Manicure Monday: Budget Dupe For Chanel's Fall 2013 Nail Polish Look

Hello Lovelies!

Here is a look at my budget version of the two new Chanel Nail Polishes. I am using Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in Sequin Scandal.

Personally I believe this shade is mixture of the two green based polishes. The Chanel polish in Mysterious is a dark cream that doesn't have the shine and the other polish Alchimie is much lighter but has the shine. So my look is more of a combo of what the two may look like if mixed!

Enjoy!!

-A

Manicure Monday - updated Nails! Vintage Red & Black

Hello Lovelies!!

Here is a look at my vintage nails, I did them on Monday 07.16.13, but I just now got around to posting pics.

It's a modern take on vintage nails. 

I used Revlon Red, with a matte black (from my previous look last week) with Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure on top. It gave the nails a very unique fiery copper glaze that looks amazing in sunlight!! 

I tried to capture it indoors but the photos doesn't do it any justice!!

Enjoy!! 

-A 

Photos:

 

Vintage Blog --> 1920s look of the day!

Over on my vintage blog I have posted my take on the 1920s smokey "flapper" look.

Check it out ➡⬇

http://avintagedollinthedesert.blogspot.com/2013/07/vintage-1920s-look-of-day.html?m=1

Enjoy!

-A

Manicure Monday: Matte & Textured

Here is a look at my nails for this week! 

I used orly matte black (vinyl), Nicole by OPI Gumdrops in I Lilac (textured), Nicole by OPI clear coat, China Glaze in Something Sweet (baby Pink) & Sinful Colors in White. 

See Photos:

Enjoy!

-A

Summer 2013 Update! What I have been doing!!!!

Hello lovelies,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to blogging regularly! Summer has been so busy so far! Here are some updates via my Instagram photo collage ;-)

Enjoy and happy summer!!

-A

Above photo June 30

Summer sunset look from last week.

My first Fourth of July Nails (I have since updated them a bit..I will post a pic along with my Fourth of July pics/outfit post)

My first stab at the claws! It was a gold and orange look that went with my MAC Neon orange Lipstick (see below photo)

 See above for info ;-)

One of my birthday presents and summer safari look, inspired by my favorite TOWIE doll, Ms Lucy Mecklenburg'a Marbella blue outfit  ;-) below is a close up photo of my look:

Manicure Monday: Tangerine Gumdrops

Hello Lovelies!

As requested on twitter... (Follow me over here <-----)

Here is a look at the polish I purchased Sunday!

Enjoy!

-A

Sephora & Rite Aid Haul

Hello Lovelies,

Today I wanted to share with you my Sephora and Rite Aid Haul from earlier today. 
First up from Sephora:
Fresh's Sugar Kisses Lip Duo
YSL Golden Gloss in #30 
NARS Creamy Concealer in Honey
Caudalie Premier Cru -- The Eye Cream Mini Size


Now for Rite Aid:
Revlon Photo Ready Eyeshadow Compact in #501 - Metropolitan
L'Oreal Visible Lift Repair Anti-Aging Foundation in #133 Natural Beige
Julie G Cosmetics -- Textured Polish ( from the Gumdrops Collection) in Tangerine Dream


Below are the shots of the haul:

Above Photos  the Nail polish first with flash and then without flash 

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Below: Is the comparison between the L'Oreal Foundation I just bought along with my MAC & MUEF foundations.

ABOVE PHOTO IS WITH FLASH
Left to right: MAC Matchmaster in 3.0, L'Oreal Visible Lift and Repair Foundation in Natural Beige,  L'Oreal True Match Lumi in N5, MUFE in 160 Golden.
ABOVE The New L'Oreal Foundation  is MAC Studio Fix in NW30 

THE ABOVE PHOTO IS WITHOUT FLASH
Left to right: MAC Matchmaster in 3.0, L'Oreal Visible Lift and Repair Foundation in Natural Beige,  L'Oreal True Match Lumi in N5, MUFE in 160 Golden.
ABOVE The New L'Oreal Foundation  is MAC Studio Fix in NW30 


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It appears that the  L'Oreal Visible Lift and Repair Foundation in Natural Beige and my MAC Studio Fix in NW30  look similar in normal indoor lighting.

