Is it May tomorrow already? Wow! I swear it feels like April just got here. Honestly, I'm glad to see it go. April was not good to me, so here's to May! :)
Juicy Couture friendship bracelet and just friendship bracelets, in general! NARS Deep Throat blush Revlon Jaded nail polish - great mint green MAC's Satin Taupe eyeshadow Revlon's Cupcake lip butter my new iPhone 4S and Lilly Pulitzer case - Just got the phone and I'm so hooked!
Christine awarded me with this! So sweet! I absolutely adore her and her blog, which I do believe I have said on here before. I absolutely recommend her blog. :)
As OCD as I am, I just can't let an award post not have some color, graphics, or something. So I added my own titles to spruce things up. Nothing against the creator of the award, I just like my posts to have some color when they can! And if you do this award and want to use my graphics below, just click, save, and use. :)
So the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award with their blog link on your post.
2. Answer the following 4 questions.
3. Award the Blogger Appreciation Award to as many others as you'd like.
4. Let the blogger know you've just awarded them.
How long have you been blogging? September will be five years for FH! :D
What are 1-2 reasons you started blogging? I was over Xanga, Myspace, and other similar sites as I just didn't enjoy them anymore. I started this as a bit of a personal blog to talk about just random things, but it quickly evolved more into what it is now. There's still a touch of randomness in there, because beauty isn't all I enjoy. That's why you get random updates, recipes, music I'm enjoying, etc.
What type of blogs do you like to follow/read? I follow several different types of blogs. Most are beauty, fashion, and style related. I also enjoy blogs about: music, travel, food, DIY, home decor, technology, and photography. Even better when I find a blog that offers all of those things!
What is one thing you would like to improve on as a blogger on your blog? I am my own worst critic and always think something needs to be improved. What I've been trying to mostly improve has not been on my blog, but on my level of commenting on other blogs. I get to that point where I'm lazy and read everyone's blogs and then...I just click out. Shame on me! I've been trying to comment a bit more. I also always try to get back to comments left on here!
- Eager Emily
- Gaby's Beauty Blog
- Intrinsically Florrie
- Life as a Southern Girl
Ah, I love our little world of bloggers. If you're reading this post and own a blog, please feel free to do this and link me to it. The truth is that I appreciate anyone who takes the time to start their own blog and keeps at it! ♥
I don't think there is a greater feeling than giving. Sure getting is great, but giving is good for the soul. I just feel like it sticks with you longer. With that said, I was cleaning my bathroom and I came across plenty of products that I never got around to opening or using. Some are backups, some were bought during sales to be future gifts, and some I just completely forgot about.
I'll be giving all of the above to a girls' home and hopefully they will benefit a lot of younger girls. I know that these items will get the love that I never got around to showing them. :) If you are a beauty product hoarder like me, think about giving some of the products to those that it could truly benefit. Every little thing counts!
Now on to the superficial part of my post- Blogger's new interface! It is horrible, flat out horrible. I switched a month or so ago to try it out and switched back to the old one right away. Pictures were always formatted differently, code was being added to my entries, text was all over the place, and the dashboard was hideous. I even hate editing my pages because I know they use the new format!
I loved that Blogger had it where you could choose between the two, but now they are taking the old one away completely. I feel like they are going from something that is easy on the eyes and to use to something the complete opposite. Who does Blogger think it is? Facebook? Perhaps I'm in the minority to say that I hate the changes, but I can't say one good thing about it. Oh Blogger, how could you?
How do you feel about the new interface?
The way I store my nail polishes and accompanying items is nothing special. I might purchase one of those wall racks one day, but none have yet to tickle my fancy. Plus the fear of it falling off the wall and breaking everything worries me!
While I had a few polishes from before, my true addiction started when I finally kicked my nail biting habit last year. I still have some bad days where I bite, but I'm really proud to be rid of my worst habit of 20+ years. The double-edged sword is that I got rid of one habit and started another with buying nail polishes! Oops!
^ Everything together fits on one shelf of my "beauty" bookcase. I'll show it all in a future makeup organization post.
^ I keep everything in colorful little trays. I keep my mini sets of polishes in the back (OPI's Muppets Collection and Sephora's Glee Collection). The box on the left came from the dollar store, the one in the middle is from Ikea (and I just put flowery wrapping paper around it), and the one on the right is from Target. I have them organized by brand instead of color.
