Nail Art for West

Many of you probably heard about the two tragedies that happened last week at the Boston Marathon and in West, Texas (some news outlets were saying Waco). I grew up near West, and so hearing about the fertilizer factory explosion really hit home. It was weird seeing places that I am familiar with in some of the pictures online. As an act of solidarity for the people of West, I did a manicure of Czech flags because the majority of people in West are of Czech decent:

 I realize this may not be my most amazing nail art ever; I've been short on time this week and have had a lot of things go wrong that I'm trying to fix (such as getting my phone stolen :/). But I hope that you all can appreciate the sentiment behind it. If you guys would like a step-by-step tutorial of this, let me know.

xoxo,

Guest Post Flower Nail Art Tutorial on Fun Size Beauty!!

I have a guest post up on Fun Size Beauty today!! I did a tutorial for floral nail art!! Be sure to check it out!!

Here's a closer look at the nails I did:

xoxo,

Swatches & Review: Merle Norman Eyeshadows in Shorely, Barefoot, and Vintage Charm + GIVEAWAY!!!

I got a bunch of Merle Norman products a while back, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing them! Before this, I had always seen Merle Norman shops and wondered what on earth their makeup was like. If you were wondering that too, you get to find out now!!

Shorely is a shimmery peachy-nude, Barefoot is a cream color that will be a good highlighter for lighter skintones, and Vintage Charm is a shimmery gold. I haven't worn Shorely or Barefoot in public because they aren't right for my skintone so my review is based on my experience with Vintage Charm. I applied it over Merle Norman's eyeshadow primer (which I'll review soon!), and it has lasted me a good 6-8 hours. Vintage Charm is a beautiful neutral on darker skin, and it does not crease.

Left to Right: Shorely, Barefoot, Vintage Charm

There'll be more reviews of Merle Norman products soon!! I have some blushes from them that I'm really excited to talk about!!! Also remember to enter our GIVEAWAY!!!!

xoxo,

Paint it Blue: Swatch and Review: Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale Nail Polish

April is Autism Awareness Month and to show my support I decided to paint my nails blue.

I have helped put on my college's version of the Special Olympics the past 3 years, and so this is something that is dear to my heart. The children who come, which include autistic kids, and their friends and families go through so much, and so I always loved the day of the Special Olympics when I watched how much the children enjoyed the activities we planned for them as well as heard from parents and families who told us how much our event means to them. There's still a lot that we don't know about Autism, and awareness about Autism is the first step to learning more about this disorder.

I thought this would be a perfect time to try out Sally Hansen's Mermaid's Tale. OH MY GOODENSS. IT'S SOOO PRETTY. I fell in love with it immediately!

Mermaid's Tale is a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe. This polish has blue and green hexagonal glitter in a blue jelly base. Because of the base, it would take probably around 3 or 4 coats by itself, and so here, I did one coat of it over one coat of Julep Donna, which is a dark teal/blue-green that is similar to Nicole by OPI's Khloe had a Little Lam-lam. Mermaid's Tale was really easy to use: there's a LOT of glitter in it, and the brush made it easy to get a lot of glitter onto your nail. It only took me one swipe to get the amount of glitter and color I wanted; I didn't have to try and place the glitter like you have to for some polishes.

Because it has a jelly base, it did take a while to dry, so try using it before you watch a movie or do something where you won't be moving. I used it before my boyfriend and I went out since I knew we'd be stuck in traffic for an hour, which was plenty of time for it to dry. :)

I really hope you guys like this color, because I am IN LOVE with it!!! I haven't been this excited about a polish in a LONG time!!! I definitely recommend getting it!

Hope you guys are having a great week!

xoxo,

Smashbox's Beauty Blowout!!!

I have some news that may make your day better: Smashbox is having a sale! Some items are up to 60% off!!

screenshot of Smashbox.com

Some of their eye shadow trios, lip glosses, palettes, and sets are there! Check it out and see if there's anything you've wanted to try out or stock up on!

Swatch & Review: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Buenos Aires and Istanbul

It's Friday!!! TGIF!

I finally had a chance to try out NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams. I bought the colors Istanbul and Buenos Aires (which is the newest one!):

Left to Right: Istanbul and Buenos Aires

Istanbul is a light, baby pink. I looked a little like Nicki Minaj when I put this one on, but if you like like pink lip colors, then this is right up your alley. Buenos Aires was described as a soft coral on NYX's website, but I think it is more orange-y than coral. This one is a good nude for darker skintones; when it was on my lips, it looked similar to CoverGirl's LipPerfection lipstick in Delish. I took some pictures of them on my lips to give you a better idea of the colors:

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Istanbul

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Buenos Aires

Also, I let my fair roommate try out Buenos Aires this just to see what it would look like on her, and it looked distinctly orange-ish, so if that isn't your thing, you may not want to get Buenos Aires. 

These products do smell as strongly of cake as other reviewers have mentioned, but I don't mind scents, so I wasn't turned off by it. I had some issues figuring out how to apply this product. You need to exfoliate so the product does not settle into the cracks of your lips, and you also need to be sure to spread the product evenly since it tends to come out of the bottle in clumps. 

I was impressed with how long this product lasted. Once it dried, it did not transfer onto my glasses or straws. It also lasted for about three hours for me. It did, however, settle in the cracks on my lips a bit. One tip I'd suggest is wearing lip gloss over these; it makes the settling less obvious.