Thursday, April 28, 2011

I tried it ... Too Faced Lip Injection & Giveaway!

I read several blog reviews about a fabulous lip plumper by Too Faced called Lip Injection. Being I have a small upper lip, I thought I'd give this product a try ... retailing for $19, it seemed reasonable enough for a product review.



My before pic ... naked lips, nothing on them

5 minutes after application of Lip Injection ...
Holy Fire, Batman! My lips are BURNING! Red, tingling, like i just poured hot sauce on an open wound! NOT liking the pain, but powering through. I am a blogger with a review to write!

12 minutes after application ...

I can smile again because the fire ants quit biting. The outlines of my lips are a lovely hue of blood red, and while I was not actually bleeding, my lips were throbbing a bit. And they were not that noticeably plumper. With what I had just experienced, I should have had Angelina Jolie results!

So my review is not that fabulous. In fact, it is probably pretty scary to some of you. I did not like this product, nor did my lips.

However, Too Faced Lip Injection gets high marks in the beauty world and is adored by many! Wanna try it for yourself??

I snagged up an extra Lip Injection for one of my brave awesome readers to try!

Be sure you are a follower to enter ... just leave a comment here on this post as to why you wanna win! Extra entries when you share my blog link with others! Giveaway will end next week and the winner will be announced here on dot...dot...dot... on Friday, May 6th!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

What I wore ... for Easter!

First pic a little blurry, but my fabulous photographer is 7 years old!
Grey sweater ... Ross
(I tied it in the middle to prevent it from looking like a parachute over the fluffy dress)
Skinny Jeans ... Beth & Maggie (a local boutique)

Dress turned into a top (I simply folded the top part of the dress inside to shorten the length for the look) because it was way too cold to wear a dress on this day.
Where did it come from??
The TV show Gilmore Girls!!
Back in the day, I was obsessed with the beloved show and for Christmas years ago, hubby found a website that sold off wardrobe items from the studio sets that filmed Gilmore Girls! This particular dress was worn by Rory (Alexis Bledel) herself! It came complete with a certificate of authenticity and a note as to which episode she wore it in (but of course, I can't find it at the moment to share with y'all). My man rocks at giving gifts!!

Earrings ... Charlotte Russe (and clearanced for $1.99!)
Lace and tulle ... very sweet and romantic!
Gladiator sandals ... Nordstrom Rack ... by Mia

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Has it been that long?

Whoa! I have been gone for a couple weeks! In the history of my blogging hobby, I have never gone more than a few days without posting ... life has not allowed for any down time lately! The laundry has piled up (my never-ending-battle!!), the house could use a scrub-down and an organizational guru, and I would love to just stay in bed for 24 hours and get as much sleep as my body would allow. But on to bigger and better things ...
I turned 30 yesterday, peeps!!
Oh yes I did ... and I am smiling about it, too! I had a fabulous weekend celebrating with a girls day out, getting my hair done, date night with my hubby, a movie date with my boys ... I am definitely one spoiled girl! Plus, it was Easter weekend!! Can y'all see why I have had zero time to catch up??

Birthday lunch with the girls at The Cheesecake Factory ... yum!! My sis-in-law surprised me by inviting 2 of my fave girlfriends to come along ... those sneaky girls are good at keeping secrets! The day before our girls day out, I got my hair done - I finally put in the purple extensions I had been wanting for years! I also cut 4 inches off, layered and thinned it out a bit, too. I will post some other pics soon of more details, and show you all the 2 feathers I also got ... you can kinda see them in the pic below (one is teal and one is white). Representing with the Oregon Duck!! He was chillin' at the mall we were shopping at, so we had to get a pic with him. The pedicure I got before lunch with the girls ... love the spring-y colored green! And I was so happy to be wearing sandals! We had a gorgeous day on Saturday before the rain came back. Me yesterday morning rockin' my new American Eagle sweater. It was just an ordinary Monday, except that my cell phone was blowing up all day!! All the birthday shout-outs on Facebook and by text were so awesome and drained my phone's battery! I definitely felt the love!


Homemade strawberry shortcake cupcakes made by my co-worker. She is uh.maze.ing and has mad baking skills!!
This next weekend, we will be partying with friends to celebrate my big 3-0!! I have the cutest outfit to show you all! Tomorrow I will show you what I wore for Easter ... Gilmore Girls fans will be a tad jealous!
Happy Tuesday - it feels good to be back!!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Blog Break ...

Hey Peeps! I am so very sorry for the lack of posts this week ... I picked up some extra hours at work this week for co-workers who needed time off. Needless to say, I am one exhausted chica being a mommy by day, and working 40 hours by night this week. My brain isn't quite functioning the way it should be, so I thought I'd spare y'all my ramblings. Hang in there ... I will be back on Monday!! Hope everyone is having a great week ... and hello to my new followers!! I am so happy to have you all here!!


Muah!! xoxo

Friday, April 8, 2011

Fashion Friday

Shirt Dress ... Old Navy
Long Sleeve Tee ... Target Cable Knit Leggings ... Target
Necklace ... American Eagle

(although, it was attached to another chain for a layered look, but I didn't like it, so I cut them apart, saving my favorite piece.) Boots ... Nordstrom Rack

(and a killer deal with my Groupon certificate!)

