e.l.f. Cosmetics Snow White Review and Tutorial!

Let's start this off by saying I am a total sucker for marketing. I have been waiting for my Walgreens to get the new Little Mermaid and Snow White e.l.f. makeup stuffs. After weeks of waiting.. They have arrived!!! I will be doing a haul about my Walgreens trip so this blog is only going to focus on the two products that I used, as well as the steps I take to apply my makeup. 

I went into this palette knowing that these aren't necessarily the best quality, but I really wanted to try them for myself. I decided that I would go full out and do my hair as well. If you're going to do Snow White, you need to really commit! 

This is what my hair and face looked like before I started. Notice the distinct lack of curls. 

So I over curled my hair. I used a hair straightener to get these curls. I either need to get a bigger straightener, or a curling wand. I know I have a ton of hair, but this took way too long! I really like the curls, but that was a bit much for me, so I toned it down by brushing out the curls and using a light hairspray. 

Muuuch better! I loved the more subtle waves, but there were still some curls underneath. After doing my hair I put it back with a hair band to get it out of my face. 

Alright, so here you can see that my eyelids and under eyes are dark (thanks baby Madeline) and my cheeks are super red. To fix my skin tone I used the Covergirl 3 in 1 in Ivory. I then put on some MAC Pro Longwear Concealer to even out the areas that were more uneven. I then set it all with Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder. 

After this I started in on the Snow White Beauty Book. 

I used their blush in Keep Singing. The blush had a lot of sparkle to it, typically I prefer a more matte color because the glitter flecks were way too big. I also did my eyebrows to make them a little darker. I used the Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Brow Mousse in medium brown. This is my go to for my brow needs! Use a light hand ladies, I have given myself some crazy lady eyes with this stuff. 

After this I used the e.l.f. eye shadows. I used I'm Wishing on my brow as a highlight. I then used Diamond Mind and Heigh-Ho on the lid. They are sparkly colors, Diamond Mine is a nice golden color. Heigh-Ho is a pinkish-copper color. I then used the plum color One Song in the outer V. These colors are not very pigmented. You can build them up, but they don't really hold their color. I then used the Pur Minerals liquid eyeliner. 

On to the more exciting part, the lip set!!

There is a lip gloss, a lip stain and a balm. I tried all three and I actually really love the lip stain. The gloss is on the left, the stain is in the middle and the balm is on the right. 

Overall, I love the look once it's put together. There is something so classic about the Snow White look. She is my favorite princess, I love how simple and sweet her whole look is. The pop of red is stunning, and I feel like it makes my teeth look so white!

Anthony was a pretty big fan of the look as well. I have to say, we are a pretty adorable couple! 

I can say that the eye color lasted through date night all the way to froyo. I also like the way that it faded on my lips. 

My hair also lasted through out the night. It managed to keep it's subtle curls all night long. I wish that it didn't take so long to do it because I would do this all the time!

Mini Nordstrom Haul

So this is my first of a few different hauls! There were some really amazing deals at the drugstore so I went a little crazy! I also will be having a hautelook haul with all of my new Pixi goodies. My (probably....) final haul will be my Makeup Geek eyeshadows featuring my first Z Palette! This is all so exciting. This post is only going to touch on my Nordstrom trip.

So my wonderful and incredibly fun Aunt Jennifer came to visit with my cousin Addison. Shopping with them has been one of my favorite things forever. I remember we would go to the mall and at the end of the trip we would sit in her car and go through our goodies. It was so much fun and I love having my aunt there because she will hilariously try to reel me in. My cousin is usually on my side (hence the Debborah Lippman polishes). Now, I was so busy having fun that I forgot to take a good picture of everyone. I had to steal this one off of their facebook. I swear I really am related to them and I did not steal a random picture of random people off of the internet!!!

So lets start with Clinique! I was watching Amanda Ensing (Youtube page ) and she was talking about how she cleans her brushes before every use. Prior to buying this product I was using the Beauty Blender Cleansing Solid which you can find here. I really love it for a good, deep clean. Using it on a daily basis, however, isn't possible. It takes forever for my brushes to dry, so I wasn't cleaning them nearly as often as I should have. This product has totally revolutionized my brush cleaning system (just as serious as it sounds haha). This is the Clinique Makeup Brush Cleanser. I spray this on my brushes before I use them and I kind of do a fancy wave in the air to dry them.

Please ignore the glitter on my fingers. It's from taking off the Debborah Lippman Cosmic Love polish, which I will talk more about in a bit. This stuff is awesome. I feel a lot better knowing that my brushes are clean before every use. I still feel like a deep cleaning once a week is necessary. This product was about $16.00 which is the same as what I paid for the Beauty Blender blendercleanser solid. I think that if I had to pick between the two I would pick the Clinique Makeup Brush Cleanser.

After swinging by the Clinique counter I stopped by MAC. I absolutely love MAC but sometimes I have a hard time justifying spending that much on single eye shadows. Thankfully I had my wonderful cousin who was helping me get super excited about my purchases! So I bought one loose pigment and two pressed pigments. I also bought a travel side of MAC's FIX+

I am going to be talking quite a bit about this product. I use a spritz of the FIX + spray on my brush when I need to intensify a color. It works especially well with loose and pressed pigments. I find that I also like using it as a setting spray once I have applied all of my makeup. 

