OOTN

Hey guys! Friday night I went out with a friend for a few drinks and I had planned on doing a video on my youtube channel but go figure, my video camera was dead so whats the next best thing? Pictures and a blog post of course! As always, I kept it quite simple and comfy but still tried to look cute and put together. Here's a list of what I wore:

A grey tanktop from Forever 21

A blazer, because it was snowing outside...yes snowing, which was from Maurices

The jeans were Silvers, also from Maurices

I added some black earrings from Claires

And my favorite part of the outfit? My shoes!

They are black velvet and absolutely adorable and most importantly comfy! They are dollhouse brand which I bought for $19.99 at Ross and the price tag makes them even better! lol. Well, that's about it! Hope you guys had a great weekend :)

Recent Haul Pics&Swatches

Let's start off with Creme d'nude, a lovely peachy nude with a Cremesheen formula so it has pretty good coverage on the lips but still remains to have a slight glossiness but no shimmer

This is Underage lipglass. I have been debating this one for quite sometime and finally decided I needed it for my nude lips coming on this fall. It is much peachier than I had originally thought but still very pale and pretty. It is, like most lipglasses, sticky but that is what gives that gorgeous shine and lasts long!

Now onto eyeshadows........This is Bronze eyeshadow which I wasn't sure I needed after having Mulch, but I am definitely glad I purchased it! It has a beautiful shine, not glitter, not shimmer, almost a metallic finish, I LOVE it! It is sooo pretty!

Next is Sketch. This is one of the most unique colors, sort of a blackened plum with a slight shimmer. Its so unique which I thought was going to be hard to work with but its not at all. I love it with Amber Lights on the lid and this is in the crease for everyday. This would also make a gorgeous smokey eye so I am excited to try that and will post when I do!

This is Purple Haze. Its a very smooth and soft matte shade which is hard to find. Its a beautiful lilac purple and exactly what I had hoped Vibrant Grape would be but Vibrant Grape is much more pink toned and slightly brighter. I think this shade is much more easy to work with and much more wearable. It goes with a lot more colors and can be worn so many different ways

That is it for now!

Xen-Tan

Hey guys!!! Sorry its been a while, things have been crazy and dealing with some personal stuff. We are moving in a week so things are really hectic right now, but onto the good stuff! I am definitely not afraid to admit that I am a self-tan addict. I LOVE being tan but I refuse to hit the tanning bed, it takes to long to drive there and back, I don't tan well, and skin cancer of course! Soooo I do the next best thing and self-tan. To be honest, the tanning products on the market now are much better than they use to be and I get a better tan at home than going to get a spray tan! I got one a few months ago and I ended up with dark and light blotches all over me and it began to fade and blotch really fast for around $30? No thanks! Anyways, I am always trying new tanning products, I guess I have a little tanning ADD. So far, my favorite has been Sun Labs but today I received this in the mail which I have been dying for! I have never heard a bad review on it and it was a bit pricey but I finally bit the bullet and bought it! I applied it today and I fell in love! I was using Sun Labs spray but since the weather is getting cold my skin is drying out so I needed a lotion which was the perfect reason to try this lol. It moisturizes sooo well! It feels like a dream going on and my husband keeps saying "you look sooo tan" and yes, that is after one day! What I love about this is that you put it on and it has instant color and your full tan develops within 3 hours! Some I have tried take a full 24 hours! So far, I am pretty impressed but I will update you guys as the days go on! What is your favorite tanning product?

