Update

Lots going on since I last posted and with this long memorial day weekend, I have been keeping extremely busy, I wanted to do a super quick post just saying that I will be hopefully posting once the craziness has passed, but right now I have my friends engagement party to get ready for so I will talk to you guys later! Have a fun and safe memorial day weekend everyone!!

New shoes

So today I picked up some lovely new shoes and I cannot say enough good things about them. They are by far the most comfortable dressy shoes I've ever owned. I am going out to dinner with my cousin and his fiance this weekend downtown and decided I needed a pair of black suede wedge heels to complete my outfit and was on the hunt for a great pair. When on the hunt, I stumbled upon Payless and found the exact pair that I was looking for and they were on sale for only $19.99! Now knowing this and needing them in such a short amount of time, I had a feeling I just wouldn't find them in stores, but I took my chance anyway and went to my local Payless store and luckily they had the exact pair and in my size!

I went home and immediately tried them on with my entire outfit and they matched exactly as I imagined them to in my head. I am relieved because I am the type of person who gets an idea of an outfit and I need every component of that outfit to work and when it does (like in this case) it's great, but in some cases when it doesn't, it does suck because the whole concept of the outfit goes awry. Anyway besides the shoes nothing else really going on. In a future blog I will be doing a tutorial on how to get super easy curly waves using a hair dryer diffuser in less than 10 mins! Also in a future blog, I'm going to be going to Sephora in the next few days to stock up on some makeup that is running a bit low and also trying to venture out into some other products so I will be doing a blog on that as well. So, until then!

Bioré® Deep Cleansing Pore Strips

A few weeks ago I saw an ad for these pore cleansing strips to get rid of blackheads on your nose and at first I was skeptical, but eventually I gave in and got a box to try out. These Bioré® Deep Cleansing Pore Strips were $5.99 for 8 nose strips at Target. The way these strips work if you have never used them before is you want to apply one just about every week. First you want to start out by washing your face completely and then drying it with a towel. Then, after you remove the strip from the package there are small slits that you can twist to separate prior to applying. I like to use a cotton ball for the next step because it's a bit easier, but you want to wet the cotton ball and thoroughly wet your nose. The strip won't stick on so well if your nose is dry. Making sure your hands are dry, peel the strip from the plastic and apply onto your nose with the hump part at the top of your nose and making sure to smooth down the sides and pressing down to make sure you have good contact with the skin. Once you applied the strip, leave it on for about 10-15 mins until it gets hard to the touch, feeling sort of like paper-mache and then you want to slowly and carefully (because it may hurt at first) peel off the strip starting at either one of the edges. Once you have peeled it off your nose will feel super smooth like a baby's bottom! You can actually see the blackheads on the strip which is super cool because that way you know it is working. Just by feeling your nose you can tell it is working and I have used it for the past 3 weeks and over that time I have noticed fewer and fewer blackheads. I really like this product and for the price and quality of it you can't go wrong. 

TGIF

Hey everyone! So this past week has been nuts at work been staying super busy and with the beautiful weather outside it's been great! Last night I went out and it was unplanned which was awesome. It was gorgeous outside so I figured I would throw on a simple and casual print dress. I absolutely love this dress because it is very versatile, you can throw on a pair a cute sandals and make it casual (which is what I did) or you can even dress it up with a pair of heels. 

With my makeup I kept it pretty basic and simple just playing up my eyes with a smokey eye. Accessories wise I also kept it simple with a jade necklace and diamond stud earrings. 

A few friends and I went over to this Mexican restaurant called Lalo's which has great food, but we all just went to watch the NBA playoffs and drink some margaritas. I got a super yummy mango margarita which tasted divine, but one was plenty for me. We hung out there until it closed and called it a night. It was a chill night, but I feel like those are the best kind sometimes. Hope everyone had a great Friday night and a great rest of the weekend!! 

OOTD

Hey everyone, things have been pretty crazy and I have been trying to get a post out, but finally I got a little bit of time to get a post up. I just wanted to do a quick little post about my outfit for today, I was off work today, but I had tons of errands to run and I'm going out tonight with a couple co-workers so it's been crazy. Today's outfit is super casual and a relaxed look because the weather outside was gorgeous all day with no rain! 