Now I want to note that I never wear one foundation, I am always mixing them to get the right finish and coverage.



Enjoy!

-A

Manicure Monday! Brights, Pastels & Tribal Art

Hello lovelies

Today I am sharing my attempt at Nail art ;-) hope you all enjoy!

-A

Tutorial How To: My Voluminous Curls and My Signature Dark Smoky Eye

Hello Lovelies,

I though that I would share a how-to today. Here is one way to achieve my signature voluminous hair & my signature (favorite) smoky eye  ;-)

I get a lot of compliments  on my hair, especially on how I style it. Now I am sharing the three ways I get my signature style. 

Up first one way to achieve very voluminous hair with, and second without heat. 

I have VERY long, and thick hair. Although its layered, it is still very heavy. So getting volume without damaging my processed hair is tricky. 

To get this  curly look, a'la Gretchen Rossi from the RHOC. See below: 

I  typically I use a 1" Chi Iron or my Remington Velvet Hot Rollers with voluminous root spray on the roots. I typically use the CHI Volume Booster Liquid Bodifying Glaze Spray or the TIGI Catwalk Your Highness Root Spray.  Before using heat I always use a heat protectant spray since my hair is processed it is prone to burning easily (but I haven't had this happen yet thank goodness). My favorite to recommend is the CHI Heat Protect Spray or the CHI Thermal Shine Spray I have both which I alternate though.

Another technique I use is with the Velcro Rollers as it is heat free and less abrasive on my color-treated hair. The Velcro rollers come in handy especially when I am pressed for time in the morning. It allows me to get ready and then just spend a few minutes on my hair. 

In this look today I used Velcro rollers and I set them after I blow dried my hair. I sprayed each section with the 24/7 Curls By Curly sexy Hair. You can buy it on Amazon here, I purchased it at my local hair salon.

This stuff is amazing! I never curl my hair anymore without it!! 

I slept with the rollers in for about 6 hours, then I re-shaped them by brushing them out with a round brush. I then sprayed them with L'Oreal Elnet Hairspray for Colored Hair.  
And to give my hair weightless shine I use theSchwarzkopf Osis+ Sparkler Shine Spray which my stylist turned me onto.

See the photos and more after the jump!!

Manicure Monday: Shades of Sorbet inspired by TOWIE

Hello Lovelies,

Inspired by the pretty nails shades I saw on my  new favorite show "The Only Way is Essex". Now for those of you who don't know... Abbreviated as TOWIE, its a UK reality show that absolutely addictive! Since I live in the USA, I can't watch it on its current TV station ITV2, which only airs in the UK. So I went out and found all 7 seasons online and plowed through a really long marathon over my Christmas holiday.  Now the latest season started a few weeks ago and lucky for me I have found a site that airs the episodes about 10 hours after they air in the UK! 

So on the most recent episode  they were getting ready to celebrate St. Patrick's day. The Season 08, Episode 07, from last night had me inspired! 

I love the nails on Gemma Collins, Sam Faiers & Billie Faiers ..I wanted to do a fun, bright, colorful look this week that was inspired by their awesome nails.

Here is a screen shot of their nails: 

Top: Gemma's Nails
Bottom L to R:  Sam's Nails & Billie's Nails

See My results after the jump!!

Manicure Monday: Green nails for St. Patrick's Day

Hello lovelies!

Today I wanted to get a head start on the holiday, St. Patrick's Day. I am sharing my favorite inspired manicure.

I choose an alternate scheme, mint and emerald. I used China Glaze Emerald Sparkle & Jessie Cosmetics in Gelato in Venice!

About two days after I painted my nails, I thought they needed some "umph" so I added some geometric gold nail art to my minty nails! You can see that in my last two photos. For the gold I used Revlon's Gold Coin.

Enjoy!

