China Glaze Haunting: Nail Polish Swatches & Review

This my first of many nail polish swatches and reviews. If you haven't seen my nail polish collection blog post, please go take a look at it. I've taken pictures of all of my nail polishes and I will be posting individual blog posts about each nail polish as I wear it.

The first nail polish is China Glaze's Haunting from the Halloween 2011 collection. I bought this nail polish at Ulta. The collection is named the same as the nail polish - Haunting!

Haunting is a gorgeous black packed with silver glitter. This polish reminds me of the night sky. The formula was great, thick but very easy to work with. I used 2 coats for the photos below.

The pictures shown are after a week of wearing the polish. I hadn't planned on making this blog series or else I would have taken a picture of it when it was fresh and free of chips.

This polish was a little difficult to remove, however that was expected since it contains glitters.

Personally I really like this shade and if you can get your hands on it, I would recommend you picking up a bottle.

FYI: the chip on my index finger happened because the polish wasn't completely dry when I did my hair for the night. That was caused by a bobbi pin, not the polish chipping! So please disregard that in terms of the polish wear time.

XOXO

Nail Polish Collection & Upcoming Reviews

I've decided that I have way too many nail polishes. Most of the bottles have been ignored & I thought if I blogged about them, I would use them more. Here are all of the nail polishes that my mom and I have collected over the years.

China Glaze:

Left to right: CG in the City, Haunting, Ruby Pumps, Awakening, Chiaroscuro

Essie:

Left to right: Lady Like, A-list, Tart Deco, Lapis Of Luxury, Barefoot in Blue


Sally Hansen:

 Left to right: Cocktail Party, Pardon my French, Stormy Blue, Shrimply Divine

Left to right: Sacred Scarlet, Sparkling Champagne, Amazing Amethyst




OPI:

Left to right: Russian Navy, Bogota Blackberry, Lincoln Park After Dark




Nicole by OPI:

Left to right: Sheer Fun, Have a Heart, Play Fair




Wet n Wild:

Left to right: Hannah Pinktana, Clear Coat, The Wonder Yellows, Teal or No Teal

Left to right: Kaleidoscope, Base Coat




N.Y.C:

Left to right: Pink Promenade Creme, Long Wearing Clear, Venomous




Revlon:

Left to right: Pretty in Papaya, Raspberry Rapture




Pure Ice:

Left to right: Risk Taker, Feeling Hot




Orly:

Left to right: Top 2 Bottom, Buried Treasure, No Bite




Essence:

Left to right: Just in Case, Plum Perfect, Walk of Fame




Q Collection:

Left to Right: Silver Glitter, Rossette




ULTA:

Smoke Screen




L'oreal:

I Pink I'm in Love




Wild and Crazy:

Jealousy




Finger Paints:

Artist's Inspiration




Jesse's Girl:

North Star




Confetti:

Dance Party Pink




L.A. Colors:

Energy Source




L.A. Colors Art Deco:

Left to right: White, Black




Bon Bons:

Glittery Burgundy




So in addition to these pictures, I will be taking pictures of the polishes on my nails. I will be reviewing them and letting you know what I think of each shade. Let me know if there is one in particular that you'd like me to wear and review. I plan to get to all of these at some point!

Is there any nail polishes that I should buy? Maybe after I've went through some of these!

XOXO

June 2012 Shopping the Stash & Shopping List

Hey everyone!

In addition to my monthly favorites & etc (see my other blog post), I will also be doing a post about the items that I want to buy and use up in my collection for the coming month. This new idea is from another blogger that I follow, The Sunday Girl, called shopping the stash. She does hers every Sunday, however for now I am going to do it every month.

June Shopping the Stash:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (in my project pan)

Max Factor lip gloss in first kiss (part of my gloss out 2012)

Rimmel lasting finish lipstick in airy fairy (in my project pan)

Burt's Bees beeswax lip balm (in my project pan)

N.Y.C. smooth skin bronzing face powder in sunny (in my project pan)

Wet N Wild mega protein mascara in black

Prestige eyeliner in black




This tube of Too Faced Shadow Insurance has been in my collection for around 2 years now. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture (you should be able to zoom in), but it's getting pretty flat! I like it but I want to use it up so that I can try other similar products. Let me know what eyeshadow primers you love.

Max Factor lip gloss in first kiss is a product that I've had since high school (5+ years). I don't think this product is available anymore. It's a pretty pink color, although it's on the sheer side. This is a product in my project gloss out. If you've seen my blog post about gloss out 2012, I consider my lipgloss collection pretty big. Maybe not as big as some peoples, but there are plenty of products that I have been neglecting over the years.



Rimmel lasting finish lipstick in airy fairy is a product that I was originally introduced to by Anna Saccone or The Style Diet on YouTube. I like this shade, however sometimes it's a little to frosty for me. I've used quite a bit of it in the year or two that I've had it. This is a product that I've included in my project pan since it's not my favorite lipstick.


Burt's Bees beeswax lip balm was a product that I bought at my school bookstore after losing my only chapstick. This is a product that I'm surprised so many people like. I don't think this helps with my chapped lips at all. It actually makes them more chapped than before I put it on. I do enjoy the smell though. I wish this performed as my all time favorite chapstick - Blistexs.

