Covergirl Natureluxe gloss balm in "Peony"

I recently wrote about the glossy goodness that is Covergirl's Natureluxe lip balms and how it was love at first application for me.
Well, I bought another one called "Peony."
Here it is in the tube:

Here's a swatch:

And on my lips:

This color is OK. It doesn't rock my socks like "Anemone" did but I'll try other colors from the collection to see what other hues work for me.
Have you tried Natureluxe balms? If so, what was your experience?

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by CoverGirl for this review. I paid for the product with my own funds.

NOTD: L'Oreal's "Drama Queen"

I'm slowly but surely warming up to pink polish, as I have L'Oreal's "Drama Queen" on my nails.
It's a hot pink that's very iridescent and reminds me of Borghese's "Dolce Vita Fuchsia."
This is three coats of "Drama Queen" and one coat of Seche Vite top coat.
Sally Hansen's "Rockstar Pink" is on my ring finger.
Hope you're having a productive and positive week!

Cookbooks I've been using

When it comes to cooking, I usually saute veggies, beans and mushrooms. I eat lots of fruit, grains and fish.
Lately, I've been buying cookbooks so I can learn how to cook...like, really cook a REAL meal.
Here are some cookbooks that I've recently bought and consulted:

"Good Housekeeping Favorite Recipes: Vegetarian Meals"


"Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking"


"Easy Indian Cookbook"


I've been getting the most use out of the Madhur Jaffrey book because I love, love, LOVE Indian cooking.
I try to cook it at home but it never comes out how it does in the Indian restaurant:)
Oh well, it's worth the try, right? What have you been cooking lately and what cookbooks do you consult the most?

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by any publishing company for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

NOTDs and a polish haul (pic heavy)

Happy Monday!

I've had a great weekend so far. Spent some time with my big brother yesterday. Cleaned up my apartment. And I went to go see "Water for Elephants" last night.
Here's what I wore on my nails this weekend:

Gold finger. That’s the first thing that came to mind after I applied Sephora by OPI’s “Rumba Romance” on my nails:


I scooped this baby up on sale at Sephora a few weeks ago for $5.
Unfortunately, I liked the color in the bottle but not so much on my digits.
The polish is a bright metallic gold that has too much yellow in it for me.
It’s darker than wet n wild’s “ Goldmine” and lighter than “Rustic.”
While I love shimmery and metallic polishes, I think this hue does nothing for me.
However, I did like it with a coat of "Black Shatter" from OPI:


Next, I wore "Party Hop" from L'Oreal:


This is a shimmery lilac that I'm not sure if I'd wear to a party. It's very spring-ish though.
Sadly, it looked good in the bottle but not on my fingers. It took four, thin coats for full opacity.
I wasn't happy with this at all so my nails went nude for a couple of days:

TWO DAYS!!! That's a long time for me to go sans polish but sometimes I feel my nails need to breath.
But at least I got to swatch pretty Butter London polishes during an Ulta trip yesterday:


I ended up buying Butter London's "Artful Dodger" from Ulta and two Sally Hansens, "The Real Teal" and "Rockstar Pink" from Walgreens. I also got the underrated Seche Vite topcoat from CVS which is the only top coat I'll ever use because it dried my polish in no time. I showered. No chips. I did my make-up. No smudges. This is the ONLY top coat I'll ever buy in my life.
Here's a pic of the haul:

And here's "Artful Dodger" on my nails:

This is a pretty soft blue perfect for spring. This bottle of polish was worth every $15 I spent on it. The brush fanned out a nice amount of the polish onto my nail bed. The formula was creamy and easy to apply. The color is so pretty. Can't stop looking at my nails.

What's currently on your nails? How was your weekend?
I hope you have a positive and productive week and stay tuned for an upcoming, overdue polish giveaway!!!!

Milani's new Lip Flash gloss pencil reminds me of the 80s

I first read about Milani's new Lip Flash gloss pencil over at Clumps of Mascara.
CVS recently had Milani products on sale so it was the perfect opportunity to buy a Lip Flash pencil.

I bought "Flashy" which is a glittery fuchsia:

Here's a swatch. The jumbo gloss pencil is heavily pigmented!

Here is "Flashy" on my lips:

This color makes me think of the 80s and I feel like I have that whole decade on my kisser when I apply the gloss pencil.
Overall, I like the Lip Flash. It moisturized pretty well and had good staying power.
I can live with the $8 price tag, but my only complaint was that it is little hard to sharpen.

