Go check out my guest post!

Hello again! I am stopping by again today to let you know about my guest post on Aurora's Nails. Go show it some love HERE! Thanks lovelies!<3

Pink Wednesday: Color Club Raspberry Rush and Claire's Nail Decals

Hello lovely readers! I haven't posted a pink mani for Pink Wednesday in forever but I have one for you today! (Mostly just by chance, but that's ok.)

This mani's base is Color Club Raspberry Rush from the Wicked Sweet Collection. This was my first encounter with scented polish. I like it a lot and was very surprised by how long the scent lasted. That said, I don't think I would ever buy a polish just because it was scented. What about you??

Besides the scent, this color is AMAZING! I have lots of hot pinks in my collection, but I am pretty sure I have nothing like this. It dries super shiny (the pics are before topcoat). It reminds me of shiny plastic. 

Instead of doing any stamping, we added these nail stickers from Claire's. My husband wanted me to get them, but I was skeptical of the quality. In my opinion, Claire's is overpriced for not that great of quality. Anyway, here's the packaging. I ended up with enough extra to use for accent nails in a few more manis.

And here is the final look! These had a cool texture to them...I was worried it would be obnoxious, but I barely noticed.

All you do is find stickers that fit your nail and apply them. Finish off with a topcoat and you're done! The topcoat seems to be the key in these lasting. I wore these for almost 2 days before there were  any signs of wear. 

I have to say I would defnitely try these again if I ever came across them for a good price (these were a little steep at $7). I love finding new and different ways to spice up my nails! Would you ladies ever use these?

Also, on a slightly unrelated note, Born Pretty has some new Hello Kitty Necklaces that I LOVE! I have a serious soft spot for HK! This baby is only $3.62 and with code FREEL73 you can get 10% off. Great deal! <3

Milani Crystal Eyez Sparkling Eyeshadow Review

Ok. So I really wanted to like this product. It looks amazing in the tube and who can say no to holo glitter? I think I was expecting something more along the lines of a cream eyeshadow, but this is a gel based formula. If this product were to be remade into a cream with more pigment, I think this would be a winner!

I am talking about Milani's Crystal Eyez Sparkling Eyeshadow in Lovely and Luminous. In the tube it looks like a charcoal gray, but when swatched it is actually very sheer and gritty. I felt like a 10 year old with my first makeup kit using this product. I will say though, this product would be great for the use of costume makeup.

Here's the packaging, which I think is lovely. Definitely sucks you in.

In my quest to salvage my first impression of this product, I layered Lovely and Luminous over a bunch of my eyeshadows to see if I could find a winning combo.

From L to R before and after- All ELF Mineral Eyeshadow- Outdoorsy, Beachy, Royal, Socialite, Flirty, and Angelic

Before and After with shadows from Wet n Wild's Spoiled Brat and Enter a New Realm Palettes.

Before and after with shadows from Wet N Wild Earth Looks Small from Down Here, and Blue Had Me at Hello palettes.

I was surprised to see that even though this gel has a gray tint to it, it really didn't change any if the shadow shades at all. It just added glitter. I settled on using ELF Socialite since this one is closest to the Milani gel color. I used a tiny dot and dabbed it on top of the shadow. I had to keep my eye closed for a few seconds to let it dry. For me, the effect was still underwhelming and juvenile.

L-R: Before and After

Overall, I would only recommend this product if you want to add some extra glitter to your makeup look, which in my opinion isn't very functional for most people. I don't think this adds the "sparkling finish" the packaging promises though. Maybe my expectations were too high?

What do you think ladies? Have any of you used this and had different results than me? Please let me know if you have!! <3

*This product was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

CND Asphalt

Hey ya'll! Hope your Monday is going great...as great as a Monday can be anyway. hehe

I have another CND polish for ya today. My husband, who perfectly painted this mani, said he was very impressed with this polish and it's formula. That is saying a lot coming from the perfectionist he is! This polish is pretty much a one coater...always a huge plus! And as with CND Gold Chrome, this polish dried super fast. I would say within 10 minutes it was totally dry.

I think Asphalt is a gorgeous shade of grey. Although I don't normally gravitate toward dark colors as often, I really love this one.

Of course I couldn't just leave this alone...I recently bought a Sally Hansen Color Quick Pen in Fuchsia Chrome on clearance at Target. The Chrome pens are amaZing for stamping...I highly recommend them! Here is something else that I used a chrome pen with in a previous mani. So that's what the stamping color is and then the plates used are BM 19 and Born Pretty plate 59. I had a freak out when I saw how beautifully it all came together. I am a girly girl through and through so I looove these designs! :)

Anyways, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed this mani! <3

* CND polish was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest opinions. 

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso Review

Good morning! For today's post I reviewed one of Milani's baked blushes. The shade is Luminoso. Since last summer, I have converted to using only cream/mousse type blushes. I love the flawless look that comes from that formula. So I was nervous of what my opinion of a non cream blush would be.

For reference, this is how this blush comes packaged. I like it and didn't think it was too cheap looking or anything like that. The actual blush pan lifts up and underneath there is a mirror and little brush there.  

Now onto swatches! This is a peachy blush which was a bit out of my comfort zone...I always gravitate towards pink/bronze shades. But I really think this shade can be universally flattering on any skin tone...I would love to see what this looks like on you ladies with darker skin. When I first swatched this on my hand, I noticed more shimmer/glitter than what I am used to. But when actually using it on my face it wasn't too much at all! I quickly fell in love with this shade!

Here are swatches...all the same shade but I feel like the multiple pics help capture what this blush is all about best. See how natural this looks? It really compliments the skin instead of taking over.

 And finally, here is the look I put together with this blush. I love the glowy look that this blush creates without it just looking like I have on a bronzer.

This blush retails for $7.99 on Milani's website. Have you ladies tried any of Milani's Baked Blushes? Thanks for reading!! <3

Become a fan of Milani

http://www.facebook.com/milani

Twitter: @milanicosmetics

*This product was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

CND Violet Shimmer

Happy Saturday! I looove me a lazy Saturday! Also, I changed my blog layout again! I think this one is here to stay for a while, but who really knows? I have too much fun redoing it. haha Hope you like it! :)

Just a quick post today...I am showing you CND Violet Shimmer over a few different polishes. In the bottle it doesn't look like much, but it really can transform polishes to give them a new look. Since I don't   

have my whole stash with me because I am on vacation, I wasn't able to explore the entire range of what Violet Shimmer looks good on top of, but I think you get the idea!

From left to right: Fingerpaints Artist's Sapphire, CND Asphalt. CND Gold Chrome, and Fingerpaints Coral Compliment.

And with Violet Shimmer layered on top. I think the combo with Artist's Sapphire is my favorite. Although the transformation is subtle, the Effects polishes are a great way to expand your collection without having to buy tons of new colors. I will definitely be experimenting to find more fun combos with this polish!

What do you think about CND Effects? CND polish retails for $9/bottle and the Effects $11/bottle. They available at CND.com. <3

* This polish was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Milani Lip Flash Pencil Review

Hey hey! My husband and I are babysitting today and got locked out while the kids were riding bikes outside. I was freaking out until my amazing husband climbed up the balcony on the house and happened to find a spare key! Crisis averted!! 

I have another makeup item to show you today. It's the Milani Lip Flash Full Coverage Shimmer Gloss Pencil. The shade is Photo Flash. When I first saw this it really intrigued me that a gloss could come in pencil form and actually work decently. Although it's not totally a gloss, it definitely has some moisture to it.

My overall opinion of this product is I LOVE it! Even though the color is brighter than what I tend to gravitate toward, it was super wearable and I didn't feel silly or self conscious when I had it on. It has a clean application, and I like the consistency because it's thinner than lipstick, but more rich than a gloss. I  definitely want to try out the other shades! 

Here is a swatch of Photo Flash. The only thing I haven't been able to form an opinion on is that fact that this pencil sharpens and isn't retractable. In my past experience, softer pencils like this tend to use lots more product up during the sharpening process. 

This color had great staying power and lasted a good portion of the day for me. 

For more drama, add a clear gloss on top!

Finally, these seem to be almost identical to Urban Decay's Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color pencils at a fraction of the price! The Milani Pencils come in 8 different shade and retail for $6.99 on Milani's website. Have any of you seen these in stores?

Become a fan of Milani

http://www.facebook.com/milani

Twitter: @milanicosmetics

*This product was sent to me for review in exchange for my honest opinions.