Showstopping Red

Oh you know, just being basic and posting pictures of my freshly painted red nails.  A red nail is like a red lip, classic.  As strange as it sounds, red nails make me feel like a fancy, sophisticated lady.  With fall here I tend to put away my neon and brighter nail polishes and gravitate more towards the reds and darker nail colors.

This is one of my favorite shades of red, Essie's Russian Roulette.  So if your looking for that perfect shade definitely give this one a try! It can be bought at drugstores, Ulta, Target, etc. for about $8. Also a little secret of mine is the Revlon Colorstay Topcoat, it give the nicest, gel like finish to any nail color and helps your polish last for days!

Bottom Lash Blast

Recently I have heard a lot of talk about the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara.  Being the beauty junkie I am I ran to my local Sephora and picked one up to try out.  Bold lashes is something I have always loved and wear on a daily basis, so that was my reasoning for trying this product out. 

Although this Clinique product was only $10, it was not as fabulous as I thought it was going to be.  It came in the tiniest bottle, third small silver packaging in the picture above.  The wand is also super small and the formula is very wet, which makes the product slightly harder to apply.  I never really had any issues using my regular, everyday mascara on my bottom lashes, but I gave this product a chance and wanted to let you know about it. So no, I do not regret buying this product and I will continue using it, but if you were thinking about getting this I recommend saving your $10 and simply put it towards another product you have been eyeing!

Hurry! Fabulous Sephora 500 Point Prize Perk

I’m the type of girl who wants the most bang for her buck. Even when it comes to choosing free Sephora samples, I’m that girl who waits until the most perfect Beauty Insider 500 point prize perk is available.  Last weekend when I stepped up to the register of my favorite store (Sephora), the makeup gods came down and shined light down upon the 500 point prize.  This beautiful, fantastic Laura Mercier mini makeup set.  Laura Mercier is and will always be one of my favorite makeup brands and when my eyes set this set, I just could not resist this prize perk.

Beauty insider prize: Laura Mercier 

This makeup set came with a mini set of face polish, face primer, tinted moisturizer, a red shimmery lip gloss and a loose face powder with a small fan brush.  It was all so packaged beautifully and so pleasant to the eye I couldn’t resist.  I was more than overjoyed to come home that night and open up my makeup set.  The tinted moisturizer is a product I have used in the past and I am excited to try out this lighter shade for the upcoming fall and winter season.  The small lip gloss is also perfect size to throw into a purse for everyday wear. It is also a perfect, non- sticky consistency which is a great thing. So my point to this blog post is if you have more than 500 Sephora points built up, close down your laptop and sprint over to the nearest Sephora and pick up this set right now. 

Steal of the Century!

Being the girly girl that I am, I love my staple bold, chunky necklaces.  Since they are usually costume jewelry and more trendier pieces I can never bring myself to spend more than $20 on a single necklace.  Over the past few seasons I have been obsessing over the infamous "Bubble Necklace" JCrew released a while back. I immediately fell in love with the necklace, but could not bring myself to go out and drop $125-$150 dollars on it.  The amount of times I looked in the mirror at an outfit and said "Wow this outfit could really use a bubble necklace" is actually insane. So over this past weekend while perusing through Charlotte Russe, a store I rarely walk in to, my eye was immediately drawn to this knock off JCrew bubble necklace. I was honestly so amazed by the quality and similarity between this necklace and the original JCrew one. I fell in love with this necklace even more when I looked at the price tag, $12.99! So I picked up two, one in off-white and one in coral.  You just can not go wrong with this price and when you find something you love, you buy it in every color right? 

JCrew Bubble Neckalce $150
Photo from jcrew.com

Charlotte Russe Bubble Necklace $12.99
My photo!

Moral of the story is, pop your head into stores you would never think about shopping in.  You may just leave with a smile on your face and a big ole bag of goodies.  And just when you think it can't get any better, if you are a college student, Charlotte Russe offers a 10% discount on your purchase with a valid student ID! So pop in and check out your closest Charlotte Russe ASAP for this amazing deal!

50 Shades of RED

Red lips have been a beauty staple ever since I remember picking up my first issue of Teen People & Seventeen Magazine when I was in the sixth grade.  Although the shades of red change with the time and season, the bold, sophisticated look you get when you swipe on a new red lipstick will forever be the same.

