Rockin' Around the Rite Aid Deals

....and my Sister can sing you the song if you like.  HA HA HA.  Maybe I can get her to record herself singing it and I'll post it on YouTube for you.  Well....I can try anyway!
New video on my Rite Aid deals:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i8IHy7bKMk

So...I "happened" to get to go to Rite Aid today.  If you know me at all you know that's one of my favorite past times.  Rite Aid, Walgreen's, CVS, I'm not picky!  My Husband needed something for his headache that he could take back to work with him so I "had" to go.  HA HA.  And while he looked for the proper medication to treat his headache I feverishly, and expertly I might add, perused the cosmetics aisles.  I had just enough time to grab a few great deals and here they are: I found these two items packaged together, full size of the blow dry lotion and a 3 oz of the flat iron balm, for $6.49.  Very good deal since the full size alone is $6.49!  We can all rock around that right?

I've been looking for this for about a month now. I can't wait to try it on my super unruly hairs tomorrow!  I'll let you know how it works out.

Next I found these little beauties.  Prestige makes a great water proof lip liner and today I found a Kohl eyeliner pencil that seems like it will work well for those days when I just want a good "smudge-able" pencil type eyeliner or I only want to darken my lash line but not have a definite "eyeliner look".  I got one in the color "black" and the other is called "masquerade" which is a beautiful purple color.  I also swatched the two lipliners I got last month and the pink one I got last summer because they are all Prestige brand.  Here's what they look like on the back of my hand:

L to R: Waterproof Prestige lip liners in plummy and mocha.  Masquerade eyeliner and black eyeliner.  (I made two marks with the black pencil).  The far right is a Prestige regular lip liner in Love which is a pretty candy pink.  I got that one last summer.

I also bought a Styli-Style felt tip liquid eyeliner in Blackest Black.  I didn't swatch that one because I forgot.  Sorry...I will be using it in a video soon however.  I also want to do a little "experiment" with it to see if it flakes and a few other things so I'll keep you posted on that.  

And last but not least, my new crazy Christmas socks.  You ALL know you want some.  He he he.  

These are the exact socks except mine only come to the ankle. These would be way cooler!  (or warmer...you get the drift)  

Ok, everybody sing it with me now:

"Rockin' around the Rite Aid deals with my happy fuzzy socks..."  Leave me a comment with the next line to the song.

Love and super fuzzy striped green sockies,

Nicole

Put some oomph in your face for Hanukkah/Christmas etc!

Hello and welcome back to my itty bitty blog.  Thank you for taking the time to stop in and read what I have to say as well as watch my tutorials.  I really do appreciate it!
Here's the link to my newest video where I go over everything in this blog post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV7y499yje8
I wanted to first off give you a quick review of a face primer I've been using for almost three weeks now and really liking.  It's the Loreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base.  I bought mine at Walmart, I can't remember the exact price but Walmart is listing it on their website for $10.94 with free shipping to your home.  Not bad!  I believe I paid almost $12 for it in store so I will be purchasing it online from now on.  Here is what it claims to do on the packaging:

Get the perfect skin texture, instantly and all day. Smoothes lines. Hides pores. Banishes imperfections. The silky, lightweight formula glides onto skin, leaving it velvety-smooth to the touch

The result- a unified matte finish that's flawless.

Suitable for all skin types. Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic.

I agree with all of that.  My only "issue" with the product is I feel I have to use quite a bit of it and therefore it's disappearing quickly.  BUT I will say that I have many problem areas I am trying to smooth, almost my whole face, so I use it on my entire face.  You may not need to.  I recommend using it in the t-zone to hide large/open pores, any areas where you may have fine lines such as around the eyes (underneath especially) and mouth and in any spots where you may have acne scarring and things like that.  It puts a smooth coat over them and helps your make up glide on easier, smoother and last longer and stops it from sinking into places you don't want your make up to sink into.  It also has a mattifying quality to it so it is helping control oil for me for up to 6 hours.  That IS magic for me!  I have a lot of problem with oil breakthrough with most foundations, even expensive ones that claim to reduce that problem.  So anything that actually DOES work is magic in my book.  


