NOTD: Sephora's "Disco"

This is "Disco" from Sephora's crazy $1 polish sale that's currently going on.
It's a pretty jeweled fuscia and perfect for the upcoming cold weather.
Me loves it.

More books to read!

More books to read:)
I picked up these babies from my local bookstore and can't wait to read them!

DIY: Bookmarks made with nail polish

I always try to reuse things instead of throwing them away and recently came across what I thought would be a cool idea after finishing a box of green tea: DIY bookmarks.


These tea separators came in the box of green tea. I thought they were perfectly shaped for bookmarks.

Of course, I used old nail polish to paint designs the bookmarks.

Here's one side of the finished products. I also designed an old envelope because I was curious to see how it would turn out.

And here's the other side. My books will love these bookmarks!

NOTD: Sally Hansen's "Mystic Lilac"

I currently have Sally Hansen's "Mystic Lilac" on my nails.
This color has been very popular in the beauty blogosphere and I see why.
Although it is a light purple, it has a gray/taupe look to it.
And if you look closer, it has these very small, green sparkles mixed in the formula.
I'm so used to wearing loud polish colors so it's refreshing to wear a hue that's low-key.

Sante nail polish review

My SANTE order also came with lots of samples!

Always on the lookout for new natural and organic nail polish removers, I recently ordered a bottle from SANTE, a German company.
This product has been popping up around the beauty blogs, which fueled my curiosity with it.
I liked the pump bottle that the remover came in. It dispersed a nice size amount of the polish remover, which is made with organic alcohol.
The remover worked surprisingly fast.
I liked its orange organic oil, which left my nail beds and cuticles moisturized.
The smell is slightly medicinal but I can live with that, and this product.

Recent Nail Design

I was going to do a half moon/ruffian look with my nails but ended up with this:



I used Sally Hansen's "Wet Cement" as the base, then Sally Hansen's "Dazzling."
Nothing special but something different.

facial cleansers

I've been using these products to keep my skin refreshed and even.

Water. Fresh produce. Good spirits.
My skin has been looking really good these days and I'm sure it can be attributed to the above reasons.
But the products that I've recently started using have also been helping my face look it's best.
In the morning, I wash my face with fresh soy cleanser. It's about $15 and you can get it from Sephora.
After that, I add some khadi rose water that I got during my India trip last year.
I finish my morning facial cleansing ritual with Shea Moisture's shea butter, which gives me a nice, natural glow.
At night, I follow the same routine but I use philosophy's facial cleanser. I also get this from Sephora for about $20.
I've also been using Freeman's Mega 8 Complex Superfruits facial mask,which uses natural antioxidants to purify and detoxify skin.
Feels like my face has been given an new lease on life. It's even, bright toned and fresh.

Song of the Day: "I Want to Be Free"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=&feature=related

Today's "Song of the Day" is from the Ohio Players.
"I Want to Be Free" just feels so good in my ear drums.
Plus, it's nothing but 70s cool.
Enjoy!

Shecky's Girl's Night Out

I recently attended the Shecky's Girls Night Out event in D.C. with my very good girlfriend, Jaedda.
If you're a beauty junkie like I am, then you NEED to go to this event!
It had all kinds of jewelry, lip glosses, nail polish, clothes, shoes, bags and event martinis.
And Shecky's is famous for its "Goody Bag," which comes equipped with enough stuff to restock your beauty arsenal.
This was my second Shecky's Girls Night Out event and Jaedda's first. I treated her to the event for her birthday and she loved it.
Check out event pix below:


There were so many people in attendance that we could barely walk.


I bought a nice candle from this place. OMG it smelled so good that you could smell the candles from down the corridor!

Me and Jaedda having fun and taking it all in!

Here's the cuteness that is the Goody Bag. I'm going to reuse it as a shopping bag.

The Goody Bag featured products like room spray, lotion, toothpaste, hair clips, lip balm, dental floss, perfume, coupons and samples.


Here are some things that I bought from the vendors like earrings, nail polish, candles, soap and eye and lip liners.

NOTD and Haul

Happy Monday!

This gorgeous baby of a color is currently on my tips:



I don't do too well with blue nail polishes.
They're either too dark or too light, but I've found a blue hue that works well for me.
My former co-worker and good friend Lauren gave me Avon's "Lagoon" at her going-away party.
"Lagoon" is a creamy, pastel blue that is suitable for springtime, but I'm going to rock this baby during the fall and winter months.
I love it. Do you like it?

