I'm currently waiting for my new video to load onto my computer from my camera, so I figured I would do a blog post previewing the look!
I've done a Carrie Underwood inspired makeup look, taken from her performance on American Idol last week for Idol Gives Back. I am using all drugstore products for this, except UDPP. Carrie almost ALWAYS has a cat-eye shaped smokey look when she's on TV or at events, with her lashes (fake!) helping to create that shape. Her eyeshadow shape is also quite rounded usually, instead of having a really sharp outer V like a lot of celebs do.
Hopefully this look will make Mike Fisher mistake me for Carrie in a brunette wig?
EYES: UDPP Annabelle e/s Buff Naked NYX Jumbo Pencil in Black Bean NYX e/s in Eucalyptus NYX e/s in Iced Mocha Annabelle e/s in Ebony Yves Rocher liquid eyeliner (I also recommend Rimmel liquid eyeliner!) NYC black eyeliner pencil Covergirl Lashblast length in black Revlon lashes in Intensifying
Lips: Rimmel gloss in East End Snob
FACE: Marcelle foundation in Ivory Loreal true match concealer NYC creme blush in Big Apple Blush Joe Fresh cheek tint in Nude Jane bronzer in Sahara Coastal Scents silica powder Annabelle eyebrow pencil in Taupe
Growing Tree Toys offers a Free Birthday Club. You can sign up, up to 5 children. It includes a surprise for your child and exclusive offers for you. It will arrive in your email 2 weeks before the birthdate.
Growing Tree Toys Birthday Club
Growing Tree Toys offers a variety of toys for children of all ages. They offer educational toys, baby toys, toddler toys, ride on toys, games musical toys, and much more. They even make them easy to find with their categories and even age group search.
educational toys baby toys toddler toys
Looking over the site some of my favorite and more unique toys:
Harley Davidson Roaring Rocker Also a favorite of my boys on the site. They loved looking over the toys here.
Praying Mantis Pagoda science kitMy older boys saw the butterfly habitat advertised on tv and have been bugging me for one. Growing Tree Toys has it. That is, until, they saw the Praying Mantis Pagoda. Now they want this.
Snuggle Pod Lil' Peanut Baby Doll
I just thought this was the cutest thing. I've not seen one of these before. I may have to get one for my baby.
I could post about 100 unique and cute toys on this blog but it would just be easier for you to use one of the links I included in this post to see for yourself.
This is my first Rouge Volupte lipstick and I'm loving it. I spent about 15 minutes at Sephora last week trying on all of the colors and the #26 is the only one that I really loved. This lipstick is really smooth and creamy but because of that it can look a little streaky on this lips. I can over look that minor detail because I love texture and color so much (very beautiful coral pink). It kind of smells like watermelon which is kinda nice but I'm not huge fan of that scent so it's just ok to me. Out of all the lipsticks I own this one seems to get on my teeth the most maybe because it's so creamy it slides off my lips really easy? That's another downside.
I really love the color and the packaging is to die for! It's so luxurious and beautiful looking.
Do I think it's worth the price for a lipstick ($34)? No. I actually think $34 (plus shipping $42 is quite INSANE). But, I do think it's a gorgeous color and it's a nice little treat to own.
Rouge Volupte #26
Natural lighting
With Flash... as you can see it looks a little streaky on the bottom lip
I have to admit I haven't been a huge fan of Chanel foundations in the past. I've done reviews on them in the past and it was always "It looks amazing at first but after two hours it looked terrible". I have tried the Chanel Pro Lumiere and the Chanel Teint Innocence and both were just ok. I've given the Vitalumiere a chance and I stand wowed. This is by far their best foundation. They have recently reformulated it and whatever they did it is working. Well done on their part. The old formula was nice but it was so dewy that your face felt really moist all day and it would rub off on whatever your face touched. The new formulation still has the dewy factor but it's more of a matte dewy if that makes sense. It doesn't make my face feel moist all day and I'm glad but that's kind of a weird feeling. The Vitalumiere is great for people who have dry skin and don't need a lot of coverage. The sales guy told me that this foundation is medium to full and I don't think he really had a clue what he was talking about. This is most definitely a light to medium coverage foundation. It really does cover well and gives a very flawless finish but it's lighter in coverage so you WILL need your concealer if you have any extra redness or blemishes you want to conceal. Over all I am sooooo happy and impressed with this foundation. It lasts a good 6 hours on my face which is amazing compared to the other Chanel foundations I've tried in the past. I love the finish and the dewy glow it gives. This is the only foundation that I've ever used that I like to use a brush with rather than my fingers. I think using a foundation brush (I use the Sigma ss 190) with the Vitalumiere will make it look much more flawless then just using your fingers. I tried the colors Beige #2 and Shell (or Cendre) but the color that works best for me is the Soft Bisque 2.5. Well done on the new formulation, Chanel. It's about time companies start listening to their consumers and change things in a GOOD way.