The remaining items are ideas of products you can use over this Holiday season to give your make up look a bit more "pizazz" for parties etc.  And I wanted to give you some ideas of things you can do quickly and inexpensively because I know not everyone has 2 hours to do their make up for a special occasion.  
The first one is the Hard Candy bronzer in Tropics that I introduced in my Smashbox/Hard Candy review video and blog.  It's a beautiful golden/bronzey bronzer that, in my opinion, is gorgeous as a highlight on the top of the cheek bone, brow bone and anywhere you want a nice gold highlight.  I wouldn't personally use it on my entire face as I feel I might resemble a pair of gold lame pants...not a good look in my opinion unless you are 20 years old and on the cover of a magazine.  Ahem...here's what it looks like. 

I did swatches on my finger and hand so you could hopefully see the serious gold-ness goin' on!
 I like this for several different uses.  It serves as a great gold eyeshadow if you're in need of one, highlighter for the top of the cheek bones and even on the lips over your lipstick.  LOVE IT.  


The next "glitter it up" item on the list is the NYX Candy Glitter Liner in Gold.  It's a very pretty gold glitter in a clear gel.  The glitter isn't too big or too small, it's a nice gold color and it stays put instead of falling all over your face etc.  Have a look:

                                                    The package has a cute black tassle on it.

This liner comes in 15 colors and all are gorgeous!  There is a link in the description box of the video if you'd like to check that out.  
The last thing I want to show you is the Loreal Feel Naturale Light Softening Blush in Charmed Peach. #288.  I really like the look and feel of this blusher and it comes in eight different colors on the Loreal website.  http://www.lorealparisusa.com/_us/_en/default.aspx#/?page=top{userdata//d+d//|diagnostic|main:searchresult//keyword+Feel_Naturale_Blush//|media:_blank|nav|overlay:_blank}
I had a very hard time swatching it for you, sorry.  It's very soft and light on the hand/arm but shows up quite nicely on the cheeks.  Here's the swatch:

It's quite light looking here. 

As I said, it's difficult to swatch it on my skin tone but I think you can at least see that it's a soft peach color with a tiny bit of sparkle running through it.  Just enough to give that "she's glowing" look when other's look at you.  I really like this and think I might get a couple of other colors.  I'll let you know.  For some reason they aren't selling it on the Walmart or Ulta websites, I only found it on the Loreal site but I purchased mine at Ulta on clearance.  Hmm....










Well that about wraps up this edition of how to add a touch of sparkle to your Holiday looks at the speed of lightening and the cost of...well, not much.  ;0)  I hope you all have a wonderful Hanukkah/Christmas/Holiday Season!  Send me some pictures of your holiday looks, I'd love to see them!  God bless you all.
Sparkles,
Nicole

"Holiday-ify" Your Make Up Fast

I FINALLY was able to film today and a few people on Facebook seemed "excited" about a Holiday party look so...here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqKseavX8qo

Christmas/New Years Party Look

Those of you who see me on a fairly regular basis know that I tend to wear a full face of make up pretty much every day.  I've been doing so since I was a teenager and is just what I like to do.  So this may look "normal" for me but I know a lot of people don't do that.  Here is a small list of things you can do to "amp" up your make up for a party/event:


1. Be sure your eyebrows are filled in nicely to frame the face and eyes. (go about %20 darker than normal if you're anticipating being in photos)

2. Powder those oily spots but don't over powder.  You don't want to look powdery, just less shiny. Also, if you don't want to wear actual foundation you don't have to but I suggest covering any blemishes/discoloration with either a concealer of the same color as your skin and powder or using a tinted moisturizer which is a lot lighter than a full foundation and will give you enough coverage if your skin is mostly good.

3. Lashes and Lash line. If you're "upping" your make up you want to be sure your lashes and lash line don't disappear.  Use a darker color eyeliner right on the lash line.  Curl those lashes! False lashes really say "PARTY" and are fairly inexpensive.

4. Lips-it doesn't have to be bright red lipstick for it to say "Christmas" but be sure to put at least a little color there.  Even if it's just a colored lip balm. Nothing at all on the lips makes you look pale and like you're not feeling well.