And I went to Sephora today:

Been working hard lately and wanted to treat myself.
I got a bottle of Josie Maran's Argan Oil and some nail polish drying drops.
The Sephora sales lady also put a couple of samples in my bag too.
Expect reviews soon.
Have a good week!

Rejuvenate and Relieve Nail Spa review: works like a charm!

What could be better than a trip to the spa?
An at-home spa treatment, of course!
Well, I picked up a Rejuvenate and Relieve Nail Spa that was on clearance for $7 from Marshall's not too long ago and it is a charm.
It's lightweight, compact and has lots of features like a cuticle tool, smoothing disks, nail brush and several kinds of files.
Check out some pix of my new fave beauty tool below (sorry for the lighting):


In the box. It's so cute and compact.


Out the box. It has lots of tools and features.


Drying my polish. This is my fave feature.

Overall, this is a product of quality and the cheap price tag enhances its value.
The spa made my nail polish process easier because of the filing and cuticle tools and the drying feature which I think is just so cute.
I usually don't go out to get my nails done and thanks to the Nail Spa, I can stay in the comfort of my home and continue doing my tips and toes.

Finding ways to spend less

My goal for early 2011 is to pay off my entire credit card bill.
The balance is currently about $1,000 and I have been putting at least $200 a month on it.
Lately, I've been looking at ways to help me pay off my credit card bill so I tracked my spending habits for the entire month of August.
I wrote down EVERYTHING (and I mean every purchase) and it was pretty eye-opening.
Aside from necessity bills like rent, utilities and groceries, here's a breakdown of miscellaneous things I bought in August:

-$52 on stuff from Marshall's

-$3 nail polish from Walgreens (Why doesn't this surprise me?)

-$4 on treats from the local chocolate shop

-$22 on a Red Lobster dinner

-$10 on a jacket from the local thrift store

-$8 on Dollar Tree finds

Now, all of the miscellaneous purchases that I made in August weren't included in this post, but when I calculated all of them from my journal, they came to about $315.
Yes, you read that right: $315.
That's a lot of money!!
Too much dinero to just be spending on nothing but stuff.
To solve that problem, I'm currently trying figure out how I will cut back on miscellaneous spending so I can put more money on my credit card.
I hope to put an extra $50 to $100 a month on the card so it's paid off in full by February or March.
I think I can make it happen but we'll see how it goes.

NOTD: Sally Hansen's "Adoring Amethyst"

Now this is the kind of berry polish color that I've been searching for to wear during fall and winter months.
It's called "Adoring Amethyst" and is a part of Sally Hansen's Maximum Growth line.
I got this baby on clearance from Walgreens for $1.29.
The deep berry hue and metallic shimmer compliment my skintone and make my hands pop.
This color will probably spend a lot of time on my tips and toes.
I'm very impressed; I like it.

What books are you reading?

Since I'm a writer, it's extremely important that I read anything that I can get my fingers on. After all, good writing comes from good reading.
So lately, I've been spending lots of my free time reading books for leisure.
And to increase my exposure to different types of authors, I've joined the book club at work.
The first book we read was Lorrie Moore's "A Gate at the Stairs," which both amazed and perplexed me.
The next book on our list is Kathryn Stockett's "The Help."
I just finished reading books on reflexology, detoxing, inner simplicity, financial security and meditation.
As you can see, they are all self-help books; I'm trying to improve my life so don't judge me:)
Since I'm curious to see Tyler Perry's film adaption that's coming out next week, I recently read Ntozake Shange's "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf."
The choreopoem was both depressing and beautiful. It will be interesting to see how it translates on film.
Currently, I'm reading the classic Frank McCourt book "Angela's Ashes."

And I hope to go to Barnes & Noble soon to use this $50 gift card I won at work to read more classics- and new treasures:



My father was an avid book reader and he had stacks and stacks of books in his apartment and would read everything from pop culture to politics.
He was intelligent to the tenth degree, and he retained all of the information that he read. He could tell you what the third paragraph of whatever book said, that's how smart he was.
This sounds crazy but I guess me reading is my little connection to him and his spirit, especially since he passed a couple of years ago.

What are you reading?? What's on your reading list?