Nail of the Day

OPI "Every Month is Oktoberfest"

I picked this little gem up a few years ago when OPI released their Germany collection, and it's safe to say that it's my favorite nail polish that I own.  It's a beautiful red in the bottle, but when it's on the nails in bright light, it pulls toward purple just a touch.  Two coats will get you a beautiful, opaque finish.  It's gorgeous for fall and winter, but to be honest, I tend to wear it year round.

MAC Haul

During a lovely little New Year's Eve brunch, a girlfriend of mine mentioned that she wanted to run into H&M to look for an LBD for her plans for the evening.  On our way out of Lloyd Center, we passed the new MAC counter in Macy's, and it was all downhill from there.

MAC Viva Glam VI

While I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I feel like I'm always searching for a good, everyday lip color; nothing too bold, but definitely the ol' My-Lips-But-Better shade.  I am getting braver with lip colors, but it's still on probation.  Anyway, I asked the makeup artist what she would recommend, and she pointed me in the direction of Viva Glam VI.  It's a beautiful plummy, rosy, work-appropriate shade and I'm excited to have it in my collection!

 MAC Rebel

MAC Lip Liner in Burgundy

The friend I was shopping with also wanted to pick up a new lipstick, but she was a little lost as to what color she should aim for.  Red lips make her feel a little self-conscious, so the artist tried a few purple-ish shades on her and we finally landed on Rebel.  Being the highly suggestible girl that I am, I had to follow suit and try it on myself.  We paired it with the MAC lip liner in Burgundy and I was sold.

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Perfect Topping

Slowly but surely, I'm becoming more brave when it comes to makeup.  I started adding bronzer to my beauty routine earlier this year, and I've recently gotten the itch to give highlighting a try.  This is from the new Lightness of Being collection, and as beautiful as it is in the pan, it's even more gorgeous on the skin.

What new products have you picked up recently?

2014 Favorites

I had a lot of fun making the list of my favorite products of the year.  2014 was the year that I really started indulging my love of makeup and exploring new products, colors and techniques.  Bolder lip colors, winged liner, bronzer; it was my year of stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things.

Macadamia Deep Repair Masque

Anyone that keeps up with any sort of beauty blog or YouTuber know that the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque has gotten a lot of love over the last few years.  I can justify the hefty price to myself for a couple of reasons: one, it does an amazing job making my hair feel healthy, despite all the heat trauma I put it through; two, it lasts forever; and three, it smells delightful.  I use it as my daily conditioner in conjunction with an everyday clean shampoo and I don't find that it's too heavy or intense for everyday use.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Ah, the Naked palette.  I started watching YouTube beauty videos right around the time that the Naked 2 came out, and I pounced on the third edition as soon as it came out, but the original was never really on my list until I watched a simple smoky eye tutorial over the summer.  Luckily, my birthday was not long after the realization that I had to own this beauty.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara

Holy grail status alert: I love, love, love this mascara.  Even the non-waterproof version doesn't flake, smudge, or transfer on me, and I am just crazy about what it does for my lashes.

Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisture Infusion

I love a good drugstore find.  I'm more than willing to splurge on skin care items as an investment in the longevity of my skin, but I'm definitely not going to complain that I can find a great product at Walgreens for an entirely reasonable price.  As an added bonus, I started using this moisturizer not long after our wedding early in the year, so the scent will always make me feel incredibly nostalgic for this phase of my life.  Memories!

MAC Turquatic Perfume

Oh, wow.  There is something about this scent that reminds me of high school, but ever-so-slightly more grown up.  I will absolutely continue to purchase this fragrance; I love it for everyday wear.

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creme in Cannes

Along with the rest of the world, my primary goal for the latter half of 2014 was to find the perfect Kylie Jenner lip option.  I may or may not have done an embarrassing amount of research on the subject... At any rate, this is one of the more affordable products that I put to the test, and it swiftly became a daily staple for me.  For a matte lip color, it's not overly drying, it sets quickly, and it lasts for quite a while on the lips.

