Monday Manis, Mantras, and Mani-spirtaion

I'll start this post off with an apology. Lately, I've been swamped with errands, school work and family time, which, as you've noticed, has lead me to neglect my blog. For this I am ashamed, but have been able to pick it up again. Thankfully, I've had quite the inspiration fix with some of the blogs, Youtube beauty channels, and magazines, that I have a lot of new ideas for posts. :)
Now, on to the important part. This week I'm dedicating the featured nail art to one of my favorite mani-inspiring blogs. "The Beauty Department" has so many great and simple posts that I've fallen in love with and I thought I'd share that adoration with you. So, without further ado, here are the Beauty Department manis:

All of these gorgeous nails are pretty self explanatory. Each one of their nail posts includes a following tutorial for each design that goes step by step and many are very simple (not to mention ingenious).

Check out the thebeautydepartment.com for yourself. You won't regret it. :)

I'm the kind of girl who is inspired by both music and words. If I don't get my daily dose of verbal wisdom, I feel as though I might just go insane. So here is the quote that's been stuck in my busy little brain for the past few days.

Well, that's it for this week's Monday post. I'll admit; it's not one of my best. However, I do intend to try harder at keeping up with this blog.

Til next time,

Beauty Bulletin: Flower Cosmetics Obsession

In a previous Beauty Bulletin post, I mentioned that Drew Barrymore was launching her own mass produced, luxury cosmetic line to be exclusively sold at Walmart stores. I've been anxiously waiting for the line to be stocked, as it was promised to be brought into the stores sometime this month. I keep finding myself constantly checking walmart.com for any sign that the line has arrived. Luckily, there was an official announcement on the website under the Beauty department.

The announcement went on to describe what is to be expected of the quality and pricing of the products. However, they did not mention the fact that Drew was the creator of the line. The post on the site described the line in a short, to the point paragraph ending with Flower's slogan "Love The Way You Look". The paragraph is as follows:

"Flower Cosmetics
Flower Beauty. Walmart is proud to announce the exclusive launch of the first and only luxury brand available at mass. Flower makeup is designed to make you look and feel your best while saving you money.
Flower is destined to redefine luxury by offering the highest quality formulas and packaging at an affordable price. Instead of spending on advertising dollars, Flower invests all of its resources into the formulas and packaging. The result is that with Flower, Walmart shoppers will truly be able to experience make-up of the highest quality usually only found at department stores, and now available exclusively at Walmart.
The line has 181 color products and ranges in price from $4.98 to $13.98. The products feature a proprietary botanical-infused "soft-focus complex" which enhances skin's radiance for a lit-from-within effect.

Flower Beauty. Love the Way You Look."

I personally can't wait for this collection. It's refreshing to know that a great starlet like Drew is working hard to make an amazing brand for such an affordable price range. It is said that all the funding is going into the product formulas instead of into advertising. Flower is using Drew's fame and Walmart's own advertising to get the word out. There so much that has been put into this brand and it has the potential of being a truly unique and revolutionary makeup line. I'm obsessed!
I hope your as excited for Flower as I am. :) 

Monday Manis, Mantras, and Makeup Masks

It's the first Monday of the new year and I am looking forward to what 2013 has in store for me. I decided to make this post a bit longer than usual to celebrate the occasion. There has been so much going on for me already and I'm enjoying the fact that I can take some time and relax to create this post and drool over the usual content; Not to mention the fact that my room smells amazingly like an Ambercrombie and Fitch store thanks to my Bath and Body Works "Mahogany Teak wood" candle that I'm burning. It's my new scent obsession! Anyway, getting on to the manis, I found quite a few that I couldn't help but share, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. :)

I absolutely love the silver base paired with the overlapping pink and black stripes on this one! I'll definitely be trying it out myself!

(image credit: the Julep Facebook page)

You can never go wrong with camo, especially in these pretty and cool shades.

Camo+Studs+Skulls+Glitter=Amazing

Geometric glam. Love!

So girly and delicate! Love the small touch of glitter!

Intricate and fun! Great for a party or even Vday!

I love the fact that the glitter is used as an accent instead of the base!

This one is my absolute favorite this week!!! A banksy inspired mani to die for! Gorgeous!

Lately, I've been tracking some makeup artists on Tumblr just to see what crazy, yet amazingly beautiful work they had been sharing. I came across a girl who had her worked featured in a few magazines and such who goes by the username "showmemakeup". These makeup masks are just brilliant and look like they must have taken hours. 

