April 2nd. Iggle Craft Challenge

I'm thinking it's probably a safe bet to say I won't be doing BEDA this year. My heart's just not in it. Mayhaps I'll try Blogging Every Day in August?

Today I just wanted to share my project for March's Iggle Craft Challenge. The challenge was to use two ounces of green baking clay, with a pencil to be used as a tool. This is what I made:

 He's a little, faceless turtle sculpture with four-leaf clovers drawn on to his shell. I named him Lucky Leo. He sits here and stares at me without staring at me because he doesn't have a face. Heh heh.


This month's challenge:

Duct tape. That's it. I've no idea what I'll be making yet, but there's no minimum or maximum amount of duct tape required so it could be anything. We shall see.

April 1st.

Ahoy folks. It is currently 11:50pm CST, the first day of BEDA. And I've not written a thing. I'm guessing this year shall be a fail. Ha. It's okay though. I'll still try to post every day if I can. We'll see how that goes.

Today's obviously a short post, due to the inevitable midnight. lol.

I finally, FINALLY tried to make some Jello/jelly shot recipes I'd had on my pinterest board for FOREVER.

These are Pink Lemonade Jello Shots.

10 lemons, *one box watermelon (or any kind of pink color) jello * 1 cup vodka  *1 cup boiling water - 10 lemons makes 40 jello shots - 

1. Prepare lemons by cutting them in halves and hollowing out the peel.

2. Boil one cup of water and add it to jello mix in a large bowl, stirring until it dissolves.

 3. Slowly add one cup of vodka and stir.

 4. Pour mixture into a cup with a spout (for an even pour). I use a ladle. Line up limes on a cookie sheet so they are secure and upright. Pour in jello mixture. Refrigerated 3-6 hours or overnight.

 5. Carefully (gingerly) quarter the halves with a sharp knife.


I used lemon jello and fruit punch jello, plus strawberry lemonade vodka for mine, and it was gooooood.

The bottom are Butterbeer Jelly Shots. Here is the recipe for that one:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup creme soda
2 envelopes plain gelatin
1/3 cup vanilla vodka
2/3 cup butterscotch schnapps
colored large crystal sugar, for garnish, if desired

DIRECTIONS

Pour soda in a medium saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin. Allow to soak for a minute or two.
Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat.
Stir in the vodka and schnapps.
Pour into standard loaf pan (non-reactive metal or glass, approx. 9 x 5). Refrigerate until fully set (about 3 hours).
To serve, cut into desired shapes.
Immediately before serving, dip in colored crystal sugar, for garnish, if desired.


These are super sweet.

And that's all for today!!

Farewell Psych mani

Today is the series finale of a show that's been on my top five faves list for the last 8 years. I love Psych, and have been a Psych-O since the beginning. I drove to New York City with a friend just to go to the Psych Fan Appreciation Day.

To celebrate, I painted my nails with what will probably be my last Psych inspired mani ever.




Polishes used:
Essie Grow Faster Base Coat
Sinful Colors Innocent
Sinful Colors Irish Green
OPI in Suzi Loves Cowboys
NYC In a New York Color Minute in Lexington Yellow
Sinful Colors Black on Black
NYC Long Wearing in French White Tip
Glisten and Glow HK Girl Top Coat

Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying Top Coat Review [pic heavy]

It's about time, I know, I know. Spring cleaning got the best of me, and left me aching and exhausted.

But I'm here, sharing my review on Glisten and Glow's HK Girl Fast Drying and Super Shiny Clear Top Coat!

(One coat Essie Grow Faster, one coat nicole by OPI in I Do De-Claire,
one coat ILNP MEGA, and one coat HK Girl)

I received this from Glisten and Glow to review, and I'm so in love.

My first thoughts was excitement. I had been using Seche Vite for a couple months now, and really, the only reason I use it is because it was ten bucks, and it's fast drying. I have noticed shrinkage and thickness in the SV, and it's been driving me a bit nuts. I've heard great things about this top coat, so I was super excited to try this.

St. Patrick's Day mani

Sooo much later than I planned, but here it is!! My St. Patrick's Day mani!

Polishes used:
Essie Grow Faster Base Coat
Maybelline Color Show in Lustrous Lime
Zoya Chita
China Glaze This is Tree-MendousSinful Colors Happy EndingsSinful Colors Irish GreenSinful Colors Green OceanSally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City
Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying & Super Shiny Clear Top CoatNYC Matte me CRAZY Mattifying Top Coat




Compared to last year's mani, I think this is an improvement! :)

Leaf Bib Necklace from Majestical Jewelry

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Majestical Jewelry was looking for reviewers, and I signed up. They mentioned that they'd "take a look at your blog and determine a piece of jewelry that fits with the style of your look and blog." And they sent this:

The box was very well packaged, and the necklace and matching earrings came with a little bag to keep it in as well.

