April Favorites

Monthly Faves time! :)

1. Bumble and bumble Thickening Spray- This does such an amazing job at adding oomph to my otherwise very thin and fine hair! I'm on the search for a bigger bottle!

2. Soap & Glory Night in Shining Armour Cream- I love this. This might quite possibly turn out being my Fountain of Youth. :)

3. Philosophy Apricots & Cream body lotion- Can't say enough on how delicious this scent smells. I have yet to find any of it here in stores. I got mine when I was in Virginia. I hope they release a bunch of products in Apricots & Cream, because this is quickly becoming my favorite smell from Philosophy.

4. MAC Impeccable Brow pencil in Dirty Blonde- Before this, I usually used eyeshadow or my eyebrow kit from ELF. I have been using this more often since I got it as it is easy to blend in and really does do an impeccable job at filling in.

5. My MAC Neutrals palette (most notably Era and Brun eyeshadows that are pictured below)-

Era is on the left and Brun is on the right. This is my go-to neutral look. I've seriously been wearing it for most of this year!

Share any current favorites that you have! Have a great weekend! :)

More MAC

Like you guys are even surprised! My addiction runs strong. There was a coupon for free express shipping and really that's all it took for me to give in. I'm so weak. ;) I got all LE things, because you know they don't last long in stores. And it usually takes forever for MAC to repromote something.

1. Coral Crepe Paint Pot in the Prêt-à-Papier Collection- I love that they finally included another paint pot in a new collection.

2. English Accents lipglass in the Give Me Liberty of London Collection- Yes, I already have this. Does this tell you how much I love it since I'm getting a back-up? This is perfect to layer over pink and lilac lipsticks.

3. Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick- I love love love the Gaga one, but so many people have spoken wonders about the Cyndi lipstick. I just had to get it to try. It never hurts that the money goes to charity. I can stand behind guilt-free shopping!

4. In Synch lip pencil in the Too Fabulous Collection- It's an interesting pink color, so I'm looking forward to trying it under different lipsticks.

Once I get them, swatches and pictures are to follow! Also, my new layout is up. Let me know what you think. :) Tomorrow will be my April favorites post. End of April already...boy, this year is going fast!

On My iPod Pt. 12

I haven't done this since Christmas, so here as some songs I'm really enjoying at the moment. Share some songs that you can't stop listening to, because I always love adding to my collection. :) I listen to nearly everything, so don't hesitate to share!

1. Skinny Genes- Eliza Doolittle
2. Like a Virgin- Glee Cast
3. Need You Now- Lady Antebellum
4. Monster- Lady GaGa
5. You Run Away- Barenaked Ladies
6. Tip Of My Tongue- Kelly Clarkson
7. Hold Me In Your Arms- The Trews
8. Hell- Tegan and Sara
9. Cry Me Out- Pixie Lott
10. White Horse- Taylor Swift
11. Wuthering Heights- The Puppini Sisters
12. Spaceman- The Killers

P.S- Tweaking the layout! Don't be alarmed if the site changes while you're on it. :)

Soap & Glory Night Cream

Here is my review for Soap & Glory's Night in Shining Armour night cream. I must apologize for the inconvenience to my fellow American and Canadian readers, because I don't believe we can get this yet. I was lucky enough to get mine from a friend who now lives in England. I'm sure it won't be long until it arrives on shelves, though!

I've been using this cream for a few weeks now and I have noticed significant improvement in the level of dryness. The harsh winters here really affect my skin, especially my face since it faces the winds and cold air the most. I noticed a fair difference in my skin not even a week after using the cream. It works so fast!

A little goes a long way! It also helps fight wrinkles and has Vitamin E! While you may not have wrinkles now, it certainly doesn't hurt to help hold them off. :) The jar is gorgeous with an iridescent sheen and has about 1.7 fl. oz. of product. If you can get your hands on this moisturizer, I really recommend it. Once again, Soap & Glory has not let me down!