Happy Friday!!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Banana-rama

Bananas ... one of my favorite fruits and scents! Apparently, these little yellow cuties are packed with a moisturizing amino acid called tryptophan and combined with potassium (a powerful softening agent), they are perfect for nourishing winter-ravaged skin, hair and lips! Burt's Bees makes a beeswax and banana hand cream that I love to use on my feet, Ulta has a Banana Bliss Shower Smoothie, LUSH makes a banana body cream, and The Body Shop sells banana shampoo and conditioner. All of those sound so yummy and I can't wait to try them! I found a recipe for a DIY Moisturizing Banana Hair Mask ... it claims to repair dry or damaged locks! I am going to give it a try and I will let y'all know if it works ... feel free to try it yourself at home and let me know what you think!
In a bowl, mash 1 ripe banana.

Add 1 tbsp. honey and 1tbsp. olive oil; whip until smooth.

Massage into damp hair.

Cover hair in plastic wrap and leave-in for 30 to 60 minutes.

Rinse well.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Love Potion

I love the sun. I love to be tan. I do not love the possible chance of getting skin cancer. I was absolutely thrilled to have found this SPF 15 sunscreen that actually allows tanning while protecting me from harmful rays! I was on vacation in Palm Desert, California a couple years ago and was burning more than I was tanning in the hot desert sun. I popped into the convenience store located outside of the resort's pool to grab a lotion that had the lowest SPF. Ocean Potion was the most appealing bottle they had, so I bought it and headed back out to the pool. The smell was actually quite pleasant ... very light and clean. It absorbed nicely and wasn't greasy. So far, so good! I laid out for a few hours, jumping in and out of the pool, and soaking up the heat. At the end of the day, I had an amazing TAN!! Paraben free, Vitamin D fortified, and for all skin types. Another fall-in-love bonus is that the formula is enriched with Seaplant Extracts, and antioxident-rich Vitamins A, C and E ... all anti-aging agents! Woot! This lotion also does great in the tanning beds. Ain't no shame - here in the rainy, dark and grey Pacific Northwest, a girl who needs the sun has to get some rays in somehow! I actually have to order this lotion online because I can't seem to find it here in Oregon (go figure - see above description of where I live), and drugstore.com has some great prices, especially when you go through ebates!

Monday, April 4, 2011

I tried it ... L'Oreal Paris Review

I am a BzzAgent, which means I take surveys, give my opinions, and get to participate in product reviews for some fabulous companies. I was selected to participate in a campaign for L'Oreal Paris. I was sent two of their newest products for review, the One Sweep Eye Shadow and Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara, both formulated for brown eyes.
To be honest, I was pretty skeptical of the One Sweep Eyeshadow. Three layers of color that go on all at once and look fabulous in one quick step. Hmm ... really? Let's try it out. First of all, I thought the applicator sponge was going to be too big for my eye area. I held it up to my eye without any shadow on it to see what the coverage area was going to be. It looked alright, so I pressed the applicator firmly onto the 3 layers of shadow (which are really pretty tones of purple and pink), then lined it up on top of my eye lid and pressed firmly again. Being the applicator was bigger, it didn't leave any room for 'sweeping', so I kinda stamped on the shadow. I repeated the same process with my other eye.To my surprise, it actually worked!! Three layers of color, applied evenly, and looking like I spent more that the 30 seconds I did to apply it! Sweet!! And another bonus ... the color lasted all day! Not too shabby!!Next up, I used the Double Extend Mascara ... there are two ends to this tube. One end is the mascara (black, in my case) and the other end is the illuminating top coat which, for brown eyes, is a copper-bronze color. I already am a fan of L'Oreal's mascara formulas - they are rich and can be layered. This one is no different and went on great for a first application. I always prefer mascara after a few weeks of opening it ... it tends to get a little thicker the more you use it. After applying the mascara, the directions said to immediately apply the illuminator without dry time between the two. So I did. And didn't notice anything right away. Throughout the day though, I would see little glimmers if the light hit my eyes right. Sometimes that was annoying ... almost like seeing little tracers out of the corner of your eye, and it wasn't very noticeable in my opinion. Maybe I needed to add a little more, but I like my lashes to look rich and dark and full. Adding a lighter color on top of them made me shy away a bit. Overall, I loved the shadow ... the application was quick and easy, with very little touch up needed. The pigments were pretty and it lasted all day. The illuminating mascara concept is not my favorite, but again, I love the general formula of L'Oreal's mascaras. So, while I wouldn't recommend this particular mascara based on my own personal desired look, it is still a great quality brand. The shadows retail for around $9.95 each and come in a few other palettes. The mascara retails for around $10.95.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Fashion Friday

(Notice the hole in my jeans? I talked about it here.) Striped Top ... Wet Seal
Long Sleeve Tee ... Nordstrom B.P.
Necklace ... Forever 21
Bracelet ... Sublime (a local boutique)
Ring ... Nelle & Lizzy
Nail Polish ... Sinful Colors in Tokyo Pearl My fave AG jeans.

Hoop earrings ... Forever 21

Learn how to achieve this hairstyle with my vlog!
Happy Friday!!

A Fond Farewell ...

Wow! Is December already upon us? Good golly this year has flown right by! I have been a busy girl lately, hence the blog break. Unfortu...