My outfit consisted of:


{1} Victoria's Secret blue long sleeved top
{2} Gilly Hick's jeans
{3} White canvas shoes from Target

The nails I have on is L'Oreal Paris nail polish in Mango get-em. My make-up today was:

{1} Kat Von D tattoo concealer in Almond

{2} MAC mineralize skinflinish powder in Medium Dark

{3} ELF tone correcting concealer in Apricot Beige

{4} Clinique soft-pressed powder blusher in New Clover

{5} ELF waterproof eyeliner pen in black

{6} ELF eyelid primer

{7} ELF brightening eyeliner in black

{8} MAC eyeshadow in Retro Speck

{9} Avon loose powder eyeshadow in midnight mauve

{10} Maybelline great lashes/lots of lashes in very black

{11} L'Oreal Paris colour riche balm in tender mauve

Alright, that's all for now, I'll get a new post up after going out tonight! 

Nails Nails Nails

I am pretty obsessive when it comes to my nails, I feel like they need to always be painted with either a cute color or some sort of clear gloss. I feel like people don't care about their nails and when others look at chipped, unclipped, and plain nasty looking nails they make a quick judgement about your hygiene. What other people may not know is the health benefits of keeping your nails clean because if you don't clean and take care of your nails you can risk getting bacteria and that turning into an infection. Just simply filing the nails and soaking it in warm water to push back cuticles and putting a coat of clear gloss can do a lot for the appearance of your nails. I'm gonna post pictures and brand/colors of each of the recent and favorite colors I have in my huge polish collection. Hope you take some time out and paint your nails in a cute color and even do a design if your skilled enough! For all of the nails I have used Sally Hansen's double duty strengthening base & top coat both before polish and afterwards using it as a glossy finish.

                         

1. Use as a base coat along with a finish on top of the polish.
2. Two coats of polish and it spread very evenly and color came up super vibrant.
3. One coat worked perfect, but be careful of wiping polish from brush lays on kinda thick.
4. Two solid and even coats with an amazing finish and gorgeous color.
5. Two coats because polish is fairly sheer w/ one coat. Love the shimmery gold specks.
6. Two solid and even coats with a fantastic finish to it.
7. Two coats of polish came on nice and glossy before using top coat.
8. One coat applies evenly and somewhat blotchy but with top coat finishes better.
9. Two coats work great but it somewhat looked blotchy and sheer.


Hope this post helped you pick some great colors out for this season and also what you can wear all year long.

April Favorites: All about the lips

Your mouth/lips say a lot about you to a person. Laugh lines, cracked lips, lip stain, glosses, sticks, whatever you use everyone is always worried about making sure their lips are well moisturized and look plump and full. I am thankful that I was given beautiful full and plump lips, so I don't use many lip plumpers or products that promise more fuller looking lips. I don't really even tend to wear many lip colors because I don't like to draw too much attention to the lips, but I do make sure my lips are always moisturized and have some sort of gloss on 'em. In the past I have just grabbed a pack of chapsticks and made sure they were evenly distributed having one in my makeup bag, one in my work locker, another in my purse and even one on my nightstand just so I would always have some sort of access to chapstick. Now more and more I have ventured out into different balms, butters, and lipsticks. The lip products I'm gonna go over in this post vary in brand, price, and what they offer for your lips, but I love and use them all (of course, not all at once).

The first is just a simple lip balm that I have seen more and more women using. It is oddly shaped and at first I thought it looked a little ridiculous and then one day on impulse while waiting in line at the store it was there and I figured why the hell not, the worst that could happen is that I hate it and I'm out $2.99. 

So this is the eos Strawberry Sorbet organic lip balm sphere and it's basically just a clear balm that really does the job of keeping your lips nice and moisturized and it does add a little shine to your lips without overdoing it. The balm comes in so many different flavors and for the affordable price tag you can't go wrong with having a few of these around.


The next is another lip balm made from Maybelline and it's their baby lips collection. I actually saw an ad in a magazine and thought these were cute esp in the different colors and convenient size. I think I went to about 5 different stores and they were sold out everywhere! I couldn't believe it, then I finally drove about 10 miles away (trust me it was totally worth it) and I found the colors that I really wanted. The ones I got are in pink punch (#25) and peach kiss (#30), these are really cute and fun colors for the summertime and surprisingly all year long if you wanted. 






The pink punch balm is a flirty color that you can wear to a day at the beach, out on a date, or out at night. It isn't too pigmented where it looks super pink but it does give sort of a sheer factor to your lips with a great pink color.











