Sassy Minerals Haul

Hi Everyone! I know I have been MIA this month, but things have been crazy busy at work and such. I recently received some amazing products from a company called Sassy Minerals. To view the haul on my YouTube channel and to hear more about the company and pricing click here.
This company is wonderful. The customer service is fantastic and the shipping is very fast. They have a wide variety of products, but this post and the video are mainly about the eye colors!
This is how the shadow samples arrived. They came in a cute fishnet style bag with a silver ribbon at the top:

Here are the 20 samples:

 

Here is a look at how they individually package each sample. Each sample comes "shrink wrapped" with a plastic ring around it so that nothing can open up or leak during shipping:

I decided to post the swatches here instead of showing them in my video because there are so many! (Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Color names from top to bottom, left to right:
1st row (Eye Candy-Liner): Flash of Brilliance, Gasoline Rainbow, Secretive, Tattletale
2nd row (Eye Candy-Shimmer): Crown Jewels, Elusive, Fairy Wings, Fate
3rd row (Eye Candy-Shimmer): Glass House, Party Girl, Silk Sheets, Starstruck
4th row (Eye Candy-Silk Luster): Acoustic, Dust Bunny, Eclipse, Immortal
5th row (Eye Candy-Silk Luster): Thunderstruck, Understated, Wonderland
6th row (So Cheeky-Shimmer): Tart

Definitely go check out this company. Let me know if you have tried any of their products and what your favorites are!

FTC Disclaimer: These products were sent to me by the company for review consideration. This is my 100% honest opinion and I am not being paid to review these products.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi everyone! So sorry I have been MIA lately. I have been crazy busy with work and life, but I promise I will have some more things up soon! I just wanted to check in to say Happy Valentine's Day! What are your plans for VDay? Are you going out and having fun with the girls, or having a night with a special someone? Me? I am having a homecooked meal (cooked with love by my boyfriend). We went to the outlets the other day and he got me my VDay present. This is something I saw and I really wanted, but I decided we couldn't afford to get it, so he surprised me with it later. He couldn't even wait until today to give it to me!

Yesterday night I also came home and there was a box contianing a dozen roses on our doorstep! I am so lucky to have this amazing man in my life.

Comment below and let me know what your Vday plans are :D

MAC Coconut Ice

Hi all! If you are anything like me, the thought of Spring and Summer fast approaching makes you all giddy inside because of all the amazing colors that will be realeased in makeup and clothing collections!

One of these collections was released this winter to prepare us for Spring. This collection is the MAC in Lillyland collection (Lilly Pulitzer). This collection had many different items that were all inspired by Lilly Pulitzer's preppy and bright designs. We saw a lot of bright pinks, corals, oranges, ect..

One of my favorites from this collection had to be the nail polish in Coconut Ice. This is a beautiful coral/pinky color. This is the perfect color to bring us into Spring. The swatch on the left is two coats of this gorgeous color! In real life, this color has more of a brighter coral finish than is showing in the swatch.

Did you haul anything from the MAC in Lillyland collection?

If You Were Stranded on a Desert Island....

what 5 makeup/beauty items would you bring? I was looking through my ever growing makeup stash today and my boyfriend posed this question. What in the world would you do if you were stranded on a desert island. You woudn't have access to all of this makeup, so what 5 items would you bring? Usually anything he says relating to my makeup stash goes in one ear and out the other (ie..you have way too much makeup, think of what else we would have bought with that money, ect) but this comment got me thinking. What 5 items would I bring? I think the point of that question was to make me see that I only needed those 5 items, but clearly if that was intent he was way off!

To see what I think, click here to watch my YouTube video on this topic :D 

So, let me know...what 5 items would you bring?

Its...Giveaway Time!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to announce that Skin MD Natural is holding a giveaway. If you are new to my blog or have not read past posts you can click here to read my review on the Skin MD Natural shielding lotion or click here to watch my YouTube review of the Skin MD natural sielding lotion. To sum both reviews up, I think that this is a wonderful product that everyone should have in their skincare arsenal! The amazing people at Skin MD Natural are hosting a massive Valentine's Day giveaway. All you have to do is click here to go to the giveaway entry and supply them with your name and email.
 
