Saturday, December 31, 2011

My 2011 product faves/Happy New Year!

This year, I bought so many beauty products that I fell in love with. Here are some of my faves (in no particular order):

1. CoverGirl Natureluxe Gloss Balms:

I bought so many of these babies that I lost count! They were moisturizing, long-lasting and affordable.

2. Pacifica Indian Coconut:

I couldn’t resist this yummy coconut scent! Even better that it’s made with natural and organic ingredients.

3. Deborah Lippman’s Glitter in the Air Nail Polish:

This was my favorite nail polish release this year. Hands down. Deborah is a guru when it comes to polish formulas and this sheer, glittery formula proved why.

4. Urban Decay Roach Eyeshadow:


This beauty is my favorite eye shadow of all time. Hands down.

5. The Body Shop’s Satsuma Body Butter:

This smelled so good that I was two seconds from eating it. It was better served on my desert dry skin, though.

Honorable Mention: Tarte’s Amazonian Blush:

The blush in this picture added a pop of rose to my cheeks. A little goes a long way.

What were some of your beauty favorite this year?

And have a happy and prosperous New Year!!!

FTC Disclosure: I previously paid for the products with my own funds.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Glitter Polish Week: Essie's A Cut Above



I'm on vacation this week but since New Year's is a few days away, I wanted to celebrate by showing you some glitter polishes I've been wearing this season.
Here's a newbie from Essie!


Essie!!
Where is she?
Who is she?
Whomever she is, she needs to come here and lemme congratulate her for a minute because she really has hit a home run with her Luxeeffects collection.
I recently raved about the magnificent Shine of the Times and I'm now raving about A Cut Above, which I recently scooped up from Ulta for about $8.
It was worth every penny.
Now I usually don't do glitters but A Cut Above has me feeling like a pretty, pink unicorn sipping purple Kool-Aid and eating baby blue cotton candy:)
The polish is made up of large and small rose-colored glitter.
If you look closely, you can see bits and pieces of red glitter in there too! I think the red pieces of glitter make the nail polish so cool.
The formula is a bit thick, though, and I've been using it as a topcoat.
I put one coat over Maybelline's Mod Mauve. Hello Kitty's Blueberry is on my ring finger. Take a peek:



The bling from the glitter blinded me so much that I had to put a pair of sunglasses on. Not really, I just added one thin coat of Sally Hansen's black crackle and got this:



Cute, right? I think so.

I ought to invite Essie over to my place for brunch or something one day so we can discuss her next nail polish collection.
She sure has stepped up her game with the Luxeeffects collection.

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the product with my own money.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Glitter Polish Week: Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia



I'm on vacation this week but since New Year's is a few days away, I wanted to celebrate by showing you some glitter polishes I've been wearing this season.
Here's a newbie from Revlon!!


I've been on the search for this baby ever since Revlon announced its arrival not too long ago.
Couldn't find it in CVS.
Wasn't available at Walgreens.
But luckily, Target had several bottles left for about $4.
I would've been stupid to not buy Facets of Fuchsia, which is a dupe for the more expensive Bad Romance from Deborah Lippmann.

Facets of Fuchsia has a black jelly consistency with large and small pieces of hex fuchsia glitter.
Have a another look:



I used three coats but two gave me full opacity.
The polish dries a little gritty, but very quickly with Revlon's Quick Dry.
This is nice. Very nice.
It's not goth like other black polishes.
This is just mature and super chic.
I think I have a new polish favorite!

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the product with my own funds.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Glitter Polish Week: Sally Hansen's Rockstar Pink



I'm on vacation this week but since New Year's is a few days away, I wanted to celebrate by showing you some glitter polishes I've been wearing this season.
Here's an oldie but goodie from Sally Hansen!


Sally Hansen's Rockstar Pink is next up for my glitter polish showcase this week.
I've had this baby in my collection for some time but really have been ignoring it.
I searched my archives and couldn't see where I swatched it and I don't know why because this polish really is an underrated beauty.
Rockstar Pink has a clear base with tons of pink, blue and purple pieces of glitter suspended in it.
It can come off as a dark pink or purple polish, depending on what kind of light you view it in and how close you are to it.
It took me about three coats to reach full opacity and the polish didn't dry gritty like other glitter polishes.
I thought removal was going to be a pain but surprisingly, the polish peeled off in chunks after a few days.
This polish is part of Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear collection and can be found at drugstores and big-box stores for about $3.


FTC Disclosure:
I paid for the product with my own funds.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Glitter Polish Week: Wet n wild's Sparked



I'm on vacation but since New Year's is a few days away, I wanted to celebrate by showing you some glitter polishes I've been wearing this season.
Here's an oldie but goodie from Wet n wild!!


