Friday, August 31, 2012

Zoya Zuza and FeiFei

When I received my Zoya BOGO order, I immediately grabbed Zuza and FeiFei. I needed to see these two together! Here's the result:


Taken in the shade. FeiFei is the darker accent nail while Zuza is the gorgeous aqua blue.


Shade


Direct sunlight


A close up of FeiFei in its complex glory! So beautiful! I kind of regret not getting Daul in this order.



Hope you enjoyed!
-Amanda

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Zoya Back to School BOGO Haul

I received my recent Zoya order yesterday! I always hold out for their awesome promotions to get more of their polish. I'm so happy they did this one! Here are some quick pictures of what I ordered. *I forgot to include the free 2 oz Remove+*


A quick picture of everything (minus the Remove +)


Left to right-  Song, Zuza, Skylar, FeiFei


Left to right- Suri, Elisa, Lotus, Jana


Qtica Shower Gel in Cool Refreshing

I was really surprised that Zoya didn't disable their freebies. For a normal, non-promo code order, you get freebies added for spending different amounts of money. I've wanted to try some of their body wash for a while so I'm excited about this! Not to mention, the size is HUGE! I was expecting a tiny 2 oz sample....no way! A nice 6 oz here! And it smells minty and delicious!

Did any of you place a BOGO order?

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Glamour Doll Eyes- Eye Shadows

Glamour Doll Eyes is a brand of mineral eye shadows and other various makeup goodies that I wanted to try for a while. I finally narrowed my cart size down to 4 eye shadows that I wear daily, and then opted for the 5 sample jar grab bag in which they'll surprise you with whatever they grab. I figured the grab bag would be a great way to get some eye shadow and run the risk of getting something completely out there. I'm more than pleased with EVERYTHING!

I loved all the extra PR goodies I got along with the eye shadows! Here, take a look at it all!




 

Is that not beautiful?! There's a pamphlet talking about a bunch of lovely things (one being their affiliate program), there's also sticker, business cards, and cards showing shadows from their latest collections.

These are my lovelies!



I opted for the sifter jars. Next time, I won't bother with the sifter. I feel like it's more of a hindrance than anything else, but that's just my opinion.

I'll start by showing you all the eye shadows I chose. All bold words will be descriptions taken from the Glamour Doll Eyes Website

Part of the Blogger Collection

Mackinac- (pronounced mak-in-aw) is mint sea foam green with red sparkle. This color was named and inspired by jessFACE90.

Part of the Blogger Collection

Obscure is a matte greyish taupe with purple undertones. Remember to use a primer with your matte shadows!! This color was named and inspired
byprettymaking.


 Hot Pants is a light blue with some dark blue undertones.. This color was named by caliprincess04.


Katie's Storm is light to medium gray with a bit of sparkle. This color was named and inspired by saywhatcuteface18.



Swatched over Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer- left to right, Mackinac, Obscure, Hot Pants, Katie's Storm

Loving these four! I've worn Obscure and Katie's Storm so far and they're gorgeous with my blue eyes!

Next up is my grab bag order!

From the Super Shadows Collection
(I can't get over the graphics on all of these!)


Ancestry is a satin white with rich silk gold undertones and sparkle. It's always neat to have a family heirloom, but I don't think a brooch can compare to what Ororo Munroe's family passed down to her; an unlimited ability to control the weather. Step lightly or there could be a downpour in the forecast. 


Boyfriend Sweater is soft grayish brownish color. This color was named by myeyeshadowisodd, which is named after a sweater her old lover Geoff had! 


This next one if from the Circus Collection


Fiji Mermaid - this greenish blue tells the story of a commonly used sideshow act. The Fiji Mermaid is alive and real with with green shimmer undertones, reminiscent of scales. 


Unicorn is a light pink with silver/white sparkle. This color was named by hypergoth


From the Blogger Collection

Super Nova is a matte black with multi-colored shimmers. This color was named and inspired by bowsandcurtseys.


Swatched over Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer, left to right- Ancestry, Boyfriend's Sweater, Fiji Mermaid, Unicorn, and Super Nova.

From this set, I've worn Ancestry and Boyfriend's Sweater. Both are gorgeous! All of the shown shadows are soft and nicely pigmented and super duper shimmery (which I love). Super Nova was the only odd ball. It had more of a charcoal texture. I saw it in the pot and immediately though about making it into a nail polish. We'll see!

Jars can be bought with or without the sifter. As I said before, I think I'll go sans sifter next time, but that's just me. Jars go for $6.00, sample jars go for $2.59, and sample baggies go for $1.25.

Hope you all enjoyed!
-Amanda

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Flakies- The Best Kind of Love

What's the best kind of love, you might ask? Ah, what a question! In my opinion, a love that is slowly stoked , gradually growing without notice until it erupts in a blaze of glory and passion is the best kind of love. When it comes to flakies and nail polish, I have that kind of love.

When I first saw pictures of flakies and nail polish, I was intrigued. They glowed and were quite beautiful. I bought 2 polishes- Nubar 2010 and Nails Inc. The Wyndham. I tried them over the standard black polish and was less than enthused.

Well, the other night I was hunting for some polish to do a new manicure with and found my 2 lone flakies sitting in the box. I figured I'd give them another go around and try them layered together since I didn't care for them alone. I then reached for Zoya Petra- this muddy plum color that just looks amazing with my skin (dark colors usually look horrible on me for whatever reason, so Petra is like a Holy Grail when it comes to a darker polish). I knew I needed to try these polishes together!

Now, I did not have my camera handy for picture taking and had to make use of my phone's camera. Sorry it's not as clear as normal, but the glowy goodness of the flakies do enough talking to compensate for poor picture quality.

Pictured below are 2 coats of Petra, with 2010 and The Wyndham layered over with top coat to seal it all.

                                                                           (indoors)

 (indirect sunlight)

(indirect sunlight)



So yeah, I'm super happy I gave flakies another try. It's safe to say I'm hooked!

Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for reading!
-Amanda

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Autumn Fever?

Hi all! I'm back! I'm so sorry for my absence! I've still been doing my nails, but not with any artwork on them, and really nothing worth showing. Life has been busy and my last bit of grad school is starting up next week. Along with that is my internship! 600 hours of working with elementary and junior high school counselors! I'm nervous and excited all at the same time.

I've been in such an Autumn mood lately. The last few days have been cooler around here and I'm finding that I cannot wait for my favorite season! Since today has proven that summer is certainly still with us (it's hot  here!) I decided to pull out some Autumn colors and put them on my nails instead!
Nothing fancy today, folks, but I hope you like it just the same.

I used one coat of Smoke and Ashes from the China Glaze Hunger Games Collection and one coat of Electrify from the same collection over that. I sealed it all with one coat of Hong Kong Girl topcoat (good stuff!).




No idea how there's so much rogue glitter on my hands, but oh well!

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda