Giveaway Winner!

Hello All!

As you may know I hosted my first giveaway for my followers, it started about a month ago, and ended yesterday! (April 29th)

I didn't want to waste any time in announcing the winner... so after going through all the entries to check that everyone followed all the rules for fairness of those who did... I finally came up with the numbers to put in random.org!

... and the winner of the Too Faced Natural Eye Palette +other goodies is... *DRUMROLL* ;)


Silvia @ http://beyondmysweetestdreams.blogspot.com/
(look forward to receiving an email from me!)

I'd like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who entered! And another big thank you to all that follow my blog!

Those who didn't win, I will have more great giveaway's in the future, so no worries!

♥ you all!

Piggy Polish Flop, and Natural Smokes

Hello dolls,

Have any of you tried the Maybelline Natural Smokes quad? I'm sure a lot of you have seen these quads, or own one of them, they have been out for quite a while now and they are actually pretty decent. When I first started getting more and more into makeup I had tried a drugstore brand single shade... can't remember if it was Cover Girl or Maybelline, but there was absolutely no pigmentation, with these quads however that is not the case!

I think it's hit and miss with some of the shades... for my quad I find that the "Lid" color is a little harder to work with than the other shades. So just keep that in mind! The price for ranges from $5-7, depending on where you look for them.

Here is a little step by step tutorial (notice I put a few of the steps together, next time I'll try not to do that, lol), but I really like the outcome I get using the Natural Smokes Quad.

Yesterday I went to Ulta, I had a $5 dollar off coupon so I picked up Piggy Polish in Tic Tac TOES, and I also got Seche Vite Fast drying top coat. I loved the color of Tic Tac Toes in the store, but when I got home and applied it, not so much... Don't you hate when that happens? Firstly I found it very hard to apply to make it look decent. It was very streaky, and somewhat runny. It would definitely take patience. The Seche Vite however, I like so far... I've only had it on since yesterday, but so far no chips, and I did notice my nails dried much faster!


I couldn't stand the way that Piggy Polish looked on, not to mention it started rubbing off? So I picked out an older polish that I am really loving now. This is Savvy Polish in Cotton Candy.


And lastly a picture of my little girl! I got her a new onesie that I love! So I had to snap some pictures of her in it. It's so hard to get her to stay still for pictures now!!!


If you haven't entered My Giveaway, make sure to check out the link in the upper right corner!

♥

NYX Bundle Sale...

(click picture to go to site)

Hey Ladies!

Just wanted to do a quick posts to share this,
NYX has some great bundle buy's... so if you love this brand, or you are interested in trying it out... you could get a whole bundle of whatever it maybe your interested in... (i.e. lipsticks, pigments, lashes).

I may get the Lash bundle set, it looks awesome!!




♥

Essence Cosmetics Review!

Hey ladies!

I have a haul from Essence Cosmetics I wanted to share, I've had this stuff for about a month now... at first I wasn't going to include it on my blog because I was unsure how I felt about all of it, but.... ! I wanted to go ahead and show you all, just in case you run across this brand and are wondering about the quality or you haven't heard or seen anything from this brand, and may want to check it out yourself.

Recently Essence Cosmetics became available at Ulta; I saw Miss Natty blog about this brand, and that was the first time I had heard of them.

I picked up a pair of eyelashes (99 cents), 3 eyeshadow quads (2.99 each?), and three eyeliners (99 cents each).

This quad is "Aqua Flash"

"Sixties Reloaded"

"Sooo Cool"

The black one is a felt tip liquid liner, it reminds me of a sharpie...

Eyeshadow Quads Pros & Cons:
+OK pigmentation
+Cheap
+Pretty Colors
-Can be chalky
-Easy to blend away the color

Eyeliners: After swatching them on my wrist, my wrist got a little red and itchy :/ So i haven't used them on my eyes. I will say the lilac and grey ones seem like they would tug at your eye.

Lashes: Haven't used these yet, but I couldn't resist the cute packaging!

Wearing colors from the quad "Sooo Cool"

Overall ... I would say try out these if you are just looking for some inexpensive shadows/cosmetics with OK quality to play around with. They have a variety of things and colors to choose from. They also sell single shadows, not sure if they are any different.

Click here to enter my giveaway.


♥

Mini Haul - Ulta & CVS

Hey ladies,

I have a small haul to share with you all. I had a 20 percent off coupon for Ulta, so I here are just a few of the things I got last week. I didn't really see too much that I wanted (surprisingly) probably because I have been trying to limit my spending lately. I actually got the HiP cream liners from CVS, they were all on clearance for five dollars each (yay)! I previously had their black cream liner but it's a few months old so now it's not as creamy as it was before, so I figured why not get a new one while it's on sale... I also picked up the shade "eggplant" which I am loving as well.

Here are the two lipsticks I picked up at Ulta; Revlon's Soft Nude, and Revlon's Paparazzi Pink. I LOVE Soft Nude. I urge you to go get this if you are a fan of nude tones. In the past I stayed away from nudes because I felt like they would make my lips look ashy against my tan skin.... but this one is perfect, love it. Paparazzi Pink applies quite sheer, it's not my favorite, but I'll still use it. I think it would be great for anyone who has naturally pink undertones in their lips.

I decided to try a new mascara, for the longest time I have been stuck on Cover Girl Lash Blast. But I saw Rimmel's Sexy Curves was cheaper and I liked the packaging so.. .why not, right? I love this mascara! It really does seem to curl my lashes as well as lengthen and thicken. A+ from me.

