Update and NOTD: OPI's Gone Gonzo!

So my beautiful baby boy arrived on Monday, October 17! Since then life has been busy busy busy. I haven't worn any makeup since then and I just got around to painting my nails yesterday. I'm hoping I can get back into a regular beauty routine soon. In the meantime, here's OPI's Gone Gonzo! from the Muppets collection.

5 coats, natural light

I just love this color. GG is blue micro glitter and large circular silver glitter in a clear base. I know it would be really fun to layer over a blue creme but I probably won't get around to trying for a while. I still have 11 other muppets polishes to try! And it took me forever to actually get a chance to do this so I don't know when I'll get to change it. Which color should I try next time lil peanut gives me a chance?

Love, Jessica

OPI Muppets Collection and Update

So it's been a while since my last post and I'm really sorry about that. I thought I still had time to at least show all of my favorite fall nail polish colors but it turns out I didn't. I started having contractions on Monday and I've been struggling through early labor since then. We don't know when he will arrive but I can't wear nail polish until then. It would interfere with one of the monitors they will have to use when I actually get to go to the hospital. Trust me, I'm very very frustrated with how my life has been so completely wrapped around every little feeling in my belly for 6 days now. They keep telling me he will be here before Tuesday so I've been holding onto that.

ANYWAYS, I picked up the OPI muppets collection yesterday and I'm so freaking excited!

Hopefully it won't take too long for me to be able to test all of these out! I'm such a big muppets fan, I just had to have all of them!

I've missed blogging so please expect lots of regular posts from me once things get back on track. I will swatch all of these at least. I haven't decided yet if I'll finish fall nail favorites or move on to winter favorites or just forget it entirely. If there's something you want to see, please just let me know!

Love, Jessica

Fall 2011 Nail Picks: OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel

Has it really been almost a month since the last time I blogged? I've been so freaking busy lately. Lots of last minute preparations before the baby arrives! I'm only 3 weeks away from my due date.
So I thought I could do a pretty simple series on my favorite fall nail polishes. I have 5 picks that I'll try to get all posted before the baby gets here!

OPI Suzi Takes the Wheel

So this is Suzi Takes the Wheel from OPI's recent Touring America collection. My partner picked it out for me and honestly, I did not have high hopes for it. In the bottle it looks so very gray but on the nail it looks like a great army green. I've been wearing it a lot lately! It's definitely in my top 5 of my collection. And UGH, my cuticles are so nasty. I've been trying to take better care of them but it's just been more difficult with the colder weather coming in.

Fall is my favorite season by far. The trees are beautiful and I love wearing dark colors and jewel tones.

I'd love to hear what your favorite fall colors are too!

Love, Jessica

Review: Aussie Moist Shampoo and Conditioner

Aussie Moist Shampoo and Conditioner, $3 at drugstores

Some background on my hair: I have fine hair that will fall flat if you look at it funny. In addition, I have 2 cowlicks along my forehead and the hair in that area tries to wave a little and gets frizzy if I don't coax it into behaving on a daily basis. I try to put at least 1 day between washes but my scalp will get greasy if I wait any longer. I use a hair dryer and flat iron almost every time I shampoo.

My hope for this was that it would moisturize my hair and help protect my ends from the damage of heat styling without weighing down my fine hair.

This shampoo is so so moisturizing. It's very thick and has definitely improved the texture of my hair. The scent is awesome too! It's kind of tropical. I'm a wash once kind of girl so I usually leave this in for a couple minutes to let it do it's thing with my hair. My hair looks so shiny when I use this. One major downside is that I feel this can leave a lot of build up over time, which can weigh down my hair and make it look greasier between washings.

The conditioner is the most moisturizing condtioner I've ever used. But it weighs down my hair so much I almost never use it as a daily conditioner. I use this as a deep conditioner when my hair really needs the extra moisture.

I probably won't repurchase this after my no buy simply because I feel like I have used better shampoos and conditioners before. It's just a little too heavy for my hair. It's a great shampoo and the conditioner makes a nice weekly treament but it's nothing that amazing.