February Faves and another update!

Meant to post my Feb Faves last week, but time got away from me! No matter, I'll post it now, and add the update afterwards. :)

Behold, my February Favorites! I'll start with the two teas, Constant Comment, and Cranberry Hibiscus.

PolishPETS Craving Rainbows Edition - review (pic heavy)

STORY TIME! Followed by lots of pictures.

Back in January, I won a BIC Pen and a gift card for $25 from BIC. While I was waiting for the prize, I told myself that I would use the gift card on polishes I've wanted - namely, a couple from my 2014 beauty wishlist.

Aaaaaand then PolishPETS came along and changed that.

PolishPETS is the brainchild of Lynx Cosmetics. They are indie polishes that are also adorable little furry pets with individual names. I am a sucker for plushies, and I'm addicted to nail polish, and here these were, the best of both worlds!! I had spent the majority of February ogling pictures of said PETS via instagram, and when the launch date and time was finally released, I jumped at it, contributing to the first release being sold out in five minutes.

There were three PolishPETS to choose from during the initial launch:

The Cute Crime Edition, the Craving Rainbows Edition, and the Perky Pink Edition.

I Love Nail Polish MEGA Review (Pic Heavy)

I got an email around mid-February from I Love Nail Polish about their upcoming Spring Collection and immediately fell in love with a polished named Mega. So I snatched it up as soon as the Pre-order started. This past Saturday, I got the package in the mail! This is going to feature a LOT of pics, because I couldn't stop taking them! Teehee!

First off, let me say, the packaging is lovely. Although the box is huge for just one bottle of polish, I can see a lot of care went in to the packaging department of ILNP.

Paper cranes, NotD, and an update

Hellooooo folks! Sorry I've been a bit sporadic in my posting lately. I've been working on some major cleaning around the house, and I've still got so much more to do! Which means this next week might be just as sparse as far as posts go. It's so sad! I've got sooo many new-to-me polishes/makeup to share and review! But it shall all have to wait! Cleaning must be done!


I do want to remind you that there are currently two giveaways going on here right now, the 1,500 likes giveaway, and the digital download of Cook'n giveaway.  So be sure to go and enter those, because they both end late friday night!

Once those have both ended, I might be posting another review and giveaway, of that Majestical Jewelry I mentioned previously! So hooray for giveaways!

Cook'n Recipe Organizer 11 v.11 Review + Giveaway

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

 Have you guys heard of Cook'n? I got the chance to download a digital copy for review, and I am so glad I did. Cook'n is a recipe organizer - a cookbook stored on your computer. It allows you to upload your own recipes via manually or even scanning them in, pull recipes off of websites and pinterest, or you can order Cook'n cookbooks for additional recipes. Once stored, you have easy access to view or share!

I was excited to try this, mainly because most of my recipes come from the internet now. I either bookmark them, (with no organizing... recipes often get lost) pin them to a yummy board on pinterest, or print/write them out. (again, with no organizing... recipes are often lost. lol. I'm sooo bad at organizing)

Cook'n makes it fairly easy to organize, it just takes some getting used to.

1,500 Facebook Likes Giveaway!

Last month, I reached 1,500 likes on my Facebook page! The plan was to sort out some items for a giveaway right then and there, but last minute travel pushed my giveaway plans back a bit. I haven't forgotten though! I spent the last week and a half trying to sort out and acquire items - bearing in mind I wanted to have an international giveaway. Almost everything here are things I personally like/love, so I'm hoping you will too.

 One winner will receive all of the below!

 Here's what I have:

---

A Nail Duo Inspired by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire from Covergirl. The polish is Seared Bronze, the nail art stickers are Tawny Flame.

Nails of the Day!

Just a short post to share my nails for the day!

Tada! Notebook paper nails. Complete with doodles. lol.


Polishes used:
Essie Grow Faster Base Coat
NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel in French Tip White
Sally Hansen I ❤ Nail Art Striper in Hot Pink
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
NYC Matte me CRAZY Mattifying Top Coat

and three ultra fine point Sharpies in blue, light blue, and lime green.

Wet n Wild Megaslicks Balm Stain Review

So last month, I picked up some Balm Stains. I got three of the Wet n Wild Megaslicks Balm Stains, and one from Jordana. I ended up disliking the Jordana, and since there was only one, I skipped reviewing it. But today I'll be reviewing the Megaslicks.

As mentioned, I picked three up - a pink, a red, and a berry purple.