Sephora Haul

Sephora had their 15% Beauty Insider Sale recently, so here is what I got with my discount.



Make Up For Ever shadow in 156 and Benefit Creaseless Shadows in Stiletto and Strut.

Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Rockstar.



Sephora by OPI nail polish remover. The smell is very strong! I love the small dispenser, because it's easy to control how much comes out. This is a small bottle so it will be perfect to travel with.

MUFE 156 is a very nude color.

The top color is the MUFE 156 shadow, but it is a bit hard to see. This is great for those days where you want to go for the easy and fast "no makeup" look. The bottom color is the UD Rockstar liner. It's a very dark purple!



Stiletto and Strut. Stiletto is a brownish purple. It will make for a lovely purple smoky eye. And Strut is definitely one of my new favorites to achieve a silver/black smoky eye. Because it has a hint of blue, it would also be a great base for blues.

I won!

I won a prize pack in a contest that the lovely Victoria was holding on her blog. Go check out her blog, because her posts are equally adorable as she is. :)
Call it fate perhaps, but I won the prize with the Soap & Glory lotion! You guys know of my infatuation with that brand! I did not have this lotion yet, so it's a win-win. The Barbie mask looks super cute and I'm looking forward to trying it. And the middle item is a nail file. Maybe it will give me incentive not to bite my nails so that I can use it. ;)

Thank you, Victoria!

Also...

You can read my entry on it from last year here for some cute and easy ideas on how to help our planet!

MAC Goodies

I went shopping this weekend at my favorite mall and got a few things. :) In this post, I'll share what I bought at MAC.

Everything I got!

MAC 219 brush. I really like the Sigma one, so I wanted to see how it compared to the MAC 219. They are very similar. I would say that the MAC one does not flex as much as the SS219, so it holds its shape a little more.

Impeccable Brow Pencil in Dirty Blonde. They are marketing this with the Prêt-à-Papier collection, as well. This is my first brow pencil, as I generally use eyeshadow. I really like this and it does a nice job of filling in brows.

Shadows and palette. I know I've been getting a lot of palettes lately. I now have six, but I have started to divide my eyeshadow by colors. I'll do a post on how I organize my palettes one day! Besides the palette, I also purchased Nehru, Carbon, Woodwinked, and Silver Ring eyeshadow pans.



Swatches!

Silver Ring: (Veluxe Pearl) This is one of my favorite finishes of MAC shadows. They are so soft to the touch and blend easily. The color is gorgeous and I think I'll be using this one often.

Carbon: (Matte) Maybe I'll like this one more on the eyes. During the initial swatching on my hand, I wasn't too impressed. Since I only plan on using it for my outer corner, I'm willing to overlook just how sheer it originally goes on and hope that it looks much better on the eye!

Nehru: (Matte) I think I like this one more than Carbon at the moment. It is a blackish blue, but on my hand looks more black. I am going to try pairing this with Silver Ring, because I think that will make for a pretty smoky eye.

Woodwinked: (Veluxe Pearl) A shimmery golden color. This will look great on tan skin and darker skin tones. I have neither yet, but with summer here...my bronzer is out and ready to use. :)

MAC's New Collection

MAC's newest collection, Prêt-à-Papier, has launched today. If you love neutrals and corals, this might be a good collection for you to invest in. Most of the colors are limited edition with a few permanent items thrown in. I'm very excited that they have a paint pot in this collection, because I feel like they don't offer new colors of them frequently enough. If nothing else, I hope to grab the new one for my collection.

Items that I'm thinking about getting:
Coral Crepe Paint Pot
Made to Order Lipstick
Instant Chic Blush
Gazette Grey Eyeshadow

What do you think of this collection? Is there anything that you might want from it? Is it a little lackluster for your tastes? I'm still the most excited for the To the Beach Collection coming out late next month! Stay tuned tomorrow for a little MAC haul from this past weekend. :)

How to Train Your Dragon- Movie Review

I have not done a movie review in a long time, but I just had to do so for this one. This is one of the best animated films I have seen since Up! I will try to keep this info spoiler free and only share what the trailers or other reviews have already revealed.