The peach kiss is a bit of an everyday balm because it has a sheerness to it with added shimmer so you can wear it day or night at work or going out. The great thing about these balms is that they are supercharged with moisture on your lips so not only are you getting a great color, but you are getting essentially, baby lips.




The last of the lip balm category that I have is from L'oreal Paris Color Riche balm collection. The color I fell in love with is Tender Mauve (#518) and I love any color that has a neutral quality in them, a color that can essentially be worn with all colors and I believe this one is a shade that goes with everything. I got this because I had a coupon for a L'oreal cosmetic and decided to try it and with the $5.99 price tag you can't go wrong. One of my favorite things about this balm is that it gives your lips a great color, but it feels like silk on your lips and it has SPF 15 in it to so it's healthy for your lips! If you are searching for a great lipstick/balm then I highly suggest getting yourself a few because they have a great range of colors as well, I will definitely be getting this color and more in the future. 

The final 2 lip products I have for this month are lipsticks from NYX which I bought from Ulta. I love both of these lip shades and they look great. 


The first one is called Thalia (#529) and this is apparently a popular shade because I had to call a couple different Ulta stores to find it in stock. It is an awesome color to wear when your going out and it matches with just about everything, it again has a purple-ish color to it and it finishes glossy and not sticky so you don't need to put a gloss over it. I would recommend just putting a clear chapstick or balm (like the eos Strawberry sorbet) on before the lipstick just for longer lasting color. With this color a little bit goes a long way because it is pretty pigmented when it's on your lips.

The second one is called Heather (#623) and this color is like a rosy red or pink color and it is perfect for a date night because of the romantic appeal of it. It again is really pigmented so a little goes a long way and you won't need any top gloss unless you like extra shine, but again I recommend just using a base chapstick or balm since it is a lipstick.






Well I think I covered a lot of different lip products so I hope you found something you liked or got out of this and hopefully if I get some more next month I can share those with you!

April Favorites: E.L.F Edition

So lately I have been hearing a lot of great news about e.l.f products which are super affordable and from the sounds of reviews I've read pretty great quality. You also get a generous quantity of product for the affordable price you pay for. So far I've gotten all my products from Target because I don't really like shopping for makeup online, but you can get stuff from the website. What I learned about the products (in stores, at least) is that the most expensive any product gets is $10, just to give you a price range of their line.

 

So this is the e.l.f blush in tickled pink #11205, what I like is not only the $3 price tag for their studio line, but the blush itself is a really nice silky pigmented color. The color of the pink gives your cheeks a great flush which looks really natural. I also like that there is a bit of shimmer hidden in the color which is a nice finish once it's on, but it's not overly shimmery either.


The 2nd product is  the e.l.f beauty book in a neutral eye set. It's awesome and at $5 it includes a lot; 6 shadows, 1 primer, 1  eyeliner, 1 eyeshadow applicator. Inside the book it also includes a step by step guide to how to apply the perfect eye makeup which is great for a novice. I included some swatches of the shadow colors (sorry for the lighting, some of the colors are just not dark enough).

 




I haven't used all of the colors but I have used the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th colors combined to do a neutral eye and along with the primer (which I will talk more about next) it lasted through the night with minimal creasing and smudging.


So like I mentioned before, next up is the e.l.f eyelid primer. Now I know in the beauty eye book a small version of the primer is included, but I liked it so much that I had to get the regular size and for just $1 it is definitely a steal. So I never really used a eyelid primer before a few months ago, but after watching a lot of eye makeup tutorial I noticed a trend of using the primer and definitely saw a difference in my shadow lasting longer with the primer as opposed to without.

 

I swatched the primer on my wrist just to show you the color, but it does blend into your skin and it becomes translucent. TIP: If you have never used a primer on your eyelid then just remember you place it on your entire lid and brow bone BEFORE placing any eye makeup including liner and mascara.


Next is e.l.f tone correcting concealer and my shade is an apricot beige #10506, I sort of just guessed my shade and hoped it was the correct one. Luckily for me, the color was a perfect match. Now this concealer I mainly got to use for under my eyes. After applying my foundation I noticed my under eye area was still a little darker and with this concealer I just apply a thin line with the brush and blend with my finger and it sort of just matches up with your skin tone and I noticed it does a little highlight underneath which I think is great!