Wet n wild's Sparked is a cutie in a bottle.
Originally, I thought that the glitters in this polish were all one color but upon further inspection, I see tiny light and dark pink glitter.
Silver glitter's in there, too!
All the glitters form together nicely to give this polish a lovely dimension.
Take a peek:


OMG it's pretty, and for 99 cents, a steal.
Three coats gave me full opacity and then, I did a Funky French Mani using SinfulColors' Black on Black to give the polish some more edge:


This was a beast to get off though!
I ended up using the foil method to get this off because it didn't come off in chunks like my beloved Coloricon polishes did.
That's alright, though.
Sparked has got my tips and toes smitten:)

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the products with my own money.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Glitter Polish Week: Wet n wild's Ice Baby



I'm on vacation this week but since New Year's is a few days away, I wanted to celebrate by showing you some glitter polishes I've been wearing this season.
Two goodies from Wet n wild's Ice Baby Collection are up first!!


I can’t tell Wet n wild how much I love them, so let me count the ways:
First, they’re affordable.
Second, they’re quality.
Third, they’re always on the cutting edge of beauty trends, especially with their new Coloricon Ice Baby nail polish collection.
The collection features eight glitter polishes and I recently scooped up two from my local Walgreen’s for about $3 a piece.
Just look at these beauties!!



I can’t take my eyes off of them:



Now, glitter polishes and I don’t have the best relationship but I’ve given these babies a pass because they are just too lovely to pass up!
Back Alley Deals has a glittery purple base with larger red glitter.
Believe Me, It's Real has a glittery blue base with purple glitter:


The formula was very thin and took about three to four coats for full opacity.
But they're sparkly!! Check out this video showing their glittery goodness:



Only thing is these polishes can suck the heck out of a topcoat:
I got major chippage the next day so don’t expect to wear them for an entire week:


I can look past those negatives though, because these glitter polishes have me intrigued.

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the products with my own money.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas and a holly, jolly mani!



Merry Christmas!
Hope Santa got you all you asked for. He sure looked out for me this year:)
Here's a holiday mani I recently wore featuring different representations of the holiday season.
Look closely and you'll see a candy cane on my ring finger, a gingerbread man on my middle, and Santa's coat on my pointer.
I used polishes from SinfulColors (Under 18, HD Nails, Snow Me White), Revlon's Chocolate Truffle and Sephora's Cherry Popsicle.
Hope you have a happy rest of the holiday season!!!

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the products with my own funds.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Daphne Guiness for MAC cosmetics swatches/review

One of my co-workers recently gave me some items from the Daphne Guinness for MAC Cosmetics collection! Woo hoo!
The items included two polishes in Hyperion and Endless Night, Approaching Storm lipcreme and Nebula pigment. Here are some swatches:



I am loving everything about this cool-toned collection.
The lipstick is not too dark but comes off vampy and sexy on my lips. It’s definitely not for work.
The polishes are pretty, too!
Endless Night is a pretty light blue and Hyperion is a lilac of sorts.
They are both nice contrasts to the dark, jewel-toned polish hues you usually see this season.

Here’s Endless Night on its own:


And here it is with Wet n wild’s Sparked on the tips:


And here is Hyperion on its own:


And here it is with Borghese' Stellare Noire:



The pigment Nebula is nice, too. Looks very natural on my peepers.
Overall, I’m impressed with this collection and will be getting some more use out of it!

FTC Disclosure: These products were gifted to me.

Friday, December 23, 2011

I wouldn't go 'Into the Woods' with this scent on

One of my favorite things to do is to hike at my local state park.
I love the workout I get from the zillion mile walk and yes, I'm one of those "Earth Momma" ladies who likes to be "one with nature." LOL.
I usually have to apply bug spray all over my body before hiking so the mosquitoes don't get me though.
That's why I don't get this Bath and Body Works Into the Woods scent:


Don't get me wrong. This is a nice body cream and spray!
It smells sweet, richly moisturizes my dry skin and lasts a long time.
The name of the body butter is killing me.
If I were a bug in the woods and smelled this scent on someone, they'd be breakfast, lunch and dinner. For real!!!
Would I ever go into woods again? Yes, of course I will.
But will I be wearing Bath and Body Works' Into the Woods into the woods? Heck no.

FTC Disclosure: The products were gifted to me.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Recent nail designs I've worn

Here is the SinfulColors edition of some recent nail designs I've worn:

SinfulColors' HD

What a beautiful emerald green! Very timely for the holiday season too!

SinfulColors' Black on Black:

Basic black. I will be using this as a base for some of my glitter polishes.

And with a coat of wet n wild's Hallucinate:


SinfulColors' Snow Me White

Basic white. I'll also use this as a base for some upcoming nail designs.

And I used Sephora's Cherry Popsicle for Vampire Fangs:

This was a Halloween leftover and I'm just now getting to post it! Loved this look. Got lots of compliments!

What's on your tips and toes?

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the products with my own funds.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I got my hair did!!! Yeah!!



I recently got my locs tightened up and they look so good! I get asked questions from time to time about my locs and loc maintenance so I wanted to give you all a few answers to some questions you may have wanted to ask but were embarrassed, scared, etc.

Q: OK, so exactly how many locs do you have?

A: 183. Yes that's right, 183. I was bored one day and counted, lol.

Q: How long have you had your locs?