As always, I must end this sweet little tidbit with a quote that will stick with you for the rest of the day (at least I hope). In fact, I found two this week that I couldn't choose from, but I decided to let you decide which was your favorite:

Well, that's all for this week. I hope you had a good weekend and are counting the days down until the next one. I sure am! It's a whole new day and an even newer week. Make the most of it!

Monday Manis, Mantras, and Mundane Resolutions

I didn't get to do a Monday post last week, so I'm taking the opportunity now. Since New Year's Eve is tonight, there are many different fabulous manicures you can give yourself before the big party. So many choices. You could go for something subtle, something glitter-ific, or whatever fits your style for the evening. After all, each party is different, and each calls for its own version of a 2013 worthy mani.
Here are a few of my favorites that I found this week (and regrettably, most of them are from Tumblr; I'm the newest addict to the Tumblr community):

Jewels galore on this complicated yet dazzling mani. Can you spot the little 2013 on each hand?

(image credit: @hellowhiskey on Tumblr)

A little more subtle but just as glam :) Love this!

(image credit: @karengnails on Tumblr)

Gorgeous, intricate, and not to mention time consuming! So worth it though.

This glitter gradient mani speaks for itself. Simple and gorgeous!

Everyone has there own version of New Years Resolutions; some don't even make them. Mine however are pretty boring, but I'd thought I'd include them anyway. Mainly, they focus on making sure 2013 is a much better year than 2012 (this past year has been one of the worst in a long time).

1. Keep creating frequent (and hopefully unique) blog posts throughout the year
2. Take time to appreciate the little things
3. Try to look nice everyday, because even though I may not think that I am a part of this, everyone deserves to look and feel their best
4. To keep in mind of the wise quotes and other mantras I come across, and to refer back to them in a time of stress and misery
5. To try and remind myself every morning of who I am and the fact that "Everyone is beautiful in their own way." does in fact apply to me as well
6. To just be myself, and trust that I can accomplish things, that way I'll be more likely to be successful

So those were my resolutions. They are nothing that drastic or world changing, but they're my personal way of improving my year. I hope everyone at least has some sort of goal or project they are looking forward to in 2013. Remember, you do deserve everything you accomplish out of hard work. Never sell yourself short.

And finally, here's the weekly mantra:

 

Have a happy New Year!!! May 2013 bring you the best!

Beauty Bulletin: New Product Collections

So many brands are ringing in the new year with new collections ranging from nail polish to new eyeshadow palettes. There are so many new products coming out that it's overwhelming and I thought I would feature some of my favorites here:

One of the collections that I'm most excited about is Elle and Blair's new Skylark Shiver Shades nail lacquer set. Blair mentioned in one of her videos that they had been working on the line for about six months and it seems like it was definitely worth it!! The colors are gorgeous and blush.com has a video on the product page introducing the amazing polishes:

The set is originally about $30, but blush.com is keeping it on sale for about $20 until the end of 2012 I believe. I can't wait to get my hands on these! Absolutely love! Here's the link to check out the polishes: http://www.blush.com/product_Shiver+shades+nail+lacquer+set_44600.htm

Another great brand has released some new polish collections. OPI now has 4 new studio shades and 4 stage shades from the brand new Mariah Carey collection that introduces OPI's new texture "Liquid Sand". The collection will be released to store in January.

Here's the absolutely gorgeous collection (images credited to stylebistro.com):

From Left to Right:

Sprung (Studio Shade), Pink Yet Lavender (Studio Shade), Anti-Bleak (Studio Shade), The Impossible (Stage Shade)

From Left to Right: Can't Let Go (Stage Shade), Stay the Night (Stage Shade), Get Your Number (Stage Shade), A Butterfly Moment (Studio Shade)

Nails aren't the only things that brands have been whipping up products for; Smashbox has introduced some art inspired "Love Me" shadow palettes that are packaged just beautifully!

This first palette is in the shade "Entice Me", and it includes a shimmery blackish gray, an equally shimmery cocoa brown, a pretty nude pink, a baby blue, and a dark navy. The words "Love Me" are written across the top, dividing the shadows, and although the palettes are at a pricier $34, they are so worth it.

"Admire Me"; the nude version of the palettes.

For the more exciting release, the amazing Drew Barrymore collaborated with makeup artist Debra Felluro to create her own cosmetics line named "Flower" which will be available at Walmart starting in January. She brought all of her products from the line to a recent Allure cover shoot, and it wasn't in the final packaging yet. The line currently has been reported to have 181 products that will range from about $5 to about $14. Drew has been involved in the makeup game as a face for Lancome and is now a face and co-creative director for Cover Girl. She is now taking her rightful place as a creator of her own line! 