$54 wherever Chanel is sold.
As you can see rubbed in it gives a very nice dewy "glowy" look.
This is what the finish looks like... well, at least on half of my face. :) I didn't like the full picture. ha ha
I haven't been keeping up with my blog as much as I'd like to!:( My computer cord died out on me and I've been using my moms laptop until my powder cord comes in the mail. I have the worst luck with computers (cell phones, cameras, etc)!
I want to do a quick Share The Love post to share some wonderful youtubers with you that I think are amazing women. All of them are sweet, kind, beautiful and fun to watch.
www.youtube.com/lizyartur Liz is such a sweetheart. She's the kind of girl you know that if you met her in person you'd hit it off and become friends. She has a very warm personality and is so nice to everyone. She is so stunning and beautiful! She does great reviews, hauls, tutorials, fashion, hair and fitness videos. I like her fitness videos because she always does things that really work and are not your "normal" boring sit-ups. It's fun! Check her out!
www.youtube.com/blushingpixie (AKA Yorkieluvs) when Martha posts a new video... I get excited. She has the most soothing voice and you hang on her every word because everything she talks about sounds interesting. She is so beautiful and has the most amazing skin I've ever seen. She had left youtube for a few months and everyone was having a fit... myself included. I was so sad that she left because I have found so many amazing products because of her... she's someone I really like to watch. She does reviews, tutorials, hauls and fashion videos.
www.youtube.com/elainey0007 talk about amazing hair! Elaine's hair is to die for. She has the perfect color and cut... jealous!;) She has really great videos and she also is SO beautiful. She is a mother and I like watching women who are mothers on youtube because sometimes they are more in the same place as I am. She does reviews, tutorials, tags, hauls... you name it. She's worth checking out!
www.youtube.com/xPrincessJessex There is something about this girl that is so much fun to watch. I love her personality and energy. She truly gets excited about everything and I think that's adorable. She is so pretty it's unfair. She does tutorials, reviews, hauls, contests... she's very fun!
Last but not least I have to add someone that doesn't need me to share the love with them because well.... everyone already knows and loves her so much. She is the 2nd make up girl I ever watched on youtube and probably the first person I subscribed to and that is www.youtube.com/lollipop26 I had googled Enormous Lash and up popped a video of her talking about it. To me the concept of real women reviewing a product I was researching and telling the good, the bad and the ugly was the best thing since sliced bread to me. I was so excited. Laura was the first person I subbed to and for sure the person I look up to the most. I treasure her honesty and kindness. She is so beautiful and I love her fashion sense. I also get excited when she posts a new videos because whatever she talks about is gold. I'm glad that a year and a half ago I found her videos because she's really the reason I'm apart of youtube.... I didn't even know that there was a beauty community out there like this! :)
Who are your favorite youtube girls... I always love finding new girls to watch! I hope that you check out some of the girls I listed because all of them are amazing. :)
This is something we can all use a little of. Thinking of 10 things that can make our lives happier and healthier. This is my personal list in no certain order:
1. Make time for the family--My husband and I work opposite shifts. He doesn't get to spend as much time with the kids as he'd like and we don't get to spend enough time together. But on his days off we try to make up for it. I make a special meal. We all sit together and eat and discuss our day. No tv's on, no cell phone nothing. My husband also tries to make special guy time with our 3 boys.
2. Take some "you" time--I know, as a mom, that's probably one of the hardest things to do. My time, when all the kids are in bed and before my husband gets home from work. I usually have about an hour and a half to myself. That's my facebook or blogging time, or my candle making time, or my reading time, whatever I feel like doing for me time.
