Spring Nail Color Favorites

Okay, I swear I like other nail polish brands! Essie just BRINGS IT with their Spring/Pastel colors and I can't pass them up! I'm a little obsessed with doing my nails lately which is why I keep posting about nail polish. I love to put on music and sing along while painting my nails, it makes me happy! Clipping and filing my nails does not make me happy though, I wish they would just be ready to paint at all times. Ugh. I just want to get to the fun part, ya know?

Today I thought I'd share my top Spring nail color choices (aka the colors I have been rotating through nonstop recently).

1. Essie Fashion Playground: I talked about this color in this post and it's still in heavy rotation over here. It's my go-to Spring green!

2. Essie Spin The Bottle: This is my new go-to neutral shade. It's perfect for the times when you don't want a bright color but still want your nails to look polished. I've been wearing it A LOT lately as you can see here.

3. Essie Haute As Hello: I've just recently started wearing this color as my usual coral pink is in the form of Tarte Deco (FAVE!). Sadly, my Tarte Deco bottle bit the dust and so this color has taken it's place temporarily. I think my favorite thing about this polish is it's almost matte finish. It's definitely different and I love how bright it is! This color looks amazing with a tan!

4. Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant in Snow Storm: I picked this color up recently after seeing multiple girls wearing white nail polish. It looks SO pretty! I love the simple, clean look of it so I decided that I would try it as well. I love this white as it only takes 2 coats to make it completely opaque.

5. Essie Mint Candy Apple: This color has been a favorite for a few years now. This polish is more of a blue shade (although marketed as green? Yeah, I don't get it either!) and it is beautiful. I compared this color to Fashion Playground in this post if you are interested.

6. Essie Chinchilly: This color actually works during pretty much any season. This polish is a gray shade that is light enough to wear during the Spring and dark enough to look great during Fall/Winter as well. My bottle is emptying fast and I'll probably have to replace it this Fall.

7. Essie Borrowed & Blue: My nails are actually painted this color as I'm typing this post. It's chipping so it will be replaced by tomorrow but I got lots of compliments while I was wearing it. My Aunt said she had "never seen polish that color before" and so I'm taking that as a compliment as well! :)

ANNNNND...Here are the swatches so you can see what the color looks like out of the bottle (in same order as above).

My Every Day Makeup Bag

As much as I like to use and try out various products whenever I do my makeup, I still have my go-to makeup products that I use when I'm doing my every day makeup look. So, I thought I'd share my bag of every day makeup with you today! These are all products I love and would recommend as I use them all the time!

I got this cute pink, white and gold bag in the Dollar Spot at Target. It's supposed to be a pencil pouch but it's lined inside and holds my makeup perfectly.

1. Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in Shell. This is my every day foundation. It applies to my skin really well, stays all day, and feels like I'm not wearing foundation at all. I love it!
2. Laura Mercier Foundation Primer. This is the small size that I got with a kit when I bought the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. I've been using this primer for a couple of years now and I really like it. It goes on smoothly and helps keep my foundation on all day. Since I've been using this primer I haven't had any trouble with 'patchy' foundation.
3. Benefit Dallas Box Blush. I use this product as a blush and sometimes as a face bronzer/highlighter. It's not a bronze color but it gives a really nice glow to the face. This stuff looks great during all seasons too!
4. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent. This is the best drugstore powder I've used! I've been using it forever it seems and it barely looks like I've touched it. I use this powder to set my makeup every day.
5. Jane Bronzing Powder in Inspire. I started using this bronzer last year and I use it exclusively for my bronzer these days. It's a great color for my skin, not orange but not too dark brown either. I like to apply this under my cheek bones, across my forehead and along my jawline.
6. Physician's Formula Touch of Glow Nude Wear Concealer/Highlighter. I just started using this stuff this month but I LOVE it. It is amazing and sometimes I just apply a little of this under my eyes and I'm good to run errands for the day. It makes my face look brighter and my eyes look more awake.

1. E.L.F. Studio Eyebrow Kit in Medium. To fill in my brows, I just use some of the powder on an angled brush. I then follow the powder with the darker wax in the more sparse areas of my brows. This stuff is SO cheap and lasts forever!
2. Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Clear. I use this clear mascara to set my eyebrows when I'm finished filling them in. I have crazy eyebrow hairs that tend to go all over if I don't tame them with this stuff!

1. Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette. I've only been using this for a month but man is it fabulous. I can put together so many eyeshadow looks using it and all of the colors are so gorgeous.
2. Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Liner in Nude. I use this nude liner to line my lower waterline to brighten my eyes. I never forget this step because it is important when making my eyes looks brighter!
3. Covergirl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner in Black Onyx. Guys, I've been using this eyeliner since high school! Some days I'll do liquid liner but for every day makeup, it's always this eyeliner. It's self sharpening, smooth, and has a smudger on the other end. It applies so fast and easy it is almost (almost) impossible to mess up.
4. Maybelline Volum' Express Waterproof The Rocket Mascara in Very Black. This mascara is a great every day mascara. I really like the consistency of the formula and I find that it doesn't clump. It makes my lashes look really nice but without being over the top which is why it's an every day mascara for me.

Do you use any of these products? What do you have in your every day makeup bag?