Mail Call

Ahoy folks! So last week, I mentioned all the mail I had waiting for me after being away for a week and a half. Finally deciding to share some. Here's a pick of the pile:

Now, yes, I got a seventeen magazine, and a Victoria's Secret catalog, but you can plainly see those, so I won't be sharing individual photos. lol. Also, most of those smaller envelopes are Valentines from the Iggle swap I mentioned already, so you can already see all of those here.



First up, a couple of books. Here's a Psych book:

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read. A Psych book comes out with every season of the show, I believe, but none of the bookstores near me have them, so when I was given an amazon gift card, I grabbed one. (I also grabbed another book, Hyperbole and a Half, but I got that one in the mail just before I left, and I might be doing a separate post for that one in the future.)

Valentine's Day Ulta Haul

Last year, in lieu of chocolates or flowers, my guy got me makeup. All from the clearance section at Ulta. He asked, back then, if this would be an annual gift from now on. I warned him that the palettes and whatnot that he got me were great, but, because of how great they were, if we were to continue the tradition, I might want some of the more expensive makeups - like the Naked palette.

This year, he decided that more expensive makeup lasts longer than flowers or chocolates anyway, so we went back to Ulta. And I am one happy camper. Hee.

Granted, a lot of the haul is from the clearance section, because I couldn't resist. Hee.

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Happy Valentine's Day!! 

With or without a significant other, I hope you're all having a lovely day! And that there's chocolate around. ☺

-ɳoχʏ                   

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Super short post today, just sharing a picture of all the Valentines I got from the IGGPPC swap!

Isn't it all so AWESOME?! Thanks to everyone who sent me a vday card!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Valentine's Day Nails

Another short post for today, I thought I'd share my Valentine's Day manicure. I had been a bit stumped on what I wanted to do for my Vday mani, but then realized - for the last two weeks, my nails have been stiletto in shape and were black and red.

While there were hearts in the simple design, I think I got tired of the black and red after keeping them that way for so long. So I decided I wanted something simple and clean.

Time for an Update!

Hellooooo folks.

So, Monday afternoon, we finally headed home, again.

Most of Monday was spent packing and straightening up, so I didn't have time to write up a post. Then yesterday, well,  I was relaxing a bit. Although, I did snap a pic of all the mail I got while away, but I'll share that later. I haven't even opened most of it anyhow. lol.



Today will be a short post. I just wanted to update my beauty wishlist for 2014.

I took one last look at Coralista, and changed my mind for good. It is no longer on my wishlist. Instead, I started falling in love with the Naked Basics of all things. So I added that, and then specified my Lacquered Bliss item. Previously, I just knew I wanted to try another polish from her, since Deck Your Holos is my current favorite polish. Upon seeing Accio Lacquer's grand opening post, (I used her picture for my wishlist) I immediately fell in love with La Jaconde!


So, to recap, the items still on my wishlist (excluding what's already been acquired) are:

1 and 2: The Naked palettes.
I was too, too happy to get the Naked 3 palette in January, which leaves Naked and Naked 2.


3:  Drop Dead Fred from Scofflaw Nail Varnish
Recently, just this past Friday, Scofflaw had a restock, and - 4 minutes late - I watched helplessly, as Drop Dead Fred sold out in minutes. I have been informed that this polish is part of her permanent line, so I suppose I shall just hope that I can be quick enough in the future to nab this polish.


4: Essie Polish in Chocolate Cakes
I'm going crazy trying to find this Essie in stores. But I shall find it, dang it.


5: La Jaconde from Lacquered Bliss
As mentioned, I fell in love with this polish. Love at first sight. It's inspired by the Mona Lisa and I can't stop looking at pictures. I've always been a fan of neutrals, and green is my favorite color, so this polish appears to be a happy medium. I'm dying to get this. Hopefully soon!


6: The Naked Basics Palette
For some reason, I had it in my head that this palette wasn't worth getting. It wasn't until last month, when I was picking up the Naked 3, that I really had a good look. Now I'm wondering why on earth did I shrug this palette off!

Stiletto Nails?

So two weeks ago, I was dreading the ever coming "day I trim my nails to nubs". Two nails had started to break close to the base, and the tea bag wrap method was only delaying the inevitable. But I noticed where the breaks were and realized I might be able to get around trimming them down to nubs, by instead pointing them.

I posted a pic of them as soon as I painted them, so excuse the messiness.

But there they are. Pointy, stiletto nails. I really wasn't sure if I liked them. The idea of them seemed to be growing on me though!

Here's another pic taken over a week ago, a bit cleaner. lol.