Pregnancy Update: 33 weeks and 3 days. It's just been getting harder and harder to motivate myself to want to leave the house any more. I'm getting more and more uncomfortable. I think I may end up spending most of October in bed, because simply moving any more brings me pain. I'm hopeful that if I keep trying to take care of myself I'll just feel better.

Favorite shampoos? I'll definitely be wanting to try some different ones after my no buy is over!

Love, Jessica

August Favorites 2011

Wow! It's already September! I'm actually really happy to be entering into fall. It's my favorite season. It's been so hot this month that wearing makeup has been difficult. These are all products I've relied on a ton this month.

1. Redken 07 Iron Silk Ultra Straightening Spray
This is HG for me! I've used this for a few years now and always love the results. After I finish drying my hair, I lightly spray this over my hair and then straighten. My hair feels soft, and looks incredibly smooth and shiny. It also makes my hair last longer between washes.

2. Naked Palette
I've loved this since I got it! It's got such a nice range of shades and you could get a wide variety of daytime or nighttime looks from it. My favorite combination lately has been Toasted on the lid, Darkhorse in the crease and Sin for highlight.

L to R: Toasted, Darkhorse, Sin

3. ELF Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn

This is such a great cream shadow. It's smooth and pigmented. I like to use it as a wash of color all over my lid on days when putting on eyeshadow seems like way too much work. Just use your fingers, it picks up better and the heat helps it spread out and go on smoothly.

Dawn



4. Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer

This concealer is so nice and moisturizing. I like the applicator because I can dot it right where I want it before blending. It blends in well but covers everything. I like to use this on red areas around my chin and nose as well as on undereye circles.

5. NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Crystal Soda

I love NYX glosses. They're shiny and the glitter isn't chunky. The color of Crystal Soda is light and neutral and goes with any look. I have been keeping this in my purse because it didn't matter if I left whatever lipgloss or lipstick I had started out with at home, this went nicely with everything.

Pregnancy Update: 32 weeks, 3 days. We have started our birthing classes. I enjoy them, he doesn't. It's nice to have an idea of what to expect when baby finally arrives. And I seriously need to keep up with the iron pills, I've been way more fatigued lately. Everyone who doesn't know me tells I can't possibly be due in October. Here's the thing. I'm short. He doesn't have much room to go up, so he goes out. Yes, he's normal size. One woman had the nerve to joke that I'll be giving birth to a toddler. Yeah, that was nice.

I'd love to see other people's August favorites, so if you have them in a video or a blog, feel free to post them. Or even just leave me a comment with a list of your favorites. I'm still on a no buy but it's fun to live vicariously!

Love, Jessica

ELF Haul-August 2011

I ordered this stuff last week (August 16) when they were having a FB friends sale. I'm honestly a little surprised that sale was so small. They made such a big deal about how great it would be but honestly, I could have saved as much any other day. Anyways, I scaled back my order and got some things I've been itching to try for some time!

I ordered the Studio 11pc Brush Set, Studio Eyebrow Kit, a Studio Cream Blush, a Studio Powder Blush, some Essentials brushes and a couple more Studio brushes that weren't included in the kit.

L to R: Complexion Brush, Fan Brush, Concealer Brush, Small Smudge Brush, Angled Foundation Brush, Powder Brush, Small Precision Brush, Small Angled Brush, Blush Brush, Eyeshadow "C" Brush, Contour Brush

The Studio 11 pc Brush Kit: I do own a Sigma kit which I love dearly. But I wanted to test some new eye brushes before I splurged on more Sigmas. So I thought a good way to do that would be with the studio kit. The case is GREAT! I love my Sigma brush roll but this is waaaaay more convenient.

Angled Contour Brush and Stipple Brush: More brushes to compare to Sigma. The Angled Contour brush is surprisingly flat on top. The Stipple is not nearly as dense as my Sigma duo fiber brush. I will have to try both before I make any judgements on them

L to R: Defining Eye Brush, Eyelash and Brow Wand, Blending Eye Brush, Brow Comb and Brush, Eyeliner Brush, Eye Crease Brush, Smudge Brush

Essentials Eye Brushes: I do enjoy the eye brushes I have from the Essentials line so I figured I would try them all. They were only $1 each after all. The smudge brush would not stop rolling around for the picture so yeah, that the side view. It looks like a shorter version of the basic eyeshadow brush. Really excited to try these!

