Valentine's Day Mani

Just a little mani idea for you. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo

26th Birthday Haul!

I had an amazing birthday this year, in spite of my injured feet. 

I decided to share a few of the treats I received from loved ones. 

Reviews will come as I use them, of course.

OPI Nail Lacquer
Stay the Night {Liquid Sand} | Oy-Another Polish Joke! | My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours

(I have already dipped into Stay the Night & My Paprika)

Benefit "They're Real" Mascara | Cover FX Cream Concealer

Yes, I still swear by this mascara. I shall do a post on my application method. A friend taught me when we were going out in Miami last year — she changed my life!

I have been looking for a "grown up" concealer. By that I mean, chosen and tested with a professional present as opposed to scratching my head in the drugstore for an hour before saying "Aw eff it!" and snatching one off the shelf. This one is pretty impressive!

Sephora Collection Color Lip Last

No. 7 Natural Pink | No. 23 Elegant in Brown

Lipstick is my absolute favorite thing to buy. At $12/each, these may be my new obsession if they can stay on my lips all day. We shall see...

Sephora Beauty Insider Benefit Gift Set

Soft Focus Highlighter | Mini "They're Real" Mascara

I love a highlighter — who doesn't want to glow? I'm really excited to try this out. And a mini mascara for my clutch...yesssss!

Remington T Studio Hair Dryer

So, something tragic happened with my old hair dryer...the power button popped off, so now it's stuck in the "on" position. A bit of an electrical hazard. I added a new one to my wishlist; my only requirements were multiple power and heat settings.

 

Vintage Houndstooth Blazer

My loving roomie, Jess Jess found me this houndstooth blazer in a thrift store in Maryland.

Yes, I squealed.
Yes, I put it on and wore it for the rest of the night...in the house.

Emily

 

Monday Night Mani

 My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours! | Stay the Night

I just discovered OPI Liquid Sand and thought it seemed like a great idea...

I LOVE IT!

It dries as a textured matte. Feels like sand, but not in a gross way.

It also dries pretty quick — much quicker than the regular nail lacquer — which will come in handy when I'm rushing to get ready for a night out.

What do you guys think?

Paris!

Most of you know I went to Paris earlier this month with my family. I wanted to share a few photos from the trip with you guys. I'm not the type to randomly scroll through old photos, so this time I decided to record a bunch of stuff so I could put a video together to watch when I want to reminisce. I'm no iMovie expert, so don't expect anything fancy! :)

I had an amazing time, and I'm truly thankful to my parents for feeling like it was absolutely necessary to send me on this trip. This also wouldn't have happened if my genius of a baby sister wouldn't have been accepted as a genetics intern in a lab in Paris this summer. She's awesome.

The video is at the end. It was on facebook for all of 10 minutes before it was removed because

of the song. 

Oops :-/ Maybe I'll change it. Probably not.

xoxo

emily

P.S. - Of course, I went shopping. Stay tuned for the haul post ;)

Notre Dame

Musee du Louvre

(check out the fancy toilet paper they sell in the bathroom, hehe)

Eiffel Tower | Arc de Triomphe | Sacre Coeur

Graffiti

The Love Lock Bridge | Cruise Tour on the Seine | Macarons | Going out

Why Matte?

Oh...hello there. Thought I was gone forever, eh? Nope! I'm back with another post. People were actually asking me what happened with the whole blog thing. I felt like a slacker for blogging and not working on my own portfolio, so I had to get that done. Back to the fun!

This is about the wonders of matte lipstick. If you are new to lipstick, never worn it, or wear it all the time but haven't tried the matte look, let me tell you something. Meh, I'll show you.

 

I wore my new RiRi Woo to dinner with a friend this evening. I was home sick all day, wanted to feel pretty. Any who, the difference between the two photos above - the left was taken before, the right was taken after I stuff my face with an obscene amount of cheesy, beef brisket nachos.

Yup, I'm a fatty. I love food. All of it. Cooking it. Smelling it. Eating it. Rubbing my face in it. 

O_O

Matte lipstick does not budge! Any color you love, find it in a matte as well. I've got a matte alternative for every lip color mood I'm in so no one knows I just shoved my face into a bacon cheeseburger. It happens often...

Quick Natural Look (I Promise!)

Please excuse my absence...I lost my iPhone and with it my will to live. But I'm back now!
So let us proceed.

I will never understand how people do "natural" make-up looks with primer, concealer, foundation, powder, eye shadow, liners, blush, bronzer, lip color, lip gloss, eye lashes. 

Seriously? Stop it.

Here is a BASIC face of the day for when you wake up and say "you know what face? I'm going to let your natural radiance lead today" or "oh sh*t...is it 7:40??" The latter is more like my morning...

Here's what I'm working with:

Flawless Concealer in Toast | Black Opal

Dream Finish Beauty Balm | Maybelline New York

Cinnamon Blush | NYX

Lustre Finish Lipstick in Touch | MAC

I started with the concealer just a bit under my eyes. I was up working pretty late last night so they were looking (and still look) pretty rough this morning. I skipped the minor blemishes around my face...I just don't care today. I applied the BB cream all over with my finger tips. It rubs in like moisturizer and doesn't make a mess at all. I blushed my cheeks, colored my lips and that was it! Took 3 minutes. I would have been on time to work, but I got stuck in the car listening to Elle Varner.

Weekend Mani: Lucky Lucky Lavendar

I decided to go with a purple in honor of the Ravens playing today. I'm really a Redskins girl, but being from Maryland I feel obligated to go for the Maryland team. 

Go Ravens!

Lucky Lucky Lavendar | OPI

This time I took Pabvon's advice (see her comment on my last weekend mani) and did the following:

Base coat

Dry

Color

Wait about 10 minutes

Color again

Let it dry for an hour

Top Coat

In a few days I'll freshen up the top coat and hopefully this manicure will last all week!