Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Better Late Than Never- February Favorites!

Hi love bugs!
We have officially survived another Winter month! I'm really not a fan of February at all! Despite it being the shortest month in the year, it always feels like the longest to me! Like we're just waiting around for something to happen and just trying to get through it unscathed! I don't know about you guys, but I am seriously OVER this Winter! I need sun and warmth ASAP! The only silver lining this month was the fact that so many new beauty products popped up in the stores! And of course I came up with a few favorites for you! :)

The first product I've fallen in love with is Murad's Skin Smoothing Polish! And I really mean LOVE! I use this about 2-4 times a week and after using it for the last two months or so, I really can't see myself switching to another face exfoliator any time soon! A little bit of this goes a long way, and it makes my skin feel super clean and soft! I wouldn't say I notice anything amazing for my pores really, but I do notice that my skin is clearer! I also just realized that one of the claims for this product balanced oil production! That could definitely be playing in part in why my skin has been less oily and shiny lately, or it's just the frozen tundra I'm living in! I'll have to keep using this as the warmer months approach to see if it really helps at all! I'll keep you posted! ;) 

 I know I wrote about a face primer in last months favorites but this month I switched it up a bit and now I am obsessed with Maybelline's FaceStudio Master Prime Blur + Smooth Primer! That's not to say I have any bad feeling towards last month's Angel Veil Primer by NYX, it's still a great product, I just saw this in the store and decided to give it a try! I seriously love, love, loooove this primer! Again, my skin has been more on the normal to dry side lately, so I have still been able to skip my milk of magnesia primer! This one goes on super smooth and I feel like it really does blur out my pores! Even my thicker foundations work beautifully with this! It allows me to get the most even, soft, and smooth foundation looks! My makeup also lasts forever when I wear this! It doesn't get shiny or cakey throughout the day and still looks flawless when the day is over and I'm taking it all off! A little bit of this goes a long way too, and it's totally affordable! 

For foundation I've been really enjoying the new L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte 24 Hour Foundation! This combined with the Maybelline primer above and my holy grail NYX Finishing Powder has been my go to way to do my face makeup! This foundation is a creamy liquid formula that dries totally matte! It gives a medium to full coverage, but is buildable for more coverage if you choose! I can't say that this necessarily lives up to the 24 hour claim (who wears makeup for 24 hours?), but it does stay matte and looking flawless throughout the day! I haven't noticed any change in the appearance of it or break down of the formula! This might just be one of my favorite drugstore foundations ever!

For my everyday eyeshadow looks, I've been using Milani's Eyeshadow Primer! This stuff seriously rocks! First of all it's only $5.99!!! Can you believe that? $5.99!! It's an amazing drugstore dupe for the majority of high-end eyeshadow primers (think Too Faced Shadow Insurance) but honestly, it is even better, in my opinion! And... did i mention it's $5.99! Lol! It's a nice cream consistency that applies like most shadow primers, and it dries really nicely so there's not too much tugging when you go to apply your eyeshadows! Best part is your eyeshadow look lasts all day and stays looking beautiful! This too is quickly becoming a holy grail item for me! 

As you already know from my previous post, I've been super crazy obsessed with Colour Pop Super Shock Eyeshadows! These things are seriously so amazing! I've been particularly loving the shade Desert! It is the most perfect transition shade for the crease and it pairs well with pretty much any shade I put on my lid and brow bone! It reminds me of Mac's Soft Brown Eyeshadow only this is in Colour Pop's unique formula! This does have a little bit of shimmer to it, but I actually like the effect it gives! Seems to bring a little more brightness to my eyes!  

To apply the Colour Pop Desert Shadow in my crease, I've been using my Sigma E40 brush! At first, I kind of found little use for this brush since it is so big and fluffy! It was a bit intimidating for an eye brush considering it is almost the size of my entire eye! Lol! BUT... Using this brush to apply eyeshadow to the crease area has been life changing! I have no idea how it happens, but it deposits the color it the most perfect spot and blends everything out like a dream!! I'm being 100% honest when I tell you that I don't even remember what brush I was using for my crease before I started using the E40! If you buy one Sigma brush in your whole life.. make sure it is this one! 