Red lips can simply change an entire look and they're the easiest way to transition your look from day to night.  Summertime is all about the bright, flirty shades of red lips.  But, with the fall season creeping up on us it's time to dust off the packaging and bring the deep dark red shades back into our everyday makeup routines. My absolute favorite red lip for fall is Revlon's Lip Butter in Red Velvet. It is the creamiest most perfect lip stick ever created. I've worn this lip color last fall more days than not and I'm ready to do it all over again. 

Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet (Shade 40)

A good red lip make us women feel so very sophisticated and ready to conquer the world, even if we are really just going to dinner with the girls! And nothing, I mean nothing is more sexy, confident and yells "Hello world I am ready for you" more than a red lip. The next combination of lip colors are the perfect formula to a bright, yet acceptable shade of red that is truly perfect for any time of the year.

+  MAC's Ruby Woo=

Apply a layer of Mac's Ruby Woo and follow it up with the Stila lip glaze in Fantasy for this beautiful lip combination.

Under Cover

There's nothing like waking up in the morning with a large (unwanted) red pimple on your face. To many of us women, this always seems to happen on important days such as a job interview, a wedding party, first date, etc. There is nothing worse than doing your make up and trying to cover up a large crater on your face which in reality many people wouldn't even notice. We all have those days where we wish we had a professional make up artist in our house to quickly come and cover up the problem area on our faces or in my case I wish I could walk out in public wearing a (cute) ski mask. However, I have discovered two life saving products that can hopefully save you on whatever your "big day" may be.

Benefit Cosmetics Fake Up Concelaer 

 I have recently been loving Benefits "Fake Up". It has a creamy consistency with a moisturizing, clear rim surrounding the actual cover up color product. It blends so beautifully into my skin and works well with my current BB cream.  It's a perfect under eye and all over spot concealer that can be purchased at Sephora for $24.

Sonia Kashuk's Hidden Agenda

Another one of my favorites is the Sonia Kashuk hidden agenda concealer pallet.  This product is an awesome cheaper alternative that can be purchased at Target for about $10. The great thing about this concealer is that it comes in three different shades and a small powder, which makes it a great all year product. When you lose you golden goddess summertime tan you do not have to worry about going out and purchasing another concealer to match your skin tone because there is a lighter shade in this palette. It's easy to apply, you can use your fingers but personally I like to use a small concealer brush to really cover upo and set the concealer in.

Polka Dots & Pearls

 There's no better way to transition from summer to fall then with some fun patterns.  This season I have been loving the polka dot trend!

This fun collared polka dot top is from Nordstrom BP. The pearl and silver bracelet was purchased from American Eagle Outfitters. This outfit is a very affordable way to stay chic in this back to school season.

V.I.B Very Important Beauty Insider

Doesn't everybody love free stuff? If you happen to be a beauty junkie like myself, there is no question about it, you should be a member of Sephora's free Beauty Insider club. Each time you make a purchase in a Sephora store you give them your card and rack up your points.  When you reach a certain amount of points you become eligible to receive free (and sometimes deluxe) beauty samples.  I myself have worked my way to become a V.I.B aka a very important beauty insider.  Last summer while receiving my shiny new silver V.I.B card it made my day. Okay lets be honest it made my month. By being a member you get some really awesome perks.

For example in the beginning of the summer I received this awesome mini set from Benefit which included their BADgal Lash mascara, sugarbomb lip gloss, and sun beam highlighter. I got an email saying I had this reward ready and available for me and even though I went into Sephora a day earlier then this set was available, the woman that helped me check out was super nice and still gave me the Benefit reward anyways!

The sugarbomb lip gloss is a beautiful nude color and is not sticky at all. Sticky lip glosses are one of my biggest beauty pet peeves. Sunbeam is a product I have been wanting to try for so long, so I was so glad it came in this set.  This summer when my skin was tanner then usual this was a great cheek highlighter.  If you like a glowy, dewy skin look, this product is definitely something you should check it out. So what are you waiting for? Next time you sto by Sephora make sure to sign up for their awesome beauty rewards program. You will not be disappointed!