Eyebrow Kit in Medium: I've been trying to be better about good brow grooming. But my brows are kind of sparse so I do feel the need to fill them in. My brows are dark and my hair is light so I've been struggling to find a good color to fill them in that looks natural. Hopefully this will do the trick.

Studio Blush in Tickled Pink: I'm sorry to say it but the swatch of this was exactly what I was hoping Candid Coral would be, only slightly more pink. In general I love any of the blushes from ELF so I'm hopeful for this.

Studio Cream Blush in Tease: This is definitely more of a mousse texture than a cream but that's ok! It's a little bit darker than the picture but it goes on pretty sheer. Definitely something you could build up the color on if you wanted too! I'm excited to try the stipple brush with this!

So that was my last order for a while. I'm still working on a project pan and really should try to stay on that. But no promises. This isn't a makeup project pan after all.

Pregnancy Update: 31 weeks, 2 days. Well after a few days of feeling REALLY bad, I'm starting to feel relatively normal again. And I'm not going to complain about normal pregnancy issues again. I'd rather have a lot of kicking than none at all. And I'd certainly prefer no more major heartburn. Hopefully I'll feel this comfortable for a while. Because I know it could be a lot worse!

If you want to see any indepth reviews or some swatch pictures, just leave me a comment!

Love, Jessica

Four Perfumes I Want To Try

I actually don't wear perfume that often. I have a few bottles that I enjoy but I just tend to wear body spray more often. It's nice to have something I can throw in my purse and refresh myself throughout the day. But I would like to get another perfume or two because I do love how the bottles look and wearing perfume always makes the day feel more special. I think I feel a little more grown up wearing perfume. I'm not going to buy any soon because I am on the no buy but here are 4 perfumes I want to buy.

1. Kate Spade Twirl

$65 for 1.7 oz Sephora



I got a sample size of this in my Birchbox and I'm in love. It's got a kind of fruity floral scent but it also has just enough musk to make it feel very grown up. And the staying power is amazing! I could still smell where I sprayed it hours later, even after I had taken a shower.

2. CLEAN Warm Cotton

$69 for 2.14 oz Sephora



I have a thing about fresh laundry. It's my all time favorite scent. If they could bottle the scent of Tide original with Bounce fresh linen, I would have my perfect scent. This got pretty close to how I would want my clean laundry perfume. It's fresh and definitely has that scent without being overpowering.

3. Bath and Body Works Sea Island Cotton

$29.50 for 2.5 oz Bath and Body Works

I've never tried the Bath and Body Works EDTs before so I don't know how great they are. But I do love the body spray of this. Again, fresh laundry scented although this one is less laundry-ish than CLEAN is. You can definitely smell more of the sea island.

4. Britney Spears Radiance

$49.50 for 1.7 oz Ulta

I'm not really a fan of a lot of celebrity fragrances. A lot of them smell cheap. Yet somehow I always end up with at least one of those little gift bottles every year at Christmas time. Baffles me. This is one I smell every time we go into a store that carries it. It's very light and feminine smelling without being cheap or teenager-ish.

So there you have it. Maybe I'll convince someone to get me a new bottle of perfume for my birthday or Christmas. Or even treat myself when I get some things off my project pan list. Speaking of which, project pan is still going strong. I'm working my way through a few things and I hope to have something more to share in about a week or so. I'm probably going to break my no buy for an ELF sale if there is one and no, I don't feel like that counts because I've been waiting for a good one for at least a month now.

Pregnancy update: I'm 30 weeks. The results of my blood test came back with good and bad news. Good: No gestational diabetes. Bad: Anemic. I had suspected I was anemic for a while now. I knew my iron was pretty low but I was having a hard time forcing myself to eat more red meat. I was getting more and more fatigued during the day and just generally felt weaker. And when they drew my blood, I bled for a lot longer than usual. I'm on the iron supplements now so hopefully this won't be a major problem.