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by Milani for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

Recent NOTDs

I change polish like most people change their underwear. There's always a new color, brand or finish to try. Here are some things I've recently worn on my fingers:

Sally Hansen's new Salon effects nail polish strips in "Check it Out":

I like houndstooth print and this caught my eye from Sally Hansen's new salon effects line.
The strip was a little annoying to apply because I had to cut some of the strips to fit my nail bed. But they were easy remove and did last for a long time.

Ulta's "Glam Session":

I got this for free from Ulta. It is a pretty black polish with shimmers in it but it chipped after a couple of days:(

Borghese's "Paradiso Pink" with OPI's famed "Black Shatter" on top:

I love this combination. Very good girl gone bad.

What's on your nails? I hope your week is going well!

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by any beauty company for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

Happy Monday and NOTD

Happy Monday!
This will be a short post because I've slept my weekend away and have to get ready for work.
N.Y.C.'s "Prince Street" is currently on my nails. It's a pretty royal purple more suitable for fall/winter.
What's on your nails? And hope you have a great week!

NOTDs featuring Revlon and Deborah Lippman!

Happy Sunday!

I have two Revlon polishes to show you today. The first is from Revlon’s scented collection and is called “Not so Blueberry.”


This is a very unique color. It’s periwinkle. It’s light purple. It’s blue.
I really don’t know what this hue is, which makes it so special to me.
What I do know is that it’s a gorgeous shimmery color that doesn’t quite smell like blueberry.
Its scent has more of a fruity smell to me and that’s totally OK, as pretty as this polish is.

The next shade is “Hazy,” which is from Revlon’s Top Speed collection:


"Hazy" kind of ventures off into the light purple territory but it's a pretty light gray, similar to Sally Hansen’s “Concrete.”
I think this is a nice color on its own, but I put a couple of coats of Deborah Lippman’s “Glitter in the Air” over it and that made it fantabulous:


I love how the pink and blue hex glitters in "GITA" lay over the soft gray base of “Hazy.”
“GITA” has been doing it for me lately and I swear I’d spread this polish over my toast if I could!
I was curious about how this look would be with a matte finish so here it is with Essie's matte topcoat:


I think "Not So Blueberry" is my fave out of these two, but I love the combination of "GITA" over "Hazy." What do you think? Which is your fave? What's currently on your nails?

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by any beauty company for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

A haul and look at some polishes I'll be sporting

Here's a look at my most recent polish haul from RiteAid, CVS and Target:

-N.Y.C.'s "Prince Street" (With a coupon and store discount, paid about a quarter)
-Milani's "Dude Blue" (Milani products were BOGO so I paid about $3 for this)
-Revlon's "Not So Blueberry" (had a CVS coupon so I paid about $3 for this)
-Revlon's "Hazy" (paid about $6 for this at CVS)
-wet n wild's "Inferno" (on clearance at RiteAid for 50 cents)
-wet n wild's "Rustic" (on clearance at RiteAid for 50 cents)
-wet n wild's "Metallica" (on clearance at RiteAid for about $60 cents)

I own a couple of these but will be wearing the colors in the next couple of weeks.
Look for swatches, reviews soon!

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by any beauty company for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

Song of the Day: "Time is Running Out" by Doug Carn

I first heard about Doug Carn from a co-worker's blog and really like his brand of Avant-garde jazz.
This song has a urban feel to me, but it's breezy enough for me to listen to it when I'm winding down from a long day and am am eating dinner.
Enjoy and hope you're having a positive, productive and prosperous week!

My new skincare regimen: The Oil Cleansing Method

Oils are staples in my house. I use them to take off make-up, moisturize my scalp and now I’m using oils to cleanse my skin.
Yes, I’m doing the popular Oil Cleansing Method.
The OCM is a cleaning routine where you use different kinds of oils to, well, cleanse dirt and other buildup from your skin. The premise of the method is that “like dissolves like”. The key is that you have to use the right type of oil mixture for your skin so that the mixture will work.
Castor oil is the “carrier” oil in the mixture that does the main cleansing. You have to have another oil for moisturizing purposes. My skin is desert dry so for the past two months, I’ve been cleansing with the Castor and olive oil mixture.
After I massage the mixture in my skin, I place a hot washcloth over my face for about a minute, then wipe the oil mixture off. I do the same thing again two or three more times. Afterward, I place a cold washcloth on my face to close my pores and tone with rose water that I got from India.
I then moisturize with a mixture of tea tree, vitamin E, almond, avocado and jojoba oils.
It’s all a greasy mess but I have seen a difference and like the results so far: brighter, even skin and smaller pores.
Now I’ve read mixed reviews about the OCM but I’m going to stay with my new regimen. It doesn’t work for everyone but it surely has been working just fine for me.