3. Get active with the family--Let's face it, most of us aren't as active as we should be. I know I'm guilty. I do have a physical job outside the home which i love. I work as a therapist. And as a therapist I see the trouble people can into by being sedintary. I try to find a couple days a week to take all the kids out for a walk around town, kick the soccer ball around with them, take them to the playground (and be active with them....what a mom can enjoy the swings too right?) This also has a secondary benefit (See list number 1)
4. Read your food labels--again I'm guilty. I don't always buy the healthiest things. I've been making an honest effort over the last 2 years though to buy healthier food. 1% milk instead of 2%, having more fruits, veggies, and juices around the house instead of twinkies, soda, etc.Once I started really reading labels I was shocked to see some of the fat content, sodium amounts, calories in some food
5. Make healthy eating fun and exciting for kids---One of my boys' favorite treats is apples with peanut butter. I like to crush plain cornflakes into the peanut butter to to give it a unique crunchy texture. I started swapping their white bread for whole wheat bread and cutting their sandwiches into cute shapes You can use metal cookie cutters, ravioli cutters whatever you have that works.
6. Talk to your kids about healthy eating habits--I started talking to my kids about healthy choices and examples of healthy choices in terms they'd understand around 4 years old. I even made a little quiz: what's a better snack? oranges or a snickers bar, what's a better drink choice? chocolate milk or soda? and so on. I also tried to explain why it was important to eat healthier: weight gain and the problems that can compound from that, vitamin c to help the immune system etc.
7. When possible make it from scratch or as much as possible instead of prepackaged: You can control what goes into your food better. You can use egg beaters instead of eggs, you can use skim milk instead of whole milk, etc. I know that's a toughy especially when companies make it so convenient and quick for us.
8. Drink more water: Water as we all know is so important for our bodies. It helps our skin, keeps us hydrated, helps us decrease our hunger between meals, and so much more. Milk and Orange Juice like Tropicana is great too!
9. Don't sweat the small stuff: Does it really matter if the dishes sit for an hour after supper if it means getting in some quality time with the family? Who cares if your mother in law made a surprise visit and your floor wasn't vacuumed? Don't overload yourself at work. Sure you want to be a superstar or strive for that raise but stress takes a toll on our bodies and can increase sick days.
10. Get some sleep: Try to strive for a regular bedtime (for yourself too not just your kids). Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep. When you can't try to find time for a nap. If you're fatigued how will you have the energy for the kids? the family time? work? whatever. Renew your body.
I also have a free code for you exclusive for twittermoms.com to offer to my readers for Tropicana Juicy Reward points:
“This one-time use code is valid for new accounts ONLY. Must be entered within 6 hours of creating your account. Limit one new account bonus code per new account. All accounts must be created and all codes entered by May 7, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST.”
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Tropicana Trop50 blogging program to be eligible to win 6 free Juicy Rewards points and a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”
I'm participating in the contest on www.bestkidsapps.com. Use the Iphone apps for kids link above to read the blog and participate yourself if you'd like too.
I don't have an Iphone but would LOOOOVE one. I don't have an Ipad either for that matter but would LOOOVE one of those. I see all the cool apps out there that would be so useful to me like: the weather channel app., cool games I could use when I'm say sitting in the car waiting for the kids practice to be done, and there's more I'm sure that I don't even know about. I love the touch screen features on both the Iphone and the Ipad.
Being a sweepstakes addict I had to jump on this anyway. So stop on over to the blog: iPhone apps for kids read the rules and write your own post.
A random participating mommy blogger will be announced May 10
I bought 5 items, only one of which I was actually looking to purchase!! Haha bad Chloe!
Let's start with the NYX eyeshadows. I went to PharmaPlus (Rexall is the only drugstore chain that sells NYX in Canada I think) to get either Iced Mocha or Root Beer single eyeshadow for a drugstore Carrie Underwood tutorial I'm planning. Apparently those two shades are passable dupes for MAC's Satin Taupe. They didn't have Root Beer, so by default I got Iced Mocha... and on the same row there was a gorgeous shade called Eucalyptus, and I held them up together and.. well I'll be using both of these shades for my tutorial now :P
Iced Mocha (left), Eucalyptus (right)
Eucalyptus (left), Iced Mocha (right)
MAC Satin Taupe (left), NYX Iced Mocha (left)
So Iced Mocha isn't an exact match for Satin Taupe, but it'll definitely do the trick (these photos are with a flash, so it looks a bit different IRL). It has the same dark brown shimmery glow to it.
Next... the NYC blushable creme stick. These are new in Canada, and I don't know how long they have existed elsewhere. The one I got is in the shade "Big Apple Blush". I was impressed with the variety of colours, except that there only seemed to be 2 pinks, while the rest were bronzy or dark brown hues. Maybe it was just the selection at my drugstore?
Anyway. I have yet to try this on my cheeks, but on my hand it is very pigmented and VERY easy to blend.