Maybelline Charcoal Smokes

So....... I know I am probably the last person to get this quad but my Wal-Mart hasn't had it in stock for sooo long and then I went to Target and the only one they had was broken :( I finally got my hands on one and I was, and still am, ecstatic! I have heard mixed reviews on these quads, some people say they aren't pigmented so I didn't expect much, hence only getting one, but the only shadow in here that isn't very pigmented is the lid color which is on my pinky. I had to swipe it several times to get that color, but its a really pretty taupe color which I have wore on its own. You can build it up to a quite nice taupe with a good primer and some patience :) The others, as you can see, are quite pigmented. These are not the softest shadows so maybe that's why people are disappointed but for me, its not a big deal. This quad was $4.94 at wal-mart so really you can't beat that! It was a pretty good deal in my opinion and makes an amazing smokey eye. The silver color is a hi-light but in my opinion using that as a hi-light takes away from the smokey eye look and starts to go overboard a bit, but none the less it is a pretty color that you could replace with the lid color even for a silver smokey eye instead of a more taupe colored one. I will be taking this quad with me on my vacation this weekend so I can do a variety of looks and not have to pack my whole eyeshadow drawer lol. I will also be picking up a few more of these and you guys should too! lol. Have you tried these? Which is your fav???

Fall is here!

Hey guys! So today it officially felt like fall and it was heavenly!!! I absolutely love fall weather so I was excited to pull out my sweater and boots although everything I had was from last year, but its ok :) I wore a purple sweater (purple and plums are so in this season so I wasn't TOO out of style lol) that I got from Target on clearance at the beginning of spring, Big Star jeans, and Ugg boots. The jeans I got at a yard sale for............are you ready.............$1!!!!! The boots I got a good deal on at only $65 and I have wore them OUT! Just thought I'd share this quick little post with you guys as I was excited that I got to wear fall clothes today lol. Next weekend we are going out of town shopping so I will be getting some fall items and hitting up TJ Maxx of course! I can't wait! What are some trendy items you guys are purchasing for this fall?

Sorry!

Hey guys! I just wanted to do a little post and let you all know, I am still around! lol. I have neglected blogging lately and I am very sorry. Things have been crazy! My husband has been working crazy and long hours which leaves me with both kids and no time to sit down and relax and write a blog without having to stop a million times lol. Also, a week ago my little girl had her tonsils removed and then just a few days later my husband got sent off to a job 3 hours away and hasn't been home since. Hopefully he will be back tomorrow but it has been a long and exhausting couple of weeks. Anyways, enough excuses lol. I will be doing a haul soon on my youtube channel so be sure to check that out...........as soon as I get time! lol. I just wanted to say thanks everyone for sticking with me and I will get back on track, just sometimes life takes over lol. Love you guys!!!

Viva Glam Cyndi

Today I went for a red lip, yep, a very red lip lol. I am a total fan of pin-up looks and I wish I had Marilyn Monroe lips to pull it off buuuut.........I don't. I don't feel like red is a very good color on me but one red that I will wear is Viva Glam Cyndi. Its not a candy apple red but sort of a pinky coral red if there is such a thing. Its very wearable so if I am going to do a red its definitely this one. I saw the tube sitting in my drawer screaming "wear me, wear me!" so thats what I did. It feels very loved now lol. Anyways, just a quick and somewhat silly little post for the day since I have been doing tons of nail posts lately :)

Copy Cat!

Yep, I'm a copy cat! I saw a picture on beautopia of something she had done and I had to try it! It was the m57 plate and then she added the colorful dots which added such a nice POP of color. I think she also stated she had seen this on makeupalley and it was called "rainbow snow leapard" which I think is a PERFECT name for it! I am getting a little better with my Konad but it definitely takes practice! Anyways, I wanted to talk about the polish I used which is LA Colors White. This is a nice white, sort of sheer, so I had to layer 3 coats to get a full opaque white. It can be quite streaky though so without the Konad stamp over it I would not have been satisfied;however, since it is sheer, its very thin which means fast drying time and I am a total fan of as my son needed a diaper change in the middle of doing my nails lol. So far, this has been a theme with the LA Colors polishes I have tried, very sheer which can be a good or bad thing, depends on what look you're going for. For the black I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out which works really well with the konad as its kind of a thick black polish but I may purchase a few of the konad special polishes soon though. My daughter loves it as well! She has been going around trying to stamp everything lol! I do her nails and it works great, so easy and fast for her little nails. So far, I am very pleased with my Konad and it was a good investment and I will definitely be investing in more plates and maybe some polishes soon!

