my first time: luxury gifts for christmas

i feel so blessed. christmas was good to me this year. i thought i would share a little peek at a few of my gifts this year. all are things that have been on my wish list for a long time (besides the mac cleanse off oil, i have used this before and really enjoyed it but i havent gotten around to repurchasing. i like it more than shu uemura)

i can hear the angels singing...my first chanel and burberry items! i told myself when i purchase luxury brand cosmetics, i was going to wait until i could go all out and purchase a few things at once to try. looks like i get to jump start my exploration of luxury brands with chanel's soleil tan de chanel bronzing base and burberry's russet blush.

finally, FINALLY, i own nars mounia! i have been wanting this for the longest time but by the time i was committed to purchasing it they discontinued the shade. i am so happy i have this shade to add to my ever growing nars collection.

& of course, dolce and gabbana's light blue. i already have opened this and used it. i am still in love with the scent. i know it is massively popular and many people own it but i love the scent all the same. i keep smelling myself and smiling.



i leave you now with a picture of my awesome christmas sweater i wore. yes it has ribbons, pearls, and just about everything else you can think of on it. super baggy, tacky, festive, and fabulous har har.

i hope you all had a great holiday with plenty of food, love, and family/loved ones. i am so thankful for all i have. share what you got for gifts lovely readers! i love hearing what people end up receiving.

now i have to ponder about what to wear for new years. it is coming up fast...

christmas eve media

this year i have discovered i have become much more comfortable going outside the "nude lipsticks only" territory. case in point: today i am wearing mac's media, a recent addition to my lipstick collection. i back to mac'ed for this because if i am going to wear a red it is going to be a dark berry red. the bright cherry reds dont seem to flatter me, or so i think...

i also wore bobbi brown's pot rouge in blushed rose. i havent worn this shade in a long time and i dont know why. it will always be one of my favorite blush shades since it adds such a soft touch of color to my face while blending in the skin so easily.

are you uncomfortable wearing bold lip shades or is wearing color normal for you? i am still a nude lipstick girl at heart, but being a little bold can be fun every once in a while...

holiday cookies + mani

here is my holiday mani of choice this year: blood red nails with silver glitter accent. nothing massively creative, just something festive. plus i was itching to try out my new set in stones glitter polish i blogged about last time.



i used essie limited addiction for the blood red. as for my accent nail i used revlon silver ring as a base with two coats of essie set in stones. i thought about doing all my nails this combo but i really wanted to try out limited addiction which, by the way, is insanely smooth and pigmented. one coat of this polish and i couldnt see any nail line. i did three coats out of habit but it definitely didnt need that many. wear time seems to be great, this is three days of wear and tear!





hope you are all enjoying your holidays, i have already dived into the festivities! yesterday i spent 5 hours rolling and baking my grandma's thin sugar cookies. talk about exhausting. i am actually not a huge fan of the typical thick and frosted sugar cookies always seen around this time, i only like my grandma's thin and sprinkled version! they are small, melt in your mouth and they especially pair well when dipped in a cup of hot tea. yum.

happy holidays! cant wait to see what everyone gets for christmas this year....

diy christmas present idea: crayon art

another DIY present project: retro crayon art! this is a really easy inexpensive idea i saw on tumblr (i cant find the link for it!) i plan on giving this to my younger sister, i think she will think it is really neat, at least i hope so!

things you will need:


crayons (i used a 48 count box)
canvas (i used a 12x16 but any size you want will do)
hot glue gun and hot glue
a bowl of warm water
towel/old fabric
hairdryer

step 1
align your crayons in the order you would like. i am going for a rainbow effect, but you can be creative and use only blue tones, grey tones, etc.

step 2
this part is optional, but i prefer the look without the wrapping. if you want to keep the wrapping on skip this step.

if you want bare crayons, peel off the wrapper. to make this MUCH easier and less time consuming, soak your crayons in a bowl of warm water. you have to figure out what temperature works best by testing it, too hot and your crayon will melt, too cold and the wrapper doesn't unravel as easy. experiment! i found if the water was just bearably hot to the touch, it was perfect. any colder and it didnt peel off as easily.

step 3
once unwrapped, hot glue your crayons in the order you like at the topmost part of the canvas. make sure to place the hot glue on the CANVAS, and then place the crayon on top of the glue. putting the hot glue on the crayon itself will melt your crayon and get it all over your glue gun.

step 4
place old fabric or a towel underneath your canvas and start blow drying! keep your blow dryer on either medium or high heat (i did high) and keep the speed setting at LOW. if you blast the crayons on high speed wax will fly everywhere and you won't get very neat dripping effects.

take your time, use different angles to blow the hot air and try to keep a decent distance from the canvas. blowing too close to the crayons muddles the wax together so you can't see all the colors individually. if you find you have bare spots on your canvas, focus on those areas. tilt the canvas at different angles to let the wax settle in different areas. if you have to, take a break and turn off the dryer so the wax can settle in certain areas of the canvas. be creative and experiment yourself!

finished!




now you have a neat piece of art that you can frame. i think this is such a neat and fun idea, not to mention colorful.

what do you think of crayon art? i hope you think it is as neat as i do :)

004 vain rambling

time for another installment of vain rambling, where i dedicate my rambling of a few beauty products all in one post so i dont have to do many little posts individually for each product.

i went to a beauty supply store with the full intention of picking up the cult favorite opi lincoln park after dark as well as its sister lincoln park after midnight. if you follow my blog you know i tend to never pay full price for polish, i always hit up beauty supply stores for the heavy discount (usually 50% off).