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette

For all the love I gave to the original Naked palette with all its shimmer, once I got my hands on the Naked Basics 2, I had a hard time putting it down.  Around Thanksgiving, we had pretty limited access to our house while we were doing some remodeling, and this was the only palette I brought with me during our various times out of the house.

What were your favorite products of 2014?  What are you looking forward to trying in 2015?

Empties: Vol. 1

My empties bin is overflowing; time for some mini reviews!  This is a collection of the empty products I've gone through since we moved into our new house in January and I'm pleased to announce that this first round of products contains only two fails.

First up: hair care!

L-R: Dove Refresh + Care dry shampoo, Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray, Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque

I can't get enough of the Dove dry shampoo!  The smell is lovely and I find that it does just enough to get rid of the oil on second-day hair.  This heat protectant, however, was only meh for me.  I found it serviceable, but nothing special, and I found that my hair was a lot more prone to tangling when I used this.  In a pinch, though, it works just fine.  I love, love, love the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque; this pot lasted me ages, so I'm more than willing to spend the hefty price tag for this product, especially since it works so beautifully.

On to the body products!

L-R: Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash, Neutrogena Fast Absorbing Hand Cream, Soap & Glory Righteous Butter, Purlisse Moisturizer, Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser (face down, because I'm professional like that)

This body wash was right up my alley: super moisturizing and not overly fragranced.  I purchased the coconut and jasmine scent to replace this one, but I'm not loving it as much, so when that one is gone I'm planning on going back to the original.

The Neutrogena hand cream is an old stand-by; the scent reminds me of my mom and I find it's a great easy cream to keep in my bag.  This Soap & Glory body butter smells just lovely and the jar lasted me quite a while, but when it was time to repurchase I went with a coconut scent from Ulta; it's more than likely that I'll return the S&G option at some point, though.

I did not care for this Purlisse moisturizer at all.  To be fair, it is formulated for dry skin and I lean more toward the oily side, but it just wasn't worth the hassle in the end.  Cetaphil is another old stand-by; I generally keep a mild cleanser on hand for post-workout cleansing.

Finally: makeup!

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser, Maybelline The Rocket, Too Faced Lash Injection, L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black, Billion Dollar Brows Universal Brow Pencil

The only product out of this bunch that I didn't love was the Too Faced mascara; a friend got me a TF gift set for Christmas that included this little guy, but try as I might, I just couldn't make it work for me.

Have you finished any good products lately?  Anything you would caution people to pass on?

What's in my Travel Beauty Bag?

My husband and I needed to head out of town for a wedding this weekend, and at the last we decided to make a long weekend of it and stay an extra day at my parents' house, so I thought I would take a few quick snaps of the beauty essentials I brought with me for our little road trip.

I got this toiletry bag at Target a few months ago; it's by Sonia Kashuk and it's just chock-full of compartments and pockets.  It holds a good amount of products without being too bulky, and the geometric design is super cute.

This side has one big open pocket and two clear vinyl bags that zip closed at the top and are secured into the main compartment with velcro.  I actually keep the one on the left in my bathroom to keep hair ties and bobby pins in one place; it's also currently holding my Travalo that's filled with Viva la Juicy and a perfume sample that came in my most recent Glossy Box.

The bag on the right just has some essentials: toothpaste, deodorant, saline solution and my contact case.  This side is also carrying my Sonicare travel case and my makeup wipes.

The other compartment has a big vinyl pocket that I use to hold my liquid products; we have to drive through the mountains to get to my hometown, and the elevation change has been known to explode products every now and then.  This side is holding both my day and night moisturizers (both by Aveeno), eye cream, conditioner, body wash and body lotion, and some Neutrogena face wash.  When I travel, I rely a lot on the samples I get from my subscription services; samples are meant to be used, right?

(Quick side note: because we were traveling by car to stay with family, I didn't put a lot of effort into finding travel-sized versions of products.  Had we been flying or going somewhere without easy access to a drugstore, I'd have invested in some little pots or something to save space.)

