Striping Tape Again!

Hello everyone! ♥

Just a quick post today!

I used striping tape again for this manicure. This time instead of laying the tape on top of polish, I painted my nails with The Show Must Go On by OPI (the pink), placed the tape down, then added a thick coat of Storm by Zoya and finally removed the tape! This has to be one of the easiest designs that looks like you took a long time to do, but really only took a few minutes! Peeling off the tape is always the most rewarding part of the design :)

One important piece of advice: after painting a thick coat of polish on top of the tape, remove the tape ASAP! The first time I did this, I let the polish sit too long and when I tried removing the tape, the lines didn't turn out clean and it was a mess! 

Hope you try this out, thanks for reading! ♥

1st Striping Tape Mani!

Hello everyone! ♥

While browsing Pinterest recently, I fell in love with Pshiiit's design and knew I had to try it myself!

Products used:

★ Sephora by OPI - Strengthener Base Coat

★ OPI - Black Onyx

★ 6 Harts Polish - Secret Galaxy

★ Silver striping tape 

★ Out the Door Top Coat

The 6 Harts polish is one of the only duochromes I own, I really need to buy more! You can never have enough!

Since this was my first mani using striping tape, I had some trouble keeping the tape on and had to redo some that peeled off the next day. My advice is to cut the tape so it isn't too close to the edge of your nails, it's more prone to peeling that way.

On another note, I desperately need some acetone to clean up those cuticles, yikes! I tried with Zoya's nail polish remover but it didn't do such a good job of it :(

Hope everyone had a nice weekend! Thanks for reading! ♥

Drugstore.com Haul for Senior Pictures!

 Hey everyone! :)

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far! So today I have another haul to show you guys! I recently bought some makeup and makeup tools in preparation for senior pictures! I got everything from drugstore.com, it's really convenient when I can't find everything at my local Walgreens, Target, CVS, etc.

Wet n Wild's Color Icon Collection Eyeshadow Single in Brulee ($1.99) Perfect MATTE color to highlight under the brow bones! I would probably put some on the bridge of my nose, the cupid's bow, and in the inner corner of my eye to naturally highlight those places as well. For those with a fairer skin tone, you could use this as an all over wash on the eyelids. The eyeshadow is soft but a little powdery, blends out well though. The swatch picture washes the eyeshadow color out a bit, the product is a really light tan color like the middle picture!

Wet n Wild's Ultimate Brow Kit in Ash Brown ($3.99) Haven't had the chance to try this out yet, but the pigmentation for the powders seem good! Comes with a mini pair of tweezers, a little brush (anything mini is always cute), and a slide out mirror! The hairs on the brush are relatively soft and I swatched the colors using the brush.

Tweezerman Stainless Steel No-Slip Skin Care Tool ($11.00) "Safely and gently remove blackheads and whiteheads." This tool is double-sided, the longer end has a flatter hook (bottom right). Useful around the nose and more sanitary than using fingers/nails!

Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic ($10.39) All the colors are matte and blendable. I love having 4 colors in 1 product because it's so versatile! I can mix the bottom 2 colors to get a nice color to contour the sides of my nose or swirl the whole palette and contour my jaw line. I could also use the top 2 colors to soften the edges of my contouring to have it blend in nicely with my skin tone. This will give the perfect shading for photos because flash photography washes out a lot of the color/dimension on your face! I don't believe this has SPF, which is good because SPF can give off a white cast on the skin in pictures. The one thing that bothers me is the smell of the product, it just smells really strange but the smell dissipates when sheered out on the skin.

 Real Techniques Expert Face Brush ($8.99) I've heard so many raves about Real Techniques brushes so I bit the bullet and bought this! I recently bought Makeup Forever's Face and Body Liquid Foundation (#32) (My first foundation ever! :D) as well and have yet to use it with this brush! I will definitely do a review of the foundation after I've used it for awhile, so look out for a future post ;) The bristles are really soft on this brush, and REALLY dense! The brush has a good weight to it, not too light or too heavy. Also, the size of the brush is nice, small enough to get around the nose but big enough to not take forever to put on foundation! From the first impressions I got, it looks promising and I can't wait to try it!