1st Konad!

Hey guys! So......I finally bought a Konad! The plate I wanted most was m57 (pictured above). It has a zebra, leopard, fishnet, and lace print. They are full coverings which means they cover the whole nail. This was the first time I had experimented with them and it was way harder than I thought! lol. I attempted this lace look and it turned out OK but I'm definitely no pro yet! It is going to take some practice but I'm willing to work with it. Do you guys have a Konad? If so, what tips do you have for me and what is your favorite plate?

NOTD

Hey guys! Just a quick post, but I redid my nails last night and thought I'd share :) Everyone has been doing the whole one glitter nail thing so I thought I'd give it a whirl! I used OPI "Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow" and Sinful Colors "Call You Later" for the glitter nail. It looks black in the pictures but its a dark green. I can't remember what collection this came out with, but the green glitter really stands out against the dark nails. My husband said he thought I should do all my nails with the glitter and I kind of agreed with him. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet but I am always afraid of glitter looking very 12 year oldish so this is kind of a slow transition for me lol. Have you guys tried this little "trend" yet? What did ya think?!

Sinful Colors (inspired by julieg713)

I know, ANOTHER post today and once again it is about NAILS lol. I guess you can say this is my obsession at the moment lol. Anyway, I watched julieg713 on youtube last night and she did this really cute nail tutorial. The polish she used was Sinful Colors Easy Going which I have been eyeing at my local Walgreens for months now but I never purchased it for fear that it would be a sheer light pink only good for a wash of color or a french manicure but when I saw her video it was a gorgeous milky pink and very opaque so I ran down the street (well not literally I drove lol) to my Walgreens and picked it up! I also needed some glitter to use but they didn't have much. Pretty much everything was picked over but I did find the two glitter polishes above, the green and blue. I already had the bright green on the far left which is Innocent. Second from left (the green glitter) is Call You Later and third from the left (the blue glitter) is Nail Junkie, which I actually ended up not using and last is on the far right which is Easy Going. Since they had no pink or purple glitter I settled for the green and paired it with Innocent and added a few glitter chunks from an old nail polish I have. This is how it turned out, not completely happy with it but it will work. If I had pink or purple it would of looked better and perhaps if my nails weren't so stubby lol. Anyways, just thought I'd share these few pics with you guys. By the way, if you didn't know Sinful Colors nail polishes are $1.99 at Walgreens so I good deal :)

OPI Nail Envy

Hey guys! The weekend is almost here again! It seems this week has flown by. Anyways, I wanted to share with you guys a nail item I purchased on Monday. It is obviously OPI Nail Envy. I have read so many reviews on this on makeupalley and other forums but I never had the chance to get my hands on it. Recently my Target started carrying a few OPI polishes and one of them happened to be this. It was $16.99 which is outrageous to me but I have been desperate to find something to help my nails grow so I bit the bullet and purchased it. After all the reviews I read I kind of had high hopes for it. I have only been using it for 4 days so I can't say a lot about it yet, but I do hope it works. I'm not expecting a miracle worker by any means but if it helps, I am on board! Everytime I try to grow my nails they grow for a few days then break so I usually get frustrated and end up getting acrylics again :( Hopefully this time I can get past that point and resist temptation. :) Since using this I haven't had a nail break but we will see how that goes. I dont want to jinx myself lol. Do any of you have suggestions for growing your nails? I am taking Biotin as well so if you guys know of anything let me know and I will be sure to update on this product. Have a great day!

Weight Issues.......(long post)

This was me in November of 2006, I am second from the left next to my husband in the brown jacket, the other ppl are my in-laws

This is obviously my wedding picture with my sister in law. This would be December 2006.

