FOTD and NOTD: Candy Apple Fishnets

Ahh, Tuesday. I hate Mondays but Tuesday has a little bit of optimism for the coming weekend, no?  Still too long away, you say?  At long last I had an extra couple of minutes to get ready this morning and I rimmed my eyes with black liner and slicked on a red pout.  I haven't worn a real look in ages (nearly bare-faced most days recently, can you believe it?) so I guess I just gravitated toward the classics.

Sorry, I'm not actually green. Nor do I have dark circles (le sigh).  Fluorescent lighting really sucks.  Pictures taken four hours after I put the makeup on originally!

Breakdown: H20+ Sea Results Eye Mender Eye Cream, Jack Black Mint lip balm, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo, Stila Sheer Tinted Moisturizer in Medium, L'oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base, L'oreal Magic Smooth Souffle Foundation in 518 Natural Buff applied with Real Techniques stippling brush (first time I used the two together... it's like they're made for each other! I got weightless, perfect application with no streakiness and barely used any product at all... this is HG material, people!), Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude, Physicians Formula Happy Booster blush in Natural, MAC Mineralize Charged Water (as setting spray), Maybelline Unstoppable mechanical eye pencil, no mascara, Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Candy Apple

I've also not had anything on my nails for over a week.  I thought I'd pop on a set of Sally Hansen nail polish strips at long last; they make my nails stronger so they can grow out a bit, which is nice.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

... because I can eat Oreos with red creme in them! NOM!

I think the Oreos look like anti-hero oreos... just a little bit evil >:D

Isn't this snowman polish adorable? I got one in white opalescent glitter (like China Glaze Snowglobe) as well.  These were available at Rite Aid a month or so ago, but I'm not sure if they'll still be around now.  From what I understand, though, they come out every year  <3

Unrelated find: Yesterday at CVS I spotted this cheapo, $2.99 palette for the holidays:

If you see it, I recommend picking it up.  Its style is quite reminiscent of Guerlain, Dior and Lancome Spring 2012 with the embossed flowers.  I found the pigmentation to be quite nice and the texture soft and easy to blend.  It's definitely higher quality than I expected!
This time of year can be all about extravagance, but it's nice to find joy in small (budget) pleasures ^.^

Holiday Party Look 2011

Hello girls :) I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  This weekend was my office Holiday Party, and thanks to your help in the comments on my 100 Followers Thank You post, I devised a smokey purple look:

Glitter is so darned difficult to photograph!

Face: Dermalogica Active Moist, Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer in Medium, Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer (a sample I had. I knew it was risky to try it out for an event, but the risk paid off and I LOVE this stuff! Best primer I've ever tried, as far as feel on the skin and finish it gave my foundation.  I'm definitely going to invest in a bottle!) applied with a flat Eco Tools Foundation brush, Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 52 Vanilla applied with the beauty blender sponge (this is the best application method for this foundation.  My skin looked nearly flawless!  If it wasn't more time-consuming than my Sephora #55 brush, this combo would be my HG). Just FYI, I had prepped my skin earlier in the day with Vivo Per Lei Facial Peeling, followed by a wash with Philosophy Purity on my Clarisonic Mia. I'm sure this helped with smoothing my skin under the foundation.

Please pardon the weird shadows cast on my face

Cheeks: I used the NYX Highlight and Contour Powder (review here), and kept my blush very subtle using sheer Rimmel Santa Rose on the apples.  Then I highlighted my cheekbones with a little Benefit Highbeam.