All of my OPI and China Glaze polishes are in the left box. The middle one contains Revlon, Sephora by OPI, and Barry M mostly. There is also a mug at the back that holds my nail art brush/dotter and nail art pens. At the back and middle of the right tray, I have mostly brands that I may only have one or two polishes from and also my Seche Vite base coat. In the front of that same tray is my Essie shades.
^ I got this little box at Target last month. It holds all of my removers, my cuticle cream, Salon Effects polish strips, and my manicure kit.If When my collection grows, I'll probably change my organization around. For now, this fits my needs and I can easily find which colors I want to use. I'd love to know how you store your nail polishes!
I own twelve of these. Yes, perhaps excessive but I only buy them when they are on sale. While I like these enough to buy so many shades, I would not pay full price for them. I will go into why in this post and share my swatches of the ones I own.
^ Left to Right: Cupcake, Cotton Candy, Strawberry Shortcake, Sweet Tart, Lollipop, Peach Parfait, Creamsicle, Creme Brulee, Tutti Frutti, Cherry Tart, Berry Smoothie, and Sugar Plum.
To see more pictures, please keep reading.
My weekend was horrible. My personal email got a virus and my father took it upon himself to delete my whole account, because apparently AOL allows the "head account holder" to do that. I'm estranged from my father due to numerous reasons and AOL will only open my account back up if I talk him into doing so. Are you kidding me? So I have been accepting the fact that I have lost all of my contacts and important emails dating back to over a decade ago. Let's just say that the two parties stated above are not (and won't be) in my good graces any time soon.
Where am I going with this? Oh yeah...to get myself into a zone where I could forget about my sorrows for awhile, I worked on a new layout for Fashionable Heart this weekend. Sometimes when you get emotional, you just have to let the creative juices flow and take over. I worked on graphics for the Warm & Fuzzy Knits business that I run with my MIL and got this new layout up and running. A great hour or so spent on just worrying if the HTML code was right for this and if the graphic is loading properly on that. It sounds silly, doesn't it? But, oh how sweet it is to divulge in a hobby or senseless task and put all of your energy into it and let the anger melt away.
That brings me to a question. What's one of your favorite hobbies to get lost in when you're angry or depressed? I either do like above and work on graphics or editing pictures or I sing really loudly along to emotional songs. This post was a little more personal than usual and I do hope that is ok. I'll be posting some Revlon Lip Butter swatches in my next post!
P.S.- Please tell me if something is not loading properly for you on the layout! And today is a happy day for me as I celebrate eight years (six of them being married) of being with my husband. Yay! So we're going to treat ourselves to a nice dinner, a decadent dessert, and then veg out in front of the TV for the night. Sounds perfect!
I don't know why, but I just really enjoy doing these. I like to share what I've been listening to and I love giving you the chance to tell me about some songs or artists that I may not be familiar with. :) So share some favorites!
You Lie - The Band Perry Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey Love You Like a Love Song - Selena Gomez & the Scene We are Young - Fun ft. Jenelle Monae Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars How Come You Never Go There - Feist Domino - Jessie J
Also, I'd thought I'd share links to a few newer/not-so-new sites that I'm on. I'll happily add you back. :)
Instagram (Apple/Android app)- search for "wendybanner" or go here.
Pose (Apple app)- wendybanner
Ownza (formerly ShopSquad)- fashionableheart
GetGlue- fashionableheart
Pinterest- wendybanner
8tracks- wendyisastar
Hopefully your Friday the 13th went off without a hitch! Hope you have a fabulous weekend! ♥
I was good this time during the VIB 15% off sale! I bought only one thing that was on my wishlist and that is the Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year Eyeshadow Quad. I actually originally wanted the blush duo, but it was sold out. This quad was next on my list.
^ The packaging is really durable and nice, though I do feel it's a bit bulky and a waste. They could have downsized and saved a lot of material. The actual quad packaging is just like Inglot's. It has a frosted magnetic cover that you twist and lift off. Don't pull up directly or you'll have a difficult time removing it. It's easy to twist off, so I would not necessarily call this travel-friendly.
^ I especially like the colors on the left. My issue with these are when they are applied dry. They go on sheer with more fallout than even Fall Out Boy would be comfortable with. Used wet, there's much less fallout and they go on much more opaque. I'm not sure how much use the tangerine shadow will get (regardless of it being the color of the year), but the other three are easy to build looks around.