-A

EOD: Emerald Isle

Hello lovelies,

I was inspired by the new "color of the year" EMERALD!! The Pantone + Sephora collection just came out on Friday & I am in heaven!!! I ordered the eyeliner set mainly because I already have toooo many green eyeshadows & nail polishes!

So I used the MAC from the Dare to Dare collection. It's MAC Sassy grass. I also used a medium brown in the crease with a dark green in between the two!

Enjoy!!

-A

How I keep Organized - Necklaces!!

Hello Lovelies, 

I get asked alot about how I keep my large collection of necklaces tangle free. So I thought today I was share how I keep my necklaces organized! I took space from my bedroom wall and mapped out a neat layout. I will eventually cover a large cork board with fabric, I just have yet to find a wholesaler around my area that sells large cork slabs. So until then I have this set up that works really well!

There is a large vanity mirror that you can almost see on the far right, of this pic above. The Mirror separates the two sections, as seen in the photo below. The photo above shows my necklaces's that are to the left of the mirror and the photo below shows the necklaces's that to the right of the mirror. 

 

The black tower below the hanging necklaces contain my bracelets and is a stack-able organizer. There is another one below it not in photo view that holds my earrings. I purchased these at Walmart for about $5. 

Enjoy!

-A

My Mini MAC Haul

Hello Lovelies, 
Today I am giving everyone a quick look at my mini MAC haul!

It includes two foundations, lipglass & a lipstick.
Foundations:
Studio Fix Fluid - in NW30
Matchmaster - in 3.0
Lipglass:
Dazzleglass - in Bare Necessity
Lipstick:
Viva Glam Nicki 2

Below photos are my swatches. In the last collage picture I have swatched the foundations next to my lipstick/lipglass swatches. In the bottom photos, one on the left shows the foundations not rubbed in & in the second picture on the right, shows that they are rubbed in.

Enjoy!

-A

Top Row: Dazzleglass & Lipstick  with flash  and with out
Bottom Row: With foundation  not rubbed in and with it rubbed it.
Note: the dot on the left is the matchmaster and the dot right is studio fix fluid.

Sephora Haul!!

Hello Lovelies,

I must start out by saying this haul was a gift for valentines day, it was just delayed shipping :-( but on a happier note, My package finally came! i am so excited to try out all the goodies. i got the MUFE set because I just ran out of my MUFE HD foundation and this was a really good deal, as it comes with the full size foundation (retail 50$). My order also came with a free travel size Benefit's Some kind of gorgeous, which I know nothing about and an looking forward to trying. In the last picture I've included the two fragrance samples I also received Dior & Lancôme's new ones. Has anyone tried either of them?

I will post a user review next week!!

Enjoy!

-A

Jewelry Haul!!

Hello all,
Here is a quick look at the jewelry haul I did this past week. I think I've been kinda OBSESSED with jewelry lately!

Below is a photo of the two necklaces and two earrings I purchased at Forever 21, not pictured yet ( but I will update later) is the mint green resin bangle and collar necklace I got at urban outfitters!!

Enjoy!

-A

Wednesday Webshot - Lanscaped Beauty

These photos are courtesy of flipboard photos!

The first photo is of Watkins Glen State Park (Presumably near the race track of the same name?)  In photo is the Rainbow Bridge and Falls, a very pretty sight to see!!


The second photo is of Fly Ranch Geyser, in  Washoe County, Nevada.  

Enjoy!

-A

Manicure Monday - Pastel Easter Candy

Hello Lovelies,

Here is another version of my manicure from last week. I am really loving this pastel look that has taken over this spring trends.

My inspiration was this pile of Easter candy:

My Final Product See after the jump:

Happy Valentines Day 2013 💖

Hello Lovelies,

Here is a quick look at my two fabulous gifts, my gift card haul, and my flowers/chocolate covered strawberries!

All courtesy of my wonderful fiancé!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! ❤

See all the rest after the jump!!

Wednesday Webshot: Pre-Happy Valentine's Day

My favorites: Japanese Cherry Blossoms & the Japanese Maple Tree in bloom!

Enjoy!

-A