N.Y.C. smooth skin bronzing face powder in sunny is another product that I don't like as much as everyone else does. This is just an ok bronzer. Maybe it's because I've never found the right technique for putting on bronzer without looking unnatural. I've had this for about a year, however it doesn't look like it! Don't drop this product - my lid broke off the first time I dropped it. I still use it though. This is a product that I've placed in my project pan. What's your favorite bronzer that you'd recommend me trying after I've finished this one?

Wet N Wild mega protein mascara in black is not my favorite mascara. I would not recommend this even though it is super cheap. This doesn't apply as black and smoothly as I would like. It also smears and wears off throughout the day. Save your money for something else.

Prestige eyeliner in black is a nice eyeliner in my opinion. The reason I want to use it up though is because I have a brand new black eyeliner that I've never opened and my Urban Decay duo from the Naked palette. I find that this eyeliner goes on smoothly and doesn't irritate my eye. It even goes on the upper lash line which has been rare in my experience with pencil eyeliner.

June Shopping List:

MAC Powder Blush in Peony Petal ($20.00) - MAC describes this as a bright blue pink and is classified as a satin. This blush came out in the beginning of April in the Tres Cheek collection. At the time, I wanted this blush in addition to the other two blushes I bought - lovecloud and full of joy. I didn't buy it because I couldn't afford the $60 price tag at the time. I'm glad it's still avaiable online because it's beautiful. I actually ordered this last night (June 1). Did you buy this when it originally came out?

Sephora Collection Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover ($9.50) - I want to try this out when my current eye makeup remover runs out (Olay). This has a lot of good reviews on Sephora's website. Also, if you are a fan of the Vampire Diaries, I recently found a picture of Elena's bathroom and this was on her counter. So if you want to use the same eye makeup remover as Elena Gilbert, you can buy this. :) Have you ever used this before? I've only recently got into eye makeup removers. I used to use cold cream. How do you remover your eye makeup?

Dillard's Tailored Goldtone Chain Necklace ($28.00) - I've wanted a necklace like this ever since I started watching deanne5253 on YouTube. I've also seen this type of necklace on pinksofoxy on YouTube. I like that this can be worn long or layered since it's 65 inches long. This necklace comes in goldtone, silvertone, rose goldtone, and hamatite-tone. I'm leaning toward the goldtone, however I would have to see them in person to compare them. This is the cheapest version I've found of this necklace. It looks like such a nice necklace for everyday and for when you're dressing up a little bit.

Blue Sky Weekly/Monthly Planner ($16.99-$18.99) - I have been using these planners for the past two years. This planner has tabbed weekly and monthly calendar views. I usually buy these from Office Max. I like the larger versions (8.5x11). On their website, I'm liking the circa, mulberry clear (shown), fiona clear, linnea, and victoria patterns. Some of these planners run from January - December while others are July - June so be careful which one you buy. There are some January - December patterns that I like however I need the July - June planners.

XOXO

May 2012 Favorites, Haul, & Empties

Hi everyone!

I've decided that in addition to my monthly favorites, I will be including any collective purchases I've made this past month, and the products that I've used up this month (or empties). I originally saw this idea on Gaby's Beauty Blog, however The Sunday Girl also does this every month. I may not have an empty product every month.

May Favorites:

MAC blush in lovecloud (from the tres cheek collection)
MAC blush in full of joy (from the tres cheek collection)
Benefit creaseless cream shadow in bunny hop (discontinued)
Urban Decay single eyeshadow in sell out
NYX single eyeshadow in taupe
Revlon single eyeshadow in pure pearl
Covergirl eyeshadow trio in cafe au lait





MAC blush in lovecloud & full of joy - I bought these from the tres cheek collection that came out in April. I absolutely love these colors. Lovecloud is described as a bright mid-tone pink and full of joy is described as a lavender. If they are still available near you or online, I highly recommend them. They are perfect colors for spring and summer.


Top picture (left to right): lovecloud and full of joy.



Bottom picture (top to bottom): full of joy and lovecloud.

Benefit creaseless cream shadow in bunny hop is my first and only benefit product. I'm not sure if I would purchase another shade, only because I want to try out similar products such as MAC paint pots. The color is very natural and creamy. I haven't experienced any creasing while using under eyeshadow or alone. I think cream shadow is useful as a base or as a wash of color on a lazy day.

Urban Decay single eyeshadow in sell out is a universal shade. I use this as a highlight under my brows and in the inner corners & all over the lid for a 'wide awake' look.




NYX single eyeshadow in taupe is a "best friend" color as dubbed by Allison or Amarixe on YouTube & another blogger. I love using this shade to blend out any other colors that I'm wearing. Sometimes I'll wear this all over the lid for a natural looking eye.


Revlon single eyeshadow in pure pearl is something that I have owned since high school (5+ years ago). Obviously I haven't used it in awhile and not often since there isn't a single piece of pan showing! I originally bought this WHITE shadow since it was something similar to what a friend bought. I have since moved on from white eyeshadow across the lids. Thank god I didn't follow that trend for long!! Now I use this as a highlight shade to help when I look tired.