 

The final item in this post is the e.l.f studio makeup mist & set with aloe, green tea, cucumber and vitamins A, C & E. This product is a godsend! Basically the easiest way to explain it is to use it as a hairspray for your face. A few pumps 6-12" away from your face and it will hold your makeup in place for the day/night. I mostly use this if I am going to an event or going out at night and it has worked for me so far and I cannot rave about it more. I have told a lot of my friends who complain about makeup smudging or smearing throughout the day, especially in the hot summertime. And for $3 for a 2 oz bottle you can't go wrong, I have one of my makeup bag and another in my purse!

  


So, I think I've gone over some great e.l.f products and I will do another post another day about other April favorites that I've picked up!

Hump day

As I sit here enjoying my yummy and delicious bowl of reese's cereal I decided it would be the perfect time to write another blog post. See I told you I would get better at this keeping up thing, granted it is only the 2nd day. Well today was just another day at work, a little bit more frustrating I think, but nonetheless it ended and I was onto the rest of my day. I actually did something that I have been thinking about doing for quite some time now, going back to school to further my education and after meeting with an academic advisor, I found that this dream may become a reality pretty shortly. More on that once I get closer to taking the classes and whatnot, I am sure I won't enjoy it that much when I am back studying all the time. Afterwards, I went over to my favorite store, Target to pick up a few items. Nothing major just needed some more heat protectant spray and I opted for a different one since they didn't have the one I normally use. So I picked up this little number.

Aussie heat protecting shine spray
About $3.00!!

Besides the spray I got some vitamin water and more cereal! All in all I would say it was a good shopping time, afterwards I had a few more quick errands to run and once I finally got home I couldn't wait to change out of my work clothes into some comfortable sweats! I had been wanting to just get home and relax the moment I got into work. Tomorrow I have a much deserved and necessary day off from work and even though I may not be working I will have to go back to the hospital to go for a doctor's appointment. Well the weather is supposed to be nicer so that should be a good thing, maybe I can get a walk/run in if the weather permits. Well today was just another boring day I suppose, but tomorrow is yet another day. So until then!

So for my first (real) post I wanted to post a video I put up on Youtube.com, this is the first video I've ever done and it's a hair tutorial.  I don't think I have great hair by any means, but I have tricks up my sleeve to make it look like it. So this video sort of explains it all, but here is just a little bit more in case you were wondering.  So I'm using a Revlon VolumeStay Hot air kit that I bought from Ulta.

Revlon Hot Air Styling Kit 

It's fairly cheap and with their coupon you can't beat the price for the quality your getting. What this styler basically does is it blow dries your hair while styling it all at once. It is a little tricky to use at first but once you get the hang of how it works on your hair you can come up with a technique that works best for you. Like I say in the video, you do not have to use any hair products, but what I would recommend is first starting off with a Heat Protectant Spray you can use any brand you prefer, but I have always loved Tresemme products for my hair. After I finish styling my hair in the video I show a John Freida Smoothing creme that helps with the frizz and flyaways at the root of your hair. Just using a small quarter size amount and working that through your hair will go a long way.  Again, you don't need to use the smoothing creme, but if you notice flyaways and don't want a hairspray feeling then the John Freida is great. I hope this video is helpful for anyone who wants to do something different to their hair without it being impossible. I am not a hair expert by any means ( I can curl, braid, and flat iron my hair), but with this styler you can have hair that looks great! Here is my video that I made to be a tutorial on how to use this product. 

What I didn't include in the video was a proper before/after picture, but here is a picture of what my hair looks like before (wet and slightly wavy) and then after (gorgeous and easy curls). If anyone (who actually reads this blog) has any questions at all, leave me a comment on either the blog post, youtube video, or you can always email me nikkipatel1988@gmail.com! Thanks ya'll for reading this!

I'm baaack

I am highly doubtful that anybody out there has read my one lousy post on this blog, but I did have another blog that I was keeping updated and I failed at that one as well.  Well I stumbled back on my original blog and I have decided to start her up again.  Like i mentioned in the first Post, I am horrible at keeping up and I probably have 0 followers or readers.  Oh well, I guess I will just use this blog like a personal diary, except for the fact that it's on the internet and anyone can look it up.  Oh well, I have nothing interesting going on in my life anyway so why the heck not.  I am not really great at doing blog posts either, I just have learned stuff from the blogs I am following and read religiously :)!  On this blog I hope to just talk about life, love, fashion/shoes, and makeup. Aren't those the simple joys of life anyway?! I have some amazing friends and awesome co-workers. Here's to hoping my bloggin' is successful this time around!