I absolutely love this color. This is Tan. When I was talking to the MAC consultant I told her I wanted colors for the fall, specifically colors I can use for my Christmas time honeymoon. Tan just didn't seem like an exciting color. Then I swatched it. It is so stunning. Everyone knows I love my sparkle, and this is pure sparkle. It was only intensified when I used the MAC Fix+.

The color on the left is where I used Fix+ to apply it wet. I am so excited to use this color. I really want to see how it looks all over the lid with some really intense black eyeliner. 

So this is MAC's pressed pigment in Deeply Dashing. Don't mind the frame, I'm trying new things! I am not necessarily the best photographer, but practice makes perfect!

I love this color. I feel like this will be my transition shade when I use the loose pigment in Tan. The left is with Fix+ and the right is plain application. The color is super rich and has a ton of sparkle. I am a sucker for these wonderful brownish, redish, tannish colors.

I almost didn't buy this color. This is the pressed pigment in Smoky. 

Normally I tend to stick with my warmer tones and I don't really go near the cooler colors. I decided I wanted to try some cooler looks, especially with summer in my rear view mirror. I really love this color, particularly when it is applied with the Fix+. I'm really excited to start dabbling with cooler tones.

This is the pressed pigment in Jet Couture. This color takes my breath away.

I know I'm going to sound crazy but I feel like I've been looking my whole life (maybe an exaggeration) for the perfect sparkly gray for a New Years Eve smoky eye. I feel like I have totally found it. This color is so highly pigmented and I feel like without the Fix+ it can be built up to have this gorgeous, smokey, effervescent gray that I just love. Jet Couture, where are you been all my life?


I feel like that with my Debborah Lippman Cosmic Love polish as well. This stuff is INSANE. I feel like my nails went on a fun little acid trip when I painted them.

When direct light isn't hitting your nails, they look pretty enough. As soon as light hits your nails, KAPOW. That's the only way to describe it.

I am totally obsessed with this nail polish. The more glitter the better. The only down fall is it took me 3 coats to get it this glittery, and that makes it so hard to take off. I spent about 45 minutes with my nails in little foil envelopes.

I also got this color Prelude to A Kiss . This color is so delicate and feminine, I really like it. After having my nails painted all kinds of crazy colors over the last month, it was nice to have such a soft color. Sometimes you just need a nice, pretty pink to cleanse the palette.

So here were my goodies from Nordstrom. My next haul will be published in a couple of days. I'm particularly excited because I went to the drugstore and I found the Ariel and Snow White makeup that Elf Cosmetics just came out with. I am a total sucker for marketing... I will be doing a haul as well as a quick review of those products. That is all for now, so I will leave you with an adorable baby picture.

Yes, It's true, you are looking at the most adorable baby/bunny hybrid in existence. THAT FACE *melt*

Fun Manicures!

I am sure that all of you are aware of my nail polish obsession. I absolutely love bright colors, tons of glitter and fun designs. Here are the things I have been totally addicted to recently.

Sally Hansen nail stickers are the shit. The first time I tried them I loved the design, but hated putting them on.

That fish design was adorable. The application was super tricky. I also didn't realize they came with a couple different size options which was awesome. The second time went much better. 

I love the pretty water color design. This time the application went much better. Removing these stickers is a whole different mess. I absolutely hated taking these off. They get really gummy and gooey. The stickers themselves lasted over a week, so it is well worth it. 

So. Anyone who doesn't know what Hautelook.com is needs to get on that. They will have some really great beauty sales.I got this beautiful Ciate nail caviar sampler. 

I decided to try out the red. Oh. My. Gosh. The color is gorgeous, the Caviar adds such beautiful dimension and the application was so easy! You do one full coat, let it dry. Do the second coat one nail at a time, pouring the beads over the wet polish. Let it dry for 20 mins and you get this.

These are so gorgeous. If I didn't have a baby, I would've loved these. Unfortunately the beads shed everywhere. As soon as it dries you have little beads going everywhere. I ended up taking these off almost immediately because I was worried it would wind up in Mads eyes or nose or something. You worry about the weirdest things when you have a baby.

So I have heard a ton about Deborah Lippmann nail polishes. On a shopping trip with my Aunt Jen and my cousin Addison, I decided I wanted to try out these famous polishes. I was really itching to try the glitter ones specifically. I purchased Cosmic Love. It is perfect. Utterly perfect.

That picture doesn't do it justice. Trust me. If you are going to splurge on a polish, this is the one to do it on. 

I also decided to try my hand at doing the fading glitter thing. Practice makes perfect and I will definitely be practicing more. I think the problem might have been that I used bigger chunks of glitter instead of smaller ones.

Does anyone have some great tutorials for easy nail designs? I definitely want to start getting more creative with my nails. Also, here are links to the products I used. 

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel - I used Bordeaux

Ciate Caviar Mini Bar Vol. 2

Debborah Lippman Cosmic Love

Sally Hansen Salon Effects - I used Spot On, unfortunately the fish one was limited edition. 