Over the past few weeks, I came to the decision that yes, I do, actually like the way they look. However, they're... well... sharp. And I spent a lot of time being super careful not to stab myself in the eye if I had an itch to scratch on my face.

I did end up scratching myself hard enough to bleed a tiny bit too while I was maneuvering out of my coat.
(I scratched my right thumb with my left hand somehow.)

Not to mention the light stabbings I unintentionally attack my guy with whenever I went to hug, snuggle, or cuddle.

And since pointing my nails, two nails have since broken anyway. (One was not expected.) I still haven't trimmed the rest of my nails down yet though, so now I've got one nubby nail on each hand, and claws for the rest. lol.

So I suppose... as much as I like the way the stiletto nails look, I think I might just be a little too clumsy to keep stiletto nails. I don't want to spend all my time fearing I might accidentally stab my eye out, or my guy's eye. Ah well. :)

January Favorites!

Ahoy folks! Just a quick update on things that have been happening. On the 29th, my guy and I took an unscheduled trip back to Michigan due to family emergency. (his family) That was all the 30th-31st. Frustratingly enough, I. Am. Still. Here.

It bothers me beyond belief that I am stuck in Michigan, again, after being stuck here for 2 weeks already in January. Sigh.

I pre-wrote some posts to schedule and saved some drafts with pictures I took when I was still home, so that I could write the posts up here. But I've run out of those, because, naturally, I wasn't expecting to still be here.

So today, I shall share with you a quick post on my January Favorites, because it's been a while since I've done that!

Here's a picture of the items I have right now that I managed to pull together for a quick phone pic! :)
Not pictured is the Epicare, which I really wish I remembered to grab when I was packing!

In the pic:

Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette
Essie's Penny Talk
Essie's Grow Faster Base Coat
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
China Glaze Just Be-Claws
Rimmel London Scandaleyes RetroGlam Waterproof Mascara
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Wet n Wild Megaslicks Balm Stain in Lady and the Vamp
Color Sensational The Buffs in Blushing Beige
Maybelline Baby Skin


I still need to post a review a couple of these things - the Naked 3 palette and the Balm stain - but those are all in various stages of incomplete and on my computer at home. I wasn't planning on reviewing the Grow Faster Base Coat, although I might anyhow, and I already reviewed the regular RetroGlam, so I didn't think there was a need for a waterproof review. I have mentioned the waterproof formula though - it's a bit watery compared to the regular and doesn't quite do as well as the regular, but it's still a good waterproof mascara, and definitely my fave waterproof mascara.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

In January, my guy bought me my first Urban Decay Primer Potion. And I was soooo excited!!

(pics taken in January. That's not my mani anymore. Hee.)

The primer is tinted when you squeeze it out of the tube, but it disappears once you rub it in.

This stuff. This stuff right here. It works so much better than the primer I was using prior. I can't go back. After 14 hour days, my eyeshadow is crease free. It's fabulous. And a little goes a long way, so I can't wait to see how long this tube lasts, since it's the full sized version of the product. Eeeee! EXCITEMENT! I've been wearing this with my Naked 3, which I still need to share and review here. Oooh I love that Naked 3. So glad I have Urban Decay in my collection now. :)

Ways to check out Urban Decay:

Official Site

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Color Sensational The Buffs in Blushing Beige

So one of my new lipsticks is the Maybelline Color Sensational The Buffs.

Color Sensational The Buffs in Blushing Beige

 I was really hoping I grabbed the right shade for my skin tone.

Blushing Beige

Essie No Place Like Chrome and Penny Talk

So at the end of December, I bought a couple of polishes from a blog sale. They were marked down, and both were polishes I've wanted for a while. These polishes are Essie's No Place Like Chrome and Penny Talk.

No Place Like Chrome, and Penny Talk

 They're not new, but new to me! So they deserve a review.

Maybelline Baby Skin Review

So earlier last month I picked up Maybelline's new Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser. I was psyched to grab this, because I'm always up for trying new primers, especially more affordable ones. This primer is the same price as my normal go to - Rimmel London's Fix and Perfect Pro Primer.

The price ranges from $5.99 to $6.99 around here. Not too bad.

Okay okay, so I know it says it's a transparent gel, but I completely forgot the moment I squeezed the product out. I'm so used to lotion colored primers! Haha.

The feel of this primer is crazy awesome. It's weightless and thin and I suppose it almost feels greasy, but not. It's odd. I love it.

(Pic taken in January)

When I wear this alone, I can see a visible difference in my skin, but underneath foundation it's not as noticeable. It still works great, the primer makes my makeup last all day. The longest I wore this was for 12 hours, and my face makeup still looked great at the end. This is definitely my new fave primer!

Ways to check out Maybelline:

Official site

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Instagram

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