Milani’s Lip Flash in “Flash Light” is not bright enough for my lips

I love, Love, LOVE the song “Flashlight” by Parliament and it immediately came to mind when I picked up a Milani Lip Flash pencil of the same name.
The lippie cost me about $7 from CVS and I bought it because it looked pretty and I didn’t have an orange lippie in my beauty arsenal.

Here’s a pic:


Here’s a swatch:


Here it is my kisser:


I was expecting “Flash Light” to be a more pigmented orange along the lines of the neon orange you see on traffic cones.
But it was light and fell flat on my lips and I’m not head over heels for “Flash Light” like I am with “Flashy.” Oh well. At least I still have the latter.
Have you tried Milani’s lip flash pencils? If so, what was your experience?

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

R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron

Sadly, I just heard that music legend Gil Scott-Heron passed away.
I've written about Scott-Heron's music before and how deep and innovative he was.

Here are some of my fave Gil songs:

"Your Daddy Loves You"


"Winter in America"


"The Bottle"


"Home is Where the Hatred Is"


R.I.P. Gil.

Come to the party on my nails: wet n wild “Party of 5 Glitters” review

I’ve had my eyes on this cutie for a long time and recently scooped it up from Walgreens for $2.
This polish is from Wet n wild’s fast dry collection that came out a few months ago and this is the only color that I was checking for.
It’s reminiscent of Deborah Lippman’s “Happy Birthday,” but is a more affordable version.
“PO5G” is a nice glittery topcoat featuring six different glitters all packed into a clear, thick formula.
I applied one coat over Maybelline's "Iced Mauve" and here's the result:


Overall, “PO5G” is another cute lacquer from wet n wild. I plan to do some layering with this baby in the near future.

Have you tried any polishes from wet n wild’s fast dry line? If, so which ones and what was your experience?

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

Songs I've Been Loving (in no particular order)

Here's a list of songs I can't get enough of (in no particular order)

Al Green's "Simply Beautiful:"


Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock:"


Adele's "Rolling in the Deep:"


Natalie Stewart's "Come Over:"


Bobbi Humphrey's "Blacks and Blues:"


As you can see, I have eclectic tasted when it comes to music. What songs do you like? What music and artists do you love?

Recent NOTDs (pic heavy)

Since I haven't bought any nail polish this month because of my May No-Buy Polish Challenge(hooray!!) I've been rummaging through my polish collection to see what lacquers I've been neglecting. Here are a few recent looks I've worn:

wet n wild's "Tickled Pink:"


"Tickled Pink" under "Glitter in the Air:"


Sephora's "Pop:"


A "mattified" version of "Pop:"


Butter London's "Artful Dodger" with a couple of coats of Sinful Colors' "Opal Glitter:"


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

Update and Reader Appreciation Giveaway winners!!

Hi lovelies,

Please excuse the lack of posts.
Work's been super busy and I'm getting ready to take a mini (much-needed) vacay soon.
As for my Reader Appreciation Giveaway, congrats to Yetta and WitchHazel for winning my contest!
Ladies please send me your addresses; I'll send out your packages in the next couple of weeks.
Also, I have a slew of cool reviews to share and will post them as soon as I get back.
Hope you have a nice rest of the week!

Jennifer

Don't forget to enter in my giveaway!

I'm giving away nail polish, eye shadow, lotion, coupons and lots more. Enter here. Good luck!

Paying off the plastic: How I got out of credit card debt

Last year, I owed about $2,000 in credit card debt.
Today, I am debt free because I finally paid the balance off of the card earlier this month.
That means that I am extremely blessed (especially in the aftermath of The Great Recession) to say that I have no major credit card debt.
This is exciting because getting out of debt has been one of my top financial goals for the past couple of years.
Being 100 percent debt free is truly a blessing that I am very, very thankful for.
It has allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief, start saving the way I want and need to, look into my investing options and give a little bit more.
Everyone’s financial situation and responsibilities are different, but I wanted to give you several tips on how I paid off the plastic:

1. Instead of paying the minimum balance which was usually about $10, I put anywhere from $250 to $300 a month on the balance. I’ve always felt like I’d pay off the credit card in the next century if I paid the minimum balance. There’s something not right about that, and the credit card companies know this. That’s why they do it. I guess they need to make their money (interest) too.

2. If I had extra money left over from my spending budget, I applied it towards my credit card payment instead of putting it into my savings account. For example, if I had an extra $100 or $150 leftover, I’d make a $400 or $450 payment instead of a $250 or $300 one. That went a LOOOOOONG way in bringing down my balance.