I'd love to hear what your favorite perfumes are! Leave me a comment!

Love, Jessica

I'm a Project Pan failure

So on July 24, I officially started a project pan. I laid out all my rules about what would be included and how long the no buy would last. I was feeling pretty good. But it crashed to the ground. I ended up breaking down and buying the WnW Walking on Eggshells trio, Redken Guts, Redken Iron Silk and Redken Sheer Straight. I think I failed because I had put a lot of rules and restrictions on myself that just plain made me unhappy. And I didn't post the details of my project on here because I was afraid I would fail and I didn't want that to be public. But my stash box is very full and this needs to happen whether I want to or not.

So I'm going to start over. I'll post all the rules here and also have a page just for tracking my progress. I'll also write some reviews along the way.

So here are the rules.

• Products covered under my no buy/project pan (but not limited to): shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, body sprays, facial cleansers, shave cream.
• The no buy will end when I can no longer shop my stash for a particular item (Like when I run out of shampoo, I can buy shampoo but not anything from the other categories.)
• For an item to count, it must be all used up and thrown away without any intention of repurchasing.
• Sample/travel sizes do not count towards the total number but must be used up as well.
• I will still get Birchbox.

• Makeup is not included and will not count.

• Once I reach milestone numbers (10, 20, 30), I will be rewarding myself with something special.

I will post updates as blog posts periodically and keep the project pan page fully updated.  Look for my first review coming up sometime this week as well as my Birchbox haul.

Pregnancy Update: 29 weeks! I'm feeling a lot better and a little less crabby about this. My shower was on Saturday and I can't say it was the most fun party I've ever been to but a few people made me feel so special and that was nice. Overall, I'm having a better time with this.

Love, Jessica

Mail Haul: Birchbox and Ulta

Today both my Ulta box and my Birchbox came in the mail! I was super excited about it because I had been wanting to get a Naked palette for some time. When I went to the Ulta opening on Friday they were "all sold out". I'm very curious how you sell out before you open because I was the second person in line. But whatever, I came home and order it on their website. So there. I'm sure everyone and their mother has seen this palette and the swatches but here's a picture just in case you've been living under a rock.

It's so pretty! I can't wait to try it out! I was nervous I wouldn't know which colors to pair together but it seems pretty foolproof. They all go well together! I don't know if I'll keep the mini primer potion. I've got a big one and I've been thinking I might let my sister try the mini one.

Obviously it was packed better but I was so eager to open it up and see what was inside!

Redken Shine Flash 02

philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser

Korres Japanese Rose Showergel

Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Makeup in Light

Pur Minerals Chisel Brush

Kind Almond and Apricot Bar

After I took this pic, I ripped into that Kind bar. It was so delicious! I'd love to get some more but the website only sells them in cases and I don't know if I want that many right now. I love Redken so I'm kind of excited about the Shine Flash! Their styling products are always nice, I've never regretted buying one. The Pur Minerals brush is very small and kind of scratchy so I probably won't use it. Other than that, I'm thinking I'll put the philosophy cleanser and Korres soap in my shower and try them out but I doubt I'll buy the full sizes because they seem expensive and I already have a HG face cleanser. Oh and just in case anyone's on the fence about trying Birchbox, here's a little math for you:

I had been on the fence for a while but I'm happy to at least try everything I got in my box and it was a fun treat for how little I paid for it.

Pregnancy Update: 26 weeks, 2 days. I went to the doctors' office today and they are very impressed with how controlled my weight gain has been. I had a little extra weight prepregnancy and I actually managed to lose some first trimester. So we are in the home stretch and they don't expect me to gain more than 10 pounds in the next 14 weeks. October still feels like a lifetime away.

I'd love to hear what you got in your Birchbox if you got one this month, as well as favorite combos and looks from the Naked Palette! Leave me a comment!

Love, Jessica

Skincare Products: Current Favorites 7/18/2011

pHisoderm Cream Cleanser for Sensitive Skin

Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Resurfacing 3-Way Cleanser

Garnier Nutritioniste Moisture Rescue Lightweight UV-Lotion

Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover

Garnier Nutritioniste Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-Cream

So today I thought I'd share with you my favorite skincare products. I have super sensitive skin so these products don't get replaced with different products that often. Once I've found something that doesn't break me out, controls oil and doesn't dry me out, I'm wary to try anything new. On top of that, pregnancy skin can be sensitive as well. I also have to watch ingredients because things like salicylic acid are banned during pregnancy.