Covergirl eyeshadow trio in cafe au lait is one of my project pan items. I've had this eyeshadow palette since high school as well, however you can clearly tell how much I've used it since then! These are nice shades for a natural everyday look, however the pigmentation can be lacking sometimes. The eyeshadows will fade throughout the day no matter what brush I use to apply it or what primer I place underneath it. I want to try shimmering sands after I finish with this palette.


Top picture (left to right): double espresso, mocha latte, and sugar rush

Bottom picture (top to bottom): sugar rush, mocha latte, and double espresso

May Collective Haul:

My new purse is from goodwill (brand is relic). This is a perfect bag for summer with the bright colors. It also helps that it was under $5.00!

The sunglasses are from Charming Charlies. They are brown with diamond accents around the sides of the glasses. These were around $12.00, however one of the diamonds fell out already! I still like them and I'll still wear them since it's not very noticeable. I like these better than the huge white pair I was wearing to replace my other favorite brown pair.

The watch is the brand studio from Kohl's. I still want a Michael Kors watch, however I'm going to wait until I graduate to buy one. This one will get me through nursing school.

The wallet is from the Coach outlet. It was on sale for $50. I use it for my cards and I absolutely love it! If you zoom in on the picture, you can see the zipper wrist wrap (whatever its called!) has a bow on it. Too cute.

This was the watch I originally bought for nursing school, however it's a little busy. I usually don't like all the bling but this watch is very pretty. I purchased this at Charming Charlies for $20.00. I love the crystals inside the watch.

Another nursing school purchase - an owl stethoscope ID tag. I bought this at Affordable Uniform for $5.00. I have been obsessed with owls for about 4 years now when I joined my sorority. If you weren't aware, I am a proud alumna member of Chi Omega!!

May Empties:

Bare Minerals mineral veil is the first and only bare minerals product that I have ever tried. I thought that this was a good finishing powder to wear over your foundation. I wear mineral foundation (non bare minerals), so I don't know how this would look over liquid foundation. I won't repurchase this (at least not right away), because I want to try other similar products.

WOW. I think this is the longest blog I have ever written. It took awhile but it was fun sharing all of this with everyone. Let me know what your May favorites and empties were! Or what you bought this month. Look out for a new blog post idea coming up within the next couple days.

XOXO

How to Succeed in School

As a college student, I have picked up a few tips and tricks on how to succeed in school. I decided to take a break from studying and let you all know some of my secrets (and not-so-secret things).



1. Get a planner. I prefer planners with a montly overview and a section for each day of the week. For the past few years, I've purchased mine from Office Max for under $20. In the month section, write down any important dates that you don't want to forget -- like, exam dates, due dates for projects and assignments, office hours, open labs, and of course days you have off! If you have a job, I recommend putting in the times and days you work as well. In the day of the week section, I recommend making to do lists. I've done them various ways, such as dividing everything into classes or times of the day, and check the box when your done!

2. Get a class binder. I prefer binders over notebooks and folders. You can choose which ever class organization tool you like. I like to have individual class binders so that it doesn't get too full or disorganized. If I have a lab class and a lecture class, I'll put them both in one binder. Dividers and tabs help in organization! I keep my class notes, syllabus, tracking calendars, review sheets, assignments, etc in my binders. I would recommend you keep your binders throughout your school years, especially college! Just recently I wish I had kept my Anatomy and Microbiology binders from previous semesters for references in my current classes.

3. Get highlighters and fun pens. Taking notes is key. If you don't like taking notes and studying (which most people don't), fun colored highlighters and pens make it easier and more creative.

4. Study 2 hours per class hour. Very few people enjoy studying, but its a must in school! Many of your instructors/teachers/professors will tell you that in order to get an A in the class, you must study 2 hours per class hour. Do it!!! However, make sure to take breaks every few hours so that your brain can process as much knowledge as possible. I recommend you go over your class notes after class or after school of the day you learned the topic.

5. Read the textbooks. I've heard that many people did not open a book for a class. However, many times your instructors/teachers/professors will take exam questions from the textbook that weren't mentioned in the notes! Make sure to read any summaries and end of chapter questions too. Some test questions may be taken from those as well. I usually will read the textbook the same day that we went over the topic in class. You could also read the textbook chapter the day before so you are prepared for class.

6. Go to class. This seems so simple, however your instructors/teachers/professors may give extra credit if many people don't show up. They give hints to exam questions and also review sessions! Some may also boost your grade at the end of the semester if you are borderline (close to an A, B, C, etc) if you attend 95% of their classes.

7. Don't procrastinate and don't cram. Many many many people do this in school. But please don't! Work on assignments as soon as you can. Finish projects weeks before they are due. Don't wait until the right before it's due when your stressed and busy. And never cram the night before an exam. Your brain will not process the information and you may fall asleep during your exam. Get a good night sleep before your exam and study ahead of time!!


That's all that I can think of at the moment. If you are in high school (or middle school), end the semester off strong! If you are in college, enjoy your summer vacation or good luck on your summer classes!

XOXO