Image Credit: imabeautygeek.com

So far the line looks great packaging wise, let's hope the products themselves are something to praise over! You go Drew! :)

There is so much to look forward to in the new year! What's something that you are most excited about?  I'll definitely be hitting up my local Walmart in search of Drew's line, will you? There's many more new product releases as well. So much to do, and so much to try. Part of my resolutions is to try as many new products as I can and review them right here. :)

Til next time,

Friday Fave Finds

Well, it's that dreaded date and I'm still alive to post all the things that I stumbled across this week that made me smile. I get so inspired by other bloggers, YouTube gurus and amazing fashion magazines like Allure, and Glamour and so many more. I wish I could just slap every pic of a killer pair of heels or an insanely cute hairstyle on my wall every time I come across one, but then again, that's what Pinterest if for. I found a few randoms this week that I think you'll enjoy and I hope to be doing more of these kind of posts more often, so here goes:

This is a gorgeously painted interpretation of Ariel by Jace Wallace. The colors and details are so beautiful, and this princess has a much more relate able figure, which makes the piece even better in my eyes.

We've all obsessed over our favorite chick flick, and these "Mean Girls" inspired pencils are so cute!!! The only question is, where can I get them?

OPI is coming out with this adorable Wizard of Oz collection of polishes in March and I can't wait to get my hands on these glittery and girlie shades!

Polishes (left to right): "What Wizardry is This?", "Lights of Emerald City", "When Monkeys Fly!", "I Theodora You", "Don't Burst My Bubble", "Which is Witch?", and "Glints of Glinda"

Last but not least, I found this vintage Chanel poster that is just gorgeous! The color is amazing and well, it's Chanel!!! Absolutely love!

That's it for this weeks random finds, but I hope to come across even more next week! Time has been flying for me lately and the holidays are creeping up on me faster than ever! I can't wait to spend time with family and friends and just be happy for once!

T.G.I.F

Walgreens Wonderland; Gifts for the Girls

I've been to Walgreen's lately for some wallet friendly Christmas gifts for the women in my family and the wonderful friends I have. I found so many cute sets and products that I thought would be perfect for any young woman in someones life. They are all low budget and great holiday pleasers. So here are a few of them that I thought I'd share:

Here's a gift set from Juicy Couture for around $30. It includes a shower gel, body lotion, and two perfumes. It's a great bang for your buck and something you just might buy a set for yourself. 

Another cute gift is this set from Essie that includes two different mini lacquers that vary in color pairs per set. It's only $10 and a great gift for a bestie or stocking stuffer.

elf is one of my favorite drugstore makeup brands and they have a huge palette of shadows for just $15. I own this palette and personally love it! It's definitely worth the buy!

Speaking of great drugstore brands, Wet 'n' Wild has new Fergie eye kits for only around $8. This one is the Glam Side "Glamour-Eyes" eye kit and comes with a shadow quad, liquid liner, mascara, eye pencil, brow brush, and liner smudging brush. Not to mention instruction to get the perfect look from the products. 

This one is the "Ferga-Vicious" edgy side eye kit, which just so happens to be my favorite out of the two. The dark shadows are gorgeous and I have a feeling I'm going to need those directions. :)

An even cheaper option is another palette from elf that includes twelve glitter shadows, a built in mirror, an applicator and an eye pencil. The kit is only $5 and it's yet another great holiday gift from the brand. 

Wet 'n' Wild seems to be loving Fergie lately, and have released sets of nail polish pairs that include the color and clear top coat. The fierce shade and $3.50 price tag is an absolute steal!!!!!

Makeup and nails aren't the only gifts that are on sale at Walgreen's. There are various brands of mini perfumes for only around $10. The perfumes also include great scents like Red Door and a scent from Paris Hilton.

Another great perfume set is a three product feature of Katy Perry's "Purr". The set is around $20 and includes a mini perfume, shower gel, and an illuminating body lotion.

Last but not least, is yet another nail polish set. This one is by Sally Hansen and costs around $5, or as I found it, on sale for around $4. The set has four Xtreme wear "Hard as Nails" polishes in some great colors.

Overall, Walgreen's has some great gifts for the girls for some even better prices. I'm surely going to pick up a couple of these sets for gifts and, guiltily enough, for myself. I hope this post helped you with your holiday shopping and that you enjoy discovering these products just as much as I did.

Til next time,