I use the cream cleanser twice daily most days. Prepregnancy, I exfoliated once a week during the winter and slowly moved to three times a week during the dog days of summer. My first trimester I exfoliated once every two weeks. Now I'm back to once a week (unless I'm sunburnt :P). As weird as this sounds, I use the gel cream moisturizer in the morning and the UV lotion as an eye cream in the morning and all over at night. The lotion is very deeply moisturizing but doesn't sink in very fast so it tends to make me look oily. I still feel like I need the extra moisture on my undereye area so I've been using that instead of springing for an expensive eye cream. The eye makeup remover is not HG for me but it gets the job done so I'll use it up before trying something new.

The pHisoderm was something I picked up on sale at Meijer more than a year ago. When I started to run out about a month ago, I went back to get more and they didn't have it. I've hunted in other stores and couldn't find it at all. So I just bought three bottles on drugstore.com. I did email the company so if you're interested in buying a pHisoderm product, they told me they're available at Rite-Aid, as well as a few places I've never heard of. This really is a HG cleanser for me. It gets my skin clean without drying it out. My skin feels smooth and soft after I use it and it helps clear up break outs. Only complaint is that the pump tends to clog up but it only cost me about $4.

I hope this isn't too long or too rambly. If you have any other questions, let me know. Share with me what your favorite products are! I like seeing what other people like to use and their routines!

Love, Jessica

Haul: Ulta Grand Opening, Bath and Body Works, MAC, Target

So I'll spare you the details of why the Ulta opening was disappointing. Instead, I'm trying to focus on the positive: I got a $10 off card. My sister got a $50 off card and was nice enough to buy me a polish. They didn't have the UD Naked Palette so I proceeded to buy a couple things at the MAC counter when we went to the mall. I also went to Target and Bath and Body Works. When I got home, I discovered shipping confirmation of my Birch Box. And tonight, my wonderful boyfriend is taking me to see Harry Potter in IMAX tonight!

So this haul is all of what I bought at Ulta, the free samples, one thing from Target, Bath and Body Works and my first ever purchase from the MAC counter.

Ulta: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon, Benefit Erase Paste in No. 1 Light, NYX Mega Shine Lip Glosses in La~ La~ and Beige, OPI Nail Polish in Shorts Story.

I've heard lots of good things about the NYX glosses so I really wanted to try them. I also wanted to try the Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencil in Milk but they didn't have any in stock.

The samples in the goodie bag: Ulta Moisturizing Body Lotion in Fresh Lilac, Exuviance Heel Repair, Kinerase Cream, Ulta Eyeshadow in Mink.

These are all the samples from the goodie bag they gave me at checkout. I've never heard of Exuviance or Kinerase so we will see. I'm also interested in seeing if the eyeshadow is good quality or not. I have such sensitive eyes that a lot of drugstore shadows make them itch and burn.

Target: Suave Dry Shampoo Spray

My sister let me try hers and I'm totally hooked. Not expensive either which is awesome!

Bath and Body Works: Mini Body Sprays in Sea Island Cotton

They were having one of those 3 for $10 sales on the mini and honestly, I didn't like the other scents. I'm obsessed with finding the perfect body spray for smelling like clean laundry. It's my all time favorite smell. So it's cool that I got three. One for my vanity, one for my purse, one for the car!

MAC: Eyeshadows in Shroom, Mulch and All That Glitters

I went with three totally different colors in mind: Vanilla, Naked Lunch and Satin Taupe. But I walked out with these. The MAC counter was pretty intimidating. They're all pretty swatched next to each other. When I left Macy's my arm was a swatchy mess but I already know what my next purchase will be!