I was not entirely interested in seeing this movie at first, but I'm a sucker for animated movies so I knew I just had to give it a chance. I'm so glad I did, because I think I would have kicked myself had I missed this on the big screen. Seeing it in IMAX 3D was just icing on the cake!

Dragon takes you back to the time of Vikings, to a small village that is constantly being attacked by dragons. It follows the story of Hiccup as he learns that his village do not know everything about dragons and they might not be as bad as they think. Hiccup grows close to an injured dragon and begins a new friendship.

Telling his village about the truth of the dragons is a daunting task. During the whole storyline, you slowly see Hiccup becoming a man. He fights for what he believes in and finally earns the respect of the village and of his father. It's such a touching story with some funny moments. I definitely want to read the book it is based on.

If you get a chance, please go see this movie. It's great for the young and old alike! Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

Spreading the Love

Sorry for a lack of posting yesterday! Today, I've decided to share some blogs that I enjoy visiting. Check them out, if you get a chance. Of course, you can look at the blogs that I follow and that follow me to find some other great ones. I just couldn't include everyone this go-around. :)

Kerri- I love this girl. She's one of the sweetest gals I know. :) She also has a YouTube channel under the same name. So check her out!

Obsessed Makeup Addict- She always has some great ideas and reviews. I enjoy talking makeup with her!

Ashley- She has a crazy collection of nail polishes! If you like to see swatches and hauls of loads of polishes, her site is perfect for you!

Fern- She's one of the first to follow my blog! Product reviews, swatches, and more can be found at her site.

Florrie- Girl, I just realized that my "follow" request never went through. That's all settled now and I'm following you. Florrie is fantastic. She does a lot of outfit of the day posts and I love her style. She's not like everyone else and that's a good thing!

Also, I made a Google search story on YouTube about things I love. It doesn't take much time to make one. So if you have a YT channel and you made one, link me to it. I think it's a fun idea to tell a story in just search phrases. :) Anyway, I thought I would share mine here!

Today marks six years that my husband and I have been together. While we don't really go all out with celebrations for our dating anniversary now that we're married, we still try to make it a special day. Six years! I can't believe it...feels like just yesterday... ♥

Look #2- Silver Starlet

Here is my second look for the Maybelline Dare to Inspire Contest. Thank you to those of you that have voted and keep voting on your favorite looks each day! I thought I would try one of the marbleized eyeshadow duos. I'm trying to do these looks with as little of the products at a time as possible. No one wants to go out and buy three different palettes just to get one look! I feel like the whole purpose of the packaging of these is to get that point across! I cannot complain one bit about the color combinations that Maybelline has chosen!

I prepped my eye using MAC's Painterly Paint Pot. You can do this using just your foundation or concealer, if you don't have any other primers.

Using an eyeshadow brush, I used the right side of the duo Silver Starlet first. These eyeshadows are powdery, so I sprayed my brush with MAC's Fix+. You can use a spritz of water or a bit of Visine to get the same effect. This way the shadows go on a little easier with less fallout and it gives an extra gleam to the light color of the shadow.

Using my crease brush, I dipped it into the silver side. I used a windshield-wiper motion to blend it into the crease. I used my tapered pencil brush to get a more precise angle on my outer corner, but that is optional.



I used the XXL Pro 24 Hr Bold mascara. Step 1 adds the volume. Step 2 is a waterproof coat that seals in the volume.

I then used the Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Charcoal to line my upper lash line. This is a very neutral look that you can wear day or night!