My Top Favorite Palettes!

Let's talk palettes! I absolutely love palettes. I feel like they are such a great deal because you get smaller amounts of more colors that you can play with. They are also wonderful for travel. I would say that I am a palette-aholic.

So lets start this with my favorite palette for when I am traveling. I absolutely love the Lorac Pro palette. The palette has a decent size mirror and is super compact.

The colors are wonderful because you can essentially do anything. The top row colors are all matte and the bottom row has the shimmery shades. They range from light and neutral to dark and smokey. It makes it great for a work trip, or a vacation.

I am a sucker for creative and gorgeous packaging. The Too Faced Chocolate Bar. I love how it is shaped like a chocolate bar. The package is metal and closes magnetically. I think that the best part of this palette is the smell! All of the powders are made with cocoa so they smell deliciously chocolatey.

Mini palettes are amazing! They can slip right into a clutch or a small makeup bag. My favorite mini palette is the Lorac Pro to Go. This mini palette has a small mirror and 4 colors. Aubergine is this gorgeous dark plum with a little bit of sparkle. It is one of my all time favorite colors.

Here are my top 3 palettes of all time.

In 3rd place I have the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. The colors are fantastic. They are highly pigmented and they have a really nice range of colors.


In 2nd place is the It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty palette. The shades are all matte but it has a highlighter called Transforming Pearl. That can be used on top of the colors to give them a more shimmery finish.

My absolute favorite palette is one you don't really hear about often. It's the Lorac Unzipped palette. The shades are very pigmented and I like that they are mostly shimmery. When I bought this palette I was debating between this or the Naked 3 palette. I actually liked this one better.

I would love to include the Smashbox Masterclass palette, but I've only had it for a couple weeks. I want to play with it more before I decide if this is a ride or die palette.

So what are your favorite palettes? I am always curious to see what palettes we can't live without. Also, do you prefer to have palettes with lots of colors, or are singles the way to go?


Here are links to all of the palettes mentioned.

 Lorac Pro Palette

Lorac Unzipped Palette

IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Palette

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

Lorac Pro To Go Palette

Baby Update and a Small Favor

Oh. My. Goodness. My little yum yum is officially 4 months old. It is amazing how quickly time flies by when you are counting every week, every development and every smile.

Being a mom is by far the most important and fulfilling job I've ever had. Sometimes when she looks at me I swear she sees right through me and into my soul. It's usually when she makes this face.

I call that the "I've seen things" face. She is so stinkin cute!

It's amazing how much she has changed. It is a lot easier to take her places, especially if I time it correctly. The trick is to get her out of the house right after eating. She's nice and full and happy. One of our favorite things to do is to go visit daddy for lunch at Rudy's BBQ.

It's amazing to see how her relationship with her dad is forming. She is starting to figure out that he goes away in the morning, but he comes back in the evening. She has started getting very excited right around the time he gets home. She absolutely loves her dad.

 

Isn't that bow adorable? Anthony has started getting her dressed in the mornings. I decided it was a great idea to make that his special time with her as soon as I saw the beautiful outfits he was putting her in. The other day he put her in a dress (white with a hot air balloon pattern) and a red skirt (bright red with some white flowers). Once I realized his eye for fashion I knew that my carefully curated outfits were a waste. 

 

Auntie Naomi also came home for the weekend to visit. They always have a great time together. I knew from the moment I got pregnant that Naomi would be the quirky fun aunt. I have a super close relationship with my niece Alice, as does Naomi. It's wonderful to watch them have fun together.

That picture makes me laugh every time. She hasn't quite rolled over yet, but she is right on the cusp! I realized today that I absolutely cannot leave her on the couch in her boppy anymore. She is able to squirm out and it is definitely going to be a problem when she can roll.

Uncle Mason

This little angel pie is Uncle Mason and Auntie Summer's daughter Auggie. AKA Mad's bff. I went over to visit with them today and Augs was in the cutest onesie. Damn right she is Auntie's Little Lady! I swear. This baby is going to be a model. Look at that face!

Ok. So. Now that I have covered family, time to move on to friends. When I first moved home from Seattle a few years ago I met my dear friends Codi and Chris. AKA CocoChrispies  (I am so damn clever).

We bonded over a lot of different things including our love for travel and volunteering. When Codi told me she wanted to move to Prague to teach English I supported her with a heavy heart. I knew that when she left she wouldn't come back. She always told me stories of her time volunteering in India and traveling through Africa. I had the same feeling with her that I had with my best friend Kirsta when she left for Africa. I knew from experience that there are some people who were meant to travel and have adventures far away.

I was hoping when they went to Prague they would realize how awesome Arizona is (or not) and come home. That definitely backfired. Codi and Chris have been in Prague for quite a while and they have decided to go to Cambodia to volunteer. They will be teaching young children and women English, Business and other skills in order to help them succeed. This is a project that is very dear to both of their hearts. They are asking for donations to help them bring school supplies, clothes and other items that are needed. Any little bit helps. If you are interested in donating here is their gofundme link. Donate Here

 Coco puff, I love you dearly and I can't wait to see what kind of adventures you both have in Cambodia.