal cash  (+ $15.65 pending)

"The Mic" - $185 in PayPal cash

Favorite products of 2010

This is going to be a long post, so hold tight. I bring you my favorite 10 products of 2010

1. Maybelline The COLOSSAL Volum' Express Mascara. I love this mascara, I had to many compliments on my eyelashes people thought I wore false ones!

2. Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara. After using my colossal mascara I was a little nervous using a new one. This one blew my mind! You can build your eyelashes from natural to dramatic. It looks amazing!

3. Rimmel Natural Bronzer 021 SUN LIGHT. This bronzer is perfect for year round. It has a very very small amount of shimmer. I use to contour my cheeks, it looks so natural.

4. e.l.f Mineral Eyeshadow Primer. This was the first eye primer that I ever used. I works great on my oily lids. My eyeshadow has never creased, and stays on all day!

5. e.l.f High Definition Powder. OMG!!! This is amazing! I wear this when I know there are going to be alot of cameras. It gives you the flawless look, smooths out your skin.

6. e.l.f Cream Eyeliner Black. I love this eyeliner, I have more control over this then a liquid eyeliner, it glides on so smooth and stays on all day.

7. Blush Baby Mineral Pigment. These pigments are smooth and silky and the color pay off is great! You get alot of product in the little container.

8. Annabell SkinTrue Foundation- Nat Ivory. This foundation gives me a matte finish and is great for my oily and dry skin. I get great coverage from this product.

9.  Clean and Clear Dual Action Moisturizer. I only apply this to the areas that have the most breakout so my chin, nose and forehead. It's very moisturizing and dries out the pimples at the same time. I noticed a big difference using it.

10. Loreal Sublime Bronze One Day. This was my go to summer bronze product. I love it because it washes of the next day and you can see where you applied the color. Doesn't make you look orange. I love that it has a pump and not a squeeze tube. Great for special occasions.








So there you have it my favorite products of 2010! I can't believe that it's almost over!!!