The prizes are as follows:

• A Bottle Skin MD Natural shielding lotion
• A Bottle Skin MD Natural + SPF 15 shielding lotion
• One pound of See's dark assorted chocolates
• 12 Starbucks VIA Ready brew coffee pouches
• A "Kiss Me" mug
• A Cuddly teddy bear
• Lollipop Bouquet
• All in a lined wicker basket

This giveaway closes on February 7, 2010. This is the cutest giveaway and perfectly themed and timed for Valentine's Day...and it takes less than a minute to enter. Thanks guys, and let me know if any of you win :D

Great skin starts with...

a great moisturizer! A company called Skin MD Natural has made a product called a shielding lotion. This is not your typical moisturizer!

Details: A new innovation in the world of Skincare. This is a three in one moisturizer-a face, hand, and body lotion. The packaging on this product is quite simple, but that's ok because you are not purchasing this for the packaging!

Where to buy: This can be purchased at the Skin MD Natural website or at locations that can be found using the store locater on the website!

How to use it: Use this as your daily moisturizer all over your body, face, and hands.


How it works: This moisturizers shields your skin from everyday irritants such as soap, cleansers, and chemicals. These are things that we all come in contact with everyday. This lotion also forms a protective layer on your skin to help your skin to retain its natural moisture. You apply the tiniest bit to you skin and rub it in just like a typical moisturizer. This lotion is a gel like consistency that is fairly thin, but don't let that fool you. This little lotion packs quite a punch of moisture!

My thoughts: I think that this is a great lotion. This has improved the look and feel of my skin. I was a bit skeptical using this on my combination oily face, but it gave moisture to the dry areas on my face, didn't add extra oil to the oily parts of my face, and didn't clog my pores! I have also used this on my cuticles and on my dry cracked feet. Is this a miracle product? No. But, I have definitely seen a big difference in the way that my skin looks and feels.

Overall rating: A-
I would give it an A+, but this one does not have an SPF in it. They do make a lotion with an SPF of 15 in it.

To see more about how I feel about this product, check out my review on YouTube

To learn more about this product visit the Skin MD Natural Website

FTC Disclosure:  This product was sent to me by the company for review consideration. As always, this is my honest opinion and I am not being paid to review this product.

New Product Alert: Urban Decay's New Primer Potion!

So, it seems that the Urban Decay Primer Potion has somewhat of a cult following. I must admit that I am among that cult! Last year Urban Decay released a new one called Sin, which was a shimmery champagne color. I am in love with the original primer potion, but to be honest the Sin primer potion was just ok for me.

But, Urban Decay has recently released a new one called Eden! This is marketed as a "tawny matte color" and product that you can wear alone for a "no makeup look" or to enhance eye shadow colors that you are wearing. I love the concept that they now have a matte neutral colored primer potion! This is what I have been hoping for! I think that this would be the perfect product for a day when I am running late and really only have time for eyeliner, because this can be like my priming and neutral shadow color in one step! I am definitely a fan of anything that can help me get out the door faster in the morning.

As you can see, this primer potion is still packaged in the traditional "genie" type bottle. The applicator is the bent doe foot applicator. I am not sure if this truly helps to get more of the product out, as I have not cut open my bottle with the bent doe foot. If anyone knows, please let me know!

This primer potion has a different feel to the bottle. Instead of the original plastic type bottle, this bottle has a suede like feel to it. ( I am guessing similar to NARS product packaging)
 
As of right now this is only available at Sephora stores and at Sephora.com as a Beauty Insider exclusive. It is $18 and as of now, it only comes in one size.

My verdict on this: I am headed out to Sephora to purchase this as soon as I am done with this post! I am so excited that they made a matte primer potion :)

Will you be purchasing the newest addition to Urban Decay's primer potion family?

MY FTC Disclosure

As many of you know, the FTC created a new regulation regarding the disclosure of where products come from. This regulation basically states that if a blogger or a YouTuber receives a product for free, is sponsored by the company, or is receiving monetary compensation for a review then they must disclose this to their readers/viewers.

