Something I used to do a lot a few months ago (before my life sort of changed) was get intricate with my nail designs. Ever since, I either haven’t had time or gave up on it.
Does this mean my life has officially gone back to normal? I wouldn’t call this intricate by any means, but I’m glad that I’m getting back into the things I love. Blogging included.
Max doesn’t look like he cares very much, but I forgive him.
I’m going with a simple, sparkly silver polish for this year’s new year celebration. Are you doing anything festive beauty-wise this year? If your haven’t given it much thought, here are some of my favorite looks I’ve found that can easily be replicated at home!
Sorry for only one swatch... I wasn't a fan of the Seafoam!
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Look at me, branching out from OPI again! I don’t usually like to take risks on buying nail polish because I like the color range and quality of OPI. However, when I saw two of my favorite colors at Forever 21 at $2.80 a pop… I couldn’t resist.
Scent: F21 actually has scented polish, but these are from their regular Love & Beauty line. They don’t have an overwhelming scent. I’d rank them as average in the smelly department. However, a did notice a sharper scent than OPI, which lead me to believe there was some not-so-good stuff in here. (Which wouldn’t surprise me. F21 uses an insane amount of chemicals on their clothes alone…) Sure enough, these polishes contain everything you want to avoid. Just for that, I had to knock a star off my rating.
Application: The application is a breeze. It has a standard round brush, which I used to hate but the medium consistency of the polish makes it easy to apply. These usually take a few coats to get an opaque finish. My favorite aspect of these polishes is that they last forever… My OPI will chip quickly (I need a better top coat…) but these last for up to two weeks without chips. Wonderful!
Color: The first color I chose is Seafoam, which I thought would be more of a muted light blue but ended up having golden undertones and a bit of sparkle, which I don’t like in my polish. I usually stay away from colors in general, so I knew this was a risk. At least it was cheap! The second colors is Totally Taupe, which would be one of my go-to polishes if it weren’t for the cruddy ingredients… The color is a beautiful neutral with no noticeable sparkles. It does have a slightly pink undertone, but I still like it. It matches my skin tone well and is great for a toned down but classic look.
Price: It’s $2.80, who can complain?
These are great quality in terms of staying power and colors at their price point. However, the huge drawback of these lies in their ingredients. What a shame! I prefer to stay away from harsher chemicals in my make-up, nail polish included, so I likely won’t be picking these up again. However if you don’t mind the toxic ingredients and prefer low budget polish, I highly recommend these!
Fall is officially here! I’m incredibly excited, because fall has always been my favorite season. I was also born in the fall. Coincidence?
Everyone who has a favorite season can also agree that one of the best parts of your season arriving is the scents that come with it. Spring has floral scents, winter has candy and pine, summer has ocean, and fall has earthy scents along with some sweets. When I went on the Bath and Body Works website last week and saw they were having a two for $20 candle sale, I was over there in the blink of an eye. So many amazing new fall scents to fill my place with! And the price can’t be beat. It’s usually $19.99 for one of those huge candles. I ended up buying three, because each additional candle was only $10. If I had more money I probably would’ve gotten a large amount and saved them. Unfortunately I don’t have much to spend, and I totally blew it all on these candles. Worth it.
Here is one of my favorites, Marshmallow Fireside:
Josh actually doesn’t care for this scent, but he hates anything that smells sweet. (It’s hard for me to buy candles and/or perfumes!) Marshmallow Fireside reminds me of when I was in elementary school and my girl scout troop had our monthly camping opportunity. We would all gather around a huge open fire roasting marshmallows, making smores, and telling stories. The scent of it smells like burning oak with a hint of that sweet toasty marshmallow. It smells delicious.
I have a weird relationship with this candle because I’m a vegetarian and haven’t eaten marshmallows since I was a kid. (They contain animal parts/gelatin.) So I told Josh, maybe that’s why I’m obsessed with the smell of this candle. It’s like my guilt-free indulgence into marshmallows. You can already tell it’s been well used over the past week when Josh is at work. I’ll probably buy more for decoration as the weeks go by.
I also got excited when I went to my local grocery and saw squash everywhere. I bought a few for decoration (which I’ll probably eat somehow) and a few to stuff my face with.
Those candles are fake. Don't judge me.
My favorite at the moment is acorn squash, which I had for the first time with coconut curry in a New Orleans cafe and it blew me away. Delicious!
My oven is probably the world's smallest.
Slice in half, take the seeds out, and lather it in cinnamon sugar. Bake it 25 minutes at 375. So simple. It tastes like apple pie, but you’re actually eating a big vegetable. Score! (I also bake the seeds in oil and salt, I love them.) I find these are best cooked and eaten fresh. And of course I love my pumpkin, but there’s no way I’m attempting to cut a big one on my own. I’ll stick to pre-made pumpkin dishes and my favorite Starbucks treat, the infamous (seasonal) Pumpkin Spice Latte.
And finally, fall wouldn’t be here without the fashion either. My favorite nail polishes are finally in season! Dark reds, white, and browns are all in right now and I’m going to celebrate by picking some up when I can. It’s also time for dark or red lipsticks, which are showing up all over the runway. I personally stick to neutral eyes during the time. I’m actually still on my blushing eyes palette!
Marshmallow by Essie, Linkin Park After Dark by OPI, Los Angeles Latte by OPI