If you have tried these cream liners before, you probably already know how great they are. They are easy to apply, versatile use, nice creamy texture, and there are a variety of shades to chose from! I was hesitant to get the eggplant shade because I thought purple? I'm not going to use that much, right? But actually it's such a deep purple (which makes sense when I think of an eggplant)it can be worn for day or night without looking silly.



Well that's all for now!

If you would like to enter my giveaway and haven't already click here!

♥

Sephora Color Play 5 in 1 Palette Review

Hey Ladies,

So sometime last week I went to my local Sephora with a mission; to buy their new palette, the color play 5 in 1.

I had seen it on one of my previous strolls through their store, and knew it was something I possibly wanted to get, but decided to wait. Well, obviously I finally got it, and I'm really happy that I did :) The palette had a lot of great reviews on their website, and I have been wanting a new variety of shades for my shadow collection. So right now this is this is the perfect addition. The colors are nicely pigmented, they are not too hard to blend... and best of all, you are getting 50 shadows for 30 bucks; plus a few blushes and lip glosses. I'm not too sure about the blushes yet... I feel like there is only one that is not too light for my cheeks.

Love the names of each individual palette!

the palette comes with another smaller case that will allow you to put one of the five to take on the go!

they are not just pigmented to the touch of the finger, they will show up on your eyes pigmented as well :)

If you love what you see, you can get it for 15% off, what a deal! I'm pretty sure that you can use this coupon for lots of other goodies as well.

If you would like to enter my giveaway and haven't already, click here.


♥

Online ELF Order; Haul & Review

Hey lovely's.
I have yet another ELF haul to show you all (i promise this will be the last one for awhile!). I guess I've gone a little crazy purchasing from this brand recently... (first time from Target) but I can actually justify this purchase, not only is ELF Cosmetics cheap to begin with, I found a 50% off all studio products when you order online. You can't beat that! So here is my haul...

This kabuki brush is really nice for 3 bucks! I must admit I did think it would be bigger :/ This is like a mini kabuki... I placed it on my hand so that you could see its a little smaller than the size of my palm.

The ELF High Definition powder is somewhat hard for me to review at the moment. I'd have to use it more to really tell you the results. I will say that it is not very translucent so people who have tanner/darker skin... be careful!

I got two ELF Studio shadows... one is the color Sand Dollar, the other is Wild Wheat. The pigmentation on these is OK. Not the best, but not bad either. As with any other shadow maybe they can be enhanced with a primer/shade stick/applied wet.

The two blushes I got are in the shades Fuchsia Fusion and Mellow Mauve. In the packaging the Fuchsia Fusion is beautiful... it looks very pink and sparkly. They apply OK. You can build the color, the sparkles were not too much for me. Mellow Mauve is more matte.

Up next are the Complexion and Powder Brushes. These are not bad for 3 bucks! The complexion brush is still somewhat small for me to use as a powder brush for my mineral foundation. But I still think it's a great deal,and great for those who don't have many brushes. The powder brush not as round as it looked on the site. The only difference I see between these two is that the powder brush has a flat top. I thought it would have been more dense at the top.

This lip stain is in Birthday Suit. It is once again OK. I don't dislike it. I think I need to use it a few more times (along with everything else) to give my true verdict. I will say I found it applied best by putting a little clear gloss first, then the pigment gloss, and then a little more clear!

Here I tested the products out. I wasn't able to pick up way the blush really looked on with my camera very well... sorry!

LASTLY
I was given the beautiful blogger award by Taj Acosta. Thanks love!



Rules
Copy the award and place it on your own blog
Post a link to nominator
Express 7 things about yourself
Nominate seven other bloggers
Link them

1. My favorite color is pink
2. I have read all seven Harry Potter books
3. I am a retired violinist
4. I am still best friends with my BFF's from middle and high school!
5. I hate scary movies. I don't watch them and turn my head when previews on TV come on. Lol (seriously though).
6. I've never been much of a party girl. But as I'm getting older I feel like I need to start going out more while I still have my youth.
7. Three years ago today I officially became apart of the first and finest black female Greek Sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. We are the pretty ladies in pink and green.

(Sorority Picture... this was me two years ago, thank God I don't fry my hair anymore, now it's much longer & healthier)

I tag any of you beautiful lady's who haven't received the award yet and would like to do it!

Also If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, be sure to, two posts down! :)
Oh yah, if you want to use the ELF Studio 50% off discount code: EGSTUDZ

♥

Just a few Kodak Moments

Hyacinth's I bought my mother for Easter, they smelled soooo nice.

A few years ago I begged my parents for a cute small dog....

Here is Saja...
here is her sister, Mischa...

Here is Milo... *edit* above that is..




Decided to do a mini manicure on my nails last night. OPI's Venus Di Violet is one of my favorite polishes... I may do a NOTD when I can show them in natural light.



>>>I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe weekend. My Easter was spent quietly with my family... Me and Brian went to Mi Casita's Mexican Restaurant for dinner (not very traditional, I know). Mexican food has long been one of my favorite dishes. I always get the chicken burrito and rice, no need for a menu. I didn't bring my camera in to snap pictures, but it was Kailei's first time sitting in a high chair at a restaurant. She turned 6 months old on Good Friday. Time really flies, but then again it always has, even before I had her. I know you've heard the saying "they grow up so fast".... but honestly isn't life just fast? I thank God everyday I'm alive :)

Oh, and if you haven't already feel free to enter my mini giveaway below ;)

♥