Old Navy- Give and Get Sale

Every year the Old Navy stores in Canada do a Give & Get sale. If you are signed up for emails, you get an email to print out for 30% off of your purchase. A percentage of what you buy during the sale goes to charity. The best part is that you can reuse the 30% off coupon during the duration of the sale! With that said, here's what I bought this go around. Minus two pairs of flip-flops for myself (white and zebra print), a bright blue boyfriend cardigan, and four shirts for my husband!

1-2. V-neck tees in purple and a tan color. I'm a huge fan of v-necks and I feel like they flatter pretty much everyone!

3. A leopard print cardigan. I love that the print is very muted and makes a statement at the same time.

4-5. I love the way these shirts fit! They are so comfortable. The ruffle detailing is a nice touch.

6. A pinkish purple polka dot dress. Haven't worn this yet, but I'm thinking it will be cute to wear over my bathing suit this summer.

7. A gray dress. I have one similar but it's a different length and material.

While Old Navy hasn't had that many impressive collections lately, it still comes out with a few winners. I stand by my statement that it is the best place to get basics at an affordable price! There are many times that I've found a great t-shirt in the clearance section for under $10! Have you found any great deals lately? :)

P.S.- Tonight is Glee night! I'm so excited for a new episode! Any fellow Gleeks out there? :D

Shoes!

Maybe it's the fact that I got a new shoe rack which has allowed me more room for shoes or maybe it's because I finally went through my collection and got rid of my old pairs that I don't wear anymore...or maybe it's because American Eagle had an additional percentage off of their clearance items and offered free shipping at the same time! The answer is all of the above! :)

Even without a coupon code, you can still get a great deal on some very cute shoes in their clearance section. A lot of my favorite shoes are from AE! It doesn't even take long for them to go to clearance after being sold at the regular price. So if you see a pair you like, hold out for a month, and you'll save $5+. That's my little tip that I follow. Another tip is to sign up for text updates, because they send out a lot of coupon codes through texts. Many are for 20% off!

1. Just a basic pair of white sneakers! Ever since childhood, I still feel like their is nothing quite like putting on a pair of crisp white sneakers. It screams warm weather to me!

2. White wedge shoes. It was really hard to decide between navy and white, but I thought I might be able to pair the white with more.

3. Zebra flats! I already have the leopard ones, so I guess I'm adding to my animal print shoe collection. :)

4. Studded suede flats. I don't have this color of flats and I love the studs and bow details.

5. Basic black flats. One can never have too many pairs of black flats. They go with everything and dress up casual outfits. If I could pick one pair of shoes to live in for the rest of my life, I would choose black flats!

So if you could only pick one pair of shoes to wear for the rest of your days on earth, what would you choose? AND let me know if there is a certain pair of shoes that you are lusting over right now!

Green With Envy

Here is my first look for the Maybelline Dare to Inspire contest! You can find out more about the contest in my previous post.

UDPP to prime my lids, a fluffy eyeshadow brush, a tapered crease brush, a tapered pencil brush, gel liner, volume mascara, and the Green with Envy quad!

After priming my lids, I used the eyeshadow brush to apply the third color from the left to my lids. Using the pencil brush, I used the last color for the "v" on the outer corner and blended it in. With the crease brush, I used the second color and used a windshield wiper movement to blend it. I chose not to use the highlight color on the left, because it would have added too much shimmer to my liking.

I coated my lashes with the first end of the mascara and allowed it time to set. Then, I applied the second end.

I used the gel liner in black to liner my upper lashes. I'm still not very good at working with gel liner, but this formula is easy to work with. I'm getting better with practice! I used the brush that came with the product, because shocker of shockers...it's not that bad of a brush!

For a daytime look, I skipped the gel liner on the upper lid. I don't like to go really heavy on eyeliner during the day. I added it for a nighttime look, making this a very easy look to take from day to night!

Don't forget about the Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner Giveaway in my other post! :) Also, I'll be sure to review the products in a later post.

P.S.- Again, I was sent these products to create tutorials and review from a marketing company!