Now BonneBell's LipLUSHous plumping gloss in Vanilla Smooch. Very creamy and feels nice on the lips. You need to put a LOT on to feel the "plumping tingle" though. Smells yummy too!
And I got some Revlon eyelashes as well in 91155 Intensifying. I only got them because Revlon lashes and stuff were 30% off... and I had to remind the cashier that it was on sale!! Always look at the checkout screen thing, ladies! Sometimes sales don't show up!
As you all know, I love a good bargain, good sale, outlet shopping etc. I driving my way down south and happened to notice an outlet mall in Hagerstown, MD. I stopped. They had a lot of great stores. I enjoyed the landscaping of the outlets outside. It was a beautiful day I remember.
I came across a Children's Place outlet. You might know from a previous post that I love Children's Place. I go in and wouldn't you know, they had an end of season clearance going on. I had just had my first son. I love buying baby clothes. I came across this clearance rack with baby clothes labeled for crazy amounts like $1, $2, $3, and so on. I couldn't believe it. I stocked up. I got several pieces including dress pants for my son, t-shirts, even a pair of snow pants. I must have had at least 10 pieces of clothing from him.
The girl at the register starts ringing me up. Until it was all said and done, my total, $22. Yes my friends, that's the way I like to shop! With a feeling of accomplishment for spending so little and providing some nice clothes for my son, I was back on my road trip.
Also, here is a coupon code for GAP to get 15% off a purchase of $75 or more: GAP coupon code
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Gap Outlet blogging program to be eligible to get a $20 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”
Last Friday, when I was going to Helsinki, my train was late almost an hour. I went to shopping in order to kill some time. My train's delay became expensive to me haha!
Brown belt, 13€ from Vero Moda. I needed it especially with this dress! Photo isn't very representative.. This belt is very useful and fits well with many clothes.
I have ever before liked H&M's special collections but this spring in my opinion their The Garden Collection is a real success! There's so many clothes I like. I already had one dress from the collection.
And why the collection gets some extra bonus from me is that the all clothes are made of recycled materials! At school I've studied a lot of about global warning and things like that. Those things sometimes distress, escpecially when I think about my own consumption. I'm really a huge consumer and no can do, because I'm such an addict to shopping. Sooo~ I wanted to support sustainable development (*^_^*)
Flower print shirt 25€. I love that the flower prints are in now, they are so nice! I was really surprised that I still found this shirt. I have read others' blogs and many are complaining that this lovely shirt is completely sold out. I also fretted it but wow! I found it! I think there happened same thing as with the dress: it was just taken off from mannequin.
I'll wear these outfits in Stockholm this weekend!
Another piece of clothing from the GC. High waisted shorts 20€. I like the ribbon!
When I first was these shorts in H&M catalog I thought "wow they look so comfortable!" and they really are! Material is really nice.
I've started to use more colours instead of just pink and white. Nowadays I like purple and blue, too! As you can see from my purchases. By the way, I've always avoided wearing blue and white together because it's kinda screaming "HEY EVERYONE I COME FROM FINLAND!" haha.. (blue and white are the colours of Finnish flag). But I think this outfit looks kinda okay.
I still want to get this onepiece of the collection! Something pink also, please~ Hopefully I'll find it in Sweden.
Yeah, we are going to Stockholm tomorrow! I'm pretty excited. I can't wait for the ultimate shopping! So, we will see next time after I come back from Sweden. We are leaving in evening by ship to Stockholm and we are leaving Stockholm in Saturday evening. I'm afraid that I'll just accidentally speak English there because min svenska är så dåligt 8D Let's see, let's see.. I'll try.
Next Friday it's time to celebrate May Day, I'm in Stockholm then. So, everyone have a happy May Day / Hyvää vappua / Klara vappen!
Save money and look good. It kills me to see people dropping $100 and up on jeans when I see perfectly good less expensive jeans on the store shelves and racks. But who am I? I'm no expert. So Good Morning America did a great clip on designer vs. less expensive denim.
So I'm laying in bed one night flipping channels. I flick past HSN and then click back. They're doing the spot on Earth Brite Natural All-Purpose Cleaner. They are showing all the things this product supposedly cleans. You know: pots and pans, ovens, mirrors, tennis shoes, grills, PVC furniture, windows, just lots of stuff. I'm thinking "wow that would be great if it really worked like that." Then there's the other thing that goes through your head "nothing ever works the way it does on tv".
