Favorites of February 2015

We are finally out of the longest shortest month in recent memory.  The snowy weather and bitter cold has been brutal.  I mean, it would be less insulting if it was, say, mid-January, but late February and feels like -9°F?  C'mon Mother Nature.  (It's now the first week of March, and today it's a balmy 21°F (but feels like 7°F).)

Anyhow, it's time to focus on some good stuff, so let's get to some favorites.

Furry blanket background today!

China Glaze Sex on the Beach and Some Hearts

I have found a beautiful nail polish color.  It's China Glaze Sex on the Beach.  It's a rosy pink with some gold shimmer and very very tiny silver sparkles.

I have been wearing this nail color for weeks.  I used it for my Valentine's Day manicure, but added some little hearts from the Nicole by OPI polish in Love Your Life on my ring finger.

I was going to put the hearts on all of my fingers, but they were such a pain to get out of the bottle that I decided to just do the accent nail thing.  And, like all other polishes with large particles of glitter (I consider the hearts to be kind of like glitter), this was a chore to remove.

Those hearts look so pretty in the bottle, but, ugh, the fishing!

This is definitely a new favorite polish.

Just a little bit of sparkle.

Whatcha got on your nails?

Happy Coral Pink Nails with SpaRitual

I decided I needed a happy, bright-ish nail polish shade on my nails to combat the grey dreariness of the January weather here in Michigan.  So, I went through my polish collection and found "Miss World" by SpaRitual.

Isn't it a happy coral pink?

Birthday Dinner Eyes and Nails With Kat Von D and Butter London

My birthday is tomorrow, so my husband took me out to dinner on Sunday (we most likely won't have time on my actual birthday).  We went to my favorite Indian restaurant, of course.  I got several compliments on my eye makeup, so I thought I'd show it to you.  I didn't plan on photographing/ posting it, but if strangers like it, then maybe it's worth sharing.

I used:
  from the Kat Von D Chrysalis Eyeshadow Palette
         --- Glasswing (matte dark tan) in the crease
         --- Melancholia (shimmery metallic pewter) on the inner 2/3 of lid and lower lashline
         --- Graphic Nature (dark shimmery grey) on the outer 1/3 of lid and lightly in the crease
         --- Lifelike (matte cream) under the brow

  from the Kat Von D Monarch Palette
         --- Telepathy (shimmery platinum) in the inner corner by the tear duct
         --- Deadhead (matte black) as liner on the upper and lower lashlines

from left: Glasswing, Melancholia, Graphic Nature, Lifelike, Deadhead, Telepathy

  Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Perversion on the waterlines
  Mally Voluminizing Mascara in Black

On my nails, I wore Butter London's Queen Vic with Butter London's Lovely Jubbly on top.

Lovely Jubbly is an awesome sparkle bomb with multi-colored glitter.

This is only one coat of Lovely Jubbly!  It has sooooo much glitter.

You can probably expect a birthday haul post in the near future...

Have a wonderful day!

Mulberry Nails and Look of the Day

There are times when I like being all match-y match-y with my makeup.  But instead of doing the traditional match-y match-y thing with my lips and nails, I decided to try to match my nails to my eyeshadow.

Butter London's Queen Vic is a wonderful berry shade that seems like a rather fall friendly color to me, and it's the shade I wanted to wear on my eyes, too.

Butter London Nain Lacquer in Queen Vic (sunlight)

So, the shadow I used doesn't match the nail color perfectly, but I liked the result nonetheless.

I used: from the Sephora Color Anthology Palette
                    --- berry purple on the moving lid
                    --- warm shimmery brown in the crease
                    --- light matte peach above the crease to blend out the brown
                    --- matte cream under the brow and inner corner

       
          Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in 1999
          Physicians Formula Eye Booster liquid eyeliner in Ultra Black
          Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara

from left: Sephora shadows, Urban Decay 1999 24/7 liner

Cheeks: Milani Baked Powder Blush in Berry Amore

Lips: NARS Lipstick in Dolce Vita

from left: Milani Berry Amore Baked Blush, NARS Dolce Vita lipstick

And then, later in the day, I decided to put on a berry lipgloss (MAKE UP FOR EVER lipgloss that was discontinued ages ago) just for the heck of it.

I think I look paler in this photo because I'm shiny and reflective (I didn't remember to reapply powder before I took it.)

The Sephora Color Anthology Palette was available around the holidays last year, but I snagged it on sale in the spring.  I noticed that Ulta has a palette on their website (by Beauty Gems) that looks exactly like it.  I suspect it is actually the same palette but without the Sephora nameplate on the front.

Earworm of the day: Lady Gaga's "Applause" -- it's on my workout playlist, and today it just stuck afterward.

Nude and Silver Nails

I tried to do something arty with my nails.  It's not particularly arty, but I think it's a little more interesting than my standard "one color of polish on my nails" nails.

I though the combination of a cream nude with a tiny bit of sparkly silver on the tip would look cool. I obviously didn't do a perfect job, and I could have made the silver tip even thinner, but I like the results.

I used JINsoon Nail Lacquer in Nostalgia all over my nails, and Orly Shine on just the tips.

I love JINsoon Nostalgia.  It is a perfect nude.  I actually love it for fall as an alternative to all the deep and dark polish shades we usually see trending in the autumn.

What's on your nails today?

Totally unrelated:  I suddenly have "Phantom of the Opera" music going through my head.  What is that about?

June 2014 Favorites

Wow.  We're halfway through 2014.  Okay then.  Time for some recent favorites!

Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color High Gloss Nail Lacquer in Ahoy! -- This polish is from the Summer Escape 2014 summer color collection.  It is a pinky coraly dark peach that screams "summer" to me.  It's incredibly long wearing, and the brush makes it quick and easy to apply.

MAC Refined Golden Bronzing Powder -- The packaging is from the Alluring Aquatics collection, but the bronzer is a permanent color.  It is a warm tan that looks pretty glittery in the pan, but not sparkly on the skin.  It warms up my skin beautifully.  I love pulling the compact out of my makeup bag (well, out of the box the that I keep in my makeup bag -- I like to pretend it's brand new every time I use it).  I have to gaze at it for a bit before I use it.

L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara (review)-- This mascara is still making my favorites list.  I just noticed my new tube says "Lash Out Butterfly" on it.  But the picture of the tube on the L'Oreal website says "Voluminous Butterfly."  Way to confuse the consumer, L'Oreal.

Revlon Colorburst Balm Crayons -- I think I'm a bit late to the party for these.  I thought they would be drying and not balm-y for some reason, but after trying Rendezvous (one of the balm stains -- it's a slightly shimmery orange) this spring, I decided I needed to try more of the different formulas offered in the line.  I now own Lacquer Balms in Demure and Coquette, Balm Stains in Honey and Rendezvous, and a Matte Balm in Elusive.  I'm really surprised how much I like Elusive.  I'm not a matte lip person, but I'm really enjoying this one!  They aren't as pepperminty as I thought they would be, either, thankfully.  If you haven't tried them, you probably should.  I'm just saying.

from left: Demure, Coquette, Honey, Rendezvous, Elusive

Detroit Tigers Baseball -- I am watching every game I can!  My favorite announcers are Rod Allen and Mario Impemba from Fox Sports Detroit.  A couple of nights ago, Rajai Davis hit a walk-off grand slam.  That is why you watch the game until the last pitch.

Whoo hoo summer!

P.S.  I didn't include any eye products because I've been using so many different ones, that I couldn't decide on any favorites!