3. I was DETERMINED to pay off the bill. Determination is so underrated but when I put my mind to something, I DO it. If there was something I wanted, I didn’t use my credit card to purchase it because I knew that that the purchase would make it a few dollars harder for me to pay down my debt. I was determined to see $00.00 on my credit card statements. Now I see it and my wallet thanks me for it.

4. I evaluated my needs and wants. I’d ask myself, if I really needed another pair of shoes or another bag? Like some women, I can be an emotional shopper and I often emotionally charged items to my credit card because I figured I could pay it off later. Ultimately, I had to stop using my credit card to buy things that I didn’t need and to stop the unhealthy action emotionally shopping.

5. Some people put their credit card in the freezer or cut it in half. I just stopped carrying the credit card around with me. That helped me to really budget when going out or shopping because I couldn’t just swipe my plastic. I was forced to use cash or my debit card and the payoffs were priceless. Pun intended.

Now, I’m no Suzi Orman and don’t pretend to be but these easy, free and resourceful tips all helped to get me out of debt and onto more solid financial ground.
How are you working to get out of debt? What tips do you have to share about reducing your debt load or saving money?

Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush and liner product reviews

CVS had a 40 percent off sale on select Physicians Formula products a while back and I ended up buying their Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Powder and an Eye Defining Felt-Tip Pen.
After the sale discount and coupons, I paid about $5 and $2 for the products. Here they are in their packaging:

Here are both products out of their packaging and next to each other:

Here's a picture of the powder container:

I think it's so cute and compact and I love how there's a brush and mirror in it too!
Here's a look at the actual powder:

The hearts make my heart googoogaga:)
Here are swatches of both products:

You can barely see the mood boosting powder swatch but I promise you it's there!
And here are the products are on my face:

I don't know about the boosting powder making me happy or anything but overall, I was happy with this purchase.
I loved how the powder looked on my skin and how the felt-tip pen lasted pretty much all day.

Have you tried Physicians Formula products before? If so, what were your experiences with them?

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

NOTD: The Real Teal

Hey lovelies!
Hope your week is going well.
Sally Hansen's "The Real Teal" is currently on my digits.
It's a bright, happy teal with micro shimmers that I knew I'd love the minute I saw it in the bottle at Walgreens. After coupon, it came to about a $1.
And Wet n wild's "Rustic" is on my ring fingers. This is one of my fave browns because it's a pretty metallic bronze that can be worn year-round.
What do you think? And what are you wearing on your nails?

FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated by Sally Hansen or wet n wild for this review. I paid for the product with my own funds.

Reader appreciation giveaway!!!

I really appreciate you for reading this blog.
That's why my next giveaway will be in your honor, lovely readers.
My Reader Appreciation Giveaway will have two prizes.
The first prize is a Sonia Kushak make-up bag filled with these goodies:
-Sinful Colors' "Gorgeous"
-Revlon's "Bubble"
-Target coupons
-Pantene shampoo sample
-Nivea loton sample
-Frederick Fekkai shampoo and conditioner samples

Here's a picture of prize 1:


And prize 2 will feature the following goodies:
-CoverGirl's "Candy Corn"
-Burts Bees nail file
-Neutregena lipstick in "Coral Dream"
-essence of beauty hand lotion
-Maybelline eye shadow in "Turquoise Jewel"
-other samples

Here's a picture of prize 2:


As usual, I'll make it easy to enter. Leave me a comment telling me about your summer vacation plans (staycations count too!). Then you have to add me as a friend through Google or one of the other functions. Contest will run through May 16. I'll announce the winners shortly afterward. Open to U.S. residents only. Thanks for reading and entering and good luck!

My May No-Buy Polish Challenge

Happy May Day!

Most women buy shoes and bags and clothes with their hard-earned money.
I buy nail polish with mine.
I can spend anywhere from $25 to $50 a month on lacquer.
Can't help it though. I'm fascinated with the many colors, brands and finishes that nail polish offers.
Things will change this month though.
I'm challenging myself to not buy any bottles, unless I can get them for free which I have done in the past.
The reason for this challenge:

1. To save some money.

2. To use the polishes I already own.

My polish collection consists of 89 bottles. Take a look:





And when I've used most of the bottles, I use the rest of the polishes to do crafty projects, like decorating the boxes that hold my collection:





We'll see if I can keep my word and not buy any polish this month. Wish me luck!!!