And this is obviously me now. (And for the record, I am only 5'3") I was always skinny growing up. I never got the comments of "your so pretty" or anything like that, the thing people always noticed about me was that I was "so skinny." It almost became an obsession for me. I ran all the time, worked out, tried to eat healthy, then when I turned 16 I got a job at an Italian restaurant (oh boy!). Working didn't allow me to exercise and run like I always had and I began eating the food there. I would get out of school at 3:30 and drive 30 mins to my job, eat, then clock in. I started gaining a little weight and by that I mean I went from 105 pounds to 115 and I began to panic. I began not eating and then when I would eat I would overindulge and then force myself to vomit. I began to realize I had a problem and I started trying to make myself eat but I would get sick and vomit again. For me, it became an endless cycle that I felt was impossible to break. I finally forced myself to eat, little by little till I could eat a meal. I have never went back to that place and refuse to. My husband helped me a lot with that. He loved me the way I was and he loved that I was a beautiful person inside and out. It wasn't "your so skinny" I heard anymore it was "you're beautiful". I began gaining weight back and before we were married I believe I was around a size 5 which was big for me. I felt comfortable though. After we were married we moved to Montana and I was at home constantly b/c I couldn't drive in the snow which meant more eating. When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter I was about a 6/7 and weighed about 135 pounds or so. When I was pregnant I developed preeclampsia (with both pregnancies actually) and by the time I had my daughter I was almost 200 pounds. I have stretch marks from my legs to my breasts and everywhere in between (battle wonds of having children) After having my 2 kids, I am 145 pounds and wear a size 8. I struggle with my weight and body issues constantly. I feel like since I was always told growing up "your so skinny" and not "your so pretty" I had nothing about me that was attractive or noticeable. I have tried losing weight again and again but it always fails. I definitely do not want to be 100 pounds again but my goal weight is 130. That's 15 pounds, can I do it and do it the healthy way?! Its crazy how much your body changes after having babies! My husband has always been supportive and makes me feel beautiful but I would definitely like to lose a few pounds. I know this is kind of a long post and a little deeper than the usual but I feel like weight issues are something always on everyone's minds, especially women. I feel like there is a lot more pressure on women to look perfect and for moms out there seeing these celebrity moms rebound right back to a size 2 puts an enormous weight on your shoulders, or it did me anyways. Being overweight is something I am really struggling with at the moment and learning how to be comfortable at whatever weight I am. Confidence is key, but its something I have always lacked in. I want this to be a place you can feel comfortable and to feel beautiful and to know that everyone struggles whether its in the open or not. I will keep you guys updated on my weight loss battle but I know unless I am TRULY happy with myself it won't matter what weight or size I am.

Dupe Alert!!!!

Heeeey guys! I am so excited about this post!!!! Anytime I can find a dupe for something it excites me like a kid on Christmas morning lol. I picked up this E.L.F. brush at Target last week for $1! I am always looking for new brushes and I am a big fan of the E.L.F. ones, but this particular one I didn't have. It is a part of the back to school promotions at Target so I grabbed it and thought "eh for a dollar I could use another eyeshadow brush" but what I got was like a treasure! I used it yesterday and it works beautifully! Then I realized when I was washing my brushes last night that it was the same exact size and shape as my MAC 239! I love the 239 and use it everyday! I began comparing them and they apply shadow exactly the same and feel the same! I have some of the E.L.F. studio line eyeshadow brushes and I was a little disappointed in them b/c the bristles were a little flimsy but this isn't the case with this one at all. It is dense so it packs on color well but the bristles are as soft as the MAC 239, perfect combination and the price tag makes it that much sweeter. The only big difference between the two is the length of the handle. The MAC 239 brush has a longer handle but neither bother me. I didn't even notice till I had them side by side. I am so pleased with this brush I will definitely pick up more before the promotional items are yanked from the end caps.......*scary face!* lol. So run out and grab your E.L.F. Professional eyeshadow brush for $1 before its gone!!!!

OOTD

Hey guys! I just wanted to do this outfit of the day post. This is one of the shirts in my recent youtube video of my Forever21 haul. It is $6.50 and absolutely adorable! I have a cold but we were going to visit friends so I wanted to look cute and this was perfect! Its so comfy but yet cute and the sleeves make it very classy. I paired it with some straight legged khakis, gold sandals, and the ring I also purchased from forever21 for $3.80. I also added the headband simply because I didn't feel like fixing my hair. I actually picked the headband up at the Dollar Tree a few months ago. Anyways, that is about it. Just wanted to share these few photos with you guys, hope you had a great weekend!

