Hautelook: Urban Decay

Hautelook is having another good sale. I've gotten things from them before for great deals. This time it's Urban Decay.  It starts at 5am PST tomorrow (12/6/11) and the best deals sell out fast, so don't miss it! I plan on checking it out for sure. 

You can't tell what they're going to have until the deal starts, but I recommend their shadows, lippies, and liners. Their tinted moisturizer is just okay. Let me know what you love from them, or if you get anything from this sale. 

Here is the link again

Birchbox November 2011

Yea yea I'm a little late on this month's BB post lol. Here is the insert with what I got and the information about each item:

Not too shabby!


The bracelet is really cute, the Zoya is of course a win (even though I traded my Noel for Izzy since I'm not a super blue fan), the chocolate was super interesting and has pop rocks in it, and the makeup remover is so much better than what I have. The face scrub looks superb, since I like one that actually feels like it's working, but I haven't tried it yet. The hair spray is a nice detangler like it says, but it made my hair greasier than normal.

What did you ladies get in yours? Feel free to link!

Zoya Cassi

My sister is the lovely hand model for today :P. I painted her nails when I visited for Thanksgiving. 

This is two coats of Zoya Cassi. She's a lovely pink/orange coral with silver microglitter. 

I was showing my sister how to pose. How cute!

I bought Cassi because I thought she'd be the coral I'm looking for for my wedding colors. I was SO worried when I got the bottle and she looked like a soft baby pink. When you put her on the nails though, the orange really shows up in that pink. She put her fingernails next to my polish togo bag so you can see how nicely it matches with the pink and orange on it. 

Here is a bottle pic. Cassi went hiking in the jungle lol. It's my mum's house plant haha!!

I love her just as much as I thought. The bottle color really worried me, but she turned out perfect. She really does have plenty of orange in there to make her coral. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving ladies! Hope you're spending time with your families and eating lots of awesomeness. My favorite is the stuffing :). I wanted to do something simple and festive since I did this at like midnight before we left the next morning at 4am.

It's like autumn on my nails :D.


Two coats Zoya Reva with 1 coat Nubar 2010
Thanks Amber from Rainbows and Sparkles :D. 

Here's more flaky goodness. It's actually much more prominent in person, especially in lower light. 

Superflakyawesomesauce and this one is a little more color accurate with Reva's redness.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for: Being with both of our families, the way different families do Thanksgiving and what they cook, board games with my family, warm wassel, talking about Christmas, baking yummy things like sweet potato casserole, sleeping in my childhood bedroom at my mum's house, talking about wedding stuff with my family in person, actually looking for wedding decor with family for the first time, cherishing every minute with my loved ones, good conversations around the dinner table, painting nails with family, my fabulous readers, and my lovely fiance. I could go on, couldn't we all? 

What are you thankful for? :)

Polish on the Go

So I'm visiting family this week for Thanksgiving. Is your stash so big that you can't possibly port it around to family? Do you have a smaller container that you take with you? My family loves it when I do their nails so I use this cute zippy pouch my mum gave me and bring what I think they'd like best.

Here are the polishes I chose this time: Orly Fowl Play, Essie In Stitches, Unnamed shimmery brown, Catrice Sold Out Forever, Zoya Tiffany, Zoya Cassi, Color Club Vitabase, OPI Nail Envy, Orly SecNDry, OPI topcoat, Zoya Reva, Nubar 2010

And on either side are my tools, files, brushes, cotton pads, etc. Don't peek at my nails that's for later lol. Feel free to admire the ring. 

This is what it looks like on the outside, the front and the back. So cute!

Does your family like it when you do their nails? Do you have a polish to-go kit?

She Had a Cocktail in Hand and Confetti in her Hair

I got my first ever  full size bottle of perfume today! I loved the Kate Spade perfume sample I got in Birchbox so much I finally got myself the real deal.     

This is Twirl by Kate Spade. It has a fruity floral scent with "notes of mandarin, bergamot, baies rose, pink watermelon, white peach, red currant, blackberry, star jasmine, magnolia, orange blossom, tiare flower, sun-kissed skin accord, french macaron, luminous musk, and amber." It's the first perfume that even my man likes! That means it's a winner. 

When I opened the box, this message was inside.

You could tell this inspired her bottle design. How pretty!

This is what the box looks like in case you want to peruse stores for it :).

The cheapest place I found the large bottle was the NEX for $64. Sephora was $80 I believe, so big difference. They also sell it at department stores. You could always use Birchbox points on it or try to use a Sephora coupon code. Christmas is coming, so put it on your list!

Nail Envy - Progress and Review

A couple months ago I was trying to keep nice nails and they just kept breaking and peeling. They were really short too! I swear I'd have three breaks a week. They couldn't take any pressure at all. I really wanted nice thick nails so they would all be even and I wouldn't have to worry about breaking them so much. All my friends suggested OPI Nail Envy Original.

This is on the insert, about Nail Envy. 

Here are the ingredients. Yes is has formaldehyde resin, but that may or may not be bad. I have read that the resin doesn't have any formaldehyde in it anymore, or that it's only bad if you inhale it (and it doesn't smell when I put it on), and that if it's allowed to be used in the health regulated beauty industry it must not be too bad. I decided if it worked I didn't care lol. 

Here are pictures of my nails while using Nail Envy. Keep in mind this isn't all about length, because I filed them plenty. It's more about getting them to a nice length, preventing breaks, being able to shape them all the same, being strong and healthy, etc.

Day 1, they don't look awful but they broke constantly:

Day 16, already thicker:

Day 25, oops naked lol:

Day 38:

Day 58:

The pictures aren't the most spectacular part. You can see in the pics though, they got longer, thicker, and I was able to shape them all better. The best part was that in these two months I've only had two or three breaks vs. three breaks a week. Only one of those breaks was serious, but that was a thumb nail and I have never been able to grow them ever. At least I had nice thumb nails for two months lol. 

• Pros: 
• Strengthens
• Dries quickly
• Prevents breaking
• Looks nice alone
• Can put over polish and it still works
• Can use as base coat
• Makes my nails feel almost as hard as acrylics
• Cons: 
• Expensive (I think $8 at CosmoProf, $11 at NEX, and $16 at Ulta)
• Formaldehyde might be bad
• If you keep manis on for more than a couple days like I do, and forget to top with NE, your nails will weaken a little but still not even close to where they were. 

Used it? Liked it? What's your favorite nail strengthener?