^ Wet swatches. Used MAC's Fix+.
I was sent this around a month ago, but I try to wait a good while before reviewing skincare items because the skin needs time to adjust. I now feel that an adequate time has passed and I can properly review Gaia Natural's Goddess Kit. They also have a blog! Gaia is based in Mallorca, Spain and focus on eco-friendly and natural products.
^ Everything arrived safely and was packaged beautifully, especially the Goddess Oil.
To see more pictures and to read my review, please keep reading.
Here's what I picked up at the CCO in the Birch Run Outlets. I also forgot to include the BB cream in one of my earlier haul posts, so I'll show it here because it fits in with the makeup anyway. :) I'll be reviewing it after I've tried it for awhile!
^ MAC: Let's Skate Paint Pot, Carbonized eyeshadow, Studio Careblend powder in Light, and Snowglobe eyeshadow palette (Winterscape, Magical Mist, Patina, Buckwheat, Gaelic Gold, Midnight Flurry). And a Michael Kors rollerball duo with Michael Kors For Women and Very Hollywood.
^ Garnier BB Cream in Light/Medium. It took forever to find a store not sold out in this shade. I finally found it at Meijer.
Reviews and swatches are coming even though some of the MAC stuff is LE, we all know they recycle shades often enough. I'm going to try to update tomorrow, but it's not set in stone because I'll be baking with my MIL all day. If I don't get the chance to update before Monday, I'd like to wish you all a happy Easter!
The Somerset Collection is one of my most favorite malls. I wish I could go there all of the time, though my finances are very happy to have 4+ hours of distance between us! I made out my wishlist before going and stuck to it and it was a hard task to do so. ;)
I went in knowing that I wanted some cute new cases for what will soon be my new phone- the iPhone 4S. Yes, I've decided to finally make the switch from Blackberry. Though I'm mourning the imminent loss of the keyboard and my BBM, I'm really excited. Have you made the switch? I feel like it won't be so foreign to me, seeing as I already have my iPod Touch and iPad 2.
^ All of the pretty bags. Yep, I managed to stick to just going in three stores. I'm honestly pretty proud of myself for that.
^ At Juicy Couture, I picked up this vibrant pink friendship bracelet. It was 50% off and I'm now kicking myself for not grabbing the teal one too.
^ At Kate Spade, I picked out this teal and white silicone iPhone case. I originally wanted one of the polkadot resin cases, but I read a few horror stories of them breaking, not protecting the phone, and the design peeling off rather quickly. This design was put out on the very day that I was there, so it's a brand new design for summer!
^ My first Lilly Pulitzer purchase! I'm not a fan of all of her prints, but I love this "scarlet begonia" print. So pink and girly! I picked up a matching case for my iPad and the iPhone, both made of silicone.
Now to wait until I get the iPhone 4S into my hands! :)
Here is my haul from various stores including: Meijer, Walgreens, Target, Yankee Candle, and Nike. I didn't go crazy, but I did splurge on a few items during my trip to Michigan. Thank goodness for outlets! :)
^ My favorite candle scent in the whole world is Spiced Pumpkin by Yankee Candle. I don't care what time of year it is, I love it! I picked up two candles and room sprays in that scent and one candle in the French Vanilla scent (smells divine, by the way!). The candles were 3/$28 and the room sprays were 2/$10. What a deal!
^ I grabbed these little storage containers at Target in the Dollar Zone. That Dollar Zone sucks me in every time. I also grabbed up some cute notepads, because I go through them so fast.
^ I searched Target and Walgreens first before finally finding these at a Meijer store. Please go out looking for these RIGHT NOW. You will not be disappointed. Layer them over a black nail polish and it is like an instant galaxy nail! You can see how they look on Scrangie. They are limited edition for this spring. Speak When Spoken To and The Crown is Mine are my personal favorites!
^ Revlon's Jaded and Radiant, Essie's Peach Daiquiri, and Milani's Twinkle and Blue Flash.
^ And not exactly a fashionable purchase, but I am embarrassed to say that I have waited way too long to buy something extremely important- new sneakers. My last pair of Nike's lasted me a ridiculously long time, but I have been overdue for a new pair. Your foot changes and it is important to buy shoes that fit properly. I grabbed these at the Nike outlet for $50 and it's probably the best purchase I made on the trip when you look at the benefits. :)