The last section of this bag has a handy space for makeup brushes and a convenient flap to keep them protected.  Above that flap, there's an additional zippered compartment that I don't use very often, and a final zippered compartment that runs the length of the back "wall" of the bag.  I don't always carry my makeup in this toiletry bag; I'll occasionally overpack and use a separate makeup case, but for this trip I really made an effort to scale back and only bring some essentials and a few double-duty products.

What's your travel beauty essential?

Glossy Box: Bergdorf Goodman Edition

Well, this was a pleasant surprise...

For some crazy reason, I was convinced that I wouldn't be getting this particular box.  It seemed way too soon to be getting another one, and I wrote the whole thing off as one of those special purchases that you have to opt into and promptly forgot about it.

Smash cut to last weekend: guess what showed up in my mailbox!

1. Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre-Foundation Skin Primer (full size: $45)

I'm not really a huge primer girl, but I'm coming around to the Maybelline Baby Skin.  As excited as I am to try this one, I'm not sure anything will get me to spend more than the $8 (or whatever the Baby Skin costs) on a primer.

2. Revive Eye Renewal Serum Firming Booster (full size: $140)
Serums are fun!  I'll give it a shot!  Won't spend that much on the full size!

3. Philip B Lightweight Deep Conditioning Creme Rinse (full size: $26)
Fun fact: this sample has the least expensive full-sized counterpart.  This box is fancy, y'all.  Anyway, I love me a good deep conditioner, and this size will be great for travel.

4. Atelier Cologne Rose Anonyme Cologne Absolute (full size: $140)
I love this scent.  It reminds me a bit of the Jimmy Choo perfume that I wore on my wedding day, which may certainly contribute to that.  My husband also approved of this scent, so: bonus!

5. Lancer Eye Contour Lifting Cream (full size: $95)
I'm not completely loving the eye cream that I'm currently using anymore, so I'm excited to switch it up and give this one a shot.

6. Lancome Absolute L'Extrait Regenerating Ultimate Elixir (full size: $360)
Near as I can tell, this is a moisturizer (and quite the luxurious one, at that).  It smells just lovely, and I think it will be an exciting little departure from my trusty Aveeno.

The Bergdorf Goodman box also included a $25 gift card to the store, which means that the Hourglass blush in Dim Infusion is on its way to my hot little hands.  Score!

If you received the Bergdorf Glossy Box, what did you think?  Any products that differed from mine?

May 2014 Favorites

Monthly favorites posts and videos are some of my, well, favorites to look forward to each month.  I find it almost a little bit fascinating to really think about what my most reached-for products were for and to notice little trends here and there.

1. L'oreal Miss Manga Mascara

No surprise here.  I'm completely infatuated with what this mascara does for my lashes.  While it's not labeled as a waterproof formula, this particular product performs just as well, if not better, than some waterproof mascaras I've tried.

2. Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer
An easy go-to for a sun-kissed look.  Plus, the smell is just delicious.

3. Tarte Exposed Blush

Still going strong in May, just as it was in April.  We're having some major remodeling done on our house right now, so a lot of my makeup isn't really easily accessible.  This blush has made my mornings really easy; it's tough to mess this one up.

4. Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation

This is one of my new favorite formulas.  It really does last on my skin all day, and it applies beautifully with my beauty blender.

5. Jordana Fabuliner

An easy to use, felt tip black liner that's worth every penny (all 299 of them).

6. Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Perfume

This was a Christmas gift from my mom last year, and I'm so thrilled to finally have it in my collection!  This is my go-to fragrance for every day; I love that it's light and not too sweet.

7. Alex and Ani Bangles

This little swan guy appeared in a Glossy Box a few months back, and I was instantly hooked.  My Amazon wish-list is now crawling with more of these bracelets, but I just couldn't help myself and ordered the St Christopher charm bangle in mid-May.  I've been wearing them almost every day; I love that they chime just a bit without being obnoxiously loud.

8. AG Hair Cosmetics Keratin Repair Serum

My stylist talked me into this a few months ago, and I've been using every time I've washed my hair since.  My ends tend to be dry and prone to breakage, but since I've been using this serum my split ends have been almost non-existent.

What products have you been loving this month?