November Favorites

December is here and I am so excited! I've already decorated my apartment for the holidays and put up the tree and I'm about to start in on my huge list of Christmas movies. Before I move on to December though, I want to share my favorite beauty items from November (and a few random favorites too!).

Makeup:

Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 Foundation- I had purchased this foundation for my best friend's wedding in October after reading amazing reviews online about its staying power. I tested it out the night before her wedding and really liked it but the day of the wedding, I noticed patches of skin where the foundation wasn't covering. I put it aside after the wedding and went back to my regular foundation. In November though, I finally decided to give it another chance. I changed up my application technique (see below) and ended up falling in love with this foundation. It stays put all day and looks and feels like you aren't wearing any makeup. I wear the color #825 Buff Beige.
Ulta Super Blender Sponge- I bought this application sponge a couple years back at Ulta. It is similar to the Beauty Blender although most of the reviews for this product say there is no comparison and that the Ulta brand sponge is too hard. I stumbled upon the sponge again last month when going through my makeup collection and decided to give it a try. I am SO glad I did because I've used it over my regular foundation brush throughout the entire month of November. I just pump a small amount of foundation on to the bottom of the sponge and dab it all over my face to blend the product. It gives my skin a flawless finish and makes it easy for me to build up coverage on parts of my face that need it. I also use the smaller tip of the sponge to blend my concealer under my eyes.

Benefit Dallas Blush- I've had this blush for years! So long in fact, they have redone the packaging on this product. I used to use it as a bronzer but have recently started using it as a blush. It's a gorgeous dark pinkish brown color and I think it will be perfect for Winter time. I've loved all of the Benefit boxed blushes I've tried and they last forever!

Jane Concealer- I picked up the Jane concealer in Light back in October for my best friend's wedding. I heard rave reviews about it from multiple people and since it was so inexpensive, I picked it up to give it a try. This was another product that I didn't like the first time I used it. I also thought the color was too dark for being a 'light' shade. Once I started using the sponge applicator to apply it, I found that it actually blended very well and didn't settle into the lines under my eyes. Definitely a keeper!

Maybelline The Rocket Waterproof Mascara- This is a product I bought a while back and finally decided to open it up when my go-to mascara ran out. I love the formula of this mascara and the brush is very similar to my usual mascara. This mascara went on like a dream and there wasn't a single clump to be found! It also held the curl in my lashes all day. Of course, I tend to only buy waterproof mascara as I find it holds the curl in my lashes way better than regular mascara anyways. Regardless, this mascara is a great every day mascara and I would definitely repurchase it.

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Sultry- I was so excited when Revlon came out with their new matte and lacquer balms and was lucky to pick up the colors I wanted before they flew off the shelves! I will actually be sharing a full review on these soon but I have found myself wearing the matte balm in Sultry a lot. I've been gravitating to dark lips the last month and Sultry is the perfect shade for Fall/Winter.

Essie Nail Polish in Smokin' Hot and Cashmere Bathrobe- My most worn nail polishes last month would have to be Smokin' Hot by Essie for my nails and Cashmere Bathrobe by Essie for my toes. The photos do not do these colors justice at all. Smokin' Hot is this deep smoky plum color (they advertise it as gray though?) and it's absolutely gorgeous. Cashmere Bathrobe is a dark gray with tiny iridescent sparkles. At first I thought the sparkles were just silver but after looking closer, I realized the sparkles are actually purple, pink and green depending on how you move.

Skin Care:

Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Eye Cream- I have been noticing that my under eyes have been super dark lately and I am getting little creasy wrinkles as well. I did some research to see what I could get at the drugstore to help the problem and found that Burt's Bees products have excellent reviews. I got the Intense Hydration cream and have been using it for the last few weeks and am already seeing an improvement! I apply the eye cream in the morning and also before I go to bed at night. My dark circles have diminished and the lines under my eyes are slowly disappearing. I am super impressed with this product and the fact that it is under $20.

Hair Care:

Organix Renewing Argan Oil Weightless Healing Dry Oil- I have super fine, thin hair that is always frizzy. I tried this oil because it claimed to be a dry oil. I use it every time I curl/flat iron my hair as a heat protectant and I love that it doesn't make my hair greasy. It is also great for spraying on your hair later in the day to tame that frizz!

Fashion:

Socks- My fashion favorite for the month of November is fun socks! The weather has been colder and I have been loving layering my knee high socks over tights and wearing fun socks with my boots. I have a whole drawer full of socks and most of them are from Target because not only are they so inexpensive but they are so cute!

Random:

Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern- I started reading The Night Circus in November and have almost completed it. I use a library app on my phone to check out and read books so I have a deadline that I need to finish it by. So far, I highly recommend it because it is so well written and so interesting that I find myself squeezing in a chapter whenever I can, while I cook, while brushing my teeth, etc. If you are looking for a book to pick up, you will not be disappointed by this one!

TV Show: Reign- Oh. My. Gosh. I am obsessed. I started watching Reign on a whim one day and now I am completely hooked. It's a little bit history and a lotta bit drama and all around perfection. Also, I look forward to reading these AMAZING and hilarious recaps after each episode.

What were some of your favorite things during the month of November?