Now let me just say I am not typically an HSN, QVC, infomercial shopper. As I listened it talked about being all natural. Clay based. Safe to have around children. Safe for the environment.
Yea, yea, right. So I clicked the tv off and went to bed. The next morning I got up and went into the kitchen. I noticed the knobs in the kitchen were tarnished. I tried a stainless steel cleaner and it smelled so bad. I thought about my once white canvas shoes. I wonder if it would work on that. I had an HSN giftcard that i received. I went to HSN's website and decided to order the Earth Brite Natural All-Purpose Cleaner 2 pack.
I got it in the mail, read over the directions and went to work. I was thrilled to see the knobs on the cupboard in my kitchen shining again! I tried it on my white canvas shoes..clean! I was reading all the uses and tried almost all of them. I was shocked at how great it cleaned the mirror in the bathroom. Then the big test. I tried it on one of my old pots. You know that tarnished, baked on whatever you call it on the bottom of your pan. This did not work like I hoped. It did clean some of that off but my pots didn't gleam like my kitchen cabinet knobs and mirrors. Oh well can't have it all I guess. I bought this about 5 months ago and still haven't used all of the first container. You don't need a lot for it to work.
It also gives me piece of mind for my 10 month old, who is now getting into everything. Even if he would get hold of this product, it's all natural and non toxic. Also Earth friendly.
The product is currently selling on HSN for $19.95 plus shipping. They do occasionally have sales though. Also they have their $70k giveaway right now. Enter to win gift cards and more. You also get a chance at a coupon code.
All in all I give the Earth Bright All-Natural Cleaner an A- the only thing it didn't work for that it claimed was to get that nasty crap off the bottom of your pots but worked wonderful for everything else. Last a long time. Safe around children. Earth Friendly. So I think it deserves the A- Earth Brite All-Natural Cleaner on HSN
Okay, last Saturday deco meeting took a place! The meeting was organized by Eva. Here is my decorated things of the day, mirror and hair brush. The meeting was really nice and I had fun! But I wish I would have got to know others better but hopefully I'll in the upcoming meetings~ I'm really waiting for those. And our deco club!!
Group photos! We should have taken more photos.. next time again!
Everyone's decos~ I didn't have enough time so my hair brush is still unfinished here. But I finished it today (^-^)
BLING BLING! ♥
Here is once again my decorated stuff: Mirror
Hair brush, finished
I'm pleased with my decos but now when I look at my cellphone's decoration I really want to re-deco my phone! It looks so boring compared to my new decos T_T By the way, before photos of the mirror and brush here. They are some old ones I have bought from H&M and Hello Kitty print was kinda worn-out.
What I use for the decos, was Eva's decoden part baggie worth 15 € and deco parts I've bought and got from Eva before.
Outfit for the meeting. ValenTine's High dress (I hadn't used it for a looong time!), stud vest and tights from KappAhl. Accessories from Lindex and Mokoya. Oh, I didn't have those lovely slippers on the meeting XD! And damn that mirror is still dirty! Next time I'm going to clean it! I'm fed up with that I always have some dirt on my face because of the mirror.
Something else about my looks.. I hardly had any make up! Nowadays I prefer more natural look and here I only have BB-cream, eye shadow, eye pencil, blush and mascara. Well, for someone it might be a lot of make up but don't you agree that it looks quite natural? I'm still out of MAC lashes, I want to add them to my make up! Especially in the pictures you can't see my lashes at all.
Pose with mirror!
I'm sorry that I haven't been replying to your comments for a while. I've been really busy. I hope I can reply them soon. But well.. tomorrow I have to write an essay and on Wednesday I'm going to Stockholm.. but I'll try!
Like Bump its on facebook then click on the giveaway tab. There will be a form to fill out for you to get a coupon for free bump its products. You can even choose your colors. I filled it out and it said I should expect mine in 2-4 weeks.
I think I have a serious problem. I can't stop buying silver hoop-y earrings. And earrings in general. I've been wearing the SAME pair of beautiful sterling silver hoops for the past 3 years, but I just keep buying cheaper ones I barely ever wear.
So.
I need to stop buying more earrings... Or... I need to make a resolution to actually WEAR the earrings I bought.
Today, I bought 3 pairs. They were 3 for $10 at Ardene's, so I HAD to.
I bought the little ones for my much-neglected second holes, and the big ones for, well, my earring drawer. I can't help myself.
These are all the silver hoopies I have (that I can find, I'm positive there's more)
That's NINE pairs, ladies. And they all look exactly the same.