i am still surprised with myself that i dont own lincoln park after dark, being the nail polish addict that i am. i have been in the mood for a deep, dark purple shade and i dont really have anything like that in my vast collection. sadly when i got to the store, they were fresh out of these two shades. i did, however, end up with a few shades i have had my eye on...

essie limited addiction, set in stones, and opi warm and fozzie.


this beauty supply store had a full display of the essie luxe effects collection. out of the collection, 'set in stones' was the only shade i was interested in. i already have sally hansen's hidden treasure so i saw no need to pick up 'shine of the times'. i am glad i picked this shade up, it satiates my need for silver glitter. i originally wanted sephora by opi's flurry up, but i like essie's version better.

limited addiction has been on my list to grab. nothing special, just a dark blood red. i have so many polishes in this shade but i keep wanting to try different versions. i will have to do a comparison post to what i already have.

as for opi's warm and fozzie, this was the only shade i really wanted from the muppets collection. for some reason rainbow connection really doesnt tug at my heartstrings. this bronze shade, however, does. i wonder if this is similar to mac mercenary?

speaking of polish, i am currently wearing opi russian navy. great choice if you love dark navy/almost black shades.

!!!!!

estee lauder peach nuance blush. i have been wanting this for the longest time but i havent had the chance to purchase it myself. this was gifted to me by my wonderful friend, Hieu, who i have mentioned a few times here on my blog.

this is supposed to be a softer more fool proof version of mac's 'ripe peach' blush ombre. since i dont own ripe peach (yet!) i am ecstatic i get to try out this blush, especially since this shade has been discontinued as well :/

i believe some counters still have it in stock, but once they run out i believe that is it! if you are interested, ask your nearest counter.

something non-beauty related, but i stopped by my local thrift store and picked up a few books i have been wanting to read for only a dollar each. talk about a bargain. the books i purchased were middlesex, the shack, and 13 reasons why. i am probably giving the latter to my younger sister for christmas since i know she has been wanting to read it. the other two books are ones i currently have checked out from my library :)

what books are you reading at the moment? i love hearing book suggestions :)

what i bring with me when i travel

recently i took a small trip to minnesota to visit relatives. i thought i would share what products i brought with me when i went as well as reflect back on what i ACTUALLY used. what i bring with me when i travel always varies. it depends on what i will be doing on the trip (parties? family events? low key outings?) and how long i am gone. my trip was a little less than a week long and i planned on low key outings with maybe one night out.

THE BAG
this is what i fit everything into. it is a GWP bag from estee lauder i received from my friend.

THE FACE
i am happy to report i used every item here! i also brought a mixture of revlon photoready and neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup for foundation, but it is contained in a not aesthetically pleasing container so it is obviously not pictured.

BONNEBELL GLIMMER BRONZER
i use this to add a nice glow to my face. i havent reached for it in a while so i thought i should start using it again.

CARGO TONGA BLUSH
love this shade. i never really understood this shade until i got paler. extremely natural color, it looks like my own skin flushed. highly recommend if you are light-med in skin tone...especially light.

CARGO MED MATTE BRONZER
i wont blabber about this anymore. i always use this for my bronzer, i am trying to use it up. look at that pan mark!

MILANI LUMINOSO
i have been neglecting my milani blushes so i brought this along to force myself to use it. i like it but sometimes it looks too orange on me.

MAYBELLINE DREAM MATTE POWDER
i just bought this which i mentioned in my last post. i like it so far.

MAC LIGHTSCAPADE
i keep reaching for this highlighter. i love the subtle glow it imparts.

THE EYES
i used almost everything here.

theBALM SHADY LADY VOL 1
i wont go into this any further since i've done so many posts on this lately (swatches and a look). i used this every day while i was away.

MAC QUAD
inside is cork (one of my favorite e/s ever), brule, brun, and club. i didnt use any of these shades, i was too busy with all my options from shady lady.

MAC PAINTPOT in QUITE NATURAL
i usually like to bring a paint pot along when i travel since it doubles as a primer and lid color. quite natural is a matte dirty brown. if you want to see swatches see my paint pot collection post.

EYELINERS, MASCARAS, and SUCH
i used both feline and lineur intense (this one is about done...need a new one!) everyday. i also made myself proud by bringing only one mascara. the nyx jumbo pencil was untouched the whole time. i had no need for a black base.

THE LIPS
every single thing pictured was not used! i brought a good variety but ended up going gloss and lipstick free the whole time. too busy eating family food :) pictured here is mac lipsticks in media and creme d'nude (these are new, post coming soon...), stila glosses in raisin and grapefruit, and mac lipgloss in florabundance.

i didnt do TOO terribly in overpacking (i normally do). next time i'll cool it on the lip products since i tend to ignore those the most when i travel. and not so many eye shadows next time.

what do you bring when you travel? also, what do you put all your cosmetics in when you travel? i have been trying to find a bigger/more sturdy case...

using shady lady vol 1...

i thought it would only be fair to show a look i have done multiple times using my shady lady vol 1 palette since i already showed you how i used vol 2 in my last post. this time i stuck with my favorite kind of look, a neutral one. easy and basic!



again, caught in the act courtney (the most difficult shade when swatching) was pigmented and applied smoothly when used on the eye. i had no problems with blending and i didnt have to try hard to make the color show up. these palettes are turning out to be greater than i first anticipated...



face: i cant remember what i used for foundation...either revlon photoready or maybelline dream smooth mousse since that is all that matches me right now, maybelline matte powder, cargo med matte bronzer, milani luminoso blush

eyes: groundwork paint pot, luscious lani on lid, caught in the act courtney in crease and smudged under the eyes, lineur intense liner, mac feline, prestige my blackest lashes (what else?!)

lips: mac florabundance

what do you think? very boring huh? i quite like boring...