For a few weeks, I was starting to feel like I was in an "eyeliner rut". I don't know why, but all of the ones I had been using were starting to bore me and I wanted something to "Wow" me! I decided to go back to one of my favorite eyeliner brands and purchased a Mally Beauty Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Liner in the shade Shimmering Black. I have always really loved these eyeliners! They apply so smooth and smudge perfectly! The color literally lasts all day long and never runs or flakes! I also really love this shade because while it's still a black eyeliner, there is just the teeny tinest amount of shimmer to it! It's almost undetectable, but I feel like it takes some of the drama out of the harshness that black eyeliner can sometimes have! This definitely helped me to get out of my rut! :)

I've been experimenting a LOT with eyebrow products! Some of them I love, but most of them I end up hating! Lol! This It Cosmetics brow pencil has been my go-to brow product all month long! It just works for me! No hassle, no fake looking drawn on brows! It glides into my eyebrows so smoothly and fills in the spots I need a little oomph in and makes them look more defined! And the shade is absolutely dead on for me! Out of all the brow products I've tried lately, this is by far my favorite! I think this is definitely going to become a huge staple in my makeup collection!


My all-star product for not only this past month, but this entire season so far, has been Bite Beauty's Agave Lip Mask in Champagne! I'm a huge, huge, HUGE fan of Bite Beauty's products and I might be so bold as to say this is one of my all time favorite products I have ever used in LIFE! The formula for this is unlike anything I've ever used! It's not sticky, it's not tacky, it's not too thick or too thin, it is just PERFECTION! I would seriously be lost without this anymore! And honestly, I just genuinely enjoy the way it feels on my lips! It feels luxurious and like you are really doing something special for yourself and your lips! It just keeps them super hydrated and smooth with minimal effort! What's not to love about that? I typically use this in the evening when I get home from work, or at night before I go to bed. But, I also like to sometimes just wear this on it's own. I love the pretty, glossy look it gives my lips and the champagne/ rose gold shade offers just a hint of color and shimmer! I seriously just love this stuff so much and could never begin to say enough great things about it! If you don't have this, go buy it! Seriously. Stop reading, and go now! You will love it!!!

Another lip product I have been obsessed with is one of Milani's new Color Statement Matte Lipsticks in the shade Matte Naked! Like the rest of the world, I've been loving matte lipsticks lately, but these are seriously the most comfortable ones I have tried! They are really light weight while also having great color payoff and staying power! I don't know how they accomplished all of these feats with one lipstick, but they deserve some sort of award for it! I also really love the shade of this lipstick! It's perfect for an everyday lipstick or a sleek and chic look! It's the perfect mix of pink and brown tones and it gives a great warm nude look to the lips! These have been pretty hard to find in my area, but I really hope I'll be able to get my hands on more shades soon!


So that's it for February! Sorry it took me so long to get this posted! But at least I made it before March was over! Haha!

Thanks for reading!

♥ Nichole




Instagram: @Coley0702
Twitter: @Coley7286




















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Thursday, March 26, 2015

February Ipsy Glam Bag

Hi loves!! 
Sorry this post is a little late! It's been a busy couple of weeks lately! But...I am loving February's Glam Bag! 

The Glam Bag is totally adorable! I love the girly pop of hot pink and the gray and white pattern! The pink color is pefect for February and is nice nod to Valentines day without being covered in cheesy cliche hearts! 

The first beauty item in my bag was GlamGlow's Brightmud Eye Treatment! I literally squealed when I saw this! I'm a big fan of GlamGlow and their mud masks! It's definitely a pricier brand, so I love when I can try something before I buy it (I always get samples from Sephora)! I'm so so so excited to try this eye treatment and really glad it was in this months bag! 

The second item I pulled out was City Color's Creamy Lip Stain in the shade Flirtini! I've heard a lot about City Color, but haven't tried any of their products, so this was pretty exciting to me! It's a really pretty darker pinkish-mauve color! I love the shade because it's not super bright or crazy Barbie pink (not really my thing)! The texture reminds me a lot of a liquid lipstick but slightly thinner (which is where I think the stain aspect comes in)! 

Next item was a blush compact by Model  Co. (a totally new brand to me) in the shade Peach Bellini! Now, anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE a good Peach Bellini! Lol! But.... I'm kinda on the fence with this blush to be honest, even though I really want to love it! First of all, it had a very strange smell upon opening it.. I can't really describe it, but it was slightly off putting, kind of like it had been sitting in a clearance bin for years in end! It is a very true peach shade and it has a very satiny finish with a tiny hint of shimmer. It almost appears "frosted" when you swatch it, and I honestly don't think I would love the look of this on my cheeks! I could see this working well as an eyeshadow so maybe I'll play around with it and see what I can come up with! 