Essence Nail Stampy Set

Hey guys! Hope you are having a fab weekend!I received this in the mail yesterday from Ulta, it is the Essence nail stampy set which is $2.99 at Ulta.com. I was very skeptical about this especially since it was really cheap. Also, online it said "7 stamping images" and I had no idea what the "images" would be but they were really cute flowers and butterflies so I was pleased with that. Another thing, is with the Konad stamping sets you have to use a special polish for the design and with this you can use ANY polish. So, last night I decided to give it a go! I used this yellow polish which I picked up on clearance at Target for $1.12!!! I have used another stamp set before but the plates weren't firm and were a bit flimsy which made it hard to get the image even and the stamper wasn't very good (it was a knock-off from China) but this was much more successful! I was quite pleased with the result, it was my first time using it and it will definitely take some practice but I can get use to this! I will keep practicing and post more pics when I get a little better at it, also look for a video coming on my youtube channel soon! I didn't see any more image plates available at Ulta.com though which stinks but these 7 images should keep things interesting for a while ;)

Nicole by OPI Matte Polish

As stated in my last post I was quite excited to get in on the matte polish craze when I saw that Wal-mart was carrying the Nicole by OPI Matte Polish. I picked this one up which is Razzle Dazzler. In the bottle it looked like a gorgeous dark gray with silver sparkles. When I got home I realized the tag on the top of the bottle and was surprised at what it said "Nicole by OPI Matte does not wear as long as original Nicole Nail Lacquer" so right away I thought "uh oh". It even goes on to say "do not use drying products top coat or lotion" I had heard that matte polishes don't last as long but to put a disclaimer attached to the bottle was surprising. I went ahead and applied it to my toenails and noticed right away the consistency. The closest thing I can think of is melted plastic. It dries so fast and can be streaky and uneven if you aren't careful. The silver sparkles looked like chunky glitter when it dried. I started noticing the consistency was getting thicker and looked at the bottle and all of the polish around the neck and down had already dried. I finished and then did my fingernails which was a big mistake. By the next day they were chipping everywhere and looked gross. For me, this was a big fail. I was so disappointed. The polish was $7 and I feel like that was a waste. I guess this is one bandwagon I won't be jumping on anytime soon. I guess I am just not into it as much as I thought I would be...........the look or the formulation of the polish. They both totally turned me off. Have you guys tried any matte polishes? What did you think?

Milani 3D Holographic Nail Polish

Hey everyone, happy Saturday! Hope you all have a great weekend. Just wanted to do this quick post about my new obsession.........holographic nail polish! Specifically the Milani 3d holographic polish. This is kind of sheer so I had to do 3 coats but they dried quick and it wasn't thick or hard to work with at all. I painted my nails really quick actually. Usually it takes me a while but this was really easy to work with. I purchased this one for $4.99 at CVS and plan to pick up a few more colors this week. It seems to wear well too so for $4.99 its a pretty good bargain! I am trying to experiment with spicing up my natural nails as I get bored and always go back to falsies so my next venture will be matte polishes, have any of you tried them? Which brand do you like? And any recommendations for a good base coat?

Crest 3d Whitestrips

Before
After 5 treatments

First of all, let me start off by saying I HATE close up pictures but I tried to do the best I can so you guys can see the difference. I have been using the crest 3d whitestrips in vivid. I wanted the Professional effects but they were too expensive. That being said, I am very pleased with the results so far! I have used 5 out of the 10 pouches and already my teeth are much whiter. Last night I accidentally fell asleep with one in (whoops!) but I woke up during the night and took it out. That definitely boosted the whitening BUT my teeth are a little sensitive today so no more laying down to watch tv with them in LOL. I have 5 more treatments and then I will update you guys with the full results but so far so good! What is your favorite way to keep your pearly whites WHITE?!