Eyes: I didn't really need it, but out of habit I applied Garnier Tinted Eye Roller to the dark circle area.  This messed up the finish of my foundation a little, but I was able to blend it in the end.  The Bourjois Healthy Mix had actually covered up enough of my shadows, though.  I applied Too Faced Shadow Insurance to my lids and lower lashline with a synthetic concealer brush (this is kind of drying on my lids. Can anyone tell me if the NARS shadow base is less drying but not oily like UDPP?).  Next I dabbed on Tokidoki shadow in Donutella, a shimmery champagne with silver glitter.  I think it is a lot like Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy in that it has tons of glitter fallout.  I liked this effect for my festive look, so no worries! This went on my lids' inner third and corner, and the purple from NARS duo eyeshadow in Bysance went on my lids' outer two-thirds.  I found this shadow frustrating as I really had to pack it on with effort.  I hear this is common for purple shadows, though. I was originally going to use the gold in this duo as well but decided not to.  Next, I applied NARS single in Ondine (a plummy brown) in my crease and outer v.  It wasn't giving me the depth I wanted, so I darkened the crease with Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense in Red Lust (probably any black eyeshadow would have done the trick; this one just has a reddish nuance that won't really show in this look). The last shadow I used was Wet n Wild Brulee, a matte cream, to blend Ondine out and highlight my outer browbone.  I had to reapply and keep blending all the shadows until I got the desired balance of the colors.

Next I lined my lower lashline up to the inner half of my iris with Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Asphyxia. I wanted to bring in the pinkish-purple shade to match the amethyst look of my Jewelmint Screen Siren earrings. I topped it with NYX Crystal Glitter eyeliner in Crystal Pewter.  I applied Revlon Beyond Natural Lashes in 91182 Flirty with Duo Lash Glue and used a liner brush in the black gel shade from Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Glam Gel Creamliner trio in Glam Green Eyes to hide the lash band.  I topped this with NYX Crystal Glitter eyeliner in Crystal Onyx.  Lastly, I applied Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus Mascara. And after all that, I forgot to put any mascara at all on my lower lashes... argh!

Lips: MAC Hue topped with Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Barely Legal.  There was heaps of glitter on my eyes and I didn't want my lips or cheeks to compete.

It's pretty obvious which dress I ended up wearing:

It wasn't very cold, even with the snow on the ground :D

Originally I was going to do a regal combo of gold and purple as many of you suggested.  I did up my nails with over-the-top bling to bring more gold into the outfit and planned to use a little gold handbag to tie it together.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be! My nail decals trapped water in the shower and the whole shebang just peeled off with only hours until the party and my full makeup left to do.   Rather than freak out, I removed the nail look, replaced the gold in my eye makeup with a glitter-bomb champagne shadow, and switched to a duo-chrome evening purse.  Right at the last minute, I applied two coats of NYX Girls nail polish in Spot Light, a polish with hexagonal holographic- and silver micro- glitter in a clear base.  This would up looking awesome with the boyfriend watch my husband bought me for my first Christmas present!  I had been wanting a boyfriend watch but the Michael Kors ones were too big for my wrist.  The Fossil ladies' boyfriend watches were also too large.  In the end, I got a real men's watch with crystals... would you know this was meant for men? The only differences were we had to remove more links... and it was $30-$50 cheaper than the Fossil ladies' boyfriend watches! I love it <3

Yay, thanks G <3 xoxo!

So, obviously I'm really in the spirit this year... are you guys still psyched for the holidays or are you over it already?

NOTD: No fewer than two GUYS complimented me on this!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Plaid About You (limited edition Holiday 2011)

 Holding on to a patent faux-croc wallet from NY&C:

Just a word of caution: I noticed these showed mistakes in application and some tip wear far more readily than other patterns I've tried.  If you haven't used nail wraps before, I recommend starting with a lighter-colored pattern.
<3 Sarah S.

NOTD: Black Lingerie and Pumpkin Spice

Happy Halloween <3

Two coats of Revlon Black Lingerie, two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pumpkin Spice, and one coat of Seche Vite Top Coat

NOTD: Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl

...and Halloween Oreos! NOM!

NOTD: Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips in Spun For You and a Reminder

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for U.S. Followers HERE!  The contest ends on October 10th (this Sunday,1 minute after midnight, EST).  Best of luck!

