The Loch Ness Monster Likes Makeup Too

I can't believe June is over already! The summer is moving so fast! The fact that it's already July terrifies me; I feel like I'm going to turn around any second and it'll be snowing again. Ugh. Anyway, June was a fun month for me in terms of makeup, so let's get to the favorites! Pretty Bonnes (By ColourPop) Pretty Bonnes by ColourPop ($8) - So, a couple of months ago, ColourPop added a few new shades to its line of highlighters (try to contain your excitement) and I picked up one of them in the shade Pretty Bonnes. I feel like I talk about ColourPop highlighters all the time, and you're probably sick of reading about them, but this is an amazing highlighter! It's a clean, white highlight with a golden undertone that's very flattering on its own or layered under other highlights.Currently, my favorite way to wear it is layering it under powder highlights. If you don't know, the best way to get a highlight that shines like the sun is to first ...

Another month, another fifteen or so manicures to share with you. Silver Dollar by Revlon  and  White On by Sally Hansen - I wrote a whole blog about this manicure , which was inspired by Jon Snow and House Stark from Game of Thrones . In case you don't know, I have a whole series of blogs about manicures inspired by Game of Thrones . I created this particular look using a gradient technique. Silver Dollar and White On Fearlessly Alice by OPI and White On by Sally Hansen - I tried to create a very summer-y, nautical inspired look with this manicure. I started out with two coats of White On by Sally Hansen, which is my go to white polish. Then, I used MoYou London's Sailor #1 stamping plate to stamp a starfish onto my accent nail with Fearlessly Alice by OPI (ignore the fact that it's crooked; stamping is still a work in progress for me). Then, I used my dotting tools to paint polka dots onto my other nails (also with Fearlessly Alice by OPI). White On and F...

Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush Today, I want to talk about another product that I picked up while I was on vacation: the  Sweethearts Perfect Flush Blush by Too Faced . I believe this blush is part of Too Faced's line of new products for summer, although I don't know if it's permanent or not. However, right now all  four shades  are available basically everywhere (Sephora, Ulta, etc.). I bought mine in the shade Candy Glow , which, as you can see, is a mix of "rose pink shimmer, soft coral pink, and peachy pink shimmer" (according to Too Faced, that is). Candy Glow is the lightest shade in the collection, although all four blushes seem to be in the pink and coral color families -- which seems appropriate for summer blushes. First off, I have to say that I think these blushes have a stellar formula. There's been a lot of buzz in the makeup world around the new Too Faced blushes, and, I have to say, I think it's well earned. These blushes remind me...

So, I recently received the Girls on Film Palette by Makeup Revolution from a friend as a graduation present, and I'm really impressed with it, so I want to talk about it. First of all, in case you don't know, Makeup Revolution is a very affordable, British cosmetic brand that makes some nice, good quality products. I would consider it to be a high quality "drugstore" brand, even though it's not sold at the drugstore. If you live in the United States, Ulta is probably the most convenient retailer to buy this brand. The Girls on Film Palette is an eye shadow palette full of both warm-toned and cool neutral shades. As you can see, it's chock full of shimmery bronzes, browns, and taupes, with a few pops of purple and silvery blue. Like I said, I'm very impressed with the quality of these shadows. They're creamy, pigmented, and blendable. Plus, there's a wide variety of shades, so you can create just about any look. This palette is particularly go...

Ulta Sends Me the Best Things  STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING: VICE LIPSTICK IS HERE! If you aren't already aware, Urban Decay just released their new line of Vice Lipsticks, which includes  100 shades (*swoon*). What a time to be alive!!! Now, when I say "just released," I actually mean that they've been out on Urban Decay's website for almost a month. However, they're now starting to appear on websites like Ulta and Sephora. Because I'm a platinum member, Ulta recently sent me a pack of mini samples of some of these lipsticks, and today I want to give you my first impressions and some swatches . This is a first impressions blog, so I haven't used any of these lipsticks long enough to form a firm opinion about them, and I'm planning on writing a full review later . However, I wanted to take this opportunity to give you some basic information about this new line of lipsticks, in case you're interested. First of all, you should know th...

Game of Thrones Sword Nails There are a lot of swords in Game of Thrones : Needle, Heartsbane, Longclaw, Ice, Oathkeeper, etc. The Iron Throne itself is said to be forged from the swords of the vanquished enemies of Aegon the Conquerer (which is a creative way to get a new chair, if nothing else). So, for this week's episode of Game of Thrones , I created a sword manicure. This design may look complicated, but it's actually quite simple. All you'll need to produce this manicure is nail polish (preferably silver and black) and a set of dotting tools . To start out, I painted two coats of black polish on four of my nails ( Black Out by Sally Hansen ) and two coats of silver on one of my nails ( Silver Dollar by Revlon ). You could also do the reverse of this (four silver nails and one black nail), which I did on my non dominant hand. Silver Dollar is a basic, metallic silver, and Black Out is a regular, creme black polish. I used these polishes because I had them on h...

So, I went on vacation in May and, in true vacation fashion, I did a whole lot of shopping. One of the things I picked up was an Extra Dimension Eye Shadow by MAC, which I was super excited to try out. First of all, I have to say that this shadow has a great formula (I mean, come on, it's MAC, what do you expect?). It's creamy, it's pigmented, it's blendable , the whole shebang. It's not crumbly or dusty, and there's no fallout (actually, it's a little too hard ; you really have to work with your brush to pick the product up). MAC describes the texture as "A hybrid shadow that’s smooth like a cream, blendable like a liquid and finishes like a powder," which is fairly accurate if you ask me. Plus, it's super long lasting, and, when I say long lasting, I mean LONG lasting. I can put it on at 7AM and it looks exactly the same at 7PM. If you just want to put something on your eyes and get out the door without any worry, this is the product for y...

In honor of the new episode of Game of Thrones that is airing tomorrow, I have decided to continue my series of Game of Thrones inspired manicures. This one was inspired by Jon Snow (aka, the guy with the best hair on television) and House Stark. For this manicure, I used t he same gradient technique that I used to create this Targaryen manicure a few weeks ago . The gradient technique is a simple way to get cool, unique manicures without lots of tools or expertise. If you aren't familiar with gradient techniques, or you didn't read my Targaryen manicure blog , I'll walk you through the steps. 1) Before you start, you'll need a wedge shaped makeup application sponge . You can buy bags of these sponges at drug stores or cosmetic stores. They're very cheap. Using scissors, trim a sponge so that the thick end is roughly the size of your largest nail. 2) After you have your materials ready and have chosen the colors for your gradient, paint  a latex bar...

If you know me, you know that I love highlighting and illuminating products, so today I want to talk to you about Tarte's new  Rainforest of the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette (from the Rainforest of the Sea line, which is the single best named line of products ever -- isn't it always raining under the sea??). First of all, I have to apologize because I've had this product sitting around for almost two months and I haven't had a chance to review it until now (oops). I first swatched this palette in Sephora and I loved it so much that I had to buy it there and then. It's that good . First of all, I love the packaging. As you can see, it has a gorgeous design of wavy blue lines on the lid, which ties in with the under water theme. The actual packaging itself is a nice durable, hard plastic, which feels very sturdy and indestructible. It also has a "click" closure, which I really like because I feel like your products are very secure and protected, e...