A: I've had my locs for about 9 years now.


Q: How much does it cost to maintain your locs?


A: It costs me about $100 when I get them tightened up at the shop. I'll throw in an extra $20 if I'm getting it styled.


Q: How often do you get them tightened up?


A: I get them tightened up about three times a year. Usually around springtime, then for my birthday, then around the holiday time.

Q: Why did you get locs in the first place?

A: I used to run long distance in high school and needed something conducive to my athletic lifestyle. I wore relaxers for the longest time but I would sweat them out daily so I needed something that I would not sweat out.

Q:. What color are your locs?

A: Now, they're like an ombre black/brownish color. They've been red, auburn, black, brown.

Have any more questions to ask me about my locs?

Friday, December 16, 2011

Recent nail designs!!

Here's a sample of what I've recently worn on my tips and toes!!!

Toxic Purple from Brash:

What a gorgeous royal purple!!

Revlon's Fuchsia Fever:

This hot pink is a pretty color!

And here with Borghese's Stellare Noire:


nails inc.'s trafalgar sqare magnetic polish:

This is the latest trend in nail polish. There are magnetic particles in this polish that activate when you place the in-cap magnet over the polish. What a cool concept!

What's on your tips and toes??

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the products with my own funds.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

New winner for my Holiday Beauty Giveaway

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that I had to pick a new winner for my Holiday Beauty Giveaway.
Unfortunately, I didn't hear from Micah, nor did she have a way for me to contact her so the new winner is Sarah.
Congrats Sarah!
I'll be in touch with you so I can send out your package ASAP!

One-word beauty product reviews

Haven't done the one-word product review in a long time so here ya go!



1. Village Naturals bathe shoppe body wash: Economical!



2. Burt's Bees baby oil: Sweet



3. Pacifica Island Vanilla body butter: Mediocre.



4. Poshe Topcoat: OK



5. Almay lavender shadow: Pretty

FTC Disclosure: I paid for the funds with my own funds.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Holiday Beauty Giveaway Winner!!!

And the winner of my Holiday Beauty Giveaway is...

MICAH!!!

Micah said, "I would love a clarisonic :D"

I used random.org to pick the winner and was trying to get the HTML code to post here to show you ladies the official drawing, but apparently I can't post the results because the contest is private. Next time, I'll make the drawing public so I can post the HTML code, but you can verify that you were entered in my contest by putting in contest #8,499 on random.org. I'm new to random.org and am still navigating it; bare with me and thank you in advance for your patience.

Micah, please e-mail me your address at msbadu2003@yahoo.com within two days so I can ship your prize out ASAP! If I don't hear from you, I'll pick another winner.

And don't worry if you didn't win this time around. I'm going to have a warm and fuzzy giveaway coming up soon! You're going to love this one!!

As always, thank you so much for supporting my blog and I hope you have a positive and productive rest of your week!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Giving my eyes that "sun-kissed" glow with lip balm

I read on a blog that some make-up artists apply lip balm to models' lids to create a sun-kissed look. Sounded interested to me so I thought I'd try it.

I used my CoverGirl Naturluxe in Tulip:


Here's a swatch:

It's barely there, which makes it perfect for that sun kissed look I'm going for.

And here it is on my eyes:

See, it's barely there but it is there. Gives my eyes that "glow."

What do you think? What are you wearing on your eyes?

FTC Disclosure: I previously paid for the product with my own funds.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Clever love songs

Forrest Gump is one of my all-time fave movies. I remember seeing it when I was like 9 and then seeing it years later really understanding what happened to some of the characters, especially Jenny.
I do the same thing with songs and have been thinking about some of my fave love songs lately.
I won't get too explicit with details but some lyrics are both dangerous and safe at the same time, especially in these three songs:

Minnie Ripperton's Inside My Love:


Aaliyah's Rock the Boat:


Sade's Your Love is King:


What about you? Is there a love song you listened to years later and a light bulb went off? LOL. If so, what is it?

Friday, December 9, 2011

School's in session with this pretty e.l.f. palette

My friend Elena gave me some more make-up, the e.l.f. beauty encyclopedia shadow palette!!! And lemme tell you, I've have fallen in love with it!

Here's a picture of the palette:


This shadow palette contains 12 powder shadows, 2 creme colors and a double-sided brush and a black liner.

Here are swatches (no primer):









And here are some looks I tried using the shadows:







The shadows are very blend-able, long-lasting and wearable for both work and play.
I've been using and loving the brown and other neutral colors for work.
Even been rocking a smokey eye with the brown and black shadows!!
Most were shimmery, which do the same thing for my lids as metallic polish does for my fingers, so that's a plus.
The only thing I didn't like were the creme shadows. They just did not work with my eyelids. Or maybe I didn't know how to blend them in? **scratches head**
Where's a make-up artist when you need one?
Either way, the creme shadows looked like colorful Vaseline on my lids. Not cool.
Other than that, I liked the palette.
Not bad for an inexpensive lesson on beauty.
Thanks again Elena!

FTC Disclosure: The product was gifted to me.