I also received a gorgeous eyeshadow by Rob Scheppy for 'Tini Beauty (also a new brand for me) in the shade Pearl Fizz! Oh my goodness!!! This eyeshadow is absolutely beautiful! I seriously may be obsessed! It's a super creamy formula with a satin finish and I love the pretty champagne shade! It's simple, but elegant and I feel like this can easily be thrown on for a day at the office or dressed up for a night out! I'm totally in love! 


The last item in this month's bag was an Eva NYC Up All Night Volumizing Spray! You guys all know my thin, limp hair needs all the Volumizing help it can get, so I was excited to see this! It also protects your hair from heat so that's definitely a great bonus! And it also smells amazing! I have really high hopes for this stuff, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! :)

So overall it was another fabulous Ipsy month! I really love almost all of the products it received!
I will have my March Glam Bag posted soon! 
Thanks for reading!!

♥ Nichole 



Instagram: @Coley0702
Twitter: @Coley7286
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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Just a little update!


Hello my loves!
I just wanted to give you all a quick update on why I've been MIA lately... and basically it boils down to a "Winter Blues" melt down I had a few weeks ago! 
It all started at the end of February when my boyfriend and I took a little belated Valentines day getaway to Washington DC for the weekend. Despite it being the coldest day of the year, our trip got off to a nice start! 
We visited Arlington National Cemetery and walked the grounds in the frigid cold (which was a small price to pay to honor the hundreds of thousands buried there) and I finally got a chance to see the Kennedy grave site and the Eternal Flame. 

Being there and seeing the acres upon acres of graves was very moving, and I'm really glad we went! But, I'll be honest, I was probably the coldest I have ever been in my LIFE even while bundled up!
The next day we went into the city and were planning on touring some of the Smithsonian museums and getting lunch. Well, it started to snow as soon as we left our hotel and basically continued the rest of the day.

 Everything was gray, wet and cold. You could barely see the Washington Monument when you were just a few blocks away from it! But, we tried to make the best of it since we were there! We went to the National Museum Of American History, and saw some pretty cool stuff and then decided to break for lunch. 
I don't know if it was because of the weather or because it was a weekend, but we could't find a restaurant ANYWHERE nearby that was opened. So... We decided to walk about 2 miles in the snow (about 3 inches of snow covered sidewalks and streets... in sneakers... which was not easy at all) to the first place we could find. We had lunch finally, and then decided to keep on going and try to squeeze some more into our trip!
We took a very treacherous cab ride to the Lincoln Memorial where people were literally skiing around the National Mall, and my patience with the cold and snow were starting to wear very thin! 
We walked through the war memorials (which I'm sure are much nicer in warmer weather) and finally back through the Washington Monument to the train station to go back to the hotel. 
I don't want to sound ungrateful for our little getaway... and it was nice to spend time together, but the weather seriously brought me down hard! 
I think we definitely need a redo trip in the Fall maybe!

Either way, our little trip set the tone for a few weeks of seriously crappy weather here in South Jersey! It basically snowed every single week! I had zero motivation to do much of anything and felt myself sinking into a deep "Winter Snow Depression". I was super tired of having to drive to work on snow covered roads, tired of seeing it piled up high on the corners and tired of wearing Ugg boots everywhere! I was tired of wearing "snow clothes" to work (which for me consist of warm and cozy hoodies or sweaters since it's a casual office), and I was jealous that my boyfriend was getting snow day after snow day since he works for the school system! 
I had basically reached my breaking point and was just short of losing my mind! I was tired, angry, and starting to seriously suffer from lack of vitamin D! I started to wonder if it was too soon to become a snow bird and move south! 
So... Combine all of this with the fact that work has been a lot busier lately, I just could not find the motivation or energy to come home and blog or take photos of products! But... it is FINALLY starting to get a little warmer and I can officially and literally see the light! I don't know if I've ever been quite this excited for Spring! Lol! 
I just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about all of you! And I will have some beauty related posts coming soon! I still have to get my February Ipsy and February Favorites up for you! And I promise I will try my best before March is over! LOL!
Thanks for bearing with me through my Winter Blues! It's starting to feel like Spring, although we are due for more snow tomorrow! I'm praying I don't snap again! Haha!

 Thanks for reading!
♥ Nichole
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