5. All over glow-a nice light dusting of something shimmery or even something with superfine glitter in it looks pretty but if you're anticipating pictures be sure to concentrate anything shimmery/glitter to natural highlight areas such as the top of the cheek bones, brow bone and inner corner of the eyes.  Never shimmer up your oily zones.  Just makes it worse.  BE SURE TO ADD BLUSH to the apples of your cheekers so you don't look washed out.

6. Make up setting spray if you'll be out for a long time.  (over 4 hours) or for dancing etc.

7. Jewelery is always a nice addition even if you're not super dressed up.  You can dress up any outfit with a few nice pieces of jewelery like earrings and a bracelet or necklace.

 Please excuse the crazy hair today....

I know, I know...I said the eyeshadow was black in the tutorial but it's actually BLUE.  Epic fail..

Christmas Gift Ideas for the Gift Challenged

Hi Everyone!  I've been seeing so many things lately that I would LOVE to have but will not buy for myself because....IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!  Time to buy for others.  And I'm guessing a lot of you are the same way.  So...if you have that woman/girl on your list who needs/wants/can't live without some new cosmetics here are a few ideas from "the peanut gallery".  AKA, me.

Sephora gift card- if you aren't sure what to get OR one of the hottest things going, gift wise, at Sephora right now is the Tarte Cosmetics The Jewelery Box.  It's 99% cosmetics but comes with a lovely necklace for your gift recipient to wear.  It's an amazing value, the cosmetics in the palette are of great quality, all of Tarte's products are formulated without

- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Synthetic Fragrances
- Synthetic Dyes
- Petrochemicals
- Phthalates 

 and just the eye shadows alone would cost you WAY more than the whole palette.  They are all full size!  A grand total of $52.  Awesome!  Here's the link to the page at sephora.com where they give you the lowdown on it-http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml;jsessionid=NS01RTV0SATD4CV0KQNQX0Q?id=P275305&categoryId=C7010

An Ulta gift card-
(http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/category.jsp;jsessionid=923FFC26344206947C846EDF85B97C65.p-a2-app2?categoryId=cat120341)

Ulta has a plethora of all things beauty including high end brands such as Urban Decay, Tarte Cosmetics, Two Faced Cosmetics, Smashbox and many more.  They also carry drug store brands such as Loreal, NYX, Palladio, Revlon and more.  They carry tons of hair styling tools and products, they have a salon and the list goes on and on.  Perfect gift!

Mac gift certificates-
 http://www.maccosmetics.com/giftcards/about_giftcards.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT792

OR they have an entire line out for Christmas right now called A Tartan Tale.  You can check that out here: http://www.maccosmetics.com/whats_new/4038/index.tmpl  The packaging is all super cute and functional and the products are the usual high quality you expect from Mac Cosmetics.

Gift certificates- for manicures, pedicures, deep conditioning treatments for the hair, any other services the girl in mind may use such as waxing, Brazillian Blow Out (hair), massages, spa visits, hair color/cut, facial treatments or, if you live close to me, a gift certificate for a makeover and 1 lesson on either eye make up suitable for their eye shape, color and age or foundation routine suitable for their skin type,color and age.  $20.  I also have a photographer who will take 1 pose of the woman/girl after her makeover and lesson and give the person 1 8x10 photo.  The package, makeover/lesson and photo, is $35.  If purchasing the makeover/lesson only I will need 7 days advance notice and for both we need 10 days advance to book the photographer.  (she's a busy woman!  ;0))

Another idea for a woman/girl who enjoys curling her hair would be this new(er) item on the market:

This is called a "curling wand".  It's clipless and creates beautiful curls of lots of different sizes depending on the way you wrap the hair around it.  This one in particular is a Remington TStudio Ceramic Pearl Professional Curl Wand.  (the name could be a wee bit longer eh? HA HA)  This one I found at www.target.com for $24.95.  You can get much more expensive ones at places like www.beautychoice.com.

There are so many things out there that are "new" and exciting and "must have" items that if I tried to list them all here...well, it just wouldn't be possible.  These are just a few things to get you started.  Ladies, show these to your family members to give them ideas (they may be clueless as to what to get you and would be relieved to have links and a photo or two of what to get).  Family members, run out and buy them all for me!  JUST KIDDING.  I hope this helps.  If you need anymore ideas please let me know.  God bless you all and have a very Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!