 Last but not least! Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I received this as a free sample from drugstore.com, though I can't exactly remember why. I think it was because I've bought a lot of beauty products from them and I am a member of their website. I chose this out of a list of free samples (other options included serums, face washes, exfoliators, etc.) simply because I thought it would go well under my new foundation on picture day! I've heard a lot of people like this primer as well, so this was the perfect chance to try it out! :)

Thanks for reading! ♥

[Disclaimer: These products were not sent to me. I am not affiliated with drugstore.com.]

Mini Bath & Body Works Haul ♥

Hello everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful day :)

I just wanted to share a little haul with you guys! Bath & Body Works is having an up to 75% off sale on selected items so I decided to drop by and check it out (not sure when it ends, sorry)! They also have a couple more promotions going on, I believe. I haven't been to the store in a looong time, so I spent about an hour inside just going around the store and smelling all the new products, ha! I'm not the only one who does this, right? >_<

I picked up the travel size Sweet Pea (3 fl. oz.) fragrance mist for $1.50 (originally $5.00). It has a light flowery scent, perfect for spring & summer! I have so many full size body mists from B&BW, but this mini size is definitely nice to have in my purse.

I'm also a HUGE fan of anything apple scented. I think they discontinued Country Apple awhile ago, but now it's back and I'm so excited! I bought the shower gel (10 fl. oz.) for $3.00 (originally $11.00) and on the back, it states that all of their shower gels:

• contain Aloe Vera
• provide a luxurious lather
• gently clean and fragrance skin, leaving skin feeling soft

 And the last of the big boys, Wild Honeysuckle (8 fl. oz.) for $3.00 (originally $5.50). The store didn't have the foaming hand soap version of this, bummer! Oh well, I still adore the warm, flowery scent!

From left to right: Zippy Fruit Punch, Island Nectar, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Island Bamboo, Aqua Blossom.

These little babies are so handy to keep in your purse, pocket hand-sanitizers! They're all 1 fl. oz. each and it was a 5 for $5 sale (I think they always have the 5 for $5 sale though), individuals are sold for $1.75. I believe they have around 30 different scents, and I happened to pick colors that make up the rainbow! I actually grabbed these for my cousins/relatives in Hong Kong (public transportation = germs!), but they smell so good, I might use them all up and have to make another trip to B&BW!

Thanks for reading! :)

Forever 21 15 Shade Palette Review + Swatches!

  Hello everyone! :) So today I'm doing a swatch/review of the Forever 21 15 Shade Palette in Brown/Taupe. I bought it for only $4.80! You can find it online here, or at your F21. As you can see from the picture below, this palette is very shimmery; only the bottom right white color is matte. Aside from the usual neutral colors, there is a beautiful plum purple (bottom left corner) that I am in love with, and an interesting dark forest green (4th from the left, top row). This palette also includes a double-ended sponge tip applicator. On to the swatches!

I was pleasantly surprised at how pigmented and smooth most of the shadows were! I swatched these without a base/primer. I have to say that a couple of the shades do look similar, even if the colors look different in the pan. None of the colors have actual pieces of glitter in it, it is simply shimmer (which I prefer). The shade I am most disappointed with is the matte white. It is powdery and the pigmentation is only okay. The plum purple has purple shimmer but a dark purple/black base. The forest green has gold shimmer and once again, is paired with a dark green/black base. The other shades do not have a different shimmer/base match. 

Overall, I would recommend this if you need a basic shimmery neutral palette, not totally a must-have product.

How I wore this palette:

- NYX HD Eye Shadow Base (all over lid + under lower lashes)

- NYX Jumbo Eye pencil in Milk 604 (all over lid, blend out with fingers)

-  Flat C brush to apply #1 all over lid, apply #2 (matte dark brown, NYX Champagne & Caviar Palette) on outer V

- ELF Blending Eye Brush to blend out dark brown

-  NYX Slide On Eyeliner in Jet Black (created a small wing)

- ELF Small Angled Brush to apply #3 over black eyeliner (the black liner gives the purple an extra pop and something to stick to!). I also used this brush to apply Milk on the lower lash line and then applied #3 on top.

- KOJI Eyelash curler

- Almay Get Up & Grow mascara

I have somewhat oily eyelids, and after wearing for a good 5-6 hours, the shadows barely faded! There was also no fall out or flaking, yay! They were also easy to remove (I used Neutrogena's oil-free eye makeup remover).

Thanks for reading! :)