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by any beauty company for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

Thinking pink with Borghese nail polishes

I'm usually not a pink polish person but these Borghese polishes I recently scooped up from Walgreens' clearance bin for a buck and some change have changed my mind:

This is "Raspberry Sorbetto," a mid-range hot pink that I absolutely love:


This is "Paradiso Pink," a very pretty salmon pink:

This is "Paradiso Pink" with one coat of wet n wild's glittery topcoat "Hallucinate":

This is the gorgeous Dolce Vita Fuchsia, a shimmery pink:

This is "Dolce Vita Fuscia" "funky frenched" with wet n wild's "Black Creme":

Here is "Belissima Rose," a pretty reddish pink:


My faves are "Raspberry Sorbetto" and "Dolce Vita Fuchsia." Which are your faves? What do you have on your nails right now? Hope you're having a great week!

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by Borghese for this review. I paid for the products with my own funds.

A debt-free treat: Deborah Lippmann's "Glitter in the Air"

Happy Monday!

Chasing bears and tent cities at work has kept me busy as usual.
But the good thing is that I've been extremely focused and thankful for my blessings, one of which is that as of this past Friday, I am 100% debt free!!!
I can't even explain how this feels because this has been a goal of mine for the past couple of years and I finally accomplished it.
After I made the last credit card payment, I was like, "Wow. What do I do now?" LOL.
To treat myself (because you have to when you accomplish your goals=}) I bought a $18 bottle of Deborah Lippmann's famed "Glitter in the Air" nail polish.
Here she is on my tips:


This polish is everything that it's cracked up to be.
I applied three coats over Hard Candy's "Sky" and the result was this pretty combination of glittery goodness.
I love the blue and pink hex glitters in "GITA" against the light blue of "Sky."
I'm in love with "GITA" and am definitely going to apply this over other polishes in my collection!
Hope you have a good week!

The Body Shop's Satsuma body butter is heaven

They say good things come in small packages and they sure weren't lying.
This 1.7 ounce of The Body Shop's body butter in "Satsuma" is heaven in a tiny, teeny container.
I've written about The Body Shop's butters before and this one is boss, like the other butters.
The citrus scent smells sooooooooooooooooooooooo good that you can smell it from a mile away.
I'm so in love with this $5 butter that I bought another jar and might buy another container later this week.
Too bad Sephora doesn't sell it in a bigger container.

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by The Body Shop for this review. I paid for the product with my own funds.

A work-safe look with tarte and Urban Decay goodies

The Sephora guy who helped me during my most recent visit introduced me to a new, subtle work-friendly look.
It features products from one of my fave make-up brands tarte, and a new fave, Urban Decay.
Tarte has always done right by me because their products are natural, free of parabens and talc and have great coverage. I raved about their femme naturale palette about a year ago. I feel the same way about their new Amazonian long-wear clay blush, which cost $25. It's a blush that has these nice glitter specs in it.

I was also in love with my Urban Decay shadow in "Roach." OMG this is like my fave shadow now!! It's a shimmery dark purple-ish color that is gorge on my skin. I also love the UD eyeliner in "Stash" that I've been wearing with these products.
All three of these products made for a nice work look:

I've worn this look for like two weeks straight!! What do you think?? What are you wearing on your face?

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by tarte or Urban Decay for this review. I paid for the product with my own funds.

Song of the Day: The Doors' "Light My Fire"

Dear World,

This is dope.

That is all.

Love,

Jennifer

Coral and Orange polish swatches

I've been swatching the coral and orange polishes I bought and here they are:

Sephora by OPI's "Lost Without My GPS:"

I think this is the most coral of the polishes. Borghese's "Stellare Notte" is on my ring finger.

Wet n wild's "Club Havana:"

This is a carrot orange that's OK. I did a half moon mani with Borghese's "Stellare Notte:"


Borghese's "Capri Coral:"

The formula was watery but this is a nice reddish coral.

I saved the best for last. My fave of the bunch is Revlon's "Siren:"

This gorgeous orange is from Revlon's Fire and Ice collection.