Essie's "bikini so teeny" Nail Lacquer Review

I feel like I've been looking for this particular nail polish for over a year. I wanted a periwinkle with a slight bit of silver micro-glitter & I was fairly positive that Essie made a polish exactly like it. Either I dreamt it up or it was just unavailable virtually everywhere aside from the one time I saw it forever ago & recently when I finally picked up "bikini so teeny".

This polish is pretty opaque and two coats does a pretty even and good job but I normally do three coats of any pastel-ish polish just to be thorough. Not gonna lie though --this polish chipped on my nails within 24 hours the first day I wore it. I took it all off and reapplied a few days ago and I haven't had a chip since so maybe it was just an unfortunate fluke, but most Essie polishes chip fairly easy on my nails anyways. It doesn't bother me too much since I change my nail polish fairly often & get bored easily.

Plus, since the glitter is so minimal, it's not difficult to remove from your nails so it's a pretty low-maintenance polish. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it & I'm planning on buying another bottle to put in a friends birthday present because it seems like it would look really pretty against her olive skin-tone.



Anyways, my final verdict on it is, if you're really in love with the color and can see yourself wearing it a lot, go ahead & buy it. Or wait and see if you can get a coupon. Target weirdly offers coupons for essie polishes fairly often so you can get it for $5 or $6 rather than the average $8. Or maybe there's a cheaper dupe? Whatever you decide, good luck.



-Becca

March 2013 Favorites

Welp, I'm going to start trying to do a monthly favorites since it'll force me to post more often. Plus, favorites posts and videos are by far my favorite things to watch and look at. I've found loads of new stuff I've incorporated into my daily routine simply from watching favorites videos. Hopefully this won't be boring as hell for you to read though.


SKINCARE 
left to right: Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask // GLAMGLOW Super-Mud Clearing Mask // Chloe Mini // Melvita Rose Floral Water

Body Shop Tea Tree Face Mask
I bought this after hearing a lot about tea tree oil being good for drying up blemishes. I've never used this all over my face since it's BRIGHT green and it just doesn't seem necessary I guess. I normally just use it as spot treatment. I'll clean my face, spray my toner and apply little bits of this mask to my blemishes making sure to rub it in so it dries a bit, and then I go to sleep with it on. The directions say to just wear it for 15-20 minutes and wash it off but I'm a rebel and I tried that and it did diddly squat for my blemishes so I pretty much just do what I want.


GLAMGLOW Super-Mud Clearing Mask
I have a full review of this coming up soon on my blog so definitely keep an eye out if you've been thinking about purchasing.trying this mud mask. I love it and while it's expensive, it's possible to find it for less if you look hard!


Chloé Eau de Parfum (Deluxe Mini)
I bought this on a whim during Christmas since it was on sale and in the section by the checkout line at Sephora. I have such a love/hate relationship with that section because I always find something I really like and the price doesn't seem unreasonable. It's JUST ten more dollars!! Sigh, I guess I'm just a fool. A fool with a debit card. Anyways, I really like it and it'll be perfect for spring and summer since it's such a light and floral scent. It's just really classy and feminine smelling without having that whole overwhelming "grandma" floral perfume smell.


Melvita Floral Water in Rose (sample size) I received this in a birchbox nearly a year ago and I tried it a few times as something to cool me off during the summer and then it sat unused in my "samples to try" box until this month. I pulled it out again after reading a few reviews mention using it as a toner & setting spray. I wish I had known that a year ago! I/ve started using it as a daily toner for after I wash my face in the morning and after I take off my makeup at night. It's made my face stop over-producing oil at night and I've had fewer breakouts because of it. I'm almost out of my sample and then I'm definitely going to purchase the full size.


MAKEUP 
left to right: NARS 'Albatross'  // CR Beauty Blender // Essie 'Secret Story' // Seche Vite Top-Coat // MAC Veluxe Brow Liner "Strawberry Blonde"

NARS Blush/Highlighter 'Albatross'
I've been favoring this highlighter lately even over my beloved NARS 'Copacabana' which is really saying stuff. It's mostly because it's easier to blend out in a hurry with a brush since it's a powder rather than a liquid. Either way I love it. I'm really glad I bought it.


Cynthia Rowley Beauty Blender
I avoided beauty blenders for the longest time because I figured they were just fancy sponges and nothing could replace my beloved Real Techniques buffing brush. But alas, I was wrong. I picked this up at TJMaxx while out shopping with my mom over Spring Break and I've been using it ever since. I feel like it gives such a nice and natural finish to my Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation. It was only 5.99 so I wonder if the more expensive beauty blenders work any better, but I'm happy with what I have so meh.


Essie 'Secret Story' Nail Lacquer
This is SUCH a pretty, spring-y color. I've been watching A LOT of Mindy Project lately and I've been getting more into bright fuchsia and orange and kelly green. Her wardrobe & apartment are so inspirational and beautiful. Also incredibly expensive, but definitely imitatable. This is my way of having the color without having to buy a completely new wardrobe.


Seche Vite Top Coat
So I know this is something most people have used forever but I hesitated buying it for the longest time because I doubted how well it could work. I'm pretty rough on my nails so I just sort of assumed nothing could make my nail polish last more than a few days. I was, once again, so wrong. It makes my naisl so shiny and glossy and my polish (even the cheap one) last close to a week. Often times I change my nail polish BEFORE it chips because I just get bored of the color. Plus, it's only like 7 bucks.


MAC Veluxe Brow Liner in 'Strawberry Blonde'

For the longest time I used exclusively powder to fill in my brows and it worked really well. But the powder I used just didn't match my hair color very well. It looked great when my hair wasn't dyed, but now that my hair is red (and has been for about a year, I was looking to find something a little more closer to my shade. I tried a different brow pencil from MAC before this one and it was too dark and too red and I can only use it the first week or so (with a light hand) after I dye my hair. So when I tried this and it was the perfect lightness and amount of red, I was hooked! It leaves a really natural finish and after I apply a bit of clear brow gel it lasts all day. Plus, it has a spooly brush on the other side. The only thing that could make it better is if it didn't need to be sharpened and was something I could use for the 'back to MAC' program. Oh well.



MISC 
Kate Spade Enamel Locket

Kate Spade Enamel Locket
My dad bought this for me at the Kate Spade outlet in Houston since it was 50% off and matches the pink Kate Spade earrings Taylor bought me for Christmas. It's so pretty and looks so cute with any sort of black/white outfit. It's perfect for adding a pop of color to an outfit.

Let me know if this was even sort of interesting. I always like seeing what people are using and trying on a month to month basis so hopefully I can keep up with this!

-Becca

Essie's 'in the cab-ana' Nail Lacquer Review

So while perusing the makeup aisles at my local Walgreens I fell in love with this little beauty. I've basically banned myself from buying anymore nail polish as of lately since I honestly have enough and I don't wear half of the colors I have. But Ryan could see the sadness in my eyes at the checkout counter and told me he would buy it for me. What a nice man.



The color is like the bottom of a pool in the summer or vintage turquoise/aqua kitchen gadgets & two coats is enough to make your nails look like beautiful little robins eggs. The formula isn't streaky and I've been wearing it for about four days with a topcoat of Seche Vite and I haven't had any chips so far. I love it and already know I'll be wearing it a butt-load (yes, that is a technical term) this spring and summer.

The only drawback is that like most blue & green nail polishes, it is a pain in the you-know-what to get all of the color removed from your cuticles and corners of your nails. But I just use it as an opportunity to let my nails rest a day before I slather them with a new color.

It's part of Essie's new 'resorts' line of spring/summer polishes, so look for it at your local drugstore!

-Becca