My blog and Youtube channel are both ways for me to share my love of everything beauty and makeup related. This new regulation doesn't really change much for me. I am still a girl who loves anything and everything related to beauty and wants to share that with anyone who cares to read about it/listen to it.

I am making a promise to all of you that I will always provide an honest review whether I received it for free or not. I think that sometimes receiving a product from a company is nice for everyone because I get to try a product that I may not have considered trying before and I get to share that product with you.

After having said this, all of my reviews come from my personal experience with the product and are my own opinions. Sometimes people have different opinions and experiences with a product and the opinions written about here are all my own.

Thank you to everyone who has been following my blog and commenting. I really do appreciate each and every one of you :D

Yearly Standouts: 2009 Favorites

This is my list of my favorite products of 2009. To see the actual products and hear more about them, check out my YouTube video!

When deciding which products to use as my 2009 favorites I really thought about which products I used on a regular basis, whether that be daily or weekly. Here is the list of products that I chose and links to where you can purchase them.

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Sephora stores, Sephora online, Urban Decay online)
• Rimmel Exaggerate Eye Definer in Noir (Drugstores)
• MAC Eyeshadow in Ricepaper (MAC stores, MAC counters, MAC website)
• Coastal Scents 88 Color Matte Eyeshadow Palette (Coastal Scents Website)
  

Lips:

• Softlips in Vanilla (Drugstores)
  
• Revlon Colorstay Clear Lipliner (Drugstores)
• MAC lipglass in Viva Glam V (MAC stores, MAC counters, MAC website)
  

Face:

• Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder (Drugstores)
  
• Bare Minerals Summer Bisque (Sephora Stores, Sephora online, Bare Escentuals stores, Bare Escentuals website)
  
• CoverGirl Cheekers Blush in Plumberry Glow (Drugstores)
  

Brushes:

• Coastal Scents Pink Kabuki (Coastal Scents website)
  
• Coastal Scents Deluxe Buffer Brush (Coastal Scents website)
  
• Bare Escentuals Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush (Sephora Stores, Sephora online, Bare Escentuals Stores, Bare Escentuals website)
  
• ELF (Eyes Lips Face) Eyeshadow Brush (ELF website)
  

Skincare:

• CVS Exfoliating Cleansing Towelettes (CVS Stores)
  
• Clean and Clear Persa Gel-10 (Drugstores)
  
• Oil of Olay Complete All Day Moisture Lotion with SPF 15 (Drugstores)
  

Miscellaneous:

• Bath and Body Works Antibacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Gel-PocketBac (Bath and Body Works Stores, Bath and Body Works website)
  
• Crest Whitestrips Advanced Seal (Drugstores)
  

I hope you all enjoyed this post! What were some of your favorites in 2009? Comment below and let me know :D

A Twist on the Traditional French Manicure

I love the look of a classic french manicure, but I was looking through my nail polish stash the other day and I decided to do a french manicure with a twist! Here is the final result:Keep reading if you want to see what products I used and the steps I took to achieve this look. Keep in mind you can use any brand of polish that is the same color, I am just showing you the particular products I used.

First, I applied a base coat to my nails. This gives the nail polish something to grab onto as well as prevents your nails from getting stained. I used the China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (Sally's Beauty Supply):


Next I applied grey nail polish to the tips of my nails. Try to make the line as straight as you can, but if it's a little uneven that's ok, because we can cover it up with the silver later! I used MAC nail polish in On the Prowl (MAC):
Then paint over your entire nail (including the grey) using a very sheer pink color. I used the Rimmel nailpolish in french manicure (Drugstores):
Next, I used a silver nailpolish with a fine tip brush applicator. I painted a line where the grey polish and the sheer pink color meet. Here I covered up any mistakes I made with the grey by thickening the silver stripe. I used So Easy Stripe Rite (Sally's Beauty Supply):
Last, I used a top coat to seal in the nail look! I used Beauty Secrets fast drying top coat (Sally's Beauty Supply):


This technique is fun because you can use any color combination. You can do pink tips with silver, black tips with gold, aanything you can think of you can do with this nail look!

I hope you enjoyed this. Comment below and let me know what color combination you used :D