You could win all this  <3

NOTD: Sally Hansen HD Nail Color in Three D

Hello girlies :) Just a quick NOTD. I finally had to remove my chippy Incoco silver strips last night.  I used this Sally Hansen Hi-Definition Nail Color in Three D, a corally orange that is opaque in two coats (but I used three), topped with Seche Vite.  On my ring finger accent I used a couple coats of Confetti polish from CVS in Pink Confetti, an iridescent glitter that looks pale pink in the bottle but is basically a clear base with pastel glitter glass flecks.

That's MAC Evolution Revolution Lipglass

Here you can see some of the pinkness of Three D

NOTD: Incoco nail polish strips from September's Birchbox

Monday... >_<
Anyways, sorry I forgot the name of this polish color by Incoco! They were in my Birchbox for September. Did you guys try your Incoco strips yet? What do you think of them?  This picture is from this morning... I applied them Saturday afternoon, so I've had them on about a day and a half. So far so good!

I've been too busy to wait for wet nail polish to dry!

Aren't the subtle holographic glitters pretty?

NOTD: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Skinny Jeans

September is the month all the stores are really pushing jeans, so I thought now would be as good as ever to bust out the denim on my nails.  These polish strips are a cinch to apply (I did it during the first 20 minutes or so of the True Blood Season Finale), don't get smudges or creases if you go to bed soon after application, and I usually cheat out two uses per box by ripping the strips from one pack to fit all my nails.  I have also previously tried the following patterns: Kitty, Kitty (leopard, two boxes), Fly With Me (butterflies), Check It Out (houndstooth), and Girl Flower (60's flowers).  They always last at least 4 days before I get tip/cuticle wear, and usually they last closer to 7 with little sign of wear.  The longest I've had them last without signs of wear is 10 days.  These totally rock <3 Snap up the LE Halloween ones, if you can. If you know me, you know I like skulls so I bought two boxes of the skull and crossbones LE Halloween print. It's not limited to Halloween for me; I'd wear those any time!

Review/Preview: OPI Axxium Gel Lacquer in Brisbane Bronze

Happy Friday! Yesterday after work I went with my sisters to get our monthly pedis, and decided it was about time I tried that new-ish long-wearing gel nail lacquer by OPI (on my fingers, not toes).  I think there are other brands available elsewhere but my salon carries OPI Axxium.  I wanted a metallic color that wouldn't look particularly Fall-ish or Summery, and I'm really into mixing metals (as in jewelry) lately.  My toes are silver, but the Axxium color I settled upon is Brisbane Bronze, a kind of bronze-rose-gold-copper-penny-shimmer. It's sooo pretty!

My nails are hella short and weak right now because they've been breaking a lot lately, so I got a regular manicure beforehand.  My nail guy painted on a couple of clear base coats that had to be set under the UV light between each coat, then he applied a couple coats of the gooey-looking lacquer color.  Each layer required a short time under the UV appliance.  A couple of special top coats later and he told me I could probably go pick a fight with my sister and the nails wouldn't smudge (ha ha).  It cost $25 at my usual place but I've heard it go for more or less.  It should last 2-3 weeks but I might wind up soaking it off with acetone at home beforehand, because I'm fickle about my nail color.
I'll update you guys later as to how long it lasts, but I can attest to its pretty glossiness at this time.
Have a great (non-chipped manicure) weekend!

I am absolutely LOVING Orly Oh Cabana Boy!

I don't have much love for red or pink nail polish. They tend to be dupable and remind me of my grandmother (which isn't a bad thing, I just mean they seem dated or aging).  For some reason, though, I am adoring this blue-pink, almost duochromey shade by Orly.  I got the mini bottle at Ulta for $4, I think.  I ought to get the large bottle because I love this on my toes, too (and it looks really pretty with little white flowers detailed on top).  I'm a funky color nail polish kind of girl, but I am loving this!

I couldn't get a photo that does this color any real justice or captures its highlighter-pink brightness, but this photo does capture its wearability.

(Sorry there's a little tip wear because I struggled to open a compact this morning). I've seen this swatched elsewhere but I really prefer it on short nails like I currently have to avoid looking cheesy.

Oh Cabana Boy by Orly

I can't stop looking at you!