Also, a quick pregnancy update: I'm 25 weeks, 5 days! When did that happen? Times flying by so fast and I can't even fathom October yet. I've contemplated a belly picture for you guys buuuut I'm short so being pregnant has taken over my whole body. I look like 5 times the size I was when this started. I'm starting to feel so embarrassed. I thought I would feel a lot prettier pregnant because so many people told me they do but I don't. And maternity clothes only add to the problem. Oh well, I only have 3 months left to go!

I hope to get a few more posts up soon. I haven't been keeping up with this at all like I thought I would. :P

Love, Jessica

ELF Haul

So last week ELF (eyeslipsface.com) had a little 52% off studio sale for their facebook friends! I have a whole list of ELF stuff I want but I tried to restrain myself because an Ulta is opening about 20 minutes away in just 2 weeks (which is super awesome because the nearest Ulta until now is a good hour away depending on traffic). My sister and I will be right there for the grand opening so I'll definitely have some pictures for that. But for now I've got my ELF haul and some first impressions for you.

I got the Studio HD powder, 2 Studio powder brushes, Essentials lippies in Fearless, Flirtatious, and Sociable, Studio blush in Candid Coral, Studio cream eyeshadow in Dawn, Essentials travel mirror and Essentials eyelash curler.

Studio High Definition Powder: This just wanted to photograph all dusty looking. Yeah, it definitently isn't all dusty looking on the OUTSIDE. This was a great setting powder. I felt like it just made everything look perfected and smooth. My face felt incredibly smooth and didn't look cakey. The inside of the package got DUSTY super quickly. But other than that, totally worth it!

Studio Powder Brushes: I already own one of these and love it for powder. It makes my powder look less cakey around my chin and nose than my Sigma F30 can. I heard some good things about using it for foundation and blush...yeahhhhh. I feel like I used twice the amount of product and it only looked like medium coverage. As for blush I couldn't tell you but that's the fault of the blush not the brush.

L to R: Sociable, Flirtatious, Fearless

Essentials Lippies: So I already owned one of these lippies in the color Classy and wanted to try some other colors. Pigmentation is awesome but staying power is only mediocre. Fearless is RED. I still haven't figured out how to red without looking like Bozo so I'm hoping this will be a good starting point. I wore flirtatious today and it was kind of bright but very pretty!

Studio Cream Eyeshadow in Dawn: This is a very nice pigmented cream shadow. I wore it today with UDPP and my WnW Color Icon palette and it looked very nice as a base. I'll need to wear it again to know staying power.

Studio Blush in Candid Coral: I got so many recommendations on this color and I had such high hopes. As you can see from the swatch its a super light golden color. It seems so close to my skin color that I felt like I put on a ton of it. I tried it with one of my new studio powder brushes but I switched to my Sigma F40 and still couldn't tell. It gave a kind of golden glow but not what I was hoping for. I'll try again tomorrow.

Studio Lip Lock Pencil: This is supposed to keep your lipstick in place and I have to say it did a good job! It's kind of a waxy stick and the directions say just outline your lips with it. That's what I did and my lipstick did not bleed off of my lips at all today.

Essentials Eyelash Curler: I didn't have an eyelash curler and I heard this was a good one. I wish it was a teeny bit smaller because I had a hard time getting the outer lashes.
Travel Mirror: I needed a purse mirror but I'll probably order another one because I have such a hard time doing my eyes in my vanity mirror because I have to lean over the top of the vanity to get close to the mirror.

So that's what I got. These are just first impressions but if you want a full review on anything let me know and I'll try to get you one within a week or two. If you've got some ELF recommendations or even Ulta recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

Love, Jessica

Hi!

Hello! My name is Jessica and I wanted to start a blog to share all of my beauty and non-beauty obsessions. Not a lot of my family or friends understand my addiction to nail polish and cosmetics but I've found lots of love in the online beauty community. I will also try to include some updates about my pregnancy here. I'm currently 23w4d pregnant with my very first child. I'm due October 23 and it's definitely a boy! Some other things I might babble on about are cooking and books. I'd love to get to know anyone out there that blogs and/or has similar interests to me so if you do, leave me a comment and I'd be happy to chat with you! I'm going to try to get a variety of different things up within the next week or so, so be sure to check back soon!


Love, Jessica